SDV Tuning Adapter - Cox No. VA

[Miller]

anybody else having problems accessing TBSHD channel 722? It's been out for me for a few days. haven't bothered calling tech support since it's not exactly a very pressing channel for me, but i think there's a show on it coming up that i'd like to check out.... just don't feel like wasting a lot of time on the phone for just that one.

and yes, i've tried the 3 troubleshooting steps in the TA handout... no luck...

No, I currently get all of the channels I am supposed to. To be honest, as flakey as the TA can be at times I am afraid to touch it. I am thinking about putting it behind a protective barrier of some sort. :)

[qtip96]

My TA rebooted on me three times on Saturday over a five hour period. Each time it takes about 5-10 min for the TA to do its flashing light thing and then for TiVo to ask for confirmation that it is connected to a TA. During this time the SDV channels are unavailable and TiVo dumps the 30 minute buffer. Anybody else having this problem???

I'm having the exact same problem. Got installed yesterday and the TA has rebooted at least 5 times -- one time I had to do a cold reboot. Any fixes for this?

update: Called Cox support and they got supervisor to work on the problem. They reset the tuner to make sure everything was configured correctly. I was told if it keeps happening to get the box swapped out. 2 hours after the call and the tuner has rebooted 3 times.

update2: swapped out the tuner and it is still happening regardless of what USB port is used. Called Tivo and the case is being escalated to engineers because this is the first time they have heard of this happening.

[euckersw]

Not sure if this has been covered anywhere, but has anyone noticed that when choosing to record a SDV channel Tivo asks you at what video quality you want to record the channel. I'm really confused - aren't these channels digital, and therefore there's only one quality? My Tivo doesn't ask me what video quality to record any of the non-SDV HD channels. Am I still getting full HD quality when recording the SDV HD channels?

[amyflick]

I'm still waiting for the patch that was supposed to be pushed on Jan 15th so I can get the center ice channels. I'd call Cox to inquire, but I'm pretty sure the tech support people won't know what I'm talking about.

[Revolutionary]

Not sure if this has been covered anywhere, but has anyone noticed that when choosing to record a SDV channel Tivo asks you at what video quality you want to record the channel. I'm really confused - aren't these channels digital, and therefore there's only one quality? My Tivo doesn't ask me what video quality to record any of the non-SDV HD channels. Am I still getting full HD quality when recording the SDV HD channels?

Yes. There is only one recording quality for digital. You are getting HD quality. That menu is just the default. Not sure why we see it (I see it on SDV channels, too), but that setting is irrelevant.

But even if you aren't reassured, set it to "Best" and be done with it.

[deaddeeds]

I picked up a TiVo HD last week to add a 2nd TiVo to my house. So I had a truck roll on Saturday for a CableCARD & TA installation. The install had some hiccups so I wanted to pass along some lessons learned and insights.

The First thing was when I called Cox to schedule the install the CSR said that they do NOT have M cards. I told them that yes they do have M cards and asked her to talk to her supervisor. I then spoke to the supervisor and he said they did not have M cards. So I then told them put a note on the service call to bring an M card if it was available.

Then on Saturday the installer showed up at 12:05 and guess what, he had an M CableCARD and a TA. (Note: Cox CSRs and Installers refer to the TA as a TiVo Tuner) Once again Cox has a training issue regarding CableCARDs and TiVos.

The installer started to hookup the TA and the CableCARD at the same time but realized he had to the CableCARD and TA installation in series not parallel. With out the TA hooked up the installer got the M Card installed and recognized within 15 minutes.

Then he tried to get the TA to work but after 30 minutes of the TA blinking a series of eight and no luck he called back to Cox to ping the TA again. This time it was determined that the new TA was tied to the account but it was tied to the first TiVo and not the new HD TiVo. So after 10 minutes we tried again and still no luck so then we did a hard boot on the TiVo and the TA and finally after 1 hour the TA was up and running. Total install took a little under two hours.

So for those of you out there with two TiVos you want to make sure they Cox assigns one TA per TiVo and yes Cox does have M cards. Also if you do happen to get two S cards make sure you are only charged for one digital gateway by requesting a “CableCARD Ao Fee Adjustment”.

In addition if the installer is having problems you can help them out by showing him the CableCARD & TA Diagnostics screens in TiVo. But you need to make sure that TiVo has the updated software because version 8 software does not support the TA. Lastly the installer said if the TA aka TiVo Tuner flakes out, just return it for another one.

[djones18]

Tuning Adapters (TA), aka Tivo Tuners to some CSRs, have been in use for about one month in Fairfax County. Here is a summary of tips/tricks for TiVo HD owners from this thread.

1. TA with new TiVo HD installation:

a. Ask CSR for M-Card cablecard and Tuning Adapter or Tivo Tuner for installation in your TiVo HD. Be persistent and precise; ask that installer bring more than one cablecard in case of failure. Installer may show up with wrong instructions you passed to CSR or different cablecards (two S-cards). Two S-cards will work but ensure you're not charged for two cards. Cox Fairfax County is only charging for one...confirmed from install last week.

b. Before installer arrives: connect TiVo HD via phone line or broadband, activate TiVo, allow time for software update. May take two days. Version 11.0 software needed for smooth install.

c. After installer arrives: install cablecard/s first, get TiVo working. Then install TA.

(1) Solutions for no-sync situation (blinking green light) assuming cablecard/s worked, TA activated at head-end, and troublshooting sheet fails to correct problem: TA serial number not correctly recorded at Cox, TA not listed at top of equipment account, TA not tied to correct TiVo/cablecard serial numbers on Cox account. Installer should confirm these before determining TA is defective.

2. TA Self-Installation. Assumes your cablecard/s are working fine.

a. Follow written instructions precisely. Don't forget to call Cox to activate the TA. May take up to an hour for system to settle and sync. If no-sync after that, follow troublshooting sheet and call tech support if necessary. See paragraph above before calling tech support so you can discuss potential account problems. Prepare to be switched between tech support, billing, and sales to confirm the TA is accurately listed on your account and tied to your TiVo and cablecard/s. At least one owner had defective unit after following these tips.

3. Issues after TA installed and working.

a. Problems:

(1) Power interruptions: Sometimes TA resyncs and often not.
(2) SDV channels (all or some) disappear while non-SDV channels appear fine. TA green light may remain on steady or blink.
(3) Recorded programs cannot be moved from TiVo to other media. Copy protection flags (record once) active. No solution at this time.
(4) Loss of one specific SDV/non-SDV channel, localized to one or a few members.

b. Solutions:

(1) From TiVo Central go to Messages & Settings/Settings/Remote, Cablecard & Devices/Tuning Adapter. This will tell you if your TA is connected. TA may indicate it is connected yet still not display SDV channels. In this case simply disconnect USB cable at TA socket for 30 seconds and reconnect.
(2) If that doesn't work or TA is failing to show up as connected, follow troublshooting sheet steps. Some have varied the order of these steps to get TA to resync. Unplugging/replugging TiVo power cord as a last resort often results in resync.
(3) Cox was made aware of loss of localized/specific individual channels. Solutions forthcoming according members who have this problem and contacted Cox.
(4) Call Cox with feedback.
(5) Regarding copy protection flag (record once), some advocate letters to local Cable Authority, FCC, and Congressmen in addition to cable company.

Undoubtably there other other problems and tips/solutions out there. The TA is clearly a work in progress and member feedback is essential.

[qtip96]

A Cox CSR notified me last night that a weak signal may cause the TA to resynch/reboot (mine does this every 15 minutes now). They are stopping by later today to check the signal strength. Anyone know what are good signal strength and SNR levels?

update: Cox tech showed up and told me they were sending out a software update tonight to all TA's (28 Jan) in NOVA. The update should correct the problem I've been experiencing permanently. Apparently, they started getting calls about this issue with the latest Tivo software update so I wasn't the only one. I'll setup recordings for all day tomorrow and see if I notice the problem again.

[qtip96]

A Cox CSR notified me last night that a weak signal may cause the TA to resynch/reboot (mine does this every 15 minutes now). They are stopping by later today to check the signal strength. Anyone know what are good signal strength and SNR levels?

update: Cox tech showed up and told me they were sending out a software update tonight to all TA's (28 Jan) in NOVA. The update should correct the problem I've been experiencing permanently. Apparently, they started getting calls about this issue with the latest Tivo software update so I wasn't the only one. I'll setup recordings for all day tomorrow and see if I notice the problem again.

All,

This issue seems to be fixed. I've been recording for 3 hours this morning with no rebooting and I noticed the TA has the new firmware. I don't have the new version on me to post, but if you go to the Tuner Adapter Diagnostics page, you should now see a menu of the TA status information instead of pages of information.

[Revolutionary]

Please post the new version number if you can. Thanks!

[Kwamster]

Picked my TA up yesterday. Was experiencing the never-ending blinking, I tried all the troubleshooting, I called Cox (THANKS, TJ, you were very helpful!) and decided to risk plugging the USB in while it was still blinking...and it worked! So, it might be worth a try for anyone else waiting past the 20 min-1hr for the blinking to stop. I'm missing a random six channels (CWHD, TBSHD, WETAHD, NHLHD,FNCHD, SPEEDHD) but everything else has been working great just short of 24 hours!

As for the missing ones, I'll keep working on it. ;)

[deaddeeds]

Pulled this off the revamped TA Diagnostics Navigation Map

Rebooted at 3:14:06 am on 29 Jan 09

PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
App(s): SARA v1.61.32.1

S/N: 34 dB
Freq: 795 Mhz
Tuning Mode: QAM-256

[qtip96]

Pulled this off the revamped TA Diagnostics Navigation Map

Rebooted at 3:14:06 am on 29 Jan 09

PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
App(s): SARA v1.61.32.1

S/N: 34 dB
Freq: 795 Mhz
Tuning Mode: QAM-256

That's the same version I have now. Mine rebooted at 3:15am.

[djones18]

Picked my TA up yesterday. Was experiencing the never-ending blinking, I tried all the troubleshooting, I called Cox (THANKS, TJ, you were very helpful!) and decided to risk plugging the USB in while it was still blinking...and it worked! So, it might be worth a try for anyone else waiting past the 20 min-1hr for the blinking to stop. I'm missing a random six channels (CWHD, TBSHD, WETAHD, NHLHD,FNCHD, SPEEDHD) but everything else has been working great just short of 24 hours!

As for the missing ones, I'll keep working on it. ;)

Are your missing six channels working now?

[Revolutionary]

Anybody else think Cartoon Network in HD is the shiznit? ;)

[qtip96]

All,

This issue seems to be fixed. I've been recording for 3 hours this morning with no rebooting and I noticed the TA has the new firmware. I don't have the new version on me to post, but if you go to the Tuner Adapter Diagnostics page, you should now see a menu of the TA status information instead of pages of information.

Spoke too soon -- box is still rebooting but not as often. Called Cox and they are sending someone out yet again.

[Kwamster]

Are your missing six channels working now?

Nope. The only one I'm really hurting for is CWHD, purely for "Smallville." But the trade-off of having all the other HD channels is worth it... for now. I'll give it a week before I call Cox.

