# New Roamio - install troubles



## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

So, got my new Roamio Plus, hooked it all up, slipped in my Motorola Comcast provided cable card, did the guided setup and after two phone calls to Comcast to pair the card I still can't see any channels - none at all. Should I be able to see some channels even without the cable card paired properly? I just unhooked my old TIVO Premiere in the same spot so I know my cable line and ethernet work fine in the same spot. Any suggestions?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Well, you MIGHT be able to manually do a channel scan and find clear QAM channels that way -- but you won't get guide data, etc., until you get the cable card set up right.. (but you LIKELY should get at least the broadcast channels over cable with the cablecard even if it's not paired properly)


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

It depends on your cable company and if your card is paired successfully. My cable company allows the majority of channels tunable without pairing and the HD and premium channels require pairing. 

You should be able to go into the cable card setup in settings and tune individual channels to see if they come in, it really sounds like your cable card isn't paired correctly.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Well, I did a simple test and pulled my good and paired cable card out of my Premiere unit and put it in my new Roamio Plus. So, of course it works just fine. All tuners, all channels as far as I can tell. But since I want to still use my old Premiere I either have to keep calling Comcast and see if I can get them to pair the new card properly or maybe go pick up another cable card and try it. At least my local Comcast office is open on Saturdays.


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## ncfoster (Jan 22, 2011)

On my Comcast, the only channels that obviously required the Cablecard were the premiums like HBO and Showtime. All the standard stuff showed up fine. Other than the premiums, I have the lowest tier of digital, so for higher levels, it might affect more. And, of course, I think even Comcast varies by region how they do things.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

rad1701 said:


> So, got my new Roamio Plus, hooked it all up, slipped in my Motorola Comcast provided cable card, did the guided setup and after two phone calls to Comcast to pair the card I still can't see any channels - none at all. Should I be able to see some channels even without the cable card paired properly? I just unhooked my old TIVO Premiere in the same spot so I know my cable line and ethernet work fine in the same spot. Any suggestions?


Did you do the Guided Setup BEFORE installing and pairing the cable card and BUT not after?

Generally you run Guided Setup with "cable card installed later", after cable card was installed and paired properly, re-run Guided Setup.

Note, Guided Setup will not remove anything such as recordings, channels, season passes, it only will add the channels authorized.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

ThAbtO said:


> Did you do the Guided Setup BEFORE installing and pairing the cable card and BUT not after?
> 
> Generally you run Guided Setup with "cable card installed later", after cable card was installed and paired properly, re-run Guided Setup.
> 
> Note, Guided Setup will not remove anything such as recordings, channels, season passes, it only will add the channels authorized.


Not understanding why running Guided setup another time will help me? I know the cable card is not paired (especially since the Roamio works fine if I slip in my other cable card). But hey, I will give it a try.


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## DeltaOne (Sep 29, 2013)

rad1701 said:


> Well, I did a simple test and pulled my good and paired cable card out of my Premiere unit and put it in my new Roamio Plus. So, of course it works just fine. All tuners, all channels as far as I can tell. But since I want to still use my old Premiere I either have to keep calling Comcast and see if I can get them to pair the new card properly or maybe go pick up another cable card and try it. At least my local Comcast office is open on Saturdays.


I went through four cable cards to get two working ones. It seems Comcast has no way to test cable cards and simply re-issues them as customers turn them in.

On my last trip, needing one cable card, I asked for two. First one didn't work, second one did. On my next trip to town I returned the extra card that didn't work.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Yeah, I think it's the card. Does it matter what screen you are looking at when they try to pair the cable card? Both times I've tried I was looking at that Cable Card decoder screen with all the ID info they need.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Almost thought I had it with this cable card. I have some channels now after calling again to get it paired (3rd attempt at that). But missing channels and have a value in this field that says, AUTH: NS. 
Which according to the TIVO help area says: The card is not staged and incorrectly paired. You will probably see errors in Con and Val as well, and the CableCARD might be missing critical firmware. Call the cable provider to resolve this issue.

So, I guess it's time to run to the Comcast office for a new cable card. Sigh...


