Hk 254 + xbox 360 + hdmi = no pic/sound?

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Just got a Harman Kardon 254 and am hooking up an XBOX 360 using HDMI and i can't get a picture or anything? Tried each of the HDMI inputs and nothing? I got the latest firmware upgrade on the 254 97.2.2. Anybody know what I am doing wrong IF anything? Could it be that the HDMI cable is not 1.3 ? Its the one that came with the XBOX 360.

[ZIPPO]

Do you have a component or composite cable? Toslink? If so give those a try. Also try bypassing the receiver. Connect the X-box to the TV using HDMI & to the receiver using toslink.

[D1-2005]

Does it work directly hooked to the tv? And you do have a cable running out from the receiver, to the tv and then from the xbox to the receiver right? I only ask because you only mentioned one cable that came with the 360, and you need two.

[dvs1270]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1053202 too long for me to read, but maybe it's there.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

Do you have a component or composite cable? Toslink? If so give those a try. Also try bypassing the receiver. Connect the X-box to the TV using HDMI & to the receiver using toslink.

toslink? sorry whats that? And yes i got both component and composite but would rather use HDMI. I just hooked it back up to the TV directly and am gonna use an optical sound cable for the sound. So far I don't like the up-conversion the 254 is doing. making everything dark and not as clear as it was. Did the same thing for the HD cable box except used a coaxial sound cable for the sound.

Any thoughts on this?

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by D1-2005

Does it work directly hooked to the tv? And you do have a cable running out from the receiver, to the tv and then from the xbox to the receiver right? I only ask because you only mentioned one cable that came with the 360, and you need two.

yeah i had 2 HDMI's hooked up. one from the xbox to the 254 and then from the 254 to the TV.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by dvs1270

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1053202 too long for me to read, but maybe it's there.

Thanks and yeah i looked there too. It says something once i found but it had to do with an non-upgraded firmware problem with the 254. Mine has the latest firmware ( 97.2.2 ).

And YES...definitely too long to read !

[Steve]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

toslink? sorry whats that? And yes i got both component and composite but would rather use HDMI. I just hooked it back up to the TV directly and am gonna use an optical sound cable for the sound. So far I don't like the up-conversion the 254 is doing. making everything dark and not as clear as it was. Did the same thing for the HD cable box except used a coaxial sound cable for the sound.

Any thoughts on this?

Toslink is a fiber optic cable used for digital audio.

Can I take this post to mean that you finally got a picture with the HDMI cable hooked up? If that's the case, is your Xbox 360 set for a 1080p display?

It also shouldn't matter if your HDMI cable is officially rated for 1.3 or not.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by Steve

Toslink is a fiber optic cable used for digital audio.

Can I take this post to mean that you finally got a picture with the HDMI cable hooked up? If that's the case, is your Xbox 360 set for a 1080p display?

It also shouldn't matter if your HDMI cable is officially rated for 1.3 or not.

No. no picture yet with HDMI. i just plugged it in to the TV and will use it like that. i read on the net that other people have the same problem and unfortunately NOBODY knows how to fix it. I will try the composite cables tomorrow or something and see if they work...probably will but i don't have the time or patience anymore today. Took me an hour to figure out why the 254 was decoding DTS HD Master Audio earlier. Got that to work finally. any other helpful hints with this 254 would be nice cause I am not that happy with it right now. Its turning into a surround sound for the blu ray ONLY !

[Steve]

Do the HDMI inputs on your receiver work with your other components (blu-ray player, PS3, etc.)? If so have you tried swapping the HDMI cables around to see if the Xbox 360 works with any of the other cables, or if the blu-ray player works with the 360 HDMI cable?

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by Steve

Do the HDMI inputs on your receiver work with your other components (blu-ray player, PS3, etc.)? If so have you tried swapping the HDMI cables around to see if the Xbox 360 works with any of the other cables, or if the blu-ray player works with the 360 HDMI cable?

Swapping the cables NO i didn't. And yes i did switch to HDMI 1, 2 and 3 inputs and the blu ray player works fine on all 3. About the ONLY thing that is working right. I asked earlier here if anybody thought that it could be the cable not being a 1.3 cause its the OEM that came with the XBOX 360 and i don't know what version cable it is. i will have to try that but not gonna happen today anymore. And i got 3 new HDMI 1.3 cables on the way in the mail.

Anybody know why my HDTV cable box when hooked up to this monstrosity look like total CRAP ? It turns my hi-def channels into junk. Its really dark and like the writing on the screen ( bottomline on espn, etc. ) is blurry. Itried the HK 254 color controls and i can't get a good clear crisp picture with it. Adjusted the HDTV color, etc. too. When i unhook it from the receiver and back into the HDTV it is fine? It's not an HDMI cable box it's composite (blue, green, red). I tried downgrading the upscaling from 1080p to 720p ( which is what HDTV broadcasts in anyways ) and still crap. I ain't a freakin noob with this stuff but the 254 is making me feel like one.