[Kwamster]

Anybody else think Cartoon Network in HD is the shiznit? ;)

Thumbs up, here. My son and I LOVE "Batman: Brave and the Bold" and "Star Wars: Clone Wars." TOTALLY the shiznit!

[djones18]

Nope. The only one I'm really hurting for is CWHD, purely for "Smallville." But the trade-off of having all the other HD channels is worth it... for now. I'll give it a week before I call Cox.

Possible solutions in order of difficulty, if you're up for a little troubleshooting, assuming you are receiving some non-SDV and some SDV channels (non-SDV: 08,71, SDV: 708, 739):

1. From TiVo Central menu select Messages and Settings/Settings/Channels and check the channels you receive includes the missing channels.

2. Restart your Tivo from the Messages and Settings menu.

3. Rerun Guided Setup again from the Messages and Settings Menu to ensure TiVo is mapping all received channels including those missing channels.

I've seen each of these solve the problem you describe. Assuming your cablecards worked prior to TA installation and your TA is receiving some SDV channels, one of these solutions may work. After trying step two or three, you may have to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable to resync the TA to the TiVo. After each step you should go to the Cablecard and TA diagnostic menus to test the channels received through each of these devices. Good luck.

[boywaja]

I lost all my channels today. I seem to have 711 (golfHD) and a handful of channels that I assume are analog only (21 and maybe 14).

I rebooted a couple times and my channels came back, but then they went away again a few hours later.

The cable is on, and if I plug the coax into a tv, I can see the analog channels.

Looks like tomorrow, I'm going to have to get cox to hit my cable cards.

The lockups and reboots were preferable to this.

[Kwamster]

Possible solutions in order of difficulty, if you're up for a little troubleshooting, assuming you are receiving some non-SDV and some SDV channels (non-SDV: 08,71, SDV: 708, 739):

1. From TiVo Central menu select Messages and Settings/Settings/Channels and check the channels you receive includes the missing channels.

2. Restart your Tivo from the Messages and Settings menu.

3. Rerun Guided Setup again from the Messages and Settings Menu to ensure TiVo is mapping all received channels including those missing channels.

I've seen each of these solve the problem you describe. Assuming your cablecards worked prior to TA installation and your TA is receiving some SDV channels, one of these solutions may work. After trying step two or three, you may have to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable to resync the TA to the TiVo. After each step you should go to the Cablecard and TA diagnostic menus to test the channels received through each of these devices. Good luck.
Everything is back. A little pixellated, but back!! Thanks!

[lrhorer]

Not sure if this has been covered anywhere, but has anyone noticed that when choosing to record a SDV channel Tivo asks you at what video quality you want to record the channel. I'm really confused - aren't these channels digital, and therefore there's only one quality? My Tivo doesn't ask me what video quality to record any of the non-SDV HD channels. Am I still getting full HD quality when recording the SDV HD channels?
The mechanism for letting the TiVo know the recording is going to be digital doesn't always work properly, and may not work at all with SDV. It really doesn't matter. When the time comes to actually record the channel, he fact it is digital will mean the TiVo has no choice but to pass the stream directly to disk. The quality conversion is only available when passing through the TiVo's A/D converter.

[qtip96]

Spoke too soon -- box is still rebooting but not as often. Called Cox and they are sending someone out yet again.

The tech that showed up checked a few things including the signal level -- everything was ok. He said they were going to send another tech the next day with a new tuning adapter to try again. The 5th tech shows up the next day and swaps out my single stream CableCards with a single multistream. He also swaps out the tuning adapter with a new one (this is now the 3rd one). Re-ran guided setup and everything looked good. 4 hours later I noticed a reboot and now they are happening all the time as before. Tivo has the case escalated to engineers but now I find out that newegg's return policy on the Tivo in NON-REFUNDABLE. I haven't spoken to newegg yet but I could be SOL in a major way. How disappointing.

update: newegg will take it back with a 15% restocking fee

[SteveMB]

Monday: Cox cable tech came out, installed cable cards.

Result: Partially worked, but a swath of digital channels didn't come in.

Tuesday: Another Cox cable tech came out, installed tuning adapter.

Result: Missing channels showed up... except when an occasional "Tuning adapter not found" error message came up.

Wednesday: Another Cox cable tech came out, installed Cox DVR with DVR functions disabled into the line and claimed that this would enable TiVO to work with the DVR set on Channel 3.

Result: TiVO channel can only be set from DVR channel selector, and there is clearly no way for the TiVO to select the channel for a programmed recording.

[djones18]

Monday: Cox cable tech came out, installed cable cards.

Result: Partially worked, but a swath of digital channels didn't come in.

Tuesday: Another Cox cable tech came out, installed tuning adapter.

Result: Missing channels showed up... except when an occasional "Tuning adapter not found" error message came up.

Wednesday: Another Cox cable tech came out, installed Cox DVR with DVR functions disabled into the line and claimed that this would enable TiVO to work with the DVR set on Channel 3.

Result: TiVO channel can only be set from DVR channel selector, and there is clearly no way for the TiVO to select the channel for a programmed recording.

You will likely get many comments on this setup! The tech who visited you Wednesday botched the installation and misinformed you. Your Cox DVR, though fully functional, is not needed. Configured as you describe, most likely with coax cable from the Cox DVR to the TiVo, TiVo functions are negated. Most Cox installers should know better and the tech who visited Wednesday should be reported for incorrectly installing a Cox DVR then telling you it was needed to make your TiVo work. You are also being charged for a Cox DVR which you don't need.

The Cox DVR is not needed to make the TiVo work. It should be removed and returned to Cox. Your system was likely set up correctly on Tuesday and the glitches (TA receiver going in and out of sync) you experienced are not uncommon as Cox gets your TiVo, Cablecard, TA serial numbers and account information into their system correctly through their accounts, billing, and technical sections. This can take a couple of days. Your TA came with a fairly straight forward sheet of troubleshooting steps which help you to get your Tuning Adapter and TiVo synced up. This thread also provides many tips should you have a problem. Many of us have gone through this process and help is readily available if you have questions.

If you are uncomfortable doing this yourself, you should get Cox out immediately to remove the Cox DVR and attach the cable coming into your house directly into the TiVo Cable input. If you or the Cox tech follow the directions provided by TiVo and follow the directions provided with the Tuning Adapter you should get your TiVo working.

[Revolutionary]

I'm afraid I'm starting to have the reboot problem. Every time I leave the Tivo unattended for a time, when I come back, I get the "Tuning Adapter is attached" blue screen. I can't confirm that the adapter is rebooting, causing this, but it stands to reason...

Why oh why can the consumer electronics industry not release products that work right off the bat?

[qtip96]

I'm afraid I'm starting to have the reboot problem. Every time I leave the Tivo unattended for a time, when I come back, I get the "Tuning Adapter is attached" blue screen. I can't confirm that the adapter is rebooting, causing this, but it stands to reason...

Why oh why can the consumer electronics industry not release products that work right off the bat?

If you go to the Tuner adapter diagnostics, check the first menu option and I think it's the 2nd screen it will show you the last bootup time which coincides with every blue screen event I get. Unfortunately my 30 day money back guarantee is almost up so I won't be able to help the Tivo and Cox engineers with troubleshooting much longer.

[Revolutionary]

Disconnected my TA for all of last night -- no SDV recordings scheduled, so it was "safe." I'm concerned that the TA might be overheating, so I wanted it to cool well down.

Plugged it back in this morning and it promptly rebooted 3 times in the space of an hour.

Piece of Cisco horsecrap. Off to call Cox... yea...

[mriechers]

Hello,

Checking in with my TA story so far. Keep in mind with my timeline I'm not totally up-to-date on the status of the TAs, as you guys seem to be.

2/4 - Late night: googled tuning adapters as I have been doing about once a month for the last year. Finally I hear some stories of availability of the adapter and success. I'm elated, and set about to calling Cox to get mine. I get disconnected several times from the automated menu, and finally get a recording saying to call back during business hours.

2/5 - Called Cox, they said TAs are now available, and are ready for "pickup only" at my local office, but are strictly 1 per customer, regardless of how many Tivos we have. I went to the Herndon location and asked for 2 TAs (I have 2 Tivo HDs, upgraded), and after the counter rep consulted with her supervisor, agreed to give me 2 TAs instead of just 1. (Hint: be very nice!)

2/6 - Get around to setting up my TAs. 1 at a time though. I first had to deal with a cablecard sync issue, as I moved my Tivos to new TVs (unrelated issue to TA availability, just something I've been meaning to do. re-arranging furniture and what not). Couldn't get the first cablecard to sync, and that was causing issues with the TA working at all. In fact, without the sync, I could get standard channels and basic HD channels, but not my SDV and premium content channels. After plugging in the TA in this situation (as the CSR asked me to do, even though I basically insisted we had to solve the CC sync issue first) I lost all channels. I spent 2 hours on the phone with a very helpful and friendly person who seemed like he really wanted to help me, but honestly didn't know what he was talking about.

After all this, and still no working channels, he said he would have a "cable card and tuning adapter expert" call me back personally. I gave him my cell number, really not expecting much. Sure enough, 30 minutes later, I get a call from a guy who knew all of this inside and out. He instructed me to unplug the USB cable from the TA as well as its power cord, then solved the CC sync issue, which was due to incorrect information entered on their end. Once the card was sync'd, he asked me to plug in the TA, wait until it stopped blinking and then plug in the USB cable, and then it "should work". He told me this and asked me to hang up and just wait it out. I was dubious about it but sure enough it worked. I now have all of my SDV, HD SDV, and premium channels working on my upgraded Tivo HD. I am extremely happy to finally be receiving all the channels I've been paying for all this time!

--

On another note: the other Tivo is having a cable card issue also, but it needs to be replaced, so they are having a truck roll to get me a new m-card. I'm sure I'll have to repeat all of the above to get the other one working, but I'm happy with progress here. I'll update when / if I get the other Tivo working!

[deaddeeds]

Hello,

Checking in with my TA story so far. Keep in mind with my timeline I'm not totally up-to-date on the status of the TAs, as you guys seem to be.

2/4 - Late night: googled tuning adapters as I have been doing about once a month for the last year. Finally I hear some stories of availability of the adapter and success. I'm elated, and set about to calling Cox to get mine. I get disconnected several times from the automated menu, and finally get a recording saying to call back during business hours.

2/5 - Called Cox, they said TAs are now available, and are ready for "pickup only" at my local office, but are strictly 1 per customer, regardless of how many Tivos we have. I went to the Herndon location and asked for 2 TAs (I have 2 Tivo HDs, upgraded), and after the counter rep consulted with her supervisor, agreed to give me 2 TAs instead of just 1. (Hint: be very nice!)

2/6 - Get around to setting up my TAs. 1 at a time though. I first had to deal with a cablecard sync issue, as I moved my Tivos to new TVs (unrelated issue to TA availability, just something I've been meaning to do. re-arranging furniture and what not). Couldn't get the first cablecard to sync, and that was causing issues with the TA working at all. In fact, without the sync, I could get standard channels and basic HD channels, but not my SDV and premium content channels. After plugging in the TA in this situation (as the CSR asked me to do, even though I basically insisted we had to solve the CC sync issue first) I lost all channels. I spent 2 hours on the phone with a very helpful and friendly person who seemed like he really wanted to help me, but honestly didn't know what he was talking about.

