Official Comcast CableCard Thread!

[LisaD]

theinfamous - that's a shame. I feel so bad for you. Wish I could help but I've no suggestion other than keep on their butts. I'm starting to think there's a blazingly high rate of bad cards out there AND I'm sure at least some areas are not dealing with those bad cards right and putting them back into circulation.

Comcast is SO going to raise all our bills due to the cable card fiascos. Think of all the hours & hours these techs are 'working' to get these to work.

[Gene Plantz]

Ohhh the nightmare that has been these blasted cablecards and the helpdesks of Tivo and Comcast. I have the grey screen of death on most of my channels.



Believe me, I feel your pain.

I live in the Chicago suburban area and have a Tivo Series 3 installed almost exactly 1 year ago. It was working perfectly all that time. I even added an eSata external drive which works fine as well.

Friday night at almost exactly 10PM, I lost most of my channels. I do get a few channels like The Military Channel and old-time-TV and TNTHD but not much else... just a grey screen. On both cablecards. The diagnostic screen shows "no digital signal" on those but signal strength of 90-100 on the ones that do work.

I called and got a script-reader who said he sent a reset but nothing changed. He was going to set up a tech visit when the call was disconnected. No return call from him. I checked out the RF cables, etc. I have Comcast digital set-top boxes and they receive ALL channels.

I called back and got another script-reader. Sent a reset... nothing changed. Tech scheduled for Saturday.

He arrives, tests cable signal strength (good) and other stuff. No clue. He swaps out cablecard #2 but it makes NO difference at all after setup. Still have about 90% of channels missing. He has no idea and no one he phones knows either. Said he would try to get his supervisor to come out Tuesday so I'm hoping he knows more.

[jlib]

The existing techie screens are worthless and not used by myself, Comcast techs, or TiVo techs.By techie screens do you mean the Cable Card screens? If so what do they say?

[Speed RacerX]

I must be lucky. For the record, I live in Spring, TX (North of Houston). I picked up two m-cards from the local Comcast office on Saturday but ended up needing only one. One phone call to Comcast got the card activated, and within 24 hours, both receivers on the m-card were working. I could record two programs on different channels at the same time without any glitches/problems. Compared to the setup I went through with my Comcast HD DVR prior to the TiVo HD, it was relatively painless. All I had to do was read some numbers from the setup screen of the TiVo and we were watching HD TV through the TiVo. I didn't have to pay anything for installation, etc.

Now I have an extra m-card I'll be taking back to Comcast tomorrow along with the DVR I no longer need. Comcast has been nothing but helpful and "on the ball" for me. Now I just can't wait for multi-room viewing to be enabled on the TiVo HD so that I can watch content from my Series 2 TiVo (I hope it will work!).

[theinfamous]

By techie screens do you mean the Cable Card screens? If so what do they say?

Yes the cable card screens.

on the Val: piece it states it is validated V 0x01

On the pairing screen. If it is tuned on both of the tuners to different channels I actually see then all it has the network, data, and host ID. I am told this is a good sign.

However, if it is tuned on a channel I do not see there is a lot of information but as I understand it most importantly the Authorization Auth: states MP. Which I am told is bad.

My point is that Comcast is limited by just sending a signal on their side. But since the card does not transmit they cannot tell if it is a success. And there is no screen on the TiVo side that will state if receiving the authorized channels has been a success or not. It's complete bullocks. I've been calling every day for around two weeks. The Comcast people have thrown up their hands in surrender and TiVo is asking that I send the box back to them after I have tried a SW update to 9.1 Again I can't t really tell whose side the problem is on.

This is what I would do if I were TiVo.

1. List all compatible CABLECARDS
2. Add a Diagnostic screen that shows channels that are authorized and the date and time that it received the authorization.
3. When it is receiving the listed channels, state that it is receiving the data. And a success screen when it finishes.

If I were Comcast I would bring out a cable box and try to authorize the card with the cablebox. Hrrrm I may just call them and see if I can set that up.

I've been a TiVo lover since around 2000. How easily it can switch to hate and frustration.

[theinfamous]

Believe me, I feel your pain.

He arrives, tests cable signal strength (good) and other stuff. No clue. He swaps out cablecard #2 but it makes NO difference at all after setup. Still have about 90% of channels missing. He has no idea and no one he phones knows either. Said he would try to get his supervisor to come out Tuesday so I'm hoping he knows more.

Thanks... misery loves company. I need a lot of company around now. I'm also at a loss. It's been such a horrible experience I'm thinking about just returning the TiVo.

Actually you should call and ask to talk to Comcast dispatch and then tell dispatch to send a "hard hit" to your cable card. Hope that helps.

[murryamorris]

Ohhh the nightmare that has been these blasted cablecards and the helpdesks of Tivo and Comcast. I have the grey screen of death on most of my channels.

I live in Metro Detroit running HD TiVo with Comcast and an MCard by Motorola. Anyone else have a similar setup? I have the 8.1 SW version.

I bought a TiVo HD about two weeks ago. Got a cablecard a week after. I have never seen it work. They have sent out techs from Comcast at least 4 times.

Anyone have any suggestions for me? Right now I am waiting the seven days to get my SW update to see if that will fix it. If not I have to swap it for another TiVo HD box. Which will probably take another week or two after that.

Again... any suggestions?


I had picked up my Tivo HD from Costco (have an S3 that works fine with both cards for about 9 months). Picked up 2 S cards since the office didn't have M cards and neither worked after 4 calls to Comcast over about 7 days. I took the Tivo back to Costco and got another unit. Still didn't work after a couple of more calls with hits to the cards. I didn't get any channels on the cards. Ended up with a service call and the guy had 2 M cards. He didn't know much (didn't even know they were M cards) but we pulled the two cards, inserted one M card and dispatch sent a hit to it. Both tuners got channels up to 119 but all the channels above it were blank. Dispatch hadn't sent the correct hit for my account and they resent it with the correct lineup and all started working. I don't know if this is your problem but if you get basic channels (and maybe local HD) but not another tier, you can have them try to check the hit to be sure it is the correct lineup.

I would get a second unit and try it with 9.1. When neither unit worked, it had 8.x but just before the tech came out with the M cards, it updated to 9.1. I made him wait while the update happened. They really don't like this but it was fun to make Comcast wait for a change.

[slay65]

I am starting to think that Comcast doesn't want cable card installs to go smoothly. I think they are trying to build up some internal stats that say: we spend XXXX million dollars installing cable cards, and it takes us Y times longer for a cable card install then a cable box install.

They can use that data in front of congress next time congress calls them to complain about cable rate hikes. They will justify their increase by saying that the government made them support these cable cards which increased their operational expenses. So you can either get rid of these cable cards or we must keep our rate increase.

[john wiens]

I live in York PA, HD TiVo with Comcast and an MCard by Scientitic Atlanta. I have the software v8.1. I too can't get any channles above the basic (78 Channnles). I can get about 8 free local channles ABC,NBC,CBS in HD.

[theinfamous]

I was upgraded tonight to 9.2. I called Comcast and verified:

Cablecard ID
Host ID
Data

They said it all matched and I had them send a hard hit. unfortunately it was a no go. However the operator then talked to her supervisor and they said that they sent me a cablecard that was suppose to go into one of their DVRs?? So she set up another service request (the 5th guy to come out now) for this Saturday. We'll see how it goes. She doesn't know if they are sending two cable cards or just one.

But apparently you need to tell them that this is your TiVo unit you bought not a Comcast TiVo or a comcast DVR. I actually feel somewhat optimistic because it didn't sound like BS. So I'll give you an update this Saturday.

[john wiens]

theinfamous, have you checkout this tivo web link

http://customersupport.tivo.com/LaunchContent.aspx?cid=f8f40dc6-5fb6-4ed8-ac41-d8cd0d5c0824&anchor=undefined

[theinfamous]

theinfamous, have you checkout this tivo web link



Yes thank you. It's really not helpful though.

I'm beginning to think it is a cable company comcast issue. We'll see on Saturday.

[mbundrick]

I had two cablecards installed on Saturday (Atlanta area). I asked the guy if he had done a TiVo install before, and he said he had. I don't believe him at all because he seemed utterly clueless. He was there forever and wound up having to call customer support to get the cards activated. He arrived late and wouldn't even stick around to test it. He bolted! Luckily, it all seems to work.

I'm new to this, but I think I was given two multi-stream cards and apparently I only needed one because my TiVo calls it an "extra cablecard." We'll wait a couple of months to see how it's being charged and return it (if we can) if we're paying for it.

[Ryan0751]

Got my cable card setup yesterday. The entire experience can be summed up in 3 words: OH. MY. GOD.

I called last week to setup the appointment, and the person on the phone was familiar with Tivo HD and the cable cards.

Yesterday, the sketchy comcast service person showed up with no cablecard, and a Comcast DVR. He had never installed a cable card, knew nothing about them other then they existed. At first he told me he would have to come back (after my taking the afternoon off from work).

For the next hour there were calls to different service people in the area, Nextel's to his girlfriend "yo baby wassup"... and my having to listen to a gangster rap ringtone over and over.

Then, another service person randomly showed up with two cards. One of them was marked m-card, so I grabbed that one and followed the TiVo instructions. Fortunately I had read up on the card install and knew what to expect.

The Comcast guy finally got through to someone who could initialized the card, and amazingly enough it actually worked.

[murryamorris]

I'm new to this, but I think I was given two multi-stream cards and apparently I only needed one because my TiVo calls it an "extra cablecard." We'll wait a couple of months to see how it's being charged and return it (if we can) if we're paying for it.

No need for the second card, you can just remove the M card from slot 2.

[dmedeiros]

Comcast came this morning and installed a M-Card into my TivoHD. The whole process took about 15 minutes and most of that was the installer on the phone. All channels work as expected.

Tried to pick the card up at my local Comcast office, which was a no-go. When I called to schedule the appointment, it took a half hour and 3 reps before I got one who knew what a cablecard was but she told me they only had S-Cards. I told her to put a request for the M-Card on the work order anyways.

Area: North of Boston, MA

[lateknight]

So I am finally getting my new TV, which (of course) will require the purchase of a THD and upgrade to Comcast Digital Cable. I called yesterday to get a price quote, and I wanted to run past you guys what I was told to see if what they told me was in the right range. We currently have analog cable and internet through Comcast. I'll be keeping the Internet and moving to the Digital Basic Package with the HD channels. They quoted me a price of "around" $97 for Internet, Digital Basic and the HD charge. I confirmed that a single M-Card was included in the price. They tried to sell me on the Triple Play for $99/month which I assume doesn't include the HD charge. The wife and I currently just use our cell phones and don't have a home phone...any reason to add Digital Voice? Does the $97/month sound right to you guys? Can't wait to move up in the TV world! Thanks for the help!

Patrick

P.S. I'm in the Oakland, CA area...anyone in that area have good/bad/indifferent luck with installers?

[sketchy12314]

Does the FCC mandate that cable providers provide two cable cards in the Series 3? Or can they get away with just one? If they do can someone link the source.

Thanks

[robojwfisch]

After 3 days, and mutiple friendly but untrained CSRs, I am finalllly up and running in SE Michigan. I have a Series 3 with 2 cablecards. It took me 8-10 tries before I finally found someone willing to activate each card seperately as described in the Tivo instructions. I was finally put in touch with someone from the dispatch (I think) department. They knew exactly what information was needed from the Tivo unit to activate the cards. The only wierd thing was this person tried activating the first card and it did not work. He tried a different approach on the second card and it worked. We then went back and applied the same approach to the first card. This forum really helped me make sure they followed the right approach. Thanks for the valuable info. :) :up:

[Punji]

Well chiming in. Comcast put a multistream card into my TiVO HD a few weeks ago. From time installer arrived to time the installer left leaving me with a fully functional TiVO HD was about 8 minutes. Longest portion of that was him reading off the long string of numbers.

Location: Central NJ

[jlib]

...But apparently you need to tell them that this is your TiVo unit you bought not a Comcast TiVo or a Comcast DVR. Yes, very interesting. Now that they are using CCs in their units that could very well be an issue. You would think, though, that they wouldn't bother replacing their cards in the field, instead just swapping entire units. Maybe the CC is preconfigured somehow. I sure hope that that is the problem. Good luck!

[titsataki]

well I got my Tivo HD. I have an appointment for 10/25 8-11am the Comcast folks to install the cards. I talked to the CSR and he was clueless but it may have been me. I asked him to make sure they put a note to have cable cards when the tech comes in. Afew months ago i tried an S3 and it was a nightmare. They kept telling me that the merge of Comcast and Adelphia messed up the codes. so we shall see now. wish me luck.

Anyone had a smooth install in the Woodbridge/Bethany/Wallingford area of CT? If yes do you remember the name of the tech?

cheers

Nick

[jlib]

...They quoted me a price of "around" $97 for Internet, Digital Basic and the HD charge. Does the $97/month sound right to you guys? The HD charge up is for their HD box. Since you are using your own hardware you should get them to remove that. HD is free. Also, they are going to have to take a trap off your line so make sure you ask for a Comcast technician not a contractor in his beat up pickup with no ladder.

[lateknight]

The HD charge up is for their HD box. Since you are using your own hardware you should get them to remove that. HD is free. Also, they are going to have to take a trap off your line so make sure you ask for a Comcast technician not a contractor in his beat up pickup with no ladder.

Good to know...I took the tack with the CSR of wanting them to take off the $7 charge because I was using my own equipment and he responded that the fee was to "have the HD signal come down the line". Now I know to have them take that off as well. So basically, since I have one multistream card in my own box...the only thing I should have to pay for is the digital cable package I choose, right?

P.S. Costco has the THD for $279.99...is this a reasonable deal considering I'll be able to pick it up the same day?

[lateknight]

Hmmm so I just looked at Comcast's website again and it definitely looks like the HD charge is for the equipment...however, it says "HDTV service requires Digital Preferred Plus or Above cable service subscription" does this mean that with Digital Starter package on a TivoHD with an HDTV I won't be able to get HD content?

[john wiens]

Yes thank you. It's really not helpful though.

I'm beginning to think it is a cable company comcast issue. We'll see on Saturday.

I got my working today. The Comcast phone support couldn't help me and wanted me to wait another 7 days until a cable card tech came out to my house. I told them I wanted to talk to a manager then asked the manager to have the tech who install my Mcard to call me, 5 min. after talking to the tech over the phone all my channel starting work. He told me that he need to get someone to link my services to my card.

[kiwiquest]

I called Comcast today to see what the local company charges for cable cards in our area (Memphis), I was surprised when she made it sound like i was speaking a different language or something......she finally transfered me to someone else who told me that the charge would be $2.75 for each card. I told them that according to their faq on their website the first card is suppose to be free and the 2nd one up to $1.91.

I was planning to get a series 3 and a thd, but it would sure be nice to know the exact charges for everything ahead of time.

[john wiens]

kiwiquest. Per Comcast new prices list that was mail to York, Pa customer is going take affect Nov07 show the price as $2.00 up from $1.50.

[john wiens]

Hey lateknight, ComCast phone support don't now what it needed when cable card are used. They told me there no way I currently watching HD show without having the HD services that they don't see assigned to my account. They wanted to give me HD serice and told them not to change anything. Per the tech that install my hardware said I didn't need it. That funny. We will see when the bill comes. I talk to 5 different Comcast support personal and got 5 different stories. I final just asked for 2 S-card or 1 M-card and I originally had a cable box with Digital Preferred.

[Tony1746]

After seeing all that has been written regarding pixelation/audio issues, firmware and CC problems (especially SA), and not the least provider installation issues, with much trepidation I received my first Series 3 unit late last week. I was pleasantly surprised to receive v9.2.J yesterday and have Comcast arrive with two Moto S cards this morning (that's two down!!). Installation of the first card went very smoothly, although I can see where the installers are not enamoured with hanging on the phone, getting cut off, and basically having the validation process take too long. But so far, so good.....

Once we moved to the second card however, things got a little weird. The card seemed to initialize OK (hostID/unit/etc.), but the guy on the other end said the card didn't exist. We swapped the card for a new one, but this one came up with all zeros for the s/n, hostID, and data. Since the installer only had three cards, he said I needed to call for another appointment. He left me with the card that "didn't exist". Since it couldn't be validated, obviously no channels would show up during a channel test.

Anyway, after he left, I played around with my "one-tuner system" and was amazed to discover that I was able to record two digital/HD programs at the same time, as well as switch between the two tuners (pressing the "Live TV" button) as if everything is good to go.......... I've since gone in and verified that the second card is still not valid !!

Anyone have any idea how this is possible?????? Should I count my blessings and cancel the followup call. I considered popping out the second card to see what changes, but didn't want to jinx it. BTW, I also verified that both cards were S-cards.

Signed,
Pleased and confused at the same time.

[lateknight]

Hey lateknight, ComCast phone support don't now what it needed when cable card are used. They told me there no way I currently watching HD show without having the HD services that they don't see assigned to my account. They wanted to give me HD serice and told them not to change anything. Per the tech that install my hardware said I didn't need it. That funny. We will see when the bill comes. I talk to 5 different Comcast support personal and got 5 different stories. I final just asked for 2 S-card or 1 M-card and I originally had a cable box with Digital Preferred.
That works for me...I figure I'll just ask for the lowest digital package and the M-Card...can anyone else confirm that the HD signal still works with the smallest Digital package?

[owenc]

That works for me...I figure I'll just ask for the lowest digital package and the M-Card...can anyone else confirm that the HD signal still works with the smallest Digital package?

As far as I know you will get local HD with Digital starter, but if you want Discovery, ESPN, etc. you will need Digital Plus

[lateknight]

As far as I know you will get local HD with Digital starter, but if you want Discovery, ESPN, etc. you will need Digital Plus

Hmmm...might be worth it...for another $30/month I'll have to get the wife hooked on HD, then pitch the upgrade...thanks!

[john wiens]

LateKnight, One thing I forgot. $1.50 for for the 2nd card and $8.90 per months to get Digital Preferred on the 2nd turner, otherwise all you'll get is basic channels. local HD channels are free with the 2nd card without getting Digital Preferred.

[c3]

As far as I know you will get local HD with Digital starter, but if you want Discovery, ESPN, etc. you will need Digital Plus

In most areas, local HD works with just limited basic. No need for any digital service.

[c3]

LateKnight, One thing I forgot. $1.50 for for the 2nd card and $8.90 per months to get Digital Preferred on the 2nd turner, otherwise all you'll get is basic channels. local HD channels are free with the 2nd card without getting Digital Preferred.

Other than the $1.50-$2.00 for the second card, there shouldn't be any additional charge for the second tuner/card.

[john wiens]

I hope your right, getting infomation from Comcast is like getting a job at NSA

[murryamorris]

So I am finally getting my new TV, which (of course) will require the purchase of a THD and upgrade to Comcast Digital Cable. I called yesterday to get a price quote, and I wanted to run past you guys what I was told to see if what they told me was in the right range. We currently have analog cable and internet through Comcast. I'll be keeping the Internet and moving to the Digital Basic Package with the HD channels. They quoted me a price of "around" $97 for Internet, Digital Basic and the HD charge. I confirmed that a single M-Card was included in the price. They tried to sell me on the Triple Play for $99/month which I assume doesn't include the HD charge. The wife and I currently just use our cell phones and don't have a home phone...any reason to add Digital Voice? Does the $97/month sound right to you guys? Can't wait to move up in the TV world! Thanks for the help!

Patrick

P.S. I'm in the Oakland, CA area...anyone in that area have good/bad/indifferent luck with installers?

Sounds about right to me. We paid about $90 for the same package before adding a tier. There should be no HD charge though. We had extra CC though.

I didn't see much reason to use their digital voice since we've had Vonage for a long time and it's pretty low cost and works fine.

[murryamorris]

After seeing all that has been written regarding pixelation/audio issues, firmware and CC problems (especially SA), and not the least provider installation issues, with much trepidation I received my first Series 3 unit late last week. I was pleasantly surprised to receive v9.2.J yesterday and have Comcast arrive with two Moto S cards this morning (that's two down!!). Installation of the first card went very smoothly, although I can see where the installers are not enamoured with hanging on the phone, getting cut off, and basically having the validation process take too long. But so far, so good.....

Once we moved to the second card however, things got a little weird. The card seemed to initialize OK (hostID/unit/etc.), but the guy on the other end said the card didn't exist. We swapped the card for a new one, but this one came up with all zeros for the s/n, hostID, and data. Since the installer only had three cards, he said I needed to call for another appointment. He left me with the card that "didn't exist". Since it couldn't be validated, obviously no channels would show up during a channel test.

Anyway, after he left, I played around with my "one-tuner system" and was amazed to discover that I was able to record two digital/HD programs at the same time, as well as switch between the two tuners (pressing the "Live TV" button) as if everything is good to go.......... I've since gone in and verified that the second card is still not valid !!

