# Bolt can't complete guided setup



## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

Has anybody else had this problem and found a resolution? I ordered a bolt and a mini with the 1st time ever Lifetime Subscription Transfer. But I am unable to get through the final verification step of the guided setup. Tried 3 different Bolts and with ethernet and wireless wifi. Reload command twice on two different Bolts. I found that the tech support people are completely clueless. After the first 6 weeks of waiting for replacement boxes, they shut off my series 2. I asked if they could leave it on while they figure out how to fix my bolt. Now at week number 10 I got a call from the customer no support telling me they have to transfer the service back to the Bolt. I asked if they have a fix yet from there engineers. The response I got, makes me think I'm on a crank call; "no we don't have any date or estimated date or any information regarding a fix for your S308". So I'm supposed to be without tivo service for for an indefinite amount of time on both my old series 2 and my new Bolt and mini. They did offer to charge me $16/mo to keep my series 2 on and then promised to reimburse me after they get my Bolt working. I know somebody else has gone through this. The tech support people are telling me that there is a group of people with this problem. I'm starting to think that the don't have any engineers and will have to outsource this problem. Has anybody else had this problem? I'm thinking I better return this non working equipment before they go bankrupt. I have lost all confidence in Tivo. Any thoughts?


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Who is your cable company? Try to setup your Bolt without the cable card installed.
You should have filed an FCC complaint within a week of the problem start.
CableCARD: Know Your Rights

FCC Complaints

Or return the Tivo equipment....it's over your head.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Can't complete guided setup (S308)


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

stagger44 said:


> I'm starting to think that the don't have any engineers and will have to outsource this problem. Has anybody else had this problem? I'm thinking I better return this non working equipment before they go bankrupt. I have lost all confidence in Tivo. Any thoughts?


TiVo in-sourced engineering to the only remaining in-house dept, accounting. That is why they came up with the solution they proposed.

Seriously though, your problem is very likely a system problem on TiVo's side. This can be fixed. I suggest you keep escalating or message TiVo Margaret.

If you are on Comcast, for fun, try configuring for OTA to see if that makes a difference. Comcast made a change that jacked up the amount of guide data by 50% when they added a duplicate layer of channel #s in the 1000s.


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

sfhub said:


> TiVo in-sourced engineering to the only remaining in-house dept, accounting. That is why they came up with the solution they proposed.
> 
> Seriously though, your problem is very likely a system problem on TiVo's side. This can be fixed. I suggest you keep escalating or message TiVo Margaret.
> 
> If you are on Comcast, for fun, try configuring for OTA to see if that makes a difference. Comcast made a change that jacked up the amount of guide data by 50% when they added a duplicate layer of channel #s in the 1000s.


Thanks, but, they haven't really proposed or promised anything meaningful. I'm supposed to patiently wait with no time frame or communications from engineering.

When you "system problem", can you explain? I'm as completely clueless as the "tech no-support.

Any suggestions on getting a message through to Margret Schmidt or somebody that can actually help?

I tried the OTA config too, no luck.


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

fcfc2 said:


> Who is your cable company? Try to setup your Bolt without the cable card installed.
> You should have filed an FCC complaint within a week of the problem start.
> CableCARD: Know Your Rights
> 
> ...


The cable company is Spectrum. But I tried OTA too. I was following directions and attempting to complete the guided setup prior to installing the cable card. So I was thinking this is all Tivo so far. I can't do anything with my Bolt other than continue to rerun the guided setup over and over.

Just thought maybe someone had a resolution.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

stagger44 said:


> Any suggestions on getting a message through to Margret Schmidt or somebody that can actually help?
> I tried the OTA config too, no luck.


[email protected]

Include as much data as possible. Like TSN, link to this thread, etc., and good luck.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

stagger44 said:


> When you "system problem", can you explain? I'm as completely clueless as the "tech no-support.


I am just generically referring to some problem on their end. Could be how your account is set up. Could be something related to your TSN. Could be some server issue.

S308 could be multiple issues. If your unit is connecting to TiVo at all, they should be able to grab the logs to figure out specifically what is going on. Regular support wouldn't be able to do this, but if you escalate enough, eventually you'll find someone who can.

Out of curiousity are you at any point able to get to the TiVo main menu where you can then go to settings and test the network connection or are you stuck in Repeat Guided Setup loop?


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

JoeKustra said:


> [email protected]
> 
> Include as much data as possible. Like TSN, link to this thread, etc., and good luck.


Thanks, I give it a try.


