Time Warner Cable - Mystro upgrade

[David Swoboda]

Hey,

I'm a bit surprised to not see a thread here about the TWC cable box software upgrade to Mystro this past week here in Milwaukee, WI.

It has hosed my TiVo as it can no longer change channels reliably for scheduled recording. No need to mention that this has me very upset.

Go here to read some about some other folks who are in the same situation:
TiVo forums (http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10368349&returnExpertiseCode=)

My TiVo's have been changing channels for over 7 years with no issues until TWC updated to the latest version of Mystro.

-David

[scandia101]

did you do a search for 'mystro'?

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315472
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=338535
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=338936
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=336751

[David Swoboda]

Well I thought I did a search before posting... Maybe I spelled it wrong in the search.

Thanks for the links. However, I am now approaching severe depression. These posts are a year to 6 months old!

I have none of the crashing troubles, its just that my TiVo on the cablebox can no longer change to the correct channel. Neither can my brothers TivO. And I am sure neither can any TWC subscriber in South Eastern Wisconisn who has a TiVo on the new cablebox software, Mystro. The old Passport software has worked with the Tivo since I first bought it back in 2000.

I fear this will be the death of a usable TiVo and that ticks me off. What good is the TiVo if it can't change channels 99.9% of the time? Its no good.

It surely sounds like a TWC issue and I am not confident after reading the above links, that this issue will be adressed.

Can a Series 1 use a serial cable to change channels? Which cable box would allow that if its possible. I have the Pioneer boxes.

This is a really sad day for TiVo in Milwaukee. The line at the TWC store was very long. They have been issues for almost two weeks. The store empolyess know there is a problem. However, there is no solution from TWC. How long will this take to resolve? Will it be resolved. Who is to blame, TiVo or TWC or both?

This is a giant issue and it needs to be addressed quickly. :eek:

-David

[Red Pimpernel]

David, It has something to do with the upgrade, but it is not just the cable box. We have a dual tuner series 2 TiVo that is just connected straight into the wall cable. It is also having problems changing to correct channels. I'm stumped as to how to correct this.

--Red

[David Swoboda]

Hi Red, sorry to hear your also having troubles :(

I think in my case it is a TWC/Mystro issue. I have had this Series 1 Phillips TiVo hooked up to this cable box since about mid 2000, and it has never once missed a channel change until about two seeks ago when the cable box went from the old Passport software to the new Mystro software. My other series 1SONY TiVo is not through the cable box, but is just on the coax and it changes channels just fine.

I sure hope this gets fixed. I'd have to give up TV if my TiVo stops working ;)

-David

[Arcady]

I think it is amazing you have an 8 year old hard drive that actually works.

[aktu]

Unfortunately this seems entirely related to the new TWC/Mystro software. It hit Kansas City a few weeks ago and we have the same problem. There are several threads open on the Tivo help forums:
Time Warner Upgrade problems (http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10368349)
Time Warner update problem (http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10372827&returnExpertiseCode=)
There is also a case open with Tivo support - #8666924. It is worth calling Tivo support to log the issue to they understand how serious this is, but at least first tier support have no clue how to resolve this.

We have no cable box crashes etc, and the channel changes ok manually from the Tivo remote since they are not happening around the hour/half-hour. From reading other posts it seems to be related to the cable box trying to get data for the channel guide. I wonder if that capability can be disabled in the cable box? I have a Pioneer cable box.

Changing the IR codes to slower transmission seems to help some people but not others. At this point it seems like the end of the road for Tivo unless they can work around this eg offsetting the channel change by 10 seconds from the hour/half-hour?

[aktu]

OK, through frustration I did a lot more manual testing. For me the problem seems to be changing from a 3 digit channel to a 2 digit channel, or sometimes between two 2 digit channels. It generally seems ok going from a 2 digit channel to a 3 digit channel.

I had TWC reset the (Pioneer) cable box, but I also removed power from it completely so it powered up and did a complete initialize. On the Tivo I changed the channel changing options to 10014-B, 2 digit channel with enter. At least for now that option works best for me in manual mode with considerably less failures.

I did notice before that the cable box was slow sometimes when buttons were pressed. Maybe like a PC it needs completely powered down and rebooted sometimes? I'll know in a few days if this helps.

[aktu]

More failed recordings, more testing. The Pioneer box with the latest update just does not seem to pickup the IR commands from the Tivo correctly. With 10014-B 2 digits with enter, and changing to eg channel 344, it frequently seems to skip the second 4, probably treating it as a "bounced" remote key. So I'm now using 10014-C, 2 digits with enter. This seems to work better than the 3-digits with leading 0, however it still fails on some recordings.

