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Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

johnlian.net

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Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#71

Post by jimmaswell »

ryandrake wrote: post #48
jimmaswell wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That little headphone jack is seriously driving bookshelf speakers to a reasonable volume? If it works it works but that doesn't sound right, unless these are actually self-powered speakers with their own amplifiers inside. I'd really like to know the details because this sounds crazy. Also, I collect a lot of old receivers and speakers. It's really not that complicated and the basics have been the same since the 70s…

I was kind of in OP's shoes a few months ago. My 2000-2010 era stereo receiver crapped out and I was looking to see if I could simplify my system a bit. Unlike OP, I didn't need anything that could extract audio from the TV. My requirements were: 1. A decoder with at least 5.1 output since that's how many speakers I have 2. At least 3 HDMI inputs + 1 HDMI output to my TV 3. An amplifier with a volume control That's i…

I never understood the "ugly" perception. At worst some might look boring to me, but at best some of them are absolutely beautiful. For example, my favorite in my collection appearance-wise has a 70s-style wooden finish on all but the front plate with a polished silver look on the front plate: https://imgur.com/a/DAUeJJW

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#72

Post by tonyarkles »

recursive wrote: post #54
jimmaswell wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That little headphone jack is seriously driving bookshelf speakers to a reasonable volume? If it works it works but that doesn't sound right, unless these are actually self-powered speakers with their own amplifiers inside. I'd really like to know the details because this sounds crazy. Also, I collect a lot of old receivers and speakers. It's really not that complicated and the basics have been the same since the 70s…

The jack is not driving the bookshelf speakers. They're active. They have their own internal amps. It's simple if you use a receiver. If someone can point me to a receiver that's more like 4 inches than 18 inches, then I'd consider that a solution. Receivers are big boxes as far as I've seen. I don't have space. Or maybe I don't want to make space.

Have a look at Fosi Audio. I'm currently using a BT30D to drive the passive speakers from an old Samsung integrated amplifier+receiver+2014-era "Smart TV" type system that died. It only has 1 analog input and Bluetooth, but it looks like they have other products in a similar form factor that can take multiple inputs (e.g. the P4 Mini). I was skeptical but needed something cheap to drive those speakers and am quite impressed.

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#73

Post by codepoet80 »

crtasm wrote: post #36
codepoet80 wrote: post #4

Yup, my AppleTV is the only device that gets CEC right. Even my LG TV and LG soundbar get confused. And don’t get me started on the PS4 Pro’s garbage implementation. I’m sad that Logitech killed Harmony because CEC was supposed to make universal remotes obsolete — they’re still the only way my full home theater can function without juggling a dozen remotes.

Anyone know how to make a LG TV wake an AppleTV from sleep? Once it's awake buttons presses on the LG remote are passed through to it but I have to keep the Apple remote around for that first step.

I had to go the other way. The Apple TV controls the LG. It wakes it, controls the volume and turns it off when it sleeps.

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#74

Post by jimmaswell »

recursive wrote: post #54
jimmaswell wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That little headphone jack is seriously driving bookshelf speakers to a reasonable volume? If it works it works but that doesn't sound right, unless these are actually self-powered speakers with their own amplifiers inside. I'd really like to know the details because this sounds crazy. Also, I collect a lot of old receivers and speakers. It's really not that complicated and the basics have been the same since the 70s…

The jack is not driving the bookshelf speakers. They're active. They have their own internal amps. It's simple if you use a receiver. If someone can point me to a receiver that's more like 4 inches than 18 inches, then I'd consider that a solution. Receivers are big boxes as far as I've seen. I don't have space. Or maybe I don't want to make space.

It sounds like your speakers work for you then. On a modern TV without a headphone jack you would probably be served perfectly well by bluetooth speakers that sync to the TV. Though I'm surprised if a 3.5mm output is really that uncommon, because I just bought an LG C1 a few years ago and it has one. You can also find a small bluetooth receiver that would output to a headphone jack at WalMart.

