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

[Seanfitznz]

Has there been any developments on this? Almost three years later and I'm having similar issues with my Samsung Frame 2022. Think it relates to the one connect box. Samsung sent a local service tech who replaced the motherboard/port unit in the one connect box and it seemed to fix the issue. Was working perfectly for about month and then I rearranged my AV setup and what do you know, back to it's old tricks. Should have known not to mess with it but it shouldn't been so temperamental.

[CoolGuy4Ever]

Upgraded my olddddd Samsung (circa 2014) to a new 75" Frame. On my old Samsung everything worked just fine (I have a Sonos Playbar from 2013 connected via optical for my 5.1 setup) including crystal clear, lag-free surround sound on the TV's on-board apps and my PS5 and XboxSeries S.

When I started setting everything up on The Frame, however, the on-board apps came through in 5.1, but the PS5 and Xbox pushed stereo unless I selected something like Dolby which causes a massive delay (this was true on my old TV, too, but I was able to use Bitstream which worked like a charm). I've played with all the settings, but nothing worked.

So, I bought an HDMI audio extractor, plugged my optical into that and slotted it into HDMI 3 for eARC. Now I'm able to force pass-through on the PS5 and I get awesome surround sound there. However, since using eARC, the on-board apps only come through in 2.0. I play around with the settings but seemingly at random the TV will simply stop outputting audio through the HDMI input and force TV audio only.

Samsung support on the phone was zero help - after about 20 minutes of reiterating the issue, i was told to power cycle the TV and then email Sonos as "this is a problem with the soundbar".

I'm super frustrated as we saved up for this TV and it performs worse than my cheap old black Friday Samsung from a decade ago. Anyone have any great tips? Seems like maybe swapping out the One Connect Box's motherboard works, at least for a time?

[CrustyMcferrin]

Hi Chap,

Unfortunately, from my experience I can only say that I believe you are in for prolonged agony!

I was unable to sort mine out. The one connect box isn't fit for purpose in my humble opinion. I would advise you push, push and push again for a refund. It took me ages to get currys to yield but I wasn't going to give up. I ended up moving to a Sony and its been flawless.

Best of luck.

[El Vikingo]

Hello fellow sufferer,

I have spent too much on buying official cables and testing out each and every possibility. It seems clear that Samsung marketed HDMI 2.1 without having the technology to sustain it. In the time I have had a Samsung television (2 years), I have received updates to my receiver software regularly and, I think 2 from Samsung. Neither made any difference at all. I watch everything via an Amazon Firestick 4K, plugged directly into the receiver. Sometimes this includes live TV. The sound through the Samsung only works when I disable ARC. The only solution is this or change TV to a more reliable brand. I will never buy another Samsung, never. My Sony TV worked flawlessly for 15 years. I changed it to have 4K. As soon as I can justify the expense, I will replace the Samsung for ANY other brand TV.

Fight for a refund and good luck

[Seanfitznz]

Still having issues but have found some fairly consistent fixes/workaround which is positive. To start with, Samsung sent a local service tech to review the issue. They bought with them a replacement motherboard/port unit for the One Connect Box without even asking any questions. But all this did was essentially reset everything from a hardware perspective, i.e. the TV forgets the HDMI link to the sound device and vice versa. Anyway, it worked a charm for about a month (perfect eARC functionality). But the second decided to try and reconfigure things/plug a new HDMI device in it went back to it's old tricks.

Got me thinking/researching further and I stumbled upon this article on a Samsung Support Thread –

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/tv/solution-found-q950a-earc-problems/td-p/3633680/page/9?fbclid...0

Essentially it has something to with the samsung universal remote function as it registers on both devices the delay causes the eARC handshake to trip. Once the handshake goes bad it's hard to come back without a resetting the devices or refreshing the HDMI ports. Probably why samsung favours just swapping them out and starting a fresh. Seems crazy they haven't found a fix as of yet but sounds like it's not entirely software relate and can vary depending on the output devices. Can't say I used all of this guy’s steps but it still got me on to a few handy fixes:

1. HDMI Refresh - Unplug all of the HDMI Devices. Turn off at the wall and leave for 5 minutes. Plug the HDMI's back in and when you turn the devices back on it should form a fresh eARC link.
2. Try deleting any devices saved under the samsung universal remote menu. In my case, it can still be enabled on both devices. Once the eARC connection is established the TV registers the device information (POWERNODE-HDMI-CEC), you don't need to go through Samsungs setup remote/device prompts.
3. If all else fails, plug a secondary video input device into the One Connect Box, e.g. PC into HDMI 1, play something through the separate input device (HDMI 1), then hard reset the audio device (HDMI 3/eARC). Once it comes back on line the audio should switch to the eARC device (don’t ask me why).

I'm currently on week three of seamless eARC connection, what a world. Won’t hold my breath but at least I can pinpoint the issue somewhat. Think my wife was ready to pack up and leave if I started messing with the sound settings at the start of a movie again…