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

sfhub said:


> I am just generically referring to some problem on their end. Could be how your account is set up. Could be something related to your TSN. Could be some server issue.
> 
> S308 could be multiple issues. If your unit is connecting to TiVo at all, they should be able to grab the logs to figure out specifically what is going on. Regular support wouldn't be able to do this, but if you escalate enough, eventually you'll find someone who can.
> 
> Out of curiousity are you at any point able to get to the TiVo main menu where you can then go to settings and test the network connection or are you stuck in Repeat Guided Setup loop?


Now that is the kind of answer I've been missing after being escalated 5 weeks ago. I'm stuck in an endless tier one no-support status.
These poor tier one people don't have any support either. 
No, not able to get to the main menu, just endless guided setup. But my series 2 gets all it's updates from that same ethernet cable.

I was told to unplug it until they get a fix and I asked to have my series 2 turned back on. Then today I was told that there was a fix attempted last when my Bolt was shut down. But they don't know if and when that will be attempted again. So the bolt is back on and the lifetime service is supposedly assigned to it again. Back to endless guided setup. Augh!


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Bummer.

Have you considered some 'outside the box' ideas?

Maybe try putting your Router in DMZ mode to your TiVo for a couple attempts. You'd probably need to verify what IP it gets and 'Reserve' it.

Maybe try different DNS Servers? Set up the Network 'manually' and either use the Google DNS Servers or maybe OpenDNS. Or, try a different ISP's DNS Servers?

Maybe plug your TiVo directly in to your modem, if you've got a separate router? You'd probably need to restart your modem.

Connect via WIFi to your Cell Phone HotSpot?

Who knows...might work?

-KP


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

kpeters59 said:


> Bummer.
> 
> Have you considered some 'outside the box' ideas?
> 
> ...


No I haven't tried the DMZ configurations yet. But, if I'm getting a good connection for my series 2 and testing good with netflix/ blueray player and laptop pc, could it still be DMZ or DNS causing me to fail the verification final step in the guided setup? Do you think it's possible that the Bolt is rejecting the final verification because it is configured to reject specific servers?


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Those are all different servers, so it's hard to say...

-KP


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

I would try putting in a new hard drive to rule out a bad hard drive.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

He's tried 3 different Bolt units. Massive unlucky if it is HD problem. I wouldn't risk warranty issues or blame game when TiVo is supposed to be taking care of this problem.


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

stagger44 said:


> Thanks, I give it a try.


ok, got some actual tech support, thanks to your suggestion. Margret had another tech ask me to try pinging the tivo server, but why is it that I can't ping or traceroute any site with any pc in my home? I am able to successfully ping and traceroute using my Motorola 6580 cable router/modem gui, but not using a command prompt. I can use the ipconfig commands, but not ping or traceroute. Could Spectrum somehow be blocking this only when using a command prompt? Could this somehow be affecting the tivo bolt too?


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Well, as I suggested in post #11, you might have a DNS issue, or a router firewall issue (hence the DMZ suggestion).

Maybe you should try them?

-KP


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

stagger44 said:


> ok, got some actual tech support, thanks to your suggestion. Margret had another tech ask me to try pinging the tivo server, but why is it that I can't ping or traceroute any site with any pc in my home? I am able to successfully ping and traceroute using my Motorola 6580 cable router/modem gui, but not using a command prompt. I can use the ipconfig commands, but not ping or traceroute. Could Spectrum somehow be blocking this only when using a command prompt? Could this somehow be affecting the tivo bolt too?


No, it's your router is blocking ping packets. Why, who knows - perhaps it's a security setting, or maybe it's the design of the router. Your router can do it, so the ISP is fine. But your PC can't behind the router, so it's the router itself is breaking something.

I don't know if you got a modem/router combo unit or a separate modem and router. I also don't know if it's your personal unit or one provided by the ISP. Combo units suck - they're built to be cheap and generally have very poor configuration - they're really meant for people to do basic things online and that's it. Triply so if it's provided by your ISP who to reduce support costs, basically disable most of the options and as long as you can see their home page, you're good. Anything fancier and things likely don't work.

The best solution would be to buy a separate modem and separate router and get them hooked up. Let the modem just be a modem and that's it, then invest in a medium priced router - none of the cheap crap because they're, well, crap. But unless you've got a really fast connection, or do online gaming or other high end applications, you don't need the top of the line router either (i.e., no need to spend $200, either). This might be good if you want to invest in better WiFi at home, or wanted to move the WiFi to a better location in the house.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

stagger44 said:


> I am able to successfully ping and traceroute using my Motorola 6580 cable router/modem gui, but not using a command prompt. I can use the ipconfig commands, but not ping or traceroute.


