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Contributor I
November 3, 2018
Answered

TV control for Samsung UE40NU7120

  • November 3, 2018
  • 11 replies
  • 2018 views
I have set up my Samsung TV UE40NU7120 with Sonos beam but cannot get the "turn off tv" control working.
Whenever I say "Alexa turn off the TV", the response is just "ok" then nothing happens....
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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths
The source input is usually a button on your remote ... so you would switch that to the HDMI-ARC port number, (Example HDMI-3 or whatever one you have plugged your Beam into) before then giving the instruction 'Alexa, turn off the TV' ... although the source is also accessible via settings ... I would try that.

If that fails and you do look at the Harmony Hub.. it will do the following;

Turn TV on/off
Adjust volume up/down/mute
Pause/Fast Forward/Rewind TV if your TV supports that.
Change TV channels .. upto 50 favourite channels can be chosen
Change input sources
Launch Apps built into the TV (Netflix etc.)
Control other devices attached to the TV (Apple TV, PlayStation and many others)
Adjust Hue lights in the TV viewing room.

All above can be done via Alexa by adding the Harmony Skill to the Alexa App... all the TV setup is done on mobile devices via a free downloadable Harmony App... see the two screenshots from my own setup.

The Hub also works with Google Home and with Sonos speakers direct using the Sonos API .

11 replies

UKMedia
November 3, 2018
Hi

Please Disable the Sonos Skill in the Alexa App and then Enable again. Once completed, please ask 'Alexa, Discover Devices'
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
Jonno25Author
Contributor I
November 3, 2018
Still no effect unfortunately. It seems the Alexa discovers the device straight away once I've re-enabled the Sonos skill, so when I ask 'discover devices' the response is 'no new devices found'.
UKMedia
November 4, 2018
How are you connecting the TV to the Beam? Control of the TV won't work if you have used the Optical connector.
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
Jonno25Author
Contributor I
November 4, 2018
I am connected through HDMI ARC.
UKMedia
November 4, 2018
Is this the only command that doesn't work? I don't have this particular TV model but can you have a look at the HDMI ports and make sure they have ARC written next to it. Not all ports on all TV's support ARC.
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
Ken_Griffiths
November 4, 2018
jonno25,

My LG TV is the same.. I contacted their support desk and they tell me it’s intentional. Apparently only the LG TV remote, in my case, can switch off the TV and it was done to prevent the TV peripherals (DVD Player etc.) and their remotes turning off the TV so that the viewer can watch a DVD movie and turn off the player with its remote, but then the user can continue watching the TV channels. So it appears my CEC command for switching off the TV is not included. Everything else works fine though.

I should add LG support said this was not the case for all their TV models, just ones from the past 2013-2014 (I think?)

So perhaps it’s a similar thing for this Samsung model, maybe worth asking their support desk.

A workaround to it, is to get a Harmony Hub to control the TV via infrared, if it’s in their compatible device list.

Two final things to mention, some TV's will only switch off when their input is set to the actual HDMI-ARC port, before issuing the command... so maybe try that and it’s also advisable to check your Amazon Alexa Device/Group/Scenes lists to ensure that there is no 'other' entry that is named TV, that has been introduced by another installed Alexa Skill.

Hope the above info helps.
Jonno25Author
Contributor I
November 4, 2018
UkMedia - the sonos beam is connect by hmdi arc. I've tried uninstalling all the apps and reconnecting to the wifi, tv etc (eventually after some issues). And yes "alexa turn off the tv" is the only command that doesn't work. Turning on and volume works fine.

Ken_Griffiths - I have spoken to the Samsung help desk, they weren't very helpful and suggested I speak to Amazon/Alexa. So I spoke to Amazon/Alexa and they said that they can only help with echo devices and I should speak to Sonos about sonos devices so I've now done a full circle! The tv is a brand new model so i'd like to think it would work ok with alexa.
In terms of tv input settings, I have been through the TV settings and can't see any option to change the input to HDMI ARC port. The sound output options are TV speaker, Receiver HDMI or Optical. This is set to Receiver HDMI.
There are no other devices connected, and so none could be called TV too.
I may try the Harmony Hub - would this enable me to turn the TV off with voice commands or just through my phone/tablet?

Thanks!
Ken_Griffiths
November 4, 2018
The source input is usually a button on your remote ... so you would switch that to the HDMI-ARC port number, (Example HDMI-3 or whatever one you have plugged your Beam into) before then giving the instruction 'Alexa, turn off the TV' ... although the source is also accessible via settings ... I would try that.

If that fails and you do look at the Harmony Hub.. it will do the following;

Turn TV on/off
Adjust volume up/down/mute
Pause/Fast Forward/Rewind TV if your TV supports that.
Change TV channels .. upto 50 favourite channels can be chosen
Change input sources
Launch Apps built into the TV (Netflix etc.)
Control other devices attached to the TV (Apple TV, PlayStation and many others)
Adjust Hue lights in the TV viewing room.

All above can be done via Alexa by adding the Harmony Skill to the Alexa App... all the TV setup is done on mobile devices via a free downloadable Harmony App... see the two screenshots from my own setup.

The Hub also works with Google Home and with Sonos speakers direct using the Sonos API .
Jonno25Author
Contributor I
November 5, 2018
Thanks ken_griffiths, I might give that a go. Appreciate the help
Lyricist I
February 3, 2019
I have the opposite problem with a TCL TV, all commands work for volume and turning off TV, but when I ask Alexa to turn on TV I get 2 soft tones response and nothing happens. Any ideas?