HDMI Audio not detected

I'm posting this in case someone else has the same problem as I did.  I wasn't able to fix it but I did find a workaround in my case that may shed some light on other people with the same problem.

I got a Yamaha soundbar for Christmas but have been unable to get Windows 7 to output the 5.1 audio to it.

Here's my hardware

• WIndows 7 PC with an i3 processor and Intel HD Graphics 4000.
• Panasonic TC-P55GT50 50 inch plasma display
• Yamaha YSP-2200 soundbar.

This is how I have it plugged together.

• HDMI output from the PC directly into HDMI3 on the TV.
• Audio out from the TV to the soundbar via the optical cable.

The problem is that the only output device that's "plugged in" according to the device manager is the PanasonicTV0. The Panasonic TV works with HDMI port but it's limited to two speaker output.  When I watch movies on it, the voices are muddled. It sounds like you're listening to the dialog at the end of a long tunnel.

I tried everything I could think of to enable 5.1 surround sound through the HDMI port. I updated my bios, and installed ALL the latest drivers, installed all Microsoft Service patches.  Nothing worked.

I even tried to install an ATI video card but for some reason adding that card kept my system from even booting up.

None of the steps I followed on this thread helped.  Remember, I was getting sound through the HDMI port via the PanasonicTV device but I couldn't enable the High Definitoin HDMI device becuase it was disabled.

My workaround was to plug the PC into the HDMI input on the soundbar and plug the TV input into the HTMI output of the soundbar.  When I did that, I got a second "PanasonicTV0" device but this time the multi-speaker options were available.

So here's the summary;

PC -> HDMI Adapter  -> TV  HDMI3 input --> TV Optical Out -> Yamaha Soundbar Optical in is limited to  2 channel sound.

PC -> HDMI Adapter -> Yamaha Soundbar HDMI In -> Yamaha HDMI out -> TV HDMI3  input has access to the full multi-speaker settings.

What does this mean?  It means that the PC can't negotiate with the soundbar correctly if it's going through the Panasonic TV.  When it goes directly to the soundbar and then to the TV it all works correctly. It's probably something with the HDMI handshake. It could be a problem in Windows or even on the Panasonic TV.  Wherever the problem lies, it's been a big PITA.

Anyway, maybe this will help someone at Microsoft diagnose the problem (doubtful) or maybe it will help someone else with a work around.

Anyone know if using another operating system it works well?

Try Ubuntu 12.04. You don't even have to install. Just simply give it a try and it will amaze you. Comes with Leibre Office Similar to Excel, Word, and Power Point etc..

You can have it on a CD or 2GB thumb drive to test drive the OS.

I installed and plugged in my lap-top with Windows7 trial version to my TV to watch something interesting with family but the sound would not come out of TV.

I was carious and tried with Ubuntu and the OS know exactly what I intended and transferred to sound from lap-top TV. Later when browsing through the setting in Ubuntu to see if I can bring back the sound back to lap-top with no problem.

They only reason, I use windows is due to some of my application that can’t be found for Ubuntu but I found more utilities that can support Windows application in Ubuntu.

This is an update.  The problem is the Panasonic TV (TC-P60GT50).  I switched to a new Gigabyte motherboard with an ATI videocard that supports HDMI audio out.  It still didn't fix it.  I tried to update the firmware on the TV thinking that that might fix it. Turned out I was already on the newest firmware release.

While attempting to update the firmware. I ended up asking the Panasonic about it.  To their credit, I got a quick response.  They said;

"When audio from other equipment connected to this unit via HDMI is output using ?Digital Audio Out? of this unit, the system switches to 2CH audio."

The English wasn't good and I wasn't sure if they were asking for clarification or were saying that the TV works that way by design so I asked for clarification.  They responded;

"As mentioned in our previous response, this is how the TV will operate. We apologize for any inconvenience."

So, this is the way the TV is designed.  If connect the TV to an external device via optical out, it forces 2 channel sound.

Panasonic didn't clarify why it behaves this way.  If the TV can't determine what type of sound system is connected to the optical out, then it would make sense.  I'm pretty sure that's not the case.  I've connected surround sound devices to my computer's optical out and it detected the speaker configuration.  The TV should just relay that information through.  If it can't, detect the speakers then there should be an option to tell it what speakers are hooked up.

Since these flat screen TV's have such bad speakers it's very common to hook up a set of external surround sound speakers.  The Panasonic is crippled as a surround sound system. At least if you want to use the TV as a switching device. This is making me sorry that I purchased an Panasonic TV. If you're shopping for one, I'd recommend looking at something else.  This flaw wasted a huge amount of my time.

i have the same problem as well its not letting me "set as default" its still showing my hdmi is "not plugged in"