Problems with HDMI switching on older receiver (1 Viewer)

[GabeBillings]

I've got an aging 5.1 HT setup that I've been using for probably ten years or so. At this point I'm not super invested in an amazing setup; I just want something better than the TV speakers. It's been working fine for a long time, but it's slowly having more and more problems.

I've got an Onkyo TX-SR607. Really the only two inputs we use are a Comcast cable box and a Roku, both of which are hooked up via HDMI, then an HDMI out into the TV. In case it matters I've also got a Harmony remote & hub that turn everything on/off.

So when everything was working, a single button push on the remote would power the TV and receiver, switch to the right TV input, switch to the right receiver output, and everything would be fine. I will say that I feel like in years past there's always been a little lag before I'd see anything on the TV, but I thought that was normal.

We watch stuff via the Roku more than anything, so what happens now is that I'll hit the button for the Roku, everything will power up and be switched correctly, but there's a 'No Signal' message on the TV. This was where I was at in the previous comment, but maybe 10-20 seconds later the Roku would kick on.

Now it's either an incredible long wait, or not at all. I've had times where it sat on the 'No Signal' screen for a minute or two, then would suddenly kick on. I've had times where it's never changed.

For a long period of time where this would happen I could 'kick things loose' by switching over to Comcast, where I would almost immediately get a working signal. Then I'd just switch back to the Roku and that connection would come up.

If the switching back and forth worked reliably I'd just be annoyed but live with it. But even that isn't working 100% of the time any longer. We've also started to experience some odd sound issues. We've had a couple of times recently where part of the audio is missing. We tried to watch the latest SNL via Hulu on the Roku. When it started, the background noises of the audience were normal volume, but the actors were almost silent. For a bit we thought it was part of the sketch, as they were talking about the mute button at the latest debate. But it turns out it was something screwy with the system. Through some combination of fiddling and restarting things I got it to work correctly, but I'm not sure exactly what I did.

So that's where I'm at. I don't totally understand the whole HDMI handshake issue, but it seems like it might have something to do with that. I'd be willing to get a new receiver if I new 100% that it was causing the issue. But I'm at a loss. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[JohnRice]

Have you disconnected and reconnected all the hdmi cables and components? Sometimes you just need to refresh the connections. Aside from that, you might just have sub-par hdmi cables, and some new ones might be in order. You can get excellent hdmi cables for pretty cheap. Look for Monoprice 18Gb verified ones. Just a few $ each.