Can anyone identify my HTPC problem?

[rhendrix9]

I have a problem that I would like to resolve, I suspect this is a known problem but I don't know where to begin looking to the cause.
Is it the tuner, comcast, video, sound, windows 7, DRM, could someone point me in the direction i need to look?

When I watch or record shows from HBO, the video is going blank silent without any error messages, after about ten minutes in. Generally the sound may comeback after about thirty seconds.
This is a random problem and I have not be able to establish a pattern.

WMC has been working fine otherwise for quite a while now and there aren't any problems on non copy protected channels

This is my configuration;
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model Inspiron 620
Intel i3-2100 CPU @ 3.10GHz
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A00, 4/12/2011
Installed Memory 4.00 GB
ATI Radeon HD 5670
Driver Version 8.850.0.0
Resolution 1360 x 768 x 60 hertz
Ceton InfiniTV 4 tuner
Comcast CableCard
Samsung TV Display
-----------------
Name ATI High Definition Audio Device
Manufacturer ATI Technologies Inc.

Name Conexant HD Audio
Manufacturer Conexant
-----------------------

[tzr916]

After the sound drops out then comes back, if you rewind the video and play it back, does the audio drop out and come back in the exact same spots as the first time you watched it?

Are you connected directly to the Tv with hdmi? and just using the Tv speakers?

Do you have any extenders connected to other Tv's? Do they drop audio also?

Do you have another Tv you can connect and see if it still happens?

[rhendrix9]

Video and sound drop out, only sound comes back.
NO extenders.
the last show made two recording, they both broke, but NOT at the same spot.
directly connected to TV via HDMI.
i'll try another tv running WMC

[DSperber]

What version of Catalyst video drivers do you have installed?

There's another thread dealing with first-play (following opening WMC) of a 1080i program (which HBO is). The symptom is that after starting the playback of that first program in 1080i, video never appears at all. The screen remains black, although there is audio during this visual blackness. Then, after about 5 seconds or so, the audio goes away so now there is neither picture nor sound. The program is essentially frozen, not moving forward at all. No picture, no sound, black screen.

At this point, all you need to do is push anything (on the remote, or using onscreen controls) to RE-POSITION the program. I simply push my "12-second skip-back" button on the remote, but you can pretty much push anything to accomplish re-positioning... 30-second skip forward, FF, REW, etc.

Immediately, the program playback is re-positioned successfully, and instantly picture and sound return normally. Things will now remain normal forever... as long as you remain in the current WMC session. You can change from 1080i program to 720p program and vice versa, and things remain fully normal.

This really is truly a first-time-play of 1080i program after launching WMC problem. You can start playing a 720p program and you'll have no problem, until eventually you play your first 1080i program in this instance of WMC and then you'll experience this "black image, and and then no sound" symptom. Then you re-position (e.g. 12-second skip back) and it's completely cured.

I've taken to simply always starting WMC and then playng a 1080i program, and immediately always hitting 12-second skip back a couple of times to solve what I know will happen right away if I don't take this preventative action.

Note that this problem has been experimentally determined to be 100% caused by the AMD Catalyst drivers, starting at around 12.4. Every version since then has caused this symptom, and older versions (e.g. 12.3) do NOT produce this symptom.

As my other thread describes, there's a related secondary symptom on extenders, where you need to wait maybe 10-20 seconds after starting up the extender's RDP connection to the HDPC, until you see the appearance of the "spinning circle" for about 5 seconds until it stops spinning and disappears. Now you can use the extender. If you try to use the extender before waiting for this 30-second or so startup process to stabilize, the extender will "lock up" and be completely unresponsive so that you're forced to reboot it. If you just wait out this annoying 30-second startup delay, after that everything is normal.

Again, Catalyst 12.4 and newer is responsible for this strange extender behavior. Go back to Catalys 12.3 and you don't have this problem.

I'm running Catalyst 14.4 at the moment (with my HD5870), because I'd rather have its fixes and performance and "live with" this first-1080i issue and the related extender-startup problem. The workarounds are almost trivial, so why fight it. Yes, it's something AMD did to Catalyst dealing with de-interlacing that's causing the problem and that they still have not fixed (and they do know about the problem as it's been reported to them for a long time now), but I can live with it.


This doesn't sound entirely like your own issue, but I just wanted to bring this other story to your attention.

[Crash2009]

Are you running dual displays?

[rhendrix9]

Are you running dual displays?

NO just HDMI to TV

[rhendrix9]

What version of Catalyst video drivers do you have installed?

