CEC broken after firmware update 94.1-76070 – Sony A90J + Arc Ultra: no volume OSD, no standby control

Question

Since the firmware update on April 14 (player version 94.1-76070), CEC control between my Sony Bravia XR-55A90J and Arc Ultra is broken. Audio via eARC works fine, but:
   1.   No volume OSD – changing volume with the TV remote adjusts the Arc Ultra volume, but the TV no longer shows the on-screen volume indicator. This works intermittently at best.
   2.   No standby sync – when I turn off the TV, the Arc Ultra does not power down. Instead it stays on with a green LED (muted), rather than going into standby.
Both features worked correctly before the update.
What I’ve tried (none resolved the issue):
   •   Factory reset of the Arc Ultra + full re-setup via Sonos app
   •   New certified Ultra High Speed HDMI 2.1 cable
   •   Cold restart of both TV and Arc Ultra (unplugged from power, 60+ seconds)
   •   Toggling Bravia Sync (CEC) off/on with cold restart in between
   •   Removing all other HDMI devices (PC on HDMI 4)
   •   Toggling eARC and passthrough mode settings on the TV
   •   Re-running TV setup in the Sonos app
Setup:
   •   TV: Sony Bravia XR-55A90J, latest firmware, Google TV
   •   Soundbar: Sonos Arc Ultra, firmware 94.1-76070
   •   Connection: HDMI 3 (eARC), certified HDMI 2.1 cable
   •   Source: internal Google TV apps (mainly YouTube)
   •   No other HDMI devices connected during testing
This appears to be a regression introduced with the latest firmware. Is anyone else experiencing this? Any workaround or ETA for a fix?

Corry P · Accepted Answer

Hi ​@Str1atumWelcome to the Sonos Community!I am sorry to hear of these issues that you are experiencing with your TV not showing the Volume indicator and your Arc Ultra going into mute mode when the TV is off.To be clear, both of these occurrences (or lack thereof) are due tothe TV. For example, I had an Arc Ultra connected to my old Hisense TV and could see a volume indicator on-screen when changing volume. When I upgraded my TV to a new one (still Hisense, by the way), that indicator disappeared. There is nothing Sonos can do to make that indicator disappear or reappear - it is a choice that Sony (or in my case, Hisense) have made.As for the second issue with the green light, that is indicating that the TV has been muted - Sony had apparently decided that the audiodevice connected to their TV should be muted when the TV is offand presumably tells it to mute as the TV shuts down. I suspect that if you program the Arc Ultra to recognise the TV’s InfraRed remote commands (this may require enabling IR mode on the remote), a volume up/down press on the remote while muted will unmute the Arc Ultra for you.Note that there is no visual indicator on the Arc Ultra when it is in power-saving mode - this happens after 3 minutes of no playback and is not indicated by the LED. The Arc Ultra will still go into power-saving mode even while muted.I rather suspect that there may have been a TV software update that coincided with your Sonos update, as we have no way of making either of these behaviours occur. You have already tried a reboot of the TV and have checked for further updates, so there is not much more I can suggest you try.You may also want to contact Sony to provide them withthis feedback.I hope this helps.

MoPac · Answer

My Sony Bravia/Arc behaves the same way, but the volume indicator has been ON/OFF for years. My biggest problem was….At times the HDMI handshake would fail the result being no sound. A Sony reset would restore sound most of the time. I did have all the HDMI cables tie wrapped together for neatness ( I also straighten pictures on the wall ). A week or so ago I got rid of the tie wrap letting the cables separate from each other. We will see if that works. So far so good.

@Str1atum: Don’t factory reset unless told to do so during a service call. Factory resets do not solve issues like the ones you described.

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