# Help me: Onkyo TX-NR809 Troubles



## md0125 (Nov 22, 2012)

Hey guys.

So today I received a new NR809 that I ordered for my first ever system. I hooked up the speakers (I've only got a L/C/R speaker setup right now), my cable box and my Xbox to the receiver. Afterwards I ran the Audyssey MultEQ XT setup with the mix and it played the tones through my speakers, and I saved the settings. Now when I set the input for my cable box, no sound is coming through my speakers but the video is working fine. I've got no clue why not, I'm confident they're hooked up correct since they worked during the Audyssey calibration. I also tested out the Xbox and no sound is playing either. The cable box and Xbox are connected using HDMi as well as the output to my TV. I'm new to this so I don't know where to start trouble shooting, so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll do my best to get any information you guys might need.

Thanks in advance.

Mike


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Have you gon into the user menu of the 809 and told it what input assigns you want? for example HDMI 1 for Bluray, HDMI 2 for Cable box and so on? Are the devices your using sending the audio Bitstream?


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## md0125 (Nov 22, 2012)

tonyvdb said:


> Have you gon into the user menu of the 809 and told it what input assigns you want? for example HDMI 1 for Bluray, HDMI 2 for Cable box and so on? Are the devices your using sending the audio Bitstream?


All of my inputs are correct. The video is playing through fine. I don't know bitstream is, but when i look at the info for the channel, in this case CBL/SAT, it displays this:


```
Name:  CBL/SAT
Input:    HDMI 3
            Dolby D 48kHz
            5.1 ch
Output: Dolby Digital
            3.0 ch
```


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## md0125 (Nov 22, 2012)

UPDATE: Everything seems to be working now. Under CBL/SAT it now says DOLBY D instead of All Ch Stereo. I don't know if it was something I did or if it just recognized it and is working now. Also checked and the Xbox is working fine now as well. So everything seems to be working fine now, and it is awesome.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Glad its all good, enjoy


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Indeed. It would have been a complete aberration to have issues so early. Are you enjoying the Icons? I recommended them to a close friend here a few weeks ago and was blown away both by how attractive they are and how good they sound.
Cheers,
JJ


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## md0125 (Nov 22, 2012)

Jungle Jack said:


> Hello,
> Indeed. It would have been a complete aberration to have issues so early. Are you enjoying the Icons? I recommended them to a close friend here a few weeks ago and was blown away both by how attractive they are and how good they sound.
> Cheers,
> JJ


Yeah man they are awesome. I'm planning on posting up some photos tomorrow in my original thread.


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## md0125 (Nov 22, 2012)

Alright, so today when I got home from work I sat down to watch TV and the same problem happened. When I turn on the reciever it starts to process the signal from my cable box, starting from no signal and eventually it has settled on PL II Movie, and then no sound plays. If I look at the info under audio the input shows "Unknown." So I started plaing with settings and fiddling, but this time no luck. I then turned off the receiver waited a few seconds and turned it back on. What I noticed is on the receiver display in the upper right hand corner it begins flashing HDMI in addition to the red "Muting" display. So I press the muting button on my remote and then after a few seconds it settles on HDMI, shows my dialog setting, an then shows "Dolby D" under the input, and the sound works fine, Great. So now I shut off the receiver and let it cycle to its flashing HDMI and Muting lights until it settles, but this time it settles at analog, and again no sound. I checked the audio info and under input it says "Analog." So I shut off the receiver a third time and turn it back on, it flashes HDMI and Muting again, but this time when it settles it chooses HDMI, shows my dialog setting, displays Dolby D, but is muted, so I unmute and it works fine. This leads me to believe that the problem might be in my cable box, but to my knowledge the only audio settings are for choosing betwee English and Spanish. 

So I guess my question is, do I have to make sure I catch it during its HDMI flashing screen everytime, and flip my receiver on and off if i miss it? Is there a way to go in and I guess re-check to see where the signal is coming from? Or is there a way to manually set the signal(s) to read HDMI only/make sure the Dolby D is used for processing? 

Thanks again


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

It sounds like a HDMI handshake issue to me. Have you tried turning on the receiver first and then the Cable box?


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

This will sometimes happen to me on my Sherwood 972 - what I do to correct it instead of shutting things off and back on is to switch to a different input and then swap back to the cab/sat input. Works everytime....


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## erazz (Oct 12, 2012)

Mike, have you tried plugging your reciever into the internet and downloading the newest firmware update?


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I would swap HDMI Cables or at least swap the ends of the cable. Perhaps you might want to purchase an Audioquest HDMI for BB/Magnolia to see if it makes a difference. I only say this as BB has a 30 day return policy. Just to make clear, this issue is only happening on CBL/SAT? 

If these issues persist, I would just go ahead and call AC4L and have it exchanged as you are still under 30 days. However, I really would not be surprised if it was not anything more than a HDMI issue. BTW, how long is the HDMI Cable you are using between the AVR and Cable Box?
Cheers,
JJ


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## md0125 (Nov 22, 2012)

tonyvdb said:


> It sounds like a HDMI handshake issue to me. Have you tried turning on the receiver first and then the Cable box?


So I just got off work and I tested this out first, turning on my receiver and then the cable box. What happens was I turned on the receiver and let it settle out to no signal, and t defaults to analog, then after I turn on the receiver it recognizes the HDMI and switches and works fine. I normally just leave the cable box powered on, mostly because I don't know how it affects the shows I'm DVR'ing. The box from Time Warner is a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8240HDC, so I'll test it out tomorrow when I get off work to see if I can set the box off and see if it still records. It still displays the time and is being powered, so hopefully it will.



