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nordmann_ola
Contributor I
February 1, 2016
Answered

Using Samsung Smart-Touch Remote with Playbar

I have a curved Smart-Touch remote for my Samsung TV and have gone through the Sonos setup process, but the Playbar does not recognize the volume button signals (I'm assuming this is due to RF signals??). The strange part is that when the TV is set to TV/arial source (not HDMI) the playbar volume works!? When I switch to my other sources the volume does not work.
If I configure the Playbar to work with the IR remote, everything works, but I'd much rather use the Smart-Touch remote.
Any clues as to how to best fix this? (I did not get a IR repeater with my TV, although it has the external connector for HDMI etc)

I have the Playbar connected via the optical port.

All help appreciated!
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    JWNtenAnswer
    Lyricist I
    July 27, 2016
    All, after spending quite some time on this, I found how to implement buzz's workaround in a satisfactory way (without losing any other controls). Hope this can help some people out. This applies to recent samsung TV's with smart remotes:
    - go to settings, remote setup (on my TV, this means clicking the home button, going left then up until I'm on the remote icon, then pressing the center ok button)
    - add a device, an AV receiver, select Bose
    - for source, select optical
    - once the device is created, if you're using a set-top box like I am, you can actually (in the remote setup menu) click the bose device, and combine it with the set-top box (so that the TV thinks both devices are in a serial connection). That way, it will allow you to control the set-top box as before, but will assign volume controls to Bose compatible IR.
    - once this is all done, play the TV from the combined set-top box / bose source
    - now in the Sonos app chose to change the remote and follow instructions. If it works you should see a white led in front of the Playbar everytime you change the sound up or down. Mute should work as well.

    Worked for me, I now have full control!
    View in thread

    41 replies

    Edward R
    Edward R
    Retired Sonos Staff
    February 8, 2016
    In my experience, the Samsung Smart remotes do not usually work. This is indeed due to the fact that they are predominantly void of I/R. What model of remote are you using?
    Try searching our articles for help with your question: https://www.sonos.com/en/support
    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    February 9, 2016
    On some of the SAMSUNG's you can setup their remote as if the TV was connecting through an A/V receiver. At this point the remote will directly emit IR for the receiver or there will be a SAMSUNG "dongle" that emits IR. PLAYBAR would then be trained to work with the phantom A/V receiver IR commands.
      JWNtenAnswer
      Lyricist I
      July 27, 2016
      All, after spending quite some time on this, I found how to implement buzz's workaround in a satisfactory way (without losing any other controls). Hope this can help some people out. This applies to recent samsung TV's with smart remotes:
      - go to settings, remote setup (on my TV, this means clicking the home button, going left then up until I'm on the remote icon, then pressing the center ok button)
      - add a device, an AV receiver, select Bose
      - for source, select optical
      - once the device is created, if you're using a set-top box like I am, you can actually (in the remote setup menu) click the bose device, and combine it with the set-top box (so that the TV thinks both devices are in a serial connection). That way, it will allow you to control the set-top box as before, but will assign volume controls to Bose compatible IR.
      - once this is all done, play the TV from the combined set-top box / bose source
      - now in the Sonos app chose to change the remote and follow instructions. If it works you should see a white led in front of the Playbar everytime you change the sound up or down. Mute should work as well.

      Worked for me, I now have full control!
        sraphael
        Lyricist I
        July 30, 2016
        All, after spending quite some time on this, I found how to implement buzz's workaround in a satisfactory way (without losing any other controls). Hope this can help some people out. This applies to recent samsung TV's with smart remotes:
        - go to settings, remote setup (on my TV, this means clicking the home button, going left then up until I'm on the remote icon, then pressing the center ok button)
        - add a device, an AV receiver, select Bose
        - for source, select optical
        - once the device is created, if you're using a set-top box like I am, you can actually (in the remote setup menu) click the bose device, and combine it with the set-top box (so that the TV thinks both devices are in a serial connection). That way, it will allow you to control the set-top box as before, but will assign volume controls to Bose compatible IR.
        - once this is all done, play the TV from the combined set-top box / bose source
        - now in the Sonos app chose to change the remote and follow instructions. If it works you should see a white led in front of the Playbar everytime you change the sound up or down. Mute should work as well.

        Worked for me, I now have full control!

