Random Question Thread: Tech

[Yugl]

I tried that and I had a connection/disconnection issue with that as well. Atm, my game is acting funny, so I'm going to chalk it up to some odd phenomena and hope that the issue fixes itself upon a 2nd reboot.

[Aylee]

I know HDMI cables about all the same but can someone link me a cheep good one? Need about 4 of them at about 6 feet each. Found a decent looking one for about 3.50 on mono price but just like some options.

Also I just got my theater room set up after buying my tv yesterday. I like to stream a lot of tv/movies via icefilms (computer). Whats the best way to get sound via the surround? (computer picture > tv , sound > surround sound reciever)

[Isiolia]

I know HDMI cables about all the same but can someone link me a cheep good one? Need about 4 of them at about 6 feet each. Found a decent looking one for about 3.50 on mono price but just like some options.

Also I just got my theater room set up after buying my tv yesterday. I like to stream a lot of tv/movies via icefilms (computer). Whats the best way to get sound via the surround? (computer picture > tv , sound > surround sound reciever)

Monoprice ones are good. Shipping does add to the cost though, so you may explore what tacking some onto an Amazon/Newegg/etc order might be in terms of total cost.

Surround sound in general (well, true surround sound) relies on the source material being encoded with it. Digital connectivity from a PC should at least support basically passing the digital audio stream to the receiver to decode (bitstreaming), though that may be mostly with things like DVD playback and not streaming video.
The Radeon HD3200 integrated in my HTPC's motherboard only does stereo over HDMI, but every discrete card I've used with it supports surround sound if present. If you're already using an HDMI capable setup, that'd probably be the easiest method.

[Aylee]

Monoprice ones are good. Shipping does add to the cost though, so you may explore what tacking some onto an Amazon/Newegg/etc order might be in terms of total cost.

Surround sound in general (well, true surround sound) relies on the source material being encoded with it. Digital connectivity from a PC should at least support basically passing the digital audio stream to the receiver to decode (bitstreaming), though that may be mostly with things like DVD playback and not streaming video.
The Radeon HD3200 integrated in my HTPC's motherboard only does stereo over HDMI, but every discrete card I've used with it supports surround sound if present. If you're already using an HDMI capable setup, that'd probably be the easiest method.

At the moment I have the computer connected directly to the TV VIA HDMI (pc only has one hdmi port) It does have a VGA connection so would it be better to connect the computer to the receiver via HDMI and get the video via the VGA?

[Isiolia]

At the moment I have the computer connected directly to the TV VIA HDMI (pc only has one hdmi port) It does have a VGA connection so would it be better to connect the computer to the receiver via HDMI and get the video via the VGA?

HDMI can carry both audio and video for the PC, just like it does for consoles, Blu-ray players, etc.

[Yugl]

I'm having an issue with FFXI where the game randomly does a quick freeze and then positions my character where he would normally be had there not been that momentary freeze. This is happening without me taking any action other than running the character. Is this a known issue and how do I fix the problem? The only culprits I can think of is that I recently made a new Power Setting and have left my laptop over night on two to three occasions (Battery removed; cable charge). The issue has coincided with my controller suddenly going wonky.

[Purrrfect]

I'm having an issue with FFXI where the game randomly does a quick freeze and then positions my character where he would normally be had there not been that momentary freeze. This is happening without me taking any action other than running the character. Is this a known issue and how do I fix the problem? The only culprits I can think of is that I recently made a new Power Setting and have left my laptop over night on two to three occasions (Battery removed; cable charge). The issue has coincided with my controller suddenly going wonky.

Any new software, particularly antivirus, virtualization, or vpn software?

[Yugl]

Campah is a newish software I've tried out, but nothing other than that. Not sure what VPN software is. I think acrobat received an update recently as well.

[Aylee]

HDMI can carry both audio and video for the PC, just like it does for consoles, Blu-ray players, etc.

Yea but both the reciver and pc only have one hdmi port. So I can't run one to both

[Yugl]

I should also point out that the freezes on the game are at fixed intervals of roughly 7-8s.

