Sony Bravia turns itself on randomly

[lukefildes]

Hi

I have just bought a Sony Bravia KD49X83 4K Ultra HD Android TV. I have a problem where the tv just turns itself on all on it's own at any hour randomly. I do not have any timers set. Does anyone else have this problem

There are no lights flashing or anything

Thanks

[JnLM4760]

Same issue all the time 

[Kengee]

the one thing that I found was to remove any and all USB devices from the
USB ports on the tv. I had a keyboard and a USB drive for my own movies. I
had to remove those and that stopped the random turn on event. I later
tried to plug in a USB back light LED string, even that would cause the TV
to power on at random times. I think there is something in the USB feed
that auto starts the tv. Sony has never addressed it to my knowledge, and
there are no settings to the USB inputs that I have found.

[rusty_away]

I have a reasonably new KD-65A8G that is doing this. My TV can be controlled remotely using my Home Assistant home automation controller but the controller logs do not show that the system is initiating any TV functions. (The logs do show actions when I initiate them myself, through Home Assistant.)

What is interesting is that the Home Assistant history page does show every instance of the Bravia TV turning on or off. For those unfamiliar with Home Assistant, the logs show what actions the system has performed, whereas the history essentially shows the status of devices and/or entities. So, the history is clearly showing my Bravia not only switching itself on, but also off again. Sometimes the "on" time can as little as a few seconds.

The other interesting thing is that when the TV is on (that is, when I am actually watching it) the Home Assistant history still shows these random on/off status changes BUT the TV does not switch off while viewing it. What this means is that the Android OS in the TV is reporting that it's doing things, but in the case where I'm already watching the TV, the status messages occur but the actual status is not changing.

I'm sticking my neck out here and saying that this is an OS or firmware issue. My recollection is that the TV has not always done this and this has manifested itself since the last firmware update. I have all of the synch settings turned off and I know that the only device that I have that communicates with the TV is NOT initiating the TV to turn on.

I make sure that my TV is always switched to a free-to-air channel before I turn it off, so that if it does turn on it will display a constantly changing picture, instead of a static one that could occur if I switched off from, say, Netflix. It's a temporary workaround to prevent screen burn-in until I can figure out what to do about this.

[Kengee]

Thanks rusty_away:
I actually strongly agree it's a firmware/hardware issue.
I also think it is specifically tied to the USB ports.

This is what I have found.
ANY device plugged into the USB will cause this random on/off.

I had a keyboard plugged in, this is what created the problem to begin
with. After I removed it the random on/off events stopped.

A short time later I plugged in a USB stick with some movies on it, sure
enough if I leave it in, the random on/off occurs.

I even had a small string of LED lights (with an on/off switch) plugged
into the USB port of the BRAVIA for some mild back lighting. Makes watching
movies with all the house lights off easier on the eyes. And sure enough if
I leave the USB lite cable plugged in (itself switched on or off does not
matter), the BRAVIA starts turning on and off randomly.

At this point I do not leave any USB device of any kind, even a blank
cable, plugged in to the USB port and no random on/off.

[rusty_away]

Hi Kengee

There may be multiple causes for this. In my case, I have never plugged a USB device into the TV. It is wall mounted and it would be like trying to mate elephants to even get access to the USB slot...

I reckon it might be some sort of software watchdog that is causing the issue in my case.

[Volcano_lava]

I also have the KD-65A8G and have the same problem, and have since I got the TV. I don't have anything connected to the USB (My KD-65A8F died from a simple usb flash drive)

The only thing I have connected that other people here have mentioned is a Bluetooth keyboard. I will try disconnecting that and see if the issue persists. If it continues, I will be seeking a full refund on the unit as it is not acceptable. Whenever it auto turns on, it sits on a black screen with th. Word Bravia in the bottom right corner, which will surely burn in over time. I have the auto off set to 4 hours (I wish there was an option between 4 and 12!) however the TV does NOT auto turn off in this static screen regardless of this setting. 

[rusty_away]

Two days ago I turned the synch settings off. Home Assistant still works and I can still control and/or monitor the TV, but it hasn't randomly turned on since then. The Home Assistant history also confirms that there have been no instances.

So, in my case it seems that the synch settings are the culprit.

[Win_88]

Hi @Volcano_lava

USB devices have a tendency to misbehave, especially off brand stuff, so hopefully removing that USB Bluetooth will do the trick. But just for the added benefit, make sure the TV is up to date

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/oled-tvs-android-a8g_ag8-series/kd-55ag8/downloads/000170...

@rusty_away That sounds very promising. Keep us updated!

Win_88

[MishLP]

This just happened to me at 1am! I almost crapped myself I was so shocked. So glad to have read your message and realised there is a (kinda) logical explanation! Is there a fix?