Feb/0935
HTPC woes
Some might have caught on that I have recently spent time building a HTPC and set it up to replace the old machine I had which couldn't run 720p with more than one line of text at once. Gundam 00 karaoke was fabulous and Marina's song was ten times as annoying since the whole episode started lagging. But no more! I can now run 1080p with 20-30% CPU usage while crunching through a billion torrents. Although... I've had to file a ticket with the motherboard creator, since I can't get sound through HDMI no matter what I do. I've tried about everything I can think of now, and the latest event was me getting a reply from a technician at XFX, handing me a beta BIOS. Still not working, so we've had to run 2-channel sound through analog outputs instead. Sure, there's sound, but I'd rather have it running digitally over HDMI.
I'm now furiously trying to figure it out together with the XFX technician. I've cross-checked with other TV sets and confirmed the audio working over the cables and to the inputs on my TV using my XBOX 360. So what gives? Any ideas?
February 5th, 2009
Do you have a graphics card to that computer? What if that’s the case?
February 5th, 2009
No, if you’d check the “TEH SPECS” thing you’d notice how I got a GeForce 9300 – one of the most prominent HTPC mobos out there which has one of the very best IGP solutions. I don’t need a separate video card.
February 5th, 2009
I did check the specs.
But as I’m unfamiliar with HTPC’s I didn’t know that the graphics card is integrated into the mobo.
How much did it cost to put together?
February 5th, 2009
If you consider Norway’s insane 25% import tax and other dickery, it gets close to 1500 USD.
February 5th, 2009
First, an unhelpful comment: Should’ve gotten a PS3 instead of putting a BD in the HTPC. =D
And a (possibly) helpful comment: Which drivers did you install? I think the HDMI audio output requires a separate nVidia HD Audio driver to be installed in addition to the normal ForceWare drivers.
February 5th, 2009
PS3 sux kthx.
I’m using the latest drivers from NVIDIA for the chipset, IDE and so forth, and the additional NVIDIA HD Audio driver for Vista 64-bit. As I already know there’s an ALC888 from Realtek on the board in addition to the NVIDIA HDMI thingie, I have both tried removing both at once and disabling the ALC888 etc etc, I’ve tried about anything.
February 5th, 2009
You have probably tried this already but when I use the HDMI out on my laptop, I have to set the HDMI as the default audio playback device. The audio still comes from the stereo output otherwise.
Just out of interest, What OS are you using?
February 5th, 2009
Yeah, well. If I could set the HDMI device as the default, it’d be very nice. Problem is, it shows as “Not plugged in”. Guess which video channel I’m using? HDMI.
I’m on Vista Ultimae 64-bit on the HTPC.
February 5th, 2009
Just clarifying, you have used your computer with another TV and got sound?
February 5th, 2009
Cross-checked with a Sony KDL-32W4000, same problem.
February 6th, 2009
Because I don’t know what you have tried before, sorry if I’m just running you around in circles.
It seems that you may have an option in the BIOS to enable HDMI audio or enable something called the internal codec. Have a look for it or something like it and check that it’s turned on. From there disable the Realtek stuff and make sure your NVIDIA HD audio driver is working and is the audio source.
Seems like a few people are having this problem and no one seems to want to post the solution. This is as close as I could find. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
February 6th, 2009
Nevermind, I ran across one of your posts and it seems you have dealt with all this before :)
February 6th, 2009
I like to think I’m fairly good at troubleshooting, but this time I’m at such a limp that I’m getting mad, since nothing I do is helping. Just hoping I get a response from XFX again soon at this point.
Do keep tossing ideas though, I might have missed something – and like you said, people don’t post their solutions. You seem to have Googled a fair bit, care to link what you found?
February 6th, 2009
Sure thing,
http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24777&page=2
The post I mean is the very last one on page 2. The News Editor for that site posted the response but it lacks detail. I know it isn’t the exact same board as yours but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think it’s the exact same problem.
They seem to have XFX Techs roaming that forum but they expect you to PM them for help and none will post the solution. You might get a quicker response if you sign up and hassle them from there.
