Muting Problems

[yellowcanary73]

I don't know if I'm going crazy or what but sometimes when I push the info button  the muting sign comes up on the TV and can not figure how to get sound back even pushing the mute button will not bring the sound back.Have to reset to get it back any ideals

Thanks 

[RCSMG ACE - Expert]

Did you try pushing the tv button and then pushing the mute button?

[MarkShadid]

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RCSMG wrote:
Did you try pushing the tv button and then pushing the mute button?

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I bet that will take care of it.

[yellowcanary73]

I guess my other question would be why would pushing info button turn on mute I really like the U-verse system not to excited about their boxes none of my boxes seem to take the remote commands very well. 

Thanks 

[RCSMG ACE - Expert]

It is possible that there are commands that are transmitted by your remote will affect the stb and your tv in different ways.  I would look at the remote control before I looked at the boxes.  Especially since the info button on the UV remote is affecting the mute feature on your tv.  Just a thought.

[pennmw83]

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yellowcanary73 wrote:

I don't know if I'm going crazy or what but sometimes when I push the info button  the muting sign comes up on the TV and can not figure how to get sound back even pushing the mute button will not bring the sound back.Have to reset to get it back any ideals

Thanks 

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You know... this may sound REAL strange but do you have a LCD tv?

[FSU]

I have the same problem. This only happens on one of our TVs, a Phillips LCD.  It only happens occasionally.  I have reset the remote and it has not fixed the problem.  The only way to "unmute" the TV is to reset the cable box.

[pennmw83]

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FSU wrote:
I have the same problem. This only happens on one of our TVs, a Phillips LCD.  It only happens occasionally.  I have reset the remote and it has not fixed the problem.  The only way to "unmute" the TV is to reset the cable box.

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Well since you were the first to respond, you get the answer.  I have a Samsung 32" LCD HDTV.  I had the same issues for 2 months without any resolve from AT&T tech support or service techs, only answer that I got was "I dunno" and "it's something in your house".  What great words from a company that wants customers... Although I am not letting this turn me away from the service since I love it.

I first thought it was the DVR, and that is why I had a service tech come out and take a look at it.  Sucks for me, they swapped it, and now I lost all my recordings. BOOOOOO!!!!!!  But after they swapped the boxes, the issues still occured.  After about another 2hrs with the service tech there and looking at everything and talkng to their teir 2 support, they couldn't give me any answers.  After they left, I decided to swap the boxes from my bedroom and the living room (since I have only 2 boxes).  Low and behold, it starts to work.  I was shocked beyond all belief!  Next i put the non-DVR in the living room, and it started screwing up again.  So I got to thinking, what in the HECK could be causing this?!?!?  I just started out simple and turned everything off in the room, and systematically started testing the box when turning one thing on at a time.  The last item I turned on was the TV, and then it went all haywire on me!  So I turned it off, then back on again.  Did it again! GAH!

So then I Googled TV interference with IR, that is when I came up with my answers...

Supposedly LCD HDTVs put out wads of IR interference, and ONLY when energy savings mode is on and when the color mode is NOT set the the brightest factory setting.  Google helps out alot, but it is very strange how this is the only time I have EVER seen this issue.  Never came across this issue with my Wii, my TWC boxes, and even my Sony camera's IR.

Some people have said that CFL bulbs put out the IR that remotes put off, but found that this was not the issue, even though I have the CFLs in my living room.  This place and like one other forum is the only place I have heard of people complaining about it.

To program the remote to control the STB, press and hold the AT&T button then press the "OK" button.  All the device buttons will flash twice.  When they flash immediately type in 955, and you will see the AT&T button flash twice.  Press the AT&T button again, you will then see it flash 3 times and now it is programmed to Control the volume and mute on the STB.

To program it to go back to the TV, just follow the same steps, but on the last AT&T button push, push "TV" instead.  Now the remote is programmed back to the TV.

I hope this helped you out.

Just be thankful YOU didn't have to waste time with CSRs and tech support reps that thought you were freaking crazy.

Message Edited by pennmw83 on 10-29-2008 09:51 PM

Message Edited by pennmw83 on 10-30-2008 03:00 PM

[FSU]

Pennmw83,

Thanks for the information.  I will give it a try.

[DetTigers]

I have the EXACT same problem and it's driving me nuts!  Occasionally when I hit the INFO button on the U-verse remote the word "MUTE" comes up on the screen, like the STB has been muted.  The only way I have found to fix this is to reset the STB, what a PAIN!  When I hit the MUTE button on the remote, it mutes the receiver, and I am able to unmute it.  But this random muting of the STB when I hit the INFO button is bizarre.  As for the LCD TV theory, I have a 42" Sony Plasma that is 3.5 years old.