[aktu]

Sorry folks...I mistyped in that last post. I am using 10014-A, 2 digits with enter. "A" is the medium speed between "B" and "C". After the second day I have 100% success! Although I still think reinitializing the cable box helped as well, and only time will tell if it will need reinitialized every few weeks or so.

[Joey P]

This started happening to me a while back (I posted about it but got almost no help). I'd say about 20% of the channel changes are wrong. And when they are wrong it does it one of two things.
1)Records the last digit of the channel. For example if it is supposed to go to channel 41, it's as if the TiVo sent the command "0-0-4-ENTER-1" so it only ends up recording channel 1.
2)It's as if the TiVo sent the command "Clear" to the cable box. Again for channel 41, it's like the TiVo is sending the command "4-1-CLEAR." I say this becuase as soon as the two digits pop up on the cable box banner, the banner immidiatly disappears, as if it received a 'clear' command.

I haven't really paid attention to when it happens, but I have noticed it doesn't miss the single digit channels.

Is this the same problem everyone else in Milwaukee is having?

ETA, the other thing that REALLY confuses me, and makes me wonder if my issue is more of a TiVo issue then a cable box issue. This ONLY ONLY ONLY happens when TiVo is changing channels on it's own to record something, it NEVER happens when I'm changing the channels.

I've been thinking about going to the TiVoHD and using two cable cards. Maybe that will fix the problem.

[Joey P]

Unfortunately this seems entirely related to the new TWC/Mystro software. It hit Kansas City a few weeks ago and we have the same problem. There are several threads open on the Tivo help forums:
Time Warner Upgrade problems (http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10368349)
Time Warner update problem (http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10372827&returnExpertiseCode=)

Someone in one of those threads mentioned turning off 'bypass'. My problems started a few months ago right after the cable box did a download/upgrade. At that time I noticed that the 'bypass' light was on. What does bypass do?

[Joey P]

One last thing, FTR, in case it makes a difference, I first started with this problem on December 12.
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=377677

[David Swoboda]

Does that date correspond to when you got the Mystro upgrade from TWC? My boxes updated about 3 weeks ago (I'm in Brown Deer).

You may wish to also follow this thread: http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10375098

I have now set my TiVo to 2 digits and Press Enter. It is better but not perfect. . . And I still can not change to a channel greater than 999. I used to do this all the time with the older Passport software. . .

-David

One last thing, FTR, in case it makes a difference, I first started with this problem on December 12.
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=377677

[David Swoboda]

Actually 4 drives. . . 2 upgraded Series One TiVos. I did do a replacement on one drive about a year back. They have been working like champs since I bought them.

I think it is amazing you have an 8 year old hard drive that actually works.

[Joey P]

Does that date correspond to when you got the Mystro upgrade from TWC? My boxes updated about 3 weeks ago (I'm in Brown Deer).
-David

Honestly, I don't know. All I know is that I woke up one morning and noticed that my cable box was off. When I turned it on, my green 'bypass' light was on and the cable banners were different. I really didn't pay attention to what software it was.

[Joey P]

You may wish to also follow this thread: http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10375098
-David

:D That URL is a direct link to my post in that thread.

[Joey P]

Okay, I just had a new one. TiVo was on channel 3, it was supposed to go to channel 6, the cable banner displayed 0-0-0 (as in it received three zeros) and that was it, the 6 never appeared. It stayed on channel 3 and started to record that. I've NEVER had it miss American Idol.

[gdahlberg]

I had a similar experience with the new Mystro software for TWC in Columbus, OH. After receiving the Mystro update on Tuesday, my Series 2, which has been successfully changing channels on the same Pioneer cable box via IR since we got the box at least six years ago, was not able to change to any channel that had a "doubled" digit -- 211, 33, etc. -- and would simply drop the second double digit. Re-running the channel change setup from the Tivo settings menu seemed to do the trick and now I'm able to successfully reach those channels.

After confirming it was the same box, I selected "Recommended settings" for the box rather than "Advanced settings". I left all of the default settings in place -- three digit channels, no need to press "Enter". The Tivo ran through several channel change tests, and after a few minutes (and a few unsuccessful "double digit" changes) it wound up with a setting that now appears to work slowly enough for the cable box to pick up the channel correctly.

Although it sounds like I may be in the minority for the problems caused by the Mystro "upgrade", perhaps one potential resolution for those affected might be to try and get the Tivo itself to recognize and correct the problem via the settings menu?