Out of curiosity, can you ping and traceroute machines on your local network?


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

It's pretty odd that you can't ping an ip address outside your network.

Ping is one of the first things I try when a client is having internet access issues. Many Routers do have a setting for blocking Incoming Ping Requests, but it should not block outgoing at all. I suppose an ISP 'could' block that, but I've never seen it.

Can you Ping Google.com? Or one of it's IP Address'? Try 172.217.6.174 . If you can ping the IP Address, but not the Name, that's a DNS issue.

Here are the DNS Servers my Router is set to:

DNS 1
8.8.8.8 
DNS 2
8.8.4.4 
DNS 3
75.75.76.76

Give them a try?

Have you tried DMZ yet?

http://arris.force.com/consumers/ar...580-DMZ-Host-Setup/?l=en_US&fs=RelatedArticle

You can turn it right back off...

-KP


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

sfhub said:


> Out of curiosity, can you ping and traceroute machines on your local network?


Yes, ping and traceroute using the cmd prompt work to all equipment on the Lan.

Thanks for the help to all. Tivo upper level support hasn't replied to my ping results other than to say they don't like the SBG 6580 modem/router and have had issues with firmware updates. So, before I swap it out, I checked my firewall status; medium setting changed to low removes an allowed list services. Tivo wasn't listed, so I think that means it was blocked. There appears to be no way to add it as an allowed service. In this low security firewall setting I can now ping and traceroute to all sites, including tivo. The guided setup finally completed after a power cycle of the Bolt. Anybody have an opinion on just leaving it in this low security firewall setting (it also has an off setting too), or would I be better off with a cable modem feeding a better wireless router that would offer better security? Or should I just put the Bolt in a DMZ? Wouldn't that be inviting mischief?


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Now that you've completed Guided Setup, are there still issues?

-KP


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

stagger44 said:


> Yes, ping and traceroute using the cmd prompt work to all equipment on the Lan.
> 
> Thanks for the help to all. Tivo upper level support hasn't replied to my ping results other than to say they don't like the SBG 6580 modem/router and have had issues with firmware updates. So, before I swap it out, I checked my firewall status; medium setting changed to low removes an allowed list services. Tivo wasn't listed, so I think that means it was blocked. There appears to be no way to add it as an allowed service. In this low security firewall setting I can now ping and traceroute to all sites, including tivo. The guided setup finally completed after a power cycle of the Bolt. Anybody have an opinion on just leaving it in this low security firewall setting (it also has an off setting too), or would I be better off with a cable modem feeding a better wireless router that would offer better security? Or should I just put the Bolt in a DMZ? Wouldn't that be inviting mischief?


Took a look at the manual for that and those firewall settings seem overprotective since they appear to block outbound traffic other than on the ports and protocols specified under medium and high levels. I would not put the Bolt in a DMZ. If everything you have is working at low then your probably OK leaving it there but if you have future connection issues with any devices or applications that's the first place that I would look.

Scott


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

kpeters59 said:


> Now that you've completed Guided Setup, are there still issues?
> 
> -KP


Oh my god! KP, I'm so tired of this Bolt. I thought I could get this working. After spending hours attempting to get my cablecard/tuning adapter (no solid amber light) and having to call Spectrum back because they killed out my phone service and didn't activate the cablecard/tuning adapter. I am now getting a "temporary service connection issue C133" error code. Somehow that stinking SBG 6580 jumped back to medium firewall security! Blocking outgoing ping and traceroute. I think a good tip for others is, don't believe that simulated countdown on the guided setup. Even though it appears to be downloading info and showing you a percentage to completion, it's completely bogus if your stinking router is blocking access! When it says "downloading info, complete", it's a lie! Alway test ping the m3.tivoservice.com before attempting any service connection to verify first! When it says "your cablecard/tuning adapter is now active" it's a lie! Because the acquiring channels progress screen pops up at either 71% or 89% and then times out with a message that it can't acquire the channels from the tuning adapter, pull power to adapter wait 15 sec and reinsert. After you repeat this about 10 times and reboot or power cycle the Bolt and still get the same locked 89% acquiring channels screen. I visualized a message that said, gather all the tivo equipment and place in back yard. Then liberally douse with a flammable liquid and ignite from a safe distance!
So, I think I'm done. I can't take any more prozac and I think I have given it a valiant effort. But I lost this battle. Time to get back more important things in life.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

stagger44 said:


