Macbook is not outputting 5.1 surround through hdmi...

I have a 2011 macbook pro with a thunderbolt/hdmi adapter connected to a receiver, so I can watch movies on my tv. Video files with 5.1 dolby have always played fine through this exact setup, however, recently, only 2 channel audio goes through.
I know that the adapter is good, and it isn't the receiver because I have tried other devices on the same ports. So it must be something on the macbook end.
8 channel, 192 kz is selected under hdmi in midi options, and hdmi is always selected as output in the movie player I use. There is no reason it should still only be 2 channel on my receiver.
I am dying to find an answer to this...please help if you have any ideas!
Thank you
PS. I am on 10.7.4 using a monoprice thunderbolt/hdmi adapter and an Onkyo HT-R590 receiver.

I have the same problem with my Late 2011 MacBook Pro.  I have a Thunderbolt-to-HDMI connector and I connect HDMI to an Altona HDMI Audio De-Embedder (AT-HD570).  Then I connect the Altona to my Denon amp via digital optical cable.
The Audio MIDI setup app allows me to select "5.1 Surround" mode for the device, but after I do, if I click the various speaker test buttons, only the front left and right speakers respond.  The Denon amp front panel indicates that it is only receiving Stereo signals from the optical cable.
I use this same setup successfully with an HP Laptop in 5.1 Surround mode, and using Dolby DTS.  It's very frustrating to not be able to hear full 5.1 surround sound from my Mac!
I believe I have the Denon amp set up correctly; it has an input mode which automagically sets the digital decoding based on the incoming signal.  So I suspect that the Mac is only outputting Stereo.
Perhaps there is some way to *force* it to output 5.1?

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