HTPC and ASUS M2A-VM HDMI 690G Chipset / 1250 (1 Viewer)

[wanenz]

hi All

I decided to Build myself a New HTPC using the Above MOBO
Ran into all sorts of problems with MediaPortal Starting up - it would get as far as initialising skins and then Crash

After a week of pissing around and 6 rebuilds (XP and Vista 32 bit) , I finally nailed it down the the ATI Catalyst Control Centre.
I have now just installed the ATI Drivers WITHOUT CCC and it all works fine.

MOBO - ASUS M2A-VM HDMI
CPU AM2 8450 Triple Core
Memory 4 GB 800
HDD 1 x 80 GB IDE 2x SATA 400GB

Everything runs sweet as now - but I am contemplating installing a Geforce Video Card PCIE instead of the ASUS HDMI (probably didn't need this MOBO).

my general oberservation - best to by a MOBO without Video and purchase a suitable Video card and stay away from CCC.

I have also tried other Media Software and they just don't come up to the functionality and ease of use for MediaPortal.

Thanks

 

[medaust]

I had some problems with ATI HD2400 card too. I reckon it is the issue with CCC Direct X driver not working properly. I have not tried Nvidia card yet.

 

[gavo]

Hi,

Just my 2c, but I have the same mobo, but with X2 4800+ (dual core 2.5GHz), 2GB RAM, ATA HD and DVD Writer and Hauppage HVR-1200.

Did a fresh XP SP3 install, all hot fixes, downloaded all mobo and graphics drivers from the web to get the latest (specifically CCC 2008.0602.2243.28732), PowerDVD, software req'd for MP, and then MP + TV Server 1.0 RC2.

Pretty much have had no problems with this. MP installed no problem and has had no problems starting up. Got all my DVB-T channels on the first try, HD based H.264 channels no problem (although TV3 can smear slightly under heavy action - put that down to the onboard X1250 not quite having the grunt to fully handle this - fully watchable tho). HDMI out to my LCD TV - picture looks great. The only issue I have is an occasional MP UI navigation freeze (which I can get out of my switching to window mode then back to full screen) - and thats only very intermittent so far.

Have to say that for $115NZ (I'm in New Zealand BTW), I'm pretty happy with this mobo.

Cheers,

 

[mr_minning]

ASUS M2A-VM HDMI sound viaHDMI issues

I got the Asus M2A-VM HDMI too. I've been very happy with it until I got myself a LCD TV (Samsung LE40A557). Since the TV has HDMI-connections i wanted to use it and "go digital all the way", you know. But I got the strangest problem with audio through HDMI. It plays at "Chip 'n' Dale"-speed or at least double speed. Have any of you had this problem and been able to solve it?

I've tried to upgrade audiodrivers from Asus own to ones directly from Realtek (with no change). I've tried to upgrade the BIOS to 2001 with no change.

Do any of you guys have a working setup with HDMI? Would you mind checking your BIOS version? (Can easily be checked with AsusUpdate)

However my videodisplay is great (it seems this is a more common problem with this board).

I'm getting really desperate so all and any help is most welcome.

I've read somewhere that the MB is HDMI 1.2a and that my TV wants HDMI 1.3. But could this really cause audio to play at double speed???

BR!

 

[wanenz]

Hi - tried using HDMI when I had CCP installed but because of the problems with MP and CCP - I have not installed CCP and am just using PC input - sorry not much help

 

[psykoman]

I'm using the same MoBo. Also using HDMI on my Sony 32D3000 (without Audio), works great BUT i had an earlier version of the same MoBo, resulting in crazy graphical problems (horizontal stripes on startup, went away after half an hour –*not working with all HD resolutions). Changed the board the a newer release –*absolute stable and perfect (since a year now).
If you change it, get a MoBo with 780G chipset, because of the available h264 hardware acceleration which is missing on the 680G.

 

[charli181]

for GUI freezes , you may want to look at this FAQ FrequentlyAskedQuestions - MediaPortal Wiki Documentation.
I have the ASUS M2a vm hdmi with x4800 and does everything I need, but I get freezes in the GUI when the skin uses reflections (this is known problem but will not be fixed) (need to modify the skin files to turn off). I also have a later 780G chipset mobo. I can definitely say the later is better as I don't get the freezes and hardware accel works for MPEG2. Note in Australia all digital TV (SD & HD)is MPG2.

 

[moonwalker_1]

Hi!
I have this motherboard for my HTPC, connected to my LCD TV via HDMI.
I've addressed 2 problems:

- when I power on my pc, I can hear the audio from tv receiver, until windows starts
- when I resume from S3 standby (suspend to RAM), the pc starts in few seconds, but I have to wait 2-3 minutes for the video to appear on the monitor

 

[charli181]

Hi!
I have this motherboard for my HTPC, connected to my LCD TV via HDMI.
I've addressed 2 problems:

- when I power on my pc, I can hear the audio from tv receiver, until windows starts
- when I resume from S3 standby (suspend to RAM), the pc starts in few seconds, but I have to wait 2-3 minutes for the video to appear on the monitor

Item 1, if you do not want sound through the HDMI, I am 99% sure you can turn it off through a setting in the BIOS.

Item 2. I never used suspend as it only takes aprrox 60 seconds to boot up.... never in real hurry to watch TV...and prefer to conserve power when I can....you know...hug the trees and all Others may have an answer on this one.

 

[moonwalker_1]

Item 1, if you do not want sound through the HDMI, I am 99% sure you can turn it off through a setting in the BIOS.

Item 2. I never used suspend as it only takes aprrox 60 seconds to boot up.... never in real hurry to watch TV...and prefer to conserve power when I can....you know...hug the trees and all Others may have an answer on this one.

Item 1 - it's the opposite: I want sound through HDMI, but the sound starts only with windows loaded - before windows (during boot) I can hear the sound coming from my tv receiver... it's annoying

Item 2 - yes, it's only a bit longer to boot up from shutdown - but I did so to bypass problem n°1 too. I am also having no luck in replacing windows welcome/shutdown screens (it spoils HTPC appearence); do you know some freeware tool?