Sky Q HDMI issue - blank screen

Dr. Nick

Hi - looking to see if anyone has experienced this and may have a solution.

The other morning when I turned on Sky on the main box all I got was a blank screen, checked mini-boxes (we have 4) and all were working ok.

My son had plugged in his PS4 to to TV the night before to do an update, he used the same hdmi cable, i.e. he unplugged cable from back of Sky Q box and put in the PS.

So far I've tried the following without success

- A different hdmi socket in TV
- A different hdmi cable
- Re-setting Q box (plug out/plug in)
- Full reset (hold power button after plugging out)
- Pressing HOME 1080 HOME - saw this online, supposed to reset the resolution
- Pressing HOME 2160 HOME (it's a 2tb box)

Tried most of the above numerous times. I'm bracing myself about ringing Sky and having to go through all the questions I already know the answer to as I think I've tried everything.....

The Q box is 'working' because I can see the mini boxes no problem, it has to be something that happened to the socket as a result of the PS4 being plugged in??
I've tried the Sky forum and elsewhere online but although there seems to have been similar problems, the solutions there aren't working for me.

Any ideas?

Atlantic Dawn

Have you tried manually switching to the HDMI port it's using on the TV?

Have you tried plugging back in the PS4 or any other device using a HDMI port to see if they work?

Dr. Nick

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Have you tried manually switching to the HDMI port it's using on the TV?

Have you tried plugging back in the PS4 or any other device using a HDMI port to see if they work?

Yes have tried both thanks. Think it's looking like a new box, which looking online doesn't seem to be a problem getting. lose all recordings tho

andy1249

Hot plugging HDMI , i.e. pulling out or inserting a HDMI cable whilst the units are still powered on , can kill a HDMI chipset.
This looks to be what happened here.

Its a regular occurrence.
You are lucky it wasn't your TV that was damaged.

In future , always turn off all equipment before pulling or inserting HDMI cables.

Dr. Nick

andy1249 wrote: »

Hot plugging HDMI , i.e. pulling out or inserting a HDMI cable whilst the units are still powered on , can kill a HDMI chipset.
This looks to be what happened here.

Its a regular occurrence.
You are lucky it wasn't your TV that was damaged.

In future , always turn off all equipment before pulling or inserting HDMI cables.

Thanks Andy - saw something about that online alright - son will be informed!

Anyway they're sending engineer but it will be a new box I'm sure

Johnboy1951

andy1249 wrote: »

Hot plugging HDMI , i.e. pulling out or inserting a HDMI cable whilst the units are still powered on , can kill a HDMI chipset.
This looks to be what happened here.

Its a regular occurrence.
You are lucky it wasn't your TV that was damaged.

In future , always turn off all equipment before pulling or inserting HDMI cables.

It was my understanding that the HDMI specification says it is hot plugable.

The HPD (Hot-Plug-Detect) feature is a communication mechanism between a source and a sink device that makes the source device aware that it has been connected/disconnected to/from the sink device. When an HDMI cable is inserted between the two devices, the resulting hot-plug detection instantiates a start-up communication sequence.

andy1249

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

It was my understanding that the HDMI specification says it is hot plugable.

Yes , the spec says that , and in a lab or factory where the environment is protected against ESD , conductive floors , conductive shoes , etc. it works.

At home , where folks shuffle across carpets in slippers to fiddle around the back of the telly , it doesnt , and you often see a visible spark when hotplugging , which is an ESD/EOS event that can kill a chipset.

greasepalm

So one can only try new hdmi cable and different ports and different tv with no luck.Do you get a no signal message on screen as someone else with an enigma2 receiver may have this issue re hot plugging.

Dr. Nick

greasepalm wrote: »

So one can only try new hdmi cable and different ports and different tv with no luck.Do you get a no signal message on screen as someone else with an enigma2 receiver may have this issue re hot plugging.

Just a blank screen

Dr. Nick

BREAKING NEWS - tried another hdmi cable (amazon branded) and it works! I had already tried one other cable without success, go figure.

Edit - 2160p resolution not working, I assume the cable can't handle it

greasepalm

So quality of hdmi cables do matter it seems when using 4k.

Dr. Nick

greasepalm wrote: »

So quality of hdmi cables do matter it seems when using 4k.

Seems to be the case, I've always read that there's no difference from cheapo ones to expensive

greasepalm

I never buy cheap as buy quality ones

andy1249

Dr. Nick wrote: »

Seems to be the case, I've always read that there's no difference from cheapo ones to expensive

In terms of picture or sound quality this is true.
They either work or they dont.
No such thing as better picture or better sound , its simply a case of working or not working.

4K with HDR and Atmos pushes the very limit of the bandwidth that current cables can do , 18gbps.
A lot of them simply don't work.
They work at lower bandwidths , but not 4K.

The only way to be sure is to buy with the QR logos which means the production lines are officially tested by hdmi.org

https://hdmi.org/spec/premiumcable

price should be up to 20 max , never pay more for a passive cable.

Also Ultra ....but AFAIK there are none on the market yet ..... lots of scams .... always check for the logo ....
https://hdmi.org/spec21Sub/UltraHighSpeedCable

andy1249

Dr. Nick wrote: »

BREAKING NEWS - tried another hdmi cable (amazon branded) and it works! I had already tried one other cable without success, go figure.

Edit - 2160p resolution not working, I assume the cable can't handle it

Some chipsets have a "protection mode" i.e. after an ESD/EOS event they shut down to protect themselves.
The usual way to re-set is to completely remove power from the box or device and leave it for at least 30 minutes , then re-boot and try again.

Might be worth trying your original setup now that the HDMI seems to be working again.
No hotplugging.

greasepalm

I have to disagree on quality of cables as some boxes i bought came with cables and picture quality was dull and blurred so i invested in better ones which gave a clearer sharper picture + even with the 1 quid scart leads picture was poor but better with a more shielded one. If your spending big bucks on high end stuff you want the best out of it .

andy1249

greasepalm wrote: »

I have to disagree on quality of cables as some boxes i bought came with cables and picture quality was dull and blurred so i invested in better ones which gave a clearer sharper picture + even with the 1 quid scart leads picture was poor but better with a more shielded one. If your spending big bucks on high end stuff you want the best out of it .

Possible with scart , which is analog ,
That is impossible with HDMI
The only way to change picture quality over HDMI is with massive data manipulation , and a collection of 19 copper wires cannot do that.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055871082

greasepalm

I am sure i still have these crappy hdmi to prove you wrong as was using them on a pioneer kuro.