IR for matrix only works when wiggled

General
1

Strange topic I know…

Here is what’s happening:

  • all devices work fine with IR
  • Except for an HDMI matrix (Liqoo HDMI Matrix 4x2 from Amazon)
  • This one can only be controlled while I wiggle the small dongle
  • Neither the dock nor the big transmitter works at all, even when wiggled
  • It’s so reliable that a small motor that constantly wiggles the transmitter would solve the issue
  • Slow movements do not work
  • I tried both ports (and rebooted after each change) with the same result
  • I tried a different small IR transmitter from another remote with the same result
  • I made sure there is no strain on the port and moving the wire does not affect the connection
  • The devices original IR remote works from across the room
  • It even works 5+ second after sending the command → as soon as I shake the wire the device turns on

Does anyone have an idea what could be the issue?

2

Have you tried it with the internal ir emitter? You need to activate it first under settings/development/preview features and then assign it to the matrix remote entity.

3

Thanks for the help.

I enabled the feature, restarted the dock and assigned the remote as the output device for the matrix. Sadly the behavior didn’t change.

2 observations:

  • When I check the IR signals with my phone camera, the dock and puck only emit a light when a action is called. The light of the dongle is always on.
  • The events seem to be queud up when I select the remote as output, press a button and switch back to the dock as output, the matrix reacts (when I immediately do the magic dongle wiggling)
4

The Dock doesn’t send any signals when you select the remote as an emitter. So the wiggling can’t have any effect on the signal in this case.

5

To clarify:

When I select the remote as the emitter, the matrix can’t be controlled at all.

When I change back to the dock, the behavior is back to before (dongle works when moved).

When I do it fast I can sometimes still trigger the action by wiggling the dongle.

I assume something is off with the matrix and will find another universal remote to try. But I would love an explanation what might be the issue here to rule out a hardware failure.

6

Did you unplug the dock before plugging in the emitter cable(s)? It won’t detect them if powered on when they are inserted

7

I tried the following:

  • Power off the dock
  • Unplug all IR transmitters
  • Boot the dock → none detected
  • Power off the dock
  • Plug in the dongle
  • Power on → dongle detected

Same weird behavior as before.

As I mentioned, the soundbar can be controlled with the dongle and the puck reliably.

Does anyone have an idea, why the dongle at least works sometimes while the puck and dock haven’t send a working signal once? Isn’t the IR the same?

8

I just received a new matrix (Portta 4x2).

Completely different device (multiple audio outputs for example), same behavior.

The dock and puck do nothing, the dongle works 1 out of ~20 times, I haven’t figured out of shaking does anything this time.

9

I ordered a third matrix (2x2 this time) and it works out of the box.

I’m still curious what might have caused the issue and willing to help with further debugging but I consider the issue solved. Thanks for the support!