Gefen HDMI Detective Plus w/ Asus GT610

[joevulture]

My HTPC specs are listed, except that I have added a PNY GT430 card.

As mentioned, I added a PNY GT430 back to my system to work around the 29/59Hz issue. That is fine (with driver 300.26), but my AVR has always given me grief with keeping the settings straight for the 29/59Hz (full-screen video). The main suggestion of turning the components on in order doesn't work when the PC is recording something when you get home and the AVR and TV are off.

To work around this, I picked up a Gefen HDMI Detective Plus and programmed it, that took care of my issues. However, I notice the fan a lot during quiet scenes (or when the PC is recording at night), so I picked up a replacement card, an Asus GT610 fanless with 2GB of RAM (overkill for just MCE, but all I could find locally).

Unfortunately with the HDMI Detective Plus connected, HDCP seems to be disabled immediately upon starting MCE, and I get an HDCP error when trying to watch copy-protected programs (from CableCard). Unplugging and replugging the HDMI Detective Plus into the HDMI port on the GT610 fixes the problem, until the next time the TV or AVR are turned off. If I remove the HDMI Detective Plus, then HDCP is fine, but I have the same EDID issues as the GT430.

Does anybody have any ideas of how to fix this? I've reprogrammed the HDMI Detective Plus numerous times, and DIP switch 4 is on (HDCP support) and I've also tried reinstalling PlayReady. Or does anybody know of a good fanless card at least as good as the GT430 (can bitstream DTS-HD/Dolby TrueHD, etc.) that works with the HDMI Detective Plus? I don't play games (except MAME) on my HTPC, I just record/watch shows and play BluRay discs.

Worst case, I suppose I could change the cooler on the GT430 to something quieter.

Thanks,
Joe

[newfiend]

Are you currently on Driver 300.26 still? I know there are or were issues with bitstreaming the HD audio off 600 series Nvidia cards. ArcSoft just released a patch for TMT 5 that fixes that.
I had had issues with 29/59 as well with some of the WHQL drivers. I am currently running the latest WHQL 306.97 without issue in that regard.

If you are running an older driver with the newer 600 series I would suggest an updated driver build may help... I have a EVGA GT640 and it works fine for me.

Is there a way to "reset" the HDMI Detective and start fresh after updating to the current nvidia driver build?
Also does your AVR or TV have the ability to be updated via Ethernet (firmware updates)? I would check to make sure both the TV and AVR have the latest builds if that is an option.
newfiend~

[joevulture]

Are you currently on Driver 300.26 still? I know there are or were issues with bitstreaming the HD audio off 600 series Nvidia cards. ArcSoft just released a patch for TMT 5 that fixes that.
I had had issues with 29/59 as well with some of the WHQL drivers. I am currently running the latest WHQL 306.97 without issue in that regard.

If you are running an older driver with the newer 600 series I would suggest an updated driver build may help... I have a EVGA GT640 and it works fine for me.

Is there a way to "reset" the HDMI Detective and start fresh after updating to the current nvidia driver build?
Also does your AVR or TV have the ability to be updated via Ethernet (firmware updates)? I would check to make sure both the TV and AVR have the latest builds if that is an option.
newfiend~

I will check the driver version when I get home and update it to 306.97, since you suggest that the 29/59 issue is fixed in it. The card works fine with the old driver, just that the HDMI Detective Plus seems to malfunction.

As far as I can tell, there is no reset option in the HDMI Detective Plus; you just reprogram the EDID that it stores. The way the LED was blinking made it look like it was okay. I suppose another option I could try is programming one of their default EDIDs in and see what happens.

The AVR is EOL and has no updates available (that I don't have) as far as I can tell. If there was, I'd have to connect a CD player to it to do the upgrade. I'm not necessarily attached to the receiver, although I'd hate to have to buy another one (I could, if that was the best way to go). The TV is five years old, I don't ever remember seeing any firmware updates on the Vizio website, but there is a port on the TV for updates (I can't remember if it's Ethernet or USB at the moment).

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see what I can do with them.

-- Joe

[joevulture]

Turns out I was really running driver 306.23. I did upgrade to 306.97 after putting the GT610 back in.

I put the GT610 back in and started reprogramming everything - HDCP is working for now, but the true test will be after I put the machine to sleep and wake it up in the morning.

ArcSoft TotalMedia 3 blows up when trying to play TrueHD (I popped in Iron Man just to test HDCP), so I guess either I'll have to wait for a patch for it, or pony up for TotalMedia 5. I was going to to it, I just never got around to it,

Hopefully everything works, if not, then I guess I'll contact Gefen technical support and see if they can help me out. Thanks for the suggestions, newfiend,

-- Joe

[newfiend]

TMT 5 is a nice upgrade from TMT 3. I have had both. With any software decoder there are disks that have issues.. But the good thing is Arcsoft will fix them. Look online for coupon codes or wait for a sale.. They seem to have discounts around the holidays and you could pick it up a bit cheaper. Sorry I cant help out more with your original issue hopefully you can get it sorted out. Good Luck!
newfiend

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

[joevulture]

I may have gotten the HDCP problem fixed. The instructions for the HDMI Detective Plus are poorly written with no clear examples. Instead of connecting it between the HTPC and the receiver input, this time I connected it between the receiver output and my TV. The display name in the nVidia driver is different now, and HDCP seems to work. Tonight I need to check on whether or not the "Full screen" setting stuck, as well as what types of audio I can send (e.g. bitstreaming).

