Remote turns on TV... *sometimes*

[sprucemoose]

As designed, the Siri remote controls my TV automatically. However, when both the TV and Apple TV are off, pressing the Home button doesn't always turn the TV on.

Sometimes it works, but sometimes the TV doesn't turn on no matter how many times I press the button. It's not a line of sight issue, I'm pointing it directly at the TV. I *think* it happens when both devices have been left alone for a long time after turning them off, e.g. overnight.

Anyone else experiencing this? I'd like to try and isolate whether it's the ****** TV's fault, or whether it's a bug in tvOS.

UPDATE: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/remote-turns-on-tv-sometimes.1934073/#post-22184029

UPDATE 2: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/remote-turns-on-tv-sometimes.1934073/#post-22186909

 

[mattDC5R]

It uses HDMI-CEC to control the TV. My experience of that varies from very good to very poor and everything in between.

What brand is the TV, have you checked for any updates for it? There isn't a huge range of fault finding available as pretty well you have on or off for the CEC but I'd just start but checking for latest firmware on both ends and maybe try the ATV on a different TV just to see what results you see. It may well be that the 2 products just don't work great together.

Brands do vary the naming of it, Samsung is anynet for example, so you might need to look carefully for the settings on the Tv.

 

[sprucemoose]

Thanks. It's an old TV, 6-7 years old and I did upgrade the firmware years ago and that was the only update it ever received. Anynet+ is on, and the only other option given is for the TV to turn OFF other devices when you turn it off. I've left that on. As I say, the off function works every time, it's just the on function that works inconsistently. It's weird because I'd expect it to either work or not work 100% of the time. But I just can't figure out under what circumstance it doesn't. Unfortunately, I don't have another TV to try it on.

 

[mattDC5R]

Given the age of the TV, it would be in the earlier generations of products that started to support it from memory. It is more reliable in the last couple of years and there is a few more settings available in some devices which is good. Perhaps try toggle that other option and see if it helps, another HDMI lead maybe if you have one. But as i say there is such limited range for fault finding you may struggle to really work out what is causing the issue, by all means you could try swap the ATV with apple but if it were me i wouldn't be wasting my time.

I sometimes hear my AV receiver switch on at night after recently turning CEC back on in my system for a specific reason, just as an example of the weirdness that can happen with it, and I'm not using it for control!

Did you need a reason to buy a new TV? Maybe this is it

 

[sprucemoose]

You're right in that, when I turn off that one option (which should be irrelevant to the situation), NOTHING works — neither the on or off function, and suddenly the Apple TV is named "Player" in the source list rather than "Apple TV". So having that one option on is critical to making the whole thing work, and my guess is that the TV is buggy and doesn't always listen to commands.

It's not *quite* enough of a reason to upgrade the TV, unless Apple comes out with one itself.

 

[mattDC5R]

You're right in that, when I turn off that one option (which should be irrelevant to the situation), NOTHING works —

HDMI-CEC in a nutshell there! I'm sure its a great sales feature to say "here buy this Samsung BD player to go with the Samsung TV, it all works off the one remote" but thats about it.

It's not *quite* enough of a reason to upgrade the TV, unless Apple comes out with one itself.

IN which case it will all be controlled by Siri but then saying "TV on" will be responded with "Calling Mum", that will be a whole new set of threads

Enjoy the new ATV, hopefully mine will turn up in the next couple of days!

 

[oftheheavens]

Thanks. It's an old TV, 6-7 years old and I did upgrade the firmware years ago and that was the only update it ever received. Anynet+ is on, and the only other option given is for the TV to turn OFF other devices when you turn it off. I've left that on. As I say, the off function works every time, it's just the on function that works inconsistently. It's weird because I'd expect it to either work or not work 100% of the time. But I just can't figure out under what circumstance it doesn't. Unfortunately, I don't have another TV to try it on.

you may be doing this but I found that it is a solid press and hold on the tv button for about 1-2 full seconds. you will see the atv light up and a few sec's later you will get your tv on. try that and see if it is that simple. hope it helps.

 

[BeachChair]

Mine is pretty hit and miss. So far what works for me is to simply keep clicking the button until I hear the TV switch on. 5-10 clicks will do it...

 

[sprucemoose]

I *may* have solved this issue, we'll see tomorrow morning, but I wanted to more fully explain the issue and potential solution here in case any other poor soul with a crappy Samsung TV finds this thread.

It turns out this isn't random behaviour. The Apple TV remote will only stop turning on the TV after both devices have been left alone for a few hours — I usually notice it the next morning. No matter how much you try, the Siri remote will not turn on the TV... UNLESS, you use the TV remote to turn the TV on, just once. Then everything works from then on. Turn the TV back off and the Apple remote will turn it on every single time. That is, until you leave the room for a few hours again and it's back to not working.

So strange. I was scratching my head for days trying to figure this out.

- Is it the HDMI cable? No, can't be. It would either work or not work.
- Is the TV going into some sort of deeper sleep after a few hours? I wouldn't put it past Samsung...
- Is it an Apple TV bug? Unlikely.

Finally, after scouring the net for a day, I came across a strangely similar thread from 2010. People were talking about receivers and sound bars, but the gist of it was the same. Everything would work until they went to bed and the next morning it wouldn't. And one of them solved it. So what was happening?

It turns out Samsung has an obscure setting buried in the Software Update menu called "Standby Software Update", which is on by default. What does this do? None of these old TVs have internet connectivity. Here's what it does: the stupid thing wakes itself from sleep and tries to look for software updates over the TV airwaves EVERY NIGHT. Who even knew TV updates could be delivered over TV signal?! Maybe this is done in Korea or something? Who would ever want or need this enabled? Anyway, what was happening for these folks is that the TV would semi wake itself up for this ridiculous purpose, and in doing so, would lose its understanding of the current HDMI CEC devices connected to it, presumably because it doesn't fully power itself on. So in the morning, it would no longer accept signals from other devices. However, as soon as you turned it on via infrared with its own remote, presto, it would sense all the devices again and get itself working fine from then on... until you left it alone for a few hours again.

I'm sure I've bored you all to tears now, but long story short — I've turned off this asinine "Standby Software Update" feature. And I'll wake up tomorrow morning and let you know if it's worked.

 

[mattDC5R]

well done for persevering! certainly sounds like it could be the answer!

 

[mattDC5R]

Sprucemoose, i think you've helped me there too with your last post. I mentioned earlier in this thread that i hear my AV receiver (denon) turn on some time after i shut my system down at the end of the night. I just thought to check my samsung TV (~2013 model) and i had auto software updates enabled for an hour after power off which would be about right for when i hear the amp turn on. Will test for the next few nights and see if that is it!

 

[sprucemoose]

Sprucemoose, i think you've helped me there too with your last post. I mentioned earlier in this thread that i hear my AV receiver (denon) turn on some time after i shut my system down at the end of the night. I just thought to check my samsung TV (~2013 model) and i had auto software updates enabled for an hour after power off which would be about right for when i hear the amp turn on. Will test for the next few nights and see if that is it!

Well, this has officially fixed my problem, and sounds like it's going to fix yours too.

I imagine there are several thousands of Samsung TV owners out there who are experiencing weird glitches with their connected devices because of this inexplicably ill-conceived and pointless setting, and it's so obscure that they'll likely never figure it out. On the one hand, I'm pleased I got to the bottom of this. On the other hand, my hatred for Samsung couldn't possibly be higher at this point. You couldn't pay me to ever own another one of their products.