what are the chances? :( :(

[admin_exported]

firstly excuse the big post.

well in february i setup my first home cinema system 5 tannoy speakers along with a very nice onkyo 606 and it ran smooth as butter since day one i went on vacation in the middle of June and got back July ever since i got back from July onwards Ive had problems with it.

I was suffering from a very intermittent video outputs via hdmi (i run sky hd and ps3 via hdmi) basically i would power everything up select game for instance getting sound but no picture so it was a matter of switching between sky (CBA/SAT) and ps3 (GAME) normally 4-5 times but could be 10 or 20 on some occasions to get it working properly.

after a few weeks i just couldn't take it anymore and returned it to the store for them to send it to onkyo for repair apparently it was a faulty/dodgy hdmi board that was causing the problems i got told after a week however the new part was on back order till mid December which was great news however after another 6 weeks and a 100 phone calls the store gave me a a onkyo 607 in exchange which ain't too shabby.

however after another lengthy setup of all my equipment sat down to watch the match on sky during halftime i switched to ps3 for a quick game I'm totally baffled now because I'm having the same problem once again ARRGGHH how is this?

Have i done something wrong? - then i think it ran great for 5 months and i never touched it.

Is something interfering with it? - then i go back to the answer above 🙁

Or am i just really really really unlucky and lightning has struck twice and i got another faulty hdmi board.

also if it is something else what is the likelihood that my old 606 was fine and they simply just didn't check it even tho they had it for 6 weeks.

I'm really sorry for the huge post i would really appreciate any help or advice on what to do next.

Thanks Adam.

 

[Andrew Everard]

I think you've effectively ruled out the receiver(s). Seems like something else is causing the problem.

This is where Clare weighs in with 'I hate HDMI, me' and I agree thoroughly - when good, the connection is good; when bad, with all its handshaking and content protection and digits most certainly ain't digits, it's a total PITA.

I suspect something in the combination you have is causing some handshaking problems: it may not be your receiver or the Sky box or the PS3 - it could be the TV, or even an HDMI plug-socket interface that's a bit iffy now it's been unplugged and plugged in a few times.

Things are further complicated by automatic firmware upgrades - could be an unseen upgrade to your TV (if it's connected to an aerial), Sky box or PS3 has suddenly created a problem that wasn't there before.

I really wish I could say 'Aha! This is how to solve it'. But as the hapless Sky engineer who tried to get Samsung box after Samsung box to work with my receiver put it, "Just once in a while these things happen".

Back out to the van, got an Amstrad, and it worked perfectly.

I know that's not a solution, but even the people at GenServe, who do Onkyo's warranty work, were amazed that my receiver - coincidentally an Onkyo - seemed to interact with the Samsung Sky HD box to cause the latter to lock up completely. They'd never encountered it before, and of course even a Samsung Sky HD box may have several versions, several sets of firmware and so on. was there a fault with the receiver? Or with the Sky box? Never did quite find out...

Manufacturers do try to test their products with as many other products as possible, but with the sheer number of HDMI-capable devices out there, most resort to ensuring that they conform to the nominal HDMI standard. Trouble is a new device, a new piece of firmware, or even a slightly wonky bit of copy protection on some content, be it a game, a disc or whatever, can cause all kinds of problems.

And that's before you get to all the variants of the HDMI CEC control protocol - Bravia Sync, Viera Link, all that stuff - which can also cause all kind of unpredictabilities.

Trouble with HDMI is that while it may nominally be a standard, it allows too many variable to ensure total, guaranteed operability between any two pieces of HDMI-connectable equipment of whatever vintage. It's a mess...

Sorry, felt the need for a rant.

 

[digigriffin]

If you are saying that you amp is switching inputs back and forth with I mind of its own I might know what it is!

You haven't said what TV or other bits of kit you have but I suspect this is "hdmi control" causing the gremlin.
On the amp In setup under hdmi this is where all the hdmi control stuff is.

If you have any panasonic kit this is called viera link by them.

If you have hdmi control enabled on your amp and any other bits of kit using some type of hdmi control themselves this can cause the issue.

I have a viera link enabled P42v10 and BD30 hooked up with hdmi to my 606.
This works fine with the amp turning on/off with the tv or blu-ray player.
Turn on my wii and select the game input on the amp and it will hunt for a signal and constantly switch back and forth.
This is because the wii is connected via component so does not support hdmi control.
As the TV is on and is using hdmi control (viera link) the amp keeps switching back to that input.
Eventually I can get it to stay on the selected game input.

Try disabling any sort of hdmi control on all of your kit and see if that fixes it.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, that can often do it...

 

[Anonymous]

well me kit as of now is:

tv - Goodmans 42" which i had for 2 & half years it was one of the first 1080p tv's on the market and by far the cheapest and prob the worst too 🙁 http://www.goodmans.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=GTVL42W15HD

Sky HD - which ive had for 12months its possibly thompson or toshiba methinks.

PS3 - 80gb + nintendo Wii

Although my problem sounds similar i think its still a little different the problem i have is i get home from work switch on the tv then the sky then the amp sit down the sound kicks in but no image then after 5 seconds sound goes off for a few seconds then 1 or 2 symbols (DD, hdmi etc) flash on the display on the amp then they stay bold then the sound kicks in but still no picture that will just repeat for a while.

The only way im getting an image is if i basicly turn the amp on and off this could be several times or switch inputs on the remote switch between say game and cbl/sat.

There is no other imput switch on at that time so the ps3/wii ain't interfering in anyway. Also like i said in the first post it ran perfect for 5 months and i never changed anything.

Its extremely frustrating especially when you sit down at dinner time to eat and watch the simpsons your dinners cold by the time you get it working 🙁

 

[Andrew Everard]

Y'see, no reflection on Goodmans, which makes very cost-effective TVs, but I suspect that as yours is quite an early one it may have some handshaking problems with more recent equipment, such as the rest of your system.

Of course, the only way to tell is with another TV, or by trying the various components directly into the TV one by one, but even then you won't get a complete solution, as it may be a cumulative HDCP/handshaking/HDMI problem across the whole chain.

However, with the info you've now given about the TV, I suspect - but only suspect - this may be at the root of the problem.

 

[digigriffin]

Well if you have htmi control on and nothing else the amp will be hunting for another input even without anything else being on.

The more light you have shed on this though not sure is hdmi control.

Can you move the hdmi into the amp to different inputs?

No picture but sound was what i was getting with a new panny plasma when the hdmi handshake between the amp and the tv would not work.
This was down the panasonic changing the hdmi stuff in the tv which they have now fixed with a firmware update to the tv.

I wonder whether over time your TV is managing to "fry" the hdmi to the amp to cause this?
The hdmi does carry a voltage and just plugging them in whilst kit is on can clobber the kit.

 

[Anonymous]

digigriffin:

I wonder whether over time your TV is managing to "fry" the hdmi to the amp to cause this?
The hdmi does carry a voltage and just plugging them in whilst kit is on can clobber the kit.

Now for some strange reason i actually wondered if that was the case but like you said over time i had the new onkyo 607 just a couple of hours 2 max, now i know that if i bypass the amp so skybox to tv it works perfect ever time which is more baffling.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, but the Sky box doesn't use any content protection - for exactly the reasons of compatibility you've discovered with the direct connection - and has a very simple HDMI implementation, whereas the other items in your system have more advanced HDMI capabilities.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm curious - I've had similar (ish) sounding problems with my Onkyo AV receiver and am on my 2nd one too.

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/315384/ShowThread.aspx#315384

Have you had any update on your problems?