Anyone have any idea how this is possible?????? Should I count my blessings and cancel the followup call. I considered popping out the second card to see what changes, but didn't want to jinx it. BTW, I also verified that both cards were S-cards.

Signed,
Pleased and confused at the same time.

You sure that first slot isn't a multistream card?

[PooperScooper]

S3's don't support M-cards.

larry

[reneg]

I was preparing myself for the worst as I received my two Tivo HDs. I called the Comcast 800 number and asked if i could pick up cable-cards at my local payment center or if I needed a tech to come to my house for the install. I was told I could just pick up the cable cards at the payment center. I was skeptical but went to my local Comcast payment center prepared to stand in line for 30 minutes. I was quite surprised when i was the only one there and got waited on immediately. I asked about cable cards for a Tivo and she told me it would be no problem and gave me 2 Mcable cards. She scanned the serial numbers off the cable cards, and gave me a local phone number to call when I installed them.

I ran the Tivos through their guided setup without the cable cards, popped the cable cards in the Tivos and called Comcast on the local number I was given. He had me navigate to the cable card configuration and read him 3 sets of numbers for each cable card. Once more through guided setup and both tivos with cable cards were up and running. The tech on the phone asked that I don't mess (power off/remove cable cards) with the Tivos and cable cards for the next 24 hours. That was fine with me because I was getting my channels and started setting up my season passes.

Overall, a very smooth installation and a much better experience that I expected.

Only negative is that the Tivo remote does not recognize Hewlett-Packard TVs. I tried the last resort codes with 0999 on the remote setup, but it's a dead end.

[Gene Plantz]

S3's don't support M-cards.

larry

not quite correct.

Comcast installed 2 M-cards in my S3 yesterday. They function as S-cards but will work.

[janry]

Overall, a very smooth installation and a much better experience that I expected.



Great. This is the kind of experience I hope to have.

Do you mind saying where you are located?

[Tony1746]

You sure that first slot isn't a multistream card?


That's what I initially thought. I checked (I believe it's in Diagnostics) and the system reported both as S-cards. Anyway, sometime before the guy comes back, I'll pop it out and see if the behavior changes.

[reneg]

Great. This is the kind of experience I hope to have.

Do you mind saying where you are located?

NW Houston area

[janry]

NW Houston area


I think I remember someone else in this thread from Tomball saying they were able to self-install.

We use to live in the FM 1960 area close to the old Compaq campus.

[Langree]

I think I remember someone else in this thread from Tomball saying they were able to self-install.

We use to live in the FM 1960 area close to the old Compaq campus.

To my knowledge all of us in Houston were able to pick up our own cards, much easier then a truck roll.

[DUSlider]

I just wanted to post with my experience with Comcast setting up my TivoHD with an M card...

Appt was setup for between 10:30-12:30. They arrived at 12:20pm, after calling to say they were enroute. They actually ended up rolling 2 trucks to speed up the process. Had to have some work done to the lines first as they were dry rotting.... (explained the tiling problem I had on the higher channels).

Once that was done they got to work. They had brought 4 M cards, fortunately the first one worked, though it took some jiggling of the card, it didn't seem to seat itself properly. A call to comcast and they removed the old HD DVR box and one of my older digital boxes that I wasn't using anymore.

The tech initially went to install the card in slot 2, she stated she had played around with a Tivo the other day but didn't remember if it was a HD Tivo. The second guy had done one otherone the other day.

We had to go through the guided setup one more time and after a few calls to comcast and a few restarts everything was working. Premium channels and Sports HD didn't work right away, though after the last restart they worked fine.

So overall it was a good experience. It took about 2 hours total. I wasn't as satisfied with their level of knowledge that I would have liked, but they got it working without too much hassle.

I'm in SE Bucks County, PA for those wondering...

[david4788]

I just don't understand why those in other locations can walk into the office and pick up their cards. Here in Howard County, MD...don't even think about it. I'm still trying to get ahold of an old contact I had there to help me out. Called 3x and got told 3 differnt prices and policies....Seriously thinking of FIOS for just the TiVOHD and cable for the rest of the house ( I don't want or pay for all the boxes that FIOS requires).

[john wiens]

PooperScooper, You said that S3's don't support M-card, that not 100% ture. The TiVo HD DVR per (system infomation) is a Series3, my is working find with a M-Card. Are you talking about this TiVo Series3 HD DVR with THX-certification

[john wiens]

david4788, I live just north of you in Red Lion, Pa. If the tech come out to your house like my did, their will test the line and replace all cable ends from the street to your TV, and remove any splitter not needed. It made a big different in my case. Also they want to charge you the $15.56

[david4788]

david4788, I live just north of you in Red Lion, Pa. If the tech come out to your house like my did, their will test the line and replace all cable ends from the street to your TV, and remove any splitter not needed. It made a big different in my case. Also they want to charge you the $15.56


Yea I know, but I used to do high end systems and know that the connection from the street is new and is a direct shot to my a/v distribution that has all high end stuff with a great signal. I don't have a problem with a $15-20 install, it's that they send out people that have NO IDEA what they are doing especially when they see my complex a/v room (equipment room). On top of that I really don't want them seeing all my equipment and where it is located in the house (security issues).

[murryamorris]

S3's don't support M-cards.

larry

I was thinking it was a THD.

[tmesser]

PooperScooper, You said that S3's don't support M-card, that not 100% ture. The TiVo HD DVR per (system infomation) is a Series3, my is working find with a M-Card. Are you talking about this TiVo Series3 HD DVR with THX-certification

For the sake of simplicity, almost everyone at this forum refers to TiVo's earlier HD offering ("TiVo Series3 HD DVR," the one with THX certification) as the Series3 or "S3." The one you have runs on what TiVo calls "the Series3 platform," but the official name on the box is simply "TiVo HD," often shortened by forum users to "THD."

The first DVR, the S3, treats an M-Card like it's an S-Card. The THD fully recognizes M-Cards, as you know.

[Speed RacerX]

I'm in Spring, just North of the FM1960/I-45 office and picked up two m-cards last Saturday. I installed them myself only to find out I needed only one m-card. I was told to remove the second card and the phone tech and I got it working within a few minutes. I didn't know it at the time, but the second tuner kicked in, and we were in business within 24 hours. I now have an extra m-card and old DVR to take back (I would have done it earlier this week, but work has been very busy for me).

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate Comcast a 9 on this setup process. Everything the tech told me turned out to be true, and she even checked some TiVo documentation and the TiVo website to make sure she was giving me correct info. The entire process took under 30 minutes from the time I put in the card to me having it working. The extended channels took a little longer to show up, but little by little, they all came up.

I'm very happy with my TiVo HD and with Comcast's m-card. Picture has been great, and on the 30th I'll be receiving my TiVo supported eSata drive from Best Buy. MRV and TTG both work great, as I got the 9.2j update on Tuesday night.

[old64mb]

Bit of a followup after dealing with a well-educated tech.

Everything was working fine for a while then I decided to spend a little bit more to upgrade the Starter package special to Classic, which added a few more channels but more importantly gave access to the HD tier. For $11, it seemed worth it.

Well, one S3 box worked fine, but on the second, the second cable card disappeared entirely. Called in, she hit it a few times, then we reauthorized each card in the machine and were only getting some stations - the full HD tier, but 35-75 (standard digital cable SD) went poof.

Spent an hour trying all this stuff and then discovered that their system was the problem. Turned out if you have a 3rd cable card and do not have the $6.95 additional outlet fee the system will in fact partially or fully disable the card. May only be in the Bay Area, but watch for that. So that helped with that card, but then she realized the upgrade was done very poorly and my standard cable had been removed along with the special.

I'd hoped I'd have been able to lock in discounts for more than 6 months, but was glad to get what I did after a 90 minute conversation! (And remind me next time to see if they can find better codes!)

Just keep these in mind when upgrading downgrading...if your card gets nuked, double check why!

[Tony1746]

The strangest thing happened last night. I came home to find I had "lost" the second tuner and was now receiving an Error 161-1 (Call your Cable Company). The weird thing is it is card #1 that reportedly failed, which is the card that was working the day before. If anything, I would have expected errors related to CC2, since that was the one that was acting strange previously.

There was nothing Comcast could do remotely, so I'll have to wait until Saturday anyway, to get this all sorted out (I hope).

[Addy]

North Bay Area (Marin) California
TiVo HD m-card install

Was told by a rep via the online chat system that I could pick up a cable card at my local office. I went up to my local office (San Rafael) and they said they couldn’t give me a card and didn’t even have them on site, I wasn’t really surprised.

Next available appointment was a week out. I asked to note the work order requesting an m-card and a Comcast technician, not a contractor. The rep also asked me if an appointment opened up from a cancellation would I like her to call me. I said sure. She called me that afternoon and had an opening the next day from a cancellation!

Tech showed up the next day, said he had an m-card to install, then I asked him if he had done a TiVo before, he said yes. Got me all squared away in no time, made sure the channels on my package showed up. He offered to stick around while I re-ran the guided setup but I told him he could go. The visit was less than 30 minutes. So very good service from my local office and the tech.

[Graymalkin]

I'm still waiting for the first bill that reflects my new upgraded Comcast service.

There's Triple Play with Digital Preferred Plus service, a multi-stream card, two single-stream cards, two truck rolls, and a Comcast DVR that I took back after two weeks.

I'm thinking $250, easy. :eek: :D

[titsataki]

well I got my Tivo HD. I have an appointment for 10/25 8-11am the Comcast folks to install the cards. I talked to the CSR and he was clueless but it may have been me. I asked him to make sure they put a note to have cable cards when the tech comes in. Afew months ago i tried an S3 and it was a nightmare. They kept telling me that the merge of Comcast and Adelphia messed up the codes. so we shall see now. wish me luck.

Anyone had a smooth install in the Woodbridge/Bethany/Wallingford area of CT? If yes do you remember the name of the tech?

cheers

Nick


Ok the tech showed up at like 5 mins before 11am. I had called and I was told that it is not considered late until it is past 11(his name was Drew). He had 3 Multi stream cards with him. We went through the setup and he was out of the house at 11:35. Everything seem to be going ok. I had a screen that was saying updating cable card firmware that stayed there for like 5 mins and would not get out of it. I opted to restart the box and started fine. I received a error msg that failed to update(code was 126 or something). It got out of it on each own. We spent a long time wating for the box to get programming and load it. Final result it is working fine. Drawback I realized. It only has one HD tuner. Which is bummer I record a decent amount of HD shows that overlap. I still am considering if I want to keep it and transfer my life time form my S2.

Cheers

Nick

[hybucket]

It only has one HD tuner?? Can that be correct?

[Graymalkin]

Ok the tech showed up at like 5 mins before 11am. I had called and I was told that it is not considered late until it is past 11(his name was Drew). He had 3 Multi stream cards with him. We went through the setup and he was out of the house at 11:35. Everything seem to be going ok. I had a screen that was saying updating cable card firmware that stayed there for like 5 mins and would not get out of it. I opted to restart the box and started fine. I received a error msg that failed to update(code was 126 or something). It got out of it on each own. We spent a long time wating for the box to get programming and load it. Final result it is working fine. Drawback I realized. It only has one HD tuner. Which is bummer I record a decent amount of HD shows that overlap. I still am considering if I want to keep it and transfer my life time form my S2.

Cheers

Nick

This isn't true. I can't tell from this post whether you have a Series 3 or a TiVo HD. If you have a Series 3, you need multi-stream cards in BOTH slots in order to get the digital (and HD) channels on both tuners. If you have a TiVo HD, only one multistream card is needed for both tuners to work.

If you have two multistream cards in a Series 3, and the second tuner isn't showing HD channels, most likely there's something wrong with the second card.

If you have one multistream card in a TiVo HD, and the second tuner isn't showing HD channels that you're entitled to get (like the broadcast networks), then there may be something wrong with the TiVo.

Did you try both tuners before the cards were installed? Without cable cards, both tuners will work and get analog cable.

[Graymalkin]

Alas, I may have to have Comcast come back out and replace one or both of the single-stream cards in my second TiVo HD.

Some of the Preferred Plus digital channels, such as BBC America, Oxygen, and Encore, are not showing up, even though I'm able to tune HBO, Showtime and some other premium channels. One tuner is missing only BBC America, while the second tuner won't show a number of Preferred Plus channels. All the digital starter, local HD channels, and premium channels are coming in fine.

The first TiVo HD, which has a multistream card, is showing all channels on both tuners.

So I'm thinking Comcast turned something off. Sigh.

[bob61]

After reading the good, bad and ugly about Comcast, Tivo HD and Cablecard install I thought, what the heck, let's take that magical ride. Scheduled appointment a week ago, installer to be here between 8 and 10 AM. Requested an MCard - was told Comcast doesn't carry those - shows how informed the CSR's are....

So... let the magic begin..... NW Chicago Suburbs

9:45AM I get a call, installer says GPS can't find my address. Can I help him. I find out he's about 20 min away. Give him directions

10:10AM I get call from Comcast to confirm if installer had arrived - I confirm negatively

10:15AM Installer (contractor) arrives (only 15 minutes late!), but get this he's here to do "an upgrade". I say, no, cable card install. I see the look in his eyes and moment later he says, "Ohhhhhh, I don't have any cable cards". I explain to him that was the only purpose I scheduled appointment. He looks at his work order and says (now get this) "Oh, I'm new and I don't understand how to read my work orders real well. I see it says here cablecards. Sorry". He then explains that he has to run back to get cable cards - will take 45 minutes.

Interestingly - before he left he mentioned that cable card installs usually take a long time because they have lots of problems with cards. He just wants to be sure I have time (as I had mentioned to him I don't have all day to wait around as I have errands to run) or do I want to reschedule. I tell him do what he has to - He's out there making the round trip to get the cable cards.

It's 11AM, still waiting for him to return. This has all the right combination of being a disaster today - new guy who can't read work orders, his lack of confidence in the cable cards, him setting the scene that install usually takes a long time, well I just know in the pit of my stomach this is going to really suck.

11:15AM Installer returns - 4 Cablecards in hand (spares - fortunately). First two cards installed return a 161-1 error. Third card has success. However, 30 minute hold time for him to get ahold of person to enter the card information.

12:00PM Installer on phone to get cable card working - information entered into Comcast's system and we have one card installed - one left to get working. I mentioned to the installer to ensure my existing DVR with cable card is not deactivated. Assures me it won't.

12:05PM Can't get 2nd card installed - the other cards are all giving the 161-1 error when installed. Call to their dispatch - that's all the cards they had (a huge company like Comcast and only 4 cards in their local dispatch???). I'll have to reschedule once they get more cards in (he'll request and MCard this time - sigh).

12:10PM Installer wants to leave but has never checked to verify that my HD channels (or anything above 100 comes through). I put him on hold while Tivo does it's thing to update programming information.

12:20PM I had my hunch and sure enough, when Comcast activate the Cable Card for the Tivo they deactivated the cards for my Comcast DVR - though I said to the installer make sure they don't deactive any exisitng cards. Checked in my basement and no picture. Installer now on hold again with their office to get this problem corrected - planning on another 20-30 minute of hold time.

12:35PM Not bad, only 15 minute wait time. Comcast has corrected the problem with the Comcast DVR, it now gets signal/picture as they reactive the box. Still waiting for Tivo to finish it's channel/guide update.

12:40PM Tivo update finished - amazing all channels come through!

12:45PM Installer contacts office to reschedule, asks me if tomorrow between 8-12 is good time. I'm shocked - he told me they don't have any MCards today but has them for install tomorrow????? He says another local office can get them and have ready for install tomorrow. I said if local office has them why didn't he get them before or get them now - get this, he has other appointments today and can't do that. I explain he has my appointment that he hasn't finished (or even came prepared for). Short of shoving a Tivo someplace it shouldn't be I just say FINE. Looking forward to another COMCASTIC day tomorrow with a new installer, let's see how prepared he comes.... any bets?

2PM Noticed that channels that were working are not working now. It's hit or miss as to what is or isn't coming in, I think it's related to certain"premium" package, but then I find MTV and VH1 don't come it either. Call to Comcast, they "hit" the box two different methods, nothing works. They open a ticket and will try to resolve remotely for next 4 hous.

8PM Received call back from Comcast regarding my issue. This guy seems to actually understand the issue. He has be go into the Cable Card Pairing screen, everything checks there - but then he thinks it's probably due to the card not being validated. He "hits" the box again to validate and sure enough the channels are all back. I asked why channels that were working when installed suddenly would stop working. He told me all cards go out "hot" so all channels are received when installed, the channels then get validated over the next couple of hours. So lesson learned, when installer shows you all your channels come through after install it doesn't mean it was set-up correctly.

NEXT DAY
12:30PM In classic Comcast style, installer not here though was supposed to be here between 8-12. Called and told he'd be here in 30 minutes, running late as he's stuck with the first call for he day. As always I get the "I apologize for the inconvenience" statement. When will Comcast learn actions speak louder than words? That's cr@ptastic!

1PM After all this - guess what - the installer was bringing out a NETWORK CARD for a PC. I only found out about this was CSR mentioned she would wave the $30 fee for the card due to the delay today. I said what fee, cable cards are free. She went off and did some research and found the order was for network card.

1:05PM Dispatch calls to ask me to give directions to their installer (he's already an hour late and has no idea where's he's going). I mention if this is for network card this is a waste of his time - she confirms it is. Egads! She confirms order was written for network card - then tells me there are no MCards in inventory for at least a week.

1:15 CSR calls back, confirms that she can have technician to my house in 45 minutes. I explain that Dispatch told me there are no MCards in inventory, ask her to confirm that what technician in bringing. She confirms MCard is being brought.

3PM I have technician contact me, says he's right outside my house. Unfortunately I have given up and had to run out to take care of errands that have been on my "to do" since Noon. He says he'll meet me on my schedule - we agree for 4PM.

4:25PM Technician arrives, fortunately it's a Comcast employee and not one of fly by the seat of the pants contractors. Has MCard.

4:45PM Card installed and validated.


The journey now complete..... oh how I look forward to the day when there is some other choice other than Comcast!


2 Days Later..... just when I thought the adventure was over, I find now that most of my HBO channels don't come in. Looks like every other channel is fine, just all but 2 HBO channels. Call to Comcast, the usual hits to the box - nothing except we'll have to schedule a technician to come out and determine what the problem is. Well, I made sure to request only a Comcast "in house" technician and not an "out house", er, um, third party contractor.

[saz25]

Hi,
I live in southern New Hampshire and I have an appt with a Comcast tech for tomorrow (Sat) morning between 8-11am. I just called to request that they tell the technician to bring with him an M-card instead of 2 S-cards. He said its not available in my area. But I told him that I've heard of other local Comcast customers who have the M-card. He was totally confused and thought I was referring to a two-way communication-type card. I was referring to the multi-tuner card. Why aren't these folks trained?

Then I also requested that the specific tech be trained in the use of Tivo. The CSR rep said they don't do anything with Tivo. All they do is bring the cards, plug them in and "provision" the card with a phone call to the home office or whatever. So I said, then why does he need to come at all? I can certainly plug in a card as good as him and I can also make a phone call to whomever.

I have the TivoHD sitting on my component rack. I haven't connected to the Tivo service yet. Though I will tonight, before the tech comes out tomorrow.

I'm wondering how smooth this process will go tomorrow.

Steve

[owenc]

Looks like Comcast in DC turned the 0x01 copy protection bit off on AE HDTV, guess they still couldn't figure out how to pair the cable card with the Tivo, haha. Hopefully it will stay that way for all the other channels!

[ji0005]

I'm wondering how smooth this process will go tomorrow.



that is the million dollar question.

[petteri]

Ugh. Comcast (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) came in day before yesterday. I wasn't home, wife was. I come home after work to see the "acquiring channels" screen on the TV. It has been there for a couple of hours. So I restart the TiVo. Seems to be working OK. Then I check to see if the Center Ice channels are coming in. Nope, it dumps me to the gray screen with the call you cable company info. So I call. They "hit" the box again and say that it should be OK, within an hour. An hour later nothing. Time for bed. Today after work I call again, no dice. So then I call TiVo, they call Comcast for me and set up a conference call. Nothing is fixed yet. They are rolling a truck tomorrow (yea!, the first appointment to get the cards was a five day wait.) to replace one cable card. Too bad the schmoes didn't get it right the first time. I really wish I could just pick ups and install then cards my self.

Comcastic!

Peter

[bob61]

Ugh. Comcast (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) came in day before yesterday. I wasn't home, wife was. I come home after work to see the "acquiring channels" screen on the TV. It has been there for a couple of hours. So I restart the TiVo. Seems to be working OK. Then I check to see if the Center Ice channels are coming in. Nope, it dumps me to the gray screen with the call you cable company info. So I call. They "hit" the box again and say that it should be OK, within an hour. An hour later nothing. Time for bed. Today after work I call again, no dice. So then I call TiVo, they call Comcast for me and set up a conference call. Nothing is fixed yet. They are rolling a truck tomorrow (yea!, the first appointment to get the cards was a five day wait.) to replace one cable card. Too bad the schmoes didn't get it right the first time. I really wish I could just pick ups and install then cards my self.

