I enabled developer mode on my Samsung TV (UA65AU8000WXXY, 65" AU8000 Crystal UHD 4K Smart TV). I followed the instructions here. In short:
open the Apps panel
enter “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” via the remote
enable developer mode for access from a specific IP address.
This all worked and I could access my device using sdb and Tizen’s device manager.
Now I would like to turn off developer mode. How do I do that? There seems to be no setting to do so. Entering 12345 at the Apps panel does not bring up the dialog again. I cannot connect to the TV via Tizen’s device manager or SDB (possibly because it’s a different IP address, or not, it’s impossible to tell). Holding down the power button on the remote doesn’t affect it. Turning the power off at the wall and waiting a minute doesn’t affect it.
I asked via customer support and they said they don’t support putting the TV into development mode (in fact, they said they don’t support 3rd party app development at all, and that app development can only happen via approval from “higher management”).
I asked via developer support and they said they don’t support this either, and I need to contact the Seller Office for support. (Why don’t developer support support development!?)
I opened a 1:1 QA on the Seller Office site, and the answer they gave was one I’ve already tried, and didn’t work.
Eventually customer support got back in touch with me and told me to factory reset my TV to get it out of developer mode. This would mean completely erasing all apps and settings whenever my development computer changes IP address. That would be ridiculous even for a purely development device, let alone an appliance I and my family use daily.
Really all I want to do is be able to access it again, so if I can’t turn off development mode, is there a way to change the IP address for developer access?
Believe it or not this comes up a lot reboot your TV just like when you set developer mode. Generally it is to hold down the power key on the remote until it shuts off fully or says rebooting. But I think you can unplug it and waiting 5 minutes as well.
I have turned the TV off and back on hundreds of times since then (which was all I had to do when I enabled it). No change in developer mode.
Holding the power button on the remote down when the TV is off will turn the TV on. Keeping it held down will cause the screen to blank briefly, show the “Tizen” splash screen, and show the home screen again. Holding the power button on the remote down when the TV is on will turn the TV off and then do the same things as if it started in the off state. It never says “rebooting”. No change in developer mode.
Nope. Left it completely unplugged for 5 minutes. No change. Tried for 15 minutes. No change.
turning off to standby mode won’t do it you have to turn it off entirely.
Hold down the power button for 30 seconds should reboot it doesn’t say anything just should reboot and clear the Developer Options. I’ll give that a try when I get home.
Did you ask the Smart TV Seller Office. Samsung Developer Program does not support Smart TVs because the Seller Office likes to tract any problems on their own because there are so many Smart TVs variations.
Open Settings, and then select General.Select Reset, enter your PIN (0000 is the default), and then select Reset . To complete the reset, select OK. Your TV will restart automatically.
or See the YouTube video
I understand if you don’t want to do a full factory reset let me know and I can contact one of the Smart TV engineers about this on Monday.
On the remote? Or is there one on the TV I should be using?
Yep, I opened a “1:1 Q&A” on the Seller Office site. They answered with something I said I already tried, and haven’t followed up since I re-opened it a couple of days ago.
I mean… you’re not wrong. Companies the size of Samsung often have problems with siloed teams for different support domains. Engineers have barely enough time to support those in their own company, let alone 3rd parties. But any other hardware vendor I’ve dealt with has at least had a circuit breaker or escalation somewhere in the chain, to avoid exactly this kind of silliness.
Anyway, it doesn’t really matter now, I’ve spent more time chasing support than on any actual development. I will move on from Samsung development. You can consider this resolved.
Amazing, the TV Seller Office have now referred me to a fourth support body - the “area content manager”. To actually do this I would have to apply for a “partnership”, which generally requires me to have an application I’m selling, which I do not.
Samsung is an absolute joke. Like, how can any of you look at this and think, “yes, this is a reasonable process to change a setting on a TV.”
I don’t understand why you have any problem turning the Developer Mode off but I do believe for some reason your TV is different. You will just have to do the factory reset.
Nope! After weeks of closing my “1:1 QA” ticket without replying, and me reopening it asking “what do I do then?”, they finally referred me to Yet Another Support Team. I assume at this point it’s a deliberate strategy. I have had better support from vendors who have gone out of business.
First line in the response from the person the Seller Office referred me to:
I really have no idea why you have been directed to me.
Fantastic stuff.
For the record, suggestions like a factory reset, or physically taking the TV to a service centre, every time my development machine changes IP address, are ridiculous. It is an admission that Samsung cannot support the documented use of their products. There is nothing in any of Samsung’s published material that says this should be necessary. Resetting a smart appliance every few days is not just a “pain”, it’s not just an inconvenience, it removes the entire point of a “smart” appliance if you have to perpetually erase the "smart"ness.
I look forward to discovering some hitherto unknown sixth level of Samsung support.
Ok, so I was able to solve it. What I did was to power off the Smart TV, unplug it from the electricity, leave it like that for 5 - 10 mins, plug it, turn it on, go to apps (the developer mode still show up), press again 1 2 3 4 5 and boom, the menu shows up again. From that menu I could deactivate developer mode or change the IP associated with it
reboot your TV just like when you set developer mode. Generally it is to hold down the power key on the remote until it shuts off fully or says rebooting. But I think you can unplug it and waiting 5 minutes as well.