M-card interchangeable?

JFaust · 03-17-2010, 02:52 PM

When the new Premiere arrives will I be able to interchange the Tivo S3 multicard with the Premiere? Will moving the card into the Premiere require either a call to my cable company (Cablevision) or the visit of a technician?

gweempose · 03-17-2010, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFaust

When the new Premiere arrives will I be able to interchange the Tivo S3 multicard with the Premiere?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFaust

Will moving the card into the Premiere require either a call to my cable company (Cablevision) or the visit of a technician?

It will for sure require a call, and possibly a truck roll. It depends on the policies of your cable provider.

b_scott · 03-17-2010, 03:18 PM

Insist that you can do it yourself, don't let them bully you into having someone come out to read something off the screen for them. Just give them the unique ID created by calculating between the card and your box.

Bsteenson · 03-18-2010, 01:03 AM

You might be better off calling tech support and asking them directly to hit the new card once you transfer, rather than going through customer service or some front office. I've found the tech people a lot more knowledgeable (usually) and a lot more easy to get along with when it comes to cable companies.

rainwater · 03-18-2010, 08:08 AM

Unless you have FIOS, most likely, you will have to re-pair the card. That means giving our cable company the new host and data ids (along with the serial number of the card). The only time you don't need to have it paired again is if you don't receive any copy protected channels.

JFaust · 03-18-2010, 08:30 AM

Come to think of it a few months back, in an effort to put a stop to random video and audio freezes, TiVo telephone support suggested that I take a look at my M-card pairing. We found that the card was running without being paired.

I called Cablevision support, told them of the unpaired card, and while over the phone they assisted in repairing the card.

Unfortunately, pairing the card made absolutely no difference in halting random video and audio freezes. I'm hoping that the new Premiere has a better front end that is not susceptible to an allegedly 'too strong signal from Cablevision', in the words of TiVo tech support. TiVo tech support claims that ideally the signal should be less than 100, with a signal to noise ratio of about 30.

I'm certainly no expert in front end receiver design, but it seems to me that too strong a signal can be easily handled with a properly designed circuit feedback loop, and the greater the signal to noise ratio, the cleaner the picture.

If the Premiere does not exhibit random video and audio freezes, I will be convinced that the Series 3 has an improperly designed front end, and that it should be repaired or replaced without charge. We will see!

Raj · 03-18-2010, 10:01 AM

Pairing only deals with the copy protection key.

The front end issues on the S3 are well known. Mine used to tile when I placed my cellphone near it.

bradolson · 03-18-2010, 10:48 PM

If Cablevision has a special dept. for things like this, you might want to ask for that dept. I know with Time Warner, when I call I immediately ask for Tier 3 support which are the guys who know about CableCards, SDV, the tuning adapters, etc...

jmpage2 · 03-19-2010, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bsteenson

You might be better off calling tech support and asking them directly to hit the new card once you transfer, rather than going through customer service or some front office. I've found the tech people a lot more knowledgeable (usually) and a lot more easy to get along with when it comes to cable companies.

It's not a matter of "hitting" anything. There's a unique ID generated between the cable card and the TiVo box and if that UID is not entered into the cable company system the TiVo will not tune any channels.

b_scott · 03-19-2010, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmpage2

It's not a matter of "hitting" anything. There's a unique ID generated between the cable card and the TiVo box and if that UID is not entered into the cable company system the TiVo will not tune any channels.

this

rainwater · 03-19-2010, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmpage2

It's not a matter of "hitting" anything. There's a unique ID generated between the cable card and the TiVo box and if that UID is not entered into the cable company system the TiVo will not tune any channels.

If they hit it, you should at least be able to get any channels not copy protected. In my area this is almost all channels. For some providers, they copy protect everything but the locals so it is hit or miss. But you should definitely get them to update the data and host ids in the system and then hit the card.

ZeoTiVo · 03-19-2010, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmpage2

It's not a matter of "hitting" anything.

I'd hit it.

but I have lowered my standards.

gweempose · 03-19-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeoTiVo

I'd hit it.

but I have lowered my standards.

Times must be rough when a CableCARD is looking sexy.

ZeoTiVo · 03-19-2010, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gweempose

Times must be rough when a CableCARD is looking sexy.

daveak · 03-19-2010, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeoTiVo

NSFW...

fyodor · 03-19-2010, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFaust

When the new Premiere arrives will I be able to interchange the Tivo S3 multicard with the Premiere? Will moving the card into the Premiere require either a call to my cable company (Cablevision) or the visit of a technician?

When I replaced my broken S3 with a THD I was able to switch out my S cards and get it working without any contact with Comcast. I don't have any premium channels, so that may be the reason. Obviously YMMV.

F

riekl · 03-20-2010, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_scott

Insist that you can do it yourself, don't let them bully you into having someone come out to read something off the screen for them. Just give them the unique ID created by calculating between the card and your box.

Good luck with this and Comcast. They will roll a truck and they WILL charge you for it.

riekl · 03-20-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyodor

When I replaced my broken S3 with a THD I was able to switch out my S cards and get it working without any contact with Comcast. I don't have any premium channels, so that may be the reason. Obviously YMMV.

F

This is simply not possible unless every channel is broadcast clear QAM in your network which .. i have never heard of anyone anwhere doing only things typically in clear are the locals and no name channels. You will need a truck roll and technician onsite for Comcast to fix it if they ever encrypt any of your channels or you upgrade packages since they refuse to ever let a consumer do anything with a cable card.

riekl · 03-20-2010, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmpage2

It's not a matter of "hitting" anything. There's a unique ID generated between the cable card and the TiVo box and if that UID is not entered into the cable company system the TiVo will not tune any channels.

No .. they DO have to 'hit' the card it is not simply a matter of matching the pairing information. Here's an experiment to prove it to you .. Get a Tivo with an unpaired card, put the card in, write down all the info, pull the card. Have your cable card do the card pairing on his end entering the data/host etc. Give him 5 minutes to do his work and when he asks you if it is working plug your card back on. It will not work.

With that said, most cable systems 'hit' everything on their network with provisioning info fairly frequently some up to every hour so its a fairly moot point in that it will update eventually on its own, but it does require them to loop up the card.

b_scott · 03-20-2010, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riekl

Good luck with this and Comcast. They will roll a truck and they WILL charge you for it.

Uh, I have firsthand knowledge that no, they won't. I did that exact thing.

Bsteenson · 03-21-2010, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmpage2

It's not a matter of "hitting" anything. There's a unique ID generated between the cable card and the TiVo box and if that UID is not entered into the cable company system the TiVo will not tune any channels.

Well, duh. What did you think I meant? You read them the serial number and other info and they send a signal to your box to pair the card with the box. Did you think I meant they come over with a hammer?

riekl · 03-21-2010, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bsteenson

Well, duh. What did you think I meant? You read them the serial number and other info and they send a signal to your box to pair the card with the box. Did you think I meant they come over with a hammer?

I was replying to jmpage2 not you if you notice ..