[Steve]

It's unfortunate, but I'm starting to wonder if you've got a faulty receiver.

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

Swapping the cables NO i didn't. And yes i did switch to HDMI 1, 2 and 3 inputs and the blu ray player works fine on all 3. About the ONLY thing that is working right. I asked earlier here if anybody thought that it could be the cable not being a 1.3 cause its the OEM that came with the XBOX 360 and i don't know what version cable it is. i will have to try that but not gonna happen today anymore. And i got 3 new HDMI 1.3 cables on the way in the mail.

Anybody know why my HDTV cable box when hooked up to this monstrosity look like total CRAP ? It turns my hi-def channels into junk. Its really dark and like the writing on the screen ( bottomline on espn, etc. ) is blurry. Itried the HK 254 color controls and i can't get a good clear crisp picture with it. Adjusted the HDTV color, etc. too. When i unhook it from the receiver and back into the HDTV it is fine? It's not an HDMI cable box it's composite (blue, green, red). I tried downgrading the upscaling from 1080p to 720p ( which is what HDTV broadcasts in anyways ) and still crap. I ain't a freakin noob with this stuff but the 254 is making me feel like one.

HDMI ,HDMI upconversion & video upscaling are overrated. If I had two HDMI devices not handshaking right, I'd just use component( blue, green, red ) & toslink( aka digital optical cable ). If you still aren't happy with component through the receiver, then I'd suggest connecting video to the TV & audio to the receiver( letting the receiver do what it does best, audio. ). I know it's a hassle, but it's a solution.

Have you tried turning the receiver video processing off( pass-thru mode )? You'll probably have to do this for each input( Cable box, xbox, etc... ).

Before giving up on this receiver, unplug everything & do a factory reset. Then follow the manual verbatim, step by step( I've heard the HK's aren't plug & play receivers. ). When you get to the video options, make sure you turn off upconversion, upscaling & set for pass-thru only.

I personally don't let my receivers do video processing just pass-thru video switching. I've tried video processing with Denon, Marantz & SONY receivers, I just wasn't pleased with the results. Every time the TV would handle it better than the receiver( even the Vizio ).

[red-blu]

For mine, I have the 'Video Mode' set to off... but even when I do have it on, it doesn't seem to destroy the picture as much as you've described. But just wondering, what is your final output resolution to your TV? I tried using my receiver with something less than 1080i/p and only the cable/dish worked (I couldn't get a picture from my 360 either). And what do you have your 360 outputting?

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by red-blu

For mine, I have the 'Video Mode' set to off... but even when I do have it on, it doesn't seem to destroy the picture as much as you've described. But just wondering, what is your final output resolution to your TV? I tried using my receiver with something less than 1080i/p and only the cable/dish worked (I couldn't get a picture from my 360 either). And what do you have your 360 outputting?

Video Mode OFF? where do i do that? And yes i did try downgrading the resolutions on the 360 and the cable box and still looked like junk? The 360 is outputting 1080p with the HDMI. It works and looks great going straight to the TV.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

HDMI ,HDMI upconversion & video upscaling are overrated. If I had two HDMI devices not handshaking right, I'd just use component( blue, green, red ) & toslink( aka digital optical cable ). If you still aren't happy with component through the receiver, then I'd suggest connecting video to the TV & audio to the receiver( letting the receiver do what it does best, audio. ). I know it's a hassle, but it's a solution.

Have you tried turning the receiver video processing off( pass-thru mode )? You'll probably have to do this for each input( Cable box, xbox, etc... ).

Before giving up on this receiver, unplug everything & do a factory reset. Then follow the manual verbatim, step by step( I've heard the HK's aren't plug & play receivers. ). When you get to the video options, make sure you turn off upconversion, upscaling & set for pass-thru only.

I personally don't let my receivers do video processing just pass-thru video switching. I've tried video processing with Denon, Marantz & SONY receivers, I just wasn't pleased with the results. Every time the TV would handle it better than the receiver( even the Vizio ).

Do you have any idea how i turn on the pass through mode? cause i don't see it. that is what i been hoping to do all along. i am not a fan of upscaling whatsoever. Always sounded to me like a marketing pitch but the xbox 360 using the HDMI cable makes regular DVD's look fantastic. so i dunno.

