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Arc stops working with TV , was working fine

  • 9 November 2020
  • 56 replies
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56 replies

Airgetlam

I’ve not seen thousands upon thousands of posts about this, so I’m going to have to say it’s not a common issue….but it may be an issue, for sure, there’s no way around that. And specifically, no there has not ben a recall on the Sonos Arc.

The fact that the Arc works with music streaming, and not while playing the TV stream suggests a couple of potential things to look at. I like your thought of an HDMI issue. I’d certainly be trying a different cable (of at least HDMI 1.4, and preferably higher than that) to ensure that it’s not an issue inside either the cable, or the end ports of the cable not making appropriate connections to the pins on either side. Although if you’ve replaced the TV completely, you’ve re-seated the connection at that end, it’s worth still reseating the connection in the Arc to make sure the pins that carry the ARC connection are working. And I’d be really tempted to try a new cable. Unfortunately, I’m one of those packrats, and I’ve got HDMI cables from the beginning, and most of them aren’t labeled well or at all, so it’s hard to tell which version of HDMI they actually are. I should just throw them away, if they’re from before HDMI 1.4, they’re essentially no good for me at this point.

I’d also be checking, although I’d assume both Sony and Sonos asked you to, the TV has HDMI-CEC (which contains ARC) turned on. If the TV isn’t sending a signal on the ARC pins, the Sonos certainly won’t play anything. There was a poster in another thread today who’d accidentally  crimped his HDMI cable and was unaware that he had, it was only when he put in a new one and it worked that he realized when moving the device, the cable had been crimped, and likely had broken.

To be honest, I’d also be double checking what sort of signal the TV is sending to the Arc. There’s a limited number of types of signal the Arc can process, and since you haven’t told us what your test case is, it’s an open possibility. 

But, as you say, you’ve tried multiple cables. It’s hard to remotely figure this out, with only what you’ve provided. I’d certainly suggest that you run another diagnostic on your Arc, and contact Sonos again, and ask for level 2 support. Unfortunately, even a diagnostic wouldn’t show anything if it was a physical issue with the connectors on the Arc, but it gives them a good starting place to eliminate the more common issues that they have on their scripts.

Bruce
D

I have the same issue. My ARC stopped working with my SONY A80J TV. I called SONY and they took remote control of my TV and could not work it out. They asked me to call SONOS which I did and they could not work it out. So, I went back to the store from where I purchased the SONY TV and SONOS equipment (JBHIFI) and they thought it was the TV. So, they sent out a brand new SONY A80J and guess what...same problem.

I had no issues with my previous TV. Also when I originally got my SONY TV it was also fine for a few weeks but then the problem started. This is extremely frustrating. I have tried 3 different HDMI cables. I even purchased an expensive high quality 2.1 HDMI cable.I have tried powering this off and on, unplugging HDMI cable's etc etc. I have tried everything!

I also the TV Setup in the SONOS app does not allow me to connect the ARC to the TV. The app just hangs.

To me this is clearly a SONOS issue. Maybe a HDMI connection issue? Something wrong with the HDMI port maybe??

Given this looks to be a common issue? Is there a recall on the SONOS ARC??

Does anyone have a fix for this??

Please help.

BTW - the ARC works just fine with music streaming. It is just s TV issue.

 

 

Airgetlam

Probably a smart thing, although there’s also the very slight possibility of corrosion in the actual connector, either on the cable ends (the male part) , or the receptor on either device. Most frequently, this can be overcome in some fashion by simply pulling out and then re-seating the cable. It’s a pretty rare condition, but not impossible. I’ve had it occur on non-HDMI cables mostly. RCA, in particular, but I used to do support for my mother’s elementary school’s video equipment, long before HDMI came out, and ran across it mostly due to poor maintenance by people who were unfamiliar with electrical connections. Just throwing it out there.

As you say, HDMI 2.0 should have covered it. Unfortunately, there are so many different variables here, so attacking them one at a time makes good sense. I don’t think, based on all of the other devices that do work, that it’s an endemic issue with the Arc, but it’s entirely possible that it is specific to yours. Manufacturing isn’t always perfect, but issues are pretty rare. One of the reasons to do that doing a diagnostic and submitting it to Sonos, and calling them so they look at it makes some sense, at the least to remove that as a potential issue. Allows you to focus elsewhere. 

