Quirky Remote Control Issue ....

[Piratefan98]

Just thought I'd see if anyone might have an idea of what could be causing my problem. It really is a strange one .....

Equipment:

Brand new Samsung 26" LCD TV (Bedroom)
Brand new DirecTV H21 High Def receiver

Installed both on Wednesday. Here is the problem I'm having .....

I went through the steps for programming the remote to operate the TV (as I did for the other 4 tv's in my house). That went fine, and my DirecTV remote now controls both the H21 box, as well as many Samsung TV features (Volume up, down, power on, off, etc). Okay .... that's all pretty normal so far.

The problem I'm having is ...... when I turn everything on, it takes about 30 seconds for the remote control to work for the H21 box. When first powered up, the H21 won't do any channel up, channel down, info, menu, etc. etc through the remote. If I just wait 30 seconds, then all of those functions miraculously start to work. I tried this at least a dozen times, and it's always the same thing .... approx. 30 second delay before the remote will work, and then once it does work, it works just fine.

Now, to make this a whole lot quirkier ..... I tried something else, and was REALLY surprised at the result. With both the H21 and TV on, I turned ONLY the TV off (using the Samsung tv remote) leaving the H21 on the whole time. Then, when turning the TV back on, the DirecTV remote was again dead for about 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, it worked like a charm. I repeated this several times, and got the same result each time as well. I have no idea how turning ONLY the TV on and off, without using the DirecTV remote, could affect the functioning of the DirecTV remote, but it does. Time and time again.

I did some of the common fixes ..... tried "restarting" the receiver ..... and also did the "reset everything" attempt, re-did the remote control programming, etc. all to no avail.

Any ideas??

Jeff

[kvandmx]

Jeff,
Do you have the tv connected to the TV via HDMI?

[Piratefan98]

Jeff,
Do you have the tv connected to the TV via HDMI?

Yes, I have it connected both via HDMI and Component (i wanted to compare the PQ of the two, so both are currently connected).

Jeff

[kvandmx]

Yes, I have it connected both via HDMI and Component (i wanted to compare the PQ of the two, so both are currently connected).

Jeff

Okay, try temporarily disconnecting the HDMI cable and see if the problem persists. If the problem goes away then there is a possible communication problem between the receiver and your tv via HDMI.

[Piratefan98]

Okay, try temporarily disconnecting the HDMI cable and see if the problem persists. If the problem goes away then there is a possible communication problem between the receiver and your tv via HDMI.

Just tried that, and no difference. With HDMI cable disconnected, I still got the 30 second delay before the remote started working. Really weird!

Jeff

[David MacLeod]

got another remote?do the lights change when you try to enter a command even though they don't appear on screen?
wondering if its an issue of unit not getting signal to begin with.

[Piratefan98]

I tried a different remote from one of my other TV's .... same thing happened.

I tried HDMI only (w/component cables removed), and Component only (w/HDMI cable removed). Still a 30-40 second delay before there is any functionality on the remote (actually, there IS functionality for TV functions, volume, etc., but there is no functionality for the H21 receiver).

Getting the same results with a different remote control leads me to think that it's "probably" my H21, but tomorrow I will bring one of my other H21's upstairs, and hook it up to the Samsung. That should help to determine whether it's the receiver or the TV.

Jeff