Sage won't control audio level or mute

[xjim1]

I got a new TV after my wonderful 15 year old Sony finally went kaput. But now the Sage volume control has no effect, nor does the mute button.

The Win10 volume control also doesn't work, but muting does.
This applies to live TV and mpg and mkv recordings, but oddly enough .mp4 files do work with the volume and mute controls in Sage.

I began to suspect the TV config, and I ran thru all settings just in case, but VLC can control audio just fine on same recordings.

Lots of past threads on audio control, but nothing matches my symptoms.
No changes to the Sage server; it's your basic self-contained htpc.

Any help appreciated.

[Striker:WG]

Maybe a few more details on how your hardware is wired up?

Are you using an external amp/speakers or just the speakers in the TV? How are you connecting the HTPC to your speakers?

Are you using a remote control of some sort or just the controls inside Sage?

[xjim1]

It's a simple setup. Audio is out via hdmi straight from my Sage box to the TV and its internal speakers. Using the slider and button in Sage w/my mouse. The slider moves and mute button will turn red, just as expected. They just don't have any effect.

[trk2]

Originally Posted by xjim1

It's a simple setup. Audio is out via hdmi straight from my Sage box to the TV and its internal speakers. Using the slider and button in Sage w/my mouse. The slider moves and mute button will turn red, just as expected. They just don't have any effect.

Were you using the analog audio out previously? I haven't used an HD200 in years but I think with HDMI you are bitstreaming the audio formats that your TV can handle natively, therefore the TV is doing the actual decoding. Sage will control the volume on audio formats your TV can't handle because Sage is doing the decoding in that instance.

[xjim1]

Good question. I disconnected several cables from the old tv w/out thinking much about them. But looking at the audio out on the Sage pc only goes to my stereo. Also the old tv didn't have any audio in for the hdmi port I was using, so we can eliminate that as a possibility.

Just to be clear, no HD200 in the mix. Just a Win10 pc w/Sage and the tuner card.

[Striker:WG]

What about just controlling audio levels using the TV remote?

As trk2 suggested, you might want to investigate your audio decoding and bitstreaming settings. If you can get the PC doing all the decoding and just pushing an analog signal then the Sage controls should have more impact.

[xjim1]

Well, that's where I start to get lost. How/where can I verify what the pc/Sage can decode? I understand the basic principle of passthru(if that's what it's called), but I don't know how to 'look under the hood'.

I could just resign and use the TV remote, but I've grown so comfortable w/my mouse as the remote, and I'd like to fix wtf is going on.

The only thing that's changed is the TV. I'm hoping this is something really basic 'cuz I don't always see what's right in front of me.

Thanks for helping.

[jpwegas]

Mine is not the same setup as yours, but maybe this helps your debugging:

One HD300 is set to "Digital PCM" audio - Sage volume/mute does affect TV volume. This is just a TV only so this is what I want.

One HD300 is set to "HD Digital Bitstream" audio - Sage volume/mute does NOT affect TV volume. This Sage connection goes through an AV Receiver and the TV audio is disabled. I want the Bitstream for 5.1 audio and want the receive to control the volume/mute.

In your case I'm guessing that the PC detected that your fancy new TV supports bitstream audio over HDMI and automagically updated the HDMI audio settings. I don't know how to change it on Windows but I suspect you need to switch the PC's HDMI audio config to use a non-bitsteam format.

--John

[xjim1]

Well that did it! I went into the LAV audio decoder settings and bitstreaming was enabled for all the formats on the hdmi port.

Too bad, too as I noticed better audio quality w/bitstreaming enabled.
Thanks everybody for the help. Virtual beers on me!