Bruce
B

You stated that “the same cable works with other devices”. Unless you’re talking about other ARC devices, there are unfortunately some cables that were produced before the introduction of ARC and don’t have the necessary connections to do ARC, as required by Sonos. And it’s even more unfortunate that most cables aren’t well labeled. I’m almost at a point where I want to throw away many of my HDMI cables, which are HDMI 1.2 or  HDMI1.4, and not HDMI 2.0 or HDMI 2.1, and replace them with newer cables. But they work fine for video, and I’m such a hoarder…..


The cable that was originally in use was HDMI 2.0, which should be arc compliant. Again, it worked for months before the unplug/replug seemed to throw it all off.

The other cables I have no idea, so true they could just be the wrong kinds. It was more of a last ditch effort by trying to replace each individual part that might be causing the errors. 

I’m going to order a new cable now just to be 100% certain it is not the cable before moving forward.

Airgetlam

You stated that “the same cable works with other devices”. Unless you’re talking about other ARC devices, there are unfortunately some cables that were produced before the introduction of ARC and don’t have the necessary connections to do ARC, as required by Sonos. And it’s even more unfortunate that most cables aren’t well labeled. I’m almost at a point where I want to throw away many of my HDMI cables, which are HDMI 1.2 or  HDMI1.4, and not HDMI 2.0 or HDMI 2.1, and replace them with newer cables. But they work fine for video, and I’m such a hoarder…..

Bruce
B

Having the same issue here, and it seems like there is not really any good solution. My setup had been working fine for months, and I recently unplugged the sonos from the arc port to plug in another device.

When I tried plugging the sonos beam back into the arc port, the audio would no longer come from the beam/system. I tried running the setup on the app, and the app would tell me that there is no Arc cable connected.

I shut the whole thing off following the steps outlined here, unplugged every device. I did this multiple times until I gave up last night. I tried pretty much every combination of TV on first, Beam on first, which end to plug the hdmi cable into, each with at least a 5 minute period in between. I had every other device unplugged from the TV and powered down while doing this. I left everything unplugged and all hdmi cables unplugged until this morning where I tried again thinking maybe it takes longer than expected to do a full reset. Exact same issue.

HDMI cable works with other devices, and again, had been working fine until it was unplugged.

  • Sonos is fully updated.
  • TV is fully updated.
  • It is not a cable issue, was working with same cable, and same cable works with other devices. Also tried 2 other hdmi cables that I use for my computer setup (both function in that capacity) and get the same issue.
  • Settings on the TV are to use the ARC for audio out, including the eARC checkbox another user was talking about.
  • Have done a factory reset on the TV, redownloaded/installed updates, hasn’t worked.

 

TV model: OLED55C1PUB (LG 55” OLED Class C1, 55”)
Sonos Details: Beam Gen 2, with 2 Sonos Play 1s


Sonos has always been super finicky when it comes to connecting to ARC properly. No idea why as its a hardwire connection. I didn’t realize that unplugging the hdmi for a few minutes would forever destroy my ability to use this system. When googling what could be the issue pretty much the only things I found were “did you try resetting it” and “but did you reallllly try resetting it??” and that is it. Super disappointing that there is such apparently such a pervasive issue with connecting and hdmi cable.

Getting ready for my hour long sonos help call where they will make sure I reallllllly reset it though.
 

T
Userlevel 1

I’ve had a sonos Arc and a LG GX 77 inch tv for about a year now. Everything was working great until suddenly I had the same issue as most people: TV audio just stopped working for some reason (although music playback worked just fine).
 

I went into my LG tv settings as follows: All settings —> Sound —> additional settings —> I then noticed “eARC” was turned off. I turned it back on and everything works perfectly again.
 

I’m not entirely sure if the eARC setting just turned off on its own or there was some automatic update on the TV that unchecked it.  Anyway maybe this will help someone out there.

Ken_Griffiths

Can you try another TV, to determine if it is the TV or the Beam?

Can you tell if your TV took a firmware update? Also, what TV?