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#75

Post by adamweld »

amluto wrote: post #28
recursive wrote: post #17

Modern AV stuff is insane. I have no interest in taking it up as a hobby. I have an xbox, a TV, and a pair of bookshelf speakers. How am I supposed to get the audio to the speakers without a bulky expensive receiver box? Luckily, I have one of the last remaining TVs with a headphone jack. I don't use a remote for any of it. Side note: Sometimes the TV doesn't come on when you press its power button. After a tremendou…

> How am I supposed to get the audio to the speakers without a bulky expensive receiver box? You can get a small ARC/eARC audio extractor with RCA or S/PDIF output and use your favorite amplifier or DAC with it.

Correct answer, HDMI audio extractor.

Personally I use an eARC extractor to run S/PDIF to an audio interface (MOTU Ultralite Mk5) and an RPi running camilladsp handles room correction and active crossovers. Overkill at the moment for just a few studio monitors and a sub, but it'll be a great solution when I get around to building some custom speakers.

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#76

Post by adamweld »

recursive wrote: post #55
justinsaccount wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems like AV stuff used to be so simple. > without a bulky expensive receiver box A "receiver" has been one of the standard options for making bookshelf speakers work for more than 50 years. A receiver is also not expensive. You can get a basic used one for under $100. I paid $30 for a perfectly working 5.1 Denon receiver with HDMI. Your problem is that you aren't even using "Modern" AV stuff. If you were, your…

Why are receivers so big ? It's not exactly a money issue. I just don't want the big box.

HDMI Audio Extractor is what you need. Look at OREI.

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#77

Post by tacoman »

Spoom wrote: post #22
codepoet80 wrote: post #4

Yup, my AppleTV is the only device that gets CEC right. Even my LG TV and LG soundbar get confused. And don’t get me started on the PS4 Pro’s garbage implementation. I’m sad that Logitech killed Harmony because CEC was supposed to make universal remotes obsolete — they’re still the only way my full home theater can function without juggling a dozen remotes.

I dread the day that Logitech kills the servers for Harmony. If they don't release the IR code database, they're going to have a lot of people (myself included) pretty annoyed. (To be clear, they still work today if you can get a second hand remote / hub.)

As someone who works in this industry and has access to commercial HDMI debugging equipment, I can’t agree more.

I will use Harmony for my home setup until it no longer functions.

The horrors I have seen related to CEC and ARC are something else.

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#78

Post by avidiax »

rgovostes wrote: post #32

This is the lord’s work. It’s ridiculous that in 2025 my $500 gaming PC GPU cannot tell the receiver to change inputs. Even my Apple TV, which is considered a model citizen here, steals the receiver’s input every few hours if I have another device active.

Yeah, the Apple TV isn't better so much as it is very aggressive. I usually have to long press the power button on the Apple TV remote to get it to power off and let go of my receiver.

Other devices like an nVidia Shield or the XBOX require that you press power/home a couple of times to take control of the receiver and switch inputs.

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#79

Post by systemtest »

recursive wrote: post #68
systemtest wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How am I supposed to get the audio to the speakers without a bulky expensive receiver box? You can have bookshelf speakers with an integrated amplifier and HDMI-ARC. All you need is an HDMI cable between the TV and the speakers.

I'm not home at the moment, but I'm pretty sure they don't have an HDMI input. I haven't seen speakers that do, except sound bars. I don't like the general premise of sound bars. You either need a subwoofer, or you're limited to too-many too-small drivers.

There are a couple of brands that sell them, that’s what I meant. I prefer bookshelf speakers over a soundbar due to the larger drivers and better stereo separation

Re: Fix HDMI-CEC weirdness with a Raspberry Pi and a $7 cable

#80

Post by moduspol »

recursive wrote: post #62
monster_truck wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's still very simple and you have never needed anything expensive to do so. Stop with the learned helplessness and "being afraid to try a new TV"

I'm not going to buy a TV just to "try" to figure out how to get audio out of it. I mean, I'm sure there must be a way to do this. I've seen a few options in this thread. If I were to buy a TV, I would want to avoid making it more difficult than I have to. To that end, I'd want to figure out specifically how to get audio to the speakers. In my case, they're active bookshelf speakers without HDMI input. If the only po…

Nah man I'm with you. I've gone chest-deep into this pool and still get issues 5-10% of the time with pretty simple use cases. And I've got a top-of-the-line TV and a pretty good receiver. It's maddening that such conceptually simple use cases don't "just work" even when you DO sink hundreds or thousands of dollars on the stuff you're supposed to.
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