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

Any chance you gave them the wrong numbers for the pairing? Card info might be right but perhaps a typo on the other relating to the Tivo it's self?


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## kbmb (Jun 22, 2004)

With Comcast I have experienced where the card needs to be both activated and paired. If you put in a card that isn't even active then you get nothing. If you activate and don't pair, then generally you get non premium channels fine until you pair it. 

-Kevin


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## Tom Pich (Jan 29, 2013)

kbmb said:


> With Comcast I have experienced where the card needs to be both activated and paired. If you put in a card that isn't even active then you get nothing. If you activate and don't pair, then generally you get non premium channels fine until you pair it.
> 
> -Kevin


Kevin is correct. OP, Your CableCard is not activated or it is defective.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Got two more cable cards today from Comcast. Still can't get either to work right. Biggest issue seems to be missing my HD channels in the HD package range. A tech is schedueled now to come out on Tuesday. This is frankly a pain in the a$$. My previous TIVO's seemed to pair and setup much easier than the Roamio for some reason.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

rad1701 said:


> Got two more cable cards today from Comcast. Still can't get either to work right. Biggest issue seems to be missing my HD channels in the HD package range. A tech is schedueled now to come out on Tuesday. This is frankly a pain in the a$$. My previous TIVO's seemed to pair and setup much easier than the Roamio for some reason.


It's not paired properly. What are you seeing on the Conditional Access screen?

Val: V

or

Val: ?


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

This might seem a long shot which you stated the cable was good but have you check the signal strength? I had a Tivo that I couldn't get the cards paired correctly due to a poor quality drop, I think you can check the signal strength without the card being paired. Perhaps the new Roamio has a coax problem or even try a different cable from the wall to the box. 

With the number of cards you have gone through, it might be time to double check the basics that are easily dismissed.


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## kbmb (Jun 22, 2004)

eboydog said:


> This might seem a long shot which you stated the cable was good but have you check the signal strength? I had a Tivo that I couldn't get the cards paired correctly due to a poor quality drop, I think you can check the signal strength without the card being paired. Perhaps the new Roamio has a coax problem or even try a different cable from the wall to the box.
> 
> With the number of cards you have gone through, it might be time to double check the basics that are easily dismissed.


Just to add to this.....people have also reported the opposite. If the signal was too hot (100% signal and 43+ SNR) the cards wouldn't pair.

Check your signal levels, if it's too hot, throw a splitter or two before it and get the levels down and try again.

-Kevin


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Signal strength 96%. I really thought one of the two new cable cards I got took care of it, but it gave me only some of my channels. It's weird. It's almost like Comcast is sending the wrong signal.

But the strangest thing (like I said previously) is I took my working cable card again from my Premiere and put it in my Roamio and all works perfectly (all tuners, all channels, can even stream fine too). Didn't even need to re-pair it or anything. Do you usually have to re-pair cards if you move them to a new device?

I had one idea this morning. I was thinking of trying one of the new cable cards in my TIVO premiere now and seeing if Comcast can pair it easier in my Premiere than my Roamio. Anyone think that would be worth trying or should I just wait for the tech to come on Tuesday?


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

kbmb said:


> Just to add to this.....people have also reported the opposite. If the signal was too hot (100% signal and 43+ SNR) the cards wouldn't pair.
> 
> Check your signal levels, if it's too hot, throw a splitter or two before it and get the levels down and try again.
> 
> -Kevin


This might be the case, try a spitting the cable....


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

rad1701 said:


> Signal strength 96%. I really thought one of the two new cable cards I got took care of it, but it gave me only some of my channels. It's weird. It's almost like Comcast is sending the wrong signal.
> 
> But the strangest thing (like I said previously) is I took my working cable card again from my Premiere and put it in my Roamio and all works perfectly (all tuners, all channels, can even stream fine too). Didn't even need to re-pair it or anything. Do you usually have to re-pair cards if you move them to a new device?
> 
> I had one idea this morning. I was thinking of trying one of the new cable cards in my TIVO premiere now and seeing if Comcast can pair it easier in my Premiere than my Roamio. Anyone think that would be worth trying or should I just wait for the tech to come on Tuesday?


