Setting a Dish Remote to Control a DVD Player

[HanoverPretzel]

322 receiver/ 3.0 IR remote

My DVD player remote has kicked the dust. Anyone know how I get my Dish Network receiver remote to control my DVD player? Is there some way to program it or do a frequency search or whatever?

The DVD player is ancient, from at least 15 years ago, so a modern remote may not work with it, but I thought, you know, since this remote is sitting right here, it's worth a shot.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

Nevermind, found an online "how to" guide that worked for me.

Here's the link to the instructions in case anyone else is trying to do the same thing:

How to Program a Dish Remote to Control a DVD Player | eHow.com

 

[HanoverPretzel]

After playing around with the remote for a while, I did have a couple questions:

The play, fast forward, rewind, pause, and stop buttons all work great. Neither the menu or the guide button get to the dvd's menu, though, and I'm not sure how to navigate forward or backward within menus (i.e. from "play movie" to "special features" or between episodes of television shows that are together on a single disc) because the buttons arranged in a circle that would normally do that actually are the play, forward, rewind, and fast forward buttons on the dish remote. Anyone know if the menu and navigation buttons are mapped to other parts of the remote? If so, which buttons am I supposed to be pressing for that stuff?

 

[HanoverPretzel]

This is kind of ridiculous. Did I set the thing up wrong or did they simply not include the ability to get to a dvd menu and switch between menus? It's pretty basic -- I am watching a disc of television episodes and can't even watch episode two because I can't navigate the menus. You'd almost think there'd have to be a way. Otherwise, saying it can "control" a DVD player is almost just a trollish type thing to get you to spend a few hours messing around with it and wondering why it only half works. Just saying it can only control the dish would at least have saved me the hassle of going through this if that is all it can truly do well.

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

This is kind of ridiculous. Did I set the thing up wrong or did they simply not include the ability to get to a dvd menu and switch between menus? It's pretty basic -- I am watching a disc of television episodes and can't even watch episode two because I can't navigate the menus. You'd almost think there'd have to be a way. Otherwise, saying it can "control" a DVD player is almost just a trollish type thing to get you to spend a few hours wondering why it only half works. Just saying it can only control the dish would at least have saved me the hassle of going through this if that is all it can truly do well.

There is no easy answer to your situation. My Dish Network remote does control my DVD menus, but exactly what any remote will do does vary by Mfg and the type of remote you are using. Just to be sure, have tried the menu button in the "DVD" mode and nothing happens? I would play with all the buttons and see what they do in the "dvd" mode. You can also to program a different code, some codes only allow for limited functions on non-dish equipment. I can llok up codes for the DVD based on the Mfg, please just post the name. Thanks!

 

[TG2]

it may not make a difference, but you might want to compare the code your using with the correct codes for the 3.x series remote. The link you have, is for the 5.x series of remotes.. in a brief comparison, I see several in the 3.x series that have more codes than the 5.x ... ie. Emerson has 2 codes on the 3.x remote, but the 5.4 only has 1 ... and the reverse is true too ... like the 5.x has 8 codes for hitachi, while the 3.x only has 6 ... so there could be additional codes or there could be different codes. (another example.. APEX on 3.x remote has a code 743 ... but the 5.x doesn't)

Manuals at Dish.
http://www.dishnetwork.com/supportsection/manuals

There's a guide there for the 322 receiver which has codes at the back of the book ... and there's a specific remote only manual too..

And beyond that .. as to the Top / Content menus ... because the remote you're working with is an older generation, with the "vcr / dvr" controls combined with the navigation controls, you may not have the option or you'd have to find a key that swaps between button functions

There's also this blurb

Also, when you use the remote to
control your VCR in limited mode, you will only be able to use the power
and VCR function buttons

so maybe the remote is in limited mode .. thus only allowing you the play funtions and power, and not setup, or other functions?

 

[HanoverPretzel]

There is no easy answer to your situation. My Dish Network remote does control my DVD menus, but exactly what any remote will do does vary by Mfg and the type of remote you are using. Just to be sure, have tried the menu button in the "DVD" mode and nothing happens? I would play with all the buttons and see what they do in the "dvd" mode. You can also to program a different code, some codes only allow for limited functions on non-dish equipment. I can llok up codes for the DVD based on the Mfg, please just post the name. Thanks!

It's a Hitatachi. I've just been scanning for codes using channel up button, so if you have any actual codes, that might help streamline things.

