Remotes

[Cindy53]

I am having problems with my Voice Remote Pro controlling my TV with voice commands.  I was able to pair the remote successfully as I can turn the TV on/off and control volume manually with the buttons on the remote.  But voice commands are not executed.  The commands are being heard as I get messages on the TV display which says the command is being executed, but it is not actually happening.   

I have already tried this trick:  

Why is my Roku enhanced remote able to control the volume or power for my TV, but not both?

With manufacturers producing various models, most TV brands have a number of remote codes. During the remote setup, your Roku player will attempt to narrow this list of possible codes on your specific TV brand and program the enhanced remote to the correct code. It is possible that the code programmed into your Roku enhanced remote when you heard the music stop only contains commands to control either volume or power, but not both. Using a different code for the TV brand may work to control both volume and power.

To have your Roku player try additional remote codes, restart the setup process for your Roku enhanced remote and alter the steps as follows:

1. When you first hear the music stop and are asked “Did the music stop playing?”, do not answer the question. Instead, turn the volume back up with your TV remote until the music is audible again.

2. Now, answer the question with No, and your Roku player will move on to try the next remote code.

3. The next time you hear the music stop, answer the question with Yes, and your Roku enhanced remote will be programmed with the new code.

4. In rare cases, you may need to repeat this process, answering No to multiple codes before you find a code that controls both volume and power. 

But what happens here is when I answer "No" under step 2, I don't get any alternate codes - I get this message: 

  

But that's not really true, as the remote IS paired and works manually!

I have a Roku Ultra 4660.

My TV is a Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-46S4100

Any help would be appreciated!

[Tivoburkee]

Sorry but no roku voice remote will control the volume of a non-roku tv. It would work if paired to Roku tv, but in your case you have Roku ultra connected to non-roku tv. The voice commands can not control outboard devices, just the roku itself. 

The reason the roku remote buttons control the non-roku tv is its controlling it by IR. 

[RokuAustin · Accepted solution]

Hi @Cindy53,

Thanks for posting to Community!

You've done a great amount of troubleshooting. Thank you so much for the detailed write up.

When you're using the physical volume buttons, your Voice Remote Pro uses IR technology to send the volume signal to your TV. 

It is possible to have this feature work from voice commands, however, you'll need to turn on HDMI-CEC, if your TV offers this functionality. If your TV doesn't offer HDMI-CEC then you'll need to use the physical volume buttons, but the good news is that we found the Sony Bravia settings below.

Enabling CEC is different for every TV brand. Some have separate settings for each, while others combine the features into one setting that turns ARC and CEC on or off at the same time. In general, you can often look in a "settings" menu for CEC-related settings, sometimes in a "system" or "advanced" submenu. ARC-related settings may be located in the same place, or they may appear separately in an "audio" or "sound" menu. 

Here are the settings that may work for your Sony TV:

Sony (BRAVIA Sync)

• CEC steps:

  1. Press the Home button on your Sony remote.
  2. Use the directional buttons to highlight Settings.
  3. Press the OK button.
  4. Select Watching TV.
  5. Select External inputs.
  6. Select BRAVIA Sync settings.
  7. Enable BRAVIA Sync control.

To really dive in and learn more about this feature, or for anyone else who may see this post and may have a different brand of TV, please refer to our helpful guide here which has basic instructions for some LG, Samsung, Sony, Hitachi, and other TV brands: https://support.roku.com/article/360034303013 

Let us know how it goes! We're hoping this will work for you.

Cheers,

Austin

[Cindy53]

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@Tivoburkee wrote:

Sorry but no roku voice remote will control the volume of a non-roku tv. It would work if paired to Roku tv, but in your case you have Roku ultra connected to non-roku tv. The voice commands can not control outboard devices, just the roku itself. 

The reason the roku remote buttons control the non-roku tv is its controlling it by IR. 

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Whoa!    No where did I see this explained on the Roku site before I purchased this remote!!   Guess it's going back

[Cindy53]

Sadly no luck.  My Sony TV does not have CEC capability (it's an old one), so this did not work.  I am going to have to return my Pro remote.  Roku should really do a better job of explaining the limitations.

[Tivoburkee]

The Voice Pro remote won't control your Sony using voice commands, it SHOULD control the Sony via the remote buttons and sending IR commands to your tv. But there have been Sony owners who have had trouble with roku remote previously, it should been fixed with this new remote. 

[Cindy53]

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@Tivoburkee wrote:

The Voice Pro remote won't control your Sony using voice commands, it SHOULD control the Sony via the remote buttons and sending IR commands to your tv. But there have been Sony owners who have had trouble with roku remote previously, it should been fixed with this new remote. 

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Thanks. Yes, my old remote actually works fine with the buttons.  I purchased this new Voice Remote Pro only because I was interested in the hands-free voice command feature.  Oh well!  

[IdahoRedNeck]

I Also just purchased the Voice Remote Pro and the mute and volume will not work on my Sony Home Theater. The old Voice Remote works fine.

[Tivoburkee]

@IdahoRedNeck 

Roku remotes only control the TV power and volume, it's up to the tv to control the stereo volume by hdmi-cec. 

[Acheiman]

Mine controls my Samsung TV volume