My AV Receiver is suddenly struggling to detect PCM over HDMI

[ginjaninja 537]

help requested please.

 

My Setup

ATI HD 5850 connected via hdmi to onkyo nr-808

11.9 ati drivers with realtek hdmi 2.71 driver (latest)

 

occasionally my av receiver wont output sound; when the receiver working it gives a physcal click and the leds for the active speakers for a given listening mode light up.

recently the receiver hasnt been clicking and just sitting there without the leds representing the speakers lighting up; the computer doesnt detect anything odd indeed it thinks its communicating normally with receiver.

 

i now have to switch the receiver on and off, multiple times until i get lucky and suddenly the receiver seems to detect the audio over hdmi and click into the right mode.

 

the receiver has no trouble with the video over hdmi.

Is there anything i can do, once its working to fix the onkyo in the working position..i only have 1 source ie the pc.

strangely when the receiver is not 'working' the network settings are not available under the setup (greyed out), when working the network settings are live and eg. i can get to the firmware update option.

 

thanks

 

[Marc_G 92]

Some thoughts:

1. Try different cable. ~$5 from Amazon

2. Try plugging cable into different input port on the AVR

3. Do you have an alternative graphics card with HDMI, even an old mother-board based mode to try? Or a laptop, or basically any other HDMI source you can plug in?

 

These should let you narrow it down to "Computer" or "Cable" or "AVR"

 

Computer could be some physical fault but perhaps it's more driver / output mode of player software?

 

Marc

[gthrift 57]

You say you have the latest drivers for your video card.  Did you recently update them?  Did the issue start around the time you updated?

 

I've run into many issues with my HTPCs because of updated drivers.  For HTPC use, it's best not to update unless there is an issue.  Once it works, leave it be.

[ginjaninja 537]

thanks for advice.

no change to drivers prior to problem.

 

having connected an xbox as a 2nd source, it seems very likely that the problem is around the AV receivers ability to enable its audio subsystem. the receiver doesnt behave for the xbox either. Once the receiver clicks / enables an audio mode, all sources are fine for audio from then on. until i power down the projector and the av receiver and then its pot luck again and i have to keep rebooting the onkyo..

[ginjaninja 537]

turns out there is a design floor with many onkyos and the soldier cracks on IC Q3001 BGA chip. solution is heat up the chip for a minute with a hair dryer, prior to switch on. not what i expected from a £1000 unit...i am hoping that onkyo offer to repair as its obviously a design fault given the common symptom.

[gcw07 347]

That is a serious design flaw. My Onyko's HDMI has been going out for the last couple months so I know how it feels. Luckily it took a couple years before that happened. I decided to go back to a Denon with my next one (that should arrive next week).

[ramrod215 6]

Audio drop out is very common with ati and receivers. All I can tell you is check this site out.http://missingremote.com/blog/experience-hdmi-handshake-issues

I did have success with the disabling of ati event stuff and turning on TV and receiver before I wake up or touch my pc.

Edited November 25, 2013 by ramrod215

[ginjaninja 537]

Thanks 4 advice. Onkyo agreed to fix foc..its just going to take a few weeks.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

 

[aquatarkus 2]

Hi there

I see that you have the realtek drivers installed, why are you using those instead of the HDMI audio drive that comes in the ATI / catalyst control driver package. Think you'll  find that the ATI HDMI audio drivers are better than the Realtek ones.

Would suggest that you uninstall the realtek drivers, disable the on board sound card and install the latest ATI catalyst drivers. 

 

Regards

Aquatarkus

[ginjaninja 537]

Hi there

I see that you have the realtek drivers installed, why are you using those instead of the HDMI audio drive that comes in the ATI / catalyst control driver package. Think you'll  find that the ATI HDMI audio drivers are better than the Realtek ones.

Would suggest that you uninstall the realtek drivers, disable the on board sound card and install the latest ATI catalyst drivers. 

 

Regards

Aquatarkus

thanks for advice...my initial troubleshooting suggested i was getting a better result with the realtek drivers (possiby led by other users feedback on forums). But I now believe this was a red herring now the real cause of the issue is known. Yes i intend to revert to standard drivers on my next rebuild. Although 2014 could the year of a new pc what with 130W TDP 8core haswells and maxwell, but i have been saying that for 3 yrs.

[blumamba 10]

I am just curious as to what model Onkyo you are using?  I have used those receivers for many years and the only problem I had was after I set up a ht system for my brother in law.  His did the same exact thing.  We originally thought, after a firmware upgrade it was the Mitsubishi 70 in hdtv.  Mitsubishi stated it was probably their hdmi port due to it not doing a correct "handshake".  The tv would take up to 25 minutes to display a picture and in some cases would not do the sound either.  After a year, 13 months to be exact I performed another firmware upgrade on the Onkyo and the problem was fixed and has worked ever since.  We tried everything till I had no other trouble shooting ideas.  it was a TX-Nr 609 series.  Onkyo has admitted that there hdmi port boards are not top notch which leads me to believe they use the same ones in all the units.  Also as a side note, If you set up your htpc with anything other than 2.0 in the control panel and WMC you will not get sound.  Don't worry about the 2.0 it will still bit stream the full audio to the receiver.  I have no idea why that is.  I cant get pcm movies to bit stream to my htpc if I want dts hd etc.  don't know why that is either.  I contacted ATI about it and they deflected with a response of "it is not a driver issue".  I went to Nvidia and same thing.  So I just leave the speaker set up at 2.0 and don't get pcm soundtracks.

 

Hope that helps:)

[blumamba 10]

I see its an 808.  I suspect its one of the two solutions I used.

[Cheesegeezer 3087]

Believe me they dont get any better, i changed out the capacitors in my SR-606 about 14 months ago and its started playing up again when changing the inputs. I'll change them again when i get back but i'm looking at the pioneer av receivers now. Specifically the VSX-923.

[BC101 31]

I have similar problem with my Onkyo (TX-NR414 I believe) which in the last year has had the HDMI input switching problem happen 4 or 5 times. I would repeatedly hear clicking noises and never work. Hard power cycle fixed the issue.

The unit gets extensive use so while it's not perfect, I don't want to potentially make it worse or introduce new issues by upgrading firmware. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

[blumamba 10]

So far in my experience, all my upgrades have fixed the issues that I suspected they were.  But again, that's my experience.  It is worth upgrading the Onkyos firmware due to them getting it right for the most part.  I have a friend who has a pioneer and swears by it and they are great recievers however Denon and Onkyo are my first choices.  Sony, I have had nothing but problems from the 5 I had, which included dealing with sony to get them fixed, so never again on a sony product!  Other than Possibly a ps4, M$ has a major testosterone issue and needs to be nutered, but that's off topic:)