Official Time Warner Cable Thread

[wkearney99]

Is the S3 more sensitive to the incoming signal? Maybe that's why my TivoHD wasn't affected. I'll just hope it doesn't happen again.
How about if you swapped the TivoHD and the S3? That would let you see if it's a cabling issue inside the house. Better to figure that out BEFORE the tech arrives.

[mrjosh]

Just called customer service again (I'm in TWC's Charlotte market) for an update on the SDV adapter. My Tivo is recognizing channel additions, but is not picking any of them up. To add to the frustration, some of the HD channels I received before I can't receive anymore. The CSR told me that the person they use to answer questions about the SDV adapter wasn't available today and that he'd be in touch with me by Tuesday. Anybody (from this or any other TWC market) have any other updates?

I've felt like card users are in the VERY SMALL minority of TW customers - and that most CSRs and technicians are fairly clueless about it (my initial installation took an entire 8-hour day). I hope they make this right soon.

[swandog1]

So, I'm awaiting the third visit by a TWC tech or subcontractor to try to get my multi-stream CableCard up and running. The initial install got the local HD channels up, but after the installer left I realized all the National Networks (CNN HD, Food, HGTV, etc.) were not working. Same guy came back the next day and got most of those working. However, now ESPNHD, ESPN2HD and all the national SD channels (Bravo, Travel, etc.) are not working. Starting to regret moving from Dish, but feel like I'm too far down the road to turn back. TiVo and it's subscription are a sunk cost now. I love the TiVo's interface and features, so trying to stay positive. Anyone on the board in Dallas have their TiVo running smoothly? :rolleyes:

[mpastreich]

Great, so yesterday my S3 stopped acting up. CNN-HD, FOOD-HD, CUNY coming in clear, a day before the TWC appointment. I wouldn't care if it had been happening to my other TivoHD or cable boxes, but it was only the 2 cablecards in the S3.

I know TWCNYC is working on getting all these new HD channels added for next week.
Is the S3 more sensitive to the incoming signal? Maybe that's why my TivoHD wasn't affected. I'll just hope it doesn't happen again.

Odd ... we're in the same area (northern manhattan) and had 119 (Soap Channel) and 120 (forget what it is) go out. Lasted about 2 weeks till we called them. They claimed it was a cable card problem, and scheduled an appointment. The wife sat with them and the tech was Clueless. Claimed they didn't tell him it was a cablecard problem and he had none left. He rescheduled the appointment and went home. Next day everything started working.

This evening we noticed we lost NY1 on one of the cablecards (#2). I rebooted the box and it lost EVERYTHING but 38 channels (still have all the HD channels). Could thi really be a cablecard problem (S3 being older than the HDTiVos might have an older "rev" of card?), or is TWC NYC just really messing up the head end?

[jeremyz]

[snip]

What happens is that the unit(s) lose the ability to tune to certain channels. There is no discernible pattern as to which channels won't tune, but what is clear is that the problem is NOT that the CableCards are losing their ability to decrypt the signal because whenever there is a problem at least some encrypted channels still work and some that aren't supposed to be protected don't work. For example, today I'm getting all my SD channels including the premium channels, but I get nothing (black screen with a message saying "Channel not available, You man need CableCARD decoders to view this channel. Contact your calbe provider for more information.") on all of the HD equlvalents of the broadcast channels (i.e., 702, 704, 705, etc.) and on HBOHD and CinemaxHD. I get ShowtimeHD and StarzHD on the channels in the 700 range, but not on the same channel in the 600 range.

[snip]

I did try rebooting and unplugging after having TWC send a signal. This brought back some of the channels. Minutes later CNNHD and FOODHD dissappeared again ("Channel not available, You man need CableCARD decoders to view this channel...").

Yesterday afternoon I got the channels back, then at night the dissappeared again, then they came back, lol.

[snip]Okay - I'm back in the same boat with you guys. TWC Upper Manhattan - lots of random channels out (including HD broadcast networks), but ShowtimeHD, CNNHD and others look super. MTV and lots of other SD networks gone.

This is systemic.

[mpastreich]

Okay - I'm back in the same boat with you guys. TWC Upper Manhattan - lots of random channels out (including HD broadcast networks), but ShowtimeHD, CNNHD and others look super. MTV and lots of other SD networks gone.

This is systemic.

and annoying. Since I rebooted it I've lost anything below channel 18, and then I get 27, 30, 37, 43 (then it seems to start to work again).

I was getting a full compliment of channels on one card before I rebooted the S3, and now both CableCards are seeing the exact same channel line-up. It seems more like something is broken in what they are getting, than in the cards.

[emsworth3]

Hi, I recently received the new Tivo XL HD DVR and went to Time Warner here in Los Angeles and returned my cable box in exchange for a cablecard (MS).

They had no problem giving me one there and told me if it wasn't activated to call a certain number and they would activate it. So, I got it home, got everything installed and the cablecard wouldn't work. I tried calling the number they gave me but since I have an out of state phone it wouldn't work. I called the local TWC number and they said they would have to send someone out.

From reading the FAQs and such I see that this is TWC's policy with regards to Cablecards. However, I'm wondering if anyone has been able to get around that. Is there another number I could call to get it activated or any other options I could explore?

I wouldn't normally mind waiting for a truck but I leave for holiday this week and the soonest I could make an appointment was for when I return in January. Right now I'm only receiving local channels, (none of my other cable channels are coming through after I removed the cablecard) so I'm crossing my fingers that someone here might have a quick fix for me!

[awyeah]

Try calling the cable card helpdesk at 1-866-532-2598. These guys really know what they're talking about and might be able to help you over the phone.

[mpastreich]

Try calling the cable card helpdesk at 1-866-532-2598. These guys really know what they're talking about and might be able to help you over the phone.

thanks. I'll mark that down for later. This morning the whole system decided to return to "normal" all the channels come in, everything is fine.

TWC keeps calling this a CableCard problem, but if it is, I'll be darned if I understand how/why.

[edit] Especially since this exact system has been running on TWC NYC network for ~3 years without a hiccup.

[jeremyz]

I'm back this morning, too. This has to be some sort of incompatibility somewhere in the box, or just a monster screw-up at TWCNYC main office that temporarily messed up the accounts of Cablecard customers.

[gbrown]

Now I cant get MAX-HD (701) and STARZ-HD (703). After going through the obligatory card re-seat (a total waste of 15 minutes), they are going to roll a truck on Tuesday morning. This is getting to be a quarterly issue. I lived in the Bay Area and had Comcast for years without this CONTINUAL headache.
TWC = The Worst Cable

[DawnW]

Basic cable ($12/month).

We are currently on a full cable with their Scientific Atlantic boxes special that ends in January.

We have purchased 2 Tivos and as soon as we can hook them up (need USB) we will get rid of DVRs with TWC.

If I get the basic cable do the major network chanels come in in High Def? Or do I need the $50 package for it to come in on high def?

Thanks,

Dawn

[PumiceT]

I got a letter the other day that looks like it was printed with a color laser printer. The reason I mention that detail is because I was told by a tech that we only have about 170 CableCARDs in use in the entire Western NY area. Which leads me to believe they'd do anything in their power to eliminate this tiny sector of their customer base.

The letter is all about the amazing new Switched Digital system they're implementing (I think they've had it in use for a little while already), and how it'll effect those of us with CableCARDs. As we all know, it'll mean we get pretty much none of the channels that require 2-way communication.

As it stands, I get most of the SD channels I always got, plus a small selection of HD channels. If / when I get an HDTV, I WILL be bothering Time Warner often, in order to get the HD channels that are part of what I'm PAYING FOR.

I understand that as one of the terms of using TiVo / CableCARDs, we lose some channels, but I'm pretty sure it's THEIR obligation to get those channels to work for us without needing to rent their boxes / DVRs. Maybe it's not quite a lega obligation or anything, but more of a customer-service obligation.

Last I heard, Verizon FiOS has CableCARDs, so we (most of us) do have an alternative to Time Warner. I wonder how their service record is with CableCARDs.

The letter continues to say how Time Warner (the Cable industry) has been working closely with TiVo and the cable equipment manufacturers to develop the Tuning Adapters. They claim they'll have them available in Early 2009 (their Web site used to say December 2008).

If anyone is interested, I can scan and link a PDF of the letter.

[swandog1]

So, I'm awaiting the third visit by a TWC tech or subcontractor to try to get my multi-stream CableCard up and running. The initial install got the local HD channels up, but after the installer left I realized all the National Networks (CNN HD, Food, HGTV, etc.) were not working. Same guy came back the next day and got most of those working. However, now ESPNHD, ESPN2HD and all the national SD channels (Bravo, Travel, etc.) are not working. Starting to regret moving from Dish, but feel like I'm too far down the road to turn back. TiVo and it's subscription are a sunk cost now. I love the TiVo's interface and features, so trying to stay positive. Anyone on the board in Dallas have their TiVo running smoothly? :rolleyes:

Update: Finally have all expected channels (ones I'm paying for) coming through on my HD TiVo. Apparently the guy who installed Cablecard originally and tried to fix on a subsequent visit did not give the correct Host & Data numbers off the Cablecard to the office that pairs the cards with the network. Guy who came today was the "Cablecard expert" and he had it up and running in 45 min., which is like lightening speed w/ TWC. Interestingly, when I mentioned the upcoming tuning adapters that are in beta down in Austin he'd never heard of them. Guess the experts aren't up to speed on all things Cablecard related, but I'm not complaining...works for now.

[echoout]

Yep, I just turned to FuelTV. I literally haven't seen that channel in years although I've paid for it.

Update: Finally have all expected channels (ones I'm paying for) coming through on my HD TiVo. Apparently the guy who installed Cablecard originally and tried to fix on a subsequent visit did not give the correct Host & Data numbers off the Cablecard to the office that pairs the cards with the network. Guy who came today was the "Cablecard expert" and he had it up and running in 45 min., which is like lightening speed w/ TWC. Interestingly, when I mentioned the upcoming tuning adapters that are in beta down in Austin he'd never heard of them. Guess the experts aren't up to speed on all things Cablecard related, but I'm not complaining...works for now.

[PumiceT]

Yep, I just turned to FuelTV. I literally haven't seen that channel in years although I've paid for it.
Did you have to do anything to get it working?

[cableguy763]

Did you have to do anything to get it working?

He had to get a tuning adapter.

[echoout]

Yeah, about 20 minutes on the phone, going through the diagnostic screens, restarting the TA and the Tivo a couple times. It was pretty obvious when the TA finally started working because it took much longer to boot up. Seems like most of the problem was just getting it checked out and attached to my name rather than an actual issue with the hardware. And I'm sure that will just go more smoothly as more people come in.

The whole thing was not unlike the evening when we finally got my CCs working. A little science mixed with some messing around and crossing your fingers just right.

Seems like that cableguy763 guy knows what he's talking about. ;)

Did you have to do anything to get it working?

[csrx]

Try calling the cable card helpdesk at 1-866-532-2598. These guys really know what they're talking about and might be able to help you over the phone.

I had already tried that. The people I spoke to told me everything looked fine on their end, he sent some hits to the cards, reviewed all settings and host/card numbers, etc.

The problem corrected itself, as other posters have mentioned.

A couple of minutes ago TBSHD started acting up. Next week TWCNYC Northern Manhattan is debuting a bunch of HD channels, I thought it would have something to do with this but TWC hasn't even mentioned this as an excuse. Also, how come it's only affecting the S3? It also seems to be happening to ther people in my area on this board so it makes me think it might not be the cabling behind the wall, but the next thing I will test is swapping Tivos (as somebody had suggested) to make sure it's not the cabling.

[WingsKC]

I was just told by a TW rep in Kansas City a few minutes ago that they're looking at the 1st-2nd week of January.

[Cainebj]

I'm a TWC customer in Southern Manhattan (NYC). I have several TiVo Series 3 boxes with 2 CableCards installed in each box. I'm having an intermittent problem that I don't know how to fix. Periodically one or more of my boxes will lose the ability to tune certain channels. Sometimes the problem affects only one CableCard, sometimes both cards. Sometimes it affects only one unit, sometimes 2 or all three. What happens is that the unit(s) lose the ability to tune to certain channels. There is no discernible pattern as to which channels won't tune, but what is clear is that the problem is NOT that the CableCards are losing their ability to decrypt the signal because whenever there is a problem at least some encrypted channels still work and some that aren't supposed to be protected don't work.

Okay - I'm back in the same boat with you guys. TWC Upper Manhattan - lots of random channels out (including HD broadcast networks), but ShowtimeHD, CNNHD and others look super. MTV and lots of other SD networks gone.

This is systemic.

wow - i was kind of surprised to read these posts.

that started to happen to me about 8 weeks ago. channels out for no reason (TWC Southern Manhattan) and then back up the next day.

thought it was the signal (nope = signal was great) and after working with a TiVo tech we "think" it was that the cablecards had just plain old gone bad and were not keeping their pairing. the cablecards were installed when I got the series 3 which was a good 2 years ago...

I had them replaced on Thursday (OK I know just 24 hours) BUT so far so good.

All my stations are back and none have suddenly dropped out since...

I know TWCNYC is working on getting all these new HD channels added for next week.


P.S. WHAT new HD channels????

[awyeah]

Anyone have any updates on SDV in the NEO (Northeast Ohio) area? So far, I'm getting all my channels, but I'm hoping the TAs will be available here prior to SDV rollout...

[Michael Gwynn]

no official news from twc for NEO yet.

i signed up on twc's adapter notification list yesterday, and immediately got the canned "I Know Nothing" response back from 'D. Jacobs'. Sgt. Shultz is alive and now works at twc!

(how much would you like to bet that my twc service will mysteriously begin to malfunction, now that i've posted this) :(

[bitbanger]

Here in Central New York the reps on the phone still know absolutely nothing about tuning adapters--I had to point him to their own TWCNY web site to learn more about tuning adapters.

He was then 'knowledgeable' and proceeded to read me the web page saying all he could do was sign me up for the notification. he then put me on hold to talk to his manager who also knew nothing more than was posted on their own website.

How does one get to talk to someone who actually knows anything about this stuff?

[mmcgown]

No use holding your breath for the Tuning Adapters......Austin got them yesterday, but lots of us are having problems. It seems there wasn't any advance notice to the TW techs, so basically, no one seems to know how to turn them on.

[SCSIRAID]

No use holding your breath for the Tuning Adapters......Austin got them yesterday, but lots of us are having problems. It seems there wasn't any advance notice to the TW techs, so basically, no one seems to know how to turn them on.

To be fair.... The have been released in Austin for just a little over 24 hours.... Some learning curve is to be expected especially for something that impacts a small percentage of customers.

One could question why the released them on Friday afternoon since I would imagine that they staff is more limited over the weekend.

[mmcgown]

I thought I was trying to be fair......I think the techs would have appreciated getting some training before being confronted with hundreds of customers who ran home with a box--no instructions included--and hoped it would work. The techs I've talked to have been very helpful but have conceded that they haven't been instructed on how to make them function.

[SCSIRAID]

I thought I was trying to be fair......I think the techs would have appreciated getting some training before being confronted with hundreds of customers who ran home with a box--no instructions included--and hoped it would work. The techs I've talked to have been very helpful but have conceded that they haven't been instructed on how to make them function.

Well... the 'no use holding your breath for Tuning Adapters' seemed to be pretty negative and pronouncing TA's as not worth waiting for. Perhaps I misunderstood your intent?

[mmcgown]

Maybe you did......what I meant was more like this:

If you are hoping your city will get TAs, you'll run out and grab one and get home expecting it to work, then--

Prepare to be disappointed if your cable company hasn't done its job of teaching the techs how to authorize the TA--and if they haven't been trained, then expect it to be a re-run of your cablecard install (In my case, a should-have-taken-one-hour-to-install took three truck rolls and days of waiting to talk to the one right tech.)

[SCSIRAID]

Maybe you did......what I meant was more like this:

If you are hoping your city will get TAs, you'll run out and grab one and get home expecting it to work, then--

Prepare to be disappointed if your cable company hasn't done its job of teaching the techs how to authorize the TA--and if they haven't been trained, then expect it to be a re-run of your cablecard install (In my case, a should-have-taken-one-hour-to-install took three truck rolls and days of waiting to talk to the one right tech.)

Sad but true.... Early adopters always 'pay the price'. Call me an optomist, but I expect they will learn after the first week or so. They will get a flood of problems and probably put someone in the call center who knows what to do and get them up and running without all these truck rolls. If other divisions are 'watching', perhaps they will do the same.

My cablecard install wasnt all that bad.... It took abut 5 hours but everything was working when the tech left.....

[alyssa]

No use holding your breath for the Tuning Adapters......Austin got them yesterday, but lots of us are having problems. It seems there wasn't any advance notice to the TW techs, so basically, no one seems to know how to turn them on.
just curious,
did you sign up for early notice for the TA?
were you notified?

eta for spelling

[echoout]

I signed up and was notified. Hopefully every town has a "cableguy763" willing to go the extra mile for the early adopters. I'm watching Willy Wonka on DisneyHD as I type this!

just curious,
did you sign up for early notice for the TA?
were you knowtified?

[mmcgown]

By the way, SCSIRAID, I also meant to note:

the words "........and pronouncing TA's as not worth waiting for......." were yours, not mine.

I didn't make such a pronouncement.

I think if the TA ends up working, that will be great. But I also think that long ago, if the cable companies had done what they were required to do by the FCC, all of this could have been avoided. And I'm not trying to start a new discussion, so I'm ending this train of thought.