February 6th, 2009
I know a lot of boards needs to change a jumper-position to route the sound to the HDMI-port on the graphics chip from the source on the soundchip. That probably isn’t the problem here, but I just figured is should’ve been mentioned.
February 6th, 2009
I was looking for one these and I had no luck actually finding one. There’s one jumper on the board, and that one is for enabling overclocking in the BIOS. I’ve yet to find any others, or any mentions in the manual about this option. All I really can do to control sound is enable/disable the Internal/External codecs on the board, respectively the NVIDIA HDMI Audio and the Realtek 8.1 Analog&Digital audio.
February 6th, 2009
For some reason I couldn’t post another reply to the comments above so here it is.
Sure thing,
Thread
The post I mean is the very last one on page 2. The news editor for the site posted it; it lacks the detail I need to understand it but it may make something click if you read it. I know it isn’t for the exact same board as you have but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that it is the exact same problem.
They seem to have XFX techs roaming that forum but they expect you to PM them for the solution rather then them just posting it. You might get a faster response if you do that.
February 7th, 2009
From what I’ve seen here, I can only think of a few possibilities.
One, your motherboard is defective, that would suck but it’s possible.
Two, your OS is not recognizing Nvidia’s onboard sound solution, (thus the reason it says it’s unplugged.)
Three, (unlikely) your HDMI cable is defective / not up to spec / damaged.
Four, if your HDMI capability is enabled through the use of a DVI – HDMI adapter, the adapter is defective or is not capable of sending sound over HDMI, which is the case with some older adapters.
Five, Nvidia’s software is crap.
Six, (unlikely) Nvidia’s sound solution is not fully direct sound compatible, which most players use by default.
Seven, (pretty unlikely)your system has some random software / hardware incompatibility.
If I think of anything else I’ll post again, but my gut feeling is that if it is not an adapter issue, then it’s probably a bad board or bad software.
February 7th, 2009
1) maybe, I’ve considering getting it replaced with something from Gigabyte, XFX proves to be meh.
2) the OS is recognizing it and all that jizz, but it’s not understanding that the cable is plugged in. I haven’t tried fiddling around to get this working on like a live-CD ubuntu yet, but I might. Just to prove to myself that it WORKS.
3) HDMI cable works, I’ve used it to play sound from my XBOX 360.
4) Not an adapter, it’s HDMI male < -> male
5) This has been the case since TNT.
6) Not a likely thing, I see tons of people getting it to work, with other manufacturers.
7) Very unlikely, as this didn’t work with mobo, CPU, 1 stick of RAM, no cables but power, SATA-drive and hdmi attached to the mobo
February 7th, 2009
I dont mean to throw the subject off but I had trouble figuring out my amplifier, I had to use HDMI and an optical port to get sound. Then i some how figured out it only worked if it was component video/ component audio or hdmi video/hdmi audio (lots of wires). In short if a pc works the same HDMI to your tv and having component cables from your tv to audio wouldnt work.
My advice why not use a sound card like sound blaster with x-fi, it should have better configurations, eax sound, and sound cards can free up to 10% cpu usage. NVIDIA isnt really big on sound even when they mention blu ray all the mention is video and its specs.
February 7th, 2009
As this is a HTPC I intend to keep it low-power, low-cabling and just sit there and work. Now that it isn’t, I’m getting rather mad.
February 8th, 2009
I can’t seem to post a comment with the link inside it so I’ll just copypaste the post I found right here.
to get the hdmi audio, you would have to install the nvidia’s hdmi audio driver over at nvida’s site: (make sure you choose hdmi audio). Also, enable the hdmi audio codec or internal codec under the BIOS. Then in Windows, choose the nvidia audio as your audio source, not realtek. (forgot what is called).
The news editor for the site I found posted that message in a thread that had XFX tech support helping people out over PM. They never did posted the solution straight into the thread. I’ll try drop the link into a reply post. You might get a quicker reply if you try that.
February 8th, 2009
http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24777&page=2
This was the thread I found that in. I know it isn’t for the exact same board as yours but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that it is the exact same problem.
