Pioneer Elite VSX21TXH - HDMI problem

dragon1952

So I turn on my HT system last night (see signature) and I am getting 'no input signal' on my TV from either of my HDMI sources. Both sources go HDMI into the Pioneer and then out to the TV. I plug the blu-ray directly into the TV via HDMI and everything is fine. So that leaves the receiver. I have done some Googling and I haven't found one instance of a VSX21TXH having an HDMI board die. Has anyone else?

disneyjoe7

Possible bad cable from AVR to TV? I had one die on me, nice cable too.

Drenis

Try a different cable. My VSX-23 works great but doesn't like bad cables. I have to replace a HDMI cable as there is static in that particular cable being used.

dragon1952

I'll try it but how does a cable go bad?

MADGSF

Yup get new cables. I was convinced my cables were fine as they were from a "good" manufacturer. I did the same things you did, connect directly to the TV from the BDP and it was fine. Connect it back to the Pioneer and it would work for a while then break.

I even went so far as to have Pioneer check the AVR and Panasonic replace the blue ray all with no fix. This went on for over a year, it would be fine for a while then it would cut out several times during a movie. I finally went to the store and got some Audioquest Cinamom HDMI cables and everything has been fine ever since.

dragon1952

Well crap....the problem is worse than I thought. I am getting no audio either. I tried my Squeezebox and nothing. The receiver looks like it is sensing the correct audio format no matter what input I select, but is not outputting any video (at least not through HDMI) and no audio through HDMI or from Squeezebox via digital coax in.

disneyjoe7

Perhaps you need to do a factory default on the receiver.

Drenis

Silly question maybe but are your speakers turned on? Did you maybe hit the "Speakers" button and turned off the Pioneer amps? Try tuning in a radio station.

maximillian

I have a Pioneer VSX-21TXH that I bought used from Assimilated. It's nice but basically does the same thing you describe. Sometimes I simply can't get any output to the TV via HDMI regardless of how much I turn the thing on and off or try to switch inputs. Sometimes one input will work and another one won't. It's quite intermittent. Fortunately, Assimilated has an extended warranty on it that is good for at least another year so I was waiting to see if it got any worse. I rearranged the cables recently and it seems to be working fine now. Perhaps its the cable and not the AVR. Interesting.

tonyb

Have the same receiver, never a problem.....so far anyway.

disneyjoe7

Just too let you know.... I love hdmi BJC and would use them in the future, but it was a 12' cable of that which died. It was the end where it was bent too many times at the tv end. And it would confuse the AVR when it lost the tv end.

dragon1952

Did the factory reset to no avail....still f*#$ed up. Pisses me off as I really liked the thing.

Drenis

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

Just too let you know.... I love hdmi BJC and would use them in the future, but it was a 12' cable of that which died. It was the end where it was bent too many times at the tv end. And it would confuse the AVR when it lost the tv end.

That's how I think I killed this current one. My TV stand is quite deep and the VSX-21/3 are deep suckered. I can fit mine completely in my stand so that it's flush with the front but the thick HDMI cables get a bit bent by the back support.

deronb1

My VSX-23 will say "no signal" now and then, but if I wait a few seconds, it seems to kick in.

disneyjoe7

Well you going to need to figure out what works and what doesn't. I would start with 2 cables you know that works to tv, then verify dvd player works with tv. Then add receiver, piece by piece add until something doesn't work.

dragon1952

Yeah dude, but since the HDMI problem I have discovered audio doesn't work either via digital coax or tuner section, so I'm assuming all audio/video functions don't work.

disneyjoe7

Do you have any amp you could add to the pre amp outputs to see if that works?

tonyb

Maybe pop the top and see if a fuse is blown ? Sometimes it can be that simple. I paid 300 for mine but knowing if something major went wrong it was going to be a throw away. It hurts even more when a 2-3g receiver bites the dust, which is why I won't buy them anymore.
Sucks that it happened, but stuff breaks, thats just the way it is these days. Cheaper build quality, better bottom lines. In your other thread you mentioned your looking to spend 5 bones on another receiver. You'll have to go used again for something decent, a few nice ones graced the FM awhile back. I don't see a big difference in brands within that price range for build quality. Your pretty much rolling dice again.

dragon1952

I popped the top and the fuses that are visible are fine and look like they are just associated with the display. I don't see what good it would be testing it further to see what might work. What I need to be working isn't so what difference does it make.

maximillian

Did you try a new cable yet? Maybe a cheap-o one just to see if it will work?

dragon1952

:rolleyes: somebody shoot me, please...seriously, thanks for the effort guys. I really do appreciate the reply's.

disneyjoe7

Not sure if it could help, but worth a shot leave it unplugged for a while. Then plug it in....

mantis

HDMI is the **** child of our industry , it's the single worse thing to ever happen.

