TIVO and Comcast provided 6412 - a few questions

[abbydancer]

Hello,

I have a Series 2 Tivo (with lifetime service) that I love. (I also have a series 1 on another TV). There are this season, several timeslots where there are 3 things I want to watch. So, the simplest solution seemed to be to add in a dual tuner dvr from our local cable company. In some ways, I am looking at this as a short term solution that doesn't involve a significant outlay of money up front.

So, I picked up the DVR today. We currently have the cable going into the 6412 with output to the tivo, to the vcr to the tv. It appears to be working in that the IR blaster from the tivo is changing channels on the DVR, so far better than it did on the old cable box.

However, the DVR remote does nothing. If you press the button at the top (for what you're controlling) it lights up, but I get nothing on the DVR. A call to comcast was less than helpful - the support person told me that tivo and their DVR won't work together because they do the same thing. I can't see why, since the DRV is completely unaware of the TIVO. My thinking is that it's simply a defective remote. (I did speak to a supervisor who thought that was the case but I didn't tell her there was a TIVO involved. ) I just want to check with the experts here that there isn't some sort of an issue with the remote and the TIVO.

Now the bigger question - will my set up work? I'm thinking that as long as I don't record two things at once on the DVR I can use one tuner to record with the tivo (which to the DVR will look like watching live tv) and the other to record to the DVR. Is that the case? Also, can I playback something recorded on the DVR while recording something else on the TIVO? (I expect that whatever I'm watching will go onto the TIVO.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. I did do some checking on the forums but couldn't find anything on these issues specifically. If I missed it, my apologies.

abby

[ZikZak]

Originally Posted by abbydancer

A call to comcast was less than helpful - the support person told me that tivo and their DVR won't work together because they do the same thing.

Comcast is lying to you. Sure, they will work together.

Your setup will work, but won't record three-at-once.

To record three-at-once, you'll have to split the cable coming out of the wall, with one side going to Comcast's DVR, and the other to Tivo. You'll be able to record all channels with Comcast, and basic cable with Tivo.

[Edmund]

Try programming code 0476 to cab device on the cable remote.

1. press CAB
2. press and hold SETUP for two blinks
3. enter 0-4-7-6

[abbydancer]

Hello,

First thanks so much the responses. I replaced the remote, and the new one works fine.

However, the IR blaster is not doing as well, it's hitting about 90%. On the old cable box, we had a "black box around the blaster, which helped. I don't want to do that here, because then I can't use the remote on the DVR, which limits it's usefulness.

So, I'm rethinking how I'm going to do this. I took a look at my season passes and the vast majority of them are on non-digital channels. So, I'm probably going to recofigure it as ZikZak suggested.

I'd like however, to have the TIVO keep thinking it still has all the digital channels because the Wish List functionality is very useful. (I have a keyword search for Movies & 2005 for example). So, is it possible for me to tell TIVO it no longer has the cable box, but let it think I still have digital? (IE is it smart enough to know that I can't have the digital lineup without a box?)

I hope that question made sense. Also, is there anything else I should know about this setup?

Thanks very much,

abby