Surround help i have the rca rt2390 surround and i have been using tv/optical for television watching...all of a sudden i have no sound. the "l" and "r" speaker lights blink and are the only two that show up on the display screen. i think it happened by remote, since i dont use the receiver itself. there is sound if i change it to fm, but again its only the two front speakers instead of the full surround system. thank you...

On my sound system my left and right speakers r blinking

**For the original question**
It sounds like you are talking about using digital optical output from the TV. Most likely, since a newer TV that would have optical output is most likely a flat screen plasma or LCD, they tend to try and 'detect' things.... kind of like with the HDMI connections...

Example: Panasonic actually uses HDMI cables for its 'easy sync' or "viera" link system, which only works with other Panasonic 'easy sync' products. Ex: Turning off the TV can turn off a receiver connected with HDMI, or turning on a compatible blue ray DVD player will turn on the TV and set it to the appropriate input based on the HDMI activity detected by the TV)

Another Example: Sometimes my cable box ( HDMI 1 input) won't send any signal even though it is on, unless I switch the TV input to HDMI 2 and back to HDMI 1. Only then is the input from the TV 'detected' by the cable box and Hi-Def signal begins transmission. Basically, I must turn my cable box on, before selecting the input. If I select the input and then turn on my cable box, the cable box seems to not realize the HDMI connection is active.
**FOR ALL 3 ISSUES**
The receiver also has to 'detect' things...
for example the optical input could be receiving "AC3" aka Dolby Digital codec, or it could be receiving "PCM" data, which is when you transmit analog audio over digital media. The receiver has to know which type of data it is receiving in order to process Dolby Digital (which contains 5.1/7.1 sound encoded), or to process PCM (stereo) data, which is then encoded by the Dolby processors from 2-channel (stereo) to 5.1 (surround sound).

**Original Question (IF you are indeed using optical output from TV)**
This problem does not surprise me... ESPECIALLY if the source of audio INPUT (going into) your TV is not digital like the HDMI/optical input/coax digital inputs...
Using these digital inputs, the TV optical output is the same as the input (digital/AC3).
If you are using any analog type of input (cable tv coaxial, red/white RCA cables), then the data is transmitted digitally as PCM stereo data.
NOTE: PCM is how the '.wav' files are made.... it is non-compressed stereo signals that has been changed into digital format from an analog source.

**Original Question**
To save yourself time, I think you would be able to fix this by unpluging the optical cable... from the receiver or the TV (ONLY ONE END IS NEEDED)...
if that doesn't work, turning the receiver off, then plugging optical in after it is turned back on should work...
last option, unplug the receiver.

**FOR "answers" #1 AND #2 WHO ARE USING RCA AUDIO**
Most likely the same kind of issue.. I can select from my tv audio menu whether to use analog RCA or digital output for tv audio out.
Using RCA output means any digital audio input has to be converted from digtal to analog audio.
Even if no digital is involved, the receiver will try and detect whether the analog signal is stereo only or should be processed by the Dolby surround sound (which it eventually messes up and switches to stereo only, or cuts the sound completely upon receieving a different input type)
Fixing the RCA should be even easier, as i'd imagine you only need to disconnect the RCA cables, and then reconnect them. Again, you only need to disconnect the RCA cables on one end
Once reconnected, the receiver should realize the signal has 'changed' and switch back to the appropriate output mode you selected.
Also, restarting may be needed, but I have a feeling this will save some time when fixing this problem.

WHY YOU ONLY NEED TO DISCONNECT ONE END (I'd say just disconnect the receiver end, but really... whichever is easier to get to):
when you disconnect one end, it is 'seen' by the 'connected' device as disconnected at both ends... just like when you unplug an ethernet/LAN cable, if one end is unplugged, and the computer remains plugged in, the computer cannot tell the difference and shows the network cable is unplugged.

I own a rca rt2390, almost 2 years old and only used for rca dvd movies, I connect from rca hdw l&r analog. The first of this year, movie time, turned the unit on and it produced no audio. Doing my own troubleshooting, disconnecting and reconnecting audio inputs and outputs, power cord ect, the unit began to work as always, excellent, great sounding unit. I did not build a history on what exactly I did that got the unit working again. This weekend, movie time, the unit would not produce audio, this time I only giggled connections, nothing worked. I read your help, tv off-power cord on, rt2390 off-power cord off, removed l&r analog audio cable from tv and the unit. Took out the trash, that took about 5 minutes, I hooked every thing back up, turned the tv on, found a movie on usa, turned the rt2390 on, Walla, audio again!! Thanks, now I have a history on what to do the next time the unit fails to produce audio!!

I have had this problem with mine. Neither your reciever nor tv is broken. But the tv is the problem. What i do is... Turn off the TV. Unplug Left and Right hookups from reciever and tv. Wait about a minutes. Plug them back in. Start the tv.

Hmm. let me see if I get U correctly. you use u'r theater system with a TV and the audio is fed via optical or U have DVD player that you can feed the audio via optical or coax. I think it is the later, if it is U could be having trouble with sound decoding setting of the DVD player itself. It's like mpeg out or PCM out instead of full DTS or 5.1 dolby digital decoding. If this is the case just use u'r dvd remote and check the audio play back settings. If this does not solve u'r problem, pls state u'r set up briefly, so tht I can understand the type of connection u use. Happy troubleshooting Rifaa