Lifestyle 48 + PMC II “no signal from media center”

[JCHS]

I have a Lifestyle 48 paired with a PMC II that works 2 speakers in another room - everything is a 2005 model. I am in the UK.  

It has worked perfectly until c. 1 month ago when the message “no signal from media center” popped up on the PMC II and it now fails to connect. 

No settings or other any other elements have changed.

I have powered down all the sources, and the power lights are all OK. I changed the batteries in the PMC. The Lifestyle plays sound perfectly in the main room, and works with the connected TV. I have checked all cables for damage and all seem OK. 

No improvement. Can anyone help?

[Keith_L]

Hi JCHS,

Welcome to the Community, thanks for joining us!
 

When you get the "no signal from media center" message on the remote, the remote and media center are not able to communicate correctly. There are a few things that can cause this but in my experience, the most common is someone inadvertently changing the house code for either the console or the remote. To make sure the house code is the same on your remote and your console, follow the steps shown HERE.

Another thing to check is the condition of the power cord for the media center. The power cord that connects the media center to the power supply serves as the Lifestyle system remote antenna. If it is wrapped, coiled, or bunched up, straighten and extend the cord as much as possible so it provides the best signal for the remote.

Let me know how you get on!

[JCHS]

Thanks. House codes the same. Power cable from media centre stretched out further but no change. The PMC II will happily control the media centre from the other room. The issue seems to be no speaker connection in the other room - all wires to the other room speakers already checked and refitted. 

Any further thoughts? 

[NeonsNight]

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@JCHS wrote:

Thanks. House codes the same. Power cable from media centre stretched out further but no change. The PMC II will happily control the media centre from the other room. The issue seems to be no speaker connection in the other room - all wires to the other room speakers already checked and refitted. 

Any further thoughts? 

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If nothing changed with your setup there are a few things that come to mind:

1. A component (maybe a capacitor) on the receiver or remote has worn out and needs to be replaced.
2. The boselink cable has been damaged by animals or general wear and tear that is not apparent on either end.
3. A new electronic device has been turned on in your home or your neighbours home and is generating interference. 

Have you tried using the remote next to the AV48 receiver to see if you can control the other room? If it now works and you know what the new electronic device is you can unplug it and see if it works in the other room.

If it does you could try and see if purchasing a homewide antenna (part# 277892-022 or 277892-003) will help. Though it's hard to know for sure if this is a permanent solution or not 🤷‍♂️ 

 

Bose has a help page around this issue for the AV48, though the later version for the AV35 I think would be more helpful. The antenna port is labelled as RC in the image below the AM port and above the Optical In.

If it does not work when next to the receiver, that there is something wrong with your system. Either with the cable, remote, receiver, or the device in the other room. You will probably have to call up Bose and troubleshoot the issue with them as that will take some time to figure out.

[JCHS]

The PMC controls the Lifestyle 48 from the other room so the antenna must be working. The issue seems to be the other room speakers x2 not outputting. They are connected via the Lifestyle SA2 amplifier. It has a green light and appears to be fine. At the back it is connected to the Media Centre via the Boselink input port (not output) and the roomkey switch has four of the levers switched down and the last one is up. The speaker connecting wires look OK. 

Perhaps the amplifier has a malfunction?

[NeonsNight]

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@JCHS wrote:

The PMC controls the Lifestyle 48 from the other room so the antenna must be working.

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That's a good way to test it 👏

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@JCHS wrote:

The issue seems to be the other room speakers x2 not outputting. They are connected via the Lifestyle SA2 amplifier. It has a green light and appears to be fine. At the back it is connected to the Media Centre via the Boselink input port (not output) and the roomkey switch has four of the levers switched down and the last one is up. The speaker connecting wires look OK. 

Perhaps the amplifier has a malfunction?

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I am not sure. Unless an admin or another user comments and offers some ideas, you might want to call up Bose and see if they can help you over the phone.

If you find out what the issue was, please let us know how it was fixed so that others who google this issue in the future can be helped 🙂

[MP123456]

I have owned a Bose Lifestyle 48 and three SA3 Amplifiers (for 3 additional zones) for 11 years.  All have worked perfectly until recently.  The connections for the three amps are and have been in a daisy chain format.  Nothing has been changed.  The first and second amps are connected to a local source connection, whereas the third is not.

Recently, I noticed the first amp in the chain lost its LED light - The second and third amps are flashing green every 3 seconds in standby mode.  And a message now appears when I try and use the first and second rooms: “No Signal from Media Center”.  The main room and the third works perfectly well (and is last in the daisy chain).    

I thought maybe the first amp was broken so got a new SA3 - the new one flashes regularly - every half a second, not every 3 seconds.  And the messages for the first and second rooms still appear.

Do you have any advice?

[JCHS]

After trying all your very helpful

suggestions I bought a used SA2 amplifier for £30 and it now works perfectly.  Apparently SA2s can experience hardware issues after a while (16 years!) so I probably had some issue. Anyway I’m a happy man!

Thanks so much for all the advice - it was really supportive and helpful. 

[Keith_L]

Thanks for the update on this JCHS, I'm glad to hear you have got the system working again with a replacement amplifier!

If your new SA-2 is working correctly and you think this might have been caused by a hardware issue with the old one, then it would be worth reaching out to your local support team to discuss the service options as well. They may be able to get the original SA-2 backup and running again, so you can have extra speakers or a spare!

You can find the contact information for your local support team at this link, by selecting your country/region and then the 'Contact Us' option at the bottom of the page.

[NeonsNight]

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@JCHS wrote:

After trying all your very helpful

suggestions I bought a used SA2 amplifier for £30 and it now works perfectly.  Apparently SA2s can experience hardware issues after a while (16 years!) so I probably had some issue. Anyway I’m a happy man!

Thanks so much for all the advice - it was really supportive and helpful. 

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Well I'm glad that it works now and that you found a replacement one for such a great price 🙂