How to get surround sound from pc>hdmi>receiver

[csice]

I only get sound from the front left and right speakers. I have 64 bit Windows 7 and Realtek HD audio with updated drivers. I run the hdmi through the video card(AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series) to my receiver. When I go into the configuration for Realtek and test the speakers individually, they all work. My Receiver always says decoder off. What can I do to get surround coming from my pc? It seems like a lot of people have problems with this and answers likewise seem difficult to come by. Thank you.

 

[Jonb2011]

I do have one more question. I was wanting to play Gone Home, which I don't believe has 5.1, so what is the way to simulate 5.1?

I realize this post is kind of old, but you can use Razer Surround to simulate surround sound, works pretty well and it's free.
https://www.razerzone.com/surround

 

[demiller1866]

I've been having this problem for a while now. I have a Radeon HD 5850. I use the card's HDMI output for sound and video. I dealt with AMD for several days and they could not give me an answer. Originally, I set up windows for 5.1 in WMC. The test of the individual speakers went fine - sound from each, but when I played music (ie 2 channel source), my receiver (Onkyo TX-NR809) would receive a PCM stream and could not use any of the Dolby processors (i.e. Dolby Prologic II) to convert to 5.1. The same thing happened when I went to speaker configuration in the control panel (setting the card's HDMI output to 5.1). I uninstalled and reinstalled the AMD drivers multiple times, installed them one at a time, disabled mobo's onboard sound. Nothing worked.

Finally, I tried something unorthodox. After installing the uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, I did not, repeat did not, configure the speakers. Now, I am getting sound through all of my speakers. The music is going to my receiver. My receiver indicates Dolby Prologic II. When video is played through media center, I get Dolby Digital or whatever the source material was recorded as. My goal was to not have the video card do the conversion and have my receiver do everything. It now does.

 

[Ikram Ahmed]

Finally, I tried something unorthodox. After installing the uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, I did not, repeat did not, configure the speakers. Now, I am getting sound through all of my speakers. The music is going to my receiver. My receiver indicates Dolby Prologic II. When video is played through media center, I get Dolby Digital or whatever the source material was recorded as. My goal was to not have the video card do the conversion and have my receiver do everything. It now does.

This actually worked!! I originally configured it as a 5.1 system, went back and selected stereo and now i have surround. Well done.