After all this, and still no working channels, he said he would have a "cable card and tuning adapter expert" call me back personally. I gave him my cell number, really not expecting much. Sure enough, 30 minutes later, I get a call from a guy who knew all of this inside and out. He instructed me to unplug the USB cable from the TA as well as its power cord, then solved the CC sync issue, which was due to incorrect information entered on their end. Once the card was sync'd, he asked me to plug in the TA, wait until it stopped blinking and then plug in the USB cable, and then it "should work". He told me this and asked me to hang up and just wait it out. I was dubious about it but sure enough it worked. I now have all of my SDV, HD SDV, and premium channels working on my upgraded Tivo HD. I am extremely happy to finally be receiving all the channels I've been paying for all this time!

--

On another note: the other Tivo is having a cable card issue also, but it needs to be replaced, so they are having a truck roll to get me a new m-card. I'm sure I'll have to repeat all of the above to get the other one working, but I'm happy with progress here. I'll update when / if I get the other Tivo working!

Word of caution, make sure that each TA is assigned to one TiVo and not just the account or else the 2nd TA will never work. Also don't be shy in asking the installer what his experience is with TAs and CableCARDS because there are some installers that have no clue and will leave you worse off than you started. Just read the info in this thread and it should arm you with the proper knowledge for a successful set up.

[SteveMB]

Well, they finally sent somebody with a clue and it seems to be working. Part of the problem may have been low signal strength (the picture and recordings with my previous DVD recorder always came out OK, but maybe the TiVO is more sensitive); he replaced three old two-way splitters in the attic with one new four-way and took out the direct splitoff to the TV (which shouldn't really be needed it the TiVO continues to work as advertised).

[milo99]

well, this is interesting reading through all these posts from the past week and a half. My issue w/ TBS going out was the first sign of trouble i had. Then the last week in Jan, every day when i turned on my TV, it had that message that Tuning Adapter is now connected, as if I'd just connected (so it probably had rebooted). This happened 4 days in a row.

Then on the 31st, it just went haywire, the TA was blinking and i wasn't getting any channels. I called Tech Support, the first lady resent the signal (just what they normally do w/ cablecards, didn't do anything to the TA), and it seemed to work. Until i hung up, when 5 minutes later, half the SDV channels were gone. The light wasn't blinking though. So i tried the 3 troubleshooting steps, and i was back to the TA blinking non-stop.

So called back. This time, got a guy who said he reconfigured/reset the TA's configuration. He said it'd take up to 30min for it to work, and meantime had me schedule a truck roll in case it doesn't.

Now here's where it was interesting. after a couple of minutes, the blinking changed. It was still blinking, but this time, every few blinks, it would stick for a couple seconds, then continue blinking again. But i still wasn't getting my channels.

After an hour of this, i tried to get it to work. Somehow, after doing variations of unplugging the USB and the TA, it somehow started to work! Had no idea what the deal was.

I didn't realize they were pushing through a software update, so i guess maybe that's what caused me problems. Since then, i don't have any reboots and everything's been fine.

[Revolutionary]

Yeah, there is some kind of frigging ghost in these machines. Mine apparently only reboots in the morning. My wife said it didn't reboot all day long on Friday after the morning. And then it didn't reboot all weekend. But this morning when I turned it on? "A Tuning Adapter is Connected..."

What is most obnoxious is that a reboot in the middle of a recording, no matter what channel is recording (ie, non-SDV) causes the recording to stop, and it doesn't auto-resume after the TA comes back online.

If the reboots continue to be in the morning, though, I will probably just let well enough alone. We record in the morning only once in a blue moon.

[SteveMB]

I've been getting occasional "Tuning Adapter Not Found" immediately followed by "Tuning Adapter Connected" messages.

I suspect that the tuning adapter is not properly recovering from momentary dropouts in the cable signal.

[qtip96]

I've been getting occasional "Tuning Adapter Not Found" immediately followed by "Tuning Adapter Connected" messages.

I suspect that the tuning adapter is not properly recovering from momentary dropouts in the cable signal.

Steve,

Can you provide a description of your setup? I've been troubleshooting with Cox and Tivo for almost a month since I've been getting these messages from day 1.

[SteveMB]

Steve,

Can you provide a description of your setup? I've been troubleshooting with Cox and Tivo for almost a month since I've been getting these messages from day 1.

It's a standard setup -- cable into tuning adapter, tuning adapter into TiVO, USB cable between TiVO and tuning adapter, TiVO video to to DVD recorder, DVD recorder to TV.

[mriechers]

Had a tech out to my house today. Swapped my old s-card for an m-card, and now I have both setups working. 3 days of no problems on the first Tivo HD + TA setup, now going on 1 day and no reboots or issues with the second.

I sure hope it stays this successful! Tip: be very communicative and patient with Cox, and they will be willing to work with you. Kinda a PITA, but that's the price we pay to be early adopters. All I know is, all of my season passes across 2 Tivos now record exclusively in HD. :)

[elquato]

Sorry for the long post, but here is my experience with a TiVo Series3 and a Cox Cisco TA so far:

I picked up the TA in mid-December, installed it, and called the activation line. After watching the green light blink for an hour, I called tech support and got the TA activated for me. I ran some tests, and I did indeed receive some of the SDV channels that I could not before installing the TA. However, the following (long) list contains the channels I cannot receive:

12, 15-16, 18-26, 29, 31-32, 34, 38, 41, 43, 54, 57, 60, 63, 65, 66, 68, 74-75, 78-79, 86, 99-102, 150, 157-159, 163-164, 166-167, 247-248, 252, 256, 259-261, 310-311, 711, 723, 728-729, 737, 740, 743-748, 752, 755, 758-762, 765-766, and 901-948

When I tune to any of these channels, I immediately get the notice "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press SELECT to try tuning to this channel again. Contact your cable provider for more information.". I've tried all the troubleshooting steps on numerous occasions, and I've called Cox who says that my account is set up properly. By the way, I do receive all of the listed channels on the Cox SA HD receiver.

Last night I called Cox again, went through the same troubleshooting steps with the tech, and now I can't receive any channels at all with the TA powered on. It's acting as if the cable is disconnected. When I power off the TA I go back to receiving all the channels I used to get before I installed the adapter.

Does this sound like a bad tuning adapter, or just something that is not configured properly?

Cox is sending someone out. Hopefully someone with TiVo experience.

[boywaja]

Does this sound like a bad tuning adapter, or just something that is not configured properly?



I would bet misconfiguration on their end.

I recently losts all my channels. They sent someone out, and what I was told is my tuning adaptor was assigned to the second cable card instead of the first. Doesn't necessarily make sense but it did fix the problem.

Hopefully they are giving the tech a tuning adaptor just in case. What I found is they dont supply the techs with a TA, and a second trip might need to occur if it is the TA.

[SteveMB]

We tried one of the troubleshooting steps for the wireless network adapter (move it away from the main TiVO/tuning adapter unit), and it's gone longer than usual without any of the "Tuning Adapter Missing"/"Tuning Adapter Found" glitches. We'll be out of town for the weekend and see if the recordings go off (the glitch aborts anything in progress).

[tim5055]

Well, my first post in a while. Moved into Fairfax Monday, with the movers at the house Monday/Tuesday. I figured give it a while to find all my stuff, so I scheduled a 1 - 4 appointment window Wednesday.

Installer showed up at about 2 (got a call 30 minutes prior).

Said he was there to install internet, phone & cable including an "M" card and tuning adapter for a Tivo. I was impressed he knew what a Tivo was!

I've got to say, the guy knew his stuff and worked his butt off.

He knew how the Tivo worked and moved around the menus with ease. A couple of hours later everything worked fine, including the TA a and all digital channels. The M card and TA only took about 30 minutes to get working, the rest of the time he was fixing wiring the previous owner of the house messed up.

I was extremely impressed at how easy my install went.

Now, later that night I lost the digital channels. I tried removing the TA USB cable once, but it was too late to play with it. I went to work Thursday and when I came home figuring i would have to fight with it - All channels were working..... Figure that.

Well right now everything is working fine. At this point i say kudos to Cox. Much better service then I ever got from Comcast

[RumDrinker]

Got the TA about 3 weeks ago now. Initially it couldn't stay connected for more than a few minutes. I disconnected the usb connection but let everything else stay as is (TA inline on cable, and with power) - taking a break from futzing.. especially since getting the cable cards going was such a hassle in and of itself. I tried the TA again yesterday, and it is better. I notice that there is a new set of screens under the TA menu (better organized). So what remains?:

1) Will still get the blue screens that others report. The TA can go for hours and then hit the disconnected / connected screens that others have indicated is associated with some sort of a boot. Seems like know one really knows why this happens - weak signal, over heating. All I know is the updated SW helped - making me think it is not HW, heating, or weak signal.

2) Instead of recovering well, Tivo's screens about TA status appear to interrupt operation / recordings. This should be relatively easy to fix. Folks need to be able to trust their Tivo to grab stuff while they are out.. even if this random and quick reboot issue continues for a while longer (as Cox / Tivo figure out the root cause).

Seems like there is work to be done on both Cox's and Tivo's sides.

[qtip96]

Tivo called me today regarding my case and it turns out they have verified its an issue but don't know the root cause yet. They have sent information over to Cisco for them to do some internal testing. If you are having this issue, *please* open a case with tivo support so they can get more information from the field. Thanks!

[deaddeeds]

Is the USA Network in HD pixelating for anybody else?

[SteveMB]

Everything we set up to record over the weekend seems to have come off OK -- according to my wife (I don't watch that much TV, actually), this is much longer than usual without the dreaded "Tuning Adapter Missing"/"Tuning Adapter Found" interruption. If anybody having this problem has a wireless unit sitting on top of the tuning adapter, try moving it away and see if that helps; that's the only change I know of that can account for our improvement (OTOH, it's possible that Cox sent a reprogramming signal).

[shabby46]

Its been a while since I posted here, so I will put in some of my issues/concerns for all to hear...

Upon installation, everything was just fine. All channels came in clear, no pixelation. First problem was with TBSHD, it started skipping and getting very pixelatated. It is now unwatchable but still comes through. A&EHD is now beginning to get almost unwatchable, but it is working for the most part. I have had to switch to the non-HD version to watch a few shows, but I would rather not do that. CWHD just recently went out on me and gives a searching for signal message when I tune it there. All of the PBS channels now do that as well. I am sure there are others which I dont watch that do this, but I have not found them yet. I am going to run guided setup here in a moment and see if that brings anything back. Wish me luck...

[milo99]

Is the USA Network in HD pixelating for anybody else?

yup.. and CCHD (762) is really bad. I was trying to watch the Titus special on Saturday night, kept missing punchlines.

