Lost sound on HDMI-IN

[Burnsy]

Hi all,

Performed a firmware update today and now my HDMI-IN no longer has sound. The PC plugged in is fine as it plays sound on other devices. I did read to do a reboot to fix it but that didn't work for me. Any other suggestions?

[MrQuade]

Make sure your PC is outputting in stereo only.

The latest T4 firmware has some updates to the sound processing that allowed it to output multichannel downsampled audio. The T4 may now be advertising itself as being multichannel capable on the HDMI-IN port now. However, the HDMI-IN will only accept stereo. Force it to stereo on the PC side and you should be fine.

[Burnsy]

I'll try and give that a go but it's difficult as the HDMI oprions disappear when plugged into the T4. It only appears back again when plugged into another HDMI amp. I'll make it reappear and change to stereo. Thanks for the advice.

[Burnsy]

OK, so I have confirmed that the PC is only delivering stereo through HDMI but I still have no audio through the T4. I don't even have an HDMI option on the PC unless I plug it into another device.

Is there anything in the setup settings that could be wrong?

[MrQuade]

OK, so I have confirmed that the PC is only delivering stereo through HDMI but I still have no audio through the T4. I don't even have an HDMI option on the PC unless I plug it into another device.

Is there anything in the setup settings that could be wrong?

Not that I know of. The PC just needs to be confirmed as outputting PCM stereo (not Dolby/DTS stereo for example).

How were you able to confirm that the PC was outputting stereo? Did you set it while plugged into that other audio device? If so,those settings might not be "sticking" when the PC connection is moved to the T4.


Is the T4 plugged into a 4K TV by any chance? And does that TV have "HDMI Enhanced Mode" enabled on the input that the T4 connects to? This could cause a loss of audio. You would need to disable "HDMI Enhanced Mode" on the TV's input, which will disable all the new HDR video compatibility on that input.

[Burnsy]

Thanks for all your help as always.

Yes, I confirmed the stereo output on the other device, which is really the same device as the T4 plugs into that input on the amp.

The TV doesn't have an enhanced mode either and it's HD and not 4K.

The whole setup has been working fine for months but stopped after today's firmware upgrade.

I wonder if I need to perform the upgrade again?

Worse comes to worse I'll plug in the audio from the 3.5mm jack on the PC and feed it directly to the amp that way.

Thanks again.

[MrQuade]

Yes, I confirmed the stereo output on the other device, which is really the same device as the T4 plugs into that input on the amp.

Hmm, it is still possible that the setting won't carry over once you unplug the PC from that input, then plug it back into the T4. The PC will see a different audio device and possibly adjust its settings accordingly.

This has popped up before, but not sure if there was a resolution to the issue in that case:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=13254

Maybe there is a hidden setting somewhere in a chipset driver tool rather than in the Windows sound settings interface?

[Burnsy]

Bit of an update on this issue. I have plugged in multiple devices to the HDMI input now and all of them won't play any audio when plugged in. A media player and two different laptops produce the same result of no HDMI audio options in device manager or sound settings. Is there a way to switch back to an older firmware or previous firmware perhaps?

[MrQuade]

Have you powered the T4 off then on (using a graceful shutdown first of course)?

If the HDMI-IN got stuffed up by there PC, it might need a great before it will work with any other device. Just spitballing.

You can install older firmware at any time you want. Just install from USB as you normally would. A USB installation involves a format and install from scratch, so there is nothing that is actually "upgraded" as such.

[Paul_oz53]

If none of your devices are producing sound on HDMI IN then it suggests to me that either the firmware didn't install correctly or HDCP protection is muting the sound.

I route all my devices through a splitter similar to the one Beyonwiz sell and have few sound problems on 19.3. The splitter defeats HDCP. Occasionally Foxtel will lose sound but usually comes good if I switch to FTA then back to HDMI in. This happened on older firmware too.

I'd repeat the 19.3 install with a fresh download to be sure that's not the cause. Better, if you don't have a splitter I'd buy one so as to keep 19.3. It's superior to all preceding versions.

