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Series 3 Verizon FIOS HD compat?

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#1 ·
I was just about to order a Series 3 from TIVO, when I decided to ask that they gaurantee me that it will work with Verizon FIOS HD (I currently have cablevision, however FIOS is already installed in my building and I will be switching as soon as it is available). The sales rep transferred me to tech, who after 15 minutes told me that they had no information on whether it will work with FIOS HD.

So, does anyone REALLY know if a Series 3 will work with FIOS directly (No verizon box to video inputs, IR blasters, etc)?
 
#1,776 ·
Rich,VZ has two generations of boxes (plus the DTA's) in use. The 6xxx are grandfathered, waiver period boxes w/o cablecards. The 7xxx use M cards folks have pulled (against advice) and had them work in TiVos since VZ doesn't pair cards to equipment.
Ah, got it.
 
#1,782 ·
When a supervisor came over yesterday, he replaced my TiVo with their DVR and got all channels on his box. So he concluded that their programming is getting down my cable. But no luck with the TiVo.
One interesting test would be to take one of the newer Verizon DVRs (that are required to use CableCARDs) and first make sure it works as delivered. Then swap TiVo cards <--> Verizon DVR cards and see whether the problem follows the cards or not.
 
#1,783 ·
Thus far VIOS has only used two M cards. When comcast tried to set it up with two S cards a few years ago, they could only get one channel working. Hence we only tried the M cards this time. If all else fails, maybe I will ask them to try S cards this time?
Note if you have the older Series3 model, two CableCards (regardless of type) are always needed to support both tuners. Only the newer TivoHD support both tuners with a single M-CARD (must be in far right slot).

One interesting test would be to take one of the newer Verizon DVRs (that are required to use CableCARDs) and first make sure it works as delivered. Then swap TiVo cards <--> Verizon DVR cards and see whether the problem follows the cards or not.
I've been told the M-CARDs in the Motorola DVRs are paired, so that may not work. Have you confirmed otherwise?
 
#1,784 ·
Thanks Rich. (I was hopping you would reply.)

When a supervisor came over yesterday, he replaced my TiVo with their DVR and got all channels on his box. So he concluded that their programming is getting down my cable. But no luck with the TiVo.
Probably not the issue, but it did bite me when I first got my TiVoHD. Did you sanity-check that their DVR and your TiVo agree on the channel number for the missing channels?
(Ie, if you can't receive National Geographic on the TiVo but can on the FIOS box, are they tuned to the same channel number)

I happened to get my TiVoHD installed the same day FIOS did an unannounced line-up change which meant that the channels weren't where TiVo though they were. I thought it was a cable-card problem when it was really a line-up problem. (And when I figured it out I had to cancel the follow-up truck role they'd scheduled to bring out some replacement cable cards)
 
#1,785 ·
Probably not the issue, but it did bite me when I first got my TiVoHD. Did you sanity that their DVR and your TiVo agree on the channel number for the missing channels?
(Ie, if you can't receive National Geographic on the TiVo but can on the FIOS box, are they tuned to the same channel number)

I happened to get my TiVoHD installed the same day FIOS did an unannounced line-up change which meant that the channels weren't where TiVo though they were. I thought it was a cable-card problem when it was really a line-up problem. (And when I figured it out I had to cancel the follow-up truck role they'd scheduled to bring out some replacement cable cards)
Hadn't considered that one. :up:
 
#1,786 ·
I've been told the M-CARDs in the Motorola DVRs are paired, so that may not work. Have you confirmed otherwise?
I don't have a Verizon DVR so I can't check. But if Motorola/Verizon/Comcast et al were smart they would put some sort of seal over the M-CARDs so they would know if you disturbed them.

Of course all the "company" DVRs violate the spirit if not the letter of the FCC regulations by coming from the factory with CableCARDs pre-installed. In addition, I'd bet that it's company policy to never de-mate the cards from the DVR. Is it still "separable" security if it comes mated and it's never separated?
 
#1,788 ·
I don't have a Verizon DVR so I can't check. But if Motorola/Verizon/Comcast et al were smart they would put some sort of seal over the M-CARDs so they would know if you disturbed them.
I have a 7100 HD box (but not a FIOS DVR) although the case is the same. The card is under a plate with a foil seal. That hasn't stopped some people at BBR, who claim to have pulled it and found it worked.

