Pi 4 HDMI out

ohmycommodore

@mitu
Hi Mitu, when you get the time, can we continue our discussion on this? I'm back home at my setup. Thanks :)

mitu

Looking the the results from the tvservice commands, it looks like the TV supports 1080p. Group 1 and mode 16 should be fine - the output seems to indicate this is the current resolution (you can specifically request the current resolution by running tvservice -s).

Looks to me more and more like a HW issue - maybe the cable you're using is not working properly ? Is is a RPI - bought with the PI - or another cable ?

ohmycommodore

@mitu Hey there, thanks again.

I have a few HDMI cables and surely have tried more than one, which I know to be working from using them elsewhere.

Unique to this pi4 of course, is that this is micro HDMI out, and I have a couple of different adapters to get to from that to full HDMI.

So what remains is to buy and try a micro to full HDMI cable, rather than using cable + adapter.

mitu

@ohmycommodore Is there a way to test the adapter on another device ? I myself am using a microHDMI to (full) HDMI adapter + HDMI-to-DVI cable on a Pi4 and didn't have any issues so far. Something is definitely working, since the EDID info comes through, so the adapter/cable combo is not a total bust.

ohmycommodore

@mitu I don't have another mini HDMI device. I doubt both my adapters would be faulty.

mitu

Post the config.txt you're using right now and it doesn't work (i.e. no video is shown).

ohmycommodore

@mitu Here you go. This I think is just the stock config. Of course I've tried all sorts of variations.

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
overscan_scale=1

ohmycommodore

@mitu The most recent addition from before my trip away, and our earlier discussion, was adding this:

# uncomment to ignore EDID and set HDMI mode manually (this is 1080p)

hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

And that resulted in no change, so I deleted it, getting me back to square one config wise. I had some overclocks ready to try, but of course they weren't relevant to this so I removed that. Same goes for pulling my Argon case off in case that was problematic.

mitu

I was actually hoping to see the full config, just to make sure there isn't something strange there.

2 things to try

if you boot without any sdcard connected, you should get a diagnostic screen with some info about the display and the Pi. Does that work - is the diagnostic info displayed ?
If you write a recent RaspiOS Lite image, does that work to keep the display active after the initial boot is completed ?

ohmycommodore

@mitu The "full" config would have been that stock one, with that other HDMI bit added. The pi is on the stock config now. If you wanted something different let me know, maybe I misunderstood you.

Thanks for those ideas. I'll see when I can get around to them.

umxp02

I had similar issues with my relatively old flat-screen Panasonic TV. In the end it turned out to be the cable. I installed various standard builds but after a few minutes the TV screen would go black. Plugged into a small screen or any PC monitor I tried - screen reappeared. I bought a cheap HDMI size converter and plugged in a much thicker HMDI cable - TV screen works no problem. The weird thing was that the diagnostic screens which come up with no SDCARD, NOOBS and even the first boot of LibreElec for KODI would be there for a while - then blackness - replug into PC monitor - working. I won't say how many days I spent assuming it was something to do with the config.

ohmycommodore

@umxp02 Hello thread from long ago :)

I ended up moving to Batocera with my Pi 4 and had no issues with screens at all. I eventually got a Pi 5 for Batocera.

My Pi 4... I repurposed it to run Plex, and don't need a screen since I can control it from my Mac.

Yeah this issue was a brain buster, so I'm happy I moved on.