Sony X900F and Onkyo AV receiver ARC handshake issues - Blu-ray Forum

JPK · 05-17-2020, 10:11 AM

Hoping someone might be able to assist here.

One of my setups is a 2.1 system with a Sony X900F and an Onkyo TX-RZ710. Have them connected via ARC HDMI and have satellite box and BD player connected through the AV receiver as per normal. It is all in a different room from my 'media rack' with remote extenders for the receiver and BD player etc. I am using a 25ft Blue Jeans BJC Series-3A Active HDMI cable.

All ARC and CEC settings are as they should be between the TV and receiver.

Had an array of issues recently. Starting from when the satellite box was turned off before anything else. After turning on the TV had major issues with it running TV speakers and the receiver together and wasn't letting me select audio system in the TV's settings and giving a communication error when I tried. It appears it sent some sort of signal (somehow) back to receiver.

Fixed this particular issue by removing the powered HDMI splitter after the satellite box and being at peace with only having the signal going to one room (the 2.1 room above). I also removed another 4K splitter that was splitting the Xbox One X signal. Both were working fine initially.
Tried switching the EID settings on both as part of the trial and error fix I tried to do.

I also removed the HDMI cable from both restarted, turned off, plugged the cable back in on both ends and restarted.

At this stage I have this:
- TV remote switches on/off AV receiver as it should
- Sound is obviously fine when using anything external going through the receiver (Satellite box, BD player)
- TV remote can intermittently control receiver volume. Even when satellite box is selected through receiver (HDMI 3 (ARC) selected)
- Netflix app never sends sound back to the receiver, neither does Amazon Prime or Tidal
- Disney+ intermittently sends sound back
- The interface sounds on the Android OS send sound back through the receiver

Note: Some of the intermittent issues change if I hard boot the TV and/or switch the TV (and by association the receiver) on/off and few times.

I highly doubt this is a cable issue and its stuck in a wall now anyway. As a backup I have a spare cat6 but I really don't think its worth going down that track yet.

I'm at my wits end and prepared to drop a bit of coin to fix it. My options at this point are:

1. Get another Apple TV 4K for this particular room and use the TV as a monitor.
2. Buy a Sony AV receiver (probably STRDH790) with 'Bravia Sync'. Presumably this will have a seamless same brand 'handshake' as both devices have 'Bravia Sync'?
3. Perhaps something else i'm missing?

As another side note, I actually had some issues with another X900F and Marantz SR6012 in my main setup but as it's only used as a monitor it didnt really matter disabling CEC and ARC for me. I have to turn the TV and receiver on separately. This makes me think it's a Sony issue?

oddbox83 · 05-17-2020, 12:45 PM

This might help. I had issues with my TV and receiver having very intermittent ARC. I upgraded both the TV and receiver once at different times during this issue, so no blame could be placed on either. I was tearing my hair out, frothing at the mouth and blaming LG as nothing I did would fix it. I gave up on ARC for a while as a result.

Eventually, my reading about this issue caused me to identify my Humax PVR as a possible cause as they are known to send out non-conforming stuff on pin 13 that breaks the ARC chain downstream. I got a CEC-less adaptor and plugged it in between the Humax and the rest of the chain and ARC has worked perfectly since.

Maybe this will help you, because there could be nothing wrong with your cables or main equipment and it could be something like the satellite box causing chaos.

JPK · 05-17-2020, 10:22 PM

You know what, that makes a lot of sense. I have ordered a few of the CEC-less adaptors and will give that a go. As mentioned the issues started once I connected the Satellite box.

Thank you! I'm at a loss as to why I couldn't find that info online.

oddbox83 · 05-18-2020, 09:08 AM

Just remember to only put one between the troublesome device (likely the satellite) and the rest. You don't want to be stripping CEC from the rest as ARC needs that to work.

You will lose CEC control for the satellite box, though half the time that's just an annoyance anyway.

JPK · 05-19-2020, 09:00 PM

Problem solved. Used a single adapter on this and also my security system which outputs to the receiver too (just in case) and did a hard boot of all devices in the chain.

It didn't initially solve the problem until I plugged and unplugged all HDMI cables and turned everything off at the mains for a few mins before restarting.

Thanks heaps!