You need to re-pair if you have premium channels - HBO, Showtime

What does the Conditional Access screen show?

What's the error message on the HD channels that aren't coming in?


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

It wasn't a premium channel problem (don't have any premiums) - it was my HD extra preferred channel package (like USAHD, TNTHD, TBSHD, etc). The error message on the channels that wouldn't come in was just that typical you are not authorized for this channel, contact your cable company with a phone number listed. The conditional access screen showed a few different things depending on the cable card. The AUTH: section has said FWK when I wasn't getting all the channels. It also has said MP.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

What does it show after

Val:


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

cherry ghost said:


> What does it show after
> 
> Val:


V


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## worachj (Oct 14, 2006)

Maybe you could try the automated activation and enable the card yourself. Sometimes they have fat fingers and can't type correctly.

Automated Activation Line: 1-800-671-9094

Online Activation


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

worachj said:


> Maybe you could try the automated activation and enable the card yourself. Sometimes they have fat fingers and can't type correctly.
> 
> Automated Activation Line: 1-800-671-9094
> 
> Online Activation


WOW! Didn't know you could do this. What is the better way. The phone number here or the online method??


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

I have Comcast and a Motorola card which I first tried to have paired day before yesterday. Two different efforts were made, then I called tech support which tried again. I was getting lower channels but no HD ones, and no Premium.

Called again in the morning and got a 4th tech who did it properly and I was good to go. He said something about the prior ones not having done things in the right order. Now - I called the special number, and you'd think this would be pretty straightforward. I've not had issues with my other cable cards but this time got unlucky with the techs.

I'd keep calling until you get someone who can pair it properly.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Well, tried the 2 cable cards in my Tivo Premiere - same end results (only some channels showing). That online activation or automated activation doesn't seem to apply to cable cards (only for internet activation) so I worked with a lady on the phone again. At this point, I'm just going to have to let the tech coming this Tuesday get it to work.

P.S. I'm just a little happy my previously paired card that was in my Premiere Tivo seems to work perfectly fine in my new Roamio. Now I guess I just need a card for my Premiere.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Ok, the screen below is what my WORKING cable card shows. This is the one I moved to my Roamio unit that I have used for years now. What's odd, is this screen looks similar to what the cards that wouldn't work showed.

Again - this screen is from the one card that works. Now, I just need one more good card for my old Premiere unit too.


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

When my card wasn't working, I had 'Auth: FWK' also (before that it was MP ... missing packets), and after Val I had a 'V' which I was told one should have. 

Once my card was properly paired, I had 'Auth: S'

Interesting.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

rad1701 said:


> Ok, the screen below is what my WORKING cable card shows. This is the one I moved to my Roamio unit that I have used for years now. What's odd, is this screen looks similar to what the cards that wouldn't work showed.
> 
> Again - this screen is from the one card that works. Now, I just need one more good card for my old Premiere unit too.


With Val=? the card is not paired, will work for a month or so than stop, and you can't get HBO type channels, *Comcast CT*


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Good to know. Just seems weird that it works ok now in the Roamio. I will move the card back to my Premiere unit - where it was paired before. The when Comcast comes tomorrow I will have them properly pair a new card to my Roamio. Kind of a pain overall - but I do love how quick and responsive the new Roamio interface handles. And streaming to my iPad is awesome!


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

rad1701 said:


> Good to know. Just seems weird that it works ok now in the Roamio. I will move the card back to my Premiere unit - where it was paired before. The when Comcast comes tomorrow I will have them properly pair a new card to my Roamio. Kind of a pain overall - but I do love how quick and responsive the new Roamio interface handles. And streaming to my iPad is awesome!


If you move the card back to the Premiere, it will NOT be paired there - the pairing was destroyed when you moved it to the Roamio (that's the standard Comcast security setup). You'll need to have it paired in whatever machine it ends up in.

