Soundbar doesn't recognize volume signals from URC-3660

jmezz13 · Post by **jmezz13** » Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:23 pm

I have a Vizio TV connected with optical to an LG Soundbar (how I bought a soundbar without HDMI I will never know). The soundbar has a mode where it detects tv remote volume signals and has always responded to the Vizio remote and/or the Roku remote set to send Vizio volume signals. It also responds to an OARUSB04G with a Vizio TV device upgrade.

Just recently, more for fun, I bought a URC-3660 just to have a more recent JP1 remote. For some reason, the soundbar will not respond to the 3660 volume signals. I've used the remote setup directly and the a Vizio device upgrade through RMIR with no succsss. The TV itself recognizes the volume signals, but the soundbar doesn't. I tried learning the signals from the vizio remote and the 3660 remote to an old 8811 and the signals seem to match from what I can tell although the 3660 seems to output at a slightly higher frequency 38.8k vs 38.2k.

Anyway, this is hardly mission critical, as I can easily work around this by learning the soundbar remote directly since I don't use the tv audio, but I thought it was curious and see if anyone had any thoughts on why this particular remote doesn't seem to be recognized by the soundbar. Even the old 8811 can control the soundbar.

Post by **The Robman** » Sun Feb 12, 2023 9:06 am

I would recommend learning the soundbar remote and then build an upgrade from it, that way you can be sure that it will work. Actually, first check our file section to see if we already have an upgrade for it, and if we don't, you can add one.

Barf · Post by **Barf** » Sun Feb 12, 2023 1:28 pm

irdb has a file for LG soundbar; volume+ = NECx1,D=44,S=44,F=23, volume-=NECx1,D=44,S=44,F=22. (Read with IrScrutinizer/RemoteLocator.) FWIW...

Post by **The Robman** » Sun Feb 12, 2023 1:38 pm

We have an LG Soundbar NB3520A in the file section that is also NECx1 44
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=10867

jmezz13 · Post by **jmezz13** » Sun Feb 12, 2023 3:38 pm

Thanks. My original intent was to figure out why the soundbar wasn't responding specifically to the URC-3660 Vizio volume controls whereas all other remotes I've tried are recognized.

As a backup solution, I was able to learn the LG remote and using DecodeIR in RMIR, it identified as NECx1 as you both stated. It did create a PID conflict with the Vizio TV setup, but I manually changed that PID and all is well. RMIR didn't allow me to change the PID of the NECx1 protocol for some reason which is probably because I don't fully understand how protocol conflicts are handled.

I should have looked in the file section for the LG Soundbar (heck, I've submitted several upgrades myself over the years), but that's what very sporadic JP1 work does I guess....

Edit: I saw a post where it advised against editing a built-in setup code, which is what I was doing with the Vizio TV upgrade. I started over and changed to setup code to a non-built-in code and the NEC1 and the NECx1 upgrades now play well together without the need for an alternate PID.

HamburgerHelper1 · Post by **HamburgerHelper1** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:06 am

My original intent was to figure out why the soundbar wasn't responding specifically to the URC-3660

I agree with you as to knowing why the 3660 is not working correctly.
I am interested in knowing what you find out
Even though i do not have a LG soundbar at the moment
I may have access to one in the future
Maybe a look at your RMIR download would be of help
if you would be so kind as to upload it to the diagnoses area
Thanks
Randy

jmezz13 · Post by **jmezz13** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:30 pm

I put two RMIR files in this Zip file. See the description but as an overview the Vizio/Roku RMIR successfully controls the LG Soundbar using the Vizio volume buttons. However, the Vizio/Roku/LG RMIR does not - it only controls the LG Soundbar if you use the LG volume buttons(codes) in the Audio mode.

I'm actually surprised even the first one works as this didn't seem to be working yesterday although the RMIR setup may have been slightly different. Doesn't make sense to me, but please let me know if I made a stupid mistake somewhere.

https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=26670

Edit: I found the error in the first file - I had forgot to delete all my learned signals from the LG remote which overrode the Vizio TV volume buttons. I have updated the file. Now, both of the setups will NOT control the LG Soundbar with the Vizio volume buttons. Sorry for the confusion.

