Box crashed, HDMI switch killed

smoo

Member
Do you think it was the HDMI switch failing that caused my Hummy to crash a couple of times, or did the Hummy kill the switch?
I guess if the Hummy crashes again without the switch I'll know.
 
I tried using an HDMI switch to see if it would reduce the number of sound dropouts on my LG TV but there were so many problems that I quickly gave up
 
It was a cheap manual 2 into 1 switch, didn't think much could go wrong with it :) Worked OK for 3 months.
Still waiting to see if the hummy crashes again, so far so good.
 
I know little, ok nothing:confused:, about hdmi so I was wondering how a problem with hdmi could affect the Hummy.
The Hummy did lock up (picture froze but sound ok) tonight, but at least it didn't do a factory reset this time. I've started using Sysmon and I can see it occurred at the time the HDD reached a maximum temp of 56C. Perhaps it needs a good clean out, it's at least 7 years old and never been opened.
 
You should install the CF and fan package, if you set to the fan to run at about 60% it wont overheat,
By default the fan doesn't turn on until the temp reaches 55
 
Opened the Hummy, hardly any dust in the fan or anywhere else. So read through the guide and did a database and CF reset. Which was good fun because I had forgotten how to set up network shares, but all sorted.
No crashes since then. When I think about it I did do some package updates the night before it crashed.
Still don't know why the hdmi switch died though, maybe a voltage spike when the Hummy crashed.
 
And 3+2 = 17 as well.
The switch consists of one chip for switching hdmi and a 3.3V regulator to supply the chip from the 5V on the hdmi. There's a push button to select which input the chip outputs. If I ever get round to it maybe it'll be interesting to see which is dead, but don't hold your breath :rolleyes:
 
I tried using an HDMI switch to see if it would reduce the number of sound dropouts on my LG TV but there were so many problems that I quickly gave up
My new switch caused sparkles and crackling sound, but changing the cables fixed it. Strangely it was a gold plated cable that was the problem.
 
Gold plating is just a pointless con. It achieves nothing.
Gold plating is worthwhile on connector pins, preventing surface oxidation from creating an insulating layer and a poor contact (I'm sure you know that). The OP didn't say where the plating is.

My new switch caused sparkles and crackling sound, but changing the cables fixed it.
So it wasn't the switch causing the crackles then.
 
In any case, the real problem is that you don't have these fitted:
I really hope you were taking the p. Otherwise my knowledge of electrical and electronic engineering has deserted me. £25 for a fuse! And all those great reviews that seem to trigger my bs detector. Nothing beats those nails used in the old fuseboxes. ;) Send for the fire engine now! :roflmao:
 
Old switch no crackles, new switch with same cable setup crackled.
And yet swapping out the cable cured the problem. I say that the old switch didn't happen to crackle with the same cable is just coincidence (maybe your swapping broke the cable).

The cost of a thin plating of gold on contact areas is so small you might as well have it. I'm not the sceptic about that prpr seems to be, I've seen too much field deployment. The issue I have with snake-oil HDMI cables is when they are advertised as guaranteeing a better picture (how, exactly, when the delivery is digital and it either gets there intact or it doesn't?). A better quality cable will enable the same delivery over longer cables (when a poor cable might deliver nothing at all), reduced emissions, and gold plated contacts ensure less (or no) periodic reseating to make it work (as long as both plug and socket are plated). At 1m, practically anything will work fine (as long as you ensure the HDMI leakage doesn't obliterate the UHF signal).
 
Did some googling, sparkles are due to high impedance in the cable which reduces the strength of the digital signal to such an extent the receiver can't tell a 0 from a 1. There's no error correction so the effects are seen on the screen straight away.
Just search for HDMI error correction.
 
Did some googling, sparkles are due to high impedance in the cable which reduces the strength of the digital signal to such an extent the receiver can't tell a 0 from a 1. There's no error correction so the effects are seen on the screen straight away.
That's overly simplistic.
 
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