Beam IR sensor stopped recognizing remotes

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.

Have you contacted a Sonos support directly?

Yes I have but no solution as yet.

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!

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.

@Sebastien D. 

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?

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.)

Weak IR can’t be resolved by a restart….

@Sebastien D. 

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.

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. 

@Sub-Xel,

Thanks for the update. Yes, that might help for reducing IR interference due to (direct sunlight, Plasma TV’s, 

Fluorescent lights,  etc.)

@Airgetlam - Sorry I’m not sure what you mean by 3x5 card, could you perhaps send a link?

I’m guessing you’d need something to attenuate IR radiation, for that you could use aluminum, glass (depending on the frequency emitted)...

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. 

Thanks!

This is what I suspected, however visible light was not my issue.

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. 

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! @Sonos When are you going to sort this out???

@Sebastien D. 
 

Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. We have done a factory reset and as per usual it works for a bit and then stops. 

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,

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

p.s. here’s a photo… it’s mounted so it’s not obstructed 

Understood, It’s possible it could be a bad IR sensor on the Beam. At this point,  I'd suggest that you give us a call on our support line and a technician can help out. 

Sure, I’ll call them, but please do try and escalate the fact that many people are saying it’s clearly not a hardware fault as it’s fine every time you reset the device. It’s a firmware issue, and it doesn’t get fixed by replacing the device. I believe it occurs when you switch inputs from TV to Spotify that it stops working. I guess the reason it’s not coming up so much is that most people have an HDMI-arc port. But it’s so frustrating for those of us who do because the sound and is great, as is the rest of the functionality :-(

No problem at all James. We are very aware of this issue and I will certainly take your feedback into consideration. 

I just bought a beam and installed it and the volume will no work with my remote at all.  When it was hooked up to the HDMI it would, but I had to change it to the optical because I was told that is the only way to play the other video and gaming components I have running through the TV.  Now the only way we can control the volume is through the ap on my phone. So my kids can’t change the volume unless my husband or I am around - which is frustrating. I also don’t like that I have to do that. I’ve created a case, but have been told it will take 7 days before I hear back from someone. After reading all these posts, it seems like this has been an issue for a while.  Has there been a resolution? 

Sonos are not taking this seriously. My previous post was ignored. I suspect this one will be too.

I have wasted hours of my time backwards and forwards, calls, emails, submitting diagnostics for this problem that everybody in Sonos pretends does not exist:

• Connect the cables and power on in xyzzy order
• Is there IR interference
• Swap the Beam for the one in another room
• Connect it with optical rather than HDMI

The Beam has been replaced and like others say the symptoms are the same. Its IR sensor goes ‘blind’ after a period of time. Resolved by unplugging and plugging back in again. This is ridiculous for a £400 speaker!

Product support are now outright refusing to do anything about it and still maintain that there is no product or firmware issue. Life is way too short for this!

Support reference 01979926