[lancia]

I just built another HTPC based on the Intel 661 processor. My specs are as follows:

Intel 661 Clarkdale CPU

GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2H LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX

OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

2TB Hitachi HD

LG Bluray Drive

Windows 7 x64


My connections are as follows:

Motherboard > HDMI > Denon 4310ci > HDMI > 65" Panasonic HT-65PZ850U


When I install a vanilla copy of Win7 with no other software or drivers the audio works fine. I hear the Win7 startup sound. I get audio in all of my ripped DVDs, etc. I see the correct speaker layout on my Denon display.


As soon as I install the Intel HD Graphics drivers, the audio stops working. I can see the speaker displayed correctly on my Denon. I can see that the computer is making noise through the volume control panel but I get no audio through the speakers. If I go through the generic Win7 speaker config and swith audio profiles from Stereo to Surround (or anything else), the audio starts working again. But once I switch audio sources, ie, Media Player, Media Center, TV, etc...the audio stops working until I switch the speaker config again.


Everything that is recorded has audio but the playback usually requires that I "jiggle" the speaker config to actually hear audio out of my system.


Sometimes I can get the audio to play by switching between an analog channel and a HD channel.


As a side note, bitstreaming with Arcsoft works flawlessly (with the 170 beta build). My Denon decodes DD TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.


As another side note, my old HTPC was connected to the same system but was i7 based with a Xonar 1.3slim audio card. I had zero problems with this setup.


I've setup Win7 from scratch a number of times to isolate the issue to the graphics driver. Everything works fine until I install the Intel driver. I've also tried 3 different versions of the driver to no avail.


As you can imagine, this renders this HTPC pretty useless.


Anyone have any ideas or experiencing the same problems?


Update:

I just installed Win7 x86 and have the same problems. It occasionally DOES work however. So it doesn't look like it's a Windows x64 issue either.

 

[lancia]

So I have isolated the issue to the audio driver called "Intel Display Audio". I extracted and separated the graphics and audio driver out of the original download from Intel's site. I install the graphics driver and in the control panel I see "High Definition Audio Device" listed twice in the Sound category.


With just the graphics installed, the system audio works perfectly. I can switch between sources and the audio always works but when I try to play my blurays, it DOES NOT use the passthrough. It plays audio back in DTS or DD mode (standard 5.1). When I try to use the HDMI passthrough I get no audio.


So then I tried updating one of the "HD Audio Device" listed in the control panel. When I do that, the system audio stops working when I switch between sources but the HDMI passthrough for my Blurays DOES work.


My gut is telling me that this is a problem with the PAP/HDCP handshake. Since the "default Windows audio" and the Intel graphics work, I am going out on a limb and RMA'd my gigabyte board and reordered an ASUS board. Hopefully this will solve my problem and I will have all the system sounds working as well as the passthrough.


As a side note, my old HTPC setup would play audio depending on how I had my system speaker config. For example, if I recorded a HD channel that was broadcast in 5.1 but had my speaker config setup to playback audio in 2 channel stereo, it just would. This made it easy to switch audio from my main 7.1 room to my bedroom that only has 2 speakers. But now, the source audio "overrides" whatever I have the system setup as. So this weekend I was trying to watch the Olympics in my bedroom but since it was recorded in 5.1, the voice channel was being piped to my center channel, which I don't have in my bedroom. This is rather annoying but I didn't have this problem on my other system with the Xonar.

 

[dschmelzer]

Perhaps a similar or identical problem, with my Denon AVR-1910 connected to an H55 chipset board (Asus P7H55D-M EVO) running W7 through HDMI, when a program with sounds stops playing, the receiver will not play any subsequent sound from the PC.


The solution is to reset the connection by reselecting the PC as the active input on the receiver while a program with sound is running. Since there are periods of silence as well as sound when I work on my computer, this means having to reselect the PC as the active input numerous times during a session.

 

[beaups]

Have you correctly set the Intel display audio as the default playback device in the Sound applet in control panel? Have you selected all the correct support formats and allowed exclusive mode in that applet as well?

 

[salacious]

There was a bug in the Intel drivers for Vista and 7 that the sounds in Media Center stuffed up played DVDs, TV recording, AVIs etc. It may of been fixed but I always turn if off now.