[mmcgown]

just curious,
did you sign up for early notice for the TA?
were you knowtified?

Yes, I signed up for early notice.......I'm not sure how well it worked.

I was notified by TWC HQ in Connecticut at noon Friday. At 2PM Friday, I got a notice from an Austin TW person. But based on the time stamps of messages in this thread, I didn't receive either notice before the availability of TAs was obvious from this thread.

[Mindflux]

Can anyone here help clarify something for me? The Billing CSR for TWC Austin said my bill would change by dropping the DVR fee of 6.95, but I'll be picking up two CableCard fees of 2.65 each. However my bill also shows a $5.10 'digital converter' fee, isn't that ALSO a DVR fee?

My bill breaks down as this for cable:

HD/DVR Service $6.95
Digital $14.95
Digital Converter(s) (1) $5.10

So, I think my bill should drop by $12.05 by taking the DVR off? Then It'll go up of course, by $5.30 for the Cable Cards.

Am I mistaken? The CSR said the only fee that would drop off is the $6.95 fee.

[Cainebj]

UPDATE - Since having my cablecards replaced on Thursday, I have had no more instances of suddenly missing channels AND...
I was also having alot of pixellation problems on a bunch of channels - that also seems to have gone away. Fingers crossed, but - Yayyyyy.:up:

[billdav]

Now I cant get MAX-HD (701) and STARZ-HD (703). After going through the obligatory card re-seat (a total waste of 15 minutes), they are going to roll a truck on Tuesday morning. This is getting to be a quarterly issue. I lived in the Bay Area and had Comcast for years without this CONTINUAL headache.
TWC = The Worst CableI'm having the exact same problem.

Actually, 701/703 have been replaced by an "On Demand" advertising channel as have their 6xx HD equivalents, 610/669. At least their SD counterparts (621/672) are there so I can still see the programming, as long as I don't mind SD.

I called the CableCard help desk someone else posted here and they said it all looked in order so I'll probably have to get a hold of regular service. Sigh. They also mentioned that 701/703 were supposed to be part of the HD VIP pack, which I don't have. What kind of B.S. is that?

[alyssa]

Thanks mmcgown & echoout

Sorry abt the spelling brainfart. :o

[pac1999]

I live in San Diego and have TWC. I also now have In demand advertising on channels 701/703 for Starz and Cinemax in HD. I have the HD VIP pack mentioned above and it makes no difference. When I called Time Warner they set up an appointment for a tech to come out and look at the cable cards. All he did was say it was part of SDV and then leave. Hopefully the tuning adapters will available in San Diego soon, we are up to 18 HD channels on SDV and it seems like they are switching another couple of channels every week.

[Fofer]

This is a depressing thread. :(

[gbrown]

I spent 1 hour on the phone with support followed by four hours (having to miss work) of the tech replacing cards while the office removed all HD from my account. I had argued with support and the tech that because I was getting the adds on 701 and 703, it was a NOC issue, not the Cablecards. In the middle of all this, support called to tell me that the channels had been switched to SDV (pun intended).

What I really don't understand is why TWC-SD has to take up bandwidth by transmitting the HD channels on two signals. I've never heard of that. Why does STARZ_HD appear on both 669 and 703.

TWC-SD is simply inept!

I live in San Diego and have TWC. I also now have In demand advertising on channels 701/703 for Starz and Cinemax in HD. I have the HD VIP pack mentioned above and it makes no difference. When I called Time Warner they set up an appointment for a tech to come out and look at the cable cards. All he did was say it was part of SDV and then leave. Hopefully the tuning adapters will available in San Diego soon, we are up to 18 HD channels on SDV and it seems like they are switching another couple of channels every week.

[csrx]

P.S. WHAT new HD channels????

TWCNYC Northern Manhattan is launching a whole bunch of new channels on December 17th (about 31 last time I checked). I think Southern Manhattan has to wait until early next year. You can already tune to these channels through their 8300HD box. They will be assigned a digital number when they are announced on the 17th, so that's when our TiVo's will update the channel listing.

[TWC_Hater]

Well, my local office (Time Warner - Beaumont, Texas) does not roll trucks at all for the installation of cable cards in a Tivo HD. After I purchased the Tivo I had to drop it off at the local office for TWO WEEKS and then when I got it home the cards still didn't work. Out of the hundreds of channels I was suppose to receive I was only receiving about 20. Soooo I dropped it back off at the local office. This time they kept it for SIX WEEKS! The cable cards have worked now for about a wekk and a half, but now I am starting to get pixelation and the absence of most channels. Does anyone know of a fix for this problem? Can I call someone other than TWC, who are all just a bunch of driveling idiots? I LOVE my Tivo but I HATE TWC. Help please!

[Rayd8tor]

I read above that people are getting the TA in Austin. Has anyone heard new news for the San Antonio area on when they will be available here? Thanks for any new information.

[Mindflux]

Well, my local office (Time Warner - Beaumont, Texas) does not roll trucks at all for the installation of cable cards in a Tivo HD. After I purchased the Tivo I had to drop it off at the local office for TWO WEEKS and then when I got it home the cards still didn't work. Out of the hundreds of channels I was suppose to receive I was only receiving about 20. Soooo I dropped it back off at the local office. This time they kept it for SIX WEEKS! The cable cards have worked now for about a wekk and a half, but now I am starting to get pixelation and the absence of most channels. Does anyone know of a fix for this problem? Can I call someone other than TWC, who are all just a bunch of driveling idiots? I LOVE my Tivo but I HATE TWC. Help please!

Wow. I'd be spiting fire/kicking kittens. I'm already boggled by the Truck Roll itself.

[mpastreich]

Okay... latest update in the NYC area (Northern Manhattan).

Channels came back since the last time, but then, last wednesday they started dropping out again (lost SciFi and Cartoon Network).

"Foreman" Service call today. He immediately traced the problem to, not my CableCARDS, but the signal strength. For some reason, about a month ago, the "box in the hall" (wasn't home, the wife handled it, so I don't know what the box is), must have been putting out a fluctuating signal that went in and out of "bad" (he tested it twice, first time it was good, then he tested it again after he put in a new splitter and after he found the signal had gone bad, he started looking at the signal strength).

He was surprised there weren't more people in the building reporting intermittent channel losses/failures. Supposedly someone will come out on Wednesday now and fix the box (and for a change we don't need to be there).

Since we're seeing a marked uptick in the number of people with S3 problems that sound similar, could the S3 be more sensitive to a signal strength problem than other TiVo units (or other Cable boxes in general), or are the other people in the forum having S3 probs similar to this in the Northern Manhattan area just my (real close) neighbors, except none of us has realized it yet? :)

[csrx]

That's what I think it is, the S3 has to be more sensitive to the signal. Something is going on here, we seem to be loosing channels around the same time, and this is all recent stuff. I can't imagine all of our signals / "boxes in the hall" suddenly went bad.

I tried swapping boxes last time to see if the problem was the cable itself or the S3, but all the channels were coming in clearly so it wasn't worth it. I'm waiting for it the problem to start again.

I also want to see if this all stops after Wednesday the 17th, when the new HD channels get rolled out.

If this continues to give me problems I will just sell my S3 with lifetime service. I shouldn't be wasting my time trying to fix these issues. If anything, tivo & twc should be paying me for troubleshooting them.

[billdav]

I live in San Diego and have TWC. I also now have In demand advertising on channels 701/703 for Starz and Cinemax in HD. I have the HD VIP pack mentioned above and it makes no difference. When I called Time Warner they set up an appointment for a tech to come out and look at the cable cards. All he did was say it was part of SDV and then leave. Hopefully the tuning adapters will available in San Diego soon, we are up to 18 HD channels on SDV and it seems like they are switching another couple of channels every week.So basically, if I call service, they'll send someone out, and I'll have exactly the same problem. Great.

[TWC_Hater]

I know! I am! I am so mad at them I dont even know what to say anymore (on top of what I have already said to them.) I wish I could just bypass them altogether.

[TWC_Hater]

(Sorry...my previous comment was meant for mindlux.)

[TWC_Hater]

mindFlux....whoo, I am so mad I cant even post comments correctly. Sorry guys. By the way, still looking for some information on my original post. Thanks.

[mpastreich]

That's what I think it is, the S3 has to be more sensitive to the signal. Something is going on here, we seem to be loosing channels around the same time, and this is all recent stuff. I can't imagine all of our signals / "boxes in the hall" suddenly went bad.

I tried swapping boxes last time to see if the problem was the cable itself or the S3, but all the channels were coming in clearly so it wasn't worth it. I'm waiting for it the problem to start again.

I also want to see if this all stops after Wednesday the 17th, when the new HD channels get rolled out.

If this continues to give me problems I will just sell my S3 with lifetime service. I shouldn't be wasting my time trying to fix these issues. If anything, tivo & twc should be paying me for troubleshooting them.

I hadn't thought about the supposed 17th channel rollout. Perhaps the two things are somewhat related. Maybe when they are rolling out the new channels it is somehow stressing the distribution boxes, causes more of them to go "off spec" enough that the S3 is picking it up?

Just a WAG, so take it as one. :)

Something else to think about, I've been starting to much more seriously consider OTA again. Digital signals with a decent amplifying antenna are pretty good where I am, and the signal strength is supposed to ramp up quite a bit once the analog signals are shut down in Feb. I realize that this is one of those cases where there are a lot of variables but I was surprised at how good the OTA digital signal was (considering the OTA analog signal was crud, like most of Manhattan). That combined with more and more downloadable content (Hulu, Amazon and Sony in my case, but also including Netflix and iTunes for others) might mean me ditching Cablel in favor of a pure ISP if they can't straighten out my service.

[billdav]

What I really don't understand is why TWC-SD has to take up bandwidth by transmitting the HD channels on two signals. I've never heard of that. Why does STARZ_HD appear on both 669 and 703.It may well be that they are not transmitting it on two channels. Being digital, it's entirely possible that it's transmitted once and the receiver simply shows the same signal given a request for either channel. I don't know that that is how it works but it's not inconceivable by any meansTWC-SD is simply inept!I think TWC is inept. Calls to service about channels disappearing on CableCard tuners like this should be immediately recognized by service as an SDV problem. BEFORE they started switching channels to SDV they should have alerted all service personnel about this and that they should expect calls about it and they should have appropriate responses prepared. It's ridiculous and costly to send techs out only to find out it's an SDV problem that they can't do a damned thing about. Moreover, it's completely irresponsible of them to start switching channels before they've made the adapters available. I will be making a general complaint about that to the local cable franchise authority as soon as I can figure out how to contact them.

[billdav]

OK. I found out who in the City of San Diego to complain to. I actually found the address (they're in Civic Center Plaza) first but not the web site. I work near there so I just went down and talked to Rick Bollinger, who took my complaint.

http://www.sandiego.gov/citytv/regulation/index.shtml

E-mail: cablecomplaints@sandiego.gov
Phone: (619) 236-6010

Complaints are actually handled by the office that runs San Diego's City TV station. Those of you who have been screwed by this SDV situation should complain here. Enough complaints coming from the city office should hopefully have an effect. Be sure to tell them where you live and about any time wasted waiting for techs to come to your home only to tell you that it's an SDV problem and you'll have to wait until the adapters become available.

As I said before, it's completely irresponsible for them to begin moving channels to SDV before the tuning adapters are available.

[cdp1276]

Just thought I would add that Rochester, NY TWC is deploying the Tuning Adapter!!! I just had a call from them today and they are shipping them out for self install. I still can't believe they are doing this for FREE!! I so can't wait to get them and finally receive all the channels I have been paying for over many years!! The sad saga is almost over for me....LONG LIVE TiVo!!!

[AgentMunroe]

Just thought I would add that Rochester, NY TWC is deploying the Tuning Adapter!!! I just had a call from them today and they are shipping them out for self install. I still can't believe they are doing this for FREE!! I so can't wait to get them and finally receive all the channels I have been paying for over many years!! The sad saga is almost over for me....LONG LIVE TiVo!!!

I got the same call about 20 minutes ago - from a Phil. He had me check the TiVo software version for some reason (shouldn't they all have tuning adapter-compatible software by now?) but said he'd ship it out and I should have it in a day or two.

It's about time. Just under the wire, too... :-)

[dwgsp]

I got the same call about 20 minutes ago - from a Phil.

I just got the call from Jen. She expected that the TA would take 3-5 days to arrive. She asked if I had any questions, so I asked a couple. She said that they need to know the Tivo firmware version to make sure that it's compatible with the tuning adapter (version 9.4 and newer is ok). She also was aware of the problems that occurred in Austin, and assured me that there would not be a repeat in Rochester.

She said that she was calling from the local office (on Mt Hope Ave.) and would be one of the folks providing technical support for these units.

I am cautiously psyched!

/Don

[emmpee]

I had a missed call from the generic TW number (585-756-5000)...

I do have a direct line to call back Phil though, so if anybody needs it, please PM me, I'd rather not post it here. Seems like a better route though than calling front line support and trying to play "how many transfers will it take until I find somebody who has heard of a tuning adapter".

Anyway, I called back and they told me one will be sent shortly. Can't wait...!

EDIT: This is for Rochester NY.

[kiko]

During my almost daily call to Oceanic (TW in Hawaii), to complain of digital dropouts on the TW HD-DVR, I asked about the Tuning adapter, as I all ways do, and the CSR said they should be available just after the first of the new year (2009), which is a lot better than what they have been saying, "we don't know when they will be available"

[AgentMunroe]

She said that they need to know the Tivo firmware version to make sure that it's compatible with the tuning adapter (version 9.4 and newer is ok).

Right, but anyone who requested one would have long since been updated to at least 9.4 (and should all have 11.0 by now). Pretty much irrelevant though, since I'm ready. :-D

I also now wonder, and didn't think to ask - will TiVos also be able to receive the digital simulcasts of SD channels (for higher-quality recordings in less space) that are SDV only in Rochester?

I didn't get a number from Phil, so if anyone sees this before they call you might want to ask the above question.

[emmpee]

I also now wonder, and didn't think to ask - will TiVos also be able to receive the digital simulcasts of SD channels (for higher-quality recordings in less space) that are SDV only in Rochester?

I didn't get a number from Phil, so if anyone sees this before they call you might want to ask the above question.

Good question... I sure hope so, but I suppose time will tell.

[blog]

Tuning Adapter is available in Austin, TX

Picked mine up today

[billdav]

Just thought I would add that Rochester, NY TWC is deploying the Tuning Adapter!!! I just had a call from them today and they are shipping them out for self install.Self-install? You mean no waiting for 4 hours for a tech to show up? That will never happen in San Diego.

[AgentMunroe]

Self-install? You mean no waiting for 4 hours for a tech to show up? That will never happen in San Diego.

I would've sworn the same thing about Rochester (took me three tries to get techs to actually come to my house with CableCARDs), but... hey, here we are.

[seggers]

So near, yet so far. No word from the Buffalo/WNY area yet.....

Seggers

[jgruiz]

I also received a call from TW Rochester last night (12/16) indicating the TA's are now available, same deal as the others reported, they asked me what kind of Tivo I have and which version of software. The tech guy told me it should take a week or so for me to receive the box for self installation.

[szurlo]

Well, my story is not nearly as bad as many others, but it sure could have gone better.
TWC here in Columbia, SC requires a truck roll for CableCard installs. The guy, a subcontractor, shows up on time (good so far). He brought one MCard. He appeared to know very little about CableCard (not so good). He gave me the MCard and I stuck it in slot 2 on my new Tivo HD. The CableCard screen immediately showed the MCard in slot 2 (feeling better now). He calls the HostID into the office and a few minutes later the CP screen shows "CP Auth Received" (great!). While I have him there, I have the Tivo do guided setup again to get the right channel listing. It immediately becomes apparent that something is wrong. I get no channels above 820, which in my case means I get my HD locals but no other HD or really anything from 820 to 1000. All those channels are grey. Obviously not ALL of those channels are SDV so I should be able to see some of them at least. The tech calls in to confirm that they had assigned all the right programming package options to the card, which they insisted they had, at which point he said he couldn't do anything else and I would have to call TWC tech support and work with them, and he leaves. I call TWC, who tells me that they need the tech there to troubleshoot this and they cannot do anything else until he is back on-site. She says she is having the subcontractors office all me. A half hour goes by and they call and tell me he will be back out in 1.5 hours. 3 hours later I call them (subcontractor) back to find out where the tech is. They simply ignore that question and say they think they know what is wrong with my account. She said the Mcard was only authorized for the basic digital channels. She makes a change and "hits" the card. No effect. She says she will have to check on a few other things and will call me back. As of this writing at noon the next day, no call back yet. However, I am now getting many of the channels above 820. I'm not sure what the trigger was, but at some point last night, it must have started working. Maybe they figured it out and hit it again. I'm going to assume that the channels I'm missing now are SDV, and since TWC seems loathe to reveal what those channels are, a guess is what it will remain until the tuning adapter becomes available here.
So, could have been worse, could have been better.

[Cainebj]

TWC NYC Manhattan (not sure about others) moved the Premium HD stations a couple of weeks ago, but apparently didn't start broadcasting them.
Just in the last day or so they pulled the switch on the old channels.

If you have any Season Passes for HBO or Showtime in HD - you better check them AND update your channel list.

