View Full Version : Trasnferring CableCARD to new TiVo
mzupan
03-26-2010, 11:14 AM
I ordered a TiVo Premier. Will I be able to simply take the CableCARD out of my TiVo HD and put it in the Premier, or am I going to have to have Verizon FIOS send a technician out to do it? I know the process better than the techs, but I'm not sure if the CableCARD is married to the hardware or if it doesn't care what box it's in.
KnordRW
03-26-2010, 11:46 AM
You can swap the card between machines, no tech is needed. However, you may need to call VZ tech support to have them re-validate the card for the new machine, in order to get any premium channels you may subscribe to. In my experience, it's hit or miss if you need to do that. I suspect that it may have something to do with how long you take to do the swap and if you did guided setup on the new machine before or after inserting the card.
Full Disclosure: I work for VZ in FiOS tech support, thus is the source of my experience with this.
rocko
03-26-2010, 12:05 PM
General experience from FIOS customers tells us that we just pop the old card in the new box and we're good to go.
Full disclosure: I'm a FIOS customer
P.S. Neener neener neener :p
patatrox
03-26-2010, 12:07 PM
I ordered a TiVo Premier. Will I be able to simply take the CableCARD out of my TiVo HD and put it in the Premier, or am I going to have to have Verizon FIOS send a technician out to do it? I know the process better than the techs, but I'm not sure if the CableCARD is married to the hardware or if it doesn't care what box it's in.
KnordRW is totally correct. Just pop it out of the old DVR in to the new DVR and you're good to go. It was totally painless.
dmk1974
03-26-2010, 01:20 PM
I have two S3's (the nice older ones with the OLED display) that each have two cards in them. I'm pretty sure on the card sticker they each say M-Card, but if so, why do they need two in those machines?
If I upgrade those two boxes to Premiere boxes, can just take one from each, call Comcast to do the re-validation, and then give them back the two extra cards?
Jonathan_S
03-26-2010, 01:28 PM
I have two S3's (the nice older ones with the OLED display) that each have two cards in them. I'm pretty sure on the card sticker they each say M-Card, but if so, why do they need two in those machines?They need two cards each because the S3 was released before the M-card was avalible for testing and it turns out there was some incompatibility that TiVo never managed to get fixed.
So the S3 can only use the "backwards compatability mode" of the M-Card, where it acts exactly like an S-Card. Which means each card only handles 1 stream, so you need two cards to support 2 tuners.
FIOS users are lucky - most cable users will have to get the cards re-paired. If you are lucky, you can find someone to do it over the phone. If not, truck roll :(
dmk1974
03-27-2010, 04:27 PM
They need two cards each because the S3 was released before the M-card was avalible for testing and it turns out there was some incompatibility that TiVo never managed to get fixed.
So the S3 can only use the "backwards compatability mode" of the M-Card, where it acts exactly like an S-Card. Which means each card only handles 1 stream, so you need two cards to support 2 tuners.
I did pull out the cards from my S3 as well as the one card from my HD that I got a few months back. ALL of them are identical (red and white and say Motorola M cards).
If I upgrade those two boxes to Premiere boxes, can just take one from each, call Comcast to do the re-validation, and then give them back the two extra cards?
Yes, you can move one M-Card to each of the new boxes. The trick will be getting Comcast to do a pairing/validation on the phone.
SoBayJake
03-28-2010, 01:33 AM
FIOS users are lucky - most cable users will have to get the cards re-paired. If you are lucky, you can find someone to do it over the phone. If not, truck roll :(
I'm on FiOS, but according the the CableCard screen, it says my cards are paired to the slot they are in. However, since FiOS doesn't set any CCI bytes, that allows even an unpaired (but activated) card to decrypt channels. If the CCI bytes were anything except 0x00, it wouldn't work. Even HBOHD has CCI 0x00.
Tomorrow I might try moving cards around, just to see what happens.
The TiVo link is here:
http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/137/c/123/r_id/100041#Step6CheckingCableCARDpairingbinding
The link to Motorola MCards:
http://support.tivo.com/euf/assets/files/Moto_MCARD_pairing_cp.pdf
It states: "The Conditional Access screen displays Val:V, as in the fourth line of this example, when the CableCARD is paired (bound) with the slot in which it is installed.
Note: A CableCARD that is activated but not paired can display encrypted channels, but not copy protected channels.
The CCI value gives the level of copy protection on the selected channel. CCI 0x00, as shown in this example, means the channel is NOT copy protected and can be viewed even if the CableCARD is not paired. A CCI value greater than 0x00 (0x01, for example) means the channel is copy protected."
aaronwt
03-28-2010, 07:17 AM
I'm on FiOS, but according the the CableCard screen, it says my cards are paired to the slot they are in. However, since FiOS doesn't set any CCI bytes, that allows even an unpaired (but activated) card to decrypt channels. If the CCI bytes were anything except 0x00, it wouldn't work. Even HBOHD has CCI 0x00.
Tomorrow I might try moving cards around, just to see what happens.
The TiVo link is here:
http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/137/c/123/r_id/100041#Step6CheckingCableCARDpairingbinding
The link to Motorola MCards:
http://support.tivo.com/euf/assets/files/Moto_MCARD_pairing_cp.pdf
It states: "The Conditional Access screen displays Val:V, as in the fourth line of this example, when the CableCARD is paired (bound) with the slot in which it is installed.
Note: A CableCARD that is activated but not paired can display encrypted channels, but not copy protected channels.
The CCI value gives the level of copy protection on the selected channel. CCI 0x00, as shown in this example, means the channel is NOT copy protected and can be viewed even if the CableCARD is not paired. A CCI value greater than 0x00 (0x01, for example) means the channel is copy protected."
