# Time Warner Cable Tuning Adapter (ALL LOCATIONS) / Bugs & Issues



## dolfer

Please list any issues you are having here. If this is not helpful or there is a thread that I did not notice, ignore this!  

I am going to assume that we all have the same unit? The Cisco STA 1520?


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## dolfer

*Issue 1 / Stutter When Accessing Guide/Changing Channels*

When accessing the guide I notice a brief stutter after a second or two when changing channels.

Time Warner Location: Cincinnati


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## dolfer

*Issue 2 / Tuning Adapter Detected Screen Keeps Coming Up*

Instead of seeing live TV or Tivo Central, I have now twice seen a message from my Tivo saying that Tivo has detected a Tuning Adapter. This is of course after I have already successfully installed adapter. I am assuming we should only see this message once.

Time Warner Location: Cincinnati

{UPDATE} This is a MAJOR ISSUE because besides ruining a recording, it can also pop up while you are watching a prerecorded show. This happened to me. It's massively annoying! Besides interrupting your show, you will need to obviously restart it, and even worse Tivo forgets where you were. So you have to FF to that point all over again. And apparently a single "reboot event" causes two such interruptions. {Update}


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## dave13077

I have 2 Tivo HD units with cablecards and a TA. One unit is fine but with the second unit every once in a while I get a "channel is temperarily unavaliable please press select to try to tune the channel again". If you mess with the menus in Tivo Central for awhile the channel comes back. If happens on The Fox Business Channel witch is a SDV in our area. Called Tivo support but they were unable to find a fix.

I only get the tuning adapter is dected screen upon a hard reboot.


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## jpd31

I have a Tivo HD with a TA and I get 1 - 2 second pixellation or video pauses only on the SDV channels. Non-SDV HD and SD channels, I have no problems. I replaced all cables in the house yesterday. No splitters except for a 4-way splitter at the cable entrance to the house. I get 100 signal on the Tivo HD Diagnostic, with 37 db. I even did the signal test on the Tivo HD and watched a SDV channel. It pixellated one time and the signal remained at 100. I think it is a TA issue. I have a TWC cable box and watch the same channel in another room, no issues, and signal is at 37 db on that box. The only cable I have not replaced is the one from the TA to the Tivo. I might replace that tonight.


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## Xunaka

I'd be interested to hear about any issues still happening with 

Either the TiVo or the Cisco STA1520 Rebooting on a regular basis

Issues with SDV channels missing upon any lineup additions 

Or any other general issues

If anyone has any issues, or specific information regarding them


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## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> *Issue 2 / Tuning Adapter Detected Screen Keeps Coming Up*
> 
> Instead of seeing live TV or Tivo Central, I have now twice seen a message from my Tivo saying that Tivo has detected a Tuning Adapter. This is of course after I have already successfully installed adapter. I am assuming we should only see this message once.


I see this one on both my TiVo's with TA's. The source is the TA rebooting. The second page of the TA Diags (go to TA diags and hit select twice) (at the bottom of that page) will show you when the TA last rebooted. You will find that it corrosponds closely to when you see the TA Detected screen. I caught it redhanded once... watching a playback which was interrupted. TA light goes to constant flash... then goes solid on and another TA Detected screen occurs (if you cleared the first one). I found that this issue repeated regularly every 3 days +/- 1 hour. That shifted right after I got the second TA (they touched my account?) and is now at a different time and occuring every 2 days.

The bad thing about this issue is that if you have recordings in progress when it occurs... they are stopped and not restarted and reguardless of their source (OTA, SDV, Linear).

I see this as both a TA issue and a TiVo issue... The TA shouldnt be rebooting every 2 to 3 days... and TiVo shouldnt be overreacting and killing recordings... at least not recordings from non-SDV and OTA channels.

Other than this issue... My TA's are working great!


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## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> I see this one on both my TiVo's with TA's. The source is the TA rebooting. The second page of the TA Diags (go to TA diags and hit select twice) (at the bottom of that page) will show you when the TA last rebooted. You will find that it corrosponds closely to when you see the TA Detected screen. I caught it redhanded once... watching a playback which was interrupted. TA light goes to constant flash... then goes solid on and another TA Detected screen occurs (if you cleared the first one). I found that this issue repeated regularly every 3 days +/- 1 hour. That shifted right after I got the second TA (they touched my account?) and is now at a different time and occuring every 2 days.
> 
> The bad thing about this issue is that if you have recordings in progress when it occurs... they are stopped and not restarted and reguardless of their source (OTA, SDV, Linear).
> 
> I see this as both a TA issue and a TiVo issue... The TA shouldnt be rebooting every 2 to 3 days... and TiVo shouldnt be overreacting and killing recordings... at least not recordings from non-SDV and OTA channels.
> 
> Other than this issue... My TA's are working great!


{UPDATE} This is a *MAJOR ISSUE* because besides ruining a recording, it can also pop up while you are watching a prerecorded show. This happened to me. It's massively annoying! Besides interrupting your show, you will need to obviously restart it, and even worse Tivo forgets where you were. So you have to FF to that point all over again. And apparently a single "reboot event" causes two such interruptions. {Update}

This seems like a *MAJOR ISSUE* to me... I guess I wasn't affected yet because the reboots happened when I wasn't recording anything...

I guess we always have the option of disconnecting the TA until they have the kinks ironed out. The channels that I lose to SDV and that I gain by using the TA are not worth the hassle right now if I start losing recordings.

Hopefully this will get fixed quickly! A bit worried though since it seems to be a two party problem with both TW and Tivo...


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## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> This seems like a MAJOR issue to me... I guess I wasn't affected yet because the reboots happened when I wasn't recording anything...
> 
> I guess we always have the option of disconnecting the TA until they have the kinks ironed out. The channels that I lose to SDV and that I gain by using the TA are not worth the hassle right now if I start losing recordings.
> 
> Hopefully this will get fixed quickly! A bit worried though since it seems to be a two party problem with both TW and Tivo...


Well... from my viewpoint its not major... Ive only lost recordings once... But I understand your perspective may not be the same as mine. I couldnt give up the SDV channels though.... Im hooked!


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## SCSIRAID

I should probably also mention this too..... I can't say absolutely that it is due to the TA but the evidence does seem to be pointing to it.

When I installed TA on my S3... Suggestions stopped recording. About 2 weeks later I got a TA for my wife's THD... shortly thereafter she complained that her TiVo wasnt recording suggestions anymore. Ive had 2 suggestions record in about 2 weeks. Same for her.

Anybody else seeing this? There is another thread on this subject where it seems that all the people exhibiting it had TA's....


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## jpd31

I can't say if my TA is rebooting, but I have noticed that the TA is very warm. I wonder if the TA has a overheating issue that is causing the reboot?


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## SCSIRAID

jpd31 said:


> I can't say if my TA is rebooting, but I have noticed that the TA is very warm. I wonder if the TA has a overheating issue that is causing the reboot?


Its too 'regular' to be something like that IMHO. My two boxes in two different rooms rebooted within 30 mins of each other yesterday.


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## crazywater

Not sure if this is TA related but here goes...

After the initial pain of installing the TA I am receiving all of the channels that I expected to receive. However, I have lost about 12 SD channels. When I tune any of these channels I get "Searching for signal...." message. After checking the DVR Diagnostics page I have discovered that all of these channels are at frequency 687000khz. I have passed that info on to the TWC tech I have been working with.

I have also experienced the reboot problem, I noticed the message being displayed on the TiVo twice now. I didn't know if was a reboot issue until reading it here.


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## dolfer

Just turned on the tele and was *again*greeted to the "A Tuning Adapter Has Been Detected" screen... ;( Lovely...


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## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> Just turned on the tele and was *again*greeted to the "A Tuning Adapter Has Been Detected" screen... ;( Lovely...


Perhaps you could check for what time it rebooted and keep a little log.... You will probably find a pattern to the times.

TA Diags... hit select twice... bottom of the page 'BOOTED" with time and date below.


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## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> Perhaps you could check for what time it rebooted and keep a little log.... You will probably find a pattern to the times.
> 
> TA Diags... hit select twice... bottom of the page 'BOOTED" with time and date below.


Great tip... Thanks. Hopefully they will occur in the daytime when I am NOT recording anything. And hopefully, the issue gets fixed soon so I can stop worrying about it...


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## crazywater

SCSIRAID said:


> Where are you located? What channels?


Raleigh/Durham (actually in Wake Forest). These are the channels;

Channels that will not tune;

8 - WUVC 687khz QAM256
23 - WGN America 687khz QAM256
32 - ESPN 2 687khz QAM 256
49 - Sci Fi 687khz QAM256
54 - TV Land 687khz QAM 256
58 - Fox News 687khz QAM 256
59 - HGTV 687khz QAM 256
60 - Food Network 687khz QAM 256
67 - TCM 687khz QAM 256
74 - Noggin 687khz QAM 256
98 - TV Guide no frequency at all...
359 - HGTV 687khz QAM 256
360 - Food Network 687khz QAM 256


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## SCSIRAID

crazywater said:


> Raleigh/Durham (actually in Wake Forest). These are the channels;
> 
> Channels that will not tune;
> 
> 8  WUVC 687khz QAM256
> 23  WGN America 687khz QAM256
> 32 - ESPN 2 687khz QAM 256
> 49  Sci Fi 687khz QAM256
> 54  TV Land 687khz QAM 256
> 58  Fox News 687khz QAM 256
> 59  HGTV 687khz QAM 256
> 60  Food Network 687khz QAM 256
> 67  TCM 687khz QAM 256
> 74  Noggin 687khz QAM 256
> 98  TV Guide no frequency at all...
> 359  HGTV 687khz QAM 256
> 360  Food Network 687khz QAM 256


When you try to tune one of these... what does 'Signal Lock', 'Program Lock' and 'Tune Complete' indicate in DVR Diagnostics? All 'Yes'?

Both my tuners are tied up now or I would check it here but I know my wife has recorded stuff from WGNAmerica successfully with TA.


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## crazywater

SCSIRAID said:


> When you try to tune one of these... what does 'Signal Lock', 'Program Lock' and 'Tune Complete' indicate in DVR Diagnostics? All 'Yes'?
> 
> Both my tuners are tied up now or I would check it here but I know my wife has recorded stuff from WGNAmerica successfully with TA.


Signal Lock and Program Lock are NO...I do not have Tune Complete, Search Complete is Yes.


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## dolfer

BIG GLITCH! While watching ER the "Tuning Adapter Found" screen popped up twice. I had to select "continue". Then had to restart program and FF back to appropriate spot. Each time the interruption happened I had to go back and restart the program from the beginning. Tivo seemed to have lost where I had last left off. 

It seems like the TA is not ready for prime time. Sorry for the bad pun! But it's very appropriate...

I think I am going to go ahead and disconnect the TA for now before it messes up an important recording...


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## Xunaka

The firmware for the issue correction exist, however it's not released and is still being tested

(Rebooting problem)


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## realityboy

Is the reboot problem only sporadic? I checked the date on mine, and it hasn't booted since it was first hooked up two weeks ago. I have other problems though.

I've had no auto-recording suggestions for about a week, and my suggestion page is completely empty. It has the standard "as you give more thumb ratings suggestions will appear" message as it has when it's new. The series 3 is about a year old, and I've given lots of thumbs and triple thumbs even. There is always something it should be suggesting. This started about a week after adding the tuning adapter. Possibly it recorded what it had already scheduled, and then it stopped?

Every time that I reboot the Tivo or if it loses power and reboots on its own, it doesn't recognize the Tuning Adapter unless I unplug the USB from the Tivo and plug it back in. Then I get the Tuning Adapter is installed screen This hasn't been a problem yet, but if I am away when the power goes out it could be. The only good thing is that since it doesn't even know there is a Tuning Adapter present, the only channels I lose are SDV which right now in my area are still relatively few. Anyone else see this behavior? I'd hate to swap the TA since the rebooting problem seems a lot worse.


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## pmiranda

crazywater said:


> ... When I tune any of these channels I get "Searching for signal...." message. After checking the DVR Diagnostics page I have discovered that all of these channels are at frequency 687000khz. I have passed that info on to the TWC tech I have been working with.


I have 4 frequencies that give me flaky SDV channels... they'll almost always tune in, but recordings have audio dropouts and heavy macroblocking. The same channels aren't always affected but HD ones are far worse and far more frequently affected than SD ones. I've complained about it to TW but never got a response. I'd chuck the TA and TiVo but there are only a couple SDV channels I watch so now I just double up on recordings and hope one will work.


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## KeithB

I'd be interested seeing two different things from a intermittent TA configuration:
1) a USB sniffer log of communications between the TA and the TiVo
2) a console/serial/diagnostic port output from the TA (if possible)

Does anyone have any photos / internals information on the Cisco TA?


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## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> BIG GLITCH! While watching ER the "Tuning Adapter Found" screen popped up twice. I had to select "continue". Then had to restart program and FF back to appropriate spot. Each time the interruption happened I had to go back and restart the program from the beginning. Tivo seemed to have lost where I had last left off.
> 
> It seems like the TA is not ready for prime time. Sorry for the bad pun! But it's very appropriate...
> 
> I think I am going to go ahead and disconnect the TA for now before it messes up an important recording...


The screen will pop up twice per reboot event... If you clear it when you first see it... it will return in a couple minutes once the TA is ready to rock and roll.

The first screen should happen when the led goes to constant flash. The second screen happens when the led goes solid again.

Did you happen to check the BOOTED time?


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## SCSIRAID

Xunaka said:


> The firmware for the issue correction exist, however it's not released and is still being tested
> 
> (Rebooting problem)


Source? Tested by who?


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## crazywater

SCSIRAID said:


> Hmmm... what is the signal level and SNR? All those channels are on the same QAM so there may be just too much noise or not enough signal to recover the channel. If you tune to a good channel what is the signal level and SNR?
> 
> Its very likely that the TA has nothing to do with this... with the possible exception of the RF passthru.


Here ya go...


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## crazywater

And a good channel...


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## dolfer

I went ahead and disconnected the TA for the time being. For now SDV doesn't take away any of my main channels and the TA doesn't grant me access to any that I care about. Yet... 

I would like to know about the firmware fix that XUNAKA mentions... XUNAKA how did you hear about this??? 

Sorta seems like we are beta testers once again...


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## crazywater

SCSIRAID said:


> Well... the signal level doesnt look too bad... SNR is 34 which should be fine. Did you use the coax that came with the TA or a better quality piece?
> 
> The acid test is pulling the usb cable and retrying tuning 68... but I dont think Sling can do that remotely  assuming you are currently remote.


Different Coax. I am remote but I have already tried that, when I pull the USB it does not tune in. It seems to be all of the 687000khz channels, or at least the ones that don't tune are all that frequency.

Even when the tech runs a cable from the tap outside through the front door to the back of the TA I still have the same issue...so I personally think its an issue on the street. I can tune all of these channels bypassing the TA but perhaps the signal was borderline before the TA and now with it its too weak.

If I leave the channel on for a long period of time, occasionally it tunes in but only for brief amounts of time. I had it on the TiVo signal strength meter one time and when it tuned in it went from 0 signal to 70 for a minute and then back to 0.


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## SCSIRAID

crazywater said:


> Different Coax. I am remote but I have already tried that, when I pull the USB it does not tune in. It seems to be all of the 687000khz channels, or at least the ones that don't tune are all that frequency.
> 
> Even when the tech runs a cable from the tap outside through the front door to the back of the TA I still have the same issue...so I personally think its an issue on the street. I can tune all of these channels bypassing the TA but perhaps the signal was borderline before the TA and now with it its too weak.
> 
> If I leave the channel on for a long period of time, occasionally it tunes in but only for brief amounts of time. I had it on the TiVo signal strength meter one time and when it tuned in it went from 0 signal to 70 for a minute and then back to 0.


So If I understand you correctly....

1) With TA completely in the loop... i.e. USB connected... RF going from the wall to TA in and from TA out to TiVo in... No Workie 

2) With TA completely in the loop... i.e. USB connected... RF going direct from pedistal to TA in and from TA out to TiVo in... No Workie 

3) With TA USB cable unplugged.... But RF still going from the wall to TA in and from TA out to TiVo in... Still No Workie 

4) With TA fully removed... RF from wall to TiVo... Works fine... 

If I have this right... It would seem that its a signal issue that could be a bad TA pass thru. Im surprised tech didnt try the cable from the pedistal to the TiVo and cable from wall to TA. I would expect that to work.

If you have a 2way splitter... you could try splitting the rf from the wall and run one cable to TA and the other to TiVo and leave TA RF output unhooked. That might work....

I deleted my other posts relative to this to unclutter this thread since its somewhat off topic.


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## Xunaka

SCSIRAID said:


> Source? Tested by who?


The latest revision by Cisco has a fix for it, however it hasn't been released to any providers cause Cisco is still testing it. I haven't heard news of it getting to any providers for testing on an internal level yet.


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## crazywater

SCSIRAID said:


> If you have a 2way splitter... you could try splitting the rf from the wall and run one cable to TA and the other to TiVo and leave TA RF output unhooked. That might work....


Huh? Are you saying that the SDV signals are sent to the TiVo via the USB and the TA-RF Out is simply a pass-thru for the non-SDV stuff?


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## SCSIRAID

crazywater said:


> Huh? Are you saying that the SDV signals are sent to the TiVo via the USB and the TA-RF Out is simply a pass-thru for the non-SDV stuff?


The only thing the TA provides to the TiVo is tuning resolution services and a channel map. TiVo asks the TA what frequency and PID the desired channel is on and TA tells it. TiVo is doing all the tuning and its cablecards are doing the decrypting. The TA also has an internal splitter/amp so you only need one cable connection and no external splitter to hook up the devices. You dont have to use the RF output of the TA to have things work. I have two cable feeds coming out of the wall. One is going to the TiVo and the other to the TA with the RF out of the TA capped with a terminator.


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## crazywater

Well...I'll give it a try when I get home. I will let you know how that goes.


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## Xunaka

SCSIRAID said:


> So If I understand you correctly....
> 
> 1) With TA completely in the loop... i.e. USB connected... RF going from the wall to TA in and from TA out to TiVo in... No Workie
> 
> 2) With TA completely in the loop... i.e. USB connected... RF going direct from pedistal to TA in and from TA out to TiVo in... No Workie
> 
> 3) With TA USB cable unplugged.... But RF still going from the wall to TA in and from TA out to TiVo in... Still No Workie
> 
> 4) With TA fully removed... RF from wall to TiVo... Works fine...
> 
> If I have this right... It would seem that its a signal issue that could be a bad TA pass thru. Im surprised tech didnt try the cable from the pedistal to the TiVo and cable from wall to TA. I would expect that to work.
> 
> If you have a 2way splitter... you could try splitting the rf from the wall and run one cable to TA and the other to TiVo and leave TA RF output unhooked. That might work....
> 
> I deleted my other posts relative to this to unclutter this thread since its somewhat off topic.


The Tuning adapter act's as an active splitter it should not be causing any type of signal depletion between your original source and the TiVo unit, It may just be a bad piece of coax.. I'd also make sure its current grade RJ6


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## crazywater

Xunaka said:


> The Tuning adapter act's as an active splitter it should not be causing any type of signal depletion between your original source and the TiVo unit, It may just be a bad piece of coax.. I'd also make sure its current grade RJ6


I have used two different cables with the same result...but will try another and also am going to try the split idea from above. It's curious that its only the 12 channels from my previous post, all on frequency 687000khz.


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## Xunaka

crazywater said:


> I have used two different cables with the same result...but will try another and also am going to try the split idea from above. It's curious that its only the 12 channels from my previous post, all on frequency 687000khz.


Do you have the same issue with no Tuning adapter direct Coax to the box? Because it sounds like a cable card issue more than a tuning adapter issue. 
Digital cable travels over a 256 QAM network, if any of those QAM channels are not being interpreted correctly by the cards you're going to get blocks or issues like that with anything associated with the specific QAM.


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## crazywater

Xunaka said:


> Do you have the same issue with no Tuning adapter direct Coax to the box? Because it sounds like a cable card issue more than a tuning adapter issue.
> Digital cable travels over a 256 QAM network, if any of those QAM channels are not being interpreted correctly by the cards you're going to get blocks or issues like that with anything associated with the specific QAM.


Not on the S3 but in another room I have issues with the same channels...


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## Xunaka

crazywater said:


> Not on the S3 but in another room I have issues with the same channels...


There's really nothing you're going to be able to correct with this issue then, if its a multiple tv issue, it's probably in the upstream.. I'd call the issue in and see where it gets you.


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## crazywater

Xunaka said:


> There's really nothing you're going to be able to correct with this issue then, if its a multiple tv issue, it's probably in the upstream.. I'd call the issue in and see where it gets you.


I've got TWC techs working on it...they have been out to my house the last few days. They currently are looking at the tap outside the house. There's painted red arrows all over my front lawn at the tap and at the box on the house...so I assume they are working on it.


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## SCSIRAID

Xunaka said:


> The latest revision by Cisco has a fix for it, however it hasn't been released to any providers cause Cisco is still testing it. I haven't heard news of it getting to any providers for testing on an internal level yet.


My source tells me that Cisco has replicated the TA Reboot problem but does not yet have root cause.


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## SCSIRAID

Xunaka said:


> The Tuning adapter act's as an active splitter it should not be causing any type of signal depletion between your original source and the TiVo unit, It may just be a bad piece of coax.. I'd also make sure its current grade RJ6


Yup.. Unless the TA is defective...


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## Xunaka

SCSIRAID said:


> My source tells me that Cisco has replicated the problem but does not yet have root cause.


Well your source is wrong unfortunately.

Also if they have your lawn painted like that, they think that it's a problem with your underground, and are more than likely going to replace the drop to your home.

It's once you get a visit from engineering that, they'll tell you it's on a node or HE


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## SCSIRAID

Xunaka said:


> Well your source is wrong unfortunately.
> 
> Also if they have your lawn painted like that, they think that it's a problem with your underground, and are more than likely going to replace the drop to your home.
> 
> It's once you get a visit from engineering that, they'll tell you it's on a node or HE


I think you are mixing up the posts... my comment was relative to the every 2 day TA Reboots....

There's no paint on my lawn.....


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## Xunaka

Yeah you're correct so the other guy can just reference that post.


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## crazywater

Xunaka said:


> Do you have the same issue with no Tuning adapter direct Coax to the box? Because it sounds like a cable card issue more than a tuning adapter issue.
> Digital cable travels over a 256 QAM network, if any of those QAM channels are not being interpreted correctly by the cards you're going to get blocks or issues like that with anything associated with the specific QAM.


Ok...did the splitter trick. No good. Changed coax, no good....It looks like TWC was here since there is no longer a temp drop running from the tap to the house, maybe they ran a new drop but I doesn't look like they dug up the ground unless it is in a tube that they can pull through....in any case I still have a problem.


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## SCSIRAID

crazywater said:


> Ok...did the splitter trick. No good. Changed coax, no good....It looks like TWC was here since there is no longer a temp drop running from the tap to the house, maybe they ran a new drop but I doesn't look like they dug up the ground unless it is in a tube that they can pull through....in any case I still have a problem.


But if you connect the TiVo directly to the wall RF outlet without the TA at all... you get the channels??? Right?


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## crazywater

SCSIRAID said:


> But if you connect the TiVo directly to the wall RF outlet without the TA at all... you get the channels??? Right?


Yes..

UPDATE: ok...don't ask but now 58 & 59 tune in after hooking the TA back up again. Maybe what they did today took care of it. However I have seen it working and then stop later on so l will have to wait and see....

UPDATE 10PM: They are out again...


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## dolfer

If you are out there and are having the reboot issue where the "Tuning Adapter Detected" screen keeps coming up periodically, please make sure you post it here. Please mention which location you in. Thanks! Dolf


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## crazywater

I have seen the TA detected screen at least 4 times since receiving the TA. I am in Wake Forest NC.

Last boot was 2/27/09 @ 03:07am


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## dolfer

crazywater said:


> I have seen the TA detected screen at least 4 times since receiving the TA. I am in Wake Forest NC.
> 
> Last boot was 2/27/09 @ 03:07am


Thanks! *When* it happens while you are watching something let me know if your Tivo behaves the same as mine.


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## Xunaka

dolfer said:


> Thanks! *When* it happens while you are watching something let me know if your Tivo behaves the same as mine.


As I said, the reboot issue is a known issue on both ends.. and is being worked on resolving. The only difference in situations is there are 2 different situations occurring at the customers home.

A: The tuning adapter will show a reboot and you'll receive the tuning adapter connected screen

B: Your TiVo unit itself is rebooting and the tuning adapter is keeping it's connection.

The STA1520 latest firmware is meant for situation it's unknown if situation B would be resolved..


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## SCSIRAID

Xunaka said:


> As I said, the reboot issue is a known issue on both ends.. and is being worked on resolving. The only difference in situations is there are 2 different situations occurring at the customers home.
> 
> A: The tuning adapter will show a reboot and you'll receive the tuning adapter connected screen
> 
> B: Your TiVo unit itself is rebooting and the tuning adapter is keeping it's connection.
> 
> The STA1520 latest firmware is meant for situation it's unknown if situation B would be resolved..


Situation A is what I have... every 48 hours regular as clockwork.


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## dolfer

Xunaka said:


> As I said, the reboot issue is a known issue on both ends.. and is being worked on resolving. The only difference in situations is there are 2 different situations occurring at the customers home.
> 
> A: The tuning adapter will show a reboot and you'll receive the tuning adapter connected screen
> 
> B: Your TiVo unit itself is rebooting and the tuning adapter is keeping it's connection.
> 
> The STA1520 latest firmware is meant for situation it's unknown if situation B would be resolved..


Thanks Xunaka! Please continue to keep us posted. Do you work for Cisco, TWC, or Tivo??? 

Nonetheless, please keep posting updates as you get them. As soon as the firmware update is available, I will reconnect my TA and hopefully see my issues resolved.


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## lrhorer

dave13077 said:


> I have 2 Tivo HD units with cablecards and a TA. One unit is fine but with the second unit every once in a while I get a "channel is temperarily unavaliable please press select to try to tune the channel again". If you mess with the menus in Tivo Central for awhile the channel comes back. If happens on The Fox Business Channel witch is a SDV in our area. Called Tivo support but they were unable to find a fix.


That message is the normal one encountered whenever a subscriber (on any platform) attempts to tune an SDV channel but all switched QAMs on the subscriber's node are in use. Now, aliasing is always possible, so this situation could be caused by some other request failure, but the most likely explanation is it is a genuine denial based upon depleted bandwidth. As the message suggests, simply press and the channel should eventually be tuned, usually immediately. If you see this message very often at all (other than when the TiVo has been "idle" for a period of time), then it may very well be your CATV provider needs to re-engineer your local node, moving some subscribers to other nodes in order to reduce network congestion.


----------



## majinbuu147

does anybody know if the tuning adapter will update its firmware automatically through the line or if we can do it through the USB port in the front?


----------



## SCSIRAID

majinbuu147 said:


> does anybody know if the tuning adapter will update its firmware automatically through the line or if we can do it through the USB port in the front?


It will be automatically maintained by the cable company.. just like they do with their STB's. The good news is that they wont 'power off' and have to be manually turned on after a firmware update like the STB's do... (per TWC Engineering anyway).


----------



## crazywater

My TA booted again last night at 2:38AM approx 48 hours since the last boot...at least its in the middle of the night when nothing is recording.


----------



## Xunaka

dolfer said:


> Thanks Xunaka! Please continue to keep us posted. Do you work for Cisco, TWC, or Tivo???
> 
> Nonetheless, please keep posting updates as you get them. As soon as the firmware update is available, I will reconnect my TA and hopefully see my issues resolved.


I'll have more information as it becomes available to me, I give you guys kudos I personally do not own a TiVo but you guys seem to persist through.


----------



## chrisivc

SCSIRAID said:


> I should probably also mention this too..... I can't say absolutely that it is due to the TA but the evidence does seem to be pointing to it.
> 
> When I installed TA on my S3... Suggestions stopped recording. About 2 weeks later I got a TA for my wife's THD... shortly thereafter she complained that her TiVo wasnt recording suggestions anymore. Ive had 2 suggestions record in about 2 weeks. Same for her.
> 
> Anybody else seeing this? There is another thread on this subject where it seems that all the people exhibiting it had TA's....


I have noticed that if the channel isnt available when recording (black screen but tivo is recording anyways), i have noticed when i want to watch that program it is gone from the watch list because the tivo knows it was just black screen. I have had the TA lock up several times and my regular recordings (tivo shows on the front panel it is recording) are missing when i try to watch them later. The recordings not showing up later issue only happens when i see the channel was unsucessfully tuned and black is all i see.

I dont know if this is the TA or Tivo, i would be betting the TA since it is the device that is locking up.
-C


----------



## dotBob

I have similar issues with black channels. I get no error messages, but the supposedly tuned channel is black. If I change to a higher or lower channel, then change back, it doesn't always work. If I try changing channels a few times - for example, <channel up> 3 or 4 times, then back down to the original black channel - it works. The TA's LED is solid green the entire time.


----------



## dolfer

Xunaka said:


> I'll have more information as it becomes available to me, I give you guys kudos I personally do not own a TiVo but you guys seem to persist through.


Thanks Xunaka... Looks like it could be luck of the draw. A friend of mine (in Cincinnati as well) has not had a single reboot since he installed it last Tuesday! Looks like I got a bad box. I plan on taking it back and getting a different unit...

As for persistence, I have yet to see a DVR that can compare! You certainly can't think the TWC HD DVR is a legitimate alternative??  I use one of them at work and it is an _absolutely dreadful_ experience. For someone who has never owned a Tivo, the TW box is fine. But once you have used a Tivo (especially since 2000) there is no way you can regress to a cable DVR.


----------



## SCSIRAID

chrisivc said:


> I have noticed that if the channel isnt available when recording (black screen but tivo is recording anyways), i have noticed when i want to watch that program it is gone from the watch list because the tivo knows it was just black screen. -C


I have seen this only once.... I was looking at the TiVo using TiVoPlayList and noticed a program recording that was zero length. Went to 'live' and all there was was a black screen. Went into diags... good signal but program lock=no. Stopped recording and it disappeared. channel up, channel down and the pic was back.



chrisivc said:


> I have had the TA lock up several times and my regular recordings (tivo shows on the front panel it is recording) are missing when i try to watch them later. The recordings not showing up later issue only happens when i see the channel was unsucessfully tuned and black is all i see.
> 
> I dont know if this is the TA or Tivo, i would be betting the TA since it is the device that is locking up.
> -C


What do you mean by 'TA locking up'? Same as your first point where you know it recorded it but its not in now playing? If you ever catch a black screen recording again... i recommend you immedietly go into DVR Diags and find out what frequency and PID's it is tuned to. Then do the channel up /channel down and when you have a pic again, go into DVR Diags and insure that frequency and PID's are the same. That may help narrow down whose 'fault' it is. The TA may be giving bad tuning information or the TiVo may be tuning it improperly.


----------



## Xunaka

dolfer said:


> Thanks Xunaka... Looks like it could be luck of the draw. A friend of mine (in Cincinnati as well) has not had a single reboot since he installed it last Tuesday! Looks like I got a bad box. I plan on taking it back and getting a different unit...
> 
> As for persistence, I have yet to see a DVR that can compare! You certainly can't think the TWC HD DVR is a legitimate alternative??  I use one of them at work and it is an _absolutely dreadful_ experience. For someone who has never owned a Tivo, the TW box is fine. But once you have used a Tivo (especially since 2000) there is no way you can regress to a cable DVR.


I don't mind my 8300 OCAP, I can't really justify paying for a TiVo when I know that the cable card technology behind them is so terrible.


----------



## dolfer

Unless you work for TW, you *are paying* for the 8300! ~$10 a month!  

I'll take the inferior back-end technology to have access to what it's all about... the Tivo UI and responsiveness. When I use the 8300 it seems like the remote control first sends its signal to Mars, then back down to Earth, and then to the DVR. There's no going from a Tivo to that!


----------



## Xunaka

dolfer said:


> Unless you work for TW, you *are paying* for the 8300! ~$10 a month!
> 
> I'll take the inferior back-end technology to have access to what it's all about... the Tivo UI and responsiveness. When I use the 8300 it seems like the remote control first sends its signal to Mars, then back down to Earth, and then to the DVR. There's no going from a Tivo to that!


Depending on where you're located there are advantages exclusive to the TW boxes (Start Over) (Caller ID on TV) VoD used to be, we'll see how exactly they plan to work that out.

But yes the TiVo does have some pretty good features, and is a good piece of equipment.. The STA1520 new firmware does address the tuning adapter rebooting exclusively..

No ETA on the release yet.


----------



## George Cifranci

This might be obvious but I thought I would mention it anyway, make sure you remove the protective plastic film (if it wasn't already removed) that is on the Tuning Adaptor as it covers up a lot of the holes at the top of the unit. Not sure if leaving it on would cause overheating or not.


----------



## dolfer

Xunaka said:


> Depending on where you're located there are advantages exclusive to the TW boxes (Start Over) (Caller ID on TV) VoD used to be, we'll see how exactly they plan to work that out.
> 
> But yes the TiVo does have some pretty good features, and is a good piece of equipment.. The STA1520 new firmware does address the tuning adapter rebooting exclusively..
> 
> No ETA on the release yet.


Thanks Xunaka... I was excited by the VOD announcement. But again, we'll have to wait to see how well it will work. My Internet connection tops out at 1.4 MBps so I am not optimistic...

Thanks for the info on the firmware. Please continue to keep us posted.


----------



## jcderr

I'm having a hell of a time with my TA. It works for a few days, and then stops until I reboot the whole Tivo. Sometimes it fails in stages (a channel here or there stops, to varying degrees), sometimes it just drops dead entirely. Once it dies, I start getting the "Hit select to try again..." bar. Reboot solves it. I've seen people talk about the "tuning adapter reboot issue" but I haven't seen anyone say just what the symptoms are. Is this it, and will the firmware update resolve it, or am I looking at a totally different issue?

EDIT: of course, it had to happen again 10 minutes after I post this, and now even a reboot won't bring it back...


----------



## majinbuu147

oh my gosh i wanna just throw the TA against a wall it crapped out 4 times in one show. please hurry with that update


----------



## SCSIRAID

jcderr said:


> I'm having a hell of a time with my TA. It works for a few days, and then stops until I reboot the whole Tivo. Sometimes it fails in stages (a channel here or there stops, to varying degrees), sometimes it just drops dead entirely. Once it dies, I start getting the "Hit select to try again..." bar. Reboot solves it. I've seen people talk about the "tuning adapter reboot issue" but I haven't seen anyone say just what the symptoms are. Is this it, and will the firmware update resolve it, or am I looking at a totally different issue?
> 
> EDIT: of course, it had to happen again 10 minutes after I post this, and now even a reboot won't bring it back...


The tuning adapter reboot issue is something I see about every 48 hours. When it happens, you will see a 'Tuning Adapter Attached' (something like that) screen pop up and the TA LED goes to 6 blinks mode. If any recordings are going on at the time it occurs, they are stopped and not restarted. If you clear the screen and go back to a show... in a minute or so the screen pops up again and the TA LED goes solid on.

TWC Tech Ops says Cisco has reproduced the problem and working to find root cause. That news is a few days old so perhaps they have found it by now.

Exactly what are you seeing in your situation?


----------



## SCSIRAID

majinbuu147 said:


> oh my gosh i wanna just throw the TA against a wall it crapped out 4 times in one show. please hurry with that update


Can you be a bit more definitive on what 'crapped out' means exactly?


----------



## SCSIRAID

I saw a new problem this morning.... My wife's TA wouldnt tune any SDV channels but was otherwise working. The TA LED was on solid which should be indicating that its working fine. From TiVo, I couldnt get into TA diags.. as it indicated that no TA was present. DVR Diags (at the very bottom) indicated no TA present.. BUT... that a channel map had been received. Power cycling TA made no difference. Pulling the USB cable did NOT generate a TA screen and reinserting did NOT generate a TA screen. It certainly appeared that the THD interface to the TA was hung. Rebooted TiVo and problem was gone....


----------



## dolfer

majinbuu147 said:


> oh my gosh i wanna just throw the TA against a wall it crapped out 4 times in one show. please hurry with that update


DO you have a Tivo HD or an S3??? Just curious. A friend of mine has an S3 and does *not* experience the reboot issue. I have a Tivo HD and *do* experience it.

Guys, if you post info on any TA issues, please not whether you have a Tivo HD or an S3.

Thanks, Dolf


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> DO you have a Tivo HD or an S3??? Just curious. A friend of mine has an S3 and does *not* experience the reboot issue. I have a Tivo HD and *do* experience it.
> 
> Guys, if you post info on any TA issues, please not whether you have a Tivo HD or an S3.
> 
> Thanks, Dolf


Interesting... on the same system? so it may be limited to certain service groups???

Both my S3 and THD do it... and within 30-60 minutes of each other...


----------



## jcderr

SCSIRAID said:


> The tuning adapter reboot issue is something I see about every 48 hours. When it happens, you will see a 'Tuning Adapter Attached' (something like that) screen pop up and the TA LED goes to 6 blinks mode. If any recordings are going on at the time it occurs, they are stopped and not restarted. If you clear the screen and go back to a show... in a minute or so the screen pops up again and the TA LED goes solid on.
> 
> TWC Tech Ops says Cisco has reproduced the problem and working to find root cause. That news is a few days old so perhaps they have found it by now.
> 
> Exactly what are you seeing in your situation?


That's quite a bit different from what I see. If I'm watching an SDV channel when it starts crapping out, I'll get a brief video freeze frame (by brief, I mean anything from a few seconds to 10 minutes), then everything will start working again. But after that happens, that channel (and all other SDV channels) will simply not work at all if I change the channel. If I try to tune an SDV channel at this point, I get a black screen with a Tivo message that it could not tune the channel and to hit SELECT to try again. This fails.

The TA's LED stays on solid, and the TA diags say that the TA is working fine. Under Last Tune Attempt (or however it's phrased), it even claims that the last (failed) tuning attempt was successful. Power Cycle the TA has never resolved the problem; I have to reboot the whole Tivo, unfortunately. However, I'm now completely broken. I've tried all manner of hooking, unhooking, reseating, cycling, and on down the troubleshooting line, and it simply won't work.


----------



## SCSIRAID

jcderr said:


> That's quite a bit different from what I see. If I'm watching an SDV channel when it starts crapping out, I'll get a brief video freeze frame (by brief, I mean anything from a few seconds to 10 minutes), then everything will start working again. But after that happens, that channel (and all other SDV channels) will simply not work at all if I change the channel. If I try to tune an SDV channel at this point, I get a black screen with a Tivo message that it could not tune the channel and to hit SELECT to try again. This fails.
> 
> The TA's LED stays on solid, and the TA diags say that the TA is working fine. Under Last Tune Attempt (or however it's phrased), it even claims that the last (failed) tuning attempt was successful. Power Cycle the TA has never resolved the problem; I have to reboot the whole Tivo, unfortunately. However, I'm now completely broken. I've tried all manner of hooking, unhooking, reseating, cycling, and on down the troubleshooting line, and it simply won't work.


Video issues like freezing and stuttering are not caused by the TA. All the TA does is tell the TiVo what channel and PID to tune. The TiVo does all the tuning. What is your signal strength and SNR and RS Uncorrected value on the SDV channels and regular channels? You might want to try attenuation and see if that makes any difference. Also check DVR diags when you get a black screen and see if the tuner on the channel of interests shows 'Signal Lock' and 'Program Lock'. Both should be 'yes'.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> DO you have a Tivo HD or an S3??? Just curious. A friend of mine has an S3 and does *not* experience the reboot issue. I have a Tivo HD and *do* experience it.
> 
> Guys, if you post info on any TA issues, please not whether you have a Tivo HD or an S3.
> 
> Thanks, Dolf


We got new firmware Wednesday that is supposed to address the TA Reboot issue.... cross your fingers.....


----------



## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> We got new firmware Wednesday that is supposed to address the TA Reboot issue.... cross your fingers.....


SCSI, you aren't in Cincinnati! Does "we" mean all Time Warner Cable areas??? 

It's Friday night... Has your TA rebooted????

What version of firmware do you have now?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> SCSI, you aren't in Cincinnati! Does "we" mean all Time Warner Cable areas???
> 
> It's Friday night... Has your TA rebooted????
> 
> What version of firmware do you have now?


My last reboot was the actual push of the new firmware on Wednesday at 4:56pm. Before that the 48 hour reboot was on Tuesday at 11:45am. So its been 2 days since reboot... Sooooooo.. Ill keep on watching.

Ill look into firmware levels in diags and see if I can figure out what has a very recent date.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Here is what I could find in TA Diags...

Under TA Diag page - Versions and MACs

SOFTWARE VERSIONS
PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801
App(s): SARA v1.61.36.1

Also under TA Diag Page - Tuning Resolver

TA CONFIG FILE

Version 03/[email protected]:00:33


----------



## jcderr

SCSIRAID said:


> Video issues like freezing and stuttering are not caused by the TA. All the TA does is tell the TiVo what channel and PID to tune. The TiVo does all the tuning. What is your signal strength and SNR and RS Uncorrected value on the SDV channels and regular channels? You might want to try attenuation and see if that makes any difference. Also check DVR diags when you get a black screen and see if the tuner on the channel of interests shows 'Signal Lock' and 'Program Lock'. Both should be 'yes'.


I left the TA unpowered for 5 minutes today, and when I plugged it back in, it "just worked." If/when it dies again, I'll check those.


----------



## dotBob

SCSIRAID said:


> Here is what I could find in TA Diags...
> 
> Under TA Diag page - Versions and MACs
> 
> SOFTWARE VERSIONS
> PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
> FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801
> App(s): SARA v1.61.36.1
> 
> Also under TA Diag Page - Tuning Resolver
> 
> TA CONFIG FILE
> 
> Version 03/[email protected]:00:33


My TA is apparently on older software still:

FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
App(s): SARA v1.61.32.1

And curiously, the TA CONFIG FILE is showing:

TA CONFIG FILE
Version: n/a

.bob
TiVo HD


----------



## realityboy

I have a series 3 and haven't had the reboot issue with the TA. I haven't seen anyone else mention the issue of the Tivo not recognizing the TA after the Tivo reboots. Has no one had this problem? It's not as bad as the other problem, but it's going to be a problem for me if the power goes out at all.


----------



## bobrt6676

realityboy said:


> I have a series 3 and haven't had the reboot issue with the TA. I haven't seen anyone else mention the issue of the Tivo not recognizing the TA after the Tivo reboots. Has no one had this problem? It's not as bad as the other problem, but it's going to be a problem for me if the power goes out at all.


Last night my TivoHD rebooted twice while watching a recorded show. This is the first time my HD has ever rebooted itself. When it came back up the TA was "not connected" I unplugged the TA waited 30 sec. replugged. Tivo popped up the TA is now connected screen and all the channels were back.


----------



## George Cifranci

Question. On the Tuning Adaptor diagnostics screens which date would show when the TA last booted? I want to see if my TA has rebooted since I first connected it.


----------



## SCSIRAID

George Cifranci said:


> Question. On the Tuning Adaptor diagnostics screens which date would show when the TA last booted? I want to see if my TA has rebooted since I first connected it.


Its in the 'Status Summary'... second page at the bottom in the CLOCKS section. Just go to TA Diags and hit select twice.

CLOCKS
Booted: Wed Mar 4 2009
4:56:59 PM EST (0x.........)

If it had rebooted you should have seen an unexpected 'Tuning Adapter Detected' (or attached or whatever the word it uses.) screen.


----------



## George Cifranci

SCSIRAID said:


> Its in the 'Status Summary'... second page at the bottom in the CLOCKS section. Just go to TA Diags and hit select twice.
> 
> CLOCKS
> Booted: Wed Mar 4 2009
> 4:56:59 PM EST (0x.........)
> 
> If it had rebooted you should have seen an unexpected 'Tuning Adapter Detected' (or attached or whatever the word it uses.) screen.


Oh ok. Looks like mine has been up since I connected it on March 3rd. No reboot issues so far.


----------



## bobrt6676

Here I go again. Today just like yesterday TivoHD reboots while recording a program while watching a recorded program. Comes back up I start watching where I Left off. 5min later THD reboots again. Very frustrating. TA issue or THD issue??


----------



## SCSIRAID

bobrt6676 said:


> Here I go again. Today just like yesterday TivoHD reboots while recording a program while watching a recorded program. Comes back up I start watching where I Left off. 5min later THD reboots again. Very frustrating. TA issue or THD issue??


Are you sure its the THD rebooting... (is it going back thru the into video with all the clips from CSI, Teletubbies etc)... or could it be the TA rebooting?? What you are describing fits the TA reboot issue... you see a Tuning Adapter Detected screen (TA led flashing 6 blink code) and 3-5 minutes later you see it happen again (TA led goes solid on).


----------



## eliminator

I'm in WNY/Amherst. I got a tuning adapter a couple days ago. Got it all hooked up. I'm having issues tuning SDV channels randomly. CNNHD, for example, works fine on minute but I can't tune to it the next. All SDV channels seem to be working at some time or another. I don't think its a signal strength problem. TWC says some other people have reported this issue and it is a problem with the Cisco firmware. Is anyone here having this problem?


----------



## dolfer

Since I disconnected my TA I don't know the answer to this. But what version of firmware does everyone have???? If you have been upgraded, can you please post the prior version and the new version numbers?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> Since I disconnected my TA I don't know the answer to this. But what version of firmware does everyone have???? If you have been upgraded, can you please post the prior version and the new version numbers?


This is the version that seems to have fixed the reboot issue. Got it Wed 3/4.

SOFTWARE VERSIONS
PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801
App(s): SARA v1.61.36.1


----------



## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> This is the version that seems to have fixed the reboot issue. Got it Wed 3/4.
> 
> SOFTWARE VERSIONS
> PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
> FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801
> App(s): SARA v1.61.36.1


Thanks SCSI!

Can anyone using Time Warner Cincinnati check their version and report back?


----------



## bferrell

I'll try to tonight.


----------



## bferrell

BTW, I have a pair of S3's, and I get the "this channel unavailable" from time-to-time, but no "t/a detected" and haven't seemed to miss any recordings, though neither seems to be recording suggestions, but that's an oft-complained about temporary glitch.


----------



## bferrell

SOFTWARE VERSIONS
PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
App(s): SARA v1.61.32.1


----------



## eliminator

I'm having problems tuning SVD channels randomly. Still on the old firmware in Buffalo, NY.

Tivo TA firmware number	STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
SARA v1.61.32.1


----------



## dolfer

thanks guys for posting your firmware versions... Looks like we need 0*8*01 like SCSIRaid has in Apex, NC!


----------



## bobrt6676

SCSIRAID said:


> Are you sure its the THD rebooting... (is it going back thru the into video with all the clips from CSI, Teletubbies etc)... or could it be the TA rebooting?? What you are describing fits the TA reboot issue... you see a Tuning Adapter Detected screen (TA led flashing 6 blink code) and 3-5 minutes later you see it happen again (TA led goes solid on).


Yes definitly the THD rebooting going through the almost there to the intro video clips. It happened tonight for the third straight night. All three nights, a total of 6 reboots, I was watching a recorded show while recording a show. So, I have decided to unplug the TA for now to see if the THD reboots on its own.

1 hour after unplugging the TA, my THD has again rebooted while watching a recorded show and recording another show. I guess this proves the TA is not the problem. On to a different thread I guess.


----------



## Xunaka

dolfer said:


> thanks guys for posting your firmware versions... Looks like we need 0*8*01 like SCSIRaid has in Apex, NC!


I have a few questions for anyone on .801, Has this issue fixed the reboot for you?

Also has it been able to address the problem with **Black** not grey screens when tuning to some channels; It would be a very specific issue those of you experiencing it will know what I'm talking about.

Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Xunaka said:


> I have a few questions for anyone on .801, Has this issue fixed the reboot for you?
> 
> Also has it been able to address the problem with **Black** not grey screens when tuning to some channels; It would be a very specific issue those of you experiencing it will know what I'm talking about.
> 
> Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.


It has fixed the reboot issue for me. My 2 TA's rebooted on 3/4 when .0801 was deployed and havent rebooted since.

As to the black screen... Ive only seen that once and that was a couple weeks ago with the earlier FW (not sure what version it was... 0701 perhaps). When it happened TiVo reported Signal Lock - yes, Program Lock - no and was on an expected SDV QAM frequency.


----------



## Jcarrme

I'm a TWC customer in Maine and just got a TA. It is rebooting about every 2 hours. How does one get the TA update?


----------



## Jcarrme

SCSIRAID said:


> This is the version that seems to have fixed the reboot issue. Got it Wed 3/4.
> 
> SOFTWARE VERSIONS
> PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
> FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801
> App(s): SARA v1.61.36.1


How did you get it? Was it downloaded by the Cable Company?

Were these not tested before they were given out to everyone?

Sounds like the ball was dropped somewhere...


----------



## crazywater

Jcarrme said:


> How did you get it? Was it downloaded by the Cable Company?
> 
> Were these not tested before they were given out to everyone?


I would imagine TWC or Cisco will push the new firmware to all TAs that are on .0701. You said you are in Maine and its rebooting ever 2 hours? Did you mean 2 days?


----------



## Jcarrme

crazywater said:


> I would imagine TWC or Cisco will push the new firmware to all TAs that are on .0701. You said you are in Maine and its rebooting ever 2 hours? Did you mean 2 days?


no, now it's every hour...


----------



## SCSIRAID

Jcarrme said:


> no, now it's every hour...


Do you have another USB cable you could try? When it reboots are you getting the 'Tuning Adapter Connected' screen or is something else telling you its rebooting?


----------



## Jcarrme

Jcarrme said:


> no, now it's every hour...


I just spoke with Time Warner Cable here in Maine. They have said an update is coming soon, but they don't know when -- maybe next week.


----------



## s2krazy

My Cableguy was here yesterday and back again today. Unfortunately no joy! He'll be back tomorrow with the super secret decoder ring and the number for tech support at Cisco. I want to point out that the technician has been great. I do not believe that any of the problems are related to his ability or willingness to try things. Oceanic in Honolulu

Channels that I'm not receiving:

1108 Fox Business Network HD
1116 CNBC HD
1210 HD Versus
1226 Fox Sports Net West High Definition
1323 Home & Garden Television High Definition
1325 Travel Channel High Definition
1329 Animal Planet High Definition
1331 TLC High Definition
1337 The Science Channel High Definition
1449 LMN HD
1455 USA HD
1554 FX HD
1557 Sci Fi HD
1605 Universal High Definition


----------



## George Cifranci

In my TA I have...

SOFTWARE VERSIONS
PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
App(s): SARA v1.61.32.1

My TA has never rebooted since I got it on March 3rd. But twice I noticed that I was getting the black screen (or blank channel). Today I noticed the TiVo was recording a show on SpeedTVHD and when I changed to that tuner the screen was blank (black). I stopped the recording, tuned away from the channel and came back and the channel was working fine.


----------



## Jcarrme

SCSIRAID said:


> Do you have another USB cable you could try? When it reboots are you getting the 'Tuning Adapter Connected' screen or is something else telling you its rebooting?


I don't have another USB cable. When it reboots, I am getting that screen.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Jcarrme said:


> I don't have another USB cable. When it reboots, I am getting that screen.


Ok... you could go into TA Diags.. .hit select twice and look at the BOOT time near the bottom of the page. Is the boot time changing every time this occurs? If it is... that would confirm that the TA is actually rebooting. If it isnt... then I would suspect the USB cable. You might try reseating the USB cable several times.


----------



## realityboy

realityboy said:


> I have a series 3 and haven't had the reboot issue with the TA. I haven't seen anyone else mention the issue of the Tivo not recognizing the TA after the Tivo reboots. Has no one had this problem? It's not as bad as the other problem, but it's going to be a problem for me if the power goes out at all.


My S3 Tivo never recognized the Tuning Adapter after rebooting until today when I switched the USB slots and put the TA on top and the wireless adapter on bottom so now I'm not having any problems with my TA at all. Hopefully all the other issues will be dealt with soon.

I'm still not receiving suggestions, but this is obviously a Tivo issue and not a TA issue. I can tune all of the channels.


----------



## Jcarrme

SCSIRAID said:


> Ok... you could go into TA Diags.. .hit select twice and look at the BOOT time near the bottom of the page. Is the boot time changing every time this occurs? If it is... that would confirm that the TA is actually rebooting. If it isnt... then I would suspect the USB cable. You might try reseating the USB cable several times.


yes the time of reboot is changing every time it occurs


----------



## Jcarrme

realityboy said:


> My S3 Tivo never recognized the Tuning Adapter after rebooting until today when I switched the USB slots and put the TA on top and the wireless adapter on bottom so now I'm not having any problems with my TA at all. Hopefully all the other issues will be dealt with soon.
> 
> I'm still not receiving suggestions, but this is obviously a Tivo issue and not a TA issue. I can tune all of the channels.


I tried switching USB slots and still rebooting...(sigh)


----------



## SCSIRAID

Jcarrme said:


> I tried switching USB slots and still rebooting...(sigh)


I think I would ask them to give you a new TA... or perhaps push you .801 firmware and see if that helps.


----------



## jackmbernstein

I have an issue where I am/was not getting two HD public TV groups encomposing ~20 channels AND Sundance. Everything else was fine. Time-Warner was clueless except for a hint to pull the USB and reboot the TA. This got me back reception, albeit poor, on the public TV group. I played some more and this problem is reproduced by adjusting/ touching the USB connection to the TA. The connection is loose and minimal motions to it knock out all stations or the selective group I mentioned. I plan on turning the TA in for another and making sure that the connection is solid.

Anyone else experience this?


----------



## SCSIRAID

jackmbernstein said:


> I have an issue where I am/was not getting two HD public TV groups encomposing ~20 channels AND Sundance. Everything else was fine. Time-Warner was clueless except for a hint to pull the USB and reboot the TA. This got me back reception, albeit poor, on the public TV group. I played some more and this problem is reproduced by adjusting/ touching the USB connection to the TA. The connection is loose and minimal motions to it knock out all stations or the selective group I mentioned. I plan on turning the TA in for another and making sure that the connection is solid.
> 
> Anyone else experience this?


Is it possible that while you are messing with the USB cable you are also moving the coax cable around? Many have had issues with the el-cheepo coax cable provided with the ta. You might want to replug the coax or replace it with a better quality piece.

Moving the coax around would more likely cause a 'Tuning Adapter Connected' screen rather than a loss of channels. Loss of channels sounds like RF issue.


----------



## Jcarrme

SCSIRAID said:


> I think I would ask them to give you a new TA... or perhaps push you .801 firmware and see if that helps.


I'm on my second TA and they have no info on the firmware upgrade...


----------



## George Cifranci

George Cifranci said:


> In my TA I have...
> 
> SOFTWARE VERSIONS
> PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
> FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
> App(s): SARA v1.61.32.1
> 
> My TA has never rebooted since I got it on March 3rd. But twice I noticed that I was getting the black screen (or blank channel). Today I noticed the TiVo was recording a show on SpeedTVHD and when I changed to that tuner the screen was blank (black). I stopped the recording, tuned away from the channel and came back and the channel was working fine.


Correction. I now have 801. I came home today after work and noticed that my TA had rebooted (it was on the "you have a Tuning Adaptor" screen on the TiVo. I first thought I had my first reboot issue that some have been talking about (mine hasn't rebooted since I got it on March 3rd), however I checked the version numbers and sure enough I now have FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.*0801* and App(s): SARA *v1.61.36.1*.

We shall see if this fixed the blank (black) screen issue.


----------



## dolfer

Does anyone in *Cincinnati *have *.0801* yet? If so, please let us know! Thanks, Dolf


----------



## MomCatM4

I'm in northern Warren County, near Dayton (sometimes served by techs out of Cincinnati and sometimes out of Dayton--go figure), and I haven't received 801 yet. A colleague of mine and I have both had issues of channels like USAHD, SciFiHD, etc suddenly not showing up (and failing to record). Only a reboot of the TiVo has resolved our issues. For me, it was particularly bad last weekend. I hope this update will resolve the issue!

Forgot to add--we both have S3 and I also have one HD...

MomCat


----------



## Jcarrme

I receievd an update to my TA today, hopefully this will solve my issues...

LOL, just as I finished writing this my TA rebotted. Oh well, I'm giving up and turning it back in and going to another DVR that doesn't require a TA

Is there something I need to do now that the upgrade has been made? I'd like to try it before I return this TA


----------



## dolfer

Jcarrme said:


> I receievd an update to my TA today, hopefully this will solve my issues...
> 
> LOL, just as I finished writing this my TA rebotted. Oh well, I'm giving up and turning it back in and going to another DVR that doesn't require a TA
> 
> Is there something I need to do now that the upgrade has been made? I'd like to try it before I return this TA


What city/state are you in?

How do you know you received the update? Did you verify that you have .0801? Does it give you a message?

Make sure everything is connected properly, don't use the cheapo coaxial cable TW provided, and do a complete restart of both your TIvo and TA. Then sit and wait and see if you get the "Tivo Has Detected A Tuning Adapter" message again. If you see that screen again, you still have the "rebooting" problem...


----------



## Jcarrme

dolfer said:


> What city/state are you in?
> 
> How do you know you received the update? Did you verify that you have .0801? Does it give you a message?
> 
> Make sure everything is connected properly, don't use the cheapo coaxial cable TW provided, and do a complete restart of both your TIvo and TA. Then sit and wait and see if you get the "Tivo Has Detected A Tuning Adapter" message again. If you see that screen again, you still have the "rebooting" problem...


I'm in Portland, Maine. I verified that I had 0801, I booted both and got the detection screen twice and it continued rebooting every hour.


----------



## Jcarrme

One thing that I did notice is that the USB connection is loose on the TA end, and it does not fit snugly into the port in the back of the TA. I have changed it and waiting to see if that works.

BTW , got a new TA and still getting a reboot...I'm beginning to wonder if the TiVo or cablecard is the problem


----------



## Xunaka

Jcarrme said:


> One thing that I did notice is that the USB connection is loose on the TA end, and it does not fit snugly into the port in the back of the TA. I have changed it and waiting to see if that works.
> 
> BTW , got a new TA and still getting a reboot...I'm beginning to wonder if the TiVo or cablecard is the problem


FYI

The .801 was released as a go by Cisco and is being released on a Division by Division basis after testing and provisioning is a go, so if you don't have it yet it should be coming depending on how your division is handling the issue.

Based upon what we have been able to see, all reboot issues should be resolved by this.


----------



## George Cifranci

.0801 doesn't seem to fix the blank channel issue. Last night I noticed my TiVo S3 was recording "Led Zep's The Song Remains the Same" on the HD Music channel Palladia at 9:00PM. I switched over to that tuner and it was blank. I let the TiVo record the whole show to see what happens. The program was deleted and in the history it said that it could not record the show because there was no signal. After the recording finished I went to that channel and it was working ok. This happened with 0701 as well.


----------



## SCSIRAID

George Cifranci said:


> .0801 doesn't seem to fix the blank channel issue. Last night I noticed my TiVo S3 was recording "Led Zep's The Song Remains the Same" on the HD Music channel Paladia at 9:00PM. I switched over to that tuner and it was blank. I let the TiVo record the whole show to see what happens. The program was deleted and in the history it said that it could not record the show because there was no signal. After the recording finished I went to that channel and it was working ok. This happened with 0701 as well.


I saw this exact failure mode once with .0701.... Discovery HD. DVR Diagnostics indicated Signal lock was Yes but program lock was NO.

If you see it again... id suggest that you go into DVR Diags when you have the black screen and check the frequency and PIDs and then recheck them after you retune and see if they are the same. That might provide a clue.


----------



## dolfer

Xunaka said:


> FYI
> 
> The .801 was released as a go by Cisco and is being released on a Division by Division basis after testing and provisioning is a go, so if you don't have it yet it should be coming depending on how your division is handling the issue.
> 
> Based upon what we have been able to see, all reboot issues should be resolved by this.


Excellent news! Thanks for the update!!!!!!!! Hopefully Cincinnati gets it soon.


----------



## George Cifranci

SCSIRAID said:


> I saw this exact failure mode once with .0701.... Discovery HD. DVR Diagnostics indicated Signal lock was Yes but program lock was NO.
> 
> If you see it again... id suggest that you go into DVR Diags when you have the black screen and check the frequency and PIDs and then recheck them after you retune and see if they are the same. That might provide a clue.


Ok thanks. I will check that next time it happens.


----------



## Jcarrme

Xunaka said:


> FYI
> 
> The .801 was released as a go by Cisco and is being released on a Division by Division basis after testing and provisioning is a go, so if you don't have it yet it should be coming depending on how your division is handling the issue.
> 
> Based upon what we have been able to see, all reboot issues should be resolved by this.


I got the 0801 upgrade and it didn't solve the problem. I have determined that I had a bad TiVo. I removed the cablecard to see if the TA still rebooted and it did. Since this was my 3rd TA, logically the TiVo was then assumed to be bad. I have swapped out the TiVo and am testing it as soon as it is done processing with TiVo.


----------



## Jcarrme

As of today, 3/14, I have swapped out the TA (3 times), swapped out the TiVo, removed the cablecard, to eliminate that possibility, and I am still rebooting. The TA has the 0801 upgrade. TIme Warner here in Maine refuses to believe that they are the problem. They tell me I have that the signal coming into my home is the same as everyone elses and there is no signal problem, so my guess is they have a batch of bad tuning adapters. I have spoken to someone that has the TA wth TiVo and he has no problem. He was a beta tester for the TA and has never had a problem with it. So my analysis is that TWC has a batch of bad TAs. This decision is based on my 13 years as a computer programmer and using logic analysis to arrive at that decision.


----------



## mikeyts

The TA hasn't been released by TWC San Diego, but I've been participating in a beta test of the units since mid-January. I don't know what release I started with, but when they installed it, it took a few hours to start working, worked properly for a day and a half, then stopped working properly for the next month. (With the TA attached, I could tune switched broadcasts but not linear channels--I got some limited use out of it anyway).

On February 12th, they upgraded the firmware to .801 and it's worked fine since. I never saw the frequent reboot issue that people are talking about here. I've been told that they expect to upgrade the beta testers to a further release in about a week (they hope). It supposedly reduces USB traffic between the TA and TiVo and increases stability. I think that they're holding back widespread deployment of the thing until they can test that.

I did have a problem with noise from the TA interfering with my reception of a couple of HD cable channels. The noise was there if I ran the cable from the TA into the TiVo and even if I used an external splitter. I solved it temporarily by running a cable from a spare bedroom to the TA and leaving my TiVo hooked up as per usual. I'm going to check today to see if that went away.


----------



## pmiranda

mikeyts said:


> I did have a problem with noise from the TA interfering with my reception of a couple of HD cable channels. The noise was there if I ran the cable from the TA into the TiVo and even if I used an external splitter. I solved it temporarily by running a cable from a spare bedroom to the TA and leaving my TiVo hooked up as per usual. I'm going to check today to see if that went away.


Hmm... I thought you had to have the TA installed serially between the TiVo and the cable outlet to work, but I guess that's not the case... I wonder if a separate cable run for the TA and the TiVo would solve my signal quality problem between 711 and 729 MHz...


----------



## mikeyts

My channels were 705 and 711, the CW and PBS affiliates, respectively. I just checked, and both are in a stream at 525 MHz. There may be a couple of SD digital channels wedged in there as well, but I watch very little standard def these days and probably wouldn't have noticed if one of them went dead. (I was following _Skins_ on BBCA, but it hasn't started a second season as yet, so I'm not even recording that. The one channel that I do watch is Tennis and it's switched, possibly on a different QAM carrier every time I tune it). EDIT: I checked (when they installed my TA, they gave me a handy chart of the channels, printed in tiny little type, unfortunately sorted by subscriber channel number). There's nothing else on 525 except Channel 1 "On Demand Preview" and a couple of datacasting streams for the UpdateLogic's UpdateTV service (a service for updating the firmware of television-tuning display and STB electronics over-the-air or over cable).

EDIT EDIT: I just checked and yeah, the interference is still there. I can't tune channels 1, 705 or 711 with the cable run through the TA, but I can tune them with the cable running directly from the wall into TiVo.


----------



## yodasmurf

Xunaka said:


> I have a few questions for anyone on .801, Has this issue fixed the reboot for you?
> 
> Also has it been able to address the problem with **Black** not grey screens when tuning to some channels; It would be a very specific issue those of you experiencing it will know what I'm talking about.
> 
> Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.


I have .801 and am on my second TA. I cannot tune to any SDV channels, and simply get a black screen. I've escalated with TWC management. A supervisor is supposed to be coming to my home on Monday.


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## jcderr

SCSIRAID said:


> Video issues like freezing and stuttering are not caused by the TA. All the TA does is tell the TiVo what channel and PID to tune. The TiVo does all the tuning. What is your signal strength and SNR and RS Uncorrected value on the SDV channels and regular channels? You might want to try attenuation and see if that makes any difference. Also check DVR diags when you get a black screen and see if the tuner on the channel of interests shows 'Signal Lock' and 'Program Lock'. Both should be 'yes'.


I had SDV tuning die on me again today. Last time, I tried rebooting the TA, the Tivo, and so on, and nothing helped. However, when I left the TA unpowered for 5 minutes and _then_ turned everything on, it all came back up beautifully.

I have a single M Card. When I tune both tuners to non-SDV channels, I get Signal Strength around ~80, Signal and Program Locks YES, SNR 33dB, and RS values are both 0. If I tune to an SDV channel, everything is blanked out with dashes, and "Current Tuning Status" says "Not Tuned: Wrong Card State."


----------



## SCSIRAID

jcderr said:


> I had SDV tuning die on me again today. Last time, I tried rebooting the TA, the Tivo, and so on, and nothing helped. However, when I left the TA unpowered for 5 minutes and _then_ turned everything on, it all came back up beautifully.
> 
> I have a single M Card. When I tune both tuners to non-SDV channels, I get Signal Strength around ~80, Signal and Program Locks YES, SNR 33dB, and RS values are both 0. If I tune to an SDV channel, everything is blanked out with dashes, and "Current Tuning Status" says "Not Tuned: Wrong Card State."


OK.. wrong card state strongly suggests that TiVo is using the cablecard channel map instead of the TA channel map. Go all the way to the bottom of the DVR Diags and look at the last three lines... should be Tuning Adapter: Operational, Last State: Ready and Channel List Received: Yes. If not... the TiVo has lost communications with the TA. If it is something else... I would first try another USB cable... Is the LED blinking on the TA?


----------



## jcderr

SCSIRAID said:


> Tuning Adapter: Operational, Last State: Ready and Channel List Received: Yes. If not... the TiVo has lost communications with the TA. If it is something else... I would first try another USB cable... Is the LED blinking on the TA?


LED: Solid
Tuning Adapter: Not Available
Last Status: Initializing
Channel List Received

Why on Earth would this fail, after each time it's fixed, only after several days of slowly degrading availability... basically, I get individual channels that start dropping and, eventually, the whole thing goes down? I can't imagine a USB cable would do that.

EDIT: and the TA, Last Status, and Channel List, as well as everything else on this screen, change/update when I turn the TA on and off, or unplug it, plug it back in, and so on. So it looks like it's at least talking.

Oddly, I found that TWC actually installed two cards in my TiVo; an mcard in slot one, and an scard in slot 2. I removed the scard, let it reconfigure itself, and tried again, but to no avail.


----------



## Johnwashere

I get "this channel is temporarily unavailable Please press select to try again...." on a lot of my SDV channels (at least 50%). Sometimes Il wait a while and some will come in and out, but theres a lot of channels that have never came in since Ive started using the TA (got it yesterday). Ive rebooted the TA and tivo a few times but still cant get many SDV channels to come in. My time warner boxes sometimes cant get the channel right but usually get it within a few seconds. I have firmware .801.
TW seems to think its just a temporary problem and the problem is not on my end... Im wondering if trying a different coax cable will fix this (I remember reading people saying the coax cable in the TA box is crappy), but im not sure if it will_ fix_ this problem or not.


----------



## George Cifranci

Johnwashere said:


> I get "this channel is temporarily unavailable Please press select to try again...." on a lot of my SDV channels (at least 50%). Sometimes Il wait a while and some will come in and out, but theres a lot of channels that have never came in since Ive started using the TA (got it yesterday). Ive rebooted the TA and tivo a few times but still cant get many SDV channels to come in. My time warner boxes sometimes cant get the channel right but usually get it within a few seconds. I have firmware .801.
> TW seems to think its just a temporary problem and the problem is not on my end... Im wondering if trying a different coax cable will fix this (I remember reading people saying the coax cable in the TA box is crappy), but im not sure if it will_ fix_ this problem or not.


Well I probably have the same type of coax cable that came with my TA that you have and it seemed to me a decent quality cable with good connectors. Mine has been working fine with the exception of 2 times where the channel had no signal when the TiVo tried to record.

I know mine came with the piece of paper with a phone number to call if there was a problem so they could send a "hit" to the box to get it working. Have you tried that?


----------



## Johnwashere

George Cifranci said:


> Well I probably have the same type of coax cable that came with my TA that you have and it seemed to me a decent quality cable with good connectors. Mine has been working fine with the exception of 2 times where the channel had no signal when the TiVo tried to record.
> 
> I know mine came with the piece of paper with a phone number to call if there was a problem so they could send a "hit" to the box to get it working. Have you tried that?


Mine did not come with a piece of paper with a number. I usually get that paper with the TW set top boxes. I called in TW anyways to have the "hit" the box with activation (a few times actully) but this didnt do anything.


----------



## jeffspam

The cable is RG59, which should be fine for a short patch cable. But I did think at the time "hmm... you think they'd send out an RG6 cable". There's a signal strength meter under one of the tivo's menus. I don't know how accurate the meter is, but I suppose you could get a basic idea of how your signal is (though you'd need to dig through the diagnostic menus to get an idea of what your upstream signal is doing). 

You know, I didn't get that paper with the phone number on it. Would someone mind sending it, either posting here or via PM? Thanks!


----------



## Johnwashere

I was told that these TAs didnt need to get activated, not sure if thats true or not. jeff, are you getting all your channels OK? I live in Dublin too (off of summit view) and many of SDV channels done come in.
I just checked my signal strength and Im getting 62 and 68 to jump around. Maybe this is whats causing my problems.
edit- my signal strength on a SD channel (like 8) is a 93, then the other tuner thats on a HD non SDV channel is jumping from a 68 to 75 a lot.


----------



## SCSIRAID

jcderr said:


> LED: Solid
> Tuning Adapter: Not Available
> Last Status: Initializing
> Channel List Received
> 
> Why on Earth would this fail, after each time it's fixed, only after several days of slowly degrading availability... basically, I get individual channels that start dropping and, eventually, the whole thing goes down? I can't imagine a USB cable would do that.
> 
> EDIT: and the TA, Last Status, and Channel List, as well as everything else on this screen, change/update when I turn the TA on and off, or unplug it, plug it back in, and so on. So it looks like it's at least talking.
> 
> Oddly, I found that TWC actually installed two cards in my TiVo; an mcard in slot one, and an scard in slot 2. I removed the scard, let it reconfigure itself, and tried again, but to no avail.


Well... it would seem that your problem lies with the cableco... Could be a bad TA.. it could also be a problem with the reverse path to the node.


----------



## KeithB

Johnwashere said:


> I was told that these TAs didnt need to get activated, not sure if thats true or not.


The Tuning Adapter contains a cable modem and TWC needs to know the MAC address of the cable modem/TA at your house to identify/provision/talk to it.


----------



## jeffspam

Johnwashere said:


> jeff, are you getting all your channels OK?


I haven't explicitly checked that I'm getting everything I'm supposed to, but I am getting DiscoveryHD, SciFiHD, Palladium, a few HD sports channels, and a bunch more. If you're still having problems, I'd call the TA rep @ TW and ask him to look into it. He told me that none of the CS reps currently have troubleshooting knowledge of the TAs, and that he should be the primary contact for the next week or two.


----------



## realityboy

KeithB said:


> The Tuning Adapter contains a cable modem and TWC needs to know the MAC address of the cable modem/TA at your house to identify/provision/talk to it.


I didn't have to do anything to activate mine, and I receive all my SDV channels. Maybe they got this info before giving it out?


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## kmurchison

eliminator said:


> I'm in WNY/Amherst. I got a tuning adapter a couple days ago. Got it all hooked up. I'm having issues tuning SDV channels randomly. CNNHD, for example, works fine on minute but I can't tune to it the next. All SDV channels seem to be working at some time or another. I don't think its a signal strength problem. TWC says some other people have reported this issue and it is a problem with the Cisco firmware. Is anyone here having this problem?


I had similar problems and it came down to two things:

1. Signal strength. I reworked my cabling to remove a -3.5db drop going to the TA/TiVo and this solved all of my problems on the "free" HD channels

2. One of my two CC was not provisioned properly which randomly prevented me from tuning "tiered" HD channels depending on which tuner was being used


----------



## Johnwashere

jeffspam said:


> I haven't explicitly checked that I'm getting everything I'm supposed to, but I am getting DiscoveryHD, SciFiHD, Palladium, a few HD sports channels, and a bunch more. If you're still having problems, I'd call the TA rep @ TW and ask him to look into it. He told me that none of the CS reps currently have troubleshooting knowledge of the TAs, and that he should be the primary contact for the next week or two.


Yea Ive done many reboots and my tuner adapter still wont get some channels.


----------



## dolfer

Does anyone in Cincinnati have the *.0801 firmware update* yet? If so, please let us know!

Also, if you had the rebooting TA problem, did this update fix it???

Thanks, Dolf

P.S. I disconnected my TA and I am waiting until I hear that 0801 is out in Cincy!


----------



## Johnwashere

dolfer said:


> Does anyone in Cincinnati have the *.0801 firmware update* yet? If so, please let us know!
> 
> Also, if you had the rebooting TA problem, did this update fix it???
> 
> Thanks, Dolf
> 
> P.S. I disconnected my TA and I am waiting until I hear that 0801 is out in Cincy!


Im in Columbus and I got a TA a few days ago and mine allready had 0801 on it. Columbus got some of there TAs from Cincinnati too. Now if I could just got my TA to get all my SDV channels...


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> Does anyone in Cincinnati have the *.0801 firmware update* yet? If so, please let us know!
> 
> Also, if you had the rebooting TA problem, did this update fix it???
> 
> Thanks, Dolf
> 
> P.S. I disconnected my TA and I am waiting until I hear that 0801 is out in Cincy!


Plug it in and see if it gets a fw push.....


----------



## mikeyts

dolfer said:


> P.S. I disconnected my TA and I am waiting until I hear that 0801 is out in Cincy!


At least keep it plugged into the cable (without the USB plugged into TiVo). That way, it'll get the update when they issue it and you can check from time to time.


----------



## tgrad

kmurchison said:


> I had similar problems and it came down to two things:
> 
> 1. Signal strength. I reworked my cabling to remove a -3.5db drop going to the TA/TiVo and this solved all of my problems on the "free" HD channels
> 
> 2. One of my two CC was not provisioned properly which randomly prevented me from tuning "tiered" HD channels depending on which tuner was being used


I had my tuning adapter installed on Friday and I have had the same problem. It seems like at least 50% of the time I try and tune an SDV HD channel I get the message that it can not be tuned. If I try to go to any other SDV channel I get the same message. I can tune back to a non-SDV channel and then back and it works fine. Can't seem to tell if has to do specifically with one cable card. They both test fine when tuning the SDV channels.

Any thoughts?


----------



## eliminator

I'm in Buffalo/Amherst, NY. My tuning adapter was having major problems. Randomly not being able to change to SDV channels. At one point it seemed like channels weren't provisioned correctly. I rebooted a few times at one point and it was working perfectly for a few days, SDV channels included. I even recorded Planet Earth on the weekend for four hours with no problem. Today SDV channels are randomly not working (Can not be tuned at this time message) and even freezing the picture after 15 minutes or so. Very frustrating.

Edit: I'm still on 701.


----------



## dolfer

It seems as though that even after all of the delays the TA's are far from from being _ready for primetime_... I am keeping mine *unplugged* for the time being. I sure hope firmware updates will quickly correct these issues.

Luckily for me, I am not missing out on anything yet. I could really care less about any of the affected channels in the Time Warner Cincinnati area. However, when they start adding some new HD I hope the TA will be stable at that point.


----------



## Johnwashere

dolfer said:


> Luckily for me, I am not missing out on anything yet. I could really care less about any of the affected channels in the Time Warner Cincinnati area.


Your lucky. Here in Columbus there 70+ channels in SDV. Im missing a ton of channels still with my TA. I wish they would have delayed SDV before they got these TA's working properly.. 
Typical TW...


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> It seems as though that even after all of the delays the TA's are far from from being _ready for primetime_... I am keeping mine *unplugged* for the time being. I sure hope firmware updates will quickly correct these issues.
> 
> Luckily for me, I am not missing out on anything yet. I could really care less about any of the affected channels in the Time Warner Cincinnati area. However, when they start adding some new HD I hope the TA will be stable at that point.


Well.... for me... Here in Raleigh with .0801, TA is solid as a rock. Even with .0701 the only issues I have seen after weeks of use was the periodic reboots and one 'black screen' recording. And I really put it thru its paces... (>100 Season Passes). Other divisions may have head end configuration issues that are leading to problems... but the TA's themselves have passed the test with me.


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## TroyB

Johnwashere said:


> Your lucky. Here in Columbus there 70+ channels in SDV. Im missing a ton of channels still with my TA. I wish they would have delayed SDV before they got these TA's working properly..
> Typical TW...


I just installed my TA yeserday and still had over 50 channels not tunning in. This morning i made a list of channels that when thuned to only resulted in a black screen, then a message saying "This channel is temporarily unavailable"

Called Time Warner and they sent out someone, after going through the usual "cable cards are stupid, why didn't I just get a cable box" routine and rebooting everything a couple of times he got a call from he said was a technician saying it was a billing issue that was the problem and was not letting the TA tune the channel. He said it was affecting everyone in Columbus area that had a TA and they were working on it.
I don't know whether to believe them or not because sometimes a channel will come in and sometimes it won't.


----------



## realityboy

dolfer said:


> It seems as though that even after all of the delays the TA's are far from from being _ready for primetime_... I am keeping mine *unplugged* for the time being. I sure hope firmware updates will quickly correct these issues.
> 
> Luckily for me, I am not missing out on anything yet. I could really care less about any of the affected channels in the Time Warner Cincinnati area. However, when they start adding some new HD I hope the TA will be stable at that point.


I'm in Dayton, but I'm pretty sure both would have the same software versions. I still have .0701, but obviously some things are different between the two areas because I have had no problems with my TA rebooting.


----------



## dwgsp

TroyB said:


> ...he got a call from he said was a technician saying it was a billing issue that was the problem and was not letting the TA tune the channel. He said it was affecting everyone in Columbus area that had a TA and they were working on it.
> I don't know whether to believe them or not because sometimes a channel will come in and sometimes it won't.


I believe it. I had a similar problem when I first got a TA. It turned out that my account did not have digital cable enabled, so I could only get some of the channels. The fix was to add digital cable to my account (no additional charge).

The funny part was that their computer system links digital cable to possession of a cable box, so they had to send me a box even though I did not need it. I hooked it up to a spare TV.

This was with TW Rochester. It would not surprise me if other TW divisions had similar idiosyncrasies.

/Don


----------



## dolfer

Still no one with .0801? in Cincinnati???? I guess I'll have to hook it up tonight and see what happens. 

If 0801 is available would it receive the update immediately? Not quite sure how such updates work on the Time Warner side of things...


----------



## mikeyts

dolfer said:


> Still no one with .0801? in Cincinnati???? I guess I'll have to hook it up tonight and see what happens.
> 
> If 0801 is available would it receive the update immediately? Not quite sure how such updates work on the Time Warner side of things...


As I said before you can split the cable externally between it and the TiVo and leave it connected (I'm getting some interference from the box on 525 MHz, so it's connected on a separate cable run in from another room and it works fine). You might actually be able to use its internal splitter--I'm pretty sure that its passive and that it never (intentionally) modifies the signal. If you leave it plugged in that way it will get the next firmware update whenever they make it without you using it and you can plug the USB cable from TiVo into it from time to time to check.


----------



## SCSIRAID

mikeyts said:


> As I said before you can split the cable externally between it and the TiVo and leave it connected (I'm getting some interference from the box on 525 MHz, so it's connected on a separate cable run in from another room and it works fine). You might actually be able to use its internal splitter--I'm pretty sure that its passive and that it never (intentionally) modifies the signal. If you leave it plugged in that way it will get the next firmware update whenever they make it without you using it and you can plug the USB cable from TiVo into it from time to time to check.


Or just leave the USB unhooked. As you said.. the RF is passthru and not modified by the TA. Allegedly the TA does amplify it a bit.


----------



## Grumock

the Rf connector is just a passthru, & i think that the DB gain is only 3DB from it, so it should not cause any real issues.


----------



## muya

just a quick note. I have older wiring in my condo and had problems with sound and pixelation. i went to my local radio shack and picked up a bi-directional amplifier and it seems to have done the trick.


----------



## GBK33

if the RF is just a passthru, does it need to be connected to the TA at all? Whay can't I just bypass it?


----------



## mikeyts

GBK33 said:


> if the RF is just a passthru, does it need to be connected to the TA at all? Whay can't I just bypass it?


It very much needs to be connected to the TA. Where is the TA supposed to get information about tuning parameters of switched broadcasts to relay to TiVo? Out of thin air? The TA talks a proprietary, system-dependent protocol to the cable system over the coax, just like a leased cable box does, obtaining information on where to tune requested switched broadcasts and gives that information to TiVo through the USB connection, using an open standard protocol.

The TA needs to be connected to the coax from the wall, but TiVo doesn't need to be connected to the coax output on the TA. It can be connected to any other cable or an external split of the cable fed into the TA.


----------



## livefromny

I am constantly having the reboot issue. Dozens of times since installation. I'm on TW in Austin.


----------



## dolfer

livefromny said:


> I am constantly having the reboot issue. Dozens of times since installation. I'm on TW in Austin.


The TA is useless for me in Cincinnati... It remains disconnected. If you look through this post you can see me mention it SEVERAL times... 

A new firmware revision (.0801) _might_ be the answer but as far as I know Time Warner Cincinnati is still on .0701.

Can you check and see what firmware version you have?????

If you have .0801 then I am going to be very concerned!

When this TV season winds down I plan on hooking it up again and seeing if it is usable. I am sure they are doing the absolute minimum (allowed by law or any agreements they made) to fix these problems...

Maybe they'll have it fixed in time for the 2009 Fall premieres???


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> The TA is useless for me in Cincinnati... It remains disconnected. If you look through this post you can see me mention it SEVERAL times...
> 
> A new firmware revision (.0801) _might_ be the answer but as far as I know Time Warner Cincinnati is still on .0701.
> 
> Can you check and see what firmware version you have?????
> 
> If you have .0801 then I am going to be very concerned!
> 
> When this TV season winds down I plan on hooking it up again and seeing if it is usable. I am sure they are doing the absolute minimum (allowed by law or any agreements they made) to fix these problems...
> 
> Maybe they'll have it fixed in time for the 2009 Fall premieres???


Have you raised heck with the enginnering dept?


----------



## dolfer

livefromny said:


> I am constantly having the reboot issue. Dozens of times since installation. I'm on TW in Austin.


One more thing... Do you have a Tivo HD or a Series3?

A friend of mine on Time Warner Cincinnati has a Series3 and does NOT have the reboot issue.

I have a Tivo HD...

If that's not the issue, then it could be simply a bunch of defective boxes are out there meaning you would just have to take it in for replacement.


----------



## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> Have you raised heck with the enginnering dept?


Not yet! 

Currently I am not really missing out on too much by not having the TA...

However when they start adding more compelling HD channels into SDV then I'll start getting PO'd if the reboot issue has not been resolved.

I mean seriously... The TA's were delivered several months late to begin with and they still don't work properly???? C'mon...

All Time Warner wants is to make our lives as crappy as possible until we switch over to one of their MISERABLE boxes. I refuse...


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> Not yet!
> All Time Warner wants is to make our lives as crappy as possible until we switch over to one of their MISERABLE boxes. I refuse...


I really dont think that will be the case. I have worked with several TWC engineering folks and they have bent over backwards to help me and seemed to truly care about the quality of their product.

Its probably more likely that they dont realize that there is a problem. I would encourgage you to make sure they know there is an issue. I believe you will find their Director of Technical Operations will be very interested.


----------



## s2krazy

I noticed I had lost a channel or two, (Scifi and now Verses). I meant to look into this but am now really pissed cause I missed recording my Indycar race. I guess step one is a reboot of the TA? Anything else to try on a weekend?


----------



## mikeyts

s2krazy said:


> I noticed I had lost a channel or two, (Scifi and now Verses). I meant to look into this but am now really pissed cause I missed recording my Indycar race. I guess step one is a reboot of the TA? Anything else to try on a weekend?


If I split a cable between the TA and TiVo, either through the TA or by using an external splitter, I cannot tune channels in the QAM carrier at 525 MHz. As a workaround, I ran a cable in from an outlet in another room. I plan to get another TA from TWC and see if it has the same problem. I expect that it will not.


----------



## pmiranda

mikeyts said:


> If I split a cable between the TA and TiVo, either through the TA or by using an external splitter, I cannot tune channels in the QAM carrier at 525 MHz. As a workaround, I ran a cable in from an outlet in another room. I plan to get another TA from TWC and see if it has the same problem. I expect that it will not.


I had the same problem in a different frequency band. Check all splitters and connections upstream. You can put the TiVo on a line from a booster amp, but the TA has to be able to talk upstream and most amps seem to interfere with that.


----------



## f0gax

San Antonio, TX

I've had the darn thing for a couple of months I guess (however long it's been since they were available, got it first day). Had some trouble at first, but then it pretty much stabilized.

Until this past week or so. Now, just about every day I have to reboot the TA. What's weird is that the problem only affects the SDV HD channels. SDV SD stations come in just fine no matter what.

And now, for the past hour, the little green light is blinking. Mocking me I think. Since I rebooted the TA, the Tivo, and re-seated all the cables.

I don't think it's signal or cable problem as I had to have a guy out a few weeks ago for a Road Runner problem that turned out to be shoddy wiring. He redid the cables from the ped to the box. Then tested all the cables in the house. Made new ones for the patches from the walls to the devices. And changed out any sub-standard outlets.

I know that if I call they're going to tell me to reboot the TA and the Tivo. Which of course I did to no avail. Then they'll recommend a truck roll. Which I do not have time for.

Should I ask for a new TA?


----------



## ferjy Fangle

Can anyone answer who told them that the TA firmware upgrade from version 070* to 080* and above was for the reboot issues that are described in the TA threads, or did the upgrade just happen to coincide with the resolution of the reboot issues? I have been getting conflicting information from my Cable Reps. and even SA/Cisco themselves


----------



## dolfer

When I first got the TA it was worthless because of the reboots... When the firmware update finally came out it resolved the problem. I don't know for sure but it definitely seems to make sense that the upgrade resolved the problem. I have been up for about 3 weeks straight now with no issues!



ferjy Fangle said:


> Can anyone answer who told them that the TA firmware upgrade from version 070* to 080* and above was for the reboot issues that are described in the TA threads, or did the upgrade just happen to coincide with the resolution of the reboot issues? I have been getting conflicting information from my Cable Reps. and even SA/Cisco themselves


----------



## LuvNoize

I just scheduled an installation for the first week in August with TW, in a suburb just north of Columbus, OH. 

Does anyone know if you have to tell them that they need to provide the Cisco STA1520 or not? I don't want to have to wait for days to get my HD Tivo up and running...

I have had WOW for the last two years without issues in my current residence, no WOW where we are moving


----------



## dlfl

LuvNoize said:


> I just scheduled an installation for the first week in August with TW, in a suburb just north of Columbus, OH.
> 
> Does anyone know if you have to tell them that they need to provide the Cisco STA1520 or not? I don't want to have to wait for days to get my HD Tivo up and running...
> 
> I have had WOW for the last two years without issues in my current residence, no WOW where we are moving


Play it safe and tell them 1) it's a TiVo, 2) you need cable card(s), and 3) you need a TA. They should note it on the work order.

I just had an installation near Dayton, OH and they insisted they don't have m-cards, so I have to pay rental for two s-cards at $2.54/mo. So ask for an m-card (unless you have an S3 instead of an HD). The two installers barely knew how to hook up the TA, didn't know what channels I was supposed to receive and knew nothing about how to check cable cards and TA in the TiVo diagnostics.

I also fault TiVo for not telling you how to check these diagnostics in their "Instructions for Cable Card Installers". I even searched their support and found nothing of any value on this. If you don't read this forum, you are SOL.

EDIT: I finally did find instructions for using cable card diagnostics by diligent searching in the TiVo support documentation. I still say this should be spelled out in the sheet they send with the TiVo.


----------



## dolfer

Why can't they get this right????? ;( 

After several weeks of reboot free viewing I started noticing the "Tuning Adapter Detected" screen crop up more and more! 

Now it just messed up the ending of a show tonight. 

Why can't this work!?!?!? 

Also, can the Tivo be updated to resume recording after a reboot incident? One of the major annoyances of the TA reboot is that the Tivo doesn't *resume* recording. 

Since it looks like TWC isn't going to have a stable TA any time soon, it might be a good idea for Tivo to figure this out. 

Anyone else in Time Warner Cincinnati area experiencing reboots more often????


----------



## Wpride33

I was in the same situation as you: lots of reboots until the firmware upgrade, then in the last few days, I've been getting lots of reboots or required reboots to get rid of the flashing green light.

BTW, I'm in Milwaukee.


----------



## sidsub

I've been reading through this thread with interest. My problem has been of the TiVo rebooting spontaneously when the tuning adapter is connected. I think the TA reboots as well at times, but of course having the TiVo reboot is completely unacceptable. I had this problem happen with my first TiVo HD and first tuning adapter, and at that point I thought it was a bad TiVo. Replaced it, and it happened almost immediately. Then, by elimination, I realized it was the TA. So I replaced the TA and the rebooting stopped for a month. Then it came back with a vengeance... so this means two different TiVos and two different tuning adapters with the same problem.

When it starts happening, basically whatever I do on the TiVo can trigger a reboot... usually within a few minutes of use. The TiVo is a TiVo HD, while the tuning adapter is a TW-Austin Cisco STA 1520.

I'm about to give up and switch to satellite.


----------



## dlfl

dolfer said:


> Why can't they get this right????? ;(
> 
> After several weeks of reboot free viewing I started noticing the "Tuning Adapter Detected" screen crop up more and more!
> 
> Now it just messed up the ending of a show tonight.
> 
> Why can't this work!?!?!?
> 
> Also, can the Tivo be updated to resume recording after a reboot incident? One of the major annoyances of the TA reboot is that the Tivo doesn't *resume* recording.
> 
> Since it looks like TWC isn't going to have a stable TA any time soon, it might be a good idea for Tivo to figure this out.
> 
> Anyone else in Time Warner Cincinnati area experiencing reboots more often????


That does stink! (Old guy word that means "sucks").

Makes me feel very lucky (fingers crossed). I had CC's and TA installed 6 days ago and got the 11.0d update last night. My TA has been solid and no reboots of either the TA or the TiVo (HD). I'm in Englewood, which is northwest of Dayton. I get some video and audio glitches occasionally on some channels, although my RS uncorrected counts are always zero. In other words it isn't perfect, but good enough.

I know you have the latest TA software (801) as do I. So I have to think that differences in the hardware in our TWC nodes are the most likely explanation for your problems. Unfortunately TWC doesn't have much incentive to take ownership of the problem unless it affects their STBs, and I wonder if TiVo has the resources to debug it.


----------



## dolfer

Just noticed another reboot today... Maybe I have a defective unit. I am going to take it back and get a new one. I am tired of this!


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> Just noticed another reboot today... Maybe I have a defective unit. I am going to take it back and get a new one. I am tired of this!


How often is it rebooting? What are the RDC/FDC signal levels?


----------



## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> How often is it rebooting? What are the RDC/FDC signal levels?


In the very beginning (on 701) it was rebooting daily. I got sick of it and disconnected it. When the 0801 update came out I reconnected it and had about a solid month of non-rebooting bliss. Then in the past couple weeks it has started rebooting again. Every few days. Enough to be annoying and enough to be a deal-breaker again since the Tivo can't resume recording after a reboot event.

Where would I find those levels??? In the TA diagnostics?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> In the very beginning (on 701) it was rebooting daily. I got sick of it and disconnected it. When the 0801 update came out I reconnected it and had about a solid month of non-rebooting bliss. Then in the past couple weeks it has started rebooting again. Every few days. Enough to be annoying and enough to be a deal-breaker again since the Tivo can't resume recording after a reboot event.
> 
> Where would I find those levels??? In the TA diagnostics?


Bummer... Mine has been rock solid. RDC/FDC values are in TA Diags.


----------



## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> Bummer... Mine has been rock solid. RDC/FDC values are in TA Diags.


SCSI,

My FDC values are: 119.00 MHz / -7 dBmV

My RDC values are: 11.00 MHz / 32 dBmV

Let me know if those are ok...

Thanks,
D


----------



## dlfl

Just for comparison, my values (with no TA reboots) are:

FDC: 107.0 MHz / -6 dBmV

RDC: 19.0 MHz / 44 dBmV


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> SCSI,
> 
> My FDC values are: 119.00 MHz / -7 dBmV
> 
> My RDC values are: 11.00 MHz / 32 dBmV
> 
> Let me know if those are ok...
> 
> Thanks,
> D


Yes... they seem ok.

Mine are:

FDC 74Mhz / -1 dBmV
RDC 25Mhz / 47 dBmV

My RDC is higher because I have a distribution amp with an 8 way splitter plus another 2 way splitter and 3db attenuator 'in the way' of the reverse path. The TA has to shout to be heard ;>)


----------



## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> Yes... they seem ok.
> 
> Mine are:
> 
> FDC 74Mhz / -1 dBmV
> RDC 25Mhz / 47 dBmV
> 
> My RDC is higher because I have a distribution amp with an 8 way splitter plus another 2 way splitter and 3db attenuator 'in the way' of the reverse path. The TA has to shout to be heard ;>)


Thanks DFL and SCSI for posting this.

What levels are considered bad?


----------



## dlfl

Don't want to preempt *SCSIRAID* from answering this here but he has already spoken on the subject in this post on the SDV FAQ sticky thread.


----------



## legendarybc

OK, so according to SCSIRAID,



> "As to values... Tuner and FDC should probably be between -8 and 0 (considering the gain in the TA). RDC should be less than 50."


And the obvious question is, what can I do to fix these levels? Mine are:

Tuner -6
FDC -13
RDC 49


----------



## SCSIRAID

legendarybc said:


> OK, so according to SCSIRAID,
> 
> And the obvious question is, what can I do to fix these levels? Mine are:
> 
> Tuner -6
> FDC -13
> RDC 49


Do you have a 'tilt compensator' installed somewhere? I wouldnt expect your FDC to be that much lower than your 'tuner' value. Your RDC is right on the edge of trouble. I would suggest that you call your cableco... you may need their help to sort this out.

Can you describe exactly how your cable wiring is situated starting where the cable enters your house? Where are the splitters? How many endpoints? etc etc....


----------



## legendarybc

SCSIRAID said:


> Do you have a 'tilt compensator' installed somewhere? I wouldnt expect your FDC to be that much lower than your 'tuner' value. Your RDC is right on the edge of trouble. I would suggest that you call your cableco... you may need their help to sort this out.
> 
> Can you describe exactly how your cable wiring is situated starting where the cable enters your house? Where are the splitters? How many endpoints? etc etc....


Incoming cable from street-->2-way tap (for modem)-->4-way splitter

1:Terminated at splitter
2:Master Bedroom, feeds TiVo S2
3:Spare room, feeds QAM to DTV
4:Main room, split once again behind cabinet, 1 for TiVo S3 and 1 for the TA

While writing this post, I removed the splitter behind the cabinet. #4 now feeds the TA which in-turn feeds the S3. The levels are now:

Tuner -4
FDC -10
RDC 49

In any case, there are no amps, attenuators, or extra equipment. Signal strength at the TiVo is anywhere from 95 to 100, SNR's are usually 33 to 35. 99% of the time, no RS uncorrected errors.

My next experiment is to take the 4-way splitter out and see how that affects my TA levels.


----------



## SCSIRAID

legendarybc said:


> Incoming cable from street-->2-way tap (for modem)-->4-way splitter
> 
> 1:Terminated at splitter
> 2:Master Bedroom, feeds TiVo S2
> 3:Spare room, feeds QAM to DTV
> 4:Main room, split once again behind cabinet, 1 for TiVo S3 and 1 for the TA
> 
> While writing this post, I removed the splitter behind the cabinet. #4 now feeds the TA which in-turn feeds the S3. The levels are now:
> 
> Tuner -4
> FDC -10
> RDC 49
> 
> In any case, there are no amps, attenuators, or extra equipment. Signal strength at the TiVo is anywhere from 95 to 100, SNR's are usually 33 to 35. 99% of the time, no RS uncorrected errors.
> 
> My next experiment is to take the 4-way splitter out and see how that affects my TA levels.


Is the cable modem drive by a 'tap' or a 'splitter'? You might try removing the CM tap/splitter and putting driving the CM from the 4 way splitter with the incoming cable directly driving the 4 way splitter. I would use the 'feed thru' capability of the TA instead of splitting and driving TA and TiVo independently.

There is some low frequency loss going on somewhere... perhaps the local node needs some calibration.


----------



## bradenmcg

Wow, happy I found this thread.

We have SDV in Mayfield Heights, OH (suburb of Cleveland).

Ever since getting the TAs, we haven't gotten any (or very few) recorded suggestions. My wife and I are both VERY annoyed by this.

That aside...

One of our two TivoHDs gets sporadic "macroblocking" / "pixelation" and sound drop outs. In an effort to troubleshoot, I have tried:

Swapped TAs between the units - no change
Swapped the actual Tivos between physical location (using the same cables)

What's more odd is that it only seems to happen more at our main viewing area, the living room. The other THD is in the bedroom and we don't watch it as often (except during sweeps, when it records so we can transfer downstairs to watch later). Didn't notice much or any before the TA. Don't have a splitter handy to bypass the TA although I'm planning on picking one up. I did just try swapping the cable that TWC supplied - it actually looked decent, may have been RG6, had decent snap-n-seal connectors on the ends. The swapped cable (between Tivo & TA) seems to have made a minor improvement in blocking but it's hard to say as it is intermittent anyway.

When I do have blocking, RS corrected and uncorrected errors DO NOT change - they are always zero.

FDC on TA: 75 mhz | level -4dBmV | s/n 28dB
QAM (currently): 573 mhz | level 0dBmV | s/n 35dB
RDC on TA: 21 mhz | power 55dBmV | retrans: 4

My cable plant is as follows:
Single RG6 quad-shield connected to feed from TWC in my attic (had to bribe the installer to get him to walk on my garage roof)
Feeds down makeshift cable run along with a bunch of cat5e and RG6qs for my upstairs TVs, down to the crawlspace
2-way splitter, one leg to cable modem
other leg to ChannelVision 8-way powered distribution amp (CVT-2/8PIA II). It doesn't have reverse amplification, but it also claims to not affect RDC transmission. 

7 of the 8 ports on the CV amp run to a wallplate in my house (all rg6 quad), and anything that doesn't have equipment connected has a proper 75ohm terminator on the connection. This also goes for the unused port on the amp.

I'm ready to kill someone. The lack of suggestions is INCREDIBLY annoying as suggestions are really one of the main reasons to own a Tivo. By disabling them (however it has been done) they are impacting the features of my equipment.  The pixellation is downright maddening, as it always seems to happen during the middle of important scenes or dialog, and every time it drops out it causes my audio receiver to have to re-train on the dolby audio too (we primarily watch HD channels, most of which are SDV in this market now).

Help? Please?


----------



## dlfl

*bradenmcg*,

I assume the FDC/RDC numbers you gave are for the "bad" TiVo. What are they for the "good" TiVo?

It's probably too inconvenient to do, but it would be interesting to run right from your splitter to the "bad" TiVo (taking the amp out of the chain).

How many A/V glitches do you get in a one hour HD program?

I find it very interesting that your RS error counts are zero even with glitches. Since your other TiVo does NOT have these glitches, it seems to blow the common belief that zero uncorrected errors means the glitches were in the signal itself.


----------



## bradenmcg

dlfl said:


> *bradenmcg*,
> 
> I assume the FDC/RDC numbers you gave are for the "bad" TiVo. What are they for the "good" TiVo?


I believe similar, but I can confirm that in a bit here.



> It's probably too inconvenient to do, but it would be interesting to run right from your splitter to the "bad" TiVo (taking the amp out of the chain).


Actually it shouldn't be that bad, as all of my cable and the distribution amp are about 1 foot from the 2-way that feeds it and the modem. I should have enough slack on the line to be able to feed direct from that 2-way, bypassing the amp. It is a bit of a pain in the arse though.  I'd rather avoid it if possible because I don't think it's a signal problem.



> How many A/V glitches do you get in a one hour HD program?


It varies drastically. We watched an episode of Star Trek TNG (on the HD channel in standard def, lol) and it was intolerable. Easily once every minute or two for a while, but then it stops for a bit, and then continues again. Maddening.



> I find it very interesting that your RS error counts are zero even with glitches. Since your other TiVo does NOT have these glitches, it seems to blow the common belief that zero uncorrected errors means the glitches were in the signal itself.


Yeah, I've lost all faith in any of the error counters, because I'm clearly having problems but NONE of the signal diagnostics show anything of value. Makes it very difficult to troubleshoot or try to point a finger back at the cable company....

For what it's worth, I just pulled up the manual for the distribution amp, and I noticed that I screwed up minorly. Not sure how much (if at all) it affected. The DAmp has the ability to inject a private modulated video feed for security cams or whatnot. I'm not using this. The amp shipped with a rubber cap over the injection port and I never thought to touch it. I looked at the manual again, and while they don't explicitly mention this, one of the diagrams shows that an unused injector port should also have a 75ohm terminator on the end. I didn't have one on there until about 20 minutes ago...  I'd find it VERY strange if somehow the DAmp was picking up just enough interference on that unterminated, not-wired port to foul up the rest of the system, but I certainly can't rule it out entirely... yet.

Watching some SDV stuff on the problem location right now, haven't seen blocking yet, but I won't consider it "Fixed" until I am problem free for a few days, which I doubt will happen... :up:


----------



## tj68

Milwaukee TWC, TiVo HD with cable card. Works fine till Thursday. I lost most of the cable channel. Still have OTA and a few cable channel. The TWC tech installs a Cisco STA1520 TA and a new Mcard and still no cable channels. So I call TiVo support and the tech can not find a problem, puts me on hold. Comes back and asks to check signal strangth. It's 100 and she says too much signal strangth is the problem and try installing a low pass filter.


----------



## tj68

July 17th, 2009 lost channels. TWC tech comes and installs tuner adapter and a Mcard. Still missing cable channels only get the OTA channels plus a few cable channels. Talk to TiVo tech on the phone and she said the SDV channels have to much signal strength. I did find most of the channels to have 100% but a few missing channel have 94% signal strength. 

Milwaukee Time Warner

Tim


----------



## dlfl

TWC Southwest Ohio. My signal strengths are in the same range and I'm not missing any channels -- I doubt that is your problem. Only difference is I have 2 s-cards.


----------



## Kahless

Hi everyone. I am not a technical expert on this matter about signal strength etc. TWC just did an upgrade of the cable in my HAH community. I once again have the blinking green light on my Tivo & tuning adapter. First comment regarding the tuning adapter. After TWC installed the MS CableCard in my Tivo, I picked up 1/3rd of the digital channels. The tech guy said I needed a Tuning Adapter. TWC wouldn't mail one to me, they wouldn't install one for me, I had to drive 50 miles to Columbus to pick one up and install it myself. It didn't work. Two of TWC techies came out a week later and found out that there is a sequence in installing the tuning adapter to get it to work. You have to turn it on with the cable attached but no Tivo. Then after a solid green light, connect the USB to the Tivo, then connect the wireless USB adapter to the Tivo. If you do it any in other order, the adapter doesn't work right. I originally had 55&#37; signal strength on all channels. TWC must have done something because some problems started when it went to 100%. So I put in a splitter to knock it down and ran an extra line to my HD TV so I could bypass the Tivo. That knocked the signal strength down to 95%. It worked fine for 2 weeks then. Right now since last night, the tuning adapter has a blinking green light but I have all my channels. Rebooting the tuning adapter does nothing, still blinks green.
I also found either by accident or purpose that TWC inserts local advertisements at 480i on the HD channels. So when I try to fast forward through the commercials I get a black screen and have to "play" the commercial before I can fast forward again.


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## dlfl

*Kahless*,

What a mess! By comparison my experience with TWC has been good. However, I am not satisfied. I have A/V glitches in varying numbers and occasional failure to tune, plus occasional remote control lockups. There is nothing in my TiVo diagnostic screens to pinpoint a problem -- they indicate all is OK. I am caught in the middle. I know if I complain to TWC they will blame it on my TiVo's tuners and if I complain to TiVo they will blame it on TWC's signals. Adding insult to injury is the fact that TWC puts copy-once protection on all their digital channels except local broadcasts, which prevents MRV and TTG.

For the TiVo HD there is the fundamental problem that neither TiVo nor your cable co can take ownership of the task of delivering good viewing. The cable co doesn't even have an incentive to do so -- they would make more money if TiVo disappeared. And SDV plus Tuning Adapters just complicate things and make the overall system less reliable.

I'm just living with it because I like TiVo and I gather other digital cable DVR's are even worse. I'm hoping a better alternative will eventually be available -- maybe the (new) DirecTiVo which is supposed to come out next year(?).


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## dwgsp

Kahless said:


> I also found either by accident or purpose that TWC inserts local advertisements at 480i on the HD channels. So when I try to fast forward through the commercials I get a black screen and have to "play" the commercial before I can fast forward again.


My cable company also inserts 480i commercials, but I don't experience the problem that you're having. I suggest that you configure your Tivo to always output 720p or 1080i (which means that it will convert the 480i commercial to one of those resolutions), and see if the problem goes away. If it does, then it's likely that your TV is not handling the change in resolution from HD to 480i.

/Don


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## KungFuCow

Maybe someone here can help me out with this.

Since the analog bug was pretty much rendering my Tivo useless, I upgraded to digital cable and got a cablecard. Now I need a tuning adapter.

Problem is, I live in an apartment and cable is supplied through a bulk account. I cant order a tuning adapter online. CSRs dont even seem to know what tuning adapters are. Anyone got any insight on how I might be able to score a tuning adapter?


----------



## dlfl

KungFuCow said:


> Maybe someone here can help me out with this.
> 
> Since the analog bug was pretty much rendering my Tivo useless, I upgraded to digital cable and got a cablecard. Now I need a tuning adapter.
> 
> Problem is, I live in an apartment and cable is supplied through a bulk account. I cant order a tuning adapter online. CSRs dont even seem to know what tuning adapters are. Anyone got any insight on how I might be able to score a tuning adapter?


I assume you are sure you need a TA, i.e., TWC is using SDV in your area (?). If you're not sure check their web site for Switched Digital Video and the CSRs should also be able to tell you.

If you do need a TA you have to push it with the CSRs. They have to have TA's and have to supply them to you either by delivering one to you or having you pick one up at a store.

If you can't get anywhere with the CSRs and their supervisors, there is a TiVo CABLECard help line that I assume would be a logical place to try. I don't have it handy, so just go into TiVo support and hunt around.

One tip: the short coax cable that comes with the TA kits is notoriously bad, regardless of how nice it looks. If an installer is handy he can make up a new cable in a minute. Otherwise buy one.


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## dolfer

I finally took my TA into TW and got a new one on Friday. So far so good! No reboots... I really hope I just had a defective unit before... 

I will keep everyone posted when I make it to a few anniversaries w/out a reboot.


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## dlfl

dolfer said:


> I finally took my TA into TW and got a new one on Friday. So far so good! No reboots... I really hope I just had a defective unit before...
> 
> I will keep everyone posted when I make it to a few anniversaries w/out a reboot.


Fingers crossed! I had to reboot my TA recently after one month in service. It was after an electrical storm came through so maybe that did it. It's on a surge protector but not a UPS, or the storm could have affected the cable system too.

Funny thing this morning. We have one TV on a direct cable input, so it gets the analog versions of the basic channels. All the channels froze at a fixed video picture with no audio for a long time this morning. Power cycling the TV brought back the same frozen image, so it wasn't something the TV was buffering (if it can even do that). Maybe it was some fiddling around TWC was doing in prep for their Aug 25 channel shuffle. It was OK later.

Our TiVo/TV setup had no problems during the same period, so it looks like whatever they did affected the analog channel versions only.


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## pmiranda

dlfl said:


> Maybe it was some fiddling around TWC was doing in prep for their Aug 25 channel shuffle.


What channel shuffle is this? Can you share any more about that? More HD's? More bandwidth for the ones we have?


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## dlfl

pmiranda said:


> What channel shuffle is this? Can you share any more about that? More HD's? More bandwidth for the ones we have?


This is for southwest ohio (Cincinnati and Dayton areas). More HD's yes but more bandwidth per channel?-- I'd be surprised.

I believe everyone affected received a letter. There is a special web page on this but I don't have it handy right now. Unless you're in the affected area it would be meaningless to you anyway.


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## pmiranda

Oops, didn't notice we're in different areas. Good luck!


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## dolfer

dlfl said:


> This is for southwest ohio (Cincinnati and Dayton areas). More HD's yes but more bandwidth per channel?-- I'd be surprised.
> 
> I believe everyone affected received a letter. There is a special web page on this but I don't have it handy right now. Unless you're in the affected area it would be meaningless to you anyway.


Are you sure there are more HD's???? I don't think I rec'd the the letter? Or perhaps my wife threw it out! 

I remember seeing something on a web site but it only mentioned shuffling stuff around. Which scares me! Hopefully our guide will get the changes ASAP! I don't remember any mentions of new HD.


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## Grumock

KungFuCow said:


> Maybe someone here can help me out with this.
> 
> Since the analog bug was pretty much rendering my Tivo useless, I upgraded to digital cable and got a cablecard. Now I need a tuning adapter.
> 
> Problem is, I live in an apartment and cable is supplied through a bulk account. I cant order a tuning adapter online. CSRs dont even seem to know what tuning adapters are. Anyone got any insight on how I might be able to score a tuning adapter?


I understand you are on a bulk account but when you upgraded is that account in your name? I would think that you can go to the your local TWC site & & fill out the order form for a TA. I think if you live in the Raleigh area they Fed-ex them to you.


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## Grumock

dlfl said:


> If you can't get anywhere with the CSRs and their supervisors, there is a TiVo CABLECard help line that I assume would be a logical place to try. I don't have it handy, so just go into TiVo support and hunt around.


I have tried that number in the past & they tell me to contact the local office it is an internal number & wont help you if you call them directly. they may however give you the actual URL to go to to fill out the form for the TA.


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## dlfl

This is in regard to the TWC Southwest Ohio channel shuffle coming 25 Aug:



dolfer said:


> Are you sure there are more HD's???? I don't think I rec'd the the letter? Or perhaps my wife threw it out!
> 
> I remember seeing something on a web site but it only mentioned shuffling stuff around. Which scares me! Hopefully our guide will get the changes ASAP! I don't remember any mentions of new HD.


First the URL TWC provided for info on this is:
http://www.twcinfo.com/
The linked page has a button to print out your personal lineup. You enter either your TWC acct # or your address. I tried it both ways and just got the page-not-found message. Smooth!

Sorry *dolfer*, I think you are right --- they are just shuffling. I guess I just generally expect their long term goal is to provide more HD. However that may not even be technically possible without squeezing the bandwidth on existing channels, or eliminating some of them.

How many decades do you think it will be before we can have FIOS ? How long before FIOS starts copy protecting its channels? Even with protection you still have the advantages of (1) generally superior PQ, (2) no TA required, and (3) more channels (although maybe not more channels per dollar).


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## skasol

No suggestions, My issue it's with no suggestions working with my 2 TA on my Tivo HD's, I get maybe about 2-3 suggestions a week, I have tried to reset them, etc but nothing seems to work.

This TA deal isn't very good it's definitely ruining my tivo experience.


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## Grumock

skasol said:


> No suggestions, My issue it's with no suggestions working with my 2 TA on my Tivo HD's, I get maybe about 2-3 suggestions a week, I have tried to reset them, etc but nothing seems to work.
> 
> This TA deal isn't very good it's definitely ruining my tivo experience.


Not sure if you have tried what i am going to say but I will say it anyway. Unplug the USB cord from either the TIVO or TA, & then unplug the electric from the TA for about 5 seconds then plug it back in. *Leave the USB cord unplugged*. The light on the TA will be solid for maybe 30 seconds then start flashing. You must wait until the light stops flashing completely, unless it goes into a pattern of 6 blinks & then a pause. If it goes into that pattern then plug in the USB cord & the light should stop flashing. The Tivo should also automatically see the TA after this. If it does not, you may want to remove the wireless USB adapter if you have one, otherwise try the other USB port. If you have a wireless USB adapter, once you have the TIVO see the TA then plug it back in. 95% of the time this gets channels back in, unless there is something else going on at the site. Hope this helps


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## KungFuCow

Grumock said:


> I understand you are on a bulk account but when you upgraded is that account in your name? I would think that you can go to the your local TWC site & & fill out the order form for a TA. I think if you live in the Raleigh area they Fed-ex them to you.


Using my information, the upgrade site shows "No upgrade required".

I guess Im going to have to call them.


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## esjones

dlfl said:


> This is for southwest ohio (Cincinnati and Dayton areas). More HD's yes but more bandwidth per channel?-- I'd be surprised.
> 
> I believe everyone affected received a letter. There is a special web page on this but I don't have it handy right now. Unless you're in the affected area it would be meaningless to you anyway.


I received a letter (I'm in Springboro -Warren County). Is everyone assuming that the lineup change has been communicated to TiVo and that the change will go smoothly, or should someone send TWC's lineup card to TiVo in advance?

When I first got my TiVo HD, I could not get an accurate channel lineup on it. I had to spend several days working with TiVo to document the lineup and have them create one for me. I can't believe I was the first one in this TWC service area to have the problem!

- Earl


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## esjones

skasol said:


> No suggestions, My issue it's with no suggestions working with my 2 TA on my Tivo HD's, I get maybe about 2-3 suggestions a week, I have tried to reset them, etc but nothing seems to work.
> 
> This TA deal isn't very good it's definitely ruining my tivo experience.


Sorry to hear so many problems with the TA. I am in the TWC Dayton, OH service area, and have never had a problem, except, in the case of a power outage, I might need to reboot TiVo and TA multiple times to get everything back up and running.

- Earl


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## dlfl

esjones said:


> I received a letter (I'm in Springboro -Warren County). Is everyone assuming that the lineup change has been communicated to TiVo and that the change will go smoothly, or should someone send TWC's lineup card to TiVo in advance?
> 
> When I first got my TiVo HD, I could not get an accurate channel lineup on it. I had to spend several days working with TiVo to document the lineup and have them create one for me. I can't believe I was the first one in this TWC service area to have the problem!
> 
> - Earl


I submitted a "heads up" guide data problem report to TiVo a couple of weeks ago. Since they don't have a fitting category, I just fudged a report and put the heads up in the comments portion. It would seem impossible for the guide data to change exactly in synchronism with the channel changes.

My installers had no lineup info, although the CSR that scheduled the install assured me they would. It was like pulling teeth to get TWC to tell me what channels were in my service.

I invite you to contribute to my digital picture quality survey thread.


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## dolfer

dlfl said:


> This is in regard to the TWC Southwest Ohio channel shuffle coming 25 Aug:
> 
> First the URL TWC provided for info on this is:
> http://www.twcinfo.com/
> The linked page has a button to print out your personal lineup. You enter either your TWC acct # or your address. I tried it both ways and just got the page-not-found message. Smooth!
> 
> Sorry *dolfer*, I think you are right --- they are just shuffling. I guess I just generally expect their long term goal is to provide more HD. However that may not even be technically possible without squeezing the bandwidth on existing channels, or eliminating some of them.
> 
> How many decades do you think it will be before we can have FIOS ? How long before FIOS starts copy protecting its channels? Even with protection you still have the advantages of (1) generally superior PQ, (2) no TA required, and (3) more channels (although maybe not more channels per dollar).


Thanks for the link!!!!

Do you think we are going to have any problems with our guide data when this big switch happens???? They *should* be prepared...

As for new HD, hopefully they will add some later in the year. Although I do recall this is usually the time of year they would do it.


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## dlfl

dolfer said:


> Thanks for the link!!!!
> 
> Do you think we are going to have any problems with our guide data when this big switch happens???? They *should* be prepared...
> 
> As for new HD, hopefully they will add some later in the year. Although I do recall this is usually the time of year they would do it.


Got a mailing about this today, including a new channel lineup glossy brochure. I still can't get the "print your lineup" button to work on the twinfo.com page, after I put in either my account # or my address.

I wanted to verify that at least I wouldn't be losing any channels so I called. The CSR made reassuring statements that I wouldn't lose any and said I actually gain a couple. Not notable enough to even remember what they are.

She said the switchover is supposed to occur approximately between 2am and 6am on the morning of the 25th. I'm sure we will have to reboot our TA's and rescan the channels after that.

One thing I noticed, and the CSR confirmed, is they are now assigning more than one channel number to the identical channel! I presume this is enabled by SDV. An example is the Boomerang channel. This is so they can do their grouping by theme deal, the stated main purpose of the changes.

If this is the first time for multi-numbered channels, I sure hope our TA's can handle it.


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## cpencis

Above earlier, someone posted a link to SCSIRAIDs description of what good values should be found in the TA diagnostics screens for Tuner, FDC and RDC. I'm having black screen issues on my SDV (delivered yesterday) and I'm trying to diagnose. My RDC is 36 (less than 50 as suggested good above), my Tuner is 3db and FDC is 7db. SCSIRAID said that these should ideally be between -8 and 0... so what can I do to troubleshoot and fix?

-----
S3 w/TA 
701 firmware - no reboot issues
Austin


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## SCSIRAID

cpencis said:


> Above earlier, someone posted a link to SCSIRAIDs description of what good values should be found in the TA diagnostics screens for Tuner, FDC and RDC. I'm having black screen issues on my SDV (delivered yesterday) and I'm trying to diagnose. My RDC is 36 (less than 50 as suggested good above), my Tuner is 3db and FDC is 7db. SCSIRAID said that these should ideally be between -8 and 0... so what can I do to troubleshoot and fix?
> 
> -----
> S3 w/TA
> 701 firmware - no reboot issues
> Austin


Your signal levels are pretty hot... I would attenuate 3-6db if you are having issues. Is your TiVo connected to the TA output? If so, you could use a two way splitter from the wall and drive the TA and Tivo from that spliter. You could even then add a 3db attenuator beyond that and still be fine.


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## cpencis

SCSIRAID said:


> Your signal levels are pretty hot... I would attenuate 3-6db if you are having issues. Is your TiVo connected to the TA output? If so, you could use a two way splitter from the wall and drive the TA and Tivo from that spliter. You could even then add a 3db attenuator beyond that and still be fine.


I'm an engineer, but mechanical by trade... so I'm not afraid of doing this work, but by no means am I adept at it. I was on with a support tech who had me go through reboots after he hit the box a couple of times and said everything looked like it should be working from the TimeWarner side of things. They're rolling a truck for me tomorrow so we'll see what comes of that. If they still can't get this to work, then I'll look at tinkering with attenuation etc. Thanks for your advice.


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## skasol

Grumock said:


> Not sure if you have tried what i am going to say but I will say it anyway. Unplug the USB cord from either the TIVO or TA, & then unplug the electric from the TA for about 5 seconds then plug it back in. *Leave the USB cord unplugged*. The light on the TA will be solid for maybe 30 seconds then start flashing. You must wait until the light stops flashing completely, unless it goes into a pattern of 6 blinks & then a pause. If it goes into that pattern then plug in the USB cord & the light should stop flashing. The Tivo should also automatically see the TA after this. If it does not, you may want to remove the wireless USB adapter if you have one, otherwise try the other USB port. If you have a wireless USB adapter, once you have the TIVO see the TA then plug it back in. 95% of the time this gets channels back in, unless there is something else going on at the site. Hope this helps


I did all that with no luck, don't know what else to do. I have a solid light on my TA, I did what you asked, I also did what tivo has on their site, turn off suggestions, restart, turn suggestions back on.

Nothing 2 weeks in and I have 1 suggestion from last week.


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## Grumock

skasol said:


> I did all that with no luck, don't know what else to do. I have a solid light on my TA, I did what you asked, I also did what tivo has on their site, turn off suggestions, restart, turn suggestions back on.
> 
> Nothing 2 weeks in and I have 1 suggestion from last week.


Does your TIVO ever actually see the TA? If not have you tried a different USB cord?


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## dlfl

Grumock said:


> ....... Unplug the USB cord from either the TIVO or TA, & then unplug the electric from the TA for about 5 seconds then plug it back in. *Leave the USB cord unplugged*. The light on the TA will be solid for maybe 30 seconds then start flashing. You must wait until the light stops flashing completely, unless it goes into a pattern of 6 blinks & then a pause. If it goes into that pattern then plug in the USB cord & the light should stop flashing.......


The first two times I had to reboot my TA it worked the way your describe. Now (two incidents) the green light blinks forever (or at least longer than I'm willing to wait). I go ahead and connect the USB and all is OK.


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## Grumock

dlfl said:


> The first two times I had to reboot my TA it worked the way your describe. Now (two incidents) the green light blinks forever (or at least longer than I'm willing to wait). I go ahead and connect the USB and all is OK.


when it blinks for that "Forever" time does it go into a pattern of 6 blinks & then a pause? I know that the reboot of the TA can take some time for that light to go solid. Normally i walk away & get something to drink or eat & come back about 10 minutes later.


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## dlfl

Grumock said:


> when it blinks for that "Forever" time does it go into a pattern of 6 blinks & then a pause? I know that the reboot of the TA can take some time for that light to go solid. Normally i walk away & get something to drink or eat & come back about 10 minutes later.


OK I'm not waiting more than 2 or 3 minutes. However I don't think I had to wait anything like 10 minutes the first two times. BTW when I connect the USB it quickly goes constant green.

Can't be absolutely sure but I don't think it was in the 6-then-pause sequence.

Anyway, thanks for the info and I will try waiting longer the next time.


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## Grumock

dlfl said:


> OK I'm not waiting more than 2 or 3 minutes. However I don't think I had to wait anything like 10 minutes the first two times. BTW when I connect the USB it quickly goes constant green.
> 
> Can't be absolutely sure but I don't think it was in the 6-then-pause sequence.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the info and I will try waiting longer the next time.


yeah if the green goes to blinking 6x then pauses it is just indicating that the USB is not connected.


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## skasol

Grumock said:


> Does your TIVO ever actually see the TA? If not have you tried a different USB cord?


the tivo does see the TA when I reconnected, what's weird is that I have 2 tivo HD's with TA, one downstairs and one upstairs, the one upstairs has 25 suggestions in 3 days, the one downstairs has 1 old suggestion from like 8/1/09. I tried doing all the steps described, I will try waiting longer for the green light to stop flashing because I only waited about 2-4 minutes as well.

thank you all.


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## digs0

Just wanted to share this technique from the TiVo support page (couldn't find a reference to it on a quick search of the forums -- apologies if it's been posted elsewhere). I used to unplug/replug either the USB cable or the power or both when my channels went out, but TiVo's support page has an improbable but effective method that saves me from having to get my butt off the couch:

1. In Live TV, press CHAN UP twice.
2. Press the Live TV button to switch tuners (or press INFO to display the channel banner and select the other tuner).
3. Press CHAN UP once, and then CHAN Down once. You should now be able to see video.

I've used it a couple of times and, strangely enough, it's actually worked. Of course, this doesn't alleviate the frustration of having your TiVo cut off in the middle of a recording, but it's still handy.


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## dlfl

*digs0*,

Which TWC system are you in (i.e., your location)?

How often does your TA go "wonky" ?

What wonky behavior to you see other than losing a channel during a recording?

As the linked support page says:

_If your cable provider installed a Tuning Adapter for your TiVo HD, TiVo HD XL, or Series3 HD DVR, and you see a gray or black screen when you tune to a channel, you can restore the video by changing the channel and then tuning back. To do this for both tuners:_

Thus basically it's just forcing the tuner(s) to re-attempt tuning that does the trick. I occasionally get a blank screen when I tune to a channel, and almost always just doing a channel up/channel down will bring the channel in. If I look at the DVR Diagnostics screen info for the "blank" channel (before retuning) I find I have Signal Lock but no Program Lock.

That's a good find though. There's a lot of interesting stuff in the TiVo support pages, but it's not that easy to find it.

EDIT: Too bad TiVo didn't build a re-tune recovery sequence into the software. Seems like it should be possible. Of course, to cover the cost of coding and testing that they might have to increase the price a few bucks.


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## rv65

On Sept. 15 TWC Maine might deploy SDV on their moto networks for more HD channels. No Moto tuning adapter but it should be available soon after it's been deployed. The Moto tuning adapter is much smaller than the SA ones so it's not this gigantic box that plugs into the Tivo. Then again the SA TA isn't that big to begin with.


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## dlfl

dlfl said:


> ...........As the linked support page says:
> 
> _If your cable provider installed a Tuning Adapter for your TiVo HD, TiVo HD XL, or Series3 HD DVR, and you see a gray or black screen when you tune to a channel, you can restore the video by changing the channel and then tuning back. To do this for both tuners:_
> 
> Thus basically it's just forcing the tuner(s) to re-attempt tuning that does the trick. I occasionally get a blank screen when I tune to a channel, and almost always just doing a channel up/channel down will bring the channel in. If I look at the DVR Diagnostics screen info for the "blank" channel (before retuning) I find I have Signal Lock but no Program Lock.


Last night I selected a channel I had probably never watched before. It didn't tune and four or five re-tune attempts still didn't bring it in -- Signal Lock but no Program Lock (from the DVR Diagnostics). After a minute or so I retried it and it tuned. This is the worst case of this type I've encountered. 
One day the time will come when I ditch this system for something better -- hopefully sooner rather than later. But I want the TiVo DVR interface!


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## sondhead

I have firmware with 0801 in it... but it still reboots all the time. It's incredibly annoying. Any suggestions?


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## Grumock

rv65 said:


> On Sept. 15 TWC Maine might deploy SDV on their moto networks for more HD channels. No Moto tuning adapter but it should be available soon after it's been deployed. The Moto tuning adapter is much smaller than the SA ones so it's not this gigantic box that plugs into the Tivo. Then again the SA TA isn't that big to begin with.


I had not heard that I thought they were still just beta testing the TA in select markets. Did you receive notice of this change?


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## anotherlab

Is anyone seeing a tiling problem after connecting the tuning adapter. I'm getting intermittent tiling on some channels (A&E, SyFy), not not on others. I did notice that if I pull the power on the TA (but leave it connected), the tiling stops.


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## Grumock

sondhead said:


> I have firmware with 0801 in it... but it still reboots all the time. It's incredibly annoying. Any suggestions?


Just as a test. Try removing the wireless USB adapter & see if you are still getting the TA rebooting. If i am not mistaken the original problem was that the USB bus on the TIVO was not supporting two devices that were communicating constantly, that was when the 801 code was developed. Just test this theory & see if it stops for a night or two.


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> Sorry *dolfer*, I think you are right --- they are just shuffling. I guess I just generally expect their long term goal is to provide more HD. However that may not even be technically possible without squeezing the bandwidth on existing channels, or eliminating some of them.


No, no, *NO!* That's the whole point of SDV. With a properly designed CATV plant, the number of available channels is effectively infinite. It could be the shuffle is in preparation for implementing additional SDV QAMs, which would indeed increase the number of available channels by a vast amount. OTOH, some of the franchises (like here in San Antonio) inexplicably think shuffling channels is a good thing.



dlfl said:


> How many decades do you think it will be before we can have FIOS ? How long before FIOS starts copy protecting its channels? Even with protection you still have the advantages of (1) generally superior PQ, (2) no TA required


Within a decade, FIOS may have to employ SDV, as well, or else they may decide to eliminate their QAM feeds and deploy everything via IPTV. The former means a TA will be required for FIOS, as well. The latter means the TiVo as it sits now won't be able to receive FIOS.



dlfl said:


> and (3) more channels (although maybe not more channels per dollar).


This is false. Any linear scheme - such as the one FIOS employs - has a strictly finite number of channels. In the case of FIOS, it's about 1632 SDV channels or 272 HD channels plus 136 SD channels using the most common rate shapes in the industry. A good compromise between those two extremes might be 246 SD channels and 250 HD channels. An SDV system can ultimately offer an unlimited number of channels - tens of thousands of HD streams.


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## lrhorer

esjones said:


> I received a letter (I'm in Springboro -Warren County). Is everyone assuming that the lineup change has been communicated to TiVo and that the change will go smoothly, or should someone send TWC's lineup card to TiVo in advance?


TiVo, Inc. has nothing to do with the lineup, and informing them will have little or no impact on service either way. Your CATV provider must send their channel lineup to Tribune Media in order for it to be incorporated into their database for your zip code.



esjones said:


> When I first got my TiVo HD, I could not get an accurate channel lineup on it. I had to spend several days working with TiVo to document the lineup and have them create one for me.


They did not create it. They may have forwarded your info to either Tribune, your CATV provider, or both.


----------



## lrhorer

I've not had any reboot issues AFAIK, but I do from time to time suffer other problems. In some cases, the TA just seems to lose USB connectivity. The front panel LED starts its 8 blink loop, the diags are unavailable, and the SDV channels won't tune. Rebooting the TA usually solves the issue, although upon occasion I have to call for a hit from the headend. The other, more common issue is the channel map gets totally corrupted somehow, and then I cannot tune any encrypted channel. The front panel LED remains steady, and the diags are available, but nothing will tune except the local channels. Rebooting the TiVo gets me back the linear encrypted channels, and then I have to reboot the TA, disconnect the USB cable, and re-connect the TA to get the SDV channels. This has happened from time to time on all three of my TiVos. Two are S3 units and one is a THD.


----------



## digs0

dlfl said:


> *digs0*,
> 
> Which TWC system are you in (i.e., your location)?
> 
> How often does your TA go "wonky" ?
> 
> What wonky behavior to you see other than losing a channel during a recording?


Hey dlfl,

I'm a San Diego TWC customer. I haven't been super thrilled with the TWC experience, but not so much because of poor TiVo support.

The TA is erratic--sometimes it behaves for maybe a week or 10 days without showing any signs of trouble, but then it'll blank out channels several times the next week. I haven't had many other symptoms with it, other than the SDV interruptions. What's most frustrating is that often, the unit will actually tune a channel for a split second before telling me that it's not available. Also, there seem to be 2 different kinds of dropped channels -- at times, I'll get the TiVo message bubble that the channel is not available (even though I do subscribe to it), but at other times the screen will just be completely black with no information at all.

Ah, I forgot--I do also get the spontaneous reboots. "A Tuning Adapter is connected" -- thanks, I thought it already was.


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> No, no, *NO!* That's the whole point of SDV. With a properly designed CATV plant, the number of available channels is effectively infinite...........


I'm not seeing that. Reference the explanation of SDV given here.
In the diagram 500-2000 outlets are served by each node via coax cable with roughly 1 GHz bandwidth. How many channels (HD and SD mixed, whatever) can go down the 1 GHz bandwidth? I think the answer is less than 500, correct?

Thus if 500 outlets each request a different channel, the SDV system would not be able to serve them all. Apparently it works based on the assumption that this situation will never occur, i.e., many of the homes will be requesting identical channels. With 2,000 outlets the effect is magnified.

I must be missing something. I don't see the capability for an "effectively infinite" number of channels here.

EDIT: Per my understanding the "effectively infinite" channels can be achieved if the # of outlets on the node is no greater than the number of SDV frequencies. If an effectively infinite number of HD channels are to be supported, this condition becomes that the # of outlets must be no greater than the number of HD-capable SDV frequencies.

Or do all SDV frequencies have HD bandwidths?


----------



## Thess

Can anyone confirm successfully using the TA signup page from the Raleigh/TWC area recently?

My cablecard has been online for > 24 hrs and I'm still getting:

Attention

Order Not Accepted
No Upgraded Equipment Required
No Upgraded Equipment Required

I am definitely using the correct information associated with the account when I try to start the process.

I've been using the link at the bottom of this page:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/learn/cable/sdv/default.html

If anyone knows of any alternate means of obtaining one in this area, that would be cool too.


----------



## Grumock

Thess said:


> Can anyone confirm successfully using the TA signup page from the Raleigh/TWC area recently?
> 
> My cablecard has been online for > 24 hrs and I'm still getting:
> 
> Attention
> 
> Order Not Accepted
> No Upgraded Equipment Required
> No Upgraded Equipment Required
> 
> I am definitely using the correct information associated with the account when I try to start the process.
> 
> I've been using the link at the bottom of this page:
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/learn/cable/sdv/default.html
> 
> If anyone knows of any alternate means of obtaining one in this area, that would be cool too.


that is the right page.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Thess said:


> Can anyone confirm successfully using the TA signup page from the Raleigh/TWC area recently?
> 
> My cablecard has been online for > 24 hrs and I'm still getting:
> 
> Attention
> 
> Order Not Accepted
> No Upgraded Equipment Required
> No Upgraded Equipment Required
> 
> I am definitely using the correct information associated with the account when I try to start the process.
> 
> I've been using the link at the bottom of this page:
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/learn/cable/sdv/default.html
> 
> If anyone knows of any alternate means of obtaining one in this area, that would be cool too.


I used the webpage quite a while ago and it worked fine.

So you already have the cablecard? The fact that you already have it may not have propagated thru the system yet. You might try calling customer service and seeing if they can help.


----------



## Thess

I have the cablecard, it's been up and running / activated with TWC since yesterday morning. Can tune everything except the presumed SDV channels. 

I know that calling is probably the next step but I am somewhat less than hopeful about getting a CSR who can even begin to tell me why the webform isn't working, or do anything about it. I've had countless bad TWC experiences, I know that's hardly anything new--but the dread of calling just gets a little worse with each one. As an example, a CSR--who sounded perfectly sure of herself--told me on Sunday I could go down to the local kiosk and pick up a cablecard and self-install. I had a feeling she was wrong so I tried asking the questions a couple of different ways (a cablecard? for a tivo? are you sure? they'll just hand it to me?), and finally I assumed she must know something I didn't, so I got into the car and drove down to the mall. I'm sure you already know what the TWC employees at the mall kiosk had to say. 

Anyway! I'm trying to balance all that out with my natural impatience and the fact that yesterday was a nat'l holiday.


----------



## Thess

Day 2: Order Not Accepted. Two CSRs hung up on me, the third said someone would contact me within 48 hours. Heh. 

Still interested to know if anyone else succeeds in getting a TA, or has succeeded recently.

Unfortunately there are far more SDV channels now than I had realized.

Updating for posterity's sake: I was never able to get the webform to work, but I was able to get a tech to bring a TA out. I don't think this is the way it is supposed to work, though, and I doubt you would be able to talk anyone into it with a normal 800-number call. I went into a local TWC office and the CSR there also would have been able to order the TA via mail had my appointment not already been in the system (very long story). So worst case scenario, going into an office may be the best bet for now if you can't get the web form to work.


----------



## JC Fedorczyk

Anyone having a problem with their switched channels today? Sci-fi HD, fx HD, discovery HD are all showing black. A call to tech support and they sent some signals but when that didn't work they are dispatching a truck. Massive waste of time on their end as there's nothing here that is wrong.


----------



## George Cifranci

JC Fedorczyk said:


> Anyone having a problem with their switched channels today? Sci-fi HD, fx HD, discovery HD are all showing black. A call to tech support and they sent some signals but when that didn't work they are dispatching a truck. Massive waste of time on their end as there's nothing here that is wrong.


Have you tried to reboot your TiVo? There have been times when my SDV channels were black and they came back after a reboot.


----------



## JC Fedorczyk

Yup. Rebooting brought back the non-switched HD channels. Still missing the switched though.


----------



## Stone1555

Do you have a wireless usb adapter?

if so unhook it. Unhook the usb and power from the back of the t.a. power the t.a up. once the light goes solid after about 5 mins. reconnect the usb to the t.a / test channels. if all is well reconnect the wireless adapter.

i do that weekly. seems to be a bus issue or smthn


----------



## MirclMax

digs0 said:


> Hey dlfl,
> 
> I'm a San Diego TWC customer. I haven't been super thrilled with the TWC experience, but not so much because of poor TiVo support.
> 
> The TA is erratic--sometimes it behaves for maybe a week or 10 days without showing any signs of trouble, but then it'll blank out channels several times the next week. I haven't had many other symptoms with it, other than the SDV interruptions. What's most frustrating is that often, the unit will actually tune a channel for a split second before telling me that it's not available. Also, there seem to be 2 different kinds of dropped channels -- at times, I'll get the TiVo message bubble that the channel is not available (even though I do subscribe to it), but at other times the screen will just be completely black with no information at all.
> 
> Ah, I forgot--I do also get the spontaneous reboots. "A Tuning Adapter is connected" -- thanks, I thought it already was.


Another San Diegan here.. I'd say the above sums up my situations precisely.

On one aspect of it, I was hoping someone could give some insight on it. The majority of my issues are where you tune to an SDV channel.. and it comes in right away.. and *then* an unavailable message shows up. That is, you can see the video .. I'd even say for at least a full second .. maybe 2. To me, that makes no sense in my very vague understanding of the technology. If the programming is there, then why not just let it come through? Is this how it works for everyone? Or is this some cool special messed up thing they have going for us? I would expect more of a channel not being available until the request.. not being there and then spitting out an error message after the fact.

Your insights are greatly appreciated.


----------



## dlfl

Next time this happens, go to the DVR Diagnostics screens. Does the channel you tried to tune have Signal Lock? Program Lock? Are the PID numbers filled in? Any other suspicious things?

When I tune an SDV channel, there is a glitch a second or two after the video shows up and I've noticed that's when the correct resolutioin (e.g., 720p) is filled into the program information panel at the top of the screen. Until that point, the resolution from the previously tuned channel is displayed. It sounds like that's when you lose your video.

When I get a tune failure, my diagnostics show no Program Lock but there is Signal Lock. This means video came in but some information was missing or inconsistent regarding things like PID numbers -- so it rejected the video.

Also, in the Tuning Adapter Diagnostics, check the three signal strength numbers as described in this post. This can be done at any time, not just when a tune failure occurs.


----------



## cdeckert219

MirclMax said:


> Another San Diegan here..
> 
> On one aspect of it, I was hoping someone could give some insight on it. The majority of my issues are where you tune to an SDV channel.. and it comes in right away.. and *then* an unavailable message shows up.


TWC SD here, also. I have that problem occasionally. My biggest frustration, though, is that about once or twice a week I'll come home from work and the TA on both boxes will be blinking continuously. The SDV channels won't be available. I've tried unplugging and restarting the TA. That didn't work. It seems the only way to get the TiVo to reconnect with the TA is to reboot the TiVo. After that it's fine. I seem to have the same problem with both HD boxes... at the same day/time as each other (not the same day/time each week, though).

Any thoughts?


----------



## brentj

I keep having blocks of channels disappear over time. Very frustrating. Missed recordings. Usually a reboot brings them back. When I get around to it I think I'll plug both the tivo and TA into a timer to manually reboot them at 3 AM every day to keep them on track.

Though it may not be good for the Tivo to constantly unplug it without letting it shut down/reboot gracefully


----------



## rbye

bradenmcg said:


> One of our two TivoHDs gets sporadic "macroblocking" / "pixelation" and sound drop outs. ...
> 
> ... When I do have blocking, RS corrected and uncorrected errors DO NOT change - they are always zero.
> 
> ... The pixellation is downright maddening, as it always seems to happen during the middle of important scenes or dialog, and every time it drops out it causes my audio receiver to have to re-train on the dolby audio too (we primarily watch HD channels, most of which are SDV in this market now).
> 
> Help? Please?


bradenmcg - has this problem cleared up for you?

Are others seeing this. I read on another thread that this is a known issue that is being worked (presumably by Tivo - but it wasn;t clear).

BTW - I suspect the errors are show as zero after a dropout because the dropouts are cause by the TA having to retune to the channel again, and whenever you cange channel the Tivo resets the error counts.

This is driving me crazy too, I am almost desparate enough to start using the SA Explore 8300 DVR POS !!!


----------



## dlfl

rbye said:


> bradenmcg - has this problem cleared up for you?
> 
> Are others seeing this. I read on another thread that this is a known issue that is being worked (presumably by Tivo - but it wasn;t clear).
> 
> BTW - I suspect the errors are show as zero after a dropout because the dropouts are cause by the TA having to retune to the channel again, and whenever you cange channel the Tivo resets the error counts.
> 
> This is driving me crazy too, I am almost desparate enough to start using the SA Explore 8300 DVR POS !!!


It's just in the Carolinas area that this problems is really being seriously worked on. Apparently the problem is especially severe in that region.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=418262

Since other regions may have different distribution equipment and/or parameter settings, the diagnosis and solution (if found) may not carry over.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7420668#post7420668

You can check out your retune theory (regarding zero error counts) by just looking at the Time Since Tune Start in the same data page as the error counts. (It will be reset to 0 if it actually retuned.) That is an interesting theory.


----------



## SCSIRAID

rbye said:


> bradenmcg - has this problem cleared up for you?
> 
> Are others seeing this. I read on another thread that this is a known issue that is being worked (presumably by Tivo - but it wasn;t clear).
> 
> BTW - I suspect the errors are show as zero after a dropout because the dropouts are cause by the TA having to retune to the channel again, and whenever you cange channel the Tivo resets the error counts.
> 
> This is driving me crazy too, I am almost desparate enough to start using the SA Explore 8300 DVR POS !!!


The diags also show the 'Time since tune start' which lets you determine if a retune was executed. For me, it is rare to see a retune. I do see the base problem where dropouts occur but RS Uncorrected remains zero. TWC current theory is the Cisco Rate Shaper is outputting MPEG which TiVo cannot deal with.

Where are you located?


----------



## dlfl

This afternoon I noticed the light on my TA was blinking. Sure enough, my SDV channels were missing. After trying many, many combinations of rebooting TiVo, power-cycling TA & TiVo, and unplugging/plugging the USB cable, nothing worked. I would have the 8-blinik-then-pause of the TA green light and TiVo DVR Diagnostics said I didn't have a Tuning Adapter connected.

In 3 mos. of usage, I had lost SDV channels once, and easily got them back by just unconnecting USB, power-cycling TA and reconnecting USB.

Called TWC Southwest Ohio and the CSR after asking some reasonable questions -- you guessed it -- scheduled a truck roll!

Called TiVo tech support. Guy was very nice and and competent. After some reasonable diagnostic tests, he put me on hold and called TWC. Eventually I was on the line with someone from TWC National Cable Card Support, who was also very nice and competent.

He said the problem was my TA was no longer "provisioned", which as far as I could gather amounts to sending one number/signal to the TA that says it's authorized for my account. He provisioned it and after a few minutes I was back in business.

He knew no reaon my provisioning would have been lost other than to guess that someone at TWC Southwest Ohio made a mistake, perhaps thinking they were working on someone else'es account. He confidently stated this should not happen again and apologized for the inconvenience. He stated that the re-provisioning could have been done at the local TWC office.

I asked him to tell me the magic words to say to a TWC CSR if this happened again and his answer was, "Connect me to National Cable Card Support".

I was pleasantly surprised by the competence and good attitude shown by both TiVo and TWC personnel.


----------



## joshuad156

wow dlfl. Glad I found your post. I just noticed today I had the same blinking TA and like yourself I tried every combination of power cycling and unplugging/plugging int he USB cable and like you can't get a solid green. I guess I will have to call and see if something similar happened to me. Mine has been working for the last month or two (except for a few times i had to restart it) until today when now it simply doesn't work.

Oddly enough I too am in SWO TWC. *sigh* i really dislike calling TW offices.


----------



## realityboy

I'm having the same problem also, dlfl. I guess I'll be calling tomorrow.


----------



## dlfl

That's at least 3 of us in TWC Southwest Ohio with the same problem. Someone, or some computer program, really screwed up. The guy from National Cable Card Support said he had already fixed three other people's problems from Southwest Ohio before me -- but he said it wasn't the same (provisioning) problem for them. It was something to do with IP numbers.

I strongly encourage you to try to get the TWC CSR you contact to "Connect me to National Cable Card Support". If they won't, call TiVo support like I did.


----------



## bobrt6676

dlfl said:


> That's at least 3 of us in TWC Southwest Ohio with the same problem. Someone, or some computer program, really screwed up. The guy from National Cable Card Support said he had already fixed three other people's problems from Southwest Ohio before me -- but he said it wasn't the same (provisioning) problem for them. It was something to do with IP numbers.
> 
> I strongly encourage you to try to get the TWC CSR you contact to "Connect me to National Cable Card Support". If they won't, call TiVo support like I did.


I had the same issue yesterday on just 1 of 2 TA's. Tried everything nothing worked. Switched TA's from one set to the other. no help. Figured I would exchange TA's today at the Dayton Mall. But when I checked this morning the problem had resolved itself. Sounds like a fluke on TWC end.


----------



## dlfl

bobrt6676 said:


> I had the same issue yesterday on just 1 of 2 TA's. Tried everything nothing worked. Switched TA's from one set to the other. no help. Figured I would exchange TA's today at the Dayton Mall. But when I checked this morning the problem had resolved itself. Sounds like a fluke on TWC end.


Unfortunately, I bet there are "flukes" that will affect TiVo users only -- scary!

*Hey guys! Please note the campaign to get TWC to remove CCI Byte copy protection.* Keep those cards and letters (err.. emails) coming !!!


----------



## realityboy

dlfl said:


> That's at least 3 of us in TWC Southwest Ohio with the same problem. Someone, or some computer program, really screwed up. The guy from National Cable Card Support said he had already fixed three other people's problems from Southwest Ohio before me -- but he said it wasn't the same (provisioning) problem for them. It was something to do with IP numbers.
> 
> I strongly encourage you to try to get the TWC CSR you contact to "Connect me to National Cable Card Support". If they won't, call TiVo support like I did.


Ok, I tried this, and I did get it fixed, but not without jumping through their usual hoops. The first CSR I called, promptly connected me to the National Cable Card support line* after I asked, but once I told the guy there my problem, he transferred me back to the local office. Frustrated, I hung up, but then I called the local office back myself and went through troubleshooting steps with the local CSR who had never seen a TA before. He asked at one point if I could take the TA card out of my Tivo. Eventually, he set up a truck roll. I asked him to transfer me to the National Cable Card Support line, to see if they could fix it without the need for a truckroll. He did, and they fixed it almost immediately.

*I suspect that she transferred me to the wrong line, but I don't really know.


----------



## dlfl

realityboy said:


> Ok, I tried this, and I did get it fixed, but not without jumping through their usual hoops. The first CSR I called, promptly connected me to the National Cable Card support line* after I asked, but once I told the guy there my problem, he transferred me back to the local office. Frustrated, I hung up, but then I called the local office back myself and went through troubleshooting steps with the local CSR who had never seen a TA before. He asked at one point if I could take the TA card out of my Tivo. Eventually, he set up a truck roll. I asked him to transfer me to the National Cable Card Support line, to see if they could fix it without the need for a truckroll. He did, and they fixed it almost immediately.
> 
> *I suspect that she transferred me to the wrong line, but I don't really know.


Two theories:

1. The first time you talked to National Cable Card Support (NCCS) he detected you hadn't gone through any diagnosis steps at the local level and they may not want to encourage problems being immediately transfered to them without being "filtered" by local diagnosis. If true, the lesson is to let the local office do whatever troubleshooting they can before asking to go to the NCCS.

(or)

2. The second time you talked to NCCS you just got a more sympatico guy.

The NCCS guy I talked to said there are only about three people in NCCS. The one I got was very siimpatico.


----------



## redwolf4k

Hey, I am a new member, and I joined the community in search of answers related to the TA.

I have TWC in the hudson valley area, in NY. They just started implementing SDV, about 10 channels or so are SDV. I just learned about needing the TA with my TIVO HD in the near future. TW has the TA's stocked, but they are not "in the system" yet, and therefor not ready for distribution. 

I have had the TIVO HD since 2007, since "mystro" came about on the TWC boxes, it was so buggy, I needed to upgrade. I am not allowed to get NHL Center Ice with a tivo hd in my TWC area, which has been hell for me. Now, I am finding out I need a crummy TA, that as I suspected, makes tivo buggy and unreliable....


When I went to get a TA, and found out there not ready yet, the rep I spoke to told me that NHL Center Ice is free this month, and allowed me to take 1 SA 8300HDC DVR box home, for 1 free month, so I could get it. I thought that was really nice due to the inconvinience they are causing me. I came to find nearly all the bugs I experienced are fixed on the TWC box, and am pretty pleased.