HBOHD is now 651
MAXHD is now 658
SHOWHD is now 666
STRZ1H is now 676

[gbrown]

BillDav
Thank You for finding this information. I will file a complaint this weekend. I was planning on also doing an Executive Email Carpet Bomb, as comsumerist.com calls it. http://consumerist.com/consumer/leaks/contact-information-for-directors-of-time-warner-cable-san-diego-division-303312.php

[szurlo]

Well, for anyone interested, I just spent an hour sitting in front of my SA 8300HD while in diagnostic mode watching the SDV/Broadcast attribute change as I scrolled through the channels I get in Columbia, SC. Following is a list of what the 8300 said were SDV. Bear in mind that this is only the channels I get, so there are probably pay channels etc that are also SDV.

100 PBS Kids Sprout
101 The Disney Channel
107 Nicktoons Network
109 G4
119 Fox Reality Channel
126 Fine Living
127 Sleuth
129 Fuse Network
138 TV One
143 Bloomberg Television
145 Fox Business Network
146 LOGO
151 Speed
160 ESPNU
161 ESPN Classic
163 Peachtree TV
169 DayStar Television Network
171 Flix
173 Sundance Channel
187 Azteca America
189 Independent Film Channel
190 Encore
191 Encore(West)
192 Encore Wam!
198 Fox Movie Channel
352 DISNE
359 HGTV
361 fitTV
367 CSPN2
813 Special Events HD
814 Special Events HD
833 TLC HD
834 HGTV HD
835 Food Network GD
836 LMNHD
837 History HD
838 TBS HD
839 CNN HD
841 Palladia
842 A&E HD
843 The Golf Channel
844 National Geographic Channel
846 Discovery Channel HD
847 Disney HD
848 Science Channel HD
849 Animal Planet HD
850 ABC Family HD
851 Planet Green HD
852 Bio HD
940 MGM HD
945 Universal HD
951 ESPN2 HD
952 ESPNU HD
953 ESPNNEWS HD
954 Speed HD
955 Versus HD
1116 Shopping Plus
1118 Access TV/Shopping
1119 ontv4u
1120 American Auctions
1121 Hollywood Celebrity Products
1122 Celebrity Products
1123 TV Superstore
1124 Cornerstone
1125 GEMS TV

[calitivo]

TWC in Los Angeles just added about 25 HD channels. Discovery, Golf, ESPN News, HGTV, Food, Disney, Family, TLC, A&E, History, NatGeo, USA, Bravo, SciFi, CNBC, Travel, FX, Science, Fox News, Fox Biz, Versus, Animal Planet. Not bad.

[csrx]

There is no channel guide data for the new HD lineup in Northern Manhattan (NYC).
I checked the zap2it website and they don't have listings for the new channels, so I contacted them and reported the lineup discrepancy. I hope they update it soon so my TiVo can schedule recordings for these new channels.

[EmmettC]

So where are these 30+ new high-def channels that we were promised by Time Warner by the end of the year? Don't see anything anywhere in the NYC area... Could it be beacause they don't have the tuning adaptors ready for us? I also see that Tivo has replaced Showtime-HD with the "Golf Channel" yet, it's still broadcasting Showtime....

[jmaditto]

Some of those are not SDV. I checked 101 - 117 and can view without issue. Not sure of the others but I suspect most in the 100s are not SDV.

Well, for anyone interested, I just spent an hour sitting in front of my SA 8300HD while in diagnostic mode watching the SDV/Broadcast attribute change as I scrolled through the channels I get in Columbia, SC. Following is a list of what the 8300 said were SDV. Bear in mind that this is only the channels I get, so there are probably pay channels etc that are also SDV.

100 PBS Kids Sprout
101 The Disney Channel
107 Nicktoons Network
109 G4
119 Fox Reality Channel
126 Fine Living
127 Sleuth
129 Fuse Network
138 TV One
143 Bloomberg Television
145 Fox Business Network
146 LOGO
151 Speed
160 ESPNU
161 ESPN Classic
163 Peachtree TV
169 DayStar Television Network
171 Flix
173 Sundance Channel
187 Azteca America
189 Independent Film Channel
190 Encore
191 Encore(West)
192 Encore Wam!
198 Fox Movie Channel
352 DISNE
359 HGTV
361 fitTV
367 CSPN2
813 Special Events HD
814 Special Events HD
833 TLC HD
834 HGTV HD
835 Food Network GD
836 LMNHD
837 History HD
838 TBS HD
839 CNN HD
841 Palladia
842 A&E HD
843 The Golf Channel
844 National Geographic Channel
846 Discovery Channel HD
847 Disney HD
848 Science Channel HD
849 Animal Planet HD
850 ABC Family HD
851 Planet Green HD
852 Bio HD
940 MGM HD
945 Universal HD
951 ESPN2 HD
952 ESPNU HD
953 ESPNNEWS HD
954 Speed HD
955 Versus HD
1116 Shopping Plus
1118 Access TV/Shopping
1119 ontv4u
1120 American Auctions
1121 Hollywood Celebrity Products
1122 Celebrity Products
1123 TV Superstore
1124 Cornerstone
1125 GEMS TV

[FMNY]

So where are these 30+ new high-def channels that we were promised by Time Warner by the end of the year? Don't see anything anywhere in the NYC area... Could it be beacause they don't have the tuning adaptors ready for us? I also see that Tivo has replaced Showtime-HD with the "Golf Channel" yet, it's still broadcasting Showtime....

I've got them. TWC Northern Manhattan here. It's way more than 30 new HD channels. Now almost every SD channel on channels 1-60 are available in HD on channels 701-760. They also added a ton of HD premium channels on channels 651-682. Unfortunately there's no guide info for the premium channels yet but they are there.

[dwgsp]

My tuning adaptor arrived in the mail today. It was delivered by UPS, and the box included the TA, a power cable, and a USB cable. It did not include a coax cable to connect it to the Tivo, but no problem (I have lots of them :-). Also included were three install instruction sheets (from TWC, Tivo, and Cisco) as well as a personalized invoice.

I plan to try to do the install later this evening. The instructions mostly deal with hooking up the hardware. A short set of troubleshooting tips indicate that it may be necessary to power off/on the TA.

Since the box had obviously been packed at the local TWC office, I am hopeful that they took care of any required initialization, etc. We'll see...

/Don

[szurlo]

Some of those are not SDV. I checked 101 - 117 and can view without issue. Not sure of the others but I suspect most in the 100s are not SDV.

Won't you get the channel if someone in your area is currently watching it? Doesnt SDV send the channel to an entire "node" or whatever the terminology is when one user requests it?
Take a look at the screen shots attached. (sorry for the horrible quality) They are from the SDV session diag screen on the SA 8300HD. One is for channel 101 and the other is for 78. Look at the value in the third line of data on the left side. I was under the impression that if that value was "Switched" it was an SDV channel.

[AgentMunroe]

Initial impression on the TW Rochester Tuning Adapter: not working.

The TiVo sees it just fine, but it doesn't actually seem to be tuning any channels just yet. I tried using the automated system to send a "hit" to the box, but that didn't work either. Going to attempt calling Time Warner now and see what happens...

[AgentMunroe]

So I supposedly talked to an "SDV specialist". Our conversation basically consisted of him asking me to change the channel twice, then throwing up his hands and scheduling an appointment for tomorrow. :(

I'm going to keep playing around with combinations of rebooting the boxes involved... see if that does anything.

[ultrarunner]

Ok, I'm over here at the moderators suggestion. Got the TA hooked up here in Rochester, no problems. Was able to get to channel guide but was still missing a bunch of the HD channels. Been on the phone for the last hour with TWC trying to sort it out. And for the last 20 minutes I can't get back to even a cable broadcast.

[AgentMunroe]

Ok, I'm over here at the moderators suggestion. Got the TA hooked up here in Rochester, no problems. Was able to get to channel guide but was still missing a bunch of the HD channels. Been on the phone for the last hour with TWC trying to sort it out. And for the last 20 minutes I can't get back to even a cable broadcast.

Interesting. I just rebooted my TiVo and the same thing happened to me.

One thing I notice: if I go to the Tuning Adapter/CableCARD tests, mine says "No channels available."

EDIT: Sure enough, unplugging the USB cord from the TA makes my channels mysteriously reappear.

Whatever channel tuning mapping it's getting, it's clearly very wrong.

[ultrarunner]

BREAKING NEWS FOLKS.....

After scheduling a service call, and getting off the phone, my Level 3 tech called me back to let me know that he had made a couple of calls....

And get this...

According to this tech, Tivo's most recent software update...version 11.xxxxxxx is NOT compatible with the tuning adapter!

Nice!

Service call was canceled and the Tech said "we'll be in touch".

Stay tuned, so to speak, here in Rochester!

[AgentMunroe]

According to this tech, Tivo's most recent software update...version 11.xxxxxxx is NOT compatible with the tuning adapter!

Nice!

Service call was canceled and the Tech said "we'll be in touch".

Stay tuned, so to speak, here in Rochester!

Uhm. It might have some minor issues, but I think the TWC Austin folks are getting it to work fine on 11.0.

In other words, I don't believe them. :-)

I still have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow, so... I'm sticking with it.

I also have one, maybe two friends who are going to try there's, so we'll see...

[ultrarunner]

Well, I'm skeptical as well...soooo...I pulled out a spare CableCard, and put it in the Tivo, and I'm back on the horn waiting for Level 3 to re-authorize the this cable card.
stby....

[emmpee]

In Roch with my tuning adapter as well, am having the same issues as you guys (Tivo "sees" the tuning adapter, but just grey screens on all SDV channels).

Keep us updated with what you guys hear :)

[dwgsp]

In Roch with my tuning adapter as well, am having the same issues as you guys (Tivo "sees" the tuning adapter, but just grey screens on all SDV channels).

Hmm... Maybe I should wait before attempting to install mine...

Out of curiosity - what are the lights on the TA doing? Can you still watch the non-SDV channels?

Tnx,
/Don

[SCSIRAID]

My tuning adaptor arrived in the mail today. It was delivered by UPS, and the box included the TA, a power cable, and a USB cable. It did not include a coax cable to connect it to the Tivo, but no problem (I have lots of them :-). Also included were three install instruction sheets (from TWC, Tivo, and Cisco) as well as a personalized invoice.

I plan to try to do the install later this evening. The instructions mostly deal with hooking up the hardware. A short set of troubleshooting tips indicate that it may be necessary to power off/on the TA.

Since the box had obviously been packed at the local TWC office, I am hopeful that they took care of any required initialization, etc. We'll see...

/Don

Perhaps you could scan those instruction sheets and post them? :D

[dwgsp]

Perhaps you could scan those instruction sheets and post them? :D

Not tonight, but maybe from work tomorrow. Do you have someplace where I could post the PDFs?

/Don

[SCSIRAID]

Not tonight, but maybe from work tomorrow. Do you have someplace where I could post the PDFs?

/Don


You can attach them right here in the forum in your post....


There is a button at the bottom of the post page that says 'manage attachments'.

Or if you prefer, send em to me via email and I will post them. PM Sent.

[cableguy763]

Just curious about those in Rochester. Go into the dvr diags and scroll all the way to the bottom. Under the ta there at the bottom are you getting "operational, ready, yes"? Also, have you tried first unplugging the usb cable and then putting it back in to reaccess the channel maps and then lastly rebooting the tivo if that didn't fix it?

[ChileHead]

BREAKING NEWS FOLKS.....

After scheduling a service call, and getting off the phone, my Level 3 tech called me back to let me know that he had made a couple of calls....

And get this...

According to this tech, Tivo's most recent software update...version 11.xxxxxxx is NOT compatible with the tuning adapter!

Nice!

Service call was canceled and the Tech said "we'll be in touch".

Stay tuned, so to speak, here in Rochester!

They just told me the same thing.

[nathos]

My setup here in Rochester is slightly more functional than AgentMunroe's.

I can tune in all my channels that were working prior to installing the adapter, even after a TiVo restart. Also, my standard def channels now appear to be tuning via digital simulcast -- new recordings do not have a quality listed, and the channels take a moment to tune in.

Unfortunately, I still can't tune any HD channels that I couldn't receive before (such as Universal HD or Food Network HD).

I checked the DVR diags, and I do have "Operational, Ready, Yes" listed under the TA.

[dwgsp]

In Roch with my tuning adapter as well, am having the same issues as you guys (Tivo "sees" the tuning adapter, but just grey screens on all SDV channels).

Did you happen to try this procedure?

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/technicalsupport/hdandcablecards/Tuning_Adapter_troubleshooting.html

/Don

[nathos]

Did you happen to try this procedure?

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/technicalsupport/hdandcablecards/Tuning_Adapter_troubleshooting.html

Changing the channels doesn't seem to do anything...I still get black screens for the SDV HD channels.

[emmpee]

Did you happen to try this procedure?

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/technicalsupport/hdandcablecards/Tuning_Adapter_troubleshooting.html

/Don

Thanks for the link... just tried it, it does not work for me unfortunately.

[adam3914]

I just got my TWC Rochester tuning adapter and it doesn't work either. I have an HD tivo with v11 software. It says connected but i don't get and sdv channels.

[m_jonis]

My setup here in Rochester is slightly more functional than AgentMunroe's.

I can tune in all my channels that were working prior to installing the adapter, even after a TiVo restart. Also, my standard def channels now appear to be tuning via digital simulcast -- new recordings do not have a quality listed, and the channels take a moment to tune in.

Unfortunately, I still can't tune any HD channels that I couldn't receive before (such as Universal HD or Food Network HD).

I checked the DVR diags, and I do have "Operational, Ready, Yes" listed under the TA.

Digital simulcast is a two-edged sword. Here in Albany, TW has set ALL channels to copy once (CCI=1 I think). Including the "analog" local stations that are digitally simulcast. The ONLY channels we can transfer via Tivo To Go are the 6 local broadcast HD channels. That's it.

[AgentMunroe]

Hrm. Well, I could've sworn earlier tonight I had a solid green light on the TA and something other than "Not Available" and "Initializing" for the DVR Diagnostics.

Right now, that's all I seem to be getting though. I actually just had the TiVo reset itself from me unplugging/replugging the TA.

Not sure anything else is going to happen right now - I'm off to bed. As far as I know, my tech appointment is still on for tomorrow, not that it's going to do anything. Perhaps I'll play around more in the morning and call in to try and get someone higher up the ladder.

[jgruiz]

Well, I have had the same experience as others with the TA in Rochester,NY. The Tivo recognizes the adapter, the adapter has a solid light, but I can only tune the same channels I was able to tune before and I cannot tune any of the switched channels. I am calling support right now to see what they say.

[bgolub]

TiVo HD owner in Rochester. Got my TA yesterday same issue as everyone else. I can tune all the channels I used to get just fine but get nothing new. Diagnostics show everything in the TA is ready.

I called Time Warner and they said it is an issue with the TA software *not* TiVo but they have no ETA.

[csrx]

There is no channel guide data for the new HD lineup in Northern Manhattan (NYC).
I checked the zap2it website and they don't have listings for the new channels, so I contacted them and reported the lineup discrepancy. I hope they update it soon so my TiVo can schedule recordings for these new channels.

They fixed this real fast. Last night I forced a connection and all the Guide data downloaded to my Tivos.

[jgruiz]

:) I just called TW Rochester to report my problem with the TA adapter the tech on the line did something on his end and my TA adapter is working now, I can tune SDV channels now !!!! :):)

[EmmettC]

I've got them. TWC Northern Manhattan here. It's way more than 30 new HD channels. Now almost every SD channel on channels 1-60 are available in HD on channels 701-760. They also added a ton of HD premium channels on channels 651-682. Unfortunately there's no guide info for the premium channels yet but they are there.

Okay, so I've got all my channels now:up:.... Very happy!!:) (though there's still nothing on to watch!) My next question, how is TWCNYC able to do this without the tuning adapter?

[bgolub]

:) I just called TW Rochester to report my problem with the TA adapter the tech on the line did something on his end and my TA adapter is working now, I can tune SDV channels now !!!! :):)

What did you ask? I just tried and they couldn't help me.

[jgruiz]

What did you ask? I'm going to try now.

Nothing in particular I just told the tech that had installed the TA and I couldn't tune SDV channels still, he asked me which specific channel numbers, put me on hold for a couple of minutes, when he came back on the line he asked me to test again specific channel numbers, he did something, more testing and after that they started working.

One thing I did noticed afterward is that it seems I can only tune SDV channels with one of the Tivo tuners only, but I am not 100% sure about that, my wife is watching TV right now and can't verify.

[Regulator]

Nothing in particular I just told the tech that had installed the TA and I couldn't tune SDV channels still, he asked me which specific channel numbers, put me on hold for a couple of minutes, when he came back on the line he asked me to test again specific channel numbers, he did something, more testing and after that they started working.

One thing I did noticed afterward is that it seems I can only tune SDV channels with one of the Tivo tuners only, but I am not 100% sure about that, my wife is watching TV right now and can't verify.
I am in Rochester too and can only see SDV channels with one of the tuners. The tuner that cannot see SDV is CableCard #1 and it has never had a status of Ready in CableCard Diagnostics so I am wondering if that is part of the issue. It worked ok for non-SDV channels, but with the TA it can't see any SDV channels and actually lost the ability to see some of the non-SDV channels. Weird... TW is coming out tomorrow morning with a spare CableCard and TA.....

[jgruiz]

I am in Rochester too and can only see SDV channels with one of the tuners. The tuner that cannot see SDV is CableCard #1 and it has never had a status of Ready in CableCard Diagnostics so I am wondering if that is part of the issue. It worked ok for non-SDV channels, but with the TA it can't see any SDV channels and actually lost the ability to see some of the non-SDV channels. Weird... TW is coming out tomorrow morning with a spare CableCard and TA.....

