Panasonic Viera link disappeared!

Steven Rae

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2012
6
0
18,520
Visit site
Hi everyone,

I hope someone with experience with Panasonic tv’s can help with an unusual problem that has arisen concerning the viera link function in my system. I have a Panasonic TX32LXD70 and a OnkyoHT R380 receiver (with a Pioneer BDP-140 blu ray player and a PS3linked to the receiver via the appropriate hdmi inputs on the receiver if that matters). I have the TV/receiver connected with a QED hdmi performance 1.3 cable from the receiver out terminal to the hdmi 1 terminal on the tv.

Up until recently, when I pressed the ‘viera link’ button on the remote the ‘viera link menu’ would be displayed. In this menu there was two sub-menus; ‘viera link control’ and ‘speaker selection’. ‘Viera link control’ would allow me to cycle through various components so they could be controlled by the tv remote e.g. recorder / player / home cinema / video camera. I had this set to home cinema which allowed me to control volume using the tv remote.

The ‘speaker selection’ sub menu allowed me to select the tv speakers or the home cinema speakers to output the sound from the connected components.

Yesterday, when I switched my system on to watch a film, when I pressed the ‘viera link’ button the ‘viera link menu’ only displays the ‘viera link control’ sub menu i.e. the speaker selection sub menu has disappeared completely! And the ‘viera link control’ sub menu no longer allows me to cycle through the options listed above i.e. the only available option is ‘others’ and when I select this I get the message ‘Please use the other’s remote controller’. This means I can’t control the receiver with the tv remote but more annoyingly, I can’t select to have the sound coming from the tv or the surround sound speakers i.e. it comes out through both (when watching a blu-ray/using the PS3).
I have tried the ‘preparation’ procedures as outlined in the tv manual, resetting the tv / receiver to their factory settings, turned on the hdmi control on both components, changed the hdmi from terminal 1 on the tv to terminal 2 and tried several hdmi cables. Nothing seems to revert the system to the way it was and I cannot get the full functionality of the viera link menu back. I cannot for the life of me work it out as nothing changed from when it was working to now.

If anyone as any advice or has heard of this problem before, I would appreciate it immensely.

Thanks, Steve
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I have Panasonic TX and Panasonic SC-PT560E sound system, and viera link has disappeared today. Maybe it's some kind of bug?
 

Steven Rae

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2012
6
0
18,520
Visit site
Hi,

Thanks for replying. Sorry to hear your system has developed the same problem, but at least I now know I'm not going mad! Searching on the web I couldn't find anyone describing the same problem. Hopefully someone will have an idea what's going on!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I have just today experienced the same problem with my TX-P46GT30 and Onkyo609 set up. Has the panasonic update done this ?. I will give Panasonic a call tomorrow and ask them
 

Steven Rae

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2012
6
0
18,520
Visit site
Hi Mate, thanks for your reply. My tv is quite old now. relatively (about 5 years) and I cant update it (as far as I am aware, I always thought to update the tv firmware you have to actively download the firmware to an sd card and load it onto the tv, or it is done via the internet with a smart tv, I will happily be corrected if I am wrong thought!). I think it is a 'handshake' issue, I've tried several ways of perfoming a hard reset on the tv and amp in an attempt to make the components 'forget' everything and link up like they had never seen each other, but still nothing.

I tried emailing panasonic, but of course that was pointless. So I tried emailing my local panasonic store, their 'technical' guys said that viera link shouldn't work with any other manufacturer's components other then panasonic. So obviously they don't have a clue/couldn't be bothered thinking of a solution.

I've been advised though on what looks like a more 'thorough' reset procedure which I will try tonight and see if that makes the TV recognise the amp again. Let me know mate if you get anywhere with yours.

Steve
 

Oldboy

Well-known member
Sep 13, 2007
421
0
18,890
Visit site
Steven,

This is an issue i have encountered a few times now with my 42GT30 tv and Onkyo 609 amp, what would happen would be that either the Viera link option disappeared completely as you mention or if i was lucky then i would get the Viera link option back but get no sound from the speakers in my home cinema but would be able to get sound through the tv speakers.

