# Comcast customer with a 652 or 658 box in Georgia, Illinois, or California?



## TiVoMargret (Feb 3, 2008)

Hi,

If you have a TiVo HD with a TSN that begins with 652 or 658...

AND you have Comcast in one of these cities: Atlanta or Augusta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Fresno, Stockton, Santa Maria, or Sacramento, California...

AND you'd be willing to help us test something...

Then please send email to [email protected] with the subject "Comcast and TiVo HD" and include your TSN.

Thanks,
-- Margret


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

TiVoMargret said:


> Hi,
> 
> If you have a TiVo HD with a TSN that begins with 652 or 658...
> 
> ...


Any hope that you're going to see if the later S3s can do MPEG4?

  

Not that it matters to me personally, since I'm stuck with TWC.

Any chance you'd like to join me in an experiment to see if a Series2 Dual Tuner can use 2 cable boxes at once (well, actually a cable box and a DTA), one on the line inputs and the other on the RF input, if they use different remote codes?

After all, it is supposed to be able to record 2 cable channels at once.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Seriously, if y'all are doing what I think you might be doing with the somewhat long in the tooth 652/658s in those Comcast markets--

:up::up::up:


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

TiVoMargret said:


> Hi,
> 
> If you have a TiVo HD with a TSN that begins with 652 or 658...
> 
> ...


I wish I was in one of those areas as I would definitely help you. 

If this is what it seems to be, then that would make a lot of people happy (although it might make some people unhappy that went ahead and bought Roamio or Bolt replacements due to the Comcast MPEG4 conversion or upcoming conversion).

And are you sure you can't test with 648's too? 

Scott


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

HerronScott said:


> I wish I was in one of those areas as I would definitely help you.
> 
> If this is what it seems to be, then that would make a lot of people happy (although it might make some people unhappy that went ahead and bought Roamio or Bolt replacements due to the Comcast MPEG4 conversion or upcoming conversion).
> 
> ...


No, man, I need the price of 648s to keep dropping.


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## joetucson (Nov 27, 2006)

I have a 652 (and 648) Tivo3's in Tucson, AZ. I just got them killed by upgrading to Comcast's X1 since I got a letter from Comcast saying they would be obsoleted by Dec. 1.

Any chance of reviving them? I had to get a couple of their boxes since the TIVO went blank on every channel.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

joetucson said:


> I have a 652 (and 648) Tivo3's in Tucson, AZ. I just got them killed by upgrading to Comcast's X1 since I got a letter from Comcast saying they would be obsoleted by Dec. 1.
> 
> Any chance of reviving them? I had to get a couple of their boxes since the TIVO went blank on every channel.


If this experiment they're doing is what I think it is, the 652 might be usable again but probably not the 648.

But we have no way of knowing how long it will be before they reach a point where they can say anything one way or the other.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Has anyone in the target areas on Comcast with an HD sent Margret your TSN?

Scott


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

unitron said:


> If this experiment they're doing is what I think it is, the 652 might be usable again but probably not the 648.
> 
> But we have no way of knowing how long it will be before they reach a point where they can say anything one way or the other.


Maybe she just forgot about the 648. They could also update the 648 to use one cable card.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

shwru980r said:


> Maybe she just forgot about the 648. They could also update the 648 to use one cable card.


The 648 went into production before the M card specs were finalized, and cable labs did something that means the 648 can only use an M as an S. Apparently it's a hardware thing and software won't solve it. Otherwise I'm sure they'd have dealt with it long ago.

I think I read somewhere that the 648 not being able to do MPEG4 is a hardware thing as well, maybe a 32 bit CPU instead of a 64.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

unitron said:


> I think I read somewhere that the 648 not being able to do MPEG4 is a hardware thing as well, maybe a 32 bit CPU instead of a 64.


The 648 does have an MPEG-4 hardware decoder although it's a separate chip instead of being integrated as it is on the HD. The difference might be they actually have code from the Austrialian HD for MPEG-4 that they can adapt to support MPEG-4 for the US HD model.

*S3 OLED*
*CPU: *Broadcom BCM7038 system-on-a-chip, including the MPEG-2 decoder.
*Decoder: *Broadcom BCM7411 MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and VC-1/WMV9 decoder.
*MPEG2 encoder: *2 Broadcom BCM7042

*HD*
*CPU:* Broadcom BCM7401 system-on-a-chip, including the MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, and VC-1/WMV9 decoder.
*MPEG2 encoder: *2 Philips/NXT SAA7138CHL

Scott


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## javabird (Oct 13, 2006)

Cool. I'm in Seattle or I would offer to help.


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## jscopes (Dec 22, 2015)

HerronScott said:


> Has anyone in the target areas on Comcast with an HD sent Margret your TSN?
> 
> Scott


I just emailed Margret, I have an HD XL (658) in Chicago.


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## gprellwitz (Jan 20, 2007)

I have a 648 in the Chicago suburbs and a 652 that has a bad hard drive. If I can resurrect the hard drive, perhaps using SpinRite, I might be able to help. I just got the letter from Comcast yesterday.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

gprellwitz said:


> I have a 648 in the Chicago suburbs and a 652 that has a bad hard drive. If I can resurrect the hard drive, perhaps using SpinRite, I might be able to help. I just got the letter from Comcast yesterday.