In 7MC go to Tasks->Settings->General->Visual and Sound Effects and de-select Play sounds when navigating Windows Media Center

It might not be the same problem but worth trying

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dschmelzer /forum/post/18184185


Perhaps a similar or identical problem, with my Denon AVR-1910 connected to an H55 chipset board (Asus P7H55D-M EVO) running W7 through HDMI, when a program with sounds stops playing, the receiver will not play any subsequent sound from the PC.


The solution is to reset the connection by reselecting the PC as the active input on the receiver while a program with sound is running. Since there are periods of silence as well as sound when I work on my computer, this means having to reselect the PC as the active input numerous times during a session.

I've tried this and it doesn't seem to do anything for me. Good suggestion though.

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by beaups /forum/post/18185916


Have you correctly set the Intel display audio as the default playback device in the Sound applet in control panel? Have you selected all the correct support formats and allowed exclusive mode in that applet as well?

My default playback device is my Denon AVR (although it looks like a plasma TV). When I go into the properties of that device, the Intel Display Audio is the driver. As far as the support formats, it looks like a list of supported formats not something I can select but I have never selected anything there or in any of my other setups. I can double check. I think the exclusive mode is default if I am not mistaken but again, something I will check out. I'm not sitting in front of it right now so I'm not totally sure what the exact window names are.


Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by salacious /forum/post/18186088


There was a bug in the Intel drivers for Vista and 7 that the sounds in Media Center stuffed up played DVDs, TV recording, AVIs etc. It may of been fixed but I always turn if off now.

In 7MC go to Tasks->Settings->General->Visual and Sound Effects and de-select Play sounds when navigating Windows Media Center

It might not be the same problem but worth trying

I will give this a try as well. Thanks!

 

[lancia]

Update:


Talked to Intel Proc Support today and they told me that it was a motherboard issue. After going over the issues his only suggestion was to update my video drivers...duh! I'm a little past that already

I will update this over the weekend once I get the new board installed. We shall see if it is a board issue.

 

[utee05]

I am having a similar issue with my Asrock H55 PRO M and Intel i3-530 setup. I can't get any audio through at all. In audio devices setup I only get stereo option and even then I don't get any audio on my Onkyo 805 or my display. I am also running the latest Intel drivers.

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by utee05 /forum/post/18192675


I am having a similar issue with my Asrock H55 PRO M and Intel i3-530 setup. I can't get any audio through at all. In audio devices setup I only get stereo option and even then I don't get any audio on my Onkyo 805 or my display. I am also running the latest Intel drivers.

You running Win7? If so, if you right click on the volume icon in the systray and select playback devices, what do you see?


Which device has the green check for "Default" device?


If it says "Onkyo" or something similar, click on properties. The first panel should have something like "supported formats" or something similar. What do you see?

 

[utee05]



Quote:
Originally Posted by lancia /forum/post/18192965


You running Win7? If so, if you right click on the volume icon in the systray and select playback devices, what do you see?


Which device has the green check for "Default" device?


If it says "Onkyo" or something similar, click on properties. The first panel should have something like "supported formats" or something similar. What do you see?

I'm using Vista and will upgrade to Win7 but under playback devices I see Digital Output Device (HDMI). I disabled the other device as I thought it would help solve the issue. Under supported formats I see all the HD formats (TrueHD, DTS Master, DD+, DTS, DD).

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by utee05 /forum/post/18193210


I'm using Vista and will upgrade to Win7 but under playback devices I see Digital Output Device (HDMI). I disabled the other device as I thought it would help solve the issue. Under supported formats I see all the HD formats (TrueHD, DTS Master, DD+, DTS, DD).

Do you have the ability to easily install other OSes? If so, I would try Win7...it has much better built in support for HTPC-style setups. I've been running Win7 on my HTPCs for so long that I forget how Vista works

 

[Scirus Arcnus]

Seems like a software issue. I have the S2H and Intel Display Audio is not listed twice.


Current BIOS?

Gigabyte F4


Current drivers?

Intel Chipset 9.1.1.1025

Intel Graphics 15.16.8.64.2057


Not using analog? Then uninstall Realtek and disable the device in Device Manager (Azalia must remain enabled in BIOS).