After a bit of trial and error i found that one particular component in my system was to blame...my PS3 slim, if the PS3 was either on or even switched off but still plugged in then either of the above issues would arise and i would get Viera link problems but if the PS3 was switched off and unplugged from the mains then it was fine, very strange.

It might be worth seeing if any of your equipment is effecting the Viera link in your system in a similar way to mine, if not then what i did find that worked before i found out that the PS3 was to blame was this...i turned off the HDMI control on my amp first then done the same with the Viera link in the menu of the tv (not with the Viera link button on the remote), then switched HDMI control on the amp back on and then the same with the tv through the menu again. Most of the time that got it back but on occasion i would need to reverse the order (no idea why) so tv first then amp, then tv back on and amp back on.

It is definately a handshake issue i can assure you of that as my dealer confirmed as much but you have been give some incorrect information about Viera link, it's just HDMI control renamed by Panasonic because it adds extra functionality between Panasonic devices such as being able to use one remote control but it's just an industry standard technology and works across muliple devices regardless of manufacturer. The only difference when you aren't using it with Panasonic products is that you lose the extra functionality but standard HDMI control is still available regardless of the equipment connected.

I'm sorry i couldn't just give you a quick sure fire fix for your issue but thought it was at least worth sharing my experience in the hope that it's of some use to you, i know just how frustrating it is when it just seems to disappear like that.
 

Steven Rae

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2012
6
0
18,520
Visit site
Hi oldboy,

thank you for your reply, no problem about 'no quick fix', this was exactly the kind of information I was after, someone else's experiences (so I know it wasn't just me going a bit doolally! :roll:) Interesting about the PS3, I wonder if it was a recent update on that that has knocked the system out. I will try your suggestions tonight to see if that gets things up and running again. It doesn't help I guess that the PS3 slim cannot ever be turned completely off (unless of course it is unplugged) and that it only ever goes to standby. I wonder if it had an on/off switch like the first generation PS3 if it would not cause such problems. What always baffles me with situations like this is how it can be working one day and then not the next. I guess everything is like that!

yeah, I knew that viera link was just panasonic's name for hdmi control and therefore I should be able to control connected devices with the tv remote (which I always have done) so I knew the guys in the panasonic shop weren't really thinking that hard about the problem.

you have at least put my mind at ease that it is not likely to be a hardware fault and confirmed my suspicions that it is just a handshake issue. I will try out your methods and report back!

Thanks again,

Steve
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Hi all,

I spoke to a guy called Bilbar at Panasonic this morning and after I had explained what had happened he told me that he didn't think any upgrade could cause this problem. He was a bit perplexed by it all and I directed him to the Forum to prove that I was not the only one with this problem and after he had read the posts he took a bit more notice. He then suggested that I do a factory reset and then unplug both the TV and Receiver from the mains, switch it all back on and try again. Strange things have happened. I can now choose Home Cinema in V.Link and lo and behold I get Receiver volume and it can be controlled by the TV remote. However when I check in the sound settings it is set to 'Auto'. This is wierd because when I originally set it up, I could only get sound from the receiver with an optical cable connected as well as the HDMI and it set to PCM, Auto didn't work at all. The other thing that has happened is that my Pana.BDT500 BluRay has disappeared from V.Link and I can't make it appear.Not much bothered about that as at least I can control receiver with TV remote now. I phoned him back and he can't understand what happened either but maybe an unplug and replug will do it for you too.

Best of luck,

Keith
 

Steven Rae

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2012
6
0
18,520
Visit site
hi keith,

well ive tried all manner of hard resets and still nothing. looks like im gonna have to live with it which is a real pain. maybe though with more occurences of this happening with the newer panasonic models there might be something issued to fix these random occurences of handshake issues cropping up. if anyone else has had these issues and has tried something else please let me know so I can try it.

cheers,

steve
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
This gets wierder and wierder. What I found last night was that I lost sound when I switched over to a HD channel. Sound seting on Panasonic SPDIF was auto so I changed that back to PCM andoptical cable and I now get sound from all TV channels. There must be some basic incompatibility problems between their ARC5 version of HDMI and everybody elses standard. Still tells me that Viera link is not active and to check cables and settings. I would love to get a genuine Panasonic Engineer round to play with it. The TV that is.
 

