I ended up giving up on the Roku Express altogether. I then went to Roku stick but that gave me issues because it didn't have an IR remote sensor to work with everything else I have. I ended up just splurging since it's my main TV and got a Roku ultra and everything has been fine.
The funny thing is that I have the same setup with a Vizio 50 and same soundbar in the master bedroom and it has worked fine thus far. Maybe a defective Roku?
I'm not so sure. Any Roku Express I tried would do the same thing. I guess if you try swapping them around it'll let you know.
thanks.
I’ll let you know if the HDMI CEC less adapter works. I should get it tomorrow.
The adapter worked for me==sometimes. Sometimes it would work for a while and then just stop. Sometimes it cause somethign else to get confused. I eventually just bailed on ROKU for my good TV.