Struggling with eARC connection: TV - Amp

[daveenty]

I have an LG OLED65C9PLA running through a Denon AVR-X2600H surround system via eARC and, up until Wednesday evening, everything has been fine with it.

I switch the TV on using it's remote which automatically fires the amp up After a couple of seconds I get a notification telling me that Denon is now available and it then takes over, which is good. I also use the TV's remote to adjust the volume on the amp and mute if needed, it also switches the amp off when the TV is switched off at the end of the night, basically all was working exactly as it should have been.

On Wednesday the volume control wouldn't respond for some reason but, as it was a bit late I just left it and went to bed. I did however unplug both the TV and amp, possibly expecting some form of re-set. This is something which doesn't usually get done.

Come Thursday I thought I'd try to sort it out as I could only adjust the volume using the Denon remote. After messing with lots of settings and unplugging everything apart from the eARC cable, I finally got the volume sorted out again but had to resort to switching the amp on and off manually. I carried on tweaking settings, initially making it worse but now seem to have nearly everything as it should be. The amp switches on with the TV, the volume on the amp works from the TV's remote but I still have to switch the amp off manually when I turn the TV off as otherwise it just stays on.

Another thing, possibly not related though probably is, is that when I now go to the settings menu in the amp after changing to the correct input on the TV, it's telling me that there's no signal, so I'm now struggling to tweak/adjust anything else as all I have is the tiny display on the front screen.
ETA: Menu's are now appearing for some reason, nothing I've done as I went for a walk instead, knowing that it couldn't follow me...

Any help appreciated as this is doing my head in. It worked fine, now it doesn't. It's all under warranty but I'm pretty convinced that this is a settings issue and not really a hardware problem.

Edited by daveenty on Friday 29th April 17:14

[Murph7355]

eARC, like TV aerials, is the work of the devil.

Have you tried ANOther HDMI port on the TV?

[daveenty]

Murph7355 said:

eARC, like TV aerials, is the work of the devil.

Have you tried ANOther HDMI port on the TV?

Excellent timing, just checking for replies and yours appeared.

I only have one HDMI port with ARC so it has to be the one it's on. However, I currently have disabled the "e" from the eARC and we seem to be getting somewhere. Both the TV and the amp are allegedly compatible with eARC but don't seem to want to play together correctly when it's switched on. I'll have another mess with it later but at the moment I'm going to leave it as it is. I'll try another HDMI cable tomorrow as I'm not convinced that the one I'm using is HDMI 2.1, which may be the reason that eARC is not working.

I'll post back with any updated results...

[mr_tony]

Just a thought - does your tv ‘automatically’ upgrade its firmware (I.e. is it connected to Wi-Fi) - potentially a reasons it was working, now isn’t, because a firmware upgrade changed something? Might be an,e to check the date of the last firmware upgrade on the tv to see if this is a possibility…

[JimbobVFR]

I had similar issues which were solved with a different HDMI cable, like yours mine worked perfectly for a while. Worth a try

[daveenty]

mr_tony said:

Just a thought - does your tv ‘automatically’ upgrade its firmware (I.e. is it connected to Wi-Fi) - potentially a reasons it was working, now isn’t, because a firmware upgrade changed something? Might be an,e to check the date of the last firmware upgrade on the tv to see if this is a possibility…

Thanks but I have both the amp & the TV set to notify me before any firmware updates take place, I have just checked again, so not that unfortunately

JimbobVFR said:

I had similar issues which were solved with a different HDMI cable, like yours mine worked perfectly for a while. Worth a try

New HDMI 2.1 cable ordered now so will give it a try but, typically, it's been working faultlessly since my last mess about so I'm rather loathe to disturb it at the moment.

[Murph7355]

daveenty said:

mr_tony said:

Just a thought - does your tv ‘automatically’ upgrade its firmware (I.e. is it connected to Wi-Fi) - potentially a reasons it was working, now isn’t, because a firmware upgrade changed something? Might be an,e to check the date of the last firmware upgrade on the tv to see if this is a possibility…

Thanks but I have both the amp & the TV set to notify me before any firmware updates take place, I have just checked again, so not that unfortunately

JimbobVFR said:

I had similar issues which were solved with a different HDMI cable, like yours mine worked perfectly for a while. Worth a try

New HDMI 2.1 cable ordered now so will give it a try but, typically, it's been working faultlessly since my last mess about so I'm rather loathe to disturb it at the moment.

If it's working, walk away from the TV backwards, staring it down. Be as quiet as you can and leave it alone

On mine (Sony TV/Denon amp) it took a load of buggering about with settings on both devices before it would work. Then I was left with the TV not passing surround sound from streaming services....took ages to find a solution, then found out that changing the audio mode on the amp sorted it.

I've not touched it since and live in fear of it turning against me.

If yours is working, I doubt the new cable will make much difference.

[Harry Flashman]

EARC on my LG TV is exactly the same. Has just stopped working again for no good reason, and will randomly come back at some point.

I have an optical out also plugged I to the AVR so that I can switch inputs, but it meS streaming from the TV rather than the Apple Connect plugged into the AVR , so no Atmos, just Surround.

Shall offer up a voodoo spell or some sort of sacrifice to get the gods of ARC to bless this house again.

[mr_tony]

Hey so there is a quirk with Apple TV if that’s what you’re using - some channels ‘confuse’ the eARC (I’m runnin a Sonos arc sound bar from an lg tv with Apple TV as the input). I’ve found using movies on 4k, then flipping back to iPlayer (for example) that you lose sound. Can’t find the link but after Googling just found that rebooting the Apple TV solves it. Recent software updates seem to have improved things it still happens infrequently__ not sure if that helps but figured it could be relevant…

[Nimby]

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier. I've been having ARC problems with my LG OLED TV and Sony amp (both oldish and HDMI 2.0) so I have literally just ordered an LG C1 and Denon X3700H assuming that eARC / HDMI 2.1 would solve all my issues.

[daveenty]

Since my last post it seems to have sorted itself out somewhat, in that everything is currently working as it should.

Turn the TV on using it's own remote while the Amp is on stand-by and after a few seconds I get a pop up on the screen telling me "Denon now available" and it then kicks in. Volume adjustment is normal, with the TV remote altering the settings on the amp.

Switching it off is now also good with the TV remote. The lot just goes to stand-by instantly with no drama.

The only thing I've not done since is to re-enable the eARC, leaving it on ARC only as I never did get round to ordering the correct 2.1 HDMI cable and, as suggested above, I don't really want to mess with it any further in case it throws another hissy fit.

"If it ain't broke" is currently the phrase which comes to mind...

[mgv8]

Nimby said:

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier. I've been having ARC problems with my LG OLED TV and Sony amp (both oldish and HDMI 2.0) so I have literally just ordered an LG C1 and Denon X3700H assuming that eARC / HDMI 2.1 would solve all my issues.

There is a way better chance that HDMI 2.1 will fix your problems as it's such a better-defined implementation.