I’m at the end of my ideas. Maybe someone has a similar experience and a suggestion.
I have a Samsung UN55RU8000FXZA TV (about three years old). I run it with a Yamaha RX-V6A A/V receiver. I have four or five HDMI sources going into the receiver, then the single HDMI output from the receiver is connected to HDMI4 input on the Samsung (this is the ARC input).
After hours of research and experimenting, I can pretty much do what I wanted and have simplified the operation using remote controls. I can turn on the TV and it defaults to the HDMI4 input, which wakes up the receiver. I can tun on the receiver and it wakes up the TV. I can control the volume of the receiver/speakers through the TV remote control. I can even turn off the receiver and it blanks the TV…momentarily. The Yamaha receiver passes signals through even when it’s in standby mode, so the TV screen comes back on again after a few seconds because the cable box hasn’t been turned off. OK, I can do that easily, but the cable box then produces a screen saver scene that comes up. As for my Roku player, it doesn’t really turn off at all. To turn off the TV, I need the TV remote, since the newer Yamaha remotes can’t directly control other devices. Yes, I need that whole remote so I can hit the power button at the end of everything. It serves no other purpose for me.
TL;DR: I can turn on my TV and my receiver turns on. I can turn on my receiver and my TV turns on. I can turn off my TV and the receiver turns off (standby). BUUUT…I can’t turn off (put in standby) my receiver and have the TV turn off and stay off.
Any ideas? It’s take a long time just to get to this point in the settings.
Unfortunately, the receiver does not have a switched (or unswitched outlet). It does have a 12 volt control output and it is possible to get a power outlet/relay that would use this. But that seems kind of elaborate and clunky.
I understand that there is a conflict in the logic…a “pass-thru” receiver is going to pass the audio and video signals to the TV even when it’s turned off. But then why have the receiver be able to turn on the TV through the HDMI connection when it can’t turn it off? It just seems like I’m missing an option setting or something.
And it would be a bit more tolerable if the Yamaha remote control was able to turn on/off at least one external device (i.e., the TV). My old one could.
How about a programmable remote that can run a macro when you press the “off” button to turn off both devices? It seems like you’re using all of the components’ original remotes, so you might be able to replace them with one that controls everything.
For decades I’ve been using Logitech Harmony remotes, which can easily do this, but unfortunately they’re not being made any more, so used or refurbed ones are getting pricey: around $150.
There are other similar ones, and articles about the best replacements for Harmony remotes.
It does have an active signal…at least from the Roku screensaver. When the receiver is turned off, the signal from the Roku box goes right through the receiver to the TV. Since the picture is in motion, the TV stays on. (It may turn off after a period of time, but I’ve waited several minutes and it doesn’t do so after that period.)
I’m thinking that I will try a programmable remote, as commasense suggested. My Roku box is wireless, not IR, so I might try a SofaBaton unit that uses both IR and wireless.
BTW, for anyone working with a Samsung TV that updates itself and subsequently always starts up in Samsung Plus, you can go into the settings and change the TV to start up with the “last app.” In my case, that means the TV always starts up with my A/V receiver as the input. As silly as it sounds, it took me an hour to figure out that this was one of my problems. The receiver would turn on the TV…but the TV would be set to Samsung Plus.
I would be a lot happier if I could have found a big screen monitor instead of a “smart” TV.
I was about to say that all the Rokus I’ve had were both IR and RF, so unless you have hidden your Roku inside a cabinet or something, you shouldn’t need an RF remote.
ETA: I’ve used programmable universal remotes for decades rather than using multiple OEM remotes. Juggling three or four remotes is such a pain, and after you’ve done some basic setup on the universal, it’s so much easier to control everything with one.
Can you use an “Advanced Power Strip”. They have one master outlet and several subsidiary outlets. When the device in the master outlet is turned off, it cuts power to the subsidiary outlets.
Hmmm…I had seen those, but it did not occur to me to research them further. Thanks! I will give that some thought.
At present, I am trying to program a SofaBaton U2. There are some issues with it that are not as expected, but I’m pushing forward to see if I can make it work (at least for my spouse, who does not at all care for using four or more remotes).
I think the power strip solution would work only if turning off the receiver actually causes it to stop drawing power. Most AV devices don’t work that way anymore.
A couple of products seem to take that into account. They expect a small parasitic load and don’t turn on the other outlets. When the power load increases, the other outlets come on. I guess that’s not surprising, as virtually all electronics that are remote controlled now draw a vampire load continuously.
I’m still not sure that this will be a good solution. Both the TV and the receiver are recent manufacture and both are supposed to use “HDMI control” features to wake up and go to sleep. Perhaps they are just too smart for me to figure out. All I want is for one of them to wake the other when turned on, then put the other to sleep when turned off.
This is what I was wondering about. For most of the HDMI-connected video gear I have, the video source device turns the monitor on or off via HDMI CEC. If I turn on the Blu-Ray or the streaming stick using its remote, it turns the tv on. Likewise if I power off the video device.
Yes, but what’s happening is that my Roku player continues to stream video to the receiver, even if it’s only the screensaver. The receiver passes the video signal through to the TV even when the receiver is turned off. This keeps the TV on after I turn the receiver off.
It turns out that I can turn off this pass-through video feature in the receiver, but only if I turn the “HDMI control” features off completely. This means there’s no HDMI control at all. My eyes are rolling…
Yes, I was. Thank you. The Roku goes directly to the receiver, not the TV. I haven’t tried this function through the receiver, but I suppose it might work.
The two issues would be (1) it requires multiple key entries, though they are all on the Roku remote, and (2) the receiver has several other input devices connected (BD player, media player, cable box, etc.). What happens is that I turn off the cable box or BD player and the receiver will automatically switch to the Roku player as an active input. (This happens if the Roku is not sleeping.) From that point on, it’s the same problem as originally stated.
I know this is sounding more complicated than it really is, or that I’m just making up problems and considerations. I really do just want to turn on the receiver (regardless of the input device in use) and have the TV turn on. Then, turn the receiver off and the TV turns off (or goes into standby). Absolutely the ONLY reason I have the TV remote on the end table is to turn the TV off after I’m through for the evening. Otherwise, I just need the receiver remote and the Roku remote.
Strangely, I’m finding that the SofaBaton U2 programming for my receiver has virtually all the button functions wrong. The correct receiver model is selected, but I’m having to reprogram every single button (other than on/off) manually.
I had CEC issues with both my Roku and Prime TV sticks that I could never sort out. I had them hooked up via HDMI to my Onkyo AVR which in turn was connected via HDMI to my Vizio TV. Powering off the whole shebang via the remotes never worked consistently–most often the TV would turn off but the AVR would cycle back on once or twice.
I worked through all the options on the devices but the problem remained. I got a SofaBaton, but it didn’t mirror the buttons I needed it to on my AVR, so that was a waste.
Finally I got an AppleTV 4K and the CEC functions just the way I expect it to. Hit the “home” button on the remote–everything turns on. Hold down the “off” button on the remote–everything turns off. The Apple TV is much more expensive I know–but it was on sale and I had a $100 gift certificate.
I’m beginning to think that maybe I need to come up with a whole new approach. I use the receiver as the hub of the devices simply because I have too many to connect directly to the TV.