HDCP in studio 17 and repeaters?

Question

I am having problems with my Studio 1735 HDMI connection to my Yamaha HTR-6160. I suspect an HDCP problem. If I connect a different device, such as a cheapo DVD player, or an HP laptop via HDMI to my receiver which then sends its output to my HDTV, everything works as expected, ie I get sound out the receiver speakers and video on the TV. With my DELL, I don't get any sound. But if I connect my laptop directly to the TV, then it works.

The Yamaha people tell me the HDMI behavior on a TV and on a repeater are not the same, and I quote: "HDMI inputs for televisions and A/V receivers are different. Receiver’s feature HDMI repeating, HDMI repeaters are subject to stringent HDCP compliance. Many laptops and video cards struggle to meet the compliance regulations which receivers must adhere to. Perhaps there is a driver update for your laptop which may address this issue. ... I would advise you to inquire with the manufacturer of the laptop or video/audio card about compatibility with home theater receivers. Most computer HDMI outputs meet HDCP for display however few meet HDMI repeating compliance."

Is there an upgrade for my PC that will allow me to finally be able to enjoy watching and listening to a Blue-ray disk as I originally intended when I bought this laptop? Or some kind of workaround? when googling hdcp, I get some hits related to hdcp strippers...

Eskimo277 · Answer

Is there anyone out there who knows anything about HDCP, or who has a DELL laptop with HDMI successfully connected to an amp and HDTV via HDMI?

bayhuntr · Answer

I have the exact problem, but with my new Dell Slim Studio 540 (ATI HD 3450 vidio card/HDMI port) and a Denon AVR-4308.  No sound through the HDMI when plugged into the Denon, but if I move the cable directly to the Panasonic plasma TV I get sound.  I also have other devises working fine through he Denon: Apple TV, Dish TV, Panasonic Blu-ray.  Denon gave me the same speech you got from Yamaha, claiming it was a problem with the repeater function of  the HDMI and Dell not handling it right.  I will be fighting with Dell's warrantee support this week end and will post what I find, I'm not holding my breath so far I know more about the problem then their 'warrantee support' people know.

Eskimo277 · Answer

Finally, a reply to this post. I just finished a long email to my salesrep, asking what he can do to help me with this. I spent an hour on the phone with front-line support, to no avail. Do let me know what comes of your quest, and I will do likewise. FWIW, I was surprised to find that an HP laptop I had recently rebuilt for someone after a virus infection also worked flawlessly (sond coming out the HDMI port playing through my YAMAHA speakers). I asked my rep if there were other DELL models I might test with, given that HPs worked so you couldnt just blame the AMPLIFIER people.

Do you have a Blueray player? I do, and the HP didnt.

bayhuntr · Answer

I worked with Dell Support for 3 hours Saturday to no avail. Honestly, I felt I was having to teach them what to look for and how to trouble shoot. After being told he didn't have the experience to work any more on the problem, I went to the ATI web site and searched the support data base for "HDMI Audio Receiver" and found the problem described with the solution being downloading a new driver, so I did. It was just that easy and worked. I had sound and if I put in a DVD with Dolby the Dolby light come on on the receiver. Lessen is not to waist your time with Dell, but go directly to the manufactures web site.

One thing that really bothered me when I called tech support. They immediately wanted to sell me the $174 support upgrade to get "quality tech support." Contrary to what Dell's salesmen say, it appears that Dell isn't offering a real warranty for their equipment anymore, or at least a "Quality" warrantee. The tech spent a good amount of time trying to get out of helping me. Statements like "HDMI is designed to send audio to the monitor, not the receiver" or "I don't know how to fix it, so we can't help you" and then once again coming back to "Do you want to upgrade to better support to get help?"

If I can be of help, just ask. I know your machines are different from mine, but the theory is the same.

Eskimo277 · Answer

You know, when I started digging into older HDCP information I had googled or saved a while back, I came across a block diagram that seemed to imply that somehow the video card was involved in the processing of HDMI, including sound, which to me was couner-intuitive. You are re-afirming that documentation. Good news is my machine *deas* have an ATI-based video card (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650) which I have been meaning to visit their dowload driver section again to get rid of a weird MOM message I get everytime I reboot since I installed an M$ update to .NET 3.5 (I think). Thanks muchly for sharing your experience, Hope others can benefit from it too. I will let you know how I make out.

-Jack

bayhuntr · Answer

Here is the link to the ATI support page; the problem includes the Radeon™ HD 3000 Series:

h t t p : / / support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/39986-AbsenceofAudiothroughthe.aspx

Symptoms:

In Catalyst™ Control Center, the HDMI connection is detected as a DVI connection. This results in the absence of an audio signal through the HDMI connection for any of the above video driver / graphics card / OS combinations.