ALMFamily said:


> This will sometimes happen to me on my Sherwood 972 - what I do to correct it instead of shutting things off and back on is to switch to a different input and then swap back to the cab/sat input. Works everytime....


I tried this afterwards swapping back between my Xbox 360 and the cable, and while it would re-read whatever the signal was, as long as the cable or 360 was on before it "settled" or whatever, it would not read the HDMI and settle to analog and no sound. I tested the Xbox again after turning on the receiver and once it boots turning on the Xbox and then it would play sound fine, eventually getting to the Dolby D.



erazz said:


> Mike, have you tried plugging your reciever into the internet and downloading the newest firmware update?


I have not done this, I noticed the MAC address and network settings menus when I was looking around earlier. I'll plug it up tomorrow to do that. After I plug in the ethernet cable, will the receiver try to update automatically, or is there some commands (I haven't taken a look at the menus for that yet, but again I'll look tomorrow)




Jungle Jack said:


> Hello,
> I would swap HDMI Cables or at least swap the ends of the cable. Perhaps you might want to purchase an Audioquest HDMI for BB/Magnolia to see if it makes a difference. I only say this as BB has a 30 day return policy. Just to make clear, this issue is only happening on CBL/SAT?
> 
> If these issues persist, I would just go ahead and call AC4L and have it exchanged as you are still under 30 days. However, I really would not be surprised if it was not anything more than a HDMI issue. BTW, how long is the HDMI Cable you are using between the AVR and Cable Box?
> ...


The HDMI cables that I bought were from Monoprice. I bought four black 6' cables (link), one is used to connect my 360 to the receiver and another is used to connect the receiver into my TV, and I am currently using the 6' HDMI that came with the cable box to plug it in, but I can swap them. Also just to clarify, I purchased the receiver from Amazon, brand new in the box (I believe). So while it doesn't have the AC4L warranty, since it's new, will it still be under an Onkyo warranty (If this exists)?


So far it seems like the receiver wants to be booted and running before it starts to try and process any incoming signals. It's not a huge inconvenience, and will go away when I pull the trigger on getting a Logitech Harmony remote. I've got my sights set on the One, just waiting to see if it will come down to $100 or so around/after Christmas. So I'll have all my macros set to turn on the receiver first.

I can't thank you guys enough, but I will continue to try. Thanks! :T

Mike


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## erazz (Oct 12, 2012)

Quote:
erazz wrote: 
Mike, have you tried plugging your reciever into the internet and downloading the newest firmware update? 

I have not done this, I noticed the MAC address and network settings menus when I was looking around earlier. I'll plug it up tomorrow to do that. After I plug in the ethernet cable, will the receiver try to update automatically, or is there some commands (I haven't taken a look at the menus for that yet, but again I'll look tomorrow)


It has been a while since i set up my network, but i did a firmware update recently. Push "setup" on the remote, on the onscreen display scroll down to "hadrware setup" push enter to bring up new menu scroll down to "7 firmware update" push enter...now sit back and wait about an hour(yes even with high speed internet) for the latest firmware to update. Hopefully this fixes your problem. My tx-nr809 has worked flawlessly since new and i love it(i set up my network connection and did update during initial setup) I have never had it take more than a couple seconds for it to recognize a signal from my hdmi no matter what order i turn things on or off. So if you do an update and try a different cable and still have problems...then you may need to contact amazon about a replacement...I really hope for your sake this is not the case, But sometimes even the best products do have "issues"...Good luck!


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## md0125 (Nov 22, 2012)

erazz said:


> It has been a while since i set up my network, but i did a firmware update recently. Push "setup" on the remote, on the onscreen display scroll down to "hadrware setup" push enter to bring up new menu scroll down to "7 firmware update" push enter...now sit back and wait about an hour(yes even with high speed internet) for the latest firmware to update. Hopefully this fixes your problem. My tx-nr809 has worked flawlessly since new and i love it(i set up my network connection and did update during initial setup) I have never had it take more than a couple seconds for it to recognize a signal from my hdmi no matter what order i turn things on or off. So if you do an update and try a different cable and still have problems...then you may need to contact amazon about a replacement...I really hope for your sake this is not the case, But sometimes even the best products do have "issues"...Good luck!


Alright, I finished the firmware update, and did a test with my cable and Xbox, and everything is running fine for the HDMI and picking up signals. I also noticed that if I turn off my TV, that the receiver shuts itself off as well. Is this just a normal signal that is transferred through the output cable? (Note: I have not configured the Onkyo remote to control any other devices and the same goes for my TV remote and cable remote with the receiver)

Thanks

Mike


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Good to hear that seems to have taken care of the issue.

As far as the receiver shutting down when the TV does, I have not seen that happen with my projector.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

md0125 said:


> Alright, I finished the firmware update, and did a test with my cable and Xbox, and everything is running fine for the HDMI and picking up signals. I also noticed that if I turn off my TV, that the receiver shuts itself off as well. Is this just a normal signal that is transferred through the output cable? (Note: I have not configured the Onkyo remote to control any other devices and the same goes for my TV remote and cable remote with the receiver)
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Mike


Mike,
The AVR turning off with the TV is part of HDMI CEC. Likewise, you can turn off the AVR and the TV will switch to its internal speakers and will output the picture and sound from the input you had the Onkyo on when you turned it off. 
Cheers,
JJ


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## 91Notch (Dec 4, 2012)

I have this receiver and occasionally have the same problem, but all I need to do is change channels on the cable box to get the audio stream to hook up.


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