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

Do you have any idea how i turn on the pass through mode? cause i don't see it. that is what i been hoping to do all along. i am not a fan of upscaling whatsoever. Always sounded to me like a marketing pitch but the xbox 360 using the HDMI cable makes regular DVD's look fantastic. so i dunno.

http://www.harmankardon.com/resource...s%20Manual.pdf


Processor Reset
There may be instances when you wish to fully reset the AVR 254 to its
factory defaults,or the unit may behave erratically after a power surge.
To correct erratic behavior,first try turning the Master Power Switch off
and unplugging the AC power cord for at least three minutes.Plug
the cord back in and turn the receiver back on.If this doesn’t help,
try a system reset.

NOTES:
• A system reset erases all user configurations,including video
resolution,speaker and level settings,and tuner presets.After
a reset,you will need to reenter all of these set

To reset the AVR 254,place the receiver in Standby mode (press the
front-panel Standby/On Switch so that the Power Indicator turns amber).
Then press and hold the front-panel OK Button for at least five seconds
until the RESET message appears in the display.

Video Mode:The default setting of Processor Off passes the video
signal through to the display without any processing.

Access these settings from the Video Modes menu.
Press the Video Modes Button on the front panel or remote,and the
screen shown in Figure 66 will appear.The menu may also be accessed
from the Setup Source menu by pressing the Info Settings Button and
selecting the Video Modes line.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

http://www.harmankardon.com/resource...s%20Manual.pdf


Processor Reset
There may be instances when you wish to fully reset the AVR 254 to its
factory defaults,or the unit may behave erratically after a power surge.
To correct erratic behavior,first try turning the Master Power Switch off
and unplugging the AC power cord for at least three minutes.Plug
the cord back in and turn the receiver back on.If this doesn’t help,
try a system reset.

NOTES:
• A system reset erases all user configurations,including video
resolution,speaker and level settings,and tuner presets.After
a reset,you will need to reenter all of these set

To reset the AVR 254,place the receiver in Standby mode (press the
front-panel Standby/On Switch so that the Power Indicator turns amber).
Then press and hold the front-panel OK Button for at least five seconds
until the RESET message appears in the display.

Video Mode:The default setting of Processor Off passes the video
signal through to the display without any processing.

Access these settings from the Video Modes menu.
Press the Video Modes Button on the front panel or remote,and the
screen shown in Figure 66 will appear.The menu may also be accessed
from the Setup Source menu by pressing the Info Settings Button and
selecting the Video Modes line.

First of all. "zippo" you are the man ! I really appreciate your help and looking for this info. I can't thank you enough !

Now i did get the manual online already and one came with the receiver as well. I did find the pass through option and now the bluray looks better than it did ( with MY settings on the TV. sweet ! ) It was NOT defaulted to pass through mode and i knew where it was but it was NOT letting me choose it. I had to hit the OK button on the remote to get to it. I couldnt choose it from the display formats that are preprogrammed ( nature, sports, movie, etc. ).

As for the xbox 360 i got that to work as well. I got the new HDMI cables in the mail and MAYBE it was that the one i was using ( the OEM one that came with the 360 ) wasn't 1.3 . So i am good there now too.

Now one last question i think. My cable box. It is composite hookup ONLY. now i got the video going straight to the TV as well as the sound. And i got a digital optical sound cale, toslink, from the cable box to the receiver. Now on the HD channels most say they are broadcasted in 5.1 audio. The receiver is only allowing 2 channel audio? it won't even let me select 5 channel audio? I tried unhooking the audio red and white rca's from the box that go to the TV and nothing. same thing...only 2 channel audio. Any ideas?

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by chrishaney23

Now one last question i think. My cable box. It is composite hookup ONLY. now i got the video going straight to the TV as well as the sound. And i got a digital optical sound cale, toslink, from the cable box to the receiver. Now on the HD channels most say they are broadcasted in 5.1 audio. The receiver is only allowing 2 channel audio? it won't even let me select 5 channel audio? I tried unhooking the audio red and white rca's from the box that go to the TV and nothing. same thing...only 2 channel audio. Any ideas?

Does your cable box have an audio output option? If so, go into the cable box set-up menu & see if you can change that. Set it to Dolby Digital instead of PCM.

[NY Yankees 23 2]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

Does your cable box have an audio output option? If so, go into the cable box set-up menu & see if you can change that. Set it to Dolby Digital instead of PCM.

No it doesn't. i tried the setup in the cable box and it has crap for options. I have a feeling this a dead end subject here. I may have to call comcast bout this one.

10 MINUTES LATER I GOT IT. NOT SURE WHAT I DID BUT IT WORKED. I THINK I SELECTED THE RECEIVER TO AUTO-SELECT THE SOUND AND FOR WHATEVR REASON ALL THE LITTLE SPEAKERS ON THE RECEIVER'S DISPLAY ARE LIT UP. WHATEVER !