02-01-2021 11:54 AM - last edited 02-01-2021 11:55 AM
My TV is connected to a Pioneer AV receiver via HDMI and an optical cable. (Optical for when we plug stuff straight into the TV or watch Prime, etc and want surround) The TV keeps displaying "Setting up external speaker with Universal remote", then fails as no external speaker is connected. So I go into the settings, set the output to Optical (for the 300th time) and watch as it runs through the process again, setting the output back to speaker without me touching anything. So I set it back to optical and then it's fine. For a random time then it does it all again. Sometimes it'll do it a dozen times in an hour, sometimes it'll go for several hours without doing it.
I've disconnected everything, updated the firmware and done a factory reset. Still does it. Reconnected everything, still does it. Unplugged the optical cable and set it to speakers, still does it. Nothing I do stops this.
Any ideas?
28-08-2022 03:16 PM - last edited 28-08-2022 03:31 PM
Hmm, I only have the TV and soundbar. Soundbar is connected to TV via. optical and TV does not have anything going out.
I just double checked and there isn't a HDMI out for the TV. I'll give the HDMI-ARC port a try.
I even tried removing the AppleTV universal remote with no luck. Still same error popup message.
28-08-2022 03:17 PM
The funny thing is that it was working fine for a month. I wonder what caused it to trigger the error message. I even tried to reset the TV to the factory settings but it popped up instantly. Bizarre behavior.
28-08-2022 04:52 PM
In my case, I noticed the error from the start. I’m not using a sound bar but rather, a receiver.
I had tried everything, factory reset, etc…Nothing fixed it until I got rid of the optical cable going to the receiver.
Since you’re using a sound bar, I suggest you try connecting via Bluetooth.
29-08-2022 03:24 PM
Switching from optical to HDMI solved it. I'm also using HDMI EARC. Hopefully this is helpful to someone else out there.
23-10-2022 03:25 AM
I'm getting this message over and over on Samsung QN65Q6DTAFXZA, but I have both an HDMI to a soundbar and an optical cable to a wireless headphone set for late-night viewing - there's no HDMI connector in the headphone base. I've had the TV for a year, and this just started a few months ago. So, if I unplug the optical, the error message should stop? I have the Sound on the TV set to TV Speaker because it's passing sound through HDMI, so that really shouldn't matter. This is nuts!
23-10-2022 04:12 AM - last edited 23-10-2022 04:14 AM
If you unplug the optical all together it will likely solve the problem. For late nights may I suggest using Bluetooth to connect? I don’t have experience with the latter but it is my best guess.
good luck and I’m glad my experience has helped someone else. Cheers!
06-11-2023 10:27 PM
I know this is an old post but I recently had this issue on my Au9007 if anyone has connected smart devices. Delete them all and add them one by one. The issue will be old smart devices that are causing this issue. My TV is now fixed.
11-07-2024 08:10 PM
Hi,
I'm sorry to hear about what you were experiencing and hope that you have resolved the problem by now since your message was submitted several years ago. It was comforting to know that I am not the only experiencing (and being extremely frustrated) by this type of problem. After several years of enjoying and never having any problems with the audio on my Samsung 8 series 43 smart tv, I am now experiencing the opposite problem and do NOT want anything to do with the optical setting on my tv, but the tv seems insistent that I do. I either want the sound to come out of the tv speakers, my bluetooth headphones or earbuds, or one of my bluetooth speakers. Frankly, at this point, I would be happy no matter where the sound was coming from as long as it didn't stop every few seconds - few minutes!!!! No matter what I have the output set to in the sound settings, after a random period of time, it disconnects and displays that obnoxious "Setting up external speaker..." message. During that period of time, it is silent, and any attempt to adjust the volume results in a "this function is not available at this time" message. Sometimes a message instructing me to set the output to optical is displayed, and sometimes I am asked if I would like to continue setting up the smart remote (which I never wanted to set up in the first place), and I always choose the "cancel" option, but to no avail.
Thank you in advance to anyone who took the time to read or even skim this. I would be ever-so-grateful for and appreciative of any and all suggestions that anyone might have!! 🙂
12-01-2025 09:12 PM
I have the sound going to a recenser via EARC HDMI. I also have a box which broadcasts to my hearing ***** which is connected via optical. This arrangement worked fine until recently and now I get the dreaded error messages and the sound to the receiver cutting out.