[Burnsy]

Hi guys. I did the following to try and fix the sound issue. I ran the output of the PC through a splitter but no change. Downloaded the firmware again and performed the update but no change. Ran the input through an HDMI matrix but still no change. Ran multiple (4) devices through the input but none had sound. It's almost like the HDMI sound has been disabled since the update.

Is there anywhere that I can download previous firmwares for the T4. The HDMI input is a feature that I really want to use.

[MrQuade]

Is there anywhere that I can download previous firmwares for the T4. The HDMI input is a feature that I really want to use.

The HDMI splitter did need to be one that is known to be able to strip off hdcp DRM protection. Do you know if yours does?

Mind you, if this was working without a splitter just before the firmware update, this is unlikely to be the problem. Having a DRM removing splitter is a good thing though, then you can record foxtel and three like.

Yes you can install old firmware. As per my previous post, just download an older USB firmware image and flash it like you normally would.

[Burnsy]

Thanks MrQuade. The device I used is advertised as being able to remove protection. I think I'll check an older firmware and see what happens. I couldn't see where to download older versions though? Is there a link somewhere I couldn't see?

[MrQuade]

Thanks MrQuade. The device I used is advertised as being able to remove protection. I think I'll check an older firmware and see what happens. I couldn't see where to download older versions though? Is there a link somewhere I couldn't see?

Hunt through the official firmware release forum for the version you want.
viewforum.php?f=45

This 17.5 version looks to be a reasonably late release from that series.
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=13155

Here is a 16.1 release of you want to go even further back.
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=11006

What were you running before the upgrade? I don't really recommend rolling back as you'll be missing out on all the new features, though I am still not sure why you don't have sound atm.

[Burnsy]

I had the original version that came with the machine before. 16.1. I'll give the other versions a try and report back.

Thanks again.

[Burnsy]

Hi again MrQuade. All is up and running now and sound has returned on the HDMI input.

I loaded up version 17.5 and no sound was present so rolled back to 16.1, the version the machine shipped with, and sound returned. Very strange?

I might purchase one of your protection stripping splitters and do the upgrade and see what happens. The newer version must add some higher level of handshaking protection.

Once again mate, I really appreciate your help and the same for all the other moderators. I'll repost my findings once the splitter arrives and I upgrade to the latest firmware.

[MrQuade]

I loaded up version 17.5 and no sound was present so rolled back to 16.1, the version the machine shipped with, and sound returned. Very strange?

Yes, quite strange.

I might purchase one of your protection stripping splitters and do the upgrade and see what happens. The newer version must add some higher level of handshaking protection.

Once again mate, I really appreciate your help and the same for all the other moderators. I'll repost my findings once the splitter arrives and I upgrade to the latest firmware.

I'm not sure that's the answer to this problem, but you can definitely try it. The copy protection isn't on the T4 side, it is on the source device side, so it's not a case of the T4 introducing new protection.

There might be something strange going on with the new audio downmixing features in the latest firmware. If your audio equipment is interpreting a multichannel PCM audio signal as something strange..... Seems unlikely that a AV receiver would have trouble with that though.

One other thing to try would be to plug the T4 directly into the TV's HDMI input rather than via the receiver. I have found that the device that is connected to the T4 HDMI-OUT does have some influence on the device that connects to the HDMI-IN (hence my experiences with HDMI Enhanced mode that I mentioned earlier).

[peteru]

Missing HDMI audio is unlikely to be related to HDCP at all. I would not bother with buying any hardware, especially since you know that the existing hardware can work.

The newer Beyonwiz drivers have a more sophisticated EDID as opposed to a generic one that was in the old drivers. In particular, the old EDID advertised capabilities that were not properly supported by the firmware. The newer drivers have a more restrictive EDID and it is possible that the source is failing to correctly negotiate. Or it could be something completely else.

First step is to configure the source device to 1080p, YCbCr (sometimes also known as YUV), PCM, 48kHz, 16 bit, stereo (2 channels). Also try RGB instead of YCbCr. Set your Beyonwiz to also output 1080p. Power cycle the Beyonwiz and test. Just a reboot may not be enough.