Ender519's profile

Mentor

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51 Messages

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 3:07 AM

Confirmed: vip2250 fixes surround sound audio dropouts!

I had a vip1225 hooked up via HDMI to an Onkyo receiver (HT-S8400 to be specific) and I had problems with audio dropouts on surround.  Every few seconds, for a fraction of a second, the audio would drop.  It drove me nuts and I tried everything to fix it.. I tried different (new) HDMI cables, and even a different home theater system!   In the end, I had to keep it on stereo.

 

I went over and over this with UVerse support.  They kept wanting to send me to the paid support line for help configuring my home theater system and out of four techs I spoke to, none ackowledged hearing anything about audio dropouts over HDMI with surround.  In fact, they kept insisting that I plug the HDMI straight to the TV and I kept having to explain my TV is a stereo device, not a surround device so it's not a good test.  They also immediately started jumping on the bandwagen saying surround sound is out of scope.  I saw a couple of posts about the vip2250 fixing this issue but none of the techs would entertain that idea.

 

Finally I pled my case to a very nice agent in billing who had to go WAY out of her way to get me a vip2250.  Hooked it up and sure enough all audio dropout problems are resolved!

Expert

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24.3K Messages

12 years ago

Cannot win. Smiley Sad

Scholar

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122 Messages

12 years ago

I'm wracking my brain as to what it could be... lemme find a wall Robot Frustrated

 

this is off topic..

Do you think the SOC could have a design problem?  Have you opened one up to test for cold solder points?

 

or does AT&T need to release a software patch?? or is it electromagnetic interference (the Sun)?!

 

On topic

Congratulations to those people who's audio is now rendered beautifully!

Mentor

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51 Messages

12 years ago

I've heard the same thing about reboots, but have never experienced it.  My vip2250 has never rebooted and works pretty well.  I do note that it runs hotter than the vip1225, though it's not too hot to leave your palm on the top of the unit - before Uverse days I had Dish Network and you could've literally cooked food on top of their DVR it ran so hot!

 

I'd be interested to know if the people experiencing random reboots have the DVR in an enclosed space like behind glass in an entertainment system - maybe it's overheating?  Mine sits in an open air TV stand with several inches of space on top and to each side, and no problems so far!

 

As to the sound fix, the majority of people here have Onkyo, but we did have one report of another person with non-Onkyo who this worked for.  I'm looking for another few non-Onkyo receivers.

 

As to whether support will replace these DVR's en masse, I'm guessing no since they currently do not even admit the HDMI surround sound is a problem.  Their support shows a profound lack of understanding as to how the surround sound works (i.e. repeated attempts at getting me to run it through my TV for surround when it's a stereo device, or switch to component video and optical stereo), and it is clear that at present, they do not provide support for any sound problems when you run it through a receiver.  They keep trying to get you to use their paid general support which by the way would have NO hope of fixing your issue, they would just call it a receiver issue and move on!

 

I think the only people right now who will benefit from this are the few people who manage to get to this forum or if they are lucky enough to type the right keywords into google.  I'd love AT&T to at least acknowledge the problem but it sure won't be on my account - we need someone more linked in to higher brass at AT&T.  Also, I doubt they will want to incur the expense of replacing DVR's like this.  I think I got lucky because I was on U450 and so had some latitude.  If you have U200 or U300 I don't know if they would be so willing to replace the DVR.

 

For now, if you are looking for a fix, go to support first.  When they inevitably turn you down or fight you on this, have them notate on your account that you tried everything and couldn't get it working, and then approach billing.

Expert

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14.5K Messages

12 years ago

I also have a Motorola VIP 2250 connected by HDMI cable, and I have not experienced any random reboots.  My DVR is also well ventilated.

Scholar

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122 Messages

12 years ago

Yeah, my second is now in a huge gaping void.

Scholar

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122 Messages

12 years ago

Hi Ender519, you can put the food you'd like to roast or slow cook under the bottom of the VIP2250. Robot LOL

 

If I think it's necessary, I'll add tags to postings

Teacher

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15 Messages

12 years ago

Thanks to all of you my audio HDMI dropout problem is gone. I just got the Motorola VIP2250 after jumping through some hoops to get it and WOW what a difference. No more HDMI audio dropouts and the 5.1 Dolby Digital is awesome. There is also a 500 GB hard drive instead of the 160 GB in the VIP1216 that I had before. I am using a Marantz AV8003 processor. I had borrowed a Cary Audio Cinema 12 from a friend of mine and had HDMI stutter and audio drop outs with it also when I was using a Motorola VIP 1200. There is also a Motorola VIP2200 (without DVR) but I was told by Tier 2 that they do not have it yet. I suspect that the VIP 2200 will also correct the HDMI dropout problem.

 

My previous work around had been to use the toslink digital output from my Motorola VIP1216 to my Marantz AV8003 as that did not have any audio dropouts but my preference was to use HDMI audio to my Marantz processor and now I can. Thanks again to all of you.

Contributor

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1 Message

12 years ago

I have vip2250 connected to Plasma Panasonic TV via Onkyo TX-SR674 using HDMI cable.  My problem is that when I turn on my TV and audio receiver it takes 10mins before the sound and picture is displayed on the TV.  I am not sure how to troubleshoot this issue.  On vip2250 green light, yellow light and blue light are ON from the beginning which indicates that everything is normal on the receiver.  I was wondering if it has to do with some sort of HDMI handshaking between the devices.  I appreciate any help or comments on this issue.  Thanks.

Expert

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10.1K Messages

12 years ago

go4gusto - 10 minutes is certainly ridiculous.
You can try connecting directly to the TV. You have two HDMI cables. Try both to see if one is a problem. You can try analog connection between the STB and the receiver.

Contributor

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3 Messages

12 years ago

I installed the VIP 2250 Thursday night, took about an hour, the box could not connect to the Uverse system for some reason. Eventually, once I was online with tech support, it worked. Have been having the same rebooting problem every day since then. The box is in an enclosed area, but has all the suggested clearances that were in the instructions. This is my fourth box in less than a year, so I was glad to get the upgrade without having to pay more. It is hooked via HDMI, Can't believe it is overheating, since we only watch it for 4-5 hours a day, and it arbitrairily picks a rebooting time, not necessarily at the longest period of usage. Is this possibly a softwre glitch that might be resolved in the near future? Otherwise, very pleased.

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