Comcastic!

Peter
I don't know if same problem I experienced, but refer to Message 4064 above. (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5636989&&#post5636989) , read my note for the 8PM follow-up, seems to be similar issue and may only need the CSR to set a hit to your box to validate the cable card.

[saz25]

Hi all:
Just a brief followup on my results of the cablecard install by Comcast in Nashua, NH.

The bottom line is it went well.
I asked the tech as soon as he walked in whether he's done any Tivos? He said yes, about 4-5. I also asked whether he brought one M-card like I requested? He did !!

We went through the process outlined in the Tivo documentation. He then called his home office people. He gave them all the proper numbers from the cablecard. The guy on the other end asked for the serial of the second card. I immediately jumped in and said, all you need is ONE M-card, NOT 2. He did have a few spares just in case. But I didn't want him to screw things up by giving the home office multiple M-card serial numbers for my house, when I only need one.

I went through the various menus and it took maybe 10 mins for the channels to be detected. I then tested many channels (HD and SD) on both tuners.

I wouldn't let him leave till I was satisified that all was ok.

So, I'm happy...

Steve

[fluffie]

Finally made the switch to HD after the recent offer to transfer lifetime service for $199. The box arrived on tuesday (yay) and Comcast was scheduled for 3pm-5pm on friday. I was told by the scheduler that they do not have MCards, only SCards, so it would be $2.75/card "Is that alright?". Sure.

Friday at 1:00 the Comcast contractor arrives saying I was his last job is it ok if he is early? Sure.

I ask him if he has ever done a Tivo install before and he says No it's his first. So I hand him the instructions which he doesn't look at.

Next he proceeds to pull the tv stand further away from the wall, touching the front of the screen of my plasma knocking over a few remotes onto the floor and making the Tivo box almost fal to the floor as well. He is wearing a completely unecessary macho toolbelt which banged into the side of the tv. Really all he needs is a cell phone but he has all these bulky tools hanging off him.

I say "Please be more careful! I paid alot of money for this crap!" Now he is annoyed that I would say this and stops talking to me. He removes the Camcast DVR and I go to hand him the remote (so he can take that too) and he says "I don't need that!"

Now comes the best part. He takes out 2 MCards and proceeds to try to inserrt one of them without taking it out of the plastic case. :eek: I am horrified. I let him know he needs to take the card out of the case. Now he is annoyed and embarrassed as well (or should be). He points the Tivo remote at the TV - I tell him I will do the menus for him and from that point on I keep control of the remote :D He goes back to his truck to call in the numbers (I know he can't wait to get out of my house).

He comes back and the guy at the Comcast office says he is sending an error message to my TV which neverr shows up. He sends it again. Still nothing. So they go through the whole process again with another MCard. Same result. Now I can hear the Comcast office guy saying the Tivo box must be defective. I say "No I don't think so." To the contractor's credit he agrees with me on that one.

So the Comcast office guy says "It happens all the time, it doesn't matter if it's brand new out of the box, why I just bought a new computer the other day and it was defective and I had to send it back!" He washes his hands of the whole thing and says I have to return the Tivo. End of call.

I convince the installer to leave the MCard with me and the Comcast DVR, so he goes back to the truck to get the DVR. I re-read the instructions and discover that all I need to do is re-run the guided setup. So I do that and voila success. I ask the installer to stick around to make sure it will work, and he says "I have to get to my 3:00." I remind him "I am your 3:00." Oh. Right.

The installer leaves with the Comcast DVR saying "I don't want to do any more Tivos."

[Graymalkin]

And we wonder why they outsource customer service overseas. Apparently the only people they can find here are morons. :rolleyes: ;) :D

[kgt12]

Technician comes at 10:30 to install CCs in my 2 Tivo HDs. He has never done a CC install and has only been working for his contracting company for 4 weeks.

He brought 3 M cards. We install the first one, he walkie-talkies his dispatch lady who apparently calls the numbers in to Comcast. She says it's ok. We re-run guided setup and then go upstairs to do the second install.

We go through the same process upstairs and re-run guided setup. Go downstairs to check on the status.

Only a few basic channels are coming in. Dispatch is not responding. Go upstairs, only a few basic channels are coming in. Dispatch says the cards are bad. So we put in the 3rd and try all over again. Same result. Dispatch says all 3 cards are bad and there aren't any more in Howard County, MD and we will have to reschedule. The supervisor tells the technician he is not allowed to leave the cards here.

I tell him I will call Comcast directly and see if we can get anyone on the phone. After a few calls to Comcast, I get ahold of someone who seems knowledgeable. He says CC installs are not supposed to be scheduled on weekends because the 'head' office does not work and the head office is who can fix CC problems remotely. He says he will go ahead and try to do the setup on his end.

Long story short, we try all 3 CCs and he gets the same error on all of them. He says he can't pair them. He tries to call 2 people from the head office on their cell phones. No answer.

He says the technician can leave 2 of the cards at my house and they will contact me on Monday to try to resolve.

3 hours gone, no success, and $17.95 out of my pocket. It wasn't the morning I was hoping for.

[Graymalkin]

Wow. It's amazing that Motorola and Scientific Atlanta can stay in business with what appears to be a 95% failure rate on their CableCards. ;)

[titsataki]

This isn't true. I can't tell from this post whether you have a Series 3 or a TiVo HD. If you have a Series 3, you need multi-stream cards in BOTH slots in order to get the digital (and HD) channels on both tuners. If you have a TiVo HD, only one multistream card is needed for both tuners to work.

If you have two multistream cards in a Series 3, and the second tuner isn't showing HD channels, most likely there's something wrong with the second card.

If you have one multistream card in a TiVo HD, and the second tuner isn't showing HD channels that you're entitled to get (like the broadcast networks), then there may be something wrong with the TiVo.

Did you try both tuners before the cards were installed? Without cable cards, both tuners will work and get analog cable.

Ok it seems that I was incorrect. I am able to use both tuners to record HD theater and ABC college football in HD. FYI it is a Tivo HD and I have one multi stream SA card.

Sorry about the confusion. Monday I am calling Tivo to transfer my life time subscription.

Cheers

Nick

[brothers]

Well, I had my install this morning.

(Last Saturday, I had gone to the local Comcast office in Hudson, MA. No cards there, but the nice lady scheduled an install for today. I was very specific about _two_ systems, with a multi-stream card in each.)

Turns out, if these guys can't mess you up by arriving late, they'll mess you up by arriving early :) I had an install scheduled for 11AM to 1PM, so around 9 I went down to the local barber shop for a haircut. After waiting for 20 minutes or so, with my turn about to come up, my cell phone rings. It's my wife: "Comcast is going to be here in 15 minutes". I dash home, arriving right behind the Comcast van.

We go downstairs to the first THD, the guy pulls out two cards, and starts copying numbers off one of them. I look at it, nowhere does it say "Multi" or "M". He agrees they're singles, says he might have an m-card on the truck. Looks at the paperwork, sees where it's noted that I want m-cards, but points out that the install is listed for _one_ system.

He goes out to the truck, finds only one m-card. Brings it in, goes around the back of my system looking for the slot (I had earlier flipped open the hatch on the front of the THD and pointed to the slots). I refresh his memory, and he comes back around the front and starts to plug the card into the left slot. I correct him, we get the card in, I bring up the pairing screen. Then ensues about 45 minutes of alternating telephone tag and waiting on hold; he finally gets someone he can read the numbers to, and he says it should be good to go.

Oddly enough, it is. Card shows validated, and I get all the channels I should (I don't subscribe to any premiums, might be a different story if I did).

Get on the horn to Comcast later; they're coming back next Saturday with another M-card and waiving the fee for the second truck roll.

Coulda been better; coulda been worse...

- Dennis

[LoraJ]

We really want an S3 box, but is it true you can't use OnDemand with it if you have the two cable cards?

Do we have to wait for the TiVo Comcast version to come out?

I have a TiVo box on a TV we don't use that much anymore and wanted to transfer the Lifetime subscription to an S3 while we could, but not if we can't get OnDemand?

[Graymalkin]

We really want an S3 box, but is it true you can't use OnDemand with it if you have the two cable cards?

Do we have to wait for the TiVo Comcast version to come out?

I have a TiVo box on a TV we don't use that much anymore and wanted to transfer the Lifetime subscription to an S3 while we could, but not if we can't get OnDemand?

You can't access OnDemand with the Series 3 TiVo or the TiVo HD. They will not work with cable boxes.

CableCards are not interactive. They will give you access to all of the digital channels EXCEPT the OnDemand ones.

You'll need to wait for the Comcast DVR with TiVo software.

[LoraJ]

You can't access OnDemand with the Series 3 TiVo or the TiVo HD. They will not work with cable boxes.

CableCards are not interactive. They will give you access to all of the digital channels EXCEPT the OnDemand ones.

You'll need to wait for the Comcast DVR with TiVo software.


Bummer! :(

[Tony1746]

The strangest thing happened last night. I came home to find I had "lost" the second tuner and was now receiving an Error 161-1 (Call your Cable Company). The weird thing is it is card #1 that reportedly failed, which is the card that was working the day before. If anything, I would have expected errors related to CC2, since that was the one that was acting strange previously.

There was nothing Comcast could do remotely, so I'll have to wait until Saturday anyway, to get this all sorted out (I hope).

Well, looks like everything turned out OK......

Last night the box was acting so flakey, I decided to yank both cards, wipe the box clean (delete all configuration and program info), and start from scratch.

The Comcast guy arrived this morning (ahead of schedule). This guy knew what he was doing. He agreed to install two new S-cards, and the operation went flawlessly. He was done in about 30 minutes, before the scheduled appointment time !! Everything's working great now. So, the problem was indeed a card issue.

He left me with an interesting tip: He was familiar with the first installer who came on Tuesday. It seems Comcast uses a lot of subcontractors, who work on a per-job basis, rather than salaried. Because of that, he was positive the first guy wasn't interested in working through any lengthy issues, which explains why he pretty much threw up his hands, told me I had to reschedule, and was out the door. Unfortunately, it seems the subcontractors tend to do new installations, while they send the employees out mainly for troubleshooting. So, when scheduling your install, ask for a Comcast employee, since they will be much more willing to stay and see the job done to completion.......

[snash22]

For what it is worth, here is my story - It has a happy ending. I am in the Lexington/Buena Vista Virginia area of Comcast.

It took 5 calls and 1 letter to the President of Comcast to get the cablecards. They had kept calling the day before the appt and telling me that there were no cablecards. I don't know if the letter to the President worked, but about a week and a half after sending the letter, they called me (!) and we scheduled an appt.

The Comcast technician showed up, I was was happy to see it was the good techician who is able to resolve issues when I have them. He immediately told me that he was not fully confident in setting up the cablecard since he had only done it once, and I was only the 5th person in the local area to get a cablecard. I told him I had directions on how to do it and he was happy to follow them.

With only 1 minor error when he was a little impatient, we got it up and running.

My hat it off to you folks here who posted so much info about the cablecards here. . My hat is of to him as well for being humble enough to know what he didn't know.

[theinfamous]

I was upgraded tonight to 9.2. I called Comcast and verified:

Cablecard ID
Host ID
Data

They said it all matched and I had them send a hard hit. unfortunately it was a no go. However the operator then talked to her supervisor and they said that they sent me a cablecard that was suppose to go into one of their DVRs?? So she set up another service request (the 5th guy to come out now) for this Saturday. We'll see how it goes. She doesn't know if they are sending two cable cards or just one.

But apparently you need to tell them that this is your TiVo unit you bought not a Comcast TiVo or a comcast DVR. I actually feel somewhat optimistic because it didn't sound like BS. So I'll give you an update this Saturday.

Well the Comcast guy came today. I actually remember this guy as it was the 5th comcast tech tocome out. He was saying has anyone thought the TiVo is bad? I said yes but that it works fine on some channels.

Anyway he installed the new cards and had then had dispatch do the hard hit. It took a couple of minutes but all of my channels came in. So I was checking it out and I was showing him some of the cool features and then the TiVo freaked out and all the channels went grey again. I was like ohhhh fawk. I went to TiVo central and it was also grey. It just had the text "Now Playing" and so on. So I restarted and it has been fine since then.

I still haven't done a guided setup because I am getting all of the channels and it hasn't asked me to do one so I'm not going to do it. And again as I have said in the past the techie screens BLOW HARD. Right now my card has the ? mark right by the validated Val. Like I said I can't argue with the fact that all of my channels are working.

It seems like software glitches they need to fix.

[theinfamous]

Well the Comcast guy came today. I actually remember this guy as it was the 5th comcast tech tocome out. He was saying has anyone thought the TiVo is bad? I said yes but that it works fine on some channels.

Anyway he installed the new cards and had then had dispatch do the hard hit. It took a couple of minutes but all of my channels came in. So I was checking it out and I was showing him some of the cool features and then the TiVo freaked out and all the channels went grey again. I was like ohhhh fawk. I went to TiVo central and it was also grey. It just had the text "Now Playing" and so on. So I restarted and it has been fine since then.

I still haven't done a guided setup because I am getting all of the channels and it hasn't asked me to do one so I'm not going to do it. And again as I have said in the past the techie screens BLOW HARD. Right now my card has the ? mark right by the validated Val. Like I said I can't argue with the fact that all of my channels are working.

It seems like software glitches they need to fix.

Just one more reason I think Comcast sucks. The main reason I got TiVo HD was to get the Center Ice NHL package and see a lot of the games in HD. However tonight being the first night I'm watching even though a lot of the games say they are being broadcast in HD I am getting the non HD version. Bummer. Thanks Comcast

[silypuddy]

Well the Comcast guy came today. I actually remember this guy as it was the 5th comcast tech tocome out. He was saying has anyone thought the TiVo is bad? I said yes but that it works fine on some channels.

Anyway he installed the new cards and had then had dispatch do the hard hit. It took a couple of minutes but all of my channels came in. So I was checking it out and I was showing him some of the cool features and then the TiVo freaked out and all the channels went grey again. I was like ohhhh fawk. I went to TiVo central and it was also grey. It just had the text "Now Playing" and so on. So I restarted and it has been fine since then.

I still haven't done a guided setup because I am getting all of the channels and it hasn't asked me to do one so I'm not going to do it. And again as I have said in the past the techie screens BLOW HARD. Right now my card has the ? mark right by the validated Val. Like I said I can't argue with the fact that all of my channels are working.

It seems like software glitches they need to fix.

Looks like you got the GSOD/BSOD. See:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=365824

[bob61]

He left me with an interesting tip: He was familiar with the first installer who came on Tuesday. It seems Comcast uses a lot of subcontractors, who work on a per-job basis, rather than salaried. Because of that, he was positive the first guy wasn't interested in working through any lengthy issues, which explains why he pretty much threw up his hands, told me I had to reschedule, and was out the door. Unfortunately, it seems the subcontractors tend to do new installations, while they send the employees out mainly for troubleshooting. So, when scheduling your install, ask for a Comcast employee, since they will be much more willing to stay and see the job done to completion.......

I was talking with Comcast technician who said that the sub-contractors if they run into a problem just make your signal real hot just to get the job over so they can move on to the next job. He then has to come in and clean up the problem later when your system starts having problems with the TV due to excessive back feed.

Like all big corporations Comcast thinks they save money by outsourcing to the low cost provider (sub-contractors), the truth is the quality of the job is cr@p usually (based on my experience), requiring 1) me to spend time on a call with phone CSR, 2) more time for Comcast to spent resolving and escalating the problem, 3) substantial doubt in the mind of their customers when services is so sub-par and 4) repeat calls to get the job done which should have been done right the first time.

I work in company with similar approach - they just look at the initial cost (how cheap the contractor is to do the job) and not what it costs all in with re-work and what price do you put on losing a customer?

[tj722]

Looks like Comcast in DC turned the 0x01 copy protection bit off on AE HDTV, guess they still couldn't figure out how to pair the cable card with the Tivo, haha. Hopefully it will stay that way for all the other channels!

I think between all of us calling and me contacting Comcast Executive, we managed to get all of the channels we are paying for!!!

That being said, we all shouldn't have to go through so much hell to use our TiVo boxes. I am personally going to make sure that someone with some authority at the FCC hears about all of this.

[The Weissman]

My cable service is provided by Comcast in Eatontown, NJ.

A subcontractor technician came yesterday equipped with only one single-stream CableCARD, and the first thing he told me was that "90% of the time, these things don't install successfully. I've done five, and none of them worked." That remark, and this forum thread, didn't fill me with hope.

On inserting the CableCARD into my TivoHD, we got a message about downloading firmware that might take an hour, so the tech went on to his next call while I pressed buttons. I got to the whirlygig screen ("Acquiring Channel Information"), which abended with an error, "This DVR is unable to acquire channel information from the CableCARD." Repeated attempts yielded the same error. We were getting nowhere. No video on any channel as long as the CableCARD was inserted. I heard the dispatcher say to the tech, "Why did they send you on this call if you don't know how to do this?"

The tech escalated the call for a return visit by a real Comcast technician, and left the card with me. Throughout the evening, the TivoHD, on its own, was constantly retrying the whirlygig screen. This morning, I found the screen had gone all gray, so I restarted the TiVo, and when it came back, it was a different world!

The CableCARD configuration screens were populated with new menu selections, and video signal up through channel 24. The gray-bordered screens, which display information crucial to the activation of the CableCARD (Host ID and CableCARD number) were accessible, as they were not before. CableCARD: A new hope?

The Comcast technician came right at 1:00 in a 1:00-3:00 window, carrying an S-card and an M-card. She called in the info displayed about the S-card that had come to life overnight, and voila! the rest of the channels, including the premium channels and HD channels, were there!

We then powered down the TiVo, swapped out the S-card for the M-card, and after starting up, the TiVo immediately displayed the gray-bordered CableCARD info screen, with the HostID and all. The tech fed that information to her dispatcher, and a minute later, I had all my channels again!

On the way out, the technician told me that this was the smoothest CableCARD install she had ever done. It was far smoother than I was expecting, that's for sure.

Steve

Edit: I should also mention that the Comcast tech said something about a recently negotiated agreement between Comcast, TiVo, and Scientific Atlanta that should result in more recently-manufactured CableCARDs being easier to install.

[jlib]

He left me with an interesting tip: He was familiar with the first installer who came on Tuesday. It seems Comcast uses a lot of subcontractors, who work on a per-job basis, rather than salaried. Because of that, he was positive the first guy wasn't interested in working through any lengthy issues, which explains why he pretty much threw up his hands, told me I had to reschedule, and was out the door. Unfortunately, it seems the subcontractors tend to do new installations, while they send the employees out mainly for troubleshooting. So, when scheduling your install, ask for a Comcast employee, since they will be much more willing to stay and see the job done to completion.......You are quite right. I my area Comcast pays contractors $4 per Cable Card installation above and beyond whatever they make for the service call itself. They will not stick around for the slightest bit of trouble shooting even if they knew what to do (which they usually don't).

[jlib]

We install the first one, he walkie-talkies his dispatch lady who apparently calls the numbers in to Comcast. She says it's ok. We re-run guided setup and then go upstairs to do the second install.

We go through the same process upstairs and re-run guided setup. Go downstairs to check on the status.Just a reminder to all that guided setup should not be part of the Cable Card installation precess and is a waste of time for all involved. Channels can be tested directly from the Cable Card screen. Run the tedious guided setup after the Cable Cards are actually working and the tech has gone. If they are not working guided setup is not going to make them work. The time is better spent troubleshooting any Cable Card problems.

[owenc]

I think between all of us calling and me contacting Comcast Executive, we managed to get all of the channels we are paying for!!!

That being said, we all shouldn't have to go through so much hell to use our TiVo boxes. I am personally going to make sure that someone with some authority at the FCC hears about all of this.

Yeah its been pretty ridiculous considering this is an FCC mandate. I mean its just incredible how dysfunctional comcast is, how do they manage to stay in business? oh right that monopoly thing...

[dhoward]

I live just north of Boston. I have been delaying getting a HD Tivo because of my dislike of Comcast Techs. I have found them to be poorly trained both technically and PR wise. I really would like to replace my S2DT with the HDTivo but worry about encountering the problems so many others have indicated on this thread. I know it is a crap shoot depending on who comes out. Is there anyone in the Melrose, Wakefield, Stonham area who has had Comcast do the cablecard install and with what success?

[Graymalkin]

Got my bill today. Only $284. :eek:

To be fair, it does include the upgraded service for October, which wasn't billed last month. But I think they charged me full freight for the digital TV and phone services, rather than the $96 promised in the Triple Play package, plus $30 to activate the phone service, plus $14.45 for a second truck roll.