I don't think mine is the same issue, if you have two cablecards, I assume you have a Series3. I have a Tivo HD with a single Mcard. I will do more testing as soon as the wife is done watching TV and report what I see exactly.

[jgruiz]

Well, after the good news earlier, now I have bad news to report :mad:. I was able to tune the SDV channels earlier, but now I am not able to. I called TW Rochester again and they tried sending a reset to the TA and the cablecard, the tech said that fixed the problem for another person, but that didn't work for me. The tech was very honest saying that he didn't know what else to do, so I told him I was going to try and call them again in a couple of days to see if they have any other ideas.

[ultrarunner]

Thanks for the Rochester updates. I'm going to hook mine up again today and see what happens.

By the way, I have the series 3 Tivo and TWC provided the SA multi-stream cable card, so I am running just that card in slot 1.

Ultra

[Regulator]

From what I understand the Series3 needs two cable cards to support two tuner recording even though the individual M-cards support two tuners. So if you have only one card installed you should only be able to record only one show at a time. I am recording so much now, I could use a third tuner or another Tivo!

[jgruiz]

Thanks for the Rochester updates. I'm going to hook mine up again today and see what happens.

By the way, I have the series 3 Tivo and TWC provided the SA multi-stream cable card, so I am running just that card in slot 1.

Ultra

This is strange, I think all Series 3 Tivos require two cable cards to operate in dual tuner mode, even if you use M-cards you still need two. As far as I know only the Tivo HD supports using only one M-card.

[dwgsp]

As requested, here are PDFs containing scans of two (out of three) of the documents that were included in the TA box that was mailed to TWC Rochester, NY customers.

I also scanned the STA1520 Quick Reference Guide, but the PDF is too large to attach here. Since I don't really want to email it to lots of folks, does anyone has access to a server where it could be posted?

I am posting these for informational purposes - they are not particularly helpful if you are looking for details about the TA.

[ultrarunner]

This is strange, I think all Series 3 Tivos require two cable cards to operate in dual tuner mode, even if you use M-cards you still need two. As far as I know only the Tivo HD supports using only one M-card.


I was told only one card needed in slot one when using a multi-stream card, and this has been my setup up since early summer and seems to work fine.

Anyway, here is my update...

I started from scratch with all boxes off and reconnected the cable from the street to the TA, then from the TA to the Tivo CABLE connector.

Supplied power to the TA
Supplied power to the Tivo

Tivo rebooted in 5 minutes or so and I had a cable feed.

As cableguy suggested, I went to dvr diagnostics and it showed "Operational Ready'

I then went to TA channel scan setup and scrolled through EVERY channel in the lineup and EVERY channel tuned (that I subscribe to) with the exception of HD 1044, 1050, 1051, 1054, 1059, 1064 and 1069.

Some of those might be part of a package also, I didn't look carefully.

I then exited the TA channel tuning setup and returned to my menu guide and I'm off to the races!

All tuned normally, in addition to switching over to the other tuner on the few channels that I tried that on.

So, as far as I can tell, I'm up and running with the exception of the above channels that I'll look in to later.

Ultra--

[jgruiz]

I then went to TA channel scan setup and scrolled through EVERY channel in the lineup and EVERY channel tuned (that I subscribe to) with the exception of HD 1044, 1050, 1051, 1054, 1059, 1064 and 1069.

Some of those might be part of a package also, I didn't look carefully.
Ultra--

Congratulations Ultra ... channels 1044 and 1059 are part of the Sports HD package; channels 1050, 1051, 1054 and 1069 are part of the HD Tier Package; and channel 1064 is Cinemax HD

[jhz]

Installed the TA, went through all of the various power up sequences - all ended up not being able to tune in the SDV channels. The DVR diagnostics indicate "operational ready", the Tuning Adapter diagnostics indicate "all ready". All of the non-SDV channels tune in correctly.

I called TW customer support. As others have indicated, they indicated a problem with Tivo Version 11.xx software. Apparently this only has a problem with Tivo's that have "the cablecard in front" - basically Tivo HD. Tivo Series 3 units apparently are working. She said it should be quick to get fixed (indicated the next day or two) - but didn't really seem to have anything behind this opinion.

jhz

[davekilpatrick]

I called TWC after I could only receive 1022 and 1057. She sent some signal and then I was working. After only 20 seconds the tuning adapter reset and I wasn't able to view anything. I spent an hour on the phone with another service rep, resetting the TA and whatnot.

He set up a service call but then called back to cancel saying it was a version 11 issue of the tivo software and that it only affected tivos with the front slots for the cablecard. HE said they had a few channels fixed but were waiting to fix all of them to release an update.

[ultrarunner]

My series 3 is a front-slot unit. Maybe, and I stress the "maybe", that it's maybe only "certain" front slot Tivo's. So far all is still working fine.

[rexer99]

I asked TWC in Columbia for a list of the channels they had switched to SDV. My request was quickly and politely denied. The denial was attached as an exhibit to my complaint filed with the FCC. No response from them yet.

[m_jonis]

I called TWC after I could only receive 1022 and 1057. She sent some signal and then I was working. After only 20 seconds the tuning adapter reset and I wasn't able to view anything. I spent an hour on the phone with another service rep, resetting the TA and whatnot.

He set up a service call but then called back to cancel saying it was a version 11 issue of the tivo software and that it only affected tivos with the front slots for the cablecard. HE said they had a few channels fixed but were waiting to fix all of them to release an update.

Apparently TW hasn't been working "closely" with Tivo to develop said adapter. Something like this should've shown up in testing/development.

If that's the case, sounds like the TivoHd units are going to have problems. Which means having to wait even longer for a fix.

Rats

[SCSIRAID]

Apparently TW hasn't been working "closely" with Tivo to develop said adapter. Something like this should've shown up in testing/development.

If that's the case, sounds like the TivoHd units are going to have problems. Which means having to wait even longer for a fix.

Rats

Well... the Austin thread has TA's working fine with TiVo... so I expect the problem lies with TWC.

[nathos]

My Series3 has two CableCard slots on the back, and I cannot tune in SDV HD channels. Sounds like more BS from Time Warner.

[ChileHead]

I called TiVo tonight and they didn't know of any problem as TW told me. So I called TW back and they did something on their end with my account, I plugged the adapter back in, and I seem to be up and running with SDV now (although a few channels don't seem to show.)

[Regulator]

I am in Rochester, NY and have a Series3 Tivo (two cable cards in back). TW just left and after 2 hours all is working as it should with the tuning adapter and two cablecards. It took numerous calls by the techs to TW for hits and I also called the Tivo cablecard hotline to go through steps of checking my cablecards. I turns out they were not properly activated! They would work fine for non-SDV but not for SDV or encrypted channels . If you are having trouble getting your tuning adapter to work, I highly recommend calling the Tivo cablecard hotline and have them run through some diag screens to make sure your card(s) are activated properly.
Phone number: 866-986-8486
Hours of operation:
Monday - Sunday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM Pacific


The techs ended up swapping out both cable cards, calling in to activate them, and after a crucial Restart, the channels loaded and everything works fine. This was all with the tuning adapter attached and turned on. Best of luck to everyone out there. It can work!

[mulveyr]

I am in Rochester, NY and have a Series3 Tivo (two cable cards in back). TW just left and after 2 hours all is working as it should with the tuning adapter and two cablecards. It took numerous calls by the techs to TW for hits and I also called the Tivo cablecard hotline to go through steps of checking my cablecards. I turns out they were not properly activated! They would work fine for non-SDV but not for SDV or encrypted channels . If you are having trouble getting your tuning adapter to work, I highly recommend calling the Tivo cablecard hotline and have them run through some diag screens to make sure your card(s) are activated properly.
Phone number: 866-986-8486
Hours of operation:
Monday - Sunday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM Pacific


The techs ended up swapping out both cable cards, calling in to activate them, and after a crucial Restart, the channels loaded and everything works fine. This was all with the tuning adapter attached and turned on. Best of luck to everyone out there. It can work!


Boy, I'd love to know who you talked to.

We've got two problems: Cablecard 2 keeps popping up 161-52 errors ( even without the TA connected ), and the TA was giving the 8 blinks.

I got on hold with the TW folks, and actually had a semi-competent tech. He sent a reauthorization signal to the TA, and now I have a steady LED.

Problem is, with the TA on, the Tivo HD can't tune ANY channels at all. He swore up and down that there's still a software issue on both the Tivo and TA's, and that it's going to take "some time" before they play nicely together.

Guess we'll see what happens when they come out on Monday to deal with the flaky #2 card.

[AgentMunroe]

*sigh*

I actually talked to some helpful people on the phone this morning, yesterday morning and Thursday. But at this point, they don't seem to want to talk to me at all...

So Time Warner swears up and down that they've talked to TiVo, that there's a problem with version 11 and Tuning Adapters, that it manifests itself differently with different TiVos and that we (TiVo folks) need to wait for an update to come through. Supposedly they're even planning on doing mass calls to keep people updated. I had a tech come out, but he didn't have a TA or any CableCARDs, and didn't do much beyond check the signal on the line and call in and be told the version 11 story.

I've also talked to someone at the TiVo CableCARD hotline, and they have claim to have no known issues that would suggest that 11.0 has any problems. They suggested I swap out the Tuning Adapter... but TW is very reluctant to do this until this supposed TiVo update comes through and they're sure it's not a software problem.

I'm not really sure who or what to believe at this point, but at this point I'm giving up on trying to get the thing working for a few days until more info comes out. Either TW is flat-out delusional or the TiVo customer support reps don't have the latest info, and neither is conducive to making it work at the moment.

[emmpee]

at this point I'm giving up on trying to get the thing working for a few days until more info comes out.

Same...

Either TW is flat-out delusional or the TiVo customer support reps don't have the latest info, and neither is conducive to making it work at the moment.

My money's on the former.

[dwgsp]

I'm not really sure who or what to believe at this point, but at this point I'm giving up on trying to get the thing working for a few days until more info comes out. Either TW is flat-out delusional or the TiVo customer support reps don't have the latest info, and neither is conducive to making it work at the moment.

My guess is that there are folks at TW and/or Tivo actively working on the problem, and they know what the root cause is, but since we don't get to talk directly to them we're all getting second hand information. Unless someone has a direct line into the technical teams (not the technical support teams) we're not going to get any useful information until after the problem has been resolved.

But the good news is that we have TAs, which is a step in the right direction even if they are not working at the moment.

/Don

[gbusler]

Just reporting in.

I'm in Rochester, NY and have an original Series3 Tivo with two CableCards in the back, running the 11.0 release of software. Pretty much had the same problems that most people have been having. Green LED on the TA with the Tivo reporting "Operational Ready Yes" in DVR Diagnostics. No SDV channels were viewable.

Friday night the TA's green LED started blinking so had no choice but to call Time Warner to see if they could help.

Talked to two techs at Time Warner and after various attempts at trying to get the green light to stop blinking I ended up with a service appointment scheduled for Sunday. After spending that much time looking at the blinking light finally figured out that it was blinking 8 time and pausing and then repeating.

That led me to the following web page.

hxxp://www.fuka.com/~kent/tivo-s3-twc-austin.html

Looks like the folks down in Austin have had a lot of the problems that we've been seeing. My 8 blinks meant that the TA wasn't authorized on the Time Warner newtork. Using Time Warner's local number I was able to send a re-authorization request to the TA. Didn't have much hope since that's what the techs were trying to do but heck might as well give it a shot. Well the re-authorization took.

Green LED stopped blinking and Tivo reports "Operational Ready Yes" same as when this whole thing started. EXCEPT now I have all of the SDV channels available. So things are working correctly.

Thanks Kent from Austin for the very useful webpage.

[jhz]

Still no love from TW Rochester with getting the SDV channels tuned in. Called again - they indicated that they are still working on the problem, and there is nothing they can do for me. Was looking forward to finally getting some value from the HD Tier that I have been paying for... Too bad there isn't any FIOS here yet.

JHZ

[dwgsp]

I tried some more channels this afternoon, and noticed that a few that I could not tune this morning are now working. But I am still not getting the full compliment of SDV channels on my TivoHD with an M-Card. So maybe they are making some (slow) progress.

/Don

[jhz]

Don - Can you give some examples of channels you are getting now?

JHZ

[dwgsp]

Can you give some examples of channels you are getting now?

Quick answer: 122, 449, 1018, 1049, etc.

Yesterday morning I didn't have any SDV channels working, but by yesterday afternoon a few had started to work, and this morning I have still more working. But there are still many that still do not work.

I am pretty optimistic that this positive trend will continue over the next few days.

/Don

[jmaditto]

Won't you get the channel if someone in your area is currently watching it? Doesnt SDV send the channel to an entire "node" or whatever the terminology is when one user requests it?
Take a look at the screen shots attached. (sorry for the horrible quality) They are from the SDV session diag screen on the SA 8300HD. One is for channel 101 and the other is for 78. Look at the value in the third line of data on the left side. I was under the impression that if that value was "Switched" it was an SDV channel.


That is not accurate. Go into the service menu and then page backwards. It is either the last page or second to the last page where you will see SDV frequency information for SDV channels. Just go to ESPN2 which is SDV for sure and see what you get. Then compare it to Theater (845) which is not SDV and you will see nothing. Then you know it is accurate. I'm doing this from memory so I might be off a bit. Glad to find another “local” on the board.

[Regulator]

UPDATE: Everything was working 100 % on Saturday late morning after a 2 hour TW visit. 6 hours after that the tuner stopped working and I could view no SDV channels at all. After numerous more calls, initializations, hits, etc. it is still not working. In tuning adapter diagnostics, the page after where the RF-MAC address is listed, my adapter says "Not initialized". It is supposed to say something like "QAM 256" but no amount of hits seem to help. TW is scheduled for another visit this afternoon. Sigh.......


In Fairport with a Series 3 (2 cablecards in back)

[szurlo]

That is not accurate. Go into the service menu and then page backwards. It is either the last page or second to the last page where you will see SDV frequency information for SDV channels. Just go to ESPN2 which is SDV for sure and see what you get. Then compare it to Theater (845) which is not SDV and you will see nothing. Then you know it is accurate. I'm doing this from memory so I might be off a bit. Glad to find another “local” on the board.
That's the screen I'm using. It's the second to the last screen in the diags and is titled "SDV Session Info". I just used it to test the two channels you suggested. For ESPN2 it says "SamSvcld/Type=2019/Switched" and for "SDV Freq" is says 747 MHZ. For channel 845 it says "SamSvcld/Type=2149/Broadcast" and "SDV Freq=0". That is the information I used to build the list I posted.
Ditto on finding another local. Especially one that appears to have a TWC engineer they can ping ;)

[emmpee]

Here in RochNY again...

Sometime in the last 12 hours or so, all (?) of my SDV channels started working. Not sure how/why, but I'm happy.

The only HD channels I'm not getting:
1017 (seems to be duplicated on 1025 anyway?)
1044 / 1059 (sports pack?)

[KeithB]

Charlotte NC - TWC supplies S-cards, my front-slot TiVo HD will require two. I've already received the 11.x software from TiVo. Wish me luck...

[Regulator]

YET ANOTHER UPDATE from TIVO 3 in Fairport :
Just had my second TW visit since receiving the Tuning Adapter and now everything is working again. It looks like the TA wasn't the problem---more the cablecards. The guy got a Level 3 support guy on the phone and he re-initialized my cards. Before the initialize I had EMMs processed = 0 on both cards in the CA diag screen. After the initialize, EMMs processed = 10. Then everything worked. For now..... :-)

[mulveyr]

Here in RochNY again...

Sometime in the last 12 hours or so, all (?) of my SDV channels started working. Not sure how/why, but I'm happy.

The only HD channels I'm not getting:
1017 (seems to be duplicated on 1025 anyway?)
1044 / 1059 (sports pack?)


Finally, mine too!

The tech came out this morning to replace my bad cablecard on my HD box. After he left, I realized that the new card was a multistream card, and he had put it in slot 2.

I called up TW and asked them to re-pair the card to slot 1. After they did so, the tech mentioned that he had heard that the problems with the TA should be fixed. He had me put the Tivo into standby and then take it out, after which a firmware upgrade was done on the new card. Then I rebooted the TA, and we tested some of the SA channels - 122, 1018, etc.

Now I seem to be getting the full complement of all the channels. Finally!

So, if some manages to get a decent tech, people may actually end up getting a system that works.

[bgolub]

Tivo HD owner in Rochester here. I've had the TA since last week but it hasn't been able to tune to any SDV channels. This morning it finally started working.

I called TW, had them re-authorize all of my services, but it still didn't work. Then I turned on/off the TA using the button on the front and now can tune every SDV channel!

[jhz]

Mine just started working also! Didn't require a Tivo V11 update - hmmmm... Everything is live. This is GREAT!

JHZ

[jgruiz]

Good news in Rochester also. I have a Tivo HD running v11, this morning I saw the post about the cablecard fw update, I put my Tivo on standby and then press the Tivo key and I received the cablecard update (I took 5 mins or so to update), but still after the update I wasn't getting the VSD channels. I called TW and the tech did something at his end and got it to work. Hopefully it will stick this time, TW got it to work once before and stopped working after a day or so.

[AgentMunroe]

Hrm. I tried to trigger an update using the standby method mentioned, and didn't get anything - neither did a restart. I assume the gray "This message is being displayed on behalf of your cable provider" screen comes up, with some notice of an update?

I attached my current CableCARD info screen - I'd be curious to know what the new version build date is... considering the version I have dates back to May of 2006 I wouldn't be surprised if they needed some kind of update.