I've pressed "menu" and "guide" with the remote set to "aux" to no effect. I also tried the page up/page down buttons and the zero and the star keys (which have little arrows near them -- I thought it might be worth a shot ) and those didn't work. I also tried going through reprogramming the remote using the channel up key to search to see if there is a better code and only really succeeded in losing the limited functionality I achieved before.

By DVD mode, do you mean pressing the aux key on the top row? I'm assuming yes, but perhaps there is a different dedicated dvd mode key I'm missing that would unlock more features.

Also, is there some sort of a standard way the Dish remote handles getting to the menu and navigating through it (i.e. Does the menu button always control the menu? Or is it a different button sometimes?)? Or does it vary by device?

Sometimes I wind up having just enough technical knowledge to think I can do something, but not enough knowledge to actually do it. Sort of the worst of all worlds, because the end result is spending a lot of time getting frustrated working with something to no avail instead of either being able to do it or knowing in advance that I don't have the skills and shouldn't bother in the first place.

 

[TG2]

Hanover --- Follow the link I provided to DishNetwork for the manuals. The codes are in there. (ie. don't be lazy about looking up the codes, and additionally you get the instructions in the manuals for setting limited mode or non-limited mode functionality which locks the remote to basic functions ... reasoning is so that if you press the TV button you can't change the channels thereby causing you to think the tv's been messed up ...etc.)

As to the DVD "button" there isn't one.. but in both manuals (322 & 3.x remote manuals) they refrence using the VCR button for a DVD player.. this assumes you don't actually have a VCR

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Definitely use the "VCR" button if you have an older remote. The link that TG2 sent has all the codes listed for you in order of their success rate. Try several function with the code. VCR button should work a lot better than the Aux.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

I looked up the codes and tried putting them in under vcr. One gave me about the same results as back in post three -- for some reason only have I tried imputting each code three times (Third time's the charm?). Then it randomly decided not to work at all again.

This kind of thing is extremely frustrating. You know, we keep getting told technology is going to keep getting better and more reliable. It never actually does, though, does it? These are the same sort of frustrations I remember my father having with universal remotes when I was young. All these years and what's really changed?

Honestly, I could do without frills like HD or superfast Internet or whatever if tihngs would actually just work reliably and consistently with minimal effort. I wish these companies would put their research energy into that instead of 3D and who knows what. It's like these web browsers that change the whole user interface around every so often, undoubtedly after pouring money into design teams and focus groups, but then the browser freezes up and doesn't do basic things easily or correctly. Stop trying to discover the next big thing and just get what you have to work right.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

Somehow my DVD player has lost sound, but now I have big Spanish sub-titles all the way up and down the screen obscuring people's faces. Some days I feel like the luddites had it right way back when.

 

[KKlare]

The best you should expect of the "VCR" controls are the basic DVR functions. Play/Pause, Stop, FF, Rewind, maybe Record, with Input switching some pass throughs, and a few having a menu button but not likely up/down. The number button might work, ha. For those with a combo VCR/DVR or a recording DVD it is unlikely you will find any set-up code. Happy hunting. Recording remotes need the original working and may not have enough active button. Oh, I found that one of those 5-device Wal-Mart specials would record most of the buttons but if you messed up, you had to restart the coding for all the buttons when you barely had enough buttons for the functions you want and you have to be imaginative to mentally map the buttons.
-Ken

 

[TG2]

Somehow my DVD player has lost sound, but now I have big Spanish sub-titles all the way up and down the screen obscuring people's faces. Some days I feel like the luddites had it right way back when.

Sounds like you hit across at least one extra button you didn't have before.. the subtitles button .. figuring out which it was.. you'd have to press again and see them change from Spanish to French back to off and then English as you cycle through what that dvd movie has embeded.

For KKlare ... so right on the VCR / DVD combo.. I was unable to find anything in my dish remotes that would work .. my Onkyo AV receiver however was a different story ... **AND** was something I think Hanover would love.. the Onkyo remote programs from on screen! you go into the receiver menu, remote programming (paraphrasing ... don't recall the menu item) then you enter the device type, then the first few letters of the device brand (manually arrowing across an alphabet ick... could have done two or three columns of brand names and selected faster) and then enter a few characters of the model number ... or manually go through the list of models it knows... then hit the "program" option and it sends the codes back to my remote for the device !! now THAT was freakin' technology at its best ... of course the VCR/DVD combo wasn't listed ... LOL other models of it were, and I was able to get at least the "record" and play functions working so that I could get some things off the old 625 before dish replaced them with 722k's in december ... don't think my sister has watched a single dvd I created for her yet, but she *had to have them*... arg..