The vsx21 is a solid receiver that I have had no issues with and I've installed hundreds. I'm wondering if you took a surge , HDMI is the first thing to go when voltage becomes irregular. If you don't have a good quality surge protector on all your gear I strongly suggest getting one. I've seen it in the field to many times , people want to save money on their systems and cheap out on surge protection then get a surge and lose all their HDMI sources including the TV. The Receivers always take the worse of it.
You can take it in to get repaired as I read your other thread on getting a new receiver. That is a option but it might be worth getting the 21 fixed especially considering the budget you have.

tonyb

Good point Dan, maybe he did take a surge. HDMI will be the first to go, and I speak from experience on that.

disneyjoe7

Sorry too derail here, but this surge thing as me thinking... I use a power meter surge thing from the power company, but looking to remove this down the road. I would have this replaced with a serious panel electric surge protector, is this a good step or not. I haven't have a surge problem in 7 years and don't wish to have one.

shawn474

I had the exact same thing happen to me and was convinced that my AVR was fubar'ed. I have a 20' HDMI cable run from tv to avr. I found out that it was a bad cable; there was no video or audio and "no input" signal just as you describe. You wouldn't necessarily have audio through digital or coax as you would have to go though the internal menu to switch the default off of HDMI? Or am i missing something? I would definitely try the cable as others have mentioned before you hit the panic button.

dragon1952

shawn474 wrote: »

I had the exact same thing happen to me and was convinced that my AVR was fubar'ed. I have a 20' HDMI cable run from tv to avr. I found out that it was a bad cable; there was no video or audio and "no input" signal just as you describe. You wouldn't necessarily have audio through digital or coax as you would have to go though the internal menu to switch the default off of HDMI? Or am i missing something? I would definitely try the cable as others have mentioned before you hit the panic button.

I didn't switch to a digital coax to test. This was an entirely different source (Squeezebox) that has always been connected via coax. I also tried the tuner and no sound at all....not even static.
I did try a couple different HDMI cables for the video problem....even tried component video out and still no video. I haven't tried component video in and out yet though or analog audio in and out. If it were just the HDMI board though it wouldn't also affect my digital audio. As for surge, I know it's still possible but I have taken some precautions. This particular outlet on a dedicated 20amp circuit, whole house surge protectors and also have a CyberPower 890 strip. These aren't the most expensive but they aren't exactly cheapies either (I don't think).

Also, as for the digital audio, the receiver detects this signal but doesn't output any sound. When I switch to this input the display goes to PCM Direct and when I switch to the blu-ray player the display switches to Stereo (which is weird because that one is connected via HDMI).

tonyb

Could it be a possability that some little fingers where involved with pushing a bunch of buttons on the remote and **** up all the settings ? Hmmm...a hard reset should have taken care of that, which I guess you already did. Sounds like the pre amp stage is shot if you can't get any sound from any input, or the internal amps gave up the ghost by blowing an internal fuse. Either way, maybe worth a trip to the repair shop for at least an estimate. Then you have something to weigh against in your decision.

dragon1952

Unfortunately the nearest service center is a 6 hr round trip.

disneyjoe7

Perhaps you could ship it to them, for an estimate?

dragon1952

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

Perhaps you could ship it to them, for an estimate?

That's why I was thinking it would be cheaper or close to the same price to just replace it. Shipping 2 ways plus repair would likely be at least $350 if not more.
Anyway it's now a mute point because it doesn't look like it's the AVR (or not totally anyway). It looks like it was the HDMI 1 input on the TV. Here's what has transpired since last night.
I had the AVR in my 2 channel room last night to pop the hood. Today I decided to hook it up to the 2 channel system and voila...both digital coaxes IN worked as well as the one analog IN I tried (sounded pretty good too!)
I take the AVR back in and hook it up to the HT system, connect all cables and try the Squeezebox Touch on both digital coax IN's as well as the same analog IN and none of them work. I then pulled off all un-needed cables so I had everything exactly like it was in my 2 channel room.....still nothing. So the only thing different than in the 2 channel room was the power cord, which wouldn't make sense because the display was working and the AVR was powering on and off. So I bring the other power cord in, fire it up and all the audio works! So I start connecting all the other sources and when I plug my 2 HDMI sources in I'm getting audio! So I connect the HDMI out from the AVR to HDMI 1 on the TV and the audio quits. Unplug it and the audio comes back. I then plugged it in to HDMI 2 on the TV, but it didn't work with audio or video until I powered off the AVR and unplugged the power cord and then re-powered it up. tried the same sequence back to HDMI 1 and nothing....no audio or video.
So what seems to be happening is that the AVR and HDMI 1 on the TV don't like each other any more (at one point I saw an HDCP error flashing on the AVR display). What appears to happen is that when they are plugged into each other it hangs everything up (both audio and video) until a full power clear, including pulling the power cable (I have the original PC back on now).
What's funny is that I had both of my HDMI sources plugged directly into the TV last night, one into HDMI 1 and the other into HDMI 2, and they both worked. But after I figured all of this out today, I plugged the BDP directly into HDMI 1 and it didn't work...so I'm not sure WTF is going on other than everything works from the AVR into HDMI 2 right now so eff it :rolleyes: