Mediabox 300 - Issue with second HDMI screen

[jigou]

We've got a pair of Mediabox 300s, with two Sharp televisions connected to each box via HDMI cables.

If we turn off the power to the displays but leave the Mediaboxes running, when we turn the screens back on the "#2" screen on each of the pairs displays the "Signage presentation will resume momentarily" message until we reboot the mediaboxes, at which point they play the content just fine again. I've swapped the HDMI cables between displays to confirm that this is not related to the cables in any way.

Is there a setting somewhere in the mediabox that we can change / update to remedy this?  The screens are clearly getting a valid video signal in order to show the "will resume" graphic....

The stations report they're on version 4.11.29, with airVersion 3.7.0.1860.

Thanks--

Jarrod

[admin]

This is probably caused by the mediabox rebooting while the TV is turned off.  Might be a good idea to turn off reboot conditions on the station. Or set it up in such a way that the unit reboots at a time when the TVs are already on.  The reasoning behind this is if Windows doesnt detect 2 screens on boot up (because of the TVs being off) it will only load 1 screen and wouldnt know what resolution the TV is capable of.

[jigou]

I can replicate it simply by turning TV #2 off for 15 seconds, then back on. No mediabox reboot, nothing else happens - it simply stops sending the campaign and sends the "resume" graphic instead.

[criley]

It is my guess that the mediaBox you are using is using Windows 7 and not XP. Unfortunate if this is the case, Windows 7 will shift the screens to the active one, causing issues like this. Are you using commercial grade displays or consumer grade? I ask, because Commercial grade displays sometimes have the capability to continue to scan the ports while the monitor is off so the OS thinks that screen is active preventing this issue.

[jigou]

Mediabox is indeed Win7.

Consumer grade Sharp Aquos displays.

Have been reading about this little "autodetect" issue for a little bit....ugh.

[criley]

Yeah, and I have not heard that 8 will be anything different. There is a potential of placing a piece of hardware in the middle that may solve this issue, but it will not be cheap.

[dstech]

There any way in Win7 to resolve this?  We are having the same issue, where if someone turns off the tv it's all hosed.  They can't reach up to reset the Mediabox so they have to call me and then I have to restart it remotely.

[jigou]

I've spent some time searching and haven't really come up with anything. Someone somewhere had luck covering one of the pins in the HDMI cable with a piece of tape to essentially block the "hey I'm here" signal that comes from the TV. I tried that with our setup, and it didn't help.

Our players happen to be easily-accessible, so I've put this on the back burner for now, but we're certainly interested in a solution.

Jarrod

[jigou]

I haven't tried this yet, but the device mentioned in another thread on this site sure seems promising:

http://script.digitalsignage.com/forum/index.php/topic,4040.0.html

Jarrod