EDIT: OK, picture fixed now.

[jmaditto]

That's the screen I'm using. It's the second to the last screen in the diags and is titled "SDV Session Info". I just used it to test the two channels you suggested. For ESPN2 it says "SamSvcld/Type=2019/Switched" and for "SDV Freq" is says 747 MHZ. For channel 845 it says "SamSvcld/Type=2149/Broadcast" and "SDV Freq=0". That is the information I used to build the list I posted.
Ditto on finding another local. Especially one that appears to have a TWC engineer they can ping ;)


No clue now. I checked out 107 and it has a freq for SDV but I can tune it in just fine on my TiVo HD. Strange.

Anyone - any ideas how I might be able to tune a SDV channel? All the others that I know are SDV just show a blank screen.

[dwgsp]

I followed the procedure given above to get the cablecard firmware upgrade, but that didn't get me any additional channels. So I called TW, and the Tier II support rep agreed that I am not getting all of the SDV channels. He also determined that I am not receiving all of the non-SDV channels that I am subscribed to. He made some changes to my account and then had me reboot the TA and Tivo, but that did not help. So I have a service call scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

==sigh==

/Don

[MKREdit]

TWCNYC recently added a few new HD channels SCIFI, USA and a few others. It's been about a week and these new channels still do not appear to be on my tivo yet. (I get a black screen) My neighbor who also has Tivo is experiencing the same problem. I do have one TW cable box and the new channels show up there fine. I was wondering if anyone in the NYC area has experienced the same problem?

[SCSIRAID]

TWCNYC recently added a few new HD channels SCIFI, USA and a few others. It's been about a week and these new channels still do not appear to be on my tivo yet. (I get a black screen) My neighbor who also has Tivo is experiencing the same problem. I do have one TW cable box and the new channels show up there fine. I was wondering if anyone in the NYC area has experienced the same problem?

More than likely, these channels are SDV and will require a 'tuning adapter' to enable you to view them on TiVo.

[KeithB]

Charlotte NC - TWC supplies S-cards, my front-slot TiVo HD will require two. I've already received the 11.x software from TiVo. Wish me luck...
Strike one : Monday morning the TWC sales agent promised installation "tomorrow between 8 and 10 am". At 9:45 this morning I called and was told my appointment was scheduled Wednesday morning between 8 and 10. I demanded their $20 "on-time" guarantee, and surprisingly received the credit.

I just wonder what "tomorrow" will bring? :confused:

[seggers]

I'm gonna post this in a few threads, I'm so happy.

I just got off the phone with Buffalo TW and they are following up on calls for TAs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :D :D

He did mention something about Jan/Feb :eek: for an install, but at least the email system worked!

He asked if I had a TiVo, what model it was and what sw level it had (interestingly, he wanted at least 11).

So they are coming for those of us in WNY! We can finally get rid of that crappy TW DVR!

Seggers

[dwgsp]

...So I called TW, and the Tier II support rep agreed that I am not getting all of the SDV channels. He also determined that I am not receiving all of the non-SDV channels that I am subscribed to. ... So I have a service call scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Good news! I am finally getting all of the channels! I got a call from the TW/Rochester tech who is working the TA issues. It turns out that my account was not configured to receive the digital tier of channels. Once that was corrected, and the cablecard was reinitialized, everything worked.

Note1: TW/Rochester requires that a digital cable box be attached the account before they'll add the digital tier, so they are goping to ship me a box (to store in my closet :-).

Note2: I had never realized that I was not already receiving all of the non-SDV channels because when I signed up for cablecards TW/Rochester would not supply me a list showing which channels should work without a TA. I asked for a list again today, and again was told that this a list is not available to customers.

Note3: It's interesting that once I received the TA (and they got it working) I was able to receive many of the SDV channels without my account being enabled for the digital tier.

/Don

[jeremyz]

TWCNYC recently added a few new HD channels SCIFI, USA and a few others. It's been about a week and these new channels still do not appear to be on my tivo yet. (I get a black screen) My neighbor who also has Tivo is experiencing the same problem. I do have one TW cable box and the new channels show up there fine. I was wondering if anyone in the NYC area has experienced the same problem?Nope, but in the last week I've lost most of my TWCNYC channels - I only get a dozen or two. I'm pretty sure that your issue is not SDV, but rather incompetence on the part of TWC.

[AgentMunroe]

OK - I talked to Time Warner and ran through a bunch of (what seemed to be) basic diagnostic stuff... they reinitialized the box as one of the first things they did, but that didn't seem to do anything. About an hour later, he had me unplug/replug the USB cable, and about 5 minutes later the TA started working - I get all of my SDV channels now.

[ShaneF]

I'm gonna post this in a few threads, I'm so happy.

I just got off the phone with Buffalo TW and they are following up on calls for TAs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :D :D

He did mention something about Jan/Feb :eek: for an install, but at least the email system worked!

He asked if I had a TiVo, what model it was and what sw level it had (interestingly, he wanted at least 11).

So they are coming for those of us in WNY! We can finally get rid of that crappy TW DVR!

Seggers

I had a call on my cell yesterday and I recognized the TW phone number. Unfortunately I was in a meeting and couldn't answer it. I called back later to inquire about the call and of course the CSR had no idea why I was called. I asked if it might be related to TAs and she didn't know what I was talking about. Hopefully the right person will try calling again today and have some TA news. There might be hope for TW Buffalo yet.

[tgrad]

Go Time Warner Buffalo, get me my Tuning Adapter

[MKREdit]

Nope, but in the last week I've lost most of my TWCNYC channels - I only get a dozen or two. I'm pretty sure that your issue is not SDV, but rather incompetence on the part of TWC.

I'm inclined to agree with you since the last time they added HD channels for the movie services I didn't have sho2 or hbo2 for a week or so. Do you or anybody know how to bypass the standard tech support to get to upper level support? TWC is scheduling an appointment for 1/2 and I'd really hate to sit around all day waiting for a tech for a problem they cant fix.

[AgentMunroe]

My TW Rochester tuning adapter just partially conked out - I was able to tune standard-definition SDV channels (e.g. 119, 120, 122) but not HD ones. Since the last thing the TW rep and I did before the TA started working was replug the USB cable, that's what I did, and that actually did seem to fix things after a few minutes.

Hopefully this won't happen too often...

[KeithB]

Strike one : Monday morning the TWC sales agent promised installation "tomorrow between 8 and 10 am". At 9:45 this morning I called and was told my appointment was scheduled Wednesday morning between 8 and 10. I demanded their $20 "on-time" guarantee, and surprisingly received the credit.

I just wonder what "tomorrow" will bring? :confused:

The contractor called at 7:45 and arrived at 8:00. He had two cards, but they were Scientific Atlanta M-cards, so only one was necessary. It was recognized by the TiVo, retrieved its firmware upgrade successfully, and was authorized. Tuning worked well and digital/HD channels were recognized properly. Until I couldn't tune any of the HD channels I was specifically paying $10 more for each month.

A tech support call explained that TLC, Discovery, NatGeo, etc HD channels were all on switched digital video. And tuning adapters aren't available in Charlotte. Strike two, TWC. :down:

Someone else from TWC called back at lunchtime and tried to blame the problem on TiVo not being able to tune SDV. :down: Then they claimed they were working closely with TiVo to resolve the problem. (uh-huh, sure.) And that TiVo would get the tuning adapters to them as quickly as possible. WTF? More lies and disinformation from TWC in Charlotte. They gladly sold me a service they could not provide, then blamed it on TiVo. STRIKE THREE, TWC. :mad::mad::mad:

[SCSIRAID]

The contractor called at 7:45 and arrived at 8:00. He had two cards, but they were Scientific Atlanta M-cards, so only one was necessary. It was recognized by the TiVo, retrieved its firmware upgrade successfully, and was authorized. Tuning worked well and digital/HD channels were recognized properly. Until I couldn't tune any of the HD channels I was specifically paying $10 more for each month.

A tech support call explained that TLC, Discovery, NatGeo, etc HD channels were all on switched digital video. And tuning adapters aren't available in Charlotte. Strike two, TWC. :down:

Someone else from TWC called back at lunchtime and tried to blame the problem on TiVo not being able to tune SDV. :down: Then they claimed they were working closely with TiVo to resolve the problem. (uh-huh, sure.) And that TiVo would get the tuning adapters to them as quickly as possible. WTF? More lies and disinformation from TWC in Charlotte. They gladly sold me a service they could not provide, then blamed it on TiVo. STRIKE THREE, TWC. :mad::mad::mad:

Sounds like they told pretty close to the truth...... Other than the source of the TA's their statements are correct. Carolinas should get TA's in January.

[cdp1276]

My TW Rochester tuning adapter just partially conked out - I was able to tune standard-definition SDV channels (e.g. 119, 120, 122) but not HD ones. Since the last thing the TW rep and I did before the TA started working was replug the USB cable, that's what I did, and that actually did seem to fix things after a few minutes.

Hopefully this won't happen too often...

This happened to me today as well. I just called the special tech line and they rehit my tuning adapter from their side and all came back up fine. My other one has been working fine with no issues.

[KeithB]

Sounds like they told pretty close to the truth...... Other than the source of the TA's their statements are correct. Carolinas should get TA's in January.

pretty close to the truth isn't good enough when you subscribe and charge a customer for service you're :eek: not currently capable of providing.

The contractor :up: who came out this morning was prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable (regarding the cable card he was installing.)

The sales agent :down: knew I was a TiVo owner, wanted cable card(s), wanted digital HD, and specifically inquired regarding SDV.

The tech support agent :up: knew what the problem was, and I'll give him credit for knowing it. I'll also thank him for removing the digital HD service from my account.

The person who called :down: during lunch time denied TA's had gone out in Rochester or Austin, so he was either deliberately lying or totally uninformed. Neither is acceptable when dealing with an informed customer.

[jeremyz]

I'm inclined to agree with you since the last time they added HD channels for the movie services I didn't have sho2 or hbo2 for a week or so. Do you or anybody know how to bypass the standard tech support to get to upper level support? TWC is scheduling an appointment for 1/2 and I'd really hate to sit around all day waiting for a tech for a problem they cant fix.All my channels are back as of last night, except for FamilyHD, which I don't care about.

I had my service visit today, and the guy swapped the cards. The few channels that were heavily pixillated before are still nasty, but I can avoid those. Hopefully I won't completely lose all the channels again, though.

The only thing I can suggest is that you immediately ask to speak with a supervisor when you call customer service, and make sure that the work request is very clear about what you need. Cynthia White was the very good supervisor who helped me this time, and George Lopez was the guy I dealt with a year ago. They don't know any more than the regular team, but can help manage the process a little better. I've got a relationship with one of the senior-ish execs at TWC, so the public affairs team watches my progress a little more closely, but nobody over there really seems to be a technical expert at this stuff.

[mpastreich]

:sigh:

Well ... after being told that plant management was supposed to come out LAST wednesday to fix the signal problem, we suddenly lost most of our channels last night. My wife called and gave them bloody hell (its coming up on a month and a half of trying to get this fixed, along with her staying home from work for two days). After an hour and a half on the phone they gave her an appointment for today.

This time its my turn to wait home for the tech (this is our third collective day off). He comes in, and starts checking things. I gently walk him through what the previous tech found, and he goes out to check the distribution panel in the hall. After checking it, he says one of the channels is out of band (I think Channel 11 is 16 instead of 10, but I'm not entirely sure what that means :) ), and that he needs to call Plant to have them come fix the problem.

It then takes him almost 30 minutes to get Plant on the phone, so he can get a job number from them, only for me to be told they are coming out on the 31st (even though they were supposed to have fixed this last week).

If they can't get this fixed and working soon, then I think its time to run a cost comparison of what I'm paying them, versus OTA (now that digital makes that possible in Manhattan again), and Amazon to supplement for "first run cable" shows (or just wait for syndication).

[dwgsp]

This happened to me today as well. I just called the special tech line and they rehit my tuning adapter from their side and all came back up fine. My other one has been working fine with no issues.

I was told by the TW tech that they are waiting for a TA firmware update (from Cisco) to fix this bug. No ETA, however.

/Don

[ShaneF]

I had a call on my cell yesterday and I recognized the TW phone number. Unfortunately I was in a meeting and couldn't answer it. I called back later to inquire about the call and of course the CSR had no idea why I was called. I asked if it might be related to TAs and she didn't know what I was talking about. Hopefully the right person will try calling again today and have some TA news. There might be hope for TW Buffalo yet.

They just called again. They verified that I have a series 3 and that my TiVo has the lastest software. They will call "early next year" to arrange a technician to come out to install it.

[gary325]

First, I am finding more and more Rochester people on the forum with a Tivo. If possible, add your location to your profile!

I got that call about the TA and they said they will mail it out. How did your TA arrive? UPSP? Mailbox? Front porch? I want my TA...

I got the call almost two weeks ago. At that time I also scheduled the CC installation (holding off on the CC until the TA arrived) The CC came and got installed. The Tech had a screen on his computer that showed the SDV channels! But no hard copy for me.

Now I am awaiting the TA to get all the HD channels. I also noticed that I lost channels (even 1008, 1010, 1013) the other day. I rebooted the Tivo and all came back. I then scheduled some shows to record into the night on those upper channels (I also get 1030 and ESPNHD with the CC and without the TA). Those ame through OK.

Hoping you have greased the skids for me. When my TA arrives, it should go smoothly!!;)

[gary325]

As requested, here are PDFs containing scans of two (out of three) of the documents that were included in the TA box that was mailed to TWC Rochester, NY customers.

I also scanned the STA1520 Quick Reference Guide, but the PDF is too large to attach here. Since I don't really want to email it to lots of folks, does anyone has access to a server where it could be posted?

I am posting these for informational purposes - they are not particularly helpful if you are looking for details about the TA.

Another power adapter!!!:down:

How did your TA arrive at your home? USPS?

How big is it?

Here is the STA1520 Data Guide
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/video/ps9159/ps9195/ps9828/7013834.pdf

[nathos]

All the SDV channels magically started working for me a few days ago (TW Rochester). Everything seems fine, except Cartoon Network HD seems to glitch every few minutes.

[notting]

TWC, Raleigh/Durham.

I have a TivoHD with a cablecard installed today. After redoing guided setup, it filled in the channel list and data. While it correctly shows all the channels I do get, and also correctly ignored the analog premium channels, it shows every possible digital channel as available, regardless of whether it's authorized by my package. (Or even available, in the case of SDV).

Is this expected? Is there a fix other than manually editing the channel list?

[SCSIRAID]

TWC, Raleigh/Durham.

I have a TivoHD with a cablecard installed today. After redoing guided setup, it filled in the channel list and data. While it correctly shows all the channels I do get, and also correctly ignored the analog premium channels, it shows every possible digital channel as available, regardless of whether it's authorized by my package. (Or even available, in the case of SDV).

Is this expected? Is there a fix other than manually editing the channel list?

Yes... that is expected. Go into messages&settings/settings/channels/channel list and uncheck the ones you dont get. You can also designate your 'favorites' and set the guide to favorites mode and you will only see them.

[Fofer]

Yes... that is expected. Go into messages&settings/settings/channels/channel list and uncheck the ones you dont get. You can also designate your 'favorites' and set the guide to favorites mode and you will only see them.

Isn't that exactly what notting meant when wrote "manually editing the channel list?"

[SCSIRAID]

Isn't that exactly what notting meant when wrote "manually editing the channel list?"

Probably so.... but I chose to be specific just in case.

[dwgsp]

How did your TA arrive at your home? USPS?
Delivered by UPS, left on my front porch. It arrived two days after the call from TW/Rochester. If you have been waiting for more than a few days I would suggest that you call TW/Rochester and find out what's going on.


How big is it?

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/19/hands-on-with-the-cisco-tuning-adapter-sta1520/



Here is the STA1520 Data Guide
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/video/ps9159/ps9195/ps9828/7013834.pdf

Yep, but that's a link to the data sheet, not the Quick Reference Guide.

/Don

[xtoyz]

I'm a TWCRochester customer as well. Had our CC installed the day after Xmas (finacee bought the tivo for me). After two techs and a lot of phone calls we found out about the TA. I've got 1008, 1010, and 1013. I also have 1033. None of these come in as HD, none of them will change aspect ratios, and my picture occasionally cuts out. They said this is because of no TA, and that one would be shipped to me. I have allmy regular channels in the mean time though.

So far I'm very happy with my Tivo. I had an old R10 when I had Directv which is what made me ditch the SA DVR for the Tivo in the first place. Hopefully in the next week or so this all works out!

Shawn

[Regulator]

All the SDV channels magically started working for me a few days ago (TW Rochester). Everything seems fine, except Cartoon Network HD seems to glitch every few minutes.
I also get the quick "glitch" (video artifacts and brief audio drop) on several SDV HD stations: most notably on FoxHD. My signal strength is about 90-95 and SNR about 35db. Its annoying but at least the TA is working. I might have to have TW come out and test my cables.

[ziggygt]

I bought a HD Tivo for Christmas. Went to Time warner to get the cable card. should have stopped here first. In Milwaukee Wisconsin there is a $40 install fee and $4 per card carge per month. They told be that the the cable card would not recieve any HD channels above 100 because they were encoded to get higher bandwidth. A new card frequency converter is in beta but not available in this area yet. Is TW ********ting me? Does this really work? I wanted to get Netflix through it. Does that work without the Tivo Subscription? I can wait untill TW offers the new card here, but do not want to if the Tvio is a door stop without the service. I got a special price of $199 because I bought a HDTV with it. BB xmas special, so do not want to return it. The Netflix box will cost $100. With my current ReplayTV I am paying $7/month for the service and $7/month for the cable box that it drives. Was just planning to switch over. but cannot do both if I cannot get the channels I want. What is the real scoop?