[Miller]

I get home from work, want to watch TV, and no luck. I look at the Tuning Adapter and it is mocking me with Blink - Blink - Blink. I am not going to mess with it tonight I will see if I can fix it tomorrow. Perhaps it will mysteriously fix itself over night as it has done in the past. I swear I can hear it laughing at me even as I type.

[smr]

Cross referencing in case these issues are related: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=414223&page=2

Is anyone with a Tuning Adapter on their Series3/HD model unable to access that device's now playing list on a Series2 device via MRV? In my case (and another user), our HD Tivos can see and access the playlist of our Series2 Tivos, but our Series2 devices can only "see" our HD devices (ie, the HD Tivo appears at the bottom of the NPL on the Series 2) and cannot access the S3 NPL -- when you try to access the now playing list, the S2 reports that the S3 has no recordings. We aren't sure what might be going on, but we did figure out that we both have Cisco tuning adapters recently added to the mix...

I am having this issue too. My S3 (Living room) can see the S2 (Bedroom) but the S2 cannot see the S3. Sometines it flashes (for a second) that something is there, then it says there are no programs recorded. I switched from sorting by date to alphabetically and was able to see them, but could not xfr them. Once I went back to by date, they were gone again.

I rebooted both TiVos but that made no difference. I turned the TA off which also made no difference. Maybe tonight I will turn off the TA and reboot the two TiVos. Who knows.

What I DO know is that everything worked perfectly the night before the TA was installed because I xfrd some shows for the Girlfriend just in case something went wrong. Glad I did.

Please, if you have had this issue, post what you tried (successful or not) so that it may save me (and others) time and frustration.

[Revolutionary]

I am having this issue too. My S3 (Living room) can see the S2 (Bedroom) but the S2 cannot see the S3. Sometines it flashes (for a second) that something is there, then it says there are no programs recorded. I switched from sorting by date to alphabetically and was able to see them, but could not xfr them. Once I went back to by date, they were gone again.

I rebooted both TiVos but that made no difference. I turned the TA off which also made no difference. Maybe tonight I will turn off the TA and reboot the two TiVos. Who knows.

What I DO know is that everything worked perfectly the night before the TA was installed because I xfrd some shows for the Girlfriend just in case something went wrong. Glad I did.

Please, if you have had this issue, post what you tried (successful or not) so that it may save me (and others) time and frustration.


We've tried everything. There is no fix, short of disconnecting the tuning adapter and deleting the shows that were recorded while it was installed. (It seems that any show recorded while the TA is connected is toxic to MRV, according to the last post by kcantrell, and not just shows recorded from SDV channels that require the TA).

Tivo is aware of the problem and hopefully will be able to recreate it and fix it soon.

[smr]

We've tried everything. There is no fix, short of disconnecting the tuning adapter and deleting the shows that were recorded while it was installed. (It seems that any show recorded while the TA is connected is toxic to MRV, according to the last post by kcantrell, and not just shows recorded from SDV channels that require the TA).

Tivo is aware of the problem and hopefully will be able to recreate it and fix it soon.

Thanks, Good to know that I am not alone in this boat.

[Qwijib0]

Just picked up my TA yesterday, and followed the sheet to get it hooked up to the cable line, then called to activate. Came home after 8 hours and still a blinking light. I called support, and went over djones18's checklist from page 9 with the tech on the phone (top of list, added to tivo s/n specifically...). The tech I spoke with didn't have any instructions more than the self-install sheet in the box, but was extremely nice and seemed to understand what I was asking him to do. End result though, still a blinking light. He set up a truck roll, but I've had very poor luck in the past year getting a tech who knows what even a cablecard is-- is there anything more specific I can ask the phone guys to do, or is there a known cox employee in the tucson/phoenix region I can email/call before my appointment tomorrow? I have little faith that the man coming to my house will be able to do anything.

[deaddeeds]

If your tech does not know what he is doing. Ask him to call another tech for advice. They all have phones and seem to be willing to help each other out. The main problem is just ensuring they properly tie the TA to your account but there are some bad boxes out there. You can ask them to bring another box out as a back up.

[luapgibva]

Does anyone know how to get back channels that I have lost now that I have plugged in the adapter? I have lost 92 and 17.

[smr]

Does anyone know how to get back channels that I have lost now that I have plugged in the adapter? I have lost 92 and 17.

I was told by the Brighthouse installer here in Orlando was that would have to re-run my guided setup. I did so and have (yet) to have any issues. The channels that I "lost" seemed to be "found".

Hope this is also the case for you.

[jwood62031]

I get the message "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press Select to try tuning this channel again...." quite often. The Cox people on the phone didn't seem to have any idea why I was getting this message but from the Tivo web site I see it has to do with limited bandwidth for the SDV programs. Are you guys getting this message a lot? Excuse my SDV ignorance but do I get this message because no one is watching that channel or too many people are watching any channels or something else? Does Cox keep a list of SDV channels on their web site? Thanks

[Miller]

Anyone else here unable to tune 769 with their Tuning Adapter. When I try I get the message, “This channel is not provided by your Tuning Adapter. For more information, please call Cox.” Before I call Cox I would like to know if anyone else gets the same thing. Can’t believe Cox would block Quantum Leap and M*A*S*H. Thanks.

[boywaja]

Anyone else here unable to tune 769 with their Tuning Adapter. When I try I get the message, “This channel is not provided by your Tuning Adapter. For more information, please call Cox.” Before I call Cox I would like to know if anyone else gets the same thing. Can’t believe Cox would block Quantum Leap and M*A*S*H. Thanks.

Can't get it on my Series 3, but I can't get it on my SA8300 either. Its not a listed channel. I think tivo has jumped the gun on adding ION-HD.

[Miller]

Can't get it on my Series 3, but I can't get it on my SA8300 either. Its not a listed channel. I think tivo has jumped the gun on adding ION-HD.

Thanks for the confirmation. I won't bother calling.

[dhalesky]

I’ve been though a complete nightmare with my experience in the Northern Virginia are with COX and my Tivo HD. I first picked up a Cisco STA1520 TA box from COX in early Dec 2008 and when connected it would immediately reboot itself about every 20 to 30 minutes, of course stopping anything your trying to record or watching which migth be switched video channels. I called COX and on one understood the technology at all, couldn’t help me, finally a regional service manager emailed me to wait until Jan 09 for a Tivo software update. I did that, not using the TA adapter, and when no update happened from Tivo call Tivo customer support and they knew nothing about an update.

This is a really long story but COX sent out a senior tech how know almost everything the did about the TA, Tivo and their cabling system. He almost rewired my complete location, all new filters and replace my single stream cablecards with a multistream card, and a new Cisco TA box. That seemed to stop the TA rebooting, but after he left it rebooted about every 3 to 4 hours. COX asked me to get Tivo to swap out my TIVO HD for a new unit. I spent a week asking Tivo to do that, got tired of them asking me to wait for level 2 TIVO support to contact me, they never did so last week I bought a new TIVO HD to make sure this issue was or was not TIVO. After many connections into TIVO to bring my unit up to software release 11 my TA box actually ran 7 hours without a reboot, then started acting up once again. COX sent out an engineer who swapped the multistream cablecard and that seemed to settle the box down again, but once again today the TA box (3rd box I’ve had) is rebooting every hour or so.

Now that I've had three new TA boxes, new TIVO V11.b just installed the other night ( a TIVO senior customer svc manager called me the other night also and said he talks with COX management weekly and COX knows this is not a TIVO software issue) and I even purchased a NEW Tivo HD last Wednesday, I've eliminated most everything possible that either COX or TIVO could point a finger too. Today I've left the USB cable off the TA box and it syncs to a solid green light for a while, then on its own 'blinks' again which tells me the box is rebooting itself and since its NOT connected to the TIVO HD via USB, this has to be a problem with the Cisco TA box and how its communication with the COX headend system, IMHO :(

I’m loosing any faith this technology between TIVO, CISCO and COX is anywhere near stability!!

[Revolutionary]

The randomness of this device's performance is driving me crazy.

My TA has been stable for about a month. I moved it to a cooler spot, and I genuinely think that improved its stability.

Until last night, when it went haywire and rebooted every 3 minutes for about an hour, right in the middle of primetime (from about 8:15 until about 9:15). Then it just recovered.

The worst part? The Tivo is clearly not capable of handling reboots by the TA. Sure, it displays the "tuning adapter connected" screen everytime -- that's not so bad. But the Tivo also stops recording and doesn't automatically resume like it would if the Tivo itself restarted. And if you are in the middle of playing back a recording, it RESETS the recording, so you lose your place and have to start at the beginning. Which wouldn't be so bad, if the damned thing didn't restart 20 times in the space of an hour.

I'm really not sure the extra 20 HD channels are worth the psychological damage this device is causing.

[deaddeeds]

I hear you on the rebooting problem even though mine have been behaving a lot better lately. But I am having pixelation problems and I rarely had pixelation problems before the TA. I have also read the TA thread for TWC and they are having the same problems noted in this thread. This seems to be adding up to a CISCO & TiVo problem. It also seems like we are heading for more firmware and software updates from both CISCO and TiVo for this overheating magical rebooting box.

[Revolutionary]

Tivo beta tested this thing, right? How did the testers not note, "Oh, by the way, when the tuning adapter restarts, the Tivo completely looses its composure and can't recover on its own."

AND it breaks MRV to S2 boxes! AND dozens of channels that weren't before are now 0x02.

Why is this thing a good idea again?

[milo99]

you gotta remember that this thing was rolled out in an expedited manner, we never expected it to be perfect right away. we're the early adopters, so we need to expect some problems.

the other thing is that we're having these issues on the SDV channels, not the regular ones, so at least we're able to get what we had before and MORE. I'm sure Tivo and CISCO are working on fixing the glitches.

I'm personally not having any more issues beyond the pixelation. that's completely random, and when it starts, gets to be really annoying. sometimes switching channels does help, but of course, can't do that while recording, so we have to just grin and bear it for now.

[pdpyromaster]

Except It IS COX'S problem.....

They're the ones who rolled out SDV before the Tuning Adapters were ready, and not to mention got FINED by the FCC for doing it (that whole violating federal law thing...) So I for one think that seeing as how SDV currently ecnompasses roughly 300 Channels (or roughly 1/2 of cox's current lineup) They should only charge me half of my bill until everything is worked out.

Remember you wouldn't even be allowed to use a TIVO with a cablecard if it wasn't for them being mandated by law to do so. Cox should NEVER have deployed SDV until they had a proper solution in place for cable cards.

[djones18]

Except It IS COX'S problem.....

They're the ones who rolled out SDV before the Tuning Adapters were ready, and not to mention got FINED by the FCC for doing it (that whole violating federal law thing...) So I for one think that seeing as how SDV currently ecnompasses roughly 300 Channels (or roughly 1/2 of cox's current lineup) They should only charge me half of my bill until everything is worked out.

Remember you wouldn't even be allowed to use a TIVO with a cablecard if it wasn't for them being mandated by law to do so. Cox should NEVER have deployed SDV until they had a proper solution in place for cable cards.

