Everything works upstairs except the TiVoHD

[pdhenry]

I'll be getting a CableCard in my new TiVo Premiere next weekend. My plan is to move the TiVoHD that's now in the family room up to the bedroom and use the Premiere in the family room.

As a dry run today I moved the TiVoHD up to the bedroom. However, the TiVoHD wasn't able to get a TV signal from that coax outlet. The message was as though there was no cable signal at all.

I have a Series 2 connected in the bedroom currently, and within the past week I added a Comcast DTA to that setup. Both the analog and the DTA connections are solid, and I can receive all of the digital channels I'm supposed to through the DTA. To troubleshoot I also connected my cable modem upstairs and on the cable modem I get higher signal strength and SNR upstairs than downstairs (38.4 dB SNR upstairs, vs. 38.2 downstairs).

I might be able to remove one splitter from the cable path to the upstairs bedroom but given the nature of the symptoms I don't expect that to be of signficant help.

The downstairs outlets run through coax that's new within the past 10 years while the upstairs run from the junction box is considerably older - but shouldn't that show up in TV or modem signal quality if that's the problem?

Any troubleshooting hints?

thx.

[pdhenry]

Anyone?

[ZeoTiVo]

could be the old cable is not grounded well or something like that.

We know the TiVo HD is more sensitive to signal issues than other equipment, yet you have already looked at signal strength and it looked OK(or at least as good as where it does work) according to your results. So this gremlin must be deeper.

[worachj]

I had a similar problem hooking up one of my TiVo's in a tight spot were I couldn't see the cable connections on the back of the TiVo. I was mistaking trying to connect to the antenna input instead of cable input. Since you’re not getting any signal on the TiVo I would suspect the connection, since your other device worked fine. Make sure the cable you’re using has that center copper wire centered and long enough to make contact with TiVo’s connector.

[NJ_HB]

I had a similar problem hooking up one of my TiVo's in a tight spot were I couldn't see the cable connections on the back of the TiVo. I was mistaking trying to connect to the antenna input instead of cable input. Since you’re not getting any signal on the TiVo I would suspect the connection, since your other device worked fine. Make sure the cable you’re using has that center copper wire centered and long enough to make contact with TiVo’s connector.

I also think this is the solution.

[evanborkow]

I'll be getting a CableCard in my new TiVo Premiere next weekend. My plan is to move the TiVoHD that's now in the family room up to the bedroom and use the Premiere in the family room.

As a dry run today I moved the TiVoHD up to the bedroom. However, the TiVoHD wasn't able to get a TV signal from that coax outlet. The message was as though there was no cable signal at all.

I have a Series 2 connected in the bedroom currently, and within the past week I added a Comcast DTA to that setup. Both the analog and the DTA connections are solid, and I can receive all of the digital channels I'm supposed to through the DTA. To troubleshoot I also connected my cable modem upstairs and on the cable modem I get higher signal strength and SNR upstairs than downstairs (38.4 dB SNR upstairs, vs. 38.2 downstairs).

I might be able to remove one splitter from the cable path to the upstairs bedroom but given the nature of the symptoms I don't expect that to be of signficant help.

The downstairs outlets run through coax that's new within the past 10 years while the upstairs run from the junction box is considerably older - but shouldn't that show up in TV or modem signal quality if that's the problem?

Any troubleshooting hints?

thx.

Is the TivoHD outputting a resolution that's compatible with the tv?

[pdhenry]

Is the TivoHD outputting a resolution that's compatible with the tv?I get an onscreen message from the TiVo saying that there's no signal.

Playback of previously-recorded content is fine. The only video option with the upstairs TV is composite, so there's not really any ambiguity there.

[NJ_HB]

Did you check that the coax in going to CABLE IN and not ANTENNA IN?

[pdhenry]

Yeah, I knew about the two coax inputs. Downstairs I connect the coax via a 90 degree adapter so that was still on the TiVo when I took it upstairs. I tried it both with and without the 90 degree adapter.

I'm think it might be that the out-of-band data for the Cablecard wasn't being received. That would seem to be just about the only signal needed by the TiVo that's not being received by the other equipment I've connected successfully.

What would happen if I momentarily pull the Cablecard, do some testing, and reinsert it into the same TiVo? That shouldn't cause loss of pairing data, should it?

[pdhenry]

FWIW, I bypassed the last 50 feet of coax today (which runs up through the attic and down an interior wall into the bedroom) and got all my channels on the TiVoHD upstairs. That coax run is about 20 years old and IIRC wasn't CATV rated. Looks like I'll be crawling around in the attic soon...

[evanborkow]

FWIW, I bypassed the last 50 feet of coax today (which runs up through the attic and down an interior wall into the bedroom) and got all my channels on the TiVoHD upstairs. That coax run is about 20 years old and IIRC wasn't CATV rated. Looks like I'll be crawling around in the attic soon...

It's great that you figured it out. Issues like this can make you crazy. The fixing is usually much easier than the diagnosis.