# 942-No Sound on TV Start



## tebarne (Dec 9, 2005)

New 942 owner (3 days). I have one issue that I haven't been able to resolve. When I first power on my TV (JVC HDILA 61Z786), I get no sound from the 942. It is connected directly with the supplied HDMI cable. I have switched PCM and Digital on the 942, but no luck. The only way I can "activate the sound" is to switch from a satellite channel to an OTA channel, and then back. Then sound works fine on all channels as long as the TV stays on. 

What do I have set wrong? Is this a TV issue or 942? 

Thanks for any advice..............


----------



## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

tebarne said:


> New 942 owner (3 days). I have one issue that I haven't been able to resolve. When I first power on my TV (JVC HDILA 61Z786), I get no sound from the 942. It is connected directly with the supplied HDMI cable. I have switched PCM and Digital on the 942, but no luck. The only way I can "activate the sound" is to switch from a satellite channel to an OTA channel, and then back. Then sound works fine on all channels as long as the TV stays on.
> 
> What do I have set wrong? Is this a TV issue or 942?
> 
> Thanks for any advice..............


That's an odd one. Have you tried another audio input (RCA)?


----------



## tebarne (Dec 9, 2005)

I agree, very odd. I haven't tried any other connections yet; good idea. I have tried about every other thing I can think of, including powering off the 942, with no luck. The only thing that gets it going is switching from an OTA to sat.

I'll try the RCA cable.


----------



## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

tebarne said:


> ... It is connected directly with the supplied HDMI cable. ...


The cable supplied with my wife's 942 was really a HDMI to DVI cable and a DVI to HDMI adapter. Thus there is no digital sound being provided by the "HDMI cable."

Could this explain your difficulties?


----------



## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

SaltiDawg said:


> The cable supplied with my wife's 942 was really a HDMI to DVI cable and a DVI to HDMI adapter. Thus there is no digital sound being provided by the "HDMI cable."
> 
> Could this explain your difficulties?


Not true. If connected to an HDMI input (not DVI), it will pass 2.0 audio.


----------



## Jon Spackman (Feb 7, 2005)

Just for testing/possible fix, why dont you try a real hdmi cable and see if it helps any. Just an idea....


----------



## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

LtMunst said:


> Not true. If connected to an HDMI input (not DVI), it will pass 2.0 audio.


Er, OK.


----------



## Jon Spackman (Feb 7, 2005)

Saltidawg-

There are some extra pins on some dvi cables (maybe dvi-d or dvi-i) that could be wired for audio (which dish has used it for) so when using the dish supplied HDMI to DVI and DVI back to hdmi with the supplied cables it works. There are many people on here using it that way.

I think the person should try a standard HDMI cable to see if it makes any difference.


Jon


----------



## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

LtMunst and j5races are right about the Dish supplied cable. It should pass audio if you used the supplied cable and adapter. In addition to the ideas above here's a couple more. I'd like to isolate this to a TV or 942 problem.

You mention not having any audio when you first turn the TV on. Have you tried cycling through the inputs on the TV to see if that restores audio (like changing to OTA on the 942 does)? If the set is turned on and has no audio does unplugging and re-plugging the HDMI cable restore the audio? I'm thinking that maybe the set isn't seeing audio (or looking for audio) on the HDMI cable until the signal changes. Since changing to an OTA channel on the 942 works, does using the PIP swap feature work, too?

If it is the set, your work-around may be to have an RCA audio cable connected in addition to the HDMI cable.


----------



## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

j5races said:


> Saltidawg-
> 
> There are some extra pins on some dvi cables (maybe dvi-d or dvi-i) that could be wired for audio (which dish has used it for) so when using the dish supplied HDMI to DVI and DVI back to hdmi with the supplied cables it works. There are many people on here using it that way.
> 
> I think the person should try a standard HDMI cable to see if it makes any difference.


Thanks, Jon. Will it pass 5.1 Audio?


----------



## Jon Spackman (Feb 7, 2005)

That i has not been tested because the dish receiver will not pass 5.1 and likely a receiver has not been built YET that will take 5.1. Sending 5.1 to a 2 channel tv is pointless anyhow.

