Fixing the Linux Boot Quirk of the ECS Liva X
For media consumption in my house, I use MythTV. One of the computers connected to a TV is an ECS Liva. For about $100 it is a decent little Myth frontend. Mine is connected to a TV over HDMI at 1920x1080.
The ECS Liva does have a quirk in that if no video is detected at power on, it will not boot. ECS points the finger at Linux, but no matter what I tried I was unable to get the computer to boot without a monitor connected (and in the case of my HDMI TV turned on!). This is certainly not ideal. I knew about VGA dummy plugs that trick a video card into thinking a monitor is connected to the VGA port. This seemed like the easiest way to get the computer to boot reliably. A quick Google search showed me what I needed to buy.
Following the instructions, I inserted three of the resistors into the appropriate holes on the female side of the adapter. Rather than clip off the legs, I bent the resistor legs back on themselves to make them stay in the holes better.
Also check out how I got the video output to switch to HDMI when powering on the TV.