Cox box not starting with Samsung sound bar

KevinM2,

The Contour box only has two HMDI ports, one HDMI in port and one HMDI out port.  I have tried numerous ports on the tv without any success.  I also noticed that my tv does not "see" the cable box when I view connected devices on my tv.  The tv "sees the sound bar and the Apple tv.  

my tv does not "see" the cable box

The TV obviously "sees" the cable box because the cable box works...albeit after a hard reset.

This begs the question of your definition of "see."  Sony Bravia Link/Sync will not see a cheap cable box.  Do you see the cable box if you press the TV Input button on the remote?

Bruce,  I am not blaming anyone.  I am trying to find a solution for the problem I am have with my sound bar.  You said cheap cable boxes do not support HDMI-CEC, so now I need to find out if Cox has an HMDI enabled box.

As far as I know, all Cox cable-boxes are HDMI enabled.  If your cable box has HDMI ports, it's HDMI enabled.  HDMI is hardware.  HDMI-CEC is a protocol.

I don't even know if CEC is your problem.  I just suggested removing the cable box from your CEC bus...if applicable...and we'd go from there.

HDMI is designed...fundamentally...for copy-right protection (HDCP).  With HDMI, you'll only get audio/video if connected to a display device or an authorized recording device.

It sounds like if everything is powered, the soundbar bridges an HDCP connection from the cable box to the TV.  An authorized connection.  However, when you power everything down, the cable box loses that authorized connection (bridge) and revokes the license (HDCP) because it only "sees" a soundbar.

I understand that CEC is the protocol that runs over HMDI and when working properly it enables the user to use one device to control all of devices connected using HMDI cables.  In my situation, I am using Sony's Bravia Sync to control the connected devices.  With Bravia Sync activated, I am able to see that the sound bar and the Apple TV are connected, but not the cable box.  Additionally, I am able to control all of the devices except the cable box with the Sony tv remote using the CEC protocol.  That is what I meant when I asked if the cable box supports the HMDI-CEC protocol.

KevinM2,  I disconnected the sound bar and the tv still cannot detect the Cox cable box using Sony's Bravia Sync feature.  This leads me to believe that the Cox cable box does  not support CEC using the HMDI port.