nVidia 9400 GT HDMI out

Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
0
71
Hey,

I recently buildt a new gaming rig for myself, so I moved the old machine from my BF to the living room as we figured we could use it on our Panasonic TV via HDMI. This is where the problem starts. Connecting via HDMI does not work. I only get a black screen, after the Windows 7 splash screen. I already tried several cables and different HDMI slots on my Panasonic. The odd thing is, the TV is receiving some signal, as it would show 1080p as input source. When I connect my monitor via VGA I can see in the nVidia panel that it correctly recognizes the Panasonic TV and is supposedly outputting 1080p to it. I tried changing to different resolutions and different Hz; no help at all.
I can start fine in safe mode and now comes the odd thing: when I remove the driver in safe mode I can get into Windows 7 normally then, but as soon as it install the driver (either the older one from Microsoft or the newest one directly from nVidia) and restart I will have the same problem again. I tried my new computer with an nVidia 670 GT on it and it works without any problem over HDMI

My question now: Am I doing something wrong or does the 9400 GT simply not work with HDMI correctly? My gut feeling says this is an driver issue, but why would my new card work on it then?
 

nenforcer

Golden Member
Aug 26, 2008
1,767
1
76
I'm not quite sure about the safe mode part but can you connect both the TV and your VGA monitor at the same time?

Is your Panasonic TV 720P only or also 1080P capable like the computer is outputting? You should only be trying those two resolutions at 59/60Hz over HDMI. If everything is all black it could even be something like a HDCP problem but probably unlikely.

Trying toggling the primary / secondary displays and see if this does anything. You need to play with the cloning / dual display options in the nVidia control panel. Do everything with both monitors connected. You may also have to play with the Panasonic TV settings and see if you can set the TV to a "Just Scan" input method instead of a predetermined 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

The 9400GT was part of nVidia first generation of HDMI capable graphics cards but I have one working just fine through HDMI (my nVidia ION HTPC).
 

Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
0
71
Hey,

thansk for your reply! Yes the 9400GT has 3 outputs (HDMI, DVI, VGA). I played around with the toggling of the primary and secondary screen, but that dind't really help (other then giving me a big hassle trying to get the panel back on the working VGA screen :\)

The Panasonic is as 1080p Television and I switched through all the scaling options with no affect.

What exactly do you mean with HDCP problem?

I was thinking it might have to do something with the HDMI version? I can't find any spec paper of my TV, that shows what HDMI version it uses, but maybe that is the cause, given that the 9400 is so old...

Again what strikes me is, that it does work when the driver is unistalled with a lower resolution, yet the newest nVidia driver does work with 1080p on my 670 in my new computer...
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,227
9,990
126
Could be your HDMI cable, if it works at lower res. without the driver installed, but doesn't work at 1080P.

The EDID data might still be getting through, that's why the TV displays 1080P, but the actual video data is corrupted due to bad signal.

At the very least, I would try a different (and possibly better) HDMI cable.

Edit: I just realized you were using HDMI out from a 670 to the same TV. Is it the same cable? If so, then it's not likely to be a cable problem after all.

Are you running the newest BIOS on your 9400GT?
 

Fallengod

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2001
5,908
19
81
Yeah. If the same hdmi cable worked on the gtx 670, then its not the hdmi cable. Im going to say its the video card. Not sure what else that would be. If youre using a different hdmi cable for those tests, then id say hdmi cable.

Trying a different hdmi cable might be worth it since its the cheapest solution to a fix. Unlikely though if it worked with the 670.

Past that the only things I could think of is, try different driver versions and make sure bios is updated.....


Lastly, on a more realistic note, that video card is a piece of shit in this day and age(im not trying to be mean, im just saying). You can get a more feature rich up to date basic video card for $10-15 after rebate all the time..... Theres a GT 430 on sale for $30AR right now. Its not worth the hassle almost.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133432
 
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Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
0
71
Yeah. If the same hdmi cable worked on the gtx 670, then its not the hdmi cable. Im going to say its the video card. Not sure what else that would be. If youre using a different hdmi cable for those tests, then id say hdmi cable.

Trying a different hdmi cable might be worth it since its the cheapest solution to a fix. Unlikely though if it worked with the 670.

Past that the only things I could think of is, try different driver versions and make sure bios is updated.....


Lastly, on a more realistic note, that video card is a piece of shit in this day and age(im not trying to be mean, im just saying). You can get a more feature rich up to date basic video card for $10-15 after rebate all the time..... Theres a GT 430 on sale for $30AR right now. Its not worth the hassle almost.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133432

That graphic card was a POS from the get go ;-) I just figured my BF could still use his computer on the TV from time to time. Now I'll have to share my gaming rig or get a new video card. I guess a nVidia 640 or 650 is going to be good enough for a wannabe HTPC? He literally said he wants to play some flight simulators...nothing fancy...

Update: I just ordered an AMD 7770 which I think will suffice. The price premium for the nVidia 650 TI just didn't seem to be worth it. I will report back if everything works with that card. Otherwise I guess the television is just very picky...

Update: Just put an AMD 7770 from MSI in. Works like a charm now. I guess it was really a problem with the age of the nVidia 9400 GT. One thing though: once the fans kick it, this card is loud...
 
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