topic Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box in Android TV

IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 11:54:45 GMT

KD-65X8509C bought within the last week

I have the TV's IR Blaster setup to control a BSkyB Sky+HD box, and most controls work great. However, the UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT navigation buttons work, but always sends 3 occurrences of UP, DOWN, LEFT, or RIGHT instead of just one occurrence.

So, for example, when navigating the Sky+HD box list of recordings, pressing down skips down 3 recordings, making it impossible to select the recordings in-between.

Is there some way to update the IR blaster database to correctly only send 1 occurrence of LEFT, RIGHT, UP, or DOWN when that button is pressed? Or is there any other solution to this problem, that will make the UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT buttons behave correctly?

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 16:10:48 GMT

Anyone? This is a really annoying bug. I've contacted Sony support as well, and it's been escalated to "a higher technical team to advise the optimum solution for the issue", but so far no solution 😞

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

ezeest — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 19:16:23 GMT

Same problem with what should be a simple operation, the same stupid thing occurs when you use Sony's TV Sideview app on your phone linked to the TV and try to operate a SKY HD box!

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 08:14:48 GMT

Thanks ezeest, good to know I'm not alone. I guess this must affect everyone using Sky with their TV.

Have you tried contacting Sony support at http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/contacts/email

The more that contact them, the more likely they are to take this problem seriously.

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 18:33:23 GMT

Hi guys

The problem i see here is that Sony will say that they only support their devices. Other than contacting Sky as well, i dont have any other advice im afraid.

Cheers

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 21:24:24 GMT

Well, if Sony only support their own devices, why do they list "Sky HD" and "Sky SD" as devices you can select to control from the TV? I do suspect that Sony will simply pass the problem on to UEI, as it's probably their IR database that is at fault.

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

stegabilly — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:24:04 GMT

virgin media issues here.

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 10:26:09 GMT

Hi guys

Im probably being thick here, but is this IR Blaster made by Sony or issued with the TV and not just a non-brand ?

Cheers

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 13:48:48 GMT

The IR blaster comes with the TV, plugs into the USB port. I guess that it uses functionality in either Android TV or a Sony app, and uses the IR database that Sony presumably buy from UEI, as it's the UEI database logo displayed on the IR blaster setup screens on the TV.

So, presumably Sony need to fix either their App, Android TV, or the UEI database to fix this fault. My guess is that they are using an old version of the UEI database.

Christopher Gray
Sent from my iPad

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 14:09:56 GMT

So, I did some further investigation. The UEI database on the TV is on version 1.0.015, whereas the latest version on the app store is version 1.2.40.

Anyone know how to update the system app on the TV, or is this something that only Sony can do?

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 14:46:11 GMT

Hi there

This IR blaster issue has been added to the list of other reported faults and issues. Any updates received will be posted in this thread :

https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/2015-android-tv-bugs-and-issues/m-p/2040020

Cheers

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

big_black_dog — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 13:46:13 GMT

Having similar issue with Sony KD-55X8509C TV with SKY+HD box - up/down/left/right gives double cursor movement on Sky menus (rather than triple movement as reported above). Affects standard, touchpad and sideview app remote control (looks like Sony IR Blaster config issue).

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

Edred246 — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 12:18:55 GMT

I have exactly the same issue - is there news of when a fix will be provided?

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 12:36:35 GMT

Hi there

Ive herd no news on a fix for this issue as of yet.

Cheers

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 12:36:56 GMT

Last I heard from Sony was this email, but that was months ago, so I suspect they're never going to fix this fault.

Thank you for your recent e-mail.
In regards to your query, we can confirm that we escalated the case to a higher technical team to advise the optimum solution for the issue.
Please allow a few days for reply without sending us any e-mails because it will cause unnecessary delay as the case will be back to us instead of the relevant queue.
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email.
Thank you for your enquiry.

