Vizio sound bar and Uverse remote fix

OK, you are saying that some Vizio sound bars work with IR intended for TVs.

The problem is a "standard" U-verse remote edits the codes & only allows TV codes on the one TV button. The AUX & DVD buttons edit for different ranges of codes.

To apply TV codes to AUX or DVD button - first change the button to be another TV button as follows - att/OK (together) - 944 - TV - (AUX or DVD). The AUX or DVD button will now accept TV codes instead of AUX or DVD.

I do not know how this affects 955 for always assigning volume control or 977 for power all devices (is it TV or AUX/DVD & can you do it). Worst case is have it follow the mode button, which may be best anyway.

I once had three TVs on one remote using the follow the mode for both volume and power.

The problem with this "solution" is it's hardly a solution for most people. If all you have is a TV with uverse and a soundbar, it works fine. If, like many people probably have, you also have a DVD player hooked up to the TV that happens to be the same brand as the TV (in my case, Samsung) this solution solves nothing.

trav323 - Please be more specific about what you want to do & why this does not solve your problem.

If you have a Vizio sound bar that must be programmed as a TV, you do that to the AUX button as described.  And, you have the DVD programmed to the DVD button.

When watching u-verse you have complete control of the the U-verse box & audio volume while in the ATT mode.

While watching a DVD, apply the DVD mode to control play & either the TV or AUX to vary sound.

Yes, the volume button does not work in the DVD mode. But, you have to choose between TV & Sound Bar.

If you had a remote that has activities, you would set one activity for TV sound & another for Soundbar sound. You would choose which device the volume button applies to at power up by whhich activity you activate.

With the U-verse remote the choice is made when it is time to change the volume, you push the mode button to assign the device to the volume button (or the volume button to the device).

The above posts have some good information but there are some errors.  I have had success with the following procedure on the U-Verse S10-S3 and S10-S4 remotes and a Visio S3821 Sound Bar, this should work for other similar situations:

1. Program the TV button to control the volume on your sound bar.  Pick the TV model that matches your sound bar brand.  My Visio worked with the Visio TV code 1009.  Press hold TV/OK - press 1009.  Check volume, it works!

2.  Now assign this TV configuration to your AUX button.  Press hold AT&T/OK - 944 - TV - AUX.

3.  Note the 944 procedure does not "enable" the AUX or DVD button to accept TV codes.  It assigns the current TV code to that button.

4.  Now program the TV button to control your TV.  Mine is a Samsung.

5.  Now set the remote to Send Volume to Mode Selected.  AT&T/OK - 955 - Enter

6.  I can now adust the volume with the AT&T box and the Sound Bar independently.

How mine works:

1. Everything is off.

2. Press AT&T button to turn on AT&T box and the TV.

3. Press the AUX button. Press volume up or down to turn on sound bar.  No, the power button will not turn on this particular sound bar as it is designed to work with Visio TV's and that would not work well.

4.  Press AT&T to change box volume.  Press AUX to change sound bar volume.  Note. The volume on my Samsung TV is disabled when a sound bar is connected.

Enjoy!

The exact function of the 944 code is good catch.

I did program the button once & was sure I programmed the channel second. I guess not.

I was confused about which mode button to press first. But, there was no mention of programming the TV button first. Maybe they assume it is the default & is already programmed. Another case of documenting a step without regard for how to apply it.

Adding the soundbar introduces some complexity of how it will be used. We want to balance minimum button presses with desired flexibility. It could be flexibility is not needed - the soundbar is always on(minimize button presses) Or, it could be used only for special cases(allow selective use).

I set one up( a Zvox) for always used. So, i did not need flexibility. The Zvox has its own code or can be programmed to match any of five major mfgr or learned from the original TV remote. ZVOX recommends NOT using the same code as the TV for the soundbar. It seeme to me that is for the NOT always used case. For, always used, the same IR can be applied to both the TV and the soundbar.

Using the same code-

The one IR power toggle impacts both TV and soundbar..

The volume control is heard from the Zvox & only affects the TV by a momentary display of speaker OFF.

If the two get out of synch the Zvox can be turned on by a volume up (like the u-verse OK).

Of course, if the soundbar is to be used infrequently, then seperate IR control would be required.

Let's start with the VSB & VBR. These appear to be Vizio (not Logitech) devices. But, that is not critical.

We can only speculate if you can support these devices with a u-verse remote. You  cannot use the "control STB" workaround because you want to control audio input from the blue ray player.

You may (or may not) find a Vizio TV code that can control the Vizio sound bar. You have to try all vizio TV codes on the TV button to see if you can control the sound bar. If you find one it can be moved to the aux button & be default volume control.

att is introducing a new s-20 remote that may (or may not) support the Vizio sound bar & is easier to program for a sound bar.

You can connect the TV audio out to the sound bar audio in & turn off the speakers in TV by the audio menu. The manual does not state if this connection has "fixed" or "variable" volume & it does not have a choice. So, you have to try it.

If you are lucky, it will be variable & your current settings on the u-verse remote will control the TV volume that controls the sound bar output. Set the TV & soundbar levels to a comfortable level & while watching the u-verse remote will vary the sound you hear.

This would be the most transparent way to make the sound bar work as ALWAYS the sound producer.

It does not address the other controls for the blue Ray or the TV cam. For those you need a Logitech Harmony remote.