HD2400 Pro/XT Audio-over-HDMI: A tale of disappointment!

cavemanoc · 31 Jan 2008 at 12:26

Built-in 5.1 surround audio designed for an easy HDMI connection to big-screen TVs

- I think not!

Well, I don't say it often - especially with the great support available here and elsewhere these days, but "I give up!"

I have been trying for the past 2 months to finish my HTPC setup including an HD2400 and it's mythical audio-over-dvi/hdmi feature, and I have failed - miserably! For those of you that have missed the threads recently here's the history.

ATi, in their 2xxx range of Pci-e cards offer 5.1ch (compressed) audio over dvi/Hdmi giving you the opportunity to have one cable for both audio and video. An HTPC builder's dream, but sadly my nightmare. The original sales blurb made it seem that in the 2400 range only the XT cards offer this function, but this is not true, all pci-e (and some agp) 2400s offer it. so:

The 'Facts':

1. All HD2400 pci-e cards offer audio/video over hdmi.
2. This function requires the ATi proprietary dvi-hdmi dongle.
3. The Ati driver doesn't support sound. The (Vista) standard driver only supports 2ch. The Realtek Ati driver (R1.68 at writing - link at bottom) supports 5.1ch (compressed)
4. (hd2400 will not support the dvi-hdmi dongle if you use the vga port at the same time)

Firstly, I found no difference between the Sapphire 2400pro and the gigabyte 2400XT in their refusal to work correctly. So you can assume that everything that follows applies equally to both. With the rig set up I get the following errors:

Pretty much says it all really. That is with the Realtek drivers, notice that it states that the cable is not attached and for some reason my TV is 'incompatible'. For reference, when using the Vista driver I get the following:

Despite the assertion that 'everything is bon' it isn't. I can test the sound - the mixer bar shows a signal - the speakers claim to be testing left and right - but no sound is heard. At least the realtek driver sees the problem.

So, where does that leave us? Giga-byte tech support are only dimly aware of the card's existence, they are dealing with my support request which has now gone to email as the phone guys couldn't help. Sapphire don't have phone support, and their forum is full of people with the same problem, with no solution supplied by their techies. OcUK were hugely supportive (provided me with the Ati dongle when all hope seemed lost!) but cannot help. AVSForum is split between guys that have it working and those that don't, with no-one seeming to give the secret away

- so basically - it's porked and I CBa'ed to try anymore - for the sake of running a separate audio cable and enjoying proper sound via my soundcard I know what I'm going to do!

On a side note - as if to underline my disgust in these cards - I'll cover the saga of just trying to get video over HDMI.

Using my x1900 MC I install drivers. Plug in monitor (vga) and HDTV (dvi-hdmi). Boot up. It works.

(1080p on the TV and anything I like on the monitor - bargain!)

Using both hd2400s. I install drivers. Plug in both screens. Boot up. It recognises the LCD(vga) but denies all knowledge of anything attached to the dvi/hdmi. I use CCC to force it - it reverts to denial. I plug in Lcd(dvi) and lcd (vga) - works fine up to 1080p on both at the same time.??? I solved this by shutting down. Plugging in ONLY the HDTV via dvi-hdmi. Reboot with TV on. Once in windows (no picture) switch off TV. Switch on TV. Hurray - picture at last!

It seems that for some reason the 2400 series will not support use of the dvi-hdmi dongle and the vga d-sub at the same time, even though you can use the dvi and the vga simultaneously with monitors - weird - especially as this was easily done by my x1900 without any snags - the x1900 even recognised my TV as a Panasonic - nice!

My setup:
Opti 165 (Stock)
DFI NF4 sli-dr
2Gb Ram
Vista 32 Home Premium
HD2400 pro/xt (Sapphire/gigabyte)
Audigy 2
Seasonic 600W
Belinea 22" Lcd / Hyundai CRT / Panasonic Viera Plasma (TH-42PZ77u)

Links:
Realtek drivers - better to get it from softpedia or guru3d.
Ati Latest - using 8.1 (tried 7.11 and 7.12)
Dongle (ATi) - Note it says this is for replacement of lost/damaged ones only - begs the question how can they claim audio-over-hdmi if they don't supply the dongle, and won't sell it to you? - It can be bought from some of the big US e-tailors now though - but still - not as described/fit-for-purpose anyone?

cavemanoc · 31 Jan 2008 at 12:26

Saved for Future update

cavemanoc · 2 Feb 2008 at 11:02

I take it by the tumbleweed that no-one else here has managed to get audio-over-dvi/hdmi to work on their 2xxx cards then? Anyone else tried tech support from their supplier - If you send me your details I'll go direct to ATi and see if they can offer a solution as it doesn't seem to be a brand specific problem.

