# Charter Cable and My Bolt install issues



## MackIII (Sep 27, 2007)

Does anyone out there had issues with getting "Searching for a signal on this channel (V52) Press help" after they have set up their Mcard and tuning adapter? I have searched but have yet to find a Charter set up here with the same issues as me.

Ok here is all I have done. I took the RF coax cable from wall and plugged it into the "in" on the tuning adapter. I ran another cable from the "out" of the tuning adapter to the "in" on my Tivo Bolt. I then ran an HDMI cable from my Bolt to my TV. I never ran a USB between the 2 as I never saw that in any of the instructions I had (More on that later). I then proceeded to follow the on screen instructions all the way thru where I had to insert the Mcard and verified the Bolt could see it. It did and I also found where the Host and Data ID numbers were to give Charter cable for pairing. From that point on it seemed like I get to the part where I test for channels and although I see the info of the channel....there is no video or sound...just a grey screen.

After checking everything to make sure all was correctly wired. I tried the setup again and still the same. I did get further and went into watch TV mode but then all I got was the same V52 error I listed above.

After talking with a friend of mine who has charter and a similar set up as mine (he just has a Romio instead), he suggested I install a USB cable between the tuning adapter and the Bolt which what he noticed the cable installer did to his. So I head to Charter got the USB cable, of which she stated I needed to get the setup to work but never mentioned it when I got the adapter, and I plugged it in between the two. When I powered everything on this time, a message came up indicating that it found a tuning adapter and that I needed to run diagnostics now or I could run the later under the setting menu. I chose to run them and there was literally nothing to run. You go into the menu and select run diags and all you get is just info. I never saw anything stating pass or fail. so I got out tried the channel test (again got info on the channels I selected but no video. I also went back into "Watch TV mode and the same as above (V52 error on all channels.

Any ideas? Should I call Charter back to have them RE-pair it and do their thing they do on their end now that I installed the USB cable as maybe that's why nothing worked right the first time I chatted with them.

Thanks for any help
Mack


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## kgus (Mar 14, 2016)

Cable Cards act funny with TiVo (it's just how it is at the Head end from the cable Company's nothing with Tivo)I would have a Tech from Charter to come out I know I had a Tech at a Jobsite and it took 2 different cards before it would pair if you get a Tech be sure to let Him/Her know they need at least 2 cards just in case


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

MackIII said:


> Does anyone out there had issues with getting "Searching for a signal on this channel (V52) Press help" after they have set up their Mcard and tuning adapter? I have searched but have yet to find a Charter set up here with the same issues as me.
> 
> Ok here is all I have done. I took the RF coax cable from wall and plugged it into the "in" on the tuning adapter. I ran another cable from the "out" of the tuning adapter to the "in" on my Tivo Bolt. I then ran an HDMI cable from my Bolt to my TV. I never ran a USB between the 2 as I never saw that in any of the instructions I had (More on that later). I then proceeded to follow the on screen instructions all the way thru where I had to insert the Mcard and verified the Bolt could see it. It did and I also found where the Host and Data ID numbers were to give Charter cable for pairing. From that point on it seemed like I get to the part where I test for channels and although I see the info of the channel....there is no video or sound...just a grey screen.
> 
> ...


See the diagram below for how to hook up tuning adapter correctly:

https://support.tivo.com/articles/F...l-a-Tuning-Adapter-for-Switched-Digital-Video

You are doing it wrong.

You will need to run the guided setup again, as it appears that your CableCard is not paired.

What are the values you see on CableCard diagnostics screen?
https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...ooting-Roamio-Series-and-Premiere-Series-DVRs


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## MackIII (Sep 27, 2007)

thyname said:


> See the diagram below for how to hook up tuning adapter correctly:
> 
> https://support.tivo.com/articles/F...l-a-Tuning-Adapter-for-Switched-Digital-Video
> 
> ...


Hey thanks for the speedy response! OK I went back and rewired the Bolt and tuning adapter the correct way per the first link you sent and re-ran the the guided setup. What I notice now is that when I go into "the cable card decoder" and select "test channels" I get nothing (no video, no channel info, along with not being able to move the channels up or down either). However, I am able to at least see a little bit more info under the "tuning adapter's channel test". There, I'm still not able to get any video, but at least I can see channel info as well as being able to select any channels I want (again with no video). I continued to move thru the setup to were it asked you about seeing video for 2 random channels......again no video there as well (and those channels are on my line up).

So after doing all the above I still got the dreaded (V52) error ("searching for signal of this channel"). Now I did go and check out my Motorola cable card info per the second link you suggested and I took pics of the 3 screenshots on my TV with all my data. The only weird one was the "Conditional Access screen". I did not get a screen full of data on that one like the example from the link you sent. In fact I got like 3 lines of data and that's it on that particular screen. Let me know if it's OK to attach or insert my screenshots of what you wanted to find out and I will send them. Thought I'd ask before I break any rules or send out any data that could compromise me.

