Xbox 360 & HDMI... what the hell??

[Bingley Joe]

Ok, so I'm currently on my second HDMI-ready 360, having returned the first one because out of the box, the HDMI port seemingly did absolutely nothing. With that one, I tried multiple cables (all known to work) as well as multiple displays, and nothing.

Then I spent two hours on the phone in what was possibly the most ridiculous tech-support call in all of history trying to get it to output a signal, only to be told that since the HDMI port did nothing, but the regular port worked fine, there was nothing wrong with the console, and that I just shouldn't use HDMI..

The fuck with that, I say, so I took it back to the store and brought a new one home yesterday only to find the same damn thing!! :confused:

Now.. I'm not entirely convinced I haven't just got two bad units (I mean.. 360 after all), but I'm hoping the chances of that are still reasonably slim, and that there's just something super simple I'm not doing.

So could someone out there using HDMI on their 360 please tell me what you did to make the magical port work??

[Wraith]

What resolutions are you trying over HDMI?

[LiquidRain]

I plugged one end of the cable into my 360. One into my TV. The 360 autodetected that my TV is 1080p and it set it to that res. Never had a problem. (using cheap Monoprice cables)

[Commissar Rob]

I plugged one end of the cable into my 360. One into my TV. The 360 autodetected that my TV is 1080p and it set it to that res. Never had a problem. (using cheap Monoprice cables)

Ditto. But you said you've used other HDMI sources with the set/cable you're trying and no problems? Ugh. Sorry to hear it's giving you so much trouble.

[Kielaran]

If you know the HDMI port on the TV works, then I have no other ideas. Sorry :(

Edit: I guess if you have a friend with an HDMI enabled TV, you could try it there and see if you get the same problem. I doubt it, but maybe your TV and 360 just aren't being nice to each other when it comes to the HDMI.

[Bingley Joe]

Thanks for the help, folks!


What resolutions are you trying over HDMI?

Well that's the problem -- I can't try any resolutions, since no display I've plugged them into ever detects any output. :confused:

I've tried everything from using the stock component cable to pre-set resolutions that my TV supports, to resetting the video output on the console (start up while holding right-trigger and Y), all with no luck at all.


I plugged one end of the cable into my 360. One into my TV. The 360 autodetected that my TV is 1080p and it set it to that res. Never had a problem. (using cheap Monoprice cables)

Crap. I was hoping the new one would work just like that OOTB, but nada. Nice to know it's supposed to be that simple though..

Ditto. But you said you've used other HDMI sources with the set/cable you're trying and no problems? Ugh. Sorry to hear it's giving you so much trouble.

Yeah, I've tried two separate, working cables, and nothing.

I've tried two different displays (my TV and my monitor), and nothing.

I've tried other HDMI devices (my DVD player and laptop) with all the different combinations of cables and displays, and I get a picture every single time..

So it's definitely a problem with the 360

If you know the HDMI port on the TV works, then I have no other ideas. Sorry :(

Edit: I guess if you have a friend with an HDMI enabled TV, you could try it there and see if you get the same problem. I doubt it, but maybe your TV and 360 just aren't being nice to each other when it comes to the HDMI.

I guess I'll have to try that. Maybe tonight I'll give it a try with my projector, although that's a major pain in the ass to swap in...

I'm really at a loss here as to what's going on. :mad:

Question: what resolutions does the 360's HDMI port output? Is it like the VGA cable which outputs almost anything, or is it locked to the normal HD 720p/1080i/p resolutions only? Might be good to know..

[Wraith]

I've tried everything from using the stock component cable to pre-set resolutions that my TV supports, to resetting the video output on the console (start up while holding right-trigger and Y), all with no luck at all.My 360 only has Component out, but... I usually use my 360 on a 720p/1080i TV. Then I moved it to another TV and ran it at 1080p. I brought it back to the 720p/1080i TV, but the resolution was still set at 1080p. No video displayed. When I tried doing the video reset, it didn't seem to do anything for me. I actually ended up just changing the setting blind, following the button presses I found online and got it back to 1080i. (I could have dragged it back to the 1080p set, but would have had to disconnect/reconnect everything in the process.)

I doubt this is your problem - I wouldn't think a new 360 would default to 1080p. (And maybe your set is 1080p to begin with.)