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!

Mac Mini Woes Pt.1 – VIDEO

Mark — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 03:21:07 +0000

So I bought a late-2006 Mac Mini recently purely as a media player (running Plex Nine). The plan was/is to have an elegant, easy-to-use interface that consolidates all my media and be made available in all areas of the home. Sounds great, but my integration of the Mini has been fraught with issues, ironically all AV issues (my supposed specialty!) and not software!
So first thing I did when I got the Mac home was plug it directly into the Pioneer, just to see the condition it was in and that it was functioning (oh, and I did spray paint the body black too!). DVI out of the Mini to HDMI on the TV worked perfectly. A few adjustments in OSX to output 1080p and we’re good to go. So next day with a bit of time I attempt to run it through the Yamaha Z7 so I can access it in all areas. No picture, just the initial boot up screen. Long story short, the Yamaha had difficulty identifying the EDID info from the Mini. I finally resolved this by using the “Screen Sharing” function of OSX and logged in via my MacBookPro, this allowed me to adjust the resolution settings remotely. A few presses here and there and it worked! So I now have a beautiful 1080p image available to me in every room. However, no sound…

» Video

Mac Mini Woes Pt.2 – AUDIO

Mac Mini Woes Pt.1 – VIDEO