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Silent stream bug? - Page 2

post #31 of 111
5/31/12 at 10:33am
Thread Starter 
Thanks

I tried to get it to play well with ASIO but unfortunately couldn't find any way to do so. If you start an ASIO stream and then start my program it will start in "red" mode but ASIO won't override the PCM if it's already playing, and i tried changing from WASAPI to WaveOut, Directsound and ASIO itself to play the PCM but to no avail. The naudio library i'm using doesn't support AsioIn so i can't "record" from the Asio device to see if it's active, but hopefully that function will get added eventually.

What i have done to give you an option other than quitting the program, is to add a "Stop" button to the context menu which will stop the program from monitoring, and also stop the PCM stream (pause just stopped monitoring) so you can click that and then run your ASIO files, then just click Resume when you're done.
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post #32 of 111
6/10/12 at 4:17pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry it's taken so long, but i've finally finished my site and finished the latest version of the software. I've updated post #1 with the relevant information, including the link smile.gif
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post #33 of 111
6/12/12 at 12:44pm
This is so awesome! I've dealt with this stupid silent stream bug for well over a year now (Nvidia GTX460 and an Onkyo receiver). Its been a royal pain in the butt, especially since I use my HTPC for everything... moves, tv, web browser, game system, etc. I tried tinkering around with an earlier fix some time last year, but pretty much gave up on it when I couldn't get it to work regularly. Today, out of boredom and general frustration caused by very short youtube video I had to keep replaying to hear, I decided to Google around to see if a fix had ever been found and happened upon this thread. Pretty good timing I guess!

What's weird to me is how little attention this bug has received. I guess maybe there's just very few people who use HDMI audio out from their Nvidia cards to a receiver, or maybe most people are just not that irritated about it. At any rate, thanks so much!
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post #34 of 111
6/12/12 at 1:03pm
I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing the silent stream bug with my Intel i5 and my Onkyo receiver. What exactly does this do and will it work with my setup?
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post #35 of 111
6/12/12 at 1:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by adrift View Post

This is so awesome! ... At any rate, thanks so much!

Thanks smile.gif i'm glad you finally found it, it has been around for just over a year but it's only since i released the most recent version a couple of days ago that i managed to work on SEO and get it up the Google page rankings enough to be found easily!
Quote:
Originally Posted by woody777 View Post

I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing the silent stream bug with my Intel i5 and my Onkyo receiver. What exactly does this do and will it work with my setup?

If you're experiencing the bug, you will probably see the display on your receiver switching from one mode to another every time a windows sound plays (bring up the volume control and click the slider to create a "ding" to put this to the test), and then switches back again after the sound finishes, and with Onkyos especially, that change in modes can take a long time, sometimes up to 2 or 3 seconds which means you normally miss all your windows sounds.

AVR Audio Guard will open up a "shared-mode" audio stream and then keep it open so your receiver stays in the same mode that Windows uses for the majority of its audio (i think it's called Multich on the Onkyos).

If a bitstream ("exclusive-mode") signal starts, that will take precedence and my program will return to action once the bitstream connection is closed. I hope that helps you understand how it works.
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post #36 of 111
6/12/12 at 1:46pm
Thanks for the explanation! So, it doesn't cut down the time it takes for the Onkyo to pick up an exclusive-mode bitstream? I'll give it a shot either way... thanks!
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post #37 of 111
6/12/12 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by woody777 View Post

Thanks for the explanation! So, it doesn't cut down the time it takes for the Onkyo to pick up an exclusive-mode bitstream? I'll give it a shot either way... thanks!

no, afraid not, software can't affect that as its down to the hardware on the receiver. I switched from Onkyo to Pioneer myself, the audio switches on that are very fast indeed so i don't actually miss more than a split second of audio when a bitstream starts, but there is still enough of a delay to miss Windows sounds so i use the program myself. smile.gif
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post #38 of 111
6/13/12 at 7:56am
Thanks for providing a nifty solution, nVidia/M$ should have provided one eons ago.
Unfortunately Norton doesn't like it very much and keeps annoying me with suspicious behavior and danger alerts.
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post #39 of 111
6/13/12 at 8:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by carageuw View Post