> Oh my god! KP, I'm so tired of this Bolt. I thought I could get this working. After spending hours attempting to get my cablecard/tuning adapter (no solid amber light) and having to call Spectrum back because they killed out my phone service and didn't activate the cablecard/tuning adapter. I am now getting a "temporary service connection issue C133" error code. Somehow that stinking SBG 6580 jumped back to medium firewall security! Blocking outgoing ping and traceroute. I think a good tip for others is, don't believe that simulated countdown on the guided setup. Even though it appears to be downloading info and showing you a percentage to completion, it's completely bogus if your stinking router is blocking access! When it says "downloading info, complete", it's a lie! Alway test ping the m3.tivoservice.com before attempting any service connection to verify first! When it says "your cablecard/tuning adapter is now active" it's a lie! Because the acquiring channels progress screen pops up at either 71% or 89% and then times out with a message that it can't acquire the channels from the tuning adapter, pull power to adapter wait 15 sec and reinsert. After you repeat this about 10 times and reboot or power cycle the Bolt and still get the same locked 89% acquiring channels screen. I visualized a message that said, gather all the tivo equipment and place in back yard. Then liberally douse with a flammable liquid and ignite from a safe distance!
> So, I think I'm done. I can't take any more prozac and I think I have given it a valiant effort. But I lost this battle. Time to get back more important things in life.


Seems like the problem is that SBG6580 is getting it's router settings "refreshed" by the cable company and resetting the settings back to the ones that they want. If the SBG6580 is yours perhaps you want to get something else like a separate modem and router. If it is cable company equipment, Spectrum usually offers a few other gateways but unfortunately most of the ones I am aware of have the PUMA 6 chipset, which is a problem in itself.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

stagger44 said:


> Somehow that stinking SBG 6580 jumped back to medium firewall security! Blocking outgoing ping and traceroute.


I'd definitely ditch this and replace it with my own cable modem and router. The problem isn't the Bolt but the equipment that your ISP has given you that's supposed to give you Internet access and not block it (Internet Service Preventer?).

Scott


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

HerronScott said:


> I'd definitely ditch this and replace it with my own cable modem and router. The problem isn't the Bolt but the equipment that your ISP has given you that's supposed to give you Internet access and not block it (Internet Service Preventer?).
> 
> Scott


No, I don't think it's the SBG 6480 anymore? I can still ping tivo and other sites. I've been reading other forums and this "acquiring channels 89%". It is very common and nobody seems to have a resolution for posts going back to 2015. Sometimes it just started working for no apparent reason. 
Just for comparison, I hooked a known working antennae to the bolt redid the guided setup. Of course it runs down the list phoney list of connecting loading to verifying and then again for the channel info. I get the same result "acquiring channels 89%". No OTA channels visible. This is a ridiculously bad product to set up. The messages and results are useless. There is virtually no customer support. It's just not really worth it to blindly continue with endless trouble shooting just to have a Tivo. I've had my old series 2 for years and it was a breeze to set up. Tivo has since disabled many of it's features and it's analog, but it works.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

You saw this?:

Solved: Tivo Cablecard Problems - Xfinity Help and Support Forums

-KP


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Or this?:

Hi,
Almost 100% guaranteed the problem is with the activation/ account not the boxes. Do you have any pending orders on your account? Any pending orders other than the CC's and you will likely have problems until you get that cleared. Let the truck roll happen, and let them, deal with it. They will likely bring a few extra cc's with them, and try calling some of the same people to get your account fixed and authorize the cards properly.
To tell if your cable cards are correctly authorized on your account, in the tivo menu, go to Settings>Remote, Cable Card, Devices>CableCARD Decoder>CableCARD options(for installers)>CableCARD MENU>Conditional Access. Then look at the 4th line from the top. It should read "Con:YES EBCP:YES Val: V 0x0x", with that last x being a number. The important part is the "V" after Val:. If it shows anything other than a "V" to start your card is not correctly activated and paired to your account. The usual error code starts a "?" and not a "V".

