SKUs: AT-HDR-EX-70C-KIT, AT-HDR-EX-70-2PS, AT-UHD-EX-70C-KIT, AT-UHD-EX-70-2PS, AT-UHD-EX-100CE-KIT, AT-UHD-EX-100CEA-KIT
Summary: Troubleshooting HDBaseT Extenders—
If your HDBaseT extender is not performing as intended, the following troubleshooting guide will help pinpoint the causes of the challenge you are experiencing with your system.
We hope that this guide is helpful to find the cause and will give you a head start on the troubleshooting process recommended by our Technical Support Team.
Contents
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Link Light is Flashing or Off
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Power Light is Flashing or Off
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No Video or Intermittent Video
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UHD Extender is Not Passing 4K
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Audio Noise or No Audio
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RS-232 and IR Challenges
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Other Troubleshooting Steps
If your link light is flashing or off, improve HDBaseT connection quality.
- Test a factory-made cable between the transmitter and the receiver.1 A good test cable should be more than 3', but otherwise short to minimize the effect of noise sources in the environment.
- Long runs, too many terminations, or low quality terminations will impact performance.
- Avoid using EZ style connectors.2
- Re-terminating cables can improve performance even if the cable was previously working.3
- For more information, see HDBaseT category cable performance.
- A firmware update can fix link issues.5 See the following articles for more information:
If your power light is flashing or off, improve power connection or quality.
- Check terminal blocks (if equipped)
- Ensure screw-terminal power connections are tight on the bare wire, that there are no wire strands loose from any terminal block, and that the insulation is stripped appropriately.
- Use a new power supply
- If you are replacing an old extender, be sure to use the new power supply that comes with the new extender.
- If you have a compatible power supply (check the power specifications on the Atlona product page or ask a technical support representative for help), try it.
- If your extender has a mini USB "FW" port, you may try powering the extender with a 5V USB phone charger.
- If substituting a compatible power supply works, contact Atlona Technical Support and we can issue a factory replacement power supply.
- Check wall power
- If you have a power brick, ensure the power cable coming from the wall is securely plugged into the power brick and that the outlet is powered.
- If you have frequent site-wide power quality issues, an uninterruptible power supply with power conditioning may improve extender reliability and longevity.
- A firmware update can improve reliability.5 See the following articles for more information:
If you are experiencing no video or intermittent video, check your equipment compatibility, specifications, and cables.
- Check equipment compatibility
- Older equipment, such as older Scientific Atlanta cable boxes, do not support the HDMI clock stretching feature required for HDMI extenders. See more here.
- Check equipment specifications
- Improve HDBaseT cable quality
- Test a factory-made cable between the transmitter and the receiver.1 A good test cable should be more than 3', but otherwise short to minimize the effect of any potential noise sources in the environment.
- Long runs, too many terminations, or low quality terminations will impact performance.
- Avoid using EZ style connectors.2
- Re-terminating cables can improve performance even if the cable was previously working.3
- See HDBaseT category cable performance.
- Perform a firmware update.5 See the following articles for more information:
If your UHD extender is not passing 4K, ensure the display and source are not attempting to use signals beyond the UHD extender specifications.
- The UHD-EX extender series supports up to 4K@24 Hz HDR10 or 4K@60 Hz SDR with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling and up to 10 bit color.
- If using sources or displays which use higher HDR, chroma, or refresh rate specifications,
- Consider using the HDR-EX extender series which supports 4K@60Hz HDR10 or 4K@30Hz Dolby Vision HDR with 4:4:4 chroma subsampling.
- Manage EDID at the display or matrix inputs to ensure the signal sent by the source is supported by your UHD extender.
- Use the AT-ETU-SYNC to manage EDID if EDID management is unavailable elsewhere in your signal path.