As I had read on the Nvidia forums, you have already tried this and ending up with nothing but it might make something click if you give it a quick read over.
You might be able to get ahold of a XFX tech from there and speed the whole process up as they seem to have fixed this guy’s problem. I’m guessing XFX close over the weekend so you might still get a reply to your ticket tomorrow.
February 8th, 2009
Nope, I can’t seem to post the link in the comment pages here, even if I enclose it in the XHTML tags.
I read on the Nvidia forums that you had already tried that method I posted above but it may make something click if you give it a read over.
The website was bjorn3d (dot) com
They have support forums for XFX Geforce motherboards so you may be able to get ahold of a tech through pm if you feel like bothering with that. I’m guessing you had no contact with XFX due to them closing down on the weekend?
February 9th, 2009
I got a reply and I think I’m either being really stupid or that they’re somehow not understanding me. They’re now asking whether I have the SPDIF cable correctly plugged in. Cue me being ??? since there’s a SPDIF *output* on the motherboard. There’s also this HDMI *output*. Am I to splice the SPDIF 3-pin thing into a HDMI cable? No idea what I’m supposed to use the SPDIF for, as I kiiinda expect a board with two soundcards and HDMI/DVI-D/D-sub output on it to route sound through the HDMI without me having to cable it.
February 9th, 2009
I think they want you to use SPDIF for audio output instead of HDMI. And while the two are not mutually exclusive, I’d say in this case it’s just standard tech support incompetence and them not understanding you.
February 10th, 2009
Yeah, sounds like they want you to use the SPDIF for audio rather than the HDMI. Either they are confused about what’s wrong or they are trying to pawn you off onto a different solution because they don’t know how to fix it.
February 10th, 2009
Yeah, I can see that. But do you guys even know for sure that *any* board out there with HDMI on it, with an IGP and an audio card in the board, can output video + audio through the onboard HDMI?
February 10th, 2009
I haven’t had any problems on the AMD side with the 790 GX based boards, but that’s not really an option for you since you already went with an Intel setup. My gut says go Gigabyte, but that’s only because I’ve never had a problem with them. A while back Anandtech reviewed some Nvidia based 8200/8300 boards and their onboard HDMI worked just fine. I don’t see any reason why a 9400 based board would regress in it’s HDMI support. It’s probably just XFX, which wouldn’t surprise me, everything XFX that I’ve ever bought had some kind of problem or required great effort to get it to do what it was supposed to out of the box.
February 10th, 2009
Right so it’s the board. Great. Here I go for the most pretty of them board since I’m such a Mac tard, and what do I get? ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
February 11th, 2009
Yeah, I think a few of the very first boards had a problem but that was quite a while ago now. I can’t imagine a 9300 based board not doing audio over HDMI. That would be a huge step backwards for no reason.
February 20th, 2009
Did you get anywhere with the support at XFX? I have the board and funnily enough the same problem. If it’s not easily fixed then I might rip the board out, bin it, and replace it with an Asus P5N7A-VM.
February 21st, 2009
Still nothing. Latest is that they’re asking for a driver version. For uh, I dunno. I gave them a wall of text of all my drivers. They also suggested I check my Realtek control panel for a HDMI tab. Funny thing is, they earlier asked me to install the latest _NVIDIA_ HDMI Audio Driver, which is the sound chip for HDMI present on the board.
Getting tired of this? Me? Nah, not at all.
March 16th, 2009
On my gaming machine under the crappy Vista my BFG GTX 280 had HDMI sound to support it my crappy Integrated Drivers Soundmax i had to set Default Audio as SPDIF then connect on board the SPDIF cables to the Video card so i get audio out in HDMI.
The rest of the machine is Nvidia Chipset. P5N-T Deluxe old board does the job fine.
May 16th, 2009
you wern’t very specific about exactly what motherboard your using, so i had to guess a bit. found a link on newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813141015
this is a known bug with this board, looks like a bios/controller mismatch from here. you need to swap that for a DIFFERENT manufacture’rs board – i recommend places like newegg if for no other reason than direct feedback and most common bugs are mentioned in the comments. i dont like gigabyte for boards, ive had mixed luck.