I've been messily bodging my HD-FOX T2 of late because I wanted the best possible 576i digital output from it. I was always annoyed that it dropped HDMI sync briefly when changing channels, and also that it trashed information below 0 IRE and above 100 IRE. The Foxsat HD did neither of these things, and so it seemed they were probably both caused by the additional 1080p capability that the T2 has. So I tried bypassing the 2 ICs that implement that feature, and that's fixed both of my issues. I've ended up with dodgy mod shown in the pictures below, which also happens to disable content protection in my case.
The new HDMI output is soldered to the VIAs coming from the BCM7405 SOC. Not shown is the cutting of the same TMDS paths underneath, before they reach the TDA19977 receiver. The blu-tack should be epoxy or something of course.
The one additional wire to the new port is just the ground. I've not bothered with the +5V pin. Your display may or may not need it. Same goes for the DDC lines that I've left unconnected.
An internal SSD addition is also showing - just ignore that.
The hot plug detect of the original HDMI socket is wired to +5V (no audio is present unless this is done)
The HDMI receiver's DDC port is currently disconnected by removing the 22 ohm resistors on pins 99 and 100, but I suspect this is unnecessary.
I was surprised that content protection was disabled in my case. I'm imagining it's because there's still a successful authorisation occuring with the TDA9985 transmitter. Or something. Or maybe it was somehow always disabled in the BCM7405 anyway. Perhaps it comes back on for output formats higher that 576i.
I've used a long length of self-amalgamating tape to wrap round the power cable and HDMI cable where they exit - to protect them from the metal of the case and to act as a tight grip once the case is screwed back on. Take extraordinary care with this of course. What I've done is still not safe. Using other types of tape would be worse still.
Please don't try this mod unless you've some experience and are happy to end up with a dead box by accident.
Otherwise, I can try to provide any help if needed.
In my case the new HDMI output is going to a Blackmagic SDI converter, and from there to an original TiVo that I've bodged to be SDI in and out.
Thanks for all the invaluable help and resources from this forum over the years.
Graham
The new HDMI output is soldered to the VIAs coming from the BCM7405 SOC. Not shown is the cutting of the same TMDS paths underneath, before they reach the TDA19977 receiver. The blu-tack should be epoxy or something of course.
The one additional wire to the new port is just the ground. I've not bothered with the +5V pin. Your display may or may not need it. Same goes for the DDC lines that I've left unconnected.
An internal SSD addition is also showing - just ignore that.
The hot plug detect of the original HDMI socket is wired to +5V (no audio is present unless this is done)
The HDMI receiver's DDC port is currently disconnected by removing the 22 ohm resistors on pins 99 and 100, but I suspect this is unnecessary.
I was surprised that content protection was disabled in my case. I'm imagining it's because there's still a successful authorisation occuring with the TDA9985 transmitter. Or something. Or maybe it was somehow always disabled in the BCM7405 anyway. Perhaps it comes back on for output formats higher that 576i.
I've used a long length of self-amalgamating tape to wrap round the power cable and HDMI cable where they exit - to protect them from the metal of the case and to act as a tight grip once the case is screwed back on. Take extraordinary care with this of course. What I've done is still not safe. Using other types of tape would be worse still.
Please don't try this mod unless you've some experience and are happy to end up with a dead box by accident.
Otherwise, I can try to provide any help if needed.
In my case the new HDMI output is going to a Blackmagic SDI converter, and from there to an original TiVo that I've bodged to be SDI in and out.
Thanks for all the invaluable help and resources from this forum over the years.
Graham
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