2007 MBP to TV - sound output not recognised

Hi

I have an ancient 2007 Macbook Pro 15" and I'm trying to hook it up to my Sony Bravia television. I have looked at A LOT of posts but can't seem to find one relevant to my situation.

I'm using a DVI to HDMI cable, and a 3.5mm to white/red rca cable for sound.

The picture is fine. The problem is, I can't hear anything as my Macbook Pro won't recognise the TV as an output source. I plug in the sound cable, and instead of coming up with 'SONY TV' in sound preferences, it is simply 'Headphones'.

A friend used a similar setup with their 2011 MBP on my TV with great success, though using Mini DisplayPort to HDMI female // HDMI male cable, along with the same sound cable. Their MBP recognises the TV sound output instantly.

Why won't this work for me? I just can't figure it out. Any help would be much appreciated.

Your Mac is never going to "recognize" the TV. Your friends Mac would never recognize the TV either if they were using the headphone port instead of the mdp to connect the audio.

Headphones is what it is suppose to say. There is nothing wrong on the Mac side. You will need to open up your TV owner's manual and find out which HDMI port must be used with separate audio and which audio port must be used in conjunction with the HDMI.

Start here - it wouldn't hurt to read the first post. Then head for post # 3. That one will show you what you're looking for in the owner's manual.

Once you get there and need some more help, post back with the info requested in post # 1.
I'm also sure there are several specific examples, with pics, of connecting to a Sony within that thread.

Yep, it will ALWAYS be 'headphones' because you're using the headphone jack. It's your TV. It needs to have the audio input you're using associated with the video input you're using. Or it will absolutely EXPECT to have audio via hdmi.