Q: HDMI Handshake problems every 20 - 30 minutes - Color Inversion Issue

Hi,

I've had the same problem. I found that my Mini-USB cable (e.g. for hooking up mp3 players or portable hard drives) is still too big! If you look around on Amazon, there are small plugs available that make your Mini-USB cable into a Micro-USB cable. Or just buy one of those Micro-USB cables, they're usually at or below $5. I did not want to buy one though, so I borrowed one from a friend who owns an HTC phone and apparently they come with that Micro USB port. Problem solved!

Micro-USB cables have become fairly common. They are the standard charging cable for many cell phones, and are also used by the Amazon Kindle. They can be purchased cheaply online, as well as adaptors from other types of USB cables.

Maybe it's an American thing, those particular micro USB cables are hard to find in the UK.. I have loads of micro USB cables that work for cameras etc, but they are still not the correct micro USB for the apple tv2 as there is a micro USB A and a micro USB B... Annoying. I just wish they'd bring out the new iOS so I can actually use my apple tv!

Chrisedmo,

USB mini Cable, Type A standard to Type B MICRO for Mobile Devices, 1.8 Metre (6ft)
from Amazon, free delivery, £2.34, or if you know anyone with a recent blackberry, they can lend you one.

I had this same issue with my Apple TV 2. I'll list the symptoms I had and my entire set up in case that is relevant (I haven't read all 55 pages of this topic but I've read about 30 posts with the same issue as me).

For me, the ATV2 worked ok sometimes for hours, but then would begin to play up frequently in that the picture would go black, sound would go and then the picture came back but not the sound. This was playing non HDCP aware content (my own stuff) but I should say that I had rented a movie and played it all the way through (2 hours), with no problems.

I noticed that if I paused as soon as the picture went, I could then rewind it a few seconds (probably 30 or 40 seconds), then when I started to play it again the sound would fade in in a weird, helicopter blades kind of way. Then it would be ok again for a while but usually not long.

Sometimes I noticed that the screen would go green or magenta and I would have to switch everything off (ATV2, receiver and TV) and then it would be ok again.

Now for my set up:

ATV2 - connected via wireless (Time Capsule 2TB) to:
iTunes on an iMac (2009)
iTunes library on a usb HDD (Samsung 2TB)
Samsung LCD TV (LE40R74BD) (only 1 HDMI port)
Samsung Receiver (AV-R710) (two HDMI in and 1 HDMI out)
Virgin V+ HD box (Samsung)
HDMI 3 Port smart switch (I got mine from Neet cables via Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-SWITCH-input-output-Switcher/dp/B001DAHS5Q)

I had the V+ box plugged into the smart switch, the ATV2 plugged into the receiver and the receiver plugged into the smart switch. The smart switch went to the TV of course. I tried swapping the ATV2 to receiver connection from one HDMI in to the other to no avail.

I found that if I bypassed the HDMI element of the receiver (plugged ATV2 HDMI into the smart switch and plugged an optical cable into the ATV2/receiver instead), everything was ok, so I suspected the receiver, especially after an afternoons googling.

However, the other thing I had bypassed was a cable, so I swapped them out for some fairly decent ones (I bought some ultimate red cables from ukhdmi) and ever since I have had no problems. I also noticed that before, with the original cables, when I turned on the ATV2, the picure would flash repeatedly for 3 or 4 seconds at start up, but I figured it was the negotiation of the ATV2, V+ and the smart switch. Now, with the new cables, everything is much smoother, no flashing, no picture loss, no more earache from the wife.

The moral of this: buy a decent set of HDMI cables. You don't need to get ripped by the high street prices (the guy in Currys thought £80 for a cable was normal) but also, buying the £1 cables and rummaging around for a few spares might be more trouble than it's worth.

NB: I have nothing to do with ukhdmi or neet cables, just a customer who had this ATV2 issue until I ponied up £40 for 4 cables and now, I watch my stuff without the problem.

Interesting post, and I can understand not wanting to read through 55pages of posts, but the issue described in this forum is not cable related, but is an interaction between atv2 and certain Philips and Sony tv sets. New firmware from apple, currently in beta fixes the issue by offering rgb high and other options that used to be present on atv1. Most modern cables, no matter what the price will work, you don't need to spend a bunch of money. As long as the call meets the hdmi spec, it will work. Hdmi is a digital spec, it will either work, or not.

Great news everyone - I've just updated my AT2 to iOS 4.3 and the HDMI handshake issue is fixed for me - there's a new setting for HDMI out which you can toggle.

Thanks Apple for fixing it!

Yesterday i´v bought the apple tv and now i´ve got the same problem with my Philips 22PFL5614H/12.

I can´t believe that this problem is in discussion about more than 4 month on actually 55 sites and there´s no solution from apple support.

What did they think about clients like me? It is not o.k. that we get no official information about their efforts to get a solution.

There must be an update immediatly. They can´t wait until the next firmware update.

If they instand not hold out the prospect of a Solution, i´ll bring back this unusable apple tv.

FYI- This as yet appears to NOT be available in the open. I just reset and the latest version is 4.1.1
Still waiting aPPLE...

The iOS version with the fix is still in beta testing, but is likely to be generally released in the very near future. Apple has scheduled an announcement for March 2; perhaps the new version of iOS will be part of it.

I found a workaround that takes a few seconds everytime the problem occurs. Just take the HDMI cable out of your (Philips) TV and put it back in. I even taught this trick to my 10 year old daughter who now manages it. It might harm the cable after a while, but it is better than shutting down the system and start all over again.

Hi all,
Bought an apple Tv 2 few days ago, same problem with a Sony 32ex302.

I've call the apple support, level2 told me that this issue is known (mainly in 4 countries) and will be fixed in few days with an iOS upgrade... Great new, I was about to sell my ATV2 and by an Apple 1st Gen on ebay.

You guys are right, this is only solved when Apple officially puts out iOS 4.3. But to be honest, I installed the beta (and had perfect results with it). I am not a registered developer, but Apple has been nothing but unhelpful on this, so who's to say I'm not allowed to?

Try installing the beta until the official fix comes out (instead of replugging the cable everytime).

Am anticipating the release of 4.3 in the next coming days!

Generally, you don't need to touch the cable. Just change the input on the TV to another source and then back again. This seems to work in almost all cases.

Hi,

I hope 4.3 will be released soon, because on the new Apple-Homepage there is 4.3 just for Iphone, Ipad and Ipod touch. I can't find AppleTv...

Ok, hope the best,
Robert