[gary325]

I bought a HD Tivo for Christmas. Went to Time warner to get the cable card. should have stopped here first. In Milwaukee Wisconsin there is a $40 install fee and $4 per card carge per month. They told be that the the cable card would not recieve any HD channels above 100 because they were encoded to get higher bandwidth. A new card frequency converter is in beta but not available in this area yet. Is TW ********ting me? Does this really work? I wanted to get Netflix through it. Does that work without the Tivo Subscription? I can wait untill TW offers the new card here, but do not want to if the Tvio is a door stop without the service. I got a special price of $199 because I bought a HDTV with it. BB xmas special, so do not want to return it. The Netflix box will cost $100. With my current ReplayTV I am paying $7/month for the service and $7/month for the cable box that it drives. Was just planning to switch over. but cannot do both if I cannot get the channels I want. What is the real scoop?

CableCards (CC) are not needed for NetFlix (only a broadband connection). There is a separate thread for NetFlix on this forum.

[ziggygt]

CableCards (CC) are not needed for NetFlix (only a broadband connection). There is a separate thread for NetFlix on this forum.

I understadn that. Paying $13/month just to get Netflix on the tivo box is not a good plan. Roku looks like a better option. My goal was to get all the HD content available and Netflix. Time warner only supports HD channel that are less than channel 100 on the cable, that is pretty much just the local HD channels. At least this is what the the TW salesman told me. This does not make Tivo HD on Time Warner look like a good setup. Is this correct?

[gary325]

I understand that. Paying $13/month just to get Netflix on the tivo box is not a good plan. Roku looks like a better option. My goal was to get all the HD content available and Netflix. Time warner only supports HD channel that are less than channel 100 on the cable, that is pretty much just the local HD channels. At least this is what the the TW salesman told me. This does not make Tivo HD on Time Warner look like a good setup. Is this correct?
What service area? Are you effected by the use of SDV? When is the Tuning Adapter scheduled to be deployed in your area?
You always have the luxury of OTA (over the air) for HD for free!
I understand that you are paying the Tivo subscription fee as well.
Time Warner has been dragging their feet on CC and Tivo.
Best of Luck and Happy New Year!

[PumiceT]

I'm gonna post this in a few threads, I'm so happy.

I just got off the phone with Buffalo TW and they are following up on calls for TAs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :D :D

He did mention something about Jan/Feb :eek: for an install, but at least the email system worked!

He asked if I had a TiVo, what model it was and what sw level it had (interestingly, he wanted at least 11).

So they are coming for those of us in WNY! We can finally get rid of that crappy TW DVR!

Seggers

I got that call, too. Not to rain on your parade, but after reading the bulk of this thread, I don't much hope for the Tuning Adapter. My CableCARDs sometimes stop working, requiring me to reboot the TiVo. I can only imagine how "well" the Tuning Adapter will work.

I mostly just want to watch the Sabres games in HD, so I called TW back and demanded a FREE HD DVR to use until they get me a (working) Tuning Adapter. Surprisingly, a manager agreed to such an arrangement.

So, I got the box set up for Saturday's game, but I was immediately disappointed. MSG HD (channel 728, IIRC) didn't look anything like HD to me. After some research, I found out the Sabres games aren't on "MSG HD" in HD, you have to watch them on channel 700. Of course I learned this at the end of the 3rd period. LOL. Oh well.

I haven't had a way to check this out yet, but I have a feeling I can tune to channel 700 on the TiVo without a Tuning Adapter. Can anyone verify this?

[zablock]

I got that call, too. Not to rain on your parade, but after reading the bulk of this thread, I don't much hope for the Tuning Adapter. My CableCARDs sometimes stop working, requiring me to reboot the TiVo. I can only imagine how "well" the Tuning Adapter will work.

I mostly just want to watch the Sabres games in HD, so I called TW back and demanded a FREE HD DVR to use until they get me a (working) Tuning Adapter. Surprisingly, a manager agreed to such an arrangement.

So, I got the box set up for Saturday's game, but I was immediately disappointed. MSG HD (channel 728, IIRC) didn't look anything like HD to me. After some research, I found out the Sabres games aren't on "MSG HD" in HD, you have to watch them on channel 700. Of course I learned this at the end of the 3rd period. LOL. Oh well.

I haven't had a way to check this out yet, but I have a feeling I can tune to channel 700 on the TiVo without a Tuning Adapter. Can anyone verify this?

you know what I am getting so pissed off by albany twc I think I'm going to call when I get home and demand they give me some sort of discount until the tuning adapters are released.. I am sick of paying for channels I am not getting (and paying extra for a cable card that doesn't do me a whole lot of good without the tuning adapter) and it looks by your post like if I can talk to a manager maybe I can get something worked out.

[seggers]

PumiceT,

I don't think TiVo can get above 99 without CC in it. As for the HD stuff, I would think it can, as long as it has a way to decode the digital tiers and 700 isn't SDV'ed.

Just for the general record, we bought the S3 TiVo, but kept our TW HD DVR box. I found out about SDV after I bought the S3 and my old Humax S2 was already listed on eBay.

So I have been lucky in that I haven't lost any channels. I've been unlucky in that I can't fully use the TiVo and I have to keep using the DVR if I want the digital stuff.

My real hope is that the TA's will sort all this out and I will finally get rid of that blasted DVR.

Seggers

[gbrown]

OK TWC! It's year end Where is my SDV?

[PumiceT]

PumiceT,

I don't think TiVo can get above 99 without CC in it. As for the HD stuff, I would think it can, as long as it has a way to decode the digital tiers and 700 isn't SDV'ed.

Just for the general record, we bought the S3 TiVo, but kept our TW HD DVR box. I found out about SDV after I bought the S3 and my old Humax S2 was already listed on eBay.

So I have been lucky in that I haven't lost any channels. I've been unlucky in that I can't fully use the TiVo and I have to keep using the DVR if I want the digital stuff.

My real hope is that the TA's will sort all this out and I will finally get rid of that blasted DVR.

Seggers

With the CableCARDS, I can get a few HD channels, namely the local OTA channels, some ESPN channels, Discovery HD Theater and maybe one or two others.

I know for a fact they implemented SDV before they notified anyone, including their own tech support staff.

Supposedly the Tuning Adapter will get us EVERY CHANNEL we pay for (but still no On-Demand, which I don't mind at all).

[samsauce29]

Hello all. Just wanted to report a (mostly) positive experience with CableCARDs. On Christmas Eve, I had a tech come to the house. After a couple of hours, we were able to get 1 of 2 cards working. (The other card kept trying to get a firmware upgrade and kept crashing the TiVo.)

I followed up today on the phone and they told me to go to the local office and get another. I did that, came home, plugged it in, and after about 15 minutes on the phone, I'm the proud operator of a 2-tuner TiVo HD. :)

Also, I was speaking with someone in Tech Support in the Carolinas. He said that the tuning adapter is planned to be much more widely deployed in the next few weeks... even in Erie, PA... which is just now starting to move to SDV.

[awyeah]

Yep. My experience with Time Warner was very positive with the CableCARDs. The only problems I ran into was when they kept bringing me CableCARDs that were not compatible with my system (former Adelphia), and instead were compatible with the system just to the south of me... so the card wouldn't pair to the TiVo. But once they got me the right card (mine was actually manufactured in August of 2008... got it in October), it's been 100% smooth.

Can't wait for SDV (and the TA), so they can add more HD channels!

[ShaneF]

So, I got the box set up for Saturday's game, but I was immediately disappointed. MSG HD (channel 728, IIRC) didn't look anything like HD to me. After some research, I found out the Sabres games aren't on "MSG HD" in HD, you have to watch them on channel 700. Of course I learned this at the end of the 3rd period. LOL. Oh well.

I haven't had a way to check this out yet, but I have a feeling I can tune to channel 700 on the TiVo without a Tuning Adapter. Can anyone verify this?

Channel 700 comes in without the tuning adapter. FYI only the home games are in HD on channel 700. Away games are only on channel 28.

[gary325]

Rochester, NY service area of TWC

Recieved the TA today. Plugged it into the system and checked the channels: No Channels!!!
Reboot Tivo and still nothing. The TA powered off during the reboot:confused:
Powered up the TA and all the channels now tune properly.
One thing I have found to help the CC get registered to a tuner: tune to a channel that the CC must decode and record that show. Do this for both tuners. This associates the CC to a tuner.
Set up a few shows to record and all is OK with me.
Worth the wait, but I did not like the time without all the HD channels.

BTW: most of the shows on the HD channels are SD:(

Now how to deal with the OnDemand stuff without their remote/set top box!

[Combat Medic]

Well, I am officially unhappy with Time Warner right now. I went to watch Leverage and all I saw on 127 (TNTHD) was a grey screen. A call to tech support got me a mostly helpful guy that had me pull the cable card, he re-paired it, but still no 127. I asked and he swears that 127 is still a linear channel, but I have my doubts.

He's got a tech coming over tomorrow morning but I don't know what he'll be able to do.

-Mike

[rgura]

Installed my tuning adapter 2 days ago, things are working great thus far. I now receive an addition 25 or so HD channels, here is quick a list (http://robgtx.blogspot.com/2008/12/sdv-channels-now-available-on-tivo-s3.html).

[zablock]

and it looks like we have yet another reason to hate TWC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28446829/

not that any of those channels are any big loss (except for comedy central), but don't we pay our bills each month so we get the channels that are advertised? I think TWC is about to have a ****storm on their hands.

[ziggygt]

PumiceT,

I don't think TiVo can get above 99 without CC in it. As for the HD stuff, I would think it can, as long as it has a way to decode the digital tiers and 700 isn't SDV'ed.

Just for the general record, we bought the S3 TiVo, but kept our TW HD DVR box. I found out about SDV after I bought the S3 and my old Humax S2 was already listed on eBay.

So I have been lucky in that I haven't lost any channels. I've been unlucky in that I can't fully use the TiVo and I have to keep using the DVR if I want the digital stuff.

My real hope is that the TA's will sort all this out and I will finally get rid of that blasted DVR.

Seggers

I returned my HD tivo to BB. Will look at it again once the tuning cards are availble. Thanks for the help understadning the the issue is with TWC,

[gbrown]

And now TWC does it to us again No more Viacom (http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-viacom-time-warner-cable,0,3722158.story). That means no more

Comedy Central
Nickelodeon
MTV
etc.

[SCSIRAID]

And now TWC does it to us again No more Viacom (http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-viacom-time-warner-cable,0,3722158.story). That means no more

Comedy Central
Nickelodeon
MTV
etc.


Its interesting that everyone seems to assume that TWC is automatically the villian.

When was the last time you got a raise like Viacom is asking for....

"Viacom has asked for fee increases of between 22 percent and 36 percent per channel"

[ShaneF]

Its interesting that everyone seems to assume that TWC is automatically the villian.

When was the last time you got a raise like Viacom is asking for....

"Viacom has asked for fee increases of between 22 percent and 36 percent per channel"

That's a good point but it seems like TW is the only TV provider that is running into these issues. Are the other cable and satellite companies just meekly bowing to these demands or am I just not hearing about them? (Not trying to be contentious, I honestly don't know.)

TW here in Buffalo recently went through a similar battle with LIN Broadcasting which owns the local CBS affiliate. The up-shot was that we were forced to use rabbit ears to get CBS programming for many weeks. Eventually the dispute was resolved (details were not released as I recall). During this dispute I was on TW's side. The CBS station was freely available over the air, why should TW have to pay to provide something that is free?Now I'm not so sure. Basically, I'm just p_ssed that I'll have to watch Jon Stewart and Colbert online :).

[spolebitski]

And now TWC does it to us again No more Viacom (http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-viacom-time-warner-cable,0,3722158.story). That means no more

Comedy Central
Nickelodeon
MTV
etc.


So a few weeks ago I was at TWC and the CSR said he would pass my Tuning Adapter question up the chain. The next day I got a phone call from someone who wanted me to explain to them what a Tuning Adapter was, then the next day she called to let me know she was still looking into it and would get back to me the next day. They never called, a week went by, still no call. I went back to TWC and asked that the original CSR give me a call back as to whom he talked to (the person who called me). He was not around so a supervisor emailed him and I specifically asked that he call me so we could determine who he was speaking to. Well a week went by, and that brings us to today. The CSR was working today and I asked to speak to him. I asked whom he spoke to because they have not gotten back to me. Then I asked why he had not called me back, his words "I didn't have any further information so I did not feel a phone call was necessary". The CSR did email the person who he originally contacted and they are to call me back (not sure if this is actually going to happen).

On top of this he began to tell me how it's my fault I do not get the channels and if I would not us "unsupported devices" like the tivo I would get everything I am paying for.

In addition to this some of the TVs on in the store were on Nickelodeon. Banner across the bottom was saying that TWV and Brighthouse were going to lose 18 channels tonight. When I asked about this and if TWC planned to reduce their rates if they loose the 18 channels his response was it is not TWC who is the bad guy it's viacom.

Now I'm not sure of the details but it kind of TWC fault because they are unwilling to pay the price that viacom wants.

If TWC does loose the channels and keeps rates the same then i think we should all be upset.

[szurlo]

I may be naive, but I don't think TWC will let this deadline pass with no agreement. They are in constant competition with sat providers in all markets and other cablecos in many markets. I don't think they want to risk bleeding existing subs and losing possible new subs because their channel line up just dropped by 19 channels like MTV and Nickelodeon that most people consider to be a given in any providers channel line-up.

EDIT: Well, I could be wrong; as of 2:08 ET ccnmoney.com said "Viacom Inc. (VIA) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) appear unlikely to reach an agreement on carriage fees before the New Year, according to a source familiar with the talks"

[dmband]

i just got off the phone with twc central ny
they basically told me to go hell, seriously
they told me that my bill will not go down if and when we lose the channels (tonight at midnight)
they also told me that tuning adapters are not planned to be avalible ever in twcny - that they are only in markets where lots of people use cable cards, and the demand in cny is not there
they then said that my bill will not go down because of that either
stating that i am getting all channels available in my area -- BS
if i was i wouldn't need a tuning adapter
as soon as fios tv gets here i am down with twc once and for all

with all that said i am pissed at tivo still since they never told me i wouldn't be able to get all channels on cable card vs a box top when i specifically asked that question
$700 later i can't get the channels and most are blocked from tivo transfer too (my series 2 transfer everything, but of course its not HD)

[bitbanger]

Right there with you, dmband! Can't wait for FIOS!!

On the phone now trying to get the real story from TWCNY--reps are still clueless and can do nothing more than recite the website when it comes to tuning adapters--trying to get through to someone who actually knows what a tuning adapter is right now. We'll see if I succeed...

[bitbanger]

Well, as I figured, no immediate response from TWCNY on my phone call--Carolyn is looking up my tuning adapter order and will get back to me no later than Monday... I'll believe it when I get the return call... (she admits to not having seen a tuning adapter, but she says she understands what I am looking for... go figure.)

Unfortunately, with the utter lack of customer support provided by TWCNY I expect no better than the same answer dmband received.

Unfortunately, I live in a neighborhood with underground lines so FIOS is probably still years off... :-(

[KeithB]

Time Warner has been dragging their feet on CC and Tivo.
That's an understatement if I ever saw one... :p

Well, I am officially unhappy with Time Warner right now. I went to watch Leverage and all I saw on 127 (TNTHD) was a grey screen. A call to tech support got me a mostly helpful guy that had me pull the cable card, he re-paired it, but still no 127. I asked and he swears that 127 is still a linear channel, but I have my doubts.
TWC does whatever they want, doesn't tell anyone (ESPECIALLY their own employees) and doesn't care :down: because they own locally-franchised monopolies nationwide.

and it looks like we have yet another reason to hate TWC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28446829/
not that any of those channels are any big loss (except for comedy central), but don't we pay our bills each month so we get the channels that are advertised? I think TWC is about to have a ****storm on their hands.
TWC would never notice it, even if the ****storm covered the entire continental US. They already treat customers like crap, and experience ****storms nationwide every single day. That's why they don't care and they won't notice. :mad:

But, the real reason I came back to post on this SDV thread:

I have a Syntax/Olevia LCD television that does a good job of scanning all the digital channels, and it appears that TWC-Charlotte is placing a lot of these SDV HD channels on static QAM sub-channels, like 104.x, 105.x, etc. I can tune several in-the-clear digital channels and find HD programming there. Unfortunately:
neither the TiVo HD nor the cable card will tune those channels
I seriously doubt TWC will keep those HD channels assigned to any particular digital frequency/sub-channel for any length of time.
National Geographic HD has a terrible macro-blocking problem when tuned via the TiVo HD w/Cable Card.

Yet I still signed up via the web for a Tuning Adapter, because my TiVo HD would be useless with DirecTV, AT&T U-verse is not a viable alternative, and I really want to time-shift all the HD digital television I'm willing to pay for, and TWC keeps advertising all the time. My favorite TWC advertising slogan these days: "Free HD". :confused:

[seggers]

And now TWC does it to us again No more Viacom (http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-viacom-time-warner-cable,0,3722158.story). That means no more

Comedy Central
Nickelodeon
MTV
etc.


Effin TWC Muppets! :mad:

I'd ditch them in half a heartbeat if FIOS ever got their finger out and laid some cable outside my door.

