Is HDMI output off by default?

Technical Support
1

I bought an 8" HDMI monitor. I have 6 Shakes/Booms huddle testing here at home. But when I plug either my 55" TV or the 8" monitor in to any of them, they always say “no input”. So is HDMI output turned off by default? Or is it the case that the HDMI has to be already connected when the Pi board is booting up?

I hate just pulling the power on the Shakes, as I understand this can damage the microSD cards. Can it damage the boards too?

2

OK, easy fix.

sudo vi /boot/config.txt
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
sudo reboot

HDMI output should now be always on. Helpful for my remote field deployments or whenever cannot ssh (e.g. do not know ip address).

1 Like
3

ah, someone who thinks vi is “easy”, my kinda end-user!

:joy:

4

I have added instructions, and appropriate warnings, to the manual:

http://manual.raspberryshake.org/hdmi.html

Please review.

branden