I have a Pegatron Cape 7 mini nettop computer from 2008 which I have been using a home theatre PC through HDMI to my Sony Bravia HDTV for the past decade. Unfortunately, I seem to have done 'something' to the DVI-I port so it no longer works correctly as an HDMI source.
The Pegatron has a built in Nvidia Ion GPU equivalent to a 9400M, providing a single DVI-I port, which can also be used with a dongle to provide VGA output, or HDMI output with integrated sound. (Other models of Pegatron Cape 7 have a HDMI port instead.) I've been using a DVI to HDMI passive adapter dongle to connect the Pegatron to a 2007 Sony Bravia TV.
I recently needed to clone the Pegatron's hard drive to another HTPC so I plugged it into an ASDA branded 3-way HDMI TV switch so I could use both computers on the TV simultaneously and toggle between them. Unfortunately, when I unplugged the Pegatron from the HDMI switch at some point during this, I've have silently caused some kind of damage as now the Pegatron no longer produces a HDMI signal (when connected directly, not using the switch in-line).
At this point I'd like to offer this safety tip:
- Avoid using strange third party HDMI switchers.
- Avoid hotplugging HDMI devices, especially into such switchers.
When I use a VGA adapter dongle, or a DVI-D cable, the Pegatron produces output just fine - the POST screen shows correctly, and Windows 7 Professional, Ubuntu or Linux Mint all boot correctly into their respective desktop environment. If I boot up the Pegatron with a HDMI adapter and HDMI cable, the Pegatron will boot but there will be no video signal. No monitor or TV I own recognises the Pegatron producing video over HDMI. I have tried multiple adapters and cables. If I boot up the system with DVI-D connected and swap to the HDMI adapter, I get no video. I can hotplug the video cable to VGA or DVI-D and get video, but HDMI seems completely inert. The system doesn't hang or crash with HDMI connected - I can blindly shutdown in a terminal to safely shut down the system and so on.
Is there something I can do to diagnose this issue? Is it possible that hotplugging the video cable has damaged something inside the port itself? The port doesn't seem to be damaged or burned - though some of the walls between the cells in the DVI seem to have been worn away. I'm very surprised that DVI-D is working perfectly but HDMI is completely unresponsive.
Can I type something into a Linux shell that will let me know whether the OS believes a cable has been inserted if I boot using DVI-D and then hotplug the HDMI?
Given that the Pegatron is based on laptop tech, I was wondering if there was some hidden Fn key combination that would enable video again, but that is a wild guess at this point.
Summary:
- Cape 7 has a Nvidia Ion 9400M with a DVI-D port compatible with DVI, VGA and HDMI (with sound).
- It worked for a decade through HDMI with a passive adapter.
- After using a HDMI switch and hotplugging the video, HDMI does not work any more.
- I have tried multiple HDMI-DVI cables and dongles with no effect.
- I have tried multiple HDMI monitors and televisions with no effect.
- A DVI-D cable or VGA using a dongle both still work.
- The system itself still completely functions other than HDMI compatibility.
I don't understand the following message, but I've included it as maybe it's relevant.
