Radeon 4200 hdmi 60hz issue

[molooxp]

hi i just put together a htpc but when im running windows 7 at 60hz and trying to watch some media files every so often the screen gets these weird confetti pixels all over and the sound begins to crackle. the only way to fix it is either restart the computer or change the refresh rate. it also seems to happen at paticular times in 720p files and 1080p files. i'm also pretty confident that it cant be the temp because the computers running pretty cool.

the motherboard is a gigabyte 785G.

the connection goes from my pc to my sony reciever to my sharp hdtv.

thanks.

 

[bilbat]

Download and run the DPC Latency Checker; if tha't your problem, you can read about it at the Sycon, here - may be able to help with further procedures...

 

[molooxp]

thanks for the reply and the advice. i downloaded the checker and ran it while running some different media formats. it doesnt seem like thats the problem as the bars never went over 500 and were always green. i did notice however the problem seems to only be occuring in full screen playback and if the problem occurs and then i pause the movie or media turn off my amp and then turn the amp back on and then resume the movie the distortion goes away but does come back later.

again thanks for the help.

 

[bilbat]

Please post the full MOBO part number - there are some BIOS settings to check, but they vary by part...

 

[molooxp]

Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H w/ Radeon HD 4200, DualDDR2 1066, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, Hybrid CrossFireX, HDMI

 

[molooxp]

I've done some more fooling around and found this advice posted on the forum:
Set the "Advanced BIOS - Init Display First" setting to boot to onchipVGA instead of the PCI Slot

I tried this out and it seems the problem is a little bit better. now what happens is the pixel/confetti line comes up and then goes away but when i rewind and go threw the part again it the pixel/confetti distortion goes back to the way it was previously. However there is no more sound crackling and hissing during or after playback, its just the video that is affected. I have also noticed that during playback there are these white pixels that are popping up on the left side of the screen.

And just like before if i turn my receiver off and then back on the video distortion clears up and then comes back later on. I'm going to continue fooling around with the bios settings and i'll post my findings.

I found this one thread that looks like it has some good ideas, http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/272897-30-ma785gm-us2h-video-input-detected

Thanks for the idea of looking into the advanced bios.

 

[bilbat]

Try the following, on that "Advanced BIOS Features" page:

"UMA Frame Buffer Size" to "512MB"
"Surround View" to "Disabled"
"Onboard VGA output connect" to "D-SUB/HDMI", not 'auto'...
"AMD K8 Cool&Quiet control" to "Disabled"
"Away Mode" to "Disabled" (fixes windoze bug...)
and, as mentioned,
"Init Display First" to "OnChipVGA"

 

[molooxp]

thanks for the reply. i changed all the settings that weren't already what you recomended but the problem still is occuring. at least the audios not crackling anymore and the video can still play. i want to keep toying around with it because i'd really like to get it working smoothly. do you have any other suggestions?

 

[molooxp]

hey just thought id post an update. i tried switching hdmi cables to a cable i know works 100% and there was still no difference. i then decided to try using a different hdmi port on my receiver and so far it seems to be working beautifully. i watched a xvid 480p and it ran flawless and all the issues seem to have disappeared in the areas where they were popping up before. i'm planning on watching a full length 1080p tomorrow as i was just fast forwarding to the points where i was having issue while testing it out. i'll report back tomorrow.

i just wanted to say thanks for all your help, i really don't think i would have figured it out without the advice you posted.