You have two levels of problems going on at the same time.
1. Your bad card is not being authorized correctly. There is probably something wrong in Comcast's database for the card, whether it be something in the info connected with your account, or something in the info for the card itself. A good Comcast tech can fix that info, but most will just try another card. It's the lack of authorization that means you can't get most channels.
2. Once a card is authorized correctly, then it can be paired. You've never gotten to this step with the bad card, since it was never authorized. The good card that's in the Roamio now is one that has been properly authorized, but is not paired at the moment.

Lack of pairing on Comcast means you'll get most channels, but won't get the premium channels like HBO, and in most markets won't get a few of the non-premium movie channels like the Encore channels.


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## Ziggie (Jan 20, 2004)

rad1701 said:


> Got two more cable cards today from Comcast. Still can't get either to work right. Biggest issue seems to be missing my HD channels in the HD package range. A tech is schedueled now to come out on Tuesday. This is frankly a pain in the a$$. My previous TIVO's seemed to pair and setup much easier than the Roamio for some reason.


Having a tech come out yesterday was the *ONLY WAY* my card was successfully paired. You're right, it is a huge pain.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

CrispyCritter said:


> If you move the card back to the Premiere, it will NOT be paired there - the pairing was destroyed when you moved it to the Roamio (that's the standard Comcast security setup). You'll need to have it paired in whatever machine it ends up in.
> 
> You have two levels of problems going on at the same time.
> 1. Your bad card is not being authorized correctly. There is probably something wrong in Comcast's database for the card, whether it be something in the info connected with your account, or something in the info for the card itself. A good Comcast tech can fix that info, but most will just try another card. It's the lack of authorization that means you can't get most channels.
> ...


Well crap! So, it's now sounding like I will need them to fully pair and authorize a card in my old Premiere as well as re-pair the card now in my Roamio.

Here's what I don't know if I get completely. This is how I understand things now:

Pairing seems to only be needed for Premium channels (which I don't use at this time).

Authorizing a card tells it what channels you are authorized to receive.

So, it seems you can have a card authorized and not paired and it will mostly work. But, when they program a card will it accept the authorizing command if it doesn't pair? That seems like what I'm running into so far.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

rad1701 said:


> Well crap! So, it's now sounding like I will need them to fully pair and authorize a card in my old Premiere as well as re-pair the card now in my Roamio.
> 
> Here's what I don't know if I get completely. This is how I understand things now:
> 
> ...


In my Comcast land (Hartford CT) a CC with the Val =? will work for about a month or six weeks than after that will only work on the network channels, than after about 3 month the CC will brick itself as it is not commutating with the Comcast head end, above the VAL line is the last date the card was poked by the cable co, with a paired card that date will change about every 3 or so days, with a non paired card that date will never change or have the word _unknown_.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

rad1701 said:


> Well crap! So, it's now sounding like I will need them to fully pair and authorize a card in my old Premiere as well as re-pair the card now in my Roamio.
> 
> Here's what I don't know if I get completely. This is how I understand things now:
> 
> ...


I think that a CableCard is just authorized on your account, so once it is successfully authorized on your account you can use it in any CableCard devices connected to your cable company's network. Pairing is device specific and must be done anytime you insert a CableCard into a new device. Exactly which channels require pairing and which only require authorization varies from cable co. to cable co., but on Comcast it seems to be only the premium channels that require pairing in order to receive them.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I think that a CableCard is just authorized on your account, so once it is successfully authorized on your account you can use it in any CableCard devices connected to your cable company's network. Pairing is device specific and must be done anytime you insert a CableCard into a new device. Exactly which channels require pairing and which only require authorization varies from cable co. to cable co., but on Comcast it seems to be only the premium channels that require pairing in order to receive them.


BUT as I said above there is a time out on the CC (not paired) by Comcast Hartford CT. I have a paired CC in a guest bedroom (I leave the power off) and after a month or so the card will not work as a paired card until after about 3 days of power on, when it gets poked by Comcast, I could call Comcast and have them send a poke signal out to the cable card and than all works.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Thanks for all the info and comments gang - helps a lot. Ok, my new plan for my Comcast tech visit tomorrow, is to have them put a brand new cable card in my Roamio and get it paired and authorized. Then I will have them re-pair the one semi-good card I have that I'll move back to my Premiere. Should be tons of fun!


