Discussions

[dd21]

After playing around for a bit, I think I may found what’s causing my issue. May help with some of our your issues. I believe when the TCL TV restarts from a Fast TV start, it is not able to make a connection via eARC with my sound bar. If it turns on from a full power off and full power on, it will make an eARC connection. 

To avoid Fast TV Start, I turn disable it under the power settings, as well as the 15 minute low power mode setting under power settings (this will put the TV in standby mode and Fast start it when resuming use). Instead I just have a screensaver kick in after 10 minutes, but keeps the TV on full power mode until I resume use rather than putting it in a standby mode. 

Lastly, even with Fast TV start disabled, it will still Fast TV start within 15 minutes of turning it off. It goes into a standby mode for 15 minutes before fully powering down. So I just need to pay attention if I try to use my TV again within 15 minutes of turning off to double check the CEC/audio settings. 

[StreamerUser]

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@wydoihavetoregi wrote:

Resumes working normal when no Chromecast plugged into HDMI 2. Audio stops working when Chromecast plugged back in. Does Roku do any serious QA before these major updates?

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Actually, yes - you (well, your devices):  Roku uses their slow staggered rollouts to user devices (from their beta update servers, which are the default for most devices) to test different builds before wider release.

You "opted in" to their default beta QA program when you purchased and setup your Roku device(s), you just didnt know it.

Ironically they have a firmware beta program, that doesnt seem useful for much other than providing its participants with early access knowledge of forthcoming features/changes.

Even better is that they insist you are not permitted to revert to previous firmware versions, or share the procedure to do so here in their forums - they insist users agreed to have non-functional devices/apps for the duration of whatever time it takes to issue a new build to fix the issues that precluded usage (of course users agreed to no such thing).

My recommendation is that you revert to 9.4 (if available and offered) via the "secret screen" procedure, and then change the update server to release (if configured to beta).

[wydoihavetoregi]

Do you have updated directions on how to revert?

[RJBatGmail]

Sounds like your experience is consistent with mine.

The TV is so poor at displaying blacks and gradients anyway... I just want to get something better from a company with a better reputation. I bought the cheapest thing I could find and I got my money's worth. 

[mctrn]

OK my problem was not the TV nor the AVR! I had set up a Pi 4 (Retropie) which broke the CEC/ARC communication between the TV and AVR for some reason regardless of whether it was plugged into the TV or AVR. So still figuring that out. False alarm.

[StreamerUser]

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@mctrn wrote:

OK my problem was not the TV nor the AVR! I had set up a Pi 4 (Retropie) which broke the CEC/ARC communication between the TV and AVR for some reason regardless of whether it was plugged into the TV or AVR. So still figuring that out. False alarm.

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Not an uncommon problem (of a device breaking other devices functionality due to a bad/buggy CEC implementation).   There are even cables (without connected CEC wires/pins) and devices (to disable/block CEC) for sake for just this reason.

I had an FS4K I had to keep removed from my primary HT setup for several months because it kept clobbering my volume controls and forced auto-mute on the TV/AVR as soon as it was connected (it disabled all volume/volume control functionality).

A newer firmware/"system component" eventually addressed it.

[elove]

Is anyone using the Vizio M512a-H6 soundbar with the Series Q825 TV. I am having EARC issues with the soundbar and TV.

I am having audio dropouts/cutouts when playing Dolby Atmos content when using the soundbar HDMI eArc input regardless of the app (Netflix, Disney +, AppleTV +) and source (Firecube, AppleTV 4K, TV apps). The TV sound setting is Auto - Dolby Atmos/DTS-HD Master Audio. I tried using the passthrough setting and the issue still happens.

This does not happen when I use the soundbar HDMI IN input.

I did a factory reset on the soundbar and did a power cycle. None of that worked. So, I returned the soundbar and got a new one.

Well, the new soundbar does the exact same thing. So, at this point, I don't think its a problem with the soundbar, but maybe the TV. So, I reset the TV audio/video settings and it is still not fixed. I also did a factory reset on the TV. That did not work. I have tried different HDMI cables that did not fix it. Again, it only happens when using the HDMI EARC input on the soundbar.

At this point, I don't know which device is at fault, since, it does the same thing with the new soundbar.
Thoughts/suggestions, I am at my wits end.

[CJfromTX]

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@wydoihavetoregi wrote:

Resumes working normal when no Chromecast plugged into HDMI 2. Audio stops working when Chromecast plugged back in. Does Roku do any serious QA before these major updates?

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Thanks so VERY much!!! This fix did the trick. I was so sick of having the audio issue/no surround sound that I even went out and bought a new receiver with the hopes that audio would now work. However, before I actually hooked up the new unit, I found this thread because after speaking to TCL Roku TV tech support they suggested there was a software/firmware issue with my receiver and that was the reason for the problem. Eventually,  I googled for Roku software issues with newer update with Arc issues and this thread popped up. I can’t believed it worked. We have a Mi Box in one of our HDMI slots which is an Android box with Chromecast. I unplugged the HDMI to that unit and voila it works…I can’t tell you how happy I am. I’ll return the new receiver and save the money. Again, thanks for your post!!!:

[GuitarMan]

Title says it all.  My eARC port seems to have been broken by OS version 10.5.  Roku deployed downgrades to some TVs but it's not available on mine.  How can I manually download and install 10.0?