It’s an LG 50” but I don’t have the model with me at the moment. I actually have 2 of the same TV and 2 SONOS Beams in my house. One set is fine and the other is experiencing this problem so I suspect that the TV software isn’t the issue but rather the BEAM or the ARC port on that particular TV. Really strange though. 

As you have two (more or less) identical setups in the Home, perhaps swap the Beam over (and the HDMI cable too) to see if you can establish where the problem lies.

G

Can you try another TV, to determine if it is the TV or the Beam?

Can you tell if your TV took a firmware update? Also, what TV?

It’s an LG 50” but I don’t have the model with me at the moment. I actually have 2 of the same TV and 2 SONOS Beams in my house. One set is fine and the other is experiencing this problem so I suspect that the TV software isn’t the issue but rather the BEAM or the ARC port on that particular TV. Really strange though. 

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

Can you try another TV, to determine if it is the TV or the Beam?

Can you tell if your TV took a firmware update? Also, what TV?

Author of the leading independent Sonos app for Windows, the only Sonos app for Xbox, and a Sonos app for iOS
G

@gpicard5,

Have you enabled ‘Simplink’ and ‘auto-power-sync’ on your LG TV?

I have. Just a reminder that this worked fine for 18 months and then suddenly stopped working without any config changes.

Ken_Griffiths

@gpicard5,

Have you enabled ‘Simplink’ and ‘auto-power-sync’ on your LG TV?

G

In the past week I have an issue where the ARC on my LG TV suddenly is not receiving audio from my SONOS beam. It had been working for the past 18 months. Basically the LG TV will not allow me to select HDMI ARC and the output and will automatically default to the TV Internal Speaker. If I connect the TV’s optical output to the SONOS it works fine (But then I lose the ability to utilize Google Assistant to control the TV) 

I have tried the following steps:

  • Powered everything down for 5 minutes - No Change
  • Tried resetting the TV to default settings and then reconfigured - No Change
  • All software is updated (TV, SONOS and SONOS app)
  • Tried swapping HDMI cables - No Change

 

Airgetlam

Yea, Sonos doesn’t, to my knowledge, offer that kind of service. It’s a full replacement device, or nothing. They don’t do any “repair/check” kind of thing. Once the CS folks on the phone authorize a replacement with varying charges due to length of ownership and type of failure, that’s pretty much it, from what I’ve seen over the years. 

And no, there’s also no “authorized repair centers” that could do that, either. There are non-licensed services, of which I’ve seen reference to in the UK specifically, but none that I’m particularly aware of here in the US. 

Bruce
R

Man, you’re making it hard, having done all the things we’re suggesting :)

Honestly, I’d call back support and talk your way through to what I have to assume is level 2. I can’t think of any particular reason beyond those we’ve listed for this to be failing. 

I’m assuming that you can still stream music to the Arc? It still shows up in the controller?

Might be worth posting a diagnostic number here, the forum moderators are a separate group than the phone folks. 

Yeah, I can still stream music and what not but I bought it as movie surround sound system(arc, sub, 2 sr) not a glorified bluetooth speaker. I already talk to support they basically said it was Tv and call the manufacturer, even though I told them I tried this process on multiple Tv’s throughout my house. At this point I just want to send it in to get it checked. 

Airgetlam

Man, you’re making it hard, having done all the things we’re suggesting :)

Honestly, I’d call back support and talk your way through to what I have to assume is level 2. I can’t think of any particular reason beyond those we’ve listed for this to be failing. 

I’m assuming that you can still stream music to the Arc? It still shows up in the controller?

Might be worth posting a diagnostic number here, the forum moderators are a separate group than the phone folks. 

Bruce
R

Yep Arc is being unplugged and being moved to each Tv. There are all different manufacturers, Sharp, Vizio, Insignia, Samsung. I will try to unplug all Tv’s for a while to see if that works, though that is doubtful. Hdmi’s work with other devices in the house.

It’s not clear if you tried a different HDMI cable, but if not, perhaps try that too. Note the cable has to have HEAC support (HDMI 1.4+) and it’s not unknown for such a cable to go faulty.

