Hopper disrupting HDMI communication?

[sam fisher]

Just had the Hopper with Sling installed and it is pretty awesome. I would say "totally awesome" but for 2 issues. I have googled and found nothing, so any references to these issues having been previously addressed would be appreciated.

Issue 1- it seems to disrupt HDMI communications. Meaning my TV (Sony) controls the power and volume of my audio receiver (Onkyo). With U-Verse attached all worked well, but using the same cables plugged into the Hopper, the TV and receiver no longer communicate. Unplugging the Hopper restores communication. It is clearly something related to the Hopper.

Issue 2- there are random, really loud, high pitched squeaks/pops while watching TV. Increased occurrences after a skip forward command. They are to the point that I am concerned about damage to my speakers, not to mention annoying as Hades.

Anyone encounter these issues or, even better, solved them? Many thanks!

 

[lucky86]

Have you rebooted the Hopper? By unplugging did you mean you unplugged the power cable or unplugged the HDMI cable?

 

[sam fisher]

Have you rebooted the Hopper? By unplugging did you mean you unplugged the power cable or unplugged the HDMI cable?

I have done both. No luck. It was installed Saturday, so I was hoping for a software update or something. I know there are usually issues on the leading edge...

 

[harshness]

Make sure that your Hopper isn't set up for CEC. CEC is often a touchy situation and it doesn't take much to upset it.

 

[lucky86]

I have done both. No luck. It was installed Saturday, so I was hoping for a software update or something. I know there are usually issues on the leading edge...

For the squealing I would make sure nothing is up against the fan on the receiver. If that noise continues I would get a replacement.

 

[harshness]

For the squealing I would make sure nothing is up against the fan on the receiver. If that noise continues I would get a replacement.

I'm guessing that the sound is coming through the AVR as opposed to a mechanical noise coming from the Hopper box itself.

 

[lucky86]

I'm guessing that the sound is coming through the AVR as opposed to a mechanical noise coming from the Hopper box itself.

Ah, well that's good I guess. I know everything else works, but can you try another hdmi cable and hdmi input on the tv?

 

[sam fisher]

For the record, I am talking about CEC, but just between the TV and the AVR. I am not trying to do anything funky with the hopper. Just using TV volume up and down to control the AVR volume and TV power to power on/off the AVR. However, simply having an HDMI cable plugged into the Hopper disrupts this. Perhaps this weekend I'll flip the Hopper and Joey around, though that will be inconvenient.

Yes, the popping noises (perhaps called shot gunning? Google seems to think so) are from the speakers, not the Hopper box.

 

[lparsons21]

CEC is a bit hinky.

At AVSForum, there have been many comments made about various issues with the fix being turning off CEC. I was reading about that a few days ago in the Denon owner's thread.

 

[sam fisher]

CEC is a bit hinky.

At AVSForum, there have been many comments made about various issues with the fix being turning off CEC. I was reading about that a few days ago in the Denon owner's thread.

I assume you mean "turn CEC off" on the Hopper? I have looked through the menus I suspected to find it, but cannot locate that setting. Where is it?

If you mean turn CEC off between the TV and AVR, why would that be desired? I have no problem turning it off to the Hopper because I don't want to control anything else with the Hopper.

 

[lucky86]

I'm pretty sure there is no accessible CEC option or menu anywhere in the Hopper.

 

[david_jr]

When I had the problem it was my TV speakers even with them turned all the way down. It was not Hopper related but was HDMI related. I was using my AVR for sound so I had the TV speakers turned all the way down. The fix was to turn my TV speakers OFF in the TV menu. That cured my problem. You might want to check by having someone work the remote while you put your ear near the speakers.

 

[sam fisher]

When I had the problem it was my TV speakers even with them turned all the way down. It was not Hopper related but was HDMI related. I was using my AVR for sound so I had the TV speakers turned all the way down. The fix was to turn my TV speakers OFF in the TV menu. That cured my problem. You might want to check by having someone work the remote while you put your ear near the speakers.