        JWNten, you're the man! I followed your instructions and they worked perfectly for me. I would just add that after adding the "Bose" home theatre system, the TV will try and make sure you are able to control it. I was not actually able to using the Smart Remote, but I confirmed Yes anyway, so I could then go back and combine it with the TV, as you said. Was ready to scrap my Smart Remote and glad I don't have to, so thanks!
          007M
          Lyricist III
          August 5, 2016
          Thanks a lot guys. This worked and has saved me a little bit now I'm running into the problem where if I'm watching the Netflix app on the tv and I try to raise the volume I get kicked out to the last source I was playing.
          It's vexing me so thought I'd ask what to do on this
          npcrowe
          Lyricist I
          August 7, 2016
          I have a samsung KS8000 and had problems with connecting my sonos play bar. I don't have a cable box and get my tv instead from over the air broadcasts. At first I couldn't pair the remote with the sonos playbar, but eventually figured it out. Here's what I did.

          - Go to the universal remote feature in the samsung home menu
          - Add a device
          - Search for a brand (since Sonos is not on the list)
          - Type in Sonos and press enter
          - Agree to the prompts as they come up, even though it doesn't seem like the remote is turning the playbar off/on
          - Enjoy using your samsung smart remote now to control your playbar!
            User510458
            Lyricist I
            September 17, 2016
            Select Bose or type in Sonos like someone else said and it works.
            inopinatus
            inopinatus
            Prominent Collaborator I
            September 24, 2016
            The "bose" trick works but as a result the Playbar no longer responds to regular Samsung IR remote controls.

            Has anyone managed to it make work with both?
            Is it possible to configure a Playbar to respond to more than one IR control type?
            uncooked meat prior to state vector collapse
            Buc_Nasty
            Lyricist III
            September 26, 2016
            CONTROL SONOS PLAYBAR VOLUME WITH SAMSUNG SMART TV REMOTE with NO IR emitter (i have UN65KS8000 2016)

            (disclaimer i think parts/all of this are scattered on various forums and websites, including by JWNten above, just below is super clear)

            COMPLETE STEP-BY-STEP:

            1) Do initial set up of Sonos playbar on your TV - i wont go thru it all here but I followed the Sonos (iphone) app instructions, resulting in everything working great easily EXCEPT my samsung remote would NOT control the playbar volume (even after the remote setup step in app - it would not recognize my samsung remote + - volume buttons)

            2) on TV:
            a. press HOME button
            b. scroll left to SOURCE button (2nd from left, icon = arrow in a box)
            c. navigate up to UNIVERSAL REMOTE
            d. press NEW DEVICE
            e. select HOME THEATER SYSTEM
            f. select brand = BOSE (just do it even if you think its wrong)
            g. select OPTICAL
            h. press POWER TEST
            i. press YES (it asks if your theater system turned on or off, it probably will NOT have but just press YES anyways)
            j. press DONE
            k. FYI now if you go click universal remote again you will see "Bose" set up. leave it alone but you need it for the next steps and overall process to work

            3) Make sure TV source is set to "TV"
            a note: i do NOT have a cable box, i have an antenna hooked up to coax
            b. the steps after this and overall process did NOT work when i had TV source set to my chromecast, but DID work when it was set to "TV"
            c. i'm not sure if it will work when set to cable box or whatever other inputs you may have, i just know it worked set to TV with a random over-air channel playing

            4) In Sonos app (iphone) make the following selections:
            a. HAMBURGER MENU (top left, icon with 3 bars)
            b. SETTINGS (gear icon at bottom of list)
            c. ROOM SETTINGS
            d. select the room you have playbar/TV set up from step 1 in
            e. TV SETUP AND CONTROL
            f. (you can skip reading this step its just FYI - i left all options checked - this is what they all do: tv autoplay = auto switch from music to tv sound when tv turned on, ungroup on autoplay = leave music playing in other rooms when tv turned on if you have other rooms with sonos stuff, ir signal light = white light on front of sonos will light up when you change volume, ir repeater = if playbar is physically in front of and blocking tv ir somehow itll not block - note i tried having this on or off and itll control volume either way once set up)
            g. REMOTE CONTROL SETUP
            h. REPLACE CURRENT REMOTE
            i. physically point remote at playbar and press volume up/down
            j. maybe i was lucky but at this point, if you followed step 2 above, playbar and sonos will now recognize pressing volume up down on your samsung smart tv remote

            Note: Samsung chat support claims it is not possible to remove the stupid volume icon that pops up every time you adjust the volume of an external speaker (they said it does it for samsung soundbars too) i suggested they should definitely remove it and they said theyd forward it up the chain (yea right)
            a.
            inopinatus
            inopinatus
            Prominent Collaborator I
            September 28, 2016
            That'll work, but as a result it won't respond to volume up/down from the regular Samsung remotes.

            I have a feature request in for the Playbar to accept more than one remote control type for volume up/down.
            uncooked meat prior to state vector collapse
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