Are you reading this Verizon? Strike now, whilst the iron is hot!! :D

Seggers

[JimWall]

In southwest Ohio TWC added USA HD and SCIFI HD on 995 and 994. They are working so not SDV but no TIVO program guide yet. Had to manually select the channels in the channels list.

[xtoyz]

Well after two service calls, lots of time spent with customer service on the phone, and a trip to the store I finally have my tuning adapter up and running. TWC really made us jump through hoops to get this working, and then I had to buy extra cables since they sent me a tuning adapter with nothing in the box.

My first impressions are this thing is garbage. Half the time I switch to channels the screen is blank. Switch to a prior channel, and come back and the channel is now showing video. I'm watching Bones on channel 1033 (HD TNT), and the Tivo is displaying video that looks contorted, has a line down the left side and top of the video, and is overall very disappointing. I can go to the TV downstairs that has a SA HD DVR and Bones looks great on it though?

Then again, other channels look good in HD. All in all I'm not very happy with my experience at all. I love Tivo, and I had a great experience with mine and DirecTV but I don't think I'm going to have a very good experience with a Tivo and time warner. How am I supposed to record my shows if the video doesn't show half the time? I'll never know if my recordings are going to be watchable or not!

Shawn

[javanthropus]

I just had a tech out at my house yesterday to install an MCard and the tuning adapter. After about 3 hours and numerous reboots and hits sent to the tuning adapter, we finally got the tuning adapter to work. All the channels were working and the tech left. It was getting late on New Year's eve after all. ;)

Then I needed to power off everything and reassemble my cabinet, after which the tuning adapter entered into 8 flashes mode. The MCard is still working for non-switched channels, but no amount of restarting the Tivo or the tuning adapter has helped get the tuning adapter working again. I called tech support, and they weren't able to do anything either, so they have scheduled a tech to come out sometime tomorrow.

I've read that cableguy763 is able to fix these problems quickly and permanently, but I can't PM him yet since I don't have enough posts. Hopefully, he's reading here...

[picachux]

Bro got a TivoHD for X-Mas. Sitting here trying to figure out what we need to use this with the TWC Los Angeles Broadcast service (Locals HD). We got it to tune into the Local HD channels but obviously the Guide Data is non existent for them so Season passes wont work. I guess I will need 2 Cable Cards but I have no idea if I can get them without actually subscribing to Digital Cable. Then I see people talking about different Cable Cards. Looking for any help on what I should be asking for? Thanks in advance. :confused:

[59er]

Bro got a TivoHD for X-Mas. Sitting here trying to figure out what we need to use this with the TWC Los Angeles Broadcast service (Locals HD). We got it to tune into the Local HD channels but obviously the Guide Data is non existent for them so Season passes wont work. I guess I will need 2 Cable Cards but I have no idea if I can get them without actually subscribing to Digital Cable. Then I see people talking about different Cable Cards. Looking for any help on what I should be asking for? Thanks in advance. :confused:
For the TiVo HD, one M-card is sufficient. (M-card is short for multistream card, so it handles two tuners at once. S-cards are single-stream and only handle one tuner, so you would need two of those.) For the TiVo S3, which was discontinued, two cards are always necessary, whether or not they are M-cards, but it doesn't sound like your brother has that model.

[picachux]

For the TiVo HD, one M-card is sufficient. (M-card is short for multistream card, so it handles two tuners at once. S-cards are single-stream and only handle one tuner, so you would need two of those.) For the TiVo S3, which was discontinued, two cards are always necessary, whether or not they are M-cards, but it doesn't sound like your brother has that model.

EDIT:

Got a customer rep named Joe. He knew exactly what I need, Even asked which Tivo I had to see if 2 cards were necessary or just 1 M-Card. $2.75/Month + $19.95 one time fee.

[wgorilla]

Cable card installed a week ago. Noticed half of my channels weren't showing up after technician left. I was having my own technical issues at the time, so tech didn't hang around long.

Anyway, tech # 2 shows up today (I went a week cuz I went out of town), calls it in and they cycle the feed or whatever they do. All the channels are there and tech is done in under 20 minutes. I'm satisfied, but I wish this could have been done over the phone. Kinda funny...he asked to check attic and backyard connections as kind of a preventative maintenance, I suppose. While he's doing that, I'm furiously checking all the channels I can think of to make sure I'm still not missing anything cuz I want it fixed NOW and not some other day. heh heh

Glad I didn't have any protracted issues like some I've read on here. Now back to watching corny 20 year-old videos on VH1 Classic. :)

[PumiceT]

Anyone in the Buffalo / WNY service area mind sharing AIM Screen Names or Gmail chat?

AIM SN: PumiceT
Gtalk: pumicet at gmail dot com

No one from Time Warner would want to answer random questions all the time, but I have a feeling people here would accept a chat to see if we're all experiencing the same thing(s).

I usually get the same channels on both CCs, but last night I lost any non-basics on slot 1. The TW guy told me not to take them out, but after rebooting and waiting a whole day, nothing changed. So I swapped card positions, and now both cards get digital + some HD, but NOT some of the HD channels I was getting only moments ago. I know for a fact I usually can get 740, Discovery HD Theater. Now it's gone. I can get local HD channels, but nothing else.

When are we getting Tuning Adapters?!?!

[SCSIRAID]

Anyone in the Buffalo / WNY service area mind sharing AIM Screen Names or Gmail chat?

AIM SN: PumiceT
Gtalk: pumicet at gmail dot com

No one from Time Warner would want to answer random questions all the time, but I have a feeling people here would accept a chat to see if we're all experiencing the same thing(s).

I usually get the same channels on both CCs, but last night I lost any non-basics on slot 1. The TW guy told me not to take them out, but after rebooting and waiting a whole day, nothing changed. So I swapped card positions, and now both cards get digital + some HD, but NOT some of the HD channels I was getting only moments ago. I know for a fact I usually can get 740, Discovery HD Theater. Now it's gone. I can get local HD channels, but nothing else.

When are we getting Tuning Adapters?!?!

When you switched the cards, you lost the pairing. TWC will have to re-pair to get the channels back.

[star_topology]

Wow, never did I expect to find THIS many pages about Time Warner horror stories!

Before I post my story... let me ask this question, how long *should* it take TWC to install my encoder card?

(Don't say "it depends on how busy they are." I've heard that too many times.)

[PumiceT]

When you switched the cards, you lost the pairing. TWC will have to re-pair to get the channels back.

Actually, it seems to be working pretty well... I suppose I should switch them back? Maybe it wasn't the swap that made them work, and they just needed to be removed and reinserted?

[skaggs]

Before I post my story... let me ask this question, how long *should* it take TWC to install my encoder card?

It took only 25 minutes from the time I let the tech in my door to the time he walked out. He installed a Mcard in each of my two TiVoHD units. You can read the details here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5632301#post5632301).

[Enrique]

It took only 25 minutes from the time I let the tech in my door to the time he walked out. He installed a Mcard in each of my two TiVoHD units. You can read the details here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5632301#post5632301).+1 It took only 10-20 minutes for me. As long as you know whats going on and can help, that can go a long way in getting it right the first time(but that's not always the case). Just read up on the process and you should be fine.

[star_topology]

It took only 25 minutes from the time I let the tech in my door to the time he walked out. He installed a Mcard in each of my two TiVoHD units. You can read the details here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5632301#post5632301).

That is incredible, and not entirely unexpected. My local TWC, to date has had my Tivo for one week.

On top of all that, it took three to four days to even get pointed in the right direction. Here we go:

Wife gets me a Tivo for Xmas. I'm excited.

Next day, I unbox and read the instructions and call TWC to schedule a visit for Saturday between 8 and 12. I hook the TiVo up to my Internet to download updates and program listings to cut some of the work out. Still excited.

Saturday, he's a no-show. No phone call either. I'm miffed.

Monday, I call back to reschedule. Tuesday between 1 and 5. I'm at work during those hours, so I request the last visit of the day. I'm inconvenienced.

Dateline Tuesday 1:45, I get a phone call FROM THE TECH! He's ready to come out. Needless to say, I cannot oblige him. He then asks, "What do you need done again?" Once I explain to him (what should've been on his ticket) he tells me that he's a contracted tech, and they don't do those installations and that I have to bring my TiVo to the TWC office. I'm appalled.

After I get off work, I bring in the TiVo to get the card installed, and the lady behind the desk could not give me an estimated time of completion, rather a "I dunno, it depends on how busy they are." I'm angry.

Next day, the cable goes out. After a grueling back-and-forth with uninformed tech support, customer service supervisors, and eventually a level-two tech, he was able to find that a cable card option was toggled on my existing HD box that does not have a freaking card! At least I got my cable back. I'm pissed.

Yesterday, I pay a visit to check up on my TiVo and the latest update is "by the end of the week." I'm livid.

I haven't had a day's trouble with the actual service that TWC provides, it's been solid. But the last two weeks of customer support was easily the worst customer service experience of my life. They have 2 1/2 strikes on them, and DirecTV looks better and better every day.

[PumiceT]

That is incredible, and not entirely unexpected. My local TWC, to date has had my Tivo for one week.

On top of all that, it took three to four days to even get pointed in the right direction. Here we go:

Wife gets me a Tivo for Xmas. I'm excited.

Next day, I unbox and read the instructions and call TWC to schedule a visit for Saturday between 8 and 12. I hook the TiVo up to my Internet to download updates and program listings to cut some of the work out. Still excited.

Saturday, he's a no-show. No phone call either. I'm miffed.

Monday, I call back to reschedule. Tuesday between 1 and 5. I'm at work during those hours, so I request the last visit of the day. I'm inconvenienced.

Dateline Tuesday 1:45, I get a phone call FROM THE TECH! He's ready to come out. Needless to say, I cannot oblige him. He then asks, "What do you need done again?" Once I explain to him (what should've been on his ticket) he tells me that he's a contracted tech, and they don't do those installations and that I have to bring my TiVo to the TWC office. I'm appalled.

After I get off work, I bring in the TiVo to get the card installed, and the lady behind the desk could not give me an estimated time of completion, rather a "I dunno, it depends on how busy they are." I'm angry.

Next day, the cable goes out. After a grueling back-and-forth with uninformed tech support, customer service supervisors, and eventually a level-two tech, he was able to find that a cable card option was toggled on my existing HD box that does not have a freaking card! At least I got my cable back. I'm pissed.

Yesterday, I pay a visit to check up on my TiVo and the latest update is "by the end of the week." I'm livid.

I haven't had a day's trouble with the actual service that TWC provides, it's been solid. But the last two weeks of customer support was easily the worst customer service experience of my life. They have 2 1/2 strikes on them, and DirecTV looks better and better every day.

Too bad that TiVo HD unit won't work at all with DirecTV. If you want to make a REAL challenge to Time Warner, you'd need to threaten to leave them for FiOS or some other service that can use CableCARDS. Satellite is not one of the options.

[skaggs]

star_topology:

There are people at TWC that are "in the know". In my experiences, the Customer Service Reps are not these people. For example, if you have read these threads for awhile, you will notice that a helpful, knowledgeable, frequent poster here is cableguy763 and he is a TWC employee in Austin, TX.

Since you said you got a call from one of the Techs when he was ready to meet you, look through your call log and get the phone number. Call him back and (very politely) explain that you would like to speak to his supervisor. Give your cell phone number as the call back number.

When the tech supervisor calls you back, note the number on your caller ID. Ask him for his direct extension before explaining your issues. Remain calm and be polite. Be prepared by writing down all your issues before the call.

I was able to befriend a couple of techs and two of the tech supervisors this way. I eventually ended up with their email address. I found these guys were interested in some feedback from customers who were knowledgeable with TiVos, since they had very little experience with them. For example, I'll estimate that Albany TWC has about 50,000 customers, of which only 300 cable cards had been issued. (This number of cable cards was unsolicited info provided by one of the tech supervisors)

Now, I will bash TWC when necessary on lack of HD channels, SDV, lack of tuning adapters, cc byte restrictions, etc. The CSR's are not the people to go to when you want information. Any problem you present will result in them telling you to remove your cable cards and reinsert them. ;)

Good luck with your TiVo. By the way, I would never have let them take my TiVoHD's into their possession.

[picachux]

Just got done, Took all day as the guy they sent out only brought 2 cards with him and both were bad. He left after about and hour of trying the same thing over and over. Came back 3-4hrs later and then waited for another hour for his supervisor to show up with 1 more card which worked. Another hour later someone came by to drop off 5-6 cards. It's working with 2 Single Stream cards, He told me that they have no way of knowing when they will get Multi Stream cards. Guess I will have to pony up the extra $$$ for the 2nd card. :( I am Happy that I can start adding all my season passes. :)

[bitbanger]

Latest news on tuning adapters from Jennifer at TWCNY...

She says they are now telling reps that they are due in around April... so much for the end of the year availability mentioned in the Oct '08 letter.

I mentioned I feared this device might go the same route as the multi-room DVR service they'd allocated a channel for on the SA8300HD (when I had that prior to last year.) That service seemed to be in testing for years and was never deployed. She replied that "we will definitely be getting the tuning adapters, I just don't know when."

I'll believe it when I get the call telling me they are available.

[bitbanger]

Ok, so it seems I might have been a little premature in my last post...

Surprisingly, and within seconds of hitting send on my last post, I got a call back from Jennifer at TWCNY and she tells me she just spoke to the call center supervisor who is telling her "they will start to ship tuning adapters to those who've signed up through the web site in the next 2 to 4 weeks with the goal of getting them all out by the end of the first quarter."

This is a much better answer than "I don't know when."

Thank you, Jennifer!

[po00oq]

So, I finally got a TWC Rep out yesterday to install my tuning adaptor... It took him about 2 hours to get the thing working. The guy he was talking with on the phone didn't know anything... I had all of my digital channels working, but my basic channels would not come in. After about 2 hours of talking with this guy, he finally got it working.

The only thing is I don't get 2 of the HD channels (A&E and Palladium) All of the other SDV Channels are coming in though YAY!

The guy that called me said that the general roll out would be on the 12th in San Antonio. I'm happy now.. I just hope they don't jack my bill up because they had to "Touch" my account..

[KeithB]

Latest news on tuning adapters from Jennifer at TWCNY...

She says they are now telling reps that they are due in around April... so much for the end of the year availability mentioned in the Oct '08 letter.


Ok, so it seems I might have been a little premature in my last post...

Surprisingly, and within seconds of hitting send on my last post, I got a call back from Jennifer at TWCNY and she tells me she just spoke to the call center supervisor who is telling her "they will start to ship tuning adapters to those who've signed up through the web site in the next 2 to 4 weeks with the goal of getting them all out by the end of the first quarter."

This is a much better answer than "I don't know when."

Thank you, Jennifer!

True, but April 1 :eek: is only one day after the end of the first quarter. ;)

[star_topology]

In addendum to my previous posts... Time Warner still has my TiVo and with two weeks gone by, they are still not done with it. "The end of the week" last week was when it was supposed to be done. I've had the TiVo service activated since X-Mas Eve, so I'm in effect paying for the service that I am unable to access.

Monday will begin the third week that TWC has had my TiVo HD box in their possession just to install the encoder card. I'm beginning to think this is in effort for me to get frustrated and just buy their proprietary Time Warner DVR, but I'm not about to give up. I know they can't be that busy to take the 30 minutes or so required to pop this thing in, but I don't know what to do next aside from contacting the BBB--but that isn't going to accomplish anything, or building my own MythTV setup. I'm technical enough to do this, but the TiVo was a big gift from my wife and I don't exactly want to tell her we have to take it back.

Please advise. I'm beyond frustrated with the lack of assistance TWC is giving me, and I'm unfortunately not in a position to make demands for a switch in service, as there are no other reliable sources for cable TV and Internet. I could get DirecTV and ATT DSL, but I would be paying more for those services than I am now with TWC. Damn monopolies...

[BruceShultes]

Your local TW office getting the Tuning Adaptors isn't all you need.

Our TW started handing them out saturday morning and by saturday afternoon stopped and were having them returned.

Apparently they were not loaded with the correct firmware.

[bobrt6676]

In addendum to my previous posts... Time Warner still has my TiVo and with two weeks gone by, they are still not done with it. "The end of the week" last week was when it was supposed to be done. I've had the TiVo service activated since X-Mas Eve, so I'm in effect paying for the service that I am unable to access.

Monday will begin the third week that TWC has had my TiVo HD box in their possession just to install the encoder card. I'm beginning to think this is in effort for me to get frustrated and just buy their proprietary Time Warner DVR, but I'm not about to give up. I know they can't be that busy to take the 30 minutes or so required to pop this thing in, but I don't know what to do next aside from contacting the BBB--but that isn't going to accomplish anything, or building my own MythTV setup. I'm technical enough to do this, but the TiVo was a big gift from my wife and I don't exactly want to tell her we have to take it back.

Please advise. I'm beyond frustrated with the lack of assistance TWC is giving me, and I'm unfortunately not in a position to make demands for a switch in service, as there are no other reliable sources for cable TV and Internet. I could get DirecTV and ATT DSL, but I would be paying more for those services than I am now with TWC. Damn monopolies...


1. You CAN go to TWC and demand the return of your TIVOHD. card or no card. (it is YOUR property not TWC's)
2. You CAN use your TivoHD w/o CC('s) for basic cable or put a set of rabbit ears on it until they can install the cc('s) at YOUR place.
3. You CAN demand credit from TWC for services lost.
4. You CAN have TWC conference with Tivo to get your CC('s) working.

