Can't get LG Magic Remote volume control to work with Playbase

L
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Hello everybody,

I’ve been unable to use my LG magic remote to control my Sonos Playbase for a whole year.

I’ve got an LG C7 OLED, a Sonos Playbase and 2 Sonos Play:1s set up for surround. I want to get a Sonos Sub and a couple of Sonos 1s to have around the house, but being unable to control my existing Sonos products with my TV’s remote control is not really inspiring me to spend more. I’ve already spent around 1000 euros for the existing setup as it is. Internal TV speakers just don’t cut it.

To this date the only similar topic I have found on this forum is this one by user earplugs: Playbase and LG Magic remote | Sonos Community

It was all working fine until about a year ago, when I moved country. Everything remained in storage for a period of time, and I started setting it all up again probably in early July. I remember the TV got a firmware update as soon as I took it online, and since then the TV’s menu options have changed massively. Device Connector on my LG TV is no longer giving me a manufacturer list (I remember I used Phillips once when setting it up in 2019), and the new remote setup process on the Sonos app is only working when the TV is off (and of course the moment the TV is on the remote becomes useless again).

This process on the Sonos support website also doesn’t work: Unable to adjust the volume using the LG Magic Remote | Sonos

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a solution? The only way to remotely control the volume now is through the Sonos app, which is OK, but not ideal, as I don’t want to be holding my phone constantly when watching a movie.

At this stage I am almost ready to factory reset both TV and Sonos equipment and set up everything from the beginning again. But I am wondering if that will not work either.

LGRemoteNotWorking 1 year ago

I fixed it. Holy *** , I fixed it, after 18 months. It had to do with the Location settings of the TV.

The guy on the phone from LG earlier briefly said that it may be due to the country change, but it didn’t immediately click. By sheer chance, as I was typing my previous post 20 minutes ago, this topic came up on the right side of the screen:

Configure LG OLED Magic Remote (2018) with Playbase | Sonos Community

I had never seen it before, but the poster had the same issue I was having. The solution came by @markymos, who briefly mentioned the LG service country in a post of his, and then @Jools23 confirmed that it worked for him.

So I went to settings, general, location, and changed the location for everything to UK, rather than Greece. I am not sure how that had gotten changed, and if it happened automatically or if the TV asked me at some point.

Now that I’ve changed it back to UK, I get the option to select the manufacturer in the device connector. I set the remote up again, and lo and behold, I can now use my LG magic remote control to control the Playbase’s volume!

Thank you everyone, and especially @Ken_Griffiths who has been suggesting things and coming back to this topic for months.

 

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

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39 replies

P

I have HDMI CEC enabled as I have a Firestick and PS5 which I’m successfully controlling with the Magic Remote, and I’m not using the ARC HDMI 2 port in case I want to buy a new soundbar in future. I’ve done the Universal Control thing, successfully found Sonos, and it even talks about being successfully enabled, but it then just didn’t actually work for me, volume didn’t change (and indeed connected via optical, I don’t know any other way you’d attach it).

 

This TV replaced a Sony XE9005 TV, and Logitech Harmony could successfully control that (and Sonos). Sadly despite trying all manner of older LG models it doesn’t seem to work on my G3 (yes it’s connected to the internet).

 

Anyway currently the end result is totally fine for me, I’m comfy programming HomeAssistant and it was straightforward to enable the TV volume/mute status to be dynamically copied over to the Sonos. 

Ken_Griffiths

@PezzaUK
Note: If Simplink is used in conjunction with CEC and the HDMI-ARC port (HDMI-2) then the magic remote will not work with the PlayBar cinnected over optical. You need to use the Optical-out port and search for ‘Sonos’ (case sensitive) in the manufacturers page, within the TV’s device connector setup screen.

Airgetlam

As I said before, SIMPLINK is LG’s name for CEC, which only works across HDMI-ARC, and not with optical, such as the PLAYBAR uses. 

Bruce
P

Resurrecting an old thread as I simply couldn’t get my new LG G3 TV to control my PlayBar. Tried all the methods on all the old threads to no avail. Lots seems to have changed over the years, for example I don’t even have “SIMPLINK” as far as I can tell.

 

Anyway, maybe not a solution for all… but I happen to run Home Assistant at my place, and using that it’s been straightforward to query the volume-level and mute-status of the TV, and apply it to the soundbar. I’d have never thought to try this but came across a random post ironically while searching for something else!

Ken_Griffiths

Hi, I have a LG OLED65G26LA and cannot get the remote to work. It worked on my previous LG but not on the newer model. All steps on sonos support site does not work and talking to Sonia they only run me through those same steps and linking the RF remote. I have now change location in all places to UK and if I understood you correctly you then found Sonos under universal control settings, I however do not, only Samsung and Sony on S or did I misunderstand you. Thankfull for all the help I can get. /Johan

The results for the manufacturer search are based on a case sensitive search so try both ‘Sonos’ and ‘sonos’ one of them should find a result to add their soundbar and setup the universal remote for your TV. 

