HDMI Sound and Furrion TV

[sennister]

For rainy day entertainment I build a RetroPi. (RaspberryPi running emulators for NES, Atari and Sega games). I was shocked at how much the kids like these old game systems and they are a blast from the past for me. I also don't have to try and convert those old systems (which I still have) to hook up to a modern TV.

The odd thing is that when I set up everything the sound was working fine. This was through an HDMI cable to a computer monitor that has integrated speakers. Once everything was built I moved it out to the camper. I ran the same HDMI cable to the one of the unused HDMI ports on the back of the TV. Video works great but I am not getting any sound. I have tried moving it to another port but so far no luck and have gone through every menu item on the TV that I can find. I want to try another device with HDMI port to see if it works but that will mean grabbing an XBox or maybe try my laptop first. I could also take it into the house and plug it into a TV and try again.

Anyone have a thought on why the sound would work when setting it up on a monitor but now hooked up to a TV I am not getting anything.

[sennister]

Well I brought the Pi in the house and hooked it up with a different HDMI cable because I didn't want to fish the other one out and back in. Audio works just fine with the new cable. So I took it out to the camper. I hooked the same cable I used in the house to HDMI2 and same thing as the other cable. No sound.

I messed around with pretty much every setting I could find even doing a reset defaults. No luck. I will have to go out with another device to try that but not tonight. I suspect it will be the same.

[pconroy]

we love our retropi!

[DanNJanice]

Did you ever get this resolved?
I know on my Jensen TV the HDMI sound is VERY quiet. I have to turn it way up to hear it where we normally sit. If I am connected to a cable signal it can practically blast us out of the camper at the volume settings.
I have been reading a bit and this seems to be a problem with a lot of HDMI inputs to a TV.

[sennister]

Still no resolution. I have given up fiddling with the settings on the TV. I will likely treat it as a warranty item later in the season.

[DaveT]

Do you get sound in the TV from the "head" unit included in the camper via HDMI only?

Also, it there is an HDMI 3 input, try that. I see in the Furrion manual: "HDMI’s ARC (Audio Return Channel) feature enables the audio signal of the TV to be sent to the ARC compatible audio receiver via HDMI 1.4 cable that is multi-directional connected at HDMI 3 port."

[sennister]

Originally Posted by DaveT

Do you get sound in the TV from the "head" unit included in the camper via HDMI only?

Also, it there is an HDMI 3 input, try that. I see in the Furrion manual: "HDMI’s ARC (Audio Return Channel) feature enables the audio signal of the TV to be sent to the ARC compatible audio receiver via HDMI 1.4 cable that is multi-directional connected at HDMI 3 port."

Let me see if I understood what you were asking and what I see.

The TV is a Furrion 32" if that helps.

There are 4 wires going to the TV.

1. Power
2. Antenna
3. HDMI from the Furrion DVD/Stereo going into HDMI 1 port found at the bottom of the TV
4. HDMI from the RaspPi to HDMI 3 found on the side of the back

So far we have had pretty good weather and pretty much only have watched the news on the TV to get the next day's weather. I know we tested a DVD but I put one in to see how it works. With DVD inserted the TV auto powers on and goes to HDMI 1. Sound of the DVD plays from the speakers in the bedroom or outside and in the living area depending on outputs of the stereo. If I turn up the volume on the TV I do get sound of the DVD from the TV so it is playing audio from the HDMI 1 port between the DVD player and TV.

There are audio outputs on the TV but none of them go to the Stereo/DVD player so TV sound only comes from the TV. There is an Aux Audio channel on the Stereo but that goes to a port on the front of the unit. So I would have to plug in RCA wires from the back of the TV to the front of the stereo. I would rather just go from the RaspPi to the stereo when we are playing it which so far has been never.

One of the nice things is I have lots of blast damage to one of my ears from my time in the Army and recently went through operation number 5 trying to fix the damage. This means I get to save lots of money on not buying home theater setups as everything in my life is Mono. I used to sink way too much money in AV stuff in the house and car/truck. Also with the RaspPi I am using RetroPi and mainly the audio is far from stereo. Think emulation of Atari 2600, Super NES and Sega. Most of these systems predate anything stereo. So even crappy music from the Pi to the aux input would work. I was hoping for something more permanent where I don't have to run that wire when I want to use it. I have to extend the controllers anyhow so not that big of a deal in the end.

[sennister]

I was thinking about this overnight. I should try and plug the RaspPi into the HDMI 1 port where the DVD Player is now. Clearly I am getting sound across HDMI on that port. With the DVD player we would probably just use the camper speakers from the stereo anyhow.

[DaveT]

Originally Posted by sennister

I was thinking about this overnight. I should try and plug the RaspPi into the HDMI 1 port where the DVD Player is now. Clearly I am getting sound across HDMI on that port. With the DVD player we would probably just use the camper speakers from the stereo anyhow.

Yeah my theory was that potentially only HDMI 3 had audio "in" channel on the TV. I think my setup has audio cables from the DVD player to the TV in addition to HDMI but not sure.

I think I'd unplug the HDMI cable from the back of the DVD player and into the Pi. If the DVD player provided sound and the Pi does not, the PI seems to be the issue. Odd though.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by DaveT

Yeah my theory was that potentially only HDMI 3 had audio "in" channel on the TV. I think my setup has audio cables from the DVD player to the TV in addition to HDMI but not sure.

I think I'd unplug the HDMI cable from the back of the DVD player and into the Pi. If the DVD player provided sound and the Pi does not, the PI seems to be the issue. Odd though.

In order to plug the exact cable from the DVD to the TV would mean I have to pull the stereo. I have done it and not hard but it would be easier to just move where they plug into the TV.

When I first set it up (configuring and loading RetroPi on the RaspPi) I was using HDMI to a computer monitor that has internal speakers and HDMI input. Everything worked fine. That is why I was shocked when I didn't have sound. Then I tried a new HDMI cable and tried HDMI Ports 2 and 3 on the TV. Same results. I then took the Pi to the house and plugged it into our TV in the living room as a test and sound works fine with both cables. Back out to the camper and nothing. So sound output works with the Pi through HDMI with a computer monitor and our living room TV. It is just the Furrion TV that does not play sound which is odd. I have been meaning to take my laptop/XBox or some other HDMI device out and trying that but it hasn't been a high priority as we have been busy. I was thinking there must be a setting or something I am missing but I sure can't find it. The manual for this TV has to be the thinnest one I have ever seen for a bit of electronics.