# New Bolt? Finger pointing begins



## Wexlerbob (Apr 4, 2015)

Well my new Bolt arrived yesterday.
I unpacked it, connected it wit the Cox cable card and Cisco TA.
Hit a few bumps getting the Bolt authorized, but after some updates and downloads that was completed.
Now on to Cox to authorize the Cable Card. They claim it is ready to go.
I get a guide but can not actually watch any shows on any channels.
Cox pointed to TiVo but it was now after 6:00 PM here on the west coast so TiVo was not answering their phones.

Is their an easy solution? My wife would like her TV back.


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## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

Wexlerbob said:


> Well my new Bolt arrived yesterday.
> I unpacked it, connected it wit the Cox cable card and Cisco TA.
> Hit a few bumps getting the Bolt authorized, but after some updates and downloads that was completed.
> Now on to Cox to authorize the Cable Card. They claim it is ready to go.
> ...


does anything show up on the tv at all? did they say to unplug the Bolt after the sent the cabled card pairing?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

When you select a channel on the guide, what error is displayed?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Wexlerbob said:


> Well my new Bolt arrived yesterday.
> I unpacked it, connected it wit the Cox cable card and Cisco TA.


Disconnect the TA and set it aside for now. Just deal with getting the CableCard paired and working correctly before adding another layer of complexity to the system.



Wexlerbob said:


> Now on to Cox to authorize the Cable Card. They claim it is ready to go.


What do you mean by "they claim it is ready to go"? If you aren't able to view any channels, it clearly isn't. Did you call the Cox CableCard hotline and go through the CableCard pairing process with them on the phone? When you try to view a channel, do you get a message like "channel not authorized"?


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## dbattaglia001 (Feb 9, 2003)

Do not listen to Cox blaming TiVo. Cox needs to pair the cable card, using the numbers you read off to someone on the phone to get into Cox system. Then they send pairing signals to the card. However, if they put in the wrong numbers OR there is something screwy in billing system or they have you on wrong headend, then the pairing signals never go to your cable card. The front line phone technicians typically are limited in troubleshooting and I think are trained to blame TiVo if there standard procedures don't work. Refuse, demand to speak to supervisor, demand to talk to advanced support, demand to be put into contact with an engineer for your area/head-end. DO NOT AGREE TO A TRUCK ROLL...the technician will typically show up and read the same numbers to someone over the phone hoping the person on phone knows what they are doing.


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## xwave (Apr 21, 2016)

I have a lot of experience setting up tivo's with cablecards. First you have to get someone from your cable company that is very familiar with cablecard pairing. Just ask before you get into a trial and error situation with the tech. When I set up my Bolt a few weeks back, a pleasant tech answered the phone and she proceeded to try to do it from the manual. When I asked if she's had experience with cablecards she said no, but don't worry....long story short I was on the phone for close to an hour, mostly on hold while she asked her supervisor for help. I called the cable company from a different phone, got a new tech who knows about cablecards and had it up and running in 5 mins. 
You need two things...the serial # on the cablecard and the host ID# from the Tivo you are setting up. If they don't ask for those two things they can't pair it. 
Good luck. Oh and thank the FCC for not upgrading and changing with the times. Cablecards have been around for a very long time. The one in my new Bolt is 10 years old.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

Wexlerbob said:


> Well my new Bolt arrived yesterday.
> I unpacked it, connected it wit the Cox cable card and Cisco TA.
> Hit a few bumps getting the Bolt authorized, but after some updates and downloads that was completed.
> Now on to Cox to authorize the Cable Card. They claim it is ready to go.
> ...


1) The guide has nothing to do with Cox. It is downloaded over the internet and will display whether your cablecard is paired or not.
2) Go here. Follow those steps to see if your cablecard is paired. However, it surely is not paired correctly. You will have to call them again and get them to pair it correctly with the serial number and the host id (found in the cablecard menu).


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

And make sure you call the dedicated CableCard number for Cox: 877-820-8202

These might also be helpful:

https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...ableCARD-Conversation-with-the-Cable-Provider

http://media.cox.com/support/print_.../CCI110069_CableCardInstallGuide_CiscoCT2.pdf

http://media.cox.com/support/print_...er_guides/cable_box/InstallingYourCiscoTA.pdf


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

COX here is flawless with CC installs with TIVO. 

You probably are getting a inexperienced Cox rep.

Also make sure you ran the guided setup correctly before blaming COX or Tivo or run it again.