I would hate to get rid of my TIVO HD, but it seems TWC's new system makes the tivo pretty anoying.
Plus, with the TA, I am STILL not allowed to get Center Ice. I have had Tivo series 2's and a Hughes Directivo, back when I had Directv, and am quite a big Tivo fan. It seems things have changed quite a bit though, Does Tivo work correctly on any provider besides free Over The Air anymore? Its depressing. I never thought I would feel "bad" about possibly giving up a cable box, like tivo. It's like trying to give up a Dog or pet lol.

This is horrible. I am not even sure if I want to TRY the TA when it is realeased here, maybe just stick with there box....which was probablly there plan afterall...


----------



## dlfl

redwolf4k said:


> ...........This is horrible. I am not even sure if I want to TRY the TA when it is realeased here, maybe just stick with there box....which was probablly there plan afterall...


The TA is normally free and is easy to hook up. Suggest you wait and give it a trial. Meanwhile you can get more time on the TW DVR to see if your initial favorable impression is durable.

Your comparitive evaluation of the TW DVR is of interest here. It would probably be appropriate to start a new thread for that if you are going to provide detailed comments, since it would be off topic for this thread.


----------



## Effinay

realityboy said:


> Ok, I tried this, and I did get it fixed, but not without jumping through their usual hoops. The first CSR I called, promptly connected me to the National Cable Card support line* after I asked, but once I told the guy there my problem, he transferred me back to the local office. Frustrated, I hung up, but then I called the local office back myself and went through troubleshooting steps with the local CSR who had never seen a TA before. He asked at one point if I could take the TA card out of my Tivo. Eventually, he set up a truck roll. I asked him to transfer me to the National Cable Card Support line, to see if they could fix it without the need for a truckroll. He did, and they fixed it almost immediately.
> 
> *I suspect that she transferred me to the wrong line, but I don't really know.


I had the same issue last Tuesday with my TA. After calling my local office, they actually GAVE me the direct number to call for the "Tru 2-Way Specialists" (which I found out later that was a no-no) to fix my blinking TA. I spoke with a guy named Mike, who promptly sent some codes to my TA. I wa at work at the time, so I didn't know if that fixed the problem until later that night.
Well, it didn't fix it. So I called back a couple days later (the ticket was still open) and actually talked to the same guy. He remembered my call and stated I was the first person to call about this issue. I guess nearly everyone with a TA started having issues last week or soon after... at least in the SW Ohio area. He was surprised that sending the signals to my TA didn't fix it the first time. He put me on hold and called a local field tech and asked him to try something. 
After about 10 minutes, the TA stopped blinking and the light turned off. I pressed the power button and the light was steady. I've had no problems since.
Someone really messed up at TW and caused all of us some headaches, but I'm glad that the issue was recognized and fixed fairly promptly. I just hope it doesn't happen again.


----------



## dlfl

Effinay said:


> I had the same issue last Tuesday with my TA. After calling my local office, they actually GAVE me the direct number to call for the "Tru 2-Way Specialists" (which I found out later that was a no-no) to fix my blinking TA. I spoke with a guy named Mike, ........


Well, now that someone else has already mentioned his name, Mike was the NCCS guy I talked to last week -- who was great!

We can hope that since so many TiVo subscribers were affected, they learned some kind of lesson at the Cinci office .......


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Two theories:
> 
> 1. The first time you talked to National Cable Card Support (NCCS) he detected you hadn't gone through any diagnosis steps at the local level and they may not want to encourage problems being immediately transfered to them without being "filtered" by local diagnosis. If true, the lesson is to let the local office do whatever troubleshooting they can before asking to go to the NCCS.
> 
> (or)
> 
> 2. The second time you talked to NCCS you just got a more sympatico guy.
> 
> The NCCS guy I talked to said there are only about three people in NCCS. The one I got was very siimpatico.


I understand there are actually only 4 & they support then entire National footprint for TWC. I was also made to understand that there is only one day out of the week they are all there, & normally there is just two people on that phone the rest of the time. OUCH!!


----------



## dolfer

I had the blinking TA as well... I am in the Greater Cincinnati Area. 

Before you call, try this. Seems like I was only doing part of the process. 

Unplug USB cable from Tivo
Unplug Power cable from TA for 10 or so seconds
Plug Power cable back in to TA and wait for light to go solid (might take up to 10 minutes. Mine took about 4)
Plug USB cable in to Tivo
Select "continue" at the Tuner Detected screen

Before, I was only unplugging the power and not the USB. Unplugging the power only does not seem to work! 

The above process worked for me without any special intervention from NCCS. (Yet another spin off?) 

The CSR said they are having issues with "traffic" and "signals" and "overloading" and it shouldn't last long. 

Out,
D


----------



## waltbenn

Time Warner Cincinnati finally has cable cards, but charges monthly fee in addition to fee for initial acquisition of the card(s), etc. I told them to forget it; will just use Tivo as is (because I thought cable cards were initially to be issued "free of charge"?).

I had some problems with Time Warner tuner/DVR equipment (volume issues & image lock-up, etc., calling someone to fix or else reboot...periodically) and I detest having to pay monthly rent for their damn remote, box, etc., in addition to their already absurdly high monthly fees, so I took all their crap back and told them to keep all that, too, and it is still pretty much a rip-off, but what are consumers to do (they're all a rip-off in my opinion; cable/satellite)? 

I'm paying around 87.00/month for basic cable & roadrunner HS internet. Thank goodness my old Tivo series 2 works well, although I would like to be able to record while watching another channel. I may upgrade soon if Tivo lets me transfer my "Lifetime Service"


----------



## dlfl

waltbenn said:


> Time Warner Cincinnati finally has cable cards, but charges monthly fee in addition to fee for initial acquisition of the card(s), etc. I told them to forget it; will just use Tivo as is (because I thought cable cards were initially to be issued "free of charge"?).........


Huh??  AFAIK TWC Southwest Ohio (including Cinci) has had CC's for many months and has always charged for them ($2.54/mo per card). The Tuning Adapters needed to get the many SDV channels are free (so far).

The minimum digital package (which includes Basic, Standard, and Digital Variety packages) + Roadrunner (not turbo) + Two CC's + Taxes & Fees is $118. If you have a TiVo HD you only need one CC (a m-card) but when they installed mine they insisted they only had s-cards, so I have to have 2. Note this is in the North Dayton area, so details may vary elsewhere.


----------



## eddieb187

Hey Redwolf4k,
I have a Tivo in the Hudson Valley as well.
I just received my tuning adapter today.
I can only find 5 new channels.
687(LVwel), 701(NY1HD), 731(CNBCHD), 738(DisneyHD), and 774(TCMHD).
I have some issues though.
Since connecting the TA my TIVO guide is a bit slower.
Also the channel ID on two of the SDV channels is wrong.
And the guide data on all the SDV channel is either missing or wrong.
Other than that I'm really looking forward to finally getting all the HD channels that were missing.
Albany TWC has nearly 100 HD channels since SDV is implemented there.


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## Grumock

eddieb187 said:


> Hey Redwolf4k,
> I have a Tivo in the Hudson Valley as well.
> I just received my tuning adapter today.
> I can only find 5 new channels.
> 687(LVwel), 701(NY1HD), 731(CNBCHD), 738(DisneyHD), and 774(TCMHD).
> I have some issues though.
> Since connecting the TA my TIVO guide is a bit slower.
> Also the channel ID on two of the SDV channels is wrong.
> And the guide data on all the SDV channel is either missing or wrong.
> Other than that I'm really looking forward to finally getting all the HD channels that were missing.
> Albany TWC has nearly 100 HD channels since SDV is implemented there.


Strange I was not aware that they have launched SDV in the Hudson Valley area as of yet when it comes to HD channels at least.


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## eddieb187

Grumock said:


> Strange I was not aware that they have launched SDV in the Hudson Valley area as of yet when it comes to HD channels at least.


Yes. I believe 10 SDV channels so far.
The 5 HD channels I mentioned disappear from the guide when I turn the Tuning Adapter off.


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## Z06_Pilot

oh yea, my 1520's have issues!

mine reboot on a regular basis. I found out that TWC in Central Ohio is having issues with two frequencies that cause channels to not show up intermittently. the 1520's can't lock and therefore go into a reset.

I've been putting up with this for 2 months. they tell me that as of yet, they cannot locate the problem and have no idea when it will be fixed. I imagine it's not high on their list as TA's are only for the very small percentage of people who don't use TWC's DVR's.

it pains me but I have decided to go with Dish network, cancel all 3 of my Tivo subscriptions and sell my Tivo Series 3 units.

after 10 years as a Tivo user, they are victims of my cable company...it's a real shame.

Jeff.


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## redwolf4k

Eddie,

I recieved my SDV tuning adapter as well. However, it doesnt detect, or work. It seems to totally bypass or somthing. I have the solid green light, but my tivo never mentions a tuning adapter, and there are no new channels, nor did tivo search for any new channels. I went to the diag screen and tried to "test" the sdv channels, but it said none available.

I called TWC and was told that they just got word moments after I picked up my tuner, to hold off distributing them, as there is a problem. I guess just hold onto it until they work out whatever problem they are having. It didn't work for me at all though.


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## dolfer

redwolf4k said:


> Eddie,
> 
> I recieved my SDV tuning adapter as well. However, it doesnt detect, or work. It seems to totally bypass or somthing. I have the solid green light, but my tivo never mentions a tuning adapter, and there are no new channels, nor did tivo search for any new channels. I went to the diag screen and tried to "test" the sdv channels, but it said none available.
> 
> I called TWC and was told that they just got word moments after I picked up my tuner, to hold off distributing them, as there is a problem. I guess just hold onto it until they work out whatever problem they are having. It didn't work for me at all though.


Did you plug in the USB cable from the TA to the Tivo?

Also make sure you plugged the coax cable running from the TA to "Cable" and not to "Antennae" on the Tivo unit.

so it should be coax from the wall to the TA and then to the "Cable" port of your Tivo. Additionally there is a USB cable connection between TA and Tivo as well...

You should get a blue screen saying a Tuning Adapter has been discovered. Just hit continue and wait for awhile as it gets the new channels.


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## redwolf4k

I double checked that its all connected correctly, and also tried both USB ports on the tivo, but it doesnt give me a screen that says its detected. However, I am able to view the diagnostics screen of the tuning adapter on my tivo, so its there. When i try to go to the section to test the SDV channels, it says no channels available, and in the guide, the 10 channels that are supposed to be there, like ny1 hd and disney hd for example, are not in the guide, nor can i tune to them manually. It's like the adapter is there, but its not really doing anything.


----------



## dolfer

redwolf4k said:


> I double checked that its all connected correctly, and also tried both USB ports on the tivo, but it doesnt give me a screen that says its detected. However, I am able to view the diagnostics screen of the tuning adapter on my tivo, so its there. When i try to go to the section to test the SDV channels, it says no channels available, and in the guide, the 10 channels that are supposed to be there, like ny1 hd and disney hd for example, are not in the guide, nor can i tune to them manually. It's like the adapter is there, but its not really doing anything.


Don't drive yourself crazy... Take it back and get another one. I screwed around for months with what I now believe to be a defective unit. Once I got a new TA things were much better.


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## dlfl

redwolf4k said:


> I double checked that its all connected correctly, and also tried both USB ports on the tivo, but it doesnt give me a screen that says its detected. However, I am able to view the diagnostics screen of the tuning adapter on my tivo, so its there. When i try to go to the section to test the SDV channels, it says no channels available, and in the guide, the 10 channels that are supposed to be there, like ny1 hd and disney hd for example, are not in the guide, nor can i tune to them manually. It's like the adapter is there, but its not really doing anything.


That sounds very much like the symptoms I had when my TA needed to be "provisioned" (again). See this post.

Might be worth calling TWC support, asking them to check if your TA is provisioned correctly. If they can't do anything, ask to be connected to "National Cable Card Support".


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## eddieb187

redwolf4k said:


> Eddie,
> 
> I recieved my SDV tuning adapter as well. However, it doesnt detect, or work. It seems to totally bypass or somthing. I have the solid green light, but my tivo never mentions a tuning adapter, and there are no new channels, nor did tivo search for any new channels. I went to the diag screen and tried to "test" the sdv channels, but it said none available.
> 
> I called TWC and was told that they just got word moments after I picked up my tuner, to hold off distributing them, as there is a problem. I guess just hold onto it until they work out whatever problem they are having. It didn't work for me at all though.


The first time I connected my Tuning Adapter it did not work either.
As you I had the diag screen but no channels available.
You need to have a solid light on the TA.
At that point with everything connected restart you Tivo by going to Tivo Central, Message and Setting, Restart. 
When your Tivo reboots it will recognize the TA and aquire the guide and SDV channels.


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## apsarkis

redwolf4k said:


> I have TWC in the hudson valley area, in NY...
> When I went to get a TA, and found out there not ready


I was able to pick up one of the 3 TA's that were in stock in their Port Ewen office today, and a friend picked up one of the others. I have a Tivo HD and an S3, and was told they are not giving out TA's for the S3 because they don't work, but they gave me one for the THD. Their web site states explicitly that they support the S3:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/learn/cable/sdv/default.html
so I hooked the TA up to the S3 anyway, and it's working fine. I'll have to go back on Monday, with a printout of their web page, to see if they still have another TA for my THD.


----------



## spassmeister

I'm also a San Diego TWC customer with 2 series3s using wireless for tivo network connection. I've had two TAs for several months, and I've had many of the issues in this forum(re-botting, loss of channels, pixelation, etc.) since day 1. It became so bad on one of the units, that I removed the TA - willing to live with less than I was paying for for what was an immediate improvement in reliability. That is, some of the channels that did not require the TA were no longer working either ("searching for signal"). as I had more problems on one setup than the other. 

the situation deteriorated rapidly on both setups about 2-3 weeks ago. First I began intermittently losing many channels that had worked days earlier. This happened on both TiVos. I noticed that much of the programming was simply "not able to record" as there was no signal. I looked at the signal from the cable card on the pixelated channels and it was in the low 40s range and the SNR was like 25 dB. (tivo says this is far too low). I assumed something changed on the network side in San Diego and had a technician come out. The CSR told me during the diagnostic call that "the TAs always work - we've never had a problem" 

Well the TWC tech guy comes out yesterday, and it was truly pathetic. First, he had no extra TAs on his truck. He really knew almost nothing about TiVos or TAs. He checked the signal strength in the house and said it was "really high", and in fact the pioneer cable box in my office works great. So what does he do? He decides to disconnect the coax lines from the distribution box on my garage to "improve the signal". Seriously? He had just measured the signal and said it was great. I told him at this point "you realize of course what you are doing will do nothing to solve my problem, but it will take a long time." I did find out that Einstein did have two cable cards on his truck I had him get those and I replaced them on one unit and that did nothing, which is what I expected. 

Soooo...after rebooting EVERYTHING lots of times, upstairs and down, taking the TAs on and off, swapping out cable cards, etc., I've assuming TWC changed something on the network side that caused these problems. 

Has anybody else in San Diego on TWC recently (first weeks of october) seen had performance rapidly decline? I'm in CV


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## dlfl

I have the minimum digital service in the North Dayton area (Basic, Standard and Digital Variety Packages).

Using the technique given in this post, I've determined the HD channels that are delivered via SDV:

HMHD 1117
SCIHD 1132
APLHD 1133
PLDHD 1267
LMNHD 1278
ESPNUHD 1303
ESPNWHD 1305
GOLFHD 1316
MLBHD 1326
BIG10HD 1333
CNNHD 1350
CNBCHD 1355

I get 39 HD channels total.
7 are broadcast (locals, never use SDV)
12 (listed above) are SDV.

Of course there are many SD channels that are SDV. I'm not going to count them!


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## sddave

spassmeister said:


> Has anybody else in San Diego on TWC recently (first weeks of october) seen had performance rapidly decline? I'm in CV


Have no problems in Mira Mesa


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## joshuad156

Got my TA problem sorted out. Had to wait for a truck roll as the CSR was useless. I was unaware of asking for the "National Cable Card support" people, but I'll keep that in mind for next time. I did ask if there was another tier of support or someone else I could talk to and the CSR said a truck roll was our only option.

Unfortunately, the Technician who showed up had no available TAs to swap out. However, he was able to resolve my problem. The TA seemed to be getting good signal lock, but wasn't tuning on the SDV stations. He ordered a hit on my cable card, and in my disbelief after that my TA started working again.

Between dealing with TAs, the Cable Cards, advertisements on my TiVo, and CableCard programs being copy protected for no good reason, I'm about at the breaking point. I know not everything is TiVo's fault, but the lack of a good solution is really letting me down.


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## apsarkis

apsarkis said:


> I was able to pick up one of the 3 TA's that were in stock in their Port Ewen office today, and a friend picked up one of the others.


I stopped in the Port Ewen, NY office again today (10/21), and they're rationing out the TA's, just one to a customer until they get enough in, even though they've already started moving some premium channels to SDV (and have a massive addition to their HD lineup spread through the next month).
Perry


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## Stormspace

My Issue: Can't see recordings on My HD from my S2's.

OMG! Just spent two hours on the phone with support trying to figure out my issue. First guy had me disabling HME, enabling it, cycling my router , cable modem, TiVo's, and DHCP server. He checked the versions on two of the boxes, the S2 at 9.3.2b and the HD at 11.0d. Said the different versions were why I had a problem. Said that Series 2's weren't being updated any longer. I asked if TiVo was discontinuing support for them. He said no, I should just upgrade the other two boxes to HD. "Not with the CCI byte issue", I replied. "Tell me where TiVo has made an announcement that Series 2 support is being discontinued." He said please hold. Came back and told me he was escalating the call, transferred and drop! Hung up. 

Called immediately back and dude named Josh answered. Nice enough, but told me almost immediately that the HD had issues with the Tuning Adapter. Dude may have just told me what I wanted to hear, but I got another free month out of the deal. That's three months free total TiVo has given me for this issue. TiVo is well on it's way to paying me for the TiVo. I only paid 100.00 for it, from TiVo.

I'm starting to hate my HD TiVo...


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## AtariAge

I have two TiVo HD units that I am using with TWC Austin and the last several weeks I've gotten so frustrated with this setup that I'm very close to ditching TWC (for television at least) and jumping to DIRECTV. I can't keep track of the number of times I've tried tuning to a channel only to see the brief "Channel Not Available" message pop up, leaving behind a black screen. Sometimes tuning up and down will bring the channel back, sometimes not. At least once a week it seems I need to reboot one or both of my TiVos for all the channels to tune properly. 

The last few weeks in particular have been worse as I've had numerous programs not record because the signal is not available. This seems to coincide with when the Blockbuster rentals appeared, which I assume was added via a software update, but I didn't pay close attention at the time. It's very inconsistent and usually my TAs are not blinking when channels refuse to tune. I'm paying too much every month (to Time Warner and TiVo) for this to be such a headache. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If I can't get this working reliably, I'm selling my TiVos and switching to DIRECTV. Which pains me a bit, as I used to work at TiVo (back in 2000-2001) and have been a loyal customer for many years.

..Al


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## dlfl

Have you checked signal strength and SNR on the channels that give you the most trouble? Has TWC checked signal quality at your drop?

Also check the Tuner, FDC and RDC values for the Tuning Adapter per this post and the several posts before it.


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## AtariAge

dlfl said:


> Have you checked signal strength and SNR on the channels that give you the most trouble? Has TWC checked signal quality at your drop?


No, I haven't and no they haven't. The channels that give me trouble are ALL of the SDV channels. Which is quite a few of them, and stuff that I am often trying to record content on. Pretty much if I can't tune into one SDV channel (and going up/down doesn't work), it affects all of them. Sometimes rebooting the TA works, although that is a slow process, sometimes I have to actually reboot the TiVo.

TWC has not checked the signal quality since the installation, which was a royal pain in the neck. I think they were out here 10 times before they got everything working properly. They even brought extra people into my home one day to train them on Cablecard installation (nice). It's been frustrating from day one, to be honest, but at least it's mostly worked, even though the black screens when tuning to an SDV channel has always been an issue. But I wasn't having problems with recordings until just recently.

I haven't read through the 75 page SDV thread yet (*gasp*), or even completely through this thread to see what I should be looking at when I'm having problems. I'll gladly do some troubleshooting if I can get some pointers on what to look at when I'm experiencing issues (links to relevant threads/posts would be much appreciated).

Thanks,

..Al


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## dlfl

Also see the edit I just made to post #304.


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## dlfl

AtariAge said:


> No, I haven't and no they haven't. The channels that give me trouble are ALL of the SDV channels. ......


Are you sure it's just the SDV channels? Here is a link to how to determine if a channel is SDV.


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## AtariAge

dlfl said:


> Also check the Tuner, FDC and RDC values for the Tuning Adapter per this post and the several posts before it.


Thanks, I'll do that the next time I experience this issue on either of my boxes. This post pretty much sums up what I'm experiencing:

Arrgh, can't post links yet. So I'll quote,



lrhorer said:


> I have Cisco TAs, but I haven't seen this issue. What does happen form time to time is the TA just quits properly handshaking with the TiVo. When this happens, I usually lose not only all SDV channels, but frequently all encrypted channels, as well. When it happens, the TA must be rebooted, and sometimes the TiVo also. I've had it happen at different times on all three TiVos.


 ..Al


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## AtariAge

dlfl said:


> Are you sure it's just the SDV channels? Here is a link to how to determine if a channel is SDV.


In the past I went through one time and checked and it was only SDV channels. However, I know that sometimes (perhaps most of the time) when this happens it affects many/most/all HD channels. I never have a problem with SD channels, but then, I mostly watch HD content. I'll pay more attention in the future using the information in the post you linked.

Thanks,

..Al


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## dlfl

AtariAge said:


> In the past I went through one time and checked and it was only SDV channels. However, I know that sometimes (perhaps most of the time) when this happens it affects many/most/all HD channels. I never have a problem with SD channels, but then, I mostly watch HD content. I'll pay more attention in the future using the information in the post you linked.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> ..Al


On my TWC system there are a lot of SDV SD channels, so if this is a TA problem it seems puzzling it wouldn't affect SD channels too, although you may mainly watch non-SDV SD channels.

I would recommend checking the TA values before you have a problem so you have a reference point to see if any of them change with the problem. There are just the three values -- they aren't different for each channel.

I don't have the level of problems you do, but I have had problems and I attribute them all to the TA/SDV system. IMO this is definitely the weak link in the system, at least for TWC customers.


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## AtariAge

dlfl said:


> On my TWC system there are a lot of SDV SD channels, so if this is a TA problem it seems puzzling it wouldn't affect SD channels too, although you may mainly watch non-SDV SD channels.


It's quite possible that it's affecting the SD channels as well, but usually I'm in the 1500+ channels (all HD) when I experience this issue, and haven't spent a lot of time checking SD channels.



> I would recommend checking the TA values before you have a problem so you have a reference point to see if any of them change with the problem. There are just the three values -- they aren't different for each channel.


Good point, I'll do that.



> I don't have the level of problems you do, but I have had problems and I attribute them all to the TA/SDV system. IMO this is definitely the weak link in the system, at least for TWC customers.


It's pretty obvious that it's a TA issue and that all the kinks haven't been worked out of this system yet. I feel like a beta tester, without the benefits of being a beta tester.

..Al


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## ferror

AtariAge said:


> At least once a week it seems I need to reboot one or both of my TiVos for all the channels to tune properly.
> 
> The last few weeks in particular have been worse as I've had numerous programs not record because the signal is not available.


I have been noticing the exact same issue here in Austin with my setup. I also have two TiVo HD's with Tuning Adapters. I have been using them since the TAs were first available here, and went through all the pains of initially getting them working. For several months, they did work fairly well. Over the last few weeks something has changed. For me, I notice that a recording is missed, and when I look at the log it says the video signal was unavailable. When I check Live TV, I find that I cannot tune any channels at all (grey screen) on both of my TiVo units. The problem always happens to both units at the same time, and I have to reboot them to get the tuners working again.

This just happened to me today during the mid afternoon. I know it was recording shows earlier in the day and then sometime around 3:00pm they both stopped working. Something is causing the tuners to get kicked off the system and then they don't reconnect. Major problem. I can no longer go away from my TiVo units with confidence that they will actually record shows that I've programmed. I've missed quite a few shows lately that were aired only once due to this issue.

It is quite possible it has something to do with all the new "features" Time Warner has been adding (most of them won't work on the TiVo anyway, so it's a big minus for us). My other pet peeve with them is their habit of running weekly emergency system tests which often interrupt late night recordings, and other non-critical warnings like Flash Flood watches and Amber Alerts for domestic issues that are resolved 15 minutes later. Sometimes these are repeated over and over, rendering the TiVo completely useless for actually watching anything until whoever has their finger on the button cuts it out.

I'm with you on wishing there were another alternative for getting TiVo service without putting up with Time Warner. It makes me angry to be treated like a second-class customer because I don't use their box.


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## dwgsp

AtariAge said:


> I can't keep track of the number of times I've tried tuning to a channel only to see the brief "Channel Not Available" message pop up, leaving behind a black screen. Sometimes tuning up and down will bring the channel back, sometimes not. At least once a week it seems I need to reboot one or both of my TiVos for all the channels to tune properly.


I had been having a similar intermittent problem, until last week when the TA finally started continually blinking (eight blinks). Reboots, etc., did not help. I called TWC (Rochester, NY), and was immediately routed to an "HD Specialist" who theorized that the problem was caused by low cable signal strength. When I told him that I had been having an intermittent problem for as long as I have had the TA and that tuning up and down sometimes helped, he became even more convinced that it was a signal strength problem.

The TWC tech arrived the following day, and determined that low signal strength was indeed the problem. No big surprise here, because the coax line coming into my house was installed in the mid 1970's. He ran a new line, and the problem appears to be gone (so far).

The TWC HD Specialist also mentioned that the Tivo wireless adapter sometimes causes TA problems. I had not heard that before, and while my initial reaction is to be skeptical I thought I would mention it here in case someone who is experiencing problems wants to experiment.


----------



## AtariAge

ferror said:


> I have been noticing the exact same issue here in Austin with my setup. I also have two TiVo HD's with Tuning Adapters. I have been using them since the TAs were first available here, and went through all the pains of initially getting them working. For several months, they did work fairly well. Over the last few weeks something has changed.


I wonder if this is affecting many people in Austin who are using Tuning Adapters. Unfortunately, only a very small percentage of such people likely read (much less post in) this forum so it's difficult to gauge from our standpoint.



> It is quite possible it has something to do with all the new "features" Time Warner has been adding (most of them won't work on the TiVo anyway, so it's a big minus for us).


I wasn't aware that Time Warner was adding new features to their system. What are they adding? I have one of their DVRs setup in my office and it's atrocious. I basically use it for watching live TV and occasionally recording content on it (such as during the Tour de France). It pains me to use it otherwise. 



> My other pet peeve with them is their habit of running weekly emergency system tests which often interrupt late night recordings, and other non-critical warnings like Flash Flood watches and Amber Alerts for domestic issues that are resolved 15 minutes later. Sometimes these are repeated over and over, rendering the TiVo completely useless for actually watching anything until whoever has their finger on the button cuts it out.


This has to be, by far, the most infuriating thing I've ever seen on broadcast television. Supremely annoying if you are watching live television and these come on, much less repeat. Whoever mandated that these messages will interrupt whatever you're doing and you absolutely cannot do ANYTHING ELSE while the message SLOWLY SCROLLS ALONG should be shot. Repeatedly.



> I'm with you on wishing there were another alternative for getting TiVo service without putting up with Time Warner. It makes me angry to be treated like a second-class customer because I don't use their box.


Yeah, TiVo Cablecard/TA users are obviously not a high priority for them. 

..Al


----------



## AtariAge

dwgsp said:


> I had been having a similar intermittent problem, until last week when the TA finally started continually blinking (eight blinks). Reboots, etc., did not help. I called TWC (Rochester, NY), and was immediately routed to an "HD Specialist" who theorized that the problem was caused by low cable signal strength. When I told him that I had been having an intermittent problem for as long as I have had the TA and that tuning up and down sometimes helped, he became even more convinced that it was a signal strength problem.
> 
> The TWC tech arrived the following day, and determined that low signal strength was indeed the problem. No big surprise here, because the coax line coming into my house was installed in the mid 1970's. He ran a new line, and the problem appears to be gone (so far).


The house I'm in is relatively new (only a few years old) and the install techs spent a fair amount of time making sure the signal strength from all my jacks was strong. I'm skeptical that the wiring is the source of my issues.



> The TWC HD Specialist also mentioned that the Tivo wireless adapter sometimes causes TA problems. I had not heard that before, and while my initial reaction is to be skeptical I thought I would mention it here in case someone who is experiencing problems wants to experiment.


This is very interesting, I can't imagine how the TiVo wireless adapter would cause this sort of issue. I am using this adapter on both of my TiVos, and have been since my original installation. Since that aspect of my setup has not changed, this would be pretty low on my list of items to suspect. I'd love to know more about any correlation between the TiVo wireless adapter and TA problems.

..Al


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## ferror

AtariAge said:


> I wonder if this is affecting many people in Austin who are using Tuning Adapters. Unfortunately, only a very small percentage of such people likely read (much less post in) this forum so it's difficult to gauge from our standpoint.


I think many others are likely having the same problem; it's too big of a coincidence to be random, but a third person reporting the same issue here would be helpful to be sure.

I hate dealing with support on these kind of issues, but I might call in and complain about this tomorrow. I probably won't get anywhere with them, but perhaps if enough people call in about it someone will notice.



> I wasn't aware that Time Warner was adding new features to their system. What are they adding? I have one of their DVRs setup in my office and it's atrocious. I basically use it for watching live TV and occasionally recording content on it (such as during the Tour de France). It pains me to use it otherwise.


I'm referring to their new twists with on-demand service, such as "Start Over." This allows you to replay an in-progress show from the beginning. They are doing it now on some channels and are planning to expand it to more channels. They are also eventually planning on a service ("Go Back") that allows replaying anything that aired in the last 2 days. All this works via their video on demand mechanism, and is not available with cablecards.

The changes probably mean new firmware updates for their boxes, shuffling bandwidth around to squeeze in more video on demand, etc. This is probably causing an above average amount of "messing around" with the system by engineers throughout the day as they test features. Just a guess though.



> This has to be, by far, the most infuriating thing I've ever seen on broadcast television. Supremely annoying if you are watching live television and these come on, much less repeat. Whoever mandated that these messages will interrupt whatever you're doing and you absolutely cannot do ANYTHING ELSE while the message SLOWLY SCROLLS ALONG should be shot. Repeatedly.


Yes, almost any other implementation of this feature would be less irritating. How about popping up a message over the screen with the entire text of the message? When you press OK it gets out of your way. The current implementation seems to serve only one purpose -- to induce rage in the person reading the message so they want to destroy their TV. I'm not sure that person is going to be very helpful in any kind of emergency.


----------



## ferror

AtariAge said:


> This is very interesting, I can't imagine how the TiVo wireless adapter would cause this sort of issue. I am using this adapter on both of my TiVos, and have been since my original installation. Since that aspect of my setup has not changed, this would be pretty low on my list of items to suspect. I'd love to know more about any correlation between the TiVo wireless adapter and TA problems.


I don't have any wireless network adapters in my setup and still have the same issue.


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## cornholington

I've been running the TA and an HD TiVo for about a month.

The first install tech showed up without the TA, even though it was on the work order. We sent him packing.

Second tech brought the TA, but had a hard time getting it on the network. He bailed with the light still blinking.

After following the absurd, hobby kit-style directions (wait until light stops blinking, and only then plug in USB), I got everything working on my own.

Initially, I had a lot of trouble with the TA rebooting. I'd had all the troubles described in this thread and others: "Tuning Adapter now connected" causing interrupted recordings, playback, etc. I'd also had the TA reboot several times, only to fail to reconnect properly, forcing me to repeat the little reboot dance.

When reaching around the box to perform this dance (unplug USB and power, wait several seconds, re-attach power, wait for solid light, re-attach USB), I noticed this silly little box gets ridiculously hot. I'm sure some of this is due it's placement directly on top of my TiVo, but seriously.

My suspicion was that the high temperatures were causing the reboots (for one reason or another), so I set about trying to improve the TA's ventilation. I stuck some oversized rubber leg tips (maybe an inch high) from Ace Hardware to the bottom with some double-sided tape.

I've been running this "solution" for a couple of weeks now. It seems to have fixed the reboot issue, though I could just be getting lucky: my installation and early problems seem to have coincided with some network flakiness on TWCSD that might also have caused reboots.

The only issue I have now is some random appearance of pixelation on some HD channels. It hasn't happened to me tonight during the time I've been reading this monster thread, so I haven't been able to narrow down whether the channels in question are SDV or not, what frequencies they are, or collect S/N or signal strength readings for the affected channels. I am running my signal through the TA (wall to TA, TA to TiVo) with whatever cable the tech gave me, so I still have a lot of things to try..


----------



## dlfl

cornholington said:


> ..........The only issue I have now is some random appearance of pixelation on some HD channels. It hasn't happened to me tonight during the time I've been reading this monster thread, so I haven't been able to narrow down whether the channels in question are SDV or not, what frequencies they are, or collect S/N or signal strength readings for the affected channels. I am running my signal through the TA (wall to TA, TA to TiVo) with whatever cable the tech gave me, so I still have a lot of things to try..


Yeah, TA's and TWC are a fun combo all right!

I have the same random appearance of pixelation, and rarely freezes, on some channels, actually both HD and SD and mostly the SDV ones. It's not bad enough to be worth any more hassle trying to fix.

You should check signal strengths and SNR, and see this post for how to determine if a channel is SDV and also how to check three signal strength numbers for your TA.


----------



## Crrink

ferror said:


> I think many others are likely having the same problem; it's too big of a coincidence to be random, but a third person reporting the same issue here would be helpful to be sure.
> ...snip...


You can count me as the third.
Exactly what you described in your earlier post has happened to us twice in the last couple of weeks, today being the most recent event (well, last night, actually, but we didn't notice until today when the show we wanted to watch was nowhere to be found even though we saw the recording indicator in the NP List last night.)

Getting a single cable card and tuning adapter working was such a pain the first time that when I bought my second HD TiVo I decided to use it OTA only (I live down at the SW end of Circle C and can get a clean signal for all the broadcast stations with a good tabletop antenna.)
Rather than call and waste an hour on the phone with TWC customer care I'm planning to make a habit out of checking LiveTV whenever I'm done watching TV for the day. That should allow me to catch this problem the majority of the time...I think 

Good luck to you if you do call to complain.


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## AtariAge

Went to watch Mythbusters tonight on the TiVo in my bedroom, and of course it didn't record it. Tried tuning to 1618 (Discovery HD) and just get the "Channel Not Available" message for a split second and a black screen. Other HD channels are the same. 

I went to look at the Tuning Adapter diagnostics screen to look at the Tuner, RDC and FDC numbers, but was told that the diagnostics are not available. I rebooted the TA, but nothing changed. I'm rebooting the TiVo.

I have little faith that calling TWC will result in this issue being resolved. If someone does, through some miracle, actually get a resolution to this I'd love to hear it. Every day that goes by where my recordings are missing and/or I have to reboot my TiVo to watch TV is one day closer to my calling DIRECTV.

The fact that rebooting the TiVo will (temporarily) fix this issue really makes me wonder if TiVo is somewhat culpable. 

..Al


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## AtariAge

Okay, now that my TiVo has rebooted, I can get into the TA Diagnostics. Here are the values for Tuner, FDC and RDC: 

Tuner: -6 dBmV
FDC: -2 dBmV
RDC: 44 dbMv

..Al


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## dlfl

AtariAge said:


> Okay, now that my TiVo has rebooted, I can get into the TA Diagnostics. Here are the values for Tuner, FDC and RDC:
> 
> Tuner: -6 dBmV
> FDC: -2 dBmV
> RDC: 44 dbMv
> 
> ..Al


As you should have seen in the posts I linked, these are acceptable values AFAIK. Unfortunately it looks like you may not be able to read these values when things are "bad". However they are important, since they are OK during normal times. If they were out of range that would be suspicious.

What was the TA light doing when you discovered the latest problem?

When you rebooted the TA, did you also disconnect then re-connect the USB to TiVo? This might save you having to reboot the TiVo. After you reboot the TA, wait until the TA light is either solid or blinking the 6-blink-pause sequence before reconnecting the USB.

Whenever you're done trying things I think it would be worth a call to TiVo support. Hopefully they will get you connected to TWC's National Cable Card Support people, who are your best shot at actually knowing what is going on. This is the way it worked for me when my TA lost provisioning.


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## AtariAge

dlfl said:


> As you should have seen in the posts I linked, these are acceptable values AFAIK. Unfortunately it looks like you may not be able to read these values when things are "bad". However they are important, since they are OK during normal times. If they were out of range that would be suspicious.


Good to know those are "normal" values, thanks. The next time this happens on either of my boxes I'll try going into the TA diagnostics screen again to see if I'm able to access it. The fact that I wasn't able to last night certainly suggest that TiVo has lost communication with the TA for some reason.



> What was the TA light doing when you discovered the latest problem?


It was solid green.



> When you rebooted the TA, did you also disconnect then re-connect the USB to TiVo? This might save you having to reboot the TiVo. After you reboot the TA, wait until the TA light is either solid or blinking the 6-blink-pause sequence before reconnecting the USB.


The first thing I tried was unplugging the USB and plugging it back in. This did nothing. I then rebooted the TA, but did not try disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable after it was finished booting. Next time I will try that and see if it saves me having to reboot the TiVo.



> Whenever you're done trying things I think it would be worth a call to TiVo support. Hopefully they will get you connected to TWC's National Cable Card Support people, who are your best shot at actually knowing what is going on. This is the way it worked for me when my TA lost provisioning.


I believe I've become quite cynical towards support for technical issues of this nature, but I am willing to give TiVo support at least one call to see what they can do. 

Thanks,

..Al


----------



## Thistledown

This problem is infuriating. I have the STA1520 on two Tivo's (one an S3 and one an HD). They both exhibit the same problem -- random locking of the STA1520. When the device locks, I can't tune any HD channels, and they can't be powered off with the button on the front. The way I resolve the problem is to pull the plug on the STA1520, and then reboot the Tivo. Perhaps rebooting the Tivo alone fixes this problem, but I haven't tried that yet. I do know that only power cycling the STA1520 doesn't fix the problem, but it does fix the locking of the tuning adapter such that the power button works.

I love the Tivo interface, but I'm seriously considering switching to another provider such as DirecTV. I shouldn't have to micromanage my DVR. I never had to in the past.


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## AtariAge

Thistledown said:


> This problem is infuriating. I have the STA1520 on two Tivo's (one an S3 and one an HD). They both exhibit the same problem -- random locking of the STA1520. When the device locks, I can't tune any HD channels, and they can't be powered off with the button on the front. The way I resolve the problem is to pull the plug on the STA1520, and then reboot the Tivo. Perhaps rebooting the Tivo alone fixes this problem, but I haven't tried that yet. I do know that only power cycling the STA1520 doesn't fix the problem, but it does fix the locking of the tuning adapter such that the power button works.


Well, you are now the fourth person from Austin chiming in with this issue, so I think that's enough data to demonstrate that there is something awry going on.



> I love the Tivo interface, but I'm seriously considering switching to another provider such as DirecTV. I shouldn't have to micromanage my DVR. I never had to in the past.


I agree--I'm a very technical person, but as you said, having to micromanage my DVR is the last thing I really want to have to worry about. When I sit down at the end of a long day to watch some television (which I don't do a heck of a lot of), I want whatever programs I recorded to be ready to go. Instead of relaxing recently I've just been getting frustrated.

..Al


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## dlfl

Thistledown said:


> This problem is infuriating. I have the STA1520 on two Tivo's (one an S3 and one an HD). They both exhibit the same problem -- random locking of the STA1520. When the device locks, I can't tune any HD channels, and they can't be powered off with the button on the front. The way I resolve the problem is to pull the plug on the STA1520, and then reboot the Tivo. Perhaps rebooting the Tivo alone fixes this problem, but I haven't tried that yet. I do know that only power cycling the STA1520 doesn't fix the problem, but it does fix the locking of the tuning adapter such that the power button works.
> 
> I love the Tivo interface, but I'm seriously considering switching to another provider such as DirecTV. I shouldn't have to micromanage my DVR. I never had to in the past.


You might avoid having to reboot the TiVo by unplugging the USB cable before you reboot the TA then wait for a solid green light or the 6-blink-pause sequence before connecting the USB.

Also be sure you're TA is getting some ventilation.

Have to agree there's a pattern in Austin.


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## fcflint

I am another TWC user in Austin with two HD Tivos with TAs who lost all ability to watch or record any channel this week. Rebooting the systems solved the problem, but I called in anyway to complain. They gave me a refund on my HD Tier bill for 90 days and transferred me to support who promptly told me this was a common problem with TAs. The inference made was that I should just accept it and shut up. 

I hate this crap. 

In my case, I discovered there was a problem after being away for a couple of days and all my scheduled recordings were either blank or not present. it kinda defeats the purpose of having a DVR if you have to watch live TV several times a day to ensure they are working properly, especially if you are away from home quite a bit.


----------



## dlfl

fcflint said:


> I am another TWC user in Austin with two HD Tivos with TAs who lost all ability to watch or record any channel this week. Rebooting the systems solved the problem, but I called in anyway to complain. They gave me a refund on my HD Tier bill for 90 days and transferred me to support who promptly told me this was a common problem with TAs. The inference made was that I should just accept it and shut up.
> 
> I hate this crap.
> ...........


You've got to realize TiVo digital subscribers are not part of TWC's business plan! They would be happy if we just vanished, or even better, switched to their DVR's.

Won't it be satisfying whenever you get away from TWC ?


----------



## fcflint

dlfl said:


> You've got to realize TiVo digital subscribers are not part of TWC's business plan! They would be happy if we just vanished, or even better, switched to their DVR's.
> 
> Won't it be satisfying whenever you get away from TWC ?


YES!

I have a Home Theater PC wit four HD Tuner cards in it, and it works perfectly day after day, year after year.

I don't blame my Tivo for these problems, but I am growing to hate TWC more every day.


----------



## AtariAge

fcflint said:


> I am another TWC user in Austin with two HD Tivos with TAs who lost all ability to watch or record any channel this week. Rebooting the systems solved the problem, but I called in anyway to complain. They gave me a refund on my HD Tier bill for 90 days and transferred me to support who promptly told me this was a common problem with TAs. The inference made was that I should just accept it and shut up.


Seriously? If I call TWC and I get this same response, my next phone call will be to DIRECTV and my next call to TWC will be to cancel my television service. I sure hope new DIRECTV TiVo boxes are still coming out next year.

..Al


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## fcflint

AtariAge said:


> Seriously? If I call TWC and I get this same response, my next phone call will be to DIRECTV and my next call to TWC will be to cancel my television service. I sure hope new DIRECTV TiVo boxes are still coming out next year.
> 
> ..Al


All of my experience with DIRECTV is that their HD signals look terrible - and I have many friends and family members with DIRECTV. I don't need low quality TV, I'd rather read a book.


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## AtariAge

fcflint said:


> All of my experience with DIRECTV is that their HD signals look terrible - and I have many friends and family members with DIRECTV. I don't need low quality TV, I'd rather read a book.


I haven't looked at DIRECTV in a long time. I will need to do so before I make any decision to switch. PQ isn't that great with Time Warner either. U-Verse is another option for me, but not sure I want to go down that road. Had that early in the year before I moved to my current residence and I wasn't happy with their HD picture quality.

..Al


----------



## macwhizROC

apsarkis said:


> I stopped in the Port Ewen, NY office again today (10/21), and they're rationing out the TA's, just one to a customer until they get enough in, even though they've already started moving some premium channels to SDV (and have a massive addition to their HD lineup spread through the next month).
> Perry


Having read about problems getting TAs in the Hudson Valley, I called TWC last week and asked if they had any TAs in the Port Ewen office that I could pick up on the weekend. They called the Port Ewen office and they gladly held one for me.

So, try calling in and asking nicely before you make the trip


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## AtariAge

Got home a few minutes ago to find that the TiVo HD in my living room was completely locked up. Black screen, not responding to input, and not even displaying the yellow LED when pressing a key on the remote. The Tuning Adapter was blinking, and I power cycled it. 

I rebooted the TiVo and after it finished booting I hit the "Live TV" buton. The menu went away (but the background video continued playing) but the TiVo locked up again.  After booting the TiVo a second time it seems to have worked (it's acquiring guide data now). 

Patience quickly dwindling. Haven't even checked the TiVo upstairs yet.

..Al


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## AtariAge

Finally went upstairs to look at the TiVo in my bedroom, and it also was completely locked up. Both recording LEDs were active, but the TiVo was not outputting a video signal and not responding to the remote (no yellow LED when pressing buttons on the remote). The TA light was solid green. Rebooting now. 

This is getting quite ridiculous. I am sad. 

..Al


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## Max Camber

Add me to the list of people having trouble with TWC in Austin, TX (well, Cedar Park)

TiVo HD + Cisco STA1520 tuning adapter

Symptoms:
- Loss of SDV channels
- TA light is solid green
- TA does not respond to power button
- Tivo is unable to access TA diagnostics screen

Tivo support has some sort of tech bulletin regarding "corrupted packets" locking up the Cisco tuning adapters but is unable to give me any info related to firmware revisions or possible solutions.

I have a tech coming back today to swap out the TA but it sounds like that isn't going to do much. I'll do my best to get this escalated ASAP.

The above symptoms are 100% TA related, but I'm also dealing with a hot signal issue (according to Tivo support). The Tivo is always pegged at 100% signal strength with a SNR of 38-40 dB. Tivo support suggested that I should target 80-85% and 32-35 dB. The TWC tech said that there was no such thing as too much signal and the line test looked good. I've tried attenuators but they drop the high frequency channels (700 MHZ+) below 50% strength and 29 dB long before bringing the low frequency channels to the suggested levels. Not sure if it is related, but it probably isn't helping the situation at all.


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## AtariAge

Max Camber said:


> Add me to the list of people having trouble with TWC in Austin, TX (well, Cedar Park)


I'm in Round Rock, for what it's worth. Thanks for your additional information. I hope there is ultimately a solution to this problem, and something relatively soon.

..Al


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## dlfl

Max Camber said:


> ........I'm also dealing with a hot signal issue (according to Tivo support). The Tivo is always pegged at 100% signal strength with a SNR of 38-40 dB. Tivo support suggested that I should target 80-85% and 32-35 dB. The TWC tech said that there was no such thing as too much signal and the line test looked good. I've tried attenuators but they drop the high frequency channels (700 MHZ+) below 50% strength and 29 dB long before bringing the low frequency channels to the suggested levels. Not sure if it is related, but it probably isn't helping the situation at all.


TiVo support documents say 80-99 is the recommended range and as low as 65 is OK for the HD. I don't believe the 65. I think you need 80 or above.

TiVo is right that you can have too much signal for an HD tuner -- TWC is wrong.

I have variations across the channels like you, so when I get the lowest signals around 80 about a third of my signals are 100 (or above -- you don't know from the reading). I know they are only slightly above 100 because of what they were before I removed an attenuator. I seem to get by with them slightly above 100, I'm guessing 105 or less. Of course I do get occasional pixelation and freezing on some channels. I don't know if that's worst on the channels that are above 100.

TWC can measure signal strengths but I've heard they only do it at a few different frequencies. I don't know if they can do anything to make them more uniform across all channels.

Unless your cabling is new, it may pay to examine all cables, connectors and splitters that you can reach and replace any that might be old. I see posts where people say the cable co replaced splitters but I don't know if they did it for free or not. I think I'm responsible for the cabling inside my house but maybe not.


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## SCSIRAID

Rather than looking at the signal levels, I would be looking at the RS Corrected and Uncorrected values. A lot of Uncorrected's could indicated a signal issue. If signal level is 100 but Uncorrected's hold at zero then all is well. Note that every time you change channels, the RS Statistics clear to zero. You can look at time since tune start to see how long of a period the RS stats 'covers'. My signal strengths run right at 100 or just a little under on my S3 and I have no problems (except for SDV channels but that is a different problem).


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## woodburger

Also in Austin on TW. TA has dropped channels lately. ("Channel unavailable") A reboot restores. Now TiVo (2 cable cards) is also crapping out - i.e.: needs reboot. Last night TiVo refused any remote control, just came up black screen. Unplugging and replugging brought it back.

I don't know where to start. I sure don't trust that shows will be recorded.


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## Max Camber

SCSIRAID said:


> If signal level is 100 but Uncorrected's hold at zero then all is well.


The RS Corrected/Uncorrected values do not change even though my signal must be well above 100% on the lower frequency channels and I routinely get audio drops, frozen picture, and macro-blocking. I can generate errors by disconnecting or heavily attenuating the signal so I know the counters are still working.

I'm posting my numbers here in case they turn out to be relevant to the tuning adapter issue, but for now I'm assuming it is a separate problem.



Code:


		  117 MHZ	  345 MHz	  585 MHz	  771 MHZ
Attenuator	Str	SNR	Str	SNR	Str	SNR	Str	SNR

   None		100	39	100	38	100	38	100	36
   3 dB		100	38	100	38	100	37	 81	34
   6 dB		100	38	100	37	100	36	 62	32
 6+3 dB		100	37	 93	35	 87	35	 44	29
  10 dB		100	37	 93	35	 87	34	 44	29
10+3 dB		 87	35	 75	33	 68	32	  -	 -
10+6 dB		 75	33	 56	31	 45	29	  -	 -


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## SCSIRAID

Max Camber said:


> The RS Corrected/Uncorrected values do not change even though my signal must be well above 100% on the lower frequency channels and I routinely get audio drops, frozen picture, and macro-blocking. I can generate errors by disconnecting or heavily attenuating the signal so I know the counters are still working.
> 
> I'm posting my numbers here in case they turn out to be relevant to the tuning adapter issue, but for now I'm assuming it is a separate problem.
> 
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> 117 MHZ	  345 MHz	  585 MHz	  771 MHZ
> Attenuator	Str	SNR	Str	SNR	Str	SNR	Str	SNR
> 
> None		100	39	100	38	100	38	100	36
> 3 dB		100	38	100	38	100	37	 81	34
> 6 dB		100	38	100	37	100	36	 62	32
> 6+3 dB		100	37	 93	35	 87	35	 44	29
> 10 dB		100	37	 93	35	 87	34	 44	29
> 10+3 dB		 87	35	 75	33	 68	32	  -	 -
> 10+6 dB		 75	33	 56	31	 45	29	  -	 -


If you are getting breakups/pixelations with RS Uncorrected remaining zero then the problem is coming from the provider or there is something wrong with the mpeg TWC is generating or your TiVo is busted (HDD possibly). Are these problems on linear channels or just SDV channels?


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## Max Camber

SCSIRAID said:


> If you are getting breakups/pixelations with RS Uncorrected remaining zero then the problem is coming from the provider or there is something wrong with the mpeg TWC is generating or your TiVo is busted (HDD possibly). Are these problems on linear channels or just SDV channels?


Looks like just the SDV channels so far. I noticed some comments in the Pixelation Troubleshooting thread (starting at #1190) about not seeing RS errors on SDV channels and wondering if that might apply.

I feel like I'm trying to troubleshoot multiple independent issues but all I get from TiVo and TWC is a lot of useless finger pointing.


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## Max Camber

Not sure whether I should be posting here or in Pixelation Troubleshooting, but it seems like the issue is related to TWC SDV.

I just had my tuning adapter swapped out for a new (fresh from the box) unit and within a few minutes I started seeing pixelation on some of the HD SDV channels. My understanding is that these numbers are right in the sweet spot for the TiVo:

Channel: 1615 TLCHD (729 MHz)
Signal Strength: 93
SNR: 35 dB
RS Uncorrected: 0
RS Corrected: 0

At this point I think the TiVo tech support analysis of "too much signal" was wrong and this is actually an encoding/decoding problem as suggested by SCSIRAID in the SDV thread.


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## dlfl

Max Camber said:


> Not sure whether I should be posting here or in Pixelation Troubleshooting, but it seems like the issue is related to TWC SDV.
> 
> I just had my tuning adapter swapped out for a new (fresh from the box) unit and within a few minutes I started seeing pixelation on some of the HD SDV channels. My understanding is that these numbers are right in the sweet spot for the TiVo:
> 
> Channel: 1615 TLCHD (729 MHz)
> Signal Strength: 93
> SNR: 35 dB
> RS Uncorrected: 0
> RS Corrected: 0
> 
> At this point I think the TiVo tech support analysis of "too much signal" was wrong and this is actually an encoding/decoding problem as suggested by SCSIRAID in the SDV thread.


If you've been reading this thread you know there has been a flurry of TA problems in the Austin area -- however the symptoms are much worse than just some pixelation.

I agree with your analysis, but just to be thorough, how about your cabling, connectors and splitters? Are they all relatively new and in good condition? Also, a long shot, the short cable that comes in the new TA box used to be notoriously bad. Did the installer replace it with one he/she made up?

I get occasional pixelation and even freezes on some of my channels and my numbers are like yours. The only possible explanation I know of is just encoding parameters that the TiVo decoders can't handle, but which TWC's STB and DVR decoders do handle. I guess it's not impossible my problems could be cable/connector/splitter related. The house is 10 years old so I have just been assuming they should be OK. Frankly I'm afraid to have TWC mess with it. They might make things, including my internet, worse!


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## InvaderZim

Just to chime in, I have two month-old TIVO-HDXL units with TAs, TWCable in Austin. Both hung up last night about an hour apart -- one with the black screen on all channels (not just switched), the second with a frozen screen. Rebooting both TIVO fixed the problem but the one with a black screen hadn't recorded anything over the previous 18 hours.

Switched video went out earlier this week. I've already had TW out twice before, and each time it was resolved with them rebooting (I tried that, didn't fix it), then calling their support line and sending the adapter EMMs. This time, I followed the procedure described elsewhere in TivoCommunity -- unplug power and USB from the TA, count to 60, plug in power, wait for the light to go solid the second time, plug in USB. That fixed the switched channels on both TIVOs immediately -- no TIVO reboot required.

My signal strength is 87 on both TIVOs. It was 95 until the last tech messed with some stuff outside the house to bring the levels down a bit.

So I hope TWAustin figures out whatever is hanging the TAs.


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## Max Camber

dlfl said:


> If you've been reading this thread you know there has been a flurry of TA problems in the Austin area -- however the symptoms are much worse than just some pixelation.
> 
> I agree with your analysis, but just to be thorough, how about your cabling, connectors and splitters? Are they all relatively new and in good condition? Also, a long shot, the short cable that comes in the new TA box used to be notoriously bad. Did the installer replace it with one he/she made up?
> 
> I get occasional pixelation and even freezes on some of my channels and my numbers are like yours. The only possible explanation I know of is just encoding parameters that the TiVo decoders can't handle, but which TWC's STB and DVR decoders do handle. I guess it's not impossible my problems could be cable/connector/splitter related. The house is 10 years old so I have just been assuming they should be OK. Frankly I'm afraid to have TWC mess with it. They might make things, including my internet, worse!


I also have the problem with the TA locking up. Mine has never caused issues with the TiVo itself, but obviously I do lose all the SDV channels. The replacement TA is still running fine but it's only been about 6 hours.

I gutted the old coax and replaced it with quad shielded RG6 using compression fittings. I have a direct feed from outside into my patch panel and a single 2-way splitter feeding the TiVo and one other TV so there isn't much to go wrong. I don't have a cable modem or TW phone service so my setup is about as pristine as you can get for testing.

I'm not sure what else I can do on the TA locking up issue other than log the times when it happens. With the pixelation issue I can at least continue to gather data and hopefully get it into the right hands at some point.


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## Max Camber

As far as I can tell, the SDV channels range from 705 MHz to 747 MHz in 6 MHz increments. Last night I sat and watched a channel at each frequency until I saw pixelation and then moved to the next frequency. Every SDV frequency showed some pixelation, typically within the first 10 minutes. Signal levels were always within the TiVo recommended range and RS errors stayed at zero in all cases.


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## SCSIRAID

Max Camber said:


> As far as I can tell, the SDV channels range from 705 MHz to 747 MHz in 6 MHz increments. Last night I sat and watched a channel at each frequency until I saw pixelation and then moved to the next frequency. Every SDV frequency showed some pixelation, typically within the first 10 minutes. Signal levels were always within the TiVo recommended range and RS errors stayed at zero in all cases.


Is it ONLY the SDV channels that have the problem? That is the problem we have been chasing here in Raleigh. TWC/Cisco/Tivo are involved. The theory is that it is an MPEG Incompatibility between the Cisco rate shaper and TiVo.


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## Max Camber

SCSIRAID said:


> Is it ONLY the SDV channels that have the problem? That is the problem we have been chasing here in Raleigh. TWC/Cisco/Tivo are involved. The theory is that it is an MPEG Incompatibility between the Cisco rate shaper and TiVo.


Yes, I believe it is limited to the SDV channels only. Sorry I forgot to include that in my last post. I can't confirm it 100% but I've watched several hours of HD on broadcast channels with no issues today. I'm logging everything at this point (times, channels, frequencies, signal levels) so I'll post an update if I see it on anything other than SDV. I'm happy to pass along any of my info if it will help them narrow down the problem.


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## texaslabrat

Count me in as another Austin TA-locking-up victim. I noticed that we are still running .0701 firmware. I tried calling customer support to inquire about a firmware upgrade. They were clueless as expected, and suggest that I go to the service center and ask there. Um, yeah..I'm going to stand in line for 2 hours just to ask a question that the tech support people should know and be able to tell me over the phone. I'll try again during the week...the weekend crew seems to be made up of just warm bodies to answer phones and I've had pretty good luck talking to the techs in the late evenings during the week. /crosses fingers.

But in the mean time, it really seems to be a memory leak issue in the way it behaves...it is fine for stretches at a time and then locks up. So, to mitigate the issue for now, I've put the tivo and the TA on a separate power strip with a power switch. Once or twice a week I power cycle both of them as I'm going to bed and that seems to keep the problem at bay (for me, at least).


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## spassmeister

While the number of us in San Diego who have posted with the TWC/TA issue is fewer than in Austin, the similarity is uncanny (at least with my experience here): something changed in the past 6-8 weeks. I've had my TAs (two of them) since they were available earlier this year. Never had these issues. Recently the issue I saw in San Diego appeared in Austin as well, also with TWC. I too have learned that a weekly reboot has become necessary. Since we're the red-headed step children of customers with our TiVos and cable cards, only a threat of litigation will induce TWC to actually address the issue with somebody capable of solving it. At this point...or maybe endless truck rolls by everybody on the thread.


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## Max Camber

Truck roll #3 tomorrow. It's been upgraded to "unresolved problem" status so I'm slowly working my way up the chain. My goal is to get this to the point where you can talk to tech support and say "I have a TiVo, a Cisco tuning adapter, and am experiencing problem X" so that they stop treating this like a brand new problem each time someone calls in.


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## txporter

I will add my name to the list of folks with TA issues in Austin. I actually started having Tivo lockups a couple of months back. I had a lot of difficulty getting the adapters to initialize at all (one did eventually, the other never did). I began to have issues with being unable to tune any channel as others have. I got fed up. Both of my TAs are now sitting unattached to my TivoHDs. I hope that it does get fixed, but I would rather have no SDV channels than have random times with NO channels recording.


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## Max Camber

Nothing to report on the tuning adapter front at this time. Mine is still running fine but as soon as it locks up I will put in another call.

As for pixelation issues, the TWC tech set up one of their DVRs and we both recorded the same channel (1624 SCIHD) until there was a noticeable glitch on the TiVo. There was no matching glitch on the TWC DVR and neither unit showed any corrected/uncorrected blocks. I know this isn't surprising at all, but it helps rule out a few more things and still fits with the Cisco rate shaper theory.


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## SCSIRAID

Max Camber said:


> Nothing to report on the tuning adapter front at this time. Mine is still running fine but as soon as it locks up I will put in another call.
> 
> As for pixelation issues, the TWC tech set up one of their DVRs and we both recorded the same channel (1624 SCIHD) until there was a noticeable glitch on the TiVo. There was no matching glitch on the TWC DVR and neither unit showed any corrected/uncorrected blocks. I know this isn't surprising at all, but it helps rule out a few more things and still fits with the Cisco rate shaper theory.


Yup... that is exactly what happens here. I will have some mpeg soon captured from the shaper that corrosponds with the glitches seen on TiVo. It will be interesting if the glitch occurs when i TTG it to TiVo.


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## dlfl

I have a closely related question:

Is it possible for SDV channel streams that originate at the same head end to arrive at two different drops (perhaps on different nodes) with differences in mpeg2 encoding? Or, in other words, can they get re-encoded at some point downstream of the head end? (I've heard the term "QAM Edge" used.)

I have occasional pixelation and some freezes on some channels, mostly SDV, maybe all. My RS error counts are always very low, almost always zeros. As I undertand it this means my TiVo is getting exactly the distributed digital signal to decode, correct? BTW there are many HD and SD stations on which I don't get any such glitches, and both my tuners read the same numbers for any given station. I've ruled out hard drive problems based on this and other factors (available upon request).

So here's an example that leads to my question:
My system just added an SDV HD channel (MNBCHD). I get frequent pixelation and freezes. I've determined that another TiVo user located about ten miles from me on the same cable system (but probably not on the same node) is NOT getting these problems -- and he watched for 45 minutes.
Again Signal Strrength, SNR, error counts are all good.

I can't imagine any explanation for this other than the other person is actually being fed a different signal than I am. (????)


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## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> I have a closely related question:
> 
> Is it possible for SDV channel streams that originate at the same head end to arrive at two different drops (perhaps on different nodes) with differences in mpeg2 encoding? Or, in other words, can they get re-encoded at some point downstream of the head end? (I've heard the term "QAM Edge" used.)
> 
> I have occasional pixelation and some freezes on some channels, mostly SDV, maybe all. My RS error counts are always very low, almost always zeros. As I undertand it this means my TiVo is getting exactly the distributed digital signal to decode, correct? BTW there are many HD and SD stations on which I don't get any such glitches, and both my tuners read the same numbers for any given station. I've ruled out hard drive problems based on this and other factors (available upon request).
> 
> So here's an example that leads to my question:
> My system just added an SDV HD channel (MNBCHD). I get frequent pixelation and freezes. I've determined that another TiVo user located about ten miles from me on the same cable system (but probably not on the same node) is NOT getting these problems -- and he watched for 45 minutes.
> Again Signal Strrength, SNR, error counts are all good.
> 
> I can't imagine any explanation for this other than the other person is actually being fed a different signal than I am. (????)


I would expect the answer to be 'no' but it could depend on the layout of the system. My understanding of our system here in Raleigh is that the rate shaping is done at the head end and then distributed to the hubs. The Edge QAM's in the hubs should all receive the same rate shaped source and then assemble the requested streams into transport streams for modulating onto a QAM carrier and shipping to the individual nodes that the particular Edge QAM serves.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/col...ps9258/product_data_sheet0900aecd806cec44.pdf


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## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> I would expect the answer to be 'no' but it could depend on the layout of the system. My understanding of our system here in Raleigh is that the rate shaping is done at the head end and then distributed to the hubs. The Edge QAM's in the hubs should all receive the same rate shaped source and then assemble the requested streams into transport streams for modulating onto a QAM carrier and shipping to the individual nodes that the particular Edge QAM serves.
> 
> http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/col...ps9258/product_data_sheet0900aecd806cec44.pdf


What could be other explanations? Could it be decryption errors, perhaps caused by a bad CableCARD? Wouldn't that show up on all encrypted channels? If one of the mpeg2 decoders is defective, it seems unlikely it would be just as bad on both tuners, and also not so bad or not bad at all on other channels. What else could do it?


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## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> What could be other explanations? Could it be decryption errors, perhaps caused by a bad CableCARD? Wouldn't that show up on all encrypted channels? If one of the mpeg2 decoders is defective, it seems unlikely it would be just as bad on both tuners, and also not so bad or not bad at all on other channels. What else could do it?


The Edge QAM could be doing something wierd to the Transport Stream it is creating based on what mix of streams is on the QAM. That will be different between service groups and could lead to different behavior across service groups. Ive had my suspicious about this all along. TWC believes otherwise so we are trying to confirm/deny MPEG encoder first.


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## texaslabrat

Max Camber said:


> Not sure whether I should be posting here or in Pixelation Troubleshooting, but it seems like the issue is related to TWC SDV.
> 
> I just had my tuning adapter swapped out for a new (fresh from the box) unit and within a few minutes I started seeing pixelation on some of the HD SDV channels. My understanding is that these numbers are right in the sweet spot for the TiVo:
> 
> Channel: 1615 TLCHD (729 MHz)
> Signal Strength: 93
> SNR: 35 dB
> RS Uncorrected: 0
> RS Corrected: 0
> 
> At this point I think the TiVo tech support analysis of "too much signal" was wrong and this is actually an encoding/decoding problem as suggested by SCSIRAID in the SDV thread.


What was the signal strength on the OTHER tuner at the time? Reason I ask is that I noticed something very interesting the other night. I was trying to replicate "on demand" the SDV "black screen until tune up and back down" issue. I didnt' have much luck (of course...watched pot never boils and all that) until I had inadvertently left a tuner on ESPN-HD after tuning to it to compare signal metrics with SDV channels. Turns out that ESPN-HD is a VERY high-strength channel in my house (dunno if it's universal...), and after leaving that tuner on ESPN-HD, I was able to cause the SDV failure about every 3rd channel change. Even after a 6dB pad was installed between the TA and the Tivo, the ESPN-HD signal strength was still reading 100%. And still, the SDV channel changing issues remained (but reduced a bit in frequency to maybe one in 10 channel change attempts). Swapped the 6dB pad for a 12dB pad...ESPN-HD finally dropped below 100% (runs about 93% or so), and I haven't seen a single SDV channel change issue since (though a few other channels now drop out due to low signal strength but luckily I never watch them..and I can always play around with the attenuation amount to find the optimal spot later if this pans out). So, it seems to be an issue of signal strength overall that the tuners are dealing with, and not necessarily just the one that you are trying to watch at that moment.

It's only been 2 days, so it's a bit short on the sample size (I've given my wife marching orders to record the time and channels tuned to if she runs into the issue during the day)...but I have to say that I'm encouraged. I'm hoping that this will also help the TA-locking-up thing as well. It may very well be that the overly-hot signal is causing the Tivo to do all sorts of weird things...possibly even crashing the TA via spurious USB commands. Just a theory, but I thought I'd pass along my prelimary findings in case someone might find them useful. I'll post a followup in a few days.


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## Effinay

Effinay said:


> I had the same issue last Tuesday with my TA. After calling my local office, they actually GAVE me the direct number to call for the "Tru 2-Way Specialists" (which I found out later that was a no-no) to fix my blinking TA. I spoke with a guy named Mike, who promptly sent some codes to my TA. I wa at work at the time, so I didn't know if that fixed the problem until later that night.
> Well, it didn't fix it. So I called back a couple days later (the ticket was still open) and actually talked to the same guy. He remembered my call and stated I was the first person to call about this issue. I guess nearly everyone with a TA started having issues last week or soon after... at least in the SW Ohio area. He was surprised that sending the signals to my TA didn't fix it the first time. He put me on hold and called a local field tech and asked him to try something.
> After about 10 minutes, the TA stopped blinking and the light turned off. I pressed the power button and the light was steady. I've had no problems since.
> Someone really messed up at TW and caused all of us some headaches, but I'm glad that the issue was recognized and fixed fairly promptly. I just hope it doesn't happen again.


Tuning adapter started blinking again today. Tried to do everything I could without calling TW. After about 20 minutes of rebooting/unplugging stuff, I gave up and called. They had to reinit the box again. Why does this keep happenning? Are they just trying to annoy those of us who use the TAs in an effort to get us to switch from TiVo? This is starting to become a PITA.


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## dlfl

Effinay said:


> Tuning adapter started blinking again today. Tried to do everything I could without calling TW. After about 20 minutes of rebooting/unplugging stuff, I gave up and called. They had to reinit the box again. Why does this keep happenning? Are they just trying to annoy those of us who use the TAs in an effort to get us to switch from TiVo? This is starting to become a PITA.


If the blink sequence is 8-blinks-then-pause, I believe you can assume you need to be "hit" again -- try one TA reboot and usb unplug/plug -- don't waste any more time rebooting your TiVo, etc.

This started happening in SW Ohio a month ago -- TWC is really screwed up some way or another.

I also talked to Mike when it happened to me. Nice guy but by now I would think he would be yelling pretty loud at TWC, SW OH.


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## AtariAge

Well guys, this issue went away for a few days, but it's back in full force again. Tonight I discovered one of my TiVos was "recording" two shows, only to see that they were actually recording nothing at all. One channel was SD MSNBC, the other a local ABC HD station. So much for watching the second episode of V tonight.

I cannot get into Tuning Adapter diagnostics, so I'm rebooting the TA now. I'm pretty pissed off at this point--after a long day I just wanted to relax for a few hours and catch up on some shows. I checked my other TiVo and it also has several scheduled recordings from the past two days that were not recorded due to no signal available.

I _am_ going to likely waste my time by calling Time Warner tomorrow. I don't want them to send a truck out as I know that's a huge waste of time. If new information on this issue does not come to light soon, I will have DIRECTV or AT&T here ASAP, even if PQ will suffer. Having worse picture quality is better than not being able to watch TV at all.

..Al


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## pmiranda

Yeah, my TA crapped out sometime today. The RDC power is sky-high and it's not getting through, although a SA HD settop on the same splitter is working fine. Signal strength in TiVo is 100%. I guess I'll check the RDC power on the settop while I wait for the truck tomorrow. For that matter, maybe I'll just swap the box in the morning instead of waiting for the truck to show, since they never seem to carry a spare.


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## ferror

AtariAge said:


> Well guys, this issue went away for a few days, but it's back in full force again. Tonight I discovered one of my TiVos was "recording" two shows, only to see that they were actually recording nothing at all. One channel was SD MSNBC, the other a local ABC HD station. So much for watching the second episode of V tonight.
> 
> I cannot get into Tuning Adapter diagnostics, so I'm rebooting the TA now. I'm pretty pissed off at this point--after a long day I just wanted to relax for a few hours and catch up on some shows. I checked my other TiVo and it also has several scheduled recordings from the past two days that were not recorded due to no signal available.
> 
> I _am_ going to likely waste my time by calling Time Warner tomorrow. I don't want them to send a truck out as I know that's a huge waste of time. If new information on this issue does not come to light soon, I will have DIRECTV or AT&T here ASAP, even if PQ will suffer. Having worse picture quality is better than not being able to watch TV at all.
> 
> ..Al


Yep, me too. My two TiVo units were showing gray screens on both tuners when I sat down to use them tonight, and they were not recording anything. The tuners were unable to tune any other channels until I rebooted each one. Everything was fine after that.

We have a definite correlation here with several people. Clearly, they just did something earlier today that triggered the problem area wide. At least it appears very likely it was area wide. My guess is whatever they did caused every TiVo/TA setup in the Austin area to quit working.

What a pain. I will call Time Warner tomorrow too. It is such a hassle and the last thing I want to think about spending time on, but persistence is probably the only way this will ever get fixed. They are probably completely oblivious to it.


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## pmiranda

Hmm...My cablebox is is broadcast-only with RDC power way up at 51dBmV, yet it's still getting a SDV channel, presumably by just using the last-known carrier firequency...or maybe the handshake is actually working and it just can't tell.
Weird. TA is still wedged but by power cycling it, TiVo can now record non-SDV channels again.


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## dlfl

Keep in mind your ultimate weapon: dropping cable service and using ***antenna OTA***, plus NetFlix, Amazon and YouTube. You can pay for NetFlix and a lot of Amazon downloads for what you're paying for digital cable.

And you will be free, free at last, from TWC, CableCARDs and TA's! 

The fundamental flaw of the CableCARD/Tuning Adapter system is the Cable cos. have nothing at stake in making it work well -- plus it's a kludge design.


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## woodburger

I am in Austin and also in TW/TiVo hell. Sporadic issues for weeks now but last 3 nights when I go to the TV, I get black screen from TiVo which can be restored to life by unplugging, waiting 30 secs, replugging. TiVo then goes through it's "Almost There" dance which is annoying as all get out. Anyway, after that, TiVo works fine until next death.

Dead: green light on front of TiVo is lit, no command on remote flashes yellow light. Rear of TiVo shows no lit leds until rebooted; I think the fan is also not running when this happens.

Have a multi-stream cable card, the TA adaptor from TW. Through this ordeal, while TiVo is dead, green light is steady on TA.

Someone suggested trying to reboot the TA instead of TiVo and I will try that... does anyone KNOW if the TA can cause the TiVo box to die as completely as I describe? 

Thanks,

Bob Wood


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## pmiranda

woodburger said:


> I am in Austin and also in TW/TiVo hell. Sporadic issues for weeks now but last 3 nights when I go to the TV, I get black screen from TiVo which can be restored to life by unplugging, waiting 30 secs, replugging. TiVo then goes through it's "Almost There" dance which is annoying as all get out. Anyway, after that, TiVo works fine until next death.


I'm not sure that you're seeing the same thing other people are...or maybe I'm not. If you leave the USB cable to the TA disconnected (which won't get you any SDV channels, but should let you keep getting everything else), does TiVo still hang?


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## texaslabrat

SDV working fine in Austin for me...though as I've previously discussed I've got a fair amount of attenuation installed on the line now. I've got 2dB of pad on the input to the TA, and then 9dB on the output of the TA (which leads to the Tivo). Not a single issue. Just a data point to consider.


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## MrPlastic

I live in central Austin and I have had some troubles with my TA at the same times that you guys have had but they don't seem to be as bad to fix. Yesterday morning I was unable to get alot of the SDV channels but was able to fix it by just removing the usb cable from the TA to the Tivo and this fixed it except for the sports pack. When I returned from work I was able to get the sports pack back by once again just removing the usb cable and waitng a few seconds to connect it. So I think you guys are right that it is something TW is doing system wide. So far I haven't missed any programs. Thanks for your posts. I also have a SA box for a different set and I notice that it won't have any problems, though for a while there both box and TA would give me grief.


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## pmiranda

texaslabrat said:


> SDV working fine in Austin for me...though as I've previously discussed I've got a fair amount of attenuation installed on the line now. I've got 2dB of pad on the input to the TA, and then 9dB on the output of the TA (which leads to the Tivo). Not a single issue. Just a data point to consider.


You know, I dismissed that as a fix for my problem last night, thinking that my problem is the transmit power is sky-high, meaning the TA isn't getting feedback...but maybe the received power is so high that the TA is getting feedback and just not recognizing it... I'll have to dig out my attenuators if I have time before the tech arrives.