They charged $5 for HDTV and $7.95 for Digital Preferred per outlet on three outlets (two TiVos and a DVR or three CableCards) and $11.95 for the DVR, but gave me $4.20 credit per outlet on four outlets (three CableCards and the DVR?) for not using a cablebox and remote. The DVR and remote went back to Comcast last week, so those charges should drop.

Once I get next month's bill, which shouldn't have any charges for the DVR mixed in, I'll have a chat with them about those extraneous additional outlet charges.

[jtonra]

I live just north of Boston. I have been delaying getting a HD Tivo because of my dislike of Comcast Techs. I have found them to be poorly trained both technically and PR wise. I really would like to replace my S2DT with the HDTivo but worry about encountering the problems so many others have indicated on this thread. I know it is a crap shoot depending on who comes out. Is there anyone in the Melrose, Wakefield, Stonham area who has had Comcast do the cablecard install and with what success?

I'm in Wilmington and I just had the card installed last week. The tech who came out knew exactly what he was doing and was out of there in less than an hour. The only wrinkle at all was that they had sent him out with M cards without even telling him they had started using M cards. So when he tried to put the second card it, he was confused when the TiVo said it was unnecessary and would not be used. That wrinkle only took a couple minutes to sort out and the rest of the install was fine. The fact that they gave me an M card was a pleasant surprise since the first card is free and subsequent cards are 2.75 a month. Since he took my old box out, my cable bill is actually going to go down.

[bob61]

Just a reminder to all that guided setup should not be part of the Cable Card installation precess and is a waste of time for all involved. Channels can be tested directly from the Cable Card screen. Run the tedious guided setup after the Cable Cards are actually working and the tech has gone. If they are not working guided setup is not going to make them work. The time is better spent troubleshooting any Cable Card problems.
I disagree. First, without the cable card my unit didn't recognize the additional channels above 100 until I re-ran the guided set-up. It then new to pull in the additional channel information. Second, the installer originally installed only a single SCard in my box (long story - see my earlier message). When they came back with an MCard I had to re-run the guided set-up to get my Tivo to recognize it had dual tuners (without running the guided set-up again it didn't recognize the second tuner even though I had the MCard now in the box.

[c3]

I disagree. First, without the cable card my unit didn't recognize the additional channels above 100 until I re-ran the guided set-up.

Operation of the CableCard(s) is not related to the guide data. You can test all of the channels within the CableCard menu.

[petteri]

Just to follow up on my install. Comcast came back, again I wasn't home. My wife called up TiVo when the install got here. Comcast and TiVo chatted for a bit and the install went well this time. Although tonight it seems that one of my CableCards hasn't been authorized for the Center Ice package. I'm just to beat to deal with Comcast again tonight so that's going to have to wait just one more day. Such a shame that I just couldn't pick up the cards myself. Oh, well. As they say, COMCASTIC!! ;)

[Jon65]

I just spent 45 minutes of my remaining time on this planet waiting for my C* CSR to query the internet with my questions. No answers to be found, and he wanted to do a truck roll for the "bad CC".

Here's my problem: When FoodHD and TBSHD went live here in the Baltimore area (Carroll County), cablecard #1 of my TivoHD receive them fine, but cablecard #2 is gray screen. All other channels, both SD and HD, are fine. I was hoping sending a hit to the card would solve the problem. I'm not convinced my CSR on chat even knew what that was. Like I said, at least it he didn't make anything worse.

One possibility I can think of was that I tried to get my "2nd outlet charge" removed and that resulted in CC#2 going dead. When the 2'nd outlet was put back on my account, CC#2 was restored. This was before FoodHD and TBSHD were live, so not certain if it plays a role or not. I'm wondering if CC#2 isn't entered correctly in the system, but I have no ideas.

I did run Guided Setup several times.

Any suggestions?

I will call C* when I get time, which may be a while.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Jon

[dswallow]

I disagree. First, without the cable card my unit didn't recognize the additional channels above 100 until I re-ran the guided set-up. It then new to pull in the additional channel information. Second, the installer originally installed only a single SCard in my box (long story - see my earlier message). When they came back with an MCard I had to re-run the guided set-up to get my Tivo to recognize it had dual tuners (without running the guided set-up again it didn't recognize the second tuner even though I had the MCard now in the box.
If you look closely through the CableCARD menus you'll see a "Test Channels" option. That's where you would test channels on each tuner to see if the CableCARD is functional. Guided setup never needs to be run while the installer is there; everything necessary can be verified within those CableCARD menu options. Once you can tune digital/subscribed channels on both tuners from the Test Channels menu, the installer can leave and you can then run guided setup so that guide data will get properly loaded and the receiver will use the correct number of tuners for recording.

[GaryD9]

Why is comcast completely unable to update their online channel lineup? I live in Montgomory County, MD... and for at least the last 2 weeks I've been trying to access a "current" channel linup online. Each and every time I've tried, I only get a message saying that its currently unavailable.

The service techs have lineup cards, but they are woefully out of date. I seem to get several channels that simply don't exist on that card. Does comcast itself know what channels are available?

I see several people here talking about getting AEHD (and a couple of other HD channels) on comcast in DC, and I'm really curious to see if I might also be getting these channels... but I have no idea where to look. If the tivo guide data doesn't know about the channels, I'll never know that they exist...

Speaking of this.... when comcast does update their lineup, how will the S3 units deal with it? With my old HR10 DirectTivo, anytime D* made any change to their lineup, I'd know it because my "channels I recieve" would get reset. With comcast+tivo, there are two seperate entities involved - one for guide data and one for the cable headend...

[kgt12]

I updated this thread on 10/27 regarding Comcast's inability to get my CCs running.

Essentially, they couldn't get them paired and claimed the 'head end' office had to do it but wasn't working on the weekends.

I got an update today saying that the problem is that the CCs that were installed were the 'old' type of 'RMA' and that the 'new' type of 'DNCS' was supposed to have been installed.

Apparently they're looking into how to activate these old RMA CCs and should be able to as previous CC customers still have working RMA Cards in use.

Does this mean anything to anyone? Am I just getting the run around?

Cheers.

[pl1]

I got an update today saying that the problem is that the CCs that were installed were the 'old' type of 'RMA' and that the 'new' type of 'DNCS' was supposed to have been installed.Sounds a little odd. A search comes up with - Digital Network Control System (DNCS), but I don't see anything for RMA except Return Merch Auth.

I am having major problems with my cableCARDs as well. I won't rehash it all here, but once I got one of my TiVos up and running I lost pairing on one of the other machine's cards. I posted about it in the cableCARD FAQ thread.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5647875#post5647875

Maybe something I wrote there will help or is similar.

[will0527]

So I felt I would be remiss to not post this after the ordeal I went through with Comcast.

*Note: Skip to the bottom if you just want to read my recommendation

Fortunately for me, in the Seattle Area, Comcast allows customers to pick up cable cards and call in for activation. Cool. I pick up 2 S-Cards from the Comcast store on Friday. I call and give him the Host ID and Data ID from the Pairing Screen, and Comcast sends an activation signal and I immediately get error 161-1. I can't do anything else. The CSR asks be to reboot the system, which I don't do cause it takes FOREVER. No go. We pop that card out, and try the 2nd one. This one looks better 161-4 error, which is actually A GOOD THING. After about 2-3 min we check the conditional access screen and it shows:

Host Validation: Verified 00

This is good. We check the Test Channels screen and there's the programming, HD and SD. So we try the other card one last time... 161-1 Error. Its a bad card. I thank the guy for his help and plan to go back to the Comcast store on Monday to exchange this card. Meantime I run Guided Setup and get the S3 running on one Tuner. Later that day I find that I'm missing the majority of my channels. I get 2 - 29 and 74 - 115 but nothing inbetween. No big deal I still have analog. I'll fix it when I call.

Monday comes and I go to the store to get a new S-Card. I call and tell him about the missing programming first. It takes about 2 seconds and then I've got it. I guess he sent an activation signal (which later I would find out is one of only 3 signals they can send) and that took care of it. OK, lets activate the 2nd card. I pop it in, give him the Host and Data ID. He sends the activation signal... no go. He sends the validation signal... no go. He wants me to swap the cards to see if the card is the problem. I REALLY don't want to do this cause I know whats going to happen... I'm going to lose both cards, but I do it anyway. Sure enough, now I can't get either card to validate. After putting the 1st card back in the slot, it gets back to normal - kinda. I'm missing channels 30 - 70 again. And it never shows verified under Host Validation.

At this point Comcast wants to send a technician. I argue with this because there is nothing... NOTHING for me to configure on my side other than sticking the card in the slot and giving comcast a series of numbers. Finally I get someone to agree to work with me again, but she wants me to go back to the Comcast store and exchange my 2 S-Cards for 2 M-Cards and 2 S-Cards. According to her the following scenarios are most likely to work:

1. An S-Card in slot 1 and an M-Card in slot 2
2. A single M-Card (Tivo has already said this will work, but will only work on 1 tuner - basically in S-Card mode)
3. an M-Card in each slot

So I go back to the Comcast store for a 3rd time, and after explaining to them what I'm trying to do they give me 2 M-Cards and 2 S-Cards. I call Comcast and get my 4th CSR... Fortunately, it looks like they took good notes. Unfortunately, she had a different idea about what would work. I finally ended up trying one of the M-Cards first, in the first slot (ALWAYS CONFIGURE AND GET THE 1ST SLOT WORKING BEFORE GOING ON TO THE 2ND). The M-Card screen is different from the S-Card Screen. The Host and Data ID are still in the pairing screen, but I couldn't find the Host Validation listing... turns out - not that important. Great....
After a couple of minutes its working - missing channels and all. Cool. Now, I decide to use the other M-Card in the 2nd slot since the S-Cards are giving me grief. This one takes a little bit longer, but eventually its working too. No sweat, no fuss.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS: Get 2 M-Cards to start with. They will revert to single tuner mode, but they seem to work better, or at least they did for me. There is (at least in my area) no price difference between S-Cards and M-Cards.

NEVER TAKE A CARD OUT AFTER ITS BEEN INITIALIZED. Taking a card out changes the DATA ID. Comcast needs this Data ID on file in order to talk to the card.

If you don't want to go to the Comcast store several times, pay the fee to have a technician come out. I didn't really need them to do anything, but they show up with several different cards, in case one is bad, so it might be worth it.

[kgt12]

Sounds a little odd. A search comes up with - Digital Network Control System (DNCS), but I don't see anything for RMA except Return Merch Auth.

I am having major problems with my cableCARDs as well. I won't rehash it all here, but once I got one of my TiVos up and running I lost pairing on one of the other machine's cards. I posted about it in the cableCARD FAQ thread.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5647875#post5647875

Maybe something I wrote there will help or is similar.

Thanks for the suggestions.

As it turns out, they are sending someone to come out tomorrow afternoon to swap the cards. Once again, it's a contractor and not Comcast. But the order came from Comcast (obviously) and the contracting company claims that a 'Technical Lead' or 'Supervisor' ("someone very familiar with CC issues) will be coming out.

Id be surprised if it's all working by this time tomorrow...

[stryker412]

How long after the CC's are working does the online scheduling update to reflect the new channels? I had Comcast come out but I was not there to supervise someone else was. I talked to the tech over the phone and he said everything was working but my online guide still shows channels 2-99 only.

[dswallow]

How long after the CC's are working does the online scheduling update to reflect the new channels? I had Comcast come out but I was not there to supervise someone else was. I talked to the tech over the phone and he said everything was working but my online guide still shows channels 2-99 only.
Did you rerun guided setup now that you have the CableCARDs working (and for that matter, did you go to the CableCARD Test Channels screens and ensure they really are working by tuning to a channel that's subscription only)?

Once guided setup is run, the channels will show up on your guide immediately and it should take at most just a few hours for the full guide data for about the next 2 weeks to load.

[stryker412]

Did you rerun guided setup now that you have the CableCARDs working (and for that matter, did you go to the CableCARD Test Channels screens and ensure they really are working by tuning to a channel that's subscription only)?

Once guided setup is run, the channels will show up on your guide immediately and it should take at most just a few hours for the full guide data for about the next 2 weeks to load.

I am at work, and was just trying to verify that the Comcast tech said they're working. I guess I'll have to wait until I get home.

[kgt12]

I am at work, and was just trying to verify that the Comcast tech said they're working. I guess I'll have to wait until I get home.

Any chance you have a slingbox hooked up to the Tivo?

It would come in handy in a situation like this.

[pl1]

But the order came from Comcast (obviously) and the contracting company claims that a 'Technical Lead' or 'Supervisor' ("someone very familiar with CC issues) will be coming out. Id be surprised if it's all working by this time tomorrow...I spent hours last night trying to get my previously working Series 3 with two S-cards working. Everytime I called, I was told that no one could check my #s, it required a tech visit. All they could do was send a hit and the hit was supposed to automatically pair the cards. (They won't pair if the host id, etc, is wrong.) Since they were not getting a response back from one of the cards, they gave up and set up an appointment.

Mind you, this is on a TiVo that has worked flawlessly for 9 months. The problem with my OLD machine only began when they were installing cards in the NEW machine. I guess they screwed up somewhere.

So, I'm feeling about the same way. I'll be surprised if it is up and running when they come Saturday. The installer I had was pretty much clueless. I think I was his first S3 install. He tried to put the cards in front (like the THD.)

[stryker412]

Any chance you have a slingbox hooked up to the Tivo?

It would come in handy in a situation like this.

no :(

[stryker412]

Just checked my online account again, and the channels are there now. I guess it just needed some time.

[kgt12]

I spent hours last night trying to get my previously working Series 3 with two S-cards working. Everytime I called, I was told that no one could check my #s, it required a tech visit. All they could do was send a hit and the hit was supposed to automatically pair the cards. (They won't pair if the host id, etc, is wrong.) Since they were not getting a response back from one of the cards, they gave up and set up an appointment.

Mind you, this is on a TiVo that has worked flawlessly for 9 months. The problem with my OLD machine only began when they were installing cards in the NEW machine. I guess they screwed up somewhere.

So, I'm feeling about the same way. I'll be surprised if it is up and running when they come Saturday. The installer I had was pretty much clueless. I think I was his first S3 install. He tried to put the cards in front (like the THD.)

Yeah, the fact that your Tivo was working fine for 9 months until you tried to activate a new one would lead anyone to believe they messed something up on their end. I have to say, there are a lot of # involved in these installs (serial numbers, host Ids, cablecard ids) and I'd be surprised if the numbers haven't been mixed up by the time it gets from the source to the tech to the dispatcher to the comcast employee to the computer.

I'm waiting for these things to start working so I can decide (before 30 days) if they're that much better than the cable DVRs. Losing On demand is kind of a pain. Losing switched channels (if that happens), will be more of a pain. So I'm really hoping the user interface and other features of the Tivo make up for these losses. I'm looking forward to TTG and MRV, but if everything I would transfer is copyright flagged, then it will be a let down.

Cheers.

[pl1]

I'm waiting for these things to start working so I can decide (before 30 days) if they're that much better than the cable DVRs. Losing On demand is kind of a pain. Losing switched channels (if that happens), will be more of a pain. So I'm really hoping the user interface and other features of the Tivo make up for these losses. I'm looking forward to TTG and MRV, but if everything I would transfer is copyright flagged, then it will be a let down.Cheers.The units are great. It's Comcast that's the problem.

Here's a good one. They wanted to come to my house today from 8:00 to 12:00. I get an email that says tomorrow from 9:00 to 11:00. I call to confirm. The email is right. I misunderstood. I reschedule for Saturday. The tech shows up today at noon and my appt for Saturday is cancelled. So it goes.

[old64mb]

I'm waiting for these things to start working so I can decide (before 30 days) if they're that much better than the cable DVRs.

Seeing a response like that makes me shiver because every time someone puts the onus on Tivo for a Comcast-caused problem, Comcast's ultimate goal - to drive Tivo under, buy the thing out of bankruptcy, and more than likely raise your rates by 100% - gets closer as the evil empire has won another one.

Tivo corporate has an awful lot of issues and I'm on record on several, but blaming them when in reality its their supplier who is doing their best to make it as complicated and painful as possible as they can legally get away with - not right.

It's one reason more reason why I've stuck with them even when I'm frustrated. The alternative is a lot worse.

[btwyx]

Why is comcast completely unable to update their online channel lineup? I live in Montgomory County, MD... and for at least the last 2 weeks I've been trying to access a "current" channel linup online. Each and every time I've tried, I only get a message saying that its currently unavailable. Even if it is available, it may not be up to date. I nearly missed a football game because it was on NFL Network and they removed that from the tiers I get, but they didn't update the channel line up to reflect this.

I rang them and complained bitterly about this, and got some freebies from them.

[GaryD9]

This is interesting... I was playing around with my channels, exploring the various channels that tivo/comcast/cablecard think I don't get (and that the tivo channel list has no entries for.)

I found that channel 223 has AEHD, 229 has HGTV/HD, and 231 has FoodHD...

Curious, I went into the cablecard diagnostics, and did the channel test. For the above channels, the channel test only shows "Cable channel 223." However, most channels will show a channel number followed by the channel ID (ie: 228 HBOHD.)

This seems to indicate that comcast isn't including some channels (such as 223, 229, etc) in the channel list they send to the cablecards....

So, how do I go about getting comcast to send the channel list properly, AND then getting TiVo to inform their guide provider (tribune) to update the lists?

[mchabura]

I just wanted to let everyone know about the very positive experience I had with my Comcast CableCARD installation. I scheduled my appointment for the installation and asked the CSR to make sure that they had an M-card for my TivoHD. The technician came on time, but had about 6 S-cards because he said that they didn't have any M-cards in inventory at the moment. No big deal I thought...just an additional $1.50 a month for the 2nd CableCARD. I asked him if he had any previous experience with Tivo, and he told me that this was his first time. I got a little nervous, but he continued installing the cards into the machine. He called in the numbers and everything seemed to be working fine. This took about 30 minutes. After he left, I noticed that none of my movie channels were coming in (HBO, Starz, Encore), but all the other channels including HD channels were working fine. I called customer support and after a reboot they quickly escalated me to 2nd tier support. Later that night, I received a call from Steve, the Comcast 2nd tier support technician who specialized in Tivo troubleshooting, and he quickly solved the problem. I guess the 2nd card's host id was incorrect. Everything worked great. I live in the western Chicago suburbs (St. Charles), and I have to say that each and every one of the Comcast employees were extremely friendly, helpful, and patient with this installation. They got it to work perfectly. I definitely had a great and painless experience.

[egorss78]

Call comcast 2 days ago to have them stop by and install the cable cards. Tech shows up today with a 8300HD box. Said they ran out of CC and figured I could use the box instead....

Tech Support says it may be months before they have the cards in stock. Tech said people prefer our box so we do not stock them that much....

If anyone has any ideas on how to get the cards faster please let me know...might have to return my new Tivo HD....

[GaryD9]

[QUOTE=GaryD9]I found that channel 223 has AEHD, 229 has HGTV/HD, and 231 has FoodHD...[QUOTE]
Oops. Just got off the phone with Comcast, and discovered that they aren't offering AE, HGTV, or Food in HD in my area. The first person I spoke with insisted that I was mistaken and must be viewing the non-HD versions (nevermind that the AEHD channel had a different logo "AE HD".)

The second person I talked to told me something similar, but rather than call me an idiot who sees imaginary logos, was very curious on how I managed to tune into non-existant channels.

The THIRD person I talked to was amused (and somewhat annoyed) that I was watching channels that they are still testing. I guess I'm not supposed to be able to see them yet. ;) At least this third person seemed happy to hear that the channels looked very good with no signal problems.

A _benifit_ to cablecards: the ability to tune in channels that are hidden. :)

[pl1]

A _benifit_ to cablecards: the ability to tune in channels that are hidden. PPV and VOD, all there. But it shifts channels and have fun figuring out what's what.

[muddball]

Here's my recent experience in Kitsap County, WA. I picked up two cards at the retail outlet in Bremerton on Tuesday in anticipation of receiving my THD on Wednesday. It was on my porch when I got home Wednesday, and I had a family commitment later that evening, so I scrambled to start the guided setup. Got far enough to insert the cablecards and called Comcast to activate the cards. After giving the lady the card SNs, Host, and Data numbers she did some stuff on her end for several minutes then came back on the phone and said everything should be working within 8 or 10 minutes.

I had to run off to the family commitment so I wasn't able to test things out for a few hours. When I got back neither CC would tune any channels. I spent another hour or so on the phone with Comcast and nothing they did fixed the problem. It was late and I was tired, so I scheduled a service call for the weekend and gave up for the night.

The next evening I thought I'd give it one more shot and called Comcast again. I told the guy what had transpired the night before and he was skeptical that he would be able to fix the problem. He re-sent the signals to the CCs, and as he predicted nothing happened. I said goodbye to him and pretty much resigned myself to waiting for the tech to come out on Sunday. Before totally giving up I decided to re-perform Guided Setup just to see what would happen. Lo and behold, when it came time to insert the CCs, they worked perfectly. The next day things were still working, so I called to cancel the service appointment.