[Caiyuo]

have you tried turning off all other programs while playing to see if it persists? could be something else entirely but I recall some weird firefox hangup that updated a database every few seconds or so that caused people to see lag spikes on a set schedule like that

[Izzy]

I'm looking for an adapter that would take multiple different types of inputs, and convert them to HDMI. For example:

HDMI-----------------\
                      \
DVI--------------------|----------HDMI---------------TV
                      /
DISPLAYPORT----------/

I checked all over monoprice, and I can't find anything that has multiple different inputs.

The reason I need this is because we're setting up a docking center at work for anyone who brings in a laptop to do a presentation in our conference room. Right now we have an HDMI cable running from our TV on the wall, to the docking center, but sometimes people bring in laptops with DVI/Displayport outputs instead. We were looking for a solution that we could just plug into one end of our HDMI cable, and let the end-user pick which output to use.

[Yugl]

have you tried turning off all other programs while playing to see if it persists? could be something else entirely but I recall some weird firefox hangup that updated a database every few seconds or so that caused people to see lag spikes on a set schedule like that

I exited Firefox without rebooting FFXI or my laptop and the issue is still there. Do I need to reboot for the stuff to take effect?

[Caiyuo]

I exited Firefox without rebooting FFXI or my laptop and the issue is still there. Do I need to reboot for the stuff to take effect?

shouldn't no, but it might be worth trying to close a variety of things since it seems so similar that something else might be acting very similarly. Even Windower and plugins, barebones as possible to see if it the problem is gone so you would at least know where to start.

[Yugl]

I rebooted and it *seems* fixed. I haven't done much though since playing FFXI without a controller is miserable.

[Buffy]

My roommate is hogging bandwith, but I have control of the router. How do I prioritize my two ffxi machines over his videos? My two machines are wired, his is wireless. Your normal Linksys 54 WRTG or w/e.

[Isiolia]

Yea but both the reciver and pc only have one hdmi port. So I can't run one to both

How does your receiver only have one HDMI port? As an example, I have a PC, a PS3, and a 360 connected to my receiver over HDMI. I have one HDMI out going from my receiver to my TV.

If you just don't have enough HDMI ports to go around, see what digital out options your PC has. I used to run a mono 1/8" jack to RCA cable from my PCs audio jack to the coax digital in on my old receiver. That works too, though again you need material that is encoded in surround sound.

[Isiolia]

My roommate is hogging bandwith, but I have control of the router. How do I prioritize my two ffxi machines over his videos? My two machines are wired, his is wireless. Your normal Linksys 54 WRTG or w/e.

It would be under QoS (quality of service) settings in your routers firmware...if supported. You may need a 3rd party firmware to add that functionality, but as you have probably the most common home router ever...easy enough to find one.

[Purrrfect]

I'm looking for an adapter that would take multiple different types of inputs, and convert them to HDMI. For example:

HDMI-----------------\
                      \
DVI--------------------|----------HDMI---------------TV
                      /
DISPLAYPORT----------/

I checked all over monoprice, and I can't find anything that has multiple different inputs.

The reason I need this is because we're setting up a docking center at work for anyone who brings in a laptop to do a presentation in our conference room. Right now we have an HDMI cable running from our TV on the wall, to the docking center, but sometimes people bring in laptops with DVI/Displayport outputs instead. We were looking for a solution that we could just plug into one end of our HDMI cable, and let the end-user pick which output to use.

I know there are adapters for dvi>hdmi just like those little vga>dvi adapters gpus come with. No idea on displayport, but I imagine its a digital signal as well, so that should increase your chances of finding something.

[Isiolia]

I know there are adapters for dvi>hdmi just like those little vga>dvi adapters gpus come with. No idea on displayport, but I imagine its a digital signal as well, so that should increase your chances of finding something.

Displayport is similar to HDMI in capability, and relatively easily converted.

Given the required inputs, wouldn't it be possible to just use an HDMI switch and just put adapters on the input cables?

There are switches with different cable types (this for example)...needing Displayport on there too seems to be the catch.