Software reset (Nvidia) HDMI hardware on Ubuntu/MythTV vs Chromecast
 

Not sure this is the right forum, but spent a night trying different things and am at my limits...

I recently purchased Chromecast and love it, but am having trouble getting it to play nicely with my existing equipment. The basic problem (IMHO) is that Chromecast doesn't have an OFF (or at lease HDMI OFF) capability without pulling the plug, but don't expect that to be high priority on their list of things to do. It is so wonderful, why would someone want to turn it off? Here's why!

I have a homemade DVR running MythTV on Ubuntu on an Nvidia board w/ HDMI. I also have a DVD player, and now the Chromecast all connected to a cheap (Meritline) 3-port automatic HDMI switch. I suspect the switch is the issue, but would like some help confirming/exploring alternatives. Can't find any documentation on it... not sure it came with any...

The issue is that when Chromecast powers on, it grabs the switch like it is supposed to. However, it doesn't have an off capability so it never gives up the switch.

If I power on the DVD player, it grabs the switch. So I could power cycle my MythTV box, but don't really want to do that. I'm looking for a remote software solution.

I tried "xset dpms force off" and it works, but only when the DVR already has the port. In this case, the screen goes off, and the TV displays its HDMI icon indicating loss of signal. When I enter something on the screen, it wakes up, and all is fine.

However, when the Chromecast has the switch, the same procedure does nothing. In other words is seems to be passing though the switch, not being recognized by it.

I also tried "vbetool dpms off" which also forces it off and requires a subsequent "vbetool dpms on" to restart it instead of just any input, but again, doesn't work when the Chromecast already has the switch.

So the bottom line question is: Is there any way to do a hardware power on/off sequence on the HDMI port without a power cycle of the machine? And how will that mess with my other software?

Thanks for reading this far... sorry for all the words, but I hope they're relevant. BTW, first time posting...

Art