I have a similar problem with a Bose remote. Tried everything I could think of and then when I went out and bought a new universal remote for my man-cave set up it had an option to control a home theater system. To my surprise, it included the particular Bose unit I had in the pre-programmed data. I set it up and it still didn't work. My personal technical whiz - my son - said "the IR receiver in the unit is shot."
One of these days I'll throw the damn thing in the trash.
One of these days I'll throw the damn thing in the trash.