[BlackBlood]

I have recently moved to a new county in New Jersey, and in this new county HBO is not on a standard cable set-up. HBO can only be accessed with a Comcast digital box and thus my problem is presented. Comcast has given me a Motorola DCT2000 box and premium channel package and without this box I can only get basic cable on my TiVo.

I would like to receive the channels I am paying for, but watch them with my TiVo. Now, I have been told many different types of set-ups for this but I cant seem to get it right. This jist is having the cable plugged into the comcast box, then A/V or Coaxil cable to the TiVo, then a A/V from the TiVo to my TV. While on the TiVo site they tell me I need to have the serial cable hooked up to TiVo and Comcast box to change channels, but that is giving me problems. Could someone please tell me step-by-step what I need to do!?

 

[kmitchell]

The DCT-2000 doesn't use "serial" it uses "infrared" (at least mine does) to change channels. The setup is clearly outlined in the user guide. What you need to do is connect the IR blaster cable to your Tivo and position it over/in front of the IR receiver on the cable box. You may need to use a flashlight to locate the IR receiver on the cable box as it's usually behind the semi-transparent faceplate on the front of the box. Once you have the cable connected and positioned you need to go into setup and tell your Tivo that you have a Motorola cable box connected to your Tivo. This is all covered step-by-step in the user guide.

Hope this helps,
Ken

 

[timstack8969]

I live in Philly and I use the DCT 2000 with my TIVO for about 4 years now. At first the serial port didn't work and then I tried it about 6 months later and it has worked fine ever since. If your's don't work call comcast ask them to send a "SIGNAL HIT" to your box and hope it activates the serial port if not use the "IR".

 

[BlackBlood]

So I set it up as I earlier described and also attach the serial cable, but what does that cable do? It lets me change the channel of the comcast box and TiVo at the same time?

 

[JimSpence]

If that cable box does indeed allow for a serial connection, then it is the TiVo that is changing the channel of the cable box.

 

[kmitchell]

Blackblood,

First off, I got a sense from your last post that you may be trying to use your cable box remote to change channels. Hide you cable box remote as you won't be using it to change channels. Once you get this working the Tivo will be controlling the channel changing on your cable box. You want to use one method or the other, IR cable or serial cable but not both. Unplug the IR cable from the back of your Tivo and see if the Tivo can change the channel on your cable boxusing the serial cable. Again, use the channel up/down on your Tivo remote, not your cable box remote. If that works, great, as that's a much more reliable method of doing it. If not, unplug the serial cable and plug in the IR cable. Play with the positioning of the IR emitters until you can reliably change the channels on your cable box.

Let us know how if goes,
Ken