I'm starting to believe it's related to the card (but that's just me). You may have way more experience in this area than me. I only say that due to the way "Test channel" behaves when executed on the Cable card decoder and the tuning adapter as stated earlier.

Thanks again
Mack


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

MackIII said:


> Hey thanks for the speedy response! OK I went back and rewired the Bolt and tuning adapter the correct way per the first link you sent and re-ran the the guided setup. What I notice now is that when I go into "the cable card decoder" and select "test channels" I get nothing (no video, no channel info, along with not being able to move the channels up or down either). However, I am able to at least see a little bit more info under the "tuning adapter's channel test". There, I'm still not able to get any video, but at least I can see channel info as well as being able to select any channels I want (again with no video). I continued to move thru the setup to were it asked you about seeing video for 2 random channels......again no video there as well (and those channels are on my line up).
> 
> So after doing all the above I still got the dreaded (V52) error ("searching for signal of this channel"). Now I did go and check out my Motorola cable card info per the second link you suggested and I took pics of the 3 screenshots on my TV with all my data. The only weird one was the "Conditional Access screen". I did not get a screen full of data on that one like the example from the link you sent. In fact I got like 3 lines of data and that's it on that particular screen. Let me know if it's OK to attach or insert my screenshots of what you wanted to find out and I will send them. Thought I'd ask before I break any rules or send out any data that could compromise me.
> 
> ...


Yes, you can post pictures of the screen (CableCard menu). I will take a look.

There are two possibilities from what I can tell:

1 - you have no tv signal coming to TiVo (I know it sounds weird, but it is a possibility. Check your coax cables / lines. Did you have tv signal and reception with the Charter STB? You say coax coming from wall, but where exactly from the wall? Does that coax outlet has working tv signal, and is connected to Charter lines?)

2 - CableCard is not paired, although it does appear that it is not even functioning at all.

The fact that you see channel info, guide and lineup simply means that TiVo successfully completed its guided setup and made a connection to download data, but if there is no tv signal or no functioning CableCard, there is nothing to display.


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## MackIII (Sep 27, 2007)

thyname said:


> Yes, you can post pictures of the screen (CableCard menu). I will take a look.
> 
> There are two possibilities from what I can tell:
> 
> ...


OK, I have a single coax cable that was run by Charter years ago coming thru the wall that definitely has a good TV signal coming out of it as It was being used just today on an old Tivo Series 2 and had no issues with the signal. We just decided to upgrade to a Bolt and well here I am. I even went as far as removing the Bolt system and reverting back to my Series 2 just to see if it would at least gem me some TV and it works like a charm.

Now since my last post I have tried new coax cables (the 2 coming out of the splitter from the wall cable.....One to the RF input on the tuning adapter and the other to the RF input on the Bolt). I also connected the USB cable from the tuning adapter to the top female jack on the Bolt (just as your first link directed me to do. Here are my TV screenshots per the instructions of the second link you recommended.


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

MackIII said:


> OK, I have a single coax cable that was run by Charter years ago coming thru the wall that definitely has a good TV signal coming out of it as It was being used just today on an old Tivo Series 2 and had no issues with the signal. We just decided to upgrade to a Bolt and well here I am. I even went as far as removing the Bolt system and reverting back to my Series 2 just to see if it would at least gem me some TV and it works like a charm.
> 
> Now since my last post I have tried new coax cables (the 2 coming out of the splitter from the wall cable.....One to the RF input on the tuning adapter and the other to the RF input on the Bolt). I also connected the USB cable from the tuning adapter to the top female jack on the Bolt (just as your first link directed me to do. Here are my TV screenshots per the instructions of the second link you recommended.


On your first screenshot, a whole range of statistics is missing, where the "auth" (should be "s") and CCI are located.

https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...ooting-Roamio-Series-and-Premiere-Series-DVRs

The fact that it works with your old TiVo means that the CableCard is not paired with your new TiVo.

At this point, my suggestion is to call Charter dedicated CableCard line:

https://support.tivo.com/articles/Essential_Summary/Cable-Company-Support-and-Contact-Info

If they are clueless, then call TiVo and have them do a three way call with Charter. They should be able to help you and get it working. You are doing everything right.


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## MackIII (Sep 27, 2007)

thyname said:


> On your first screenshot, a whole range of statistics is missing, where the "auth" (should be "s") and CCI are located.
> 
> https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...ooting-Roamio-Series-and-Premiere-Series-DVRs
> 
> ...


Yeah that's what I meant when I said that my "Conditional Access" screenshot was missing a few lines of data....weird! The Charter folks had a hard time trying to pair it as well and suggested I put in a service request. I was just trying everything I could prior to taking a day off work for them to come out. I may run by their office and exchange for another tuning adapter and card....just for the hell of it to see if I get any change in symptoms.

