ViP211 and L434 - Broke my HDMI

[HokieEngineer]

Neither of my 211s will output via HDMI to my Benq8700+ projector anymore. The last time they worked was monday night football on 11/5. I haven't used the projector since then and the only thing I can see different is that they upgraded the firmware rev.

Both work fine with my Samsung 42" DLP tv, using HDMI->HDMI. The Benq only has DVI-I in, so I have it hooked with a HDMI->DVI cable. The projector input works fine because I also have a HTPC hooked to it via HDMI-DVI cable and that works. I had a HDMI switch inbetween (to switch between Dish and HTPC) but I removed that thinking it was the problem, it wasnt.

Anyone else experiencing issues like this?

 

[HokieEngineer]

Apparently there is new checks under Diagnostics->Analysis->HDMI. It appears the 211 isnt syncing with the benq at all. I get a bunch of EDID and HDMI errors.

This really pisses me off. It was working fine, why did they need to go and change things? UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The benq dvi port works fine with my HTPC. The most fustrating thing is, there is noone to call about this. I can just see the CSRs eyes glaze over when I try to explain this.

 

[HokieEngineer]

Problem solved...

The EDID information on my Benq 8700+ was corrupted. Not sure how it happened, but it was. Everything was working fine before the latest firmware...

Anyways, steps I took, so maybe if someone else has the same problem, it'll help.

1. Download EDID writer sofware here:
http://www.geocities.com/jgeneedid/EDID_Writer.zip

2. You need a PC with a Nvidia graphics card that has DVI out.

3. Create a dos boot floppy, and copy the EDID writer program onto the floppy.

4. Find a valid copy of your EDID data for your display device. Luckily I found other Benq 8700+ users that have had this issue. See below for the EDID data for the 8700+. Note that the serial number in the file is unique to your projector. However my original file was corrupt, so I have no idea what was in there to begin with. I wrote the data below to my 8700 with no problem.

5. Boot from floppy, and read your EDID data to a file to keep for future reference.

6. Write valid EDID data to projector to fix EDID issues.

7. Crack a beer and pat yourself on the back.

Who knew watching TV required a degree in Computer Engineering.



Benq 8700+ valid EDID data:

0 | 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 09 D1
10 | 01 27 26 00 00 00 19 0E 01 03
20 | 80 00 00 78 EA 05 A0 A8 57 4E
30 | 93 24 70 50 54 FF F6 00 81 C0
40 | 61 59 45 59 31 59 D1 C0 01 01
50 | 01 01 01 01 64 19 00 40 41 00
60 | 26 30 18 88 36 00 00 00 00 00
70 | 00 1E 8C 0A D0 90 20 40 31 20
80 | 0C 40 55 00 00 00 00 00 00 18
90 | 00 00 00 FE 00 42 65 6E 51 0A
100 | 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00
110 | 00 FC 00 50 45 38 37 30 30 0A
120 | 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 25

 

[GatorNut]

Same Issue Here!

I can't believe I stumbled across your thread and I can't belive you figured it out. that is amazing. I had the same thing happen with my Benq 8700 and have spent a week or so going nuts trying to figure out whether it was the DISH box or the projector. After several experiments with other TVs, new shorter cables, and other DISH boxes, I came to the conclusion that it was the projector that had the problem, but I had no idea why. The crazy thing is that I bought an HD-DVD player a couple weeks ago and the Benq will communicate to that through DVI/HDMI. It senses it but only after about a minute of playing a movie on the HD DVD player. I've also seen a post on AVS Forum where someone else is having the same problem and can't figure out why. I sent him your thread.

Unfortunately, I don't have a PC with a DVI output so I'll probably have to send my projector in for reprogramming. That stinks, especially since it is DISH's fault. I'm going to write to the CEO website and explain the issue because I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars getting it fixed just to have DISH send another update that screws it up again. They need to know what happened and work with me to prevent it happening again.

The question I have is why would it corrupt on the Benq projectors and why it only happened on this latest SW release? I have never had any problems with the DVI input before. Does it have anything to do with the pinout from an HDMI to DVI connector or is there some memory in the Benq that is unprotected and can easily be corrupted? It doesn't seem to be affecting any other TVs or projectors since no one else has complained but Benq owners.

Do you think your table would be the same for the 8700 as it is for the 8700+?
Thanks again for figuring this out. At least I know where to steer Benq when I call them to discuss the issue.

 

[HokieEngineer]

Just a little update:

If you need the edid writer and the above link doesnt work, use this:

http://www.dvbtech.net/files/EDID_Writer.zip

Also, attached is the exact file I used to write to my Benq 8700. This worked for me. Using it with other devices is not recommended and I take no responsibility for breaking your equipment

 

[GatorNut]

Amazingly enough, I was poking around in the Diagnostics->Analysis->HDMI that you mentioned above writing down the error info so that I could talk to the DISH and Benq tech people when I noticed that it has a successful commuications try. I quickly switched over to the HDMI input and voila, it was working. Not sure what I did. I did hit reset HDMI, but it didn't look like it did anything. I still get ERR: formatted EDID -248 error but it doesn't seem to have a problem now. I did notice that before there was a line RxKsv that had (invalid) after it. Once it started working that now says (valid). I shut the system down a few times and fired back up. I switched inputs to component and back. It seems to be working fine now. I'll see if it stays that way.

I contacted DISH and Benq about the issue and as usual neither were any help at all. The DISH guy just said he would send my issue to Engineering. Benq wouldn't give me an answer over email but I never got the point where I called them.

Thanks for all your help HokieEngineer. By the way, congrats on the ACC championship win!

 

[GatorNut]

Oh well, it worked for one night and now it doesn't respond when using the DVI input. All the original errors are back. Next, I'll try to reprogram the EDID table and see if I can fix it that way.

 

[HokieEngineer]

Any updates? It could be that the eeprom that holds your edid is going bad if it is intermittantly working. Although if the edid writing program can read and write to it I would say your unit should be okay.

 

[GatorNut]

I haven't tried anything yet. I've been using Component with the DISH box which has a noticeably softer picture. I'll try to reprogram after the holidays.
The weird thing is that the Benq projector recognizes my HD DVD player fine through the HDMI connection.

 

[GatorNut]

Fixed!

HokieEngineer, your instructions and file worked great. Only took me about 15 minutes to get this fixed! Thanks a lot. Hopefully, it will stay that way for a while.

 

[HokieEngineer]

No problem, glad you got it fixed.

 

[configsys]

Too bad smart folks like you don't work at Dish. I don't think they have a clue all the problems their updates are giving folks. I had to have my VIP211 replaced because of the same problem.