One weird thing I noticed is that the "Auth:" field in the Conditional Access screen wasn't consistent. After things started working, the authorization for CC#2 said "SUBSCRIBED" and CC#1 said "unknown." I didn't want to mess with it since everything was working fine, so I just checked the conditional access screen occasionally. The authorization field on CC#2 changed from time to time but I don't remember what the different entries were. CC#1 always said unknown. Some of the other fields on the CA screen changed periodically as well. I don't really know what all that means.

Today I took the Motorola HD DVR that the THD replaced back to the retail store. I still have one other Moto DVR on a different TV in the house. When I got home I checked the status of the THD and CC#1 wouldn't tune all the channels. It tuned channels below 30 and between about 104 and 115, but nothing else. The authorization on the CA screen said "NOT_SUBSCRIBED" for CC#1 and "SUBSCRIBED" for CC#2. I called Comcast and fiddled with the TiVo while on hold. I was testing channels on CC#1 while on hold and the box spontaneously rebooted. Of course, the CSR picked up while it was still starting up, so I explained what was going on and told him it should be done booting up in a few minutes. He asked if I had made any changes to my account recently and I told him I returned their DVR earlier today. He said he thought he knew what the problem was and I heard him typing away while we waited for the box to finish booting up. When it was done, he sent the signals to the CCs and everything works great as of now. He gave me some explanation like that if you return a device and they remove it from the list without moving the devices below it up, it will disable the device on the bottom of the list.

So anyway, short story long, it wasn't totally painless getting CCs out of Comcast and getting them working, but it wasn't nearly as much of a hassle as some of the horror stories I've read about on here. I count myself in the lucky column.

[jasonlooney]

Received my TivoHD last Friday, had a truck roll on Monday to install 2 S-cards. The card in slot 1 works great, slot 2 is a no go, didn't realize till after the tech left. After hours on the phone had a second truck roll to replace the 2nd card on Tuesday. I wasn't able to be at home for the tech but my wife was. Tech basically told her that he had no clue on cable cards, didn't even know how to plug the thing in. He did best he could and left, still not getting encrypted channels on card 2.
Spent 2 hours on phone with a tech who actually seemed to know what he was doing. He did find that the card id's and host id's were listed on the wrong cards, which he supposedly corrected and sent a hit to the cards. Card 1 is still good to go, card 2 says "Waiting for EMMs". These are SA cards. Anyone have any ideas what I can do? I'm getting very frustrated with Comcast's apparent lack of knowledge and want to be able to tell them what to do to fix the problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[kgt12]

Seeing a response like that makes me shiver because every time someone puts the onus on Tivo for a Comcast-caused problem, Comcast's ultimate goal - to drive Tivo under, buy the thing out of bankruptcy, and more than likely raise your rates by 100% - gets closer as the evil empire has won another one.

Tivo corporate has an awful lot of issues and I'm on record on several, but blaming them when in reality its their supplier who is doing their best to make it as complicated and painful as possible as they can legally get away with - not right.

It's one reason more reason why I've stuck with them even when I'm frustrated. The alternative is a lot worse.

I think you guys might be misunderstanding my post.

I'm not blaming Tivo for Comcast's problems. I'm simply saying that I'm looking forward to the Tivos working as designed to see if they're really worth $600 plus $20/month...

[Langree]

I think you guys might be misunderstanding my post.

I'm not blaming Tivo for Comcast's problems. I'm simply saying that I'm looking forward to the Tivos working as designed to see if they're really worth $600 plus $20/month...

I had the Comcast DVR as my primary for about a month, it was all I could take. I picked up a TiVoHD and didn't look back. For me it's worth it.

[jlib]

Anyone getting their signal from Comcast Monterey could you please send me a private message (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/private.php?do=newpm&u=35582). I have a question about new HD lineup.

[drflounder]

Hey everyone. First time long time. I am hoping and would greatly appreciate any help anyone could provide to my problem.

I have a TivoHD and went to the Comcast office here in Augusta, Ga. and picked up 2 S-Cards (M-Cards were not available). Got home and went through the routine setup, following the instructions to a T. Called Comcast, they activated both cards and stated they were getting signals from both cards. However, everytime I get on Live TV, the screen is grey, no channels will be displayed. It will have the channel lineups and what is supposed to be playing on that channel but will not show any video.

I do not know if this will help but when testing channels in the Decoder options, it will only let me access or "test" channel 92, and still gets no video. Will not let me test any other channel. When I go into diagnostics mode, both Tuners say "Not Tuned: Wrong Card State." But towards the bottom both cable cards say operating normally. Also at the bottom both cable cards are getting signal locks. I also checked the OOB and the number rises when exiting and re-entering network setup so according to Tivo Troubleshooting it is receiving data.

Any help would be greatly appreciated please. I will be up in the wee hours of the night trying to get my Tivo. Thanks for the help! :)

I'm having the exact same problem in Augusta. After about 4 truck rolls, a Comcast tech finally told me that they were having a problem communicating with the cable cards in TivoHDs. He said that they would call me back when they had a fix.

It's been about 10 days and I still haven't heard anything. I just called up Comcast customer no-service to check on the status and was told that they don't install cable cards in Tivos, only into TVs. I asked what the 4 techs had been trying to do when they showed up at my house and was told that I must be confused.

I'm just about fed up, but the only alternative I have is Knology which I've heard is even worse.

[dipdewdog]

The THIRD person I talked to was amused (and somewhat annoyed) that I was watching channels that they are still testing. I guess I'm not supposed to be able to see them yet. ;) At least this third person seemed happy to hear that the channels looked very good with no signal problems.

A _benifit_ to cablecards: the ability to tune in channels that are hidden. :)

According to a post over on AVS Forum, Comcast of Montgomery County officially launched those channels (along with NFL HD on 246, but you have to pay extra for that) today. Comcast of the District added NFL HD and Food HD today, but we already have MHD on 229, so they'll either have to move it or find somewhere else for HGTV HD.

[tmesser]

Speaking of this.... when comcast does update their lineup, how will the S3 units deal with it? With my old HR10 DirectTivo, anytime D* made any change to their lineup, I'd know it because my "channels I recieve" would get reset. With comcast+tivo, there are two seperate entities involved - one for guide data and one for the cable headend...

This happened to me a week or two ago when my local headend moved the various C-SPAN channels around (to take them off of analog and put them on digital, I think). The new channel locations showed up in Channels I Receive, but without any guide data. Presumably, that is because a new lineup was sent out and received via CableCARD. The next day, I got a guide data lineup update from TiVo when it connected.

[dhoward]

I have to admit that I am totally confused over whether to replace one of my S2DT units with a HDTivo. If I disregard all of the horror stories with Comcast installs I still cannot past the SDV dilemma. When mention of the "dongle" came out I thought ok that would solve the problem. But then it comes out that this device would come from the cable company, not Tivo. I don't trust them for much of anything. Not to mention that they might take as long to release that as they have taken to release the Comcast Tivo. I am leaning toward the Comcast Tivo but need to see more info on it. I love my Tivos but CC and SDV may just be to much of a hurdle. The Comcast box will be more per month, then Tivo, but if I factor in the $250 hardware cost of the TIVO over a 3 year period (249/36) plus the MSD rate of $6.95 then that is equivalent to roughly $14.00/month. That is close to the Comcast Tivo monthly rate. I know that eventually any problems with the CC install will get solved but..the SDV might not. I am really on the fence.

[kgt12]

Updating my previous posts from the last few days, Comcast came out again today and managed to get only 1 of my 2 boxes working.

Full story can be found here : http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=372525

I can't imagine any 'normal' user would be able to go through this process. It's absurd. [Normal meaning your average customer who not only doesn't read/post on forums, but doesn't even know they exist.]

[Pvgibbs]

I had fairly decent experience with Comcast King County (WA) installing CC in my HD. When requesting the CableCard install from Comcast, I told them a couple of times to have the tech bring multiple M and S cards.

The tech arrived yesterday with 2 sets of M cards and 2 S cards, but said "this is my first time with Tivo". (sigh)

Luckily - he had someone via his Nextel phone who he called before he started the install.
Here was what I overheard the experienced tech tell my tech:
- "There should be an Installer sheet from Tivo with exact steps that you need to follow"
- "Use the S-Cards as I had issues with the M-cards and there is a software issue with Tivo and M-Cards"
- "After you install the cards and if you still have trouble, call Tivo"

After about 20 mins and three calls to Comcast to authorize the cards, the tech had both cards installed with no issues. Fairly painless.

[lateknight]

- "Use the S-Cards as I had issues with the M-cards and there is a software issue with Tivo and M-Cards"


Anyone else heard anything about this? I know that TiVo suggests that you use M-cards when possible. Could this be part of the headache everyone's been having?

[GaryD9]

Anyone else heard anything about this? I know that TiVo suggests that you use M-cards when possible. Could this be part of the headache everyone's been having?On the tivoHD, its usually simplier to just use a single MCard. For the Series3, however, its probably easier from the installers point of view to use a pair of SCards...

The reason is that the Series3's seem to be shipping with version 8.0.1a of the software. That version doesn't recognize MCards whatsoever as a valid cable card. If the Series3 software has been updated to 8.0.1c or greater, it'll recognize the MCard as valid, but treat it as an SCard...

So, if the installer shows up with 2 MCArds for a series3, and the device still has the factory software (8.0.1a), then those two cards are useless...

If I were an installer, I'd err on the side of caution and just assume that any new Series3 tivo only had factory software, and just bring SCards... and save the time of having to come back the next day after the Series3 decides to update its software (or saving the time of having to run back to a warehouse to get different CC's)

[pl1]

On the tivoHD, its usually simplier to just use a single MCard. For the Series3, however, its probably easier from the installers point of view to use a pair of SCards...)You are assuming that they know all that much information. The installer that visited me tried to insert the cableCARDs in the front of the Series 3 (THD is in the front, S3 in back), so to think the installer has the information you are suggesting seems far fetched. If he/she is experienced, then your point is well taken.

OTOH, I don't know if this is a trend, but my cableguy said that there are no more S-Cards. They are only installing M-Cards. And based on my own personal experience, the M-Cards were much tougher to get activated. The cableguy never got anything validated or authorized. I had to make numerous calls to get it done on my own. I had no issues at all with two S-Cards. (But, I believe that the real reason I had problems was that the Comcast CSR entered the data ID for one of my new cableCARDs into the slot for one of my current cableCARDs, thereby rendering both dead.)

[Pvgibbs]

If I were an installer, I'd err on the side of caution and just assume that any new Series3 tivo only had factory software, and just bring SCards
I think this is what the "experienced" tech guy was basing his advice on in my install.

Of course, I was already running 9.2 at the time -- and I should have said "lets TRY 1-M card first"...but oh well, it works for now.

[pl1]

I think this is what the "experienced" tech guy was basing his advice on in my install. Of course, I was already running 9.2 at the time -- and I should have said "lets TRY 1-M card first"...but oh well, it works for now.I think the info was regarding the series 3 as opposed to the THD. The series 3 will use the M-Card in single tuner mode only (while the THD can use the M-card in dual-tuner mode). But, the Series 3 will not use the M-Card at all unless it is updated with the 9.x update. (Oops, 8.0.1c or greater as previously posted.)

[TheOrkinMan]

Walked into the Redmond Comcast payment center after work yesterday. Told the gal behind the counter that I'd just gotten a TivoHD and needed a cablecard. She said "Do you want 2 S-Cards or 1 M-Card?". I said "1 M-Card, please". 3 minutes later I was leaving with my M-Card.

Planning on doing the install Saturday morning (hope that isn't a mistake). Still have my Comcast DVR on (cable split between it and the Tivo). I can easily switch back and forth between the 2, so should be able to compare should anything go wrong.

Here's a question - my new TivoHD is running 8.1xxx software. I've signed up for the 9.2 upgrade - should I wait for that or is it ok to do the cablecard install with 8.1?

[ssvp]

Here's a question - my new TivoHD is running 8.1xxx software. I've signed up for the 9.2 upgrade - should I wait for that or is it ok to do the cablecard install with 8.1?


I just did mine three weeks ago before 9.2 on TiVOHD with the M-Card. I got mine from Olympia, Wa.

Make sure to tell the person activating it that it is an M-CARD.. I stressed that several times till he finally listened.. Then it worked..

[GaryD9]

Here's a question - my new TivoHD is running 8.1xxx software. I've signed up for the 9.2 upgrade - should I wait for that or is it ok to do the cablecard install with 8.1?
When I had my TivoHD, I did the MCard install with the 8.1 software... everything worked fine. 2 days later, it upgraded directly to 9.2J

[tluxon]

Walked into the Redmond Comcast payment center after work yesterday. Told the gal behind the counter that I'd just gotten a TivoHD and needed a cablecard. She said "Do you want 2 S-Cards or 1 M-Card?". I said "1 M-Card, please". 3 minutes later I was leaving with my M-Card.

Planning on doing the install Saturday morning (hope that isn't a mistake). Still have my Comcast DVR on (cable split between it and the Tivo). I can easily switch back and forth between the 2, so should be able to compare should anything go wrong...That's good to know. I'm a Redmond Comcast customer as well and that's pretty much how it went when I got the CableCard for my Mitsubishi TV.

We have two of the Comcast DVRs and I'm really considering replacing them with a couple TivoHD's now that TTG/MRV/TTCB is enabled. I'm really curious how the playback capabilities compare because I watch a lot of ballgames in various speeds of fast-forward and not all DVRs are created equal when it comes to that.

Is Costco the best place around here to pick up a new TivoHD?

[petteri]

Agh. OK, just got off the phone with Comcast. My Center Ice package is only coming in on one cable card. I thought, no biggie, I just call up and they'll "hit" that card and I'll be good to go. Don't know why I thought that! They want to roll a truck so the guy can fix it with a machine that he will bring. I really don't have time for this. I tried to speak with someone else, but that went no where. I guess I'll try calling later. Comcastic! ;)

[drflounder]

I'm having the exact same problem in Augusta. After about 4 truck rolls, a Comcast tech finally told me that they were having a problem communicating with the cable cards in TivoHDs. He said that they would call me back when they had a fix.

It's been about 10 days and I still haven't heard anything. I just called up Comcast customer no-service to check on the status and was told that they don't install cable cards in Tivos, only into TVs. I asked what the 4 techs had been trying to do when they showed up at my house and was told that I must be confused.

I'm just about fed up, but the only alternative I have is Knology which I've heard is even worse.

Just to give an update in case anyone else from Augusta, GA is reading, I managed to get back in touch with the original Comcast tech. He said one of their engineers had been working with Motorola to get the issue fixed but was unable to get anywhere. He said he would call me back if any progress was made, but the tone in his voice indicated that Comcast considered it a dead issue. Comcast's solution was for me just to get one of their DVRs.

I don't really want to, but I don't see that I have any choice but to give up. I can't force Comcast to get their hardware straightened out, and they aren't going to expend the effort to do it on their own.

So if you're an Augusta GA Comcast subscriber, skip the TivoHD for now.

[pninen]

I called 1-800-COMCAST this morning 11/1, and ordered for 2 cablecards for my mom's new TiVo HD. The fellow on the phone said that the EARLIEST he could send someone to my house was 11/17 !!! They want me to wait 16 days for installation of a cablecard. This is nuts.

My 85 year old mom will not be able to deal with this, so I need to be present, and I live 450 miles away. If I could arrange this visit during the next few days, I'd still be here. Apparently I'm going to need to fly back on the 17th to babysit a comcast guy as he plugs in 2 cable cards. This is nuts.

I explained my difficulty, and asked if there was some other way to arrange this. Nope.

I didn't believe him, so I drove to the local comcast office where I'd found the people helpful before. Asked if they could do better. Nope. Asked them if they could give me the cablecards and let me selfinstall. Nope. (I know their policy is to send out the dork, but I figured if I was standing there in person I'd have a shot.) Nope.

So how long have others waited for the silly cablecard housecall?

To say I am disappointed in Comcast's performance here is an understatement.

By the way, the pricing was:
$1.79/mo for the 2 cable cards
$8/mo for High Def (they swear I have to pay this in spite of the fact that there's no converter box)
$15.99 installation fee

The install is in the Monterey, CA area.

[TheOrkinMan]

I just did mine three weeks ago before 9.2 on TiVOHD with the M-Card. I got mine from Olympia, Wa.

Make sure to tell the person activating it that it is an M-CARD.. I stressed that several times till he finally listened.. Then it worked..

Written down - thanks!

[TheOrkinMan]

When I had my TivoHD, I did the MCard install with the 8.1 software... everything worked fine. 2 days later, it upgraded directly to 9.2J

Good to know - thanks!

That's good to know. I'm a Redmond Comcast customer as well and that's pretty much how it went when I got the CableCard for my Mitsubishi TV.

We have two of the Comcast DVRs and I'm really considering replacing them with a couple TivoHD's now that TTG/MRV/TTCB is enabled. I'm really curious how the playback capabilities compare because I watch a lot of ballgames in various speeds of fast-forward and not all DVRs are created equal when it comes to that.

Is Costco the best place around here to pick up a new TivoHD?

I wouldn't know - ordered mine from Tivo to take advantage of the lifetime transfer (though I've read lately that they're honoring it if you buy it other places as well).

[TheOrkinMan]

Just to give an update in case anyone else from Augusta, GA is reading, I managed to get back in touch with the original Comcast tech. He said one of their engineers had been working with Motorola to get the issue fixed but was unable to get anywhere. He said he would call me back if any progress was made, but the tone in his voice indicated that Comcast considered it a dead issue. Comcast's solution was for me just to get one of their DVRs.

I don't really want to, but I don't see that I have any choice but to give up. I can't force Comcast to get their hardware straightened out, and they aren't going to expend the effort to do it on their own.

So if you're an Augusta GA Comcast subscriber, skip the TivoHD for now.

Have you tried calling Tivo? I've heard they will setup a 3-way conversation call with you and your cable company to straighten out the problems...

[drflounder]

Have you tried calling Tivo? I've heard they will setup a 3-way conversation call with you and your cable company to straighten out the problems...

I've called Tivo twice and unfortunately they seem to think that Comcast has just setup my account incorrectly. I'm convinced all the info was correct as Comcast was able to send hits to either cablecard and generate the 161-4 error and the Acquiring Channel Info screen. The cards would just never get authorized.

After spending about 6 hours with Comcast techs and 2 with one of their engineers, I believe them when they say that something is messed up in their hardware at the head end. I don't know what Tivo could do to help them with that anyway.

[jlib]

They want me to wait 16 days for installation of a cablecard... So how long have others waited for the silly cablecard housecall?

To say I am disappointed in Comcast's performance here is an understatement.

By the way, the pricing was:
$1.79/mo for the 2 cable cards
$8/mo for High Def (they swear I have to pay this in spite of the fact that there's no converter box)
$15.99 installation fee

The install is in the Monterey, CA area.That is about right but that is not counting the return visits that should be anticipated. The contractors out of the Monterey area are particularly bad with cable cards and that is who they send the first time. They will refuse to debug any problems (they get $4 per card beyond whatever they get for the service call). It might be worth requesting a Comcast technician initially in anticipation of them not being able to activate it. I would even volunteer to pay more for installation without a contractor if that were an option (it's not, but it shows them you don't want a contractor). You don't have to pay the $8, either. Bogus! I wouldn't bother coming out for the installation. Just be ready on the phone and send her the installers instruction sheet for them to follow. Come out when it's time to show her how to use it.

[jlib]

...when comcast does update their lineup, how will the S3 units deal with it? With my old HR10 DirectTivo, anytime D* made any change to their lineup, I'd know it because my "channels I receive" would get reset. With comcast+tivo, there are two seperate entities involved - one for guide data and one for the cable headend...Apparently, a third party is involved in providing the guide data to TiVo. When a new channel is added to the lineup it will automatically be added to channels you receive and you usually get a message from TiVo about the update. The problem is when the guide data is inaccurate it is a tedious process to get it corrected.

[pl1]

Apparently, a third party is involved in providing the guide data Tribune media's http://www.zap2it.com/

[boettcht]

Just to chime in on my Comcast CC install. Order my HDT. Went to my Comcast office hoping to get the CC(s) in person, no dice. Told me I had have tech come to the house. I ask why, explaining he is going record the s/n, the mac address and other numbers that come up on the Tivo and then call to have it activated. Her response was the CC(s) are too expensive and they must have a tech install them.

She then asked me if I wanted to schedule the install, I said sure since I really had no other choice. I estimated the day the Tivo would show up and padded it by a day, a total of a week away. Not a problem, requested an M Card, she had no idea what that was, I requested that she put it on the work order and also note if a M card was not available please bring two S cards. (I was expecting the worst case scenario that the tech wouldn't show up with any cards). $15.00 for the install, $0 for the cable card, sweet plus I get to turn in a cable box and remote which will save me $8.50 a month.