TheOtherOption · 2 Feb 2008 at 11:34

Yikes, problems alright!

I've managed to get the audio out working over my 2900 pro just fine - although it isn't a simple process to enable it - prolly takes a good 10 mins to get it correctly setup :/

cavemanoc · 2 Feb 2008 at 12:00

Thanks! Would you mind jotting down a quick list of what you did so I can check to see what I missed? What TV are you using? Does your 2900 recognise your TV (my x1900 does but the newer 2400s don't :rolleyes:

) What operating system/HD Audio driver are you using? Which Ati driver etc... Were you using onboard sound or an add in card - was there a cable to attach the GFX card to your sound source?

I've just fired off a Ticket to ATi direct querying both cards so here's hoping!

TheOtherOption · 2 Feb 2008 at 12:36

I can't recall exactly which tv model it is as I'm now at uni and I was trying this at home. However I know it is one of Panasonics 32" HD lcd's. I can remember having problems getting the 1366*768 resolution to be displayed correctly - ended up with 1360*768 or some such I think !?

I was using my current setup - so win xp home (32bit), the Ati driver I'm not 100% sure about - It was the unified AV stream T200 perhaps ?

I had to disable my Audigy 2zs and enable my IP35's onboard sound and there weren't any cables involved internally.

The 2900 did indeed recognise the Panny correctly although as mentioned the resolution didn't want to be set exactly.

Basically from I can recall the process was as follows:

Login and disable Audigy card
Reboot
Then go to Device Manager and enable 'ATI function driver for High Definition Audio - ATI AA01' - thats what I've got listed?
Then reboot
Then go to sound options and check that I can select the ATI HD audio as the output
Then I think I rebooted again just to make sure
Then when logging in the welcome sound plays through the TV speakers

That may or may not be the exact process but I think it covers all the main steps as I recall them.

The first time I tried it I had to go to ATIs site and download that ATI HD audio driver - I've not had to install any updated driver for my onboard iirc!

Hope thats of some help ?

cavemanoc · 2 Feb 2008 at 13:26

Perfect - thanks for that dude - will have a play and see if that sorts it - did the Audigy just stop you from getting any audio? What error message did you get? Do you know if you get 2ch or 5.1ch with those drivers? Didn't think to disable the Audigy - will give it a whirl.

londonbairn · 2 Feb 2008 at 13:30

I got it to work with my HD2600PRO, but I ended up using coaxial out instead from the mobo as it has a tendency to crackle every so often.

tomos · 2 Feb 2008 at 13:46

works fine on my 2400XT to my telly.

downloaded driver, installed, rebooted. choose playback device - sorted.

tutu · 2 Feb 2008 at 13:54

Does DVI and DVI->HDMI work at the same time? As that would be my configuration.

I remember reading something about the 2400 not accelerating HD content as it was not powerful enough or there was a driver bug. As the thread I was reading about 100 pages long I gave up.

Was those issues ever fixed?

cavemanoc · 2 Feb 2008 at 22:10

Neither of mine will do dvi and dvi>hdmi at the same time. I saw that thread as well, and only the 2600 and better accelerated in Vista - not sure if this has been fixed by drivers - but I doubt it.

cavemanoc · 2 Feb 2008 at 22:11

tomos said:
works fine on my 2400XT to my telly.

downloaded driver, installed, rebooted. choose playback device - sorted.

Are you using onboard sound or an add-in card like the creative ones? Which drivers are you using - which OS etc...?

tutu · 2 Feb 2008 at 23:06

I must also say I am quite dissapointed OcUK do not state which 2400/2600 definately includes a DVI->HDMI adaptor.

