Have you connected it as in my post 2? ie Sky HDMI to TV and Sky optical to Home Cinema
If so then make sure you select the optical in on the Home Cinema system. You might be leaving the home cinema on TV and just switching the TV only to Sky - which won't switch the Home Cinema to anything other than the TV HDMI connection.
By the way only one end of the optical cable should be glowing red. If you have the optical cable plugged into the Sky box only then the open end of the cable should glow. If you have the optical cable plugged into the Home Cinema only then the open end should not glow if connected to an input. If it glows then it is connected to an output.
As a test to see where the sound is actually coming from. Plug everything up as normal. Select a channel on the Sky box and start watching it with the Home Cinema on D. IN as normal. Now unplug the optical lead from either the Sky box or Home Cinema (doesn't matter which end).
If the sound stops then the sound is travelling via optical. If it continues then it is travelling round the HDMI loop.
The last sentence of your post is a tad confusing? Are you saying that you are only getting sound from the front speakers when watching Sky and not the rears? Or what exactly? If the rears are silent when watching Sky then that might not mean the optical is broken (especially if the unplug test shows it is in use). What may be happening is that it is sending plain vanilla stereo to the Home Cinema and the Home Cinema is treating it as such and only feeding to the front speakers.
On many channels this is probably all you get off Sky. I would expect there may be more chance of a surround audio track on HD/Sport/Movie channels. But worth checking the Sky settings to see if the optical out has been forced to Stereo only.
Also have a look in the setting of the Home Cinema to see if you can apply Dolby ProLogic to the sound. This will generate a surround image from stereo material so the rears and centre should spring into life. It could be you had this turned on previously but it's now got turned off?
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If so then make sure you select the optical in on the Home Cinema system. You might be leaving the home cinema on TV and just switching the TV only to Sky - which won't switch the Home Cinema to anything other than the TV HDMI connection.
By the way only one end of the optical cable should be glowing red. If you have the optical cable plugged into the Sky box only then the open end of the cable should glow. If you have the optical cable plugged into the Home Cinema only then the open end should not glow if connected to an input. If it glows then it is connected to an output.
I have done a sound test and the rear speakers work. It's just the Sky optical feed that's died.
N.
I changed an HDMI cable, moved it to another port on the HS and also turned ARC off. 5.1 has reappeared.
I have no idea what's going on.
N.
If the sound stops then the sound is travelling via optical. If it continues then it is travelling round the HDMI loop.
The last sentence of your post is a tad confusing? Are you saying that you are only getting sound from the front speakers when watching Sky and not the rears? Or what exactly? If the rears are silent when watching Sky then that might not mean the optical is broken (especially if the unplug test shows it is in use). What may be happening is that it is sending plain vanilla stereo to the Home Cinema and the Home Cinema is treating it as such and only feeding to the front speakers.
On many channels this is probably all you get off Sky. I would expect there may be more chance of a surround audio track on HD/Sport/Movie channels. But worth checking the Sky settings to see if the optical out has been forced to Stereo only.
Also have a look in the setting of the Home Cinema to see if you can apply Dolby ProLogic to the sound. This will generate a surround image from stereo material so the rears and centre should spring into life. It could be you had this turned on previously but it's now got turned off?
I just edited my previous reply.
To test 5.1, I am using Sky Movies and checking for DD in the description.
But, it appears to be working now.
Thanks for your valued help, as always.
N.