- If using sources or displays which use higher HDR, chroma, or refresh rate specifications,
- Improve HDBaseT cable quality
- Test a factory-made cable between the transmitter and the receiver.1 A good test cable should be more than 3', but otherwise short to minimize the effect of any potential noise sources in the environment.
- Long runs, too many terminations, or low quality terminations will impact performance.
- Avoid using EZ style connectors.2
- Re-terminating cables can improve performance even if the cable was previously working.3
- See HDBaseT category cable performance.
- Perform a firmware update.5 See the following articles for more information:
- See the following articles for more information:
If your extender is not passing audio or you hear audio noise, address wiring concerns and system configuration.
- Check terminal blocks and wiring
- Ensure all audio terminal blocks are fully inserted, the screws are tight on the bare wire, and no strands are shorting across the terminals.
- Check the EDID settings
- Ensure the devices at the receiver, displays, or other signal sink devices are requesting appropriate audio from the source. If you are using the analog outputs of your extender, ensure the EDID is requesting 2 channel PCM.
- Find the noise source
- If you experience audio noise but good video signal, the noise source is likely external to the HDBaseT connection.4 Check the analog signal cabling and connections in your system.
- Buzz which changes when touching equipment occurs when there is a lifted ground or if equipment is grounded across two circuits which have a high impedance between them. Atlona recommends powering your extenders on the same circuit.
If your extender is not passing IR or RS-232 signals, address wiring concerns and system configuration.
- Check terminal blocks and wiring
- Ensure all terminal blocks are fully inserted, the screws are tight on the bare wire, and no strands are shorting across the terminals.
- If not using Atlona branded IR transmitters and receivers, check the IR manufacturer instructions for wire color notes. The wire colors may not match the colors in the Atlona manual.
- Ensure that your IR emitter is in the right spot. Using a flashlight can help reveal the IR receiver inside your equipment front panel.
- Check compatibility
- Make sure your IR receivers are compatible with your Atlona HDBaseT extenders. Atlona uses standard 12V IR receivers. Some IR buds from other manufacturers do not use the 12V receiver standard and are not compatible with Atlona extenders.
- If you are trying send RS-232 commands to a device that receives HDBaseT directly, such as a projector, ensure the receiving device supports HDBaseT 5Play.
- Verify operation
- You can check to see if your IR emitter is working by looking at it through a cell phone camera. Most cameras pick up IR wavelengths.
- See this article for additional information on troubleshooting RS-232.
If the above steps do not improve the performance of your extender, Atlona Technical Support is here to help you. The following general troubleshooting steps will help us narrow down the cause of equipment behavior which does not meet expectations:
- Perform a firmware update.5 See the following articles for more information:
- Isolate the equipment
- Disconnect all inputs and outputs which are unnecessary for testing. This includes audio, video, network, and power supplies sharing a circuit with the equipment under test.
- Substitute equipment
- If you have the same equipment in another location in your system which is working as expected, move the device you are testing to this location and see if it performs as expected.
- Try equipment from working locations at the location which is not working as anticipated.
- Try another compatible power supply.6
Footnotes
1. HDBaseT can push category cables to their performance limits. Since the HDBaseT standard is different than those used for regular network traffic, a network cable tester or certifier pass may not predict HDBaseT performance. HDbaseT signaling is similar to 10GBASE-T.
2. It is more difficult to achieve quality terminations with EZ connectors.
3. If the plating on the connector has been compromised or if the cable was not well crimped, oxidation will lower connection quality over time.
4. Audio and video are encoded as one signal as they pass from transmitter to receiver. If you have audio but no video, or vice versa, the cause will be external to the HDBaseT link.
5. In addition to improvements built into updated firmware, site-wide power problems and other noise in the environment can cause software corruption in most electronics. A firmware refresh can resolve unexpected equipment behavior. Some firmware updates improve error correction and recovery from noisy signals.
6. Power supplies are vulnerable to site-wide power fluctuations and are generally the most common point of failure in all electronics.
Article ID: KB01591