You're right though, the card in these boxes isn't activated per se. They must be cross referenced in their inventory system. The activation process goes by the box number.
 
#1,791 ·
Hunh? Not sure what you are saying here. The S3 can't do VOD or PPV, so what is there to support?
Exactly. No TiVo supports VOD or PPV. (Although you can call VZ or any cableco and order PPV events.)
 
#1,792 ·
The issue I was having with FIOS not being able to find a block of channels was finally resolved! The Verizon folks spent a lot of time and effort on this, but it finally turned out to be something easily corrected (as you folks expected).

As understood by me from their explanation, the card reset involves them running a procedure in their office that has two parts: (Step 1) Initialization of the card, followed after a brief pause by (Step 2) downloading the channel information. The Series 3 TiVo that I have needs some additional time between these two steps. By breaking the procedure and allowing additional time between the steps, the reset worked correctly and my system now receives everything it should.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions in this forum. It was comforting to know that I had this forum to fall back on.

- Bob
 
#1,793 ·
The issue I was having with FIOS not being able to find a block of channels was finally resolved! The Verizon folks spent a lot of time and effort on this, but it finally turned out to be something easily corrected (as you folks expected).
Phew! Congrats Bob. Thanks for reporting the detailed info...it may help someone else in the future. Enjoy! :up:
 
#1,794 ·
We went down the road for weeks with Tivo and Verizon trying the attenuators and worrying about signal strength. The reality was that pulling the DVR Expander out of our TivoHD fixed all of our pixelation and rebooting problems. Why hasn't Tivo figured this out with their help desk scripts?
 
#1,795 ·
We went down the road for weeks with Tivo and Verizon trying the attenuators and worrying about signal strength. The reality was that pulling the DVR Expander out of our TivoHD fixed all of our pixelation and rebooting problems. Why hasn't Tivo figured this out with their help desk scripts?
Per numerous posts on this forum, the problems with FIOS were taken care of back in July with the release of v11.0d. Everyone (on this thread, others as well as the main thread on the subject) was told to remove any attenuation at that time. IIRC that's what TiVo was telling folks as well.

There are also numerous posts on the Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ discussing problems with the WD My DVR Expanders and how to diagnose the issues and/or remove them.

If anyone at TiVo was instructing you to do anything different recently, you're right, whoever you talked to wasn't up to speed. You can usually depend on folks here to help out whenever there's a problem...of course you sometimes get what you pay for. ;)

In any case, it's good to hear that you've figured things out. It's quite possible that the hard drive in the WD My DVR Expander enclosure is still good. More here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7553444#post7553444

Quite a few recent reports have indicated that the WD My DVR Expanders are failing because something is going south in the enclosure, not with the actual hard drive itself. Several folks have had success by removing the hard drive from the enclosure and installing it in a new one (such as the recommended Antec MX-1). Once re-connected life is good again. Something to keep in mind.
 
#1,796 ·
I now see that 11.0d solved the problems. The Community got me to pull the Expander out finally. It's just that when I searched Fios on the board most of the results were attenuator focused. The problems started back in the Spring.

I saw that regarding the drive. I've now disassociated the Expander from the Tivo HD and lost all of the shows. If I pull the drive from the Expander and put it in a 3rd party enclosure will Tivo accept it? Or, do I need to first plug the Expander back in and then turn off the Tivo and stuff the drive into a 3rd party enclosure?

This Tivo is thousands of miles away at a family member's home so I might just go the route of buying a new 1 TB expander from them and an SIIG cable. Is the 1 TB Expander proving to be more reliable than the 500 GB? Has WD made any more to changing out the faulty components of the older 500 GB units? I bought the first 500 GB Expander when they first came to market.
 
#1,797 ·
I now see that 11.0d solved the problems. The Community got me to pull the Expander out finally. It's just that when I searched Fios on the board most of the results were attenuator focused. The problems started back in the Spring.

I saw that regarding the drive. I've now disassociated the Expander from the Tivo HD and lost all of the shows. If I pull the drive from the Expander and put it in a 3rd party enclosure will Tivo accept it? Or, do I need to first plug the Expander back in and then turn off the Tivo and stuff the drive into a 3rd party enclosure?