Do you have another SATA hard drive of at least 160GB?

We can hook you up with a 652 image.


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## johnh123 (Dec 7, 2000)

jscopes said:


> I just emailed Margret, I have an HD XL (658) in Chicago.


Did you hear anything? I emailed her a couple days ago.


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## gprellwitz (Jan 20, 2007)

unitron said:


> Do you have another SATA hard drive of at least 160GB?
> 
> We can hook you up with a 652 image.


I probably have one lying around somewhere. Getting this going might be a "fun"  thing to do while I'm on break next week.


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## jscopes (Dec 22, 2015)

johnh123 said:


> Did you hear anything? I emailed her a couple days ago.


I did not.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Wow! I'm shocked. Are they actually going to push out an update to the S3 units to support H.264? I thought all hope was dead for that. Maybe they're worried about losing too many subscribers?


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Wow! I'm shocked. Are they actually going to push out an update to the S3 units to support H.264? I thought all hope was dead for that. Maybe they're worried about losing too many subscribers?


She didn't actually say what it was for but given the units and locations they are looking for, it seems like they might want to test it. 

Note that it's just HD models and not the original S3 OLED.

Scott


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## zalusky (Apr 5, 2002)

HerronScott said:


> She didn't actually say what it was for but given the units and locations they are looking for, it seems like they might want to test it.
> 
> Note that it's just HD models and not the original S3 OLED.
> 
> Scott


Its interesting given the HD model is slower than the original S3 model. I guess the other stuff makes the difference.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The units sold in Australia and New Zealand, that support H.264 recording, were based on the TiVo HD hardware. So that's probably why they're limiting it to the TiVo HD. The software is probably ready to go for that hardware platform and they just need to test it out.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> The units sold in Australia and New Zealand, that support H.264 recording, were based on the TiVo HD hardware. So that's probably why they're limiting it to the TiVo HD. The software is probably ready to go for that hardware platform and they just need to test it out.


Or at least much easier to adapt those sections to the US code since the hardware was the same.

Scott


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## ryan87500 (Nov 30, 2004)

I just emailed Margaret as well.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

Wow, this would be cool. I only subscribe to locals so I would be ok post conversion, but still very very cool if it happens. My only concern would be if the update (assuming that's whats happening) would kill my TiVoHD. Everything is working fine right now.


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## MacPrince (Dec 16, 2000)

I literally not 10 minutes ago got off the phone with TiVo to deactivate my two old TiVo HDs (652s) from their annual plans, having replaced them with Roamio Pros with All-In from their Black Friday sale.

Oh, well. Since TiVo will never re-activate these after the service expires in mid-August, probably best they go to the electronics recycling.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MacPrince said:


> I literally not 10 minutes ago got off the phone with TiVo to deactivate my two old TiVo HDs (652s) from their annual plans, having replaced them with Roamio Pros with All-In from their Black Friday sale.
> 
> Oh, well. Since TiVo will never re-activate these after the service expires in mid-August, probably best they go to the electronics recycling.


If you get a reference number from TiVo Custormer Service, the sub on those 652s can be transferred to buyers, instead of just letting them become boat anchors.

(although it's a shame you didn't grab the $99 lifetime for them back when that was possible)


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## MacPrince (Dec 16, 2000)

unitron said:


> If you get a reference number from TiVo Custormer Service, the sub on those 652s can be transferred to buyers, instead of just letting them become boat anchors.
> 
> (although it's a shame you didn't grab the $99 lifetime for them back when that was possible)


I forgot to mention that the reason I replaced them is that Comcast in my area is going MPEG-4 in February, so I thought they weren't going to be terribly useful to me for much longer. I may offer up the two that I just deactivated (I also have a third that was deactivated last August) on the Buyer/Seller forum and see if I can get anything for them. Though since they each only cost me $99 to begin with (They were being cleared out of Blockbuster Video - remember Blockbuster Video, kids?), I'm not terribly motivated to recoup anything from them.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Why send them to the recycler? Wouldn't they still have some value for parts?


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## MacPrince (Dec 16, 2000)

murgatroyd said:


> Why send them to the recycler? Wouldn't they still have some value for parts?


That's true too. And they do still work. I guess I'll just have to sell them somewhat locally, I don't want to box them up and ship them across the country for relatively little gain.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I have 3-4 unsubbed HD units sitting in a closet. If anyone lives in the Reno/Carson City, NV area and wants them for parts you can have them. They're just taking up space right now.


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## karpodiem (Mar 18, 2008)

Post on dslreports quotes a CSR on Comcast's forums that this will be coming to more metropolitan areas in 2016 - https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Chicago-Latest-to-Get-Comcasts-MPEG4-Upgrade-136047

I'll be e-mailing Margret as soon as Comcast notifies subscribers in my area that the MPEG-4 switch is incoming.


