New remote

Mark — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 12:13:49 +0000

So with the expansion of my A/V multi-room setup, I figured a second remote control was on the cards. The timing was good. Philips recently announced their Pronto series of installer remotes is no more. A buyer for the division could not be found. Their loss is my gain as there has been a rise in secondhand Pronto remotes on eBay. Managed to pick up a TSU9200 remote for a song. The only problem is this remote supposedly wont talk to my Philips RF Extender in the Theatre Room. So a little bit of testing is required, otherwise I may have to resort to Plan B (running Cat5e cable to and from both rooms).

Mac Mini Woes Pt.2 – AUDIO

Mark — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 02:53:24 +0000

So after a few days of troubleshooting like crazy to get the Mac Mini’s 1080p video to work through my Yamaha Z7 AVR – success!! All good, so I rip out the cabinet and neatly run all wires, only to find out I cannot get audio to run to my Living and Bedroom areas! Arrrgghh! Sound through the receiver in the Theatre is fine, but as soon as I switch the AVR to “TV” mode (which passes audio out through HDMI to displays) I get nothing but the sound of silence. Nights are spent trying every conceivable option in the AVR, as well as switching from digital to analogue out and back again on the Mini. It appears the AVR is assuming sound should be coming via HDMI when I switch to “TV” mode, so the only way for the Mini to work in the areas I need it to, is to somehow get the sound ‘INTO’ the Z7 via HDMI, which means some form of converter box. After a Google search, an online visit to Monoprice was called for and I managed to order this device which should do the trick. So in about a weeks’ time Ill be back on track!

» Bedroom

New remote

Mac Mini Woes Pt.2 – AUDIO