That was one the first things I tried, I have used 3 different hdmi cables with Tv’s. 

Ken_Griffiths

Yep Arc is being unplugged and being moved to each Tv. There are all different manufacturers, Sharp, Vizio, Insignia, Samsung. I will try to unplug all Tv’s for a while to see if that works, though that is doubtful. Hdmi’s work with other devices in the house.

It’s not clear if you tried a different HDMI cable, but if not, perhaps try that too. Note the cable has to have HEAC support (HDMI 1.4+) and it’s not unknown for such a cable to go faulty.

R

Can we assume that in between each TV you’re connecting to, you’re unplugging the Arc, so that it has the opportunity to reboot and reload the software?

Have you rebooted these TVs, as well? While it would be odd for the same issue to hit all 4 simultaneously, but I could see a situation with a power surge causing all 4 to “burp” in their software. A reboot by unplugging the TV from the wall for 5 minutes would force them, much like the Arc itself, to reload the operating software, which controls the CEC. And frankly, if all four TVs are the same manufacturer, it’s slightly possible there’s an issue with the latest software upgrade.

I’d start with the Arc, as I think you’re correct to place more significance on that aspect, but I wouldn’t ignore the TV as a potential issue, either. And, frankly, the HDMI cable you’re using could be suspect. Again, low chance, but we shouldn’t ignore any possibility. 

Yep Arc is being unplugged and being moved to each Tv. There are all different manufacturers, Sharp, Vizio, Insignia, Samsung. I will try to unplug all Tv’s for a while to see if that works, though that is doubtful. Hdmi’s work with other devices in the house. 

Airgetlam

Can we assume that in between each TV you’re connecting to, you’re unplugging the Arc, so that it has the opportunity to reboot and reload the software?

Have you rebooted these TVs, as well? While it would be odd for the same issue to hit all 4 simultaneously, but I could see a situation with a power surge causing all 4 to “burp” in their software. A reboot by unplugging the TV from the wall for 5 minutes would force them, much like the Arc itself, to reload the operating software, which controls the CEC. And frankly, if all four TVs are the same manufacturer, it’s slightly possible there’s an issue with the latest software upgrade.

I’d start with the Arc, as I think you’re correct to place more significance on that aspect, but I wouldn’t ignore the TV as a potential issue, either. And, frankly, the HDMI cable you’re using could be suspect. Again, low chance, but we shouldn’t ignore any possibility. 

Bruce
R

Has there been updates to this? I have the same issue, ARC was working then it stop with Tv audio. I have tried multiple Tv’s/hdmi’s throughout the house and keeps saying CEC not connected. Yes the CEC is turned on for all Tv’s. This has to be a product malfunction. Called support, and they walk me through doing the same thing I already done multiple times. They told me to check with the Tv manufacturer. 1 Tv, I can see but 4 different Tv brands not working. 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Another reasonable step would be to ask Sonos for help. Have you done that?

B

I have the same issue. Sonos arc connected to my Samsung Q80t suddenly stopped working. Tried all reasonable troubleshooting steps (switching on and off all devices, disconnecting and reconnecting etc.) but Sonos arc can't get any signal from the TV from eARC port. My Sonos arc is less than a year old and try to return it and never look towards sonos product..so frustating. 

Xander P
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi @kdto - if the Arc isn’t getting a signal from either the HDMI-ARC or Optical ports, then I’d recommend reaching out to our Support Team via live chat or phone call.

They’ll be able to take a closer look at what’s happening and go through some live troubleshooting with you :)

K

Having this same issue suddenly. Everything was working fine (LG OLED and Arc) but started to experience sound issues when changing input sources on the TV over the last week; and now no sound via Arc today.  Unplugging, turning off/on TV worked previously but no longer. Have tried all the troubleshooting - unplugging, resetting TV, resetting Arc, checked all settings on TV. I tried plugging the Arc into the optical port with adapter and still nothing.  I swapped the Arc out for my old Playbar connected to the TV via optical - it worked fine.  I tried changing HDMI cables to the Arc, no luck.  Seems like the Arc input is just not functioning?  It cannot detect a signal any longer in TV Setup in the app.  Has anyone come across another solution? Thanks!

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