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## jscopes (Dec 22, 2015)

This may soon be a non-issue as they are supposedly rolling out an update for these boxes next week.

https://support.tivo.com/articles/Features_Use/Comcast-Transitioning-to-MPEG4-in-Select-Markets


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

jscopes said:


> This may soon be a non-issue as they are supposedly rolling out an update for these boxes next week.
> 
> https://support.tivo.com/articles/Features_Use/Comcast-Transitioning-to-MPEG4-in-Select-Markets





> TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL: TiVo has implemented a software update which will bring MPEG-4 capability to TiVo HD DVRs. Active HD/HDXL customers can expect this update sometime during the week of 1/17/16.


Wow!

I really, really, REALLY hope the update doesn't break anything. My HD is working just fine as it is and we are just locals/HD anyways. But this is very cool.

Now.....given the update, should TiVo reconsider the policy on activating TiVoHD units and open them up again? It would make sense one would think.....

ETA: I guess that update is for now just the areas listed in the note....so prob not my area any time soon.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

jlb said:


> Now.....given the update, should TiVo reconsider the policy on activating TiVoHD units and open them up again? It would make sense one would think.....


I'm thinking they do that just after Microsoft starts supporting Win XP again.


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## karpodiem (Mar 18, 2008)

itshappening.gif


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

?.....did yours update *karpodiem*?


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## karpodiem (Mar 18, 2008)

no, I'm in an area slated to go MPEG-4 sometime this year (metro-Detroit), but I'm just glad to see that TiVo has actually posted a date for the conversion. Only a matter of time before someone here has their TiVo upgraded.

But yeah, I'm super excited to see that they're actually doing it and the upgrades are imminent.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

11.0n.B1-01-2-652 just arrived today which I assume is the MPEG4 update!

Scott


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## kemcg (Mar 13, 2002)

Just got the software update here in California and we have our missing Comcast HD channels back! 

Thank you for doing this for your loyal customers, TIVO!!


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## karpodiem (Mar 18, 2008)

Got it on my TiVo as well - build string 11.0n.B1-01-2-652

I don't have MPEG-4 channels, so I can't describe the performance characteristics of what's changed.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

ANyone have any general issues with the update? All go smoothly?


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

jlb said:


> ANyone have any general issues with the update? All go smoothly?


The update went fine on the HD that I have here, but I'm not really using it at the moment so can't speak to functionality after the update (want to test OTA with it once I decide on an antenna). I'm checking with my son to see if his HD got the update as he's actively using it at college on FIOS.

Scott


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## TiV0_user (Dec 31, 2015)

This update restored my comcast HD channels that were recently lost due to H.264 conversion. My 7 year old TiVo HD is working as good as new. The update is running flawlessly. Great work and thanks again!

TiV0_user Comcast customer in California


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> I have 3-4 unsubbed HD units sitting in a closet. If anyone lives in the Reno/Carson City, NV area and wants them for parts you can have them. They're just taking up space right now.


TCD652160's?


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## sgibbs33 (Feb 3, 2005)

I have two Tivo HDs (both 652- prefixed serviced numbers). So I was glad to see Tivo come out with the software update. One of my units got the software update in late January. But today, I noticed (the hard way) that my other unit was missing half of the HD channels. I checked the software versions and sure enough, there's an older software version on the unit that's experiencing the missing HD channels.

Software Version 11.0n.B1-01-2-652 (able to tune all HD channels)
Software Version 11.0m-01-2-652 (unable to tune half of the HD channels)

I called Tivo support and the agent confirmed that they're still rolling out the software update to handle Comcast's rollout of MPEG-4. The agent said I should wait another 24-48 hours and try tuning in again. If it's still not working then I could call back and she implied they would at that point schedule a 'push'.

I guess I'll wait.


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## cmaquilino16 (Jul 7, 2009)

I am in the Atlanta I lose my HD channels back on dec15, so I got a roamio pro to fix this problem but I love to have my TiVo HD all channels working like old. The weird thing about this mpeg4 thing is I lost all HD channels ESPN fx channels like that but I did not lose the HD Local Channels at all. If a fix is out there I want it.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

cmaquilino16 said:


> I am in the Atlanta I lose my HD channels back on dec15, so I got a roamio pro to fix this problem but I love to have my TiVo HD all channels working like old. The weird thing about this mpeg4 thing is I lost all HD channels ESPN fx channels like that but I did not lose the HD Local Channels at all. If a fix is out there I want it.


The 11.0n update on the HD should allow you to view MPEG4 channels. My understanding is the local HD channels were staying MPEG2.

Scott


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## sgibbs33 (Feb 3, 2005)

sgibbs33 said:


> I guess I'll wait.


Success! Both my TivoHDs now have the 11.0n.B1-01-2-652 software update and I've now got my full HD lineup back from the verge of Comcast forced obsolescence.

It took longer than I was told by the Tivo Customer Service agent (took a week instead of 2 days) for my unit to receive the update. After 3 days of waiting, I had opened an online support case to try to get a status or get a force push of the software from Tivo. I never got a response to the case other than the automated case acknowlegement. But all's well that ends well. I can now continue to enjoy the fact that I've surpassed the 5 year breakeven cost of the TivoHDs with lifetime subscriptions.


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