Views differ on the "...should NEVER have deployed..." until ready issue and you are quite right it is Cox's problem. As one of the first 50+ folks who received Tuning Adapters in Fairfax County in December 2008, I was aware Cox was distributing them early due to pressure from the County Government. Cox clearly would have preferred delaying deployment for more testing and staff training. I was prepared to be an early adopter. Glitches in activation and operation occurred as Cox began to understand the complex transactions required among their several departments to activate these devices. The learning curve for Cox has been near vertical. Within this context, I'm still glad the TA's came out early here, in December. I would have preferred a fully tested simple plug-and-play device with a totally knowledgeable Cox staff but knew in advance that would not be the case.

A review of the initial Tuning Adapter blueprint or "White Paper" illustrates a very complex signal, electrical, authentication balancing act between the Cableco Headend, the TA, the TiVo, and the installed CableCards. Failure opportunities are high and we are seeing them nationwide as TA's are being deployed. Unfortunate, but a fact. Firmware updates will continue to reduce, but not eliminate, glitches. The TA is an expedited, interim device with a limited market within the larger Cable market. It will have to suffice until a more stable Tru2way TiVo is available. Despite frustrations with the TA, I would never go back to the SA-8300 DVR I rented before moving to TiVo HD. But that's an issue for an entirely different thread.

[pdpyromaster]

I agree that I'm glad they deployed the Adapters when they did, it would be great, 'if they worked...' As far, mine seems fairly content to reset itself whenever someone sneezes at Cox and I have an entire DVR full of partial recordings.
My argument is that the whole SDV thing seems like an end run around the CableCard system to begin with. I have no faith that Tru2way will work at any point in the near term seeing as how it took Cox NoVA only about 3 years to get CableCard installs to a reasonable level of competency.

And insofar as "NEVER have deployed", I'm referring to the SDV system to begin with. They're not set up for it properly, at either the front end (CableCards) or the back end (They're node sizes are still WAY too large in most areas to realize the benefits) As someone who designs RF comms systems for a living, I can truly appreciate the trouble Cox is having with Tivo and Cisco in this arena, but it doesn't excuse them from having deployed a technology (SDV) before they were ready to support it, that IMHO is the truly inexcusable error, and consequently what they got fined for. On that note I will be interested to see what attempts Cox makes to keep my business, both in terms of willingness to credit my account for having to deal with all of this (basically paying for "privilege" of beta testing their stuff) and retroactively in terms of the fact that they've been charging Tivo customers for channels they can't receive for what could soon be the better part of 2 years.

[jfranklin]

First off I want to say to those of you that have sent me PMs over the last two months I didn't know they were there. I thought I had my account setup to email me when I got a message. That having been said, sending me a message to look into your account is not the best way to address a problem. While I am fairly well versed in how to setup and trouble shoot the TA and CableCARDs in TiVos, I am not the only one. I realize that those who aren't as well versed outnumber those who are, and I realize that it can be frustrating talking to someone that knows less about your problem than you do. (Believe me, it's just as frustrating talking to people that think they know more than you, when they don't... but such is the day of a technical support rep. *grin*) Calling in is the best way to address all of the situations in play here.

Part of the reason that training for the TA is so sparse is because there are so few in the field in comparison to the number of customers, so training for other issues is a higher priority. This has nothing to do with what Cox thinks is 'more important', it's just simple supply and demand. We only have so many agents, so many trainers, and so much time to devote to training when there are calls to take. So if I handle all your problems not only do I have no free time, but these problems don't show up as trends.

Now most of the questions left for me were old, and I'm sure that you all have already called in. Also there was a firmware update for the TA since most of them were sent. So hopefully it addressed some of the problems. If any of you all are still experiencing technical problems outside of the 'normal' digital service problems like tiling, or black (grey) screen on some channels, let me know about it, but please first call in to technical support. Not only may the agent you speak with be able to help you, but it will also push forward the idea that more through training is needed for what is in all reality a niche product.

p.s. For those of you that aren't aware, while I do not own a S3 TiVo, I am the happy owner of more than one S2 unit, so understand that I have just as much interest in serving you all as an employee of Cox as I do as a customer of TiVo.

[djones18]

I agree that I'm glad they deployed the Adapters when they did, it would be great, 'if they worked...' As far, mine seems fairly content to reset itself whenever someone sneezes at Cox and I have an entire DVR full of partial recordings.
My argument is that the whole SDV thing seems like an end run around the CableCard system to begin with. I have no faith that Tru2way will work at any point in the near term seeing as how it took Cox NoVA only about 3 years to get CableCard installs to a reasonable level of competency.

And insofar as "NEVER have deployed", I'm referring to the SDV system to begin with. They're not set up for it properly, at either the front end (CableCards) or the back end (They're node sizes are still WAY too large in most areas to realize the benefits) As someone who designs RF comms systems for a living, I can truly appreciate the trouble Cox is having with Tivo and Cisco in this arena, but it doesn't excuse them from having deployed a technology (SDV) before they were ready to support it, that IMHO is the truly inexcusable error, and consequently what they got fined for. On that note I will be interested to see what attempts Cox makes to keep my business, both in terms of willingness to credit my account for having to deal with all of this (basically paying for "privilege" of beta testing their stuff) and retroactively in terms of the fact that they've been charging Tivo customers for channels they can't receive for what could soon be the better part of 2 years.

Thanks for clarifying and for your views on the manner in which Cox deployed SDV and their TiVo solution. Absolutely agree...more so when I think about the fact we are paying a fair amount of our disposable income on monthly cable.

I say all this as I troubleshoot my TA which deceptively, with a steady green light and TA connected TiVo screen, stopped transmitting channel data to my TiVo this morning. Got it back online but not before an hour of plugging and unplugging. I now keep a folder next to the TiVo of all troubleshooting from this and other forums. Cheers.

BTW, welcome back Jody Franklin. You were instrumental helping us get this TA ball rolling last December in the Northern Virginia area. Hope you will continue to add your expertise as more and more people around the Country bring their TAs online. It might be helpful for you to add any additional tips and tricks at the user level you've discovered which haven't been addressed on this forum.

[Revolutionary]

First off I want to say to those of you that have sent me PMs over the last two months I didn't know they were there. I thought I had my account setup to email me when I got a message. That having been said, sending me a message to look into your account is not the best way to address a problem. While I am fairly well versed in how to setup and trouble shoot the TA and CableCARDs in TiVos, I am not the only one. I realize that those who aren't as well versed outnumber those who are, and I realize that it can be frustrating talking to someone that knows less about your problem than you do. (Believe me, it's just as frustrating talking to people that think they know more than you, when they don't... but such is the day of a technical support rep. *grin*) Calling in is the best way to address all of the situations in play here.

Part of the reason that training for the TA is so sparse is because there are so few in the field in comparison to the number of customers, so training for other issues is a higher priority. This has nothing to do with what Cox thinks is 'more important', it's just simple supply and demand. We only have so many agents, so many trainers, and so much time to devote to training when there are calls to take. So if I handle all your problems not only do I have no free time, but these problems don't show up as trends.

Now most of the questions left for me were old, and I'm sure that you all have already called in. Also there was a firmware update for the TA since most of them were sent. So hopefully it addressed some of the problems. If any of you all are still experiencing technical problems outside of the 'normal' digital service problems like tiling, or black (grey) screen on some channels, let me know about it, but please first call in to technical support. Not only may the agent you speak with be able to help you, but it will also push forward the idea that more through training is needed for what is in all reality a niche product.

p.s. For those of you that aren't aware, while I do not own a S3 TiVo, I am the happy owner of more than one S2 unit, so understand that I have just as much interest in serving you all as an employee of Cox as I do as a customer of TiVo.

Any word on the CCI byte issue, Jody? Or is that essentially a lost cause?

[jfranklin]

Any word on the CCI byte issue, Jody? Or is that essentially a lost cause?

I wish I had something, even if it was "It's not gonna change, sorry, have a nice day." as at least it would be something.

I have sent an email to the person that contacted me, and have yet to get a response. I'll send another, just in case it got lost in the shuffle. As for now, though, wait and see is all I have to give because it's all I've got.

I really am sorry, would love to see a resolution to this either way.

[Revolutionary]

Oh, don't be sorry. We know you didn't break it! ;) We just appreciate your looking out for us!

[qtip96]

Folks,

Looks like Cisco has released firmware STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801 which supposedly corrects the tuning adapter rebooting issues we have been seeing. I contacted the Cox supervisor who I've been working with and gave him a heads up. He is checking with their engineers to see if they can get a hold of this new firmware.

[mriechers]

OK folks, I've got a new issue. TA + Tivo was working almost flawlessly (save for some pixelation) on 2 different Tivo HDs in my house for 4+ weeks now. Then, this issue:

Many of my SDV channels are showing up as simply black screen with no error message, or black screen with an error message of "Channel not available." I have tried rebooting the tivo and pressing the power button on the TA, but it does not appear to want to power cycle itself. The reboots are not helping me get my channels back. I then went into the TA menu inside Tivo and did a "Test channels" and it tells me there are "No channels available" even though a majority of them are working! I'm stumped.

I am scared to unplug the TA or have to go through any other mess, as this is all new to me. Could anyone suggest some troubleshooting tips or where to turn next? Again, this is mostly affecting high number SDV HD channels in the 720+ range, but also randomly channels like CNNHD 708, and ESPNHD / ESPN2HD 716/717. Basically, the things I watch. :D

[Revolutionary]

OK folks, I've got a new issue. TA + Tivo was working almost flawlessly (save for some pixelation) on 2 different Tivo HDs in my house for 4+ weeks now. Then, this issue:

Many of my SDV channels are showing up as simply black screen with no error message, or black screen with an error message of "Channel not available." I have tried rebooting the tivo and pressing the power button on the TA, but it does not appear to want to power cycle itself. The reboots are not helping me get my channels back. I then went into the TA menu inside Tivo and did a "Test channels" and it tells me there are "No channels available" even though a majority of them are working! I'm stumped.

I am scared to unplug the TA or have to go through any other mess, as this is all new to me. Could anyone suggest some troubleshooting tips or where to turn next? Again, this is mostly affecting high number SDV HD channels in the 720+ range, but also randomly channels like CNNHD 708, and ESPNHD / ESPN2HD 716/717. Basically, the things I watch. :D

You said it yourself. Unplug and replug the TA. Could it possibly get any worse? ;)

[milo99]

hey guys, I got an email from Kathryn Falk today (recall she's the Cox VP who worked with us to get the early TAs out), and apparently they've been looking at the forum here and noticing how several folks have been having problems.

She volunteered to sign up here and help folks troubleshoot, so hopefully we'll be seeing her logging on soon...

so be gentle. :) i think it's a great step which she has no obligation to do, but is doing so to provide us better service.

[deaddeeds]

OK folks, I've got a new issue. TA + Tivo was working almost flawlessly (save for some pixelation) on 2 different Tivo HDs in my house for 4+ weeks now. Then, this issue:

Many of my SDV channels are showing up as simply black screen with no error message, or black screen with an error message of "Channel not available." I have tried rebooting the tivo and pressing the power button on the TA, but it does not appear to want to power cycle itself. The reboots are not helping me get my channels back. I then went into the TA menu inside Tivo and did a "Test channels" and it tells me there are "No channels available" even though a majority of them are working! I'm stumped.