05-17-2020, 10:11 AM	#1
JPK Active Member Top contributor Member since:May 2018 Location:New Zealand 4K collection:400 Blu-ray collection:1383 Trading Score:22	Sony X900F and Onkyo AV receiver ARC handshake issues Hoping someone might be able to assist here. One of my setups is a 2.1 system with a Sony X900F and an Onkyo TX-RZ710. Have them connected via ARC HDMI and have satellite box and BD player connected through the AV receiver as per normal. It is all in a different room from my 'media rack' with remote extenders for the receiver and BD player etc. I am using a 25ft Blue Jeans BJC Series-3A Active HDMI cable. All ARC and CEC settings are as they should be between the TV and receiver. Had an array of issues recently. Starting from when the satellite box was turned off before anything else. After turning on the TV had major issues with it running TV speakers and the receiver together and wasn't letting me select audio system in the TV's settings and giving a communication error when I tried. It appears it sent some sort of signal (somehow) back to receiver. Fixed this particular issue by removing the powered HDMI splitter after the satellite box and being at peace with only having the signal going to one room (the 2.1 room above). I also removed another 4K splitter that was splitting the Xbox One X signal. Both were working fine initially. Tried switching the EID settings on both as part of the trial and error fix I tried to do. I also removed the HDMI cable from both restarted, turned off, plugged the cable back in on both ends and restarted. At this stage I have this: - TV remote switches on/off AV receiver as it should - Sound is obviously fine when using anything external going through the receiver (Satellite box, BD player) - TV remote can intermittently control receiver volume. Even when satellite box is selected through receiver (HDMI 3 (ARC) selected) - Netflix app never sends sound back to the receiver, neither does Amazon Prime or Tidal - Disney+ intermittently sends sound back - The interface sounds on the Android OS send sound back through the receiver Note: Some of the intermittent issues change if I hard boot the TV and/or switch the TV (and by association the receiver) on/off and few times. I highly doubt this is a cable issue and its stuck in a wall now anyway. As a backup I have a spare cat6 but I really don't think its worth going down that track yet. I'm at my wits end and prepared to drop a bit of coin to fix it. My options at this point are: 1. Get another Apple TV 4K for this particular room and use the TV as a monitor. 2. Buy a Sony AV receiver (probably STRDH790) with 'Bravia Sync'. Presumably this will have a seamless same brand 'handshake' as both devices have 'Bravia Sync'? 3. Perhaps something else i'm missing? As another side note, I actually had some issues with another X900F and Marantz SR6012 in my main setup but as it's only used as a monitor it didnt really matter disabling CEC and ARC for me. I have to turn the TV and receiver on separately. This makes me think it's a Sony issue? Last edited by JPK; 05-17-2020 at 10:15 AM.

05-17-2020, 12:45 PM	#2
oddbox83 Blu-ray Champion Member since:Sep 2013 Location:UK	This might help. I had issues with my TV and receiver having very intermittent ARC. I upgraded both the TV and receiver once at different times during this issue, so no blame could be placed on either. I was tearing my hair out, frothing at the mouth and blaming LG as nothing I did would fix it. I gave up on ARC for a while as a result. Eventually, my reading about this issue caused me to identify my Humax PVR as a possible cause as they are known to send out non-conforming stuff on pin 13 that breaks the ARC chain downstream. I got a CEC-less adaptor and plugged it in between the Humax and the rest of the chain and ARC has worked perfectly since. Maybe this will help you, because there could be nothing wrong with your cables or main equipment and it could be something like the satellite box causing chaos. Last edited by oddbox83; 05-17-2020 at 12:52 PM.

05-17-2020, 10:22 PM	#3
JPK Active Member Top contributor Member since:May 2018 Location:New Zealand 4K collection:400 Blu-ray collection:1383 Trading Score:22	You know what, that makes a lot of sense. I have ordered a few of the CEC-less adaptors and will give that a go. As mentioned the issues started once I connected the Satellite box. Thank you! I'm at a loss as to why I couldn't find that info online.

05-18-2020, 09:08 AM	#4
oddbox83 Blu-ray Champion Member since:Sep 2013 Location:UK	Just remember to only put one between the troublesome device (likely the satellite) and the rest. You don't want to be stripping CEC from the rest as ARC needs that to work. You will lose CEC control for the satellite box, though half the time that's just an annoyance anyway.

05-19-2020, 09:00 PM	#5
JPK Active Member Top contributor Member since:May 2018 Location:New Zealand 4K collection:400 Blu-ray collection:1383 Trading Score:22	Problem solved. Used a single adapter on this and also my security system which outputs to the receiver too (just in case) and did a hard boot of all devices in the chain. It didn't initially solve the problem until I plugged and unplugged all HDMI cables and turned everything off at the mains for a few mins before restarting. Thanks heaps!

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