That must be quite frustrating. Thanks for sharing that - or do you have a question you want to ask? 

I suspect that it is TV not connecting to the Arc. Can you share the TV make and model, as well as the sound settings for an external soundbar in the TV settings.

Make Vizio

Model e700i B3

settings CEC:enabled

Also it used to work just fine until my friend unplugged in the other day. I have since gotten it to work only once by resetting everything as the surround coming from TV as the PS5 is the video audio input, and now once I turned the power off one time it no longer recognizes the arc any longer 

Do you have the TV Autoplay option disabled in the Arc room settings? Also see what happens when you switch off CEC on the ‘other’ devices connected to the TV, including the PS5.