Grrr... incompetent local support

[Phane]

My local cable company was completely flaberghasted that I would want to run my DVR through my brand new Onkyo TX-SR705's HDMI switching. They said that it's impossible to do so, that you CANNOT switch HDMI. All HDMI devices MUST be connected straight to the TV. The fact that I wasn't getting a picture doing something as completely unheard of as using my HDMI switching audio receiver to actually switch an HDMI device was something that they couldn't be expected to support me with.

[milou6]

Originally Posted by Phane

My local cable company was completely flaberghasted that I would want to run my DVR through my brand new Onkyo TX-SR705's HDMI switching. They said that it's impossible to do so, that you CANNOT switch HDMI. All HDMI devices MUST be connected straight to the TV. The fact that I wasn't getting a picture doing something as completely unheard of as using my HDMI switching audio receiver to actually switch an HDMI device was something that they couldn't be expected to support me with.

That's pretty bad
There is so little training given by these companies -- they push new gadgets and tech on their customers and then have no idea how to support the people who try to use it. I had a guy tell me you can't get 1080 over component. I had a sales guy at BB tell my wife 4:3 and 16:9 are the same thing!
Sigh...

[SavagePotato]

The level ones at your cable company are most likely reading a script off a screen, after going through a 3 week training course which is just trying to memorize a few things and 99% being taught how they want you to speak to customers.

Quite simply, they are no more proficient than the people at the 7:11, they just have a script.

I've had all manner of fun with tech call-ins where another companies level one tech is on the phone. You should see how confused a Vonage rep gets about the concept of an Internet service that doesn't have a modem. (ie wireless.)

[Phane]

Originally Posted by SavagePotato

The level ones at your cable company are most likely reading a script off a screen, after going through a 3 week training course which is just trying to memorize a few things and 99% being taught how they want you to speak to customers.

Quite simply, they are no more proficient than the people at the 7:11, they just have a script.

I've had all manner of fun with tech call-ins where another companies level one tech is on the phone. You should see how confused a Vonage rep gets about the concept of an Internet service that doesn't have a modem. (ie wireless.)

Nah, this one wasn't a script. She didn't tell me to do anything, she just flat out told me what I was trying to do was impossible. She said she turned around and asked the people around her and they all agreed. ; ; This was tech support in a city of 100k people with nothing near us, so I doubt they have multi-tiered tech support.

After I had a night to sleep on it, I'm wondering if it might have something to do with DVI-D vs HDMI 1.3a? The DVR doesn't have HDMI out, it has DVI out and I'm using a DVI-HDMI cable. It works fine on the old HDMI 1.2 switch, but maybe something in HDMI 1.3's HDCP doesn't like DVI-D?

Regardless, I can only hope that the newer DVR's with HDMI out would resolve this issue.

[Slec]

This may sound silly, but did you turn the "HDMI Out" function on? The Onkyo's come with that setting off from the factory? Not sure why, but they do..

[Phane]

Originally Posted by Slec

This may sound silly, but did you turn the "HDMI Out" function on? The Onkyo's come with that setting off from the factory? Not sure why, but they do..

Yeah, my PS3 and Xbox 360 Elite are hooked up to it through HDMI (both work fine, audio and video) and my DVR was supposed to be the third device (video only, audio through toslink). The OSD works through HDMI and my Wii even works through the Component->HDMI features. I tested the HDMI port with my PS3 and the video came up almost right away, so it's not the port, either. The DVR also works through the same cable when connected straight to my TV's only HDMI port or through my old HDMI 1.2 switch.

When I turned off my DVR completely and turned it on, I got neither audio nor video. When I unplugged the HDMI connector from the receiver and into the back of the TV, I not only got video through the TV but suddenly started getting audio to my receiver through the toslink connection, so the DVR was evidentally waiting for something that my TV was giving it that my receiver wasn't.