What killed it, well after reviewing some PS4 gameplay I noticed that it was having audio issues, like it would allow some sounds but not all. It was almost as if it was receiving a 5.1 audio output but was missing the centre channel. Even though the PS4 was set to stereo.
After trying various cables, configs, and boxes. I narrowed it down to this box. Not sure what killed it, whether it’s just old, or that it’s been powered on for over 5 years straight. But its long service will never be forgotten in the hours of Netflix and Disney Plus it passed through to my recorder.
HDCP is so fucking dumb, I couldn’t play Switch on my old projector because of it and it’s absolutely useless in stopping anything from being pirated.
I get and like HDCP. Mostly because of how easy it can be to bypass. I’d rather have a universal “we tried” standard, than an honest attempt to stop this. With today’s tech and online focused DRM, HDCP could be a lot worse, and I am happy where it is right now.
Like Adobe Digital Editions or Kindle for eBook DRM.
That’s the thing though: Ultimately, there is no stopping it with restrictive technology.
The only real way to stop piracy is to offer a good service for a good price.
Biggest evidence of that is Epic will give away games for free, but there will be people who prefer to pay for the Steam version over the free version.
That’s the biggest evidence that piracy is a problem of distribution and goes against the idea that those who pirates are against paying for a product.
Yup, outside of legacy PC titles which will never get a re-release, a 1-2 combo shot of GOG and Steam, I don’t pirate games. I even took the time to find way to backup my games so I can get legal ROMs too.
Especially with music and video. At some point it has to enter your eyes/ears, and even if HDCP wasn’t shit, you could always just record what was on your screen or coming out of your speakers.
The only legit media service I pay for now is YouTube. Before I get Amy lectures I am well aware of the issues with it, but also people still keep paying for Netflix as it cancels shows just as they start to grow, so… I’m a legacy google music sub, so moving over for me was a tiny cost increase to no longer mess with adblock on the site, though recently I do feel the YTM ‘radio’ algo is not as good as legacy google music. Self employed manufacturing stuff in my workshop all day either video or music is always on so its a bargain to me. My point being, that’s the only streaming sub I find worth paying for, out of everything. Maybe I’m an edge case but I just don’t see 4/5 of these services still existing in 5 years, its too much. Unless they can all survive on people subbing for 2-3 months a year
I fly a giant fucking pirate flag with skull and crossbones and no one ever stops me. All they do is say “Are you a pirate?” or “Say Jack Sparrow”. Tcchh bitch please, I’ll torrent your mom’s prom night.
I torrent so much I had to switch to 720p to save space and still have a backlog of 3tb. I blame my ADHD, I have to hoard everyyyyyyyyything.
I have the exact same splitter. Have been using it for Ambilight for the last, maybe, 5 years. It quit on me a couple of months ago.
Here’s to it 🍻
The exact same one as OP. Weirdly enough.
It doesnt specify a brand on the plastic case.
I used to work as AV technician in a big corporation and had one of those that always saved my ass everytime someone with a MacBook wanted to do a presentation.
Yup, same. For the unaware: Macs have always-on HDCP, and it doesn’t always work as intended.
Lots of times, I’m trying to run a projector with a feed from the presenter’s laptop. Laptop is on stage, projector is in the tech booth. And the line in between the stage and the booth will complete the video signal, but not the HDCP handshake. So Windows machines will work fine, but Macs will just outright refuse to send anything.
So yes, I keep an HDCP stripper handy, because whenever a client pulls a MacBook out I know I’m going to need it.
I get why hdcp exists, but why the fuck would apple enable it permanently, for everything? They afraid of people pirating their own desktop or something?
Because it accelerates the user experience when transitioning from non-hdcp to hdcp-protected content on their display(s). There’s no need for re-negotiation of the display protocol causing some minor flickering during the transition.
But that only matters if you’re presenting mixed content.
Yeah.
Pour one out for all the little unsung heroes that just get shit done for years. Looking at you cheap HDMI switcher on my desk.
Open it up and replace any electrolytic capacitors.
This is pedantic, but there are indeed capacitors there. They’re all surface mount components, so they don’t look like the caps that people typically talk about replacing, and they likely aren’t what caused it to fail. Anything labeled on the board with a C## is likely a SMD capacitor.
I presumed so, but when I hear someone asking, I think of the old caps in old 90s PSU and Motherboards that are likely to go boom. I’ve never heard of these surface mount caps blowing though.
I see corrosion/deposits by those two leds and the hdmi… rinse it with vinegar, then DI water, then 90% alcohol. See if that doesn’t bring it back to life once it’s fully dry. You also might have to reflow the solder though.
How would you reflow the solder?
With an iron? Or a heat gun? What would be the best approach for something like this with lots of tiny surface mounts?
Just curious since you clearly know a lot about this stuff: What are your thoughts on the heat sinks being a part of the issue? Is there a decent chance the device could benefit from replacing whatever adhesive/paste was used to attach them? Or is that even doable?
Provided they don’t explode first, ceramic capacitors tend to fail short circuit. If you have a multimeter, do continuity checks across all of them. In-circuit capacitance testing is very inaccurate, so that specific test is almost always moot. Continuity testing may help.
Also, depending on the speed of the multimeter and the charge of the capacitor, it may briefly give you a tone and/or register as a short circuit. Capacitors can register as a short circuit very briefly until they get a slight charge.
The diode at the top right is another easy thing to check. (D12 // SS34) if it’s failed short, it will cause issues for you as well.
I am not sure what the component is that is under the heatsink by the USB connector. Sometimes, you may have voltage regulators stepping down the USB 5V to 3.3V. Those are easy to replace as well. However, if it is a USB controller of some kind, you would have to reference the datasheet and test it somehow.
Those are some simple checks you can do, anyway.
Then replace the magic smoke.