Never installed catalyst, just let windows find an appropriate driver.

ATI Radeon HD 5670
Driver Version 8.850.0.0
Resolution 1360 x 768 x 60 hertz

[tzr916]

Good idea to install drivers from the PC manufacturer, video card manufacturer, or AMD.

Also, depending on the model number of your Tv, you should set your desktop resolution to either 1280x720p or 1920x1080p (preferred if your Tv can handle it). Give us the Tv model number if you are not sure. Then in WMC run the setup your tv or display wizard in full screen.

[Crash2009]

Why isn't your resolution set to 1920 X 1080 ?

All sorts of weird things happen while trying to run HD through 1360 x 768 . As they say up north, it's like urinating through a straw.

[rhendrix9]

Why isn't your resolution set to 1920 X 1080 ?

All sorts of weird things happen while trying to run HD through 1360 x 768 . As they say up north, it's like urinating through a straw.

The Samsung TV manual says "Optimal resolution is 1360x768 @60Hz" page 10 Samsung model: LN32C450E1DXZA

[adam1991]

hmmmmmm. Well, the TV--being a TV--can take in HD 1920x180 and convert it to display properly on the panel itself.

What happens when you try setting your HTPC to output 1920x1080 and simply letting the TV deal with it?

[epayson85]

I have this exact TV and use it for my arcade cabinet. I can say the best picture actually comes from 1366x768. In fact the TV hates 720p. The colors become all distorted at that resolution. 1080p does work though I just don't use it.

[Crash2009]

Hit "P Size" on the remote and select "screen fit"

Why isn't your resolution set to 1920 X 1080 ?

All sorts of weird things happen while trying to run HD through 1360 x 768 . As they say up north, it's like urinating through a straw.

The Samsung TV manual says "Optimal resolution is 1360x768 @60Hz" page 10 Samsung model: LN32C450E1DXZA

[rhendrix9]

Hit "P Size" on the remote and select "screen fit"

The Samsung TV manual says "Optimal resolution is 1360x768 @60Hz" page 10 Samsung model: LN32C450E1DXZA

the picture looks fine, it fills the screen, why would I want to hit "P.size" ?

[Crash2009]

the picture looks fine, it fills the screen, why would I want to hit "P.size" ?

I was just expounding on Adams suggestion. Set the HTPC to 1920 X 1080, then set the P size on the TV to screen fit. This forces the TV to play nice with the HTPC.

[adam1991]

yeah, a lot of problems come from PC fiddling types overthinking things.

This is TV, for God's sake, designed to be bulletproof for the average Joe. If you're looking at the TV's specs and trying to work within them, you're overthinking it. The electronics are there to soothe over all the rough spots like this, because if they weren't then Joe Sixpack would never buy the TV in the first place. "720p? 1080i? Why do I have to worry about any of that? I just want to watch the ball game!"

[barnabas1969]

Not sure if the above suggestions will help the OP because I have no experience relating to his problem... but I can say that "screen fit" (and similar options on other brands of TV's) is the way to go when using an HTPC from a picture quality standpoint. If you want the best picture quality possible, you want the TV to display 1:1 pixel mapping. Plain and simple.

[dmagerl]

Not to throw another monkey wrench in here, but looking at the specs for the TV, its native resolution is 720p. So I would set the htpc's output to 720p for best picture, use "screen fit" to get the desktop to display correctly, and dont ever name the hdmi port anything with the word "PC" in it. My Samsung TV does strange things to the video and disables a lot of settings when named "PC".

I had a Sony TV with a 1360x768 display and nothing worked well if I set WMC to that resolution. It's a TV, designed to receive TV signals. That's what you should be sending it.

[tzr916]

After reading the manual:

The panel native resolution is 1360x768.

When connecting to the D-Sub and HDMI/DVI Input it is best to use 1360x768 AND label that input as PC in the Tv menu. This ensures matching the native resolution and color space with a PC video card.

If you connect to the other HDMI Input then, yes you should set the source device to 720p or 1080p and do NOT label the input as PC. This ensures best match for regular consumer electronics.

I do not have this Tv, so I cannot say which way produces better results.

[barnabas1969]

When connecting to the D-Sub and HDMI/DVI Input it is best to use 1360x768 AND label that input as PC in the Tv menu.

That assumes that you are using RGB with a 0-255 color space, which you should NOT be doing if you plan to mostly watch live/recorded TV and movies. For TV/movies, you should be using YCbCr 16-235, and you should not configure your TV to act as if it is a computer monitor.