Thanks for all your time and assistance

Mack


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

MackIII said:


> Yeah that's what I meant when I said that my "Conditional Access" screenshot was missing a few lines of data....weird! The Charter folks had a hard time trying to pair it as well and suggested I put in a service request. I was just trying everything I could prior to taking a day off work for them to come out. I may run by their office and exchange for another tuning adapter and card....just for the hell of it to see if I get any change in symptoms.
> 
> Thanks for all your time and assistance
> 
> Mack


Sounds good.

To save you some time and prevent you from skipping work, here is my suggestion, listed by order of timing:

1 - do the three way call today over the phone. Start with TiVo first when they open at 11 AM ET. They will know who to call at Charter. Insist that you have tried everything and explain the issue so that you don't waste any time with TiVo trying to get you to do the usual troubleshooting steps.

2 - if #1 does not work, go to Charte center and get brand new TA and CableCard for self-install.

3 - if #1 and #2 don't solve your issue, then a service call / truck roll is what's left.

Good luck, and please keep us updated. By far, CableCard issues are the main culprits of TiVo problems, and cable companies are not interested in having them work properly for obvious reasons.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

MackIII said:


> Hey thanks for the speedy response! OK I went back and rewired the Bolt and tuning adapter the correct way per the first link you sent and re-ran the the guided setup. What I notice now is that when I go into "the cable card decoder" and select "test channels" I get nothing (no video, no channel info, along with not being able to move the channels up or down either). However, I am able to at least see a little bit more info under the "tuning adapter's channel test". There, I'm still not able to get any video, but at least I can see channel info as well as being able to select any channels I want (again with no video). I continued to move thru the setup to were it asked you about seeing video for 2 random channels......again no video there as well (and those channels are on my line up).
> 
> So after doing all the above I still got the dreaded (V52) error ("searching for signal of this channel"). Now I did go and check out my Motorola cable card info per the second link you suggested and I took pics of the 3 screenshots on my TV with all my data. The only weird one was the "Conditional Access screen". I did not get a screen full of data on that one like the example from the link you sent. In fact I got like 3 lines of data and that's it on that particular screen. Let me know if it's OK to attach or insert my screenshots of what you wanted to find out and I will send them. Thought I'd ask before I break any rules or send out any data that could compromise me.
> 
> ...


When you have a tuning adapter, it takes over the channel mapping from the cablecard so the test channels function no longer works through the Cablecard menu. You must use the test channels function in the tuning adapter.

One question. Is your old series 2 TiVo using analog channels (if your system still provides them), or do you have a cable box or dta with it? If still analog, you may have filters and/or traps on your line preventing the digital signals from coming through. Worth it to rule that out.


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## MackIII (Sep 27, 2007)

HarperVision said:


> When you have a tuning adapter, it takes over the channel mapping from the cablecard so the test channels function no longer works through the Cablecard menu. You must use the test channels function in the tuning adapter.
> 
> One question. Is your old series 2 TiVo using analog channels (if your system still provides them), or do you have a cable box or dta with it? If still analog, you may have filters and/or traps on your line preventing the digital signals from coming through. Worth it to rule that out.


I'm not sure what type of cable box it was but I believe when Charter made everyone switch over to a digital box....that is what I started using. Not sure if I answered your question or not.

However, I did talk with a Tivo rep today and he walked me thru a few things and it was determined that I have little to no signal strength coming into my system. This was found out by going into "Account and System Info" then "Diagnostics" and checking the following: SIGNAL STRENGTH (mine just had a dash after it) and SNR (mine only had 20db and the Tivo rep indicated it needed to be somewhere between 25-37db). So now I'm trying to figure out why my signal is so low. I thought at first that maybe my outside cable barrels and the splitter that they connect to may have degraded over the years or something like that. So I changed out the splitter and clean up the cables but that did nothing at all. So now I figure that it's probably time to throw in the hat and have Charter come out and boost up my signal.

Anyone know of some kind of after market cable signal boosting device that will help me? Do to my work schedule, I don't see me having any time for a Charter rep to come out and correct my issue in the near future. He probably has to do some work out on the pole to strengthen my signal anyways....... is what I'm thinking.

Thanks


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

MackIII said:


> I'm not sure what type of cable box it was but I believe when Charter made everyone switch over to a digital box....that is what I started using. Not sure if I answered your question or not.
> 
> However, I did talk with a Tivo rep today and he walked me thru a few things and it was determined that I have little to no signal strength coming into my system. This was found out by going into "Account and System Info" then "Diagnostics" and checking the following: SIGNAL STRENGTH (mine just had a dash after it) and SNR (mine only had 20db and the Tivo rep indicated it needed to be somewhere between 25-37db). So now I'm trying to figure out why my signal is so low. I thought at first that maybe my outside cable barrels and the splitter that they connect to may have degraded over the years or something like that. So I changed out the splitter and clean up the cables but that did nothing at all. So now I figure that it's probably time to throw in the hat and have Charter come out and boost up my signal.
> 
> ...


