Steam Machine owners report HDMI-CEC failures on Samsung TVs
Three Steam Machine owners say Valve's living-room PC stops HDMI-CEC working for everything else connected to their TV. CEC is the feature that lets devices turn a TV on and control its volume. All three use Samsung TVs, and one fixed the problem by switching to another brand.
One of the images Valve publishes in the Steam Machine's own store gallery. Image: Valve
The report on Valve's SteamOS tracker has been open since September 16, and Valve has not responded.
What owners describe
The first owner says that once the Steam Machine is on, the other devices on the TV, including a PS5, a Switch 2 and an Apple TV, can no longer wake it or change the volume. Only unplugging everything brings CEC back, until the Steam Machine is switched on again. Turning off CEC in Steam's settings did not help.
A second owner says CEC worked for a few minutes and then failed, breaking input switching for the other devices. A third, also on a Samsung with a Yamaha receiver, says nothing else can turn the TV on once the Steam Machine is running.
A second screenshot from Halo Infinite on its own Steam store page. Image: 343 Industries
Samsung or Steam Machine?
On October 19 the second owner reported the problem gone after replacing their Samsung with a TCL set, and suggested Samsung's CEC implementation is to blame. The first owner disagrees: no other device has caused this on the same TV in eight years, and the problem continued after replacing the soundbar with HomePods.
The thread doesn't settle it, and Valve hasn't said which side is at fault.
A screenshot from Squad on its own Steam store page. Image: Offworld
A workaround with a cost
Two owners have put a CEC-blocking HDMI adapter between the Steam Machine and the TV. That stops the problem, but the Steam Machine then loses CEC itself and can no longer wake the TV.
An LG owner has reported a different CEC problem: the Steam Machine wakes the TV every time it resumes from sleep, even with that option turned off. It has no reply either. For a machine designed for the TV, and tested by Valve at 1080p, CEC is hardly a side feature.
