Skip to main content
Contributor I
March 27, 2021

LG Remote doesnt control volume with Arc

I have a 2020 LG CX TV with an Arc, 2 Ones and a sub that has been working fine for a year.  Earlier today, the sound stopped coming through the Sonos speakers.  I was able to get the sound to work through the speakers but the LG remote no longer controls the volume.  I have tried the manual setup controls from other threads but it doesn’t work.  Also, if I try to set up the TV in the Sonos app, I get an error that the Arc Mode is not connected but it is.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

44 replies

Lyricist I
February 21, 2024

I have struggled with the same issue for months, trying periodically to go through the setup procedure over and over to no avail. I read in another clip that the issue between LG Magic remote and Sonos Arc was resolved by upgrading the hdmi cable. I disregarded at first as I used the cord provided by Sonos. When I changed to an E-hdmi 2.1 8k cable, everything started working. Maybe I just got lucky but it may be worth a try. Best wishes for all that are still frustrated by this issue. 

Lyricist I
March 24, 2024

Hi everyone,

Given the HUGE amount of posts on here, and LG support pages, and REDDIT, and AVForums, etc... on the issues of interworking between ARC and LG TV’s I thought I’d post my own experience, which I hadn’t seen a similar answer for anywhere else…

To clarify, I am talking about LG TV (in my case OLED 55GX6) using ARC port (and eARC enabled) straight in to the HDMI port of the ARC, and specifically about the issue with loss of volume control from the Magic remote, and occasionally leading to loss of sound.

(NOT referring to the much promoted SONOS guide on working with the TV Optical out and ARC Optical to HDMI adapter and programming the Magic remote to use IR)

Having initially plugged this in and everything working a dream, and enjoying the Mandalorian in Dolby Atmos… Suddenly one day I started having issues. These started with volume controls failing, instead coming up with a “no entry” sign where the volume + or - were on the screen. And I noticed that the TV setup and Remote setup in the Sonos app failed mid-way through when I tried to remedy.

This was frustrating as I had my Magic remote for TV, also controlling my AppleTV on HDMI port 1, but had to then pick up my phone/Sonos app to adjust volume…

Following lots of googling and reading, I assumed the issue had been triggered by an auto software update or a power cut. I reset the TV, reset the ARC. Changed my very good own purchased cable for the Sonos ARC supplied one. Took both back to manufacturer settings. Checked for software updates. Tried turning Simplink off. Tried turning it on and going through the Universal Device Control menu to setup Sonos. Tried the same but using Phillips instead of Sonos (as recommended by Sonos). Tried all the above in various different orders. Nothing worked.

I unplugged the AppleTV, and tried all again, and actually managed to break the sound out from the ARC all together. When I chose “internal speaker” on LG, everything fine, when I went to ARC, nothing.

I was pulling my hair out.

Got Sonos support on the line. Following a full power cycle (about the 12th over two days….) and with their support, I finally got sound back. But hey ho, no volume control still.

I started to play with de-registering and re-registering the Magic remote, and at one point got the + and - volume controls back on screen… but they didn’t actually do anything. Pretty soon I was back to square one, ARC sound, but no volume control from Magic remote and failing TV setup and Remote setup in Sonos app.

But it was becoming clear the TV and the remote were talking. The TV was receiving instruction to adjust volume. But the TV wasn’t executing. So trying my best to ignore every single bit of Sonos advice out there re ARC and LG, which basically takes you down the Optical out and IR route, I started to focus on the fact that the TV needed to send the signal to the ARC over CEC. Remote to TV. TV to ARC. So the problem must be CEC TV to ARC.

I recalled that when on the chat to Sonos support, the engineer asked me to unplug the Apple TV that was in the LG TV HDMI 1, as sometimes some devices can create a CEC “storm” with the LG TV….

I had already unplugged my Apple TV some time ago, so knew that couldn’t be the issue. And I had no devices connected to the TV…. Or did I….

On the end of my HDMI 3 cable, I had an Apple Mac HDMI to USB-C adapter. You know the ones… white… take Macbook port to HDMI, power and standard USB. No Macbook was connected. No “device”. Just an adapter...

Unplugged it a hey presto….

Everything works wonderfully. Pretty much out the box. Unless you have a “device” (or adapter...) on another HDMI port causing a CEC storm…

Oh, and the TV setup in the app now works fine. But the Remote setup in Sonos app still won’t work. And shouldnt. Don’t bother with it, again, it seems to be relevant if you’re trying to use IR from Magic Remote.

