HT-A7000 popping sound and soundbar restarts itself after firmware update to version 1.779

[TheRealKjalarr]

My HT-A7000 has been running perfectly without problems before the firmware update to version 1.779 and right after the update there is a loud pop sound and the soundbar restarts. It has now done that 4 times when I switch on the soundbar. I can't predict the pop sound so can't possibly record a video of it. Have switched off the power and pulled out all the cables and waited to switch on with cables again after 15 min. Have reset all settings on soundbar and change hdmi cable. And there is still a loud pop sound and the soundbar restarts. The soundbar is connected to a Sony A95K TV. Have contacted Sony support.

[thewheel2.0]

I think there are serious issues with the HT-A7000 update 1.779. There are multiple reports online

Your report here and on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sony/comments/1669ldm/hta7000_popping_sound_and_soundbar_restarts/

Two more reports:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Soundbars/comments/163paby/sony_hta7000_not_turning_on_with_remote_have_to/

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/sony-comes-to-play%E2%80%A6-ht-a7000-7-1-2-soundbar.3207961/page-21...

My issue:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/sony-comes-to-play%E2%80%A6-ht-a7000-7-1-2-soundbar.3207961/post-62...

Thats 4 independant reports around TV<->Soundbar integration since the update.

Here are the symtoms I faced using an A90J + HT-A7000:

1. TV volume level got out of sync with soundbar volume level.
2. No way to fix it. Plug everything out and back in again
3. TV can't play audio through the soundbar. Noticed eARC is disabled now on the TV side, enabled it and sound came out through the soundbar.
4. No ability to change the volume from the TV remote. Can't change any audio settings on the soundbar from the A90J Quick Settings menu (Night mode, voice mode etc)
5. If I plug out the HDMI for eARC on the TV and back in again, it will work as expected for a short while but it eventually goes back to the behaviour in step 4 above. And pluging out or power cycling does not work every time.

Really hope Sony sort this quickly, its very fustrating to deal with.

[TheRealKjalarr]

Yes, it's not good. think mine is also an HDMI-CEC problem. The only fix I have found is to turn on the HT-A7000 before I turn on the TV, so I avoid the soundbar popping and restarting. Hope Sony fixes all issues.

[Lord_viridis]

I've escalated this thread to support, hopefully we can get some more info.

[Lord_viridis]

Hi again, 

We've heard back that the issue described can't be replicated by the technicians looking into this (I must also admit that my A7000 doesn't act like this after updating)

The best move forwards is to contact support and get it booked in for a repair.

Good luck!

[thewheel2.0]

Hi Lord_viridis,

Are you referring to the popping sound issue, or the HDMI-CEC volume integration with the TV issue?

I don't have the popping sound, but I do have issues after the 1.779 update so thought they were related.

My TV can no longer change the volume of the soundbar or change any audio settings on the soundbar from the A90J Quick Settings menu (Night mode, voice mode etc).

I'm wondering if you have seen issues around that particular issue? It's definetly caused by the 1.779 update since there are multiple reports of it online, really don't think its a repair issue.

[thewheel2.0]

I figured out my issue thanks to users on avsforum.com:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/sony-comes-to-play%E2%80%A6-ht-a7000-7-1-2-soundbar.3207961/post-62...

They linked to a support article around Bravia Sync and HDMI-CEC, I have extracted the relevant bits below, with the issue I hit in bold:

• BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC) overview and troubleshooting information
  
• https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00161073
• The HDMI-CEC standard supports: 
• 1 - TV
• 1 - Audio system (A/V Receiver or Soundbar)
• Up to 3 - Playback devices
• Up to 3 - Recording devices
• Up to 4 - Tuner devices
• Which is then followed by this note:
• If you connect more devices than supported in a device category, errors in operation will occur.
• Some devices connected to the TV may show as more that one device (Soundbar with Smart functions) and may appear as an audio system and a playback device.

So my issue was that I had a HT-A7000, SkyQ box, PS5 and PS4 plugged into my 4 HDMI ports. I added the PS4 into the mix a few months back and things worked well enough, with the occasional input switching to the wrong device. Then the reboot due to the 1.779 update occurred which caused functionality to degrade even further where communication between TV and soundbar totally broke down.

I plugged out my PS4 and TV<->Soundbar communication immediately worked as expected. So I suspect it's not the 1.779 soundbar update itself but the associated reboot.

As a software engineer myself, I think the TV software has to do better here. At minimum it should flash up an error message once it detects that you have too many devices connected. And ideally the limits in the link above would be increased in the flagship television like the A90J.

Can you raise my issue to the technical team to see if they can at least show the user an error message when a user connects too many devices for Bravia Sync and HDMI-CEC?