What is the exact issue providing the maximum details?
When controlling a Sky+HD box through the IR blaster using the TVs remote, most buttons work okay, except the LEFT / RIGHT / UP / DOWN buttons. Whenever one of these is pressed, THREE occurrences of the button press are transmitted over the IR blaster. This means that trying to navigate program listings, recording listings, and menus becomes impossible. For example, on the recordings list, pressing the DOWN button means the selections skips down THREE recordings, making it impossible to select any of the other recordings. Another example, on the main Sky+HD home page, pressing left to select RECORDINGS and the selection skips across THREE times to the BOX SETS selection. All other buttons work okay, such as CHANNEL UP/DOWN, PLAY, RECORD, etc. It’s just the LEFT / RIGHT / UP / DOWN navigation buttons that have this problem. Presumably the IR blaster database needs to be updated to only send ONE LEFT / RIGHT / UP / DOWN command instead of THREE.

What are the EXACT reproduction steps? What are the steps the customer has to go through to get the issue?
Select Sky+HD as the input (on HDMI4). Press UP button on the TV remote, and the UP command on the Sky_HD box responds THREE times.

On which step exactly customer has an issue? when trying to load the apps saying not available.
When I press the remote button.

Was it working before?
NO.

When did the issue start?
This week when I received my TV.

What Troubleshooting steps did you try?
I’ve tried the IR blaster selections for both BSkyB and Sky UK, and they have the same problem.

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 12:16:27 GMT

Got a reply from Sony UK Support this morning:

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

In regards to your query, please update the TV using the following link as it should resolve the issue:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/content/cnt-dwnl/prd-tvhc/bravia-kd-4Kmodels-firmware-update-v2645-eub-UK/KD-65X8509C

Please reply to us with the outcome if issue is not resolved to be able to proceed.

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Yours sincerely,

Raghda

Sony customer support

So, Sony believe they've already fixed this problem with the latest firmware release, which they haven't. Anyway, I tried the update as instructed, but it just says there is no newer firmware, as I already have the latest installed. So where do I get this firmware that Sony say fixes this issue?

EDIT: Discovered today that this also affects the colour buttons. So, for example, pressing the BLUE button skips through THREE favourite channels rather than taking me to the next favourite channel. How hard can this be to fix? It should be a simple update to the UEI IR Blaster database on the TV.

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

ramman — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 18:34:47 GMT

I have the exact same problem and my TV has the latest firmware from the link above ???

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

shadow7030 — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 10:13:16 GMT

Hi, did you ever sort this issue?

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

big_black_dog — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 12:54:52 GMT

- The issue is not resolved. - Sony Support has not yet replied to me (!) - Other Sony customers with similar issues have reported that Sony is directing them to the latest Android download/update - however they already have this installed so it's not going to help.. - [From web research]: Likely that the problem is a simple one relating to an embedded 3rd party software product from UEI (Sky remote configuration incorrectly represented in UEI database?). If this is the case, not clear why it would take Sony so long to sort it out.. (unless of course Sony only really interested in its US customers, who do not use Sky).

Re: IR Blaster controlling Sky+HD box

chrgray — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 13:43:43 GMT

My latest email exchanges with Sony support, but still no nearer to fixing this, which makes the IR blaster unusable on one of the UK's most popular TV services (Sky).

I already have the v2645 firmware installed. It has NOT fixed this problem. When can I expect this to be fixed? The ability to use the IR blaster feature of this TV with a Sky+HD box was a major factor in deciding to buy this TV.

I am not alone with this problem, other Community members have the same problem – see http://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/ir-blaster-controlling-sky-hd-box/td-p/2027637

SONY SUPPORT

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

In regards to your query, we can confirm that we escalated the case to a higher teachnical team for further investigation in the issue and we will contact you as soon as possible. We apologize for the delay and the inconvenience.

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Yours sincerely,

Raghda

Sony customer support

Sony Europe Limited

Please also note that this affects the colour buttons as well. For example, pressing the BLUE button on the remote skips through THREE favourite channels instead of just selecting the NEXT favourite channel. Please get this fixed urgently, it’s impossible to control our TV viewing like this.

I despair of ever getting this fixed. Given the number of people this must be affecting is high, with Sky having 12 million customers, Sony need to make this a priority for a quick fix. Just get the fixed database from UEI and implement it into the firmware.