HDMI Switchbox for U-Verse?

Hey guys, I know several people out there have switched to UVerse, as I have done, and I wanted to see if anyone had had any luck with an HDMI Switchbox.

In a nutshell: I had Dish HD (not dvr though) for a couple of years, and this past Christmas added a PS3 to the system. I have a ceiling DLP projector, and I used an HDMI cable from both the HD Dish box and the PS3, fed into a little $40 HDMI Switchbox I picked up at Walmart, and then out from that to a HDMI-to-DVI adapter into a nice 30' DVI cable running up to the projector.

Everything worked fine, the little switchbox worked perfectly, which was great, because my HK receiver is just old enough that it does not have any HDMI ins/outs. So the switchbox was a necessity.

SO in May I decide to save some $$ and get HD Dvr *in every room*, and switched over to UVerse.

Everything has been great, ecept for one super annoying problem: the UVerse box will not work with the switchbox (or, let me clarify, it did not work when I got it installed, again this was in May, I have not tried it since then). It gave me an error on-screen saying that the encrypted signal or some-such was not passed through the switcher, and it was an 'unauthorized device', something like that. Essentially, it refused to work with it.

So since then, if I want to watch TV, I have to unplug the HDMI from the PS3, and plug it into the UVerse box. And if I want to use the PS3, same deal, I have to reach behind everything, unplug it, and plug it back into the PS3.

Major pain in the buttock.

So the question is, has anyone had any luck with one of those switchboxes on their UVerse setup? I love my HK receiver and have no plans to change, so I am not going to break down and spend another few hundred bucks for a new receiver just to get HDMI Switching that way (and speaking of, does that even work with UVerse? Or does their signal say it is an 'unauthorized device' as well? Anyone?)

I know that some other brands have begun to come onto the market lately for these little sub-$50 switchers, so I am hoping someone can give me some good news, that they have been able to get get one to work.

Or, alternatively, does anyone know if some firmware updates to the UVerse system may have eliminated that stupid encryption-key crap altogether and allowed switchers to work? Maybe?

Thanks

 

Since I have a projector on the ceiling, which is used strictly for the picture, I use the HDMI only for the video signal, and use optical direct into the receiver for the audio.

I'll give the switchbox another try, just for kicks, to see if maybe they have turned off that stupid integrity check, as more and more people are moving to HD and therefore having more HDMI sources than they have available inputs, switchboxes are going to become a necessity until the trickle-down to receivers with several HDMI inputs. And as audio generally lasts a good long time, this trickle-down may take quite some time, so the little single-purpose switchers are going to become ubiquitous.

 

Actually, up until now, most broadcasters and makers of HD content have specifically avoided turning this key on, for this very reason, not wanting to piss off customers, as a great many of them have older HD devices, such as older HD televisions, which are also not compliant. And like I said, the switchbox worked perfectly for the exact same setup using the Dish HD box, it only became a problem when moving to UVerse. UVerse has the key switched on, or had it on in May at least, and are stupid for having it on.

However, if it's not compliant, it's not compliant.

If that's all it is, then hopefully someone here will have had some luck with finding a switcher that is compliant.