Wha' happened?! The fix to my PS5 constantly restarting my Sony TV

Ever since I got my PlayStation 5 on launch day, I've noticed something funny with my Sony X900E television at the center of my entertainment system: it keeps having to reboot the Android software running the OS. There were a few times I had to navigate through the settings and manually reboot because certain functionality would disappear, such as the ability to select any input source other than the Android OS that powers the smart features. You know, the kinda minimum viability features that make a tv a tv. Mostly, though it just reboots on it's own just about every time I turn it on. Also, on quite a few occasions my console has been put to sleep at night and when I go to turn it on the next evening it's doing one of those sanity checks because it claims to have been abruptly shut down, even though it hadn't been. It was annoying from the start, and I finally took the time to fix it. 

I've checked my setup, everything is good. I'm using the recommended HDMI 2.1 cables and everything is by the book. Apparently the problem is that the Sony PS5 and the Sony Bravia TV just don't seem to be on speaking terms. There is a feature in the PS5 settings that enables an HDMI device link that allows the two devices to communicate, but unfortunately what you would think would be well tested and developed communication between two devices from the same brands ends up in reboot loops for the television, shutdowns for the console, and frustration for the consumer, at least in my experience anyway. 

The fix for me: simply dis-enable that Device Link. That's Sony's word for the Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) standard. You'll find it in the PS5 settings, go to System, then HDMI, then toggle the setting in the screenshot below. Since making that change, I've experienced no issues thus far, and honestly it seems a bit of a superfluous feature to me anyway. I've got four inputs going into my TV ant This idea that one remote should control everything is a bit silly when the interfaces and uses of all of the inputs differ drastically. Between game systems using proprietary controllers, Siri search on an AppleTV, and the native smart OS I use to make sure all my kids' programs don't cross pollinate with mine there is never a need to switch between devices on a single remote anyway. 

So there you go, if you're noticing anything strange going on between your devices and your new next-gen console, might want to check the CEC settings with that Device Link toggle. If you're like me, you can set it and forget it. If you really need to share remotes between devices, then the best advice I can offer it to have a think as to why you have so duplicate inputs that are doing the same thing. I get it if you're swapping between a cable box and streaming services, up to the point that I'd question why you're still paying for cable to begin with, but that's a topic for another day...