LG TV –Best way to configure Universal Control Settings CEC

Help and Support Raspberry Pi
1

I was wondering what is the optimal configuration, since when adding a new device you have this options

Set top box
Blueray/ DVD player
Home Theatre
Bluetooth / Sound Bar
OTT

there are some specific presets for certain brands, but Raspberry doesnt show up.

So far I’ve been setting it up as a DVD LG, with some luck, (my raspberry pi 3 doesnt recognise the TV Remote, (the RP4 does).

any Experience to be shared?

2

Hi,

I think you’ve stumbled across Universal Control magic link (I think it’s called that, I’m away from my lg tv atm). I made the mistake of looking in this section, when I was trying to turn cec back on the other day. This isn’t the right place.

Somewhere in the menu lists, there is an option called simplink, make sure this is turned on. Shutdown the pi. Turn off the TV, (At this point it may be worth unplugging the TV and the pi, the recommend time is 10 minutes. I found 30 seconds was ok). Power the the TV back on, put it on the hdmi input/source for the pi. Then power on the pi. CEC should be working now.

Thanks Tom.

3

Hi Tom,

What features does the magic remote allow you to control?

4

Hi,

I’m front of that TV now, its actually called Universal Control (not sure where I got magic link from), I think it allows you setup controlling the listed devises with your TV remote using IR.

Thanks Tom.

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5

thanks @Tom_Doyle !!!

yes there is a step by step process, I found that resetting it and not doing anything at all makes it work, which is a bit counterintuitive, but it works for my RP3.

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6

For me this works all the time, (every 6 months I need to come back to this post to remember what I have done):

You go to the Home of the LG Smart TV screen (called home panel on my 2022 TV)
on the HDMI 1 (in my case) there is a button with the CEC logo on it, called Remote Control Configuration.
There you press Delete and Ok

and that’s it, the pi and LG understand automatically…

7

here is a new challenge from LG:

I have a new LG G3 Evo for 2 months now but also some fresh LG problems with HDMI-CEC I made a fresh install of KODI on my RPI-4. When I connect it to the old Sony LCD CEC works perfectly.

The LG does not respond when I try to operate the Kodi with the LG remote. Connecting to different HDMI ports does not help. Tthe kodi-rpi4 is identified as a PC so the TV seems to think it has to do with a PC. Symplink / cec is enabled on the LG.

I can’t do anything useful anywhere in the tv settings unless I go to settings->general->external devices->universal remote settings. I see the regular set-top box neatly appear there, but the kodi-rpi-4 is missing. If I disconnect and reconnect the hdmi cable, the input (HDMI1) even appears on the screen and quickly disappears.

In short, I think the LG automatically recognizes my kodi-rpi-4 as a PC and then ignores the CEC options for this device. Can I somehow convince LG that a set-top box is connected to HDMI1? This option used to be available in tv-os, but I can’t find it anywhere. in the latest os. An alternative on the Kodi side is to ensure that the RPI4 presents itself as a set-top box, which I will ask in the Kodi forums.

any help is welcome

8

First make sure your plugged into the HDMI port on the RPi 4 that is next to the power output. If that isn’t the issue then figure out how to remove the device in LG’s wizard or change it there to some other kind of device. I think that wizard tends to configure a lot of devices to be controlled by IR from the remote so it ignores CEC.

9

Hi Darwindesign!

I’ll try switching the HDMI port on the rpi tonight. However I already verified that theCEC works perfectly if I connect to a sony bravia tv. I noticed that the LG displays a little remote in the tab for my settopbox but not in the one for the rpi, which is just labeled pc. In the new lg-os I see no options to manually change the type of input device on the hdmi channels. I’ve asked this at lg and wait for an answer. In the meantime, I was hoping there might be a way to have osmc/kodi identify itself as a settopbox on the hdmi port, but I am no expert. Perhaps this is in the RPI-os?

10

Both my C1 and C2 worked out of the box with the magic remote - didn’t have to change anything.

11

CEC spec does not have a “PC” device type and stock OSMC advertises itself on the bus as a recording device or playback device depending on what version your running. I believe that the “PC” name you are seeing is because someone had configured a device type for that port at some point on the LG as otherwise it would show the device name of the OSMC box.