Remotes

[stillconfused]

Edited to provide correct model numbers (as they appear in Roku settings), and correct punctuation,

I have a Roku Voice Remote Pro (rev 1, model RC795) from a Roku Express 4K (SKU 3942RA2).  I have successfully paired it with a 2018 Roku Ultra (model 4660X).  I have tried to set it up to control my TV (Samsung 2014 UN65H7150AF) multiple times, but during the setup process, the system/remote cannot find the correct codes to control the TV.

Oddly, the Voice Remote Pro (rev 1, retail model RC917) I got for my wife in December 2023 is able to control the TV power and volume, no problem.  Additionally, the original Gaming Remote (model RC193) that came with the Roku Ultra has always controlled TV power and volume, no problem.

Is there a difference between the rev 1 Voice Remote Pro model RC917 retail remote and the rev 1 Voice Remote Pro model RC795 remote that came with the Roku Express 4K?  Is there any reason that one rev 1 Voice Remote Pro controls the TV's power and volume, but the other can't?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tivoburkee]

Take your Roku remote pair it to your wife's Roku, program it for the Samsung tv. Now re-pair to your Roku, the remote should still control the Samsung tv. 

[stillconfused]

Sorry for the confusion.

To clarify, the Ultra 4660X is the only Roku we have set up.  I haven't set up the Roku Express 4K. I bought that just to get the rev 1 Voice Remote Pro.

Both the original Gaming Remote that came with the Ultra (model RC193) and retail rev 1 Voice Remote Pro (model RC917, SKU RCS01R) control the Samsung TV power, and the attached Samsung HW-M550 soundbar power and volume, without any problem. The Samsung soundbar is connected to the TV via optical (TOSLINK) cable, not CEC.

The original Gaming Remote and retail rev 1 Voice Remote Pro are configured to use IR, not CEC.

I tried a lot of different things, but was not able to get the VRP model RC795 to control the soundbar volume, details below.

I re-entered "Set up remote for TV control" for the original Gaming Remote RC193, just to see if there is a difference in the codes between the RC193 and RC795.  The Gaming Remote RC193 iterated 19 codes, and found the correct codes to control my Samsung TV and soundbar at code 19.  So, there is a difference in codes between the RC193 and RC795.

VRP model RC795 iterates only 8 codes and fails to find the codes for the Samsung HW-M550/ZA Soundbar. 

To recap:

• I only have 1 Roku set up - Roku Ultra 4660X.  I don't intend to set up the Express 4K.  I bought it just to get the rev 1 Voice Remote Pro.
• The Ultra's original Gaming Remote RC193 and Dec 2023 rev 1 Voice Remote Pro RC917 are able to control power and volume on both my Samsung UN65H7150AF TV and Samsung HW-M550/ZA Soundbar.
• I can pair the RC795 with the Ultra 4660X
• If I disable TV audio out to the soundbar and turn off the soundbar, Roku's "Set up remote for TV control" function is able to find the code to control my Samsung UN65H7150AF TV power and volume.  However, this code does not allow the VRP model RC795 control my Samsung HW-M550/ZA Soundbar power or volume.
• With the soundbar enabled, the "Set up remote for TV control" function is not able to find the codes to control my soundbar, for the VRP model RC795
• Even manually selecting each of the 8 available codes for the VRP model RC795, none of them control my Samsung HW-M550/ZA Soundbar.

Things I tried.  None of these worked:

• cycling power on the Ultra, i.e., unplugging for more than 10s, then plugging back in.
• rebooting the RC795, i.e., pressing and holding the pairing button from 20s.
• attempting to set up the RC795 to control TV via "add a device", not "add a remote".  It walked me through the same process, i.e., iterate 8 codes, with the same result.
• find my remote from Ultra's settings, as per user Reaton1984 in this post.  Not able to control the soundbar. 
• With soundbar disabled, and TV using its internal speaker, I entered Roku remote TV control setup for the RC795.  It muted the internal TV speakers with code 5.  VRP model RC795 is able to control TV power and internal TV speaker volume with this code.  However, when the soundbar is re-enabled and turned on, VRP model RC795 is not able to control the soundbar power or volume.
• With soundbar enabled, I entered Roku remote TV control setup for the RC795 and "manually" selected each of the 8 codes one at a time.  That is, from "Set up remote for TV control", I chose a code even though I could still hear the music.  Each time, I re-enabled the soundbar, to no avail.  VRP model RC795 is not able to control the soundbar.

My setup details:

Roku Ultra 2018

model 4660X

software 13.1.4, build 1512-46

Gaming Remote

firmware 2.01.19.108

model RC193

This is the original Gaming Remote that came with the Ultra 4660X and controls the TV and soundbar.

Voice Remote Pro (rev 1, retail)

firmware rtn.4246

model RC917

SKU RCS01R

This is the retail VRP that controls TV and soundbar, purchased Dec 2023

Voice Remote Pro (rev 1, from Roku Express 4K)

firmware rtn.4246

model RC795

This is the "new" VRP that came with the Express 4K.  It does not send codes to control the soundbar.

2014 Samsung UN65H7150AF TV

2017 Samsung HW-M550/ZA Soundbar, connected to TV via optical audio (TOSLINK) cable

[stillconfused]

Last follow up.  I bought a 2nd rev 1 Voice Remote Pro (retail, SKU RCS01R) online direct from Roku (8/6/2024).  The model delivered is an RC917, like the first rev 1 VRP I bought in Dec 2023.

I paired this new VRP model RC917 with our Roku Ultra 4660X.  I did not need to enter "Setup remote for TV control".  After the remote as paired to our Ultra, it automatically controlled the power on our Samsung UN65H7150AF TV, and power and volume on our Samsung HW-M550/ZA Soundbar.  No other changes needed!

So, that leaves me with several questions.  Roku Community and Support, please answer if you can:

• Does the Roku Ultra store the codes identified from successfully setting up TV control on our other remotes, then send them to new remotes after pairing?  If not, how does this new VRP RC917 control our Samsung TV and soundbar, having never entered "Setup remote for TV control"?
• Is the VRP RC795 that came with the Express 4K supposed to be able to control Samsung TVs and soundbars?  If so, is our VRP RC795 (that came with the Express 4K) broken?  If not, why is compatibility with Samsung devices restricted (compared with VRP model RC917)?
• Is the RC795 not able to control our Samsung Soundbar because of something that I did?  Instead of going directly to "Setup remote for TV control", should I have stopped after pairing the remote to the Roku Ultra and just tried the volume controls?  If I did mess up the RC795 by entering "Setup remove for TV control", is there a way to truly reset it?  I tried rebooting the RC795 several times, i.e., pressing the pairing button for 20s until the blinking green pairing light stopped.  But that had no effect. 

Thanks!

[Tivoburkee]

@stillconfused 

On your new remote point the remote at your cellphone camera and press both tv power button and the volume buttons, at different times. Do you see flashes from the front of the Roku remote? Or nothing? Flashes means it controlling your tv by IR. No flashes mean it's controlling the tv by wifi, in other words hdmi-cec. The Roku is picking up the wifi commands and then emitting cec over the hdmi cable to control the Samsung devices. With cec you don't need to program the tv brand, since all tv brands accept the same cec signal for say volume up as each other. It's not magic it knew your tv brand. 🙂

[stillconfused]

@Tivoburkee Thanks for the response!

I pointed the new remote at my phone camera and pressed the remote power button, and saw the blinking IR transmitter at the top of the remote (in the live camera image on my iPhone).  I pressed the remote volume up and volume down buttons and also saw the blinking IR transmitter on my phone.

I was standing next to the side of the TV, about 3 feet away with the TV off.  I was pointing the remote at my face, so that the remote was not pointed at the Roku Ultra, TV, or soundbar.

Neither the TV nor soundbar turned on.

From the same location, when I press the "back" button on the remote, I see no blinking IR transmitter, but the TV turns on with the Roku home screen displayed.

