HTPC video and audio handshaking issues w/ receiver and tv

Talk about speakers, TVs, receivers, STBs, etc.
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evident

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HTPC video and audio handshaking issues w/ receiver and tv

#1

Post by evident » Fri Sep 05, 2014 3:25 am

Hi, first time poster here... I built my HTPC about 2 years ago and have had this problem but just lived with it.

I have an ivy based (i3-3225) HTPC myself using integrated graphics. it's connected to HDMI to a pioneer receiver SC1222 which then goes to the TV.

one of the things that's a pain in the ass for me is when Im done watching tv i must close WMC everytime i'm done watching TV or else the following annoying things happen:

the next time i turn the tv and receiver on, the picture only displays 4:3 and non-HD resolutions until i close WMC and restart it. I have a logitech harmony remote, and can't find a way to make a macro to close WMC before powering down the TV and receiver. What are some settings i could play with to prevent this from happening?

Here's another use case problem: if i just want to listen to music thru my HTPC, I like to turn off the TV to save power and not have any screen burn in issues. It's not an issue if i'm listening music through an app like Mediamonkey. If i'm listening to pandora or internet radio streaming through chrome, or IE, as soon as i turn my TV off, the audio cuts out and doesn't come back. i'm guessing that the app detects that the "audio jack" or output has been disconnected and stops with audio playing. is there a way to change this?

these are pretty inconvenient first world problem and would like to know if anyone else has similar issues like this, or if this is something specific to my motherboard/receiver/tv. these issues make annoying what otherwise is a pretty seemless and awesome experience with my HTPC.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

full specs
i3-3225 (Intel HD4000 gfx)
2x4GB DDR3
Biostar H77MU3 - using HDMI out
Windows 7 Pro

receiver
Pioneer SC1222K

TV
Panasonic P55ST50 plasma
HD Homerun Prime on the network

Windows Media center used to watch live cable TV and DVR
mediamonkey used to listen to library of music
IE / chrome used to listen to internet radio

tzr916

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#2

Post by tzr916 » Fri Sep 05, 2014 1:48 pm


evident

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#3

Post by evident » Fri Sep 05, 2014 5:34 pm

so I guess these devices would be connected in between the PC and the receiver then, to spoof the pc to believing there's always a monitor present?

smcmillan2

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#4

Post by smcmillan2 » Fri Sep 05, 2014 6:01 pm

evident wrote:
so I guess these devices would be connected in between the PC and the receiver then, to spoof the PC to believing there's always a monitor present?
Correct.

However, before going that route, have you enabled HDMI Standby passthrough on the Pioneer receiver? If so, is it set to the input your HTPC is connected to? That has solved the issue for many.

Also, placing an HDMI switcher between the HTPC and receiver has resolved the issue for another many. Something like http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=1 ... 1&format=2. Less expensive than the Gefen/HDFury solutions.

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CyberSimian

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#5

Post by CyberSimian » Sun Sep 07, 2014 11:24 am

evident wrote:I have a logitech harmony remote, and can't find a way to make a macro to close WMC before powering down the TV and receiver.
On my system I have setup my universal remote control so that a button of my choice sends the IR signal corresponding to the Windows PRINT function, and then I edited the IR mapping table (in the registry) to map the PRINT function to the key combination ALT-F4. So pressing that button gives me an immediate exit from WMC, wherever I am in the panel hierarchy.

Below I have included the entry that I added to the mapping table in the registry (note: the part following the semi-colon is comment text, not part of the definition). If you Google, you can probably find pages on the web that explain all this in more detail.

4e,00,00,00,04,04,3d,\ ; PRINT button -> ALT_F4

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

evident

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#6

Post by evident » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:02 pm

thanks everyone. I spent some more time with the harmony 650 remote and managed to figure out a way to ALT+F4 when i push the turn off button. the turning on sequence is trickier. I need to delay "turning on" WMC until after the tv and receiver are powered on and ready to go. it seems to work about 90% of the time, the other 10% of the time i'll get some bogus "WMC needs 64MB of video card memory" error, and i have to use my keyboard/mouse to click ok, and reopen wmc.

i also have to disable the lock screen when we've been away from the tv/pc for a while too.

3rob3

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#7

Post by 3rob3 » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:25 pm

As was mentioned above, I would use a $10 HDMI switch between the PC and first component. You don't actually have to use the switch functionality it just tricks the PC into thinking the display is always connected.

rldev

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#8

Post by rldev » Tue Mar 24, 2015 12:50 pm

Does it need to be a powered switch?

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STC

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#9

Post by STC » Tue Mar 24, 2015 1:12 pm

Yes they have a small power plug
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rldev

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#10

Post by rldev » Tue Mar 24, 2015 1:53 pm

Would this work?

http://www.frys.com/product/8267716#detailed

I can get for $15 delivered.

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