Kodi Community Forum

Hi all. I have an HTPC with 2 outputs. 1st is the LCD monitor connected via DVI to the video card, the 2nd (an LCD TV) connected to Harman Kardon receiver, which in turn, is connected to the LCD TV.

I also have a logitech Harmony One, to turn everything on at once. My HTPC is always on.

My Sharp TV takes a long time from turning on, then switching to HDMI 5. If the Harman receiver turns on before the TV, all sorts of problems will occur. The HDMI audio of HTPC (Windows 7) will still be disabled. If the Harman was turned on before TV, the LCD TV won't turn into extended display mode, instead, it will remain disabled. Lastly, if XBMC doesn't turn on last (the TV set to right input, Harman on), XBMC will turn on at the Primary display (LCD monitor instead of the LCD TV).

How do you solve this problem?

I'm not sure what options there are with the Logitech Harmony One, but one option might be to use a CEC adapter to help everything talk to each other, if your TV and receiver have CEC features. CEC is a way for devices to talk to each other and control each other over the HDMI port. This can be used for several things, like having one remote control multiple devices (not an issue for you, since you have the Harmony One), or turning things on/off, switching inputs, etc. A CEC adapter would be connected to the computer via USB port (most computers can't handle CEC through the HDMI port on the GPU/motherboard for some reason) and then the computer could control what turns on and when, as well as what input they switch to.

That is, if they support CEC (they might call CEC something different, sometimes each brand has their own name for it).

If you do go that route, the best game in town for a CEC adapter is http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/product...apter.aspx

Hello Ned,

Thanks for the reply. I am familiar with cec. In fact, I also bought a raspberry pi recently to test what it feels like to have cec enabled. I found out though that my receiver isn't capable of cec. Though my sharp tv is.

I wonder if my video card has hdmi, do I still connect usb to pulse-eight cec adapter to control htpc?

Also, one of my questions in pulse-eight's forum is, now that I know my receiver doesn't support cec, and will pulse-eight's adapter be able to control it?

Do you think with pulse-eight's cec adapter, my devices will turn on according to order? Remember that once the sequence is not followed, hdmi audio is disabled, and extended display is disabled unless activated afterwards.

Hope to hear more of your insights.

Jason