To my surprise the tech showed up in my time window, had 2 M card(s), had done S3 installs, never had done an HDT. Went straight for the back of the Tivo. Told him this was an HDT and the slots are in the front and only on M card was needed for the HDT. He didn't quite understand that the M card handled both tuners, but listened to me & the instructions and put the 1 M card in. CC screen came up, he called to have it activated, Tivo gave a message that the guide setup had to be rerun, reran it and 15 minutes later both tuners were working correctly. Total install time 25 minutes.

Over all I was satisfied, still don't understand the need to roll a truck. They give out cable boxes at the office and you have to call to have them activated when you plug them in.

It appears that Comcast is getting better at CC. Or I just got lucky.

[jmemmott]

It appears that Comcast is getting better at CC. Or I just got lucky.

I now suspect that it may not be luck but depends on the experience of the installer.

I took the Tivo offer to move a Series 2 lifetime to a TivoHD. The CC install was scheduled for yesterday morning. First thing in the morning, I received a call from the tech that was scheduled to do the install to verify what I wanted. It was obvious that he had never done a CC install so like you, I prepared for the worst. He also indicated that he did not believe my local office had M-cards in stock when I requested one so he would be using S-cards. Later in the morning, I received a call from a Comcast dispatcher. The tech I had talked to earlier have become “tied up” on his current assignment and they wanted to know if they could move the appointment into the afternoon. She also indicated that would give them time to obtain an M-card from another office. An installer finally arrived late in the afternoon but it was not the one I had talked to earlier. Talking to him, I found out he worked for the San Jose office and came to Santa Cruz specifically to do this and one other CC install. He obviously knew what he was doing: he inserted the M-card correctly, picked up the Tivo remote and without hesitation proceeded directly to the CC menu. Most of his time was then spent talking to an operator on his cell trying to get the numbers entered into their system correctly. Even with the care he put into it, the operator on the other end still entered the serial number wrong the first time. Once the installer got this corrected, everything worked.

Time from when he drove into my driveway to the time he left, about twenty minutes.

My guess is that the mandatory truck roll is a reflection of how error prone this process is. This tech knew what he was doing and still had to work to get the operator to put the numbers into the system correctly. There is no way a $15.00 charge would come close to covering the cost of his trip from San Jose to my house. They have to be trying to minimize follow on costs for potential additional visits.

[boettcht]

Surprising enough, my tech was a contractor. Actually the same one that hooked up my cable when I moved in two years ago.

[pl1]

Surprising enough, my tech was a contractor. Actually the same one that hooked up my cable when I moved in two years ago.I just spoke with a colleague in my office (my company has nothing to do with cable or TiVo) who has a friend who is a contractor for a number of satcos and cablecos. He says that they always call the contractors when they want it done right. Or to fix the problems their own $8/hr techs create. I would have thought it was the other way around, but they pay a lot more for the contractors than they do for their own help. Just reporting what I was told.

[TheOrkinMan]

Has anyone here done a self-install? I'm wondering if I just call the normal 1-800-COMCAST number or is there a different number to call?

[boettcht]

Has anyone here done a self-install? I'm wondering if I just call the normal 1-800-COMCAST number or is there a different number to call?

Comcast won't let you do a self install. They will only roll a truck for a CC install. They charged me $15 for the appointment.

[TheOrkinMan]

If that's the case, why did they let me take an M-card home with me? Plus, I've actually seen, on an actual Comcast website, references to a CableCard Self Install Kit. If I can dig up the link, I'll post it.

I'm sure I've read that some people have done it - maybe not in your area, though.

[Graymalkin]

Comcast's policies vary widely from location to location, in part because it's a conglomeration of different cable companies.

[Langree]

If that's the case, why did they let me take an M-card home with me? Plus, I've actually seen, on an actual Comcast website, references to a CableCard Self Install Kit. If I can dig up the link, I'll post it.

I'm sure I've read that some people have done it - maybe not in your area, though.

It depends on the area, The Houston Market is a self install market. When they gave us the card(s) they gave us an instruction sheet with a phone # to call specifically for CC installs.

[boettcht]

If that's the case, why did they let me take an M-card home with me? Plus, I've actually seen, on an actual Comcast website, references to a CableCard Self Install Kit. If I can dig up the link, I'll post it.

I'm sure I've read that some people have done it - maybe not in your area, though.

This is why I hate them so much! I went to my local cable office to get cards and they flat out refused to give them to me without a cable install appointment. I argued up and down that they are no different than a cable box, get it, install it, call in and activate it. I was told that CCs were expensive and that is why they don't just give them out. I called BS on that and got no where.

That is cool that they gave them to you, I wish I could have done that, could have save 3 hours of time off that I had to take to go and wait for the tech.

The install is very easy, you just need to follow the instructions that are included with the Tivo, I would image the hard part is getting the number to call Comcast to get them activated and making sure the person on the other end knows what they are doing and enters the numbers correctly.

[Koan]

I'll keep my recent experience with Comcast in Arlington, VA short: Missed appointments, unknowlegeable contractors and CSRs, false information, right-hand doesn't know what the left-hand is doing, and cablecard inventory problems. Exacerbated by phone and DSL problems with Earthlink (EarthStinks). But finally got 'er done.

[ji0005]

I now suspect that it may not be luck but depends on the experience of the installer.

That is important... but sometimes the installers are helpless when they person they are talking to doesntk now how to pair the card on comcast's end and send a hit.

[ji0005]

It depends on the area, The Houston Market is a self install market. When they gave us the card(s) they gave us an instruction sheet with a phone # to call specifically for CC installs.

A sheet with instructions, that would have been nice! :) I picked up my card in Chicago but when I asked where I should call to activate it I just got blank looks and one lady said something to the effect of, "I dont even know what those little things are."

[iamjackshandle]

In Charlottesville, VA: got a Tivo HD with M-card as a replacement for Comcast DVR box. Now, all channels work except ESPN & ESPN2 in HD. Other high-tier cable channels work, like Discovery and TNT. Just the ESPN's yield a gray screen. Comcast has been out a few times to no avail. Any thoughts on how to proceed?

[muddball]

Has anyone here done a self-install? I'm wondering if I just call the normal 1-800-COMCAST number or is there a different number to call?

I did a self-install last week in Kitsap County. The receipt I got from the retail store had a different toll free number (877 something, I think) that the lady told me to call and that appeared to go directly to a call center in Olympia (based on the address above the phone number). I think when you call 1-800-COMCAST, and it asks if you are calling regarding an account in WA, it directs you to the same call center. In any event, I think 1-800-COMCAST will work (I used both numbers at different times while trying to get the CCs working).

[TheOrkinMan]

This is why I hate them so much! I went to my local cable office to get cards and they flat out refused to give them to me without a cable install appointment. I argued up and down that they are no different than a cable box, get it, install it, call in and activate it. I was told that CCs were expensive and that is why they don't just give them out. I called BS on that and got no where.

That is cool that they gave them to you, I wish I could have done that, could have save 3 hours of time off that I had to take to go and wait for the tech.

The install is very easy, you just need to follow the instructions that are included with the Tivo, I would image the hard part is getting the number to call Comcast to get them activated and making sure the person on the other end knows what they are doing and enters the numbers correctly.

I feel your pain - if I had another choice around here I'd use it, but FIOS isn't here yet and I can't use a satellite system (strict condo rules). This will get me one step closer to being Comcast free - once FIOS arrives, that may be the last move.

A sheet with instructions, that would have been nice! :) I picked up my card in Chicago but when I asked where I should call to activate it I just got blank looks and one lady said something to the effect of, "I dont even know what those little things are."

I suspect most of the people in this forum know more than most Comcast installers...

In Charlottesville, VA: got a Tivo HD with M-card as a replacement for Comcast DVR box. Now, all channels work except ESPN & ESPN2 in HD. Other high-tier cable channels work, like Discovery and TNT. Just the ESPN's yield a gray screen. Comcast has been out a few times to no avail. Any thoughts on how to proceed?

Sounds like maybe a lineup problem? Have you tried asking Tivo?

I did a self-install last week in Kitsap County. The receipt I got from the retail store had a different toll free number (877 something, I think) that the lady told me to call and that appeared to go directly to a call center in Olympia (based on the address above the phone number). I think when you call 1-800-COMCAST, and it asks if you are calling regarding an account in WA, it directs you to the same call center. In any event, I think 1-800-COMCAST will work (I used both numbers at different times while trying to get the CCs working).

My receipt had no extra phone numbers on it - it was just one of those yellow receipts that says you now have something that belongs to Comcast...

Anyway - I'm going to risk attempting this tomorrow morning - if it doesn't pan out, I'll do it Monday. I'll report back one way or the other.

[jlib]

I think I once mentioned this before but if anyone wonders why there is no consistency in the various Comcast offices take a look what Comcast actually consists of. It is just a huge holding company of hundreds of corporate and LLC entities scattered across the country. I thought of posting the list here but there are 18 pages listing the different Comcast subsidiaries. So take a quick peek at Comcast's monstrosity of a Form 10K report to the SEC. Scroll down to Part IV Exhibit 21 Subsidiaries (http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingHTML1?SessionID=XDBdjmmKL9CGR9o&ID=4229080#D10K_HTM_TOC) near the bottom for some entertainment. :rolleyes:

[gilbreen]

Had Comcast (Northern Colorado) come out today to install CCs in two TivoHDs (We had another one installed 2 weeks ago). The tech came and said he had only done S3 installs before. He had two M Cards in hand. I showed him the Tivo install sheet, he put the M Card in and I handled the remote to make sure we got to the right screens. He phoned Comcast and had them activate the card.

Each THD took about 30 minutes to be up and running including rerunning the Guided Setup. All channels are working properly (we have the family tier). Really only want the locals in HD but found we also get TBS HD, ESPN2 HD and AE HD.

Overall no complaints.

Since we only have one card in each TivoHD, can I call back and have them update my account so I am not charged the $1.50 for the non-existant 2nd card? Has anyone done that before? Not a huge amount of money. Just curious.

[TheOrkinMan]

Ok - here's the report...

Installed the cablecard, got the cablecard setup screen. Followed the cablecard install sheet that came with the THD. The screen gave me a phone number to call (it was basically the same as the main 1-800-COMCAST number). The first person had to transfer me to someone else, but they answered within 10 seconds (this was at about 9:30 this morning).

She asked for the Host ID and Data numbers. Apparently that told her everything she needed to know, including the fact that it was a TivoHD. She then walked me through the Tivo menus (!) to verify everything was working. I'd say it took about 2 minutes for the authorization to occur and overall maybe a 10 minute phone call. Once done, reran guided setup and all was well.

I now have a working Tivo - can record 2 programs at once and everything. HD channels working and it appears to have all the channels I get.

I feel extraordinarly lucky that the entire process went so smoothly for me - after reading the posts on this forum, I was expecting the worst. I guess it all depends on where you are, how much training the CSRs have had and who you get. For me, the stars aligned and left me with a very good feeling.

We're going to leave the Comcast DVR running side-by-side with the THD for a week before we turn in the Comcast DVR, just in case something goes badly in the next few days (I've read a few posts where that happened).

[pl1]

I feel extraordinarly lucky that the entire process went so smoothly for me - after reading the posts on this forum, I was expecting the worst. I guess it all depends on where you are, how much training the CSRs have had and who you get. For me, the stars aligned and left me with a very .There are so many things that can go wrong. There are 2 sets of 4 numbers for a TiVo with two cableCARDs.

Today, I had a VERY knowledgable tech out to re-pair (validate) my cableCARDs. He is the Supervisor for the local Comcast techs and he has been with the company through 4 name changes. He seemed to hate TiVo, not because of what it does, but because that is what takes up most of their time.

Anyway, in my case, today, the tech calls in all of the numbers and he tells the person on the other end of the line that the cableCARD has to be added to the DAC (Controller). It was removed in error. The other person keys in all the numbers and it is still showing UN-SUBSCRIBED on my end. ANOTHER 45 min call, tech on hold, finds out the other person did NOT enter the cableCARD into the DAC as requested. (My Father told me his tech was on hold 45 min as well. What a waste of time.)

So, you see, this happened with a tech who knew what he was doing. And it was ALL Comcast errors. Then they hate TiVo. Go figure. :eek:

[nickff]

Anyone have any insight into the following problem:

Cablecard #2 repeatedly loses it ability to decode my Encore and HBO channels. It will go out, I call Comcast, they schedule a visit, come out, and re-hit the card. Everything works after that... for about a week. Then, boom, repeat the cycle. This is driving me insane. There is nothing more frustrating than sitting down to watch "Curb Your Enthusiasm" only to be greeted by a gray screen instead of Larry David's bald head.

During the last Comcast visit, I had them swap out the card and then today the channels went out again.

Comcast now claims that the slot that cablecard #2 is in is faulty and that I should swap out my S3 for a new one. I don't understand how a faulty slot allows most channels but not my HBOs or Encores.

[pl1]

Anyone have any insight into the following problem:

Cablecard #2 repeatedly loses it ability to decode my Encore and HBO channels. It will go out, I call Comcast, they schedule a visit, come out, and re-hit the card. Everything works after that... for about a week. Then, boom, repeat the cycle. This is driving me insane. There is nothing more frustrating than sitting down to watch "Curb Your Enthusiasm" only to be greeted by a gray screen instead of Larry David's bald head.

During the last Comcast visit, I had them swap out the card and then today the channels went out again.

Comcast now claims that the slot that cablecard #2 is in is faulty and that I should swap out my S3 for a new one. I don't understand how a faulty slot allows most channels but not my HBOs or Encores.Take a look at this link "Troubleshooting CableCARD Activation and Channel Issues". It might help you. There are specific screenshots showing you how a card is SUBSCRIBED (AKA as AUTHORIZED) and VALIDATED (AKA PAIRED).


http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=f8f40dc6-5fb6-4ed8-ac41-d8cd0d5c0824

[mweidin]

Comcast is telling me that there is a monthly charge of $1 for a cable card. Has anyone else been told this ?

[pl1]

Comcast is telling me that there is a monthly charge of $1 for a cable card. Has anyone else been told this ?It's different region by region. Where I am, in the NE, it is free for the first one and $2.75 A/O (Additional Outlet) for each subsequent cableCARD if you have the digital tier.

[cikk]

I live in Albuquerque and my cable provider is comcast, I'm using 2 scientific atlanta cablecards model number PKM600 and I've had nothing but nightmares dealing with them to get my cablecards properlly installed. They've sent over 6 technicians in the past week and a half. The first time 3 came and they had me insert the card cause he didn't want to be responsible if it broke and when I went outside to have a cigarette he inserted the 2nd one himself before even getting the first one authorized. Then they sat there for an hour trying to get my digital and hd stations to work since only my basic cable and local hd ones were working. They were getting off work since it was the end of the day and the smartest one decided to leave first and at the end I was left with the guy that had never even done a cablecard before. So he tells me he'll schedule another appointment for tomorrow morning. I'm like whatever as long as it gets done tomorrow so I can watch the first day of the basketball season in HD. So another technician comes the next day he complains about the cablecards and how they never work, he then swaps them out for some new ones, the same thing happens. He says he'll bring more cablecards tomorrow and try them. And the same thing just repeats again and again for the next 3 technicians that come out. Supposedly the next one was one of there top technicians yet he did less then the previous ones and just talked to his department using some code words that only they understand and then gave up and told me there was nothing they could do. And finally today the last technician came and sounded extremely rude and said he'd come back but he never did so I sat there from 10am to 6pm waiting for nothing. So finally I got fed up and spent a few hours reading on the internet about possible solutions and called comcast's 1-800 number a couple times and told them what could be wrong since they were absolutly clueless. The first time I asked if theres codes that allow me to view the digital and hd channels were right, they werent, the guy supposedly fixed them, and it still didnt work. I called again to see if they could do a clean reset and check if there was a firmware upgrade, she said she'd do it, it still didnt work. Then I decided to just reset my entire tivo box and redo everything myself and follow the instructions unlike the 6 technicians that came out. Then I called comcast to see if they'd re-input the serial number for my cablecards and the host id's. She tells me there already in there system, so I ask her to check if the information is right. I tell her the serial number on the back of my cablecard, she tells me it's not right, and tells me what she has, but she tells me the host id instead of the number on my cablecard. Then she keeps insiting that thats the right number and that everything looks fine on her end. So I ask her what kind of card it is that I have. She tells me it's an SCard. I ask her if she could get me an MCard and she puts me on hold for half an hour to check if there available in my area. Eventually my calls forwarded to the sales department in my area. The guy said he didnt have any SCards or MCards and that they only have CCards, which I've yet to read anything about on here so it sounds completely wrong. He puts me on hold, comes back and tells me it's an MCard. So now I don't even know what kind of card they gave me, and then he tells me he talked to his supervisor and there was nothing more they could do and that the cards arent compatible with my TiVoHD and that I should just get one of there DVRs which I laughed at and told them NO and hung up. I'd switch to verizon fios in a heartbeat if it was available in my area since I've heard nothing but good reviews on it, but since it's not I'd really hate to have to return my tivo, I've fallen in love with the tivotogo feature using it on my iphone. So with all that being said, is there anything else I could possibly do to get my cablecards to work?

I forgot to add this. On the pairing screen all I see is CableCARD(tm), and HOST ID:, but no DATA ID. and it says "Waiting for CP Auth"

[jlib]

Take a look at this link "Troubleshooting CableCARD Activation and Channel Issues".Nice! It is about time TiVo came up with that info. Thanks very much for the tip...

[pl1]

I forgot to add this. On the pairing screen all I see is CableCARD(tm), and HOST ID:, but no DATA ID. and it says "Waiting for CP Auth"That is odd. I'm still not 100% sure what generates the DATA ID. A Comcast tech supervisor at my house yesterday insists that Comcast sends the DATA ID. But, reading up on the cableCARD process, it appears that the cableCARD being inserted into the TiVo creates the DATA ID. So, I would call TiVo on that. Forget telling them all of the other stuff, just tell them that you are not getting a DATA ID on your TiVo. Proceed from there. Plus, I called TiVo when I was having a cableCARD problem. They have set up a HOTLINE 1-866-986-8486. They told me that if you have an installer on site to call that number and they will help the technician.

[kgt12]

...

I forgot to add this. On the pairing screen all I see is CableCARD(tm), and HOST ID:, but no DATA ID. and it says "Waiting for CP Auth"

Wow, your story is similar to mine. It has been a nightmare trying to get these things to work. I don't understand how Tivo stays in business.

As for your Data ID, my comcast install didn't require that number. They needed 3 numbers - the 8 or 9 digit code on the back of the cablecards (mine all started in PK), the Host ID and the Cable Card ID. That's it.

I have 1 working Tivo HD and 1 non working Tivo HD. The problems on the non working are very similar to what you have described. 1 of the tuners appears to work fine, but the other only gets the standard SD and HD channels. At times, it will pick up the others, say Discovery HD, but will freeze on the picture within 2 seconds.

I'm probably going to switch to Fios, but I'm not counting on too much more than what I got from Comcast...

Good luck.

[cikk]

ok so I called TiVo today and explained to them that I don't believe comcast even knows what there doing and I got transfered to a higher up and he 3 way called comcast. The comcast guy sounded ignorant and couldn't understand what the TiVo guy was saying. He said he'd have to send another technician out on Tuesday if I wanted to try to re-pair the cards cause supposedly he wasn't able to do it himself over the phone. I demanded that the tech that comes on tuesday speak to tivo when he arrives to make sure its done right. He says its up to the tech and i tell him no he will be speaking to them since its obvious they are doing something wrong since they arent trained well enough to know how to pair my cablecards. After speaking to the TiVo tech its pretty clear that if the cards aren't paired correctly, the cable company can send the cards a million hits but theres no way the cards will even get one of them. I'm starting to doubt comcast even wants my cablecards to work and rather just lose me as a customer which is fine with me since it won't be too hard to find a better and cheaper alternative.

[pl1]

After speaking to the TiVo tech its pretty clear that if the cards aren't paired correctly, the cable company can send the cards a million hits but theres no way the cards will even get one of them. I'm starting to doubt comcast even wants my cablecards to work and rather just lose me as a customer which is fine with me since it won't be too hard to find a better and cheaper alternative.True enough. The Comcast CSR's think that all they have to do is send a hit and it magically fixes it. One CSR told me "That's the way it's suppose to work." They do not know what pairing is, they will not forward you to the cableCARD area, and they can't do anything but send a hit.

CableCARDs require two distinctive authorizations. One is the CPMS (COPY PROTECTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM) and the other is the DAC (Digital Addressable Controller). If the cableCARD is not correct in both areas and synchronized, it will only pass through free and clear, unencrypted channels. Usually mostly local. (That is not true with all cableco's and maybe not all of Comcast, but it is definitley true where I live in the N.E.)

