HW-N850 HDMI ports stopped working

[D_Wiz]

Hello! The other day we were watching TV and the sound went out. I've been investigating and troubleshooting, and it seems as though the HDMI ports on the soundbar simply stopped working. Here is how I've come to the conclusion.

My setup is HTPC --> Soundbar (HDMI 1), Soundbar (HDMI 4 ARC)--> Samsung TV (HDMI 1). This has worked for over a year with no issues.

1) The first thing I did was attempt to change out the HDMI cords. I swapped both the HTPC --> Soundbar cord and the Soundbar --> TV cords individually. No change. 

2) The next thing I did was try changing HDMI ports on the TV. I tried making sure the Soundbar --> TV cord was in both ARC ports. I also tried every other HDMI port on the TV. I get a picture on the TV, but no sound. The soundbar says "TV Speaker" and when I try to change the volume it says "Not available"

3) Then I tried changing the HDMI ports on the soundbar. No change. 

4) Then I tried changing the setup. I went HTPC --> TV (HDMI 1), then TV --> Soundbar (ARC ports). Same thing - I get a picture, but no sound. I also tried swapping cords out in this configuration. 

5) I tried changing the sound settings on the TV to the soundbar. Initially, it would try to connect over WIFI, which isn't want I want. It wouldn't recognize it over HDMI in my initial configuration. With the new configuration in step 4, it recognized it through the HDMI, but it went on an endless loop of trying to connect, and ultimately never worked. 

6) I bought an HDMI splitter, as I thought maybe it's a handshake issue between the HTPC, TV, and Soundbar. I went HTPC --> Splitter --> one cord to the TV, one cord to the Soundbar. I got a picture with no sound. 

I'm currently using the step 4 config and connecting via bluetooth, but thats a bandaid. Any suggestions? 

[D_Wiz]

A few other things. 

I also tried to take the HTPC out of the equation. I connected the TV directly to the soundbar and tried to do stuff only from the TV. Still nothing. Picture, no sound. The only way to get sound is to connect the bar over wifi or bluetooth, and it works fine. This is why I think the issue is with the soundbar HDMI ports. I could also try to connect a laptop to the soundbar and see if that works, which would eliminate the issue being on the TV side, but that seems unlikely at this point because I was initially running the HTPC to the soundbar first. 

Lastly, the config I outlined in step 4 above has an annoying side effect. Sometimes the TV seems to "forget" which HDMI port its on, and the screen goes all static. The only way to fix it is to open the TV settings and change the input, then change it back. Not very wife or kid friendly! 

[AndrewL]

@D_Wiz: With the TV and soundbar turned on, if you don't run the connection through the HTPC, and connect an HDMI cable to the HDMI IN (ARC) port of the TV, and the HDMI OUT (TV-ARC) port of the soundbar, does TV ARC appear on the soundbar display? If not, or if the sound is inaudible, press the source button on the soundbar remote so D.IN appears on the display. The display should show D.IN then TV ARC in sequence, and you should be good to go. If you are wanting to run the connection through your HTPC, use the regular HDMI inputs on the TV and soundbar. 

If the issue persists, please can you confirm the model number of the TV you're connecting to?

[D_Wiz]

I configured the cords as you specified and switched the soundbar to D.IN. As you said, it showed D.IN then switched to TV ARC. However, there was still no sound. I tried two different HDMI cords to be sure, and checked the TV sound output to ensure it was correct, and it said “HW-N850(HDMI). No sound.

The TV is a UN60KS8000F.

Thank you again!

[D_Wiz]

Any other help? This still is broken and driving us crazy. Is it possible the HDMIs on the soundbar just went out? 

[CarlH]

Hey @D_Wiz, Hope all is well. When and where Did you purchase the soundbar?

[D_Wiz]

Hi @CarlH! I bought it on Amazon and got it in January 2019. 

[pingouin47]

Hi @D_Wiz,

Sorry for resurrecting this. I think I have the same issue...
Did you fix it?

My soundbar is 4 years old... I'll be sad if it's already broken 😞

[D_Wiz]

Hi, happy to provide an update. 

I ended up sending the soundbar to Samsung for service. They had it for quite awhile, and sent it back. The issue appeared to be fixed, but then happened again when I tried to plug a Roku into the soundbar. 

So I got a new soundbar 😄. No issues since. If it happened to you too, it must just be shoddy internal mechanisms. Good luck!

[pingouin47]

Hi, thank you for your answer!

I ended up by unplug everything (HDMI and sector) for the night. I plugged back in this morning, starting by HDMI then sector. And tadamm it's working!

Maybe the soundbar need to be unplugged from sector before touching HDMI cord... I hope it will work for long time