Tivo HD no channels w/cc in

[jpen]

On the Tivo HD out of the box I was able to get the basic channels to tune in. I put an mcard in slot one, pairing screen came up. Went to test channels and I got the dreded acquiring channels screen then the unable to acquire screen. With the card in I am unable to get any channels at all. Take the card out and the basic channels return. I am now on card number 6 - all with the same problem as above. Either I am extreemly unlucky with the cards or the tivo slot is bad. So to the TIVO GURU's out there - any ideas? I have 2 S3's and when I put the cable cards in them I was able to get channels. Yes I have repeated guided setup and restarted the tivo. Thanks Happy New Year!

[bkdtv]

Simply sticking CableCards in the TiVo will not help you. They must be activated by the cable company on their system before they will work.

[jpen]

The cards are active for the basic channels when you get them. At least the ones i got for the S3's were. I went through about 15 cards for the S3's and every one got the basic channels. Both Comcast and Tivo support tell me that I should at least be able to tune in to the basic channels with the card in.

[bkdtv]

The cards are active for the basic channels when you get them. At least the ones i got for the S3's were. I went through about 15 cards for the S3's and every one got the basic channels. Both Comcast and Tivo support tell me that I should at least be able to tune in to the basic channels with the card in.The CableCard implementation in the TivoHD is different.

Did you use the correct make and model CableCard? If it's not the right card, it won't communicate with your provider at all, even for basic channels.

[bizzy]

Who is your cable provider?
Where do you live?
Who gave you the cablecards?
Have you called your cable co and given them the pairing information?

[jpen]

Houston, Texas
All cards have been motorola mcards.
Comcast cable
Comcast gave me the cards
When I call to give them the pairing info, they ask me to test the channels. Since I get no channels with the card in they tell me the card is bad and replace it.

[bgtees]

I'm in Houston also...I picked up a pair of M cards for my TivoHD on Monday (picked up two in case the first one didn't work). Had no trouble getting it paired, just inserted the card when prompted during the Tivo setup, called the number on the sheet provided by Comcast & they got it all to work in just a few minutes.

[Temp]

I'm in houston and having the exact same problem. I'm able to get basic channels but I stick the M-card in and tivo gets stuck on acquiring channels. The comcast reps tell me I should be able to get basic channels without having the card activated, and refuse to even try to activate it until I'm able to "acquire channels".

[js281]

I just picked up a Tivo HD to compliment my Series 3 which I have been using w/ 2 S-Cards for almost 2 years now, and have the same problem as others are describing in this thread. I am on my 2nd M card, and the card does not pull any channels on the cable card screen when you select channel scan.

I called Tivo up as well as Comcast and it appears that the card is communicating, but the card is not pairing (get Val:? 0x00 at the Conditional Access screen). The Comcast CSR's have all told me that I should be able to get basic channels, but that does not appear to be the case. I then contacted the Tivo CC hotline and the CSR's went through a couple of things and said that the card was not pairing. I then went back and called Comcast and the CSR I talked to said to give the unit 24 hours, and they where having problems with the card in my unit. Unfortunately the Comcast CSR told me to leave the CC in the unit so they where going to try and push something possibly overnight, but with the card in the unit I can't get any channels at all (even off the antenna) as the antenna scan locks up during the initial setup.

If I remove the cable card, all is well and I can get both the basic Comcast channels and the Antenna channels and complete the basic setup but when I install the CC the Tivo want me to re-configure it and we are back at square one (locks up at the antenna channel scan).

Also does anyone know what the latest Tivo software is for the Tivo HD? I thought it was 9.2a, but after forcing the update a couple of times it is still only showing 8.1.7c2-xx-x-xxx. (got the software version that is the latest from the Tivo website at the following link http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=bc9ef1b7-1778-469c-b57d-a269f3f6f2b0)

I will update this thread with updates when they come in.

[Temp]

I finally got this issue resolved after calling Tivo's cable card support line from these forums (Dennis was wonderful for any tivo people reading). He called comcast and waited with me on hold (30 mins) for comcast support (make sure to ask for tier 3 cable card support).

It seems the comcast support has very bad information. They will not activate the card until you see the basic channels, but you will NOT see any basic channels (at least in my case with my tivo HD) until the card has actually been activated. So, beg, plead, or lie until they activate the card. Pleading worked in my case "As a last resort can we please just try to see if an activated card will fix it?" This was after the tivo tech argued with the comcast tech for a while. The tech needed 3 numbers off the tivo cc pairing screen and told me it would be activated between 3-5.

The whole thing was a mess, but I'm just happy I have working tivo again.

Edit - As for the software update, tivo downloaded it (9.2) on my 3rd restart (comcast tech's kept making me restart tivo). I had previously gone to setup and forced a network connection until tivo told me that it would phone home later that night for the next one.