Cable Operator Deployment of CableCARD/Host Technology
http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/product_documents/CableCARDpaper_sept03.pdf

[bareyb]

Does anyone know if SHOHD or HBOHD have changed to a different channel? I'm not getting any guide data for these channels on my usual channel. It's said "To be announced" for three days now. I only get guide data for the East Coast feed it seems, however when I attempt to tune into those channels they come up as "unavailable" since I don't subscribe to them. What's the best way to fix this? Do I need to call Comcast or TiVo"?

Anyone know the best way to fix this problem? Anyone else having guide problems?

[gconnery]

Comcast in Petaluma. Just got a Tivo HD. M-Card install. Nice guy, had done one other cablecard install. Brought a bunch of cards with him. Seemed to know the menus and such. First card didn't go well, just sitting at the "acquiring channels" screen for over half-an-hour. Reset from Comcast. Reboot the box. Nothing. Oddly, he hadn't taken any particular care with the numbers over the phone. Would seem like just repeating them back would produce fewer errors. Anyway, finally gave up, installed a different card, called and got a different tech and were more careful the second time, and boom, done in like 5 minutes. Can't guarantee it wasn't a bad card, but I'm guessing a bad number somewhere in there on the first one. Now working fine.

[silypuddy]

...I forgot to add this. On the pairing screen all I see is CableCARD(tm), and HOST ID:, but no DATA ID. and it says "Waiting for CP Auth"

It looks like you have Scientific Atlanta cards. I have those and don't have a data id. I have a serial # on the back of the card and a host id that I get via the Tivo. The Comcast techs here just needed those two numbers.

From the message you posted, the card has not been properly auth'ed. Instead of calling, if you have comcast internet, use the online chat to talk to a rep. You can get them to tell you what serial # and host # they have in their system. It sounds like they have it flipped and you just got to get them to change it and re-hit your cards.

Good luck...

[pl1]

On the pairing screen all I see is CableCARD(tm), and HOST ID:, but no DATA ID. and it says "Waiting for CP Auth"It looks like you have Scientific Atlanta cards. I have those and don't have a data id. I have a serial # on the back of the card and a host id that I get via the Tivo. The Comcast techs here just needed those two numbers.

From the message you posted, the card has not been properly auth'ed. I was just reading the TiVo cableCARD FAQ on the SA cards. It says :

Cannot View Copy-Protected Channels

For a CableCARD to display programming on copy-protected channels, the CableCARD must be paired, and it must also be subscribed to the channel. "Pairing" associates the CableCARD with the slot in which it is activated, and prevents the card from decoding copy-protected channels when installed in any other slot (or other host such as a TV).

The Auth Status field on the CP Information screen shows if the CableCARD is paired. Waiting for CP Auth means the CableCARD is unpaired; CP Auth Received, means the the card is paired.

The following examples show error conditions and a properly paired and authorized CableCARD.

[pninen]

You don't have to pay the $8, either. Bogus! .

Can you give me some magic words to say on the phone to convince the next Comcast operator I talk with about that? Last one swore I had to pay $8/mo for "HD", in addition to the cablecard fee.

[cikk]

does anyone know if the cablecard pairing process is done the same way for a TiVo as it would be for a tv? I'm trying to understand how it could be so complicated for them to get it right.

[robingo88]

Anyone have any recent "good" experience in San Jose (Comcast)? Got my new S3 last monday and Comcast sent out two techs friday morning... they plugged both cards in at the same time (i know... i know... they weren't in the mood to listen to a girl) did the nextel walkie thing, checked a couple of local channels and left... as they were pulling out of the driveway the tivo threw an error for cable card 2... i called the office and they tried to 'reauthorize' but no luck, so they sent the technician back... he came at the end of the day and swapped out the card in slot 2... did the nextel thing and i got some errors, but this time i got HBO so he left... after guided setup i found that i couldn't get any cinemax channels or showtime channels, so i called again... it looked to me (from the stuff i've read here) that card 2 is authorized but not paired... i gave the women on the phone the proper info to re-pair and she said she'd send a signal... the next morning no good, so i called again (sat) and asked to specifically re-pair... the csr said they were sending the re-pairing signal but it wasn't working, so they needed to roll a tech, again... today the tech showed up to say that he was told they had a batch of 'bad cards' and he didn't have any with him... i asked him to do the nextel thing and ask for a reinitialize (not reauthorize) and they tried... it blanked all the channels on card 2 and when it came back up i had most, but not showtime or cinemax channels... they're going to send a tech again (4th time) on tuesday but now it feels like they're just guessing...

did the fact that the original jokers plugged both cards in at the same time (initially) screw up the tivo, even though cable card 1 seems to be working perfectly?

should i have them install two new cards, one at a time?

any advice? drugs? strong drink?

many thanks... reading this board helps me to understand i'm not alone in this

cheers
r

[teca123]

well, here in the stocktcon, california area it was free for the first card, and about $2 for the second, per month.

that said... when the installer came out he'd never seen a tivo before. kept asking where the second tv was that needed the 2nd cable card. I basically walked him through the install process by reading from the tivo instructions...

first card did not even register with the hd tivo box, 2nd card tried in slot 1 got the expected response from the tivo. He insisted on installing the 2nd card before the first was fully working. He then called in to get them activated. waited around for an hour while the folks 'back at the office' did there thing. After an hour he said it was all done and that the service would start up soon. he then left. 30 minutes later no service.

I then went to check my email while i waited for 'real soon' to occur. my cable modem was dead... and i only got the standard comcast welcome on my browser telling me i needed to install the software to set up by cable service... mind you i've had this service for 5 years, and it was working 90 minutes ago.

Call comcast... 'gee, your modem has been totally reset'...

... and mind you, the cable cards are still not working...

the comcast guy on the phone was actually the only intelligent person i'd talked to so far at comcast. he finally get's the cable cards to work after 20 minutes on the phone. we had almost given up and he was scheduling another tech to come out when all of a sudden the first, and then 2 card started to work. evidently it took over 10 minutes for the last thing he tried to work it's way through the system...

he then , forwarded me to the internet folks... and they (after 15 minutes) fixed my cable modem problem... so i thought.

Now... the hd tivo works beautifully. love it. hate comcast.

all this started friday. enjoyed the tivo saturday and sunday.

wife tries to pull her email down on sunday night, first time using it since friday morning... Her email account no longer exists... i log on to find out it's been de-activated. actually wiped out clean, as i can't even re-activate it. When i try to re-add it, comcast complains that the account name is in use, please choose another name... yes, it's in use by us! but you've wiped it! geez!

my wife calls comcast... at this point i can't talk to these folks anymore... they re-activate her email account... and then proceed to tell us that we deleted it, not them. never mind all the issues we had with them resetting our internet 2 days ago, or that neither of us had logged on since...

my tivo loves me. but i have no love for comcast.

[jlib]

does anyone know if the cablecard pairing process is done the same way for a TiVo as it would be for a tv? I'm trying to understand how it could be so complicated for them to get it right.Yes, they have just as many problems with them in TVs but since few if any TVs are made with Cable Card slots these days, a Cable Card installation in a TV set is very, very rare (hence the inexperience and Cable Card incompetence of most cable techs).

[jlib]

...did the fact that the original jokers plugged both cards in at the same time (initially) screw up the tivo, even though cable card 1 seems to be working perfectly?There have been just as many failures with the one at a time method as with just shoving them in. One probably ought to follow the TiVO instructions just to be sure, especially if problems are already manifest. If I were installing dual cable cards as a job with a time schedule and other places to go I would insert one, wait for the MMI screen to pop up, copy down the information, verify that information, insert the second card, wait for the MMI screen to pop up, copy down the information, verify that information, call in both cards at once (since the bottle neck seems to be connecting with a person on the other end capable of activating the cards), check an encrypted channel, be on my way.

[c3]

Her email account no longer exists...

I would recommend NOT using the email service provided by your ISP. Without that dependency, you're free to change your ISP and have more power to negotiate prices.

[ObviousMan]

Just wanted to report my experience with CableCard install (HD Tivo) in NW Chicago suburbs (Mt. Prospect Comcast office).
Was told can only be done by a tech. Told the phone rep M-Card was needed.
The tech showed up with 3 M Cards. I asked him if he's done many of these and he said not much. I then produced Tivo instructions for installing the card and said I'd take care of it. He copied the numbers off the card, I did the same just in case (2 minutes).
After the card was in (another 2 minutes) he waited for about 25 minutes on hold to initialize the card. He gave up and called his supervisor who told him to call a different Nextel number who was supposed to be a dedicated CableCard activation tech. After trying that number for 5 minutes, he's gone on a wild goose chase trying to call anyone he could think of. After 15 minutes of that, the "dedicated CableCard tech" called him back. After 2 minutes the CableCard was active, for some reason I did not even get an error described for Motorola M cards.
I've gone over channel testing (all were fine) and let him go after about an hour, out of which any actions actually took less than 10 minutes.
OM

[anastrophe]

Comcast Rohnert Park (near petaluma and santa rosa), california. tech came out saturday, installed one M-card. looked at a few channels, they were coming in, checked the HD channels, they were coming in, so, seemed fine (i have standard cable, no premium channels, and have a comcast DVR that's going back today).

got a chance to browse around last night, and discovered that i'm only getting up through channel 35. checked online, and it seems they switched me to 'digital starter package', whatever that is. channel lineup still shows i should be getting channels beyond 35. called them up, they asked me to confirm the serial numberS of my cardS. i said i only had the one M-card. they said i need two cards to get the rest of my channels. which makes no sense to me. i told them the M-card should be all i need, they said that might be, but that they have no clue there at the office - supervisor even confirmed they know nothing about cable cards - so a tech will have to come out to install another card.

can this possibly be right? multistream is supposed to give me the two-tuner ability - it shouldn't have anything to do with getting channels over 35, right? very frustrating. glad i still have my old analog sony tivo, still running, so i can still get the other channels until this is sorted out. argh.

[dswallow]

Comcast Rohnert Park (near petaluma and santa rosa), california. tech came out saturday, installed one M-card. looked at a few channels, they were coming in, checked the HD channels, they were coming in, so, seemed fine (i have standard cable, no premium channels, and have a comcast DVR that's going back today).

got a chance to browse around last night, and discovered that i'm only getting up through channel 35. checked online, and it seems they switched me to 'digital starter package', whatever that is. channel lineup still shows i should be getting channels beyond 35. called them up, they asked me to confirm the serial numberS of my cardS. i said i only had the one M-card. they said i need two cards to get the rest of my channels. which makes no sense to me. i told them the M-card should be all i need, they said that might be, but that they have no clue there at the office - supervisor even confirmed they know nothing about cable cards - so a tech will have to come out to install another card.

can this possibly be right? multistream is supposed to give me the two-tuner ability - it shouldn't have anything to do with getting channels over 35, right? very frustrating. glad i still have my old analog sony tivo, still running, so i can still get the other channels until this is sorted out. argh.
As long as it's the TiVo HD and not the Series 3 unit you've got, the M-card will take care of both tuners.

In any event, that wouldn't be the cause of only receiving channels below 35; they've got something coded wrong on their authorization system. It has nothing to do with your CableCARD. Good luck convincing them of that, though. ;)

[anastrophe]

As long as it's the TiVo HD and not the Series 3 unit you've got, the M-card will take care of both tuners.

In any event, that wouldn't be the cause of only receiving channels below 35; they've got something coded wrong on their authorization system. It has nothing to do with your CableCARD. Good luck convincing them of that, though. ;)

thanks much! yeah, that's what i was afraid of. sigh.

[BurnBaby]

I am having my cablecard installed on my Tivo HD. It is a M-card. Pairing, Host Id, etc has been checked but only certain channels are coming up. Comcast is telling me it sometimes take up to two hours to get all channels. Is this correct or should all channels work as soon as the install is finished?

Edit: I guess I'll report back and see if it actually works for all channels in a few hours. The tech was here for nearly 4 hours. Had never installed a cablecard on a Tivo before. Comcast just doesn't tell its techs anything before sending them out on these jobs. The people the tech was talking to at Comcast don't seem to know all that much about cablecards. The guy had put two cablecards in before I noticed. I realized after looking around to see why stuff wasn't working, he had put in one M-card and one S-card and the supervisor he was talking to didn't even know! I had him only put one card and that's when the card started tuning only certain channels. Looks like the guy had to talk to several people at Comcast before someone told him it's supposed to take a few hours to get all the channels. So it turns out he probably could've been here a few hours less because that was the status as soon as he used just one card.

Btw, this was after Comcast had told me three times on the phone that they don't carry M-cards and that they would have to use 2 S-cards. :rolleyes:

[pl1]

I am having my cablecard installed on my Tivo HD. It is a M-card. Pairing, Host Id, etc has been checked but only certain channels are coming up. Comcast is telling me it sometimes take up to two hours to get all channels. Is this correct or should all channels work as soon as the install is finished?hat they would have to use 2 S-cards. :rolleyes:The question is, did you get a Motorola card or a Scientific Atlanta card? For the former, it is instant. For the latter, it takes time for the channels to come in. Here is the TiVo cableCARD FAQ. (The only other reason it can take time is if you call in all of the numbers to a CSR who has to forward all the info to someone in the cableCARD division who updates the computer when they get around to it, usually within an hour. If a tech is there, he/she has bypassed the CSR.)

http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=f8f40dc6-5fb6-4ed8-ac41-d8cd0d5c0824

[BurnBaby]

Thanks for answering. It's a Motorola card.

I called Comcast. The CSR is not sure that the tech had a signal sent thru to the box and this signal needs to be sent thru in order for those other channels to work. Also, I have a special rate card on my account that is locked (has to do with a promotion that was available when I signed up for Comcast but isn't available anymore). The CSR had to unlock that rate card in order to make changes on my account and thinks that might've been the problem. That CSR told me to wait an hour for the channels to load and indeed it did take an hour but they did load this time! I finally have all my cable channels!!

So the problem was either that the tech didn't request that a signal be sent to the box (required for those other channels to load) or the rate card issue, just in case someone has similar problems.

[bmgoodman]

My local Comcast office told me that I could get 2 CableCards free, no charge for the installation, and I'd get local HD channels free as well. So I've scheduled a truck roll for Monday afternoon. I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing based on my horror stories here. Can somebody point me to a CableCard Installation FAQ? I want to have my proverbial ducks in a row when the tech arrives to make sure it is done correctly.

I went to the Tivo web site and found "Installing CableCARDs in a Series3 HD DVR", but when I click the link, I get "The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable." I sure hope it is just "temporarily unavailable".

[ji0005]

for some reason I did not even get an error described for Motorola M cards.

I never got the error either.. and mine works fine.

[tmesser]

Can somebody point me to a CableCard Installation FAQ?

There's a CableCARD installation FAQ as a sticky post at the top of this forum: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=363797

The installation instruction sheet that came with your TiVo should cover the installation process fine. It's also available at http://www.tivo.com/whatistivo/ccfaqs.html.

Troubleshooting: http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/HDCableCARDs.aspx

[cikk]

well its tuesday and looks like there trying to avoid coming out again, the tech called this morning said he'll talk to his supervisor about the problem im having with the cablecards, told him i doubt that'll be of any help since ive already heard from his supervisor and he's just as clueless and that they need to come over and talk to tivo on the phone while trying to install them, he told me he'll call me back in a little while. i'm pretty sure there just going to have me waiting all day with no one showing up again, so looks like i'll be going to return my tivo box tonight and cancel my cable. oh well, thanks for the help anyways.

[david4788]

I talked with a senior manager today for the Baltimore area (Howard County). She is great and is going to ensure I get the Digital Starter with the free m-card. The monthly cost should be 56.95. She also gave me the contact info for a senior tech if there are any issues.

We talked about the global problem with their CR reps having/giving false info...she apologized and would talk with the reps that had dealt with me to help educate them. I know this won't change the whole company, just maybe my little corner.

I will update when everything is us and running.

[BurnBaby]

well its tuesday and looks like there trying to avoid coming out again, the tech called this morning said he'll talk to his supervisor about the problem im having with the cablecards, told him i doubt that'll be of any help since ive already heard from his supervisor and he's just as clueless and that they need to come over and talk to tivo on the phone while trying to install them, he told me he'll call me back in a little while. i'm pretty sure there just going to have me waiting all day with no one showing up again, so looks like i'll be going to return my tivo box tonight and cancel my cable. oh well, thanks for the help anyways.

Cable company reps tend to get real friendly once you mention that they're required by the FCC to provide cablecards that let you access their channels. The rep who was initially trying to schedule my install was trying to tell me he didn't see why the Tivo should need 2 cablecards, but got much more cooperative once I mentioned the above.

Mention the FCC thing then request that the technician be on a three-way call with Tivo at the time of the install. :) Good luck. I hope you don't have to return the Tivo.

[kipe]

Just added NBA League Pass to my subscription tonight. My Tivo HD had been working fine with two cable cards for a couple of months, but is now non-functioning. Comcast tried to activate NBA League Pass on my CableCards in the Tivo HD box by sending hits to the CableCards and now they don't work anymore. Comcast said they will have to send someone out .. again (they "burned" four cards on the original install before things were setup to work correctly).

Has anyone else had luck with NBA League Pass or other season pay-per-view type subscriptions and their Tivo HD or Series 3 boxes? I see some success stories in other threads, but I'm not sure why the failure rate appears to be so high with CableCards and Comcast!? What do I need to tell them to make sure they do this right?

They assured me this would work when I made the order.

:mad:

[pl1]

Has anyone else had luck with NBA League Pass or other season pay-per-view type subscriptions and their Tivo HD or Series 3 boxes?NHL Center Ice here. Working fine for the second Season with my two of my S3's and four cableCARDs on Comcast/NE.

[bktraveler]

Its all about who your talking to at Comcast you can go through dozens of idiots before you get connected to someone who knows what to do. Trust me I went through about 8 people before I talked to someone who was familiar with cablecards.

[herculespilot]

I am in a serious house of pain with Comcast here in Panama City, FL. I first tried to get my Series 3 Scientific Atlanta S Card install 2 months ago. After a long list of mistakes by 3 sets of techs Comcast finally tells me that my CableCards aren't working because of the cable signal in my neighborhood and that they would put in a work order to replace some underground cable a couple of blocks from my house. They went through every excuse in the book why it was taking so long to get this cable fixed. They finally got the underground repair completed on Monday and sent another "CableCard experienced" tech out yesterday to try the install again in my S3.

The original problem I had 2 months ago was channels only tuning for a few seconds and then switching to one of the black and gray screens with words to the effect that the cable company needed to be contacted to activate the card. The guy that came out yesterday thought that meant that the cards were defective and started down the path of swapping out a box of new cards. Each card that he put in would go into a firmware upgrade for about an hour, seem to work, and then go into another hour of firmware upgrade. I have read that this can happen, but not multiple times back to back in the same card. Every card that he put in behaved the same way. He went back to his office to find some cards that had the latest firmware, but the next box he tried had the same result.

I finally told him that I don't think this is going to work and that someone should come back when they have some answers to this problem. I called TiVo and they said that this firmware upgrade is a cable company problem. TiVo was very willing to help, but without a card that isn't constantly looking for a firmware upgrade, the can't help me or Comcast get my S3 up and going.

My Comcast tech, his supervisor, and their engineer don't seem to know anything about this and have contacted Scientific Atlanta. I'm waiting for them to come up with a solution but I'm not holding my breath. Does anyone know anything about this issue of the card looking for a firmware upgrade for hours and never completing the download?

[tmesser]

Does anyone know anything about this issue of the card looking for a firmware upgrade for hours and never completing the download?

http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=8b5437a8-0a4a-49ec-8a1f-8787455bdf26

Firmware updates may take up to 40 minutes. If the CableCARD has not yet been activated, the configuration screen will appear immediately after the update is complete. The cable provider can then proceed with activating the card. If the CableCARD was already activated, it will resume working as usual after the update is complete.

If the process takes more than 40 minutes, or the update stops and then restarts, the firmware update failed and the CableCARD is unusable. If the installer is not there, you will need to contact your cable provider to get a replacement CableCARD installed and activated.

[herculespilot]

Thanks. I have seen that TiVo info about the CC firmware, but does that mean that every card that they tried was defective? Comcast has tried cards from several different manufacturing lots and they all did the same thing...constantly checking for firmware. I just find it difficult to believe that a company as large as Comcast doesn't have better knowledge about the Scientific Atlanta CableCards and firmware updates. They even tried some other cards at their office in a TV and they were also stuck looking for firmware. Could it be a problem with their system communicating the need for firmware update with the cards?

[tmesser]

I suppose it could be a problem with their system, but I think it's just as likely that every card he tried was defective. How many did he try? During my installs, three out of five were defective, and that sounds pretty normal (unacceptable, but normal).

