[IsleOfMan]

I have an old Dell Dimension 8700 I'm using for XBMC (OpenELEC 2.0) in the bedroom. I have installed an XFX Radeon 5670 PCI-E card that was on -hand for HDMI output and hardware decoding of HD video. I did the intial setup using the DVI-D output on a monitor and everything went smoothly. However, when I moved it to the bedroom and connected it through an HDMI switch, it will not boot or even post a BIOS screen. Instead, the system fan just spins at full speed (much faster than a successful boot). It will boot fine when connected directly to the TV. It will also boot if the HDMI switch is set to any input other than the one the PC is connected to. The work-around I've found is to program my Harmony 600 to switch to a different input and then allow a 2-second delay for the PC to post before switching the HDMI switch back to the proper input.

Other than the work-around described above, can anyone recommend any steps that might help getting the PC to boot properly without the HDMI switch musical chairs? I've not tried connecting via a DVI-HDMI adapter yet, but I would like to maintain native HDMI for audio as well.

Thanks in advance!

[IsleOfMan]

Anyone?

[malibu327]

I dont have a clue, but just keep bumping this. Someone here probably knows but may be like me and not get on here every day. GL

[IsleOfMan]

Well... the Harmony remote workaround I mentioned above is hit or miss... doesn't seem to be timing related either, it's just 50/50 whether the machine will boot when connected to the HDMI switch even with the switch on a different input... though it 100% will not boot with the switch on the HTPC's input. It boots 100% fine connected directly to the TV by HDMI or directly to a monitor by DVI.

I've ordered an ATI DVI-HDMI adapter (the one that should support audio) to see if that helps... for $4 it was worth a shot. Next step will probably be a new video card (GeForce 210 probably)... I can always thrown the ATI 5670 into my desktop and replace the space-heater 9800GT I have in there now since I never game anymore anyway. I guess this is just one of the inevitable snags associated with recycling old junk PCs and mixing them with modern video hardware!