Potential Major Issue with 2020 Samsung tv's with One Connect and eARC

[Mike2020]

Hi All

Posted previously about my experience with a Q95T and Sonos Arc, and connecting via eARC. On enabling eARC to Auto on the Sound Settings, no sound is output from the device and thats from any source, in built apps/Dolby Atmos/4K Blu etc.

On turning eARC off, sound is restored through the soundbar.

I have contacted Sonos and Samsung directly with both blaming the other party for the issue and that's disappointing. 

On discussions with both communities, it now appears that users with the Q80T can connect via eARC, however many users with Q95T and Frame 2020 models cannot get sound via the eARC so potentially a big issue.

This also now sounds like a Samsung issue, as the standard eARC function not talking to the Sonos Arc via one connect, but other Samsung models are talking to Sonos Arc. I have seen evidence of this on a Q80T where eARC is working and the device shows as Reciever (HDMI eARC), on the Q95T, on setting to Auto you get Reciever HDMI.

Can this be escalated to samsung please as quite a lot of users are affected and returning tv's for other mfrs models?

Thanks

Mike

[mdiiorio]

What's really disappointing is that only this post is 28 pages long so far, and it doesn't contain a single reply from Samsung. We are talking about the entire 2020 line of TVs affected by this problem, and they remain in complete silence.

[Pete378]

I have an update to my earlier post.

On Sunday I reported the problem to Samsung support who remotely connected to the TV, reset the HDMI ports and the sound bar as well as some other adjustments. Lo and behold it all worked correctly so I asked how long the fix would work for and I was assured that it was permanent. I tried to playing some 7.1 Dolby videos and it sounded superb.

Later in the evening, up popped the message saying that the Atmos enabled device was being disconnected following which it didn't even appear in the Sound Output list.

Monday morning I phone Samsung support again and got through to someone who said that the TV and soundbar were incompatible as one was a 2020 model the other 2019. I was questioning her about this when we got cut off. Phoning back again I got hold of someone different who said that he would get a service engineer to visit to resolve the issue. He gave me the name of the local agent who I have already dealt with and are very good.

The service agent phoned me later in the day and after telling him all about it and the fact the the TV was only a few days old, he said that although he could come out and change the main board, it would probably do no good and would be a waste of time and money. When I pointed out this forum and all the comments on it, he said that he would call the support people at Samsung UK and then get back to me. 

He called me back this morning and said that he had had a long talk with them but that they had never heard of this type of problem and were not aware of anything on the internet about it either. 

He was very apologetic about the lack of response and could only suggest going back to the retailer and trying to get hold of a different model of sound bar as I've already tried 3 different Q90's.

So there you have it. Samsung UK categorically deny that anyone has a problem of this type and there is nothing on the internet about it. So it begs the question. Who is going to resolve this issue and perhaps more importantly, how and when. I didn't spend that much money to then spend my time having to chase around trying to get it to work correctly.

Samsung have a fantastic product here with great pictures and sound but are tarnishing their name with poor support and their denial of an issue.

[mdiiorio]

The question here is, how many people are using eARC? how many people know what eARC is? Samsung clearly knows that they have a big problem and denying it just make things worse. Only this thread has 29 pages. How many more threads do they need? 

Here in Spain the service agent that was going to come home told me that he talked with a Samsung engineer and that he told him that this is a known issue that was going to be fixed in the next firmware, and to complicate things, that both Samsung and Sony (in my case - ST5000) have to work together to both release new firmware versions. We agreed to cancel the onsite visit. It was pointless. Now, it has passed more than a month and I'm still waiting for a firmware to fix this... 

[waclark57]

At first I wasn't so upset with this issue but things seem to be getting worse, not better. I opted to put a Fire TV stick on my Samsung The Frame TV and everything was great, for about a New York second. Now it seems like even passthrough isn't working right. I am constantly having to toggle between eArc and no eArc, Auto, PCM, Passthrough etc until it starts working. 

I finally put a smart switch on the Sonos so I can power toggle it without having to get up and pull the cord. It's really annoying and the only thing saving my sanity right now is my wife is at our second home. Otherwise I would be hearing endless yelling, "the tv sound isn't working again" a la Howard's mother from Big Bang...LOL

[Scoops77]

Personally I don’t see a fix coming. Would love to be proved wrong. I feel for all those who’ve forked out a fair whack for something which simply doesn’t do what it says on the spec sheet. Irrespective of whether you care/want to use eArc, if you’re told it’s compatible then it should just work. End of. 

On the hassle you’re enduring. I’d recommend using the HDMI to Optical adapter and living with 5.1. I was fortunate to return my Q95 to the retailer. But trying this as a last resort did resolve the annoying constant cut out/reset issue. But accepted, it grated me too much to live with it as a long-term solution. 

[Gareth78]

it’s a complete joke isn’t it, I’m pushing for a full refund and am going through the motions with Samsung now....it is long.

I will post my progress when it’s hopefully all complete. I don’t see this being fixed by a firmware update, surely it would of happened by now plus the fact that Samsung are so quiet about the issue which worries me.

[MickPB]

Purchased q90t 65"  and new Denon rcvr.  ARC works for a week or two and then fails.   Will work after power off for a few days then stage 3 sets in where it no longer works without a factory reset.  My retailer is dealing with this issue and my situation is not unique.   There are also no new TV in stock or in route to a Major US retailer. 

I'm trading it for another brand

[mdiiorio]

We are in Feb 2021 and still no firmware update and not a single word from Samsung. What a shame...

[waclark57]

Maybe it's time we took the offensive. I don't know why we aren't putting this message out on every review site we can find. Go to Amazon, write reviews that call this out. Go to Google and everywhere else. Make this go viral. Let's see how Samsung responds to that?

[Mad_Angler]

Just adding to this, I just started my own thread but then found this. 

49” Q80 with the Q70T and was fine on eARK for a month and now getting constant issues with the eARK connection going on the TV and then all sorts of issues with the WiFi sound sound from both devices cutting in and out and all sorts of a mess.  Reboot the TV only and it works again for 1-3 days and it starts again.  Rebooting the sound bar does nothing.  It’s 100% side.  
Was fine for a month or so after purchase then just started to play up and it’s been terrible since.  

really sad to see this thread and all the comments and no action or response from Samsung.