I've moved my cards around after the tech left since I had the multistream cards activated on all the boxes I had in the room, but I only use two of those boxes on FiOS. I had no issue when I putthem in my other TiVos. They came right up since I they had already been setup for single stream cards and had been through the guided setup with FiOS as the provider.
emerz
03-28-2010, 09:58 AM
Hoping that my Cable Co. M-Card Tivo HD to Tivo Premier swap goes smoothly. I swapped cards from a defective HD to a replacement HD with no problems so I am fairly confident.
SoBayJake
03-28-2010, 02:15 PM
I picked up a Premiere this morning. I moved one CableCard from my S3 to the new Premiere.
As expected, it decrypts channels and works. HOWEVER, it is NOT paired to the new TiVo, so if Verizon ever starts setting the CCI byte to anything other than 0x00, it will not work on those channels.
escrge
03-31-2010, 11:41 AM
Just got my Premiere delivered yesterday. It's replacing an STB from Verizon FIOS. I thought taking the CableCard out of the STB and putting it in the TiVo might work, but no dice. Without it, it's not receiving any video except for Netflix, YouTube, etc. Nothing from cable. Bummer. They woulda charged $79 for a truckroll, but the very nice CSR waived it. I'm stuck with my sucky SD Series 2 for almost another week. :(
I don't think Verizon can actually charge the $79 truck roll for a CableCARD install. CSRs think it will happen, but I don't think they can actually put it into the billing system.
SoBayJake
03-31-2010, 11:58 AM
They woulda charged $79 for a truckroll, but the very nice CSR waived it. I'm stuck with my sucky SD Series 2 for almost another week. :(
I don't think Verizon can actually charge the $79 truck roll for a CableCARD install. CSRs think it will happen, but I don't think they can actually put it into the billing system.
If the only thing is a CableCARD installation, there is no truck roll fee. If you tell them you want to return the STB in the same appointment, they will charge the $79 truck roll.
When you want to get CCs installed, just order them. Then, give the tech the STB (get a receipt!!), call Verizon for a prepaid label to ship the STB, or drop it off at a FiOS store (if there is one nearby).
If I can find the link to the FAQ, I'll post it here. Not having great access today! I knew I was overlooking it. See point 11. http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7097284#post7097284
I told them I want to return my Verizon STB (just had until Premier came), but said I wasn't sure when, so they are shipping me return labels or something to mail back to them (at their expense). No truck roll fee for returning the STB.
I figured I'd give the Premier a few days or a week to make sure it is A-OK before giving up the Verizon STB. Can't wait to dump it though. So used to my TiVo HD.
SoBayJake
03-31-2010, 12:08 PM
No truck roll fee for returning the STB.
No truck roll for installing CableCards you mean?
The FAQ says the only way to return equipment for free is via prepaid label or dropping off at a local office. A truck roll to return equipment would cost money. (I haven't tried, as I haven't returned anything yet.)
Sorry, I meant via pre-paid label. Silly to pay $79 for them to pick up when pre-paid is about as easy (sending box too I believe). If not, local shipping place in town can package up for free (Verizon deal with UPS or something...did that with a STB in past).
gostan
03-31-2010, 12:17 PM
You can swap the card between machines, no tech is needed. However, you may need to call VZ tech support to have them re-validate the card for the new machine, in order to get any premium channels you may subscribe to. In my experience, it's hit or miss if you need to do that. I suspect that it may have something to do with how long you take to do the swap and if you did guided setup on the new machine before or after inserting the card.
Full Disclosure: I work for VZ in FiOS tech support, thus is the source of my experience with this.Should we do the guided setup before or after inserting the card?
Thanks,
Stan
KnordRW
03-31-2010, 12:22 PM
Definitely do guided setup beforehand, if you can have it 100% done before the tech comes to install the cablecard - if you don't, you won't be able to test your channels before the tech leaves to make sure everything work.
Also....don't take the cable card out of the VZ stbs - as escrge found, it will not work in the TiVo, and additionally it will actually break the STB - vz can/might charge you for that.
Dr_Diablo
03-31-2010, 11:52 PM
I don't think Verizon can actually charge the $79 truck roll for a CableCARD install. CSRs think it will happen, but I don't think they can actually put it into the billing system.
I just tell em I need new cable outlets run through the house then while he's there mention, by the way can you pair up my Tivo plz?:D
innocentfreak
03-31-2010, 11:54 PM
If you do that, then they will definitely charge you 79 for the truck roll and they may not have cablecards on the truck.
Austin Bike
11-28-2010, 07:11 PM
I have 2 tivos, a premiere and an HD. The premiere is having some problems with the signal on 2-3 channels.
When I pulled the HD from downstairs and brought it upstairs, the signal was not great (~50-60) but I was getting a signal (the premiere was 0 and occasionally it pops up to 40, but never really stays online for more than a minute).
Knowing that the HD is picking up those channels on that cable outlet, the next step is to swap the 2 cable cards to see if that matters. But I don't want to do that unless I know it won't screw things up.
Will the swap be OK?
shorties
11-28-2010, 07:59 PM
I have 2 tivos, a premiere and an HD. The premiere is having some problems with the signal on 2-3 channels.
When I pulled the HD from downstairs and brought it upstairs, the signal was not great (~50-60) but I was getting a signal (the premiere was 0 and occasionally it pops up to 40, but never really stays online for more than a minute).
Knowing that the HD is picking up those channels on that cable outlet, the next step is to swap the 2 cable cards to see if that matters. But I don't want to do that unless I know it won't screw things up.
Will the swap be OK?
When I swapped cable cards I lost all but my local HD channels, and basic cable channels, I have to call the cable company to reactivate the card. (I haven't done so yet though).
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