Pair TV box pro remote with Bose soundbar (via bluetooth?)

[1231231231]

Hi there,

I have an LG OLED C2 and a Bose Solo Soundbar Series II (via optical - no HDMI arc). The optical needs to be connected to the TV due to other attached devices.

I've just switched from Sky, where the Sky remote controlled both the TV and the soundbar with no issue. However, with the EE TV box, if I control "Set top box" from the bluetooth settings, I can control the sound on the soundbar, but I can't turn off the TV. If I set "TV" from the settings, I can turn the TV off, but can't control the sound on the soundbar.

I imagine with the Sky remote, it directly paired with the soundbar to avoid this issue. Is there any workaround for the EETV remote - i.e. can the remote pair directly with the soundbar?

Thank you!

[Midnight_Voice]

@1231231231 

With Set Top Box selected, try a long press on the EE button to turn off the TV.

This may not answer your question, but it may answer your problem 😛

Soundbars without HDMI/ARC I regard as the spawn of the Devil, and should be banned by law 😈

[1231231231]

Thanks @Midnight_Voice - I have tried that and to no avail. I believe because the remote is set to "Set top box" mode it wont control the TV in this regard. Turning the TV off when the remote is in "TV" mode does work, however (but then I can't change the volume!).

[rbz5416]

The Pro Box remote can only control TVs & not amps/soundbars.

@naylor2006  has had success with a One For All remote controlling the Pro Box  & a Denon amp.

https://community.bt.com/t5/EE-TV-YouView/BT-EE-TV-Box-Pro-Controlling-Volume-of-AVR-whilst-in-Surro...

[Jones_01]

@1231231231 

Are you able to change the volume of the soundbar with the TV remote?

When set to TV, the EE remote should duplicate the function of the TV remote.

[Midnight_Voice]

@1231231231 @Jones_01 

My question exactly!

Samsung TVs can’t control the volume of third party soundbars over Optical, Sony TVs can.

I’m guessing this LG TV can do it, and the Box Pro remote is controlling the TV volume, and thereby the soundbar volume, and the Box Pro remote isn’t paired with the soundbar at all.

Alternatively, the Box Pro is set to Stereo, so the volume can still be set on the Box Pro, which wouldn’t work if the Box Pro was in Surround mode.

So yes (i) can the TV Remote control the soundbar and (ii) is the Box Pro set to Stereo or Surround?

After which the only complication is that the LG is a Magic Remote, which can teach itself to control third party equipment connected to the TV, and it may be doing that for the soundbar. Though I think it can only teach itself about stuff connected over HDMI.

But we patiently await the answers to the above.

[1231231231]

@Midnight_Voice- previously the LG magic remote wasn't set to control the soundbar via the optical out cable. However, I updated that in the settings and put the EE bluetooth remote setting back onto TV mode. This has produced some really weird behaviour - when I use the LG remote to increase/decrease volume, then use the EE TV remote to do the same, the EE TV controls the volume as expected. However, if I don't use the LG remote first, the EE TV doesn't change the volume. It shows the icons / effects on the TV of the volume increase / decreasing, but doesn't actually have any effect on the soundbar. Very strange!

Even weirder, there's a window of time between using the LG remote in which the EE TV remote will change the volume. If I wait say 30 seconds, the EE remote doesn't work. If I wait 10 seconds, it does work.

[Jones_01]

@1231231231 

I suggest that the LG TV is getting confused between connected Bluetooth devices.

With a bit of experimentation you could probably find a way to make things work the way that you want them to.

[Midnight_Voice]

@1231231231 

I have no explanation for this, except that the Magic Remote is a talented beast, and maybe it is opening up some sort of channel to the soundbar that closes after a while, maybe Bluetooth, and the EETV remote can take advantage of it while it’s still open?

In the meantime, I found this:-

http://gscs-manual.lge.com/PNZ/MFL71446075/en-us/content12.html

It seems to be talking about an LG soundbar, but quite a lot of it would be applicable to the Sonos, I think, so have a look and see if you can get any insights from it.