The problem is that HDMI 1.1 that is in the 942, HDTIVO, upconverting dvd players, A/V receivers, and pretty much everything else HDMI compatible now; only has the ability to pass 2 channel audio. Yes the newer HDMI spec (2.0 i believe) has been finished and talked about, but to the best of my knowledge nothing sold yet (especially Dish gear) has that new standard HDMI in it. So even the barely released Yamaha RXV-2600, and RXV-4600 which do HDMI switching, will not get 5.1 thru the HDMI cable. They would have to have a different chipset inside to do it. 

So its really not a matter of the fact that the standard was not in place when the 942 was made.


----------



## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

j5races said:


> That i has not been tested because the dish receiver will not pass 5.1 and likely a receiver has not been built YET that will take 5.1. Sending 5.1 to a 2 channel tv is pointless anyhow.
> ...


Well, it would not be "pointless" if the HDMI out of the 942 was inputted to an A/V tuner, as some are doing. They are reporting that 5.1 is NOT available on the HDMI output, only on the optical output. interestingly Dish does not lable the output HDMI.

This thread duscusses the issue at some length, however it seems that it is not germane to the OP's problem.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=42784&highlight=5.1+sound


----------



## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

j5races said:


> Saltidawg-
> 
> There are some extra pins on some dvi cables (maybe dvi-d or dvi-i) that could be wired for audio (which dish has used it for) so when using the dish supplied HDMI to DVI and DVI back to hdmi with the supplied cables it works. There are many people on here using it that way.
> 
> ...


I have always wondered if the supplied hybrid adapter loses any video quality compared to a straight HDMI-HDMI. Any thoughts?


----------



## Jon Spackman (Feb 7, 2005)

I would say that it does not affect the picture quality since it is a digital connection. If it were an analog connection like component then sure it could reduce the signal the slightest amount. With digital its an all or nothing deal like OTA antenna. You either get the signal with enough strength to maintain a good picture, sound, whatever it is, or you do not and it breaks up and has drop outs. 

Having said that it would not hurt to go buy a cable and test it out to see if you can see a difference with a real HDMI cable.



Saltidawg-

I said in my last post that a/v receivers could use 5.1 audio thru HDMI if there were any available that accept it yet. You can't fault dish for selling a box with the latest technology that was available at the time they sold it, can you?


----------



## zephyr (Jun 25, 2005)

tebarne said:


> New 942 owner (3 days). I have one issue that I haven't been able to resolve. When I first power on my TV (JVC HDILA 61Z786), I get no sound from the 942. It is connected directly with the supplied HDMI cable. I have switched PCM and Digital on the 942, but no luck. The only way I can "activate the sound" is to switch from a satellite channel to an OTA channel, and then back. Then sound works fine on all channels as long as the TV stays on.
> 
> What do I have set wrong? Is this a TV issue or 942?
> 
> Thanks for any advice..............


With my Sony TV and DVI connection, the TV did not immediately recognize the video, leaving a black screen. After a reboot of the 942, it did recognize the video and has ever since. I wonder if there is a similar "handshake" issue with HDMI audio. Is there an audio setting in the TV user menu that would tell the TV what to expect?

Certainly the analog cable solution is bulletproof, but not very elegant.

As to LTMunst's question about video quality, I keep reading that digital is digital: it's either there or not. But there is a whole aftermarket cable industry based on the benefits of quality cable. Certainly it would be worth a try to use a straight HDMI>HDMI cable. Keep the receipt


----------



## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

Digital is Digital. However, DVI does not use precisely the same protocals as HDMI. I have read of "black crush" and other degradations when using HDMI-DVI. I was curious if the same effect would occur with the HDMI-DVI-HDMI hybrid.


----------



## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

j5races said:


> ...
> Saltidawg-
> 
> I said in my last post that a/v receivers could use 5.1 audio thru HDMI if there were any available that accept it yet. You can't fault dish for selling a box with the latest technology that was available at the time they sold it, can you?


I didn't fault Dish for anything. I was offering up what I thought might be a help to the OP.

There *are* A/V receivers under $1000 that accept HDMI and provide for switching it.