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## pmiranda

OK, so before the truck got here somebody back at the office got DMCS to send hits to the TA and I rebooted my SA settop and now everything's working perfectly again. The guys that arrived thought there was nothing wrong with 51dBmV RDC because "it's not red". Hard to tell who's right but I guess I'll start keeping an eye on the RDC power until the next time it craps out and maybe I'll know more.


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## lrhorer

pmiranda said:


> OK, so before the truck got here somebody back at the office got DMCS to send hits to the TA and I rebooted my SA settop and now everything's working perfectly again. The guys that arrived thought there was nothing wrong with 51dBmV RDC because "it's not red". Hard to tell who's right but I guess I'll start keeping an eye on the RDC power until the next time it craps out and maybe I'll know more.


The flat loss going back to the headeand can vary a huge amount from one customer to the next (not from one moment to the next), especially at frequencies near or below 50 MHz. For downstream communications, the big issue tends to be cable losses, because the greater the distance, the higher the loss, and the loss factor is higher at higher frequencies.

To be a bit more clear and specific, the output from a distribution amplifier may be something like +39 dBmV (analog) for 50 MHz and +48 dBmV at 750 MHz (analog), the "tilt" allowing for the fact the losses as the signal goes down the cable are higher at the higher frequencies. Thus, a customer serviced right at the output of an amplifier would see the highest frequency channels being +9 dB higher than the lowest. Now, at the amp, the levels are way, way too high to be practically delivered in their entirety to a customer, but then again the CATV company wants to deliver to more than one customer, anyway. Thus, rather than take the signal directly to the customer, it is passed through a subscriber tap which only "peels off" a small amount of the total signal for the houses (typically 2, 4, or 8) being fed at that point. The tap loss at the subscriber outputs may be perhaps 29 dB, dropping the signals to the customer into the +10 dBmV to +19 dBmV range, or therabouts, allowing for 70 meters or so of drop cable (usually RG-6) and a 4 way splitter for each house. Meanwhile, the main signal has been depleted by perhaps 0.2 or 0.3 dB headed towards the next subscriber tap. Along the way, the signal suffers not only the 0.3 dB passive loss from the tap, but also an attenuation from passing through perhaps 100 meters of exterior plant cable (usually 1/2" aluminum coax or better). This attenuates the high end much more than the low end, so that at the next tap, the tilt may only be +8 dB or so. In order to make up for the lower input levels at the next tap, it will also typically be of a lower value than the first tap. This trend continues all the way to the end of the CATV distribution, at which point the highest frequencies may be as low as +17 dBmV, while the low frequencies may be as high as +27 dBmV or so. The last tap, then, may be just a four way splitter, which drops the signal to each leg by about 8 dB.

Look what has happened, though. At the output of the amplifier, the loss at 750 MHz getting from the amp to the TA may be perhaps 42 dB, while the loss at 50 MHz is almost the same - perhaps 37 dB. At the far end of the main distribution cable, however, the loss at 750 MHz by design is perhaps 45 dB, while the loss at 50 MHz is only 26 dB or so! Thus, if you happen to be very close to an amplifier, and maybe have 4 or 8 outlets in your house, then the loss between you and the amplifier on the return channel may be 50 dB, or perhaps even a bit more. Meanwhile, a subscriber at the very end of the distribution who only has 1 outlet in his house may see as little as 26 dB of loss on the return channel. So no, an upstream output of +51 dBmV from the modulator in the TA is not necessarily excessive, depending on just where you are in the distribution path and how many outlets you have. If the levels of the highest frequency channels are significantly higher than those of the lowest frequency channels, then it is to be expected. OTOH, if the high frequency channels are "in the mud", while the low frequency channels are enjoying much higher levels, then the carrier from the TA should also be low, comparatively speaking. If not, then there is something wrong, somewhere.


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## dolfer

I'm getting the blinking TA today in SW Ohio ;( In the middle of the unplug / reboot process but still blinking. 

Anyone else????


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## bobrt6676

dolfer said:


> I'm getting the blinking TA today in SW Ohio ;( In the middle of the unplug / reboot process but still blinking.
> 
> Anyone else????


Check this thread out.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=436548

Seems to a common problem recently.


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## BrentlyL

I used to love my TiVo S3 and then came the tuning adapter. Now I'm starting to dislike TiVo. Isn't that sick? I never thought I'd be mad at my TiVo but I do realize that this is all Time Warner's fault. I absolutely HATE Time Warner. HATE HATE HATE them!!! I'm a custom installer and I sell and install TiVo so all these problems that we're having I get to hear about from all my clients. I sold my clients a box that I love and stand behind and now my reputation is being soiled. Thanks Time Warner you dirty disgusting company. Thanks a lot!

I'm in Palm Springs, CA and I have been staring at the 8 blink led TA light since yesterday. I have no TA channels and TW doesn't know when they'll fix it. Also, TiVo just sent me a brand new HDXL to replace my original Series 3 that was rebooting all the time. The other night the brand new XL box froze while changing channels and then rebooted. After reading the forums it sounds like people are blaming the Tuning adapters for this and I think they're right. I seriously doubt my new TiVo HDXL is bad and my old box was probably fine too. Another mysterious problem I'm having is the lack of Suggestions recordings. The old S3 box stopped recording them and now my new box isn't recording them and it's practically empty. I don't know how this could be related to the TA but I have a feeling it is. 

The TiVo box itself can't be this bad. Hey TiVo, are you listening??? Are you doing all you can to pressure Time Warner into getting their act together?? I think many of us switched to TW because DirecTV abandoned us and I think a lot of us are going to switch back ASAP especially if these problems aren't solved fast. I know I'm leaving the day that new box drops. 

Please God, let the new DirecTV TiVo be the perfect box I've always dreamed of. I want so badly to say FU to Time Warner and never give them another penny. This current situation is an expensive nightmare.


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## FrancesTheMute

For anyone else in San Diego that's having issues, I just got off the phone with the CS rep and he said they have a known issue with SDV and the TA's that's currently being investigated but they don't have any solutions yet. We'll see what happens, but at least we know that they are aware of the issue, he said a lot of people had called in.


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## digs0

Feel like a broken record posting again, but I'm having the same problem as folks in other regions. Here's my setup, for what it's worth:

Cable co: Time Warner San Diego
TiVo: Series 3 connected via HDMI to TV and via Ethernet to wireless router
Western Digital Expansion Drive (500 GB)
Tuning Adapter: Cisco STA1520

The TA is not tuning certain specific channels, and it's giving me the 8 blink/pause pattern. Restarting it doesn't help. Restarting the TiVo doesn't help. Calling Time Warner certainly doesn't seem to help. They sent a tech out about a month ago, and he replaced a bunch of the coax cables just for the heck of it. It seemed to help... but of course that wasn't really the problem.

The most frustrating part of it is that there are some really helpful CSRs that you can get to, but most of them don't know any more about the TA than I do. So you have to do the same song and dance, reboot the TiVo (gee, why didn't I think of that????), etc., all to have them say they have to send a tech out. And I know how that dance ends, too. 

My question is: is there anybody out there with a cable card-using TiVo who *isn't* having problems?


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## mihalik

I'm also in Austin (Cedar Park) and have been experiencing issues. I have had two recurring issues over the past few months. These sound similar to what others have described.

1. Completely locked up. No blinky light when I hit buttons on the remote no output to the TV. Once this happened and almost all of the lights on the front of the unit were lit up (including the Fixed/1080i/720p lights that I never see).

2. All channels showing up black. Nothing records and live TV does not work but the UI is responsive otherwise.

In the first case I can recover by unplugging/replugging the Tivo. In the second case, however, there is a specific set of steps that I need to do in order to recover. I unplug the TA and the Tivo, plug the TA in until the light stops blinking, and then plug the Tivo in. I tried a few other things (just unplugging the TA or just unplugging the Tivo) the first few times it happened and that order was the only one that worked so that is what I do every time.

I'd say the problems average around once a week. Sometimes it is maybe two weeks between issues and a few weeks ago it was 4 times in a single week. It seemed like there was something wrong every time I turned it on. A lockup last night prompted me to check this thread again.

I have not raised the issue with TW because I don't have the time or energy to spend on the phone/waiting around for someone to come out but I guess I should complain to them so they know that it is more than just an isolated few that have issues.


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## dlfl

digs0 said:


> ..........The TA is not tuning certain specific channels, and it's giving me the 8 blink/pause pattern. Restarting it doesn't help. Restarting the TiVo doesn't help. Calling Time Warner certainly doesn't seem to help. ............My question is: is there anybody out there with a cable card-using TiVo who *isn't* having problems?


Regarding the 8-blink-pause, did you see this recent post ? You can ask a TWC CSR to connect you to the TWC National Cable Card Support center, or TiVo support can also do that. The "hit" to your TA is normally done at the local office but the NCCS center can "expedite" that -- in other words they know what has to be done when sometimes the local office doesn't seem to have a clue.

There *could* be a lot of people not having trouble, but most of them don't read here or at least don't post. There certainly is a growing trend of TA 8-blink problems showing up on the forums here: San Diego, Austin TX and Southwest Ohio.


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## digs0

dlfl said:


> Regarding the 8-blink-pause, did you see this recent post ? You can ask a TWC CSR to connect you to the TWC National Cable Card Support center, or TiVo support can also do that. The "hit" to your TA is normally done at the local office but the NCCS center can "expedite" that -- in other words they know what has to be done when sometimes the local office doesn't seem to have a clue.
> 
> There *could* be a lot of people not having trouble, but most of them don't read here or at least don't post. There certainly is a growing trend of TA 8-blink problems showing up on the forums here: San Diego, Austin TX and Southwest Ohio.


Thanks for the link and the info, dlfl. I've tried just cutting to the chase and asking CSRs to do the "hit" or a Refresh of Service (terms I made a point of jotting down after a call with a particularly helpful TA specialist a while back), but I haven't had much luck with it.

Good point about those who don't have trouble not postingthat ought to be written up as a general Law of the internet if it hasn't been already. Most of the CSRs I've talked to say they don't field a lot of TA-related calls, but the last time I asked, the guy said that San Diego TWC has maybe 4,000 cable card customers out of over a million in total. That explains a lot, I guess.


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## Shmooh

dlfl said:


> Regarding the 8-blink-pause, did you see this recent post ? You can ask a TWC CSR to connect you to the TWC National Cable Card Support center, or TiVo support can also do that. The "hit" to your TA is normally done at the local office but the NCCS center can "expedite" that -- in other words they know what has to be done when sometimes the local office doesn't seem to have a clue.
> 
> There *could* be a lot of people not having trouble, but most of them don't read here or at least don't post. There certainly is a growing trend of TA 8-blink problems showing up on the forums here: San Diego, Austin TX and Southwest Ohio.


Don't forget Raleigh, NC. 

On the up-side, I had the 8-blink issue last week (as did many people in my area - see http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=418262&page=36 ). I called TWC, they re-provisioned/hit the TA, restarted the TA, and I was running again. Took less than 15 minutes from the moment I picked up the phone. The CSR I talked to was pretty decent, though.

I find it difficult to believe that there are people out there with cable (not OTA) and Tivo HD's that aren't having problems. Our tuning adapter has certainly been regularly problematic, and our cable card has been occasionally as well.

RANT:
I wonder if these cable companies realize that if we have to dump Tivo that we'll just dump cable as well? I know I will - I got the Tivo to get away from TWC's crappy DVR. Even if they get the issues with them fixed (stable software, decent feature set, much larger disk), I'm still miffed at them for forcing it on us in the first place. There's always OTA, satellite, U-Verse, and the internet (even if we have to start paying for services like Hulu). It's not about money - I just want something that works consistently!
/RANT


----------



## dlfl

Shmooh said:


> ........RANT:
> I wonder if these cable companies realize that if we have to dump Tivo that we'll just dump cable as well? I know I will - I got the Tivo to get away from TWC's crappy DVR. Even if they get the issues with them fixed (stable software, decent feature set, much larger disk), I'm still miffed at them for forcing it on us in the first place. There's always OTA, satellite, U-Verse, and the internet (even if we have to start paying for services like Hulu). It's not about money - I just want something that works consistently!
> /RANT


Even if they do realize, it can't be of much concern to them, since TiVo digital cable subscribers are only about 0.5% of all digital subscribers. I don't think there's any way to influence them (unless you have a few Senators in your hip pocket!).


----------



## notting

Shmooh said:


> Don't forget Raleigh, NC.
> I find it difficult to believe that there are people out there with cable (not OTA) and Tivo HD's that aren't having problems. Our tuning adapter has certainly been regularly problematic, and our cable card has been occasionally as well.


I wasn't... until last night. We'll see how long it takes on the phone to get them to re-provision it today.


----------



## aine

dlfl said:


> There *could* be a lot of people not having trouble, but most of them don't read here or at least don't post. There certainly is a growing trend of TA 8-blink problems showing up on the forums here: San Diego, Austin TX and Southwest Ohio.


And then there are people like me, Time Warner San Diego customers and owner of TiVo Series3 box, who see these posts and steer clear of the Tuning Adapter until the bugs are ironed out. Although I'd like to receive some of the channels (e.g. sports), I have to weigh that against my family complaining that TiVo isn't working (read: TA isn't working).

I realize the chicken-and-egg problem (More TA users means more chance of problems getting solved, but early TA adopters hit all the problems). However, the Series3 is already troublesome enough without introducing another source of problems.


----------



## Shmooh

aine said:


> And then there are people like me, Time Warner San Diego customers and owner of TiVo Series3 box, who see these posts and steer clear of the Tuning Adapter until the bugs are ironed out. Although I'd like to receive some of the channels (e.g. sports), I have to weigh that against my family complaining that TiVo isn't working (read: TA isn't working).


The most frequent problem I have with the TA is that it 'gets confused' (sorry for all the techno mumbo-jumbo, there). We have to force both the tuners on the Tivo to change channels, and that seems to fix it. Until we do that, we don't get any SDV channels. I'm almost certain that other channels continue to work fine (my wife is usually the one who runs into this). This happens about once every 2 weeks or so.

The issue is that we can't rely on any of the SDV channels being there for recordings - it might get confused and we'll ultimately miss the show. If we want to watch live (a rarity), it's not really a problem.

So - net result - the TA gives you SDV, but only works well for live viewing. Otherwise, you're not getting SDV channels anyway, so no real harm in having the TA other than the irritation.


----------



## dlfl

aine said:


> And then there are people like me, Time Warner San Diego customers and owner of TiVo Series3 box, who see these posts and steer clear of the Tuning Adapter until the bugs are ironed out. Although I'd like to receive some of the channels (e.g. sports), I have to weigh that against my family complaining that TiVo isn't working (read: TA isn't working).
> .........


Making that decision will just get more difficult as TWC adds more SDV HD channels, as they are doing in my service area. On the minimum digital service I get 49 HD channels, of which 23 are SDV. They just added 10 more.


----------



## dolfer

notting said:


> I wasn't... until last night. We'll see how long it takes on the phone to get them to re-provision it today.


Same here... Just noticed the blinking last night. Reboot/Power cable/USB unplug didn't work this time.

As for a way to get TW to care about Tivo? Forget Senators... A new round of patent infringement lawsuits might get them to care a little more...


----------



## notting

dolfer said:


> Same here... Just noticed the blinking last night. Reboot/Power cable/USB unplug didn't work this time.


I dialed the main 866 number, talked to CSR, transferred to the cablecard help desk, got the hit that fixed it, and was off the phone in 9 minutes.

They seem to be getting used to dealing with it - the initial CSR seemed to have some sort of warning/notice that once I said the magic words about tuning adapter/tivo/8 blinks immediately decided to transfer me.


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## pninen

Time Warner San Diego ... My tuning adapter has been blinking (8 blinks then pause) for the last *48 hours*. Power cycle doesn't fix it.

I'm on a TiVo email list at my company, and many other folks reporting same malfunction.

I called TW today, and they said yes, tuning adapters are not working over all of San Diego, and there is no estimated time for it to be fixed.


----------



## lrhorer

Shmooh said:


> I find it difficult to believe that there are people out there with cable (not OTA) and Tivo HD's that aren't having problems. Our tuning adapter has certainly been regularly problematic, and our cable card has been occasionally as well.


Well, I have three Series III class TiVos with TAs, and while I cannot say I have never had an issue with the TA, the level of problems I have had have been quite low and not teribly aggravating. First of all, I don't think I have ever owned or manged an electronic device of any sort - not even a flashlight - which has never given me any problems, and I have used literally thousands of them in the last half-century. Even with the TA, the TiVos fall pretty far down the list when it comes to unreliability. Every few weeks or so, one or the other of my 3 TAs will require a reboot. Compare that to the Windows machine in my office which can rarely manage going a whole week without a reboot. In every case but once so far, rebooting the TA or at most both the TA and the TiVo solved the problem. The only times I have had to reboot the TiVo (this only two or three times) was when all channels were blank. Usually, only the SDV channels are gone.


----------



## dwgsp

Shmooh said:


> The most frequent problem I have with the TA is that it 'gets confused' (sorry for all the techno mumbo-jumbo, there). We have to force both the tuners on the Tivo to change channels, and that seems to fix it. Until we do that, we don't get any SDV channels.


I have this problem, too (with TWC in Rochester NY), but it's happening less often. As I recently mentioned here, a few weeks ago I had the eight blink problem and the root cause was diagnosed by TWC as a signal strength issue. The existing cable feed into my house was installed in the mid-1970's, so TWC ran a new cable into my house. I have not seen the eight blink problem again, and I have also noticed that the 'gets confused' problem seems to occur much less frequently.


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## BrentlyL

3 days now and my adapters are STILL not working. I called AGAIN tonight. This time "I thought we had fixed this but my supervisor just told me we didn't and we don't know when it will get fixed". I'm in Palm Springs CA

TiVo has been tainted by Time Warner. Our wonderful TiVos are now only as good as Time Warner Cable. In other words they suck. I knew when these TAs came it was going to ruin the experience but I could never have imagined it would be this bad.

They would never have done this to their non TiVo/Tuning Adapter customers for this length of time. Time Warner doesn't care about us.


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## dlfl

BrentlyL said:


> .........They would never have done this to their non TiVo/Tuning Adapter customers for this length of time. Time Warner doesn't care about us.


It's hard to imagine any reason they would care about us -- other than pity, or even worse malice. We are only about 0.5% of their digital subscriber base and we compete with their DVR's and we can't order PPV or VOD from them.

We should be realistic and make contingency plans. Or grit your teeth and try to hold out in case it gets better.


----------



## pninen

dlfl said:


> It's hard to imagine any reason they would care about us -- other than pity, or even worse malice. We are only about 0.5% of their digital subscriber base


We simply have to become the squeaky wheel. They will care if we are 50% of the customer service calls.

I called TW again tonite. This morning they told me that the TA outage was all of San Diego, and they were workin' on it. However later in the day I heard from several coworkers who said they had called TW and got them to remotely reauthorize the box and then it worked. (ie seemingly conflicting information)

Armed with this knowledge I called TW. A woman there had me go thru a long involved dance unplugging power to the TA, plugging it back in, asking me if the light was still blinking, do it again, etc etc. She says she tried to push something to the box but it obviously wasn't getting thru. I asked if she was getting lots of these calls tonite. She said "yea".

So now I'm into the 3rd day down hard.


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## dolfer

I just had them hit my TA via Time Warner Chat Support... I can't wait to see if it actually worked when I get home! 

When it works you can't beat Chat support! No waiting... No talking!


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## Max Camber

I just got back from vacation to find my TA locked up as expected. I'll get back in touch with TWC Austin and see where they want to go from here.

Woodburger: I now believe that a locked up TA can cause the symptoms you describe on an otherwise healthy TiVo unit. I went from the usual "no SDV channels" TA lockup to the "black screen on all channels" in the last 12 hours and simply unplugging the TA USB cable brought my TiVo back to life. Because of this, it seems likely that the TiVo becoming totally unresponsive due to something coming from the TA over USB (or at least related to the TiVo handling of the USB connection) is also possible.


----------



## aine

Shmooh said:


> The most frequent problem I have with the TA is that it 'gets confused' ... we don't get any SDV channels. I'm almost certain that other channels continue to work fine
> ...
> So - net result - the TA gives you SDV, but only works well for live viewing. Otherwise, you're not getting SDV channels anyway, so no real harm in having the TA other than the irritation.


So -- your experience -- there's no harm in having the TA because at the moment, I get none of those SDV channels. At least with the TA I would have some >0 probability of a successful recording on SDV channels.

But then I read Max's comment:



Max Camber said:


> I now believe that a locked up TA can cause the symptoms you describe on an otherwise healthy TiVo unit.


that describes the TA possibly locking up the TiVo and preventing recordings even on NON-SDV channels. This is exactly the problem I want to avoid, and the reason why I have so far decided to forgo the TA even though I am missing many channels.

Thanks to all those "early adopters" who are complaining to Time Warner and helping to work out the issues. The rest of us are grateful.


----------



## gbrown

While I had a horrid time getting the TA setup, once it started working, I have had very few problems. Only once (yesterday to be exact) I had to call TWC-SanDiego to have them restart the device.

It is my understanding that there are two different TAs that TW uses. I have the CISCO TA.


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## pninen

I'm into my 3rd day of TA nonfunction. San Diego.

I called TW again this morning. They connected me to the "tuning adapter center". Tech there went thru the usual sequence of trying to send stuff to my TA, with no success. 

He says he's received lots of these calls, but has been able to restore most boxes by sending (whatever they send) to the TA. Mine however just sits in the 8 blinks mode.

He put me on hold for about 5 minutes then said he would try to download "new code". That didn't work either. He then said there's nothing he could do.


----------



## dlfl

pninen said:


> I'm into my 3rd day of TA nonfunction. San Diego.
> 
> I called TW again this morning. They connected me to the "tuning adapter center". Tech there went thru the usual sequence of trying to send stuff to my TA, with no success.
> 
> He says he's received lots of these calls, but has been able to restore most boxes by sending (whatever they send) to the TA. Mine however just sits in the 8 blinks mode.
> 
> He put me on hold for about 5 minutes then said he would try to download "new code". That didn't work either. He then said there's nothing he could do.


Maybe the TA is just bad (?) Or has it already been replaced? You are power-cycling the TA before and after they hit it, correct? Leave it powered down for 30 secs. No, it shouldn't need a second power cycling after they hit it, but it's just a desperation move.


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## BrentlyL

Day 4...

Today they said that I can plan on waiting "a few more days" for this to be fixed. Criminals! F this company


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## BrentlyL

As a TiVo dealer I have access to the higher-ups and I was just told by them that they didn't know about this current issue. (At least the person I spoke to didn't know about it.) I'm told their process is to bring it to engineering immediately and then it will go to corporate. The person I spoke with said that someone at the corporate level will contact me once they know better what is happening. I tried to convey to them that they MUST put pressure on Time Warner because TW is ruining the TiVo experience.

It's my feeling that someone at TW knows exactly what's going on right now. I think this because of the fact that it's happening in many states at the same time. I don't think it's a coincidence. My guess is that they're making a system switch of some sort and some suit made the decision to not notify us customers of anything beforehand, why...because it would have cost them money to notify us. This process is very typical of TW. 

I'll say it again, "Please let the new DirecTV TiVo be perfect". I'm going to make that my signature.


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## BrentlyL

dlfl said:


> We should be realistic and make contingency plans.


DirecTV's new TiVo. That's my plan


----------



## dlfl

BrentlyL said:


> As a TiVo dealer I have access to the higher-ups and I was just told by them that they didn't know about this current issue. (At least the person I spoke to didn't know about it.) I'm told their process is to bring it to engineering immediately and then it will go to corporate. The person I spoke with said that someone at the corporate level will contact me once they know better what is happening. I tried to convey to them that they MUST put pressure on Time Warner because TW is ruining the TiVo experience.
> 
> It's my feeling that someone at TW knows exactly what's going on right now. I think this because of the fact that it's happening in many states at the same time. I don't think it's a coincidence. My guess is that they're making a system switch of some sort and some suit made the decision to not notify us customers of anything beforehand, why...because it would have cost them money to notify us. This process is very typical of TW.
> 
> I'll say it again, "Please let the new DirecTV TiVo be perfect". I'm going to make that my signature.


You're a TiVo dealer? Store front, or what kind?

I'm amazed TiVo doesn't know about this. I can't believe some of them don't read this forum. How high up was your contact?

We are a pimple on TWC's business plan, and they would probably like to pop us. When I talk to a TWC CSR, after twice giving my telephone mumber, they don't seem to know I'm a TiVo user until I tell them. I wonder if that's even in their databases. Well I know it's in one database: the one that makes sure I'm charged for cable cards! Anyway, they probably don't have an easy way to prepare a mailing list for just TiVo users.


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## dolfer

dolfer said:


> I just had them hit my TA via Time Warner Chat Support... I can't wait to see if it actually worked when I get home!
> 
> When it works you can't beat Chat support! No waiting... No talking!


Me and my TA are solid baby... Solid... Looks like the dude on the TW Chat Line knew what he was doing.

I came home and the TA was powered off? I turned it on and it remained solid. Hopefully it will stay that way for awhile... Nighty night...


----------



## BrentlyL

dlfl said:


> You're a TiVo dealer? Store front, or what kind?
> 
> I'm amazed TiVo doesn't know about this. I can't believe some of them don't read this forum. How high up was your contact?
> 
> We are a pimple on TWC's business plan, and they would probably like to pop us. When I talk to a TWC CSR, after twice giving my telephone number, they don't seem to know I'm a TiVo user until I tell them. I wonder if that's even in their databases. Well I know it's in one database: the one that makes sure I'm charged for cable cards! Anyway, they probably don't have an easy way to prepare a mailing list for just TiVo users.


I'm an independent custom installer. I spoke to TiVo Dealer Services. I pointed out that I'm not inclined to sell TiVo anymore because of the problems Time Warner is causing. They don't like hearing that.

My goal for my clients is a system that works perfectly all the time. When people have Time Warner's hardware they end up calling me all the time because of the lousy box. I recommend TiVo because it's a better box. I can always be sure it will work...at least I used to be able to. Now it seems the TiVo is more problematic than the Scientific Atlanta boxes and that's because of the the tuning adapter. Given TW's track record with hardware I knew this was going to happen. I think that adapter IS the pimple popper. It's going to make people dislike their TiVo and go with whatever is less hassle even if it mean fewer features. I'm sure as heck not going to recommend TiVo if it doesn't work properly, for whatever reason.

Time Warner is required BY LAW to support these devices and they're not doing it. I wish I could connect with a brilliant class action lawyer and discuss the possibilities.

I just spoke with another TW rep. They say it's a sync issue and that it's still not fixed and there's no eta. You are a lucky dude dolfer.


----------



## dlfl

BrentlyL said:


> I'm an independent custom installer. I spoke to TiVo Dealer Services. I pointed out that I'm not inclined to sell TiVo anymore because of the problems Time Warner is causing. They don't like hearing that.
> 
> My goal for my clients is a system that works perfectly all the time. When people have Time Warner's hardware they end up calling me all the time because of the lousy box. I recommend TiVo because it's a better box. I can always be sure it will work...at least I used to be able to. Now it seems the TiVo is more problematic than the Scientific Atlanta boxes and that's because of the the tuning adapter. Given TW's track record with hardware I knew this was going to happen. I think that adapter IS the pimple popper. It's going to make people dislike their TiVo and go with whatever is less hassle even if it mean fewer features. I'm sure as heck not going to recommend TiVo if it doesn't work properly, for whatever reason.
> 
> Time Warner is required BY LAW to support these devices and they're not doing it. I wish I could connect with a brilliant class action lawyer and discuss the possibilities.
> 
> I just spoke with another TW rep. They say it's a sync issue and that it's still not fixed and there's no eta. You are a lucky dude dolfer.


Surprisingly, cable cos. are not required by law to support TA's as far as I know. See this post and the answering post #4 by *bicker*, who is quite well read on the laws of the cable industry.

I agree it looks like the TA may be the TiVo breaker, whether by intent or by negligence, or maybe by just being a poorly implemented technical solution.

I'm curious how you define "works perfectly all the time". I haven't had the massive problems with my TA that many are having, but some of my SDV channels do have occasional breakups (pixelation) and, rarely, even freezes. I've studied the problem a lot using the diagnostics built into the TiVo and I'm convinced these problems are actually in the signal encoding as distributed by TWC. They may not cause problems for TWC STB's or DVR's because they use different mpeg2 decoders than TiVo and obviously TWC tunes the encoding of their signals to be OK for their equipment (or they get massive complaints). Thus I don't believe the best possible installation (at my house anyway) could avoid these pixelation/freeze problems. Would that prevent it from being an acceptable installation by your standards?

What does TWC mean by a "sync issue" I wonder?


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> Surprisingly, cable cos. are not required by law to support TA's as far as I know.


No, but it would be strange for them not to, since they invented them.



dlfl said:


> I agree it looks like the TA may be the TiVo breaker,


Unlikely. Most people are not having severe problems with the TA.



dlfl said:


> whether by intent or by negligence, or maybe by just being a poorly implemented technical solution.


That is only partially the CATV people's fault. They weren't the ones insisting on a USB solution for no good reason.



dlfl said:


> They may not cause problems for TWC STB's or DVR's because they use different mpeg2 decoders than TiVo


Uh-uh. 'Same Broadcomm chip.



dlfl said:


> and obviously TWC tunes the encoding of their signals to be OK for their equipment


There is no "tuning". The encoding is produced by the broadcaster, not the CATV company, unless of course they are the broadcaster.



dlfl said:


> (or they get massive complaints).


Well, they are, although perhaps not the same complaints you have. The problems they are having are sometimes pretty bizarre.



dlfl said:


> What does TWC mean by a "sync issue" I wonder?


It means the OP spoke to a moron who has no idea of what they speak, and then the OP bought the ridiculous load of crap.


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> ............
> Uh-uh. 'Same Broadcomm chip.
> ...........
> There is no "tuning". The encoding is produced by the broadcaster, not the CATV company, unless of course they are the broadcaster.
> ............


I'm *not* convinced (not yet at least) that:

1. *Using the same mpeg2 decoder chip means identical response to input signals*.

Are there no parameters involved? E.g. buffer sizes, max bit rates, and something called "rate profiles" that I've heard mentioned?

2. *Cable cos. don't modify the encoding in some cases.*

See for example posts 358-361 in this thread, where *SCSIRAID* is working with TWC engineers on TA problems.


----------



## dolfer

BrentlyL said:


> I'm an independent custom installer. I spoke to TiVo Dealer Services. I pointed out that I'm not inclined to sell TiVo anymore because of the problems Time Warner is causing. They don't like hearing that.
> 
> My goal for my clients is a system that works perfectly all the time. When people have Time Warner's hardware they end up calling me all the time because of the lousy box. I recommend TiVo because it's a better box. I can always be sure it will work...at least I used to be able to. Now it seems the TiVo is more problematic than the Scientific Atlanta boxes and that's because of the the tuning adapter. Given TW's track record with hardware I knew this was going to happen. I think that adapter IS the pimple popper. It's going to make people dislike their TiVo and go with whatever is less hassle even if it mean fewer features. I'm sure as heck not going to recommend TiVo if it doesn't work properly, for whatever reason.
> 
> Time Warner is required BY LAW to support these devices and they're not doing it. I wish I could connect with a brilliant class action lawyer and discuss the possibilities.
> 
> I just spoke with another TW rep. They say it's a sync issue and that it's still not fixed and there's no eta. You are a lucky dude dolfer.


Bret, it seems California might be having a bigger problem... But don't discount the fact that you just might have a bad TA unit. When I first got my TA I tried and tried to get it to work and it just wasn't reliable. It kept rebooting periodically. I waited through firmware updates. And most of the time it remained disconnected. Disgusted, I thought I would just try and get a new one. Since then it has been very solid. I have had to call/chat twice to get it "hit" by TW. A price I am willing to pay to stay away from the godawful TW DVR. (We have it at work so I know how truly terrible it is!  )

How's Palm Springs???? I attended a huge Microsoft event there in the late 90's! Web Tech Ed?? Or some awkwardly-named Microsoft named affair. Awesome mountains!


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> I'm *not* convinced (not yet at least) that:
> 
> 1. *Using the same mpeg2 decoder chip means identical response to input signals*.


Well, first of all, the decoder doesn't receive the "input signals". The receiver does. It demodulates the signal into a 38 Mbps mux stream. The stream is then demuxed and sent to the CableCard. The CableCard inspects the stream for encryption. If it is not encrypted, the signal is passed through the CC without modification. If it is encrypted, then the signal is decrypted and then re-encrypted for delivery to the video system. In the TiVo, the stream is re-encrypted again and then sent to the hard drive. Whenever the user wants to watch the content (perhaps immediately), it is read off the hard drive, decrypted, and sent to the decoder. With the exception of the Tivo encryption, which is proprietary, everything else in the path must conform to industry standards, many of which are set by CableLabs. MPEG standards are set by the Motion Picture Experts Group, which is an arm of the International Standards Organization. All MPEG coders and decoders are required to meet the standards laid down by MPEG.

Now yes, the decoder chip responds to code in the host, and a bug in that code can cause the chip to react inappropriately. In the same vein, a bug in the software controlling an encode chip can do the same thing.



dlfl said:


> Are there no parameters involved? E.g. buffer sizes, max bit rates, and something called "rate profiles" that I've heard mentioned?


'Tons of them. Take a look at the documentation for ffmpeg some time. They are all covered in the spec, however, and the values of the parameters are embedded in the transport stream. That's how the decoder knows how to decode the stream. They are also variable within a stream. The encoding for a commercial may be different than the encoding for the main program, for example.



dlfl said:


> 2. *Cable cos. don't modify the encoding in some cases.*
> 
> See for example posts 358-361 in this thread, where *SCSIRAID* is working with TWC engineers on TA problems.


He is talking about rate shaping, which can involve transcoding, but rate shaping is not employed to provide some superior function for some proprietary something in the CATV system devices. It's employed to allow more video to fit in a 38MHz QAM. Remember, too, that the CATV company does not manufacture the DVRs and STBs. They buy them off the shelf - in large quantities, of course. They don't buy from a single manufacturer, however. I believe TWC buys essentially all their DVRs from Cisco, but they often buy STBs from Pace and Zenith, as well as Cisco. SDV protocols are proprietary, but everything else is standardized.

Now all that isn't to say TWC in your area isn't inadvertantly doing something that the Tivo doesn't like, or that conversely the TiVo doesn't have a bug which prevents it from responding correctly to the rate shaping being done by TWC in your area. I don't have enough data to say one way or the other.


----------



## SCSIRAID

lrhorer said:


> Now all that isn't to say TWC in your area isn't inadvertantly doing something that the Tivo doesn't like, or that conversely the TiVo doesn't have a bug which prevents it from responding correctly to the rate shaping being done by TWC in your area. I don't have enough data to say one way or the other.


TWC has seen the issue here in Raleigh with their own eyes and have concluded that they are generating something that is tripping up TiVo resulting in macroblocking/pixelation which their Cisco STB's are handling with no issue. The key experiment is doing a simultaneous recording of a show on multiple TiVo's plus an 8300. The 8300 recording is clean. The TiVo recordings all exhibit breakups at exactly the same spot in the recordings and look basically identical. Just prior to the end of the recordings, the RS Stats for the TiVo's all indicate Uncorrected = 0 and the 'tune time' is correct indicating no 'retunes' have occured. This issue is only seen on SDV channels. The current TWC theory is that the rate shaper is generating something that TiVo doesnt like. However, TWC further indicates that all the Edge QAM's (Cisco GQAMs) for the different service groups should be receving the same rate shaped MPEG. This would mean that the same issue should be seen on all service groups if the rate shaper theory was correct. We did an experiment last night which showed that not to be true... My friend (on a different service group) and I recorded the same show and mine exhibited breakups on multiple TiVo's with 8300 clean while his TiVo recordings did not exhibit breakups at the time spots that mine did. That would seem to suggest that the problem is in the Edge QAM... I wouldnt expect the GQAM to be messing with the 'video' mpeg but perhaps he is fouling up the muxing information or not handing the merging of new streams properly (from TiVo's perspective anyway).. just a guess on my part though... Ill be passing the results of this experiment on to TWC next week.

Any input / thoughts / theories would be appreciated....


----------



## digs0

In case it's of interest, I'm going to report some details I overheard from the calls the TW tech here in the house yesterday placed to a guy he described as the best cable card expert he knew in the company. Unfortunately, my computer seems to have destroyed the notes I took, but I'll try to recreate the info as well as my limited technical knowledge allows. 

According to the service tech and his expert, TW introduced some kind of service update on Wednesday, November 11. The guy on the phone was saying that TW cable boxes have to be reauthorized (not sure that's the exact word he used) basically every month to keep working. Otherwise they get "bricked." He was saying that Tuning Adapters have never had the capacity to receive that reauthorize hit, but it didn't ever seem to matter before the service update on Wednesday, because they didn't get bricked. Apparently, since the service update on Wednesday, the Tuning Adapters can now get bricked by not receiving the regular 30-day reauthorization. 

As of last night when the tech left, my Tuning Adapter still wasn't working (after a reboot and the hit being sent and the usual rigamarole), but the CC expert on the phone was saying that he hadn't been able to get in touch with the engineers in charge of creating the fix for the TAs, and it may not have been implemented yet. They told me that they expected the problem to be solved sometime within the next few days and to keep trying the SDV channels. 

Given that my TA has been nothing but a bundle of trouble since I got it, I was skeptical, but I'm happy to report that as of this morning, it came back to life. Instead of the 8-blink pattern, it was completely lightless this morning. I hit the power button on the front and it immediately went solid. I've learned not to trust the light as an indicator, but after a few seconds I briefly got the "acquiring channels" screen that you normally get after a reset, and after that, my SDV channels were working again. I'm choosing naively to hope that whatever service update caused this problem in the first place may solve all the problems I was having before, as well. (I'll change my tune at the first sign of trouble.)

Contrary to beliefs that I and others have had about TW's level of interest in TiVo customers, both the in-home tech and the guy on the phone evinced quite a bit of concern about making my setup work right. I have to give them credit. They were saying, however, that when it comes to TA and cable card issues, the TW engineers who work on that stuff are practically like a secret club and only dole out information sparingly.

As for whether TW is legally required to support TAs, I'm no lawyer nor an expert on the FCC, but if I understand it correctly, the law requires them to provide the same level of channel access to customers who don't use their boxes as to those who do. I thought the whole reason for the existence of the TA was that legal mandate. SDV removes channels from non-cable company boxes, and the cable co is legally required to make those channels available. If that's not the case, then the FCC mandate to provide the same level of service has absolutely no teeth whatsoever.

Regardless of federal law, though, contractually they are certainly bound to provide me with the channels I'm paying for. I subscribe to one of their tiered packages, and all of the channels included therein seem to be SDV. If those channels don't come through, they're not providing me with a service that I have paid directly for and they will have to answer for it.


----------



## BrentlyL

dolfer said:


> Bret, it seems California might be having a bigger problem... But don't discount the fact that you just might have a bad TA unit. When I first got my TA I tried and tried to get it to work and it just wasn't reliable. It kept rebooting periodically. I waited through firmware updates. And most of the time it remained disconnected. Disgusted, I thought I would just try and get a new one. Since then it has been very solid. I have had to call/chat twice to get it "hit" by TW. A price I am willing to pay to stay away from the godawful TW DVR. (We have it at work so I know how truly terrible it is!  )
> 
> How's Palm Springs???? I attended a huge Microsoft event there in the late 90's! Web Tech Ed?? Or some awkwardly-named Microsoft named affair. Awesome mountains!


This morning my adapters were not blinking, their lights were off. I pushed the button, the lights turned on and they're working again...for now. 4 full days of Time Warner BS is totally UNACCEPTABLE.

Have 2 TA's plus all the TA's that belong to all of my clients. Every client I spoke with was having the same issue. (Part of my hatred of TW is the fact that when they screw up, my clients all call me instead of TW). Now days I send an email blast to them letting them all know that I already know what TW is doing to them.

What I meant earlier about "TiVo used to work perfectly all the time before the TAs arrived" was that I didn't get calls from my clients about the TiVo box acting up but of course now it's the only box I sell that has constant problems, thanks to TW. Yes, we have the same issue with pixelation like everyone else has but we live with it. I've worked with Time Warner field supervisors a lot trying to resolve the pixelation issue but they don't know why it happens and they don't really care to investigate beyond getting a "proper" signal into the home. I love the fact that some of you guys are really digging into the pixelation issue but I can't help but think TW should be doing this. If you can do it, they can do it...yeah right.

If the new DirecTV TiVo proves to be good I will move most of my clients over to that. A lot of them and myself used to have the old HR-250 DTVTIVO and feel that that box performed better than the TiVoHD on a cable system. (the price we pay for our love of TiVo goes way beyond a dollar value) I personally am at a point where I'd rather have that old HR-250 DTVTIVO without the big HD lineup and network functionality just so that I can have peace of mind.

Hey dolfer, Palm Springs is awesome right now. It's sunny and 74. That convention center was remodeled a few years ago and now looks like something from the Flintstones

http://www.palmspringscc.com/


----------



## pninen

My Cisco TA suddenly has a solid green light this morning (TW San Diego) after 4 days of blinking. 

Now we get to see if TW can keep it working for more than 5 days in a row (their previous record).

TW did a very poor job with this situation. Their customer service people were ill-informed. Their special "Tuning Adapter Center" technical support people were ill-informed. They wasted my time, and the time of thousands of other customers, as well as the time of all their folks who answered our phone calls. 

I have to rate TW a 0 on a scale of 1 to 10.


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> Well, first of all, the decoder doesn't receive the "input signals". ........


Yes I knew that. What I meant by signal was the binary bitstream after correction/reconstruction by the Reed-Solomon error correction algorithm, which yields the RS Corrected and RS Uncorrected error counts seen in the DVR Diagnostics Pages. These values are almost always zero even for channels that are pixelated. This is supposed to mean that the TiVo is processing the exact binary stream as sent where ever the RS encoding was applied.


lrhorer said:


> .............. Take a look at the documentation for ffmpeg some time. They are all covered in the spec, however, and the values of the parameters are embedded in the transport stream. That's how the decoder knows how to decode the stream. They are also variable within a stream. The encoding for a commercial may be different than the encoding for the main program, for example.
> ........


Yes, I've used FFMpeg. I believe one of the parameters is buffer size (`-bufsize size' ). As an example of the kind of problem I was wondering about, what if the transport stream specified a buffer size greater than what the TiVo can provide? Or perhaps something related to `-maxrate bitrate' ? Is every last thing like this guaranteed to be OK just because the same decoder chip is used and the TiVo design supposedly meets industry standards?


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> TWC has seen the issue here in Raleigh with their own eyes and have concluded that they are generating something that is tripping up TiVo resulting in macroblocking/pixelation which their Cisco STB's are handling with no issue. The key experiment is doing a simultaneous recording of a show on multiple TiVo's plus an 8300. The 8300 recording is clean. The TiVo recordings all exhibit breakups at exactly the same spot in the recordings and look basically identical. Just prior to the end of the recordings, the RS Stats for the TiVo's all indicate Uncorrected = 0 and the 'tune time' is correct indicating no 'retunes' have occured. This issue is only seen on SDV channels. The current TWC theory is that the rate shaper is generating something that TiVo doesnt like. However, TWC further indicates that all the Edge QAM's (Cisco GQAMs) for the different service groups should be receving the same rate shaped MPEG. This would mean that the same issue should be seen on all service groups if the rate shaper theory was correct. We did an experiment last night which showed that not to be true... My friend (on a different service group) and I recorded the same show and mine exhibited breakups on multiple TiVo's with 8300 clean while his TiVo recordings did not exhibit breakups at the time spots that mine did. That would seem to suggest that the problem is in the Edge QAM... I wouldnt expect the GQAM to be messing with the 'video' mpeg but perhaps he is fouling up the muxing information or not handing the merging of new streams properly (from TiVo's perspective anyway).. just a guess on my part though... Ill be passing the results of this experiment on to TWC next week.
> 
> Any input / thoughts / theories would be appreciated....


Thanks for the update SCSIRAID. It is so satisfying to see logical analysis and experimentation being applied to these problems instead of the guessing games we usually have to settle for! I just hope the Raleigh solution can lead to solutions in other TWC service areas. Do you have any tips on how to establish a contact with the right TWC technical people, as you apparently have done?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Thanks for the update SCSIRAID. It is so satisfying to see logical analysis and experimentation being applied to these problems instead of the guessing games we usually have to settle for! I just hope the Raleigh solution can lead to solutions in other TWC service areas. Do you have any tips on how to establish a contact with the right TWC technical people, as you apparently have done?


I started with a calm email to the Customer Care manager whose name and address were on the local executives page of the local website to grease the skids on my cablecard install (2006). I asked some questions and asked for some help. I got a email from a manager in technical operations and the rest is history. My tip is talk nicely and respectfully and form your statements carefully so you dont come off as mad or as a 'know it all'. I always let the tech ops folks know that I appreciate their efforts and the level of access that they are allowing above and beyond the normal situation. The rest is history. I also dont post their email addresses or cell phone numbers and try not to abuse the 'privledge' ive been granted.


----------



## texaslabrat

I thought I'd post a followup now that my rig has been running awhile with the attenuation in place. The TA lockups seem to have been completely eliminated. The SDV channel-changing issues have been reduced in frequency, but they still happen. So, it does look like (at least in my house) a good portion of the issues were caused by, or at least aggravated by, excessive signal strength into the Tivo.

YMMV, IANAL, etc.


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## Shmooh

aine said:


> So -- your experience -- there's no harm in having the TA because at the moment, I get none of those SDV channels. At least with the TA I would have some >0 probability of a successful recording on SDV channels.
> 
> But then I read Max's comment ...
> 
> that describes the TA possibly locking up the TiVo and preventing recordings even on NON-SDV channels. This is exactly the problem I want to avoid, and the reason why I have so far decided to forgo the TA even though I am missing many channels.


Yeah - that would definitely be a deal killer for me. The TA would have to go. But - We just don't experience that. I don't think we've had a non-SDV recording fail in... months, at the least. I can't even remember the last time it happened.

It's also possible that the SDV stuff has stabilized a bit, but we've been avoiding recording SDV anyway (e.g., recording off of SD versions of SDV HD channels).


----------



## woodburger

Here's my update (Austin). 8 problems since 10/29, mostly on TV (Time-Warner). Mostly black screen on TiVo. Saturday lost all Switched DIgital channels until I rebooted TA which then went into "Acquiring Channels" after which all was right - except I had a recording of nothing for an hour of the UT football game. Today I have lost the ISP at least 4 times. Rebooting the router seems to cure it - but not always for any length of time. This is the 3rd router, the second in weeks. TW also replaced my modem about 4 weeks ago. A head tech will come out on Wednesday to see what he can do. This is very very frustrating. Without reason, I suspect the TA is crashing TiVo. Or I have a bad router, a bad modem, a bad TA, a bad TiVo... which I doubt.


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## walt oswego

I had TiVo with Directv for years and loved it. When I moved a little over a year ago, I signed up with Time Warner here in Central NY (Syracuse) and got their Scientific Atlanta DVR. I didn't like it and my wife hated it. I bought an HD TiVO about 3 weeks ago. I like TiVo every bit as much as before but I have the SDV "missing channel" problem that many others are reporting. 

After a TA reset, things works fine for a while. SDV channels get tuned in as they should. The problem eventually shows up. Tuning to an SDV channel will show the channel for a few seconds before losing it. This gradually spreads to more and more SDV channels. 

First - some miscellaneous info:

1 - I had pixellation problems on HD channels with the Time Warner DVR. They were bad enough on some channels to make me not watch or record them at all. It seemed that every HD channel would have some pixellation sometime. Time Warner told me it was an issue with the signal(s) they received and were working on it. Since I got the TiVo, I have not seen a single instance of pixellation on any channel - with or without the Tuning adapter.

2 - My tuning adapter has never "locked up." I always get the non-switched digital channels even when I have the problem with switched channels.

3 - Time Warner has, so far, been very cooperative regarding the "missing channels". They have done the usual stuff remotely as I've talked to them on the phone and they have sent technicians to my house twice. After the last visit, they said they were getting a new tuning adapter to try. After reading this forum, I doubt that a new TA will fix it - but at least they are trying. It seems clear though that this is a national problem and the local techs, who have never seen a TA before, come into it without any support. It must be costing Time Warner quite a lot for local tech time for all of us who complain.

4 - My tuning adapter came with an undated sheet telling me about the missing channel problem. It said that a firmware fix would be downloaded in early January. The Time Warner techs had their own corresponding info. Theirs said the fix would be downloaded in January 2009. That's right - 2009 not 2010.


Now, my question. Why are we letting TiVo get by without criticism or complaint? We heap it all on Time Warner and / or Cisco. 

- It's the TiVO that tunes the SDV channel correctly and then loses it. I can't believe that the TA somehow filters the channel out of the RF that the Tivo receives. I also find it hard to believe that the TA changes its mind and gives TiVO a wrong frequency after first providing the correct one.

- When I disconnect my tuning adapter to reset it, Tivo notices it's gone and presumably clears all of its internal data. When the TA is reset, the TiVo is also starting fresh. From my experience with real time software, it seems just as likely to be a TiVo software / firmware problem as a TA firmware problem.

- Can it be that TiVo has decided to commit all of their resources to the new Directv box while paying lip service to us?


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## Shmooh

walt oswego said:


> Now, my question. Why are we letting TiVo get by without criticism or complaint? We heap it all on Time Warner and / or Cisco.


I think one of the major reasons is that TWC rolled out SDV before fully engineering a solution for CableCard customers. I.e., these types of problems should have been ironed out ahead of time instead of trying to fix it later.

My guess is that TiVo is not blameless (for at least some of the reasons you suggest). However, TiVo has a significant vested interest in keeping and enlarging its customer base. They don't want their customers telling others how much of a hassle it is to own a TiVo.

Ergo, it would certainly seems like TiVo should want this issue resolved ASAP.



> - It's the TiVO that tunes the SDV channel correctly and then loses it. I can't believe that the TA somehow filters the channel out of the RF that the Tivo receives. I also find it hard to believe that the TA changes its mind and gives TiVO a wrong frequency after first providing the correct one.


I don't have this particular problem. Assuming you're not alone in this (as in, it's not just your setup or something)... While it's entirely possible (probable?) that the TiVo is screwing up here, it could just as easily be that the TA is sending erroneous data (wrong frequency or otherwise). Or, it could be that the back-end data stream is corrupted and the TiVo barfs (rightfully) after a couple bad key frames? After all - there are apparently some issues with the encoding/rate-shaper that causes the pixelation on SDV channels.

In other words - who knows. We can't assume it's TiVo's fault, and we can't assume it's the TA's. Either is possible.

I don't mean to sound like a TiVo apologist/fanboi - I'm definitely not. I'm just willing to give them the benefit of the doubt given their need for TiVo owners to be happy (versus TWC's lack of need for that), and because TWC has a reputation/history for putting a very lackluster effort into their CableCard support (meaning corporate policy - not individuals, some of whom are excellent engineers/technicians).

Two recent cases come to mind - 1) TWC being fined and forced to provide Tuning Adapters by the government because of their premature SDV rollout, and 2) TWC being forced to use CableCards in their own set top boxes because of poor CableCard support.

TWC would like nothing more than for us to give up on TiVo and use their boxes. While that mentality may change once they get tru2way, for now, we're a hassle for them. Personally, if I have to dump the TiVo, I'm going to give U-Verse a try.


----------



## dlfl

Shmooh said:


> ............
> In other words - who knows. We can't assume it's TiVo's fault, and we can't assume it's the TA's. Either is possible.


That's the simple statement of fact and it's amazing, actually ridiculous, how many words have been wasted speculating or trying to prove who's fault it is on these forums without facts available.


Shmooh said:


> ............
> Two recent cases come to mind - 1) TWC being fined and forced to provide Tuning Adapters by the government because of their premature SDV rollout, and 2) TWC being forced to use CableCards in their own set top boxes because of poor CableCard support.
> .......


References? Links? Please?


----------



## walt oswego

dlfl said:


> That's the simple statement of fact and it's amazing, actually ridiculous, how many words have been wasted speculating or trying to prove who's fault it is on these forums without facts available.


That's because the facts are not available and no one is making them available - not technical facts anyway. The problem is frustrating, we'd like it fixed and there's no way to do that except to continue to make noise. This particular thread is useful because there's an attempt to deal with the technical issues while complaining. There are other threads in this forum that are nothing but rants that have degenerated into attacks on other contributors.

Personally, I do not know what to do except complain. I think that's true for everyone. My post was simply an attempt to get people complaining to TiVo too. Maybe it is their problem and they have not looked at it carefully enough. If it not their problem and they are sure of that, than maybe thinking we hold them responsible anyway will get them to act. They certainly have more clout and better technical contacts than any of us do.

I have 6 days left to return my TiVo to Best Buy and to cancel the Tivo service before I'm stuck paying for both. I guess I like TiVo better than the Time Warner DVR but I intend to spend the next 6 days looking for an alternative while complaining. If I stick with TiVo, I'll be complaining until the issue is resolved.

Thanks, Shmooh, for your thoughtful reply.


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## woodburger

FWIW, my problems continue, though there were a few days trouble free... most recently (yesterday) I lost the internet repeatedly and each time it could be brought back by unplugging/replugging my router. Each time it came back for maybe 15 minutes or so. Later, in the evening, when I went to the HD TV (and TiVo), (and the internet was still out) TiVo was dead (again - this is becoming almost a daily event.) I rebooted it. But the SDV channels were still lost, so I had to reboot the TA twice.

Here's the interesting thing... when I went to the TV the internet was down again. BUT after what I reported above, the internet was back.

Could the TA be taking everything on the network out?

I have a head tech coming tomorrow but honestly, I will be surprised if he can shed any light on this.


----------



## dlfl

walt oswego said:


> ........ My post was simply an attempt to get people complaining to TiVo too. .........


The problems are due to the combined system of cable co and TiVo and we have no facts to definitely analyze how to distribute the blame. Thus we should be complaining ***to*** both of them and letting them work out between them how they will respond.

That would mean calling or sending mail to *both* entities. Complaining ***about***either one of them (e.g., on these forums) is fine but it is, at best, an indirect way to complain *to* them. For TWC I seriously doubt if complaints here have any impact at all. For TiVo, we can hope they may be reading here, but we can't assume that. Even if they do read here, they may miss a lot of the "complaints".

TiVo *should already know* that whether or not *we *hold them responsible, the marketplace soon will. If they don't realize that, they are such poor business people they are doomed to go out of business anyway.

Bottom line: if this is important enough to continually complain on this forum, by all logic one should also be contacting TiVo and TWC directly with the same complaints.


----------



## Max Camber

Woodburger: The lead tech and supervisor just left my place. They have another TA call tomorrow which I'm assuming is you. I pretty much just explained the locked up TA issue and showed some recordings with pixelation but they weren't really able to do anything.

Just to add another variable to the mix, does anyone in the TWC Austin area know when the problems started with pixelation? I couldn't remember when the tech asked me, but apparently TWC finished converting the nodes from a "synchronous feed to RGB" (fully digital of some sort, just repeating what they said) about 3 months ago.


----------



## AtariAge

Still having problems on my end here in Austin. Pretty much every day now one or both of my TiVos will be unable to record or is locked up solid and needs to be rebooted. If I want to make sure shows are recording, I have to turn the television on and make sure the TiVo can tune to the proper channel. Half the time I turn the TV on it's tuned to black. If that's the case and the TiVo isn't locked up, a channel up/down will usually result in the channel tuning in. 

I haven't yet called TWC, but I've been very busy and don't want to dive into that pool yet. Will try to do so tomorrow. I agree that calling TWC and TiVo is better than complaining in this forum, however, it is still useful to do so here so people can corroborate their experiences with this issue. I do keep getting offers from DIRECTV in the mail, amusingly enough. 

TiVo and Time Warner are going to start losing customers over this, if they haven't already. Time Warner won't care, but I'm guessing TiVo can't afford to lose customers as well as the poor word-of-mouth this will bring by those affected.

..Al


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## DrMark

AtariAge said:


> TiVo and Time Warner are going to start losing customers over this, if they haven't already. Time Warner won't care, but I'm guessing TiVo can't afford to lose customers as well as the poor word-of-mouth this will bring by those affected.
> 
> ..Al


I live in Austin, and I've wanted to upgrade to an HD Tivo (I hate the TW box). I'm going to wait until I get word that this problem is solved. The second I get an alternative that works with Tivo (U-verse, FIOS, or Satellite), I'm switching.

--Mark


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## rv65

SDV should be launched in the Ex Adelphia part of the San Diego system. They'll deploy Moto tuning adapters.


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## AtariAge

DrMark said:


> I live in Austin, and I've wanted to upgrade to an HD Tivo (I hate the TW box). I'm going to wait until I get word that this problem is solved. The second I get an alternative that works with Tivo (U-verse, FIOS, or Satellite), I'm switching.
> 
> --Mark


I absolutely would not get an HD TiVo here in Austin until this issue is resolved.

..Al


----------



## Shmooh

dlfl said:


> Originally Posted by Shmooh
> ............
> Two recent cases come to mind - 1) TWC being fined and forced to provide Tuning Adapters by the government because of their premature SDV rollout, and 2) TWC being forced to use CableCards in their own set top boxes because of poor CableCard support.
> .......
> 
> References? Links? Please?


My bad - I thought this was common knowledge (seriously - no sarcasm, I should've provided links).

Here's one on the cable co's being forced to use Cable Cards in their boxes:
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/10/missing-cablecard-set-top-box.ars

Here's one on the SDV rollout / TA / fining thing:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Cripples-TiVO-Gets-FCC-Fine-97222

They're both a bit old, but they explain the situations pretty well.


----------



## dlfl

Shmooh said:


> My bad - I thought this was common knowledge (seriously - no sarcasm, I should've provided links).
> 
> Here's one on the cable co's being forced to use Cable Cards in their boxes:
> http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/10/missing-cablecard-set-top-box.ars
> 
> Here's one on the SDV rollout / TA / fining thing:
> http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Cripples-TiVO-Gets-FCC-Fine-97222
> 
> They're both a bit old, but they explain the situations pretty well.


Thanks, I just went digital this summer and had not been following these events.


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> ..........
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by dlfl
> What does TWC mean by a "sync issue" I wonder?
> 
> It means the OP spoke to a moron who has no idea of what they speak, and then the OP bought the ridiculous load of crap.


Here is a post in the GSAS thread discussing losing sync as a problem. Sounds plausible to me. Still think it's a "load of crap" ?


----------



## dlfl

Shmooh said:


> My bad - I thought this was common knowledge (seriously - no sarcasm, I should've provided links).
> 
> Here's one on the cable co's being forced to use Cable Cards in their boxes:
> http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/10/missing-cablecard-set-top-box.ars
> 
> Here's one on the SDV rollout / TA / fining thing:
> http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Cripples-TiVO-Gets-FCC-Fine-97222
> 
> They're both a bit old, but they explain the situations pretty well.


Forfeiture rulings regarding SDV and TA's were reversed in June -- see **this post**. It now appears there is no FCC ruling or law requiring tuning adapters. The only requirement is 30 day advance notice before service is reduced by moving channels to SDV without furnishing a tuning adapter.


----------



## walt oswego

This is a follow up on my post of 11/16/09.

My "missing channels" problem has been taken care of. Time Warner (Syracuse) sent an incredibly determined and dedicated technician and he worked away at it until it was OK. He was here for a day and a half. He even called me the following day to be sure that it was still OK.

On the first afternoon two Time Warner techs came. Neither had ever seen a tuning adapter before and they both said that they had limited experience with cable cards. One of them told me there were only about 100 tuning adapters in their entire service area, all of Central NY. But they were both determined to learn and to get it right. One of them got called away after a couple of hours to do other work, the other worked on it the rest of the afternoon, called me the next day to tell me he was researching the issue, came back the following day and after several hours and many phone calls to various Time Warner people, fixed it.

I do not know which of the things they did were part of the solution and which were dead ends but here's some stuff that seems relevant.

1 - I have a new tuning adapter. After it was replaced the problem changed complexion. Instead of tuning to a new SDV channel for a few seconds and then losing it, there were some SDV channels that were simply never there at all.

2 - The tech figured out that the missing channels were always on the same QAM frequency. Leaving out all of his troubleshooting work and phone calls, the problem was finally fixed remotely. As we watched, the tuning adapter missing screen came up, the tuning adapter went through its blinks, the tuning adapter connected screen came up and it has worked right since then.

3 - As far as I can tell, no changes were made to the TiVo. It was reset a few times during the troubleshooting but I do not know if that was a necessary part of the solution.

I learned that TW has a national service desk for tuning adapters. Only TW techs can talk to them and they wait on hold to get their turn. You'll be happy to know that TW techs listen to the same TW ads while they hold that we do.

I've had a working TiVo for 2 days now. I get all my channels. It's great!!


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## Stone1555

sounds like the channels weren't in the T/A's map. When the T/A rebooted did the acquiring channel info screen come up?


----------



## dlfl

walt oswego said:


> ..........
> I learned that TW has a national service desk for tuning adapters. Only TW techs can talk to them and they wait on hold to get their turn. ........


You can also get connected with the TWC National Cable Card Support group by a TiVo support rep -- they did that for me. This was after my local TWC telephone support gave up, not having a clue (and scheduled a truck roll -- of course!).


----------



## Stormspace

Shmooh said:


> My bad - I thought this was common knowledge (seriously - no sarcasm, I should've provided links).
> 
> Here's one on the cable co's being forced to use Cable Cards in their boxes:
> http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/10/missing-cablecard-set-top-box.ars
> 
> Here's one on the SDV rollout / TA / fining thing:
> http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Cripples-TiVO-Gets-FCC-Fine-97222
> 
> They're both a bit old, but they explain the situations pretty well.


IIRC part of the cable card regulation would require Cable Providers to use the same mechanism to connect that third party devices use. However I think what happened was that cable companies rushed SDV out ahead of the implementation date in the hopes of getting a stay on the cable card requirement.


----------



## walt oswego

Stone1555 said:


> sounds like the channels weren't in the T/A's map. When the T/A rebooted did the acquiring channel info screen come up?


Not that I recall. I suspect it was not the channel map. The problem was that I could not get whichever channels were on that particular QAM frequency. For example, USA is a channel that I watch a lot. I could get it at some times and not others. Turned out that I could not get it whenever it was on that frequency.

Rereading my post, I see that I never said that even though I thought it was important.


----------



## Shmooh

Stormspace said:


> IIRC part of the cable card regulation would require Cable Providers to use the same mechanism to connect that third party devices use. However I think what happened was that cable companies rushed SDV out ahead of the implementation date in the hopes of getting a stay on the cable card requirement.


That's my guess as to what happened as well (hoping for a stay). I vaguely remember that they stalled that CableCard requirement for a long time, but that after several years the FCC just said, "No, you've had long enough. Do it."

I was asking over on the SDV FAQ thread about CableCard legality, and a poster there clearly stated that there is no requirement for cable co's to provide tuning adapters. I.e., that they could just roll out SDV and all they had to do was tell CableCard users that channels would be going away.

While that seems wrong to me (given the local monopolies cable companies have), it would be an interesting twist if they are indeed required to use the same mechanisms for third party devices.


----------



## KungFuCow

Is there anywhere I can find a list of what the led sequences mean, assuming they mean SOMETHING.. my TA is blinking 8 times, pausing and repeating. Before I call TW, I wanted to see if I could figure out whats going on with it.


----------



## Grumock

KungFuCow said:


> Is there anywhere I can find a list of what the led sequences mean, assuming they mean SOMETHING.. my TA is blinking 8 times, pausing and repeating. Before I call TW, I wanted to see if I could figure out whats going on with it.


when & if you call them tell them to just send a balancing hit to the account. You could try before calling them to unplug USB cord & reboot TA if you have not already done that, but I think you will need the "*Balancing hit*" sent. If i am not mistaken after that the light may go off entirely & then just hit the power button & all should come back in.

That is also IF the TA is still assigned to an occurrence, which from what i have heard, has happened to some who have seen this behavior in your area.


----------



## Max Camber

Just posting to let the TWC Austin people know that I'm still on the case. I've been exchanging email with a local tech supervisor and thanks to SCSIRAID he is now in touch with the group working on the tuning adapter issues. I'm still trying to create a streamlined process for reporting the TA issues but I'm not expecting to hear back until after Thanksgiving at this point.


----------



## KungFuCow

Grumock said:


> when & if you call them tell them to just send a balancing hit to the account. You could try before calling them to unplug USB cord & reboot TA if you have not already done that, but I think you will need the "*Balancing hit*" sent. If i am not mistaken after that the light may go off entirely & then just hit the power button & all should come back in.
> 
> That is also IF the TA is still assigned to an occurrence, which from what i have heard, has happened to some who have seen this behavior in your area.


Sweet.. it was working fine and I had to unplug my Moxi and move it and I guess that caused the TA to freak out. I kept noticing some things werent recording and when I looked, the channels werent even listed.


----------



## Grumock

KungFuCow said:


> Sweet.. it was working fine and I had to unplug my Moxi and move it and I guess that caused the TA to freak out. I kept noticing some things werent recording and when I looked, the channels werent even listed.


could be the disconnection to the cable spurred it, but i think you are feeling the left over affects of the update they are doing for the new software to be released. I think Sccraid & Biginjapan both have the new firmware (.1001)that is coming down the line. I am still showing the .0801 on the three I have now, but i am in the GSO market in NC.

BTW if all that "Balancing HIT" does not work right away, just ask to be transferred to the Cable Card Support desk.


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## dlfl

Grumock said:


> .......BTW if all that "Balancing HIT" does not work right away, just ask to be transferred to the Cable Card Support desk.


I think you have inside knowledge. I notice you call it a "Balancing HIT". I have two questions, if you know:
1. Why is it called a Balancing hit? (What is being balanced?).
2. Are there other kinds of "hits" they make to TA's?

Also, an earlier poster asked for definitions of what the TA blink sequences mean. Here is what I believe about that:

*Continuous blinks* -- total meltdown. Power cycle TA, cycle USB connector, reboot TiVo, call Cable Co. and/or TiVo support. *But first *wait 10 minutes at least. When first booting up you can have continuous blinks a long time.

_*Repeated 8-blink-then-pause sequences *_-- The TA has "lost provisioning", i.e., needs a [balancing ?] hit from the cable co.

_*Repeated 6-blink-then-pause sequences *_-- The TA has lost communication with the TiVo. Plug in or cycle the USB connector.

*Steady* -- Usually means all OK. However the TA can also stop working and still show a steady light in some cases.

General Tips when there's a problem:
1. First plug-cycle the USB
2. If not fixed, power-cycle the TA, leaving off at least 30 secs.
3. If not fixed, reboot the TiVo.
4. When you call either the Cable Co. or TiVo, after they do everything they can think of and it's still not fixed, ask them to connect you to the TWC National Cable Card Desk. There are plenty of cases posted where that was the only way a Tuning Adapter problem was fixed.

This info may be incomplete or incorrect. Corrections are welcomed!


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> I think you have inside knowledge. I notice you call it a "Balancing HIT". I have two questions, if you know:
> 1. Why is it called a Balancing hit? (What is being balanced?).
> 2. Are there other kinds of "hits" they make to TA's?
> 
> Also, an earlier poster asked for definitions of what the TA blink sequences mean. Here is what I believe about that:
> 
> *Continuous blinks* -- total meltdown. Power cycle TA, cycle USB connector, reboot TiVo, call Cable Co. and/or TiVo support. *But first *wait 10 minutes at least. When first booting up you can have continuous blinks a long time.
> 
> _*Repeated 8-blink-then-pause sequences *_-- The TA has "lost provisioning", i.e., needs a [balancing ?] hit from the cable co.
> 
> _*Repeated 6-blink-then-pause sequences *_-- The TA has lost communication with the TiVo. Plug in or cycle the USB connector.
> 
> *Steady* -- Usually means all OK. However the TA can also stop working and still show a steady light in some cases.
> 
> General Tips when there's a problem:
> 1. First plug-cycle the USB
> 2. If not fixed, power-cycle the TA, leaving off at least 30 secs.
> 3. If not fixed, reboot the TiVo.
> 4. When you call either the Cable Co. or TiVo, after they do everything they can think of and it's still not fixed, ask them to connect you to the TWC National Cable Card Desk. There are plenty of cases posted where that was the only way a Tuning Adapter problem was fixed.
> 
> This info may be incomplete or incorrect. Corrections are welcomed!


When you reboot the TA leave the USB cord unplugged until light stays solid.
(there are times when it will go to a 6 blink & pause mode meaning the USB is Disconnected &should go solid as soon as you connect USB)

Once solid you should see the Tuning adapter connected page when u reconnect the USB cord. If not then you need to try other USB port on the back of TIVO & remove the wireless adapter if you have one connected. If still no page comes up then reboot the Tivo. Leaving the USB disconnected until TIVO is back up all the way.

8 Blinks means that it has lost is authorization in the DNCS & normally from what i have gathered a "Balancing Hit" can get that to stop but not always.

Now as far as inside information goes. LOL I wish, I was just very curious when on the phone getting mine taken care of & asked a lot of questions.


----------



## walt oswego

dlfl said:


> _*Repeated 8-blink-then-pause sequences *_-- The TA has "lost provisioning", i.e., needs a [balancing ?] hit from the cable co.


I can add some unconnected pieces - wish I knew enough to put them together better.

The tech who did the work at my house called the 8 blink sequence "brick mode" I assumed that it meant that in that mode the TA was as useful as a brick - but I did not ask.

Balancing hits (whatever they are) did not bring it out of brick mode. Apparently balancing hits can be sent by level 1 support. What seemed to get it out of brick mode was a "provisioning hit"( also called a "staging hit") In order to get one of those, he needed to talk to someone at the head end.


----------



## jmfirestone

I have a new issue, one that I haven't seen before and I am not sure what the deal is.

First, my Tuning adapter stopped getting all channels. TWC came and fixed my signal and replaced my adapter. Evrerything seemed find upon checking, but it really wasn't.

I have since rebooted it 3x, but I have an issue now where some channels tune in for 2 seconds and then gives me the message saying the channel is unavailable. Normally, if there was no room for the SDV channel I wanted, I would get the message right away. It would not come in at all. Now it comes in, then disappears.

Some channels work fine, some don't. I have not been able to get SyFyHD in for days with this issue. I find it hard to believe it has not been available in that long. 

I see earlier in this thread that it's a TA issue. Ugggh...


----------



## Grumock

jmfirestone said:


> I have a new issue, one that I haven't seen before and I am not sure what the deal is.
> 
> First, my Tuning adapter stopped getting all channels. TWC came and fixed my signal and replaced my adapter. Evrerything seemed find upon checking, but it really wasn't.
> 
> I have since rebooted it 3x, but I have an issue now where some channels tune in for 2 seconds and then gives me the message saying the channel is unavailable. Normally, if there was no room for the SDV channel I wanted, I would get the message right away. It would not come in at all. Now it comes in, then disappears.
> 
> Some channels work fine, some don't. I have not been able to get SyFyHD in for days with this issue. I find it hard to believe it has not been available in that long.
> 
> I see earlier in this thread that it's a TA issue. Ugggh...


I would be inclined to think it is a possible return issue on the line. If you can bring up the Tuning Adapter Diagnostic screen you can check this.

Tivo Central /Messages & settings/ Account & system information / Tuning adapter / Tuning Adapter Diagnostics. From there choose Status Summary & then hit the select button then hit it again so that it takes you to second page in the Status summary screen. In there you will see 3 sets of Tuner, FDC & RDC. The middle set with DBMV are what you are looking at. Your return or RDC should be within no less then 36 & no higher then 55. Your FDC should also be as close to 0 as possible.


----------



## Grumock

walt oswego said:


> I can add some unconnected pieces - wish I knew enough to put them together better.
> 
> The tech who did the work at my house called the 8 blink sequence "brick mode" I assumed that it meant that in that mode the TA was as useful as a brick - but I did not ask.
> 
> Balancing hits (whatever they are) did not bring it out of brick mode. Apparently balancing hits can be sent by level 1 support. What seemed to get it out of brick mode was a "provisioning hit"( also called a "staging hit") In order to get one of those, he needed to talk to someone at the head end.


during initial installs you might see that Brick Mode or 8 blink mode not able to be changed with a "Balancing hit" & in those cases the head end should be contacted.

I guess from what i gathered though, there are a few markets in the TWC footprint that did some type of update for the new firmware that is to come that put many TAs into the brick mode. For those i was told that all that was needed was a balancing hit & in some rare occasions the USB had to be pulled & the TA rebooted after that hit was sent. This is of course knowledge obtained through the grapevine.


----------



## SCSIRAID

jmfirestone said:


> I have a new issue, one that I haven't seen before and I am not sure what the deal is.
> 
> First, my Tuning adapter stopped getting all channels. TWC came and fixed my signal and replaced my adapter. Evrerything seemed find upon checking, but it really wasn't.
> 
> I have since rebooted it 3x, but I have an issue now where some channels tune in for 2 seconds and then gives me the message saying the channel is unavailable. Normally, if there was no room for the SDV channel I wanted, I would get the message right away. It would not come in at all. Now it comes in, then disappears.
> 
> Some channels work fine, some don't. I have not been able to get SyFyHD in for days with this issue. I find it hard to believe it has not been available in that long.
> 
> I see earlier in this thread that it's a TA issue. Ugggh...


Do you have a regular TWC box in addition to the TiVo? Can you tune those channels on the TWC box? If you dont have one... perhaps borrow one from a neighbor?


----------



## DrSnoCaps

Grumock said:


> I would be inclined to think it is a possible return issue on the line. If you can bring up the Tuning Adapter Diagnostic screen you can check this.
> 
> Tivo Central /Messages & settings/ Account & system information / Tuning adapter / Tuning Adapter Diagnostics. From there choose Status Summary & then hit the select button then hit it again so that it takes you to second page in the Status summary screen. In there you will see 3 sets of Tuner, FDC & RDC. The middle set with DBMV are what you are looking at. Your return or RDC should be within no less then 36 & no higher then 55. Your FDC should also be as close to 0 as possible.


I have an RDC of 32 and FDC of 14 and those values are outside the range you cited. Is there anything as an end user I can do that might improve them (and thus my TA performance, which kind of sucks :-( )


----------



## Grumock

DrSnoCaps said:


> I have an RDC of 32 and FDC of 14 and those values are outside the range you cited. Is there anything as an end user I can do that might improve them (and thus my TA performance, which kind of sucks :-( )


well I would not recommend using attenuators just as a personal choice. You would or should get a tech out to try & get those levels straight. The problem is that lots of times you will get a tech out who is not willing to get is straight. I forget if you are a TWC user or not? If you are & you get a tech out that is looking at those signals & is telling you they are good you may want to get him to contact the Cable Card Support Desk before he leaves so that there is not a repeat trouble call for the same issue.


