Xperia ZL, IR-Blaster doesn't seem to work with Remote Control App

[mlonline]

Hello everyone.

A week ago I bought the xperia zl phone and I tried to also use the pre installed "Remote Control" App to use the built in Infrared blaster. I can't make it work though. What I did is:

- I manually installed two deviceds (projecter / av receiver).

- Through the remote control software I programmed some keys in holding the original remote of the device in front of the infrared blaster of the ZL. The Remote Control App told me that it 'Learnt the command'. I then saved everything and tried to use the programmed button but both deviced don't react. It seems the infrad signal is not sent out.

- I also tried to hold the infrared blaster of the zl really close to the deviced - still no reaction.

Do I miss something? Does infrared have to be switched on seperately? I checked in the apps and all Remote Control Apps / Service seem to be running.

I did uninstall / disable some sony apps before but I don't think I disabled relevent apps for the remote control to work....

Anyone having the same problem? or a solution ?

Michael

[drpurupatil]

Don't worry brother, I am regularly following this issue with Sony India. I am determined to take this issue to Consumer Court if no solution is provided by SONY for this Manufacturing Defect. It was not our fault that we purchased this phone. Just talked to Mr. Alpesh Rabari (service head, Gujarat, India) he assured that some concrete solution will be provided in 4-5 days. Lets see.

[Bouvrie]

A bit offtopic, but I'm very keen on getting the ZL fully operational in terms of hardware features and related accessories.

I've been playing around a bit with USB Host and MHL, additionally having IR functioning both ways (send and receive) would make this phone a real cool device for me.

[shail0101]

great to know that but i am behind mr ashish parekh service head for maharashtra. seems no positive response. i think you are the only one who have still not givenup. best wishes to you.

[Sinabu]

Hey Everyone,

New here. I just came across the forums here and saw this thread. I just recently ordered a Red ZL. I will be sure to let you guys know if I have any issues with it. It's really sad to see that Sony isn't doing much about this.. 

I was orginally just going to wait for the Z1 but I really liked the idea of having an IR sensor in the phone so this was part of the sale for me.. I do hope that possibly a later hard ware revision fixed this issue since Sony is still pushing the ZL here in the US.

I haven't even gotten my shipping notice yet since purchasing it so I imgaine it will be here next week sometime. 

[coolasrevi]

ZL User Here. From India. FROM the Day i bought this phone (5 Months) i am not able to use this function, however whenever i  test that function in service menu IR reciever always shows that its fine. it even recieves the signal in Service Menu, but every time it shows different codes for the same button. has anyone noticed this? (in Service Menu) *#*#7378423#*#*  Check IR reciever in the test. Just an observation. And thats why i am not taking this to Repair center.

[shail0101]

Yes I have checked the same its clear that ir signal is received differently for same key presses and the app still says signal learnt.

Logically its clear a s/w problem and can be solved by providing update for IR remote App. But the way Sony is addressing it seems h/w problem. (Refer Rickard from Sony Support in this same chain).

Anyway none of the SONY service centers have clear solution nor Sonly Globally is bothered to address this issue.

My only concern -  can warranty cover this problem even if yes my handset is already 6 months old. 6 months warranty left now

[hsg8890]

This ir sensor is of no use. Most of the people would like to use a remote for their TV's to change channels. But they need a remote for a set-top box to do so and there is no such set-top box remote control listed in the app for India. All I can do to impress people is switch on and off or increase or decrease volume of a TV and when my friends ask me to change the channel I tell them "that feature is not working". That's so embarrassing!
Even if Sony can't fix the learning feature in the device it should at least provide pre installed remote controls for all major( if not all) satellite/dish/cable tv providers.
In addition there should be a proper form wherein people can post their requirement for a particular remote( not only set-top boxes but other appliances) and Sony can provide an update monthly or quarterly adding that remote to the pre installed list in the app

[Bouvrie]

The longer I'm confronted by this flawed aspect of the phone, the sooner I regret having bought it in the first place. For me, the IR was a unique selling point that made me care less about the device's form factor. 

Sony's lack of a proper (verified) solution to this problem is concerning me. For now, I'm thinking that the right people at Sony aren't aware of our discomfort enough to do something about this. In my opinion, this is partly because this thread is wrongfully marked as Solved.

So, I'm now reporting this post to Sony, in an attempt to break open this case. If this doesn't work, I fear that all we can do it try and make ourselves heard more in other media (forums, social media and such) about this and hope that this will convince Sony to provide a solution before bad publicity will come their way.

If it's not a hardware problem and/or if Sony doesn't know how to fix this, I'm sure the Android dev community (at XDA Developers for example) would be more than keen on getting full access to the IR API and documentation. This could potentially even make this phone much more awesome, since not only Sony's proprietary (malfunctioning) Remote Control app would be supported, but any IR app could potentially be made compatible with the ZL.

[Rickard]

I'm sorry to hear that your local support and service has been unable to fix this problem for you. I can't understand why though as the problem has been identified in May this year and authorized service locations should have the information and parts needed to fix the problem.

This is not something that can be fixed with a software update. The only solution is to repair/replace the phone. I will forward that not all service locations are aware of this to the persons handling this.

[Bouvrie]

If authorized service locations should know about the problem, shouldn't local Sony Support acknowledge the problem too and direct people to them? Especially since I even pointed them to this forum thread in the first place.

The fact that they don't seem aware of this issue makes it hard to rely on a positive outcome 'going through the service mill', especially after reading the reports in this thread (made after May this year). The fact that this thread is marked 'Solved' doesn't mean the OP had his unit fixed, as far as I know his phone hadn't been repaired yet on June 19th, and he even received a bill for it as well.

No offense Rickard; I know you even tested and confirmed this report on a unit, but if all were peachy now, I would have expected less people complaining about this now. Anyway, thank you for the forward Rickard. I hope this will help speed up the repair process.

(Oh, and sorry about reporting my post, I felt like I had to do something to get some attention :()