The video 1 output on my 990 appears dead: no composite, no svideo, no analog audio, even when the source provides them.

More details here: http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=34;t=000198;p=1#000003

I've reposted under a new topic in the hopes of getting more attention. It seams like Pythagore might not be the only person with a wonky 990.

What you're running into definitely seems indicative of a hardware fault in the 990. If you haven't done so already, I would strongly recommend contacting Outlaw either through their support site or by phone.

Yeah, I've sent an email to Outlaw support. I'll see what they have to say.

Other than that, the unit appears to be functioning well. (Though, I can't seam to disable the center channel, but on a HT pre/pro, that doesn't really surprise me).

For "casual" listening, I'm using the analog Record Out/AUX audio to the TV, together with component video. This lets me turn down the 990 volume and use the TV volume. Of course, because the 990 is on, I can't really use the trigger outputs: I suppose I could use trigger2 and double the inputs as appropriate for casual and theater viewing, but then I'd run out of inputs fast. Maybe reserve "casual" viewing for the output of the STB.

The other alternative is to use the Zone2 output for casual viewing from all sources, but then I'm limited to svideo quality (which might not be all that bad).

Well, Outlaw claims it "can't happen", and that it must be a configuration problem. I find it extremenly odd too, as ALL the video 1 rec out outputs are dead, and they're likely on different boards (i.e. all the svideo, all the composite video, all the analog audio, etc.).

They did confirm that there is no transcoding of svideo and composite video or digital to analog audio from sources to the video 1 rec out, zone 2 out, aux out and tape out outputs. The manual isn't entirely clear on this subject, but I had already figured as much.

Given that I have tape out and aux out audio working, it is very suspicious that I do not have video 1 rec out audio working.

I will recheck but am fairly confident that the problem remains. In fact, I was manually switching the analog audio output between the aux out, the tape out, and the video 1 rec out, to a spare set of audio inputs on the TV (for casual listening)
and it was dead only on the video 1 rec out.

The only other thing I can think of is that the 990 is recognizing macrovision and shutting down the video 1 rec out. However, I have some recorded VHS tapes that were made before macrovision existed (they're awful to watch, but there is clearly signal there).

This is probably a dumb question, but have you tried using a different set of cables?

I'm not sure if I have followed this all the way through, but I'll throw in my two cents. Have you tried this with different sources, AND, possibly more importantly, have you tried connecting the Video One output directly to a video display to see if the output is working when it does not go through a VCR? That would prove or disprove your Macrovision theory.

To answer jhunt1:

I've manually swapped a single set of audio cables between the AUX/OUT, TAPE/OUT, and Video 1 REC/OUT analog audio outputs, and only on Video 1 Rec Out is it dead. It isn't the cables.

To answer PodBoy:

The source does not make a difference. I have alternately connected both Video 1 Rec /Out svideo and composite video to a display with all sources selected (DVD, VCR, STB) in turn, to no avail. I never connected the Video 1 Rec Out through a VCR -- it was always connected directly. I had thought that, perhaps, the 990 was *detecting* any macrovision in the video signal and disabling the Video 1 Rec/Out since it was, after all a "record out". Though, in retrospect, there's no legal requirement for Outlaw to do that (it's the VCR's responsibility to honour macrovision), and it would not be a beneficial feature for a customer, so I can't see them doing that.

Fixed!

Steve at Outlaw ran out of suggestions and was about to recommend sending me a replacement, and an RMA for my unit. However, both of us thought it wierd that all of analog audio, composite video, and svideo would not appear, as they're handled by different boards. I wanted to make doubly sure before having Outlaw go to all the trouble to ship another unit out. Steve suggested, (paraphrasing), "You know, you could try resetting the unit."

Sure enough, I followed his instructions and Video 1 Rec / Out is now active! Thanks, Steve!!

The only remaining problem is that svideo on the Video 1 Rec / Out is black and white from the only connected source (well, the DVD player is connected as well as the cable STB, but it's configured for progressive scan output on the component lines and that is documented to mess up the svideo output). However, I attribute that to broken chroma connections on the fragile svideo cable. I'll verify that, of course, but am confident that the problem is not with the 990.

BTW, Outlaw support is quick and friendly. Kudos. Steve emailed that he would try to repro my problem on Saturday, but I emailed back that he should try to enjoy the long weekend and not work on my account -- it could wait until Tuesday. Definately above and beyond the call of duty. It's nice to see that kind of dedication and comforting if I had a real problem that couldn't wait.

Outlaw's got a good group of folks, alright. Nice move, Steve.

It sounds like your reaction to the black and white on s-video matches mine. When I've run into that situation (which has happened to me a time or two), it has either been a loose cable(leaving only one of the two conductors properly connected) or a damaged or defective cable.

Yeah, Outlaw's tech support has been great. Their manual is a bit vague on a few things (like saying that video appears on both Video 1 Rec / Out composite and svideo terminals, if a video source is present, but it's strictly composite in to composite out and svideo in to svideo out -- no transcoding. Not that this is a problem, really, on secondary outputs, but the manual is wrong on the subject (pg. 36: "Recording a Source").

I did notice something odd after resetting the unit made Video 1 Rec /Out work : when selecting a component video source for the main outputs, the main composite and svideo outputs went dead. I would have expected them to be switched to their equivalents from the source (just like the secondary Video 1 Rec / Out output). If a composite or svideo source is selected for main output, they transcode to both main composite and svideo outputs (as well as main component output), as documented. What's odd is that I think I remember the "better" of svideo or composite source, if connected, being transcoded to both main svideo and composite outputs if component video input was selected (the 990 will not transcode component to svideo or composite), before I reset the unit. Of course, I'm probably mistaken.

Still, it would be nice if Outlaw documented what kind of switching was possible by the hardware, and what kind of restrictions are imposed by their software. (For, example, I can imagine that it should be possible to switch component video from a source to the main component output AND either svideo or composite video to both main composite and svideo outputs at the same time, but there is no way to select this in the video source config menu). Otherwise, it becomes difficult to tell what's a bug and what's a feature.