Dolby Digital seems to work okay, the question now is whether the location of the HDMI Detective Plus disabled TrueHD/DTS-HD. Once I get TMT5, then I can play a BluRay without crashing and see what happens there.

*Fingers crossed*

-- Joe

[newfiend]

Check this out.. Might get it now for a really good price http://slickdeals.net/f/3472098-ArcSoft ... 0-Discount

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[joevulture]

newfiend,

I was able to use that link without any additional coupons, so it came to $59.95, which isn't too bad. I think I paid more for TotalMedia 3.

At any rate, I'll get it on my MCE machine and test out bitstreaming of TrueHD. The Windows sound properties indicate it's a valid format, and my 29/59 settings are still showing up as correct, and HDCP is working, so I guess I've got everything working with the HDMI Detective Plus.

Sometimes just trying every conceivable thing works.

-- Joe

[newfiend]

Glad to hear it Joe.. I think you'll like TMT 5's Media Center integration. Glad you got the HDMI detective figured out and everything seems to be working now. Let me know if you have any more issues and I'll try and help out.
Take Care
newfiend

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

[lurch66]

Just picked up the Gefen hdmi detective from amazon. It was a little pricey but I am geting tired of having to reboot to get sound or fix the pic size among other things. Programmed using instruction's off of Gefen web sight and so far so good. I have a nvidia gt430 and I was able to turn off my receiver while playing protected content and when i turned it back on it was still playing. I have never been able to do that before! My nvidia card is registering a valid hdcp handshake with my Onkyo 608 receiver when hooked to the Gefen. Ill keep you posted if it fixes the other problems. Hope this raises the WAF factor.

[epayson85]

I notice lots of people having issues with AVR's but not mine. Has anyone seen this before? I have a GT430 in my HTPC connected to a Denon avr-1913 then that is connected to my samsung tv. When I try to watch any videos the screen goes black and then comes back displaying the resolution at the top like I just turned something on or the resolution changed but it didn't. Even worse is when I watch live tv from my infinitv it does the same thing but on some channels... I am going to guess a higher resolution or bit rate but I dont know... but some channels it goes black over and over again. So it basically blinks ever 10 seconds or so however there is 0 effect to the sound it plays just fine. If the HTPC is connected directly to the tv there is no problem at all. I am debating getting an HDMI detective but I dont want to spend $100 if it doesn't work. Anyone have some suggestions? I have tried everything I can think of at this point.

[newfiend]

I notice lots of people having issues with AVR's but not mine. Has anyone seen this before? I have a GT430 in my HTPC connected to a Denon avr-1913 then that is connected to my samsung tv. When I try to watch any videos the screen goes black and then comes back displaying the resolution at the top like I just turned something on or the resolution changed but it didn't. Even worse is when I watch live tv from my infinitv it does the same thing but on some channels... I am going to guess a higher resolution or bit rate but I dont know... but some channels it goes black over and over again. So it basically blinks ever 10 seconds or so however there is 0 effect to the sound it plays just fine. If the HTPC is connected directly to the tv there is no problem at all. I am debating getting an HDMI detective but I dont want to spend $100 if it doesn't work. Anyone have some suggestions? I have tried everything I can think of at this point.

Try This,
Open Control Panel
Open Nvidia Control Panel
On the left Select Adjust Desktop Color Settings
On the right Payne Under #3 Apply the following enhancements
Set Digital Color Format to YCbCr444
Set Content Type Reported to display to Full Screen Videos.
Click Apply in the lower right corner.
Exit Nvidia Control Panel
Launch Media Center and see if the screen Blanking (going Black and coming back on) goes away.
newfiend~

[qbanb8582]

I hate to rehash and old thread but I have something of a workaround. Granted I just removed my HDMI detective for troubleshooting other problems. But if you log off from media center and wait about 5-10 seconds and log back in the HDCP error should go away.

This happens to me on my GTX660 all the time I reboot.

[Funks]

I hate to rehash and old thread but I have something of a workaround. Granted I just removed my HDMI detective for troubleshooting other problems. But if you log off from media center and wait about 5-10 seconds and log back in the HDCP error should go away.

This happens to me on my GTX660 all the time I reboot.

Just to update, had this issue when I tried upgrading my AMD HD7790 -> Nvidia 750ti (I have a Gefen unit to maintain EDID stability). I lost HDCP and Gefen Basically blames this on the way NVIDIA performs HDCP handshakes and even with the latest NVIDIA drivers (2014-December) - still not FIXED

http://forum.gefen.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16298

Had to return the NVIDIA card and go back to the 7790, no problems with HDCP on AMD based cards.

[blushrts]

I hate to rehash and old thread but I have something of a workaround. Granted I just removed my HDMI detective for troubleshooting other problems. But if you log off from media center and wait about 5-10 seconds and log back in the HDCP error should go away.

This happens to me on my GTX660 all the time I reboot.

Just to update, had this issue when I tried upgrading my AMD HD7790 -> Nvidia 750ti (I have a Gefen unit to maintain EDID stability). I lost HDCP and Gefen Basically blames this on the way NVIDIA performs HDCP handshakes and even with the latest NVIDIA drivers (2014-December) - still not FIXED

http://forum.gefen.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16298

Had to return the NVIDIA card and go back to the 7790, no problems with HDCP on AMD based cards.

About a year ago I bought an Nvidia GT640 that wouldn't work with my HDMI detective. Went back to ati and it worked. I then bought an Nvidia 750ti that is working with it. Maybe the issue is vendor specific?