If you ever helped set up a TV, there is a good chance you’ve heard about HDMI connections and possibly know a little about how they work. The HDMI cable has become the standard for transmitting digital video and audio from a source.
The reason it’s so popular is because it’s able to simultaneously broadcast a high-resolution video and theatre-quality sound – all the while using fewer cables.
For an even better connection, Samsung TVs offer the possibility to make the connection through the HDMI ARC port. It ensures you get best video and audio quality you can. But, even with features like the HDMI ARC you can still run into some issues. Luckily, we’re here to help with that! Here’s what you need to do if your ARC has stopped working.
Samsung TV ARC Stopped Working
1. HDMI-CEC
For the ARC to work on your Samsung TV, you need to make sure that the HDMI-CEC feature is switched on. This feature might also be called Anynet+ in some cases. To turn it on, you will need to open the settings and click on the HDMI tab.
Look for the Anynet+ or HDMI-CEC option in this tab. When you find it, simply switch it on. The ARC on your Samsung TV should start working again after you’ve done that.
2. Unplug the connected devices
This feature, like all others, isn’t flawless. The functionality and the quality of the ARC is greatly impacted by the order of connected devices. As a matter of fact, this might be the reason behind your ARC not working. In order to fix this, you will have to take the HDMI connections and other cables out of your TV.
Once you’ve done that, turn on your Samsung TV. If you have any audio devices, consoles or similar devices, make sure to plug them in before you turn on the TV.
When the TV turns on, connect the set top box using your HDMI cable, and connect the other devices as well. This should fix your ARC issue. But before you switch the TV back on, you need to make sure that all of the cables and devices have been plugged out for at least twenty minutes before you plug them back in or this method won’t be effective.
3. Audio Format Isn’t Compatible
If the other methods didn’t work for you, then maybe your issue has something to do with the audio formats. Not all audio formats are compatible with the Samsung TV and Anynet+. You can check in the manual whether or not the certain audio format is supported by your TV.
And if you can’t seem to find your TV manual, don’t be hesitant to contact Samsung customer support and ask them for information about the compatible audio formats for the model of Samsung TV that you have.
4. Check Audio Cables
If you’ve tried all of the previous fixes and your ARC still doesn’t work, then there might be an issue with your audio cables. They are responsible for making the ARC work, so if they aren’t functioning, your ARC won’t be able to work either.
So, we suggest that you make sure that there is nothing wrong with the cables. You can check if there are any external damages by simply inspecting the cable carefully.
However, for internal damages, you’ll have to use a tool called multimeter. If you’ve found that the audio cable is damaged, you’ll have to replace it with a new one. We suggest using high-quality branded cables because they are much more enduring and provide a better audio quality.
5. Software Updates
Your software not being up to date can cause these kinds of troubles with your ARC too, as well as many other issues. So, you’ll have to ensure that your software is updated at all times. To check if there are any updates available, visit the official Samsung website.
If there are any software updates available, make sure to download and install them right away. Once the software updates, you’ll have to reboot your TV in order to fix the files. After that your ARC should start working again.
It took me a month to figure out why ARC wasn’t working. Evidently there was an interruption to my Bluetooth connection.
1. Put your soundbar in Bluetooth mode
2. Go to your TV settings and click on sound.
3. The soundbar will sync and viola! TV ARC
Tip: Think if your TV as a computer and your soundbar is a Bluetooth mouse. Same procedure. Who would have thunk it??
Mine made a loud screeching sound and I had to unplug my sound bar from power to get it to quit. Since then ARC no longer works with either Samsung soundbar I have, but the soundbars work in ARC on a second Samsung TV. Tried new HDMI ARC cable and many hours of turning things on off/unplug, replug etc. No such luck.
This seems to be a common issue.
I have an 82 inch Samsung QLED smart tv and a Harmon Kardon N850 soundbar. Very occasionally after leaving the tv paused for a long time the ARC function disappears from the TV sound menu. It’s ok connecting to the N850 on WiFi. The last time it happened I recall the Samsung tech gave me a simple procedure to rectify this but I can’t recall what it was.
This time, after over an hour of useless chat resets etc, reminiscent of early PC helplines, we are still ARC less …..
Hold down the button on your your Samsung sound bar remote that looks like a gear for 15 seconds. Done
After searching for some weeks I found the solution for not finding any hardware connected to hdmi3-arc on my samsung UE40MU6409. I bought a ARC Audio extractor to use the HDMI-ARC aidik output for my home made amplifier. It works fine for a couple of monts until I change some cable and switch off the TV. The Samsung did not recognize the hardware connected to HDMI3 input. I tried everything! ERROR Not connected on hdmi3.
The advantage of using hdmi-arc is the audio signal level is changing by using the Samsung remote control. If you use the Toslink it will not change. After I disconnected the mains plug waited for 10 sec. and reconnected the ARC audio extractor and switch on the tv it was at last detected. Also my Sharp 2.0 soundbar HT-SB95 is working fine now!
I can get my Sony Audio Reciever to connect to HDMI ARC 4 on my samsung tv when I disconnect other consoles from the other HDMI ports. The tv learns the Sony unit and plays surround. When I reconncet the TV and turn the tv off, it forgets the ARC HDMI j it and will not allow me to select it ads an audio output anymore. Very frustrating!
Auto correct got me – supposed to say – when I reconnect the other HDMI Consuls and turn TV off, the TV forgets the ARC HDMI and will not allow me to select it as an audio output.
Suddenly I had the same issue….after 2 days working with sonos tech. And samsung tech.
No fix…. finally I was shopping fir a new TV
No way to find out why this 2 guys (Sonos arc and Samsung wasn’t talking) I did set up the tv to the factory reset ( didn’t work) Finally I did reset the cable box ( I have Direct Tv)
BOOM PROBLEM RESOLVED. Their sound signal wasn’t the right one.
IT WAS THE TV CABLE PROVIDER. Now everything is working even better than before. I have a 8 yr old 55 Smart samsung TV. Hope this will help to get this to guys (Sonos and Samsung ) be friend again.
Team:
My TV ARC on my Samsung 65in curve TV is no longer working with my Samsung sound bar after two good weeks using a HDMI connection. HDMI cable is good. The sound bar does work on another TV. I called Samsung for assistance. They indicated the issue is the sound bar. Best buy troubleshooter indicated it’s the TV. Which is it? I haven’t done any TV updates since I purchased the TV. And Samsung helpdesk didn’t suggest it. I was using BT for sound and now I am using an optical cable. I also unplugged all connections to TV and tried setup again. It didn’t work. The Anynet+ CEC is on. Any suggestions! Will a ARC extractor work with the sound bar if the TV ARC does not?