Aha! With signals that low, the CableCard is unable to pair most likely.

But your "old" TiVo was working and still working when you swapped them back yesterday? What SNRs do you get on that?

https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...oamio-Series-Premiere-Series-and-Series3-DVRs

Copy/paste from that link:

The SNR reading must be within the following ranges to give good-quality video.

QAM 64

QAM 256

Minimum SNR

23 dB

29 dB

Maximum SNR

30 dB

35 dB

A higher SNR reading means that the video signal is stronger relative to the noise level on the line. If the SNR value is lower than the minimum, contact your cable provider, who can test and improve the signal on the cable line.

You may have Charte try to boos the line signal , but given the fact that the previous TiVo is working, smells like a bad Bolt to me.


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## MackIII (Sep 27, 2007)

thyname said:


> Aha! With signals that low, the CableCard is unable to pair most likely.
> 
> But your "old" TiVo was working and still working when you swapped them back yesterday? What SNRs do you get on that?
> 
> ...


Well unfortunately I have a Series 2 and it does not show what the signal number or the SNR number is anywhere in Tivo Central. I just re-hooked my series 2 up and went into every menu and no luck....but, on a good note, I'm still getting a picture. So I must be getting somewhat of a good signal. Funny you should mention that it smells like a bad Bolt. I did buy it refurbished from Tivo

If anyone remembers back in the old series 2 days of where to check for the signal strength and SNR number.....feel free to chime in.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

thyname said:


> Aha! With signals that low, the CableCard is unable to pair most likely.
> 
> But your "old" TiVo was working and still working when you swapped them back yesterday? What SNRs do you get on that?
> 
> ...


He's using an S2 TiVo, so it doesn't use QAM 64 or 256 digital signals. It only has analog tuners in it. If digital signals need to be received with an S2 then you would need an external tuner stb like a cable box or DTA which the TiVo would control with IR blasters.



MackIII said:


> Well unfortunately I have a Series 2 and it does not show what the signal number or the SNR number is anywhere in Tivo Central. I just re-hooked my series 2 up and went into every menu and no luck....but, on a good note, I'm still getting a picture. So I must be getting somewhat of a good signal. Funny you should mention that it smells like a bad Bolt. I did buy it refurbished from Tivo
> 
> If anyone remembers back in the old series 2 days of where to check for the signal strength and SNR number.....feel free to chime in.


The only reason your S2 is working is because that tunes the analog channels on your cable line. Analog just degrades as the signal gets lower and worse, whereas with your Bolt, it only tunes digital signals (ATSC or QAM) which have the "cliff effect" when the signal gets too low or bad, meaning the signal goes away and won't tune past a certain point.

Your Bolt isn't showing video because either A. The signal is too bad that the receiver/demodulator chip can't decode and display the image or B. As mentioned by thyname, it's too low or degraded to send the authorization signals to your cablecard without too many errors to properly pair and activate your card.

The very first steps in this need to be you calling Charter and having a tech come out to get your signals to the appropriate levels. Putting an aftermarket amp on the line will just amplify the noise and garbage already there and most likely won't help long term (maybe temporarily but you'll have sporadic issues that will drive you crazy!)

Do this asap because most likely, as you said, they can fix it at the junction box or pole outside so you don't have to be there, at least initially. Only after you get home and try to pair the card again without success would you then maybe have to have someone come and measure levels at your outlet.


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

HarperVision said:


> He's using an S2 TiVo, so it doesn't use QAM 64 or 256 digital signals. It only has analog tuners in it. If digital signals need to be received with an S2 then you would need an external tuner stb like a cable box or DTA which the TiVo would control with IR blasters.
> 
> The only reason your S2 is working is because that tunes the analog channels on your cable line. Analog just degrades as the signal gets lower and worse, whereas with your Bolt, it only tunes digital signals (ATSC or QAM) which have the "cliff effect" when the signal gets too low or bad, meaning the signal goes away and won't tune past a certain point.
> 
> ...


That's a great explanation!

Everything Dave said makes sense, including the recommended steps to fix it. It does appear that Charter "intervention " is needed at this time.


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## MackIII (Sep 27, 2007)

Hey thanks a bunch guys!

I kind a figured that's the direction (to contact Charter for service) I was headed after the Tivo rep indicated I had no signal coming in. So I was just making sure I covered all my loose ends here at this GREAT forum first.... just in case I was missing something. You guys ROCK!

Thanks again for all your assistance,
Mack


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