I am not sure what city you are in but if you post your city there may be others in your area that may have insight to your local TWC office.

[Lorcane]

I'm having some strange issues with my TivoHD and how the 2 cable cards work. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how it was fixed. I have about 10 channels or so that don't tune in the correct station. For example, SCFI for me is channel 450, but when I go to that station I'm getting ESPN; however, ESPN is still tuning in on the correct channel. Also the History channel is completely black. When I look at the Cable Card menu it shows a signal and that my decryption is working, yet I don't get anything on the screen. And another thing, according to the official channel listings in the RGV area I'm not suppose to get ESPN2HD with Cable Cards, however, it is tuning in just fine on both cards. All my problems started in Mid-December when my local area started to reorganize a few of the channels and it seems they added a few more sports channels to the sports package.

[SCSIRAID]

I'm having some strange issues with my TivoHD and how the 2 cable cards work. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how it was fixed. I have about 10 channels or so that don't tune in the correct station. For example, SCFI for me is channel 450, but when I go to that station I'm getting ESPN; however, ESPN is still tuning in on the correct channel. Also the History channel is completely black. When I look at the Cable Card menu it shows a signal and that my decryption is working, yet I don't get anything on the screen. And another thing, according to the official channel listings in the RGV area I'm not suppose to get ESPN2HD with Cable Cards, however, it is tuning in just fine on both cards. All my problems started in Mid-December when my local area started to reorganize a few of the channels and it seems they added a few more sports channels to the sports package.

You might try a complete reboot to insure that the cablecards/TiVo are using a current channel map. Ive had my S3 have troubles after lineup changes until I pull the plug and start over.

[bitbanger]

Your local TW office getting the Tuning Adaptors isn't all you need.

Our TW started handing them out saturday morning and by saturday afternoon stopped and were having them returned.

Apparently they were not loaded with the correct firmware.

My tuning adapter was at the door when I got home from work today. After dinner I got it connected--initially got no signal, but that was because I connected it to ANTENNA, not CABLE, connector on TiVO.

Called the toll free number included with the adapter, confirmed it was authorized and functional, then (after connecting to CABLE input) was able to tune all SDV and non-SDV channels first try. Currently watching CNNHD (SDV channel 824.)

Congratulations TWCNY for a successful tuning adapter deployment!!

[xtoyz]

My tuning adapter was at the door when I got home from work today. After dinner I got it connected--initially got no signal, but that was because I connected it to ANTENNA, not CABLE, connector on TiVO.

Called the toll free number included with the adapter, confirmed it was authorized and functional, then (after connecting to CABLE input) was able to tune all SDV and non-SDV channels first try. Currently watching CNNHD (SDV channel 824.)

Congratulations TWCNY for a successful tuning adapter deployment!!

You had a number to call?! I did not, was just plug and play.

Shawn

[mbruns]

Just Venting:

In Columbus Ohio, Time Warner is moving FOX from Channel 728 to 708. They sent the data to Tribune, which sent it to Tivo, which updated my TIVOHD DVR.

They neglected to actually move the channel, so anything on FOX didn't record. 708 is a blank channel.

I only found out, when my wife yelled "Where is American Idol?"

Did this affect anyone else?

[Xab]

Just Venting:

In Columbus Ohio, Time Warner is moving FOX from Channel 728 to 708. They sent the data to Tribune, which sent it to Tivo, which updated my TIVOHD DVR.

They neglected to actually move the channel, so anything on FOX didn't record. 708 is a blank channel.

I only found out, when my wife yelled "Where is American Idol?"

Did this affect anyone else?

Isn't it the other way around? They are moving FOX HD from 708 to 728? I have been recording things on 708 for weeks, and tonight recordings were just gray space. Now 728 shows up as WTTE-DT and has no guide data.

[skaggs]

Just Venting:

In Columbus Ohio, Time Warner is moving FOX from Channel 728 to 708. They sent the data to Tribune, which sent it to Tivo, which updated my TIVOHD DVR.

They neglected to actually move the channel, so anything on FOX didn't record. 708 is a blank channel.

I only found out, when my wife yelled "Where is American Idol?"

Did this affect anyone else?

In early December 2008, Albany TWC posted an official Legal Announcement (http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrary/4/5/Content%20Management/Programming/documents/notice_nys_122208.pdf) on their website stating they were adding Big Ten Network HD and Crime Investigation HD on December 30, 2008 (in addition to several SD channels).

My TiVos received the guide data for the new channels around January 1, 2009. We still have not received the new channels yet, about two weeks after the date posted in the Legal Notice.

Of course it wouldn't matter for my TiVos & I because the HD channels would be SDV and we still don't have a tuning adapter.

My turn to vent:
Albany TWC has had SDV since September 2006. :mad:
Albany TWC currently has 121 channels (http://albanyhdtv.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=Lineup&action=display&thread=1955&page=1#4493) using SDV. :eek:
Albany TWC has not released the tuning adapter.:down::down:

[MustHaveTivo]

He told me that they have no way of knowing when they will get Multi Stream cards. Guess I will have to pony up the extra $$$ for the 2nd card.

Do you know what office your TWC service is from? Or, what area of LA are you in?

I am in the San Gabriel Valley and I believe we are served out of a Hacienda Heights office. If anyone knows whether this office is providing M-cards, I'd appreciate knowing about it. We installed our TivoHD just about 1 year ago exactly, and they told us no M-cards were available in our sector at that time, although some other areas did have them already.

$5.50/month we'd save from going from 4 S-cards to 2 M-cards isn't much, but it isn't nothing either. Thanks for any localized info.

Thanks!

[bitbanger]

Time Warner just can't give TiVo users their due...

I've got the tuning adapter installed and its great to see all the channels to which I am subscribed, but I discovered this evening that my kids' shows (from Nick, channel 34 on TWCNY) are now copy protected!!!! So I can no longer transfer the kids show to their TiVo or a computer via TTG!!!!

The tuning adapter is setting the CCI Byte to 0x02 even on the analog channels that were previously not flagged with a CCI Byte.

I verified this through the TiVo diagnostics. I even disconnected the tuning adapter to verify the CCI Byte status when not using the adapter.

Time Warner giveth, Time Warner taketh away... Time Warner wants to push their own boxes so bad they they will most likely NEVER give TiVo users the ability to use all the features which made them choose the TiVo in the first place.

Still praying for quick deployment of FiOS in my neighborhood...

[skaggs]

The tuning adapter is setting the CCI Byte to 0x02 even on the analog channels that were previously not flagged with a CCI Byte.
While I find it interesting that you report TWC in Central NY is using the Tuning Adapter to set the CCI byte, it doesn't surprise me.

Albany TWC has set the CCI byte for EVERY CHANNEL (except the local broadcast stations) at 0x02 when using a cable card and it has been this way for over a year. Several local people have tried to get Albany TWC to change their CCI byte, but are met with unknowledgable customer service reps who don't know/understand what a CCI byte is. Complaints to the FCC and NYS Public Service Commission have not resulted in any movement to rid the broadcasts of the 0x02 CCI byte.

Attempting to discuss this with TWC felt like I was pounding my head against the wall, so I looked into hacking my TiVo HD unit to remove the CCI byte. While I know it can be done after reading info on another forum, it seems like you need to have an advance degree in Computer Science and been through a soldering school of some kind. Not having the few months of time it seems I would need to research / learn how to hack the TiVo HD, I resurrected one of my Series 2 units from its' box in my basement so I could record Disney & Nick for my daughter and then transfer the programs to my PC using TiVo Desktop Plus. I then can convert the programs to sync with her ipod.

[jeffspam]

Unless it's something simple, like reporting an outage, it's pointless to contact TWC customer service. You need to start at the top, and go down the chain. Call the office of one of TWC's VPs. Here's a good place to start: Time Warner: Executives By Business (http://www.timewarner.com/corp/management/executives_by_business/time_warner_cable/index.html). Regarding SDV and TAs, I was getting a dozen different answers from customer service reps. Only when I contacted the office of the VP of my region, who got me in touch with someone on the head-end side of the operation, did I get straight answers on what was happening.

Now might be a good time to bring this to the attention of... well, someone. With most (all?) of the major online music retailers virtually eliminating DRM, plus all of the free online TV content (e.g. hulu, joost, etc.), there *might* be some hope. But I suspect this won't be resolved without the help of federal legislators. You might want to wait a few months -- I hear there's a lot going on in the federal government right now!

[Gilgamesch]

I have a very basic Time Warner cable card question. I have a HD capable TV which means I will need a cable box from Time Warner to get HD Content. I am going to be getting a HD TIVO and I was wondering if the cable box is all I will need to get the HD content on my TIVO or will I also need them to install cable cards in TIVO. The guy I talked to said I will not need the cable cards but I figure it is better to be safe than sorry. Thanks for any help.

[jeffspam]

Here's the quick summary of 134 pages of this thread: You can likely get the unencrypted local broadcast channels via cable (google around for "tivo clear QAM tuning"), but in order to get anything else in HD, you'll need a cablecard. If you don't plan on using cable's VOD features, you can do away with the cable box and get only the cablecard (cablecards are also significantly cheaper to rent than a cable box). If you're in an area which uses SDV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_digital_video), there will be a number of HD channels you won't receive until your region deploys tuning adapters, which is a device that connects to the Tivo via USB.

[Gilgamesch]

Thanks for the advice. I did read the thread and assumed I would need the cable cards which is why I was so confused when the Time Warner rep told me I would not need the cards.

[PumiceT]

I have a very basic Time Warner cable card question. I have a HD capable TV which means I will need a cable box from Time Warner to get HD Content. I am going to be getting a HD TIVO and I was wondering if the cable box is all I will need to get the HD content on my TIVO or will I also need them to install cable cards in TIVO. The guy I talked to said I will not need the cable cards but I figure it is better to be safe than sorry. Thanks for any help.
A quick note, in case you weren't aware:
TiVo HD has neither the infrared remote channel changing, nor video inputs that previous TiVos had. TiVo HD can ONLY record from its two internal tuners, which will require either two single-stream CableCARDs or one multi-stream CableCARD (commonly referred to as "s-card" and "m-card").

As far as I know, TiVo will only get basic cable without CableCARDs.

[PumiceT]

Thanks for the advice. I did read the thread and assumed I would need the cable cards which is why I was so confused when the Time Warner rep told me I would not need the cards.
If you said you'd be renting one of their boxes, they were right—that box does NOT need a CableCARD. Time Warner reps know very little about TiVo, and even less about TiVo S3 / HD / HD-XL, so they probably assumed you'd be running it like an older TiVo (much like a VCR—using the composite video and stereo audio inputs).

[eddieb187]

TWC came to install a CC in my new Tivo HD today.
Guy was here for 4 hours. Missing HD channels issue.
After calling a TWC tech and a Tivo tech I'm still missing 13 HD channels.
Premiums like HBO HD and Max HD and HD networks I get.
The ones missing are the new HD channels just added in the past few months.
DiscHD, CNN HD, Sci HD, Speed Hd, FoodHD, TLC HD...
One SA multi stream CC is installed. Paired fine and is activated.
No one seems to know what the problem is.
I live in upstate NY, (TWC Hudson Valley) and SDV is not implemented here yet so that's not the problem.

Anyone else run into this kind of issue with their install?

How can I get this resolved?

[Lorcane]

Read below to see my first problem. Well I guess I'm still having the same problem but now different channels are being affected. For example, Thursday night I was watching TNTHD channel 893 in my lineup, and yesterday sometime while I was at work, TiVo got a lineup change and now TNTHD tunes to the VOD channel for TWC. Was on the phone for an hour with a lvl 3 tech and could never resolve the problem. Anyone know how the Tivo tells the CC how to tune to a station? I find it interesting that I had a change of problems after my Tivo received its daily update. What OOB lvls should i see on my DVR diagnostic menu when I'm looking at each CC?

I'm having some strange issues with my TivoHD and how the 2 cable cards work. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how it was fixed. I have about 10 channels or so that don't tune in the correct station. For example, SCFI for me is channel 450, but when I go to that station I'm getting ESPN; however, ESPN is still tuning in on the correct channel. Also the History channel is completely black. When I look at the Cable Card menu it shows a signal and that my decryption is working, yet I don't get anything on the screen. And another thing, according to the official channel listings in the RGV area I'm not suppose to get ESPN2HD with Cable Cards, however, it is tuning in just fine on both cards. All my problems started in Mid-December when my local area started to reorganize a few of the channels and it seems they added a few more sports channels to the sports package.

[SCSIRAID]

Read below to see my first problem. Well I guess I'm still having the same problem but now different channels are being affected. For example, Thursday night I was watching TNTHD channel 893 in my lineup, and yesterday sometime while I was at work, TiVo got a lineup change and now TNTHD tunes to the VOD channel for TWC. Was on the phone for an hour with a lvl 3 tech and could never resolve the problem. Anyone know how the Tivo tells the CC how to tune to a station? I find it interesting that I had a change of problems after my Tivo received its daily update. What OOB lvls should i see on my DVR diagnostic menu when I'm looking at each CC?


My OOB level is 26db. Have you done a complete power down of the TiVo and reboot? Ive seen the channel map get messed up after the cableco makes changes that seem to get resolved with a power cycle. It happened to me last week after they replaced an existing channel with Bravo. Power cycle and all was fine.

[jschuur]

After calling a TWC tech and a Tivo tech I'm still missing 13 HD channels.
Premiums like HBO HD and Max HD and HD networks I get.
The ones missing are the new HD channels just added in the past few months.
DiscHD, CNN HD, Sci HD, Speed Hd, FoodHD, TLC HD...
Are you sure these are available for your street? Did you have a TWC cable box before and get them e.g.?

That list of channels was rolled out in my area (Orange County, CA) months ago, but I didn't get them until around this week (just in time for Battlestar Galactica, yay!). When I spoke to my local TWC customer support a few months back, they said the roll out was underway and they didn't know exactly when each specific neighborhood was getting the new HD channels.

[eddieb187]

Are you sure these are available for your street? Did you have a TWC cable box before and get them e.g.?

That list of channels was rolled out in my area (Orange County, CA) months ago, but I didn't get them until around this week (just in time for Battlestar Galactica, yay!). When I spoke to my local TWC customer support a few months back, they said the roll out was underway and they didn't know exactly when each specific neighborhood was getting the new HD channels.

Yes.
I have a TWC DVR also. The 8300 HD.
I get all those channels on that cable box.
We got them several months ago in a couple of rollouts.

[ChrisFix]

Had TWC out today to install Cable Card in my new Tivo HD...installer called 10 minutes before arriving to confirm appt. and I was able to confirm he had an SA M-Card, which I insisted the phone rep request on the work order (he brought both S-Cards and M-Cards to the install).

When ordering, the phone reps insisted they didn't have M-cards because they "are not compatible with SDV"...what a bunch of idiots they are on the phone (and I called twice, and got the same answer both times)!! No amount of explaining that S-Cards are also not SDV compatible made a difference to them.

Installer (contractor) arrives right on time, and I ask the usual "have you done this before" question...which he had once, a long time ago...so I prepare for the worst, and him walk through the steps on the Tivo provided guide. I had run the guided setup before the install, selecting "I'll install CC later" option. The installer inserts the M-Card into slot 1, and the appropriate menu comes up. Took the installer about 5 mins on the phone to figure out which of the various numbers he was supposed to be providing, but once done, we saw the box get hit from the head-end, and all my channels were there - nothing else needed to be done. Took less than 10 mins from hello to goodbye with everything working. The only downside is that TWC Raleigh-Durham charges $42.95 for a CC install, that could be easily done on a self-service basis, but I knew that going in.

I had tried this before 1.5 years ago, and canceled the CC install and returned the Tivo HD because of the issues I had with the cable card implementation at that time (2 S-Cards @ $42.95 each for install & no digital simulcast). I just need the TA for everything to be perfect, but I'm happy for now.

Just thought I'd share my positive experience for anyone considering making the plunge...not every CC install has to be a nightmare!!

[Lorcane]

My OOB level is 26db. Have you done a complete power down of the TiVo and reboot? Ive seen the channel map get messed up after the cableco makes changes that seem to get resolved with a power cycle. It happened to me last week after they replaced an existing channel with Bravo. Power cycle and all was fine.

I've done everthing... powered down, reboot, finally called up Tivo Tech support and they are checking on the lineup information provided by my local TWC office. It is looking like the Tivo is being told to tune to the wrong station when I type in the channel number. I'm suppose to know more by the end of the week.

[Gilgamesch]

Okay let me see if I understand my Time Warner situation. Since I only have a HD capable TV I going to need a HD Cable Box from Time Warner. The HD Cable Box and the cable cards perform the same function in decoding the feed from Time Warner so if I have the HD Cable Box I will not need the cable cards for my TIVO HD. Sorry for my confusion and thanks for everybodies help.

[SCSIRAID]

Okay let me see if I understand my Time Warner situation. Since I only have a HD capable TV I going to need a HD Cable Box from Time Warner. The HD Cable Box and the cable cards perform the same function in decoding the feed from Time Warner so if I have the HD Cable Box I will not need the cable cards for my TIVO HD. Sorry for my confusion and thanks for everybodies help.

No. If you have a TiVo HD and you want to use it with digital cable you will need cablecards. The cablecards do the authorization and decryption of the content for the TiVo. A TW Cable box with a cable card is analogous to the TiVo and also uses its cablecard to decrypt the content. Each device needing decryption services needs a decryption device aka cablecard. The cablecard only provides decryption services for the box it is plugged into.