[NiteCourt]

It appears that it is a problem with the new software used in all of TWC digital cable boxes. I say that since reading here and on other forums it is happening on all brands of their boxes. I'm having the same problems of schedule recordings being missed because the channel is not changing correctly. :mad: When I change the station manually with the Tivo remote it always works. I have a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2200 in Erie, PA.

[pharmer]

Just recently had my TW box upgraded with Mystro and had the same problems as reported by everyone else. I contacted TW and their response was as expected we don't support Tivo. I then contacted Tivo and after opening up a ticket, I got a call back from someone from the investigative unit. We ran the channel changing test and discovered that when we attempted to change the channel to 11 the Cable Box went to channel 1. After that Tivo would not change the channels.

We then checked the channels that Tivo receives and discovered that Channel 1 is not in the Tivo channel lineup. So I then changed the power up channel on the Cable Box to a different channel. Reran the tests and the both the Cable Box and Tivo were able to change the channels.

I don't know if this is a final solution but it seems reasonable since our Cable Boxes often loose power. You may want to give it a try.

[Fassade]

The same issue happened to me in San Diego when TWC upgraded their boxes. I had previously changed the delay settings, with partial success. Like gdahlberg suggested, I reran the guided channel setup, and that seems to have cleared the problem. I am not sure exactly why, or if it was the combination of re-running the setup and the earlier delay settings changes together that made the difference, but, for the last two days, every channel change has succeeded.

[gdahlberg]

Like gdahlberg suggested, I reran the guided channel setup, and that seems to have cleared the problem. I am not sure exactly why, or if it was the combination of re-running the setup and the earlier delay settings changes together that made the difference, but, for the last two days, every channel change has succeeded.

The delay setting might be key. I was apparently somewhat premature in my "success story", as I've now had several recorded programs over the last few days turn out to be completely different than advertised. I'm not having the same double-digit channel problem, though; this time, it's happening all over the place, and with some of the most basic channels (i.e., NBC, which for me happens to be channel 004. You'd think that wouldn't be too tough to change to...) I haven't changed any of the delay settings yet.

So I'm back to being open for suggestions from the board.

[jon_n_san_diego]

I'm in San Diego and was also quit unhappy with the attitude I got from Time Warner's tech support. After 10 mins on hold the guy has me run down stairs and puts me through the steps to see if the cable is changing channels (which I already knew it was) correctly. Then gave me the monotone advice to contact tivo, not a TW problem. - I splained that after 17 years as a customer maybe Direct TV or ATT/Yahoo would help me figure it out. - And the fact is, this just might be the straw that pushes me to save money with another provider. - The tech guy could have just told me TW's policy upfront, but he had to do the nonsense step-by-step as if he were going to help me. - You'd think with their stock near the 52-week low, they'd want to keep customers, not lose them...but maybe that's why their stock is where it is.

[spolebitski]

This started happening to me a while back (I posted about it but got almost no help). I'd say about 20% of the channel changes are wrong. And when they are wrong it does it one of two things.
1)Records the last digit of the channel. For example if it is supposed to go to channel 41, it's as if the TiVo sent the command "0-0-4-ENTER-1" so it only ends up recording channel 1.
2)It's as if the TiVo sent the command "Clear" to the cable box. Again for channel 41, it's like the TiVo is sending the command "4-1-CLEAR." I say this becuase as soon as the two digits pop up on the cable box banner, the banner immidiatly disappears, as if it received a 'clear' command.

I haven't really paid attention to when it happens, but I have noticed it doesn't miss the single digit channels.

Is this the same problem everyone else in Milwaukee is having?

ETA, the other thing that REALLY confuses me, and makes me wonder if my issue is more of a TiVo issue then a cable box issue. This ONLY ONLY ONLY happens when TiVo is changing channels on it's own to record something, it NEVER happens when I'm changing the channels.

I've been thinking about going to the TiVoHD and using two cable cards. Maybe that will fix the problem.

I have not had any issues with my tivo as of yet. I am currently waiting to get my cable cards for my tivo hd and have 2 s2 tivos hooked directly to the cable outlet. However today my TWC cable box (will be gone in a week thank god) did an update could this be the "Mystro" update that has been posted on this forum?

Also for those that are having issues are you using a cable box in addition to your tivo unit, thus the line up changes?

[Fassade]

I have 2 TWC cable boxes -- the TWC HD DVR (yuck, I know) and a plain cable box connected to a TiVO Series 2. After the Mystro upgrade, the TWC DVR lost a couple of its Season Passes, for some reason, and the TiVO was unable to change channel settings reliably on the other cable box. Like most others report, the problem only occurred when the TiVO changed channels; when I changed channels myself with the TiVO remote, it always succeeded.