This Tivo is thousands of miles away at a family member's home so I might just go the route of buying a new 1 TB expander from them and an SIIG cable. Is the 1 TB Expander proving to be more reliable than the 500 GB? Has WD made any more to changing out the faulty components of the older 500 GB units? I bought the first 500 GB Expander when they first came to market.
It looks like the 500GB My DVR Expanders are often failing at about 12 to 18 months (just outside of the 1 year warranty). Several people have had success with continuing to use the actual drive by placing it in a new enclosure (recommended enclosures can be found in the Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ).

TiVo recognizes eSATA drives by the exact model number so it really doesn't matter what enclosure it's in. Placing the actual drive in a new enclosure could result in your drive being serviceable once again. Connecting the bare drive to a PC and running a diagnostic program like the free WD Lifeguard could tell you if the drive is okay or not.

Based on various posts about communications with WD, they don't seem very forthcoming about their products or if they've made any changes to them.

The WD 1TB My DVR Expander hasn't been out but a few months now so it's hard to say how the long-term reliability will be. AFAIK no one has reported any issues with them so far.
 
#1,798 ·
Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site so please forgive the redundency on the questions. I currentl have V-Fios and their DVR. I am in the market to buy a Tivo. I've read that I need 2 m-cards if I have an old series 3 tivo, and only 1 m-card if new series 3. I am current looking at 2 TIVO boxes to buy. One is a ser.3 model number TCD648250B Lifetime 179 HD Hrs 1TB WD Ext, and the other is the TCD652160 with an internal expanded memory, and comparable offerings. I come to understand the TCD648250B is a better box, or is it(?), but what is also important to me is the number of m-cards required, since I will be spending good money on either. How many m-cards is required in the two models?

I would appreciate any advise.

Thank you all.

Norm
 
#1,799 ·
Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site so please forgive the redundency on the questions. I currentl have V-Fios and their DVR. I am in the market to buy a Tivo. I've read that I need 2 m-cards if I have an old series 3 tivo, and only 1 m-card if new series 3. I am current looking at 2 TIVO boxes to buy. One is a ser.3 model number TCD648250B Lifetime 179 HD Hrs 1TB WD Ext, and the other is the TCD652160 with an internal expanded memory, and comparable offerings. I come to understand the TCD648250B is a better box, or is it(?), but what is also important to me is the number of m-cards required, since I will be spending good money on either. How many m-cards is required in the two models?

I would appreciate any advise.

Thank you all.

Norm
Welcome to the forum. Although all of the TiVo Hi-def boxes are part of the Series 3 family, here is how they are referred to on the forum:


TiVo Series3 (TCD648250B - the "original" HD TiVo)


TiVo HD (TCD652160)


TiVo HDXL (TCD658000)

The differences between the three models can be found on these two threads:

TiVo Series3 : http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315791

TiVo HD/HDXL: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994

The original Series3 requires two cable cards (either "S", single-stream or "M" multi-stream) to operate both tuners. TiVo HD and HDXL's only require one "M" cable card. Cable cards are part of VZ FIOS service charges. I think our first one is free and the other two are $3.49 ea./month.

Each unit has pluses and minuses. We have both and can recommend either. If I were to buy another one I'd probably opt for another of the original Series3 models.

All of our TiVo's work very well w/FIOS. There are two things that are different from the VZ DVR. No VOD. Pay-per-view is not available via a TiVo menu but you can order it on line or call VZ and schedule a show and set TiVo to record it by setting up a manual recording. We don't miss VOD because we have access to streaming Amazon VOD, Netflix and now Blockbuster videos...plus all of the rest of the various broadband features if you have it hooked up to your network.

You can visit the TiVo Series3 HDTV DVR thread for more information on all things TiVo:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=51
 
#1,800 ·
Thanks Rich for the picture definition and the other relevant threads on this site. Can I ask for a clarification on the comment: "I think our first one is free and the other two are $3.49 ea./month." Which one is free and which two are $3.49? Or are you saying the first card, regardless of "S" or "M" is free and the second one is $3.40. I'm inclined to buy the series 3, but would like to pay monthly 1 x $3.49 instead of 2 x $3.49. Also, it appears on this site the installation is a crap shoot regarding service charges. Some have been dinged hard while others thought they were going to pay but end up getting a free service call.

Thanks again.
 
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