No Sound when TV is off

Question

Level 1

18 points

No Sound when TV is off

Just set up my new Apple TV. I have it connected to my TV by HDMI and audio system thru optical.

Works great except for one very annoying feature. When the TV is turned off or the HDMI is unplugged it stops playing!

I was hoping to use it to stream music as well as movies. Obviously I don't want the TV on in this case.

The sound is definitely coming thru the audio system. The Apple TV just refuses to send any audio when the TV is off.

I have tried controlling it with the ipod remote app and it appears to be playing but there is no sound.

Has anyone had any success getting the AppleTV to play when the TV is off?

Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 1, 2010 7:27 PM

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Answer 1

coulsong

Level 1

0 points

Oct 1, 2010 9:47 PM in response to Andrew Zahra

I've set mine up with HDMIto the TV which is in turn HDMI'd to my Home Theatre set up. I've also connect the Apple TV via optical cable direct to the Home Theatre box, so I CAN switch off the TV and still listen to music.

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Answer 2

Oct 1, 2010 10:28 PM in response to Andrew Zahra

Be sure to turn OFF the SLEEP feature .
I have mine going through optical and with the TV off I can still play music to my stereo with the tv off... but if sleep kicks in you will get zip.

I am using a hdmi switcher so it might be ' fooling ' the atv2 into thinking its on so I can verify 100% your problem...

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Answer 3

Andrew Zahra Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 2, 2010 12:14 AM in response to jhillestad

It is definitely not going to sleep. I can actually watch the music play progress with the iphone remote app. It still shows the music as playing but I get no sound with the tv off. As soon as I turn the TV back on I can hear the music again.

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Answer 4

coulsong

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2010 1:32 AM in response to Andrew Zahra

Mine does the same unless I make sure that My home theatre is set to take input from the optical port and not the hdmi (which becomes inoperational if the tv is switched off)

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Answer 5

Oct 2, 2010 7:44 AM in response to Andrew Zahra

I have my atv2 hooked to a hdmi switcher I wonder if its fooling the atv2 , has anyone confirmed this problem ? atv2 to tv hdmi in and optical straight to the receiver. What brand tv are you using ? I know my samsung when turning on or off can trigger a off type signal to my switcher... I have seen that , maybe the atv2 is seeing that trigger and it plays dead.... there seems to be several bugs in the atv2.

I would try picking up a cheap hdmi switcher and feed the atv2 thru it and see what happens...

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&pid=5557&seq=1&format=2

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Answer 6

Oct 2, 2010 7:50 AM in response to jhillestad

Oh ya , be sure to go into the audio settings in setup and turn off ' auto ' .....

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Answer 7

Andrew Zahra Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 2, 2010 8:00 PM in response to jhillestad

Tried switching off auto and no joy. I had a closer look at the Sony TV's HDMI control settings and had hoped that turning that off would do the trick but still no luck.

I will have a go at getting a HDMI switcher.

thanks for your suggestions.

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Answer 8

Dec 25, 2010 1:06 PM in response to Andrew Zahra

Has anyone found a way to play music with the TV off without having to purchase an HDMI switcher?

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Answer 9

Jan 30, 2011 1:25 AM in response to tehcypress

Running ATV2 via HDMI to my receiver then via HDMI to my TV. On ATV, I set Dolby Digital Out (under Audio & Video) to On. Previously it was set to Auto and didn't play with the TV off. After setting it to On, it is playing the audio only through the stereo when the TV is turned off. So far I have only tested with streaming movies from my Mac Mini server and Netflix. On my system, turning off the TV seems to pause playback, but pressing Play/Pause resumes playback.

I hope this helps!

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Answer 10

tmartine

Level 3

995 points

Jan 30, 2011 4:20 AM in response to Andrew Zahra

You do not need the optical cable at all.. Connect the appleTv to the receiver though HDMI and then connect the receiver to the TV via HDMI.

When you are attempting to play through the audio system are you making sure you are switching the input to the optical instead of the HDMI?

You might be getting sound to the audio system when only when the TV is on because some HDMI connection support bi-directional connection... TV would need to be on for that to happen.. It should work through the optical cable.. My guess is that you are forgetting to change input when you are attempting to do so.

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Answer 11

tmartine

Level 3

995 points

Jan 30, 2011 4:24 AM in response to tehcypress

You don't need an HDMI switcher.. Your receiver can do that .. connect appleTv to receiver via HDMI then receiver to tv via HDMI... Done.

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Answer 12

Alley_Cat

Level 7

20,548 points

Jan 30, 2011 8:57 AM in response to tmartine

tmartine wrote:
You do not need the optical cable at all.. Connect the appleTv to the receiver though HDMI and then connect the receiver to the TV via HDMI.

Assuming the receiver has HDMI (I may have missed that bit if it has).

AC

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Answer 13

tmartine

Level 3

995 points

Jan 31, 2011 7:20 AM in response to Alley_Cat

true..

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Answer 14

Feb 10, 2011 11:34 AM in response to tmartine

Not true for everyone. I have my set up as you describe, but as soon as I turn off my Pioneer Kuro plasma, sound stops. Only when I have connect a parellel optical cable will the ATV2 play when I turn off the TV.

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Answer 15

tmartine

Level 3

995 points

Feb 10, 2011 11:55 AM in response to jackstrawphilly

i would guess would be that a) you system is not set up like you think it is or b) you are not selecting the correct inputs to play music while the TV is off

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