HDMI slots

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MurrayM

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#1035339 2-May-2014 11:09

leo0787sx: Glad you got it sorted :)

Perhaps we can share setup and see if we can get the best out of the system :)

Sure!

I probably won't be able to put it together until Saturday afternoon.

I've got an Sony KDL-40CX520 TV, MagicTV 3600 PVR box, Wii, and Raspberyy Pi running RaspBMC for my movie collection.

MurrayM

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#1036361 4-May-2014 11:21

After plugging it all in I've found a problem: if the Raspberry Pi is plugged in when I'm watching TV then the TV reports a problem with the external audio (i.e. the home theatre) and switches to using the TV's built-in speakers. Unplugging the Raspberry Pi's HDMI cable (either from the TV or the Pi itself) and the TV will output sound to the home theatre. Somehow the Raspberry Pi is causing a problem for the TV, even if the Pi itself is turned off.

I've found someone talking about HDMI EDID Override but I don't know anything about this or even if it's possible to set up for the Pi.

Does anyone have any ideas?

What's weird is that yesterday I had it all working fine, with the Pi powered up and the audio was coming out the home theatre.

This is all set up with the home theatre plugged into the TV's HDMI ARC port. I've also tried disabling the ARC and using a toslink cable but I couldn't get any sound out of that at all.

leo0787sx

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#1036363 4-May-2014 11:26

leo0787sx: For testing I am using the 5.1 test on the Hunger Games. My settings currently are:

TV:

Speakers: Audio system

Audio out: variable (also tried fixed)

HDMI audio source: HDMI audio

Digital audio out: Auto

Home Theater:

Bd audio mix: on

Audio drc: on

Attenuate audio: on

Audio output: speaker + hdmi

Sound effect: sound mode on

Control for hdmi: on

audio return channel: auto

PS3:

HDMi

Automatic

Multi output off

BD DVD output format HDMI: Bitstream

PS4:

Primary output: hdmi out

Audio format: linear PCM (also tried bitstream Dolby and bitstream dts)

Sky:

Audio output: stereo

Hdmi digital output: Dolby

Specific digital output: Dolby

These are my settings, not sure if it helps. I have everything HDMI into my TV then the Home Theater into the ARC HDMI, you need to make sure the HDMI cable from Home Theater to TV via ARC is audio return capable :)

leo0787sx

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#1036366 4-May-2014 11:30

Also both my TV and Home Theater have done two updates each, one each were today so make sure WiFi is setup and try an update :)

MurrayM

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#1036368 4-May-2014 11:34

leo0787sx: Also both my TV and Home Theater have done two updates each, one each were today so make sure WiFi is setup and try an update :)

Thanks.

My settings pretty much match yours (although I have no Playstations). The home theatre updated its firmware yesterday and I've just tried the TV but it's on the latest.

What I find strange is that just having the Raspberry Pi's HDMI cable plugged in, but with the Pi off, the TV can still detect it and not like it.

More investigating is needed so I know how it all works I think!

MurrayM

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#1036392 4-May-2014 12:32

After some more experimenting I've found that with the Raspberry Pi turned on then the home theatre works fine on all inputs (TV, MagicTV box, Raspberry Pi) and I get sound out the home theatre's speakers.

Having the Raspberry Pi turned off but the HDMI cable between it and the TV plugged in at both ends then the TV complains about a fault in the external audio and reverts to using the TV's built-in speakers.

Unplugging the Raspberry Pi's HDMI cable (either from the TV or the Pi) allows everything to work.

So I guess the solution is to either have the Raspberry Pi running all the time, or only plug it in when I actually want to use it.

I don't understand HDMI well enough to know what's going on here. Does anyone have an idea?

richms

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#1036403 4-May-2014 13:15

I have seen issues with a powered down pi plugged into my TV, it kills most of the HDMI CEC control.

Richard rich.ms

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MurrayM

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#1036405 4-May-2014 13:17

richms: I have seen issues with a powered down pi plugged into my TV, it kills most of the HDMI CEC control.

Thanks for the confirmation, looks like it might be something to do with the Raspberry Pi's HDMI port then. It's as if the TV is seeing that the Raspberry Pi's HDMI cable is plugged in but because it doesn't get a reply from the Pi it's failing the audio.

leo0787sx

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#1036413 4-May-2014 13:33

Random but just tried some different region DVDs and it seems the blu ray system with the home Theater is DVD multi region :) I tried region 1, 2 and 4 :)

MurrayM

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#1036414 4-May-2014 13:35

leo0787sx: Random but just tried some different region DVDs and it seems the blu ray system with the home Theater is DVD multi region :) I tried region 1, 2 and 4 :)

I've found the same thing and thought it was strange that Sony should do this, but at least it saves trying to make it multi-region!

bfginger

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#1036655 4-May-2014 22:28

Sony has been shipping BD players multi-region for DVDs. Panasonics are shipped region locked but I've heard their service centres should unlock for free if you take it in and show your receipt within 1 year of purchase.

MurrayM

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#1036901 5-May-2014 11:59

After some research I've found out that the Raspberry Pi's do indeed have a known problem with interfering with HDMI CEC when powered off. See http://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14273 for lots of details.

The solution seems to be to remove D14 (a diode)from the Raspberry Pi. In later hardware versions of the Pi this has apparently been removed. I thought that I had the latest version when I bought it last year, but I'll have to check when I get home to see if it's there or not.

An alternative is to buy a CEC-less HDMI cable, or even a little dongle that fits onto the end of any HDMI cable and disables CEC. I can't find these for sale anywhere in NZ, but you can get them from: http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/products/110-cec-less-hdmi-cable.aspx or http://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-adapters-c1/audio-video-c107/hdmi-c109/hdmi-cec-less-adapter-female-to-male-p7299 Bit pricey though.

robjg63

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#1036966 5-May-2014 12:52

If you are brave and are prepared to DIY, then this might be of interest to you:
http://www.acryan.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5234

If you have some other HDMI cables you could try swapping them around - some people report that problem doesnt happen with some cables. Seems there are various revisions of HDMI - although it looks like version 1.0 had CEC support but some cables seem to have it disabled anyway - maybe they havent followed the standard properly.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

MurrayM

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#1036990 5-May-2014 13:35

robjg63: If you are brave and are prepared to DIY, then this might be of interest to you:
http://www.acryan.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5234

If you have some other HDMI cables you could try swapping them around - some people report that problem doesnt happen with some cables. Seems there are various revisions of HDMI - although it looks like version 1.0 had CEC support but some cables seem to have it disabled anyway - maybe they havent followed the standard properly.

Thanks for your suggestions.

I'm not that keen on hacking up an HDMI cable, it seems pretty fiddly and I'm sure to make a hash of it.

I've got three cables and I've tried swapping them all without any luck, looks like they're all too new.

I'll check out the Pi when I get home and see if it has D14 on it or not. If it does then removing it should be an easy job.

MurrayM

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#1039279 8-May-2014 17:11

An update:

Leaving the Raspberry Pi unplugged seems to allow everything to work ok (I've got a CEC-Less cable on order) but now I've found another problem.

While fast-forwarding through ads when watching a recording on my Magic TV PVR, when I've got through the ads and started the program playing at normal speed, all sound has been lost. No sound from the Magic TV (either from a recording or live TV) or from the TV if I switch back to that. Turning the home theatre off and on fixes the problem, but it takes 3 or 4 minutes for the home theatre to go from "STBY" on the screen until it actually turns off (normally this only takes a few seconds).

This has happened to me four times over the last two nights. It doesn't happen every time I fast forward, maybe once in every four or five times.

Does anyone have any ideas?

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