J

Hi, I have a LG OLED65G26LA and cannot get the remote to work. It worked on my previous LG but not on the newer model. All steps on sonos support site does not work and talking to Sonia they only run me through those same steps and linking the RF remote. I have now change location in all places to UK and if I understood you correctly you then found Sonos under universal control settings, I however do not, only Samsung and Sony on S or did I misunderstand you. Thankfull for all the help I can get. /Johan

Ken_Griffiths

Ah that’s great news @LGRemoteNotWorking - glad to hear that you have managed to sort it. 👍

M
Userlevel 2

Good job. Glad the solution worked. 👌 

L
Badge

I fixed it. Holy *** , I fixed it, after 18 months. It had to do with the Location settings of the TV.

The guy on the phone from LG earlier briefly said that it may be due to the country change, but it didn’t immediately click. By sheer chance, as I was typing my previous post 20 minutes ago, this topic came up on the right side of the screen:

Configure LG OLED Magic Remote (2018) with Playbase | Sonos Community

I had never seen it before, but the poster had the same issue I was having. The solution came by @markymos, who briefly mentioned the LG service country in a post of his, and then @Jools23 confirmed that it worked for him.

So I went to settings, general, location, and changed the location for everything to UK, rather than Greece. I am not sure how that had gotten changed, and if it happened automatically or if the TV asked me at some point.

Now that I’ve changed it back to UK, I get the option to select the manufacturer in the device connector. I set the remote up again, and lo and behold, I can now use my LG magic remote control to control the Playbase’s volume!

Thank you everyone, and especially @Ken_Griffiths who has been suggesting things and coming back to this topic for months.

 

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

Ken_Griffiths

LG support came back today to tell me that they were unable to determine possible issues and that it should all work fine. They suggested I reset the TV to factory settings again and it may get resolved, but I think it’s all a firmware issue which they have failed to identify.

In any case, I’ll reset the TV and the Playbase again at some point, and see if anything changes.

I don’t personally think you will need to reset the playbase. I would start with the TV - it’s just a real pain to reset any TV as the in-built Apps have to be setup again - that’s something every TV manufacturer needs to fix and make easier for the user.

Have you tried removing the optical connection and switching over to the internal TV speakers for half an hour or so …and rebooting the TV, then see if it lets you add it back and setup the Sonos manufacturer along the way? - I think many LG TV’s have an AV Reset option too, don't they? Have you tried that feature? On many of their TV’s ...it often starts with pressing the ‘mute’ button three times on the Magic Remote, but I’m not sure if it will work for you in this instance, but far easier than a full reset.

L
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LG support came back today to tell me that they were unable to determine possible issues and that it should all work fine. They suggested I reset the TV to factory settings again and it may get resolved, but I think it’s all a firmware issue which they have failed to identify.

In any case, I’ll reset the TV and the Playbase again at some point, and see if anything changes.

Ken_Griffiths

Sadly it didn’t last and the remote is now not controlling the SONOS again 🙄

It sounds like you may perhaps have an intermittent fault somewhere. I would submit a Sonos diagnostic report, both when the remote works and when it doesn’t, and note the two reference numbers. Then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK  and see what the Staff can suggest to resolve the issue. I guess there’s no saying at this stage that the fault may lie with Sonos, it might of course be an issue with the remote infrared, but see if the Staff can perhaps see anything untoward in your diagnostics or see if any other paired IR TV remote has the same intermittent issue.

H

Sadly it didn’t last and the remote is now not controlling the SONOS again 🙄

Ken_Griffiths

I spoke to LG support just now, and they said they will look into it and call me back within 48 hours.

@Ken_Griffiths, is there a specific way to restart the TV and view the webOS logo? I only see it after a firmware update.

I understand you can change the LG user agreements in your LG account ‘Settings/General/Account Management’ and that will cause the TV to fully reboot, or leave the TV powered off completely for (I think) 10 minutes. 

L
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I spoke to LG support just now, and they said they will look into it and call me back within 48 hours.

@Ken_Griffiths, is there a specific way to restart the TV and view the webOS logo? I only see it after a firmware update.

Ken_Griffiths

@LGRemoteNotWorking,

Where you have ‘Done’ button top right corner of screen in the ‘Device Connector’, I seem to recall that said ‘Next’ during my setup process. My thoughts are to remove the optical cable and restart the TV (where you see the WebOS logo) and try again and add the optical cable when prompted - or maybe better still, speak to LG Support and see if they can suggest how to setup the process so that you see the manufacturer search screen to be able to search for Sonos and select it. They may recommend a TV A/V reset (press 3 times on mute button) or a full TV reset from the TV settings - but I would only do those PITA things after you have spoken to the LG Support Staff, who may provide a much easier option to follow.

L
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Hey @Ken_Griffiths, thanks very much for your constant replies and help since this topic opened.