I went through and experimented with different channel change settings, and the one that seemed to have the most success for me was 3-digits-then-enter, on medium delay. (I do not recall for sure, and I do not know if I can double check it without having to change it.) That made things a bit more accurate, but not 100%. Then I went through the guided setup, and, when the TiVO asked, said I was on TWC Digital Extended Basic. So far, channel changes have always worked, though I have noticed on two occasions when a show finished recording, it changed to the wrong channel. (It changed to a show on TLC, Channel 55, and, then, when the show ended, it changed to Channel 5. No idea, why, but it changed channels successfully when the next show to be recorded came up.)

My situation may be different than most, however, because I use the HD DVR for most things, and the TiVO is primarly for the kids' shows, and really only switches back and forth between about 4 channels. I never, for example, change to a four- or one-digit channel. If you are having problems though, it might be worth trying that combination.

[NiteCourt]

I went through the channel changing setup a few times and it always changed the channel correctly during the setup but for season passes and suggestions it would not change the channel correctly. If I set it to record channel 096, I would watch the cable box banner change to 09, then it would chnage to channel 6. It was set to 3 digits with no enter. I changed to to 3 digits with enter and then went to the advanced setup. There was an IR code for my cable box with an A after it. I switched to B. Since then all season passes and suggestion have been recording the correct channel. I did notice that the cable box banner displayed is not longer listing the program info but always says loading... There shouldn't be any relationship though.

[Fassade]

Just as a data point, I have had two channel change failures...so it is still not 100% for me, though it is much better since the guided setup + channel change experimentation.

[40wnks]

I had trouble with my Series 2 Tivo (Dual Tuner) switching channels correctly when I first got it about 6 months ago. After trying different cable boxes that TWC offered here in KC, I settled on Scientific Atlanta's Explorer 4250HDC. That pretty much cured my switching problems. I have noticed no recurrence of the problem with Mystro.
Bill (40wnks)

[Omikron]

It's curious that some of you have reported only seeing this issues when the TiVo automatically changes channels for a show. Some have speculated that this is because the box now does some processing of guide data at exactly these times. Has anyone yet tried to offset recording their SP's a minute early and seeing if that makes a difference? I don't have TWC or any of these cable boxes but I'm very curious to hear about the result.

[HTH]

I've had these problems. My city was one of the beta-test communities. I've repeatedly told them of the problem but either it was never elevated to the right party, they just don't care, or it's a designed-in feature to get people to switch to their DVRs. (Nevermind that during the beta test, their DVRs were similarly unusable. Only by having CableCards in my Series3 has my sanity been saved. City response has been all threatening talk and no action.)

Padding the start and end of shows by one minute addresses some of the problems. I have had the box restart during the padding at the hour though. It also depends on the show on the channel you're leaving whether it is ending at the moment you're changing channels. With the networks starting shows at one minute late, you can end up changing on the danger half-hour for the channel you're leaving.

Series1 users are SOL on this as they still don't have soft-padding options. Also, since there's no option to apply an automatic pad on Suggestions, you'll have to turn them off too or go to straight cable, no cable box.

[horinemj]

fyi... not working in san diego for me, either... never a problem until i got an unnecessary and unwanted upgrade from TWC, which, by the way, continuously restarts itself when i push the remote buttons faster than it likes on a tv other than the one hooked up to tivo... it only happens when tivo needs to change the channel to record... (haven't been able to find a pattern in the numbers or channels it has a problem with) ... never had trouble manually changing the channel... i've reset the channel changing settings several times, and still, at least 25% of my recordings are futile...

[JazzerAlto]

I think it is timing at the bottom and top of the hour. The TWC box is updating its program info and if the Tivo is changing the channel at the same time, the process gets interrupted and you get the wrong channel. I have mine record 1 minute early and rarely have issues.

[visator]

Hooked up my Series 2 TiVo to the net for the first time. Next thing I know my screen is telling me my TW cable box is downloading Mystro. The progress bar never completed, but a few weeks ago the Mystro-problems did arise - with TiVo not recording the right channels. The "new look" to the Guide, probably Mystro, did appear a month or so ago. (TW Cinci)

The "Digital Boxes" have been randomly shutting down several times a week. So, the TW technician came out and replaced some cables and splitters, claiming the weak signal was causing the "Digital Boxes" to shut off. In a few days, the box has already shut down a couple of times.

The technician, also, said the new Guide caused the channels to change slower.

I went through the TiVo Channel Selection set-up and manual channel changing seems to work better. Havn't tried any timed recordings, yet.

I'm beginning to wonder if my very recent TiVoHD purchase may be ill-timed. Maybe the CableCards will fix the channel selection problem.

