mranim8or 3 Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 Help! I've got one last very annoying issue with my Windows 7 HTPC setup. Every once in awhile when my HTPC goes to sleep and wakes up it will forget that its hooked up to the TV via HDMI and will fall back on a non-existent VGA monitor (the integrated Intel HD 2000 graphics card supports dual monitors). Then I have to logon remotely using another comptuer and TightVNC to switch it back. Obviously this frustrates the heck out of my wife and kids. I suspect whats happening is they're not always aiming the Harmony remote at the setup for long enough and the TV and\or receiver are not properly set to the correct inputs. Then the HTPC turns on and, since it is unable to connect to the TV, decides it should default back to the (non-existant) VGA monitor. Has anyone run into something like this before? If so, how did you solve it? I've tried monkeying with the driver settings, telling it to 'extend desktop onto both displays' or 'only display to HDMI' but nothing works. Eveything will be fine for a few days and then it'll get messed up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14929 Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 I've never had that happen with video but happens with Audio all the time for me. Some anomaly in the turn on sequence causes the Audio output of the machine to go to SPDIF instead of HDMI even though the video signal is still going that way. I have not figured out how to fix it. I have to re-start the PC to get it to realize there is HDMI audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantaxp7 190 Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 I've never had that happen with video but happens with Audio all the time for me. Some anomaly in the turn on sequence causes the Audio output of the machine to go to SPDIF instead of HDMI even though the video signal is still going that way. I have not figured out how to fix it. I have to re-start the PC to get it to realize there is HDMI audio. I believe this is the case for me as well. I've tried to tweak my harmony remote shut down and start up sequence but I haven't gotten it 100% of the time. The issue occurs maybe 1 out of ever 5 times I turn on my system. I still think something to do with my receiver. Also posibbly the HTPC turning itself on when nothing else is on might have it sense no receiver or monitor, reverting it back to SPDIF or something.... Anyways major PITA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantaxp7 190 Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 (edited) Help! I've got one last very annoying issue with my Windows 7 HTPC setup. Every once in awhile when my HTPC goes to sleep and wakes up it will forget that its hooked up to the TV via HDMI and will fall back on a non-existent VGA monitor (the integrated Intel HD 2000 graphics card supports dual monitors). Then I have to logon remotely using another comptuer and TightVNC to switch it back. Obviously this frustrates the heck out of my wife and kids. I suspect whats happening is they're not always aiming the Harmony remote at the setup for long enough and the TV and\or receiver are not properly set to the correct inputs. Then the HTPC turns on and, since it is unable to connect to the TV, decides it should default back to the (non-existant) VGA monitor. Has anyone run into something like this before? If so, how did you solve it? I've tried monkeying with the driver settings, telling it to 'extend desktop onto both displays' or 'only display to HDMI' but nothing works. Eveything will be fine for a few days and then it'll get messed up again. Sounds like HDCP issues. There are a few potential fixes for it. One that used to work for me before upgrading my video card is using a DVI-HDMI cord and pulling out pin 16, the hot plug pin. Unfortunately my new video card does not support audio through DVI. The ones that do will support all Dolby, DTS and HD formats. There is another solution that some do with using a simple monoprice hdmi splitter but I don't know the details of that one. And lastly the gefen hdmi detective...expensive but there are a lot of good reviews out there for it. EDIT: Oh and if you get your startup/shutdown timing just right, many people have found this to work aswell. Just takes time to get it right and even still it might not be 100% like in my case. Edited June 3, 2014 by fantaxp7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeMac 17 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Wow Fantaxp7, thats pretty deep stuff. I too suspect HDCP. I dont experience this issue because I never turn off my htpc and it never sleeps (mainly because it is also running a couple vms for web servers serving blogs). Lastly, I bought a mobo with only 1 video output, hdmi only, so my i7 hd 2000's video output only has 1 place to go. mranim8or, How is your tv connected to your htpc - Direct or passthru through your receiver? Also, Does your receiver need to be on in order for your tv to be on? (for example, my xb360's power is plugged into my receiver... if the receiver is not on, the xb360 is not on, mainly because sound is only avaiable from the xb360 via the receiver). I suspect 1- the windows is not going to sleep fast enough The Tv powers off, windows see the deivce disconnected and remembers it is disconnected when it awakens. 2- everything else is not waking fast enough. Your htpc is looking for a hdcp handshake when it restarts and without the handshake, defaults to the vga. Here's a test you need to do to eliminate the turn off and turn on sequence as the issue....Perform the steps manually, without the remote. During power down, I made my tv power down last in the harmony power down sequence then told my family to make sure the tv is off, before putting the remote down. During power up, I made my tv power up 1st in the harmony power up sequence and told them, make sure you see what you want to see (xbox or htpc) before putting the remote down. If possible, disable vga output either in windows display properties and/or the bios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenH 16 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 (edited) agree with DeeMac - disable onboard graphics in Bios if you're using an external card, stop PCI items going to sleep / low power in windows control panel power settings. And lastly, try another HDMI connection on your TV. Edited June 6, 2014 by WarrenH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mranim8or 3 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks for all the ideas! Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an option in the Bios to disable VGA graphics. :/ "How is your tv connected to your htpc - Direct or passthru through your receiver? Also, Does your receiver need to be on in order for your tv to be on? (for example, my xb360's power is plugged into my receiver... if the receiver is not on, the xb360 is not on, mainly because sound is only avaiable from the xb360 via the receiver)." Its connected through the receiver. The TV can be turned on without the reciever being on, though I suppose thats something that could be changed if need be. I've tried to find a sequence that reproduces this problem every time, but I was suprised to find that I couldn't. I tried things like turning the reciever on late, leaving it switched to the wrong input, turning off the reciever while watching a movie, etc but nothing did it. Strange....it happens at least once a week to me so I figured it'd be pretty easy to reproduce. For now I've tried disabling the driver for 'Generic PnP monitor' in Device Manager. We'll see if that fixes it....if it doesn't I'll try fantaxp's idea of removing the pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFlibbles 21 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 You could give HDMIyo a try. I found it improved things for me when I was having a similar issue. This is a small convenience application to reset the HDMI link between the computer and the TV. It’s for when your MediaCenter PC wakes up and there’s no output on the beautiful HDTV next to your PC. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xnappo 1593 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 (edited) Very common problem that you will be banging your head against unless you buy this: http://www.amazon.com/Gefen-EXT-HDMI-EDIDP-HDmi-Detective-Plus/dp/B001RIMZUW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402412346&sr=8-1&keywords=hdmi+detective I know - it is expensive. I spent mucho time on software work-arounds until finally plunking down the cash. No problems since. Read the reviews. No flames please xnappo P.S. Some people say this does the same thing: http://www.amazon.com/Portta-PET0301S-HDMI-Switcher-Support/dp/B00B46XUQU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1402412566&sr=1-1&keywords=Portta+PET0301S+3x1+HDMI I have no personal experience with it though. Edited June 10, 2014 by xnappo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
politby 88 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 If you are having "pointing" issues with your Harmony consider getting an Ultimate, it uses RF so it will fix those problems. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mranim8or 3 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Thus far everything is working fine now (fingers crossed). HDMIyo seems to have done the trick, though it does make the wake-up time be a bit longer. Thanks, Mr Fibbles! -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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