Solution:

To resolve this issue please install ATI Catalyst™ Display Driver 9.1

This statement sounds like bad news for notebook PC's, but at least you know what problem to take to the notebook manufacturer:

Currently AMD does not provide any driver support for Mobility Radeon™ products. All driver and technical support for Mobility Radeon™ products is provided by the original laptop or notebook manufacturer. The drivers that are available for download at ati.amd.com are for desktop products only.

To download Windows Vista Mobility Radeon™ drivers or driver updates for your laptop or notebook product, please visit your laptop or notebook manufacturer's website.

Mike...

Eskimo277 · Answer

Still awaiting a fix from DELL for this issue.  I just downloaded the ISO of Windows 7 RC.  I wonder if that will fix myy problem?  I plan to swap out my main hard disk and put in a spare 30GB I have, then installing a fresh copy of Windows 7 to see how it fares.  This weekend, methinks.

Eskimo277 · Answer

Spoke with the geek at Best Buy, where they sell Yamaha receivers (gawd their documentation is bad) looking for ideas to solve my issue.  He suggested I try normal MP3 playback out the HDMI to the amp to see if copy-protection is the issue.  Admitted this was a good idea.  Also, as a workaround, I wonder if I can get the 5 channels via my sound card mini-jacks, that wayu I could get funky sound out my PC with bluray disks.

Eskimo277 · Answer

I am still hoping to one day get a solution from DELL for audio from my HDMI connection.  What a rip-off.  Do you know any company that makes a laptop that has an HDMI connection from which the sound works when connected to a standard audio amp?  Or some HDCP troubleshooting tool I can use?  Looks like with Win7 on my machine, the control panel applet that deals with HDCP actually acknowledges that HDCP is non-functional when I have the amp connected.  When I confronted the DELL support person with this fact, he told me that 'ha-ha:  you installed an OS you didnt get from DELL, so you are unsupported and I cant help you.'  What a cop-out.  But I told him I had dual-boot, so he wasn't getting off that easy.  The case is still unresolved in my mind, and I made that clear in the survey they just sent me.  Wonder if anyone from DELL will call me about it.

viper57 · Answer

Hey, its only been 10 months that you've been fighting this problem! AT least you are savvy enough to realize it is not working right.  I think most people believe the machine just can't do it or they believe Customer Service agent.  I'm having problems with a brand new Studio 17 with blu-ray drive and full 1080p screen.  The blu-ray plays fine on the screen but gives error-0110 when I connect an HDMI cable to my Vizio 47' HDTV.  Tech support first said it was the TV, then I needed to uninstall and reinstall software, then it was the drivers... YADA YADA YADA... always someone else's fault. They finally said it was IMPOSSIBLE to play blu-ray movies on a laptop and output them via HDMI!!!  SHEESH!!!  If you haven't tried yet, D/L anyDVD HD trial.  This software is great!  I did and it removes the HDCP from the blu-ray disk and they will play without any problems.  This will definitely tell you whether it is an HDCP problem or not.

Eskimo277 · Answer

Wow. Can't believe they would blatantly lie like that. I have always been able to watch Blu-ray disks out HDMI with Vista when connected directly to my SAMSUNG TV. I wish we could stop DELL representatives themselves from spreading false information. Sigh.

A couple of questions about your setup, since you seem to be the person whose system is as similar to mine as possible so far.

1) Which OS are you running? Have you had experience with BD playback in other OS too you can share?
2) anyDVD HD trial: again, which OS? and what of the sound? Can you describe your audio setup and experience please? Thanks!

viper57 · Answer

My system: Studio 17 i7quad core 17' LED HD 1080p screen ATI Mobility Radeon HD4650 4GB RAM HL-DT-ST Blu-ray player WIN 7 64 bit OS PowerDVD DX 8 Home theater - Vizio 47' LCD 240 hz & JVC 200W Receiver. Connection - I connect the JVC to the Vizio audio output via component input/output. The laptop HDMI to the HDMI on the Vizio. I let the Vizio decode the audio and the JVC rattles the windows. The problems I had was error=0110 with HDMI on laptop connected and I couldn't play blu-ray even after going to monitor only mode. I connect the VGA on the laptop and get error=0122(?) which says I can't play in clone mode. I go to monitor only mode with VGA and the blu-ray plays fine. I have not experienced any audio issues. I really like the anyDVD HD software. I D/L'd the trial and am thinking about buying it. I also D/l'd Clone DVD from them... guess what that does to DVD protection (Region, HDCP, French subtitles GONE!). Hope this helps.

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HDCP in studio 17 and repeaters?

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