Computers and HDMI and Sound

[booster11373]

I got a small computer to use as a media center that I want to hook up to my HDTV. Everything connects fine but I don't have any sound coming from the computer.

I don't want an extra pair of speakers connected directly to the pc

I thought the HDMI cable was all I needed. There is a dedicated pc port that I can use on the TV but I dont think I will get sound that way

Any ideas? help?

[StanUpshaw]

I haven't had first hand experience, but I'm pretty sure you need to connect an audio cable from the board to your video card.

[JPMNICK]

you need a cable that has one end that plugs into your sound card, and the other end is 2 RCA cables (white and red)

the HDMI on a computer is ONLY carrying video not audio.

You do need to plug the audio into a port that is paired with the HDMI so when the video plays the sound plays as well

[KnoxHarrington]

Yeah, to get sound too, the HDMI port must support both. I know that the new Mac Mini does that, and PC's can be configured with it, but otherwise, it's video only.

[booster11373]

OK,
The back of my TV has a place that is HDMI and seems like it can be paired with a pair of red and white audio cables but the back of the pc just has 1 HDMI port and a single audio jack.

So do they make HDMI cables that are paired with audio cables?

[Chigworthy]

WTF? I've never heard of an HDMI cable that doesn't carry sound.

On my Vista laptop, all I do is connect the HDMI cable (I use the one that came with my XBOX) to the laptop and to the TV. The sound is always problematic. I've found that the best way to do it (on Vista) is to right click on the desktop and go to personalize after you've connected the HDMI cable. In the personallize window, under the "Tasks" pane on the left side, it says "Connect to a projector or other external display" click that. This opens the "Windows Mobility Center" window which will have a number of small panes with all sorts of information. One pane will have a speaker and a volume slider with a mute button. Click on the speaker icon. This brings up the "Sound" window. Click the playback tab, and on that tab click on the HDMI option and click "Set Default". If the HDMI is already selected, but the audio is not coming out of the TV speakers, set another option as default, then reset the HDMI as default. If that doesn't work, I've found that stopping the movie or audio file/program that is playing and restarting it will force that audio through the HDMI at this point. It's a pain in the ass, but it's the best way I've found to get the laptop to send the audio to the right place.

[angrymissy]

I have this issue sometimes when I first plug my laptop in. I have to sync laptop and TV, on my comp it's function+f4. It's sometimes called projector mode... I have to do the same thing for presentations for work. Above F4 on my laptop there is a little icon that looks like a screen... look for that and try it. You most definitely don't need any other cables, HDMI carries sound and video and I do it all the time w/ my laptop.

Also - sometimes I have to adjust the sound settings on my laptop, by right clicking the sound icon in the tray, and going to "playback devices". When the HDMI is plugged in, I can select HDMI as sound source.

[biggestmexi]

My video card supports HMDI audio out with video, obviously.

But its never worked.

so let me know.

[booster11373]

If anyone cares I got it to work but a new cable had to be used.

[disneyspy]

If anyone cares I got it to work but a new cable had to be used.

was it hdmi to dvi? or did you use the sigle port to two rca plugs cable? i use one of those for the spynetwork

[booster11373]

was it hdmi to dvi? or did you use the sigle port to two rca plugs cable? i use one of those for the spynetwork

This.