Solution Found - Q950A eARC Problems

[Moralneeeick]

I have spent 4 painful days trying to solve the issues with eARC on the Q950A when paired with a Samsung TV (I have QN800A). I have finally got the eARC connection to persist and have some explains below. Hopefully someone from Samsung reads this and fixes their software.

What you need to sacrifice to get this to work:

Samsung universal remote for everything except Q950A.

CEC functionality from a non samsung device.

What the issues are:

1 - any device connected in the chain which has CEC enabled can break the earc handshake

2 - if you use samsung universal remote it will not leave the appropriate delays when turning on devices causing earc handshake to break

Steps to get a perfect earc setup:

1 - on every device except for TV disable CEC or HDMI control. Apple TV, Sky Q, Xbox, PS5. Has to be all of them.

2 - unplug all devices from tv and Soundbar and hard reset both. 950A hard reset is holding volume up and down on bar until you see INT displayed and then it says BYE.

3 - During Samsung tv setup plug everything back in (nothing into Soundbar, all into TV)

At this point samsung setup pairs things with the smart remote. But it also defaults earc to ‘off’ which is helpful for next step.

4 - once the tv is set up - do not enable earc (yet). Go to sources and universal remote and delete all sources created by Samsung so they default to HDMI 1, 2 etc. You can still rename them and add them to home just don’t use the universal remote.

5 - Turn off all HDMI inputs and turn off Soundbar.

6 - now enable earc in the menu. If it doesn’t switch on the Soundbar after this you can. It should detect earc for the first time.

7 - now turn on Xbox or PS5 - you will have to change the input manually on Samsung remote. In samsung sound settings on tv once the input is up select pass through and leave it.

Now you have an earc connection which can’t be killed by external sources. One final point:

whenever you turn on tv - make sure you turn on tv first and no other device. Soundbar should come on automatically if you have a Samsung tv - if not turn that on after tv is on. Check you have earc - if so you’re safe to turn other devices on.

I don’t know if Samsung will fix this - but I know understand why it’s not totally within their control. However it is in their control to fix pass through for multi channel LPCM and DTS-X.

make sure Xbox is set to bitstream Atmos pass through and PlayStation set to Dolby. Also make sure to change blu ray app output to bitstream within the player to get lossless Atmos.

Hope this helps someone. And I hope Samsung read it.

[SP4CEINV4DERZ]

Hey, a little late to the party, just got my QN85C TV and already had the Q950A soundbar and had the exact same issues as you.  What got it working for me so far is using a digital optical cable instead of the hdmi ports.  Maybe it's my hdmi cable which can't handle it but at least I got it functioning.  Hope it helps someone. 

[ayhamkutit]

Optical cables can't do eARC...So not sure what you're talking about

[ayhamkutit]

Apple TV 5.1 and Atmos issue!

So I had my Apple TV 4K connected to my Samsung QN95A which had a Sony 5.1 home theatre connected over eARC...Everything worked on until I got myself a Samsung Q990B soundbar which supports atmos.
Now if I set ATV audio mode to "auto" then I lose proper 5.1 surround on non-atmos content.
If I set ATV to DD 5.1 then I get the surround working but obviously I lose atmos....
So wth? Can't I get both if I connect ATV directly to TV??

Now, if I connect ATV directly to the soundbar then everything works as expected - but I'd like to connect it directly to the TV to get Q-Symphony working.

[SP4CEINV4DERZ]

No they can't do eARC but Samsung Qsymphony does work with Opitcal cable.

[ayhamkutit]

eARC means no atmos...

[Scott P]

I know this is an old thread, but i found something interesting.

I bought my QN800A TV and HW-Q900T sound bar in 2021 and after getting a new breakout box 2 months later, I have been really happy. However, just about a month ago, my sound bar wouldn't turn on when I turned on my TV. I had to use the sound bar remote to turn it on and then choose the eARC with TV manually. I unplugged everything as most everyone has done and it worked a few times and then stopped again. I was resigned to just deal with it until I had time to do a full reset.

Then I had bought a Amazon Fire Stick to set up for my Dad and plugged it into the TV breakout box. I set up all the apps he wanted and then disconnected and took and installed for him. 

I have had NO other issues with my TV and sound bar since and that had been a few weeks! Something just clicked and all is good.

Has anyone else tried this? Sure was an easy fix for me.

Scott

[Merezek]

Hi 
I know I’m so late to the party, but I just wonder if you were able to fix your issue.

I have qn95a and the very same problem - in my case the TV is coupled with Bang Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar. 

The problem is exactly as you describe- eARC works fine but when I turn off the TV and switch it back on again after more than say 15 seconds, the soundbar would not wake up. It only wakes up properly when the waiting time between toggling TV on and off is less than around 15 seconds, i.e. before the QLED splash screen appears.

It is very annoying. When this happens I need to disable eARC in advanced sound settings, the soundbar immediately switches on, and then I can reenable eARC. This is my daily routine and it is very annoying.

I tried different cables, LAN or WiFi ( just in case), resetting both TV and soundbar - all to no avail. 
Maybe have to wait until the new software appears, I don’t know, I’m losing hope.

Anyway hopefully this thread can be continued, I’m sure there’s more people struggling with same or similar eARC issues.

[SoAmusing777]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but the only fix was having my entire TV board replaced. Even when that happened it wasn't a total fix, and it was because dude the put the TV code or whatever. Been too long for awhile. 

[RhomboidGoatcabin]

I appear to be having a related issue with a S95B (55") TV and Q800C soundbar (+ SWA-9500S rear speakers).

For some reason, it will (seemingly randomly) not detect the soundbar is attached via eARC when switching on. Tried Samsung Support and we couldn't find the issue. Then a couple of days later it suddenly decided it would connect via eARC (I usually switch on using the Sky remote which will also turn on the TV, which turns on the soundbar...asusuming it detects eARC). When I switch off, I use the Sky remote to switch off Sky and the TV remote for the TV. When I come to switch on again, it's flip a coin or roll a dice as to whether eARC is working.

Prior to the Q800C I had a Yamaha soundbar (YAS-207) and had similar issues. I figured maybe getting a Samsung soundbar would make the connection more reliable, but it has not.

Connected to the TV I have Sky Q (HDMI 1), XBox X & PS5 (via 4K HDMI splitter to HDMI 2), soundbar (HDMI 3 eARC) and Panasonic 4k Blu-Ray (HDMI 4). It makes no difference which other devices are on/off as to whether the eARC connection is detected or not.

I only have ~1 month left on the TV warranty so I hope this is resolved as I'm thinking of buying an S95C (65") for the living room, moving the S95B to the bedroom and selling the Samsung 2020 43" QLED which is currently there (and connected consistently, as it happens, to a different Yamaha YAS-109 soundbar). I'm hesitant in pulling the trigger on the S95C purchase if the problem is likely to occur with this.

[ayhamkutit]

SOLUTION:

What will fix this issue is turning off "instant on" in the TV service menu.

I had this issue with QN95A and Q990C.