Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 62

Originally Posted by renethx

Fratar

So you have two separate problems:

1. S/PDIF does not work when the internal S/PDIF is connected to your 9800 card.
2. HDCP error when playing back BD with 9800 and PowerDVD

As for 1, you need to select the correct sound playback device in Windows and you have to use a proper DVI-to-HDMI adapter (otherwise audio won't pass through DVI). I noticed that not every 9800 GTX model comes with a DVI-HDMI dongle. In this case you need to connect the S/PDIF port on the mb rear panel to your receiver directly.

2. This is purely a communication problem between the card and your display devices (TV or the receiver+TV) and this will be a problem only when you play AACS-encrypted contents. I am not sure how to fix it. Maybe using AnyDVD HD (decrypting contents in realtime) is the only solution.

Onboard HDMI audio: You need to understand that the GIGABYTE board includes two separate independent audio codecs

- Realtek ALC889A to which the rear panel S/PDIF optical and the internal S/PDIF header are connected. GIGABYTE support is wrong!
- HDMI audio controller which controls audio part of HDMI when you use the onboard HDMI and is integrated in the chip (so no wiring is necessary). Again you have to choose the correct sound playback device in Windows and you have to install the correct driver to get it to work.

Originally Posted by renethx

Mascot

Perhaps you will get 7.1 channel 16-bit/48kHz (i.e. downsampled) audio from ALC889A analog with PowerDVD 8.0 and 8.5. It looks like sound devices supported by 8.5 are not so many (only ASUS and Auzentech?).

Originally Posted by renethx

Fratar

So you have two separate problems:

1. S/PDIF does not work when the internal S/PDIF is connected to your 9800 card.
2. HDCP error when playing back BD with 9800 and PowerDVD

As for 1, you need to select the correct sound playback device in Windows and you have to use a proper DVI-to-HDMI adapter (otherwise audio won't pass through DVI). I noticed that not every 9800 GTX model comes with a DVI-HDMI dongle. In this case you need to connect the S/PDIF port on the mb rear panel to your receiver directly.

2. This is purely a communication problem between the card and your display devices (TV or the receiver+TV) and this will be a problem only when you play AACS-encrypted contents. I am not sure how to fix it. Maybe using AnyDVD HD (decrypting contents in realtime) is the only solution.

Onboard HDMI audio: You need to understand that the GIGABYTE board includes two separate independent audio codecs

- Realtek ALC889A to which the rear panel S/PDIF optical and the internal S/PDIF header are connected. GIGABYTE support is wrong!
- HDMI audio controller which controls audio part of HDMI when you use the onboard HDMI and is integrated in the chip (so no wiring is necessary). Again you have to choose the correct sound playback device in Windows and you have to install the correct driver to get it to work.

Originally Posted by Fratar

I bought the xfx model specifically because it came with a dongle though it's dvi-D instead of I and not duallink (could this be part of the problem?). I've tried connecting s/pdif on the rear panel directly to the reciever and no dice. I even pulled out the card and used just the back panel hdmi (which should carry audio, correct?) to connect to the receiver and still no audio, and in addition, the display res was limited to 600 x 400 (or something close) and wouldn't let me change it.

Also, I have anydvd which worked fine for regual dvd's, but when I put in a blu-ray movie anydvd timed out and became unresponsible. It's very frustrating. Thank you for all your help though.

Originally Posted by renethx

Fratar

Check the following three points.

1. Install the latest driver for ALC889A (and GeForce 9800 GTX). In case you haven't, you can download it from

- Realtek audio codec driver. You can also download the ATI HDMI audio driver here (necessary for the onboard HDMI audio).
- NVIDIA GeForce driver

2. Connect the optical S/PDIF connector of the rear panel to the receiver (to eliminate the possible dongle issue out of equation).
3. Select S/PDIF (Realtek HD Digital something) in the "Sound" dialog box.
4. Open Realtek Sound Manager > Audio I/O. Configure it correctly. Test your speakers here. If you can't hear sound, recheck audio cables. If no sound, the mb (onboard audio) could be defective.

The onboard HDMI audio should work too, but this has nothing to do with Realtek ALC889A (HDMI audio controller is different).

AnyDVD HD may not work for some movies, I am not sure of this point.

Originally Posted by AbMagFab

Do you have the Windows default audio set to HDMI? And PDVD set to 6-channel? (Don't set PDVD to HDMI, as it often doesn't work.)

Originally Posted by renethx

Look at this picture. This is a different motherboard (GeForce 7150), but your dialog box should look similar. "Realtek Digital Output" is S/PDIF from the Realtek audio codec (ALC889A in your case) and you have to select it. "Speakers" is analog from the Realtek audio codec. Right-click the icon and select "test", you should hear sound.

AbMagFab is talking about the onboard HDMI. If you want to get audio through the onboard HDMI, you have to choose "HDMI Audio" in "Sound" dialog box (he said "have the Windows default audio set to HDMI"). PowerDVD setting is of course necessary when playing back a BD movie with PowerDVD.

Originally Posted by renethx

Yes. In your motherboard, the name is different.

Originally Posted by DexS

Hi All

I am looking to build my 1st HTPC and am looking an intel mATX board.

However I am unsure of which HTPC case I should use as I want something that is slim. But my concern is that the graphics module will have issue fitting into the shortlisted cases. Graphics module I am considering are the 8600 or 8800 range.

As for cases I am shorting listing Silverstone LC02, Silverstone LC11 and Antec Fusion 430. The latter is my preference.

Other points is that I am looking to use one SATA HDD and one optical drive.

Appreciate if some members to share their experiences with the above casings.

Many Thanks

Originally Posted by renethx

The HDMI audio from 9800 is actually Realtek ALC889A, so you won't see another HDMI audio besides ATI HDMI Audio in the Sound dialog box.

I am not sure of the cause of intermittent static. When does static occur? What is the "tv audio"? Audio from the TV speakers or TV programs'audio from the TV tuner installed in your system?

If you use S/PDIF pass-through to the graphics card from a sound card without an internal S/PDIF header, you will need a coaxial S/PDIF bracket.

Originally Posted by renethx

Fratar

Perhaps I don't understand your problems well. You connect the internal S/PDIF connector to the graphics card, then connect HDMI out from the graphics card to the TV. You have sound. But you hear occasional static noise. Right?

If you connect HDMI out from the graphics card to the receiver, then do you hear such noise from the speakers connected to the receiver?

AFAIK, many sound cards have only external S/PDIF so that you need a S/PDIF bracket if you want to connect to the graphics card.

As for video, do you have a HDCP problem with the onboard video? And does the onboard HDMI audio work well (no static when connected to TV directly)?

BTW the picture below is the Sound dialog box of a system consisting of GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 and GeForce 9600 GT. GA-P35-DS4 has the audio coded ALC889A (the same as yours), but has no onboard graphics. 9600 GT has an internal audio connector and it is connected to the internal S/PDIF header of the mb. There is no HDMI audio icon in the dialog box. But I can hear audio from HDMI from the graphics card just fine. No special setting is required. Just connect the cable internally and select Realtek Digital Output. That's it. The Sound dialog box shows only the actual audio controller (Realtek ALC889A). The graphics card's HDMI is to multiplex video from the GPU and audio from ALC889A's S/PDIF. None of the GeForce cards has an actual audio controller, unlike ATI-AMD.