WMC HDMI Handshake issues

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Tue, 07/05/2011 - 4:02am

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

WMC HDMI Handshake issues

This may be old news, but I can't seem to find the correct search terms to find it.

I leave my WMC running all the time. Normally I just tap a remote button and the picture comes up. Some time ago I had issues with powering up my TV and having no picture from WMC. I hunted around the web and found others with the same issue. They claimed it was an HHDMI handshake issue between MC and the TV. For whatever reason the problem seemed to clear itself up. Now it has returned. I have to pull the HDMI from the TV and put it back in. This seems to reset things and I have a picture.

Is there a fix to this problem? I had the same problem with a satellite STB a while back that seemed to be fixed when I changed the HDMI cable. Can that be the cause?

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 12:24pm

oliverredfox

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Joined: 30 Nov 1999

Try Hdmi-Yo. It will redo the HDMI handshake on resume (or on a bound key press).

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 1:04pm

RehabMan

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Joined: 3 May 2010

I've gone the route of having my Harmony remote shut down WMC (Alt+F4) when I put the system to sleep. It also re-launches WMC (GreenButton) when you turn the system on. This way the handshake is always done with the Windows desktop, not WMC. This has solved all my HDMI issues, which were 1) dropping back to 1024x768 resolution, and 2) black screen.

By the way, you can usually get your screen back from the black-screen by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del then hitting Esc. The 1024x768 problem requires running back through WMC TV setup.

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 2:10pm

(Reply to #3) #4

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

Thank you both for your replies. When this first cropped up HDMI-Yo was just coming out. Since the problem disappeared I never had need to try it. At the same time people were claiming W7 SP1 would cure it and to hang on until released. SP1 came and went and I still have the problem.

I appreciate the keystroke sequence. For me it would be OK, but I travel a bunch. I don't see my wife pulling the keyboard out. You know the wife factor.

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 2:16pm

Aaron Ledger

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Joined: 6 Aug 2010

An alternative way to close and open WMC upon standby and resume is to use Andrew's Standby Helper.

Senior Editor | @swoon_

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 5:50pm

(Reply to #5) #6

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

I don't think my problem is standby as I never allow mine to go in to standby. It is always on. The only thing that does happen is the screen times out and goes blank after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Will a standby helper do anything for that?

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 5:54pm

(Reply to #6) #7

RehabMan

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Joined: 3 May 2010

You will probably want to just turn that behavior off. See Power Options in the Windows Control Panel. Generally, you don't want Windows to be turning off your display when it detects idle.

In your case, I don't think the standby helper app mentioned above will do you any good for the occasional black screen when your TV/amp turns back on (ie. even though your PC is never sleeping, your TV/amp are going into standby which tends to cause the same HDMI handshake issue with the WMC app.)... You should probably look into what I'm doing which is to shutdown and restart WMC as appropriate (ie. when you turn on / turn off your AV system).

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 6:07pm

(Reply to #6) #8

Glitchy

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Joined: 11 Jun 2011

moninfo.exe

don't claim to understand it all, but after stumbling around in the program, I got my onkyo, samsung and HTPC all talkin' to each other and they "seem" to still know whats up even after a full bare metal reinstall of my HTPC.

It just combines the EDID info of all your devices into one file.

A free program

Jeff

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 6:20pm

(Reply to #8) #9

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

I don't want to eliminate the HTPC shutting down the display after a time at idle. It plays well with my TV. Once the display shuts down the TV will shutdown a few minutes thereafter. Nice for protection from burn-in.

moninfo.exe sounds interesting. Will read more. I would like to understand how it fixes it.

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 6:29pm

(Reply to #9) #10

Glitchy

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Joined: 11 Jun 2011

monifo

Has nothing to do with your "sleep state settings", it just all of your CE deivces talkin' to another for the shake.

It just takes the TV EDID, Receiver EDID and I think HTPC EDID and puts them all in one EDID file so they know each other

Jeff

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 6:30pm

(Reply to #10) #11

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

I did not mean to imply monifo did. That comment was aimed at thoughts to change my power settings to keep my display on 24/7. I don't want to do that.

monifo sounds more like what I am trying to get at; get the HDMI signal to reinitialize once the display turns back on.

Tue, 12/06/2011 - 3:25pm

(Reply to #11) #12

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

Update- I used moninfo and is working without a hitch so far.

Mon, 12/12/2011 - 4:49pm

(Reply to #12) #13

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

Update on my use of moninfo.exe. After using my custom INF driver for my DLP TV I started getting random BSOB and autoreboot. Do not know for sure that was the problem, but it seemed to coincide. I switched back to the generic MS PNP driver and no crashes for 2 days.

I reinstalled HDMIYo. Will see what happens.

Mon, 12/12/2011 - 5:13pm

#14

oliverredfox

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Joined: 30 Nov 1999

Are you using Nvidia drivers by any chance? Lots of reports of BSOD and issues with the current drivers.

Mon, 12/12/2011 - 6:28pm

(Reply to #14) #15

SJMaye

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Joined: 10 Sep 2010

No. Using ATI/AMD. No issues prior to using the driver moninfo created for my TV.

Mon, 12/12/2011 - 9:18pm

#16

bigscarymike

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Joined: 8 Dec 2011

I was fighting the same problem. In my case, I was connecting to the TV via HDMI through a Denon receiver. I resolved it by running the HDMI straight to the TV for video, and optical audio to the receiver, using my Harmony remote to switch the inputs accordingly. Something about the receiver was messing with the handshake. I can turn the TV off and on and go in and out of sleep mode on the PC now without the picture changing size.

Mon, 12/12/2011 - 10:38pm

(Reply to #16) #17

oliverredfox

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Joined: 30 Nov 1999

bigscarymike wrote:

I resolved it by running the HDMI straight to the TV for video, and optical audio to the receiver, using my Harmony remote to switch the inputs accordingly.

Optical doesn't support all formats. My TV only sends 2 channel audio to the receiver this way (can do Dolby Pro Logic, but not digital). If the TV supports ARC via HDMI, you can do the same setup with the ARC HDMI cable running to the receiver and keep all the audio formats.

Mon, 12/12/2011 - 11:03pm

#18

Mast3rL33

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Joined: 12 Sep 2008

I having very similar problems in my setup. I too run WMC all the time and leave the HTPC up and running when I power down. I run into the issue with the handshake problem as well. Very interested to find out what your solution ends up being, as it is a nightmare for the WAF.

Sit Vis Vobiscum!

Media PC: AM2 , 1TB WD Green, HD4550 (passive), 2GB DDR2, LG BR/HDDVD, Avermedia M780, ATI Theater 650, 7MC and TMT, Logitech Dinovo Mini, Samsung LN55C650

Tue, 12/13/2011 - 9:45am

(Reply to #18) #19

NitDawg

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Joined: 11 Mar 2010

Mast3rL33 wrote:

I think there are two many variables (AVR/video card) for a panacea outside of a secondary HDMI switch, so my best advice is to make sure your video card drivers are good to go (this is what helped me out with the NVIDA issue...I have a 9300 chipset that took over 18 months to finally get an updated driver set that didn't BSOD on me...fixed in the 290.XX FINALLY!). Then look an moninfo (pretty easy to try)...I've never used HDMI-yo. If you have an AVR in between, sending a component switch (to another input, then back to your HTPC) also seems to work most of the time. Keep WAF high bra!

WMC HDMI Handshake issues

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