HamburgerHelper1 · Post by **HamburgerHelper1** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:03 pm

Just a quick glance shows that the working one has volume learned signals on both the audio device and the tv device while the non-working one does not.
This is one area for you to investigate

Randy

jmezz13 · Post by **jmezz13** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:19 pm

HamburgerHelper1 wrote:Just a quick glance shows that the working one has volume learned signals on both the audio device and the tv device while the non-working one does not.
This is one area for you to investigate

Randy

Randy - yes, I caught that error. Neither should have had learned buttons for this example. I re-uploaded the files with the learned buttons removed and edited my post to make it more (less?) clear.

HamburgerHelper1 · Post by **HamburgerHelper1** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:46 pm

Frankly I never understood how it would work in the first place.
But I don't have a LG soundbar and what my I live soundbar does in its setting is that the soundbar itself will learn the signals I send it . So this is similar

Even the old 8811 can control the soundbar.

Maybe instead of trying to figure out why it does not work on the 3660
Try to see why it does work on the 8811

jmezz13 · Post by **jmezz13** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:54 pm

The LG Soundbar has a setting where it will respond to volume controls from a limited set of TV remote brands with Vizio being one of those. So, basically, I was just using the 3660 to send Vizio volume signals but it didn't work whereas the Vizio remote, 8811, OARUSB04G all worked. It could be that the 3660 doesn't duplicate the signal precisely and the LG Soundbar is not as forgiving regarding signal frequency, etc - that's all I can come up with. This is strictly a curiosity but would be interested if there is a better explanation.

HamburgerHelper1 · Post by **HamburgerHelper1** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:22 pm

Your explanation as to why is as good as any
If it is not signal frequency, etc The only thing I can think of is that the signal might be too weak.
How far are you away from the soundbar ? Are you at an angle with the remote.
My observation with the 3660/3680 is that they have a smaller IR LED than a lot of remotes and it is recessed into the shell. It is this recess that I believe limits it's angle of use.
If you have not tried already, for the heck of it try the 3660 very close to the system

Randy

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:45 pm

If he originally posted 2 files, one which had learned signals that worked and one with no learned signals that didn't, that would tend to imply that the 3660 is "strong" enough to send the right IR signals, in which case I would tend to agree with jmezz that the way the 3660 generates the signals itself is different to how the older remotes generated the signal.

Having said that, it appears that Vizio TVs use NEC1, so I would be surprised if the 3660 were to mess that up.

If you still have an RMIR file that has working learned signals in it, I'd like to see it.

jmezz13 · Post by **jmezz13** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:12 pm

HamburgerHelper1 wrote: How far are you away from the soundbar ? Are you at an angle with the remote.
My observation with the 3660/3680 is that they have a smaller IR LED than a lot of remotes and it is recessed into the shell. It is this recess that I believe limits it's angle of use.

If you have not tried already, for the heck of it try the 3660 very close to the system

Randy

I have tried the 3660 from multiple locations and angles including 6-12" from the IR window on the Soundbar.

The Robman wrote:If you still have an RMIR file that has working learned signals in it, I'd like to see it.

I just uploaded a zip file with two RMIR files. One contains all the LG Soundbar learned codes. The other contains learned volume codes from the Vizio remote, LG remote, and two versions from the 3660 (learned and direct upgrade) using an old 8811 for learning. See notes on the learned signals tab. The signals from the Vizio remote and LG Remote(obviously) work, the others from the 3660 don't.

https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=26671

Edit: Here's another interesting tidbit. I just tried the 8811 itself with the learned codes from the 3660(that don't work on the soundbar) and they all work.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 11:39 pm

The LG remote uses NECx1 with device and sub-device codes 44.
The Vizio TV remote uses NEC1 with device code 4.

The only real difference that I can see between the learns that work and the ones that don't is a slight difference in the carrier frequency. The working ones use 38.2 kHz, and the non-working ones use 38.4 and 38.8 kHz. Normally that shouldn't make a difference but maybe in this case it does. (Just FYI, the LG learns have a frequency of 37.7 kHz)

So what is the goal here? If you just want to get the soundbar working, use the LG learns to create an upgrade. The signals only decode for me if you switch the decoder to DecodeIR (Options > Set IR Decoder), probably because it's more lenient with the carrier frequency.

If you want to get it working using the TV upgrade, I may need to make a hacked version of the NEC executor that uses a lower frequency. Actually, I would be interested if the soundbar responds to an upgrade using the built in NEC executor, with the frequency difference.

JP1 Remotes