I am scared to unplug the TA or have to go through any other mess, as this is all new to me. Could anyone suggest some troubleshooting tips or where to turn next? Again, this is mostly affecting high number SDV HD channels in the 720+ range, but also randomly channels like CNNHD 708, and ESPNHD / ESPN2HD 716/717. Basically, the things I watch. :D

I have unplugged both of my TAs on a few occasions and they both returned back to their "normal" operational state after about two min.

[Miller]

hey guys, I got an email from Kathryn Falk today (recall she's the Cox VP who worked with us to get the early TAs out), and apparently they've been looking at the forum here and noticing how several folks have been having problems.

She volunteered to sign up here and help folks troubleshoot, so hopefully we'll be seeing her logging on soon...

so be gentle. :) i think it's a great step which she has no obligation to do, but is doing so to provide us better service.

I agree. Kudos to a company rep who cares.

[andygriffith]

We've tried everything. There is no fix, short of disconnecting the tuning adapter and deleting the shows that were recorded while it was installed. (It seems that any show recorded while the TA is connected is toxic to MRV, according to the last post by kcantrell, and not just shows recorded from SDV channels that require the TA).

Tivo is aware of the problem and hopefully will be able to recreate it and fix it soon.

Same problem here. How they can't find this stuff in testing is beyond me. Get some real beta testers, what a joke.

[laxbluntz@gmail.]

Has anyone found a solution that works to this problem.. 722 TBSHD and 737 USAHD are a couple of my favorite channels so this is hitting me hard. I tried repeating the guided setup to no avail.... please help

[milo99]

laxbluntz, if you want help, you'll need to provide a lot more detail about your situation. Do you even have a TA? if so, was it ever working? if so, what troubleshooting steps have you taken with the TA? DId you follow the instruction sheet provided by cox?

[qtip96]

I checked my tuning adapter and it's been updated to .801. Unfortunately, reboots are still happening and I'm on my 5th tuning adapter. I've disconnected the adapter and of course I'm missing all the SDV channels. Don't know what else to do. :down:

[KathrynNOVA]

Hello-
I work for Cox in Northern Virginia and understand that there have been some issues with Tivo Tuning Adpaters. Let me know how i can help and what type of issues remain. I am brand new to the forum but want to work to address your concerns. Thank you
KathrynNOVA

[jctivo]

I have a Tivo HD with Cox Fairfax NOVA cable cards and the sdv tuning adapter.

When I try to use the tivo desktop program to transfer a show from my tivo to my laptop, 90% of the shows are copy protected. From what I understand, that should not be the case.

I am talking about all non-network shows are copy protected. FoodTV, HGTV, AMC, PBS Kids, Comedy Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel.

So if you could figure out how we figure out how to "fix" this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance,
jctivo

[Timber]

I have a Tivo HD with Cox Fairfax NOVA cable cards and the sdv tuning adapter.

When I try to use the tivo desktop program to transfer a show from my tivo to my laptop, 90% of the shows are copy protected. From what I understand, that should not be the case.

I am talking about all non-network shows are copy protected. FoodTV, HGTV, AMC, PBS Kids, Comedy Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel.

So if you could figure out how we figure out how to "fix" this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance,
jctivo

I posted on this in the past but just in case Kathryn hasn't seen it:

I used Cox for a long time and most of the programs were copy protected. I recently moved to FIOS, moved service not house, and EXACTLY the same programs were not copy protected. You could tell when the changeover took place by the lack of copy protection afterwards.

-=Tim=-

[MikeVA]

I checked my tuning adapter and it's been updated to .801. Unfortunately, reboots are still happening and I'm on my 5th tuning adapter. I've disconnected the adapter and of course I'm missing all the SDV channels. Don't know what else to do. :down:
Just checked my Tuning Adapter, and it has NOT been updated to .801. Is this something that should come automatically, or is it necessary to contact Cox and ask for it? I have a Series 3, and live in NoVA..

Thanks

Mike

[qtip96]

Just checked my Tuning Adapter, and it has NOT been updated to .801. Is this something that should come automatically, or is it necessary to contact Cox and ask for it? I have a Series 3, and live in NoVA..

Thanks

Mike


I was told yesterday that the .801 firmware was sent only to my adapter since I've been having problems with it since I got it in Feb. It hasn't been deployed to all adapters, but I'm sure it will happen soon.

[Revolutionary]

Another round of completely random reboot sequences on Saturday afternoon.

Could this be a bandwidth issue? Everybody hitting the node on the weekends, hammering my dbs and sending my TA into spasms?

[deaddeeds]

Another round of completely random reboot sequences on Saturday afternoon.

Could this be a bandwidth issue? Everybody hitting the node on the weekends, hammering my dbs and sending my TA into spasms?

Does any really know how this TA box works? We see the symptoms but we do not know the root cause.
My own observation - I have noticed that I am getting pixilation when the SNR is 34db and the signal strength is 95% which could be a sign that the signal is too hot for the TiVo Tuner to handle. So I have been thinking of experimenting with different attenuators as noted by the FIOS customers.

[Revolutionary]

I don't care how they work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo3uxqwTxk0

Or better, just substitute "My F'ing tuning adapter" for any references to the economy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi7XmXEO1hw

;)

[jon96cobra]

I don't care how they work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo3uxqwTxk0

Or better, just substitute "My F'ing tuning adapter" for any references to the economy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi7XmXEO1hw

;)

Yeah Fix It. :up:

[Revolutionary]

So last night we didn't watch any TV, but I had two recordings scheduled. Well, sometime between yesterday morning and prime time last night, the TA did its rebooting thing. The blue screen was waiting to welcome me first thing this morning. In the interim, the TA lost its mind completely and the Tivo was unable to tune ANY channel (not just SDV channels). I got "channel not found" on even the networks. So Tivo missed both recordings. After one reboot I got all the non-SDV channels back, but it took a second power cycle to get the SDV channels back.

Honestly, I feel like I should be paying Cox for this box. It's like I suddenly have one of their Scientific Atlanta DVRs, and I would have to pay for that, right?

[Qwijib0]

I just wanted to jump in and provide data on the other end of the spectrum-- since getting my TA activated almost a month ago, it's been fine. I was expecting horrible things after reading this thread but it's just been sitting there, with a solid green light, SDVing it up without issue. 2 S-Cards, WD expander, cox Tucson. The rollout took forever to get here, but they seem to have done it right.

[pmw2cc]

Hi, I’m a COX customer (cable tv & broadband) in Fairfax VA. I have a Series 3 TIVO and about 2.5 months ago I got a tuning adaptor to continue receiving the digital channels. Since then the tuning adaptor has consistently failed to work properly. I’ve had technicians out 3 times to look at the system and talked to technical support on the phone about 20 times. Nothing has worked and Cox technical support has, in a round-about-way, told me they have no idea what to do. Every time I call in or have a tech come out they try the same debug script and it doesn’t work.

The problem is always the same. It works fine for a while then the green light starts blinking and the TA drops lock and the TIVO brings up the blue screen. Sometimes this will occur every 5 mins.

So I have no idea what to do at this point. I don’t have proper service and the problem seems to be destined to stretch on into the indefinite future.

[shabby46]

I just lost all SDV channels at some point today. I was watching them around 4 this afternoon and now they are all gone and nothing has helped. I have unplugged the TA and USB and restarted, yet nothing is fixing this. I know a few others have had this problem in the past. Any fixes?

[shabby46]

Nevermind.

I unplugged the usb and power then plugged in the power and called the activation number again. after about 2 min the light went solid and when i hooked it to usb again it started working just fine.

First problem Ive had in 3 months with the thing.

[jcaudle]

Has there been any news on removing CCI flags so cable programs may be transfered between Tivos? I understand that Verizon doesn't place these silly things on each channel like cox...one more reason to change when they get to me.

[pmw2cc]

Hi, I’m a COX customer (cable tv & broadband) in Fairfax VA. I have a Series 3 TIVO and about 2.5 months ago I got a tuning adaptor to continue receiving the digital channels. Since then the tuning adaptor has consistently failed to work properly. ...
The problem is always the same. It works fine for a while then the green light starts blinking and the TA drops lock and the TIVO brings up the blue screen. Sometimes this will occur every 5 mins.


Okay, I just talked to Mike Foxwell of COX cable. He told me that the problem was the Merrifield VA node for COX cable is bad and most of the TAs in that area are seeing the same problem. Sadly he couldn't say when there would be a fix but they are looking into it.

[Revolutionary]

Okay, I just talked to Mike Foxwell of COX cable. He told me that the problem was the Merrifield VA node for COX cable is bad and most of the TAs in that area are seeing the same problem. Sadly he couldn't say when there would be a fix but they are looking into it.

I'm near Merrifield, so I guess I could be on that node. Anybody know where the nodes are? I'm in Fairfax, just south of the Vienna metro station. Could I be on that node?

[deaddeeds]

FYI - I put a 6 dB attenuator at the source on the back of the house Friday and with that the pixelation on USAHD and FXHD has disappeared. Looks like pixelation was a result of the signal being too hot.

[deaddeeds]

Has there been any news on removing CCI flags so cable programs may be transfered between Tivos? I understand that Verizon doesn't place these silly things on each channel like cox...one more reason to change when they get to me.

I got a call today from Cox's Customer Advocate. He noted that is issue is currently being worked between Cox Corporate, Cisco and TiVo. He noted that this Copyright Protection is not a policy by Cox but more a result of the nature of the Cisco TA architecture.

Should be interesting to see how all this finally shakes out.

[qtip96]

I'm near Merrifield, so I guess I could be on that node. Anybody know where the nodes are? I'm in Fairfax, just south of the Vienna metro station. Could I be on that node?

That's got to be it. My tuning adapters (all five) have never worked and I live in Merrifield. The Cox supervisor hinted that it could be the node, but wasn't sure at the time.

[jon96cobra]

I have noticed my Tuning Adapter in my area has finally calmed down and not needed a reboot since 2 weeks ago. I hope they sort it out in the other Areas soon for you guys too.

[dhalesky]

IT's FIXED!!!!!!!

Turns out Cox was able to upload a new Cisco TA software version F.0901 that has actually stopped my TA box from rebooting. That happened around 1am Thursday night and the unit has run through Thursday up to now Friday at 1pm and no reboots. So it appears this rebooting issue is finally resolved ... WOW want a nightmare since December 2008 with that Cisco unit (at least the 5 I've worked with)

[qtip96]

Okay, I just talked to Mike Foxwell of COX cable. He told me that the problem was the Merrifield VA node for COX cable is bad and most of the TAs in that area are seeing the same problem. Sadly he couldn't say when there would be a fix but they are looking into it.

Mike F. called me last week and updated my tuning adapter to firmware 0901. FINALLY -- 3 days now with no rebooting. What a relief -- I can now view the channels I'm paying for and use my Tivo.

