LG OLED55CX magic remote not working with Playbar

from your description it looks like you’re being guided to do the LG CX and the Sonos Playbar setup at the same time - is that right?

the setup is basically two separate steps:

1. prepare the LG Magic Remote to send a known set of IR codes for volume +/- and mute
2. prepare the Sonos Playbar to respond to those codes

if you can do each of those steps separately it should work. i tested it for a similar answer on a different thread on my Arc with an optical connection to an LG C9 and using either Sonos or Philips as the manufacturer worked for me. Sonos would be preferable since, well, its a Sonos but it should only involves 3 codes: vol +/- and mute.

No, on the CX model, if you choose Sonos as the manufacturer it doesn’t give you any option to send IR codes. If you choose Phillips it only gives you ‘power’ and if you say that doesn’t work, it will then give you Vol+, which obviously works but then the Sonos app requires Vol- which is not available. 
 

I have watched videos online for how it works with a C8 and C9 model but it is a different interface/selections with CX

for Sonos, the only remote option is IR so it should just complete the process and program the magic remote to send IR codes. once it is complete on the LG side you can then go to the Sonos config and complete that portion.

No, doesn’t work on CX. 
 

LG say that for that option to work (i.e. selecting the manufacturer as SONOS) the soundbar has to be connected by HDMI (ARC), which obviously can’t be done with a SONOS Playbar as it doesn’t have an HDMI port. 

so much for the "Magic" part.

since you had an issue with philips you might try another vendor - maybe samsung as a competitor to LG. :-)

Hello @Rooney,

Welcome to the Sonos Community and thank you for reaching out with your set up issue.

Have you followed the steps to set up the Magic Remote listed in our support page? 

Usually when you get to the “select a manufacturer” part, you will need to select a random company and go with it. We suggest using “Phillips” as it seems to work reliably. 

Hi @Jean C. 

Yes I have tried the instructions on the support page, However they are out of date for the LG CX interface. They are probably correct for the C8 and C9 interface, but the CX interface does not give an option to select a remote type. It simply has a requirement to test the function of buttons on the screen answering yes or no if they work. But these buttons don’t correspond to the button presses required on the Sonos app. 
Yes, selecting Phillips as the manufacturer did get me somewhere as one of the buttons presses required on the LG interface was Vol+ so that corresponded with what was required on the SONOS app and when pressed I could see the IR light light up on the Playbar so it was connecting in some way. But I can’t complete the set up that way because as I said the buttons presses required do not align with what is required from the SONOS app. 
 

LG’s response is simply to say that the SONOS Playbar is not compatible with the CX models of their TV’s as they say audio is to be connected by HDMI (ARC), which I do not believe is correct. 
 

A simple solution would be for The LG system to request the same button presses as required by the SONOS app. 
 

In the LG system if you select SONOS as the manufacturer it doesn’t give you any other options for set up. If you select Phillips (or from what I can see, any of the other manufacturers - I haven’t checked them all) you have to run the through the button press sequence on screen, starting with ‘Power’ and it asks you if it has worked or not, if you say yes, that’s it. If you say no to power the first time but then say yes the second time it then asks you to press Vol+ (On screen - not on remote) and then asks you if it works again. But that is as far as it goes and the Sonos app requests that Vol- and Mute is pressed, which you can’t do as this options are not presented on screen. 
 

There must be an easy solution to this seeing as I have seen the Magic remote light up the IR light as part of this process, so it can communicate with the Playbar. 

Or I guess maybe a simpler solution may be for the SONOS app to request the same button presses as the LG CX set up requests. i.e. ‘Power’ and ‘Vol+’ only. 

hi @rooney, it still appears you are trying to do the LG Magic Remote configuration of the manufacturer simultaneously with the Sonos app. as you note, since the LG configuration sequence doesn’t have the same buttons that won’t be possible.

try just telling the LG configuration sequence that the button presses do work so it will configure the remote with the manufacturer IR codes you selected. then, after closing the LG Device Connector screen, go to the Sonos app and perform the configuration there. the Magic Remote should now be setup as whatever manufacturer you selected (go ahead and use Philips) so you should be able to press whatever button Sonos requests (Vol+ usually).

hope that helps.

@david82 

Thanks for your help, but I have tried that, it doesn’t work. The only thing that almost worked is as I described above.

On the new model LG tv’s (CX) there isn't an option to select Remote type, it is dealt with by answering the yes/no questions. I have now tried probably over a hundred different combinations of yes/no answers using Phillips and other manufacturers, in fact one of the other manufacturers actually works better, but the none of them actually work.

I have spoken with SONOS and they also couldn't resolve it. They say they are going to speak to LG.

The Sonos app requires, Vol+, then Vol- then Mute.