Message Edited by irish452 on 11-30-2008 06:43 PM

[jimfitzgerald]

I was thinking maybe you guys have the wrong tv code programmed into your remote.  I know when I did the automatic code search for my Samsung LCD, the remote found a code that worked, but the volume only went up and down one notch at a time.  I looked in the remote control instruction manual and found the Samsung codes and programmed the remote manually and it worked perfectly.  I know this is a different issue, but might be the same problem, ie. a remote code that ALMOST works.

[FuzioN_1]

Try visiting this links for more info:

reprogramming att remote control

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=1238 

list of remote control codes for your att remote control

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=1238&view=by_date_as...

[peter_young_kim]

 i have the exact same problem.

here is what i have

0. setup

samsung LCD TV + STB, Panasonic PDP TV + DVR. they are all Montorola boxes. i have CFL lamps. but it happens during the day light time as well when all the CFL lamps are all off.

1. remote controller is not responsive at all

same angle, direction,  same distance. sometimes it works, sometimes it does not and some times a totally different command (mostly VoD channel or channel 0 or 1, etc). when it does not work, the green light around the STB/DVR's power button does not even blink.

so changing channel is VERY frustrating. i want to change the channel to 1202, and press 1-2-0-2. the STB/DVR would only accept 10, and change the channel to ch 10. 

very rarely, the STB/DVR screen would go into the blue wave screen saying, press ok to watch tv or something. it appears to be that the STB/DVR is getting into soft crash 

2. crazy remote controller

info button works as STB mute. (its icon shows up on the right upper part of the screen. kind of blue color icon sort of looks like <))) Mute. then STB is muted. it has nothing to do with TV volume or TV mute. because TV volume/mute buttons work flawlessly. there are two ways to get the sound back:1) turn off the STB/DVR and then unplug/plug the power adapter. 2) keep pressing info button hoping it works as STB mute button. 

in channel guide menu, i use right arrow to see the coming shows. and say i was on 1202(CNN) channel for example. i keep pressing nothing but the right arrow button. first it is not very responsive as described in item 1. and it moves up/down different channel slots. and then sometimes it brings channel 0 or 1.

playback control buttons (play/pause/stop/ff/rw, 7sec back/30 sec forward buttons) drive me crazy. first of all, they are not responsive at all as described in item 1. they bring out VoD or channel 0 or 1.

i would pause a show, and then i would want to rewind/fast foward using the RW and FF or 7sec back/30 sec foward buttons. it changes the channel in to VoD screen. or ) shows up on the screen, and it changes the channel to channel 2. and when i go back to my channel, the auto-recorded video is now reset. so much for DVR's time shifting. now what i do is to hit record button, before i press any buttons at all on the remote.

3. things i have done

- replacing battery did no good

- i called TS, they advised me to reprogram the remote, and it did no good.

- TS sent out two new remote controllers. they do the same thing.

- a technican came out for another reason (Toslink output was dead on my STB) and he replaced both the STB/DVR, new STB/DVR did the same thing. and he was here during the day time. 

- the techician told me, he had not seen anything like this before. i printed out complaints on the internet about this info button mute issues. he said he would report the issue. 

- i still have problems....

4. LCD/PDP/CFL interferences

 if i move right in front of the STB/DVR's iR receiver, and put my remote control right next to it so that they are almost touching. remotes are much more responsive and i could not reproduce the info button calling for STB mute issue. but this defies the whole meaning of using REMOTE controllers.

 during the day light time with now CFL lights, i think the annoyance is relatively smaller. this issue seemed to have less frequent. well i happened to have a full time job, and i want to watch my shows after dinner, when i have to light up the room with my energy saving CFL lamps.

 PDP TV DVR/STB is much worse than LCD TV DVR/STB. even during the night time, even with no CFL lights, I have this issue.

 i am pretty sure it is the interference with LCD/PDP/CFL. it can happen. but the thing is all the other equipments:TV, Mac mini remote, DVD remotes, etc. THEY ALL WORK FINE EXCEPT THE MOTOROLA STB/DVR AND THEIR REMOTE CONTROLLERS.

5. final testing

 i am thinking of doing my final testing as below:

 cover the TV with a particle board, and see if i can reproduce this issue. well, i need more man power to hold the board in front of the TVs while i do the testing and it will take some time. i'll post the update when i get around.