So… hopefully this helps the huge amount of others out there fix their LG TV to ARC issues. (Not using Optical port!). Ensure you don’t have ANYTHING else plugged in to your LG TV HDMI ports, not even an adapter, and go from there.

Hopefully Sonos will work on updating FAQ’s etc to address the issues specifically to ARC/LG and CEC issues, not just the current Optical adapter focused ones.

Same for me, unplugged the HDMI USB-C adapter and everything worked again! Thanks 

Lyricist I
March 24, 2024

Great post! Wish I’d found this a month ago as I tried to work through the same issues. You have articulated the issue and resolution very well here. Thank you for making time to share knowledge with the hundreds (maybe thousands) of users struggling to figure this out. 🙏🏻

Lyricist I
June 3, 2024

Hi everyone,

Given the HUGE amount of posts on here, and LG support pages, and REDDIT, and AVForums, etc... on the issues of interworking between ARC and LG TV’s I thought I’d post my own experience, which I hadn’t seen a similar answer for anywhere else…

To clarify, I am talking about LG TV (in my case OLED 55GX6) using ARC port (and eARC enabled) straight in to the HDMI port of the ARC, and specifically about the issue with loss of volume control from the Magic remote, and occasionally leading to loss of sound.

(NOT referring to the much promoted SONOS guide on working with the TV Optical out and ARC Optical to HDMI adapter and programming the Magic remote to use IR)

Having initially plugged this in and everything working a dream, and enjoying the Mandalorian in Dolby Atmos… Suddenly one day I started having issues. These started with volume controls failing, instead coming up with a “no entry” sign where the volume + or - were on the screen. And I noticed that the TV setup and Remote setup in the Sonos app failed mid-way through when I tried to remedy.

This was frustrating as I had my Magic remote for TV, also controlling my AppleTV on HDMI port 1, but had to then pick up my phone/Sonos app to adjust volume…

Following lots of googling and reading, I assumed the issue had been triggered by an auto software update or a power cut. I reset the TV, reset the ARC. Changed my very good own purchased cable for the Sonos ARC supplied one. Took both back to manufacturer settings. Checked for software updates. Tried turning Simplink off. Tried turning it on and going through the Universal Device Control menu to setup Sonos. Tried the same but using Phillips instead of Sonos (as recommended by Sonos). Tried all the above in various different orders. Nothing worked.

I unplugged the AppleTV, and tried all again, and actually managed to break the sound out from the ARC all together. When I chose “internal speaker” on LG, everything fine, when I went to ARC, nothing.

I was pulling my hair out.

Got Sonos support on the line. Following a full power cycle (about the 12th over two days….) and with their support, I finally got sound back. But hey ho, no volume control still.

I started to play with de-registering and re-registering the Magic remote, and at one point got the + and - volume controls back on screen… but they didn’t actually do anything. Pretty soon I was back to square one, ARC sound, but no volume control from Magic remote and failing TV setup and Remote setup in Sonos app.

But it was becoming clear the TV and the remote were talking. The TV was receiving instruction to adjust volume. But the TV wasn’t executing. So trying my best to ignore every single bit of Sonos advice out there re ARC and LG, which basically takes you down the Optical out and IR route, I started to focus on the fact that the TV needed to send the signal to the ARC over CEC. Remote to TV. TV to ARC. So the problem must be CEC TV to ARC.

I recalled that when on the chat to Sonos support, the engineer asked me to unplug the Apple TV that was in the LG TV HDMI 1, as sometimes some devices can create a CEC “storm” with the LG TV….

I had already unplugged my Apple TV some time ago, so knew that couldn’t be the issue. And I had no devices connected to the TV…. Or did I….

On the end of my HDMI 3 cable, I had an Apple Mac HDMI to USB-C adapter. You know the ones… white… take Macbook port to HDMI, power and standard USB. No Macbook was connected. No “device”. Just an adapter...

Unplugged it a hey presto….

Everything works wonderfully. Pretty much out the box. Unless you have a “device” (or adapter...) on another HDMI port causing a CEC storm…

Oh, and the TV setup in the app now works fine. But the Remote setup in Sonos app still won’t work. And shouldnt. Don’t bother with it, again, it seems to be relevant if you’re trying to use IR from Magic Remote.