----------



## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

Mike Johnson said:


> I'm thinking that maybe the set isn't seeing audio (or looking for audio) on the HDMI cable until the signal changes. Since changing to an OTA channel on the 942 works, does using the PIP swap feature work, too?


That's probably the issue. That's why changing to an OTA fixes it (switching tuners probably resends the "handshake"). I'd bet the PIP swap would work also.


----------



## Jon Spackman (Feb 7, 2005)

Saltidawg-

I said a/v receivers have HDMI, just not HDMI version 2.0 with 5.1 audio support. The current a/v receivers do HDMI switching, but only for 2 ch audio.....thats my point..


----------



## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

zephyr said:


> As to LTMunst's question about video quality, I keep reading that digital is digital: it's either there or not. But there is a whole aftermarket cable industry based on the benefits of quality cable.


There's also an infomercial industry built around predicting the future. Just because someone has found a way to get people to spend their money doesn't mean they should.


> Certainly it would be worth a try to use a straight HDMI>HDMI cable. Keep the receipt


No argument there, especially the second point.:grin:


----------



## zephyr (Jun 25, 2005)

BobaBird said:


> There's also an infomercial industry built around predicting the future. Just because someone has found a way to get people to spend their money doesn't mean they should. No argument there, especially the second point.:grin:


----------



## Bob Ketcham (Jan 2, 2006)

tebarne said:


> New 942 owner (3 days). I have one issue that I haven't been able to resolve. When I first power on my TV (JVC HDILA 61Z786), I get no sound from the 942. It is connected directly with the supplied HDMI cable. I have switched PCM and Digital on the 942, but no luck. The only way I can "activate the sound" is to switch from a satellite channel to an OTA channel, and then back. Then sound works fine on all channels as long as the TV stays on.
> 
> What do I have set wrong? Is this a TV issue or 942?
> 
> Thanks for any advice..............


I have a similar setup (JVC HDILA 52G786 and the 942). I have the same problem. I've found that the "activate the sound" key isn't to switch from satellite to OTA, but from an SD to an HD channel or vice versa. It doesn't seem to matter whether the source is Satellite or Off-Air. If the set was turned off on an HD channel, turning it back on switching to an SD channel will restore the sound and vice versa. This even applies to DVR events. If the set is turned off while playing an HD DVR event, sound can be restored by starting an SD DVR event.

Switching from any HD or SD source to a source of the same type does not restore the sound. This also applies to DVR events.

All that said, according to the "DVR-942 No digital sound via HDMI connection" thread, the audio on the 942's HDMI-like connector does not appear to have any discernable difference from the stereo signal available from the red/white analog RCA connection.

I have the JVC connected to older Kenwood receiver capable of decoding Dolby Pro-Logic on both analog and digital (optical or coax) connections and Dolby Digital (AC-3) or PCM on the digital connections. The JVC's User Manual indicates that it will only pass digital signals to its optical output. It is not clear whether this includes the digital signal from the HDMI input. Thus far I have only been able to send digital signals from the JVC's off-air digital tuner (not the analog) out to the receiver via the digital optical output. I can send no other sources' audio out to the receiver through the JVC since the JVC has no digital audio inputs for the DVDs. So, I'm using the JVC's analog audio outputs as my primary audio connections to the receiver. Analog Dolby Pro-Logic 5.1 is available this way and is usually adequate for me. For better concerts or DVDs, I switch the receiver to a direct digital connection from the source (942 or DVD) to the receiver.

So, the way I have dealt with the "942-No Sound on TV Start" problem is to use an analog RCA cable from the 942 to the JVC "DIGITAL-IN" (JVC provides a set of RCA inputs on the "DIGITAL-IN" so that DVI digital video and analog audio can be input. I've set the JVC setup menu selection for "DIGITAL-IN AUDIO" to "ANALOG" ("AUTO" appears to also work). Now I don't have to explain to my wife why she has to switch channels to get the audio working.

BK


----------



## chuckdfoster (Jan 5, 2006)

I was having this same problem. I tried the channel changing and it works, but it you are recording something, then this is a problem. Guess I'll run the extra RCA cable. Thanks for your advice.

Thanks, Chuck Foster


----------