----------



## SCSIRAID

DrSnoCaps said:


> I have an RDC of 32 and FDC of 14 and those values are outside the range you cited. Is there anything as an end user I can do that might improve them (and thus my TA performance, which kind of sucks :-( )


What is the 'Tuner' value? 14 for FDC is huge... I would imagine that the tuner value should be in the same range and is too high.


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## Grumock

SCSIRAID said:


> What is the 'Tuner' value? 14 for FDC is huge... I would imagine that the tuner value should be in the same range and is too high.


I agree with you 100%


----------



## DrMark

Max Camber said:


> Just posting to let the TWC Austin people know that I'm still on the case. I've been exchanging email with a local tech supervisor and thanks to SCSIRAID he is now in touch with the group working on the tuning adapter issues. I'm still trying to create a streamlined process for reporting the TA issues but I'm not expecting to hear back until after Thanksgiving at this point.


I'm just checking to see if there has been any progress with TWC in Austin.

Thanks,

--mark


----------



## DrSnoCaps

SCSIRAID said:


> What is the 'Tuner' value? 14 for FDC is huge... I would imagine that the tuner value should be in the same range and is too high.


Tuner value is 12 dBmV. I'm right up the road from you near 55 & HighHouse so if you know a good TWC tech, please let me know!


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## SCSIRAID

DrSnoCaps said:


> Tuner value is 12 dBmV. I'm right up the road from you near 55 & HighHouse so if you know a good TWC tech, please let me know!


Ive got some attenuators you could borrow and see if it fixes your issue.


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## dcstager

Max Camber said:


> Just posting to let the TWC Austin people know that I'm still on the case. I've been exchanging email with a local tech supervisor and thanks to SCSIRAID he is now in touch with the group working on the tuning adapter issues. I'm still trying to create a streamlined process for reporting the TA issues but I'm not expecting to hear back until after Thanksgiving at this point.


One thing TWC in Austin could do is push out the latest firmware update for the TA. Mine is at .701 and people are posting that they have .1001 I don't know what others in Austin have. I have had the pixellation problems and the issue with having to channel up then down to see a channel and blank recordings on SDV channels and pretty much every bug mentioned here has shown up.

A firmware fix might be the solution but chances are Tivo will have to build some error checking into their end of it to be sure the Tivo is receiving the SDV channel. TWC will have to insure there is enough bandwidth on the requested SDV channel to overcome the pixellation problems.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> One thing TWC in Austin could do is push out the latest firmware update for the TA. Mine is at .701 and people are posting that they have .1001 I don't know what others in Austin have. I have had the pixellation problems and the issue with having to channel up then down to see a channel and blank recordings on SDV channels and pretty much every bug mentioned here has shown up.
> 
> A firmware fix might be the solution but chances are Tivo will have to build some error checking into their end of it to be sure the Tivo is receiving the SDV channel. TWC will have to insure there is enough bandwidth on the requested SDV channel to overcome the pixellation problems.


The "current" version of TA firmware has been .0801 for months now. The only place I'm aware of 0.1001 being deployed is in the Raleigh NC area presumbaly as part of the investigation being done by SCSIRAID there.

Also, I doubt that "sufficient bandwidth" can either be checked by the TiVo or is a primary factor in the pixelation problems. Last I heard, the problems in the Raleigh area are something to do with the way the binary transport stream is formulated in the TWC delivery system that causes problems only for TiVo's, not for TWC STB's or DVR's. Unfortunately one cannot assume the delivery systems in different TWC regions are identical, so we can only hope the solution for Raleigh is also the solution for Austin or other regions.


----------



## comcastblows

Hey guys, I'm glad to have found this forum, misery loves company I guess. I'm about a month into no HD channels except for the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS & FOX). It's like I'm waiting for the tuning adapter to finally get to my house, all over again...

I've got a HD tivo with TWC near Charlotte, NC. A few weeks back I lost most of the HD programmimg. Since then I've been through two techs, two tuning adapters, and enough power cycles to make you crazy. But yet I'm still not getting receiving all the HD channels that I'm paying for (Disc, TLC, HISTHD, and other random channels like BBC, god I miss top gear).

I was happy to see the info posted about the 8 blinks. I kept suggesting to the techs that HAD to mean something as I didn't remember it happening in the past. So I guess I'll call tomorrow and request a "balancing hit", reboot, and see if that helps. Then I should call again and request a "provisioning hit"? Or will I just have to wait for another tech to come out and do that?

Thanks for the help. It's pretty horrible to have spent money on a nice TV, a higher end tivo, and then shell out over $110 a month to TWC only to not be able to watch my shows in HD.

Should I have posted this in the main TWC section as I don't really know if it's tuning adapter or the card?

(and yes "comcastblows" is my login, but I now have TWC. But I'm feeling similarly about them...)


----------



## SCSIRAID

comcastblows said:


> Hey guys, I'm glad to have found this forum, misery loves company I guess. I'm about a month into no HD channels except for the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS & FOX). It's like I'm waiting for the tuning adapter to finally get to my house, all over again...
> 
> I've got a HD tivo with TWC near Charlotte, NC. A few weeks back I lost most of the HD programmimg. Since then I've been through two techs, two tuning adapters, and enough power cycles to make you crazy. But yet I'm still not getting receiving all the HD channels that I'm paying for (Disc, TLC, HISTHD, and other random channels like BBC, god I miss top gear).
> 
> I was happy to see the info posted about the 8 blinks. I kept suggesting to the techs that HAD to mean something as I didn't remember it happening in the past. So I guess I'll call tomorrow and request a "balancing hit", reboot, and see if that helps. Then I should call again and request a "provisioning hit"? Or will I just have to wait for another tech to come out and do that?
> 
> Thanks for the help. It's pretty horrible to have spent money on a nice TV, a higher end tivo, and then shell out over $110 a month to TWC only to not be able to watch my shows in HD.
> 
> Should I have posted this in the main TWC section as I don't really know if it's tuning adapter or the card?
> 
> (and yes "comcastblows" is my login, but I now have TWC. But I'm feeling similarly about them...)


If you are missing channels, they you likely need a 'balancing' hit. If you pull the TA USB cable, do you get the missing channels? I would expect not since the TA just provides tuning resolution, not entitlement. You dont need to reboot anything though. If you reboot before all the EMM's are received you may defeat the hit.


----------



## bobrt6676

SCSIRAID said:


> If you are missing channels, they you likely need a 'balancing' hit. If you pull the TA USB cable, do you get the missing channels? I would expect not since the TA just provides tuning resolution, not entitlement. You dont need to reboot anything though. If you reboot before all the EMM's are received you may defeat the hit.


My recent experience with TW CC/TA hotline suggests it takes 3 HITS to get the EMM's up enough to receive all channels.
1 Hit- I received 2 EMM's no new channels
2nd Hit- 4 EMM's partial channels restored
3rd Hit- 6+EMM's all stations restored


----------



## comcastblows

Thanks for the help. Yes, I don't get the channels with T/A unplugged either. 

I called today and got a "balancing hit" and absolutely nothing changed. I still don't get those channels and I still have the eight blink sequence going on. Is the balancing hit for the T/A or for the cable card? Should I bypass the T/A for the hit and plug the hd tivo/cable card in directly?


----------



## SCSIRAID

comcastblows said:


> Thanks for the help. Yes, I don't get the channels with T/A unplugged either.
> 
> I called today and got a "balancing hit" and absolutely nothing changed. I still don't get those channels and I still have the eight blink sequence going on. Is the balancing hit for the T/A or for the cable card? Should I bypass the T/A for the hit and plug the hd tivo/cable card in directly?


I would remove the TA and get the basic TiVo working first...

Missing channels typically means that your account isnt set up properly and your cablecard doesnt have the entitlements that it needs to decode the channels you subscribe to. They typically fix this by 'balancing' your account. This assumes you cablecard is authorized though... If you go into CC Menu... do you have CP AUTH RECVD?


----------



## jmfirestone

Grumock said:


> I would be inclined to think it is a possible return issue on the line. If you can bring up the Tuning Adapter Diagnostic screen you can check this.
> 
> Tivo Central /Messages & settings/ Account & system information / Tuning adapter / Tuning Adapter Diagnostics. From there choose Status Summary & then hit the select button then hit it again so that it takes you to second page in the Status summary screen. In there you will see 3 sets of Tuner, FDC & RDC. The middle set with DBMV are what you are looking at. Your return or RDC should be within no less then 36 & no higher then 55. Your FDC should also be as close to 0 as possible.


FDC = -1, RDC = 41. Sounds pretty good? TW is coming this morning to look at it.



SCSIRAID said:


> Do you have a regular TWC box in addition to the TiVo? Can you tune those channels on the TWC box? If you dont have one... perhaps borrow one from a neighbor?


The same channel will come in fine on a normal box. That was one of the first things I checked since there is an announcement on the TW phone line that they are having problems with a bunch of set top boxes. I thought it might just be an overall SDV issue. It wasn't.


----------



## jmfirestone

The guy came and checked my signals. He said my main signal was way to high at a +15 or something and the max it should be is a +8. He adjusted that, but it still didn't help. He said it's a system wide issue that is going on all over. Raleigh, Charlotte, here in Greensboro. Apparently G'boro gets its feed from Raleigh.

He said it's an engineering issue with the servers, the only thing he can do is escalate it to his supervisor. He did, and his supervisor is apparently going to check all the QAMs from here to the office or something to make sure everything is good. That would take a few days, and once they verify everything is good they pass it on to engineering. 

So, I wait...


----------



## scottc42

I am TWC Milwaukee. I received my Tuning Adapter several months ago, and I installed it myself with no apparent problems. It pretty much worked right out of the box, and a couple days later I got a call from someone at Time Warner asking if I was happy with the Tuning Adapter and if I needed any support in installing. I said everything was great, and I was pretty pleased with getting the call. Until a few weeks ago, the only problem I had was the occasional "channel not available", but it never interfered with recordings.

Then Time Warner completely changed the channel lineup. This really threw me off, because my memory gets harder and harder to reprogram these days! At first it seemed like my guide really had a hard time adjusting to the new lineup, but this seemed to resolve itself after a few days. Then it seemed like there were a bunch of new channels (maybe they were there before, and I just did not know) in the channel list, but I could not tune to them. Then I noticed that channels I think I _should _get (FOXHD, SCIENCEHD) were no longer coming in. I never had any blinking lights, but I tried rebooting a few times with no success. I did not bother calling Time Warner. Then yesterday I noticed many of the "missing" channels were _*back *_(FOXHD & SCIENCEHD included). I went to the channel list and found more channels I did not know were available (The Weather Channel HD) and selected them. Then I went to watch some of these channels. I could tune to them, but when I tuned away, they dissapeared from the guide and they were unselected in the channel list.

Is this something that also will resolve itself over time?


----------



## rover1

A couple of weeks ago TWC added 8 HD channels to the lineup....the next day they added 1 more and a couple of days later they added one more. The problem is that the original 8 adds will not tune for me at all. I get a plain gray screen. No Temp unavailable or any notices....just the gray screen. The channel added the next day works fine and the last add works just fine. I have called Oceanic and the very nice gentleman went through several steps (from the manual) about rebooting the Tivo and rebooting the TA---which I had already tried before I called. He checked a couple of things with the tech folks while I was on hold but nothing worked. I have a truck roll on 15DEC--the first available date since right after T-giving. I have sent email to TWC support and they have (slowly) been working on a fix. Today I get the notice that a new hit has been sent to both cable card and TA and for me to try the reboots again---still nothing. I told them that it is almost as if the TA is not aware that I am supposed to get those 8 channels. Any suggestions? I am off island for a week starting Sunday so that gives them a few days to maybe come up with a solution--short of the truck roll on the 15th. TIA for any help.
Bill


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## rover1

More info...I looked at the Tuner Summary and it's as follows... Tuner: -3dbmv FDC -16dbmv RDC 55dbmv... I also looked at a page the addressed EMMS..... they all read Zero. Am I stuck waiting for the tech to come next week?
TIA- Bill


----------



## SCSIRAID

rover1 said:


> More info...I looked at the Tuner Summary and it's as follows... Tuner: -3dbmv FDC -16dbmv RDC 55dbmv... I also looked at a page the addressed EMMS..... they all read Zero. Am I stuck waiting for the tech to come next week?
> TIA- Bill


FDC and RDC are certainly out of whack.... The Tuner value is fine though... odd.


----------



## woodburger

I am still having problems with lost switched digital channels, lost isp to computer - all on TW Austin. This despite the tech dropping my signal level (another splitter), replacing the cable run to street (300 feet) and putting some sort of noise trap somewhere. One thing I can't figure is when I reboot my router (to get internet back) I ALSO have to reboot TiVo. Does that make sense? I'd say - without looking at my records - I have to reboot something, TA/TiVo, router, at least once a week. I am on my 3rd router and second cable modem.


----------



## PAClaxton

comcastblows said:


> Hey guys, I'm glad to have found this forum, misery loves company I guess. I'm about a month into no HD channels except for the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS & FOX). It's like I'm waiting for the tuning adapter to finally get to my house, all over again...
> 
> I've got a HD tivo with TWC near Charlotte, NC. A few weeks back I lost most of the HD programmimg. Since then I've been through two techs, two tuning adapters, and enough power cycles to make you crazy. But yet I'm still not getting receiving all the HD channels that I'm paying for (Disc, TLC, HISTHD, and other random channels like BBC, god I miss top gear).
> 
> I was happy to see the info posted about the 8 blinks. I kept suggesting to the techs that HAD to mean something as I didn't remember it happening in the past. So I guess I'll call tomorrow and request a "balancing hit", reboot, and see if that helps. Then I should call again and request a "provisioning hit"? Or will I just have to wait for another tech to come out and do that?
> 
> Thanks for the help. It's pretty horrible to have spent money on a nice TV, a higher end tivo, and then shell out over $110 a month to TWC only to not be able to watch my shows in HD.
> 
> Should I have posted this in the main TWC section as I don't really know if it's tuning adapter or the card?
> 
> (and yes "comcastblows" is my login, but I now have TWC. But I'm feeling similarly about them...)


I'm on TWC-Charlotte as well and had the same problem about a month ago, (the 8 blink and pause on the TA). I called support several times before I got it to work doing the following --

1. Unplug the USB cord connecting the Tivo to the TA.
2. Unplug the power to the TA
3. Wait 2 minutes or so - VERY IMPORTANT
4. Plug in TA and DO NOT connect the USB to the TIVO
5. Once you get a solid green light, you can then connect the USB to the TIVO.

(If you connect the USB to the TIVO to early, that will cause the 8 blink that wouldn't resolve itself.)

Hope this helps,
Phil

P.S. I used to have Comcast in Florida and they were awful. I have been very happy with TWC-Charlotte since I started with them over a year ago.


----------



## Max Camber

DrMark said:


> I'm just checking to see if there has been any progress with TWC in Austin.


None at all. I've been extremely polite and patient but am still getting minimal/no response to my email at this point. I'm contacting the VP of Customer Care today but have very low expectations.


----------



## darkavich

Hello,
I have been working with Time Warner for the past 12 months to try and get a problem resolved. The configuration that I have is:

Tivo Series 3 
-Dual Cable Cards
- Tuner Adapter .801 firmware

Tivo HD
- Multi-stream Cable Card 
- Tuner Adapter .801 firmware

After a reboot of the Tuner adapter, which takes about 2-3 minutes before it is authorized to display SDV channels, everything works fine. I can tun in every channel. After a few hours (usually no more than 3) several channels stop working (not 100% of all channels). I can tune them in, and I get 1-2 seconds of the program and then I get the stock message that "This channel is temporarily unavailable".

The problem is resolved (temporarily) by power cycling the tuner adapter. It will then fail to work after a few more hours.

All the technicians at TWC want to do is test the signal of the cable. They tell me it's too high then another says too low. All the time, the problem is not resolved until I reboot. Then a few hours later it fails again.

Does anyone have any advise for trying to work with TWC to resolve this problem? I am in the process of escalating. At this point, I feel like we need a protocol expert from both Cisco and TWC to help me solve this problem.

At the moment, all my SDV channels are worthless to try and record, because I get a 90% failure rate because the tuner adapter will not tune in the channel. 

Thanks in advance,
-Steve


----------



## Grumock

darkavich said:


> Hello,
> I have been working with Time Warner for the past 12 months to try and get a problem resolved. The configuration that I have is:
> 
> Tivo Series 3
> -Dual Cable Cards
> - Tuner Adapter .801 firmware
> 
> Tivo HD
> - Multi-stream Cable Card
> - Tuner Adapter .801 firmware
> 
> After a reboot of the Tuner adapter, which takes about 2-3 minutes before it is authorized to display SDV channels, everything works fine. I can tun in every channel. After a few hours (usually no more than 3) several channels stop working (not 100% of all channels). I can tune them in, and I get 1-2 seconds of the program and then I get the stock message that "This channel is temporarily unavailable".
> 
> The problem is resolved (temporarily) by power cycling the tuner adapter. It will then fail to work after a few more hours.
> 
> All the technicians at TWC want to do is test the signal of the cable. They tell me it's too high then another says too low. All the time, the problem is not resolved until I reboot. Then a few hours later it fails again.
> 
> Does anyone have any advise for trying to work with TWC to resolve this problem? I am in the process of escalating. At this point, I feel like we need a protocol expert from both Cisco and TWC to help me solve this problem.
> 
> At the moment, all my SDV channels are worthless to try and record, because I get a 90% failure rate because the tuner adapter will not tune in the channel.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> -Steve


Curious, have any of the techs tried to replace the power supply to the tuning adapter or the TA itself?

When you go to the status summary screen in the Tuning adapter Diag screens go to the second page & you will see three sets of tuner/ FDC / & RDC. What does the middle set that have DBMV next to them read?


----------



## iggygirl6

Hi all,

After reading about all of the Time Warner tuning adapter issues in this thread, I did not see very many posts about issues in Maine. I was wondering if TWC customers in Maine are having the same issues with the tuning adapter? 

I had purchased a TiVo HD recently, but later returned it after reading about all of the problems with cablecards and the tuning adapter. I switched to the the TWC DVR and I hate it. I really want the TiVo back! After some very helpful advice on here, I've decided to take a chance and have ordered another TiVo HD, which is on its way. As a TWC customer in Maine, once I have the cablecards and tuning adapter installed with the new TiVo, am I going to run into the same problems as others have posted on here (rebooting, losing channels, etc.)? Or has the tuner adapter rollout in Maine been better? Thanks in advance for your help.


----------



## darkavich

Grumock said:


> Curious, have any of the techs tried to replace the power supply to the tuning adapter or the TA itself?
> 
> When you go to the status summary screen in the Tuning adapter Diag screens go to the second page & you will see three sets of tuner/ FDC / & RDC. What does the middle set that have DBMV next to them read?


I have two separate units. So I don't think the power supply is a problem or the unit.

The value for the middle RDC is 41 dBmV.

Thanks,
-Steve


----------



## Grumock

darkavich said:


> I have two separate units. So I don't think the power supply is a problem or the unit.
> 
> The value for the middle RDC is 41 dBmV.
> 
> Thanks,
> -Steve


well that RDC is fine. Both of your units are doing the same exact thing?


----------



## darkavich

Grumock said:


> well that RDC is fine. Both of your units are doing the same exact thing?


Yes, they both do the same thing, but not at the same time. The HD version seems to take longer to fail, while the S3 version does it in less than 3 hours.


----------



## SCSIRAID

darkavich said:


> Hello,
> I have been working with Time Warner for the past 12 months to try and get a problem resolved. The configuration that I have is:
> 
> Tivo Series 3
> -Dual Cable Cards
> - Tuner Adapter .801 firmware
> 
> Tivo HD
> - Multi-stream Cable Card
> - Tuner Adapter .801 firmware
> 
> After a reboot of the Tuner adapter, which takes about 2-3 minutes before it is authorized to display SDV channels, everything works fine. I can tun in every channel. After a few hours (usually no more than 3) several channels stop working (not 100% of all channels). I can tune them in, and I get 1-2 seconds of the program and then I get the stock message that "This channel is temporarily unavailable".
> 
> The problem is resolved (temporarily) by power cycling the tuner adapter. It will then fail to work after a few more hours.
> 
> All the technicians at TWC want to do is test the signal of the cable. They tell me it's too high then another says too low. All the time, the problem is not resolved until I reboot. Then a few hours later it fails again.
> 
> Does anyone have any advise for trying to work with TWC to resolve this problem? I am in the process of escalating. At this point, I feel like we need a protocol expert from both Cisco and TWC to help me solve this problem.
> 
> At the moment, all my SDV channels are worthless to try and record, because I get a 90% failure rate because the tuner adapter will not tune in the channel.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> -Steve


Where are you located?


----------



## darkavich

SCSIRAID said:


> Where are you located?


San Diego, Ca


----------



## darkavich

darkavich said:


> Hello,
> I have been working with Time Warner for the past 12 months to try and get a problem resolved. The configuration that I have is:
> 
> Tivo Series 3
> -Dual Cable Cards
> - Tuner Adapter .801 firmware
> 
> Tivo HD
> - Multi-stream Cable Card
> - Tuner Adapter .801 firmware
> 
> After a reboot of the Tuner adapter, which takes about 2-3 minutes before it is authorized to display SDV channels, everything works fine. I can tun in every channel. After a few hours (usually no more than 3) several channels stop working (not 100% of all channels). I can tune them in, and I get 1-2 seconds of the program and then I get the stock message that "This channel is temporarily unavailable".
> 
> The problem is resolved (temporarily) by power cycling the tuner adapter. It will then fail to work after a few more hours.
> 
> All the technicians at TWC want to do is test the signal of the cable. They tell me it's too high then another says too low. All the time, the problem is not resolved until I reboot. Then a few hours later it fails again.
> 
> Does anyone have any advise for trying to work with TWC to resolve this problem? I am in the process of escalating. At this point, I feel like we need a protocol expert from both Cisco and TWC to help me solve this problem.
> 
> At the moment, all my SDV channels are worthless to try and record, because I get a 90% failure rate because the tuner adapter will not tune in the channel.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> -Steve


I contacted Tivo today and they told me that there are two possible problems that would result in this behavior. The first is that my signal is too high. I do have an amplifier on my cable that is adding +8dB.

The second problem is there is a software problem with the Cisco devices that are causing corrupted packets.

I am going to see if the cable company has another brand of tuner adapter and remove the booster from this segment to see if that fixes it.


----------



## darkavich

darkavich said:


> I contacted Tivo today and they told me that there are two possible problems that would result in this behavior. The first is that my signal is too high. I do have an amplifier on my cable that is adding +8dB.
> 
> The second problem is there is a software problem with the Cisco devices that are causing corrupted packets.
> 
> I am going to see if the cable company has another brand of tuner adapter and remove the booster from this segment to see if that fixes it.


So Time Warner called me back (They are on their way out in the morning). The supervisor that will be coming out claims he knows the exact problem and how to fix it. The statement they made was that the cable cards were not bound correctly. <shrug> not sure why other things would be working fine if that was the case.

But, I am cautiously optimistic.


----------



## Max Camber

TWC Austin users should be getting a tuning adapter firmware upgrade tonight.


----------



## dlfl

Max Camber said:


> TWC Austin users should be getting a tuning adapter firmware upgrade tonight.


To what version number?


----------



## Max Camber

dlfl said:


> To what version number?


No idea. I'll post as soon as I find out.


----------



## cableguy763

Max Camber said:


> No idea. I'll post as soon as I find out.


10.01. I'm assuming Aaron gave you a call Max?


----------



## Max Camber

cableguy763 said:


> 10.01. I'm assuming Aaron gave you a call Max?


Oh good, TWC is stalking me. 

Aaron didn't know which version they were going to push out tonight, just that the update was happening.

TiVo support is also going to follow up with me tomorrow to make sure the new firmware takes care of the problem.


----------



## txporter

I guess I need to start watching this thread again. If the roll-out goes well, I might consider reconnecting my tuning adapters...


----------



## waldrondigital

PAClaxton said:


> I'm on TWC-Charlotte as well and had the same problem about a month ago, (the 8 blink and pause on the TA). I called support several times before I got it to work doing the following --
> 
> 1. Unplug the USB cord connecting the Tivo to the TA.
> 2. Unplug the power to the TA
> 3. Wait 2 minutes or so - VERY IMPORTANT
> 4. Plug in TA and DO NOT connect the USB to the TIVO
> 5. Once you get a solid green light, you can then connect the USB to the TIVO.
> 
> (If you connect the USB to the TIVO to early, that will cause the 8 blink that wouldn't resolve itself.)
> 
> Hope this helps,
> Phil
> 
> P.S. I used to have Comcast in Florida and they were awful. I have been very happy with TWC-Charlotte since I started with them over a year ago.


Your fix was genius. I've been missing a bunch of HD channels for ages and did the steps in order and my previous blinking light TA is now solid and I get my missing channels!! Thank you!


----------



## Max Camber

The firmware update just finished around 1:10 AM.

STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001


----------



## dcstager

I woke up this morning to discover a "Tuning Adapter Connected" message on my Tivo. So, my box updated to .1001 overnight. Let's see if it corrects some of the bugs.


----------



## dcstager

I've been able to tune in all the channels without having to do the channel up/channel down trick, so it looks like that bug is fixed. I have not noticed the pixellation problems on SDV channels so I think that has been addressed. It also seems to be able to tune in the SDV faster - sometimes. However, there are still times where there is a 3-5 second delay.

I have a question for the experts -- is the Cisco Tuning Adapter actually capable of tuning in two different SDV channels at once? I have a friend with a regular Time Warner HD DVR and it can record two different SDV channels at once. I have not been able to get my Tivo to do it. I think the rest of the bugs might have to be addressed in a Tivo software update.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> I've been able to tune in all the channels without having to do the channel up/channel down trick, so it looks like that bug is fixed. I have not noticed the pixellation problems on SDV channels so I think that has been addressed. It also seems to be able to tune in the SDV faster - sometimes. However, there are still times where there is a 3-5 second delay.


If .1001 gets rid of SDV pixelation, I hope we get it in SW Ohio soon!



dcstager said:


> I have a question for the experts -- is the Cisco Tuning Adapter actually capable of tuning in two different SDV channels at once? I have a friend with a regular Time Warner HD DVR and it can record two different SDV channels at once. I have not been able to get my Tivo to do it. I think the rest of the bugs might have to be addressed in a Tivo software update.


 Huh? A Series 3 TiVo should definitely tune two SDV channels at the same time.


----------



## dcstager

Okay -- from the last post I take it that the Series 3 can tune in two different SDV channels at the same time, so, by proper inference, the Cisco Tuning Adapter is capable of providing two different SDV channels at the same time to the Series 3. Okay then the bug that occurs when you schedule two recordings at the same time on different SDV channels is something to be addressed by a Tivo software upgrade.

Or does the previous poster have it wrong or perhaps misunderstood the point?


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> Okay -- from the last post I take it that the Series 3 can tune in two different SDV channels at the same time, so, by proper inference, the Cisco Tuning Adapter is capable of providing two different SDV channels at the same time to the Series 3. Okay then the bug that occurs when you schedule two recordings at the same time on different SDV channels is something to be addressed by a Tivo software upgrade.
> 
> Or does the previous poster have it wrong or perhaps misunderstood the point?


I didn't realize you meant schedule two SDV channel recordings at the same time. I may never have done that. However, I just created that situation to occur in a half hour and will let you know what happens. My TA is Cisco BTW.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> Okay -- from the last post I take it that the Series 3 can tune in two different SDV channels at the same time, so, by proper inference, the Cisco Tuning Adapter is capable of providing two different SDV channels at the same time to the Series 3. Okay then the bug that occurs when you schedule two recordings at the same time on different SDV channels is something to be addressed by a Tivo software upgrade.
> 
> Or does the previous poster have it wrong or perhaps misunderstood the point?


The tuning adapter is capable of managing the two channels that TiVo is capable of handling. Note that the TiVo is actually doing the 'tuning' and extracting the program. The TA is only asking the node to provide the program and telling TiVo what frequency and program number the program is assigned to.


----------



## dlfl

Well my experiement (scheduling 2 SDV channels to start recording at the same time) did show up a bug. It started recording both channels and I was able to switch between tuners one timie to verify it actually had tuned the two channels. However there was a lag of perhaps a minute in responding to the live TV button to switch tuners and then the remote control response was dead although the yellow light was responding. The guide info for the channel I just switched to was stuck on and live video kept playing. After another minute or so the TiVo rebooted.

Of course after rebooting it immediately started recording the same two channels again with about 5 seconds delay between starting one and the other. This went without problems.

Is this what you see? It smacks of some kind of glitch/bug in the interface between the TA and TiVo to me. It may be caused by trying to tune two SDV's at exactly the same moment. Thus a workaround would be to start one of the channels a minute early.

Edit: I did it again with the 1 minute workaround -- no problem.

Edit2: Hmmm.... Did it again with timed recordings starting exactly the same time. No problem. Apparently it's erratic, maybe sensitive to slight timing variations in the TA responses.


----------



## Jiffylush

Blinking/Flashing Tuning Adapter after update to STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001

Tried unplugging/replugging the tuning adapter, rebooting the tivo, disconnecting/reconnecting the usb cable between the two and still all I seem to get is flashing and no SDV channels.

Any advice that doesn't involve me calling a CSR who has never heard of a Tuning Adapter, who will at best send out a tech who has never seen one?


----------



## Jiffylush

Jiffylush said:


> Blinking/Flashing Tuning Adapter after update to STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001
> 
> Tried unplugging/replugging the tuning adapter, rebooting the tivo, disconnecting/reconnecting the usb cable between the two and still all I seem to get is flashing and no SDV channels.
> 
> Any advice that doesn't involve me calling a CSR who has never heard of a Tuning Adapter, who will at best send out a tech who has never seen one?


Called this morning, call was picked up by regular CSR I told them I was having trouble with my Tuning Adapter and she immediately transferred me to the nation cable card line (which is good!). Unfortunately they don't open till 10am EST (which is bad), I left a VM with my work number but will probably try them around lunch if I don't hear back.

What are the chances I can get them to fix it without me being in front of the device?


----------



## Stormspace

Had a problem last night recording Bones on FOX. TiVo reported a failure to tune the station.  can TWC fix this, or is it a TiVo issue?


----------



## dlfl

Jiffylush said:


> Blinking/Flashing Tuning Adapter after update to STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001
> 
> Tried unplugging/replugging the tuning adapter, rebooting the tivo, disconnecting/reconnecting the usb cable between the two and still all I seem to get is flashing and no SDV channels.
> 
> Any advice that doesn't involve me calling a CSR who has never heard of a Tuning Adapter, who will at best send out a tech who has never seen one?


http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7654428&highlight=important#post7654428

Did you leave the TA unpowered for at least 2 minutes, as noted as IMPORTANT in that post? -- I had a CSR tell me it should be 3 to 5 minutes.


----------



## dlfl

Had TA problem this morning, details **here**.

*Neither the local TWC CSR or the TiVo tech rep I called knew about the TWC National Cable Card help desk!* (I finally got connected by insisting that it existed to the TiVo rep., and they fixed my problem in a minute as usual.)

*Note:* The NCC desk person never heard of having to leave the power disconnected from the TA for 2 minutes or more and in fact when she had me do this it was only disconnected for a few seconds. It's possible there is a difference depending on whether you're working alone or they have just sent signals to it. (?)


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Had TA problem this morning, details **here**.
> 
> *Neither the local TWC CSR or the TiVo tech rep I called knew about the TWC National Cable Card help desk!* (I finally got connected by insisting that it existed to the TiVo rep., and they fixed my problem in a minute as usual.)
> 
> *Note:* The NCC desk person never heard of having to leave the power disconnected from the TA for 2 minutes or more and in fact when she had me do this it was only disconnected for a few seconds. It's possible there is a difference depending on whether you're working alone or they have just sent signals to it. (?)


Whenever I power cycle a TA, I only have it off for a couple seconds and that is all it seems to take.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> Whenever I power cycle a TA, I only have it off for a couple seconds and that is all it seems to take.


Does that include cases where you were working alone, i.e., had not contacted TWC for a hit, etc. ? I'm wondering if the system polls TA's and if one doesn't respond for 2 minutes it goes into a different state (in which it will "hit" the TA the next time it sees it back on line)?


----------



## Stormspace

Any way to turn off SDV on analog locals? I have at least one local channel that has been remapped to SDV and the TiVo has on at least two occasions failed to tune to the station.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Does that include cases where you were working alone, i.e., had not contacted TWC for a hit, etc. ? I'm wondering if the system polls TA's and if one doesn't respond for 2 minutes it goes into a different state (in which it will "hit" the TA the next time it sees it back on line)?


Yes. Im usually able to get it working again without calling in. The .1001 firmware seem a lot more problematic than the previous version. Ive had to recycle TA's several times in the last couple weeks. I just unplug, count to 2 and plug it back in.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> .............The .1001 firmware seem a lot more problematic than the previous version. Ive had to recycle TA's several times in the last couple weeks......


Arrgghh! Any discussion with TWC about this?


----------



## shanebowman

Will the cycling information with the TA unhooked from the Tivo solve the issue without calling for a hit? or do you call for the hit and then cycle? 

I have this issue everytime we get new channels, last time it knocked out even my CBS, ABC, etc. It takes forever to get someone on the phone that even knows what you are talking about.


----------



## SCSIRAID

shanebowman said:


> Will the cycling information with the TA unhooked from the Tivo solve the issue without calling for a hit? or do you call for the hit and then cycle?
> 
> I have this issue everytime we get new channels, last time it knocked out even my CBS, ABC, etc. It takes forever to get someone on the phone that even knows what you are talking about.


It should be quite rare that you need a 'hit'. Ive had multiple TA's since Feburary and Ive only needed a hit once and that was the night of the 8 blinks where everybody got messed up (probably due to a glitch at TWC). Ive encountered quite a few TA 'hangs' though. All I have to do is unplug the TA USB, Unplug the TA power, Count to 2 or so, Plug in TA power... wait for TA light to go on solid, plug in TA USB and peace and harmony reigns...

Note that I dont use the RF output of TA. I use a 2 way splitter on the coax from the wall and drive the TA with one output and the TiVo with the other.


----------



## shanebowman

thanks I will try the splitter too


----------



## spassmeister

Who is not sick of this? I now reboot both TAs on a weekly basis (at least). You don't need to unplug them for two minutes, a few seconds should be enough. This past week here in San Diego, on an unrelated note, TWC changed their lineup...at least they moved Comedy Central to channel 60 from 68, but TiVo still thinks ch 60 is lifetime, and that channel seems to freeze. This is such a fiasco. I have a third HD machine in my office with an official TWC cable box...and IT reboots all the time too.


----------



## scottc42

I suddenly have an opposite problem... My TiVO HD with tuning adapter is tuning SDV channels just fine, while my Time Warner HD stb (non-dvr) is getting "currently not available" on sdv channels.


----------



## Conard

I've been following all of the TA threads here for a few weeks and wonder just how many of the problems mentioned are TWC induced.

I have been using TWC cable cards and a TA since March of this year. There have been 2 times in that period when the TA would lock up or lose connection and both of those times happened withing 24 hours of calls from TWC trying to get me to up grade my service. Each time unpluging the TA and starting it up again brought things back to "normal".

Yes, I do get pixelation on the SDV channels and the Tivo will pull up a blank screen from time to time but nothing compared to all the posts on this forum.

Me thinks that a lot of you are being played with by the cable co.


----------



## dlfl

Conard said:


> ..........Me thinks that a lot of you are being played with by the cable co.


Yes, either intentionally or just by their ineptitude. I would guess the latter is more likely, but their financial incentive would be to discourage TiVo penetration in their market. They are also attacking TiVo by setting copy protection on all channels except local broadcasts, which prevents MRV and TTG. Frankly, if I were TWC, given my understanding of how the Tuning Adapter kluge came about, I would be tempted to do the same thing, or at least I wouldn't be jumping to make it work better.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Yes, either intentionally or just by their ineptitude. I would guess the latter is more likely, but their financial incentive would be to discourage TiVo penetration in their market. They are also attacking TiVo by setting copy protection on all channels except local broadcasts, which prevents MRV and TTG. Frankly, if I were TWC, given my understanding of how the Tuning Adapter kluge came about, I would be tempted to do the same thing, or at least I wouldn't be jumping to make it work better.


I dont see it to be in TWC's best interests to be doing anything purposely to frustrate cablecard customers such as causing their TA's or cablecards to go off line or into brick mode. Such actions would cost them money. Every call to Customer Care costs them money... a truck roll costs them even more money. Where I work, we do everything we can do to drive down service cost as it comes right off the bottom line. Now I DO think that they arent investing in training CSR's and Techs on cablecard as they likely view it as not having a good return on the investment.

As to marking everything 'copy 1 generation' (CCI 02).... I dont believe that has anything to do with wanting to restrain cablecards or UDCP's. I believe it is simply to put them in a position where they can never be accused by content owners of not using everything tool in their bag of tricks to protect content. I see that as in the best interests of the stockholders. Im sure not happy about it but I believe I understand where their head is at (Ill refrain to say what im thinking here...  ) Im sure they have seen the lawsuit happy RIAA and dont want any part of that kind of mess.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> I dont see it to be in TWC's best interests to be doing anything purposely to frustrate cablecard customers such as causing their TA's or cablecards to go off line or into brick mode. Such actions would cost them money. Every call to Customer Care costs them money... a truck roll costs them even more money. Where I work, we do everything we can do to drive down service cost as it comes right off the bottom line. Now I DO think that they arent investing in training CSR's and Techs on cablecard as they likely view it as not having a good return on the investment.


2 out of the 3 times I've called TWC about getting my TA reset (all in the last two months) they have not fixed it and wanted to roll a truck. (As I said in another recent post, they didn't even know about the TWC National Cable Card Desk - I had to go thru TiVo support to get there). It seems like it would be *obvious* to them that better training would be more cost effective......go figure!


SCSIRAID said:


> As to marking everything 'copy 1 generation' (CCI 02).... I dont believe that has anything to do with wanting to restrain cablecards or UDCP's. I believe it is simply to put them in a position where they can never be accused by content owners of not using everything tool in their bag of tricks to protect content. I see that as in the best interests of the stockholders. Im sure not happy about it but I believe I understand where their head is at (Ill refrain to say what im thinking here...  ) Im sure they have seen the lawsuit happy RIAA and dont want any part of that kind of mess.


Yet this factor doesn't cause (all) Comcast, Cox and Verizon FIOS to set the same copy protection (?).


----------



## Conard

The copy protection I'm seeing is caused by the TA.
If I disconnect the TA and tune to a local HD channel and do a recording I can see that recording on my S2 Tivo and transfer it, no problem.

Hook the TA back up and record another program on a local channel and the S2 can't see that program but still sees the one recorded with the TA out of the picture.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> 2 out of the 3 times I've called TWC about getting my TA reset (all in the last two months) they have not fixed it and wanted to roll a truck. (As I said in another recent post, they didn't even know about the TWC National Cable Card Desk - I had to go thru TiVo support to get there). It seems like it would be *obvious* to them that better training would be more cost effective......go figure!
> 
> Yet this factor doesn't cause (all) Comcast, Cox and Verizon FIOS to set the same copy protection (?).


Agree... A ineffective service organization costs them money. On one hand, creating a centralized cablecard support desk is a great idea... but not adding it to the script so customer issues can get fixed seems downright stupid.

On copy protection... I understand your arguement, but there really isnt always just one 'correct' answer. Consensus doesnt necessarily make it right either. Note that Im not saying they are 'right'... Im just suggesting a thought process other than them just wanting to 'screw cablecard users' that may have lead to their position. Id certainly rather have them unlock the stuff so I can use MRV.


----------



## shanebowman

Missing newest channels, Tivo says channels not provided by tuning adapter

So I put in a splitter so now I have line going to adapter and separate line going to Tivo. Then I unplugged adapter from wall and Tivo cycled up to steady green light before connecting to Tivo and same issue. 

Restarted Tivo = same issue so ran through cycling again, same issue

Went on line and found that TWC has online chat (woo-hoo) and got tech to send refresher hit to adapter, no luck. Tech tells me I have to exchange box or schedule visit. 

Any other advice?


----------



## dlfl

Request connection to the TWC National Cable Card Support Desk. They will most likely fix it in a few minutes or less. The local TWC people frequently don't know what they are doing and can even make things worse. See **this**.

When you talk to the national help desk ask them to please inform the local TWC support people of their existence and phone number (again).


----------



## dolfer

Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God I hate this Tuning Adapter with all my heart and soul... Tried TW support chat (like last time, which was successful) but this time "refreshing" the signals as they call it didn't work. Nor did the unlug, power off, reattach procedure... So now I have to waste a good portion of my day messing with this cr*p again. Of course, the rep scheduled a truck roll for tuesday. I am now trying to connect to the NCCS. Awesome!!!!!!!!


----------



## dolfer

dlfl said:


> Request connection to the TWC National Cable Card Support Desk. They will most likely fix it in a few minutes or less. The local TWC people frequently don't know what they are doing and can even make things worse. See **this**.
> 
> When you talk to the national help desk ask them to please inform the local TWC support people of their existence and phone number (again).


What are you talking about?!!?!?!? There is no such thing as the TWC National Cable Card Support DEsk according to the very helpful, informative level 3 support tech I just talked to! So TW sends out a truck... And we all pay for it with their ridiculous rates!

TWC has taken at least a year off my life!!!!!!! I just wish I could find a lawyer who could prove it. 

So I got to waste half my day and I still have a blinking TA. SUPER AWESOME!!!


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> What are you talking about?!!?!?!? There is no such thing as the TWC National Cable Card Support DEsk according to the very helpful, informative level 3 support tech I just talked to! So TW sends out a truck... And we all pay for it with their ridiculous rates!
> 
> TWC has taken at least a year off my life!!!!!!! I just wish I could find a lawyer who could prove it.
> 
> So I got to waste half my day and I still have a blinking TA. SUPER AWESOME!!!


I would just keep calling until you find intelligent life that knows about the cablecard support desk. It absolutely exists. Ive talked to folks there twice. All I had to do was ask to be transferred there.....


----------



## dolfer

I tried again... I asked to be transferred to NCCS and I've been on hold for over 20 minutes. ;( 

Even their on-hold music system SUCKS! First, it plays ONE STUPID & ANNOYING song over and over again. It sounds like something from the Entertainment Tonight guy. Second, the volume of the song cuts in and out so for a second you think someone has actually picked up. 

Since I have spent a good portion of my life on hold waiting for Time Warner Cable support, I had to mention this. I think it's their way of screwing with you even more... As much money as they make the least they could do is invest in a decent On Hold Music System!


----------



## dolfer

SCSIRAID said:


> I would just keep calling until you find intelligent life that knows about the cablecard support desk. It absolutely exists. Ive talked to folks there twice. All I had to do was ask to be transferred there.....


I guess it would make to much sense to have a direct number. Instead I have to call repeatedly until I find someone who knows what it is. This is everything customer service shouldn't be. I will leave them the second there is an alternative that will work with my Tivo HD.


----------



## dolfer

Hanging up... On hold for about 30 minutes with absolutely no information. Just stupid music. Thanks for wasting my Sunday Time Warner! You are the best!


----------



## dlfl

dolfer said:


> What are you talking about?!!?!?!? There is no such thing as the TWC National Cable Card Support DEsk according to the very helpful, informative level 3 support tech I just talked to! So TW sends out a truck... And we all pay for it with their ridiculous rates!
> 
> TWC has taken at least a year off my life!!!!!!! I just wish I could find a lawyer who could prove it.
> 
> So I got to waste half my day and I still have a blinking TA. SUPER AWESOME!!!


Gee Dolf, Did you read my post in the TWC Southwest Ohio thread, that was linked in my post you are just responding to?

I've had to go through ***TiVo support*** twice now to get to the TWC NCCS desk. Both TiVo and NCCS said they sent email to make all the TiVo and TWC CSR's aware of NCCS, not that I would count on that.

BTW, don't feel like the Lone Ranger with all the time you've wasted on this.


----------



## Stormspace

dlfl said:


> Yes, either intentionally or just by their ineptitude. I would guess the latter is more likely, but their financial incentive would be to discourage TiVo penetration in their market. They are also attacking TiVo by setting copy protection on all channels except local broadcasts, which prevents MRV and TTG. Frankly, if I were TWC, given my understanding of how the Tuning Adapter kluge came about, I would be tempted to do the same thing, or at least I wouldn't be jumping to make it work better.


Spoke to a cable card rep the other day. Said that TiVo chose the wrong way to implement MRV and that the CCI byte was set so people wouldn't try to sell TV recordings. 

Tech this morning said that in our area TWC STB's are due in the next 6 months that do MRV. Sounds like a preemptive strike against a vulnerabilty in TIVo's design to get something the TiVo box doesn't do.


----------



## dlfl

Stormspace said:


> Spoke to a cable card rep the other day. Said that TiVo chose the wrong way to implement MRV and that the CCI byte was set so people wouldn't try to sell TV recordings.
> 
> Tech this morning said that in our area TWC STB's are due in the next 6 months that do MRV. Sounds like a preemptive strike against a vulnerabilty in TIVo's design to get something the TiVo box doesn't do.


I admit to being as guilty as anybody on this, but please let's not divert this thread from being about TA problems! TIA


----------



## Stormspace

dlfl said:


> I admit to being as guilty as anybody on this, but please let's not divert this thread from being about TA problems! TIA


I'm sorry. I should have added. "While he was here working on a TA problem."

Better?


----------



## aine

spassmeister said:


> This past week here in San Diego, on an unrelated note, TWC changed their lineup...at least they moved Comedy Central to channel 60 from 68, but TiVo still thinks ch 60 is lifetime, and that channel seems to freeze.


I am watching this thread to decide whether to endure the apparent pain of getting a Tuning Adapter here in San Diego.

Tonight when I flipped on Channel 68 (Comedy Central) it's black -- "searching for signal, etc." I went over to 60 after reading this post -- same thing. Did I just lose an analog channel? Do I need a tuning adapter to receive what I thought was an analog channel? I'm worried that the TA is going to screw up the relative reliability of my TiVo HD. But I gotta watch Jon Stewart!!


----------



## Stormspace

aine said:


> I am watching this thread to decide whether to endure the apparent pain of getting a Tuning Adapter here in San Diego.
> 
> Tonight when I flipped on Channel 68 (Comedy Central) it's black -- "searching for signal, etc." I went over to 60 after reading this post -- same thing. Did I just lose an analog channel? Do I need a tuning adapter to receive what I thought was an analog channel? I'm worried that the TA is going to screw up the relative reliability of my TiVo HD. But I gotta watch Jon Stewart!!


It's at a point now where the only 100% reliable way to get SDV channels is to use the cable STB. I frequently lose connection to channels even with the TA.

I feel like the TiVos I own are just expensive buggy whips that won't work by this time next year.


----------



## Grumock

aine said:


> I am watching this thread to decide whether to endure the apparent pain of getting a Tuning Adapter here in San Diego.
> 
> Tonight when I flipped on Channel 68 (Comedy Central) it's black -- "searching for signal, etc." I went over to 60 after reading this post -- same thing. Did I just lose an analog channel? Do I need a tuning adapter to receive what I thought was an analog channel? I'm worried that the TA is going to screw up the relative reliability of my TiVo HD. But I gotta watch Jon Stewart!!


In many markets SDV channels are also analog.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Grumock said:


> In many markets SDV channels are also analog.


Did you mean to say 'also have an analog version'? Some digital simulcast versions of analog channels are being done via SDV.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Stormspace said:


> It's at a point now where the only 100% reliable way to get SDV channels is to use the cable STB. I frequently lose connection to channels even with the TA.
> 
> I feel like the TiVos I own are just expensive buggy whips that won't work by this time next year.


Using the Cable STB is NOT 100% reliable for SDV. Ive had to reboot my bedroom SA4250 twice in the last week because it couldnt tune SDV channels.


----------



## scottc42

SCSIRAID said:


> Using the Cable STB is NOT 100% reliable for SDV. Ive had to reboot my bedroom SA4250 twice in the last week because it couldnt tune SDV channels.


Agreed - I am having better luck with my 2 tuning adapters than with my TW stb.


----------



## Grumock

SCSIRAID said:


> Did you mean to say 'also have an analog version'? Some digital simulcast versions of analog channels are being done via SDV.


Well Yes & no. Sorry. Even though i dont watch it, I know that for instance in my area, channel 40 (Fox News) is SDV now.


----------



## shanebowman

dlfl said:


> Request connection to the TWC National Cable Card Support Desk. They will most likely fix it in a few minutes or less. The local TWC people frequently don't know what they are doing and can even make things worse. See **this**.
> 
> When you talk to the national help desk ask them to please inform the local TWC support people of their existence and phone number (again).


All right so I called and spent an hour on the phone with the CC experts and still have a truck roll scheduled for tomorrow. I guess from here on out we should just get trucks scheduled everytime they update our channel listing since I am evidently not capable to mange the updates..


----------



## shanebowman

SCSIRAID said:


> Using the Cable STB is NOT 100% reliable for SDV. Ive had to reboot my bedroom SA4250 twice in the last week because it couldnt tune SDV channels.


So even their standard equipment doesn't work correctly?? That is great!!!


----------



## SCSIRAID

shanebowman said:


> Missing newest channels, Tivo says channels not provided by tuning adapter
> 
> So I put in a splitter so now I have line going to adapter and separate line going to Tivo. Then I unplugged adapter from wall and Tivo cycled up to steady green light before connecting to Tivo and same issue.
> 
> Restarted Tivo = same issue so ran through cycling again, same issue
> 
> Went on line and found that TWC has online chat (woo-hoo) and got tech to send refresher hit to adapter, no luck. Tech tells me I have to exchange box or schedule visit.
> 
> Any other advice?


Did you do a full power cycle of both TiVo and TA?


----------



## shanebowman

SCSIRAID said:


> Did you do a full power cycle of both TiVo and TA?


several times and again today with the cable card folks from TWC, I apologize that is what I am calling restarting the Tivo


----------



## rric31

My tuning adapter is not even recognized any more. I have had this thing for a few months and had nothing but trouble. I would go through the reboot process every few days and my HD channels would show up--for the most part. Well, that has all come to an end. I have lost all of the SDV and even a few of the other HD channels. When I go through the TIVO settings, the Tuning adapter is not even recognized any more. I have tried to reboot the TIVO, the tuning adapter but no luck.

TIVO and Time Warner Maine have not been a great experience.

Any help would be appreciated.

rich in maine


----------



## Solana_Steve

Stormspace said:


> It's at a point now where the only 100% reliable way to get SDV channels is to use the cable STB. I frequently lose connection to channels even with the TA.
> 
> I feel like the TiVos I own are just expensive buggy whips that won't work by this time next year.


I am in San Diego and am having the same problem. Comedy Central has moved to 60 from 68. However, I try to update the TiVo Channel Listing and it doesn't effect and channel list changes.

Is there a way to update the channel list manually? I noticed Zap2It also hasn't go the new channel lineup either.

Steve


----------



## Stormspace

Solana_Steve said:


> I am in San Diego and am having the same problem. Comedy Central has moved to 60 from 68. However, I try to update the TiVo Channel Listing and it doesn't effect and channel list changes.
> 
> Is there a way to update the channel list manually? I noticed Zap2It also hasn't go the new channel lineup either.
> 
> Steve


If you know that the issue isn't with the channel line up changing, TiVo has a form online where you can report incorrect guide data.


----------



## jrmints23

darkavich said:


> So Time Warner called me back (They are on their way out in the morning). The supervisor that will be coming out claims he knows the exact problem and how to fix it. The statement they made was that the cable cards were not bound correctly. <shrug> not sure why other things would be working fine if that was the case.
> 
> But, I am cautiously optimistic.


Were they able to fix the problems you've been having? I'm having the same extremely annoying problem, except sometime restarting the TiVo and cycling the power on the tuning adapter don't give me my missing channels.


----------



## darkavich

jrmints23 said:


> Were they able to fix the problems you've been having? I'm having the same extremely annoying problem, except sometime restarting the TiVo and cycling the power on the tuning adapter don't give me my missing channels.


Where do you live? The problem has not been fixed, but we now know the exact problem. The problem is a bad repeating/routing device on the line that is blocking the return path of some of the SDV-TV frequencies. When the frequency that is bad is chosen for a given channel it fails. They were able to block some of the frequencies and it fixed the problem, but later the same day a few more frequencies had the same problem.

We had a MAJOR power outage yesterday, so everything lost power for 13 hours (including all the TWC equipment), I am so glad I don't have their phone service... The channels were working yesterday, but that could be due to nobody watching any SDV-TV. They were planning to replace the equipment that was failing, but I do not know if that has been done.

BTW, I had this escalated all the way up to the IT-noc. The field techs had no clue, but one guy knew who to contact.

BTW, Tivo support was no help. They basically told me "it was not their problem and goodbye." I was very disappointed with the person I spoke to.

Anyway, I will post an update soon once I have more information.


----------



## jrmints23

darkavich said:


> Where do you live? The problem has not been fixed, but we now know the exact problem. The problem is a bad repeating/routing device on the line that is blocking the return path of some of the SDV-TV frequencies. When the frequency that is bad is chosen for a given channel it fails. They were able to block some of the frequencies and it fixed the problem, but later the same day a few more frequencies had the same problem.
> 
> We had a MAJOR power outage yesterday, so everything lost power for 13 hours (including all the TWC equipment), I am so glad I don't have their phone service... The channels were working yesterday, but that could be due to nobody watching any SDV-TV. They were planning to replace the equipment that was failing, but I do not know if that has been done.
> 
> BTW, I had this escalated all the way up to the IT-noc. The field techs had no clue, but one guy knew who to contact.
> 
> BTW, Tivo support was no help. They basically told me "it was not their problem and goodbye." I was very disappointed with the person I spoke to.
> 
> Anyway, I will post an update soon once I have more information.


I live in Greensboro, NC. I had someone on the phone from twc TiVo support who seemed to know what he was doing and told me that my adapter diagnostics were barely in range and that something might be wrong with the cable signal to my house (this would make sense considering I have two tivos with tuning adapters and they both have the same problem. Anyway, this guy then sent some tech to my house who said the diagnostics were perfect so who knows.


----------



## darkavich

jrmints23 said:


> I live in Greensboro, NC. I had someone on the phone from twc TiVo support who seemed to know what he was doing and told me that my adapter diagnostics were barely in range and that something might be wrong with the cable signal to my house (this would make sense considering I have two tivos with tuning adapters and they both have the same problem. Anyway, this guy then sent some tech to my house who said the diagnostics were perfect so who knows.


I had to have them fixed the signal strength and SNR values. They were WAY high. It didn't solve the TA problem, but it fixed other issues in the house. My problem came back this morning, so it is back to the IT guys to see if they replaced the network equipment yet.


----------



## scottc42

I recently purchased my 2nd TiVo HD. When it got here I really didn't want to order cable cards right away just for a lack of time available to be here for the appointment, but I did go ahead and order a tuning adapter. I completed the order process online (email request I think), and a couple days later a Time Warner rep called. He said he saw that I ordered a TA, and he wanted to confirm my shipping address. He did a simple rundown of how to install the TA, and then told me to call if I have troubles. _Then_ he said he noticed that I already have a TA and asked if there is anything wrong with that one. I said no... this is for a second TiVo. He asked if I had ordered cable cards yet, and I said no; I mentioned my time concerns. He said he could have a tech out on Saturday afternoon if I wished, so I agreed. I mentioned that my exisiting unit had 2 'S' cards, and I asked if they had the 'M' cards - he said that yes, they are now available, so I scheduled the appointment to have one 'M' card installed and another 'M' card swapped for 2 'S' cards.

Two days later, and the tech is at my house with 2 'M' cards. He makes mention that he does not really know much about cable cards, as they never really get orders for them, but he will try his best. We tackle the new unit first. He is cool with me going through all the menus and getting him to where he needs to be. He wrote down all the cc info before inserting - good thing. He called in and the dispatcher had absolutely no idea what he was talking about... as if never having heard of a cable card. The tech got flipped to a supervisor where he read off the numbers, and 30 seconds later I heard the supervisor say, "okay, it's paired now." I checked everything out, and it worked great. All-in-all, I was up and running in less than 15 minutes.

The next set (the swap) was a little trickier, but worked out overall. By this time a second tech had shown up (I'm far from the office, it was the last job of the day, comraderie in the field...), and he was equally informed about cable cards. They asked me what they are for, and I explained that they are the equivalent of a cable box. Ahhh.... After inserting the new card, he tried to set it up with his laptop. he had direct access to my account, added the new cards, removed the old cards, and removed a stb I was returning. The he paired the new cc right from his computer. Unfortunately he was unable to get the service hit with his computer, so he had to call in for that and got placed on hold for a good 25 minutes. If it wasn't for the wait on the phone, this would have been another 15 minute setup.

Anyway, the guys left, and everything has been working since. Overall I'd say it was a pretty pleasant, although interesting, experience with Time Warner Milwaukee.

If only I could transfer shows now...


----------



## dlfl

shanebowman said:


> All right so I called and spent an hour on the phone with the CC experts and still have a truck roll scheduled for tomorrow. I guess from here on out we should just get trucks scheduled everytime they update our channel listing since I am evidently not capable to mange the updates..


This experience would be the exception AFAIK. Are you sure you were connected to the TWC National Cable Card Support desk? One case has been reported in which it appeared the local TWC support people spoofed the NCCS desk with local people. My advice is to ask "is this the national cable card help desk" when you get connected and get the name of the person. There are only 5 people in that group and I know two of their names: Mike and Doraine (sic). It would be nice if we could figure out all five names, then we would be better able to determine whether we are actually talking to the national unit.

It would be interesting to know the exact details of what they did and what they had you do in this case.


----------



## dlfl

See **this**

They set up a national help desk staffed by 5 people and don't bother to make either TWC or TiVo support people aware of it. Amazing!


----------



## eddieb187

Since adding a Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter, my Tivo HD DVR stops responding to remote control commands and then after a few minutes Restarts.
This occurs every couple of days. Maybe two or three times a week.
I have one SA multi stream Cable Card.
This never happened before the Tuning Adapter. 
Anyone else have this issue?


----------



## spassmeister

My XMAS card to TWC:

Very Disappointed in your customer care

I had about the worst customer care visit ever from one of your expert technicians last month. Not only did his lengthy visit not fix the problem with your cable service, but today, Christmas, I have to go outside my house and fix the cables he needlessly disconnected so that my daughter can watch her new television.

I&#8217;m both a residential HD customer and a Business class roadrunner customer. I pay TimeWarner well over $250/month. I have two HD TiVo systems which as you know, by law, TimeWarner is supposed to support. I pay for 4 cable cards to support these, and recently a tuner adapter was added to both. I picked up these Cisco TAs from your office and installed them myself (I think it's a travesty that you charged me to have one of your technicians "install" my cablecareds which was much easier than the tuning adapter).

When the service degraded so severely that I was getting virtually no HD stations, let along expanded cable stations, I contacted Time Warner and went over the problem with your telephone "cablecard/tuning adapter expert". He assured me that there were no issues with the Cisco tuning adapters, so I scheduled a truck roll.

Your service technician came to my home and began measuring the signal directly from the cable connected to my TiVo (not outside at the distribution point) He informed me that I had &#8220;tons of signal&#8221; and he did not really understand why I had no picture, or how the tuning adapter &#8220;thingy&#8221; works. He had no new ones (tuning adapters) with him. He then disappeared.

I found him on the side of my home disconnecting every TV from the CATV distribution area of my home. When I asked him what he was doing, he replied &#8220;this will help you get more signal&#8221;, to which I replied &#8220;you told me I have tons of signal, what is the point in what you are doing?&#8221; he said &#8220;it will help&#8221;. Clearly, he had no idea what he was doing. I then told him &#8220;you realize that what you are doing now will make absolutely no progress towards fixing the problem you are here to fix&#8221;. I did not fix my problem. It made no difference whatsoever.

He left, and still, I still had the same problems with the cable signal, and now (bonus) half the TVs in my house were disconnected. I went online and realized that, in fact, many TWC customers with HD TiVo units with cable cards and tuning adapters have repeating, nagging problems that require constant resets of their Cisco tuning adapters. I power cycled and reset both units and, for a week anyway, it worked fine. Now I need to perform this procedure weekly.

I have concluded that inasmuch as you have no motivation to keep customers such as myself happy, you will put us through these issue and provide us with pathetic (in reality counterproductive as I not only had to fix the issue myself, but had to more work to re-connect the cables your technician disconnected).

I intent to contact both my local congressman as well as the FCC to inform them of how TimeWarner chooses to deal with simple regulatory issues and abide by the law. Of course, I&#8217;m also looking at what alternatives I have (AT&T UVerse)

Merry Christmas


----------



## shanebowman

dlfl said:


> This experience would be the exception AFAIK. Are you sure you were connected to the TWC National Cable Card Support desk? One case has been reported in which it appeared the local TWC support people spoofed the NCCS desk with local people. My advice is to ask "is this the national cable card help desk" when you get connected and get the name of the person. There are only 5 people in that group and I know two of their names: Mike and Doraine (sic). It would be nice if we could figure out all five names, then we would be better able to determine whether we are actually talking to the national unit.
> 
> It would be interesting to know the exact details of what they did and what they had you do in this case.


They ran through the normal series of tests before transferring me and she answered as the NCCS desk. She (forgot her name) also was very familiar with the Tivo screens as in knowing that she wanted to skip the test channels option on the cable card menu and asking during reboot of the Tivo if the screen had changed yet on the "a few minutes more" screen. So if they were spoofing me they were better informed than any of the other techs I have gotten since my adventures began. I have had a Series 3 since about three months after roll out and in fact am on my second as the first one's HD died.

Long to short, she wasn't much help as she scheduled a visit after verifying the channels had been pushed out. Two visits, two more cable cards and a new tuning adapter with the techs (yes plural he brought help on the second visit) communicating with the NCCS the whole time it was established that they had not pushed out the channels and an email would be sent. Sat. evening lost use of TA rebooted three times both TA and Tivo following the directions included in posts before and we now have all but 2 of the channels, so we will call it a push.


----------



## fritolayguy

scottc42 said:


> Anyway, the guys left, and everything has been working since. Overall I'd say it was a pretty pleasant, although interesting, experience with Time Warner Milwaukee.
> 
> If only I could transfer shows now...


As someone that has been through multiple cc installations, I look through these forums regularly for others' experiences. Nice to know that others have had success with TWC (KC for me) as well. Most Time Warner threads are tough to read through for all the horror stories.

Except for my original install back in 2005 from Mediacom in Springfield, MO. and one CSR that was not familiar with cable cards, all of my experiences have been very pleasant.

I have also had very good experiences with both TWC SDV TA's for my Series 3 and my HD unit....

I concur about show transfers....


----------



## inahaz

This may help others (I'm certain this is not new for several tech folks on this board). I have 2 TivoHD's with TA's. (1 M card in each). The last couple months, I've had the 8-blink pause sequence and have had to call to have the boxes hit. 

This last time took 3 calls. I typically bail when they say they need to schedule a truck roll and call back later. (2 months ago, they scheduled a truck roll and the guy merely called the office and had the boxes hit.)

I've found there are some CSR's who confuse TA's with Cable Cards. They appear to be sending the signal to pair the Cable Cards rather than the TA signal. This is the point where they sometimes just move to scheduling the truck. Today, I had a CSR who knew about the National CC Line and connected me (he had sent the CC hit rather than the TA hit and acknowledged he didn't know there was a difference). The lady told me the term "pairing" is a Cable Card related term. The Cards are paired to the Tivos. TA's aren't paired with anything.

So, the point of my post is, if you are calling a local TWC office and someone thinks they are following the manual and sending the right code, ask if they are sending the TA code or the Cable Card Code, then try to get them to connect you to the National CC line.


----------



## bobrt6676

Since I post negative experiences I thought I would give Props when due.
Got home tonight, 8 blinking stinking lights on my TA!!  After dinner I prepare myself for a lenghthy call. I state " I have a TA problem are you familiar with them." Sure I can help you with that. He asks for the last 4 letters of the SN. He sends a hit and INSTANTLY my SDV stations are back.
Total CR time approx 1 min.  No hesitation, No rebooting, No transfers, No truck roll, just instant results!!!!


----------



## dlfl

bobrt6676 said:


> Since I post negative experiences I thought I would give Props when due.
> Got home tonight, 8 blinking stinking lights on my TA!!  After dinner I prepare myself for a lenghthy call. I state " I have a TA problem are you familiar with them." Sure I can help you with that. He asks for the last 4 letters of the SN. He sends a hit and INSTANTLY my SDV stations are back.
> Total CR time approx 1 min.  No hesitation, No rebooting, No transfers, No truck roll, just instant results!!!!


Well now we know there are at least two CSR's in TWC SW Ohio that know what they are doing, because I had a very similar experience a while back and it was a "she". Unfortunately the other two occasions I called with the same problem all they could do was schedule a truck roll and I ended up having to go thrugh TiVo support to get to the TWC National Cable Card Support desk, which fixed it quickly.


----------



## gbronzer

I had a TA problem recently after it got a firmware update. Tivo saw it, but it wouldn't tune any SDV channels. It was very similar to the 8 blink problem. They scheduled a service call, but the tech called me before arriving and asked, "Have you tried pressing the power button?"

Turns out the button on the front that used to do nothing is now functional and the stupid thing defaults to off. So it blinks a bunch of times, goes off, but if you press the button, the light comes on and it tunes fine.

What a stupid firmware update.


----------



## SCSIRAID

gbronzer said:


> I had a TA problem recently after it got a firmware update. Tivo saw it, but it wouldn't tune any SDV channels. It was very similar to the 8 blink problem. They scheduled a service call, but the tech called me before arriving and asked, "Have you tried pressing the power button?"
> 
> Turns out the button on the front that used to do nothing is now functional and the stupid thing defaults to off. So it blinks a bunch of times, goes off, but if you press the button, the light comes on and it tunes fine.
> 
> What a stupid firmware update.


What is the version number of your TA Firmware?


----------



## dlfl

gbronzer said:


> I had a TA problem recently after it got a firmware update. Tivo saw it, but it wouldn't tune any SDV channels. It was very similar to the 8 blink problem. They scheduled a service call, but the tech called me before arriving and asked, "Have you tried pressing the power button?"
> 
> Turns out the button on the front that used to do nothing is now functional and the stupid thing defaults to off. So it blinks a bunch of times, goes off, but if you press the button, the light comes on and it tunes fine.
> 
> What a stupid firmware update.


I don't think that's a firmware revision issue. I have .0801 firmware (not a new revision) and I've seen this same behavior. If you power cycle the TA the light will sometimes blink for a while then go out completely, then you have to press the front panel power button. Other times it will not need this. Go figure. 

What is your firmware revision after the update?


----------



## rtfromnc

I wish I would have read this post before I started down this trail. For my wife's Christmas present I upgraded to TWC's (Raleigh, NC) digital package and bought her a HD Tivo. All she said was don't mess up her cable. This said, the TWC tech will be out with a M-Card and TA in a few days. If I have the issues you guys described my arse is grassed!

Can any of you guys give me any advice, other than cancel the order, on how I can try to mitigate any of the issues described in this post. Any help would be appreciated!

RTFROMNC


----------



## dlfl

rtfromnc said:


> I wish I would have read this post before I started down this trail. For my wife's Christmas present I upgraded to TWC's (Raleigh, NC) digital package and bought her a HD Tivo. All she said was don't mess up her cable. This said, the TWC tech will be out with a M-Card and TA in a few days. If I have the issues you guys described my arse is grassed!
> 
> Can any of you guys give me any advice, other than cancel the order, on how I can try to mitigate any of the issues described in this post. Any help would be appreciated!
> 
> RTFROMNC


Be sure to look at the thread devoted to your area **here**, in which SCSIRAID is working with TWC techs to track down pixelation problems that occur mainly on SDV channels and *only* on TiVo's. Search for posts by him. There is at least hope this problem will be fixed.

Then there is the other type problem, which is not just in your TWC area, of TA's losing their proper functionality and having to be rebooted or "hit" by TWC. I'm in a different TWC region and this happens roughly once a month for me, and has cost me hours on the phone since the response you get when you call either TWC or TiVo is very spotty. I don't know how likely it is you will have these problems or how often. Maybe someone from your service area will post something helpful.


----------



## woodburger

I must say I am not impressed with Time-Warner here in Austin. Problems continue in my setup (TA, TiVo HD w/ M card) where several SDV channels are absent now and then. One took me SIX tries before I could get it to appear... and even then there was periodic pixelization. The net result is you really cannot rely on TiVo to 'catch" certain channels, which defeats the reason (or pleasure) of having TiVo. I have had techs here several times. To be fair, the issues are intermittant.


----------



## ptsailor

rtfromnc said:


> I wish I would have read this post before I started down this trail. For my wife's Christmas present I upgraded to TWC's (Raleigh, NC) digital package and bought her a HD Tivo. All she said was don't mess up her cable. This said, the TWC tech will be out with a M-Card and TA in a few days. If I have the issues you guys described my arse is grassed!
> 
> Can any of you guys give me any advice, other than cancel the order, on how I can try to mitigate any of the issues described in this post. Any help would be appreciated!
> 
> RTFROMNC


I wanted to relay my experience here in Raleigh... Besides the poor customer service that I've come to expect from TWC (this time they didn't show up yesterday, no call to inform me.. the tech was completely unfamiliar with the technology, etc...) I had to go through the following:


I installed, connected, and forced calls to update the Tivo to 11d yesterday.
The Tech comes in and inserts the Mcard into slot 2 and I have to politely correct him.
Tech installs the entire bundle (both the CCard and the Tuning Adapter (TA) and calls to activate both. Tivo recognizes both, (CP Auth Received / Tuning Adapter Detected Screen) but no video on any channel, no signal lock, etc..)
After an hour of futzing around, I convince him to bypass the TA to see if the CCard is properly paired/subscribed/initialized/authorized (whatever the proper term-of-art is.)
[*]Video on Channels 3, 4, 6, 7, etc... No video on any digital channel
[*]View the "Active Programs" on the SA CCard CP Screen to see that the channels I'm receiving are Clear broadcasts and all other (that I'm not receiving show as NOT ENT (not entitled?) Ask Tech to ensure that the card is properly paired/subscribed/initialized/authorized. He assures me that it is.​
 After another hour he finally is directed by his supervisor to the CC Nat'l Support who go through the reboot-Tivo, reboot-TA, etc... but never seem to verify that the card is properly subscribed.
 They get disconnected.
 He calls to confirm subscription data and is told that TA is not on the account... recites a series of numbers (none of which are the TA - they were the CCard ids) and when this doesn't do any good, he hangs up shrugs his shoulders, and tell me that he'll be back next week with a new TA and MCard.

So, once he's gone, I bypass the TA and call the TiVo desk to see if they will confirm that the behavior is consistent with the card not being subscribed so that I can call TWC with confidence that they need to correct the data in their system. We go through some diag screens and learn that in the interim, I'm now receiving digital tier as well (3 hours after install)...

At this point I'm not receiving any switch (SDV) channels, but this expected with no TA attached.

We then hook up the TA and I get zero video on any channel (it 'acquired channels' but just a black screen on all channels) so the TiVo tech suspects a TA issue (either authorization or hardware).
I thank him, hang up the phone, and go to remove the TA so that I can watch my non-SDV channels.

While doing so, I wonder if TA just needs more time to receive its authorization data so I split the cable at the wall and run one cable to the TA and the other direct to the TiVo so that I watch TV while the TA is connected to whatever signal it may be looking for to authenticate itself.
All works like I expect it would.. I get my non-switched signals..
Wondering if the TA may need to talk to the Tivo during whatever process it may be going through, I plug in the USB cable fully prepared for the possibility that this will kill all video.
 ALL OF A SUDDEN.. I now get all channels, switched or not.... I hooked the TA back up as designed (passing through the cable signal rather then having it split) and no video.. back to the split configuration.. all works perfectly. 

Has anyone else heard of this? Is this how we're supposed to hook these things up (it's not what tivo.com shows here: http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/133/kw/133/r_id/100041)?
Do I have a bad TA (the cable out port is faulty?)

Anyway, I'm up and running now (TWC has no idea that this is so), but would like to know if I should request a new TA, and is there any concern about the method of connection that I currently have? They're going to have to come out and pick up the HD box they left, so I could have them bring one then.. or is this just asking for trouble?


----------



## SCSIRAID

ptsailor said:


> I wanted to relay my experience here in Raleigh... Besides the poor customer service that I've come to expect from TWC (this time they didn't show up yesterday, no call to inform me.. the tech was completely unfamiliar with the technology, etc...) I had to go through the following:
> 
> 
> I installed, connected, and forced calls to update the Tivo to 11d yesterday.
> The Tech comes in and inserts the Mcard into slot 2 and I have to politely correct him.
> Tech installs the entire bundle (both the CCard and the Tuning Adapter (TA) and calls to activate both. Tivo recognizes both, (CP Auth Received / Tuning Adapter Detected Screen) but no video on any channel, no signal lock, etc..)
> After an hour of futzing around, I convince him to bypass the TA to see if the CCard is properly paired/subscribed/initialized/authorized (whatever the proper term-of-art is.)
> [*]Video on Channels 3, 4, 6, 7, etc... No video on any digital channel
> [*]View the "Active Programs" on the SA CCard CP Screen to see that the channels I'm receiving are Clear broadcasts and all other (that I'm not receiving show as NOT ENT (not entitled?) Ask Tech to ensure that the card is properly paired/subscribed/initialized/authorized. He assures me that it is.​
> After another hour he finally is directed by his supervisor to the CC Nat'l Support who go through the reboot-Tivo, reboot-TA, etc... but never seem to verify that the card is properly subscribed.
> They get disconnected.
> He calls to confirm subscription data and is told that TA is not on the account... recites a series of numbers (none of which are the TA - they were the CCard ids) and when this doesn't do any good, he hangs up shrugs his shoulders, and tell me that he'll be back next week with a new TA and MCard.
> 
> So, once he's gone, I bypass the TA and call the TiVo desk to see if they will confirm that the behavior is consistent with the card not being subscribed so that I can call TWC with confidence that they need to correct the data in their system. We go through some diag screens and learn that in the interim, I'm now receiving digital tier as well (3 hours after install)...
> 
> At this point I'm not receiving any switch (SDV) channels, but this expected with no TA attached.
> 
> We then hook up the TA and I get zero video on any channel (it 'acquired channels' but just a black screen on all channels) so the TiVo tech suspects a TA issue (either authorization or hardware).
> I thank him, hang up the phone, and go to remove the TA so that I can watch my non-SDV channels.
> 
> While doing so, I wonder if TA just needs more time to receive its authorization data so I split the cable at the wall and run one cable to the TA and the other direct to the TiVo so that I watch TV while the TA is connected to whatever signal it may be looking for to authenticate itself.
> All works like I expect it would.. I get my non-switched signals..
> Wondering if the TA may need to talk to the Tivo during whatever process it may be going through, I plug in the USB cable fully prepared for the possibility that this will kill all video.
> ALL OF A SUDDEN.. I now get all channels, switched or not.... I hooked the TA back up as designed (passing through the cable signal rather then having it split) and no video.. back to the split configuration.. all works perfectly.
> 
> Has anyone else heard of this? Is this how we're supposed to hook these things up (it's not what tivo.com shows here: http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/133/kw/133/r_id/100041)?
> Do I have a bad TA (the cable out port is faulty?)
> 
> Anyway, I'm up and running now (TWC has no idea that this is so), but would like to know if I should request a new TA, and is there any concern about the method of connection that I currently have? They're going to have to come out and pick up the HD box they left, so I could have them bring one then.. or is this just asking for trouble?


