Unplug my laptop from my TV and I lose signal

skipdog172

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Original poster
Jun 13, 2008
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This has to be the strangest issue I have ever come across.

My laptop is hooked up to my 508 PVR receiver with an s-video cable. When I unplug my laptop from the receiver, my signal strength goes to 0%. This makes zero sense. The s-video out from my laptop should have nothing to do with signal strength. It seems like the only way to get a signal again is to plug the s-video from the laptop into the TV. Dish guy isn't coming out until late next week so I was hoping maybe this was an issue that somebody has seen or at least has some suggestions for. I am completely stumped. Right now I cannot take my laptop anywhere because of this.

Thanks for the help!
 
Do you have a grounding issue that the laptop satisfies?

Yes, unplug the laptop and reboot everything, even your switches if there are any.
 
I agree. It is VERY strange and it makes ZERO sense to me, lol. Yeah, I tried what you suggested and I even tried unplugging all cables to the receiver and leaving it off for about 30 minutes. I can't for the life of me understand how the s-video out from my laptop would have anything to do with the SIGNAL on my receiver.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Hey, I'm just throwing things up on the wall to see what sticks, but I have heard of poorly or improperly grounded systems having problems, maybe the Dish receiver is able to ground itself through your s-video connection.

Is the laptop plugged into a power supply or on batteries?

Re-read the OP, maybe the lnb is getting its power through the laptop's s-video, when it's unplugged, no power to the lnb= no signal. WAG.
 
Hey, I'm just throwing things up on the wall to see what sticks, but I have heard of poorly or improperly grounded systems having problems, maybe the Dish receiver is able to ground itself through your s-video connection.

Is the laptop plugged into a power supply or on batteries?

Re-read the OP, maybe the lnb is getting its power through the laptop's s-video, when it's unplugged, no power to the lnb= no signal. WAG.

The laptop is plugged in via power supply. What is the LNB?

I've never had any grounding issues before with electronic equipment. I thought that simply plugging it into the wall outlet meant it was properly grounded. Are there special grounding instructions that I may have missed in the manual?
 
Oh no, the G word.:) Satellite equipment (dishes, lnbs, and cables entering your house) should be grounded. You could do a search for grounding and you'll find plenty of discussions on it.
 
when you unplug your laptop, what are you using as a display? and how is it connected?

Or do you just switch the S-Vid to the TV?

This is truly bizarre.
 
when you unplug your laptop, what are you using as a display? and how is it connected?

Or do you just switch the S-Vid to the TV?

This is truly bizarre.

The laptop is simply connected to the TV with an s-video cable. The satellite is hooked up with a coaxial cable. There is no other monitor hooked into the laptop. I have tried changing all forms of video modes on the laptop. I have also tried to disable the secondary monitor(which is the TV) on the laptop as well so the s-video is not sending any signal.

We change the TV to s-video mode when we want to watch something off of the Laptop. We are truly baffled.
 
Which is it? Probably a ch. 3 on the tv issue.

Oops. I meant to say "The laptop has an s-video cable coming out of it. This cable goes directly to the TV."

What do you mean a channel 3 issue? I can clearly see that I have no signal. I don't just have a "blank screen". I can access the receiver's menu and all of that. Doesn't that mean that it isn't a "channel 3 or 4" issue? My signal strength drops to zero when I unplug the s-video cable from the TV(the s-video cable that comes from my laptop). I can look at the signal strength and see it go to zero.

I appreciate the help!
 
Did you reboot the receiver after unplugging the laptop?

Yep, I have done every form of "rebooting/resetting" that is possible. This includes turning off the receiver after unplugging all cables from it and letting it sit for 30 minutes and then plugging it back in(but NOT plugging in the s-video cables).
 
This definitely sounds like some kind of grounding issue. Follow the coax from the dish all the way to where it enters the home and look for a "satellite ground block" (google it if you don't know what it looks like) and see if it is grounded to your house electrical grounding system. Also, is your satellite receiver equipped with a 3 prong power cord or with a 2 prong.

You can also buy electrical outlet testers for a couple bucks at the hardware store to check the outlet you are plugging your laptop into as well as the electrical outlet you are plugging your satellite receiver into.
 
Is the TV still on the s-video input when you see this? If so, you don't have a signal because you removed it. Using the menu or INPUT problem, do you switch to the SAT input (HDMI or whatever you use?)

Just asking the obvious.
 
I'm just kinda curious, you say the laptop is running off it's power supply plugged into the wall. What happens if you unplug this power supply and run the laptop off it's batteries? If upon disconnecting the power supply, you lose the signal again, you definitely have a grounding issue, and it needs to be resolved before you end up frying something. Please let me know what happens.

Agonizing Fury
 
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Thanks for all the replies. Sorry I didn't reply sooner.

It was a grounding issue. They totally botched the wiring job and there was no grounding wire. Problem fixed!
 
We need to add this thread to some kind of EKB about how important grounding is to avoid funky issues such as this.
 
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