ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro SPDIF

[mbouck]

I am continuing to have problems with my ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro connecting via the SPDIF to my Yamaha HTR-5440's digital input.

I recently replaced the cable between the video card and the receiver with a 2 meter long Monster digital interlink datalink 100.

My last troubleshooting effort has been to purchase a stand-alone DVD player. I removed the DATALINK 100 cable from the SPDIF of the ATI card and plugged it into the back of the DVD player and the sound was fine. This (in my mind) rules out a problem with the cable, amplifier, and speakers.

My problem continues to be that during DVD playback, the amplifier mode indicator flutters back & forth between "DIGITAL" and "PROLOGIC" - when in "DIGITAL" mode audio is fine; when in "PROLOGIC" mode audio cuts out (silent).

Any advise you can offer on this is appreciated - I'm at my wits end with this.

Michael Bouck

 

[yhelothar]

try hooking it up to your soundcard.. if it has SPDIF...

make sure if your ati card does dolby digital decoding, that you have that option DISABLED.

 

[Slammy1]

ATI sucks. I have the same problem. Hooking up the sound card's S/P DIF won't work with ATI DVD. I just run a different DVD player (WinDVD) since ATI's sole response to my inquiries has been "it's obviously something you're doing wrong".

 

[mbouck]

The worst part about this is that my wife has been telling me all along to rig up the entertainment system with typical A/V components because they don't require tech support to get working. I was GOING to be slick and prove her wrong - that a computer could be the center of the home theater but I guess ATI proved me MISTAKEN!

What totally sucks about this is that it's probably a software glitch.

 

[mbouck]

I was afraid of that.

Did the Anandtech folks test the SPDIF in their review of the 9700 Pro? If so, I'd love to know what amp they used and if not, I wish they would - so I can get a professional opinion on this!

 

[rbV5]

Have you checked These, just in case you missed something easy?

 

[sumrtym]

Here's your solution:

Use your soundcard's S/PDIF. You CAN get this to work, per this thread, using ATI's player. Here's the link to the thread. Solution is middle of the way down.

Helps if I give you the link, eh?

 

[Slammy1]

Wow. It seems lots of people have the same issue. I still say get a 3rd party DVD player that allows pass-through to the sound system (like WinDVD). Heck, I keep losing components. The only 2 I have now are my VCR and DVD player, neither of which sees much usage. Still, when a 19" LCD display isn't quite big enough it's nice to have a back up. I said it to ATI tech support when they told me it's something I did and linked me to the instruction page. My next card will be an NVidia.

 

[mbouck]

Thanks to all who have replied. The ATI web site had no useful information but the Rage3D forum had a tip that made things considerably better.

First I selected "Pass through to audio device" then "CyberLink Audio Renderer (ATI)" in the DVD (version 8.0) player.

Then I enabled SoundBlaster Live 5.1' s "Digital Output" in the advanced settings.

Now my Yamaha amplifier indicates: "ProLogic", "DSP", and "PCM" (PCM being an indicator I have not seen before).

It's still not digital but I am getting 5.1 separation.

 

[sumrtym]

Does your soundblaster have an enable s/pdif passthrough option?

 

[mbouck]

Not per se, there is a "Digital output only" checkbox and an "AC-3 decode" checkbox under advanced, settings. The help file indicates that unchecking "AC3" and checking "Digital only" will use an external decoder (which is what I want right?) but checking / unchecking them doesn't seem to make a difference - still "ProLogic, DSP, & PCM".

My sound card is a SoundBlaster Live 5.1 the sound mixer is version 2.00.28