Thanks for providing a nifty solution, nVidia/M$ should have provided one eons ago.
Unfortunately Norton doesn't like it very much and keeps annoying me with suspicious behavior and danger alerts.

yes that is a little annoying. I have avast and it alerts me if the program tries to update unless i exclude my website from the "web shield". Try excluding c:\users\[you]\appdata\local\apps and c:\users\[you]\appdata\local\AVR Audio Guard from being monitored and it might stop that from happening.

I'm not sure how to get the AV programs to start trusting it, i guess it happens eventually if a bajillion people download it..
Edited by MarcD2K11 - 6/13/12 at 8:10am
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post #40 of 111
6/15/12 at 6:16am
Thanks so much for taking the time to create this. Based on initial testing it appears to work as claimed.

Never knew of this issue until I got an onkyo receiver. The only unfortunate part is that this is not that easy to find for someone with no exposure to the problem. Anyway, you saved me from returning/buying a new receiver (I get annoyed easily). Thanks so much!

Edit: are all onkyos like this, or do the higher end units not have this problem?
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post #41 of 111
6/15/12 at 9:28am
It's not the receiver that has this issue, it's the HDMI audio implementations on the PC side that have this problem.
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post #42 of 111
6/15/12 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 
no, but Onkyo's are pretty slow at switching compared to some other brands of AVR so it seems a lot worse on them.
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post #43 of 111
7/7/12 at 10:58pm
Not sure the problem that I have is technically a silent stream bug. Everytime I switch my Denon AVR to the PC (Nvidia card) I have no audio at all. I have to reboot the PC with the AVR on to get the audio back. Does the AVR guard fix this issue as well?

The Denon thread got me here:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1334369/the-official-denon-avr-xx12-model-owners-thread

The thread also mentions a fix for the ATI cards. Now this problem seems to be more of the issue that I have.

http://thydzik.com/hdmion-a-solution-to-loss-of-dvi-video-epid-signal-on-hd-tvs/

I downloaded the hdmiOn and it seems to be working, but didnt know if I should go with the AVR guard instead.
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post #44 of 111
7/8/12 at 5:37am
Thread Starter 
Hi,

Sounds like what you have is a HDMI handshaking issue, which isn't what AVR Audio Guard helps with. My program is to prevent loss of audio caused by the receiver switching sound modes, so you could run both programs together if you have that problem as well

Marc
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post #45 of 111
7/8/12 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by captbly View Post

Not sure the problem that I have is technically a silent stream bug. Everytime I switch my Denon AVR to the PC (Nvidia card) I have no audio at all. I have to reboot the PC with the AVR on to get the audio back. Does the AVR guard fix this issue as well?
The Denon thread got me here:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1334369/the-official-denon-avr-xx12-model-owners-thread
The thread also mentions a fix for the ATI cards. Now this problem seems to be more of the issue that I have.
http://thydzik.com/hdmion-a-solution-to-loss-of-dvi-video-epid-signal-on-hd-tvs/
I downloaded the hdmiOn and it seems to be working, but didnt know if I should go with the AVR guard instead.

Nope, the AVR Guard doesn't fix this issue.
Sometimes I turn off my TV/Onkyo receiver (linked by HDMI-CEC) for a while, and when I switch the TV back on the HDMI video signal passes though but there is no HDMI audio present.
In this event, AVR Guard will only bomb me with a string of error messages.
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post #46 of 111
7/8/12 at 9:52am
Thread Starter 
What error messages do you get, and which version are you on? (Tells you in the About menu item) It shouldn't pop up any errors even if there is no sound device..
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post #47 of 111
7/9/12 at 5:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcD2K11 View Post

What error messages do you get, and which version are you on? (Tells you in the About menu item) It shouldn't pop up any errors even if there is no sound device..

