OK, I've had my system hooked up to an HD set via HDMI for a while, but because it's the living room set, I don't get access very frequently, so I'd like instead to set it up to the standard TV in my room. Except the system refuses to allow me to change the output to anything besides the HDMI.
I got to Display Settings, choose to change Current Output to Composite Video (the Yellow-Red-White option), and...nothing. In a short time it turns back to HDMI. If I try booting the deck with only said YRW cables and no HDMI, I get nothing. Any other info on the matter I try to find online offers no info on the issue, only info on how to properly UPSCALE the A/V. I suppose I could reset system settings, but I'd really rather not do that, and it's kind of stupid that apparently seems to be the only option available.
If anyone can help out with this, I'd certainly appreciate it.

I'm having a similar problem. A month ago lightning struck near our house and damaged or disabled the HDMI ports on both of our HDTVs. I tried my component cables and got nothing. It sounds like I won't be playing Soul Calibur IV until I get my set fixed

I had a problem like this, but I'm not sure if its the same one you're having trouble with. 

I have a PS3 hooked up to my HDTV set at home, but when I took the system to my bro's house it didn't recognize the normal A/V cables on his SDTV set.  We would get sound but no video. 

After thoroughly beating the TV with a series of bats, axes, crowbars, and Tony Jaa-ing the set from across the room, I called Sony.  The automated robot explained that I had to turn on the PS3 while holding the power button (in other words, don't use the wireless controller) for about 5+ seconds, where the system would re-sync to the cables and SDTV.  It worked like a charm.

Maybe this will help?

Dear sir, you are a prince and a genius. A PRINCIUS. Thank you very, very much.

Glad there is a fix so you guys can actually USE THE SYSTEM, but that is a really retarded "design feature" (forced HDMI) which never should have been implemented to begin with.

It's not really "forced", per se.  It simply remembers the last A/V setting that the system was using - and in these fellas' cases, they all looked to be HDMI.  If they were using component or composite instead, it would do the exact same thing if they were trying to change to HDMI.

That's still ridiculous, it should be able to use any output at any time.

You're very welcome sir.  I actually registered here just to offer advice on this.  I browse the forum for news every once in a while and saw your post.

And yeah, Carl is right.  Its a really stupid thing to implement.  The PS3 should just detect the cables automatically upon startup.  The manual might say something about this, but as I didn't bring mine with me I had to call Sony, where they had a recorded message set up to assist with this very problem.  If its not in the manual then they obviously anticipate people going WTF.

Cheers!

and:
"If they were using component or composite instead, it would do the exact same thing if they were trying to change to HDMI."

Actually, that's not the case.  I originally had AV cables, then when I got a pair of HD cables I just plugged them in and had to manually adjust the settings in the PS3's options.  Screen ratio, etc.

But when going from HD back to normal AV, the picture is completely BLANK, effectively preventing you from going into the options and manually switching back (unless you've got the menu/buttons memorized to do it in the 'dark'..in which case you're pretty hardcore).

Hm, I could've sworn it happened differently for myself when I moved the PS3 from my standard bedroom TV connection to the living room's HDTV: a completely blank screen which came back on with the new settings after doing the hard reset.

In any case, it does state the method quite clearly in the user's guide.  At the very bottom, under the Hints section.

Ah ok, well that solves it.  Cheers Angela.

A very similar thing happened to me when I switched from A/V cables to HDMI with my PS3. All I got was a blue screen (which is just like a black one with my television). I finally figured out that the PS3 still thought it was using an A/V cable so I had to reconnect that and switch it over to HDMI. The system really should detect which one is being used. It's an odd design choice.

The Wii doesn't know which cables it's using either, whether or not it's connected via composite or component cables either, you still have to set it yourself.  The only difference is that either way you can still see the screen when it's connected differently because the Wii's not designed for high-def.

Still seeing the screen being a key point.

ALL Outputs should be outputting signal at ALL times, otherwise they're not really doing their outputting job, are they?

Having to "set" an output before it actively outputs is a needless step which the user should not have to be responsible for.

Is video connection auto-detection something that is not programmable?  Anyone know?