I moved to the front of the TV, started streaming, and with the Roku remote, turned the volume up, then pressed the mute button.  The soundbar was silent.

I then went back to the side of the TV, pointed the remote at my face/camera and pressed the volume up button.  IR transmitter is blinking, but still no sound.  I did that because I can't see the soundbar display from the side of the TV.  Since I cannot tell, visually, whether the soundbar is responding to remote button presses when standing at the side of the TV, I needed a scenario that I could verify with sound.

It seems that some RC917 buttons use wifi/wireless, e.g., the back button, and some use IR, e.g., power, volume and mute.  But, that's not too surprising as all my Roku remotes are configured in Roku settings to use IR not CEC.

This Samsung TV does support CEC.  But, the soundbar is connected to the TV via optical audio (TOSLINK) cable.  I would have to connect the soundbar to the TV via HDMI cable to support CEC between the TV and soundbar.

[Tivoburkee]

So, your Samsung tv and Samsung soundbar respond to the same code. You're adding a new remote to older Roku, which was already programmed for Samsung devices. So, the new remote during pairing was loaded with Samsung tv code like your other remotes that control the same Roku. 

Samsung tv codes aren't all exactly alike, there are older Samsung codes preset in oem & universal remotes with an old protocol, which doesn't give you repeating volume commands when used on updated Samsung tv's. You have to press it constantly to get it to move the volume up & down. Maybe the 4k+ remote is programmed for an older Samsung code, which the soundbar doesn't respond to? 

[stillconfused]

@Tivoburkee  Thanks for the reply!

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@Tivoburkee wrote:

So, your Samsung tv and Samsung soundbar respond to the same code. You're adding a new remote to older Roku, which was already programmed for Samsung devices. So, the new remote during pairing was loaded with Samsung tv code like your other remotes that control the same Roku.  

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That certainly seems to be the case.  It is interesting that both new rev 1 VRP RC917 remotes loaded the correct codes during pairing, but the rev 1 VRP RC795 remote did not.

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@Tivoburkee wrote:

Samsung tv codes aren't all exactly alike, there are older Samsung codes preset in oem & universal remotes with an old protocol, which doesn't give you repeating volume commands when used on updated Samsung tv's. You have to press it constantly to get it to move the volume up & down.

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I never really paid attention to this.  I tried it now with the Gaming Remote RC193 and both VRP RC917 remotes. When I press and hold the volume up or volume down buttons, the soundbar volume continues to increase or decrease, respectively.  I don't know if that is a repeating volume command, but the old Gaming Remote RC193 supports that protocol, as do the newer rev 1 VRP RC917 remotes.

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@Tivoburkee wrote:

Maybe the 4k+ remote is programmed for an older Samsung code, which the soundbar doesn't respond to? 

---

Right - the Express 4K's rev 1 VRP RC795 doesn't seem to have or be able to find the codes to control my Samsung soundbar.  That is, after forgetting the RC795, pairing the RC795 to the Ultra (but not entering TV control setup), the volume controls on the RC795 do not control the soundbar.  When I press the volume buttons on the RC795, the red LED in the TV's IR receiver isn't blinking, either.  So, it seems that pairing the RC795 won't loaded it with the codes for my Samsung TV or soundbar.

Also, the RC795 takes me right into TV control setup.  If I continue with TV control setup, it will iterate 8 codes, then fail out.  That is, I am prompted to confirm my TV brand (it recognizes that I have a Samsung TV), asks me if music is playing, then tries codes 1 through 8, asking if I still hear musing playing, and whether I want to continue.  After code 8, I get the "Unable to set up remote.  We couldn't set up your Roku remote to work with your SAMSUNG TV.  Try again or set it up later.  To learn more, visit go.roku.com/remotehelp" message.

Lesson Learned: When replacing older Roku remotes, buy a retail Roku remote instead of buying a Roku Express that includes a remote that you think you want.  Apparently, not all rev 1 Voice Remote Pro models are equal.  The retail rev 1 VRP RC917 seems to support more TV and soundbar codes than the rev 1 VRP RC795 that comes with the Roku Express 4K.