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djonesax · (This post was last modified: 2013-11-26, 07:19 by djonesax.)

Ok, so this isnt really an XBMC question but maybe someone out there has experienced this before. I just bought an Acer Revo rl70 and it seems to work fine when plugged directly into the TV but I all I get is a black screen when I connect it via my AV Receiver. I've been trouble shooting this for hours and cant figure it out. I've tried various start up orders, shut everything down, played with setting on the stereo but nothing I try works.

Here is my setup.
Sony XBR4 TV
Acer Revo rl70 - Windows 8
Sony str-da5700es AV Receiver

Does anyone have one of these receivers or the rl70 and had experienced these issues?

Thanks,

David

verismo · 2013-11-26, 12:35

try the hdmi pin 19 fix

djonesax · 2013-11-26, 16:58

Interesting reading... I can try that but with my issue, I never get video. Everything else from the AVR works fine except the RL70 and the RL70 works when connected to the TV. I tried two different cables with the same result as well. I was thinking about inserting an HDMI switch in-between the connections as I read this resolved some PS3 issues in the past. Ever heard of that?

MonoTovarisj · 2013-11-26, 17:26

Sounds like either your receiver doesn't tell your machine that it is capable of taking the picture or the receiver is set to not pass trough the video for the screen.

In my receiver (not a sony) you can set it to just eat the sound and do nothing with the video. I can set this for every input, have you tried with another hdmi source on that input?

either way I think it's a receiver issue.

djonesax · (This post was last modified: 2013-11-26, 21:11 by djonesax.)

It was all working fine with my Dell that I was using for an HTPC with all the same inputs. The only difference was the Dell had a DVI with an HDMI adapter versus straight HDMI. I put the Revo RL70 in place of the Dell with all the same cables and I couldn't get a picture. So then I ran the HDMI straight to the TV from the Revo and it was fine. So I know the Revo can handshake with the TV but having the receiver in the middle seems to cause some issues. I have a powered HDMI extender/amplifier between the TV and the receiver. I think I'll try to bypass that with a longer solid cable and see if that makes a difference but I doubt it will.

I have experimented with turing "HDMI Passthrough" on and off as well as setting "Direct" on and off with no change. HDMI Passthrough allows the HDMI to passthrough even if the receiver is off but setting it either way makes no difference.

"have you tried with another hdmi source on that input?"
No, but I will since you mention it. I did try the Revo on the XBOX 360 input and it still didnt work.

David

djonesax · 2013-11-27, 03:01

I have made some progress. I inserted an old HDMI 3 to 1 switch between the receiver and the Revo and now I get a picture but the screen flickers a lot and its not really usable.

Do any ideas pop up now that we know it sort of works with the switch in place?

Jogee · 2013-11-30, 23:27

Something like this happened to me when I had set XBMC to adjust display refresh to match video, but only on 25Hz videos. I could get audio, but a black screen on my TV for video.

My receiver could handle the refresh, but the TV couldn't, so I got a black screen. In my case I made a custom advancedsettings.xml. If you have the option enabled, you could try turning it off temporarily.

Hopefully that helps. Sorry if I gave you false hope.

**teeedubb** · 2013-11-30, 23:43

You may need to extract the edid from the receiver and have your rl70 use that, it will then think the receiver/tv are always on and connected. There is alot of info over at avs forums regarding this.

djonesax · 2013-12-02, 18:37

(2013-11-30, 23:43)teeedubb Wrote: You may need to extract the edid from the receiver and have your rl70 use that, it will then think the receiver/tv are always on and connected. There is alot of info over at avs forums regarding this.

Thanks this was my next step, since I read that in a few places online. Thanks for all the feedback but I have solved the problem, and I am embarrassed to admit it was a cable issue.

I tested with two cables that I knew worked. One was the cable that I was using with the Dell PC and the other was one that was connected to the XBOX360 and neither worked on the Revo. When I hooked up the switch I used another old cable that I had laying around and when it worked I assumed it was the switch that was enabling the signal but in reality it was that old cable.

I tested it with the old cable for no reason other than to make sure the base problem was still the same. I removed the switch and started another round of debugging but this time it worked. I compared the cables and they both had pin19 in them so I dont really know what the difference it but it works so Im happy. The working cable is a a 4ft cable versus the other which is 6ft.

I still have a couple strange issues but I think they are PC related. For instance, when the Revo wakes from sleep and XBMC is open, XBMC's UI is very large and off the screen. Closing and re-opening it solves the issue. This is probably because I have all the available display settings set to make the windows UI as large as possible so I can see it from the couch.

Thanks,

David