Various Noob Questions on S3 Upgrading...

Twoflower · 10-02-2006, 09:05 AM

I'm planning to hit Circuit City tonight and hopefully walk out with an S3 box to replace my aging S2. I'm waiting to call Comcast until tomorrow, just in case they're out of stock, but I have some questions after browsing the forum for a bit.

1. Do I need two actual cables / outlets in order to take advantage of two cablecards? Our house has always been very finnicky about signal levels and the number of TVs hooked up. If so, can I opt to just use one cable card? Yes, it's sacrificing a tuner, but...

2. What should I do in advance of the Comcast guy showing up, to make his job easier? How much installation, what physically should I do myself? Also, are there any instructions I should be looking up online and printing or do they come with the S3 itself?

3. Can I leave the actual swapping of the cable over to the S3 until the tech shows up? I don't want to lose my S2's scheduled recording sessions and all my nice digital channels during the week I'm waiting around.

4. I've seen mention of needing to enable ADS to get your analog channels in digital; what terminology should I use so the tech understands what I'm talking about? (I already use a settop box with digital and HBO, so maybe it's already enabled?)

5. I've also seen 'cold initialization' bandied about. What is it and when do I know I need to call for it?

Trying to ensure I don't have multiple techie visits and a failed install... thanks for your help, in advance.

Eskimo Pie · 10-02-2006, 09:10 AM

regarding question 1, a single coax cable provides the signal to both tuners. And if for some reason you decide to use just one cable card (maybe to save money) it cripples the TiVo to having just one tuner.

Twoflower · 10-02-2006, 09:12 AM

Nah, I'm already paying for a digital cable box -- the cablecard is probably cheaper in comparison, once I ditch it. I was more worried about physical cables and levels, but if they both feed off the same line, I'm A-OK and will get two cards.

Stormspace · 10-02-2006, 09:25 AM

Remember too that the S3 is not a direct replacement for the S2. Aside from dual tuners and HD, the S3 lacks many of the features in the S2. MRV, TiVo2Go, TiVo2Comeback to name a few. You might also want to check the forum more closely to see what other people are experiencing in the way of issues. Cable Card installs, HD copy protection deleting shows 1.5 hours after recording, cable card eject button failures, etc.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but you really need to read up on all these issues before making a decision.

Twoflower · 10-02-2006, 09:36 AM

I've read up on these things -- I think I'm still OK with it. Losing tivo2go is a bit of a pain but since I didn't even have that working until last month (tivo was on a phone line) it's not a huge loss. The other features I'm less interested in. I mostly use the core functionality of the unit, and want the digital / HD capabilities since I've recently gone HD.

mdscott · 10-02-2006, 09:54 AM

1) One cable will support the 2 cards. The second coax connector on the back of the S3 is for OTA.

2) You can connect and activate the DVR; go thorough Guided Setup and make sure you connections to TiVo Service work as expected. Have the S3 accessible. There are are materials in the box for the installer. You would do well to also print out the TiVo support article on CableCard installation. Finally check the forums to to familiarize your self with issues that have occurred and their solutions -- particularly if they pertain to your cable provider.

3) Sure -- after activation swap it out again until just before your tech arrives.

4) Some one el;se will need to respond to this one.

5) Some time called "hitting card"; when needed -- when all else fails. With my installation we have been unable to activate the Premium channels (HBO/Showtime) even after repeated initialization. I am up to three visits - last one with two people. I am certainly getting a bunch of hours for my $16.95 install fee.

Michael

jfh3 · 10-02-2006, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twoflower

4. I've seen mention of needing to enable ADS to get your analog channels in digital; what terminology should I use so the tech understands what I'm talking about? (I already use a settop box with digital and HBO, so maybe it's already enabled?)

All your other questions have been answered - I'll try this one.

Whether or not ADS (Analog/Digital Simulcast) is even available to you depends on your local system. The installer should generally know, but the flag is set on your account (e.g. do you have a digital box).

I presume that most systems would assume that if you have a CableCARD device, that it can receive (and would generally prefer) digital signals.

I didn't have to do anything special, though I found that my system is currently only mapping the SD versions of the local channels and that I get analog versions of some channels, even though the digital version are transmitted over the cable.

Twoflower · 10-02-2006, 01:11 PM

Got a new question. Just occured to me.

How do I handle the subscription? I'm paying month to month, it's not a lifetime. This is going to eventually be replacing my S2 box. Can I transplant the subscription from one box to the other?

Can I "activate" the S3 box to prep it for the Comcast Guy (then putting my S2 back online) without having to run two simultaneous subscriptions?

snathanb · 10-02-2006, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twoflower

Got a new question. Just occured to me.

Can I "activate" the S3 box to prep it for the Comcast Guy (then putting my S2 back online) without having to run two simultaneous subscriptions?

It'll run just fine for 7 days without activating it.