HDMI only works intermittently

[Nereidum]

I just received my Raspberry Pi and starter pack today, but it seems like the HDMI port on the one I got has a problem.

I can get output from it sometimes if I move the whole unit around just right, but if I move it even slightly after that, the monitor will usually go into power save mode until I find just the right orientation to get it to work again. There doesn't seem to be a consistent orientation that makes it work reliably, either.

My guess would be that there's a loose connection between the port and the board somewhere, but I can't see anything that looks obviously broken. The connection itself feels pretty solid. Everything else about the board seems to be working.

Does this sound like a bad unit, or should I try some other things to troubleshoot this first?

[adafruit_support_rick]

Do you have another HDMI cable? This sounds more like a cable problem than a board problem to me.

[Nereidum]

I've tried two different cables on three different displays (two monitors and a TV), and the cable doesn't seem to make a difference. On the monitors, I was lucky if I could get a picture at all (in fact, I never got a picture through HDMI on the first monitor I tried). The TV seems a bit more tolerant, because I can consistently get a picture, but if I move the thing around, I start to see it flickering (sometimes the picture appears to shift vertically; other times the colors seem to change).

[adafruit_support_rick]

So, multiple cables, multiple monitors. Hmmm. There are no intermediate devices involved, HDMI switches, VGA converters, etc - nothing like that?

What happens if you physically press on the HDMI socket on the board?

[Nereidum]

I'm using an HDMI-to-DVI adapter to connect it to the monitor where I've gotten it to work, but that's it. For the first monitor (which is not at my current location, so I can't test it right now) and for the TV, I connected directly with HDMI.

As for pushing on the socket, nothing seems to happen when I do that right now. The good news is, at least for the moment, I'm not seeing the problem anymore. Even when hooked up to the monitor, nothing I'm doing now makes it lose signal.

It bothers me that I don't know what the problem was or what caused it to go away, but for now I guess I can just monitor it and see if it stays gone, or if it starts to act up again.

[adafruit_support_rick]

If it works, it works!
It's possible that there was some bit of fuzz or other detritus in the socket, and now you've managed to shake it loose. But keep an eye on it. If it acts up again, we'll take care of it.