[Joey P]

I think it is timing at the bottom and top of the hour. The TWC box is updating its program info and if the Tivo is changing the channel at the same time, the process gets interrupted and you get the wrong channel. I have mine record 1 minute early and rarely have issues.

I have a lot of my 'problem' shows set to record one minute early, and I'm still having alot of problems.

Has there been any real updates on this issue recently?

[wtherrell]

Re: Channel changing problems after Mystro upgrade.

Props to Time Warner Cable Charlotte

Called Time Warner and told them about this problem using the detailed info on this forum. CSR said he had never heard of such a problem but would look into it and call me back. Yeah, right, I thought. Two days later I got a call back from the guy. He said that he had talked to the software engineers and sure enough there was a software problem causing this. He indicated that a new download could be expected in a couple of days and to call back if that did not fix it. In addition he said he was sending someone out to replace my cable boxes with the latest Scientific Atlanta HD boxes. He said these are more robust and should take the commands easier. Sure enough, the boxes were replaced and with the software update I have had no more problems with this issue. I have removed the padding from the suggestions and everything works like it should. The tech that changed the cable boxes wanted to know if I had tried the TWC DVR. Yes, I said, but it could not even come close to matching my Tivos. I then demonstrated how I could search for Actor, Director, etc. and get Tivo suggestions. She was blown away and commented that she would have to get a Tivo herself. Anyway, I am very satisfied with TWC's handling of the problem. They got it corrected, and I can now get HD channels I could not previously. Maybe I'll have to get an HDTV for the Holidays!

[Joey P]

Okay, so I went into a TWC with my game face on. Came right out and told them that since they went to Mystro that my TiVo wouldn't change channels very well anymore and I'd like to try a SA box. I was prepared for any of the normal responses (it's the TiVo, what's a TiVo, use our box etc...). They simply told me that they were out of SA boxes, but I should try a Samsung box since they seem to work pretty well. So I've got it hooked up. Here's something odd though. When I first hooked it up I noticed that TiVo had no problem changing the channel. I reran the channel changing wizard and it wouldn't work when I selected Samsung as the brand, so I set it back to Pioneer. I'm going to remove the padding from everything and we'll see what happens. If it doesn't work I'll try a SA box.

Oh, and I asked about the SDV dongle, he said he doesn't know anything about when it'll be released, but at least he knew what I was talking about.

[DawnW]

So you are having to pay for boxes and your Tivo service? Is there a specific reason you are not just using Tivo alone with a cable card?

Bear in mind, I am in Charlotte also and am just ordering my first Tivos for TWC today. I just want to know all the facts here.

Thanks.

Dawn

Re: Channel changing problems after Mystro upgrade.

Props to Time Warner Cable Charlotte

Called Time Warner and told them about this problem using the detailed info on this forum. CSR said he had never heard of such a problem but would look into it and call me back. Yeah, right, I thought. Two days later I got a call back from the guy. He said that he had talked to the software engineers and sure enough there was a software problem causing this. He indicated that a new download could be expected in a couple of days and to call back if that did not fix it. In addition he said he was sending someone out to replace my cable boxes with the latest Scientific Atlanta HD boxes. He said these are more robust and should take the commands easier. Sure enough, the boxes were replaced and with the software update I have had no more problems with this issue. I have removed the padding from the suggestions and everything works like it should. The tech that changed the cable boxes wanted to know if I had tried the TWC DVR. Yes, I said, but it could not even come close to matching my Tivos. I then demonstrated how I could search for Actor, Director, etc. and get Tivo suggestions. She was blown away and commented that she would have to get a Tivo herself. Anyway, I am very satisfied with TWC's handling of the problem. They got it corrected, and I can now get HD channels I could not previously. Maybe I'll have to get an HDTV for the Holidays!

[Joey P]

So you are having to pay for boxes and your Tivo service? Is there a specific reason you are not just using Tivo alone with a cable card?

Bear in mind, I am in Charlotte also and am just ordering my first Tivos for TWC today. I just want to know all the facts here.

Thanks.

Dawn

Alot of people myself (and wtherrell I assume) don't have S3 or HD Tivos. The S2 Tivos don't have cable card slots. Also, we're so close to TiVo be able to communicate both ways throught he CC (I hope anyways) I'm sort of holding off for that.

[DawnW]

Ah, I see. Ok. I am getting the HD Tivos.

Thanks,

Dawn

Alot of people myself (and wtherrell I assume) don't have S3 or HD Tivos. The S2 Tivos don't have cable card slots. Also, we're so close to TiVo be able to communicate both ways throught he CC (I hope anyways) I'm sort of holding off for that.