Rich · 3 Feb 2008 at 00:06

Audio over HDMI on my 2400XT works perfectly, out of the box. All i needed to do was ensure that the HDMI audio was taking preference over the built in sound card in whatever app I was using for music/video.
Tested and working at desktop, in Media Centre and also in VLC.

tomos · 3 Feb 2008 at 08:46

cavemanoc said:
Are you using onboard sound or an add-in card like the creative ones? Which drivers are you using - which OS etc...?

i never used audio on that pc prev. was never hooked upto speakers. it has built in audio (p5b del) but had sp/dif selected by default. installed the drivers about 2/3 months back from sapphire's site for audio, changed the default playback device to the hdmi one - i think a reboot was involved after this - and bingo. it just worked. no driver version sorry. just whatever was on sapphire's site.

i'm on vista 64 ultimate btw. only prob i had originally was that i was using a dvi-hdmi cable and that wouldnt work so had to buy a new hdmi-hdmi cable and use the included adapter.

cavemanoc · 3 Feb 2008 at 19:08

Right - glimmer of false hope there :rolleyes:

I removed the Creative Audigy hoping that the onboard sound would solve all my problems. Updated to the latest realtek drivers for the onboard ac97 controller and tried again. No joy - same errors :mad:

Once again I tried the MS drivers and the Realtek ones but couldn't get sound with either.

tomos said:
it has built in audio (p5b del) but had sp/dif selected by default. installed the drivers about 2/3 months back from sapphire's site for audio

I can't see any audio drivers on the Sapphire site - do you have a link to the ones you used? If you look in your audio properties through the control panel do you see the "Digital Output Device" or the "Realtek HDMI Output" that you can see in my 2 pics at the top of the Thread?

What do you mean by sp/dif selected? I do wonder if there isn't a setting somewhere to pass the sound from the audio device to the card that I'm missing?

Starting to wonder if the problem isn't with my TV not accepting the signal for some reason - what TVs are everyone using?

Is anyone else able to get a screen to work off the vga port while using the dvi-hdmi dongle? I still can't do this and it really annoys me - works beautifully with my x1900 - thinking the hd2400s simply don't have the oompf - odd as it will drive dvi and vga at the same time at 1080p each without the dongle :confused:

TBirdUK · 3 Feb 2008 at 19:48

Why dont you just send them back to OCUK? You brought 2 cards, neither do what they advertised - so in my opinion they are defective. Send them back and ask for a 3870 in exchange - seems like you have been in touch with their tech support from day 1 so the normal send back period should still be valid - gie them a call and see what they can do for you!

cavemanoc · 4 Feb 2008 at 11:29

I'm definitely getting to that stage - will wait and see what the Ati and Giga-byte support guys have to say. Such a shame really - the OcUK tech guys were really helpful, but it seems that the system is just too new to work properly - even guys that have been lucky and had it work out the box have struggled to get the full 5.1ch at decent quality

tomos · 4 Feb 2008 at 14:42

cavemanoc said:
I can't see any audio drivers on the Sapphire site - do you have a link to the ones you used?

i dont sorry. had a look but couldnt see it.

If you look in your audio properties through the control panel do you see the "Digital Output Device" or the "Realtek HDMI Output" that you can see in my 2 pics at the top of the Thread?

well, under playback devices in front of me now i have:

What do you mean by sp/dif selected? I do wonder if there isn't a setting somewhere to pass the sound from the audio device to the card that I'm missing?

nothing apart from that it was the only other playback device i had.

Starting to wonder if the problem isn't with my TV not accepting the signal for some reason - what TVs are everyone using?

a Mirai telly.

Is anyone else able to get a screen to work off the vga port while using the dvi-hdmi dongle? I still can't do this and it really annoys me - works beautifully with my x1900 - thinking the hd2400s simply don't have the oompf - odd as it will drive dvi and vga at the same time at 1080p each without the dongle

honestly havent tried.

cavemanoc · 4 Feb 2008 at 17:14

Thanks for that - looks like you're using the built in windows audio driver which is fine for 2ch audio, but won't give you the full 5.1ch - if you ever decide you need it you can get the Realtek driver from the link in my OP.

Mystery continues I guess - still not heard back from either company yet - will keep updating as news comes in