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Patrick Turner
Trending Lyricist II
July 25, 2020
Answered

Playbar suddenly not playing TV audio - Still works with streaming.

  • July 25, 2020
  • 27 replies
  • 3145 views

My Playbar suddenly stopped working with TV audio this week.  I have an LG UK6570AUA using optical out.  This has worked without issue for 2 years.  If I go into the app I can play music.  It will not recognize the TV input.  I have this Playbar set up along with a sub and two surround speakers.  

Strangely when I try to use the volume up on the remote, the LED on the Playbar does not show anything.  But when I press volume down, the LED blinks.   Regardless if I go into the app it does not see that there is a TV source and raising the volume does nothing.  

So this happened for the first time last Thursday.  I reset all connections, power cycled a few times, and eventually the playbar came back.  Today (Saturday) same problem.  I cannot do the same kabuki dance with all the wiring again.  My wife is pissed.  I had to go back to the TV speaker.

I have seen other posts about this problem.  Seems like a silly issue to have.  

 

Please help ASAP.

 

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Best answer by Patrick Turner

UPDATE on this problem.   I may have solved the issue.  

I purchased some compressed air and a brand new optical fiber cable.  I blew out each optical fiber port with air and installed the new optical fiber cable and confirmed that it snapped into place.  So far I have not had the audio failure problem.  

It is possible that either the optical transmitters/receivers were dirty with dust - and - it is also possible that one or both of the fiber cables I used was scratched just enough to fail from time to time.  

For now I think we are in good shape.  It would be helpful if the optical receiver could provide a singnal level of the input, because optical fiber input levels are very sensitive and if in fact the fiber was scratched or not seated, then the level would have been too low to properly receive.  But without this type of signal level information, I had to replace the cable, blow out the ports, and hope that maybe this is it.  

So for now we are back in business working fine.  For others having this problem, make sure you have blown air to clean out the optical ports and have a nice new cable with covered ends that has not been touched by kids dirty hands or left in a drawer.

Thanks

Patrick

 

 

27 replies

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Paul A
Paul A
Retired Sonos Staff
July 30, 2020

Hi @Patrick Turner.

Thanks for the detailed and immediate response.

I would have to agree with the recommendations or @AjTrek1 to isolate the issue if it is going to be a TV issue or a Playbar issue. We may want to isolate the case further so we can narrow the issue to the respective device. 

Please let us know how the recommendations work and what is the outcome. We are always here to help.

Thanks,

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Patrick TurnerAuthor
Trending Lyricist II
July 30, 2020

Paul, AjTrek:

Of course doing a full frog of the soundbar with another TV is a great way to identify the problem.  But that assumes I live in a lab with no family and with an extra TV in a well used area along with an extra sound bar, and test subjects to watch and flag the missing audio.  

The intermittant nature is what is so baffling.  If I could reproduce the problem intentionally it would be less hassle.  This problem is simply maddening.  

Paul - does the Diagnostic say anything more specific?  I will send another one right now.  

 

Thanks

Patrick

 

 

AjTrek1
AjTrek1
July 30, 2020

Hi @Patrick Turner 

I understand your logic about not having an extra TV etc. No wants to spend additional money when they have already spent over $600. However sometimes spending additional funds may be necessary to resolve an issue. $30 optical sound bars can be had on Amazon to attach to your LG (if you are so inclined).

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
rskogl2
Contributor I
July 31, 2020

This might be a stretch but I had a similar issue with music streaming playing but no tv audio. Try to toggle the option for TV Autoplay On/Off in the Sonos app. 

AjTrek1
AjTrek1
July 31, 2020

@Paul A 

I think @rskogl2 comment was a suggestion and not an indication of a current issue 🤔

Cheers!

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
    jpikscher
    Lyricist I
    July 31, 2020

    I have the same issue and it resolves when I plug and unplug the HDMI from the cable box.  
     

    huge pain in the neck 

    Patrick TurnerAuthor
    Trending Lyricist II
    August 1, 2020

    More information.  

    1. This morning the Playbar did not work.  Same problem (when I press up on the remote, no LED, and no audio from Playbar). 

    1. I turned off TV Autoplay and back on, and it still did not work
    2. I unplugged and replugged the power to the playbar, and it still did not work
    3. I removed the optical audio input to the playbar to check that there was light from the LG TV - and there was.
    4. I took the optical audio output from the LG TV and moved it to my PS4 optical audio out port
    5. The playbar took a minute, but started to work!
    6. I put the optical audio output back to the LG TV and it worked fine???
    7. So the PS4 worked, but then the LG worked, so I am not sure if the playbar just came back to life as it has been doing or whether moving the optical cable to the PS4 did something. 
    8. I cannot ask my wife and kids to do this ever.  

    This is driving me crazy.  Any thoughts?

    -Patrick

     

    Paul A
    Paul A
    Retired Sonos Staff
    August 1, 2020

    Hi @Patrick Turner.

    Thanks for the detailed and immediate response.

    Based on your provided information, I could only see one thing that might have been the issue, and what happened why all of a sudden it got fixed? The possible issue was a loose connection of the optical cable from the back of the TV and when you plugged it into the PS4 it worked and when you plugged it back to the TV it worked. I would suggest observing the situation for a good 24-48 hours to see if the issue re-occurs. If not, then our assumption was true and the issue is now permanently fixed. If the issue re-occurs, submit a diagnostic and take note of the confirmation number once the diagnostic is submitted so we can check what is going on with the Playbar.

    Please let us know how the observation works out and what is the outcome. We are always here to help.

    Thanks,

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    Patrick TurnerAuthor
    Trending Lyricist II
    August 11, 2020

    Update on the Playbar intermittently not playing TV audio. 

     

    The Playbar worked for a couple days with TV audio.  Last night we tried to watch a movie and the Playbar did not work with the TV.  My family thinks I am an idiot for buying this expensive system.

    So I changed the LG TV to TV internal speakers + optical audio out.  I used both TV internal speakers + optical so I could monitor in case the Playbar came back to life.  

    After about 30 minutes, the Playbar started playing TV audio again.  I could tell by a slight echo due to a slight difference in timing between the TV and Playbar output.  No reason for the change.  We did nothing.  The Playbar just started to work inexplicably.  

    This is not a loose connection between the TV and the Playbar.  

    The only thing I can think of now is a factory reset.  Please advise if I should go ahead and do this.

    Thanks

    Patrick

     

    Paul A
    Paul A
    Retired Sonos Staff
    August 11, 2020

    Hi @Patrick Turner\.

    Thanks for the immediate and detailed update.

    I would recommend submitting a diagnostic after 5-10 mins of the issue re-occurring and take note of the confirmation number once the diagnostic is submitted so we can check what is going on with the Playbar. I would not recommend factory resetting the Playbar since it may not resolve the issue and get things worst by removing all information stored on the device like playlist, remote control registration, Wifi credentials, Music services, etc. 

    Please let us know how the observation works out and what is the outcome. We are always here to help.

    Thanks,

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