Sounds like the RF passthru of the TA may be broken. I have all of my TA's hooked up as you do... split the incoming cable and run one RF cable to TA and one to TiVo. I dont use the passthru. The SDV magic is in the USB connection.  You should be 'good to go'. I wouldnt mess with it as long as the signal level is good. I suggest that you tune an SDV channel such as 260 and then go into TA Diags and hit select twice once you hit the screen. You should see three values in dBmV... Tuner, FDC and RDC. You would like to have Tuner and FDC between say -5 and 0.


----------



## ptsailor

SCSIRAID said:


> Sounds like the RF passthru of the TA may be broken. I have all of my TA's hooked up as you do... split the incoming cable and run one RF cable to TA and one to TiVo. I dont use the passthru. The SDV magic is in the USB connection.  You should be 'good to go'. I wouldnt mess with it as long as the signal level is good. I suggest that you tune an SDV channel such as 260 and then go into TA Diags and hit select twice once you hit the screen. You should see three values in dBmV... Tuner, FDC and RDC. You would like to have Tuner and FDC between say -5 and 0.


on 260 I show RDC: 39 dBmV, FDC:-1 dBmV, Tuner: -12dBmV


----------



## SCSIRAID

ptsailor said:


> on 260 I show RDC: 39 dBmV, FDC:-1 dBmV, Tuner: -12dBmV


Yuk... Looks like you have on heck of a 'tilt' problem. RDC and FDC are fine but Tuner is awlful. TWC needs to fix the signal situation.


----------



## ptsailor

SCSIRAID said:


> Yuk... Looks like you have on heck of a 'tilt' problem. RDC and FDC are fine but Tuner is awlful. TWC needs to fix the signal situation.


Removing the splitter (and running the TA cable across the room to another outlet) dropped the Tuner value to -9 but a) that's probably still not close enough to zero and b) not a workable solution with cable draped across my floor.

What specifically should I tell the tech needs to be adjusted?


----------



## Max Camber

I just got back from a couple weeks of vacation and would love to know if the .1001 firmware has fixed the TA locking up issue. Mine is still working fine though it shows a reboot on 12/25 at 6:45 AM while I was out of town.

On the pixelation issue I have unsurprising news. I received a replacement TiVo HD unit and within 10 minutes of setting it up I was seeing the same problems. I'm waiting for a call back from my TiVo escalated support person after the new year.

I can confirm pixelation under the following conditions:
1. Non-SDV channels (it's worse on SDV)
2. Both tuners on SD channels
3. Signal levels on both tuners within range specified by TiVo support (80-99 strength, 32-35 dB)
4. Tuning adapter disconnected
5. No RS corrected/uncorrected errors

With the new TiVo HD unit I have now replaced every piece of my system out to the curb and am still seeing exactly the same problem. As I can now confirm the pixelation on multiple TiVo units while the tuning adapter is unhooked I should probably start posting in the pixelation thread, but I wanted to give an update here as well.


----------



## comcastblows

In my search for missing HD channels, it appears my direct call to the cable card folks may have gotten me a step further...
After seeing that my wireless adapter for the tivo wasn't causing the problem (really, wireless adapters are now the problem?), guy was able to determine that my tuning adapter is on my account, but not connected to the network and is therefore stuck in "B'CAST ONLY" (broadcast only) mode. He thinks my signal, splitter and/or amplifier is the problem. So the truck rolls to my house on Tuesday. The problem is I've bypassed everything before and then not been able to tune even more channels. I lost all the local HD stations completely or they're unreliable (frozen and pixelated). So using the amp. has been the only way that I've actually been able to use the Tivo, mostly. TWC reps come out, disconnect the amp., hook up an TWC HD BOX, tune to a channel that I can't get, and say "there ya go, see, your signal is fine". As if to say good luck with that there tivo box. I guess the fact that I have to use the amp at all proves it's a signal issue, right? Argh. I'll let ya'll know what comes of Tuesday. Thanks for all the help.


----------



## SCSIRAID

comcastblows said:


> In my search for missing HD channels, it appears my direct call to the cable card folks may have gotten me a step further...
> After seeing that my wireless adapter for the tivo wasn't causing the problem (really, wireless adapters are now the problem?), guy was able to determine that my tuning adapter is on my account, but not connected to the network and is therefore stuck in "B'CAST ONLY" (broadcast only) mode. He thinks my signal, splitter and/or amplifier is the problem. So the truck rolls to my house on Tuesday. The problem is I've bypassed everything before and then not been able to tune even more channels. I lost all the local HD stations completely or they're unreliable (frozen and pixelated). So using the amp. has been the only way that I've actually been able to use the Tivo, mostly. TWC reps come out, disconnect the amp., hook up an TWC HD BOX, tune to a channel that I can't get, and say "there ya go, see, your signal is fine". As if to say good luck with that there tivo box. I guess the fact that I have to use the amp at all proves it's a signal issue, right? Argh. I'll let ya'll know what comes of Tuesday. Thanks for all the help.


How did he reach the conclusion that it was in broadcast mode?


----------



## lyrxst

After speaking to TWC in Dallas it appears they don't offer multi-stream cable cards nor provide the tuning adpaters. Anyone else dealing with TWC Dallas?


----------



## Stone1555

SCSIRAID said:


> How did he reach the conclusion that it was in broadcast mode?


On the status and summary page it will tell u. If it's in broadcast only its not in two way mode.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Stone1555 said:


> On the status and summary page it will tell u. If it's in broadcast only its not in two way mode.


Yes, I know that but I was wondering how the CSR reached that conclusion. I wouldnt put it past them to be looking at their own screen where they are taking to the TA and see it in broadcast.... and then say its an RF problem.... when they are obviously able to log into the TA.


----------



## pmiranda

comcastblows said:


> He thinks my signal, splitter and/or amplifier is the problem. So the truck rolls to my house on Tuesday. The problem is I've bypassed everything before and then not been able to tune even more channels. I lost all the local HD stations completely or they're unreliable (frozen and pixelated). So using the amp. has been the only way that I've actually been able to use the Tivo, mostly. TWC reps come out, disconnect the amp., hook up an TWC HD BOX, tune to a channel that I can't get, and say "there ya go, see, your signal is fine". As if to say good luck with that there tivo box. I guess the fact that I have to use the amp at all proves it's a signal issue, right? Argh. I'll let ya'll know what comes of Tuesday. Thanks for all the help.


What does all your cabling look like between the curb and your TA? Where is the amp, what splitters, etc?


----------



## KeinoDoggy

Lost the upper HD channels last night. I tried all the cures recommended here to no avail. I was getting the 8 flashes and pause over and over. Finally called TWC tech this morning who wanted to send out a repair van (seems to be their standard approach). Finally convinced the girl to connect me to the TWC national cable card support division. The lady there diagnosed my problem immediately and resolved the problem by reinitializing the TA along with an update. She called it giving it a "kick". So I'll see how long this works. I've had recurring loss of channels since I've gotten the TA when it was first available here in northeast Ohio. I suggested there should be a way to connect to the cable card support division either buy phone or chat in order to bypass the time wasted with TWC's standard tech people. Let's hope someone in management listens.


----------



## Shmooh

comcastblows said:


> In my search for missing HD channels, it appears my direct call to the cable card folks may have gotten me a step further...
> After seeing that my wireless adapter for the tivo wasn't causing the problem (really, wireless adapters are now the problem?), guy was able to determine that my tuning adapter is on my account, but not connected to the network and is therefore stuck in "B'CAST ONLY" (broadcast only) mode. He thinks my signal, splitter and/or amplifier is the problem. So the truck rolls to my house on Tuesday. The problem is I've bypassed everything before and then not been able to tune even more channels. I lost all the local HD stations completely or they're unreliable (frozen and pixelated). So using the amp. has been the only way that I've actually been able to use the Tivo, mostly. TWC reps come out, disconnect the amp., hook up an TWC HD BOX, tune to a channel that I can't get, and say "there ya go, see, your signal is fine". As if to say good luck with that there tivo box. I guess the fact that I have to use the amp at all proves it's a signal issue, right? Argh. I'll let ya'll know what comes of Tuesday. Thanks for all the help.


Your amp may not be allowing the return path to go through - either simply by blocking it (unlikely), or just because the signal is too weak going back from the TA to the street.

This is often the case with amplified splitters (and possibly splitters in general? I'm not an expert.). You can get amps or amplified splitters with an 'active return path', which will either amplify (or at least not degrade) the signal heading back through the amp from the TA. E.g., the one I have is an 8-way amp/splitter that adds +3dB downstream to each output port (one of which goes to the the TA/Tivo) and +0 upstream from the TA to the street. Standard 8-way amplified splitters will do +4 down and -15 up (very bad!).

See **here** for my experiences with this. Replacing my amp/splitter fixed my problem.

If you just have an amp (no splitter), then maybe you just need a bi-directional one? If the signal is already too weak coming in from that strong signal coming from the street, your TA probably doesn't stand a chance.


----------



## dlfl

TA blinking again this AM, but a new pattern for me: 4 quick blinks then a pause. Power cycling and talking to TWC support did no good, although now it seems it's blinking 3 times and pause. The blinks are so fast it's hard to count them. SDV channels are missing of course. It was too early to reach the NCCS Help desk (opens 10am EST) so will have to call support back later and get connected to NCCS. As usual the CSR was clueless about what to do and tried to tell me both cable cards are bad, but she was able to find the NCCS number.


----------



## realityboy

dlfl said:


> TA blinking again this AM, but a new pattern for me: 4 quick blinks then a pause. Power cycling and talking to TWC support did no good, although now it seems it's blinking 3 times and pause. The blinks are so fast it's hard to count them. SDV channels are missing of course. It was too early to reach the NCCS Help desk (opens 10am EST) so will have to call support back later and get connected to NCCS. As usual the CSR was clueless about what to do and tried to tell me both cable cards are bad, but she was able to find the NCCS number.


Same problem here this morning. It looks like 3-4 blinks, but it appears somewhat erratic.


----------



## dlfl

Just got off the phone with NCCS. They say TWC SW Ohio is pushing out a TA firmware upgrade (to 0.1010 I think). The 3 or 4 blinks corresponds to getting a firmware update. (Would be nice if the CSRs knew *anything* about this!). Mike (NCCS) said updating could take several hours. During this time you get the blinks and no SDV channels, and the TA is unresponsive to anything.

I chided him about CSR's still not being aware of NCCS and he said they are working on it.


----------



## realityboy

dlfl said:


> Just got off the phone with NCCS. They say TWC SW Ohio is pushing out a TA firmware upgrade (to 0.1010 I think). The 3 or 4 blinks corresponds to getting a firmware update. (Would be nice if the CSRs knew *anything* about this!). Mike (NCCS) said updating could take several hours. During this time you get the blinks and no SDV channels, and the TA is unresponsive to anything.
> 
> I chided him about CSR's still not being aware of NCCS and he said they are working on it.


Awesome. Not so much that they will be unresponsive for several hours, but the fact that you just saved me the hassle of calling TW is greatly appreciated. I will give it a few hours and hopefully it will work then. Did he mention if a reboot or anything would be required or if they would just start working on their own?

(Hopefully, I didn't screw mine up by trying to restart it earlier.)


----------



## Max Camber

The reflash process itself only took about 10 minutes here in Austin and the TA will reboot itself automatically when complete.


----------



## dlfl

realityboy said:


> Awesome. Not so much that they will be unresponsive for several hours, but the fact that you just saved me the hassle of calling TW is greatly appreciated. I will give it a few hours and hopefully it will work then. Did he mention if a reboot or anything would be required or if they would just start working on their own?
> 
> (Hopefully, I didn't screw mine up by trying to restart it earlier.)


NCCS said you should not have to reboot it. However, after Max Camber's previous post, I'm suspecting SW Ohio has screwed up their update script, since it's been 4 hours so far. I will be talking to NCCS again in a few hours if mine doesn't work.

Please update your experience here in a couple of hours, since if we both have the same problem it's more evidence to tell NCCS.

TWC SW Ohio = the gang that can't shoot straight.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Max Camber said:


> The reflash process itself only took about 10 minutes here in Austin and the TA will reboot itself automatically when complete.


What version did you get there in Austin?


----------



## Max Camber

SCSIRAID said:


> What version did you get there in Austin?


.1001


----------



## SCSIRAID

Max Camber said:


> .1001


That is what we are running here in Raleigh.

I trust the SW Ohio guys will let us know what version they get....


----------



## Austin_Martin

> he reflash process itself only took about 10 minutes here in Austin and the TA will reboot itself automatically when complete.


So that is what has screwed up both my TIVO's in the past couple of days?

This is the second time in a month that the adapters have gone down.


----------



## revx

lyrxst said:


> After speaking to TWC in Dallas it appears they don't offer multi-stream cable cards nor provide the tuning adpaters. Anyone else dealing with TWC Dallas?


I just got off a call with TWC in Dallas. They said they do offer multi-stream cards and the Tuning Adapter is available and required for the SDV channels.

It took the guy quite a while to come up with these answers, though. And I think if I hadn't asked the right questions they would have steered me wrong. I got the impression that the *only* card they have is the M-card.

Hope that helps...
re\/x


----------



## dlfl

dlfl said:


> NCCS said you should not have to reboot it. However, after Max Camber's previous post, I'm suspecting SW Ohio has screwed up their update script, since it's been 4 hours so far. I will be talking to NCCS again in a few hours if mine doesn't work.
> ...........


Update: Just talked to Mike (NCCS) again, as my TA is still blinking 3-blinks-pause. He said it looks like every TA in SW Ohio had the same problem. They have declared it an official "outage" and have set a "maintenance window" for tonight where they will try to fix things.

SW Ohio insists there was nothing wrong with their push script but I could tell Mike is skeptical about that.


----------



## realityboy

dlfl said:


> Update: Just talked to Mike (NCCS) again, as my TA is still blinking 3-blinks-pause. He said it looks like every TA in SW Ohio had the same problem. They have declared it an official "outage" and have set a "maintenance window" for tonight where they will try to fix things.
> 
> SW Ohio insists there was nothing wrong with their push script but I could tell Mike is skeptical about that.


I just got home and sure enough, it's still blinking. I guess 10 minutes in other markets = at least 1 day here.


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## bobrt6676

Same here. 3 Blinks since I got up for work @ 6AM. Got home @5PM and still blinking. Called CS before checking the forum. Guess what, you got it! Truck Roll!! Scheduled for Saturday. They have no clue it is an expanded issue or that a firmware upgrade was being pushed.


----------



## Effinay

I've got the 3 blinks, too. Can TW get anything right in SW Ohio?


----------



## henderpa

I'm getting the 3 blinks as well. At least I'm not alone. . .


----------



## dlfl

While all you SW Ohio guys are here, how many of you get the the sporadic pixelation on SDV channels like I do?


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## bobrt6676

630AM. TA solid green. all stations back. Had to channel up/down on a couple to get them to tune. "VS" was the worst, but working. firmware is now .1001


----------



## dlfl

Yep my light went solid sometime between midnight and 1:50am, and I confirm Ver. .1001. I got a follow-up call from NCCS just now. I asked what improvements .1001 is supposed to have. He said improved reliability, in particular fewer 8-blink issues. He stated this version has performed perfectly where it was already deployed. (??)


----------



## Shmooh

dlfl said:


> Yep my light went solid sometime between midnight and 1:50am, and I confirm Ver. .1001. I got a follow-up call from NCCS just now. I asked what improvements .1001 is supposed to have. He said improved reliability, in particular fewer 8-blink issues. He stated this version has performed perfectly where it was already deployed. (??)


We have .1001 in Raleigh/Cary/Apex NC. We had a rash of 8-blink issues about what.. 6 weeks ago? And another one about a month before that.

Not sure when we got .1001, but I'm pretty sure it was before that.

We also lose SDV occasionally with no evidence from the TA (i.e., no blinking light). My wife tells me about it sometimes - she has to force the Tivo to change SDV channels a few times on both tuners and that clears it up. (I suspect this is a Tivo/TA communication issue more than a systemic SDV/TA problem, though.)


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Yep my light went solid sometime between midnight and 1:50am, and I confirm Ver. .1001. I got a follow-up call from NCCS just now. I asked what improvements .1001 is supposed to have. He said improved reliability, in particular fewer 8-blink issues. He stated this version has performed perfectly where it was already deployed. (??)


.1001 was a mess when it rolled out here. I was seeing lots of hangs and black screens. I spoke with my contact about it who said they were making some adjustments at the head end to deal with it and just after that things got much much better. My S3 hasnt seen a TA issue since that conversation.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> .1001 was a mess when it rolled out here. I was seeing lots of hangs and black screens. I spoke with my contact about it who said they were making some adjustments at the head end to deal with it and just after that things got much much better. My S3 hasnt seen a TA issue since that conversation.


Your hangs and black screens were when trying to tune, correct? (not on channels already successfully tuned).

Looks like your area was the initial test-and-debug region for .1001 (thanks!). I learned yesterday that NCCS is in the Carolinas. I had guessed they were on the west coast due to their hours starting at 10am.


----------



## comcastblows

Whew... So after a year of not getting all the channels I've been paying for, countless hours on the phone, at least 10 service calls with several different technicians, and I'm finally up and running with all the channels. 

3 techs came out today, one who knew what he was doing, and 2 that just observed. First, we tried swapping the m card for another, but no luck. Then we swapped out the TA (third one thus far) that was stuck in "B'cast Only". The cable card desk folks determined that the entire first batch of TA's that came to Charlotte, NC for the surrounding areas were all still set-up for the Raleigh area (about 3 hours away). And therefore were not going to show up correctly in their system, or rather work at all, from the Charlotte area. It took a little over 2 hours in total on the phone, but they were able to somehow manually move the TA into the correct area on their network. Which then allowed the tuning adapter to go into it's 3 blink update phase and finally activate in two-way mode to give me all the damn channels. The amplifier was taken out of the picture for this to work, but I still get random pixelation on some of the HD channels. So it might go back in line, which I'm sure will probably mess up the TA again. 

The moral is, NC tivo people, there is an end in sight, so hold out. If not for the lifetime sub on one of my boxes, this whole experience might have soured my tivo relationship. I was really close to telling TWC off, throwing in the towel and going to direct tv or something. I'm glad it was finally worked out, but wow was this whole experience a huge PITA.


----------



## scubajwd

I'm out here in sunny warm San Diego; received two Moto M700 TA's from
TW yesterday; initially the TA's would not sync; tried everything to no avail; finally I
called TWC tech support suspecting that they would not know a TA and/or a TIVO if
it were sitting on their desk but what a surprise! The guy was on it; he "refreshed"
my TA from his network side and lo & behold after a minute or so the TA blinking stopped and went solid..the trick: do not plug in the TA USB until you get the
solid amber lite; so far after about 18 hrs I'm still up with SDV and no pixelation issues
yet; config: MOTO M700 TA, TIVO Series3 @11.XX, M1 (multistream cable card)


----------



## scottc42

it seems that whenever my TA is not getting channels, my Time Warner cable box is *also not receiving the same channels.*


----------



## ragweedz

scubajwd said:


> I'm out here in sunny warm San Diego; . . . config: MOTO M700 TA, TIVO Series3 @11.XX, M1 (multistream cable card)


Wow, I didn't realize the M-card was an option here in SAN.

Just called TWC and scheduled a swap-out for my S-card on Monday. I've already received a TA from them but I was waiting for the dust to settle before attempting to set it up but will do so on Sunday. Wish me luck.


----------



## dlfl

Just got the .1001 firmware update 4 days ago. So far it's been a step backwards. Had to reboot the TA 2 days ago to regain channels and this am had the 8-blinks and had to call TWC. Details in **this post** and the one following it.

My TA signal levels are:
Tuner 6 dBmV (yes, positive)
FDC -3 dBmV
RDC: 39 dBmV

The Tuner value is way above the normal range (-8 to 0). I wonder if that could be a problem?


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Just got the .1001 firmware update 4 days ago. So far it's been a step backwards. Had to reboot the TA 2 days ago to regain channels and this am had the 8-blinks and had to call TWC. Details in **this post** and the one following it.
> 
> My TA signal levels are:
> Tuner 6 dBmV (yes, positive)
> FDC -3 dBmV
> RDC: 39 dBmV
> 
> The Tuner value is way above the normal range (-8 to 0). I wonder if that could be a problem?


I don't think it is an issue, normally the optimum range is between +7 to -7


----------



## dlfl

Grumock said:


> I don't think it is an issue, normally the optimum range is between +7 to -7


Thanks!

I'm curious where you got that from? My "normal range" (-8 to 0) came from a post by *SCSIRAID* in the SDV FAQ (**this**).


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I'm curious where you got that from? My "normal range" (-8 to 0) came from a post by *SCSIRAID* in the SDV FAQ (**this**).


The Cisco tuners are quite good and are said to be able to deal with that high of a signal level... but its not optimal. TiVo does NOT like that kind of level and if you are feeding the TA +6 and driving TiVo from TA then you are feeding TiVo MORE than +6 since TA contains an amp.

What concerns me about your levels is the positive tilt... I would have expected FDC and Tuner to be much closer in level. Wouldnt you agree Grumock?


----------



## dlfl

Hmmm.... The Tuner value is now +2 and I remember about a week ago it was +1. I'm suspecting this depends on what channel you last tuned or something like that(?). I noticed in *RF PARAMETERS *there is a *Tuner:* item which is obviously a frequency (e.g., 723.000 MHz) and this is the same frequency listed under *CURRENT QAM Freq*and this is one of the 2 frequencies tuned in DVR diagnostics, i.e., this is a channel frequency (rather than OOB).

Now this is weird. I jockeyed the channels tuned around to get two frequencies that were NOT 723 MHz (525 and 735) but the frequency given in the TA diagnostics is still 723 for both *RF PARAMETERS tuner *and in *CURRENT QAM Freq *(???). (And the two tuned frequencies are in the *SDV SESSION INFO *section.)

Aha! After some more tuning exercises, the TA Tuner freq is now *573* and the (TA tuner) strength is *-2 dBmV*. I don't know what sets the frequency used for this measurement but it clearly varies depending on recent tuning history.

I've always had some tilt (or at least variation) of signal across channel frequencies and a lot of my channels are pegged at 100. I experimented with attenuators but had to let some channels hit 100 (actually slightly above) in order to get most of the others into the 80+ range. The only PQ issue I've ever had is the sporadic pixelation of SDV channels consistent with the join-leave-TS theory being investigated by *SCSIRAID*. So I'm thinking having some channels a little above 100 isn't causing problems.

Bottom line: I think the TA tuner signal value varies from time to time because of tuning history and tilt across the band.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Hmmm.... The Tuner value is now +2 and I remember about a week ago it was +1. I'm suspecting this depends on what channel you last tuned or something like that(?). I noticed in *RF PARAMETERS *there is a *Tuner:* item which is obviously a frequency (e.g., 723.000 MHz) and this is the same frequency listed under *CURRENT QAM Freq*and this is one of the 2 frequencies tuned in DVR diagnostics, i.e., this is a channel frequency (rather than OOB).
> 
> Now this is weird. I jockeyed the channels tuned around to get two frequencies that were NOT 723 MHz (525 and 735) but the frequency given in the TA diagnostics is still 723 for both *RF PARAMETERS tuner *and in *CURRENT QAM Freq *(???). (And the two tuned frequencies are in the *SDV SESSION INFO *section.)
> 
> Aha! After some more tuning exercises, the TA Tuner freq is now *573* and the (TA tuner) strength is *-2 dBmV*. I don't know what sets the frequency used for this measurement but it clearly varies depending on recent tuning history.
> 
> I've always had some tilt (or at least variation) of signal across channel frequencies and a lot of my channels are pegged at 100. I experimented with attenuators but had to let some channels hit 100 (actually slightly above) in order to get most of the others into the 80+ range. The only PQ issue I've ever had is the sporadic pixelation of SDV channels consistent with the join-leave-TS theory being investigated by *SCSIRAID*. So I'm thinking having some channels a little above 100 isn't causing problems.
> 
> Bottom line: I think the TA tuner signal value varies from time to time because of tuning history and tilt across the band.


Right now I am setting at:

Tuner -3
FDC -4
RDC 46

All is well and TiVo is happy as a clam. Since I am splitting prior to TA to feed TiVo, TiVo should also be seeing -3.

No Tilt.. happy TiVo... what else could you want.. except the SDV pixelation issue fixed.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> Right now I am setting at:
> 
> Tuner -3
> FDC -4
> RDC 46
> 
> All is well and TiVo is happy as a clam. Since I am splitting prior to TA to feed TiVo, TiVo should also be seeing -3.
> 
> No Tilt.. happy TiVo... what else could you want.. except the SDV pixelation issue fixed.


How about TA reliability? You got your .1001 firmware updates two months ago and said things were bad initially. Are you having no problems requiring reboots or calling TWC now?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> How about TA reliability? You got your .1001 firmware updates two months ago and said things were bad initially. Are you having no problems requiring reboots or calling TWC now?


.1001 was initially problematic. My contact indicated some changes were being made at the head end to address it and all has been great since then. I do still see the random black screen / 'video signal not available' but no hangs requiring TA reboots.


----------



## Shmooh

SCSIRAID said:


> .1001 was initially problematic. My contact indicated some changes were being made at the head end to address it and all has been great since then. I do still see the random black screen / 'video signal not available' but no hangs requiring TA reboots.


I've been meaning to ask... Do you remember/know the timeframe of the .1001 rollout in Raleigh/Cary/Apex, or when your contact said they were making changes?

I only ask because I don't want to unfairly judge the .1001 firmware because of the problems we had a couple months ago. If it and the back end system configuration have had the kinks worked out since then, then I can just look at it going forward and safely say the .1001 has been an improvement.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Shmooh said:


> I've been meaning to ask... Do you remember/know the timeframe of the .1001 rollout in Raleigh/Cary/Apex, or when your contact said they were making changes?
> 
> I only ask because I don't want to unfairly judge the .1001 firmware because of the problems we had a couple months ago. If it and the back end system configuration have had the kinks worked out since then, then I can just look at it going forward and safely say the .1001 has been an improvement.


If I were at home I could tell you exactly when the changes were supposed to have been made. I believe it was around 12/15 if memory serves.


----------



## Max Camber

dlfl said:


> The only PQ issue I've ever had is the sporadic pixelation of SDV channels consistent with the join-leave-TS theory being investigated by *SCSIRAID*. So I'm thinking having some channels a little above 100 isn't causing problems.


I'm seeing exactly the same thing. It doesn't matter what the signal levels are on the SDV channels as you will always get pixelation, and the linear channels at or above 100 strength come in just fine.



SCSIRAID said:


> .1001 was initially problematic. My contact indicated some changes were being made at the head end to address it and all has been great since then. I do still see the random black screen / 'video signal not available' but no hangs requiring TA reboots.


I also get the occasional "signal not available" message but so far hitting Select on the remote has worked most of the time and only once did I have to do the channel up/down shuffle. No TA crashes here since the .1001 deployment.


----------



## jchas41

Just to follow-up with my situation...I was able to get my Refurb Tivo (was talked into RMAing my original unit) up and running after TWC came out and installed a new M-Card. As I suspected, no change whatsoever. In fact, I would say that the pixellation on my SDV channels seems worse than before (cry). What a waste of $50bucks, really frustrated. All non-SDV stations are perfectly fine. Signal strength is locked in at 93 (was 100, I used an attenuator which made no difference), and no RS errors. At this point, being that Fios is not available in CNY, I guess I will have to grin and bear it and hope this gets resolved...yeah right...sigh


----------



## SCSIRAID

jchas41 said:


> Just to follow-up with my situation...I was able to get my Refurb Tivo (was talked into RMAing my original unit) up and running after TWC came out and installed a new M-Card. As I suspected, no change whatsoever. In fact, I would say that the pixellation on my SDV channels seems worse than before (cry). What a waste of $50bucks, really frustrated. All non-SDV stations are perfectly fine. Signal strength is locked in at 93 (was 100, I used an attenuator which made no difference), and no RS errors. At this point, being that Fios is not available in CNY, I guess I will have to grin and bear it and hope this gets resolved...yeah right...sigh


Hang in there... I remain confident that it will get fixed. It is costing TiVo and TWC money with all the service calls and HW replacements. Im sure both will be motivated to get it fixed. Up till now, I dont believe they were convinced anything was wrong or pointing at each other. With the evidence on the table now.. it cant be denied.

Did I ask you already what cable system you are on?


----------



## jchas41

SCSIRAID said:


> Did I ask you already what cable system you are on?


Thanks for the hopeful words, I am on the TWC system in Central NY.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> Hang in there... I remain confident that it will get fixed. It is costing TiVo and TWC money with all the service calls and HW replacements. Im sure both will be motivated to get it fixed. Up till now, I dont believe they were convinced anything was wrong or pointing at each other. With the evidence on the table now.. it cant be denied.
> ...........


Is there a possibility this might be fixed with TiVo software mods, or will it have to be TWC adjustments? (I'm assuming a TiVo hardware retrofit can be ruled out.)


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Is there a possibility this might be fixed with TiVo software mods, or will it have to be TWC adjustments? (I'm assuming a TiVo hardware retrofit can be ruled out.)


Unknown at this point.... Ive seen nothing that makes me believe this is on TWC's side of the fence. We will have to wait and see.


----------



## Jim7201

I live in Cumberland County, Maine and I recently had a tuner adapter installed for a Tivo Series 3 HD with cable cards. My TA reboots every 90 minutes. I've read all the posts concerning this problem that were dated last year but I haven't seen any recent posts on this subject. Does that mean there is a simple fix? I reported the problem and TWC came out and replaced the TA. But it has not solved the problem. I have the .801 firmware. When it is not rebooting, I get all my SDV channels. But it is darned annoying. Any suggestions?


----------



## SCSIRAID

Jim7201 said:


> I live in Cumberland County, Maine and I recently had a tuner adapter installed for a Tivo Series 3 HD with cable cards. My TA reboots every 90 minutes. I've read all the posts concerning this problem that were dated last year but I haven't seen any recent posts on this subject. Does that mean there is a simple fix? I reported the problem and TWC came out and replaced the TA. But it has not solved the problem. I have the .801 firmware. When it is not rebooting, I get all my SDV channels. But it is darned annoying. Any suggestions?


Has your signal quality been checked? If its good, about all you can do is stay after TWC... You might try asking them to contact Tech Ops from other divisions (such as TWC Carolinas) which have already solved this problem.

Good Luck...


----------



## dolfer

Well... Here I go again... ANother weekend, another Tuning Adapter outage! It appears to happen every 6-8 weeks. I'm too lazy to look up my last angry rant.

Nonetheless, this time the "Level 3" guy can't get it to work over the phone... [Of course I have to go through the level 1/2 person even though I tell them that they can't fix it based on the 100 prior outages I have faced.] AWESOME!

Truck roll scheduled for tomorrow between 3:30 and 6:00pm... The perfect Sunday...

And DLFL, every person I have talked to refuses to acknowledge the existence of a "National Cable Card Support" group. Does it still exist?

A *direct* way to contact them would be very much appreciated. The CSR's I have spoken to over the last two incidents refuse to acknowledge such a group... ;(


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> Well... Here I go again... ANother weekend, another Tuning Adapter outage! It appears to happen every 6-8 weeks. I'm too lazy to look up my last angry rant.
> 
> Nonetheless, this time the "Level 3" guy can't get it to work over the phone... [Of course I have to go through the level 1/2 person even though I tell them that they can't fix it based on the 100 prior outages I have faced.] AWESOME!
> 
> Truck roll scheduled for tomorrow between 3:30 and 6:00pm... The perfect Sunday...
> 
> And DLFL, every person I have talked to refuses to acknowledge the existence of a "National Cable Card Support" group. Does it still exist?
> 
> A *direct* way to contact them would be very much appreciated. The CSR's I have spoken to over the last two incidents refuse to acknowledge such a group... ;(


wow... Well, I assure you they exist. I have talked to them a couple times when Raleigh had the 8 blinks epidemic. I saw somewhere that there was a number but that you had to say that the local cableco transferred you there.

What is the nature of your problem? 8 blinks? Something Else...


----------



## Effinay

F


SCSIRAID said:


> wow... Well, I assure you they exist. I have talked to them a couple times when Raleigh had the 8 blinks epidemic. I saw somewhere that there was a number but that you had to say that the local cableco transferred you there.
> 
> What is the nature of your problem? 8 blinks? Something Else...


I've called the cablecard hotline directly on one occasion. They were annoyed that I wasn't transferred from the cable company, but still helped me. Other people in here have posted that they have had to give the csr the phone number to dial the nccs hotline.

On another note, after my tuning adapter was replaced and then updated to the new firmware, I have had no issues with it. Whatever issues used to cause me to make a weekly call to the cable company now seem to be resolved... at least for now.


----------



## bongoherbert

I'm experiencing a beloved hang-on-reboot, seemingly caused by the tuning adapter's presence. 

Im in the TW Albany area. Running an HD XL, there is a wireless adapter connected along with the cisco tuning adapter. 

Last night at about 11:15 the TiVo appears to have crashed for unknown reasons (this has happened before after overnight TiVo software updates). When it rebooted it hung before the "Almost There" screen, all night. (I missed taping the final Conan, thank you very much TiVo, thank goodness for Hulu).

When I woke up (well, when I was awoken by my daughter at 6AM wanting to watch Chowder), the tuning adapter was doing the 8-blink "not authorized" pattern. 

To get the machine to boot properly, I have to 1) disconnect the USB for the tuning adapter, 2) power cycle it 3) power cycle the TiVo 4) wait until I get to the "almost there" screen to re-plug-in the tuning adapter. 

The tuning adapter goes through its crazy flashing authorization dance, eventually succeeding in doing so. When the TiVo finally boots 10 min or so later all is well. 

This is really getting annoying, sure makes me suspect that there's something up at the kernel level w/ the driver for the tuning adapter, since it can't even get to the "almost there" screen with it attached at boot time. 

I'm a Series 1 / hacked the b'jebus out of it / user from way back, but haven't looked in to how the HD XL can be molested, I'd be happy to look at logs, etc, to help people out, but it doesn't seem that it's as easy to do so w/ the newer machine revs. (googling for simply getting a rsh/ssh working leads to such a terrible signal to noise ratio that I gave up, came here, searched, yielding almost the same.)

Is this a known issue? Any better voodoo to get it to work?

tl;dr:Hang-on-reboot caused by the tuning adapter being connected. Known problem? Help?


----------



## dolfer

If it matters I am on 1001... thanks for the responses... 

If anyone has that number please post it!  I can't take another weekend of wasting my time like this... 

Right now I am on non-stop blinks. I believe the initial failure was the 8 blinker. But since all of the reboots, refreshes, etc... I have a new pattern to keep me entertained.


----------



## SCSIRAID

bongoherbert said:


> I'm experiencing a beloved hang-on-reboot, seemingly caused by the tuning adapter's presence.
> 
> Im in the TW Albany area. Running an HD XL, there is a wireless adapter connected along with the cisco tuning adapter.
> 
> Last night at about 11:15 the TiVo appears to have crashed for unknown reasons (this has happened before after overnight TiVo software updates). When it rebooted it hung before the "Almost There" screen, all night. (I missed taping the final Conan, thank you very much TiVo, thank goodness for Hulu).
> 
> When I woke up (well, when I was awoken by my daughter at 6AM wanting to watch Chowder), the tuning adapter was doing the 8-blink "not authorized" pattern.
> 
> To get the machine to boot properly, I have to 1) disconnect the USB for the tuning adapter, 2) power cycle it 3) power cycle the TiVo 4) wait until I get to the "almost there" screen to re-plug-in the tuning adapter.
> 
> The tuning adapter goes through its crazy flashing authorization dance, eventually succeeding in doing so. When the TiVo finally boots 10 min or so later all is well.
> 
> This is really getting annoying, sure makes me suspect that there's something up at the kernel level w/ the driver for the tuning adapter, since it can't even get to the "almost there" screen with it attached at boot time.
> 
> I'm a Series 1 / hacked the b'jebus out of it / user from way back, but haven't looked in to how the HD XL can be molested, I'd be happy to look at logs, etc, to help people out, but it doesn't seem that it's as easy to do so w/ the newer machine revs. (googling for simply getting a rsh/ssh working leads to such a terrible signal to noise ratio that I gave up, came here, searched, yielding almost the same.)
> 
> Is this a known issue? Any better voodoo to get it to work?
> 
> tl;dr:Hang-on-reboot caused by the tuning adapter being connected. Known problem? Help?


How old is this XL? There is a know issue with WD Green drives (like the ones used in the XL) which prevent a successful 'soft' reboot. A hard reboot always works. This just impacts XL that were built in the last few months as I recall.

If its truly 8 blinks... then it has nothing to do with the TiVo... its the cableco. When the TA link to TiVo is lost, TA goes to 6 blinks and stays there until connection is restored and then the led goes on solid. That said, Ive seen lockups where TA led is solid but you cant tune anything and you have to reboot TA and TiVo.

Was power interrupted by any chance? Do you have TiVo and TA on a battery backup? If you dont.. you should really consider getting a battery backup. Pretty cheap and it can eliminate a lot of headaches.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dolfer said:


> If it matters I am on 1001... thanks for the responses...
> 
> If anyone has that number please post it!  I can't take another weekend of wasting my time like this...
> 
> Right now I am on non-stop blinks. I believe the initial failure was the 8 blinker. But since all of the reboots, refreshes, etc... I have a new pattern to keep me entertained.


If I remember correctly, solid blink occurs after a power up while TA is trying to communicate with 'momma' at the hub. You could have a wiring issue in the house or to the pedistal outside. Has the cableco inspected your wiring and signal quality? Do you have other cableboxes and can the do SDV channels right now?


----------



## bongoherbert

SCSIRAID said:


> How old is this XL? There is a know issue with WD Green drives (like the ones used in the XL) which prevent a successful 'soft' reboot. A hard reboot always works. This just impacts XL that were built in the last few months as I recall.


Interesting. It _is_ relatively new. Bought in January. And it will always hard reboot but I just tried for a soft reboot and it wouldn't (nb- In fact, it -is- 6 blinks, I was just impatient with the counting)

What a fascinating development. I suppose its now time to call TiVo.

Thanks for the pointer!


----------



## drhendrix

Hey Dolfer,

I'm in Loveland and I've had similar problems to yours with the TA for my S3. The last time it locked into the 8 blink cycle was about six weeks ago. I spoke with the clueless CSRs and even a Tech with no resolution. The blinking just stopped and changed to a solid green light a couple of days later.

I'm convinced that info needs to be sent to the TA by TWC to reset the TA. The real issue is, how do we get them to do that?

Dennis


----------



## dlfl

dolfer said:


> If it matters I am on 1001... thanks for the responses...
> 
> If anyone has that number please post it!  I can't take another weekend of wasting my time like this...
> 
> Right now I am on non-stop blinks. I believe the initial failure was the 8 blinker. But since all of the reboots, refreshes, etc... I have a new pattern to keep me entertained.


The TWC NCCS number is: 866.532.2598.

You are not supposed to call it directly, rather be referred by either a TWC or a TiVo support person. The first level support people at both places are supposed to know about NCCS but frequently don't. In one case a TiVo tech had a "a number for TWC" but didn't know it was the NCCS.

The NCCS hours are 10am to 11pm but I don't know what their weekend hours are. I've had the local TWC support people fix my 8-blink problem very quickly on a couple of occasions, but if they don't I recommend pushing for connection to the NCCS.

When SW OH updated the TA firmware to .1001 recently, they screwed it up and my TA was out for almost a full day. The NCCS got it fixed and told me what was going on (local TWC was clueless of course). And NCCS apprioved a $5 credit too, although they can't actually put it on your account -- local has to do that.

It continually amazes me that TWC has paid the money to create this great resource (manned by 4 or 5 people) and yet can't get the word out to their support people so it will be used when needed. Every time I talk to NCCS I ask them about this and they say they've tried to spread the word.......


----------



## dolfer

My story... I called the NCCS number directly. (1-866-532-2598) At first the (very nice) CSR tried to tell me he could not help me because I had to be referred by Level 1/2/3 CSR's (like many of you reported)... I LOST IT... I feel bad. But they have created this mess. "How can I be referred to you when EVERY SINGLE CSR I talk to doesn't know about your existence???", I asked wondering if he realized the conundrum I was experiencing. 

After settling me down, the rep did help me. Of course, he was able to fix the problem that two other CSRs couldn't. They apparently failed to go "one more screen" when they refereshed the signals to my TA. He said he notated my account with the steps he used to fix it. Hopefully when this inevitable happens again, the level 1 rep can replicate the steps. 

The rep was great. He told me that if a CSR doesn't know what NCCS is, you need to ask for that person's supervisor and that the supervisor *should* know. 

He said if they refuse to connect, I should call the NCCS and let them know about it. 

Next time I have this problem, I will make sure I have the NCCS number READY to give to the CSR. Of course, I will respect the tech's request not to call the number directly any more. Maybe...


----------



## mdreuben

Plug in the TA. Solid green, then a few 8 blinks, then no LED at all. Happens repeatedly when I plug in.

Sigh...what next?


----------



## SCSIRAID

mdreuben said:


> Plug in the TA. Solid green, then a few 8 blinks, then no LED at all. Happens repeatedly when I plug in.
> 
> Sigh...what next?


Did you push the power button on the front after the led goes out?


----------



## jcdutton

Jim and everyone - sorry to jump in late. 

I have had the same problems since last summer (TA reboots every 30- 90 minutes) and I also live in Cumberland County, Maine. Long story short, I monitored this board until the firmware was updated and tried again with the tuning adaptor a few weeks ago. (and joined the forum) Still had the same problem even with Firmware v. .801

TiVo sent me a new unit as I have been at this for a while and they want to rule it out. I'm on my second TiVo, 4th Cablecard and 4th tuning adaptor, 5th tuning adaptor power supply and second location in the house... 

Last week, TWC issued firmware version 1.10. All was up and running yesterday and have had one complete day trouble free with the tuning adaptor attached. This is the first time ever! 

The techs are beginning to get some experience and believe that Firmware version 1.10 is the key. They mentioned that this has fixed the 5 or 6 remaining problems with this in my area (mine included). 

It was a pleasant surprise when TiVo swapped the unit for me. I had to put the deposit for it on my credit card and will get full credit when the other unit is received by them. 

We will see...


----------



## SCSIRAID

jcdutton said:


> Jim and everyone - sorry to jump in late.
> 
> I have had the same problems since last summer (TA reboots every 30- 90 minutes) and I also live in Cumberland County, Maine. Long story short, I monitored this board until the firmware was updated and tried again with the tuning adaptor a few weeks ago. (and joined the forum) Still had the same problem even with Firmware v. .801
> 
> TiVo sent me a new unit as I have been at this for a while and they want to rule it out. I'm on my second TiVo, 4th Cablecard and 4th tuning adaptor, 5th tuning adaptor power supply and second location in the house...
> 
> Last week, TWC issued firmware version 1.10. All was up and running yesterday and have had one complete day trouble free with the tuning adaptor attached. This is the first time ever!
> 
> The techs are beginning to get some experience and believe that Firmware version 1.10 is the key. They mentioned that this has fixed the 5 or 6 remaining problems with this in my area (mine included).
> 
> It was a pleasant surprise when TiVo swapped the unit for me. I had to put the deposit for it on my credit card and will get full credit when the other unit is received by them.
> 
> We will see...


That version number looks odd... are you sure its 1.10 or perhaps .1001


----------



## mdreuben

SCSIRAID said:


> Did you push the power button on the front after the led goes out?


Well, THAT was embarrassing... 

Reset the TiVo and had it relearn all the stations and now everything seems to be working correctly. All the stations that I'm supposed to be receiving are actually there. The lag is a bit of a PIA, but I suppose I'll get used to it.


----------



## bongoherbert

mdreuben said:


> Well, THAT was embarrassing...
> 
> Reset the TiVo and had it relearn all the stations and now everything seems to be working correctly. All the stations that I'm supposed to be receiving are actually there. The lag is a bit of a PIA, but I suppose I'll get used to it.


I'm sure this has come up before, but why the heck is there a power button on this thing in the first place?

This box has ended up in my 'great big list of bad design decisions' talk...


----------



## dlfl

bongoherbert said:


> I'm sure this has come up before, but why the heck is there a power button on this thing in the first place?
> 
> This box has ended up in my 'great big list of bad design decisions' talk...


You mean the extensive owner's manual doesn't answer this?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> You mean the extensive owner's manual doesn't answer this?


Now THAT is FUNNY!!!


----------



## dlfl

Here's another funny: **this**


----------



## jcdutton

SCSIRAID said:


> That version number looks odd... are you sure its 1.10 or perhaps .1001


I tried to find it on the diagnostics page. I found the version a few weeks ago (.810), so I think its right.


----------



## Effinay

8 blinks again this morning... had to call TW to get it re-authorized. The first rep I talked to didn't even know what a tuning adapter or SDV was. Finally got me transferred to a tier 3 rep who actually knew what to do to get my TA back up and running. 
We started talking about all the issues I've been having with my TA and I told him to check out this thread. He had no idea that so many people were having these issues with the TA's "un-authorizing." 
Hopefully he'll check out this thread and pass on the word that we are all nearly fed up with the nuisance that the TA has become.
In his defense, he was very helpful and aplologetic and ultimately fixed the issue... I just wish I didn't have to call in every 2 or 3 weeks for the same thing.


----------



## jcdutton

jcdutton said:


> I tried to find it on the diagnostics page. I found the version a few weeks ago (.810), so I think its right.


Still doing okay - 2 weeks now and the tuning adaptor is still stable - no reboots in that time period. Its a big change from the reboots every 30 minutes. I have to believe the firmware upgrade is the answer to this one.


----------



## scole250

I have a Tivo HD XL w/M card and tuning adapter. Been installed for a couple weeks with no known issues no far. I also have another HD TV that has no Tivo, just the cable feeding it. The TV has a digital tuner built into it and picks up analog, digital, HD, whatever is being broadcast and un-encypted/scrambled. Recently, some channels have been getting bad reception. Analog channel 5 (WRAL in Raleigh) has been particularly bad with fuzzy video and jumping horizonal lines. Sometimes pixelization on other digital channels whenever the analog channel 5 is coming in bad. Is this stictly a cable system problem or could the tuning adapter (connected to a Tivo on a different TV) be causing the problem? Problem is sporadic. Has happened most mornings over past week, again yesterday evening. This morning channel 5 is crystal clear. TWC sending tech out this afternoon, but wanted to know if anyone has other suggestions or insight. Thanks.


----------



## SCSIRAID

scole250 said:


> I have a Tivo HD XL w/M card and tuning adapter. Been installed for a couple weeks with no known issues no far. I also have another HD TV that has no Tivo, just the cable feeding it. The TV has a digital tuner built into it and picks up analog, digital, HD, whatever is being broadcast and un-encypted/scrambled. Recently, some channels have been getting bad reception. Analog channel 5 (WRAL in Raleigh) has been particularly bad with fuzzy video and jumping horizonal lines. Sometimes pixelization on other digital channels whenever the analog channel 5 is coming in bad. Is this stictly a cable system problem or could the tuning adapter (connected to a Tivo on a different TV) be causing the problem? Problem is sporadic. Has happened most mornings over past week, again yesterday evening. This morning channel 5 is crystal clear. TWC sending tech out this afternoon, but wanted to know if anyone has other suggestions or insight. Thanks.


Sounds like a TWC signal issue. The tuning adapter should have zero impact on something it isnt connected to.


----------



## dcstager

SCSIRAID - been following all your troubleshooting efforts. I have not been seeing any picture breakup lately in Austin on the SDV channels. I've had one middle of the night reboot of my tuning adapter which makes me believe it was planned because of the channel lineup changing here where more and new SDV and HD channels were added.

One thing I read in your posts on the issue has to do with the firmware date/version present on the actual cablecards. I have an original S3 that needs two cards and they are both the newer cards - I think the M cards (Scientific Atlanta). How do I find out their firmware versions and/or request they be updated to the latest version available?

I have a distinct feeling there is a Austin TX guardian angel looking out for Tivo Community members with problems who is reading the posts and getting fixes and updates put out to affected customers.

I still occasionally get missed recordings on SDV channels. I don't think I've ever successfully recorded Stossel on the Fox Business Channel on the first try or Caprica on SyFy. It just seems like you can't reliably tune in to an SDV channel by scheduling a recording at the same time as another recording. It works fine if you are just recording one thing no matter what channel you select, but two recordings at once is a crap shoot. I've started the practice of pretuning my Tivo when possible when I have a dual recording scheduled, i.e., getting the two tuners tuned to the two upcoming channels ahead of the scheduled recordings and that works pretty well.

I think they must be getting pretty close to fixing this and I'm hoping the Austin TX/Time Warner insider is still looking out for me here. It seems to be getting better -- but it's only because of people like you out there keeping them honest and reporting issues. Thanks and keep it up.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> SCSIRAID - been following all your troubleshooting efforts. I have not been seeing any picture breakup lately in Austin on the SDV channels. I've had one middle of the night reboot of my tuning adapter which makes me believe it was planned because of the channel lineup changing here where more and new SDV and HD channels were added.
> 
> One thing I read in your posts on the issue has to do with the firmware date/version present on the actual cablecards. I have an original S3 that needs two cards and they are both the newer cards - I think the M cards (Scientific Atlanta). How do I find out their firmware versions and/or request they be updated to the latest version available?
> 
> I have a distinct feeling there is a Austin TX guardian angel looking out for Tivo Community members with problems who is reading the posts and getting fixes and updates put out to affected customers.
> 
> I still occasionally get missed recordings on SDV channels. I don't think I've ever successfully recorded Stossel on the Fox Business Channel on the first try or Caprica on SyFy. It just seems like you can't reliably tune in to an SDV channel by scheduling a recording at the same time as another recording. It works fine if you are just recording one thing no matter what channel you select, but two recordings at once is a crap shoot. I've started the practice of pretuning my Tivo when possible when I have a dual recording scheduled, i.e., getting the two tuners tuned to the two upcoming channels ahead of the scheduled recordings and that works pretty well.
> 
> I think they must be getting pretty close to fixing this and I'm hoping the Austin TX/Time Warner insider is still looking out for me here. It seems to be getting better -- but it's only because of people like you out there keeping them honest and reporting issues. Thanks and keep it up.


It has nothing to do with the cablecard firmware version. The issue is that TiVo cannot handle the SDV Transport Stream adding or removing programs. Whenever the PAT version changes (which happens when a program stream is added or removed), you will see a pixelation event (if the stream you are watching is encrypted). There is nothing TWC can do except turn off PowerKey encryption to fix this... and I wouldnt hold my breath on that. Cisco could change cablecard firmware to disable 'CP' encryption and that would fix it too... but would be violating the cablecard spec. This problem lies in TiVo's yard... they need to fix it.

Thanks for your kind words. I am continuing to poke 'em... You can count on that


----------



## Max Camber

dcstager said:


> I have a distinct feeling there is a Austin TX guardian angel looking out for Tivo Community members with problems who is reading the posts and getting fixes and updates put out to affected customers.


I can tell you that there are TWC Austin people keeping tabs on this forum. If they had the power to fix this issue it would probably be done by now. They are pretty much stuck waiting for news from the TiVo/TWC Raleigh/SCSIRAID project just like the rest of us.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Max Camber said:


> I can tell you that there are TWC Austin people keeping tabs on this forum. If they had the power to fix this issue it would probably be done by now. They are pretty much stuck waiting for news from the TiVo/TWC Raleigh/SCSIRAID project just like the rest of us.


Well... they CAN fix it... just turn off Powerkey encryption on the SDV channels and the pixelation will be gone gone gone.... I wouldnt hold my breath for that though....


----------



## CrispyCritter

SCSIRAID said:


> Well... they CAN fix it... just turn off Powerkey encryption on the SDV channels and the pixelation will be gone gone gone.... I wouldnt hold my breath for that though....


Thanks for you continued work on this, and your earliler responses here!

Do you have any insight as to why it seems to be affecting only SDV in certain locations and not others? It's unlikely to be encryption, but what else is it? Is it only certain SDV head-end hardware?


----------



## SCSIRAID

CrispyCritter said:


> Thanks for you continued work on this, and your earliler responses here!
> 
> Do you have any insight as to why it seems to be affecting only SDV in certain locations and not others? It's unlikely to be encryption, but what else is it? Is it only certain SDV head-end hardware?


The only thing I could imagine is service group size and peoples behavior. If SDV usage is more around 'popular' stuff then the streams would be fairly static and the pixelation wouldnt be seen as often. If SDV stuff is what folks would typically 'surf' thru looking for something to watch then that surfing could be generating pixelation for others. Also, if SDV utililzation was low... impact would be minimized. Sometimes I can record something and see nothing.. some times it pixelations so much its nearly unwatchable at times. Good ole probability theory I expect. Per TWC, Cisco and BigBand SDV all work the same way so all systems are exposed to the problem.


----------



## dcstager

SCSIRAID said:


> Well... they CAN fix it... just turn off Powerkey encryption on the SDV channels and the pixelation will be gone gone gone.... I wouldnt hold my breath for that though....


I have not seen the issue in the last week or so in Austin. Not even once. I think that something has changed. I used to see it all the time but the last time I saw it was on the recording of the Caprica pilot two Fridays ago.

There's a new episode of Caprica tonight and if the problem exists, it will be visible on this particular program because it's on a switched channel and it's scheduled at the same time as another recording.

What am I to think if the problem is actually gone?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> I have not seen the issue in the last week or so in Austin. Not even once. I think that something has changed. I used to see it all the time but the last time I saw it was on the recording of the Caprica pilot two Fridays ago.
> 
> There's a new episode of Caprica tonight and if the problem exists, it will be visible on this particular program because it's on a switched channel and it's scheduled at the same time as another recording.
> 
> What am I to think if the problem is actually gone?


Perhaps that you are fortunate enough to have not seen it lately.....?

Watching a single program on a switched channel doesnt mean that you will see the problem. The problem only occurs if the SDV QAM you are watching has programs added to or removed from it while you are watching it. It can be hit or miss as to whether you see it or not. If you are fortunate enough to land on a QAM that is at full capacity with shows that have 'good' viewership then the problem wont occur.... The QAM is 'full' and all the shows are being actively watched... The problem only occurs when a program joins or leaves the QAM you are watching.


----------



## dcstager

SCSIRAID said:


> Perhaps that you are fortunate enough to have not seen it lately.....?
> 
> Watching a single program on a switched channel doesnt mean that you will see the problem. The problem only occurs if the SDV QAM you are watching has programs added to or removed from it while you are watching it. It can be hit or miss as to whether you see it or not. If you are fortunate enough to land on a QAM that is at full capacity with shows that have 'good' viewership then the problem wont occur.... The QAM is 'full' and all the shows are being actively watched... The problem only occurs when a program joins or leaves the QAM you are watching.


I figured the only way to make the problem re-occur was to post a message like that and sure enough, the problem has returned. Waiting for the next super secret Tivo software update I guess.


----------



## dlfl

My TA goes 8-blinks about once a month. Does anyone know if forcing a reboot every two weeks or so would prevent this?


----------



## pmiranda

Hmm...if the 8-blinks is due to a memory leak or something like that, then a preventative reboot every week or two might just help. On the other hand, mine runs fine for a couple months at a time, so I tend to think the problems I have are to do with TW mucking about, but if you have different firmware on yours it might make a difference.

Can't hurt to try it!


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> My TA goes 8-blinks about once a month. Does anyone know if forcing a reboot every two weeks or so would prevent this?


8 blinks is an authorization problem.... I see that as a TWC head end / business system issue, not one local to your TA.


----------



## TroyB

dlfl said:


> My TA goes 8-blinks about once a month. Does anyone know if forcing a reboot every two weeks or so would prevent this?


Glad to know I am not the only member of the monthly blinking tuning adapter club. At least now when I call to complain about 50% of the time I get a hold of someone that knows what the problem is and what hits to send to fix it. It beats calling when they first came out and the person on the phone would say "a tuning..what?"
I hate Time Warner Cable.


----------



## dolfer

TroyB said:


> Glad to know I am not the only member of the monthly blinking tuning adapter club. At least now when I call to complain about 50% of the time I get a hold of someone that knows what the problem is and what hits to send to fix it. It beats calling when they first came out and the person on the phone would say "a tuning..what?"
> I hate Time Warner Cable.


If your first line of service can't help, then insist on being connected to NCCS... There is a very good chance they will have NO IDEA what you are talking about.

At that point, you can give them NCCS's direct number so they can connect you: *1-866-532-2598*

After the NCCS successfully resolves your problem (which they seem to be able to do 100% of the time, in my experience) have them thoroughly document what they did on your account so NEXT time (and there will be a next time) the first level CS can fix your problem.


----------



## dolfer

Got a message about the new HD channels. Finally! Comedy Central and MTV! 

However, as quickly as they came, they seemed to vanish. 

Haven't done a reboot yet or called CS, anyone else experience this with the new lineup??? 

Please tell me a simple TA reboot will fix it!  Since my TA is *NOT* blinking I am almost too scared to mess with it at all!!! Even a reboot...


----------



## dlfl

dolfer said:


> Got a message about the new HD channels. Finally! Comedy Central and MTV!
> 
> However, as quickly as they came, they seemed to vanish.
> 
> Haven't done a reboot yet or called CS, anyone else experience this with the new lineup???
> 
> Please tell me a simple TA reboot will fix it!  Since my TA is *NOT* blinking I am almost too scared to mess with it at all!!! Even a reboot...


I got that message yesterday morning then in early afternoon my TA rebooted (I presume at TWC's instigation). If I hadn't happened to be there to see the blinking light I wouldn't have known about this reboot.

After that even some of the SDV channels I normally receive were missing. I ended up rebooting the TA again (with usb disconnected) and rebooting the TiVo twice to force the "acquiring channels" phase (rotating disc symbol -- *does anyone know how to force this without rebooting the TiVo?*). After that I had my normal SDV channels back and 3 of the 8 new channels that were in the message. I called TWC and was told that 2 of the channels were not in my subscribed packages and that the new ones weren't officially scheduled to be there until today -- so I'm waiting.

When I attempt tuning the 3 missing new channels I get the "temporarily unavailable" message rather than the "the tuning adapter doesn't provide this channel" message -- I take that as a good sign, I guess.

EDIT: Just checked again -- all six of the new channels I'm supposed to get are there now (with the occasional pixelation and freezes I've come to expect from SDV channels.)


----------



## djkid4

Tuning adapter problem. Charlotte NC
I have 3 series 3 with tuning adapter at one location and they work fine.

I have TiVo HD at another location that hasn't worked since I got the tuning adapter. The light comes flashes then goes completely off then nothing. I have had techs out and no one can give me an answer. Some of the techs stated the SDV is a complete mess. 

I have about had it. I have had the tuning adapter since March of 2009.


That's almost a year.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## SCSIRAID

djkid4 said:


> Tuning adapter problem. Charlotte NC
> I have 3 series 3 with tuning adapter at one location and they work fine.
> 
> I have TiVo HD at another location that hasn't worked since I got the tuning adapter. The light comes flashes then goes completely off then nothing. I have had techs out and no one can give me an answer. Some of the techs stated the SDV is a complete mess.
> 
> I have about had it. I have had the tuning adapter since March of 2009.
> 
> That's almost a year.
> 
> Any info would be greatly appreciated.


DId you press the power button on the front of the TA?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> I got that message yesterday morning then in early afternoon my TA rebooted (I presume at TWC's instigation). If I hadn't happened to be there to see the blinking light I wouldn't have known about this reboot.
> 
> After that even some of the SDV channels I normally receive were missing. I ended up rebooting the TA again (with usb disconnected) and rebooting the TiVo twice to force the "acquiring channels" phase (rotating disc symbol -- *does anyone know how to force this without rebooting the TiVo?*). After that I had my normal SDV channels back and 3 of the 8 new channels that were in the message. I called TWC and was told that 2 of the channels were not in my subscribed packages and that the new ones weren't officially scheduled to be there until today -- so I'm waiting.
> 
> When I attempt tuning the 3 missing new channels I get the "temporarily unavailable" message rather than the "the tuning adapter doesn't provide this channel" message -- I take that as a good sign, I guess.
> 
> EDIT: Just checked again -- all six of the new channels I'm supposed to get are there now (with the occasional pixelation and freezes I've come to expect from SDV channels.)


If you unplug TA USB and then replug it, TiVo should go back thru the spinning drillbit acquiring channels.


----------



## djkid4

SCSIRAID said:


> DId you press the power button on the front of the TA?


I have tried everything.


----------



## SCSIRAID

djkid4 said:


> I have tried everything.


What happens when you press the power button?

Does the TiVo ever see the TA?

Has the cableco given you a different TA?

I would try the following... unhook the USB cable between TiVo and TA. power cycle TiVo and TA... Pay attention to the flash patterns on TA. If the led goes off and stays off, press the power button. Ultimately, the TA led should go on solid. Then and only then, plug in the usb cable... You should then get the 'ta found' screen.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> What happens when you press the power button?
> 
> Does the TiVo ever see the TA?
> 
> Has the cableco given you a different TA?
> 
> I would try the following... unhook the USB cable between TiVo and TA. power cycle TiVo and TA... Pay attention to the flash patterns on TA. If the led goes off and stays off, press the power button. Ultimately, the TA led should go on solid. Then and only then, plug in the usb cable... You should then get the 'ta found' screen.


And if you don't get the rotating symbol with "acquiring channels", do whatever you have to do to get it. Unplug/plug the USB again and if that doesn't do it, reboot the TiVo again.


----------



## dolfer

channels reappeared... didn't have to do anything.


----------



## Effinay

The wife just called and the 8 blinks on the TA are back!!! I almost believe that Time Warner is doing this just to annoy us TiVo users in the hopes that we will give up and get one of their POS DVRs.

So now I get to go home this evening and sit on the phone for 30 minutes with some tech support person who has never heard of a tuning adapter...


----------



## Grumock

Effinay said:


> The wife just called and the 8 blinks on the TA are back!!! I almost believe that Time Warner is doing this just to annoy us TiVo users in the hopes that we will give up and get one of their POS DVRs.
> 
> So now I get to go home this evening and sit on the phone for 30 minutes with some tech support person who has never heard of a tuning adapter...


just tell them to go into the 07 screen & hit "Enter", but have your USB cord unplugged when they do. Sometimes that hit will make the TA light go off, & you will then have to hit the power button. Other times it will just make the light go solid & you can then reconnect your USB cord & as long as the TIVo see it you will be good. On Rare occasions that hit will not make the light change & you will have to reboot the TA with the USB disconnected. Wait for the light to go back to solid after it starts blinking though. If for some reason it does not go to solid & goes back to the 8 blink pattern it will be Cable Card Support Desk time & you should ask to be xferred to them. They will have to call the Head End (DNCS) & have them restage the TA.


----------



## Stormspace

Effinay said:


> The wife just called and the 8 blinks on the TA are back!!! I almost believe that Time Warner is doing this just to annoy us TiVo users in the hopes that we will give up and get one of their POS DVRs.
> 
> So now I get to go home this evening and sit on the phone for 30 minutes with some tech support person who has never heard of a tuning adapter...


You could do what I'm doing and give them back the TA and Cable cards. However when you call them to have digital cable removed from your plan they'll tell you your rate is going up as a result.


----------



## Grumock

Stormspace said:


> You could do what I'm doing and give them back the TA and Cable cards. However when you call them to have digital cable removed from your plan they'll tell you your rate is going up as a result.


good way to cut down on the headache meds LOL


----------



## Effinay

Contstant blinking today on the TA. Rebooted everything.... waited 30 minutes... no go. Rebooted everything again while I called TW. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I'm connected to a rep, the TA goes solid and the TiVo sees it and starts aquiring channel data.

Here's the disturbing part. I asked the rep why so many of us are having issues with the TAs. His reply was, "None of us here know of any issues anywhere with the tuning adapters. I've been here over 5 months and I've never had a call about a TA. We aren't aware of any users having issues."

That got me a little ticked, considering this thread alone is riddled with horror storied of countless people having the SAME EXACT ISSUES with their TAs.

GD it TW! Get your act together!!!

/end rant.


----------



## kevin120

Add Dallas to the list of cites that have SDV as of april 5th they are moving most of our HD to SDV no SD channels are affected at this time:up:.



Have to give credit to SteveGoTex at broadband reports for uploading the above image. 

We have 5 open analogs right now so they are freeing up 14QAMs on April 5th.


----------



## dlfl

Effinay said:


> Contstant blinking today on the TA. Rebooted everything.... waited 30 minutes... no go. Rebooted everything again while I called TW. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I'm connected to a rep, the TA goes solid and the TiVo sees it and starts aquiring channel data.
> 
> Here's the disturbing part. I asked the rep why so many of us are having issues with the TAs. His reply was, "None of us here know of any issues anywhere with the tuning adapters. I've been here over 5 months and I've never had a call about a TA. We aren't aware of any users having issues."
> 
> That got me a little ticked, considering this thread alone is riddled with horror storied of countless people having the SAME EXACT ISSUES with their TAs.
> 
> GD it TW! Get your act together!!!
> 
> /end rant.


Nothing new here -- and don't hold your breath expecting it to improve. TWC volunteered to provide TA's just to get the FCC off their back, i.e., so SDV channels could not be viewed as a "reduction in service" to one-way UDCP users (i.e., mostly TiVo's). They have no business incentive to care about how well TiVo's work -- in fact their incentives grind the other way. And TiVo's are about 0.5% of their digital subscriber base, which is why many TWC people don't deal with a TA or CableCARD for months at a time.

The only thing that might have an impact on TWC is to complain to the FCC and I'm skeptical about that too.

I see we are neighbors. I've had my TA for nine months now and roughly once a month I get the 8-blinks and have to call TWC. About 50% of the time the rep knows how to fix it right away. And that hasn't changed over nine months.

What bothers me even more is the pixelation on SDV channels, which *SCSIRAID* has proved is a TiVo deficiency. I hear they are working on it and there is hope a software update might fix it.


----------



## CrispyCritter

dlfl said:


> What bothers me even more is the pixelation on SDV channels, which *SCSIRAID* has proved is a TiVo deficiency. I hear they are working on it and there is hope a software update might fix it.


You keep on repeating that, and it's not true. It may be something that TiVo has to fix, but it has not been proven to be TiVo's fault instead of TW's. There is no proof that TiVo has not followed existing standards in their implementation, or that TW is following the standards. All we have is one TW engineer stating what he thinks is wrong, and that in his opinion TiVo is at fault. A TW employee blaming TiVo and you completely accept it?

I'm still very puzzled by the fact that this seems to be quite localized problem - many/most folks are not seeing it. That doesn't fit the explanation given. There is still something unexplained here.


----------



## SCSIRAID

CrispyCritter said:


> You keep on repeating that, and it's not true. It may be something that TiVo has to fix, but it has not been proven to be TiVo's fault instead of TW's. There is no proof that TiVo has not followed existing standards in their implementation, or that TW is following the standards. All we have is one TW engineer stating what he thinks is wrong, and that in his opinion TiVo is at fault. A TW employee blaming TiVo and you completely accept it?
> 
> I'm still very puzzled by the fact that this seems to be quite localized problem - many/most folks are not seeing it. That doesn't fit the explanation given. There is still something unexplained here.


There certainly IS proof that TiVo is not following MPEG standards. The MPEG spec allows programs to added to or removed from a transport stream. When that happens, the PAT changes and its 'version number' increments. If you put an MPEG real time analyzer on the QAM TiVo is tuned to (which we did), every time the PAT version increments, TiVo macroblocks. The Hewlett Packard MPEG analyzer found absolutely nothing non compliant in the transport stream. TiVo appears to have made an assumption (probably to simplify their sw) that the transport stream will always be 'static'. That is absolutely true for linear QAM and OTA television... however... its not true when you introduce SDV into the mix.

Whether a user see it depends totally on whether the QAM they are watching gets a stream added or removed. This depends on the 'load' on the SDV system and whether folks are 'surfing' or watching statically. If you tune to a 'full' QAM and the others watching that QAM stay put, there will be no macroblocking.

Be glad you arent seeing it. It would drive you nuts if you were.


----------



## NiteCourt

Every month since last October I've had to call TW since my TA goes into the 8 blink brick mode. In December they sent a tech out because they said it was a problem on my end. He couldn't find anything wrong. On March 4th (the same day my bill was cut) it went out again. This time they couldn't get it working so they scheduled a truck roll for the next day. Of course he didn't have a TA with him but the whole scheduled appt. was to replace the TA! The exact same thing happened about a year ago when they were to replace a cable card. I made the the tech stop anyway and he finally got it working again. I don't know how TW functions as a company.


----------



## Stormspace

CrispyCritter said:


> You keep on repeating that, and it's not true. It may be something that TiVo has to fix, but it has not been proven to be TiVo's fault instead of TW's. There is no proof that TiVo has not followed existing standards in their implementation, or that TW is following the standards. All we have is one TW engineer stating what he thinks is wrong, and that in his opinion TiVo is at fault. A TW employee blaming TiVo and you completely accept it?
> 
> I'm still very puzzled by the fact that this seems to be quite localized problem - many/most folks are not seeing it. That doesn't fit the explanation given. There is still something unexplained here.


I was seeing it as well. No where near DLFL.


----------



## CrispyCritter

Stormspace said:


> I was seeing it as well. No where near DLFL.


Yes, I think it's been verified in at least 3 different systems, although it's tough to separate out the normal random attacks of pixelation from what SCSIRAID and others are seeing. It's definitely a very real compatibility problem that needs attention.

But if the root cause is as simple as SCSIRAID's explanation, it should be seen everywhere just as badly as he sees it and that's not the case. What he describes seems to be a basic failing on the TiVo's part that should affect every SDV system out there equally. But there are a whole lot of SDV'd TiVos, and the reports seem to be only from a few locations. Perhaps those locations are the only ones with a heavily loaded SDV system so that they need to add and remove streams from a QAM, but that seems unlikely. I'm not convinced we have the whole story yet.


----------



## dlfl

CrispyCritter said:


> Yes, I think it's been verified in at least 3 different systems, although it's tough to separate out the normal random attacks of pixelation from what SCSIRAID and others are seeing. It's definitely a very real compatibility problem that needs attention.
> 
> But if the root cause is as simple as SCSIRAID's explanation, it should be seen everywhere just as badly as he sees it and that's not the case. What he describes seems to be a basic failing on the TiVo's part that should affect every SDV system out there equally. But there are a whole lot of SDV'd TiVos, and the reports seem to be only from a few locations. Perhaps those locations are the only ones with a heavily loaded SDV system so that they need to add and remove streams from a QAM, but that seems unlikely. I'm not convinced we have the whole story yet.


I have no "normal random attacks of pixelation" on my non-SDV channels -- where pixelation is *extremely* rare.

There are two factors that could lead to a mistaken impression that the "SCSIRAID" effect is localized to only a few TWC locations:

1. SCSIRAID's investigations, which are somewhat unique, have been reported mainly in the TWC Carolinas thread, where it is not likely to be noticed by Cox, Charter, ComCast, etc. subscribers, and less likely to be noticed by TWC subscribers in other regions. Seeing his posts prompts people having the same problem to post, and vice-versa.

2. You may not be noticing SDV pixelation posts as much as some of us who have the problem and thus tend to search out such posts. For example, **this thread**, which includes complaints from other cable systems and places.

We may never know the "whole story". TiVo may know it but probably wouldn't tell us if they did. SCSIRAID has at least given us a major piece of the story.


----------



## CrispyCritter

dlfl said:


> 2. You may not be noticing SDV pixelation posts as much as some of us who have the problem and thus tend to search out such posts. For example, **this thread**, which includes complaints from other cable systems and places.
> 
> We may never know the "whole story". TiVo may know it but probably wouldn't tell us if they did. SCSIRAID has at least given us a major piece of the story.


I'm not trying to diminish the importance of SCSIRAID's investigation. It's excellent work and indicates a problem for both TiVo and TW to look into.

But there are many potential causes of pixelation, and even of pixelation on just SDV channels, and even of pixelation with 0 RSS errors (which I see often, with no SDV). A good number of the reports in the thread you cite (which I follow) and other threads are not the same problem. People reporting pixelation starting and intermittently continuing for 45 minutes are probably not the same problem, as I understand the issue. People reporting constant pixelation on only one channel are almost certainly not the same problem. Some of the reports have symptoms matching much better, and are potentially the same issue. Nyijedi is almost certainly the same problem, though Time-Warner in the NYC area has lots of other issues also!

Given that perhaps 20% of cable users have SDV, and therefore I assume 20% of the members here, we are not getting the number of complaints I would expect from a problem that SCSIRAID describes as "Be glad you arent seeing it. It would drive you nuts if you were." I also am not seeing reports of the timing correlation that SCSIRAID observes and is good evidence of the conjecture that stream addition is causing his problems. Unless we understand why we aren't getting those reports, I'm reluctant to conclude that SCSIRAID's explanation (which would affect TiVos on every SDV system out there) is the complete answer.


----------



## dlfl

CrispyCritter said:


> I'm not trying to diminish the importance of SCSIRAID's investigation. It's excellent work and indicates a problem for both TiVo and TW to look into..................... .


That's good --- I was confused by your earlier response to my post where you seemed to toss off his work with: "A TW employee blaming TiVo and you completely accept it?" 