Steven Rae

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2012
6
0
18,520
Visit site
If you ever manage to get an engineer to look at it let us know! I've emailed panasonic customer services twice now but had no reply (wasn't expecting one to be honest). The TV is still in its 5 year JL warranty, might be a bit extreme to take it to them to have an engineer to look at it for the sake of viera link but I guess if its not working, its not working!
 

Oldboy

Well-known member
Sep 13, 2007
421
0
18,890
Visit site
Steven Rae said:
If you ever manage to get an engineer to look at it let us know! I've emailed panasonic customer services twice now but had no reply (wasn't expecting one to be honest). The TV is still in its 5 year JL warranty, might be a bit extreme to take it to them to have an engineer to look at it for the sake of viera link but I guess if its not working, its not working!

Doesn't sound extreme to me! If it's stopped working as it was then there is an issue and i would contact JL as their customer service is said to be top notch and get it looked at, it's under warranty for faults and this would seem to be a fault to me especially as until recently the tv was working properly with Viera link.

Oh and by the way from experience i know it can take up to 14 days for Panasonic to reply to any emails you send them, there has been many occasions when i've contacted them about very minor issues that i've forgotten all about the emails i've sent them only for a reply to drop into my inbox two weeks later. Any issue such as this with a possible fault on a tv i now phone them as it's far quicker and you get a better resolution than via email, i would suggest you give them a ring and if you get an answer as to what the issue may be post it on here.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Greetings,

FWIW, I was having a similar issue between my Pana an PS3. Turns out my PS3 was causing the issue, once I plugged the power back into the PS3 after leaving it unplugged for about 60 seconds everything worked as is did before.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
hello i to have had a problem with the viera menu failing to load tv is a th42pz81b 4 year old with a panasonic sc-pt467 sound system i did all the usual factory reset switch off at the mains over night nothing worked all i get is featuer not available when i press viera on the remote i bought the tv from john lewis with a 5 year guarntee so gave them a call they are arranging for a panasonic engineer to call and if i can.t be repaired they will replace so any one who bought their tv from JL give them all you may be surprised fodenman
 

Systematic

New member
Oct 31, 2008
3
0
0
Visit site
Did anyone get to the bottom of this?

Got a 65" VT50 and purchased a Yamaha RXA2020. Ive plugged a HDMI cable from the HDMI ARC out on the receiver to the HDMI ARC In on the TV. When I hit Viera Link from the Panny menu, I see one option Viera Link Control and it is set to 'Player'. Nothing else is available.

A few tests:

HDMI Out ARC on receiver to HDMI In ARC on TV and NO bluray player connected - Viera Link = Feature Not Available

Same as above with a different HDMI cable = Feature Not Available

As soon as I plug in the Bluray player into the AV Receiver (AV1) and have the ARC connections as mentioned above, the Viera Link menu comes up but is restricted to Viera Link Control: Player.

Maybe I need to enable ARC on the Yamaha or something like that???
 

cherft

New member
Jun 22, 2013
0
0
0
Visit site
:) :) :) :) :)

Thank you. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!!!! Oldboy.

Your post (13 Sept 2007) has fixed my problem with my ARC/Viera Link from my TH-P50VT20A 3DTV to my SA-BTT755 BluRay Home Theatre.

Basically VLink stopped working and ARC would neither start up my HT or play TV audio into my HT.(Playing a BluRay disc on the HT work, though, with the pivture played on the TV - so it was a 1-way problem).

Panasonic Support basically GAVE UP (rudely - said they would call back but never did).

I unplugged all my HDMIs (1 to Denon AVR, 3 to Apple TV, 4 to another Apple TV) and restarted the TV and Bob's my Uncle - all VLink and ARC features came back OK.!! (I've connect the HDMI1 back to the Denon but will not try the 2 AppleTVs till I have another large window of free time)

Thanks again, Oldboy, for the great tip.

regards

Chris
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts