How do I connect my sound bar to the TV, BluRay, DVD, and DISH ?

[AlaskanPrincess]

S.O.S.!!! Recent purchase of VIZIO M422i SmartTV - over weekend discovered that I need to upgrade modem to utilize 'smart' features (due to WEP, WPA security issues). Will work on that after posting this!
Assembled new TV stand, managed to get new TV connected to DISH receiver. [After you read further you'll get what a huge accomplishment that was - for me. Then connected Panasonic Blu Ray DVD player: Panasonic HDMI to TV HDMI 2; DISH HDMI to TV HDMI 3 [DVD is on HDMI-2 but clicking input have to select DVD to view TV - oops - need to rename! ]
Adding SOUND BAR seems impossible; It has NO HDMI (in or out). Sound bar has (connections): marked AUX (1), white, red; marked DIGITAL (3), orange; marked OPTICAL 4; marked AUX (2), black, dig. opt.; marked USB (6), marked USB. Cables included with sound bar: [I think RCA audio] red, white on one end, single black on the other end; [I think dig. coax] orange connector on each end;; digital optical (TOSLINK) cable.
STILL not used on TV: Rear: Audio out, L (white), R (red); Audio out - optical; HDMI - ARC; SIDE: Component: R (red), L (white), Pr (red), Pb (blue), V (green) and HDMI and USB.
Still unused on DISH receiver: [For TV-1] Video Out L (yellow), R (white) and Audio R (red); with blue -Y, Green - Pb, Red - Pr; Audio Out - optical; Digital audio output.

Pretty obvious that I am NOT tech savvy. On a scale of 1-10, I'm probably in the minus range so, please, I'm a) desperate for feedback/assistance, but I need the crayon, a/b/c versions.
I've made multiple unsuccessful attempts to connect sound bar has been unsuccessful (altho' in the process I managed to have negative affect on other connections.) I JUST tried using TOSLINK between TV and DISH receiver - and for the first time, that paired the sound bar to the subwoofer but still no sound. (And yes, I did go in and modify audio settings - turned TV speakers off, changed to bitstream (dig. audio out); fixed (analog audio out). [MAJOR problems with remote, TV not responding to remote commands but I'll deal with that as well - IF I can get other things resolved.]

I DID go back to Sam's Club last nite, hoping to see how sound bars are connected to TV;s - they didn't have even one TV connected to a sound bar, and no surprise, no one knew anything except 'you just pretty hook them up and it works' followed by 'why did you buy a sound bar?'

Do I have to connect sound bar to TV AND Dish receiver? and not to DVD? Is some type of connector, adapter or splitter needed? (If so, depending on cost, would I be better off to forget about sound bar, or buy another level up (hopefully one that wouldn't require anything additional)? Or - can this just not be connected?? HOW to connect???

Note: I don't have TV-2 connected right now, there were weeks of problems for installer to get that right . Not something I can face right now - my focus needs to be getting NEW TV and sound bar connected and working properly - or returned while I can still return.

Equipment:
DISH Network VIP222k receiver
http/www.amazon.com/Dish-Network-VIP-222k/dp/B002MROIIO
VIZIO M422i B1 TV
http/www.amazon.com/VIZIO-M422i-B1-42-Inch-1080p-Smart/dp/B00JJNA10I/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419955826&sr=1-1&keywords=vizio+M422i
VIZIO 3821w-CO sound bar with wireless subwoofer
http/www.amazon.com/VIZIO-S3821w-C0-38-inch-Wireless-Subwoofer/dp/B00CO07C5U/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419957465&sr=1-1&keywords=vizio+3821
Panasonic BluRay DVD DMP BDT 210
http/www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMP-BDT210-Integrated-Wi-Fi-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B004G8HXXO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419955877&sr=1-1&keywords=Panasonic+DMP+BDT210
[Wireless Network] Actiontec [Century Link] modem/router C1000A http/www.amazon.com/CenturyLink-ActionTec-C1000A-Wireless-N-Router/dp/B008EM6XBQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419955952&sr=1-1&keywords=centurylink+c1000a

 

[americanaudiophile]

Connect all your sources (dish box and bluray) to the TV with HDMI. You should get sound on the TV speakers.
Connect the TV optical audio output to the soundbar optical input with an optical audio cable. Select that input on the soundbar. You may have to change the digital audio out on the TV audio mode to 5.1. The TV volume control can now be turned all the way down or the internal TV speakers turned off.
After you get sound on the soundbar then pair the sub with it according to the instructions. Be prepared for this to be picky as it sometimes is not reliable. If you can do a wired connection do that instead.

 

[AlaskanPrincess]

Connect all your sources (dish box and bluray) to the TV with HDMI. You should get sound on the TV speakers.
Connect the TV optical audio output to the soundbar optical input with an optical audio cable. Select that input on the soundbar. You may have to change the digital audio out on the TV audio mode to 5.1. The TV volume control can now be turned all the way down or the internal TV speakers turned off.
After you get sound on the soundbar then pair the sub with it according to the instructions. Be prepared for this to be picky as it sometimes is not reliable. If you can do a wired connection do that instead.

THANK YOU so much for your reply! But....I'm sorry - I guess I provided so much info that it's confusing. I DO have Dish receiver and blu Ray connected using HDMI. I did connect optical cable from TV to (2.1 channel) sound bar. The ONLY positive from that was the sound bar and the wireless subwoofer paired. At that point sound still came from TV speakers - so (as directed) I went into TV audio, and changed settings to turn off TV speakers, selected Bitstream (also tried it not using bitstream but it says to use bitstream if ext. sound is more than 2 channel); and changed analog audio out to Fixed (and also tried it with Variable when fixed didn't work.)
so - the only thing I can think of is whether the sound bar has to be connected to the TV AND the Dish receiver??? [That's part of reason I listed the I/O's on each unit that are still available to be used.)
Any other suggestions?