*Official* Denon 5308 Thread - Page 158

No, it is not possible to update via the USB jack, although should be possible with the new XX13 models.

When the upgrade is accomplished do the technicians update the firmware via ethernet or?
Manny

AFAIK, yes although they may also have the capability to update via RS-232 as that is the way it's done on the non-networking models.
Edited by jdsmoothie - 7/5/12 at 1:51pm

Anyone know if the most recent firmware update is ONLY for those who have the upgrade?

Before I had the upgrade I found no firmware update, But after I had the upgrade there was a firmware to download.

That's most likely the cause of my problems then. Thx.

I just performed the firmware upgrade via software. I also have had the Denon upgrade for 3D pass through. Anyone know what the software upgrade was for?
Thanks,
Manny

Something has happened to my setup.

I have a DirecTV HD feeding my Denon 5308 via HDMI. Like most, I have SD and HD channels and changing channels between them is no problem. I was watching an SD channel today and left the room for just a minute. However, when I returned the picture was gone. The TV's stock indicator for "no signal" was being displayed while the sound was playing thru the 5308 fine as always. Now, no SD channel video comes thru the 5308 while the HD channels are fine. I swapped the HDMI cable out, no effect. I plugged the DirecTV directly into the TV via HDMI and all channels work fine, SD & HD.

The internal video upscalers on my blu-ray player are disabled, so I threw a DVD in there and it played thru the 5308 like it always has. I put an SD channel on again and tried flipping 5308 video settings, but none helped. I shut everything down and pulled power from everything for awhile, but the problem remained when it was all powered back up.

I'm baffled. Has anybody seen anything else like it before?

The only thing left I can think of to try is a microprocessor reset on the 5308, but I really don't want to.

Help. Thanks.

Recent firmware updates to DTV boxes have been causing various HDMI handshakes. Try resetting the DTV box.

Thanks for the response. I've tried resetting the DTV box several times now and it has had no effect on the problem.

What happens if you pull up the direct tv menu and then go to video section. I am assuming that you can see the direct tv graphics? In the video section you have the ability to allow various resolutions to flow through the direct tv to your tv/avr. I know that 1080p will work (I have a 1080P monitor) but first it is tested. I generally just have the 720, 1080i, and the 1080p checked off. It is not often that I will watch a sd program source. But on occausion I have. I can play with the format to either stretch the picture or allow bars on top and/or sides. I wonder if your setup in the direct tv box is miss adjusted? It does seem odd that all of a sudden it went south. Sounds like something happened, but what, is the question. I cannot recall whether the denon will automatically up scale the hdmi signal or do you have to tell it to do so in the menu. Could it be that your TV is receiving a signal it cannot handle such as 720p. I had a rear projection set that could handle 1080i but not show 720p.
Manny

Why not reset the microprocessor??? Isn't it just the little power button next to the big power button? It won't erase any settings.

I've been in the DTV video settings and tried selecting different resolutions, all to no impact. I called DTV and got no where. They regard it as the 5308's problem because everything works picture wise when I plug the DTV via HDMI into the TV directly.

It was my understanding that all my 5308 settings, including the Audessey setup, will be lost if I reset the mircroprocessor on the 5308. Am I incorrect in that?

It looks like I could switch all the video to component video thru the 5308 while leaving the sound on the HDMI for watching DTV, but it is very disturbing that I should have to do that all of the sudden. This is very frustrating. Why is the HDMI going haywire with the SD feed from DTV? If the HDMI chips in the 5308 have gone bad, why do I get any picture at all? Why do they work from my other sources? I'm starting to not like HDMI...

That sounds like you have eliminated the dtv from being the problem. Have you gone back into the denon menu to see what the settings are? Resetting is more than just turning off the unit. You have to turn off the power using the power button. Then you press power and at the same time press both Standard and Home THX Cinema. Once the display starts flashing you can let go of the two buttons. It will change all your settings. Look at page 45 of the manual. You need to have video convert on and not off, then make sure the IP scaler is set. Probably a to h and h to h, then resolution set to auto, and finally progressive mode set to auto.
Manny

I've resolved the problem and I think this will be of use to everybody to know. I remembered the button under the cover on the front of the 5308 called "HDMI direct". I hit that button and the SD DTV picture returned after a few moments. It's a toggle button in function, hit it once and it stays on until hit again. I do not understand why it let the DVD picture via HDMI thru uninterrupted, but now that I've toggled it off, all seems to be working well.

I have no idea how the "HDMI direct" function was triggered. I have a little 2 year old running around, but the idea that he ran into the room, opened the door, hit the button, closed the door, and fled in just a few minutes seems unlikely... but he is two and they can be very canny.

The manual did not speak much to me about the "HDMI direct" button so I'm not sure I completely understand its impact, but for the time being, I seem to have fixed my problem. Everybody please note the "HDMI direct" button. It can be evil.

Thanks to all for helping me think this thru. I greatly appreciate your time.