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## Ziggie (Jan 20, 2004)

rad1701 said:


> Thanks for all the info and comments gang - helps a lot. Ok, my new plan for my Comcast tech visit tomorrow, is to have them put a brand new cable card in my Roamio and get it paired and authorized. Then I will have them re-pair the one semi-good card I have that I'll move back to my Premiere. Should be tons of fun!


I just went through this yesterday. Ask upfront if they're going to charge you to pair a new card ~ our tech told us it would be $40


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Ziggie said:


> I just went through this yesterday. Ask upfront if they're going to charge you to pair a new card ~ our tech told us it would be $40


When I setup the appt. on the phone I asked if there would be a charge and they said no since they are saying the cable cards are not working/defective. But thanks for the advice. If they try to charge me I'll just threaten to switch to AT&T.


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

I'm glad i don't have comcast I have verizon and when i got my premieres the tech came over with the 2 new cable cards and he paired the cards for me and i didn't have to pay anything! I just hope that if i ever get the roamio it goes just as smooth.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

FIXED!!! 

Ok, a couple things. The biggest problem turned out to be Comcast didn't have the Cable Card provisioned or setup in my account properly. So no amount of pairing attempts by me would fix that. The tech also dropped a new cable line to my TIVO box because he said the signal was a little low (I really think this didn't matter - but hey he was here so why not). Got both the Roamio and old Premiere unit paired properly and showing all the channels I should get now. 

Time for my happy dance!


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

rad1701 said:


> FIXED!!!
> 
> Ok, a couple things. The biggest problem turned out to be Comcast didn't have the Cable Card provisioned or setup in my account properly. So no amount of pairing attempts by me would fix that. The tech also dropped a new cable line to my TIVO box because he said the signal was a little low (I really think this didn't matter - but hey he was here so why not). Got both the Roamio and old Premiere unit paired properly and showing all the channels I should get now.
> 
> Time for my happy dance!


Once again, ineptitude by cable company support. Glad to hear it's working!


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

Exactly. I think the key problem with many of these is that when you go to the office to pick up a cable card it seems they have to type in the "proper" info into the account so that later when you go to pair and authorize it that it all works right. Even though I saw the cable office people typing into their computers I don't think they enter much more than customer X gets cable card Y. 

What I don't get it why the pairing people can't look at the account and fix all that? When the Comcast tech called in today that was the first thing they checked in my account. My lesson here I think is I'll just have Comcast come out and do all this crap if/when I need to do it again. Save me some headaches.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

rad1701 said:


> My lesson here I think is I'll just have Comcast come out and do all this crap if/when I need to do it again. Save me some headaches.


Not necessarily. I've had some good experiences with techs and some bad experiences. If the tech is good, he can usually get everything fixed up and running smoothly. If he's incompetent (as many seem to be), then he could end up doing something to screw things up even worse. Since you never know what you're going to get in a tech, I always view having a tech come out as an absolute last resort.


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## rad1701 (Aug 17, 2003)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Not necessarily. I've had some good experiences with techs and some bad experiences. If the tech is good, he can usually get everything fixed up and running smoothly. If he's incompetent (as many seem to be), then he could end up doing something to screw things up even worse. Since you never know what you're going to get in a tech, I always view having a tech come out as an absolute last resort.


True. The weird thing is this guy said he had only done like two cable cards in the last few years. But I think he knew what to ask Comcast on the phone to get things working right. Anyway, just happy I'm done with all this - for now at least.


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## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

I've had both good and bad with techs as well. When I got my series 3, there were so many issues (I don't remember exactly what they were) that Comcast kept giving me credits. 

When I got the HD, the tech came with the cable card for it, and then told me he had to remove the cards from the Series 3 for some reason. I said no, had him call, and he got the instructions.

For the Roamio, I installed it. It took two calls (first attempt hung for hours) but on the second call it paired correctly.


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