If you hook up the coax cable thats on the TIVO to a TV with QAM, will it find some channels and display them?


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## osu1991 (Mar 6, 2015)

Had no trouble with Cox and TiVo install at our place in Las Vegas, but when I tried to set up TiVo with Cox here at home in Oklahoma it was a pain in the butt for 3 days and 2 tech visits. They had to rebuild my account before the TiVo finally started working after 4 hrs with 1st tech checking everything in house. Then it tuned out I only had 2 tuners working later that night, so another tech visit for 3 hrs the next day before I went my lake cabin and got my 3rd TiVo and swapped them to confirm I had a bad cable tuner in the TiVo at house. The Cox supervisor that came the second day said they only had 2000 cable cards deployed in the central region, so their techs didn't have a lot of experience with them. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

foghorn2 said:


> Also make sure you ran the guided setup correctly before blaming COX or Tivo or run it again.


Even if you have the wrong guide, the mapping from a correctly activated cablecard will let you tune channels just fine and will even show all the channels in the guide without guide data at all.

And before doing a lot of steps, all you have to do is look at the cablecard screen and you can see if the card is activated and paired.


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

If you are in Orange County, CA There has been a problem with getting new TiVos authorized for many months. I have not heard that this has been 100% resolved. (Palos Verdes is an extension of the OC system and may be a problem also)
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10746582#post10746582

See the last page of this thread:
http://forums.cox.com/forum_home/tv_forum/f/4/t/12896.aspx

Cox in OC has been taking the Bolts to the Cox office and setting them up for a couple of people.

If you are in San Diego, then none of the above applies to you.

Also, There is a Known Issue with the Bolt and Tuning Adapter when using the bottom USB port on the Bolt to connect the Tuning Adapter. See if using the Top USB port on the Bolt resolves any issues.

Using the Bottom USB port can result in many strange issues that I have personally experienced and have been reported by others.
https://support.tivo.com/articles/Known_Issue_Bug/BOLT-Reboot-when-plugging-in-tuning-adapter-USB/p


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## Wexlerbob (Apr 4, 2015)

It only took Cox 1 week and a couple tech visits to get my first Bolt working. The first Mini was a snap once I gave up on Mocha. Cox insisted on using their 1002 MHz amplifier and splitters which would not pass Mocha to the Mini. Once I dropped Ethernet cable to the mini all went smooth. The second Mini was a bit stubborn finding the Ethernet connection, but once it connected everything went well.
Second Bolt couldn't find WiFi connection so dropped Ethernet again and this turned out to be the quickest and easiest of all 4.

Now to experiment with my 2 TB Western Digital Green hard drives as external expanders.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Wexlerbob said:


> Now to experiment with my 2 TB Western Digital Green hard drives as external expanders.


That won't work, there are no 2TB drives on the small approved white list of expander drives.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dianebrat said:


> That won't work, there are no 2TB drives on the small approved white list of expander drives.


I'm curious, how does Weeknees get the larger external drives to work?

http://www.weeknees.com/tivo-bolt-tcd849000.php


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I'm curious, how does Weeknees get the larger external drives to work?
> 
> http://www.weeknees.com/tivo-bolt-tcd849000.php


They have their own proprietary methods that are not available to the public at large. If it were really that easy the Upgrade forum would be full of how-to posts on rolling your own external drive.

Me? I'd use the existing methods of expanding internally.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dianebrat said:


> They have their own proprietary methods that are not available to the public at large. If it were really that easy the Upgrade forum would be full of how-to posts on rolling your own external drive.
> 
> Me? I'd use the existing methods of expanding internally.


I'm just curious how Weeknees came up with these "proprietary methods" to hack the external drive port on TiVos. Does anyone know how they managed this? Since they are an authorized TiVo dealer, did TiVo give them the keys to be able to accomplish this?


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

They modify the MFS file system on the internal drive so that it's already married to the external. You can't just buy a weaKnees external and plug it into your TiVo.


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## lew (Mar 12, 2002)

ggieseke said:


> They modify the MFS file system on the internal drive so that it's already married to the external. You can't just buy a weaKnees external and plug it into your TiVo.


Which explains why posters aren't asking for such a tool. For the most part customers who want to use an external drive don't want to have to open up their unit. They don't want to have to connect two drives to their computer. They may not be comfortable opening up their tivo and voiding their warranty.

Replacing the internal drive is easier and more reliable.


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