Do you want to know how to quickly turn on your Bose speakers and soundbars without the remote? It’s pretty simple! Just follow these steps, and you’ll be up and running.
Troubleshooting Bose Remote Control Not Working and Speaker/Soundbar Not Turning ON
If you own Bose speakers or soundbar and you cannot power them on using the remote, there are a few things that you can check before deciding that the remote has gone wrong.
Check the connection of the speaker to the power outlet.
If the power socket or outlet is damaged, it won’t be able to power your Bose speakers. So, you need to make sure that the power supply is OK. You can do this by changing the power outlet to a different one in your home. You can also try powering other gadgets from the power outlet where the speakers are connected to make sure that the outlet is working fine,
Remove the Surge Protector
Suppose you connect your Bose speakers or soundbar to the power outlet through a Surge protector. In that case, there is a chance that the Surge protector has failed due to various reasons like overheating, overload, or some physical damage. You can remove the Surge protector and plug the cord directly into the power supply to confirm the same.
Check for loose connections or damaged cables.
If you are using the connecting cables for the Bose Speakers or soundbars for an extended period, there is a chance that the connections have become loose on either side of the cable. It is also quite possible that the cable has been damaged. So, it is wise to keep spare cables handy for your Bose speakers or soundbar.
Replace the batteries in the Remote
Like with the cables, you should also replace the batteries in the remote of your Bose speakers or soundbar after an extensive period of use. If new batteries also don’t work, you should look for other solutions.
Check the remote with other compatible devices.
If you have been using the same Remote with some other device as well, you can confirm the working of the remote by trying to turn on or off that particular device. If the remote fails there too, we can conclude that the remote is damaged or not working.
Unplug, Wait, and Replug
This is the final troubleshooting method in the list. If none of the methods above works for you, you can try this. Simply unplug the Bose speaker or soundbar and wait for around 1 minute before replugging it. After that, you need to check if the trick worked or not.
Note- If you have lost or misplaced the original Remote of your Bose speaker or soundbar, you cannot turn it on without getting another remote.
Turning ON Bose Speakers & Soundbars Without original Remote
Here are three solutions you can adopt if you want to power on your Bose speakers or soundbars and you have lost or misplaced the original Remote.
- Purchase and use a universal remote
- Buy another original remote your Bose speaker or soundbar
- Program your own remote for Bose speaker or soundbar.
Let us see each alternative in a more detailed way.
Universal Remote Control
Universal Remote is a lifesaver as it can be used with multiple devices that are controlled via Remote. It is one solution to various problems. So, if you have lost, misplaced, or damaged the original Remote of your Bose speaker or soundbar, you can purchase one of these universal remotes.
You can turn on your Bose soundbar or speaker with a universal remote, but you can also control almost all the functions. You will have to program the universal remote for your particular Bose speaker or soundbar model. You can get the programming codes from the product’s official web page or the manual of the universal remote control.
Bose Remote control Replacement
This is the most efficient and easy alternative. You can purchase a new remote for your Bose speaker or soundbar from the official store or website. This will save you the hassle of non-compatibility and confusion of programming the remote to meet your need. Since you will be buying a genuine product, you will also get a substantial warranty period.
You can order a brand new remote precisely like the one you broke or lost from the Bose official site. If it is not available there, you can ask the service center, and they will try to help you with a replacement.
Program your own Bose Remote
The last alternative is programming your own Bose Remote using a different remote lying around the house. You should only go for this if you cannot get a replacement or an excellent universal remote to substitute the original broken one.
For this ambitious alternative, you can take a third-party remote like your TV remote and program it with specific codes so that it can power on and off your Bose speaker and soundbar.
Make sure the remote you have chosen to program is modern Infrared (IR) capable rather than the old and outdated Radio Frequency (RF) capable. RF capable remotes won’t work with Bose speakers and soundbars.
There is a small catch, though. You will still need a Bose original remote to program another remote for your Bose speaker or soundbar. So, this method is more of caution or preparation for worst-case rather than a solution for lost or broken Bose remote.
How to program a remote control for Bose speaker or soundbar?
Your Bose soundbar or speaker can receive infrared (IR) commands from other third-party remotes as well. Before proceeding on to program a remote control for your Bose speaker or soundbar, there are a few things that you should be aware of:
Make sure your Bose speaker or soundbar is updated.
If you bought your Bose speakers around the middle of 2020, there is a chance that the firmware on your Bose device needs to update. Then only the IR learning capability is enabled. After that, you will be able to teach your Bose speakers the commands for volume, mute, and power on from another IR remote.
The following requirements must be met to update your Bose speaker or soundbar.
- A blank USB drive (Pendrive) not larger than 32 GB
- The Pendrive or the USB drive must be formatted in FAT format.
You can follow the steps given to update your Bose speaker’s firmware –
- Go to Bose website and download the latest firmware version for your Bose speaker or soundbar.
- Save the update file or the firmware to the USB drive. Do not put the update file in a separate folder.
- Now, turn off your Bose speaker and unplug the power cord from the outlet
- Locate the Service jack on the back of your Bose speaker or soundbar and connect your USB to it
- Now, reconnect the power cord into the outlet to start the update process
- The update should complete in less than 10 minutes
- During the update, the TV light on the front of your Bose speaker or soundbar blinks amber
- Once the update is complete, the light turns off
- Now, disconnect the Pendrive from the Service jack of your speaker,
- When finished, your Bose speaker or a soundbar will reboot and play a notification tone.
The remote should be an IR remote
You can only program a remote capable of sending Infrared (IR) signals to control your Bose speakers. If you are trying to use an outdated Radio Frequency remote, you won’t be able to manage your Bose speakers.
Program and use your Bose Universal Remote Control.
Here are our step-by-step instructions to teach your Bose speakers to recognize basic commands of an IR Remote (even if it is not a universal remote).
- Press and hold the TV button on your Bose original remote until the Bluetooth and the TV LED lights on the speaker to blink thrice and then glow solid white
- When the light glows white, the speaker is in programming mode. If the glowing stops, you can repeat the process to start over again
- Now, Press the Volume + button.
- Press and hold the Volume Up button on the third-party remote that you want to use to control your Bose speakers.
- Hold the press until the speaker or soundbar plays a tone.
- ○ If the LED over the “TV” on your speaker blinks twice in amber followed by a solid white glow, it means it has learned the command.
- ○ If the LED over the “TV” on your Bose speaker or soundbar blinks twice in red followed by a solid white glow, it fails to learn the command.
- ○ You can try again after failure. If it still doesn’t work after a few trials, the speakers cannot learn the commands of that specific remote.
- Try the same with other commands like Volume Down, Mute, and power buttons.