If uninstalling graphics and audio devices to start again, then after running uninstallers and rebooting confirm none active still exist in Device Manager.

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sciúrus Arcânus /forum/post/18194604


Seems like a software issue. I have the S2H and Intel Display Audio is not listed twice.


Current BIOS?

Gigabyte F4


Current drivers?

Intel Chipset 9.1.1.1025

Intel Graphics 15.16.8.64.2057


Not using analog? Then uninstall Realtek and disable the device in Device Manager (Azalia must remain enabled in BIOS).


If uninstalling graphics and audio devices to start again, then after running uninstallers and rebooting confirm none active still exist in Device Manager.

I have F4 BIOS

I'm using current Chipset drivers - 1025

Graphics -2021 are the current drivers from Intel's site. I've seen the 2057 drivers but they are listed for an Intel board and didn't want to add another variable to the mix. Do you run Win7 and use these drivers without a prob?


High Definition Audio Device is listed twice on a vanilla install of Windows 7, not Intel Display Audio. Once I install the drivers, one entry for Intel Display Audio is listed.


I have the Azalia enabled in BIOS but dont even install the Realtek drivers. In fact, I've even removed all devices except my Denon from the playback devices.


Do you pipe your audio through an AVR of some sort or direct to your TV? Does your AVR have a speaker display? If so, do you see the speakers turn off and on when you switch audio sources? I see this all the time. It's like the audio signal is being turned on and off.

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dschmelzer /forum/post/18184185


Perhaps a similar or identical problem, with my Denon AVR-1910 connected to an H55 chipset board (Asus P7H55D-M EVO) running W7 through HDMI, when a program with sounds stops playing, the receiver will not play any subsequent sound from the PC.


The solution is to reset the connection by reselecting the PC as the active input on the receiver while a program with sound is running. Since there are periods of silence as well as sound when I work on my computer, this means having to reselect the PC as the active input numerous times during a session.

Turns out this is my problem as well. I swapped out the MB with the ASUS p7H55M PRO board and had the EXACT same audio problem. I tried switching the inputs while an AVI was playing and guess what...I got sound again when I switched back to the PC. It looks like it is a problem with my Denon 4310ci.


This is more than annoying. Without the audio drivers installed, I cannot bitstream to my AVR. I also cannot play back in Stereo which is important because I often switch movies into my bedroom where I only have left and right channels.


Have you talked to Denon about this? I already know exactly what they are going to say..."It's just an HDMI switcher...it doesn't do anything". So I think I will go out and buy the cheapest AVR from BB that does bitstreaming to confirm. My guess is that it will work.


My suspisions of the PAP/HDCP handshake being the problem was right. I just thought it was a problem from the board not the AVR.


Anyone else see similar problems from their Denon?

 

[lancia]

Lots of testing over the weekend and a workaround:


First I'll start with the testing of the new ASUS P7H55-M PRO board. This was a complete failure. The board shipped with some sort of defect that caused memory errors when more than 1 DIMM was used. It took me some time to test this but basically Memtest86+ failed with 2 sticks and worked fine with each individually.


So I setup the machine with the new ASUS MB with 1 DIMM. The Win7 install was fine. I installed Win7 x86 and Win7 x64 to be sure. It didn't make a difference because the system audio didn't work with either install. On top of that, I couldn't get bitsteaming to work at all.


At this point I'm still thinking this is a problem with my Denon 4310ci. Something with the HDCP handshake...


So I decided to install the original Gigabyte MB. I ran Memtest86+ all night with both sticks of memory to make sure there wasn't a problem. 9 passes and zero errors. So I am going to rule out memory problems as the culprit.


Once I finished those tests I started the install of Win7 x64 from scratch again. I created a base image once the vanilla install was complete. I wanted to test different combinations of the Intel drivers, 1995, 2021, 2082.


My first install didn't work at all with Arcsoft TMT3. I installed the 2082 drivers and the 170 FINAL patch for TMT3 and now I couldn't bitstream at all! Not even stereo playback from TMT3. Something wasn't right because I had this working before. To top it off, the Denon GUI was no longer displaying.


