Help getting 4550 HDMI A/V working

[amheck]

hey gang,

Trying to set up my system for HDMI audio/video and having some problems.

I have a Sapphire 4550 in a HP slimline running Vista. I have been using this system via component for the last year or more. I installed the ATI HDMI driver from the realtek site, and when I use the DVI-HDMI adapter that came with my card, I see the bios screen and I see the moving green bar in Vista on bootup for maybe 15-20 seconds, and then the TV goes blank. I can hard boot it, go into BIOS, and select onboard VGA and use my PC monitor and everything is fine. Although I can't do anything with my ATI card in CCC cause it only sees the NVidia onboard VGA.

I have this all hooked into my Pioneer AVR via HDMI to my TV. PS3/TV and all other connections work fine. Any ideas?

Not trying to do anything fancy here with BR's or hi-rez audio or anything, I just want VMC and MyMovies to work with HDMI video and HDMI Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

Also wanted to mention that I tried using the 4550 card with a DVI-to-VGA adapter to my monitor, but it seems to be the same thing. Goes all black during bootup.

Do I need to hook up the PC via component, which I know works, and possibly go change a setting in CCC, so the card knows to use the DVI port instead of the TV out port? Or should both of those be active at the same time?

Thanks!
Aaron

 

[jamesbond007]

You may want to check what refresh rate is set for your screen. What happens when you connect your computer screen and your TV to your ATi videocard? See if you can get them both running at the same time. Did you try this setup with your onboard video disabled? (both the computer screen and TV hooked up to the ATi, nVIDIA disabled)

EDIT: Just read your post again. What happens when you get to the Vista boot menu (F8 before the splash screen comes up) and select VGA mode or Safe Mode? Can you get to the CCC or into Windows using your TV? It should default to 60Hz then...

 

[amheck]

Thanks for the reply. I ended up hooking the PC back up the old component TV and then enabled the DVI port as a second monitor. Then, I could disable the TV out and I'm up on my PC monitor now on the DVI-to-VGA adapter. I think this did the trick - seem the DVI port wasn't activated in CCC.

Hoping when I take this back over to the plasma and hook it up with the DVI-to-HDMI adapter, everything should be fine.

 

[jamesbond007]

Good luck! I am guessing there may be some remnants of nVIDIA drivers that could be screwing with the simplicity of how the operation should really go. I have two 4870 cards and I haven't had any troubles using the DVI-to-HDMI converter to the projector or my LCD TV. Additionally, the DVI connection to my computer screen has never given me problems and never needed any 'enabling'.

Either way, I hope you get your situation resolved.

 

[amheck]

Is there anything I need to do in CCC control panel to enable HDMI?

I have the PC up and running, connected to the old RPTV via component and to the new TV via the DVI-to-HDMI converter. The main desktop is on the RPTV and monitor 2 is correctly listed as either my receiver or my plasma TV model, but neither will show a display. Man, I didn't think it'd be this difficult.

 

[jamesbond007]

If you right-click on the #2 window, there should be an enable toggle. Did you try that?

This one

 

[amheck]

yeah, window #2 is enabled and works with a DVI-to-VGA adapter just fine. i.e. I can get a 2 monitor setup working, 1 connection via component to an old TV I'm using to set this up, and 2nd connection to a PC monitor. But when I have 2 monitors working, and remove the DVI/VGA adapter and then plug in the DVI/HDMI adapter, either to my AVR or TV directly, I get no video signal.

I don't know if this points to a bad adapter? Or is there something else I need to do for HDMI?

 

[jamesbond007]

Can you test your HDMI cable with another device to make sure it is fully-functional? Like you said, since it works with another connection type, the software issues should be resolved and now it relies on hardware. It could be a HDCP thing, too, perhaps. I know when I have played some Blu-ray movies, the TV needs to be the primary screen in order for the video to show up...but to get no desktop - that's another story.

 

[amheck]

Tested with another cable that I know works, still no go. Funny thing is.....I get audio over HDMI (I can hear the windows bootup sound) but still no video. Strangest thing....I'm not sure what else to do.

 

[s44]

First, take the AVR out of the loop. Try a direct TV hookup.

 

[amheck]

Same, no video, when going directly to the TV. I see the same thing, BIOS, windows boot up, and then nothing. Sapphire tech support is sending a replacement DVI-HDMI adapter. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be another option just to get a native-HDMI card. Maybe the new adapter will help clear all this up.

 

[amheck]

Well, what do you know. I found my DVI-DVI cable and hooked it from from the card to another input on the TV - and it works. So would that possibly narrow it down to the HDMI adapter?

 

[jamesbond007]

Maybe some dormant nVIDIA drivers are still present somewhere on the system? A true test would be to image your C drive, reinstall Windows, and then test it with a fresh install of Windows.

 

[postmortemIA]

don't use realtek drivers - use ati's own hdmi audio drives