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My Samsung Series 6 television won’t reliably turn on when connected to my Sonos Bean via HDMI-ARC. After powering off the television, the tv’s red indicator light remains solid (normal operation mode) for around 2 to 3 minutes, then it begins flashing intermittently (i.e., tv has discovered a “fault”). When the tv is in this mode, it visibly blinks when pressing the Samsung remote’s power button, but does not power on until the 5th or 6th time pressing the power button. This has been going on for some time, but I’m just now to the point of seeking help from the Sonos Community. 

A little history: I have searched the Sonos and Samsung forums for answers. I’ve found similar user issues, but no solution that works for me permanently...or for other users aside from full replacement or major equipment swap out. Chains like this (

) are closed, but don’t actually solve the problem as fully described. I have contacted Samsung customer support. They offered no solutions aside from referring me to a repair shop (outside their network) that has gone out of business. The tv’s warranty is expired, so they won’t offer a replacement. Sonos customer support went through the normal troubleshooting, then suggested I put painter’s tape over the infrared sensor on the Beam. The logic is that this tape will dampen the Beam’s IR signal and prevent it from interfering with the tv’s signal (the Samsung remote uses infrared, not radio signal).

I am really out of ideas here. It seems like such a silly problem (“My tv won’t turn on when I want it to”). But at the same time, Samsung is the most popular tv manufacturer for the US (far as I know), so I figured there would be similar issues reported and, therefore, solutions available. Open to anyone’s ideas, etc. Thanks in advance. 

Strange suggestion. Does the Beam even emit ir? All commands should go from TV to Beam and not (except when an assistant like Alexa is involved) the other way round.

Hi @CressyE, welcome to the Sonos Community!

From your post, the error only occurs after the TV is powered off for a few minutes. There are a few steps I’d like you to test so we can see the results and hopefully narrow down what is causing the issue.

Firstly, if you power the TV off, can you power it on right away again with the remote?

It sounds like the issue is easy to replicate so, while the TV has the LED indicating a fault, what happens when you unplug the Beam from the HDMI-ARC socket, does the LED still indicate a fault or does it go back to a solid light? If it still indicates a fault, then I’d suggest trying with a different device connected to the HDMI-ARC port on the TV. If a device other than the Beam causes the TV to go into fault mode, then it could be an issue with the HDMI-ARC port on the TV.

While a basic step, it wasn’t mentioned in your original post, but have you attempted to replace the HDMI cable? 

If you can reply back with the information to the above, and also the confirmation numbers after you submit a diagnostics while the TV’s LED indicates a fault and after you power it back on, I can take a further look into this for you.

I hope this helps!

Hi @Jamie A 

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, I can power the tv back on right away with remote after turning it off.

If I unplug the HDMI cable from the ARC input while the tv light is in “fault” mode, the light turns solid red, indicating normal function. Turning the tv on and off again in this mode (no HDMI ARC input) is reliable. With no HDMI inputs, the tv does not return to “fault” mode. It does, however, require pressing the On button 2 or 3 times to power on, even when the red light remains solid if I leave it in standby for several minutes or longer.

Since your reply, I tried 2 other HDMI cables and found the same result.

Diagnostics ID is 923218820.

The diagnostics is from the first alternate HDMI I tried.

Thanks again for your attention to this.

Hi @CressyE,

Thanks for testing all that and for submitting the diagnostics. I’ve had a loot through and don’t see any specific errors between the TV and the Sonos Beam. I have extra steps but they do require extra equipment that isn’t the Beam or TV, so let me know if these aren’t possible for you.

Have you tested with a different device connected to the HDMI-ARC port on the TV instead of the Beam? It would be interesting to know if other devices are causing the TV to enter fault mode too. If you don’t have another device, do you still have the Optical Adaptor that came with the Beam? If you do, plug that into the optical port on your TV and try to replicate the issue. I would also suggest trying to connect the Beam to a different TV you have and see if the Beam causing issues with your other TV.

You mentioned that sometimes it still takes 2-3 button presses to turn the TV on even without the faul indicator, so it’s definitely worth trying a different TV remote if you have another sitting around. We have a guild for setting up a TV remote with Sonos here.

If you can perform any of the above, please let me know the results. If not, then I would recommend reaching back out to our support team for further assistance, letting them know what you have performed in this thread.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the quick reply.

I have tried the optical input, and this results in the same fault issue. I have also tried a different device into the ARC input, but it does not result in a fault indicator light. I will try the Beam with another television, and get back to you.

As for the remote, I’m hesitant to replace it since the television seems to respond to the remote, it just doesn’t result in the tv turning on. The red light flashes in response to me pressing the power button, indicating that the tv recognizes some sort of IR signal. It just doesn’t turn on the tv with the first press when the tv is also connected to the Beam. 

Not sure if I shared this, but I currently have a bit of painter’s tape over the IR sensor on the Beam. This was something Sonos support suggested. Through the app, I have disabled the IR function since the Beam is connected through the ARC and not the optical input. Having the IR on or off through the app doesn’t seem to make any difference with this fault issue occurring, nor does the tape.

Note that when connected via optical, the TV has zero idea what is connected, or even if it is. The communication is only going from the TV to whatever is on the other end. 

@Jamie A ‘s response was very thoughtful and thorough. I went through each of the suggested steps in pursuit of a solution to the issue I raised. Unfortunately, none of the suggestions fixed the issue permanently and I’m in the same predicament as when I posted my initial question in this thread.

How does a thread get tagged “ANSWERED”? Do I need to post a new thread to try to find more answers?

Thanks all who posted here. I appreciate the attention to my issue.

To my knowledge, answered is either by the OP ( Original Poster) or the forum moderator. 

Rather than wait in these forums for a moderator’s attention, you may want to run another diagnostic, and call Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.

Which I see @Jamie A already suggested. 

Thanks, @Airgetlam 

 

I have contacted Sonos and submitted diagnostics to them. Their suggestions yielded no solutions, so I decided to post here to reach a slightly different audience. 

Hi @CressyE,

After the troubleshooting steps performed, I’m inclined to believe that the fault lies with the TV rather than with the Beam.

You mentioned that leaving the TV on standby for a few minutes causes it to need 2-3 presses of the power-on button to turn on. If TV won't turn on immediately when nothing is connected to it, then that makes it clear that the TV is at fault, fault indicator or not.

As @Airgetlam said previously, the TV has no idea what is connected or if something is connected via optical, as it is one-way communication. If the TV is entering fault mode when it has an optical connection, then any device would cause this.

If you’ve tried the Beam with a different TV and it also enters fault mode, then reach out to our support team to discuss with them, as you’d likely need a replacement if that’s the case. If it doesn’t, then I would recommend trying a TV firmware update if you haven’t already, as that’s likely the only solution to resolving this issue. If that doesn’t help, then my only other suggestion would be to replace the TV.

I hope this helps.

 

Thanks, @Jamie A 

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