[bbiffle]

New Forum member: I purchased the TiVo HD 3 a few months ago and spent several frustrating weeks trying to get it to work with Comcast HD. They put in a number of cable cards that they just couldn't make work. Finally gave up and got another Comcast HD STB. Been using that, but still have the TiVO HD 3 sitting on the shelf. Any movement to make the cable cards actually work with the TiVo?

[dswallow]

Any movement to make the cable cards actually work with the TiVo?
Slowly Comcast techs seem to be figuring it out; but the issue has always been on the Comcast side... you should call and ask them if they've learned how to use their own authorization system yet.

[bbiffle]

I'll do that. Not much confidence in any results, though. I hate to think I've bought a $300 door stop. :( :mad:

[Graymalkin]

I'm thinking that the problem isn't defective CableCards, it's defective authorization practices by Comcast, which has no strong incentive (other than FCC fines) to make them work. If it can tell the FCC, "Golly, gee, all these cards are defective, no wonder we can't make them work," and the FCC buys it, that's more DVR business for Comcast.

I doubt Comcast has this kind of quality control problem with its cable modems and house-brand DVRs.

[bbiffle]

I purchased the TiVo HD 3 a few months ago and spent several frustrating weeks trying to get it to work with Comcast HD. They put in a number of cable cards that they just couldn't make work. Finally gave up and got another Comcast HD STB. Been using that, but still have the TiVO HD 3 sitting on the shelf. Any movement to make the cable cards actually work with the TiVo?

[Langree]

I purchased the TiVo HD 3 a few months ago and spent several frustrating weeks trying to get it to work with Comcast HD. They put in a number of cable cards that they just couldn't make work. Finally gave up and got another Comcast HD STB. Been using that, but still have the TiVO HD 3 sitting on the shelf. Any movement to make the cable cards actually work with the TiVo?


Well, many of us have had working cards in THD's for months.

What city are you in?

[herculespilot]

I suppose it could be a problem with their system, but I think it's just as likely that every card he tried was defective. How many did he try? During my installs, three out of five were defective, and that sounds pretty normal (unacceptable, but normal).
He tried about 5 or 6 before he figured out that none of them were going to update the firmware. After that he went back to the office and returned with a box that had at least 10 and tried just about all of them. We could have spent another 12 hours watching all of the cards trying to download the firmware update and I don't think we would have been successful. Comcast called today and said that they think they have 4 cards that have up to date firmware and will be out on next Monday to try again since I am out of town for the rest of this week. Hopefully we will have success soon.

[dswallow]

He tried about 5 or 6 before he figured out that none of them were going to update the firmware. After that he went back to the office and returned with a box that had at least 10 and tried just about all of them. We could have spent another 12 hours watching all of the cards trying to download the firmware update and I don't think we would have been successful. Comcast called today and said that they think they have 4 cards that have up to date firmware and will be out on next Monday to try again since I am out of town for the rest of this week. Hopefully we will have success soon.
When you say you watched them try to download the update, how long did you give it uninterrupted before you gave up and pulled the card out and tried the next? There's no status update as firmware is loaded. On one of my installs the tech only brought 4 cards; One card authorized and worked fine, but all the others went into a firmware update mode and seemingly just stayed there. So he was going back to the office and I suggested leaving one card in there while he was gone. About 35-45 minutes after he left, the card finished updating and when he got back he simply called in the authorization numbers and it worked.

[Graymalkin]

Perhaps they should have some machines in the office that will update CableCards' firmware BEFORE they take them out to install at customers' homes. It might make their lives easier.

Nah. that's too sensible and might cost them money. Forget I said anything.

[dswallow]

Perhaps they should have some machines in the office that will update CableCards' firmware BEFORE they take them out to install at customers' homes. It might make their lives easier.

Nah. that's too sensible and might cost them money. Forget I said anything.
After my first install, I thought they did because the tech talked about the cards being initialized at the office.

[Slyde]

I live in Evanston, IL (just outside of Chicago)...

I received my Tivo HD Monday, and Tuesday showed up at my local (Skokie, IL) Comcast office to try to get a card for a self-install - they said they had none at that location and will have to call and request an install.

I did so Tuesday evening, they noted it was a $17.98 charge (since I was changing service) - I also requested they remove my 2 cables boxes (I had a SD box for my Seriies 2 - and a HD box for watching live HD)

They were able to schedule a tech for either 10-12 or 8-12 on Thursday. I was pretty impressed to get an appointment for 1.5 days away... I got I took the latter hoping he would arrive earlier...

I got an automated confirmation that estimated the tech to arrive between 9:15 and 10:15. The tech showed up at 10:45. He had a thick Eastern European accent and was very unfriendly (despite my slightly sick and very friendly 2 year old daughter trying to engage him - he evidently had no interest in reading "Goodnight Moon" to her).

He seemed to have no clue at how to use the Tivo Remote (I had to explain the "select" button to him) and he seemed to be randomly traversing menus - inspiring little confidence in me. But he spent a LOT of time frantically texting someone. Clearly the person at the other end knew what they were doing and he was figuring it out - because he made steady (if slow) progress.

I forgot to mention "1 M or 2 S" cards - when I explained it - he seemed to be unwilling to consider installing 2 cards - but fortuntely he had M cards so it was a moot point.

He spent a lot of time with the first card - it got to the point where it was trying to download the list of channels; I forget the exact terminology - but it was a graphic (as opposed to text-only) screen with a "spinning ball" type icon in the middle.

He VERY pateintly waited a LONG time before Tivo eventually sent a "failure" message. He spent a lot of time before giving up - including downloading a software update (I believe it was the 9.2 update) which I was surprised he was able to do - I had done a lot of the normal "maintenance" stuff setting it up the night before - and didn't see an option to download it.

Once he tried a different M card - he had no problems with the install - and actually went through the entire guided setup etc. At first I thought it still had a problem - because the channel verification had a grey-screen instead of showing the channel - but by the time he finished all the service downloads, etc of the Guided setup everything was working.

All told he spent a good 2 hours doing the install - and so far everything is working fine...

When discussing the first card - he mentioned they have a lot of problems with them - which he attributed to them re-using previous customer's cards - without properly clearing the previous settings...

[quick]

I have searched but can't find any answers to this issue I'm having with my TiVoHD

I have Comcast, with 1 Motorola M-Card (In Houston, Texas)

Problem is that HD channels will all of a sudden go blank/black and won't come back unless you switch tuners and change channels on both, or restart the tivo, this causes recordings to be cut off or not recorded at all, only happens on HD channels.

Also I have noticed lately the cable card info page comes up randomly with the Host ID, the same page that comes up when you first install the cable cards.

There was a thread here but no one has posted on it with a solution and nothing since 2006.

Also my cable signal levels are good to maybe even too high?

Anyone know whats going on here?

[Qwertinsky]

I will throw in my experience here, I live in NW Washington, north of Seattle.

I just purchased a Tivo-HD and transfered my lifetime subscription with the special that ended November 8th.

I called the Comcast 800# to schedule a cable card install. The person I spoke to on the phone said cable cards no longer need to be installed by Comcast. I could just run out to the office, pick them up and install them myself, or he would be happy to schedule a Comcast technician to install them for me, but the soonest they could come would be two weeks from now and there would be a charge for the installation.

So I said I think can handle it myself and went out the next day to get them.

The lady at the Comcast center said I would need two multi-stream cards, but was not sure if they were the blue or red cards.

Interesting the red cards say M-card and the Blue cards say S-card. To me that meant Multi-stream and Single-stream but I guess she could not figure that out and it took her ten minutes to find someone that knew this.

I was amazed in how cheap these things are. Here are the recent charges from my online statement.

TIVO SERIES 3-CABLE CARD $ 0.71
TIVO SERIES 3-CABLE CARD $ 0.71
LOCAL TAX $ 0.11
FRANCHISE FEE $ 0.06
STATE SALES TAX $ 0.12
Total $ 1.71

When the Tivo arrived I hooked it up and made sure it worked before I installed the cards. Reading the manual I noticed it said I only need ONE multi stream or TWO single stream cards, made sense to me.

So I just installed one card to the first slot. The Tivo jumped right to a screen that said "This screen was provided by your cable company" this screen had an 800# to call to activate the card. I called it and read off a couple numbers from the screen to them. Then the guy said he was activating it now, the screen changed to some "//failed//auth//" error message. So he did it again and said it should be working, try some channels. So I flipped through a few of the channels that needed to be authorized and sure enough it was working.

I tested the multi-stream part by making sure I could indeed record two channels at once with one M-Card.

Over all the entire process took about ten minutes and was pretty painless.

I will have to say Comcast has improved their customer support as many of my prior interactions with them have not gone so well.

[herculespilot]

When you say you watched them try to download the update, how long did you give it uninterrupted before you gave up and pulled the card out and tried the next?
I watched one card go through the update 4 times during a period of about 5 hours while the tech went back to the office to find some other cards. We waited another hour with one of the cards that he brought back and watched it complete its firmware update, allow us to tune channels for about 10 seconds, and then try to update the firmware again. After that the guy on the other end of his Nextel advised him to try some of the other cards to see if they didn't need the updated firmware...not of those worked either. He didn't give those a lot of time, but it was around quitting time and I was ready for him to go home.
Comcast is returning this morning with some updated cards. Hopefully this is the day the S3 is fully functional. It has been a long 2 1/2 months.

[herculespilot]

Success! Finally we have Comcast/TiVo Series 3 HD bliss. The same Comcast tech came this morning with the CableCards that were up to date on their firmware and it only took about 20 mins to get everything working. If they only tested the cards to make sure they worked and were up to date on their firmware before every install call. Comcast could certainly save themselves a lot of time and trouble. I guess the percentage of CableCard users must be so small that they don't worry about the extra time and money for a few install problems.

[silypuddy]

I have searched but can't find any answers to this issue I'm having with my TiVoHD

I have Comcast, with 1 Motorola M-Card (In Houston, Texas)

Problem is that HD channels will all of a sudden go blank/black and won't come back unless you switch tuners and change channels on both, or restart the tivo, this causes recordings to be cut off or not recorded at all, only happens on HD channels.

Also I have noticed lately the cable card info page comes up randomly with the Host ID, the same page that comes up when you first install the cable cards.

There was a thread here but no one has posted on it with a solution and nothing since 2006.

Also my cable signal levels are good to maybe even too high?

Anyone know whats going on here?


I've been also having that problem. Here is a thread that covers it in gorey detail:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=365824

In the case where just the HD channels go blank, I'm thinking it's a handshake issue. Next time it happens, I'm going to switch from native mode to fixed mode and see if that does the trick...

[herculespilot]

Does Comcast have any standard TiVo Series 3 CableCard pricing? My local Comcast office still doesn't understand that a TiVo Series 3 is a single box connected to a single HDTV and wants to charge me $6.95 for each card per month. I see here that Qwertinsky is only paying $.71 for each card and I have seen others quoting lower package pricing for the S3. Do I need to contact the Comcast 800 number to get a lower price or will the 800 number just ring in my local office?

I was amazed in how cheap these things are. Here are the recent charges from my online statement.

TIVO SERIES 3-CABLE CARD $ 0.71
TIVO SERIES 3-CABLE CARD $ 0.71
LOCAL TAX $ 0.11
FRANCHISE FEE $ 0.06
STATE SALES TAX $ 0.12
Total $ 1.71

[garlic]

Does Comcast have any standard TiVo Series 3 CableCard pricing? My local Comcast office still doesn't understand that a TiVo Series 3 is a single box connected to a single HDTV and wants to charge me $6.95 for each card per month. I see here that Qwertinsky is only paying $.71 for each card and I have seen others quoting lower package pricing for the S3. Do I need to contact the Comcast 800 number to get a lower price or will the 800 number just ring in my local office?

the number will get you to your local office. There is no global comcast cable card pricing, so Qwert's deal won't help you much. Getting 1 multi stream card instead of 2 single stream cards should limit what you have to pay however.

[herculespilot]

Thanks. Series 3 doesn't take the multistream cards.

[zand94]

i'm getting a TivoHD very soon (just ordered) and need to know if there is anyone here from the Harrisburg PA area that has had the Comcast experience and could provide me some feedback. There's 141 pages and looking for each poster's location is a bit tedious. please? :)

Alex

[tivovito]

Picked up my 2 S-Cards at the comcast office - after a few swaps I have 2 working cards. However, the card in slot 1 gets an extra channel or two. I want to record from the channel that slot 1 gets (and slot 2 doesn't)....can I specify which tuner to record from? Or can I select which tuner I surf with (it currently surfs with slot2 tuner)? I did get the slot 1 bonus channel to record when I scheduled 2 shows at the same time....but would rather do it without the xtra recording.

fwiw - my experience getting the tivo running with the 2 cards took hours of calls...and days of swapping cards. yuk.

[pl1]

Thanks. Series 3 doesn't take the multistream cards.It does, in single stream mode. I have two M-cards in one of my TiVo's. AAMOF, the Comcast installer told me they don't even carry S-cards anymore. http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=BB83AE57-EA46-4162-AB65-4BFDE6A851E4

Currently, the Series3 HD DVR will support M-Cards in single-stream mode, which means that the DVR requires two (2) CableCARDs to run in dual-tuner mode. The DVR must also be running software version 8.0.1c or later

[btwyx]

how do I switch between tunersThe live TV button will do it.However, the card in slot 1 gets an extra channel or two.The real solution is to get that fixed, you can't scedule a recording to use one tuner or the other.

[Gregor]

Thanks. Series 3 doesn't take the multistream cards.

Yes, it will. I have an S3 with 2 multistream cards, and an S3 with 2 single-stream cards.

[amagnesianhog]

So I just got my first bill after having my cablecards installed, and I'm not sure I'm being charged right. I'm seeing the Basic Service charge I had before, but now I have a $23.90 charge for "Digital Service" and a $13.90 charge for "HDTV Converter," and no mention of cablecards on there. Now, looking at Comcast's site, they're never really clear on exactly what they're going to charge you. The cablecard FAQ they have says the following:

"If additional CableCARDs are needed for other devices that are installed on additional outlets, you will not be charged for the first CableCARD installed on this outlet as the cost is included in the additional outlet fee. In addition to the cost of the digital cable service, you will not be charged a regulated fee of up to $1.91 for the second CableCARD on the additional outlet."

So, from the way I'm reading that, I should be charged (at most) $23.90 for the digital service, and $1.91 for the second cablecard, correct? It seems like they're charging me as if I were renting an HD box from them. :confused:

I'm in the Northern Virginia area (I gather Comcast's pricing is different depending on where you are)

[tivovito]

The live TV button will do it.

While in LiveTV mode, I can select which tuner to view from?

[pl1]

While in LiveTV mode, I can select which tuner to view from?That's exactly what the other person said. Hit the LIVE button and it switches tuners. Or, hit INFO and arrow down to the second tuner and select it.

[tivovito]

That's exactly what the other person said. Hit the LIVE button and it switches tuners. Or, hit INFO and arrow down to the second tuner and select it.

ah yes..I see....many thanks!

[Qwertinsky]

That's exactly what the other person said. Hit the LIVE button and it switches tuners. Or, hit INFO and arrow down to the second tuner and select it.

The ENTER button also switches tuners.

[pl1]

The ENTER button also switches tuners.Maybe, maybe not. It is the LAST channel button. Unless I'm mistaken.

[btwyx]

The ENTER button also switches tuners.I thought the enter button switched to the previously selected channel on the current tuner.

[dswallow]

Maybe, maybe not. It is the LAST channel button. Unless I'm mistaken.

It's the ENTER button; on at least some TiVo remotes it's labeled "ENTER/LAST". So it's also the LAST button. It's just that they're the same button. :)

[E94Allen]

The ENTER button also switches tuners.

You might don't want to do that because Enter/Last switching the channels will lose the buffer.

[mrfeb14]

I had comcast come out today to install cable cards in my new tivoHD that i hooked up over this past weekend. The installation went great! the guy was here all of 20 minutes... He installed 1 M-card was able to talk to his dispatcher to pair and validate the cards quickly and everything went smoothly... Now i just hope when i take back the Comcast HD-DVR box that the TivoHD is replacing that it doesn't mess anything up.

Comcast Cable, Martinez, CA with TivoHD with 1 Multi-stream cable card

[harrigill]

Renton, WA.

Bought a TiVoHD from Amazon. I picked up an M CableCARD yesterday at the Redmond Comcast store. No cost. The TiVo Setup prompted me to insert the card at the appropriate time. It then displayed the card's numbers (write them down). When setup was complete, I called Comcast; I was on the phone with them for about 5 minutes and everything seems to work great. No need for an installation visit or fee. Very smooth, very easy. Free.

[david4788]

Finally!!! :D

The short version of a long saga...There was a huge batch of cards that Comcast and their contractors were using and having problems with. It took a senior install supervisor who found out that none of the cards were not entered, or were entered improperly, in the Comcast system at the warehouse. The in-house installer came out with 4 m-cards that were verified yesterday. It was working within 30 min with the first card. Most of the time was on hold waiting to activate the card.

If you live in the Baltimore area (surrounding counties to) and are having problems with Comcast and the Cablecard (including confusion on billing) PM me and I'll let you know who to talk to get it straight. :up:

[Brad Bishop]

Finally!!! :D
The short version of a long saga...There was a huge batch of cards that Comcast and their contractors were using and having problems with. It took a senior install supervisor who found out that none of the cards were not entered, or were entered improperly, in the Comcast system at the warehouse. The in-house installer came out with 4 m-cards that were verified yesterday. It was working within 30 min with the first card. Most of the time was on hold waiting to activate the card.


You know, this is kind of one of the things that bugs me about the cable company. I don't hate them or any other company. I really hate stupid policies, though.

They want to charge you to come out and visit your house to install a card. That's dumb. They claim to be professionals and know exactly how to do it when they can't even line up the cards on their backend. Really, just let me pick up the card on the way home from work, install it, call you with the numbers and be done with it. If I can't make it work after that *then* charge me to come out to my house.

If you look at the numerous posts in the cableCard threads you'll see that their 'trained specialists' really aren't having a whole lot of luck getting a lot of cards to work. We're sold that they're specialists though and that's why we have to pay them to come out to minimize the problems. It's just so messed up.

Same kind of thing with how they used to (and possibly still do) rent you the cable box and the remote separately. "Well the box is only $10/month but if you actually want to use the box, there's a remote-control fee of $5/month." It's like this constant stupid game you have to play with them.

I picked up a TiVo HD recently, they're coming out to my house to install the card for me because 'they have to.' Ok. So I thought about it and thought, "You know, a second TiVo in the bedroom may be nice if I can get them to bring a second card in the same trip." What killed it for me is the Additional Digital Outlet charge of $7/month. What? I'm fronting the money on the equipment. You just have to supply me a small PCMCIA card in order to sell me services? Why do I need to pay an additional $7/month for this?

I'll be fine with my one TiVo - I just really hate the stupid games these companies (cable, phone, being the main ones) have gotten into just to try to sell me services.

It's like selling me a car and saying, "Oh, to drive it at night will require this 'night key'. That's an additional $5000."

[BurnBaby]

Another day, another call to Comcast. :rolleyes: I just got my first bill after the cablecard install and have some additional charges, one for a partial month charge, one for a Digital Plus charge. In my area there's no charge for cablecards, so there shouldn't be any new charges. I'm on the phone with Comcast and they will remove the charges but the billing rep has no idea why my account was changed and these charges appeared. In my case, it's going to take a little longer to resolve b/c of the lock on my account that I previously mentioned (in short, the lock is b/c of a Comcast promo pricing). I remember reading other peo had similar issues. My question for you all is how many people have gotten additional charges on their bills after a cablecard install? And is this a case of Comcast trying to slip in additional charges and counting on the fact that many people won't notice?

What killed it for me is the Additional Digital Outlet charge of $7/month. What? I'm fronting the money on the equipment. You just have to supply me a small PCMCIA card in order to sell me services? Why do I need to pay an additional $7/month for this?

Do you already have cable on that second tv? If not, Comcast always charges ridiculous fees for another outlet. If you already have cable on that other tv, they shouldn't be able to charge you again.

[david4788]

Do you already have cable on that second tv? If not, Comcast always charges ridiculous fees for another outlet. If you already have cable on that other tv, they shouldn't be able to charge you again.[/QUOTE]

My understanding is that they can only charge you for the one service line to the house and rent on any boxes over the first one. Unless they are installing new outlets then they have the one time install charge. You can have 300 outlets in your house and they can only charge you for the one outlet then for any cablecards or boxes over the 1 that is included. "There is no charge for the first CableCARD that you use as it is already included in the primary outlet fee. " I have 7 TVs going and pay the basic Digital Starter.

[pl1]

My understanding is that they can only charge you for the one service line to the house and rent on any boxes over the first one. I have two TiVo's with 4 cards. I get charged for 3 A/O's at $2.75/mo each. No amount of past arguing with Comcast has changed the amount I'm currently being charged, but, it is still a Hell of a lot cheaper than one of their POS DVRs.