Can't get XBMC to start when using HDMI out

[shinnlly]

I have my new XBMC all setup and working exactly how I want when using DVI out to my monitor.

When I moved the PC to the living room and connected to the TV via HDMI, I ran into two problems.

1. The picture looked terrible. I could see my desktop, but the icons looked a little distorted or like they were low quality. I also had black bars all around the desktop, but I recently found a thread about overscanning that should fix that. The video cards I am running on my XP Pro setup is:
ASUS EAH3450/DI/256M Radeon HD 3450 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121259)
Any ideas? I poked around with the ATI setup, but could not find anything that helped.

2. XBMC will not start when connected via HDMI. I just get that windows error whenever I try to start it up (the one that is almost always solved by updating video drivers). I shutdown, moved the PC back to my monitor via DVI, and XBMC started fine. Shutdown, moved the PC back to the TV and XBMC will not start. I had installed the latest drivers, which were dated 2/20/09. Prior to doing that, XBMC would not start even when I was connected via DVI.

So, since XBMC works fine when connected via DVI with the latest drivers, I know there is some issue with the way XBMC and the video card (using HDMI) are working together.

Has anyone else run into something like this before? I am hoping for an ATI setup solution, if one exists.

[Dougie Fresh]

Did you try setting both your driver (in the ATI CCC) and XBMC to output 720p?

[live2give]

under catalyst control centre there is an option for your monitor/LCD tv that lets you overscan/underscan(add remove borders bars if you will)

[shinnlly]

No, I will try that tonight. If everything works in 720p, what does that tell us. As you assumed, I am trying to run everything at 1080p.

[althekiller]

Sounds like your color depth is too low. We require 32bit.

[supernoman]

I've used that card in the past to connect via HDMI. It worked for me.
Sounds more like a video card / driver issue than XBMC.

Try changing the resolution to something your TV supports even down to 480P just to see if things clear up.

[boxterduke]

Hey man, I had the same issue as you and the same card but mine is AGP.
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47175

I installed the latest SVN and it is resolved.
Try that.

[shinnlly]

Ok, I am 3 months late on providing some closure on this, but I thought I should tie it up.

Color depth was set to 32 bit.

After changing the overscan, the picture was perfect. I guess when it was getting scaled down (by default for ATI cards) it was making the picture look really bad.

Back in March 2009 when I started this thread, I was running the latest SVN and video drivers, but XBMC still would not start.

Fast-forward 3 months later. I pull the XBMC PC out of the closet and nothing has changed, obviously. I updated to the latest SVN and drivers again, and now it is working like a charm.

BTW, during my 3 months away I purchased a SageTV server license and HD200 extender. As you might imagine, the UI does not even come close to XBMC. It will, however, play the movie from a native BD file structure. Pretty slick. On the downside, in addition to crappy UI, the little box does need to be rebooted almost every day. I am running beta firmware (for the BD support), but still. :-(

Anyway, I am awfully happy to get the XBMC up and running. Now the SageTV can go to the SD TV in the bedroom.