How to connect LG TV Magic Remote with Sonos Playbar

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This a mystery!

After a lot of trial and error and help from Sonos Tech Support, I got the LG Magic Remote to operate my Sonos Playbar so the TV sound comes through the Playbar and volume can be changed with the remote.
Then I disconnected the Playbar from the TV to put the TV on a swivel stand. When I reconnected both devices, the Magic Remote no longer operates the Playbar. I followed exactly the same steps as before .. but no luck!
Any suggestions are most welcome !
TV: LG 50UN7300PTC. Purchased April 2020 - new model
Sonos Playbar
Connected via optical cable.
Steps:
1. Connect Playbar to TV. Several ways to access this function, I clicked Set Top Box icon at top of remote next to power button. Followed steps to add PlayBar via optical cable, selected Sonos from list of brands, and TV screen confirmed Playbar was successfully connected. In Sound Out on TV, chose Optical.
2. Disabled two LG Sound Out functions - SIMPLINK and LG Sound Link. (This was the crucial step first time around)
3. On the Sonos app on mobile/tablet, Settings/System/Playbar/Add Remote control and followed steps to pair the Magic Remote with Playbar. NOTE: This only worked when TV was OFF as this forces Magic remote to use Infrared (Playbar only recognises IR, but Magic Remote uses Radio Frequencies when TV is on. (It no longer uses Bluetooth). Turning TV off activates the IR.

***Despite all settings being the same as previously, now when I press volume controls on Magic Remote, the NULL sign appears on TV screen and Magic Remote no longer controls the Playbar. The Sonos app can still be used for Playbar volume control.

Any ideas?***

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C

catherine101Answer

Contributor I

Hi John

victory declared as the LG MAGIC REMOTE

now controls the Sonos PLAYBAR

I spent most of this morning fiddling around trying different things eg factory reset of PLAYBAR, removing batteries from remote, disconnecting remote from TV and reconnecting - but nothing worked

Each time I used the SONOS app to connect the Magic Remote to the PLAYBAR it showed a confirmation - but not once did it work. When I tried to change volume the white light (the IR beam) did not come on at the front of the PLAYBAR which means the remote wasn’t connected

My suspicion is that the new LG TV models have new software for connecting PLAYBARs and other soundbars that overrides the need to link the PLAYBAR to the remote with the Sonos app. That makes logical sense because doing the linking operation on the TV and the Sonos app is a duplication.

The software to connect the TV to a sound bar is brand new and is completely different to all the examples shown in Sonos guides and community forums.
Sonos is now listed as a sound bar brand so there’s no need to select another brand then choose the remote type

The LG TV performs the connection with the PLAYBAR and shows a confirmation screen that it’s connected via optical cable and the remote will work.

here’s how I got it working

I used the Set top box button at the top of the remote to add a new soundbar. Instead of choosing Sonos I tried two or three different brands and each time got a confirmation from the TV
Then I did it again and selected Sonos
I didn’t touch the Sonos controller or use it to pair the remote with the PLAYBAR
I disabled LG SOUND LINK and SIMPLINK on the TV
victory !

So my theory is that the new LG TVs now link

with Sonos and Magic Remote without involving the Sonos app.
I haven’t confirmed this with LG customer support as frankly I found them pretty unhelpful last week and today

hope that’s helpful let me know if you want any more info