Best answer by Airgetlam
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Beam IR sensor stopped recognizing remotes
I have a beam connected to optical on TV. Remote was paired and everything was working fine. One day remote volume control stopped working. I tried to set up the remote again but the IR sensor did not recognize when buttons were pushed. Tried a different remote and it didn't recognize that either. I can still control volume with the app but IR sensor does not seem to receive any signal. Any suggestions?
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Hi,
I appreciate that you've gone through those steps previously, now what I need to establish is whether or not your remote is sending IR commands.
1. Open the camera app on your phone
2. Point the IR sensor into the camera lens while pressing the volume up button.
3. If your remote is sending IR commands then you should see a purple flicker.
This step is important as it determines whether the issue is the remote not sending IR commands or the Sonos Beam not receiving/recognizing these commands.
Please also note that the IR sensor on your Beam is at the very bottom on the front of the Beam. Please make sure nothing is obscuring this sensor.
p.s. here’s a photo… it’s mounted so it’s not obstructed
Hi,
I assume in step 2 you mean ‘transmitter’ on the remote not sensor? And yes there’s a purple flicker. Also, the remote’s clearly working as it also controls the TV and satellite box. Actually, pressing ‘up’ means a message comes up on TV which says ‘not available’ since the TV’s own speakers aren’t being used.
:-(
James
Userlevel 4
+11
Hi,
I appreciate that you've gone through those steps previously, now what I need to establish is whether or not your remote is sending IR commands.
1. Open the camera app on your phone
2. Point the IR sensor into the camera lens while pressing the volume up button.
3. If your remote is sending IR commands then you should see a purple flicker.
This step is important as it determines whether the issue is the remote not sending IR commands or the Sonos Beam not receiving/recognizing these commands.
Please also note that the IR sensor on your Beam is at the very bottom on the front of the Beam. Please make sure nothing is obscuring this sensor.
Hi
For testing purposes, can you try using another TV remote to your Beam temporarily? If the issue occurs using another TV remote, try factory resetting the Beam to default and set it up again as new product. Let me know if the issue still continues after trying these steps.
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. We have done a factory reset and as per usual it works for a bit and then stops.
Exactly the same issue. When will Sonos actually do something about this? As others have said, the IR receiver is ‘choosing’ to ignore instructions. Nothing do do with interference or batteries. Reboot and it works.
Expensive bag of spanners!
For all practical purposes, a 3x5 card will block any IR radiation as well. IR is effectively light, albeit it at an extreme end of the visible spectrum, and not what could be considered electro-magnetic enough to pass through normal card stock.
Thanks!
This is what I suspected, however visible light was not my issue.
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Ruled-Lined-Index-Cards/dp/B00V5DQJWY
Any basic paper should block the visible emissions, even cardboard. As a temporary solution/test case. Once it’s proven that it’s the issue, a more attractive effort could be made.
I’m guessing you’d need something to attenuate IR radiation, for that you could use aluminum, glass (depending on the frequency emitted)...
Userlevel 4
+11
Thanks for the update. Yes, that might help for reducing IR interference due to (direct sunlight, Plasma TV’s,
Fluorescent lights, etc.)
Not the most elegant solution, but I’ve sometimes recommended taping a 3x5 card on the Beam so it shades the sensor from the light emitted by the Plasma TV. There’s probably more attractive ways to shield it, but it’s an easy test.
Just wanted to update - I was able to identify the problem in my case.
My Sonos Beam was placed right in front of my plasma Samsung TV. It seems that the IR radiation from the plasma, blinds the IR sensor of the Beam. Nothing to do about it. If the TV is off, everything works fine.
I would suggest for people who still struggle with these issues, to place the Beam in another room, just to make sure it is not an issue similar to mine.
Weak IR can’t be resolved by a restart….
Userlevel 4
+11
Reports of weak IR are a real thing. But we don’t know prevalence or what the root cause is (mfg defect, software issue, etc.)
Thank you for your reply, however you seem to be missing the point where we all point out that without changing anything (location, ambient light, temperature etc.) - the issue is resolved by a simple reset.
After discussing this issue with your technical support again and again over phone, I don’t feel like doing that any more. We all share the same problem here, which is most likely due to a FW issue.
What’s the problem of looking into a returned unit ( I will be shipping mine in the next couple of days ) and witnessing the problem by Sonos people?
Userlevel 4
+11
Hi folks,
It’s frustrating and I understand that. Information is collected through the troubleshooting process can help us target and resolve the issue since there is not yet a resolution.
The IR sensor on the Beam is pretty low on the product, so if there's something that could be blocking the bottom part of the Beam, make sure to move that. If you'd tried out a few locations and still have trouble with the IR range, I'd suggest that you give us a call on our support line and a technician can help out. Though it's possible an individual unit could have a bad sensor, it's always best not to make that assumption right away as it could be a number of other environmental concerns.
Just received my replacement unit after having the same problem as all of you were describing.
And after a day, it does the same. Just sent a link of this thread to Sonos support.
I can’t believe they’re just ignoring this!
Yes I have but no solution as yet.
Have you contacted a Sonos support directly?
Hi, I bought a beam couple of days ago. Set up the beam to connect to my sony tv with optical. TV remote only worked for the first day then the next day no response. Reboot the beam by switching off power socket turned back on it works again. This is frustrating. Has anyone have a solution this yet? Thanks.
Userlevel 4
+11
Hi
For testing purposes, can you try using another TV remote to your Beam temporarily? If the issue occurs using another TV remote, try factory resetting the Beam to default and set it up again as new product. Let me know if the issue still continues after trying these steps.
I’m having the same issue. Resetting the Beam fixes it. It’s not batteries, and it’s not about the sensor getting flooded. There are a few threads on the forums about the same issue. I hope Sonos takes note as I’m also thinking of sending this back, like many others.
There are some cases where an IR remote sensor gets overwhelmed by the light coming from the TV. You may want to try putting a 3x5 card tenting the location of the sensor, to ‘shade’ it from the TV’s light, and see if that makes a difference. If it does, then you can experiment further to find a solution. If it doesn’t work, then you’ve at least tried.
Userlevel 1
I'm not new to sonos, but am new to beam. Mine has failed to recognize my samsung IR remote since day 1. Like others I've tried about every remote in the house, it just wont recognize any ir signal. I'm ok with it but nobody else around my house is, especially my wife. Probably end up returning it to costco
Please let us know. I am going to try to move mine to a different tv and see what happens.
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