So… hopefully this helps the huge amount of others out there fix their LG TV to ARC issues. (Not using Optical port!). Ensure you don’t have ANYTHING else plugged in to your LG TV HDMI ports, not even an adapter, and go from there.

Hopefully Sonos will work on updating FAQ’s etc to address the issues specifically to ARC/LG and CEC issues, not just the current Optical adapter focused ones.

Hi everyone,

Given the HUGE amount of posts on here, and LG support pages, and REDDIT, and AVForums, etc... on the issues of interworking between ARC and LG TV’s I thought I’d post my own experience, which I hadn’t seen a similar answer for anywhere else…

To clarify, I am talking about LG TV (in my case OLED 55GX6) using ARC port (and eARC enabled) straight in to the HDMI port of the ARC, and specifically about the issue with loss of volume control from the Magic remote, and occasionally leading to loss of sound.

(NOT referring to the much promoted SONOS guide on working with the TV Optical out and ARC Optical to HDMI adapter and programming the Magic remote to use IR)

Having initially plugged this in and everything working a dream, and enjoying the Mandalorian in Dolby Atmos… Suddenly one day I started having issues. These started with volume controls failing, instead coming up with a “no entry” sign where the volume + or - were on the screen. And I noticed that the TV setup and Remote setup in the Sonos app failed mid-way through when I tried to remedy.

This was frustrating as I had my Magic remote for TV, also controlling my AppleTV on HDMI port 1, but had to then pick up my phone/Sonos app to adjust volume…

Following lots of googling and reading, I assumed the issue had been triggered by an auto software update or a power cut. I reset the TV, reset the ARC. Changed my very good own purchased cable for the Sonos ARC supplied one. Took both back to manufacturer settings. Checked for software updates. Tried turning Simplink off. Tried turning it on and going through the Universal Device Control menu to setup Sonos. Tried the same but using Phillips instead of Sonos (as recommended by Sonos). Tried all the above in various different orders. Nothing worked.

I unplugged the AppleTV, and tried all again, and actually managed to break the sound out from the ARC all together. When I chose “internal speaker” on LG, everything fine, when I went to ARC, nothing.

I was pulling my hair out.

Got Sonos support on the line. Following a full power cycle (about the 12th over two days….) and with their support, I finally got sound back. But hey ho, no volume control still.

I started to play with de-registering and re-registering the Magic remote, and at one point got the + and - volume controls back on screen… but they didn’t actually do anything. Pretty soon I was back to square one, ARC sound, but no volume control from Magic remote and failing TV setup and Remote setup in Sonos app.

But it was becoming clear the TV and the remote were talking. The TV was receiving instruction to adjust volume. But the TV wasn’t executing. So trying my best to ignore every single bit of Sonos advice out there re ARC and LG, which basically takes you down the Optical out and IR route, I started to focus on the fact that the TV needed to send the signal to the ARC over CEC. Remote to TV. TV to ARC. So the problem must be CEC TV to ARC.

I recalled that when on the chat to Sonos support, the engineer asked me to unplug the Apple TV that was in the LG TV HDMI 1, as sometimes some devices can create a CEC “storm” with the LG TV….

I had already unplugged my Apple TV some time ago, so knew that couldn’t be the issue. And I had no devices connected to the TV…. Or did I….

On the end of my HDMI 3 cable, I had an Apple Mac HDMI to USB-C adapter. You know the ones… white… take Macbook port to HDMI, power and standard USB. No Macbook was connected. No “device”. Just an adapter...

Unplugged it a hey presto….

Everything works wonderfully. Pretty much out the box. Unless you have a “device” (or adapter...) on another HDMI port causing a CEC storm…

Oh, and the TV setup in the app now works fine. But the Remote setup in Sonos app still won’t work. And shouldnt. Don’t bother with it, again, it seems to be relevant if you’re trying to use IR from Magic Remote.

So… hopefully this helps the huge amount of others out there fix their LG TV to ARC issues. (Not using Optical port!). Ensure you don’t have ANYTHING else plugged in to your LG TV HDMI ports, not even an adapter, and go from there.

Hopefully Sonos will work on updating FAQ’s etc to address the issues specifically to ARC/LG and CEC issues, not just the current Optical adapter focused ones.

Bro, you genius) had exactly the same story, now everything is ok, because of yours explanation, thanks!