How do I play audio through HDMI?

How do i get audio from an hdmi cable connected to my tv to play audio through surround sound.?

• In my basement i have a plasma tv connected to an audio box which runs the surround sound on the other side of the room with the cables running through the wall. i had been running an xbox 360 with standard yelow white and red cords in an outlet under the tv which goes directly to the audio equipment, but i have decided to go full out hd with an hdmi cable. unfortunately i cannout run the cable through the wall or directly to the box without spending hundreds of dollars so i bought a 3 fot cable and connected it straight into a port on the side of my tv. the visuals are running through perfectly, but i cannot find a way to run the audio through my speakers, and my tv does not have them built in. so my question to you is how do i get my audio to stream through the tv to the box to my speakers without connecting the hdmi cable directly to the box.

• Answer:

  It's not possible. You answered your own question. How would your receiver on the other side of your room be able to receive a signal when it is not connected to the source you want to hear? You might get away using one of the RCA (Yellow Red and White) connections you already have in wall to connect via S/PDIF, and thus get Dolby Digital or DTS (HD Sound). Unfortunately the 360 only does S/PDIF optically, but a dish/cable box might have an RCA S/PDIF style connector.