Does the receiver work with other sources?
You seem to have tried all the options although you might not have tried them correctly.
If the optical output of the TV doesn't work you will not see red light at the end of the fiber optic cable.
To use the ARC you have to have it in both the TV and receiver. The receiver HDMI out has to be connected to the TV HDMI input that is designated ARC and you have to activate it in the TV and maybe the receiver menus.
The red/white audio connection you tried is more likely to be an audio input on the TV than an analog audio output (not common on TVs anymore).
You can connect any external sources (set top box for example) to the receiver directly to get sound to it.