What would you expect TWC to "look into" if the mpeg2 analyzer says their signal meets standards?.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Crispy asks some reasonable questions... It surely seems that many more folks should be seeing this. The only explanations that I can offer are 1) People are not recognizing that the issue is limited to SDV or that the SDV breakups are somehow 'different' from 'run of the mill' random pixelations that are seen on both TiVo and Cisco equipment, 2) They arent seeing them because the usage habits of folks in their service groups arent causing TS updates 3) Their systems simply dont have much interesting stuff on SDV. Here in the Carolina's, virtually ALL of the non-premium HD content is SDV. That pretty much assures good probability of seeing the issue if you are watching HD. The issue has been reported in not just TWC but also Cablevision areas. It has been reported on both Cisco and BigBand equipment. I would expect to hear more complaints about it and I cant explain why that isnt happening. However, there is not a grain of doubt in my mind as to what the issue is and where the problem lies. 

I did discuss with TWC whether it would be possible to implement an SDV system with preallocated programs which would yield a static PAT. This wouldnt excite the issue... but TWC Engineering stated that it didnt meet MPEG specs and that wasnt the way Cisco or BigBand worked. From my reading of the spec, I agree with them as if the PAT didnt change version numbers, the receiver of a stream would not be aware of any content changes. It probably wouldnt matter to a TiVo like implementation but the spec has to cover ALL usages. Even if such a system DID exist, it doesnt change the fact that the current TiVo implementation cannot handle an MPEG standard transport stream and that TiVo needs to get in line with the MPEG standard.


----------



## kevin120

SCSIRAID said:


> Crispy asks some reasonable questions... It surely seems that many more folks should be seeing this. The only explanations that I can offer are 1) People are not recognizing that the issue is limited to SDV or that the SDV breakups are somehow 'different' from 'run of the mill' random pixelations that are seen on both TiVo and Cisco equipment, 2) They arent seeing them because the usage habits of folks in their service groups arent causing TS updates 3) Their systems simply dont have much interesting stuff on SDV. Here in the Carolina's, virtually ALL of the non-premium HD content is SDV. That pretty much assures good probability of seeing the issue if you are watching HD. The issue has been reported in not just TWC but also Cablevision areas. It has been reported on both Cisco and BigBand equipment. I would expect to hear more complaints about it and I cant explain why that isnt happening. However, there is not a grain of doubt in my mind as to what the issue is and where the problem lies.
> 
> I did discuss with TWC whether it would be possible to implement an SDV system with preallocated programs which would yield a static PAT. This wouldnt excite the issue... but TWC Engineering stated that it didnt meet MPEG specs and that wasnt the way Cisco or BigBand worked. From my reading of the spec, I agree with them as if the PAT didnt change version numbers, the receiver of a stream would not be aware of any content changes. It probably wouldnt matter to a TiVo like implementation but the spec has to cover ALL usages. Even if such a system DID exist, it doesnt change the fact that the current TiVo implementation cannot handle an MPEG standard transport stream and that TiVo needs to get in line with the MPEG standard.


that wont work as the SDV protocol calls for the x-xxxx channel designation this is not a TWC decision it is industry standard whether you use Motorola, Cisco, or bigband SDV servers they all do this it is probrably a SCTE standard.

Also there has not been a problem with motorola tuning adapter pixelating on SDV channels using bigband SDV servers. so this is a cisco problem with the Conditional Access and tuning adapter.

Did you know that the color bars test pattern is a SCTE standard so they have standards due to euipment compatibility requirements.

Twc Dallas gets to try out SDV starting on april 5th only the HD expanded channels are going except for the popular HBO HD,SHO, and HDPPV now has replays going so they dont want it to kick you off of your program and you loose your money due to system issues such as timeout.

They have 30 and 40 dollar events on HDPPV everyday even if it is replays and the adult programs late at night.


----------



## SCSIRAID

kevin120 said:


> that wont work as the SDV protocol calls for the x-xxxx channel designation this is not a TWC decision it is industry standard whether you use Motorola, Cisco, or bigband SDV servers they all do this it is probrably a SCTE standard.
> 
> Also there has not been a problem with motorola tuning adapter pixelating on SDV channels using bigband SDV servers. so this is a cisco problem with the Conditional Access and tuning adapter.
> 
> Did you know that the color bars test pattern is a SCTE standard so they have standards due to euipment compatibility requirements.
> 
> Twc Dallas gets to try out SDV starting on april 5th only the HD expanded channels are going except for the popular HBO HD,SHO, and HDPPV now has replays going so they dont want it to kick you off of your program and you loose your money due to system issues such as timeout.
> 
> They have 30 and 40 dollar events on HDPPV everyday even if it is replays and the adult programs late at night.


The 'channel number' is not what I suggested be static. The suggestion was that the 'program number' in the mpeg stream be static.... and as I said in my post, I agree that its not in compliance with the standard. I believe it 'would' work for TiVo but its not going to get the chance because its non standard.

The tuning adapter in this case has nothing to do with the pixelation. The issue is TiVo dumping the CP encrypton nexus when it sees the PAT version increase.

TWC Austin is a Cisco plant using BigBand SDV and it shows the problem as reported by several folks there....


----------



## kevin120

SCSIRAID said:


> The 'channel number' is not what I suggested be static. The suggestion was that the 'program number' in the mpeg stream be static.... and as I said in my post, I agree that its not in compliance with the standard. I believe it 'would' work for TiVo but its not going to get the chance because its non standard.
> 
> The tuning adapter in this case has nothing to do with the pixelation. The issue is TiVo dumping the CP encrypton nexus when it sees the PAT version increase.
> 
> TWC Austin is a Cisco plant using BigBand SDV and it shows the problem as reported by several folks there....


you total ignored that I said the motorola tuning adapter using the bigband solution does not have any pixelation with SDV channels, because TWC maines motorola areas deployed the bigband solution and the MTR700 had no problems and no pixelation on SDV channels.

I already knew that austin uses bigband with SA boxes so the problems is not the tivo it is cisco.


----------



## denispelletier

SCSIRAID said:


> There certainly IS proof that TiVo is not following MPEG standards. The MPEG spec allows programs to added to or removed from a transport stream. When that happens, the PAT changes and its 'version number' increments. If you put an MPEG real time analyzer on the QAM TiVo is tuned to (which we did), every time the PAT version increments, TiVo macroblocks. The Hewlett Packard MPEG analyzer found absolutely nothing non compliant in the transport stream. TiVo appears to have made an assumption (probably to simplify their sw) that the transport stream will always be 'static'. That is absolutely true for linear QAM and OTA television... however... its not true when you introduce SDV into the mix.
> 
> Whether a user see it depends totally on whether the QAM they are watching gets a stream added or removed. This depends on the 'load' on the SDV system and whether folks are 'surfing' or watching statically. If you tune to a 'full' QAM and the others watching that QAM stay put, there will be no macroblocking.
> 
> Be glad you arent seeing it. It would drive you nuts if you were.


I'm a Time Warner costumer in Cary, NC and I have this macroblock/pixelisation problem big time with SDV channels. At this point, would it make a difference if I get in touch with TiVo to complain about this?


----------



## SCSIRAID

denispelletier said:


> I'm a Time Warner costumer in Cary, NC and I have this macroblock/pixelisation problem big time with SDV channels. At this point, would it make a difference if I get in touch with TiVo to complain about this?


They already know. Someone posted that they called TiVo and was told that a fix was in progress. I have no conformation of that though. Never hurts to add your voice though.

Im in Apex so Im in the same boat.


----------



## SCSIRAID

kevin120 said:


> you total ignored that I said the motorola tuning adapter using the bigband solution does not have any pixelation with SDV channels, because TWC maines motorola areas deployed the bigband solution and the MTR700 had no problems and no pixelation on SDV channels.
> 
> I already knew that austin uses bigband with SA boxes so the problems is not the tivo it is cisco.


With all due respect, we have proven that the problem lies with TiVo. We monitored the MPEG TS with a Tektronix real time analyzer and found that every time the PAT version number changed indicating a program addition or deletion to the transport stream, TiVo macroblocked. The analyzer did not flag any MPEG protocol violations in the stream. As you pointed out previously... there is only one MPEG spec and everybody, including TiVo, Cisco and Motorola have to follow it.

The brand of tuning adapter should have no bearing on the situation as its not involved in the mpeg transport stream decoding. I doubt that BigBand does anything different in its SDV server or edge QAM between a motorola plant or a cisco plant relative to TS generation.


----------



## Stormspace

SCSIRAID said:


> Crispy asks some reasonable questions... It surely seems that many more folks should be seeing this. The only explanations that I can offer are 1) People are not recognizing that the issue is limited to SDV or that the SDV breakups are somehow 'different' from 'run of the mill' random pixelations that are seen on both TiVo and Cisco equipment, 2) They arent seeing them because the usage habits of folks in their service groups arent causing TS updates 3) Their systems simply dont have much interesting stuff on SDV. Here in the Carolina's, virtually ALL of the non-premium HD content is SDV. That pretty much assures good probability of seeing the issue if you are watching HD. The issue has been reported in not just TWC but also Cablevision areas. It has been reported on both Cisco and BigBand equipment. I would expect to hear more complaints about it and I cant explain why that isnt happening. However, there is not a grain of doubt in my mind as to what the issue is and where the problem lies.
> 
> I did discuss with TWC whether it would be possible to implement an SDV system with preallocated programs which would yield a static PAT. This wouldnt excite the issue... but TWC Engineering stated that it didnt meet MPEG specs and that wasnt the way Cisco or BigBand worked. From my reading of the spec, I agree with them as if the PAT didnt change version numbers, the receiver of a stream would not be aware of any content changes. It probably wouldnt matter to a TiVo like implementation but the spec has to cover ALL usages. Even if such a system DID exist, it doesnt change the fact that the current TiVo implementation cannot handle an MPEG standard transport stream and that TiVo needs to get in line with the MPEG standard.


I've seen macroblocking happen quite a bit, but generally it's only a second or two and it goes away. One or two times the macroblocking has been so bad the show was unwatchable. The issues seemed to be a hit and miss and by the time I was watching the recorded show the issues weren't happening on the effected channels.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Stormspace said:


> I've seen macroblocking happen quite a bit, but generally it's only a second or two and it goes away. One or two times the macroblocking has been so bad the show was unwatchable. The issues seemed to be a hit and miss and by the time I was watching the recorded show the issues weren't happening on the effected channels.


I havent seen anything where it goes on 'constantly' but even one hit a minute can be very annoying. The hits did take about a second to resolve. About the only way to reasonabally 'prove' that its the same issue is to also record the show on an 8300 and check TiVo's RS Uncorrected error count before the show finishes recording. If its this issue, you will find no uncorrected errors on TiVo... A perfect recording on the 8300... and glitches on the TiVo recording. I even did multiple TiVo's and the glitches repeated exactly between the two.


----------



## kevin120

SCSIRAID said:


> With all due respect, we have proven that the problem lies with TiVo. We monitored the MPEG TS with a Tektronix real time analyzer and found that every time the PAT version number changed indicating a program addition or deletion to the transport stream, TiVo macroblocked. The analyzer did not flag any MPEG protocol violations in the stream. As you pointed out previously... there is only one MPEG spec and everybody, including TiVo, Cisco and Motorola have to follow it.
> 
> The brand of tuning adapter should have no bearing on the situation as its not involved in the mpeg transport stream decoding. I doubt that BigBand does anything different in its SDV server or edge QAM between a motorola plant or a cisco plant relative to TS generation.


could the tivo process mediacypher and power key differently it is possible and this could explain the differences.


----------



## SCSIRAID

kevin120 said:


> could the tivo process mediacypher and power key differently it is possible and this could explain the differences.


The TiVo doesnt process 'CA Encryption' (Conditional Availability aka Mediacypher and Powerkey). That is all done in the cablecard and hidden from us 'outsiders'. The issue is around 'CP Encryption'. TiVo is likely killing the existing CP encryption nexus when the PAT changes. CP (Copy Protection) is the encryption used between the cablecard and the UDCP.


----------



## SCSIRAID

kevin120 said:


> could the tivo process mediacypher and power key differently it is possible and this could explain the differences.


Whoa... Eureka?.!... One difference could be that Motorola Cable cards may have chosen to not enable CP encryption when CA Encryption is enabled and CCI = 00. The early versions of the Cablecard Copy Protection spec says no CP encryption in that case but later versions made it optional. Cisco Cablecards DO turn on CP encryption in this case. So... if you are on a Motorola plant that uses CCI=00 for SDV channels AND Motorola cablecards do not force CP encryption for CCI=00 then the TiVo issue wont be excited and you wont see any issue..... If CCI= non00 then the spec requires CP encryption which should see the issue.

This could be an explanation of why many dont see it.


----------



## CrispyCritter

SCSIRAID said:


> Whoa... Eureka?.!... One difference could be that Motorola Cable cards may have chosen to not enable CP encryption when CA Encryption is enabled and CCI = 00. The early versions of the Cablecard Copy Protection spec says no CP encryption in that case but later versions made it optional. Cisco Cablecards DO turn on CP encryption in this case. So... if you are on a Motorola plant that uses CCI=00 for SDV channels AND Motorola cablecards do not force CP encryption for CCI=00 then the TiVo issue wont be excited and you wont see any issue..... If CCI= non00 then the spec requires CP encryption which should see the issue.
> 
> This could be an explanation of why many dont see it.


I think that could be a very reasonable explanation (you know much more about the technical details than I do). Congratulations!

One quick question: what is being bundled together when we're talking about the PAT version being incremented? Is it all SDV streams being bundled into one stream, or is it only those at one QAM frequency, or a group of QAM frequencies? I've been looking, but since the official ISO docs are off-line, I haven't been able to find anything on the web that describes this process.


----------



## SCSIRAID

CrispyCritter said:


> I think that could be a very reasonable explanation (you know much more about the technical details than I do). Congratulations!
> 
> One quick question: what is being bundled together when we're talking about the PAT version being incremented? Is it all SDV streams being bundled into one stream, or is it only those at one QAM frequency, or a group of QAM frequencies? I've been looking, but since the official ISO docs are off-line, I haven't been able to find anything on the web that describes this process.


The PAT is only concerned with the programs on that specific Transport Stream on that specific QAM. There is only one Transport stream per QAM.


----------



## CrispyCritter

SCSIRAID said:


> The PAT is only concerned with the programs on that specific Transport Stream on that specific QAM. There is only one Transport stream per QAM.


Thanks. One of the theories I have about why we aren't seeing more pixelation is that the cable companies that are still ramping up their SDV may be limiting their channels per QAM for the time being. Thus a channel addition will affect fewer other streams in those locations as compared to a fully loaded implementation like you apparently have.


----------



## SCSIRAID

CrispyCritter said:


> Thanks. One of the theories I have about why we aren't seeing more pixelation is that the cable companies that are still ramping up their SDV may be limiting their channels per QAM for the time being. Thus a channel addition will affect fewer other streams in those locations as compared to a fully loaded implementation like you apparently have.


True. Here, I believe they allow 2 HD and 2 SD per QAM. If a system is 3 HD per QAM you have less chance of being hit (2 other slots which a program could be added or deleted as opposed to 3)


----------



## Pilot20

I'm on TWC in South Texas.

I've had my Tivo HD for over two years.

Until about two months ago, I was just on the expanded basic package, and had a few HD channels from QAM.

I then decided to upgrade to the Digital Tier with a cable card as most of the QAM channels had disappeared. Installing the cable card was a real pain, as none of the techs here knew anything about them.

After many truck rolls and phone calls, we finally got the cable card (Scientific Atlanta M card in slot 1) working. It had not been configured properly on their end.

Last week, TWC moved to SDV. Now, I need a tuning adapter to get most of the channels that I want. 

I thought the cable card installation was a pain, but this has been ridiculous.

I went to the retail center to pick up the tuning adapter (Cisco). I'm pretty knowledgeable about such stuff, so I had no trouble connecting it to my Tivo.

However, I couldn't get a steady green light no matter what I did.

Now the fun begins. TWC sent out 4 techs at the same time. They said that it was a training trip as I was the only one here that needed the adapter. They had no idea what they were doing. They checked my signal, called the Nat'l Service Desk, and determined that the tuning adapter was defective. I went back to the Retail Center to get another. Brought it home and again, no steady green light. I called the Nat'l Service Desk and after numerous reboots etc., was told that I had a bad box. So, I went back to the Retail Center and got a third box.

Got it home...no steady green light.

Called the local TWC number and was told that a tech was on the way. I said if he didn't have another box with him, that he was wasting his time. A few hours later, the tech called and said that the tuning adapter was not configured properly on their end, and that it should now work. It didnt'.

TWC is scheduled again for this PM. I don't have much faith that they will get it working anytime soon. They seem to be out of tuning adapters.

I have made so many phone calls and have had to go through the same song and dance on each call, and I am really getting discouraged.

Could I possibly have 3 bad boxes? The Retail Center said that that is all that they have as there is little demand for them.

It is my understanding from the Service Desk that the box should boot up with a series of green light blinks, and then a steady green, even if the box is not connected to anything but power.

I am getting power to the box as I can get the non SDV channels with the cable routed through the box.

Tivo can see the adapter, but doing a channel test indicates "no channels available" and I never get the acquiring channels screen.

I have rebooted the Tivo and tuning adapter numerous times, and tried with and without the USB cable. Nothing I try gets a steady green light.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks.


----------



## jmbissell

Pilot20 said:


> I'm on TWC in South Texas.
> 
> I've had my Tivo HD for over two years.
> 
> Until about two months ago, I was just on the expanded basic package, and had a few HD channels from QAM.
> 
> I then decided to upgrade to the Digital Tier with a cable card as most of the QAM channels had disappeared. Installing the cable card was a real pain, as none of the techs here knew anything about them.
> 
> After many truck rolls and phone calls, we finally got the cable card (Scientific Atlanta M card in slot 1) working. It had not been configured properly on their end.
> 
> Last week, TWC moved to SDV. Now, I need a tuning adapter to get most of the channels that I want.
> 
> I thought the cable card installation was a pain, but this has been ridiculous.
> 
> I went to the retail center to pick up the tuning adapter (Cisco). I'm pretty knowledgeable about such stuff, so I had no trouble connecting it to my Tivo.
> 
> However, I couldn't get a steady green light no matter what I did.
> 
> Now the fun begins. TWC sent out 4 techs at the same time. They said that it was a training trip as I was the only one here that needed the adapter. They had no idea what they were doing. They checked my signal, called the Nat'l Service Desk, and determined that the tuning adapter was defective. I went back to the Retail Center to get another. Brought it home and again, no steady green light. I called the Nat'l Service Desk and after numerous reboots etc., was told that I had a bad box. So, I went back to the Retail Center and got a third box.
> 
> Got it home...no steady green light.
> 
> Called the local TWC number and was told that a tech was on the way. I said if he didn't have another box with him, that he was wasting his time. A few hours later, the tech called and said that the tuning adapter was not configured properly on their end, and that it should now work. It didnt'.
> 
> TWC is scheduled again for this PM. I don't have much faith that they will get it working anytime soon. They seem to be out of tuning adapters.
> 
> I have made so many phone calls and have had to go through the same song and dance on each call, and I am really getting discouraged.
> 
> Could I possibly have 3 bad boxes? The Retail Center said that that is all that they have as there is little demand for them.
> 
> It is my understanding from the Service Desk that the box should boot up with a series of green light blinks, and then a steady green, even if the box is not connected to anything but power.
> 
> I am getting power to the box as I can get the non SDV channels with the cable routed through the box.
> 
> Tivo can see the adapter, but doing a channel test indicates "no channels available" and I never get the acquiring channels screen.
> 
> I have rebooted the Tivo and tuning adapter numerous times, and tried with and without the USB cable. Nothing I try gets a steady green light.
> 
> Any suggestions would be helpful.
> 
> Thanks.


I had similar problems (though I didn't swap out boxes) when first trying to hook up my TA. The light just kept blinking. TWC wanted to roll a truck but I figured that would be worthless. I asked for the National Cable Card Support Center but the tech had no knowledge of such a group. On a tip from this forum, I contacted TiVo and the tech there had the number and connected me. She even stayed on the line while the NCCC tech looked at the problem. It turned out that my account was not flagged properly for the TA (I'm not sure excatly what they set on your account to enable the TA) so that no amount of effort on my part was going to fix it. He fiddled w/ the account info and almost immediately everything worked.

Lately I've been having a lot of trouble w/ THD freezing. t did it twice yesterday - no response to the remote, black screen. Rebooting solved the problem but this has now been happening so frequently that it must be similar to the other TA problems reported here. THD never froze when I was just on analog cable.


----------



## Pilot20

jmbissell said:


> I had similar problems (though I didn't swap out boxes) when first trying to hook up my TA. The light just kept blinking. TWC wanted to roll a truck but I figured that would be worthless. I asked for the National Cable Card Support Center but the tech had no knowledge of such a group. On a tip from this forum, I contacted TiVo and the tech there had the number and connected me. She even stayed on the line while the NCCC tech looked at the problem. It turned out that my account was not flagged properly for the TA (I'm not sure excatly what they set on your account to enable the TA) so that no amount of effort on my part was going to fix it. He fiddled w/ the account info and almost immediately everything worked.
> 
> Lately I've been having a lot of trouble w/ THD freezing. t did it twice yesterday - no response to the remote, black screen. Rebooting solved the problem but this has now been happening so frequently that it must be similar to the other TA problems reported here. THD never froze when I was just on analog cable.


Thanks for the tip on calling TIVO. I considered that, but assumed that they wouldn't be much help. I will give them a call.


----------



## Thess

SCSIRAID said:


> They already know. Someone posted that they called TiVo and was told that a fix was in progress. I have no conformation of that though. Never hurts to add your voice though.
> 
> Im in Apex so Im in the same boat.


Over in Durham. For what little it's worth, a friend and I (the friend lives about 2 miles away) have identical TiVoHD/TWC/TA setups and we both see major macroblocking issues on our SDV channels, particularly DSC and Syfy. My recording of Caprica from the SyfyHD airing two Fridays ago was all but unwatchable, and I had to re-record another (middle of the night) airing. My husband and the friend both complain about it ruining a lot of Mythbusters episodes. (I realize it's not show-specific, but if I'm following some of the theories correctly, it would make sense that we see it much worse during shows that air at primetime?)

Anyway--I just wanted to get a small amount of whining in, and also thank the folks who are trying so hard to track this problem down.


----------



## dlfl

Roughly once a month I get the 8-blinks. A few times it has been fixed quickly by local (Southwest Ohio) support, but usually I end up talking to the National Cable Card Support (NCCS) desk.

A new wrinkle this time: The local CSR said he was transferring me to "Level 3 Support". When I asked he said that was *local*. Well he transferred me to the *national *support desk for *internet* services. They of course could do nothing and transferred me back to local support -- where I was starting all over again. They sent some signals (which they could not describe in any understandable terms) but after 20 minutes still no joy.

So I finallly ended up at NCCS and they sent signals that finally fixed it, after some reboots, etc. Another 1:15 hrs wasted.

The NCCS guy made some interesting comments:
1. There is a time-out of 30 days on TA's. They are supposed to get a refresh signal automatically ("Balancing" hit I think) before the 30 days expires, but he suspects this isn't working. This would be consistent with my experience.
2. He has heard there is another TA software update in the works that will address a number of problems -- but no specifics available yet.


----------



## cdeckert219

I just gotta say it... the tuning adapter solution is the most flaky, frustrating piece of electronics I've ever had. I have to unplug and reinsert the USB adapter 5-6 times a week when it loses connectivity with the TiVo. It reboots at least once a week... and won't reconnect with the TiVo unless I reboot the TiVo, also. I'd love to toss it out!

TWC in San Diego...


----------



## bongoherbert

SCSIRAID said:


> I should probably also mention this too..... I can't say absolutely that it is due to the TA but the evidence does seem to be pointing to it.
> 
> When I installed TA on my S3... Suggestions stopped recording. About 2 weeks later I got a TA for my wife's THD... shortly thereafter she complained that her TiVo wasnt recording suggestions anymore. Ive had 2 suggestions record in about 2 weeks. Same for her.
> 
> Anybody else seeing this? There is another thread on this subject where it seems that all the people exhibiting it had TA's....


Yep. Me too. Ever since the TA.

I called in to TiVo (actually did their on-line chat). We did a little dance and rebooted, eventually I started receiving suggestions again. Then, a few days ago, I was getting alerts that my guide data was running out (even though I had two weeks worth). I called in again, they told me to do a reboot, and had me force a connection right after it came back up. Another reboot and that fixed the guide-data issue, but now, you guessed it, no more suggestion recording. I've always been a fan of the suggestions, so I'm sort of sad to not have 'em.

But- on the plus side, magically, the HD streaming of netflix is working pretty well. Give a little, get a little.


----------



## Effinay

Anyone know if the new TiVo Premier boxes will need a tuning adapter, as well? Are they just a revamped TiVo HD?


----------



## pmiranda

Effinay said:


> Anyone know if the new TiVo Premier boxes will need a tuning adapter, as well? Are they just a revamped TiVo HD?


As far as I can tell, they still need a TA. It's pretty much just a refresh of the TiVo HD with new user interface software on a faster processor. There might be some juicy new hardware hiding inside but nothing has been announced that I know of. I'd expect it can do transfers from the PC faster. I actually don't like what little I've seen of the new UI so I'll be sticking with my S3.


----------



## dlfl

pmiranda said:


> As far as I can tell, they still need a TA. It's pretty much just a refresh of the TiVo HD with new user interface software on a faster processor. There might be some juicy new hardware hiding inside but nothing has been announced that I know of. I'd expect it can do transfers from the PC faster. I actually don't like what little I've seen of the new UI so I'll be sticking with my S3.


Yes TA's are still required. Transfer speeds are MUCH improved.

See bkdtv's excellent FAQ sticky thread, which includes transfer benchmarks.

He says the new UI is too slow and this is being worked on. The old "classic" interface is selectable and runs faster than previous models.


----------



## apsarkis

dlfl said:


> Yes TA's are still required.


This is the most disappointing lack of a feature. After all the issues we continue to have with our S3 and HD on TWC with their TA's, there's no way my wife will let us get another Tivo until they build in SDV handling into their design.

Perry


----------



## Effinay

dlfl said:


> Yes TA's are still required. Transfer speeds are MUCH improved.
> 
> See bkdtv's excellent FAQ sticky thread, which includes transfer benchmarks.
> 
> He says the new UI is too slow and this is being worked on. The old "classic" interface is selectable and runs faster than previous models.


Thank you both. Good to know. I was thinking of getting one to replace my S2DT in my bedroom. Maybe I'll wait awhile and see what other issues it has after it gets some real world testing.


----------



## pmiranda

apsarkis said:


> This is the most disappointing lack of a feature. After all the issues we continue to have with our S3 and HD on TWC with their TA's, there's no way my wife will let us get another Tivo until they build in SDV handling into their design.
> 
> Perry


Judging by how often I missed recordings with TW's own DVR on SDV channels, I'm not very disappointed with my TiVo and a TA. It's kludgey and not pretty to look at, but it's roughly functional. If TiVo would implement a feature to attempt tuning more than once then it would be just fine with me.


----------



## aine

dlfl said:


> Yes TA's are still required. Transfer speeds are MUCH improved.


What about the well-known bug where a Series2 TiVo cannot transfer from a TiVo HD with a TA attached? The TiVo HD's NPL as seen on the Series2 is always empty.

All the transfer speed in the world doesn't help with the TA disables transfers!


----------



## dlfl

aine said:


> What about the well-known bug where a Series2 TiVo cannot transfer from a TiVo HD with a TA attached? The TiVo HD's NPL as seen on the Series2 is always empty.
> 
> All the transfer speed in the world doesn't help with the TA disables transfers!


According to **this post** from a TiVo employee, Series 3 software update 11.0f, now being tested and due to be pushed out within a week, will address this problem.

Thus it would be bizarre if the problem existed in the Premiere.


----------



## dcstager

There have been firmware updates for the Cisco TA since Time Warner put out the last one here in Austin. Since we Tivo people are still getting errors with SDV tuning with the new Tivo update, maybe it's time for TW to obtain and push out the latest firmware just on the chance it addresses the issues Tivo users are still having.


----------



## mihalik

I really wish TW would get this figured out. I've had my Tuning Adapter for over a year now but I've had nothing but problems with it. My Tivo now locks up at least once a week since I hooked it up. And now it has gone into the 8-blinks state and I've called and they don't know how to fix it without sending someone out. I'm gonna try again tomorrow to see if I can get them to transfer me to the NCCS to resolve this without a truck roll.


----------



## dlfl

mihalik said:


> I really wish TW would get this figured out. I've had my Tuning Adapter for over a year now but I've had nothing but problems with it. My Tivo now locks up at least once a week since I hooked it up. And now it has gone into the 8-blinks state and I've called and they don't know how to fix it without sending someone out. I'm gonna try again tomorrow to see if I can get them to transfer me to the NCCS to resolve this without a truck roll.


You need to get their National Cable Card Support desk involved, See **this**. I get 8-blinks once per month and a truck roll has NEVER been the solution. In most cases it just takes the right few key strokes on their keyboard, plus power cycling your TA with the USB unplugged and some times rebooting your TiVo to make it do the "acquiring channels" thing.


----------



## mvnuenen

apsarkis said:


> This is the most disappointing lack of a feature. After all the issues we continue to have with our S3 and HD on TWC with their TA's, there's no way my wife will let us get another Tivo until they build in SDV handling into their design.
> 
> Perry


FWITW: I just switched from a Series 3 to the Premiere XL. With that I switched 2 S CableCards to 1 M Card but I did keep the existing SDV adapter TWC had provided last year. With the Series 3 I saw all of the issues reported in this thread (stuttering, macroblocking etc etc). Even while my experience with the XL is less than a week, I have not experienced any of them with the Premiere. I can't give a technical explanation for it (who knows the HDMI 1.1 to HDMI 1.3 even helped) but it sure is appreciated! I wrote more about my PXL impressions in the Premiere area


----------



## SCSIRAID

mvnuenen said:


> FWITW: I just switched from a Series 3 to the Premiere XL. With that I switched 2 S CableCards to 1 M Card but I did keep the existing SDV adapter TWC had provided last year. With the Series 3 I saw all of the issues reported in this thread (stuttering, macroblocking etc etc). Even while my experience with the XL is less than a week, I have not experienced any of them with the Premiere. I can't give a technical explanation for it (who knows the HDMI 1.1 to HDMI 1.3 even helped) but it sure is appreciated! I wrote more about my PXL impressions in the Premiere area


One request please.... keep us posted about TiVo suggestions being recorded with your new XL. One issue folks are seeing with Series 3's with TA's is that suggestions fail to record. Id really like to know if Premier records them fine even with a TA attached.

Thanks,


----------



## mvnuenen

SCSIRAID said:


> One request please.... keep us posted about TiVo suggestions being recorded with your new XL. One issue folks are seeing with Series 3's with TA's is that suggestions fail to record. Id really like to know if Premier records them fine even with a TA attached.
> 
> Thanks,


I can confirm Premiere XL suggestions records fine the SDV channels (I have already 72 shows recorded by Suggestions from a variety of SDV channels: AnimalPlanet HD, HistoryInt'l HD, LMN HD, SyFy HD and a variety of non-SDV: TBS HD, FOX HD. I quickly scanned a few recorded shows, and all are perfect. No issues whatsoever.


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## dlfl

Three days after getting 11.0g, one (just one!) of my SDV channels showed blank (black) video and no audio. However, no message that the TA didn't provide that channel, etc.

DVR Diagnostics for that channel showed it was successfully tuned. Every parameter, including Signal Lock and Program Lock matched what you would expect for a healthy tuned channel. I re-tuned many times to that channel over a day or so with exactly the same result.

My theory was the TWC system was screwing up and sending a blank signal (this has happened before) and so I waited a day or so before doing anything, figuring it was better to let one of their STB or DVR customers complain and get it fixed. (Since if a TiVo customer complains, all they want to do is roll a truck and imply it's the TiVo's fault.)

After a day with no change I was about to call TWC but figured I should try rebooting the TA first. (I had not rebooted the TA earlier because the light was solid and all other channels were tuning OK.)

Amazingly (to me at least) after the TA reboot this channel (and all other channels) were there. What could explain this? Could this be a "balancing" issue, i.e., for some reason the TA (or CableCARDs ?) didn't think I was authorized for that channel on my account?

EDIT: Think I just answered my own question. I tried to tune to a channel I know I'm not authorized (subscribed) to on my plan, and got exactly this behavior. Is this authorization list stored by the TA, or the CableCARDs, or both?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Three days after getting 11.0g, one (just one!) of my SDV channels showed blank (black) video and no audio. However, no message that the TA didn't provide that channel, etc.
> 
> DVR Diagnostics for that channel showed it was successfully tuned. Every parameter, including Signal Lock and Program Lock matched what you would expect for a healthy tuned channel. I re-tuned many times to that channel over a day or so with exactly the same result.
> 
> My theory was the TWC system was screwing up and sending a blank signal (this has happened before) and so I waited a day or so before doing anything, figuring it was better to let one of their STB or DVR customers complain and get it fixed. (Since if a TiVo customer complains, all they want to do is roll a truck and imply it's the TiVo's fault.)
> 
> After a day with no change I was about to call TWC but figured I should try rebooting the TA first. (I had not rebooted the TA earlier because the light was solid and all other channels were tuning OK.)
> 
> Amazingly (to me at least) after the TA reboot this channel (and all other channels) were there. What could explain this? Could this be a "balancing" issue, i.e., for some reason the TA (or CableCARDs ?) didn't think I was authorized for that channel on my account?
> 
> EDIT: Think I just answered my own question. I tried to tune to a channel I know I'm not authorized (subscribed) to on my plan, and got exactly this behavior. Is this authorization list stored by the TA, or the CableCARDs, or both?


The authorizations are in the cablecard. The TA doesnt care if you are authorized or not for a channel.

Im guessing, but it sounds as if the TA gave TiVo a frequency and PID that was at one time valid but that wasnt currently valid when you tuned the channel. It is possible that its mini carousel was corrupt or out of sync with the hub and/or you had temporary reverse channel communications issues leading to a stale mini carousel. The PID may have simply not been present in the transport stream so TiVo wasnt seeing anything.

Did the 'time bar' show that TiVo was buffering video? Could you FF/REW thru the nothingness?


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## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> The authorizations are in the cablecard. The TA doesnt care if you are authorized or not for a channel.


The story I've heard is that when my TA goes 8-blink once per month, the signal they are sending it (which fixes it) is a "balancing" hit, and that that had to do with authorizing the channels I receive. Obviously that doesn't match what you're saying, so what is the balancing hit?



SCSIRAID said:


> Im guessing, but it sounds as if the TA gave TiVo a frequency and PID that was at one time valid but that wasnt currently valid when you tuned the channel. It is possible that its mini carousel was corrupt or out of sync with the hub and/or you had temporary reverse channel communications issues leading to a stale mini carousel. The PID may have simply not been present in the transport stream so TiVo wasnt seeing anything.


Makes sense, thanks. Geez, too many things that can go wrong (and that aren't self-correcting) -- what a system. 



SCSIRAID said:


> Did the 'time bar' show that TiVo was buffering video? Could you FF/REW thru the nothingness?


I thought about trying this and I also thought about recording the PID's and comparing them later -- but you know what "thought about" accomplishes! 
(I was too convinced by my theory about them sending blank video.)


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> The story I've heard is that when my TA goes 8-blink once per month, the signal they are sending it (which fixes it) is a "balancing" hit, and that that had to do with authorizing the channels I receive. Obviously that doesn't match what you're saying, so what is the balancing hit?
> 
> Makes sense, thanks. Geez, too many things that can go wrong (and that aren't self-correcting) -- what a system.
> 
> I thought about trying this and I also thought about recording the PID's and comparing them later -- but you know what "thought about" accomplishes!
> (I was too convinced by my theory about them sending blank video.)


The TA hit is about 'authorizing' its basic operation and not around what channels it supports. The TA does zero processing of the actual channel content... it just does a 'tune' as a proxy for the TiVo.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> The TA hit is about 'authorizing' its basic operation and not around what channels it supports. The TA does zero processing of the actual channel content... it just does a 'tune' as a proxy for the TiVo.


So is the hit it takes to overcome 8-blinks properly called a "balancing hit"? Or does their system send several different types of signals together, including the balancing hit, which must go to the CableCARDs ?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> So is the hit it takes to overcome 8-blinks properly called a "balancing hit"? Or does their system send several different types of signals together, including the balancing hit, which must go to the CableCARDs ?


Grumock could probably answer that much better than I... but I believe the balancing hit basically does a complete reauthorization of everything on your account so that all the devices get updated with the current entitlements on the account... i.e. all current and balanced across the account with the billing system info matching the DNCS system. This would be in contrast to just sending a wake up hit to a single device on the account.


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## Grumock

SCSIRAID said:


> Grumock could probably answer that much better than I... but I believe the balancing hit basically does a complete reauthorization of everything on your account so that all the devices get updated with the current entitlements on the account... i.e. all current and balanced across the account with the billing system info matching the DNCS system. This would be in contrast to just sending a wake up hit to a single device on the account.


You are correct from what I have gathered.  The "balancing hit" reauthorizes all equipment on the account, not just the TAs. Not sure what hits people are sending to the TAs when not going through the "07" screen.


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## dlfl

When local support or NCCS sends the hits to fix my 8-blinks it seems instantaneous -- there is no delay before either my light pattern changes or they tell me to power-cycle the TA. Yet the TA takes minutes to reboot. What is the TA doing that takes so long?


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> When local support or NCCS sends the hits to fix my 8-blinks it seems instantaneous -- there is no delay before either my light pattern changes or they tell me to power-cycle the TA. Yet the TA takes minutes to reboot. What is the TA doing that takes so long?


Think about when you reboot your PC. How long does that take? LOL that is my only answer, even though it's more of my attempt at a joke.


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## dlfl

Grumock said:


> Think about when you reboot your PC. How long does that take? LOL that is my only answer, even though it's more of my attempt at a joke.


LOL, maybe it uses Windows 3.1.


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## cableguy763

dlfl said:


> LOL, maybe it uses Windows 3.1.


It actually uses Linux


----------



## dlfl

Following up on ***my recent post***, this morning two of my SDV channels would not tune. Different channels than before. Again the DVR Diagnostics were totally healthy. I did write down the PID's so I could see if they changed later, when able to tune the channels. There was no green progress bar or ability to navigate although one channel had been "tuned" for over two hours (i.e., a missed recording). Again the TA light was solid and other SDV channels were tuning OK.

TA signal levels:
Tuner -2 dBmV, FDC: -4 dBmV, RDC: 38 dBmV

I rebooted the TA, twice and finally rebooted the TiVo. Even after that the channels would not tune. Had to leave it alone for a couple of hours and when I came back the channels would now tune. (????). The PID's were the same as when they wouldn't tune before.

I'm getting a bad feeling about this --- it started right after getting 11.0g. It does appear the SDV pixelation problem is gone but.......having to fiddle with the TA every 2 or 3 days may be a worse problem.


----------



## woodburger

I am SO frustrated with Time-Warner Austin. Again I find certain subscribed HD channels through the Cisco TA into TiVo won't appear. The latest call made me wait 8A to 8P for the tech who arrived (no call prior) at 8:40PM and was able to tell me the problem was at the street in the feed at the tap, in that certain channels were too hot and others too low. He said that as a service provider to TW he was not allowed to fix it. Said his supervisor would have to verify and then they'd put in a work order. Well, apparently they did that, and the 'work' didn't work, in that I still don't get maybe 60&#37; of the switched digital channels. Heck, maybe I don't get ANY of them, I don't know which is which, but I continue to miss many. Calling TW is an exercise in frustration. Sounded like I was initially speaking with someone for whom English was a second language. I couldn't understand her well and she certainly didn't understand what I was telling her. AGAIN a tech will arrive today.


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## dlfl

woodburger said:


> I am SO frustrated with Time-Warner Austin. Again I find certain subscribed HD channels through the Cisco TA into TiVo won't appear. The latest call made me wait 8A to 8P for the tech who arrived (no call prior) at 8:40PM and was able to tell me the problem was at the street in the feed at the tap, in that certain channels were too hot and others too low. He said that as a service provider to TW he was not allowed to fix it. Said his supervisor would have to verify and then they'd put in a work order. Well, apparently they did that, and the 'work' didn't work, in that I still don't get maybe 60% of the switched digital channels. Heck, maybe I don't get ANY of them, I don't know which is which, but I continue to miss many. Calling TW is an exercise in frustration. Sounded like I was initially speaking with someone for whom English was a second language. I couldn't understand her well and she certainly didn't understand what I was telling her. AGAIN a tech will arrive today.


With a Cisco TA you can tell whether a channel *that you are able to tune *is SDV ("switched") or not ("broadcast") like **this**.

In my experience you can't get a reliable listing of SDV channels from TWC. This is something 99+% of their customers have no need or interest to know.


----------



## DrSnoCaps

This is a new one :-/ Same behavior on two different HD Tivos with cable cards and Tuning Adapters...

Disconnect Tuning Adapter and all normal channels (sans the SDV ones) come through.

Connect the Tuning Adapter, wait until it does its thing, and regular HD channels come in but no SDV channels and most basic 2-74 channels are also missing. It seems the basic low def broadcast channels are there but none of the others...

TWC support - as usual and expected at this point - is clueless and worthless. I have no idea what to tell my daughter to do. 

Has anyone else experience this kind of behavior???


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## darkavich

I am on my 15th month of troubleshooting my S3 TA issue. What we have determined is the problem is NOT:

Cable Cards
Tuner Adapter
Physical TiVo.
Cable Signal

The have all been replaced. The only things left are the following:

TiVo firmware (Rumor is that TiVo serious broke something on the S3 with their last firmware and a fix is due out late April).
TA Firmware (there are newer firmwares, but TWC is not releasing them)
Two-way communication being blocked.

More than likely the latter is the problem, but it's very difficult to find anyone at TWC that knows how to test any of this.

The issue that drives me nuts, is sometimes it works and others it doesn't. We think that some of the frequencies are being blocked (probably by a bad piece of equipment). We also, noticed that when we tuned off a SDV channel, it would take a little longer than it should to register at the head-end.

I have some pretty senior folks at TWC in my area working on it (WE WILL get to the bottom of this eventually). I wish I could get the number of someone at TiVo. Hopefully, they are reading this and will contact me. I am very close to tossing all my TiVos at the moment.


----------



## dlfl

darkavich said:


> I am on my 15th month of troubleshooting my S3 TA issue. What we have determined is the problem is NOT:
> 
> Cable Cards
> Tuner Adapter
> Physical TiVo.
> Cable Signal
> 
> The have all been replaced. The only things left are the following:
> 
> TiVo firmware (Rumor is that TiVo serious broke something on the S3 with their last firmware and a fix is due out late April).


Can you give a reference for this "rumor"? That's new to me. Also, does this apply to TiVo HD models or just the original S3? TiVo software update 11.0g fixed the SDV pixelation issue for me, but I've seen a lot more other problems (tuning failures and video freezes) since getting it. Don't know if this is just coincidence or not.



darkavich said:


> TA Firmware (there are newer firmwares, but TWC is not releasing them)


I was told about a month ago by someone at the TWC National Cable Card Suppport desk that this might be happening. No other details available.


darkavich said:


> ........
> I have some pretty senior folks at TWC in my area working on it (WE WILL get to the bottom of this eventually). I wish I could get the number of someone at TiVo. Hopefully, they are reading this and will contact me. I am very close to tossing all my TiVos at the moment.


So how did you get these senior folks involved? I've had TA problems for 10 months now. However each time I have a problem they are able to get it fixed for another month or so, which is different than your case. I am skeptical that even "senior" people would be able to fix any really serious chronic problem related to TA's in my TWC region.


----------



## darkavich

dlfl said:


> Can you give a reference for this "rumor"? That's new to me. Also, does this apply to TiVo HD models or just the original S3?


It apparently is just for the S3. I do not have a reference (I am trying to get this myself). I also do not know if it is related to my issue.



dlfl said:


> So how did you get these senior folks involved? I've had TA problems for 10 months now. However each time I have a problem they are able to get it fixed for another month or so, which is different than your case. I am skeptical that even "senior" people would be able to fix any really serious chronic problem related to TA's in my TWC region.


I know a couple of well placed techs that were able to escalate. I also would open a ticket and get a tech on-site every time I had an issue. You should just be persistent and ask to have them to forward your issue to the engineers responsible for the SDV side of the house. Also, don't be afraid to keep asking for a supervisor, even a supervisor has a supervisor.


----------



## Andyw2100

Any update on this? Or more specifically, any word on a fix for how the software version 11.0 is working on Series 3s?

I ask because I have been experiencing the following, and I believe it started at around the time my Series 3s might have received the software upgrade.

One Series 3 we don't use enough to know if we really have a problem, so for purposes of this post, I'll assume we don't.

The Series 3 we use as our primary TiVo has two cable cards installed and a tuning adapter connected to it. We use Time Warner for our digital cable. Everything was running relatively smoothly for about a year, give or take. Occasionally there would be some tuning adapter issue, but as annoying as those issues were when they arose (partial and/or missed recordings) I was living with them.

In the last few weeks the tuning adapter on this TiVo was rebooting on its own quite often. Thinking the tuning adapter was bad, I had Time Warner send a replacement. The replacement was no better. I experienced the "Tuning Adapter has been disconnected" and "A Tuning Adapter has been connected" screens constantly. Of course this often resulted in partial or completely missed recordings. It was frustrating as hell.

I called TiVo support, and they suggested switching the USB ports for the tuning adapter and my Tivo Wireless G network adapter. This did not help. In fact I noticed that I was now experiencing issues with respect to connecting to the TiVo service. There were failed attempts to connect when this had never been an issue before.

In messing around with this I discovered that the TiVo brand wireless network adapter could not connect to my network properly if the tuning adapter was also connected to the other USB port. However...

If the network adapter is connected by itself, it works just fine. Also if the tuning adapter is connected by itself, it seems to work fine. The tuning adapter has not reset in the two-plus days since I connected it and disconnected the network adapter. It had been reseting several times a day.

I am hoping a software fix resolves everything, but I really don't know if I have the right to hope for that. In a thread in these forums on tuning adapter problems, someone suggests that the tuning adapter might have damaged the USB port. I fear that may have happened to me as well.

For now I will periodically disconnect the tuning adapter, connect the network adapter, force a connection to the TiVo service to get programming information, and then reconnect the tuning adapter and disconnect the network adapter. This is a lousy solution, and one that sees me losing a lot of the TiVos capabilities in the process. So it is not a great solution by any means.

Any light anyone can shed on any of this would be much appreciated.

Thanks!


----------



## darkavich

I have a similar issue with my S3, but no wireless. Every Tuesday night at exactly 7:05 the adapter resets. From what I have read, something from the cable company is sending a hit to the box. I have the techs monitoring for next Tuesday to see if it happens again.

BTW, TWC in my area is offering multi-room DVR's and soon something called remoteDVR (Internet based scheduling). If we can't figure this out this month, I am bailing on TiVo and going back to the Scientific Atlantic units.


----------



## pmiranda

With no wireless adapter, does the TA work in either USB port, or is there a good one and a bad one?
Either way, you could try attaching them to a self-powered (i.e. it comes with a power supply and doesn't just run off the TiVo) USB hub and see if you can get both devices working. If that helps, maybe the wireless adapter is drawing more power than expected or putting noise on the USB power signal that is messing with the TA? A powered USB hub would help isolate that.


----------



## Andyw2100

pmiranda said:


> With no wireless adapter, does the TA work in either USB port, or is there a good one and a bad one?
> Either way, you could try attaching them to a self-powered (i.e. it comes with a power supply and doesn't just run off the TiVo) USB hub and see if you can get both devices working. If that helps, maybe the wireless adapter is drawing more power than expected or putting noise on the USB power signal that is messing with the TA? A powered USB hub would help isolate that.


Thanks. Those are some good ideas, and I will have to check them out. I've got recordings happening now, so even the simple test of trying the tuning adapter in the other USB port will have to wait until tomorrow.

The self powered USB hub would be a better workaround than periodically swapping the network adapter and tuning adapter. But what would make me happiest would be to hear that TiVo knows there is an issue, and is working on it. I realize that is unlikely to happen, though.

Thanks!


----------



## pmiranda

Andyw2100 said:


> ... what would make me happiest would be to hear that TiVo knows there is an issue, and is working on it. I realize that is unlikely to happen, though.
> 
> Thanks!


I'm sorry I haven't been paying alot of attention to the board lately, but is this a common problem? My suspicion is you could have a wireless adapter that's starting to go on the fritz or even worse your TiVo...it's not out of the realm of possibility that a previous software update sensitizes this issue; it could even be a totally software problem, in the TiVo and/or the TA, in which case you'd think it'd be widespread but maybe the number of people with both a correctly working TA and a working wireless adapter is small enough that it hasn't been noticed.

Good luck, I hope you can find a solution that works for you. With Navigator spreading like a disease through TW systems I suspect there will be more people trying to use TiVo with TA's soon.


----------



## Andyw2100

pmiranda said:


> I'm sorry I haven't been paying alot of attention to the board lately, but is this a common problem?


There's another thread about Cablevision tuning adapters rebooting constantly. Cablevision and Time Warner use the same model Cisco tuning adapter, and some Time Warner customers have posted in that thread. I only came back to this forum to try to research this problem, but if my memory serves, people in that thread were attributing some of the reset issues to one or more software upgrades. (My recollection of where I read what may be a bit off, as I read a bunch of similar stuff in a short period of time. Some of what I am remembering may actually have been posted in this thread.)

Thanks!


----------



## Andyw2100

pmiranda said:


> With no wireless adapter, does the TA work in either USB port, or is there a good one and a bad one?
> Either way, you could try attaching them to a self-powered (i.e. it comes with a power supply and doesn't just run off the TiVo) USB hub and see if you can get both devices working. If that helps, maybe the wireless adapter is drawing more power than expected or putting noise on the USB power signal that is messing with the TA? A powered USB hub would help isolate that.


So...the Tivo and tuning adapter have been running fine all day--no resets--with the tuning adapter plugged into the other USB port. It's too soon to tell anything conclusively, but it's certainly a good sign.

I just ordered a powered 7 port USB hub on Ebay for under $5.00. It's coming from Hong Kong, so may take a while to reach me. I'll continue to update this thread as I make progress.

I really appreciate the suggestions, pmiranda! Thanks!


----------



## Joe Siegler

There are starting to be available TODAY in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Depending on which tech you talk to, either SDV is starting in this area on Mon or Tue, or it's on June 7th.

However, I picked up my Motorola MTR700 from TWC today in Garland, TX. More specifically here.


----------



## djjd

TWC San Diego. I've been unable to tune any of the HD locals 705-711 for the past couple weeks. Rebooted several times to no avail. Any ideas?


----------



## m_jonis

dlfl said:


> Can you give a reference for this "rumor"? That's new to me. Also, does this apply to TiVo HD models or just the original S3? TiVo software update 11.0g fixed the SDV pixelation issue for me, but I've seen a lot more other problems (tuning failures and video freezes) since getting it. Don't know if this is just coincidence or not.
> 
> I was told about a month ago by someone at the TWC National Cable Card Suppport desk that this might be happening. No other details available.
> 
> So how did you get these senior folks involved? I've had TA problems for 10 months now. However each time I have a problem they are able to get it fixed for another month or so, which is different than your case. I am skeptical that even "senior" people would be able to fix any really serious chronic problem related to TA's in my TWC region.


FWIW, TWAlbany finally updated the Cisco TA code. STA 1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001
SARA version 1.61.41.1

However, I don't know if that's new in terms of firmware. TWAlbany is notoriously slow about rolling these updates out (like 1-2 years after it's been available).

I still think it's something with the Tivo software update and the USB communication to the TA. Never had this many reboots before 11.0g came along.


----------



## SCSIRAID

m_jonis said:


> FWIW, TWAlbany finally updated the Cisco TA code. STA 1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001
> SARA version 1.61.41.1
> 
> However, I don't know if that's new in terms of firmware. TWAlbany is notoriously slow about rolling these updates out (like 1-2 years after it's been available).
> 
> I still think it's something with the Tivo software update and the USB communication to the TA. Never had this many reboots before 11.0g came along.


Those are the same TA code levels we have had here for many months.


----------



## m_jonis

SCSIRAID said:


> Those are the same TA code levels we have had here for many months.


Yeah, I thought as much. We just got them in the last 1-2 weeks. Ha!


----------



## markbock

djjd said:


> TWC San Diego. I've been unable to tune any of the HD locals 705-711 for the past couple weeks. Rebooted several times to no avail. Any ideas?


I'm not having any trouble with those, but I get HBO & Cinemax, and some of those did work, but now don't. Also, some other random channels vacillate....now they work, now they don't, now they work again. Frustrating. I'm going to call TWC today, not expecting much.


----------



## ferjy Fangle

djjd said:


> TWC San Diego. I've been unable to tune any of the HD locals 705-711 for the past couple weeks. Rebooted several times to no avail. Any ideas?





markbock said:


> I'm not having any trouble with those, but I get HBO & Cinemax, and some of those did work, but now don't. Also, some other random channels vacillate....now they work, now they don't, now they work again. Frustrating. I'm going to call TWC today, not expecting much.


I'm on Cablevision of Long Island and have had to reboot the TA in order to restore HBO reception numerous times recently.


----------



## dlfl

Want to make sure the FCC knows the TA troubles you're having, and refute TWC's rosy representations? See **this**.


----------



## cwoody222

After weeks of working some of my channels are acting unreliably - working sometimes, not working others.

A tech I spoke to online seemed to think my "dx" levels were too high so he's sending a tech.

But I want to know that levels the tech SHOULD be aiming for since I have my doubts the tech will know much of anything about TA adapters.

Any idea? And where should I look for these levels - on the CCs or the TA screens?


One last question... is there any way to tell on the TiVo which channels require TA's to work? Is there some diagnostic screen that says which channels are SDV and which aren't?


----------



## SCSIRAID

cwoody222 said:


> After weeks of working some of my channels are acting unreliably - working sometimes, not working others.
> 
> A tech I spoke to online seemed to think my "dx" levels were too high so he's sending a tech.
> 
> But I want to know that levels the tech SHOULD be aiming for since I have my doubts the tech will know much of anything about TA adapters.
> 
> Any idea? And where should I look for these levels - on the CCs or the TA screens?
> 
> One last question... is there any way to tell on the TiVo which channels require TA's to work? Is there some diagnostic screen that says which channels are SDV and which aren't?


TA Diagnostics. Go into TA Diagnostics and hit select twice. You will see 'Tuner', 'FDC' and 'RDC' with values in dBmV. You can get more info in you keep hitting select until you get to 'Currrent FDC', 'Current QAM' and 'Current RDC'. For FDC and QAM note the Level and S/N values. For RDC note the Power level (should be less than 53 dBmV).


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> ........One last question... is there any way to tell on the TiVo which channels require TA's to work? Is there some diagnostic screen that says which channels are SDV and which aren't?


Yes, but only if you can actually tune the channels, as follows, assuming a Cisco TA:

In TA Diagnostics go to SDV SESSION INFO and look at the *SamSvcld/Type*: for the 2 sessions (i.e., the 2 channels you have currently tuned).
If the entry ends with:
*Broadcast *- it's a linear channel (not SDV)
*Switched *- it's SDV
*n/a* - its OTA via antenna


----------



## cwoody222

SCSIRAID said:


> TA Diagnostics. Go into TA Diagnostics and hit select twice. You will see 'Tuner', 'FDC' and 'RDC' with values in dBmV. You can get more info in you keep hitting select until you get to 'Currrent FDC', 'Current QAM' and 'Current RDC'. For FDC and QAM note the Level and S/N values. For RDC note the Power level (should be less than 53 dBmV).


Thanks!

Here's what I got:

Tuner: 543.000 MHZ
FDC: 73.500 MHZ
RDC: 22.500 MHZ

Current FDC
Level: -7dBmV
S/N: 34dB

Current QAM
Level: 1dBmV
S/N: 37dB

Current RDC, Power: 43dBmV

How do those look?


----------



## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Here's what I got:
> 
> Tuner: 543.000 MHZ
> FDC: 73.500 MHZ
> RDC: 22.500 MHZ
> 
> Current FDC
> Level: -7dBmV
> S/N: 34dB
> 
> Current QAM
> Level: 1dBmV
> S/N: 37dB
> 
> Current RDC, Power: 43dBmV
> 
> How do those look?


those look pretty good to me


----------



## SCSIRAID

cwoody222 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Here's what I got:
> 
> Tuner: 543.000 MHZ
> FDC: 73.500 MHZ
> RDC: 22.500 MHZ
> 
> Current FDC
> Level: -7dBmV
> S/N: 34dB
> 
> Current QAM
> Level: 1dBmV
> S/N: 37dB
> 
> Current RDC, Power: 43dBmV
> 
> How do those look?


I agree with Grumock.. looks pretty good. I would have expected the FDC to be a little higher given the high number for current QAM... but it is in range (and im a picky anal retentive engineer). I assume you are driving the TiVo with the output of the TA. With the gain in the TA, the TiVo might be seeing a bit more signal that it would like and might benefit from a 3-6db attenuator at the TA output or TiVo input.

The TA on my S3 is currently indicating 
Tuner -3dBmV
FDC -5dBmV
RDC 32dBmV

I dont use the TA passthru. I split the incoming and drive one leg to the TA and one to the TiVo to bypass the amp in the TA.

I just replaced my house amp with an 'active return' model to get my RDC under control. I was hitting 53db which is too much.


----------



## cwoody222

dlfl said:


> Yes, but only if you can actually tune the channels, as follows, assuming a Cisco TA:
> 
> In TA Diagnostics go to SDV SESSION INFO and look at the *SamSvcld/Type*: for the 2 sessions (i.e., the 2 channels you have currently tuned).
> If the entry ends with:
> *Broadcast *- it's a linear channel (not SDV)
> *Switched *- it's SDV
> *n/a* - its OTA via antenna


Damn, my channels ARE SDV after all.

Two channels that were working earlier - now one is not and one still is. I put one on one tuner, one on the other.

Then I took some pictures of what I saw, noticing some differences between the two sessions. Within a minute or two, I noticed it CHANGED on screen. So I took new picutres. Below are the before and afters.

I then went back to live TV and now BOTH channels worked.

This whole process took 3 minutes, tops. Any hints here what is going on by comparing the before and after and what changed?

BEFORE:



















AFTER:


----------



## cwoody222

SCSIRAID said:


> I agree with Grumock.. looks pretty good. I would have expected the FDC to be a little higher given the high number for current QAM... but it is in range (and im a picky anal retentive engineer). I assume you are driving the TiVo with the output of the TA. With the gain in the TA, the TiVo might be seeing a bit more signal that it would like and might benefit from a 3-6db attenuator at the TA output or TiVo input.
> 
> The TA on my S3 is currently indicating
> Tuner -3dBmV
> FDC -5dBmV
> RDC 32dBmV
> 
> I dont use the TA passthru. I split the incoming and drive one leg to the TA and one to the TiVo to bypass the amp in the TA.
> 
> I just replaced my house amp with an 'active return' model to get my RDC under control. I was hitting 53db which is too much.


Interesting. So I can place a splitter coming out of the wall and put one into the TA and another into the TiVo and only connect the TA and TiVo with the USB and it should still work?

Would any old cheapo 2-way splitter do the trick?

My tech isn't coming until Thursday so I could try my own solution before then.

Or would the tech lowering the signal be better / more reliable?


----------



## SCSIRAID

cwoody222 said:


> Interesting. So I can place a splitter coming out of the wall and put one into the TA and another into the TiVo and only connect the TA and TiVo with the USB and it should still work?


Yup... thats the way I have all 3 of mine set up.

As long as the 2 way splitter is go up to 900Mhz, it should be fine.


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> Damn, my channels ARE SDV after all.
> 
> Two channels that were working earlier - now one is not and one still is. I put one on one tuner, one on the other.
> 
> Then I took some pictures of what I saw, noticing some differences between the two sessions. Within a minute or two, I noticed it CHANGED on screen. So I took new picutres. Below are the before and afters.
> 
> I then went back to live TV and now BOTH channels worked.
> 
> This whole process took 3 minutes, tops. Any hints here what is going on by comparing the before and after and what changed?
> ....


One glaring thing: One of your BEFORE channels has an SDV Freq = 0 MHz. That can't be right. That must be the channel that went from bad to good. Now, as to what that means as far as diagnosing the problem ? ? ? These SDV frequencies should be non-zero and they should match frequencies shown in DVR Diagnostics for the corresponding channels. This applies to SDV and linear channels.

My guess is the problem is with the SDV switching equipment of the Cable Co. but that's just speculation. Can't rule out a communication problem on the TiVo-TA USB link.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> One glaring thing: One of your BEFORE channels has an SDV Freq = 0 MHz. That can't be right. That must be the channel that went from bad to good. Now, as to what that means as far as diagnosing the problem ? ? ? These SDV frequencies should be non-zero and they should match frequencies shown in DVR Diagnostics for the corresponding channels. This applies to SDV and linear channels.
> 
> My guess is the problem is with the SDV switching equipment of the Cable Co. but that's just speculation. Can't rule out a communication problem on the TiVo-TA USB link.


The 0Mhz session is 'idle' with a timer value of '0' and tuner status of 'inactive'. I would bet that this pic was taken just after a TA reboot and before any sessions were established and these were just 'default' values.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> The 0Mhz session is 'idle' with a timer value of '0' and tuner status of 'inactive'. I would bet that this pic was taken just after a TA reboot and before any sessions were established and these were just 'default' values.


Your "timer" values are the "Act Time:" parameter I believe, in case anyone else was also confused.

I just checked Session parameters for two successfully tuned channels and both gave status as Idle (Name-Status: LTSIDO-Idle) and both gave tuner status as Inactive, and Act Time as "n/a". Both these channels were linear however. After tuning one of them to an SDV channel, the corresponding values went to:
Name-Status: LTSIDO-Ready
Act Time: [date time value]
Tuner Status: Active

So the values of (Name-)Status, Tuner Status, and Act Time in his first pic are the same as they would be for a linear channel -- but it is a switched channel and the SDV Freq is 0 while it would never be 0 for a successfully tuned channel of any type. Note this channel has a Tuner Use parameter that is set to "Main", which is supposed to mean: "tuner is being used for main
TV display".


----------



## SCSIRAID

TA wont show any status for linear tunes... the sessions just stay idle and as they were before the linear tune. The 'sessions' are for channel reservations when the TA declares that he is active on that channel and expects to be 'counted' as an active user.


----------



## cwoody222

SCSIRAID said:


> The 0Mhz session is 'idle' with a timer value of '0' and tuner status of 'inactive'. I would bet that this pic was taken just after a TA reboot and before any sessions were established and these were just 'default' values.


Nope, no reboot.

This was my 2nd TA. They bought it out last time to eliminate any TA hardware issues but my first issue was because my Cards weren't NEARLY set up correctly.

I've never had any green light issues or anything, no unplanned TA reboots so I THINK my hardware is OK.

I sure hope so since both times I've tried to get a TA box I'm told they're out of stock and both times I had to go way up my local chain to get them to find one for me (which both times they did within minutes... so much for being "out").


----------



## dlfl

But it does show at least one parameter that applies to the linear channel -- The SDV Freq., which matches what is shown in DVR Diagnostics -- So it doesn't seem completely divorced from linear info.

All (cable) tuning requests do get funneled through the TA, correct?


----------



## cwoody222

SCSIRAID said:


> The 0Mhz session is 'idle' with a timer value of '0' and tuner status of 'inactive'. I would bet that this pic was taken just after a TA reboot and before any sessions were established and these were just 'default' values.


However, while not a reboot you may be onto something about a default value.

I've found that when I have trouble tuning an SDV channel sometimes multiple tries (ch UP, ch DOWN) will get the channel to finally load.

Once I get a "lock" on at least 1 channel then subsequent channel changes seem more reliable - but still not necessarily 100%.

But this happens hours after a reboot, so it's not like the TA isn't "ready" yet or anything.

So I could have been seeing a "default" value and then it finally tuned itself into the channel in the background while I was still in the diag screens.


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> .......I've found that when I have trouble tuning an SDV channel sometimes multiple tries (ch UP, ch DOWN) will get the channel to finally load.
> ......


This is a well known, and long-standing problem -- the SDV tuning failure problem (and the manual retune workaround you found). See this post and related posts in the TWC Cable Card thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7963092#post7963092

Here is an example, caused by emergency message interrupts, where the SDV freq for the de-tuned channel was 0:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7991159#post7991159

Normally, when SDV tuning failure occurs, the TA Diagnostics SDV Freq is not zero -- it just doesn't match what's given for the channel in DVR Diagnostics.


----------



## cwoody222

Thank you! At least that pinpoints my problem.

TWC seems to think too strong of a single is causing it? They're coming out tomorrow presumably to "lower" my signal.

Should I even bother?

The sad part is for over 2 weeks the thing worked perfectly, only giving me "can't tune" errors in the AM when I left the TiVo tuned to a SDV station all night. But in those cases the channel ALWAYS came back after ONE try.

But as of this past Monday some channels can take DOZENS of tries (if even then).

Why would it suddenly get so much worse?


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> Thank you! At least that pinpoints my problem.
> 
> TWC seems to think too strong of a single is causing it? They're coming out tomorrow presumably to "lower" my signal.
> 
> Should I even bother?
> 
> The sad part is for over 2 weeks the thing worked perfectly, only giving me "can't tune" errors in the AM when I left the TiVo tuned to a SDV station all night. But in those cases the channel ALWAYS came back after ONE try.
> 
> But as of this past Monday some channels can take DOZENS of tries (if even then).
> 
> Why would it suddenly get so much worse?


I think you have to let them try whatever they will do.

More than 2 manual retune tries is very rare in my setup.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> But it does show at least one parameter that applies to the linear channel -- The SDV Freq., which matches what is shown in DVR Diagnostics -- So it doesn't seem completely divorced from linear info.
> 
> All (cable) tuning requests do get funneled through the TA, correct?


The SDV frequency is the QAM from the SDV pool that the requested stream is allocated to. It isnt a 'linear' channel per se... it is a switched channel. The distinction is that linear channels are static (program contents dont change) while switched channels are dynamic in what content they carry. 'Sessions' are only relative to SDV channels.

All tuning requests are 'resolved' by the TA. A TiVo request for a linear channel should just result in TiVo being told by TA what frequency the requested program is on. A TiVo request for a Switched channel should result in a Session being established with the SDV server so the TA can declare itself an active user and then the TiVo is informed of the frequency (just like a linear tune). TiVo really shouldnt know or care if the channel it is tuning to is Linear or Switched.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> The SDV frequency is the QAM from the SDV pool that the requested stream is allocated to. It isnt a 'linear' channel per se... it is a switched channel. The distinction is that linear channels are static (program contents dont change) while switched channels are dynamic in what content they carry. 'Sessions' are only relative to SDV channels.
> 
> All tuning requests are 'resolved' by the TA. A TiVo request for a linear channel should just result in TiVo being told by TA what frequency the requested program is on. A TiVo request for a Switched channel should result in a Session being established with the SDV server so the TA can declare itself an active user and then the TiVo is informed of the frequency (just like a linear tune). TiVo really shouldnt know or care if the channel it is tuning to is Linear or Switched.


All well and good - thanks!

Slightly confusing though is that the TA Diagnostics still presents a Session Info page even for a channel that is not SDV and thus doesn't actually have a "session" established for it (per your description). For linear channels this page is mostly "n/a" parameters but it does contain at least two parameters that apply to the tuned channel: QAM frequency and the fact that it is a linear ("broadcast" type) channel. I suppose whether this is truly a session (or just a display quirk) isn't important, as long as we know what's going on.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> All well and good - thanks!
> 
> Slightly confusing though is that the TA Diagnostics still presents a Session Info page even for a channel that is not SDV and thus doesn't actually have a "session" established for it (per your description). For linear channels this page is mostly "n/a" parameters but it does contain at least two parameters that apply to the tuned channel: QAM frequency and the fact that it is a linear ("broadcast" type) channel. I suppose whether this is truly a session (or just a display quirk) isn't important, as long as we know what's going on.


The linear channel frequency does show up in one of the sessions but the session remains 'idle' with a SamSvcld of 'Broadcast' and Act Time of n/a. The session only goes 'ready' with SamSvcld of 'Switched' for an SDV tune.


----------



## cwoody222

TW called me today telling me that they thought my problem was due to an "area wide" problem that they think they fixed.

I got home and - so far, about 2-3 hours later - no tuning issues.

So maybe the problem was on their end.

That'll be good news if true!


----------



## SCSIRAID

cwoody222 said:


> TW called me today telling me that they thought my problem was due to an "area wide" problem that they think they fixed.
> 
> I got home and - so far, about 2-3 hours later - no tuning issues.
> 
> So maybe the problem was on their end.
> 
> That'll be good news if true!


What are your signal strengths now?


----------



## cwoody222

Now they're:

Tuner: 597.000MHZ (was 543.000 MHZ)
FDC: 73.500 MHZ <-- same as before
RDC: 22.500 MHZ <-- same as before

Current FDC
Level: -7dBmV <-- same as before
S/N: 35dB (was 34dB)

Current QAM
Level: -2 dBmV (was 1dBmV)
S/N: 36 dB (was 37dB)

Current RDC, Power: 43dBmV <-- same as before


One channel that was giving me persistent problems was FXHD. A friend of mine that lives nearby (I think within the same "system" I have) with one of their HD STB's couldn't tune that channel the other night but he could tune analog FX-SD. So I don't know what their problem was but it could have been on their end.

This morning everything seems stable too.


----------



## SugarBowl

SCSIRAID said:


> What are your signal strengths now?


My signal strength is 0. Is anyone else having time warner problems this morning, in the Raleigh, NC area?


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> The linear channel frequency does show up in one of the sessions but the session remains 'idle' with a SamSvcld of 'Broadcast' and Act Time of n/a. The session only goes 'ready' with SamSvcld of 'Switched' for an SDV tune.


On a related note, I was surprised to learn from forum user nrc that "linear" channel does not mean non-switched or non-SDV channel, see **this post** and the one following it. I searched a couple of randomly selected FCC documents and found that indeed their usage is consistent with their definition:


> The term "linear programming" is generally understood to refer to video programming that is prescheduled by the programming provider.


Of course the use of "Broadcast" in the TA Diagnostics SamSvcld Type parameter doesn't seem correct either.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> On a related note, I was surprised to learn from forum user nrc that "linear" channel does not mean non-switched or non-SDV channel, see **this post** and the one following it. I searched a couple of randomly selected FCC documents and found that indeed their usage is consistent with their definition:
> 
> Of course the use of "Broadcast" in the TA Diagnostics SamSvcld Type parameter doesn't seem correct either.


Ive always heard folks use the term 'linear' as the opposite of 'switched'. Perhaps it is improperly used... but I think most know what is meant.

You could take the 'definition' of linear as prescheduled and look at it on a QAM basis... a (my usage) linear channel always contains the same scheduled programming while a switched / SDV channel is not scheduled and its contents are based on the demands of the customers. The usage of the term 'linear' could be changed to 'static' if it is viewed as confusing. .


----------



## cwoody222

I'm having a problem with FXHD (using SDV) but only FXHD. It's the only channel that does this.

Before and after every commercial break and/or when the show starts the picture and sound "freezes" for a second or two.

USUALLY the pic/sound kicks back in but sometimes it does not and my recording just freezes for the rest of the show.

Could be when the channel switches from dolby to non-dolby or SD to HD or something.

Does anyone else have this problem on this channel or any other?

It's really annoying since I watch a lot of shows I really like on FX and having the picture possibly freeze and not recording is really annoying.

HBO, Showtime, other basic HD channels, local HDs, are all fine and *knock on wood* my SDV is actually pretty reliable so far.


----------



## cwoody222

Well, this problem happened again last night. But oddly I could only replicate the problem on ONE channel (I didn't go thru every one though).

And I don't think it was one of the channels that had the issue before.

Last time the problem was on lots of higher-numbered HD channels. Last night it was on an analog cable channel (but one that they verified for me IS SDV).

My SDV adapter was currently tuned to another SDV channel just fine and I could navigate to other ones with the 2nd tuner. So the tuner is working; just this one channel is not.

They tried to tell me that maybe this channel had "too many requests" in my area... but of course the problem persisted 8 hours later in the AM so I don't think that's the case (unless lots of people were watching infomercials on TV Land).

The 2 numbers I called last night were no help. Supposedly a manager is going to call me today. I hope the problem is on their end because I really don't want another service call. And I hope it's not the manager who called me last time who suggested I take my 2-CableCard TiVo into one of their offices and "swap it out" for a single-Card model *sigh*

I did weasel a $50 credit out of them, though.


----------



## pmiranda

I was having a similar problem the other day but re-pairing the cablecards and rebooting TiVo solved it.


----------



## cwoody222

I found out that my area moved 11 channels OFF OF SDV the other night.

Guess which 11 channels are the only 11 not working?

Of course they don't know how to proceed. Is there some sort of routing table or something that they need to update on their end?

I sholdn't NEED to do anything on my end usually for this, should I? I've already did a reboot. I really don't WANT to do another re-pairing.

I have a tech coming out on Sat. but that's just to "check my signal levels" because they still insist that may be the issue (even the tech who's coming thinks it's a waste of time).

Has this moving of channels happened to anyone else?


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> I found out that my area moved 11 channels OFF OF SDV the other night.
> 
> Guess which 11 channels are the only 11 not working?
> 
> Of course they don't know how to proceed. Is there some sort of routing table or something that they need to update on their end?
> 
> I sholdn't NEED to do anything on my end usually for this, should I? I've already did a reboot. I really don't WANT to do another re-pairing.
> 
> I have a tech coming out on Sat. but that's just to "check my signal levels" because they still insist that may be the issue (even the tech who's coming thinks it's a waste of time).
> 
> Has this moving of channels happened to anyone else?


I would try the TWC NCCS (National Cable Card Support) desk at 866.532.2598. They should be able to diagnose this and tell your local TWC people what to do. They have late evening hours and start at 10 am Eastern time.


----------



## SCSIRAID

cwoody222 said:


> I found out that my area moved 11 channels OFF OF SDV the other night.
> 
> Guess which 11 channels are the only 11 not working?
> 
> Of course they don't know how to proceed. Is there some sort of routing table or something that they need to update on their end?
> 
> I sholdn't NEED to do anything on my end usually for this, should I? I've already did a reboot. I really don't WANT to do another re-pairing.
> 
> I have a tech coming out on Sat. but that's just to "check my signal levels" because they still insist that may be the issue (even the tech who's coming thinks it's a waste of time).
> 
> Has this moving of channels happened to anyone else?