So I started over, installed 1995 and TMT3 170 BETA patch (which was my original config that worked). I was now able to get bitstreaming to work but the rest of the audio still didn't work whenever I switched sources.


I started playing around with the Win7 audio settings. Salacious recommended that I try disabling default sounds. This didn't make a difference. Beaups recommended that I try make sure the device could give exclusive control. That didn't work either but both of these suggestions lead me to start playing around with the properties of my default HDMI audio device. The last prop tab is called Advanced. On that tab you can set the default audio playback format. By default, Win7 has it set at 16bit 44100 Hz. I started playing around with this by selecting each option, playing an AVI to see if I got audio. Previously I was unable to get audio from any sources including AVIs. I got audio the first time I played an AVI once I switched the format. Then I would close the AVI and play it again. No audio on EVERY format EXCEPT 24bit 44100Hz. When I keep this as the default format, the audio works perfectly. All my system sounds, all my AVIs, MPGs, M4Vs, etc. I am able to bitstream and PCM Stereo mixing from TMT3 170 works flawlessly.


Ideally, I would like to keep the default audio setting at 24bit 192000Hz but for now, this will have to do.


I hope this helps. It's taken me 2 weeks, countless hours to figure this out. Let me know if any of you have updates to this workaround.


As a side note, I figured out my Denon GUI problem too. On General Settings tab of the Intel HD Display properties is a little check box that says "xvYCC". When you click on the help button it says you should click this for Digital Televisions. Since my TV and Denon both support HDMI 1.3 and Deep Color, I checked this. When I do that, the Denon GUI OSD no longer displays on the TV. If I uncheck it, the GUI works. This too seems like a bug. I'm not sure if this is an Intel bug or a Denon bug. Either way, leaving this unchecked works and for now, that works for me. My wife doesn't care either way so the less complaining about the media center the better

 

[jpitt42]

I'm seeing the same issue on my new setup, and it was driving me crazy. I had no time at all to debug it. I hadn't pinpointed even the sequence that was causing the problem, but I think the stoppage of audio playback within an application fits all of my experience so far.


Was it only dropping out when you switch apps that play audio? Or would it also drop out if you were to pause and play within an app, or open another video within the same app?


I will try out your fix and report back. I'll try that Denon GUI thing also and let you know if I have the same problem.


- Samsung UN55B6000

- Denon AVR-1910

- Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H

- Intel Core i3 530 2.93 GHz

- GSKILL 2Gx2 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

- LG CH08LS10 BD-ROM

- Antec NSK2480

- Logitech Harmony 700

- HP IR Transceiver

 

[lancia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jpitt42 /forum/post/18240606


I'm seeing the same issue on my new setup, and it was driving me crazy. I had no time at all to debug it. I hadn't pinpointed even the sequence that was causing the problem, but I think the stoppage of audio playback within an application fits all of my experience so far.


Was it only dropping out when you switch apps that play audio? Or would it also drop out if you were to pause and play within an app, or open another video within the same app?


I will try out your fix and report back. I'll try that Denon GUI thing also and let you know if I have the same problem.


- Samsung UN55B6000

- Denon AVR-1910

- Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H

- Intel Core i3 530 2.93 GHz

- GSKILL 2Gx2 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

- LG CH08LS10 BD-ROM

- Antec NSK2480

- Logitech Harmony 700

- HP IR Transceiver

It happens when you pause TV for a period of time as well. I'm glad you brought that up. I forgot to mention it to Denon when I called.


So far I've talked to Denon support, Intel support, and Gigabyte support. They all blame something else.


Isn't HDCP great?!? It's been such a boon for consumers! Funny thing is that it is so easy to get around. It doesn't really protect anything nowadays.

 

[jpitt42]

Changing the default format to 24/44100 seems to have fixed my issue. I'll report back if it resurfaces.


I am not seeing any issues with my AVR-1910 OSD when xvYCC is enabled.


Does anybody know how to disable the upscaled volume level indication on the AVR-1910? I'm not sure what the source of it is. When outputting 1080p, I see two volume indications, one is in blocky white text, and the other is a more refined black background with white text. The more refined one is always off by one, and it flickers, so I'd like to just get rid of it.