Using an IR universal remote to control 811...problems?

Ransack, what kind of universal/learning remote do you have. If you have the Harmony SST-659 you can get the 811 basic remote controls downloaded to your remote from the Harmony site. Otherwise here is what I would suggest.

Place both your 811 and 508 remotes on the same address 3. (In case you do not know this, your 508 remote can also control your 811) Use your 508 remote to program/teach the remote functions for the 811 on your learning remote. Once you have taught the learning remote all of the functions you want, go back to your 508 system Info and change the remote address back to 1. and that's it
 
Hemway, for the most part it will control everything , but you will need to tweak the configuration a bit b/c the Harmony does not have all of the buttons the 501 remote has. For instance, the 501 remote has skip back and skip forward, page down and page up. you can go to your Harmony remote sight, locate your device on the left side, then click on more options. Then click learn infrared commands. Here you will see all of the commands the remote knows, and here you can add any more you want. Let's use Skip forward, you would scroll all the way down , where it says learn new command. Type in what ever you want to call it, then click learn. A window will pop up tell you to place your 501 remote by the IR sensor of the Harmony remote and press the command you want it to learn. It will then learn it and take you back the the previous screen. Hit done . It will take you to your home page where you would then locate your activity on the right side. For me, activity is "Watch Dish", you would then click on customize. Then click on change behaviour of buttons. Here is where you get to assign any new commands you taught the Harmony remote. You can either assign it on a hard button or on a soft button (LCD). Then hit save. It will take you to your home page again, then click on update remote and all of the changes you made will be downloaded to your remote. It is very simple