I have been experiencing some intermittent HDMI signal loss with my XBox 360 when running it through my Integra receiver. First, here is my setup:
Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV
Integra DTR-4.9 A/V Receiver (3 HDMI inputs, 1 output)
XBox 360 (HDMI enabled)
AT&T U-Verse cable box
Toshiba DVD player/recorder
All controlled using a Logitech Harmony 880 remote
no splitters, extenders, or anything else out of the ordinary
The XBox, cable, and DVD player are using all 3 HDMI inputs on the Integra receiver, which acts as the HDMI switch and outputs to the TV.
For a long time (couple years?), I had no problems with my system, everything worked great. In the past couple months, my XBox 360 started acting weird, in two ways:
1. when it first started, the problem was that I couldn't get an HDMI signal if I attempted to start everything up "cold" - meaning, everything was off at first, and I tried turning on the TV, receiver, and XBox together. When I tried to do this, I got a "no signal" message on the TV screen. This was weird, because starting the system up "cold" to watch cable worked fine. After some trial and error, I found that the only way I could consistently get around this problem was to "warm up" the system by watching cable TV. I would have to first turn on the system to watch cable TV (using my AT&T box), watch for around 10-15 minutes, THEN turn on the XBox 360 and switch the receiver to the appropriate HDMI input. Note that I only experienced such a problem with the XBox 360, both the AT&T Uverse cable and the Toshiba DVD recorder worked fine. Anyway, this workaround seemed to do the trick, for a little while...then I started experiencing problem #2.
2. After a while, the problem got worse - on top of having to "warm up" the system, now even after I "warm it up" and get the Xbox 360 working, the signal intermittently drops in and out. Meaning, both video and audio work fine for a while, but randomly it will go blank/silent, usually for 1-2 seconds. This may happen every 15-20 seconds, or it may go a few minutes without doing it - there is no distinct pattern that I can tell. But without fail, the signal does go in and out.
This originally made me think there was a problem with the receiver - it was almost as if I had to "warm it up" before it would recognize the HDMI signal from the Xbox. Because it was only happening with the XBox, I wanted to see if it was a problem with that specific HDMI input port. So I played around and tried switching the HDMI cable to use different inputs on the receiver, but I got the same results with all of them.
Next I thought it may be the HDMI cable. I tried switching it out, and still no luck. At this point, I assumed I had eliminated the receiver and the HDMI cables as culprits, so I figured it must be the XBox 360 itself...but I seem to be wrong. As a final test, I decided to bypass the receiver altogether and connect the XBox 360 directly to the TV via the HDMI cable...and much to my surprise, the problem disappeared!
SO - I'm wondering if any home theater experts out there may be able to give me some kind of hint as to what the heck the problem could be?!?!? Or, are there any other tests I can try to find out what the problem is? As I said before, everything worked fine for a few years - so I'm assuming one of the components isn't working properly anymore. But which is it? the XBox or the receiver?
Thanks in advance to anybody who can offer me any helpful advice...I'm completely baffled.
Larry
Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV
Integra DTR-4.9 A/V Receiver (3 HDMI inputs, 1 output)
XBox 360 (HDMI enabled)
AT&T U-Verse cable box
Toshiba DVD player/recorder
All controlled using a Logitech Harmony 880 remote
no splitters, extenders, or anything else out of the ordinary
The XBox, cable, and DVD player are using all 3 HDMI inputs on the Integra receiver, which acts as the HDMI switch and outputs to the TV.
For a long time (couple years?), I had no problems with my system, everything worked great. In the past couple months, my XBox 360 started acting weird, in two ways:
1. when it first started, the problem was that I couldn't get an HDMI signal if I attempted to start everything up "cold" - meaning, everything was off at first, and I tried turning on the TV, receiver, and XBox together. When I tried to do this, I got a "no signal" message on the TV screen. This was weird, because starting the system up "cold" to watch cable worked fine. After some trial and error, I found that the only way I could consistently get around this problem was to "warm up" the system by watching cable TV. I would have to first turn on the system to watch cable TV (using my AT&T box), watch for around 10-15 minutes, THEN turn on the XBox 360 and switch the receiver to the appropriate HDMI input. Note that I only experienced such a problem with the XBox 360, both the AT&T Uverse cable and the Toshiba DVD recorder worked fine. Anyway, this workaround seemed to do the trick, for a little while...then I started experiencing problem #2.
2. After a while, the problem got worse - on top of having to "warm up" the system, now even after I "warm it up" and get the Xbox 360 working, the signal intermittently drops in and out. Meaning, both video and audio work fine for a while, but randomly it will go blank/silent, usually for 1-2 seconds. This may happen every 15-20 seconds, or it may go a few minutes without doing it - there is no distinct pattern that I can tell. But without fail, the signal does go in and out.
This originally made me think there was a problem with the receiver - it was almost as if I had to "warm it up" before it would recognize the HDMI signal from the Xbox. Because it was only happening with the XBox, I wanted to see if it was a problem with that specific HDMI input port. So I played around and tried switching the HDMI cable to use different inputs on the receiver, but I got the same results with all of them.
Next I thought it may be the HDMI cable. I tried switching it out, and still no luck. At this point, I assumed I had eliminated the receiver and the HDMI cables as culprits, so I figured it must be the XBox 360 itself...but I seem to be wrong. As a final test, I decided to bypass the receiver altogether and connect the XBox 360 directly to the TV via the HDMI cable...and much to my surprise, the problem disappeared!
SO - I'm wondering if any home theater experts out there may be able to give me some kind of hint as to what the heck the problem could be?!?!? Or, are there any other tests I can try to find out what the problem is? As I said before, everything worked fine for a few years - so I'm assuming one of the components isn't working properly anymore. But which is it? the XBox or the receiver?
Thanks in advance to anybody who can offer me any helpful advice...I'm completely baffled.
Larry