Message Edited by peter_young_kim on 01-13-2009 03:04 PM

95% of my problems resolved by  

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=11961&view=by_date_a...

 it's rediculously amazing.

Message Edited by peter_young_kim on 01-14-2009 04:08 PM

[FuzioN_1]

Additional Info:

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&view=by_date_ascending&message...

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[peter_young_kim]

thank you Fuzion.

it's obviously the issue of motorola STB/DVR box problem. my other remote work absolutely fine.

att and motorola have to recall their STB/DVR to address this issue. 

[Datalyss]

I have the same problem.  What I did to fix it was to press the Info button again and again, until it unmuted.  Sounds crazy but it worked.  I pressed mine about a dozen times real quick before it unmuted.

[Datalyss]

It hit me randomly yesterday, but I have a Plasma TV so I don't think it is an LCD thing.  I managed to get it turned off by unprogramming the remote with code 955 to let me use Mute on the STB, then program it back to my amplifier.  I think it was shortly after that episode that my entire STB reset itself, just as if I had unplugged the power (which I hadn't).  So I just passed it off as some kind of alien intelligence attempting to crack into my UVerse, and find to little intelligence in my apartment decided to look elsewhere  ;-)

[jtrumble_1]

I had this happen to me last night...Didn't know what was going on because I'd never seen that mute symbol in the upper right hand of the screen.  I rebooted and it was fine, although I was in the middle of recording a Tigers game and I didn't realize it reset the recordings at that time (I had extended it two hours, and when I restarted the recording it stopped at the normal end time....watched it later and missed the last 2 outs of the game...really made me mad!) 

Anyways, the same thing happened tonight to my girlfriend while I was working.  After reading here and not seeing any real solution besides rebooting, I held down the info button for 5 or 6 seconds and it went to full volume.  I'm not sure if this is a cure or not, because I can't get it to re-mute by doing that again, so it could be just a coincidence..  But it's worth a shot instead of having to reboot it.

If it happens again I'll report back to whether that solution works again.  I've only had uverse for 2 weeks so I really hope it's not a re-occurring problem. 

Message Edited by jtrumble on 08-07-2009 12:16 AM

Message Edited by jtrumble on 08-07-2009 12:17 AM

[RCSMG ACE - Expert]

Thanks for posting that solution.  It might be a coincidence and it may not.  At least it is something to offer other subs who may have that problem

[Datalyss]

It hit me randomly yesterday, but I have a Plasma TV so I don't think it is an LCD thing.  I managed to get it turned off by unprogramming the remote with code 955 to let me use Mute on the STB, then program it back to my amplifier.  I think it was shortly after that episode that my entire STB reset itself, just as if I had unplugged the power (which I hadn't).  So I just passed it off as some kind of alien intelligence attempting to crack into my UVerse, and find to little intelligence in my apartment decided to look elsewhere  ;-)

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It is no doubt a figment of my imagination, but I would swear that since the above series of events, my surround sound seems to be "enhanced" - sound from the rear speakers is more noticeable.  I'm using an HDMI cable to my TV, then TOS from the TV to my audio system.

Is it possible that some new STB code was being downloaded that caused the Mute/Reboot incident?

[anotherBAM]

We used to have this problem, and it was quite annoying when it occurred. I had to keep the remote control booklet in a drawer in our living room, although I eventually memorized how to do it. We have a Plasma. Replacing the CFL's seemed to help this and other remote oddities form occurring as often, but our TV seemed to make just enough interference to mess it up occasionally. I have no auto anything or energy saver mode options on my TV.
 
Knock on wood, but we haven't had a single issue since I installed to the new RF remote. I also covered the IR port with electrical tape. The angle of the RF converter seems to still allow it to hit the eye and my hope is the tape can keep out weaker IR interference.

[cpitkin]

i have this issue using the motorola device.  every now and then when the info button is pressed the at&t device mutes.  it is not the tv mute.  it is a large blue mute notification in the upper right hand corner.  i have solved it by either rebooting the device via the menu(pain) or pressing the info button repeatedly until it unmutes itself(unreliable) .  I have had uverse for 3 months now and the 1st time this started occuring was 1 week ago so it must have been from a software update download.  any help would be appreciated!

[mibrnsurg ACE - Master]

There has never been a solution to this particular problem that has been posted except some things

happening in this thread.  So, continue your solution or try something else in this thread.  Luckily in

over a year w/Uverse this has not happened to me, knock wood. 

