Sometimes things just work the first time

(originally from https://web.archive.org/web/20150421220939/http://ajcsystems.com/blog/blog/2013/09/12/sometimes-things-just-work-the-first-time/)

For my wife’s birthday, I got her an Ouya game console so she could play an old emulated game (for which we own the cartridge, but our console is broken). I also recently ordered a Chromecast since hey, why not, it’s only $35. This required two more HDMI ports than our TV has, so I ordered a three-way HDMI switcher to plug everything into.

And it all works.

To be more specific, here are the things that are working that actually kind of astound me.

1. I didn’t have a spare power plug close to the TV, so I wound up powering the Chromecast from the USB port on the Ouya. This works fine, even when the Ouya is off.
2. The third item plugged into the switcher is our Xbox 360, which regularly has HDCP problems that prevent it from outputting sound to the TV. I was concerned that a $10 no-brand HDMI switcher wouldn’t support HDCP properly and would freak out the Xbox, but it works fine.
3. The switcher properly detects which device is displaying video, and automatically jumps to the lowest-numbered device with a signal. This is particularly useful behavior (which I did not anticipate needing) since the Chromecast never actually turns off. This way, the switcher just stays on the Chromecast all the time unless we turn the Xbox or Ouya on; if we do, it switches to that other signal until we turn it off and then jumps back to the Chromecast. This turns out to be exactly the behavior I would have wanted if I’d realized ahead of time to try and engineer it that way.
4. The HDMI switcher has a power port, but it didn’t come with a plug for it. I was initially bummed that it wasn’t going to work and that I was going to have to return it and get a new one, or try to figure out the voltage and find a matching pin, etc. etc., but I decided to try it anyway and see if it worked without external power. It did.

I spend so much time screwing around with our home theater setup (I have a custom-built HTPC running MythTV) and dealing with things that manage to not work in incredibly strange and unusual ways; it’s really rather refreshing when I build some Rube Goldberg contraption back there and things actually work the way they’re supposed to.