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.
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 🍻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.
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?
Not who you asked but 100% use a narrow heat gun, no question; it saves so much time alongside not accidentally bringing connectors
Would an oven work?
I have another in the setup thats working, but I’ll probably hold onto it though if I can fix it as easily as you say
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?
It depends on how much heat it’s actually making, but maybe if the factory job done was crappy. It’s probably thermal adhesive though which is harder to remove.
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.
Agreed. SMD components fail silently.
Dirty girl
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.
Most anti-piracy measures are useless at stopping piracy.
I’m convinced it has something to do with appeasing ignorant investors.
deleted by creator
I meant investors of the media publishers, not the creators of the DRM.
Publishers certainly know it doesn’t work but their investors probably demand that they “do something”.
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.
Phones finally stopped my hoarding.
On my desktop pc I have almost every file I’ve downloaded since 1998. Seriously.
Want that old specific version of Nero to burn CDs, I probably have you. Looking for abandonware? Yeah, that was my thing for awhile.
I used to have operating systems I can’t find any record of existing these days (mostly front ends for DOS made to seem more modern in the early 00s). I had something that made Windows 3.1 look like Windows 95, I even had something that made Windows 98 look just like Mac OS 8 (no shit, it layered over windows and everything flawlessly).
I had every version of Mandrake Linux and several versions after the rename.
Tonnns of software to extend the life of 16 bit hardware.
I still have several screeners in 240p from the early 2000s with the audience moving around and laughing in them.
I have a decent collection of Nirvana bootlegs I downloaded from FTP servers way back in the day.
Man I miss the old internet. I’m getting old and that’s part of it I guess.
I find myself hoarding on the Steam Deck desktop too. Something about having a wide open file system just brings that impulse out in me.
Have you got Jasc Animation Shop?
I don’t have that one. I remember my cousin using it to animate dolls she drew on paint shop pro though. I don’t specifically remember it being animation shop, but I remember the name Jasc when she was showing me her work.
Any chance you remember the brand or manufacturer so that I might look for one, for myself?
No name brand, if you find one that looks like it, it’ll work. Typical search terms are “hdmi splitter 1 in 2 out”, any with EDI switches are busts, like the one from UGREEN.
EDIT Also avoid any with buttons, this is a HDMI duplicator, as in 1 signal goes in, that signal get duplicated and sent out both ports. The ones with buttons switches inputs, so 1 HDMI in 1 HDMI out, the button just chooses which HDMI is being used. Great for monitors with only 1 HDMI input.