If you recall, I had posted a video last summer, showing how I follow the process of setting up a soundbar through Device Connector, but after I choose Optical, there is no ‘Next’ option on the top right, to take me to a page where I can search for a manufacturer. I distinctly remember this process worked when I first set up the Playbase.

The video is here, and you can see what I mean at around 00:20 : LG magic remote control not changing volume on Sonos Playbase - YouTube

This is the only tech issue that has kept me on edge for so long. Every 2-3 days I get frustrated and go back and check all of the options and all of the screens in the settings both on the TV and the Sonos app, but there’s just no other option, and I now believe it’s clearly a firmware issue/oversight with the specific model.

I have not tried calling LG Support yet, but I may try today.

Ken_Griffiths

Nice to see that it’s working for other people, but personally I am still experiencing the same issue.

I have it pinned down to the TV firmware, which still uses Device Connector.

Universal Control Settings are not an option, and in Device Connector I am also unable to select any manufacturer.

It used to be different, I remember I had selected a manufacturer when I first set up the Playbase, but the firmware update broke the menu options and LG hasn’t bothered to fix it.

I have the LG ‘device connector’ on my other tv - you just need to select the Bluetooth/Soundbar category (see screenshot from my TV) select the correct port that the Sonos product is connected to and follow the wizard through until you get to the manufacturers page… and if you look carefully there is a ‘search’ option.

Search for either ‘Sonos’ or ‘sonos’ (it’s a case sensitive search). When you get it right, ‘Sonos’ will show up by itself in the manufacturers list and set that up for use with the universal remote. Hope you manage to sort it. It’s definitely working okay here with the old LG ‘device connector’.

If you’re still struggling then perhaps give LG Support a call, who will perhaps talk you through the exact steps.

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L
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Nice to see that it’s working for other people, but personally I am still experiencing the same issue.

I have it pinned down to the TV firmware, which still uses Device Connector.

Universal Control Settings are not an option, and in Device Connector I am also unable to select any manufacturer.

It used to be different, I remember I had selected a manufacturer when I first set up the Playbase, but the firmware update broke the menu options and LG hasn’t bothered to fix it.

Ken_Griffiths

Thanks again @Ken_Griffiths - super helpful. I’ve tried this a number of times and it hasn’t worked (in conjunction with fiddling with the SONOS app itself)

I just tried it again (no luck), turned off the TV and went upstairs, went back down to try fiddling again and by some sort of magic it now seems to be working properly. Not entirely sure which bit “fixed” it but thank you for the prompt - hopefully I don’t lose it next time I turn the TV off!!

Fingers-x’d 🤞

H

Thanks again @Ken_Griffiths - super helpful. I’ve tried this a number of times and it hasn’t worked (in conjunction with fiddling with the SONOS app itself)

I just tried it again (no luck), turned off the TV and went upstairs, went back down to try fiddling again and by some sort of magic it now seems to be working properly. Not entirely sure which bit “fixed” it but thank you for the prompt - hopefully I don’t lose it next time I turn the TV off!!

Ken_Griffiths

Thanks @Ken_Griffiths - unfortunately I have a Sonos playbase which only has optical connection. The problem seems to be that the magic remote only sends an IR signal when the TV is off and I can’t get the tv to talk to the playbase via the optical connection. Super frustrating as I have spent hours on what should be a very straightforward point to fix (never an issue with my Sony Bravia). Am hoping someone else might be able to help

Have you tried it with Simplink off? - I have the MR2022 working here with the Sonos Ray (connected over optical) - let me take a photo of the settings for you to see.. in my own case, I goto ‘Settings/General/External Devices’ on the TV and select ‘universal control settings’ and select Sonos as the manufacturer for the optical out port. (See attached)…appreciate that the settings may vary slightly on your TV, but I have not had any issues with the ‘magic remote’ on either LG TV. 

I hope the ‘example’ photos attached  perhaps go some way to assist you to resolve the matter.

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H

Thanks @Ken_Griffiths - unfortunately I have a Sonos playbase which only has optical connection. The problem seems to be that the magic remote only sends an IR signal when the TV is off and I can’t get the tv to talk to the playbase via the optical connection. Super frustrating as I have spent hours on what should be a very straightforward point to fix (never an issue with my Sony Bravia). Am hoping someone else might be able to help

Ken_Griffiths

Just bought a new LG OLED TV and having the same issue that the remote despite being paired will not control the Sonos volume. Did anyone find a fix?

Yes the LG magic remote is working fine f here, I have both the MR-2019 & 2022 versions with LG TV’s a C9 OLED with Sonos Arc and an LG 24TQ510S-PZ with Sonos Ray and both work when setting the device manufacturer to Sonos (case sensitive), but if not using an Optical connection, it should work anyway using LG Simplink (CEC) control in any case. See the links earlier in this thread.

H

Just bought a new LG OLED TV and having the same issue that the remote despite being paired will not control the Sonos volume. Did anyone find a fix?

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