From here:

Roamio Basic boxes don't want to acquire channels. - Verizon FiOS TV | DSLReports Forums

-KP


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

stagger44 said:


> No, I don't think it's the SBG 6480 anymore? I can still ping tivo and other sites. I've been reading other forums and this "acquiring channels 89%". It is very common and nobody seems to have a resolution for posts going back to 2015. Sometimes it just started working for no apparent reason.
> Just for comparison, I hooked a known working antennae to the bolt redid the guided setup. Of course it runs down the list phoney list of connecting loading to verifying and then again for the channel info. I get the same result "acquiring channels 89%". No OTA channels visible. This is a ridiculously bad product to set up. The messages and results are useless. There is virtually no customer support. It's just not really worth it to blindly continue with endless trouble shooting just to have a Tivo. I've had my old series 2 for years and it was a breeze to set up. Tivo has since disabled many of it's features and it's analog, but it works.


You know troubleshooting is often an extremely difficult effort and usually requires great patience and willingness to try things which you may have erroneously ruled out because you "think" that it is wrong or unnecessary. 
I suspect that your issue is not the Tivo, unless, there is something strange with your Tivo account. You might want to double check your account and activation status as you certainly seemed to have to have ruled out the Tivo box with multiple tries. 
I "think" the next most likely issue is the Charter SBG6580 gateway, you should consider taking it back and trying to get a different model gateway. Other "thoughts", see if you can set a fixed IP on whatever router for the Bolt, not the Bolt itself. 
For the time being, remove the cablecard and TA and continue to test without these added back until you get passed the guided setup. Try different closeby zipcodes for your guided setup and don't be afraid to do a clear and delete everything before you begin again. 
I don't recall if you are using Ethernet, MoCA or wireless for your connection to the Bolt, but I would try switching to any other option you can and try again.
Try using different Ethernet cables if you can and/or different ports on a router/switch, a flakey network device can cause all kinds of wierd connection issues, sometimes intermittently.
BTW kpeters59, that post/link you provided was one of mine, but I don't "think" that is the issue. My bet is that it is either a Tivo account issue, or a network/router issue.....but I may be wrong.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

stagger44 said:


> Just for comparison, I hooked a known working antennae to the bolt redid the guided setup. Of course it runs down the list phoney list of connecting loading to verifying and then again for the channel info. I get the same result "acquiring channels 89%". No OTA channels visible.


You get stuck at 89% doing an OTA setup? 72/89% is usually a CableCARD issue downloading the VCT (virtual channel table).


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Did you remove the CableCard during the OTA setup?

-KP


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

kpeters59 said:


> Did you remove the CableCard during the OTA setup?
> 
> -KP


No, my mistake. After about 10-15 attempts. My head was spinning and my patience fading, i ran the guided setup with the CC still in but, selected both the cable card and OTA option which I never saw before. That gave me the same "acquiring channels 89 %". Then I removed the CC and the tivo digital tuner only was able get 1 of 5 available channels that are on the same cable that gives 5 of 5 channels to a cheap Insignia digital tv. The Bolt has a very poor quality digital tuner. I found my Samsung tv has an even better tuner and gets another 4 or 5 channels more on the same cable. But not worth using a DVR on.


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## stagger44 (Jul 25, 2017)

fcfc2 said:


> You know troubleshooting is often an extremely difficult effort and usually requires great patience and willingness to try things which you may have erroneously ruled out because you "think" that it is wrong or unnecessary.
> I suspect that your issue is not the Tivo, unless, there is something strange with your Tivo account. You might want to double check your account and activation status as you certainly seemed to have to have ruled out the Tivo box with multiple tries.
> I "think" the next most likely issue is the Charter SBG6580 gateway, you should consider taking it back and trying to get a different model gateway. Other "thoughts", see if you can set a fixed IP on whatever router for the Bolt, not the Bolt itself.
> For the time being, remove the cablecard and TA and continue to test without these added back until you get passed the guided setup. Try different closeby zipcodes for your guided setup and don't be afraid to do a clear and delete everything before you begin again.
> ...


Thanks again, to all of you for the help. I still haven't got a follow up email from any upper level tivo people. I guess they don't care or are not allowed to use more than one email? But I wonder how all of you were able to get through the Tivo nightmare setup with the Bolt or other models and the cablecards and tuning adapter? With all the complaints and problems with Tivo, do you think it is going to be around much longer? i read that this is not Tivo anymore, it was bought out by Rovi, TiVo's new owner isn't that interested in making set-top boxes. Do you think I'll have any luck getting a refund on my Bolt and Mini after 11 weeks of this nonsense? 
S.Lee


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

So, after you removed the CableCard, were you able to complete Guided Setup for OTA only?

Based on the research I did, it looks like the 89% issue is a Cable Company/CableCard issue, not really a TiVo issue...

Like you might need the Cable Company to fully remove the Cable Card and then re-add it.

-KP


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