Chris

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Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
YRMV IMHO Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

Message Edited by mibrnsurg on 08-23-2009 10:12 PM

[wobby2]

I do not have an LCD tv but the same problem occurred to me and your fix worked.  Thanks.

[SRich_1]

I have to say that we've had this problem a few times, and since cthomas' advice was the easiest, i tried it first and it worked.  No need to do the other stuff!  May not work for everyone, but it worked for me.

[paperbag]

Pretty funny.  I had this issue since the irvine data center crashed in CA back in May 2009.  After that, i get the mute button on the info button.  Been living with it and I have a panasonic plasma tv.  I pressed the info button down for 5 seconds and it mute.  I am unable to un-mute it and have to reboot.  I'm glad it's not just me.

[hpmsrm]

Excuse me for being a bit confused here.  Some of you state that when your mute malfunctions you have to reboot the STB to get it back......or, at least, that is the way I understood it.  But....if the remote is set-up correctly it should be activating the TV set's "mute" function.....not a function of the STB.  So rebooting the STB should not have anything to do with muting the TV.   I may be reading this all wrong.....but that is the way it is supposed to work.  When I hit "mute" on the remote....my TV goes mute....not the STB or DVR.  It has NEVER failed to operate correctly in over 2 years.  I'm just trying to make sure we're all discussing the same thing here.  Not being critical.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Expert]

I think what's being discussed is that the remote commands (whatever they are intended to be) are being misinterpreted by the U-Verse STB and causing it to mute it's audio output, and this happens randomly under certain conditions.

Because the mute was the result of a misinterpretation by the STB, and because the remote actually is not programmed to send a mute command to the STB (the mute button is programmed to send a mute command to the TV), there is no way to un-mute the STB once this happens.  The only thing that can do that is a reboot, or temporarily reprogramming the remote to send the mute/unmute command to the STB.

[mibrnsurg ACE - Master]

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hpmsrm wrote:

Excuse me for being a bit confused here.  Some of you state that when your mute malfunctions you have to reboot the STB to get it back......or, at least, that is the way I understood it.  But....if the remote is set-up correctly it should be activating the TV set's "mute" function.....not a function of the STB.  So rebooting the STB should not have anything to do with muting the TV.   I may be reading this all wrong.....but that is the way it is supposed to work.  When I hit "mute" on the remote....my TV goes mute....not the STB or DVR.  It has NEVER failed to operate correctly in over 2 years.  I'm just trying to make sure we're all discussing the same thing here.  Not being critical.

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It just happened to me, for the second time since my post above that it hasn't happened.  Just a few minutes ago I pressed 'info' on Uverse remote and info came up along w/DVR 'mute' in upper right.  Knew to go to spd's 'How to Guides.....' top of the Equipment board to unlink TV from the Uverse remote, unmute the DVR and relink TV to the remote.

http://utalk.att.com/t5/Equipment/HOW-TO-GUIDES-INSTRUCTIONS-AND-BASIC-TROUBLESHOOTING/m-p/4826#M124...

Chris

____________________________________________________________________

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
I Call It Like I See It, Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[pooterduude]

Here is a succinct description of the problem.   The INFO button, when pressed, intermittently generates one of the following unexpected entries to the UVERSE Controller.   A Channel Entry (0,1,2,4,or 8, all single bit binary numbers), Turns off Uverse controller (video displays "Press OK to watch Uverse")  or Mutes the UVERSE controller requiring a controller reset.   The MUTE is the real PITA here. 

I got Uverse last winter and this problem has plagued me since I put it in.  I have to reset the TV sometimes 4 to 5 times a day or more.  A process which takes about 3 minutes.   Supposedly this is caused by infrared from the Plasma TV interfering with the infrared transmissions from the remote.    In my situation, the wall opposite of the Plasma TV is covered with art mounted in glass.  The reflections from the glass panes probably enhances the problem.  I have an RF remote but it still has the same glitches.  It seems if they did a little more error checking in the software perhaps it would work.  

I don't understand why they transfer the MUTE function to the TELEVISION.  I use a surround sound system and I would prefer that the UVERSE RECEIVER control the mute and mute the entire system.   Then it wouldn't matter which audio output you were using. 

My problem is limited to my DVR controller.  Does anyone know if this malady is limited to the DVR receivers or does it happen when Plasma TV's are attached to a standard receiver?

I recommend everyone continue to complain to AT&T concerning this engineering issue.   Not just call, but call every week or two asking what they are going to do about it.  Many of the phone agents don't even know about this problem even though it's been around since 2008 and nobody's fixed it.