[Revolutionary]

So wait, do they have to manually push the firmware to individual adapters? Or was this a broadcast push? I have to complain to get a working product, that's not a default goal?

[qtip96]

So wait, do they have to manually push the firmware to individual adapters? Or was this a broadcast push? I have to complain to get a working product, that's not a default goal?

Squeaky wheel gets the grease! Yeah, I've been talking with Cox since Feb about this issue. After 7 visits and 5 tuning adapters, I think it is ok now. The 0901 firmware is Beta -- in fact it could even be Alpha so I'm sure a broadcast deployment will take a little time.

If Mike calls me again, I'll ask what the roadmap is for the 0901 firmware and post here.

Update: You need to call Cox and tell them you need firmware 0901 sent to your adapter. They are not sending out a mass update at this time.

[MikeVA]

Well - I called and had a very frustrating conversation with a Cox CSR. I told him what I had read, and after a short break (so he could figure out what i was talking about), he told me that 0901 was a beta version, it's being tested on only a few customers, they aren't planning on broadcasting the change any time soon, etc, etc. Are there some magic words to get the firmware update sent, or someone in particular I should talk to, or what? This rebooting is getting VERY frustrating...!

[deaddeeds]

Well - I called and had a very frustrating conversation with a Cox CSR. I told him what I had read, and after a short break (so he could figure out what i was talking about), he told me that 0901 was a beta version, it's being tested on only a few customers, they aren't planning on broadcasting the change any time soon, etc, etc. Are there some magic words to get the firmware update sent, or someone in particular I should talk to, or what? This rebooting is getting VERY frustrating...!

Try contacting the CSR from Cox that follows this thread, KathrynNOVA.

[jon96cobra]

So I got home from work yesterday and turned on live TV to find Discovery HD was black screen with tivo message to troubleshoot go to messages and settings. Tried going to a non HD station and I got picture so I Turned off the tuner and turned it back on didn't fix it. Tried a few other stations in HD and they came in but distorted picture and sound. I had to reboot the Tivo after that it was fine. I'm guessing here it was the communication between the tuner and the cable cards?

[Revolutionary]

My tuning adapter apparently rebooted my Tivo last night, or vice versa. Was trying to change channels from within the guide, when suddenly the Tivo freezes. After a few seconds, the Tivo reboots, as does the tuning adapter.

I don't know which is to blame, but it sure seems to have been a communication issue between the two units. And since my Tivo never did that before I got the adapter...

[MikeVA]

Well - I never heard back from Kathryn, but last night Cox apparently pushed out firmware 0901 to my Tuning Adapter. When I got home today, no blue screen, so hopefully that's a good sign...more to come.

Mike

[JTalbert]

For the most part my tuning adapter has worked for me. I have had a few problems though since getting the adapter. I have a Tivo HD, duh, ofcourse in my living room, and a SD DT tivo in the bedroom. Ever since I have installed the tuning adapter, I can see shows on my SD Tivo in the bedroom and transfer shows, but I cannot view any shows from my Tivo HD, nor can I transfer shows. Sometimes, rarely it will list folder of shows I have but once I go into the folder, nothing shows. At some point, I am going to remove my TA and see if I can get the transfers to work again.

How can you tell what SW version you have on your TA? Anyone else having these problems?

Also another odd issue is, sometimes if I need to restart my Tivo HD, it will start booting then will say a few more moment and then the screen will go gray. Also twice now, we either turned on the TV and see a grey screen, or the screen goes grey when watching TV. Then when I reboot, sometimes I need to boot two or three times before I can get my tivo back up and running.

So does this sound like I need to get a new TA, or just new firmware?

[rainbow]

I have a Tivo HD with Cox Fairfax NOVA cable cards and the sdv tuning adapter.

When I try to use the tivo desktop program to transfer a show from my tivo to my laptop, 90% of the shows are copy protected. From what I understand, that should not be the case.

I am talking about all non-network shows are copy protected. FoodTV, HGTV, AMC, PBS Kids, Comedy Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel.

So if you could figure out how we figure out how to "fix" this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance,
jctivo


With this CCI - copy protect - problem .... does this mean the function we have to "transfer to vcr" won't work for programs we have stored on Tivo harddrive? :confused:

If that is the case, then I may not go w/Cox digital after all.

[milo99]

not much activity in this thread. have people's problems started getting better (save for the whole copy protection stuff)? i haven't been experiencing any issues in a while... knock on wood.

[deaddeeds]

The TA situation for me is good but not great. The copy protections as noted is still an issue and I still get random TA issues. I did have to reboot both of my TiVos and TAs yesterday when all of my HD channels disappeared. My HD TiVo reboots randomly about once every two weeks while my Series 3 never reboots while attached to the TA.

[jcaudle]

Some people from Cox used to monitor this thread. The last any of them said was they would check on the copy protection issue and get back to us. Its been months. I don't see why Verizon doesn't set the flags on FiOs with essentially the same cable line up as Cox. Thats why when Fios is available I will change to them

[deaddeeds]

The Copy Protection is a result of the implementation of the TA, as it was explained to me by Cox. For Cox to rectify the situation it is taking the cooperation of TiVo and Cisco. Who knows how long this cooperation will take to resolve the copyright protection.

FIOS would be a nice option if it was available.

[jcaudle]

The Copy Protection is a result of the implementation of the TA, as it was explained to me by Cox. For Cox to rectify the situation it is taking the cooperation of TiVo and Cisco. Who knows how long this cooperation will take to resolve the copyright protection.

FIOS would be a nice option if it was available.

yes, but they are copy protecting networks that were not originally copy protected in their digital or analog versions. Why does the HD version copy protected. Its too bad Cox uses this junk SA/Cisco equipment in this area instead of Motorola.

[djones18]

My TiVo HD and TA have played nice together since March until last Friday. Friday evening without any outward indications, SDV channels and several analogue channels displayed the dreaded "Channel not available" notice. Had to repower the TA and restart the TiVo HD twice to get them playing nice together again. Happened once again after this episode. Everything operating normally now.

Haven't had this problem since the early days of installation hell, last December. Wonder if Cox made some firmware changes which doodled up the whole system.

[colorofstatic]

This seems like a simple firmware fix, or maybe even a setting on the head end equipment at Cox. Can we expect a fix soon, or is this going to be a big mark in the Negative column when comparing Cox cable to Verizon FIOS?

Hello-
I work for Cox in Northern Virginia and understand that there have been some issues with Tivo Tuning Adpaters. Let me know how i can help and what type of issues remain. I am brand new to the forum but want to work to address your concerns. Thank you
KathrynNOVA

[milo99]

My TiVo HD and TA have played nice together since March until last Friday. Friday evening without any outward indications, SDV channels and several analogue channel displayed the dreaded "Channel not available" notice. Had to repower the TA and restart the TiVo HD twice to get them playing nice together again. Happened once again after this episode. Everything operating normally now.

Haven't had this problem since the early days of installation hell, last December. Wonder if Cox made some firmware changes which doodled up the whole system.
you know, as soon as i freagin wrote that post, i went home and had the SAME issue. NO channels at all came up (well, ok i didn't go to all of them to verify, but no SDV channels, not the local networks, not the 100 or 200s. So after rebooting the TA a couple times, it finally kicked in. Forgot to check the firmware version though...

[Revolutionary]

My TA has finally been stable. I don't know what firmware it is on now - maybe they finally pushed out the update. I did have an issue where not all channels were coming in last Thursday after the thunderstorms rolled through Little Calcutta (my affectionate name for my neighborhood, which has all above-ground power and cable lines, so the power and cable are constantly going out during the summer), but a single power-cycle fixed it.

The idea that it is somehow Cisco and Tivo's fault that most channels are copy-protected when using the TA is complete crap. Many channels that are not delivered by SDV are protected with the TA attached -- and likewise, many channels that are not delivered by SDV are NOT protected with the TA attached. That seems arbitrary to me -- like an engineer simply didn't change the default setting when rigging up their head-end SDV architecture.

EDIT: I just sent Kathryn a PM seeking an update. Will let you know if/when I hear from her, if she doesn't post directly.

[Miller]

Yea, we received a flyer on our door recently stating that FIOS is on its way. If Cox does not resolve this copy protection issue by then (and it is a COX issue) we will transfer to Verizon.

Are you reading this, Cox?

[bicker]

FCC Vacates SDV Rulings Against Time Warner Cable, Cox (http://www.multichannel.com/article/306974-FCC_Vacates_SDV_Rulings_Against_Time_Warner_Cable_Cox.php)

[deaddeeds]

FCC Vacates SDV Rulings Against Time Warner Cable, Cox (http://www.multichannel.com/article/306974-FCC_Vacates_SDV_Rulings_Against_Time_Warner_Cable_Cox.php)

I was afraid of that, with the new administration we have new FCC Chairman. The old Chairman was a former advisor to Verizon who had it out for the Cable Companies. Somebody needs to send the new FCC Chairman a TiVo!

[bicker]

Yes, it does seem that the unfair reign of terror against cable companies is over, at the FCC. Hopefully, now, there will be a greater move towards parity, imposing all the requirements currently imposed on cable onto the satellite providers, without regard to excuses and rationalizations.

[milo99]

well, as long as we have a TA until Tivo develops a machine that'll work w/o one, i'm fine. The gripe we all had was the lack of a TA to allow us to get the channels, so the fact that we have one now, i personally no longer have a gripe.

[Joe3]

Yes, it does seem that the unfair reign of terror against cable companies is over, at the FCC. Hopefully, now, there will be a greater move towards parity, imposing all the requirements currently imposed on cable onto the satellite providers, without regard to excuses and rationalizations.

Or how abut this, imposing all the requirements currently imposed on satellite onto the cable providers, without regard to excuses and rationalizations.

It's a little less oppressive and possible ;)

[bicker]

Nah, not possible. People would never put up with a cable company basically saying it isn't going to provide local broadcast channels on the basic tier anymore.

[acslater]

One of my TAs appears to have stopped working. When it is plugged into my Tivo, I get the "Searching for signal" message on all channels despite multiple restart/unplug/plugin attempts. When I bypass the TA, I get the non SDV channels with no problem. Anyone seen anything like this?

[deaddeeds]

One of my TAs appears to have stopped working. When it is plugged into my Tivo, I get the "Searching for signal" message on all channels despite multiple restart/unplug/plugin attempts. When I bypass the TA, I get the non SDV channels with no problem. Anyone seen anything like this?

The TA is not the most reliable piece of equipment. Do the normal trouble shooting (see page 9 of the thread) of powering off the TA and making it reboot. If you still don’t have your channels then reboot the TiVo. If still no dice then you can have Cox ping/refresh your TA. Lastly, it may have just overheated and died so then you would need to exchange the TA.

[davezatz]

Ah hell, Cox uses SDV and I'm moving from Comcast next week. Anyone know where I can find a list of NoVA HD digital channels I won't get if I forgo the flakey tuning adapter?

While I'm at it, how much do they charge for CableCARDs and/or AOs - didn't see it on their web site.

(The neighborhood has FiOS, but Internet-only for now.)

Thanks!

