Operating System HTPC + HDMI + Win7 and its many issues... (4 Viewers)

[Golfimbul]

Nope. Was watching the World Cup on an extender and thought I'd put it on on the HTPC as well as I was in and out of rooms

No screen when I turned on the TV/amp at the HTPC. Had to turn off the extender and sleep/resume the HTPC to get picture/audio. Bugger

 

[ajw]

I have found a software configuration solution for the tape trick that I've used for a while. I cost me about 5 hours to find this simple solution, however the tape trick works just as wel if you not switch cables.

System: Intel NUC DN2820FYKH (HD Graphics)
OS: Linux Mint 17 (sorry no Windows)

-I did this as a root user
sudo su

-Make xorg.conf (If not available in /etc/X11, this is the case with Mint 17)
Xorg :1 -configure

-Move xorg.conf to /etc/X11 (If not available in /etc/X11, this is the case with Mint 17)
mv /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

-Open the config file for edit
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

-Make sure uncomment the following option and make it false
Option "HotPlug" "False"

Reboot, done.

 

[emphatic]

I just got a new problem tonight that I guess will fit in this thread:

Tried to watch something, but MePo just got stuck and not even killing it in the task manager worked (I have a script setup for this) so I had to do a hard reboot. Tried again but failed, so I rather quickly came up with that the audio device might have been removed. To my surprise, my TV is shown as the audio device now, unless I turn off my AVR. If I turn it off, the resolution is dropped from 1080p, and my SONY AVR is shown instead of the TV that is removed (even though the TV is still on). If I turn the AVR back on, the TV is now shown as the audio device.

The only way to get audio to my AVR from MePo now is to set the AVR's output to AMP+TV and turning the TV sound off (or I'll hear an echo effect). I'm guessing that the TV is feeding the PCM stream back to the AVR through the HDMI? Very weird and annoying, I've only had this AVR for 2 weeks as my Pioneer died. :/

Could it be the HDMI cable that has become broken?
Emph

 

[johanj]

In my Onkyo there is a setting for how the sound should be handled for HDMI. Either pass through to tv or handled in receiver. So first thing is to check HDMI settings in receiver. I would also check with another source to receiver, e.g. laptop.

 

[emphatic]

It worked just fine for about a week. I can't think of any changes to the setup. AppleTV works fine, Blu-ray player as well. I have updated the driver on the Graphics card, I hope this will help.

Emph

 

[Berns]

Just sharing a bit of experience.

This issue would be technology dependent and also driver dependent. I've lived similar issues.
(I'm still running MP v1.3, as it suits me fine)

Technology:
My TV is a Sony and my AVR is a Yamaha.
The TV would show up as display device and sound would come out of the AVR (because it was set to only produce sound out of itself).
When I would switch of the TV, no sound would be present. Pretty annoying if you have a dinner with friends and just want the music to be present in the room without the screen.
That's why I tricked the system a bit by putting a split box between the AVR and the TV. Result is that this box is still active, even if I switch of the TV (power off or stand by), and the AVR still produces music.

I have friends who use multiple devices connected to their AVR's. The behaviour of what happens when the TV is switched on or off is dependent on what the other devices are doing (stand-by, on or off) and how these are set to treat HDMI signals. Sometimes, just switching 2 devices between interfaces on the AVR solves an issue. All trial and error.

That's one of the reasons why I switched to an HTPC in the first place: One machine to do all the work. (The HTPC has a blu ray reader, and I would not know why I would be using AppleTV when there is an HTPC present)

As it turns out, HDMI that wants to be a plug and listen/see experience becomes a bit of an annoyance every so often ...

Driver:
I recently bought the blu ray "how to tame your dragon 2". For some reason the display doesn't come up with my old TMT3 software. I did play with the drivers of the display and the sound card (and got into trouble and had to fix even more problems with the sound/AVR/TV HDMI combination). After a lot of re-installs and reboots, my sound is again what I would like it to be. The one blu ray is still not working (unless I activate anydvd and use the option to generate anydvd menus, allowing me to work around the particular issue)

So, my first question to try and help you would be: are you sure that you did not change your configuration over the last week (adding/removing devices, or keeping a device in stand-by instead of off, changing HDMI configuration in the device settings, etc.)

 

[johanj]

I have had various issues with HDMI in the past. Tried several tricks including the taping pins trick. In the end I bough an Dr. HDMI and haven't had any issues since.

 

[emphatic]

OT: I have the AppleTV as a backup as it's very reliable and easy to use. I love MediaPortal, but I can't trust the family with it because of Windows 7 and it's many issues. When I was running XP on the HTPC, I never had any problems with anything. Sometimes, I'm not at home, and they can still watch stuff on Netflix etc. I've tried to teach them how to start up everything in the right order etc, so I mostly never run into problems anymore, but it still happens from time to time. Same goes for the Blu-ray-player. I know Dr. HDMI is a great solution for many of the issues that has arisen post Vista, but I rarely use MediaPortal to playback music anymore, so I can't really motivate the purchase. The mobile app for the Sony receiver works beautifully to play stuff off my NAS so no need to turn on the HTPC for music. If MediaPortal had something really interesting to show me while listening to music or have a nice Jukebox mode, I would consider it again, but for now I can listen to music without it. I prefer vinyl anyway.

Watching AppleTV now with the kids with the Sony AMP set to output sound through the AMP only, no issues at all. Connected to the HTPC over VNC viewer, and it's still showing the audio device as Panasonic TV (NVIDIA High Definition Audio). I doubt the driver update/re-install trick worked, but I mustn't lose hope until I've tried it again in a while. Especially as I didn't check the audio device when everything worked, so this might actually have been the status then as well.

We'll see what happens.
Emph

 

[Berns]

For short: I found a way to make the sequence work well all the time, and each time the kids or the spouce wants to use the technology.

For long and for what it's worth: My HTPC boots from an aMPdroid wake PC WOL call from any device I configured aMPdroid on (2x Kids tablet, the mobile of my wife and an old O2 joggler that I'm working on to make it an all-in-one remote), using Android.
The HTPC is linked to a power bar with multiple outlets via usb. Once the HTPC boots, the power bar provides power to the amp, the HDMI splitter and the TV.
A little later the HTPC, also linked to a PC X10 interface, sends command to start both front speakers (separate X10 device on each, each speaker has own amplifier), woofer (own amp as well) and if beyond 19h30 at evening also 2 ambient lights.

As a backup, just pushing the power button of the PC does the same sequence.

The AVR is only used to balance the sound equally in a quality way. No need to touch it unless to bring the volume above the regular used maximum level (-40db)

 

[kiwijunglist]

Get a dr hdmi or gefen hdmi detective. Some splitter may also work.