Please help debug a perplexing video problem

[CAL7]

HTPC: ASRock Z77M LGA 1155, integrated Intel HDMI graphics
Samsung 2014 1080P television
Latest ASRock & Intel video drives installed

I built this in 2012 and it has run well most of that time. Beginning about a year ago, it began to have occasional video issues which now occur 100% of the time. Symptoms:

When WMC wakes the HTPC to record, no video is sent through the HDMI port (I believe this is as it should be). But, if, during a recording, I then try to watch something, I cannot provoke it to start showing video. Without seeing the video, it's hard to know for sure what's actually happening, but it seems to respond to remote button pushes - just no video.

If I wait for the recording-in-process to finish and the HTPC goes to sleep, I can then wake it and the video is good.

Can anyone suggest a process to debug this problem? Thank you in advance.

[CyberSimian]

When WMC wakes the HTPC to record, no video is sent through the HDMI port (I believe this is as it should be). But, if, during a recording, I then try to watch something, I cannot provoke it to start showing video.

If you want to start using your HTPC whilst it is in the middle of recording a programme, I think that you need to press the POWER button on the remote control. This should cause the HTPC to transition from "away mode" (no video) to "normal mode" (visible video). Are you pressing the POWER button?

I am not sure that this is the solution, as I used Vista WMC, and Vista behaves differently (and wrongly) in these circumstances.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[CAL7]

Thank you. Yes. The remote power, as well as trying the front main power and also various remote keys that normallywork to bring it out of standby.

[joecrow]

Strange any button on the remote should bring it out of away mode and given that you are able to wake it up when the recording has finished it is obviously not completely broken and was working intermitently in the past.
For troubleshooting purposes you/we need to carefully consider and answer the question what has changed?
Alternatively I can strongly recommend the MCE Standby Tool for sorting out wakeup and sleep problems, download here http://hveijk.home.xs4all.nl/slicksolut ... oads.shtml
Please note it is often enough to run it just once which will set all the appropriate settings in Windows, although I always just let in run (default setup).
Hope that helps.

[CAL7]

I have used the MCE Standby Tool in the past, but I hadn't considered it for this because I hadn't classified my problem as being truly a standby issue. But I'll give it a try. Thanks.