TV hdmi audio not showing in Sound\playback

Skyzoomer

Senior member
Sep 27, 2007
343
6
81
Running Win10 on a Dell XPS8900 with a Nvidia GTX745 graphics card.
HDMI cable goes from (GTX745 card) > (4in x 2out monoprice switch) > (Samsung HDTV set).
I rt-click the speaker icon in the notification area, click "Sounds" and the Sound window opens. I click the "Playback" tab.

Scenario-1:
When the 4x2 switch is set to the Dell PC as the input and I boot the PC
, Win10 sees the Samsung TV and the Sound\Playback tab shows 3 playback devices:
... NVIDIA Output
... SAMSUNG
... Speakers \ Headphones
This is all good. I can select SAMSUNG as the default and I can hear audio from the PC on the Samsung TV set.

Scenario-2:
But if the 4x2 switch is NOT set to the PC as an input when I boot the PC
, Win10 does not list the Samsung TV set in Sound\Playback, which only shows 2 playback devices:
... NVIDIA Output
... Speakers \ Headphones

When I rt-click the playback pane, it displays the following two as being checked:
x Show disabled devices
x Show disconnected devices
So this is not the reason that the Samsung TV is not being shown.

Now if I set the 4x2 switch to the Dell PC as the input, Win10 sees the Samsung TV, the TV screen turns blue and I can move my VLC video player to the Samsung TV. Video displays on the TV but there is no sound.

So my question is: Is there a way to tell Win10 to register the Samsung TV's audio when I'm in Scenario-2 without having to do a restart?
 

Skyzoomer

Senior member
Sep 27, 2007
343
6
81
You need to unplug and re-plug the HDMI cable.
Thanks much for your reply.

Since my Dell tower PC is on the floor under a table, I have to lie on the floor and crawl under the table to reach the HDMI cable. The 4x2 switch is on a shelf in a cabinet so the HDMI cable is hard to reach too. So doing a Win10 restart is more practical for my situation.

I'm hoping that someone knows a way how to tell Win10 to register the hdmi audio without having to unplug and re-plug the HDMI cable or do a Win10 restart.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
I'm hoping that someone knows a way how to tell Win10 to register the hdmi audio without having to unplug and re-plug the HDMI cable or do a Win10 restart.
Disable and then re-enable the HDMI Audio Device in Device Manager?
 

Skyzoomer

Senior member
Sep 27, 2007
343
6
81
Disable and then re-enable the HDMI Audio Device in Device Manager?
Good thought.
In device mgr\ audio inputs & outputs the 3 items are listed which includes the Samsung.
Unfortunately disable and re-enable the Samsung device does not display the Samsung in the "Sound\Playback" window.

Anyone else with an idea?
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
Put another switch in the HDMI line that disconnects and reconnects the HDMI cable? :)
 

Skyzoomer

Senior member
Sep 27, 2007
343
6
81
Put another switch in the HDMI line that disconnects and reconnects the HDMI cable? :)
Thanks for your idea. Don't want to do that though so hope someone can come up with a keyboard or mouse initiated solution.