Do you mean pure direct? That's a button on the impossibly confusing remote as well..

No, you are correct. Powering off the AVR is known as a "soft" reset which can resolve some issues without changing any settings while resetting the microprocessor is a "hard" reset and would return all settings to the mfr defaults and wipe out the Audyssey settings.
Edited by jdsmoothie - 7/29/12 at 7:18am

Did you try connecting a component video cable or were you just indicating this was a possible solution? Pressing the "Pure Direct" button shuts off all analog video sources as well as the front panel display (a good indicator that the Pure Direct button has been pressed). However, AFAIK, it shouldn't have any impact on HDMI video ... even if SD.

I was indicating that component video may be a possible solution. I hadn't tried it yet though. My feeling was that this was an HDMI issue and that component connections should get be out of the mess. Luckily, I didn't need to do that.

My 5308 has the upgrade which relabels the "NIGHT" button on the front (under the door) to "HDMI VIDEO DIRECT". I don't really understand the depth of this relabeled button's function, but toggling it was the cause of my troubles seeing SD video from my DTV box.

Ah, yes ... strange new feature to be sure. It apparently replicates setting the Video Convert setting to OFF as well as passing the audio in Direct mode without having to change either of these two settings, although there still should be no issue passing an SD signal as is. It simply wouldn't be upscaled to 1080p. Is your TV able to receive a 480i signal over HDMI as some cannot? If not, there's your answer.

My TV can digest 480 and up. This is evidenced by the fact that I can plug the DTV via HDMI directly into the TV (5308 out of the loop) and it works for all HD and SD channels. This was the fact that really puzzled and scared me. It pointed to something with the 5308.

I still don't get why the "HDMI VIDEO DIRECT" didn't pass SD. All the video upscale stuff is enabled on the my 5308 (a big reason I bought it) and I would have expected the "HMDI VIDEO DIRECT" to simply disable all that stuff and pass the SD video directly to the TV, as if it were a direct connection without the 5308. In addition, I would have thought the sound enhancements would be disabled too, but they aren't.

Here's an interesting thing to consider.... With "HDMI VIDEO DIRECT" enabled, the SD video is blocked, the sound is unaffected, AND the 5308 on screen GUI works. Talk about a mind job trying to figure out what it's doing.

Based on your findings, it would seem that the "HDMI Video Direct" feature is not working as advertised in the manual. Any other 5308 3D Upgrade owners that can comment on whether enabling this feature disables the GUI or not?

You should try another SD source with Video Direct. The ideal test would be a DVD/Blu-ray player that passes 480i via HDMI. Those DTV boxes have a reputation for sending out wonky signals.

I think I've done that. I have an OPPO blu-ray player and all of the video upgrade settings are disabled so that the 5308 does the work (My OPPO is really just an audio/ video transport). One of the things I did was drop a DVD in the OPPO and it played thru the 5308 and looked as good as always. I couldn't tell that the 5308's video processing was disabled. That either means that the 5308's video processing isn't worth spit or that it was being applied despite the "HDMI VIDEO DIRECT" function. I've checked the 5308 video processing functions several times and they are set correctly and I do think they are working (negating the "not worth spit" theory).

Just so I'm understanding you correctly, you play 480i video via HDMI through the 5308 set to Video Direct, and you get no image, or you get 1080p instead?

When I do it, I get 480i out the HDMI monitor out.

Does anyone know why after "tuning" an upgraded AVR-5308A with Audyssey enabled, the surround channels would be louder when playing a DTS track than when playing PCM or Dolby Digital? I feel like I'm missing a setting that would cause the Audyssey calcs to not be included for DTS but are included for everything else, but I'm not finding what that could be.

The output from an HDMI enabled DTV receiver can be confusing. The EDID token in HDMI actually reports back from the TV to the DTV receiver what capabilities the TV has. The DTV receiver, even if on native, goes through the resolutions you selected and chooses 1) the native resolution, if selected as an option and 2) the highest res available, if not.

The one way I know to prove 480i would work is to go through the DTV receiver's resolution menu and deselect everything but 480i. Also disable native. If you are unlucky and 480i is not available on your TV, then you may have to reboot to get your picture back.

480i is not mandatory for HDMI. 480p is mandatory. But, testing is your best method of finding out what will and will not work.

Just a guess, but isn't there an option somewhere that turns up/down just the suurounds? It's possible that it's source specific and returns to that setting every time a dts track is detected. It's also possible that the dts track just happens to be louder.

Let me take a look at that. I think on the old 5803A, this was the fader function. I'll see what the 5308A has in that area.

It's a good thought but the source files are exactly the same for DVD-Audio and DTS (just run through the DTS encoder). My ears tell me I'm getting more surround (I'd say at least +3dB), so I'm curious why this would occur.

Yep... Fader. Page 74 of the manual. Make sure you check it while playing a dts track. Hopefully that's your issue.