Typical .Net crap...element is missing or something like that...
HRESULT: 0X80070490...
I can always click continue but if the system is not picking up the HDMI Audio device, the error message will keep popping up if I hit continue and the only option would be to exit your program.

VERSION 2.2.0.0
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post #48 of 111
7/9/12 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
ah, that'll be the problem then.. shortly after releasing it, i noticed i'd accidentally left a line commented out, effectively disabling error handling on a bit of the code, so i fixed it and released 2.2.0.1. You should have had an update request after that was released but if you skipped it, it won't ask a 2nd time, but you can re-download it from the website to update it to the newest version.
Edited by MarcD2K11 - 7/9/12 at 6:31pm
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post #49 of 111
7/23/12 at 1:48am
You are a godsend, thank you so much for this program!!
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post #50 of 111
7/29/12 at 1:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by carageuw View Post

Nope, the AVR Guard doesn't fix this issue.
Sometimes I turn off my TV/Onkyo receiver (linked by HDMI-CEC) for a while, and when I switch the TV back on the HDMI video signal passes though but there is no HDMI audio present.
In this event, AVR Guard will only bomb me with a string of error messages.

Out of interest carageuw, did you try that hdmion program captbly mentioned to fix your hdmi audio "no device" issue, because I'm putting the functionality of it into my next version of AVRAG as it seems to be a useful addition.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skuppy View Post

You are a godsend, thank you so much for this program!!

glad you like it smile.gif
Edited by MarcD2K11 - 7/29/12 at 4:24pm
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post #51 of 111
8/4/12 at 3:12pm
Yup. Only 2 small issues for me though. It seems when I'm outputting an mp3 from Foobar2000 and I minimize/maximize folders, it gives the sound a quick jitter.
And, it seems not to work while there is WASAPI playback in Foobar2000. It disables the tray icon (turns it red).
Not sure if there is anything you can do about this, but at any rate, thanks you!
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post #52 of 111
8/4/12 at 3:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by skuppy View Post

Yup. Only 2 small issues for me though. It seems when I'm outputting an mp3 from Foobar2000 and I minimize/maximize folders, it gives the sound a quick jitter.
And, it seems not to work while there is WASAPI playback in Foobar2000. It disables the tray icon (turns it red).
Not sure if there is anything you can do about this, but at any rate, thanks you!

i think most of the problems i get with this seem to relate to foobar in one way or another, a highly appropriate name for that software i think! If Foobar is using Wasapi then the icon should turn red as foobar is using wasapi exclusive mode.
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post #53 of 111
8/11/12 at 3:14pm
^ Probably true..
Hey, so is the silent stream bug completely fixed with AMD's drivers, when using the HDMI out -> receiver from the dedicated GPU? I might just want to invest in one of those cards if it has, to avoid all this trouble. I get the silent stream using both Intel HD Display Audio (onboard) and my NVIDIA HD Audio (dedicated gpu).
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post #54 of 111
10/3/12 at 1:34pm
Hey, I tried to email this to you directly, but it got returned...

Your program ALMOST works for me in that it cuts my AVR's cutouts by about 75%, however it seems as though my harman/kardon AVR1600 receiver still flashes the mode and cuts out when media first begins.

Is there any way to make the program more aggressive? Perhaps actually sending something inaudible through that stream it creates so that a receiver thinks there is always sound playing? Its not a problem with switching modes (e.g. PCM to DTS) I realize it takes a moment to switch over, and I can live with that and I don't utilize such encodings unless watching a movie or listening to DTS audio I have ripped from DVDs via direct output. Everything else should be just going through my PC's 96khz Stereo PCM stream. The AVR can read up to 192 kHz, but I don't (nor can I ever imagine a time where I would) have content in that quality anytime soon outside of a DTS-HD or DD-HD stream.

Your program has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced this silent stream refreshing problem, to the point where I have to physically pause playback in order to encounter this issue (so it no longer happens randomly in the middle of a video anymore, thank goodness), but it still prohibits me from hearing anything but the very last moments of any system sounds...