[deaddeeds]

Ah hell, Cox uses SDV and I'm moving from Comcast next week. Anyone know where I can find a list of NoVA HD digital channels I won't get if I forgo the flakey tuning adapter?

While I'm at it, how much do they charge for CableCARDs and/or AOs - didn't see it on their web site.

(The neighborhood has FiOS, but Internet-only for now.)

Thanks!

I will say the vast majority of HD channels are SDV.
CableCARD is $1.99 for either the Single or Multi Stream Cards.

[Revolutionary]

Ah hell, Cox uses SDV and I'm moving from Comcast next week. Anyone know where I can find a list of NoVA HD digital channels I won't get if I forgo the flakey tuning adapter?

While I'm at it, how much do they charge for CableCARDs and/or AOs - didn't see it on their web site.

(The neighborhood has FiOS, but Internet-only for now.)

Thanks!

Their new website is the most obtuse bit of disclosure I've seen in a while. It is nearly impossible to tell how much anything costs apart from one of their god-forsaken bundles.

Cablecards are $1.99 each, plus $6.99 for the digital outlet fee. If you have an S3 with two cards, they should only charge you one outlet fee -- for my account they charge $12.98, but then credit me $5.99 for the second outlet fee.

As for channels, the only HD channels that are NOT SDV (based on my recollection from pre-tuning adapter service) are:

701-707 (locals)
709-723 (can't recall, but 715-Palladia may now be SDV)
726 (PBS)

Everything else is SDV. There are also a number of digital SD channels that are also switched -- most are crap, but BBC America is on the list.

Oh, and the 0x02 byte is still in full effect for all switched channels, so TTG and MRV are essentially dead for most of my programming.

[thewebgal]

Got a really nice combination of gear tied to the system, but its intermittent at best. I have a heavy TV, a rack of audio gear, and its a real pain to pull everything off the wall every time something acts up with the cable system.

I've recently started TIVOing BBCAmerica after some coworkers told me about TopGear, That show is a hoot - but over the weekend I noticed a number of channels just show up as grey when I try and tune them. And last night the TIVO was trying to record BBCA -= a greyed out blank channel. So I've missed this week's show.

Anyone here live near George Mason U and have good luck with TIVO and FIOS??

I am not keen on having the copper landline pulled out, and having to redo my working wireless network - but thats the only reasons I haven't had FIOS installed yet.

But I'm getting REALLY close - seems the signal levels on the COX cable varies from season to season and its up to ME to call in every few months when I lose channels ...

[bmgoodman]

I am not keen on having the copper landline pulled out, and having to redo my working wireless network - but thats the only reasons I haven't had FIOS installed yet.



I've read that if you INSIST they leave the copper intact that you can have it reconnected if you choose to drop FIOS. Of course, you'd better get that in writing.

I don't have FIOS TV available in my area yet, so I cannot help with that aspect.

[thewebgal]

Further info on my BBC America problem ...
If I power cycle the Cisco dongle the missing channels will come back in - but about a week later they drop out again. FOr instance - BBC America - the TIVOHD recorded Top Gear just fine Sunday and Tues - but last night the channel just showed grey - like it was something I don't pay for (like HBO and the other premiums) ...

I power cycled the Cisco "dongle" and a few moments later the TIVOHD rebooted itself - and as it was getting late anyway, I gave up and headed to bed ...

[jmyshral]

I am on Cox and just got an HD Tivo with tuning adapter. I have two problems - the first is that about 90% of my Tivo recordings are copy protected and can't be transferred using Tivo Desktop. It's weird, sometimes the same show on the same channel is protected, sometimes it is not.

I also have a second Series 2 Tivo connected to a digital box with no HD or tuning adapter. I can transfer recordings from the S2 Tivo to the HD Tivo, but not the other way around. Apparently this is also a known issue relating to the tuning adapter and SDV channels.

Hopefully Tivo will fix these issues soon. Any ideas on how we can bring more visibility to these problems?

[DrewTivo]

Have the TA issues died down with Cox in NoVa? My in-laws are looking to go HD but I don't want to create trouble for them with cable cards, tuning adapters and such if possible.

[deaddeeds]

Over the past week I have seen this new SDV message on my screen a few times "Press SELECT if you are still watching this channel. Otherwise..."

Is this something new or I have just started noticing it? Is Cox so hard up for bandwidth that they don't want to broadcast SDV channels even when the tuner is on that channel?

[billjoiner]

After 50+ hours of Cox onsite trouble shooting regarding pixelation and rebooting on my series 3 and premiere boxes in addition to rack mounting all equipment and air conditioning the enclosure to insure the problem wasn't heat related the problem remained. The simpilcity of the solution when we found it made the process even more frustrating. The solution turned out to be that when Cox installed the tuning adapter they put it right on top of the TIVO box. We moved the tuning adapter away from the TIVO box and the problem instantly dissapeared. It seems that the Motorolla tuning adapaters are not sheilded and thus do not like to be in close proximity to the TIVO boxes--setting the tuning adapter on top of another piece of equipment causes the problem to re-occur, while letting it hang by it's cables in mid air solves the problem-move your tuning adapter away from any other equipment to solve the problem.

[Beernutts]

After 50+ hours of Cox onsite trouble shooting regarding pixelation and rebooting on my series 3 and premiere boxes in addition to rack mounting all equipment and air conditioning the enclosure to insure the problem wasn't heat related the problem remained. The simpilcity of the solution when we found it made the process even more frustrating. The solution turned out to be that when Cox installed the tuning adapter they put it right on top of the TIVO box. We moved the tuning adapter away from the TIVO box and the problem instantly dissapeared. It seems that the Motorolla tuning adapaters are not sheilded and thus do not like to be in close proximity to the TIVO boxes--setting the tuning adapter on top of another piece of equipment causes the problem to re-occur, while letting it hang by it's cables in mid air solves the problem-move your tuning adapter away from any other equipment to solve the problem.

I've never had that problem, and my tuning adapter has always been right on top of the TiVo. It's probably just your tuning adapter that has a problem.

[djones18]

I've never had that problem, and my tuning adapter has always been right on top of the TiVo. It's probably just your tuning adapter that has a problem.

I've had my Tuning Adapter on top of my TiVo HD for over two years without problems. However, it is a fact TAs run hot and if the area they are in is not well vented, failures occur.

Having said that, I did have to move my TiVo HD farther from my 32" Sharp LCD TV because the flourescent lighting and/or auto lighting adjust system in the TV was interferring with the IR blaster on the TiVo. This one took months to diagnose. Once I moved the TiVo two feet from the TV to a lower stack shelf, the problem ceased.

[drevilkep]

After 50+ hours of Cox onsite trouble shooting regarding pixelation and rebooting on my series 3 and premiere boxes in addition to rack mounting all equipment and air conditioning the enclosure to insure the problem wasn't heat related the problem remained. The simpilcity of the solution when we found it made the process even more frustrating. The solution turned out to be that when Cox installed the tuning adapter they put it right on top of the TIVO box. We moved the tuning adapter away from the TIVO box and the problem instantly dissapeared. It seems that the Motorolla tuning adapaters are not sheilded and thus do not like to be in close proximity to the TIVO boxes--setting the tuning adapter on top of another piece of equipment causes the problem to re-occur, while letting it hang by it's cables in mid air solves the problem-move your tuning adapter away from any other equipment to solve the problem.

Cox uses Motorola TAs in the N. VA market? I thought it was only Cisco?

[b.sqrd]

Ok, so I've had sporadic problems with my Tivo Series 3 HD and Cox Communications. The main problems have been:
1) Certain channels will basically stop displaying, leaving a grey screen on the channel. The next channel still works. I can't seem to get the problem channel to come back without resetting my Tivo (which takes literally 10-15 minutes). Very frustrating... my show doesn't get recorded and I am sometimes out on travel for a week or more and thus miss many shows as a result of this. Ugggh.... sigh.
2) I also have seen the message saying that I need to press the SELECT button if I wish to continue watching this channel. I have posted a picture of the error message on my flickr page, but this site won't let me submit it with this post because I haven't posted 5 times. Oh well.

I have called Cox technical support and they came by today. I explained the problems I have had. They say that "Tivo is very picky about the signal, and that can cause it to lose channels". They also said that they have seen problems with different components in the setup. Here is a list of components which have been replaced/fixed at other customers that supposedly resolved this kind of problem:
1) The USB cable between the Tuning Adapter and the Tivo
2) The USB cable was moved to the alternate USB port on the Tivo
3) Coax cables have been replaced with "thicker wire" versions and splitters have been replaced as needed. They replaced a couple of Coax cables and put new connectors on the end of the cable source Coax cable. A couple of my cable splitters are outside of the house and it seems that weather will corrode device to the point to interfere with the cable signal over time.
4) Faulty cable cards were replaced.

Thus it seems that there can be many reasons this issue occurs and you're probably best to just call your cable provider out to replace these components and ensure signal strength is good.

According to the techs that came out, Tivo apparently requires a "Signal to Noise" (S/N) ratio of "33" or better to maintain channel tuning. You can actually see the S/N ratio from the Tivo by going through these menus: "Messages & Settings -> Settings -> Remote, CableCARD, & Devices -> Tuning Adapter -> Tuning Adapter Diagnostics -> RF Statistics -> Next Page". The S/N: <number> should be greater than 33 for the Tivo to properly tune these channels according to the techs. You can hit "Refresh" to see if this drops below 33. You should also see "0" for "Corr Bytes" and "Uncor Blks".

I have the Cisco branded Tuning Adapter.

I hope this helps you all!
-B.sqrd

[CoxInPHX]

Try using a splitter to feed the coax directly to both the Cisco TA and the TiVo separately, Instead of using the coax pass-through on the TA. See if that makes a difference. Also make sure the TA is well ventilated, not inside an enclosed space with other electronics.

See The following: Tuning Adapter Troubleshooting - My Survival Guide
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=461700&highlight=sdv+phoenix

Also Ceton actually states in their documentation "Do not use the Tuning Adapter RF pass through"
http://www.cetoncorp.com/documents/InfiniTV%204%20Detailed%20Installation%20Procedure%20v1.2.pd f

I would not attach the TA to the back of the TV as the above post recommends. I would mount it to the back of the AV cabinet, or place it on its own shelf.

Cox will also be deploying a firmware update to the Cisco TA in August, so it will support 4 tuners. Hopefully the update will also address stability issues.

[jjon2121]

Try moving the tuning adapter away from other electronic equipment. The Cisco seems to have a shielding problem.

[deaddeeds]

I had the same problem so I dumped Cox and switched to Fios. Ever since I switched to Fios my 3 TiVos are much more reliable. TiVo + TA = Bad

[toadyboyy]

Just got finished with a CS tech with Charter. His name is Sal, he's great.
I was missing channels with my new Tivo. I called and called Charter to resend the "hit" to my TA. My TA kept blinking and I was missing only the HD channels that are SWITCH DIGITAL. Sal did some configurations but overall it came down to the sequence of the equipment I have with Charter. Somehow the TA was not in the correct sequence and that made the tuner not find or authenticate with their system. He made this switch with CS and the tuner finally had a solid green light.