My TV will not turn off the speakers because it can't see the AVR. So you may be right.

The issue here is not CEC, it is Dish. For the last 2 years, this set-up has worked perfectly. I reject the notion that CEC is flaky because it has been stable for 2 years. The only new variable is the Hooper and I can make the problem go away by unplugging the Hopper's HDMI. Of course, that defeats the purpose of having HDTV...

I will sent Dish technical an email. Doubt that will help, though.

 

[sethwell]

This might not solve your volume problem but might. Press the yellow button, remote manager, volume.you can then select whether the volume button turns the tv or the receiver volume up.

As far as the high pitched pops, mine has done that from the get go. Not often but on occasion.

Sent from my phone using SatelliteGuys

 

[dscheck]

My TV will not turn off the speakers because it can't see the AVR. So you may be right.

The issue here is not CEC, it is Dish. For the last 2 years, this set-up has worked perfectly. I reject the notion that CEC is flaky because it has been stable for 2 years. The only new variable is the Hooper and I can make the problem go away by unplugging the Hopper's HDMI. Of course, that defeats the purpose of having HDTV...

I will sent Dish technical an email. Doubt that will help, though.

I also just upgraded one of my 2 original Hoppers to the new Hopper with Sling. The original hopper was connected to my Pioneer VSX-1021 receiver. The Pioneer receiver switches my HDMI and my Panasonic TV connects to the Pioneer receiver. I had been using the option on the TV that will turn on/off the receiver whenever the TV power is turned on/off. It worked great and simplified the operation for the family since they didnt have to know about the Pioneer receiver's power. Once I hooked up the new Hopper with Sling, turning off the TV does NOT turn off the Pioneer receiver's power. If I pull out the Hopper's HDMI cable and turn off the TV the Pioneer receiver shuts off as expected. The new Hopper must be doing something on the HDMI cable to make the receiver think its still active. I think the receiver might have been switched back to the HDMI input for the Hopper when testing turning off the TV with the Pioneer's HDMI switcher on something besides the Hopper.

The only work around I could find was to move the new Hopper with Sling upstairs to the bedroom and bring down the older Hopper without sling to the Family Room. Once I did that the auto on/off of the Pioneer receiver worked perfectly again.

Does anyone know a good technical contact at dish to see if this can be addressed in a future software upgrade?

 

[TroubleshooterMike]

So the hopper with sling kills HDMI sync...? WOW that's no good! My sony tv remote as well controls my AVR. It also works for the PS3 via HDMI communication and and once I turn the tv off it powers off the AVR and PS3 as well. If you have to have the HWS in this location for any particular reason (bluetooth headphones-PIP feature) then you could always just hook the HDMI cable to the tv and run an optical audio cable to the AVR, granted it might be a bit redundant to switch inputs back and forth but that might also help with the popping sound? Hope you get this resolved.

 

[lucky86]

I'm sure a DIRT member can pass the info along.

 

[acostapimps]

CEC is a bit hinky.

At AVSForum, there have been many comments made about various issues with the fix being turning off CEC. I was reading about that a few days ago in the Denon owner's thread.

I have to agree I just tried this from a Sony Bluray surround system to a Samsung plasma using the HDMI-CEC, while it does turn off the TV and system, turning both on at the same time is a hit or miss(TV turns on but system sometimes doesn't) and I have hdmi from sat receiver to TV and optical audio cable from surround system to sat receiver.

Sent from my iPad 2 using SatelliteGuys

 

[lucky86]

I heard through the grapevine that this thread was seen and that this is being escalated and investigated. If the Hopper doesn't have this issue, then it sounds like an issue with the HWS and CEC.

 

[sam fisher]

I heard through the grapevine that this thread was seen and that this is being escalated and investigated. If the Hopper doesn't have this issue, then it sounds like an issue with the HWS and CEC.

I hope this is true. I'd be happy to work with a Dish engineer if needed. DIRT feel free to contact me for my details.