So like I mentioned before, it works about 75%, but still does not keep the stream completely open.

Maybe it has something to do with the AVR upmixing PCM to 7.1?
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post #55 of 111
10/3/12 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
Hi

you may have had a problem emailing me back because my web host suddenly decided to shut down their free hosting so i had to move the site elsewhere yesterday so it's probably still propagating dns servers.

It actually sounds like the program isn't working, as when it is, it does effectively do what you suggest, ie play a silent pcm to force the receiver to stay in pcm mode. What happens to the tray icon when you play windows sounds? Does it go red briefly (as in the program paused) or stay green even when you get dropouts, and also what is your pc sound coming from?

I think the last time someone was getting weird problems like sound dropping out mid stream it was down to having the wrong sound drivers installed so that might be worth a check..
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post #56 of 111
10/4/12 at 10:16am
I have the most recent drivers installed (nVidia HD Audio) from the most recent VGA driver. Is there a different driver I could/should try? I know realtek won't acknowledge the device.

I have noticed that when I watch, say, a DTS stream, the receiver stays on the DTS mode even after it is finished and the program playing it is closed out... it never switches back to PCM until a system sound plays or a stereo PCM track plays. The program seems to think it is working, though... it pauses when DTS or DD play, and resumes when they end... it just doesn't seem to show up with my AVR.

Could it have something to do with the fact that I have an audio card installed too? It has s/pdif outputs (internal, optical, and RCA), but those have been disabled in the MS sound settings... Is there a way to specify which device the program is supposed to use? Because I know some programs can still use a device even if it has been disabled.


I might try removing the sound card. I don't really need it except for headphones, and I can just plug those in to my AVR if need be.
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post #57 of 111
10/4/12 at 3:30pm
Thread Starter 
Hi,

The most recent should work, the other person had upgraded graphics cards without upgrading the drivers and had a non-hd audio driver from a previous gen card which did not work well!

i must admit that testing with multiple sound cards is not something i've had the opportunity to do as I don't have any others, but i set it to use the default sound device as that should normally be the one that's currently active. If you've disabled the inputs but not the card then it is possible it could still be calling itself the default and causing problems. Disabling it in device manager should make sure it isn't.

i do however remember a time when my receiver never closed bitstreams once they were finished, and perhaps that could also be an issue, but the program can't go "green" if a bitstream is running so i'm not sure. What are you using codec wise? I used to use k-lite codec pack with ffdshow and my receiver used to keep open a dts/dd bitstream indefinitely unless i played a pcm. These days I use potplayer with it's internal codecs and even when i pause a video the receiver goes back to PCM.
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post #58 of 111
10/4/12 at 11:23pm
I tried disabling the sound card in device manager, but the receiver still sticks in DTS or DD modes... the outputs don't show up in the Windows sound options, but I still have the problem.


As far as codecs, the only one I use is AC3 filter for Winamp which just dumps the stream to the receiver. Your program goes in to "waiting" mode when DTS or DD are running, but the PCM stream never restarts until a sound occurs.

I did just think of something... I have a 2nd monitor hooked up to my system through the HDMI port. It is capable of playing audio, but even when disabled through windows audio mixer, I still run in to the issues. Could the program be thinking that it is the device it wants to use?
Edited by Gyakusetsu - 10/4/12 at 11:45pm
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post #59 of 111
10/5/12 at 2:50am
Thread Starter 
again, it is possible - you can disable the audio device via the nvidia control panel, which might be more effective than doing it via the sound mixer. With all the devices you have, that is most likely to be the cause. Perhaps I should write a new version of the software which allows you to choose between audio devices...
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post #60 of 111
10/5/12 at 10:08pm
I'm sure that would fix my problems. well... mostly sure... Anyway, thanks for bearing with me with this issue. If you need any info at all about my system in order to better improve your program, just let me know!
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