Some way to disable auto-standby on TV soundbar

[Andaho]

I just bought a Philips HTL2101A/05 soundbar, but have discovered a really annoying feature that is built into ALL soundbars sold in the EU... After a period of inactivity, to meet EU regulations, they have to automatically switch off.

This is annoying because I don't want to have to press 2 power buttons when I turn the TV on... I have the soundbar connected via the headphone socket on the TV, so I control the volume with the TV remote. I want the soundbar to just stay on! - surely it doesn't use much power when there isn't any sound being played anyway?

When googling for this problem/feature, there are lots of people complaining about the auto-standby. My particular model states that it goes into standby after 15 minutes of no sound and no buttons on the remote being pressed (there are no buttons on the soundbar itself). The other really annoying "feature" it has, is every time it goes into standby, it resets the volume - so apart from having to turn it back on, I have to turn the volume back up every time I turn it on.

I was first thinking along the lines of having some kind of IR transmitter, automatically sending the volume up command every X minutes (since I have it set to max anyway, and use the TV to control the volume) - but I have no idea how I would do this... so then I was thinking along the lines of how to generate a slight noise on one of the inputs to prevent standby? - or what about a voltage being sent to the digital coaxial input? - or how about shorting out a circuit inside the soundbar?

There must be some kind of "hack" to prevent it going into standby? - perhaps one that could be universally used to prevent any soundbar going into standby?

Does anyone know how I can do this... or can anyone point me in the right direction of how I might be able to achieve this?

Thanks.

 

[Martaine2005]

Wow, what a world we Brits live in!!
Who'd have thought we would ever need to press TWO buttons on a remote from our arm chairs. Geez....

Tongue firmly in cheek!!
I would have thought there is a way to disable the STBY but have never thought about it before now.
You would need to get a schematic for the soundbar or open it up and see what's there.

Martin

 

[Martaine2005]

You may want to contact the chap on here. Ask if he wants to swap with you..The last poster at the bottom..

Martin

 

[Arouse1973]

Wow, what a world we Brits live in!!
Who'd have thought we would ever need to press TWO buttons on a remote from our arm chairs. Geez....

Tongue firmly in cheek!!
I would have thought there is a way to disable the STBY but have never thought about it before now.
You would need to get a schematic for the soundbar or open it up and see what's there.

Martin

Come on Martin, the other button would get covered in chocolate, because the other finger is used to break the cunks off a big bar while watching TV, stupid

 

[Martaine2005]

Come on Martin, the other button would get covered in chocolate, because the other finger is used to break the cunks off a big bar while watching TV, stupid

I never thought of that!
Ok, I have a fix..
Get a coat hanger, bend it in the middle. Blue tack both remotes to table. Bend coat hanger around desired finger. Press both buttons with coat hanger. Use other finger to continue devouring chocolate.
How stupid was I?
You have to admit, I would make a great engineer!!
BTW, patent pending..

Martin

 

[Andaho]

LOL, thanks for the replies guys... As I did say in my OP, it's not just a case of having to turn it back on, but when it goes into standby, it resets the volume to a low level... so when I turn the TV on, I have to press the power button of the TV remote, then the power button on the soundbar, and then hold the volume button to get the volume back up to a normal level... It's quite inconvenient... when turning the TV on should be as simple as just pushing 1 button :S

After doing a little more research, I think a simple solution of programming an old universal remote with the 'volume up' button, and having a simple 555 timer 'push' the button every ~10 minutes would do the job I want (because I want the soundbar on full volume anyway, because I control volume with the TV remote)...

I'm struggling to find a guide on how to make this kind of circuit... would I need to use a relay to 'simulate' pushing of the button on the remote? - or is there an easier way? - I assume I can just connect wires to the contacts (or the carbon) of the button I want pressed?

 

[CDRIVE]

There's got to be a more elegant way then that hack. Open Up the sound bar and take some good sharp photos. Then post them. Maybe we'll see something obvious but then..maybe not.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Andaho]

well, I decided to pull it apart to have a look... there's nothing obvious to me (no surprise)... how about you?...

The cable at the top of the image with 6 wires, goes to the power board that supplies 3*18v + 3*GND

The board in the background at the bottom of the image is connected by ribbon cable to the socket in the bottom left of the main board... but this lower board only has LEDs on it - the soundbar has no buttons on the unit, and is fully controlled by the IR remote.

The cable plugged in at the far right, along with the disconnected cable hanging below, go to 3.5mm and USB sockets.

 

[Martaine2005]

Hi Andaho.
What markings / numbers are on the chip UNDER the white label? Probably a micro-controller pre programmed.
Also, it appears that a lot of standby ic's are actually voltage regulators with built in standby.
Can you get any photos of the power board.

Martin

 

[CDRIVE]

Also, it appears that a lot of standby ic's are actually voltage regulators with built in standby.
Can you get any photos of the power board.

Martin

Good thinking Martin. Think what a boon it would be to have software that could convert PCB photos (with labeled components) to a schematic!

Yes, I'm fully expecting a post informing me that I missed the memo regarding that!

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Andaho]

I decided to pull apart my TV, and I've disconnected the internal TV speakers, and connected them directly to the speakers inside the soundbar - it's not as loud at full volume, but it sounds great... besides, the extra volume from the amp in the sub isn't needed anyway... I'm not using it as a sound system for blasting out loud music... only for watching TV

 

[Martaine2005]

I decided to pull apart my TV,

That's all I read before I fell off my chair laughing...
So I guess you sorted it then

Martin