Bose, VS-2 HDMI problem

[Anthony]

Well the dark side of being an A/V handyman is that sometimes you are asked to fix a system that you NEVER would have recommended someone buy. This happened to me last night.

Old friends of the family have Bose Lifestyle system with the VS-2 "video enhancer" module, Samsung 1080p TV, and Blu-Ray player.

The story goes, they got the TV and Bose stuff -- it worked great (Bose unit has a DVD player built in), then they got Verizon Fios with the HD box, that worked, then BluRay, that worked.

Then one day, the Fios box and BluRay would not sync with the TV. Both HDMI signals run through the Bose VS-2 box and only one outputs to the TV. The BluRay gives no picture and the Fios box worked for a little bit, but then kept flashing and flickering and not syncing to the signal.

All units work fine when sent directly to the TV (including the VS-2 switch box, when only fed from the main Bose DVD/amp unit), so I know it's not a TV, source, or cable issue.

I tried dumbing down the resolution to 1080i for everything, even though the Bose is spec'd for 1080p as well, that did not fix it.

So now I'm stumped. I've read about copy protection problems with HDMI switches, so that might be it. The unit itself may have gone bad (although it passes through some signal and I did get it to work for a brief bit last night with just the Fios box), but then when we powered down and back up, it wouldn't sync (flash some video but then flicker off again).

any ideas here? I tried a bunch of different power on/off sequences to see if that's it, but found nothing conclusive.

They are going to swap out the unit under warranty and hope that fixes it -- but it works just enough to lead me to believe this might be something else.

Any advice or experience here is appreciated. Thanks,
Anthony

[tonyvdb]

That is a strange one indeed, I wonder if its a handshake issue with the display or something related to that. Have you checked to see if there is a firmware update available for that unit?

[Mike P.]

From what you have described, it sounds like a warranty issue for the VS-2, especially since all units worked fine when sent directly to the TV.

[Anthony]

I'm hoping that's it. I downloaded the manual and looked -- there aren't a lot of settings to play with.

I couldn't find out if there is a firmware update, although you do have to update the firmware on the base unit when you install the video module.

Even though they claim 1080p, I couldn't find an HDMI spec in any of their docs.

It definitely seems like a handshake problem. Either the copy protect info isn't getting through or somewhere on the chain it isn't finding a good video sync.

Glad you guys agree. This is a weird, weird problem.

[Mike P.]

Just curious, did you check if the component inputs worked?

[Anthony]

No, they only had one component cable and I didn't bring my spares. It upconverts every input to 1080p HDMI, so it wouldn't have been a straight switch/selector.

something else that troubled me, they were supposed to do audio over HDMI, but the BluRay player had to have a separate TOSLINK cable for audio. I took their word for that (actually the Firedog guy's word, apparently he tried to get just the HDMI to work, but it never would talk through the Bose unit). The Verizon box had audio through HDMI, though.

[Mike P.]

A look at the BluRay players manual would determine if it outputs audio through the HDMI or not. If it did then the problem would be the VS-2, unless audio output is selectable on the BluRay player. Trouble shooting, don't ya just love it!

[conchyjoe7]

Not just trouble shooting, but trouble shooting a product line that has lots of claims and little info of substance to back those claims up, or documentation to enable those claims to become reality. Are these folks absolutely stuck with the Bose? I ask only because you said they could exchange it with warranty which led me to believe we're in the 30 day satisfaction area. If they can; get something that actually really works and can be expanded by at least 2 (or preferably) more components (what you're trying to do) and still function.
Gosh, I had almost forgotten how frustrating the old Bose systems can be to try and work on, or as was said "troubleshoot"...
Good luck,
Konky.

[Anthony]

Well, it's moot. She swapped the old unit out for a new one and the new one works. Must have been a defect.

Now they want me to program either the Bose remote to control the TV and BluRay player or get their Logitech Harmony to work with the Bose. Ugh, I have to make sure their model can handle IR (some were RF only, but I think they fixed that now).

Thanks for the support and help all!

[zappmeister]

Hi .. Just read your thread and it sure sound familiar. I have a Bose Lifestyle 35 Dimension IV with the VS 2 enhancer and it was going along just fine with my Bell expressvu PVR HD satellite box and my Samsung Blu Ray connected to the VS 2. Then. It was no longer a thing of beauty. THe TV started Flashing, the image from the Satellite box... (Samsung plasma). I checked the BlueRay signal.. same thing... (flash, flash etc.. almost every second). I have removed the HDMI connections (they were working on HDMI for a while there it seems). I connected the Three component R, G, B cables that came with the satellite. NOthing.I mean total nothing!.. the tv did NOT flash the signal. NO signal at all from the BlueRay or the Satellite. It only works if I connect using S Video from these components. Or worse yet, it works with the standard Yellow video connector. The TV is still connected using the HDMI to the VS 2 -that continues to work at least..... Any thoughts?..

[Mike P.]

Connect the Bell expressvu PVR and Samsung Blu Ray directly to the TV. Eliminate the VS 2 from the chain. Let us know what the results are.

[zappmeister]

Okee doke... oh great poohbah of home thee-ate-ah!
I am in awe... and you were bang on.. when I connected the Bell Expressvu HDPVR using the HDMI cable directly into the Samsung Plasma HDMI port (a handy one, nicely located on the side of the wall mounted monster by the way) , successfully bypassing the VS 2 , it worked just fine.. and how nice to see HD once again (albeit temporarily). I did the exact same with the Samsung BluRay.. and got to see HD one more time today!...
Now.. does that mean what methinks it means... dealing with the "establishment"!??

[Mike P.]

Looks that way. Hopefully you're still covered by warranty.

[Anthony]

That's how it was for my customer: she returned the unit to Bose and got a new one -- problem solved.

At least yours was an all or nothing problem. When I tested her setup, it was intermittent, which really made my head spin

good luck.

[zappmeister]

I am working on getting the "attention" of someone from Bose involved.. still in emailing mode.... may have to resort to real time mode...much thanks for your invaluable help on this site... would have pulled numerous "hares" without it!