I would suggest that you power off TiVo and TA and reboot. That way you insure a reload of the current channel map.


----------



## cwoody222

dlfl said:


> I would try the TWC NCCS (National Cable Card Support) desk at 866.532.2598. They should be able to diagnose this and tell your local TWC people what to do. They have late evening hours and start at 10 am Eastern time.


Funny... the last tech who was here gave me that number. I called it for the first time last night.

The guy who answered (I was told they were in N. Carolina, BTW) told me that customers were not supposed to call it, only techs and techs are not supposed to give it out to customers.

He rudely said he'd help me "this time" but that I shouldn't call again.

He wasn't much help because he said he couldn't "see" my area hub's status or anything on my hardware.

(which I didn't quite understand since if he couldn't see that stuff what the hell would he help a tech with that called)

Oh, and they close at 11pm EST. Found that out after I called my local help desk shortly after 11pm and the NCCS line had "locked" my account (probably just by not exiting properly) so my local desk was limited it what she could go. Idiots.


----------



## cwoody222

SCSIRAID said:


> I would suggest that you power off TiVo and TA and reboot. That way you insure a reload of the current channel map.


I rebooted the TiVo last night. No change.

I just tried rebooting the TA and the TiVo. Again, no change.

Oh well, I'll wait to see what they say tomorrow.


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> Funny... the last tech who was here gave me that number. I called it for the first time last night.
> 
> The guy who answered (I was told they were in N. Carolina, BTW) told me that customers were not supposed to call it, only techs and techs are not supposed to give it out to customers.
> 
> He rudely said he'd help me "this time" but that I shouldn't call again.
> 
> He wasn't much help because he said he couldn't "see" my area hub's status or anything on my hardware.
> 
> (which I didn't quite understand since if he couldn't see that stuff what the hell would he help a tech with that called)
> 
> Oh, and they close at 11pm EST. Found that out after I called my local help desk shortly after 11pm and the NCCS line had "locked" my account (probably just by not exiting properly) so my local desk was limited it what she could go. Idiots.


Maybe it depends on which NCCS person you get. I've never heard of them being rude before. There have been several forum users who posted they called NCCS directly and were given a good reception, and I have done so myself.

The intended NCCS usage is for a local support rep to refer your case to NCCS. But in the past many of us have had locals who didn't know about NCCS.

It looks like you would be better off initiating a support call with the local rep then asking them to bring in the NCCS, giving them the phone number if they don't know it. I've had it work that way too. Apparently the local rep needs to be involved in order to give NCCS the info they can't see directly.

The poor integration of the NCCS into the TWC support organization never ceases to amaze me -- but many users have posted that NCCS solved their problems in seconds when the local support was helpless.


----------



## cwoody222

I'm letting my local office handle it. The full story is this...

Ever since May when I made the decision to order I've been keeping their local PR guy in the loop as to my PISS POOR service I've been getting. Usually his response is to jump in and get me some resolution with some managers.

It's ridiculous that I need to do that in order to get simple things like an SDV adapter (when I tried to get one via a phone rep they were out of stock... 15 mins later a manager can get me one by the next day).

I sent their CEO a 5 page snail mail letter detailing the horrible, horrible situation I've endured for the past 6 weeks trying to get this set up working.

After the last round of problems this week I let the cat out of the bag and shared that letter with a few of their corporate twitter accounts and the local PR guy.

I got the impression that that set off a minor **** storm (which was it's intent) and yesterday I started getting more direct service from more managers.

(as an aside I think they think I'm some sort of local blogger or something so they're trying to keep me happy so I don't publicly embarrass them)

The tech was came out last time got involved (since some idiot floated the idea my "signal levels" were off) and he's semi-pissed that he's even being remotely blamed for the problem. (I agree with him, it's not his fault, the levels are not to blame)

He does NOT want to be involved in what he called "all these emails going around today" (internally at TWC). So he's scheduled to come out Sat morning just to eliminate the "signal levels" as problems. It's a waste of both of our time and we both know it.

That is also the tech who gave me the NCCS number and I think I got him in minor trouble when I tweeted that he gave it to me but that I was told it's not a public number.

Meanwhile a manager told me about the 11 channels moved OFF of SDV and I was able to verify those 11 were a problem. I gave him that info late yesterday and he's supposed to get back to me today with a resolution. Basically that's the "DING DING DING - YOU guys f'ed up! Not the install tech!" clue.

So I'm going to sit back and let THEM do their job for a change. If they can't figure it out nor figure out to call NCCS then so be it.

As I tweeted the PR guy yesterday... "As much fun as helping you troubleshoot is, I'd rather just watch TV." I'm done doing their job.

Why did I need to report a problem with those 11 channels? Shouldn't THEY know the ramifications to devices out in the field when they make the changes they did?

Of course they should... which is exactly what the basis of my 2nd follow-up letter to their CEO will be.


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> I'm letting my local office handle it. The full story is this...
> 
> Ever since May when I made the decision to order I've been keeping their local PR guy in the loop as to my PISS POOR service I've been getting. Usually his response is to jump in and get me some resolution with some managers.
> 
> It's ridiculous that I need to do that in order to get simple things like an SDV adapter (when I tried to get one via a phone rep they were out of stock... 15 mins later a manager can get me one by the next day).
> 
> I sent their CEO a 5 page snail mail letter detailing the horrible, horrible situation I've endured for the past 6 weeks trying to get this set up working.
> .................
> Why did I need to report a problem with those 11 channels? Shouldn't THEY know the ramifications to devices out in the field when they make the changes they did?
> 
> Of course they should... which is exactly what the basis of my 2nd follow-up letter to their CEO will be.


Yeah it's sad that only people who "know someone" or are willing to become "squeaky wheels" can get attention from TWC on TiVo-related problems. And sad that even when you get their attention their problem solving efforts are disorganized and ineffective. But not really surprising given that less than 0.5% of their customers use TiVo's and TWC wishes they would just go away -- never wanted them in the first place.

I know that you have also filed a comment with the FCC to set the record straight regarding TWC's rosy statements about how well TA's are working out and I encourage others to do so **here**.


----------



## cwoody222

Turns out after moving those 11 channels TWC didn't update their "channel map". They did that Friday and without even a reboot, everything fixed itself.

But if I wouldn't have reported the problem, I doubt they would have even known.


----------



## dlfl

My TiVo HD had the viewing tuner set on a particular SDV channel for over 8 hours today and when I turned on the TV there was just a blank screen. All the TA and DVR diagnostics looked perfect (including Tuning Lock, Program lock and PID's) and both TA and Tuner said the tuned frequency was 585 MHz -- so this wasn't the usual tuning failure mode where the TA and Tuner say different frequencies. I had to retune the channel (twice actually) to get it back. And after retuning the frequency (TA and Tuner) changed to 627 MHz.

One theory might be the SDV system decided to reclaim my frequency because of some time limit. But there was no message on the screen. Do those messages just time out and disappear after a while?


----------



## cwoody222

dlfl said:


> My TiVo HD had the viewing tuner set on a particular SDV channel for over 8 hours today and when I turned on the TV there was just a blank screen. All the TA and DVR diagnostics looked perfect (including Tuning Lock, Program lock and PID's) and both TA and Tuner said the tuned frequency was 585 MHz -- so this wasn't the usual tuning failure mode where the TA and Tuner say different frequencies. I had to retune the channel (twice actually) to get it back. And after retuning the frequency (TA and Tuner) changed to 627 MHz.
> 
> One theory might be the SDV system decided to reclaim my frequency because of some time limit. But there was no message on the screen. Do those messages just time out and disappear after a while?


You should have had a message, yes. Not sure why you didn't. But I'm sure that's all that happened, your channel tuned out after the time limit. Happens to me every night/morning.


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> You should have had a message, yes. Not sure why you didn't. But I'm sure that's all that happened, your channel tuned out after the time limit. Happens to me every night/morning.


I know this happens frequently for some users (e.g., you) but for me it has been very  rare, in fact I don't believe I've ever even seen the message. I'm sure I've had channels left tuned overnight many times so you would think I would have encountered this before now. On the other hand, initial tuning failures (where the TA diagnostics and DVR Diagnostics show different tuned frequencies) are fairly common for me.

Is the message when SDV reclaims a frequency the same as when you try to tune to a channel that you simply don't subscribe to, i.e., something like the tuning adapter doesn't provide this channel, contact your cable provider? BTW, I would assume these time limits are not the same over all TWC systems (that would be too organized!)


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> I know this happens frequently for some users (e.g., you) but for me it has been very  rare, in fact I don't believe I've ever even seen the message. I'm sure I've had channels left tuned overnight many times so you would think I would have encountered this before now. On the other hand, initial tuning failures (where the TA diagnostics and DVR Diagnostics show different tuned frequencies) are fairly common for me.
> 
> Is the message when SDV reclaims a frequency the same as when you try to tune to a channel that you simply don't subscribe to, i.e., something like the tuning adapter doesn't provide this channel, contact your cable provider? BTW, I would assume these time limits are not the same over all TWC systems (that would be too organized!)


Ive seen the situation you describe... blank screen after inactivity... but Ive never seen a message about the channel being reclaimed. When I look at DVR Diags, I see the channel 'tuned' fine but no pic.

Sounds like you are still seeing the tuning failures where TA and TiVo frequency dont match and you get the message about 'signal not available' in the recording log. I dont see that much anymore... about once a month at worst.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> .........Sounds like you are still seeing the tuning failures where TA and TiVo frequency dont match and you get the message about 'signal not available' in the recording log. I dont see that much anymore... about once a month at worst.


Yes, typically 1 to 3 missed recordings per week. Sure would be nice to get at least a hint from TiVo as to whether they might ever address this with an automatic retune. Actually, it seems like they could sense the other problem that I just posted on and do retunes too.


----------



## ncted

SCSIRAID said:


> Ive seen the situation you describe... blank screen after inactivity... but Ive never seen a message about the channel being reclaimed. When I look at DVR Diags, I see the channel 'tuned' fine but no pic.
> 
> Sounds like you are still seeing the tuning failures where TA and TiVo frequency dont match and you get the message about 'signal not available' in the recording log. I dont see that much anymore... about once a month at worst.


When this happens, does it affect all of your Tivos simultaneously or just one at a time?

Thanks
Ted


----------



## SCSIRAID

ncted said:


> When this happens, does it affect all of your Tivos simultaneously or just one at a time?
> 
> Thanks
> Ted


which one? on the second one, only one at a time. other records fine.


----------



## ncted

SCSIRAID said:


> which one? on the second one, only one at a time. other records fine.


Yeah, if I get 2 (or 3) Tivos when I move to my new house, I will setup season passes to record on more than one DVR when possible in case there is a problem with one DVR and not the other. I am coming from Dish with 3 tuners per DVR, which I sometimes need more than 4, so 3 Tivos should fit the bill. If I occasionally lose a recording on one or another DVR, I can just watch what I missed on one of the others in most cases. I just wanted to make sure the phenomenon didn't happen simultaneously on all DVRs each time.

Also, is there anything special TWC will need to do for me to have 3 Tivos, plus my RoadRunner modem? I am moving into a newly constructed house with RG6 throughout.

Thanks,
Ted


----------



## favo1984

Hi All

Sorry if I'm posting a similar issue that has already been posted but I'm so frustrated and I'm getting desperate for help as the people who are supposed to be able fix this are completely senile and don't have clue as to how to fix their own equipment. This has been going on for over 2 months now.

Hardware:
Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter - Firmware Version:STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001

TiVo Series 3 HD

Issue:
All channels requiring the TA do not display.

Troubleshooting:

Cable card has been replaced twice and this is my third TA. Splitters have been changed as well as cables and wall sockets.

So far I have spoken to TWC and TiVo. TiVo say it is possibly the software version of the TA but it has worked in the past and as far as I'm aware the software version has been the same since I originally got the TA.

TWC have no clue and I can't get any where with their front-line support. At the moment I'm waiting for a callback from a tech foreman. 

TiVo have been great but they can't help me any further they say but they will keep the case open.

Anyone have any additional ideas on what could be done or has had a similar issue??

Thanks


----------



## dlfl

favo1984 said:


> Hi All
> 
> Sorry if I'm posting a similar issue that has already been posted but I'm so frustrated and I'm getting desperate for help as the people who are supposed to be able fix this are completely senile and don't have clue as to how to fix their own equipment. This has been going on for over 2 months now.
> 
> Hardware:
> Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter - Firmware Version:STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1001
> 
> TiVo Series 3 HD
> 
> Issue:
> All channels requiring the TA do not display.
> 
> Troubleshooting:
> 
> Cable card has been replaced twice and this is my third TA. Splitters have been changed as well as cables and wall sockets.
> 
> So far I have spoken to TWC and TiVo. TiVo say it is possibly the software version of the TA but it has worked in the past and as far as I'm aware the software version has been the same since I originally got the TA.
> 
> TWC have no clue and I can't get any where with their front-line support. At the moment I'm waiting for a callback from a tech foreman.
> 
> TiVo have been great but they can't help me any further they say but they will keep the case open.
> 
> Anyone have any additional ideas on what could be done or has had a similar issue??
> 
> Thanks


Maybe TWC's National Cable Card Support group can help:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7722378#post7722378


----------



## cwoody222

What's the green light on your TA doing? How is your TA connected to your TiVo? Can you see non-TA CableCARD channels? Are you SURE you KNOW which channels need a TA and which don't?

I'd try re-cyling the power on both. In this order. Unplug both power cords and the USB connector.

Then plug in the TA. Wait for a solid green light. Then connect the USB. Then plug in the TiVo. You should eventually get an "acquiring channel map" screen. After that, you SHOULD be able to see TA channels. If not, do you get an on-screen message?


----------



## cwoody222

Also try TWC NCCS (National Cable Card Support) desk at 866.532.2598 and twitter.com/TWCableHelp

Their twitter support is excellent but not 24/7.


----------



## cwoody222

dlfl said:


> Is the message when SDV reclaims a frequency the same as when you try to tune to a channel that you simply don't subscribe to, i.e., something like the tuning adapter doesn't provide this channel, contact your cable provider? BTW, I would assume these time limits are not the same over all TWC systems (that would be too organized!)


This is what the message looks like for me:

t-w-i-t-p-i-c .com/2i1sbx

PS Why does TC block bit-ly and twit-pic?!


----------



## kaseyjohns

Here's an odd one I haven't seen before. I've got a Tivo HD and a Premiere. Both are setup with TA's and both can tune SDV channels without a hitch. (This is on Time Warner-Austin, and I'm up near 183/Anderson Mill.)

All of a sudden, I can't tune FX HD (1688). It brings up the "this channel is temporarily unavailable". I hit select for it to try and re-tune, no luck. I go away for a few minutes and come back, it still won't work. I reboot the TA and the Tivo, wait for it all to come back up, check other SDV channels to make sure it's working, and still can't tune 1688. It's not a new channel or anything, because it was working fine a week ago.

This is on both DVRs. All of the other SDV channels work just fine... even if I get the odd "temporarily unavailable" message, hitting select usually locks it in.

Any ideas?


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> This is what the message looks like for me:
> t-w-i-t-p-i-c .com/2i1sbx
> .......





kaseyjohns said:


> .........
> All of a sudden, I can't tune FX HD (1688). It brings up the "this channel is temporarily unavailable". ..........


Yeah that's the same message I've seen. However I've never seen it pop up on a channel that was already tuned and then dropped out (apparently because the SDV system reclaimed the channel slot). For me it only shows when I first try to tune a channel that isn't provided by the SDV/TA system but which I should get. I get a different message if I try to tune a channel that I am not paying for.

cwoody, I've had that behavior and spent a lot of time calling TWC getting them to send hits. Only after a few hours did the channels show up again, so I don't know if the TWC hits even made the difference -- but nothing else had changed.


----------



## favo1984

cwoody222 said:


> What's the green light on your TA doing? How is your TA connected to your TiVo? Can you see non-TA CableCARD channels? Are you SURE you KNOW which channels need a TA and which don't?
> 
> I'd try re-cyling the power on both. In this order. Unplug both power cords and the USB connector.
> 
> Then plug in the TA. Wait for a solid green light. Then connect the USB. Then plug in the TiVo. You should eventually get an "acquiring channel map" screen. After that, you SHOULD be able to see TA channels. If not, do you get an on-screen message?


Hi Thanks for the suggestions

The power light on the TA is solid green. I have followed your instructions which were posted on another site. At the moment some of the channels that rely on the TA are coming through. Only the channels from my sports pack and a couple others do not. I actually have a couple of the tech guys here now working on it. They say the frequency that the sports pack channels run in on is different to the frequency that the channels that are working rely on the TA.

Will update at the end of their visit. They are changing the tuner again for the 4th time : )


----------



## SCSIRAID

favo1984 said:


> Hi Thanks for the suggestions
> 
> The power light on the TA is solid green. I have followed your instructions which were posted on another site. At the moment some of the channels that rely on the TA are coming through. Only the channels from my sports pack and a couple others do not. I actually have a couple of the tech guys here now working on it. They say the frequency that the sports pack channels run in on is different to the frequency that the channels that are working rely on the TA.
> 
> Will update at the end of their visit. They are changing the tuner again for the 4th time : )


When you try and tune those channels, what do you see onscreen? Just black? What does DVR Diags indicate for signal strength / SNR on the missing channel? At the bottom of DVR Diags, what does the TA info say? It should be 'operational', 'ready' and 'yes'. Now jump to TA Diags, On the first page under 'INITIALIZATION' with the next line Status... is it 'ready'.

If that all looks good then the problem is likely with the cablecard provisioning. Your account may need 'balancing' to get all your entitlements set up correctly.


----------



## Max Camber

I finally gave up. It's been 9 months of finger pointing between TWC and Tivo and nothing seems to have changed so I signed up for satellite service. I'm not happy about it and miss a lot of the Tivo features, but I no longer need to worry about missed recordings, missing channels, and screwing around with a tuning adapter. I figure the 24 month contract will give them time to sort it out.

As an added bonus, when I called Tivo to cancel service the rep tried to sell me a Premier which he assured me would "fix all those problems" and "doesn't require a tuning adapter" to receive SDV.


----------



## pmiranda

Max: How often was your TA crapping out? Just curious if different places in Austin get worse performance or if your threshold of pain is just lower than others. Right now I lose an occasional recording but that happened when I had a TW DVR, too, so I'm just living with it. I'm also curious to hear how the transition to satellite goes... do you use wishlists and season passes alot? Ever watch the suggestions? Not sure what other features will be noticeably different. What are you using for internet?


----------



## cwoody222

On Sunday I had a problem that I get RARELY where it seems I "lose" the SDV channel and TiVo stops recording. I can get it back by going up and down a channel.

I tweeted about it and @replied their cust service just to ***** 

They wrote me back and offered to help.

They gave me the usual a) your signal is too high then b) try contacting TiVo.

Not to ***** here and it's great that they answered me, all they ever want to do it send a truck to 'check your signal levels' or point at TiVo.


This all said, my problems are now limited to ONE channel that sometimes "freezes". Every other other channel and recording are rock-solid.

I guess I'm lucky.


----------



## ncted

Well, I ordered the service from TWC today. Installation won't happen until late September when we move into the new house. Hopefully there will still be a deal on refurbs when I order the Tivos. Wish me luck!

Ted


----------



## Max Camber

pmiranda said:


> Max: How often was your TA crapping out? Just curious if different places in Austin get worse performance or if your threshold of pain is just lower than others. Right now I lose an occasional recording but that happened when I had a TW DVR, too, so I'm just living with it. I'm also curious to hear how the transition to satellite goes... do you use wishlists and season passes alot? Ever watch the suggestions? Not sure what other features will be noticeably different. What are you using for internet?


It was fully locking up at least once per week requiring a reboot. I still had to do the channel up/down every day to get SDV tuned. I was also having regular issues with macroblocking that Tivo blamed on signal strength being too high and TWC blamed on faulty decoders on the Tivo. No amount of pointing TWC techs at the info from SCSIRAID or even having them call TWC in NC made any difference.

I signed up with DirecTV because they were running a great promo and in hopes that they eventually get the DirecTivo launched. I'm only a few weeks into my new service but haven't had any issues so far.

What I miss from my Tivo:
- Playing back media files from my server using pyTivo (MediaShare on DirecTV is almost useless, almost no format options, no ff/rew)
- Netflix instant streaming
- The way dual tuner controls work on the Tivo
- Tivo remote
- Interface/sounds

What I like on the DirecTV setup:
- Blazing fast interface (I got the brand new HR24 and H24 boxes)
- Standard RF remote for the DVR
- It uses coax for networking (not a big deal for me as I have ethernet drops at each TV, but still cool)
- Vastly better picture quality on most channels, TWC compresses the crap out of everything

Most of my recordings are handled by season passes with a couple of others as wishlists. So far they all seem to be working as expected but I haven't had it long enough to be a useful data point as far as missed recordings go.

My internet is still through TWC. I rewired my house with a media distribution hub in the garage and dual coax and ethernet feeds to each wall jack. That allows me to have both DirecTV and TWC feeds and split them off on a per-port basis to each room. Most people are stuck with the single feed from outside and have to choose between cable or dish + DSL.


----------



## dcstager

Haven't seen any new complaints about missed SDV recordings lately and I haven't had any in a while - probably since the 11h update. Does the list of fixes for this version mention SDV tuning issues? I'm pretty sure it's fixed. I don't have anything to complain about. Anyone else still missing recordings on SDV channels in Austin?


----------



## m_jonis

Nope, unfortunately on my 11.0h software it did this again last week. The channel was "tuned" but when you switched to it, all you saw was a gray screen and when I cancelled the recording, it showed 0 minutes (even though it had supposedly recorded 15 minutes of it).


----------



## dcstager

Could Time-Warner in Austin be doing something different than in Albany? I think we determined that the error was on the Tivo software end. I was hoping 11h fixed it.


----------



## dlfl

11.0h did not fix the sdv tuning failure problem. It did fix a problem of pixelation on SDV channels that occured on many Time Warner systems.


----------



## dcstager

Can we get Tivo to fix it? This serious bug has been out there too long. It undercuts the primary appeal of the Tivo service - reliability. How can I get Tivo off their hump on this? I feel like if I email or call it will be fruitless. Do they know about this already? They must, right?

In all fairness, I haven't had a problem in a long time.


----------



## m_jonis

Although I will say since 11.0h my Tivo has NOT rebooted itself once (whereas I was getting weekly reboots with 11.0g)


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> Can we get Tivo to fix it? This serious bug has been out there too long. It undercuts the primary appeal of the Tivo service - reliability. How can I get Tivo off their hump on this? I feel like if I email or call it will be fruitless. Do they know about this already? They must, right?
> 
> In all fairness, I haven't had a problem in a long time.


There really isnt enough evidence on the table to tell whose problem it is.... Cisco or TiVo....

Fortunately for me... I havent seen it happen in some time.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> Can we get Tivo to fix it? This serious bug has been out there too long. It undercuts the primary appeal of the Tivo service - reliability. How can I get Tivo off their hump on this? I feel like if I email or call it will be fruitless. Do they know about this already? They must, right?
> 
> In all fairness, I haven't had a problem in a long time.


I've had contact with TiVo on various levels -- they know about it. I think their position is it's not the TiVo's fault.



SCSIRAID said:


> There really isnt enough evidence on the table to tell whose problem it is.... Cisco or TiVo....
> .......


True, but as I believe you yourself have said: It seems it would be easy for TiVo to fix it with software tuning retries.

I still have 1 to 3 missed recordings per week due to this problem.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> I've had contact with TiVo on various levels -- they know about it. I think their position is it's not the TiVo's fault.
> 
> True, but as I believe you yourself have said: It seems it would be easy for TiVo to fix it with software tuning retries.
> 
> I still have 1 to 3 missed recordings per week due to this problem.


Yup... TiVo should be able to work around it easily. They have heard about it from me too.


----------



## usofa

OK here is a simillar problem. In San Antonio, TX with TWC

I have S3 with TA. 

Been using this setup at this address for the last year. No problems other than an occassional need for a rehit on the cable cards.

Now last week, I suddenly lost all of the SDV channels. Called TWC and got them transfer me to NCCC. They did a bunch of checking the diagnostics and on the TA Diagnostics, the Switched Digital Video shows PENDING.

they have replaced the TA and still getting the same message. Their only answer is signal strength is a little low. Scheduled me for a truckroll on Thursday... No show! 

Called Friday and got a truck roll for today 12-4. Showed up at 3:50 and just left. still no SDV channels. Tech said he could not do anything and gave me the number for NCCC and said to call them. He scheduled me for an all day appointment Friday for someone to rewire my whole apt. 

Any smart people out here have any solutions? to me it sounds like a problem on the Head End.


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## dcstager

In Austin it looks like we've got a Tuning Adapter update that others may not have. The firmware on mine is 1202 something and I think everyone else is at version 1001. I've been operating my Tivo as I always have but it's not missing any recordings as it used to.

It's possible the problem has been fixed on the Tuning Adapter firmware side. There was a cable outage during the last storm and the TA locked up and had to be rebooted. Strangely, the green light stayed solid green during the outage and after the box did not operate after service was restored. But unplugging it and re plugging it in was all it took to fix it.

I think users with problems should make a demand of their cable operator to get the latest firmware sent to the tuning adapters.


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## FrustratedInGP

Hey folks ... I'm done ... stick a fork & roll me over ... I have a Tivo Series 3, with TWC ... which was working great for over a year ... TWC decided to goto a tuner adapter which in my case is a Motorola Unit ... since then instead of 180+ channels I get about 6 ... I'm NOT kidding ... I get maybe 2 channels in the 10 to 100 range, 3 channels of HBO & maybe Comedy Central & TBS ... all my local channels are gone, I've swapped the wall plate, I've swapped the coax cables, I've gone from HDMI to comp video cables ... same crap ... TWC tech support is hopeless, three truck rollls so far ... TWC blames Tivo ... Tivo says the Tivo is fine ... I have a forth truck roll this weekend ... suggestions ? ... the tivo + a cablecard worked perfectly for over a year ... since the tuning adapter by Motorola was introduced ... it's been crap ... the tivo connects to tivo just fine ... by internet connection is fine ... I use a Cisco/Linksys router + a Netgear modem supplied by TWC ... the Moto modem is connected directly to the wall plate ... no splitters ... I'm in a apt complex were TWC is part of my rent ... the main coax in is in the main living space, so, I'm going to presume it's the primary feed out from what ever spliter, were ever it happens to be ... there's a coax outlet in our bedroom were I've run a Monster brand coax cable to my cable modem ... so again the Moto modem should have a clean coax feed ... I'm so freaking frustrated I'm ready to pitch the tivo & just bend over & grab my ankles & get a TWC DVR, which i HATE todo cause TWC will charge me $19.00 a month ... it's not fair since the tivo was working before the damn Moto modem was introduced into this freaking nightmare ...


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## SCSIRAID

FrustratedInGP said:


> Hey folks ... I'm done ... stick a fork & roll me over ... I have a Tivo Series 3, with TWC ... which was working great for over a year ... TWC decided to goto a tuner adapter which in my case is a Motorola Unit ... since then instead of 180+ channels I get about 6 ... I'm NOT kidding ... I get maybe 2 channels in the 10 to 100 range, 3 channels of HBO & maybe Comedy Central & TBS ... all my local channels are gone, I've swapped the wall plate, I've swapped the coax cables, I've gone from HDMI to comp video cables ... same crap ... TWC tech support is hopeless, three truck rollls so far ... TWC blames Tivo ... Tivo says the Tivo is fine ... I have a forth truck roll this weekend ... suggestions ? ... the tivo + a cablecard worked perfectly for over a year ... since the tuning adapter by Motorola was introduced ... it's been crap ... the tivo connects to tivo just fine ... by internet connection is fine ... I use a Cisco/Linksys router + a Netgear modem supplied by TWC ... the Moto modem is connected directly to the wall plate ... no splitters ... I'm in a apt complex were TWC is part of my rent ... the main coax in is in the main living space, so, I'm going to presume it's the primary feed out from what ever spliter, were ever it happens to be ... there's a coax outlet in our bedroom were I've run a Monster brand coax cable to my cable modem ... so again the Moto modem should have a clean coax feed ... I'm so freaking frustrated I'm ready to pitch the tivo & just bend over & grab my ankles & get a TWC DVR, which i HATE todo cause TWC will charge me $19.00 a month ... it's not fair since the tivo was working before the damn Moto modem was introduced into this freaking nightmare ...


I suggest that you try unplugging the USB cable between the TA and the TiVo and then restart the TiVo. Do the non-SDV channels return? If not, you more than likely have a signal problem probably due to the insertion loss of the TA. What are the Signal and SNR levels in DVR Diags?


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## FrustratedInGP

Well ... did the unplug ... nadda ... no SDV channels ... without the tunning adapter connected I still had the same 6 channels ... when I went into the DVR Diag's without the TA connected ... for Signal strength there was just a dash - / for SNR there was just a dash as well - ... I'd run the diags now but I'm just doing a re-tune ... hope springs eternal ... maybe this time it'll be different ... the TWC tech is supposed to be here this afternoon ... I'm going to ask him to run a signal test from the faceplate back to the distribution point ... not sure if I mentioned this ... if I plug the cable straight out of the wall into the tivo ... all my SDV channels are good ... cause I have zip upper channels beyond 100 ... & to beat a dead horse, if I plug the TA back in ... the tivo finds the TA but alas, I loose the SDV channels, gain the few upper channels & life then returns back to chaos ...


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## Grumock

FrustratedInGP said:


> Well ... did the unplug ... nadda ... no SDV channels ... without the tunning adapter connected I still had the same 6 channels ... when I went into the DVR Diag's without the TA connected ... for Signal strength there was just a dash - / for SNR there was just a dash as well - ... I'd run the diags now but I'm just doing a re-tune ... hope springs eternal ... maybe this time it'll be different ... the TWC tech is supposed to be here this afternoon ... I'm going to ask him to run a signal test from the faceplate back to the distribution point ... not sure if I mentioned this ... if I plug the cable straight out of the wall into the tivo ... all my SDV channels are good ... cause I have zip upper channels beyond 100 ... & to beat a dead horse, if I plug the TA back in ... the tivo finds the TA but alas, I loose the SDV channels, gain the few upper channels & life then returns back to chaos ...


sounds like the RF on the Tuning adapter is gone out. Normally that is supposed to be a pass thru with a 2-3 DB gain but it sounds, from what you are describing, that it's not passing at all.


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## cwoody222

FrustratedInGP said:


> if I plug the cable straight out of the wall into the tivo ... all my SDV channels are good


Whoa whoa. This is impossible UNLESS the channels really aren't SDV channels.

This happened to me with TWC... they moved some SDV channels OFF of SDV but didn't update their "channel map" so the TiVo was looking for them on SDV freq. that weren't there.

I figured this out, had TWC locally update this "map" and then did a reboot to force another "Acquiring Channel Information" screen and after that all was better.

If you use twitter @twcablehelp is extremely knowledgeable. They gave me a full list of SDV channels in my area... something I would NEVER expect a tech or, worse, a phone rep, to have. Although if your channels were recently moved, the lists may not be updated yet.


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## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> If you use twitter @twcablehelp is extremely knowledgeable. They gave me a full list of SDV channels in my area... something I would NEVER expect a tech or, worse, a phone rep, to have. Although if your channels were recently moved, the lists may not be updated yet.


unfortunately that list changes on a weekly basis.


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## cwoody222

Grumock said:


> unfortunately that list changes on a weekly basis.


They have to notify users of additions to the SDV lineup since it would mean users without an adapter would lose those channels. We don't get additions very often.

And I don't think moving channels OFF of SDV is common either.

At least it'd be a starting point.


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## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> They have to notify users of additions to the SDV lineup since it would mean users without an adapter would lose those channels. We don't get additions very often.
> 
> And I don't think moving channels OFF of SDV is common either.
> 
> At least it'd be a starting point.


easy way to tell is to go into the Tuning adapter Diag screens. On the UDCP option you will basically see toward the bottom, the two tuners. They should have a section that says: *Session info LTSID0* & another that says *Session info LTSID1*. In essence these are your two tuners for the cards or card for an M card. under each there is a line that has *Chan/SRC/CA* they are the channel you are on/ source ID / conditional access allowed. If ever you see the first two as 0 then it is possibly a mapping issue. Where they have taken a channel off the SDV carousel or put it on there & have not updated the mapping information for the devices in question.


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## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> And I don't think moving channels OFF of SDV is common either.


I would like to agree with you but unfortunately it happens more often then any of us like, as an example i have posted the link below. Toward the bottom of that thread you can see that this very thing happened there. Well close to it LOL

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=416859


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## lrhorer

usofa said:


> OK here is a simillar problem. In San Antonio, TX with TWC
> 
> I have S3 with TA.
> 
> Been using this setup at this address for the last year. No problems other than an occassional need for a rehit on the cable cards.


If so, then you are lucky. I'm here in San Antoinio, as well. Although I am not having huge amounts of problems, I rarely go more than 6 weeks without one of my 3 TAs having a coronary. Both the symptoms and the solution vary a bit.

Sometimes only the SDV channels are missing. When this happens, I can usually get things to work by un-plugging the USB cable and plugging it back in. Sometimes all the digital channels are missing, including the locals. This always requires at a minimum rebooting the TA. The best results are obtained by:

1. Pull the USB cable
2. Kill power to the TA
3. Wait ten seconds
4. Plug back in the power to the TA
5. Wait two minutes for the TA to completely reboot
6. If necessary (no status LED), press the power button on the TA
7. Plug the USB cable back in

Sometimes no channels - not even analog - are being received. If unplugging the USB cable does not allow you to watch the locals and the non-SDV premium channels, then the TiVo needs to be rebooted. Let it fully reboot without the USB cable attached. While the TiVo is rebooting, you can also reboot the TA.



usofa said:


> Now last week, I suddenly lost all of the SDV channels. Called TWC and got them transfer me to NCCC. They did a bunch of checking the diagnostics and on the TA Diagnostics, the Switched Digital Video shows PENDING.


Try rebooting both the TiVo and the TA exactly as I have described. Do not reboot either one with the USB cable attached. Be sure to leave plenty of time after re-applying power to the TA for it to have rebooted and settled down.



usofa said:


> Any smart people out here have any solutions? to me it sounds like a problem on the Head End.


'Unlikely.


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## lrhorer

cwoody222 said:


> Whoa whoa. This is impossible UNLESS the channels really aren't SDV channels.


Correct. The entire purpose for the TA is to enable reception of SDV channels.



cwoody222 said:


> This happened to me with TWC... they moved some SDV channels OFF of SDV but didn't update their "channel map" so the TiVo was looking for them on SDV freq. that weren't there.


I don't recommend trying to figure out what the problem is until the previous poster gets his story straight. Trying to remotely troubleshoot an issue relying only upon printed reports is exceedingly difficult in the first place. When those reports are inaccurate, it becomes essentially impossible.



cwoody222 said:


> I figured this out, had TWC locally update this "map"


The channel map is updated dynamically every time you issue a tuning request. That is how SDV works. There is no static channel map. Instead, whenever your TiVo wants to tune to a channel, it sends a request via the TA to update the channel map. If the stream in question does not exist, then the headend assigns a channel to the stream and advises the Tivo of the new channel map.


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## lrhorer

FrustratedInGP said:


> ... I'm going to ask him to run a signal test from the faceplate back to the distribution point ...


He's liable to not know what you are asking, since this request makes no sense. He can test the downstream levels at the input to the TA, or wherever, and he can test the loss between the TA and the headend on the upstream channel. Which are you asking him to test, and why? If you cannot articulate what, exactly, he is supposed to be testing and why, then your suggestion is not likely to be helpful.



FrustratedInGP said:


> not sure if I mentioned this ... if I plug the cable straight out of the wall into the tivo ... all my SDV channels are good


As cwoody222 already mentioned, this is impossible, unless you are using a splitter to feed both the TA and the TiVo, without passing the signal through the TA to feed the TiVo. The TA's one and only function is to provide the two-way communication with the headend required to resolve SDV channels. No TA, no SDV, period, but removing the TA won't lose you anything except SDV channels.



FrustratedInGP said:


> ... cause I have zip upper channels beyond 100 ...


With the TA unplugged, I presume?



FrustratedInGP said:


> & to beat a dead horse, if I plug the TA back in ... the tivo finds the TA but alas, I loose the SDV channels, gain the few upper channels & life then returns back to chaos ...


You definitely do not lose SDV channels when you plug in the TA. You need to be much more clear about what you are losing, and when. Try rebooting both the TA and the TiVo per my instructions above. Once done, and if you still are not receiving channels, you are going to have to look more closely what what channels you are missing. Attempt to tune each missing channel in turn and see what the diags say. If you are missing SDV channels, but not any encrypted linear channels, then it's a TA problem, to be sure. If you are missing only encrypted channels, including both SDV and linear, then it's probably a TA issue, but also could be the CableCards. If you are missing local digital channels, then it's probably a CableCard issue.


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## lrhorer

Grumock said:


> I would like to agree with you but unfortunately it happens more often then any of us like


Why would you "not like" moving a channel from SDV to linear? With a working TA, the move would be completely transparent, but without a TA, it would mean you can now receive a channel you could not previously receive. What's the down side?



Grumock said:


> , as an example i have posted the link below. Toward the bottom of that thread you can see that this very thing happened there. Well close to it LOL
> 
> http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=416859


It would be helpful if you linked to the actual post, rather than just to the thread. I skimmed the thread, but don't see to where you are referring.


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## Grumock

lrhorer said:


> Why would you "not like" moving a channel from SDV to linear? With a working TA, the move would be completely transparent, but without a TA, it would mean you can now receive a channel you could not previously receive. What's the down side?


Well it's simple. If the channel is moved to, but not mapped to the SDV mini Carousel, then you wont get it if the tuning adapter still thinks it's in the non SDV lineup. The reverse will happen if it's pulled to the linear & not taken out of the SDV mini carousel, & the tuning adapters do not get that updated map.

As for my link if you scan to the bottom there is someone in Albany that had this happen. Where channels were moved into the SDV lineup & the tuning adapter & cable card were still looking for it as a non SDV channel. WHICH MEANS THEY WONT COME IN. There is your down side

I personally got rid of my TIVOs because of all my frustration & problems with the tuning adapter. I only post in order to help if i can. IF I was to move to an area without SDV i would consider using a TIVo again but since i am not moving anytime soon...


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## m_jonis

I had something similar happen a while ago. What would happen is that suddenly the Tivo would ONLY get local HD channels and NON-HD SDV channels. All other channels would fail to tune. 

I can't remember what the fix was, but it was not signal related, in my case. It was either replace the TA (I'm on my third one now), or it was a TW firmware upgrade that resolved the problem. But every few weeks the stupid thing would skitz out. I could resolve it by rebooting everything (literally pulling the power on the Tivo HD and the Cisco TA). But then a week or two later it would happen again.

Quite frustrating.


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## Grumock

m_jonis said:


> I had something similar happen a while ago. What would happen is that suddenly the Tivo would ONLY get local HD channels and NON-HD SDV channels. All other channels would fail to tune.
> 
> I can't remember what the fix was, but it was not signal related, in my case. It was either replace the TA (I'm on my third one now), or it was a TW firmware upgrade that resolved the problem. But every few weeks the stupid thing would skitz out. I could resolve it by rebooting everything (literally pulling the power on the Tivo HD and the Cisco TA). But then a week or two later it would happen again.
> 
> Quite frustrating.


agreed


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## lrhorer

Grumock said:


> Well it's simple. If the channel is moved to, but not mapped to the SDV mini Carousel, then you wont get it if the tuning adapter still thinks it's in the non SDV lineup.


There is no "mini Carousel". The channel map is the channel map. Without the TA, it is maintained by regular updates on the OOB carrier (usually 75MHz). With the TA, it is maintained by real-time conversations between the headend and the TiVo via the TA. If the channel map does not match the actual mapping of streams to the QAMs, then the video will not come in, or at least won't be on the correct channel. Linear channels are mapped to fixed timeslots on linear QAMs. SDV channels are mapped as they are requested to non-unique timeslots on different QAMs depending on the extant traffic on the nodes from which the respective requests are made.



Grumock said:


> The reverse will happen if it's pulled to the linear & not taken out of the SDV mini carousel, & the tuning adapters do not get that updated map.


'Cute theory. Too bad it's completely wrong. If the program stream is available to the SDV modulators, then as long as there is an open timeslot on one of the SDV QAMs on the node, then the headend can pass that stream to the available timeslot and forward the assignment to the TiVo, whereupon the TiVo will tune to the specified QAM and decode the specified timeslot. Having the stream also on a linear QAM makes no difference. Indeed, many - if not all - Time Warner Cable CATV systems have their linear streams available to SDV timeslots. This is how they offer their "Start Over" service. The main program stream runs on the linear timeslot, but whenever a customer presses the "Start Over" button, the stream is re-broadcast from the beginning on an SDV timeslot, and the STB / DVR is ordered to switch its tuner to a new QAM and timeslot.



Grumock said:


> As for my link if you scan to the bottom there is someone in Albany that had this happen. Where channels were moved into the SDV lineup & the tuning adapter & cable card were still looking for it as a non SDV channel. WHICH MEANS THEY WONT COME IN. There is your down side


That is the opposite of what cwoody222 said. Moving an SDV channel to a linear QAM won't have any impact at all, other than perhaps a channel number change. A channel number change is in fact unnecessary with a timeslot change and conversely a channel number change can be done without changing the timeslot. Channel numbers on digital systems - linear or SDV - are completely arbitrary.

I also saw no hard evidence in the thread that the source of the problems in those instances were what you claim them to have been. OTOH, in fairness, I did not thoroughly scan all the posts, nor did I query for more information. That said, without a valid channel map, no digital video device will be able to correctly resolve the channels on a digital CATV lineup, whether it is SDV or linear. If the incorrectly resolved data stream is not encrypted, then the device will be able to decode and display the video, but it won't be the correct channel. If the video is encrypted, then it likely won't display at all.

If a channel is moved (or added to) a linear QAM, then the TA is not even needed to tune to it. Moving a channel previously on a linear QAM to an SDV QAM is a different matter altogether.


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## SCSIRAID

Here is a clip from Cisco's SDV documentation where the Mini Carousel is mentioned. It is also mentioned in the TA Diags and in diag mode of Cisco STB's.

Description
The Model D9500 Switched Digital Video (SDV) Server is an integral component of the Scientific Atlanta SDV system. Based on a standard Linux platform, the SDV Server functions as a distributed Session and Resource Manager (SRM) for Switched Digital Video. This high-performance server processes SDV channel change requests, manages resource allocations in the edge modulators, binds multicast content to available resources, and maintains up-to-date information on all switched digital content being viewed. This visibility gives the operator the flexibility to optimize the SDV system for bandwidth efficiency and to improve targeted services. This information is also used to generate a Mini-Carousel file which provides tuning information to the set-tops over the in-band video channel. The SDV software has been designed for increased availability, providing N:1 redundancy with automated failover in the case of a failure or maintenance event. These servers may be centralized for operational efficiency or distributed for greater scalability. Each server is managed by the SDV Manager in the Scientific Atlanta Digital Network Control System (DNCS) which also acts as an application Independent Master SRM for resource sharing among multiple applications. Single-step provisioning in the DNCS allows the operator to easily manage the
entire SDV system.



lrhorer said:


> There is no "mini Carousel". The channel map is the channel map. Without the TA, it is maintained by regular updates on the OOB carrier (usually 75MHz). With the TA, it is maintained by real-time conversations between the headend and the TiVo via the TA. If the channel map does not match the actual mapping of streams to the QAMs, then the video will not come in, or at least won't be on the correct channel. Linear channels are mapped to fixed timeslots on linear QAMs. SDV channels are mapped as they are requested to non-unique timeslots on different QAMs depending on the extant traffic on the nodes from which the respective requests are made.


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## Grumock

lrhorer said:


> If a channel is moved (or added to) a linear QAM, then the TA is not even needed to tune to it. Moving a channel previously on a linear QAM to an SDV QAM is a different matter altogether.


I care to differ with you on many issues but since I don't feel a need to argue with you I will not.

What i will say is that if channels are moved from SDV to non SDV or vise versa & they are not mapped to the Tuning adapters map or the cable cards map in the Headend (DNCS) afterward, then they will continue to look for them where they believe they are. I hope this makes it clear for you.

Please if you don't have anything constructive to add then don't reply.


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## Grumock

lrhorer said:


> I also saw no hard evidence in the thread that the source of the problems in those instances were what you claim them to have been. OTOH, in fairness, I did not thoroughly scan all the posts, nor did I query for more information. That said, without a valid channel map, no digital video device will be able to correctly resolve the channels on a digital CATV lineup, whether it is SDV or linear. If the incorrectly resolved data stream is not encrypted, then the device will be able to decode and display the video, but it won't be the correct channel. If the video is encrypted, then it likely won't display at all.


My point on that thread BTW, was that the person was having an issue where they had moved channels to the SDV Carousel, (which u say does not exist) but had not yet mapped them to the tuning adapter map. Once they mapped the channels then they started to come in. If you look in the Ta Diag screens BTW you can see there is a SDV Mini Carousel in there as well. I am however, just making this all up as I go along lol so don't believe me, it really doesn't matter.


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## erichcervantez

My frustration with Time Warner began like this:

I bought two DVR's: a Series 3 HD TIVO and a Series 4 HD Premiere TIVO.

Time Warner came out to hook up both (apparently they need a "professional" to setup the CableCards). Supposedly both TIVO's needed a Tuning Adapter, but my cable guy only installed one (and even forgot to hook up the USB cable). He said the newer TIVO's didn't need one, which was completely false.

I had to drive to Time Warner to get a second Tuning Adapter and the missing USB cable for the first one. I came home, installed everything and discovered that I could not receive all of my HD channels on the new TIVO Premiere. The older Series 3 got all channels, including HD and was happy.

I called support. They rolled another truck to check the lines (they figured the signal was too weak), but of course the technician could find nothing wrong and chalked it up to a "problem" that the new TIVO's had with the Motorola CableCards. He left, blaming TIVO.

After he left, I switched the CableCard out of the working TIVO and installed it into the non-working TIVO Premiere and voila! It worked! This CableCard was blue. The non-working card was pink.

Tomorrow they are rolling out another truck to replace the pink CableCard with a blue one based on my observations.

It blows my mind that I have to troubleshoot something that a cast of Time Warner pro's could not figure out :-/


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## FrustratedInGP

Update - TWC tech showed up - called I'm presuming here their second level support folks / the told him to add a second tuner card / the tivo of course said there was a multistream card in slot 1 & it wasn't going to bother using slot2 so you might as well remove it / TWC insisted to just leave it & do a full retune @ which point the TWC tech left / did a full re-tune / reboot / nada / same crap as before / & lo & behold the TWC tech also said there was a ongoing issue with tivo's & TWC ... sigh ... so I'm stuck between tivo saying it ain't there problem & TWC saying they haven't a clue why it's not working / oh / with the TA connected - DVR Diag's say there is no signal hitting it & no SNR reading - just dashes for both signal & SNR / sound to me like either the TA software isn't working right or ? ... could the tivo USB port not be working right ? / what is the tivo port anyway ? ... USB 1.1 or 2.0 & is the Moto modem USB 1.1 or 2.0 ? ... I have a certified USB 2.0 cable connect between the two ( which as mentioned in my previous post has been swapped three times now ... the wall plate's been swapped ... the coax cables between the wall & TA have been swapped ... the coax cable between the TA & tivo has been swapped ) with the TA connected ... the Cable Card 1 - the Multistream card has a signal strength of 42 & the SNR on it is 27 / & as mentioned the tivo isn't even bothering to acknowledge cable card 2 / it seems it / it shows it in the menus etc but there is no signal strength showing or SNR showing as well ... so before I break down & get stuck by TWC for their DVR solution ... any suggestions ? ... Ok to clear the air since it seems I started a small firestorm ... me bad ... I thought SDV stood for standard definition video ... meaning channels 1 to 100 ... so to re-capp ... take the cable ... plug it straight into the tivo channels 1 to 100 work just peachie - MultiStream Card1 was still in at this point / re-arrange the cables so that the cable comes out of the wall & into the back of the TA & then from the TA to the tivo - the tivo sees the TA - does its little channel acquiring spin & then channels 1 to 100 disappear & I get the 6 channels as before ... & as now mentioned ... my tivo has a blue card & a red card in it as well gonna do the power cycle less USB cable of both devices here in a min & see what miracle transpires ...


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## erichcervantez

Make sure that you have the right CableCard. I was able to find out that there were two versions of the Time Warner CableCard (it was "pink" in color), and both my Series 3 and Series 4 HD TIVO's were incompatible with one of them. The other CableCard I had ("blue" in color) worked fine in both TIVO's.

I could even hot-swap them out between each other without having to "pair" them to the TIVO, which Time Warner swears you have to do (but alas didn't appear to be the case).


----------



## FrustratedInGP

Update ... I'm going through all the posts & I'm trying all the suggestions ... correction from my previous post ... TWC installed two Blue Moto Cable Cards ... So far tonight I've unplugged the TA & power cycled the tivo ... no change ... still only two channels in the 1 to 100 range ... nothing from 100 to 743 ... first channel is 744 which I believe is TBS ... still have the TA USB unplugged & have pulled both cable cards & have power cycled the tivo ... did a full setup ... I know have all my channels from 1 to 100 ... this is with the TA in-line, but not connected via USB & both cable cards pulled ... I then plugged in one cable card ... the one goes into slot 1 ... the tivo popped up a message that there has been a Multistream card inserted into slot1 ... I then went to the channel test function & was given the message that there were no channels available ... power cycled the tivo ... after the power cycle ... the tivo again popped up a message saying it had found a cablecard ... went to test channels ... no channels ... went to watch live tv ... had the same few channels as before ... so at this point ... the TA is still not connected via USB ... one cablecard is inserted into slot1 & the coax goes from the wall plate to the TA - from the TA to the tivo ... next I inserted the second cablecard into slot 2 ... the tivo popped up the message there is already a multistream card inserted ... please remove ... I went to the test channel menu ... no channels available ... went to watch live tv ... no lower channels except a few ... power cycled the tivo same result ... next I pulled both cards out & inserted what was card 2 into slot1 ... tivo says it found a multistream cable card ... went to test channels ... no channels found ... went to watch live tv ... no lower channels ... next I power cycled the tivo ... still no lower channels (except the 2 or 3 I've been getting all along) ... leaving the cablecard in slot 1 I plugged back in the TA ... the tivo popped up a message it found a TA ... did the channel spin thing ... no lower channels ... power cycled the tivo ... no lower channels ... next I pulled the cablecard out - but left the TA attached ... naturally tivo wants a full guided setup ... did it ... nutthen ... which is understandable as the TA needs to work with a cablecard ... plugged in the original cablecard back into slot1 ... tivo pops up a message there is a multistream card in slot1 ... goto watch live tv ... spinning channel thingie ... needs another full setup ... oh joy oh bliss ... can't complete guide setup due to connection error to tivo central ... restarting tivo & on this note ... I'm done for now ... I'm eager to hear back anything I've missed or a suggestion I've missed ...


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## Grumock

FrustratedInGP said:


> Update ... I'm going through all the posts & I'm trying all the suggestions ... correction from my previous post ... TWC installed two Blue Moto Cable Cards ... So far tonight I've unplugged the TA & power cycled the tivo ... no change ... still only two channels in the 1 to 100 range ... nothing from 100 to 743 ... first channel is 744 which I believe is TBS ... still have the TA USB unplugged & have pulled both cable cards & have power cycled the tivo ... did a full setup ... I know have all my channels from 1 to 100 ... this is with the TA in-line, but not connected via USB & both cable cards pulled ... I then plugged in one cable card ... the one goes into slot 1 ... the tivo popped up a message that there has been a Multistream card inserted into slot1 ... I then went to the channel test function & was given the message that there were no channels available ... power cycled the tivo ... after the power cycle ... the tivo again popped up a message saying it had found a cablecard ... went to test channels ... no channels ... went to watch live tv ... had the same few channels as before ... so at this point ... the TA is still not connected via USB ... one cablecard is inserted into slot1 & the coax goes from the wall plate to the TA - from the TA to the tivo ... next I inserted the second cablecard into slot 2 ... the tivo popped up the message there is already a multistream card inserted ... please remove ... I went to the test channel menu ... no channels available ... went to watch live tv ... no lower channels except a few ... power cycled the tivo same result ... next I pulled both cards out & inserted what was card 2 into slot1 ... tivo says it found a multistream cable card ... went to test channels ... no channels found ... went to watch live tv ... no lower channels ... next I power cycled the tivo ... still no lower channels (except the 2 or 3 I've been getting all along) ... leaving the cablecard in slot 1 I plugged back in the TA ... the tivo popped up a message it found a TA ... did the channel spin thing ... no lower channels ... power cycled the tivo ... no lower channels ... next I pulled the cablecard out - but left the TA attached ... naturally tivo wants a full guided setup ... did it ... nutthen ... which is understandable as the TA needs to work with a cablecard ... plugged in the original cablecard back into slot1 ... tivo pops up a message there is a multistream card in slot1 ... goto watch live tv ... spinning channel thingie ... needs another full setup ... oh joy oh bliss ... can't complete guide setup due to connection error to tivo central ... restarting tivo & on this note ... I'm done for now ... I'm eager to hear back anything I've missed or a suggestion I've missed ...


put the original card that was in slot one back in.
1) then take a look at the *Conditional access* screen in the cable card menu.
2) should see a few things in there. A line in there will have *CON/EBCP/VAL* & they should say something to the affect of *CON*: YES *EBCP*: YES *VAL*: V 0x0& a nunber or letter.If the Val status has a ? that is the real problem, & the card is not truly authorized. Also lower on the same page you will see where it says *AUTH *& it should have an *S *next to it.
3) When you do all this i would suggest trying it without the tuning adapter in place in the RF loop, just to try & make sure that it is not blocking RF. Which is what it sounds like from your description above.


----------



## dlfl

FrustratedInGP said:


> Update ... I'm going through all the posts & I'm trying all the suggestions ... ........... ... I'm done for now ... I'm eager to hear back anything I've missed or a suggestion I've missed ...


Have you posted your location and cable system? Sorry if I missed that. Experiences by folks in the same system can be very helpful sometimes. Motorola TA's came along later and most TWC systems use Cisco TA's. Two systems I know use Motorolas are in Maine and Dallas/Ft. Worth.

TWC experience and support even with the Cisco TA's, which they have been deploying for two years now, has been very "troublesome". TiVo's are so far out of the mainstream for them, and they have no financial incentive to support them. Eventually, your system will probably get problems such as yours solved -- but when? If 10% or more of their subscribers had TA's you can bet these problems would be given massive attention -- but the actual number is around 0.5%.

You are getting credits for lack of service, right?


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## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Have you posted your location and cable system? Sorry if I missed that. Experiences by folks in the same system can be very helpful sometimes. Motorola TA's came along later and most TWC systems use Cisco TA's. Two systems I know use Motorolas are in Maine and Dallas/Ft. Worth.


There are some areas in the Mid Ohio region that are also using motorola equipment. If I'm not mistaken, which is always possible, some of southern CA & NY have them as well.


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## cwoody222

Channels being moved off of SDV certainly CAN cause problems. Here's what happened with me.

One day I realized I didn't get a channel I did previously. I called to complain. They said they'd send a tech out to "check the signal levels". Not believe that would be any help I escalated the issue to people who knew what they were doing.

They had me write down every channel I was missing. Lo and behold they said, "Oh, we moved each and every one of those channels off of SDV 2 days ago." A few hours later they called me back and said, "We fixed it, please try the channels." and yep, it was fixed.

The TiVo was looking for channels in SDV and couldn't find them. Maybe "channel map" is the wrong term but TiVo does have some sort of "list" that says which type of channel each channel is. If that's wrong, TiVo can't tune.


To the poster with the problem my only advice is continue to harass them, complain to them and escalate the issue to people who know what they're doing. DO not accept the answer of "it's TiVo's fault". It is not. It is theirs. Do not accept No for an answer. Talk to a manager, write letters. (I got great response once I let it known that I wrote a letter to their CEO detailing the situation)

It took me a few weeks but now my unit works flawlessly and the installer who even came here said I taught him a thing or two about TiVo that he didn't learn in any of his TWC training


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## FrustratedInGP

K ... my Tivo is a series 3 HD with a "slight" tweak ... I put a 500hd into a couple of weeks ago when things were working like crap ... oh wait ... they still are !!! ... someone mentioned my location ... Grapevine Texas, Time Warner Cable of North Texas is the supplier to the apt complex we live in ... so the cable charge is built into our rent ... someone asked about the *VAL* & low & behold it's set to the *"?"* value, I wasted time calling TWC tech support when I should have called TWC's NCCC ... kinda hopped that if they sent a "hit" to the cable cards it would wake them up ... no such luck ... I'll call the NCCC before I leave for working in the mid morning ... one other item which has crossed my mind is that I'm starting to wonder if the USB ports on the tivo are toast ??? since the TA was working flawlessly for 3 days 2 months ago & then all these nightmarish problems started ... I'm going to look into seeing if I can get a new motherboard for the tivo ... since ... it's still cheaper then getting a referb series 3 from tivo or a series 4 ... thanks to everyone for their support ... appreciate ya'll


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## cwoody222

FrustratedInGP said:


> K ... my Tivo is a series 3 HD with a "slight" tweak ... I put a 500hd into a couple of weeks ago when things were working like crap ... oh wait ... they still are !!! ... someone mentioned my location ... Grapevine Texas, Time Warner Cable of North Texas is the supplier to the apt complex we live in ... so the cable charge is built into our rent ... someone asked about the *VAL* & low & behold it's set to the *"?"* value, I wasted time calling TWC tech support when I should have called TWC's NCCC ... kinda hopped that if they sent a "hit" to the cable cards it would wake them up ... no such luck ... I'll call the NCCC before I leave for working in the mid morning ... one other item which has crossed my mind is that I'm starting to wonder if the USB ports on the tivo are toast ??? since the TA was working flawlessly for 3 days 2 months ago & then all these nightmarish problems started ... I'm going to look into seeing if I can get a new motherboard for the tivo ... since ... it's still cheaper then getting a referb series 3 from tivo or a series 4 ... thanks to everyone for their support ... appreciate ya'll


I think you're REALLY jumping the gun to think about a new motherboard due to dead USBs on the TiVo.

Read Grumock's post, "If the Val status has a ? that is the real problem, & the card is not truly authorized."

*There's your problem. * It's all at their end. The CARD is not set up properly in their system.

While this is more complicated than sending a "hit" they SHOULD be able to do this with you over the phone (you'll have to read them some numbers) but if they insist on sending a tech demand that you get a TWC employee (not a contractor) and one who has experience and training in CableCARD installs WITH TiVo. And make sure he STAYS until the problem is fixed 100%. Do not let him leave


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## Beernutts

To FrustratedInGP:

I still think it's a signal level problem. Has a TWC tech checked the signal strength coming out of the wall? I'd also check the signal level coming out of the TA. Signal strength of 42 is WAY LOW, and the TA adds 3.5 dB to make it even weaker, that could explain why you get only a few channels with the TA in the RF loop.

That would be my 1st thing to check.


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## Beernutts

lrhorer said:


> There is no "mini Carousel". The channel map is the channel map.





> 'Cute theory. Too bad it's completely wrong.


You sound so sure of yourself, but you are 100% incorrect, and Grumock is correct. The mini carousel lists what channels are switched, and if a channel is in that list, the TA attempts to tune via SDV server, and, if that channel is not in the Mini Carousel, then it attempts to tune based on the static channel map, ie, the VCT (Virtual Channel Table) (which will have dummy values for the SDV channels).


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## FrustratedInGP

So I had some time before I had to goto work this morning & called TWC's NCCC ... got a fantastic tech  & we walked through a couple of tests & in the end we pulled the TA & it looked like things were going to be semi normal, I thanked the tech whom is going to amend the work order I have out for this coming Sunday - new TA & cable cards + the tech is going to be advised to call the NCCC first prior to going the normal routes. With the TA pulled & the multistream cards in, the tivo was displaying the lower channels & a couple of unswitched HD channels, I did notice some pixelation on the lower channels but just chalked it up to tech glitch. Went to work, came home & low & behold half of my lower channels are gone. Power cycled the tivo, got some of the lower channels back, but, the ones which came back were so badly suffering from pixelation they can't be watched. Flipped through a couple of more channels & now all the ones which I lost prior to the power cycle are gone again - ya'll keep in mind that at this point the cablecards are still in the tivo  Pulled the cable cards & did a full retune on the tivo ... all my lower channels are back & appear to be stable & no pixelation on the locals. So ? ... not enough signal ? ... goofy tivo ? I'm so confused at this point ... to re-cap with the cablecards in the tivo ... lower channels come & go & pixelation is rampant ... pull the cards ... lower channels are there, stable & no pixelation  Sunday should be interesting ... I'm going to leave this alone for now ... no cable cards, no TA & see what happens in the next 24 to 48 hours ... sigh ... I really like HD !!!


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## cwoody222

You're going to drive yourself crazy trying to fix this by rebooting and pulling cards, etc. The problem is at their end. Stop trying 

However, if you REALLY want to keep trying (since waiting till Sunday can be frustrating) keep in mind that when you just CH Up and DH Down you have no control over what tuner or CableCARD is being used. That could be why you're getting different results sometimes. Maybe only 1 card is bad.

Instead, go into the CableCARD settings menu to find the Test options. It'll let you test each card independently.

But I'd still just let the tech on Sunday give you 2 new cards, and a new TA. And remember what I said - do not let the tech leave until it's fixed 100&#37;! They CAN do this!


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## SCSIRAID

FrustratedInGP said:


> So I had some time before I had to goto work this morning & called TWC's NCCC ... got a fantastic tech  & we walked through a couple of tests & in the end we pulled the TA & it looked like things were going to be semi normal, I thanked the tech whom is going to amend the work order I have out for this coming Sunday - new TA & cable cards + the tech is going to be advised to call the NCCC first prior to going the normal routes. With the TA pulled & the multistream cards in, the tivo was displaying the lower channels & a couple of unswitched HD channels, I did notice some pixelation on the lower channels but just chalked it up to tech glitch. Went to work, came home & low & behold half of my lower channels are gone. Power cycled the tivo, got some of the lower channels back, but, the ones which came back were so badly suffering from pixelation they can't be watched. Flipped through a couple of more channels & now all the ones which I lost prior to the power cycle are gone again - ya'll keep in mind that at this point the cablecards are still in the tivo  Pulled the cable cards & did a full retune on the tivo ... all my lower channels are back & appear to be stable & no pixelation on the locals. So ? ... not enough signal ? ... goofy tivo ? I'm so confused at this point ... to re-cap with the cablecards in the tivo ... lower channels come & go & pixelation is rampant ... pull the cards ... lower channels are there, stable & no pixelation  Sunday should be interesting ... I'm going to leave this alone for now ... no cable cards, no TA & see what happens in the next 24 to 48 hours ... sigh ... I really like HD !!!


Have you gone into DVR Diags and checked the signal strength and SNR on the macroblocking channels?

With the cablecards removed, you are getting analog for channels below 100. If your cableco does 'digital simulcast' (which most do) then with cablecards in you will be getting the the digital copies of channels below 100 (which will be subject to macroblocking if the signal is crap).


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## kevin120

FrustratedInGP said:


> So I had some time before I had to goto work this morning & called TWC's NCCC ... got a fantastic tech  & we walked through a couple of tests & in the end we pulled the TA & it looked like things were going to be semi normal, I thanked the tech whom is going to amend the work order I have out for this coming Sunday - new TA & cable cards + the tech is going to be advised to call the NCCC first prior to going the normal routes. With the TA pulled & the multistream cards in, the tivo was displaying the lower channels & a couple of unswitched HD channels, I did notice some pixelation on the lower channels but just chalked it up to tech glitch. Went to work, came home & low & behold half of my lower channels are gone. Power cycled the tivo, got some of the lower channels back, but, the ones which came back were so badly suffering from pixelation they can't be watched. Flipped through a couple of more channels & now all the ones which I lost prior to the power cycle are gone again - ya'll keep in mind that at this point the cablecards are still in the tivo  Pulled the cable cards & did a full retune on the tivo ... all my lower channels are back & appear to be stable & no pixelation on the locals. So ? ... not enough signal ? ... goofy tivo ? I'm so confused at this point ... to re-cap with the cablecards in the tivo ... lower channels come & go & pixelation is rampant ... pull the cards ... lower channels are there, stable & no pixelation  Sunday should be interesting ... I'm going to leave this alone for now ... no cable cards, no TA & see what happens in the next 24 to 48 hours ... sigh ... I really like HD !!!


Frustrated in GP you are having SNR problems it looks like your not getting enough signal to your tivo hence the missing channels.

FYI these are the SDV channels in north texas

199 Fox Soccer Plus SD
725 TV ONE HD
726 GALAVISION HD
727 OUTDOOR HD
728 INESTIGATION DISCOVERY HD
729 G4 HD
730 HSN HD
731 WE HD
732 HISTORY INTERNATIONAL HD
733 COOKING CHANNEL HD
734 DIY HD
735 CMT HD
736 CARTOON NETWORK HD
737 NICK HD
738 WEATHER CHANNEL HD
739 HLN HD
740 CNN HD
741 FNC HD
742 FBN HD
743 TruTV HD
744 TBS HD
745 HISTORY HD
746 COMEDY CENTRAL HD
747 MTV HD
748 PALLADIA
749 BET HD
750 VH1 HD
751 LMN HD
752 FOOD NET HD
753 HGTV HD
754 A&E HD
755 HD THEATER 
756 DISCOVERY HD
757 ANIMAL PLANET HD
758 TLC HD
759 TRAVEL CHANNEL HD
760 PLANET GREEN HD
761 SCIENCE CHANNEL HD
762 SyFy HD
763 BRAVO HD
764 BIO HD
765 CNBC HD
766 MSNBC HD
767 SPIKE HD
768 FX HD
769 USA HD
771 NAT GEO HD
772 NAT GEO WILD HD
773 AMC HD
774 HALLMARK MOVIES HD
775 DISNEY HD
776 DISNEY XD HD
777 HALLMARK HD
778 ABC FAMILY HD
779 TCM HD
781 MLB NETWORK HD
782 NBA TV HD
783 ESPN NEWS HD
784 ESPNU HD
786 VS HD
787 FSN HD
788 SPEED HD
789 GOLF CH HD
790 CBS COLLEGE SPORTS HD
791 FOX SOCCER HD
792 FOX SOCCER PLUS HD
793 GOL TV HD
794 BIG TEN HD
795 TENNIS HD
796 ENCORE HD
797 MGM HD
798 ESPN GOAL LINE HD
805 UHD
806 SMITHSONIAN HD
807 MAV TV HD
816 HBO 2 HD
817 HBO COMEDY HD
818 HBO LATINO HD 
819 HBO FAMILY HD 
820 HBO SIGNATURE HD 
821 HBO ZONE HD 
825 CINEMAX HD
826 ACTION MAX HD
831 SHOWTIME 2 HD
832 SHOWTIME SHOWCASE HD
835 STARZ HD
839 STARZ EDGE HD
840 STARZ KIDS AND FAMILY HD
848 THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD
944 GAME HD
957 TEAM HD


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## kevin120

SCSIRAID said:


> Have you gone into DVR Diags and checked the signal strength and SNR on the macroblocking channels?
> 
> With the cablecards removed, you are getting analog for channels below 100. If your cableco does 'digital simulcast' (which most do) then with cablecards in you will be getting the the digital copies of channels below 100 (which will be subject to macroblocking if the signal is crap).


TWC Dallas has digital simulcast implemented. FYI we are a 860MHz system with, 73 analogs, 107 HD, Docsis 3.0


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## pmiranda

My money is on Frustrated getting bad signal on some or many SDV frequencies.
What's really tough to debug (without the tools the techs have) is that if it's just a small group of frequencies, some recordings will be pixelated or outright broken while others are fine at random from day to day, even on the same channel. If you want to do more debug, keep track of the RF frequency in use and signal strength on pixelated vs non-pixelated tunings...you might be able to narrow down which frequencies are bad. Or you can just shotgun it and replace all the cables and splitters. Or you can wait for the truck roll and make them do it. Be sure they test multiple frequencies. They should be able to sweep signal strength on all your frequencies. Don't let them get away with spot checking one or two.
If your TA is ever working, and you reliably can get status from it even when you're having trouble tuning, it's not your USB ports.
One trick to improve signal to noise ratio that TiVo gets is to put a splitter somewhere upstream of the TA and use that to feed the cable input of TiVo instead of the repeater in the TA. But that's just a stopgap...you should have enough signal quality into the TA that it can have something left over to feed TiVo.


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## apsarkis

FrustratedInGP said:


> ... to re-cap with the cablecards in the tivo ... lower channels come & go & pixelation is rampant ... pull the cards ... lower channels are there, stable & no pixelation


One possible explanation is that without the cablecards, the tivo is picking up the analog lower channels, which wouldn't show typical digital pixelization. With cablecards in Tivo, it would map to the digital SD feeds for these channels, which would be a a different, probably much higher frequency. On my TWC (Hudson Valley - NY) feed, they have separate digital SD feeds of all the NY broadcast channels compressed into channel 92.x . Do you have any splitters (particularly older, non- 1GHz splitters) in your cable path?


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## dlfl

I agree with pmiranda's post. The channel frequency is on the same DVR Diagnostics page as Signal Strength and SNR. For SDV channels this frequency may change each time you re-tune the channel. I would suggest keeping a log of:

Channel Frequency Sig. Strength SNR RS Uncorrected

Of course you can only log channels you can actually tune. But you may notice a pattern of Signal Strength (and also SNR, RS Uncorrrected) with different frequencies, particularly on the SDV channels. If you get enough diffferent frequencies logged, a plot of Sig. Strength vs. frequency might be very informative. The RS Uncorrected error counts, especially ones that are growing as you watch them, should correspond to the amount of pixelation you see on a channel.


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## Beernutts

FrustratedInGP said:


> I did notice some pixelation on the lower channels but just chalked it up to tech glitch.


That's a signal level problem.



> Power cycled the tivo, got some of the lower channels back, but, the ones which came back were so badly suffering from pixelation they can't be watched.


That too is a signal level problem



> So ? ... not enough signal


Yep. Have your TWC tech check your signal going into TiVo, and I bet it's too low. He can also check the signal coming into your house, which, if it's OK, then you have a connection problem in your house, and TWC might put the onus on you to correct it, or they'll charge you to correct it.

If the signal is too low coming into your house, then the onus is on them to fix it free, and, honestly, I'd be embarrassed they didn't check this before.

As you stated before, you saw signal level of 42 on one of your channels (using TiVo's diagnostics), which is WAY TOO LOW.


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## Beernutts

dlfl said:


> I agree with pmiranda's post. The channel frequency is on the same DVR Diagnostics page as Signal Strength and SNR. For SDV channels this frequency may change each time you re-tune the channel. I would suggest keeping a log of:
> 
> Channel Frequency Sig. Strength SNR RS Uncorrected
> 
> Of course you can only log channels you can actually tune. But you may notice a pattern of Signal Strength (and also SNR, RS Uncorrrected) with different frequencies, particularly on the SDV channels. If you get enough diffferent frequencies logged, a plot of Sig. Strength vs. frequency might be very informative. The RS Uncorrected error counts, especially ones that are growing as you watch them, should correspond to the amount of pixelation you see on a channel.


His problems no longer have anything to do with SDV, it's happening on any channel, he was just confused what SDV meant.


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## cwoody222

I agree now... sounds like a signal problem coupled with confusion with digital simulcast taking over when the Cards are inserted (confusion the posters end, this is what SHOULD happen).

Depending on how many outlets, splitters, etc. are in place, FrustratedinGP could, if he wanted, re-wire with new cables and see if that fixes it before waiting for Sunday.


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## Static

Bad TA's?

ok, got the tivo premier in May... after days of back and forth with TW it was up and running. All was fine for a few weeks... then the TA stopped working. I had to call and they reset it and it was working again. This became a monthly occurrence. SO finally, i got fed up.. called them, and the person said I could just go swap the Tuning adapter. I did... came home hooked it up, called them got it working

after about 4 days, it started randomly just stopping working.. it would say trying the channel again.. then it would work. only sometimes. 
fed up i called AGAIN. They said they would send a guy out. The tech came checked all the lines, replaced a connector, and tested signals. He said I have a PERFECT signal.. better than most any other he has seen. Great....

well the problem STILL HAPPENS! I am currently waiting for my 3RD TA.. but.. they are out of the...of course. Its driving me nuts! it will work fine.. the most recent thing is this:

tune to a channel.. it works for 3 seconds, then its gone and says press select to try again. I hit select.. it works.. for 3 SECONDS. this repeats over and over. Occasionally I can change a few channels back and forth and it will work again. But most of the time, i have to unplug and restart the TA

I have the Cable split.. one cable going to the TA, the other to the Tivo and then the USB connecting them. My signals on channels are never below 90.

Please help.. I am ready to dump tivo and go back to the crappy TW DVR because it has NO issues like this. My son can watch any channel just fine.


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## Stone1555

Is this the only usb device? When it's not working what does it say under the diagnostic page UDCP?


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## Static

Yes, its the only USB. I have the Tivo hard wired (plugged) into the router.
and UDCP for which... the TA or the Tivo? 

Thanks!


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## Stone1555

The TA


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## Static

ok, TYPICAL TW...

I have been waiting for the new TA... and today.. on the porch, there is a box. it says SAMSUNG! I was so excited! I thought only Cisco and Moto made them... I tear open the box.. and inside... is a cisco 1520... oh. thanks.. theres no power cord.. but they did give me a network cord!! yay? WTH do I need that for! lol


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## Static

ok it says:

UDCP Connected
Init Time: 9/[email protected]:46:23
Authorized: yes
OUI/HwVer: 0x0011d9/0x00746
SwVer: 14.5-01-3-746
Hostid: 08C0BC1A74
SESSION INFO LTS0
RequestTime: 9/[email protected]:59:58
Chan/Src/CA: 1013/1613/yes
LastErr: ChanNotAvail

then repeats the error for chan 1019/0/Yes


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## Stone1555

Okay can u provide the Dbmv values

RDC
TUNER
FDC 

off the status and summary page


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## cwoody222

Well, I can join the party with a problem now. I mysteriously lost ONE channel (AMC HD) which was SDV and supposedly still is. It won't tune. It's the only problem channel I found. It used to work just fine.

I've done the required reboots; nothing.

My gut tells me it's what happened last time which is they moved channels OFF of SDV but didn't update their map which controls where TiVo looks for channels.

Of course the phone operator at the CableCARD desk could do nothing other than suggest a reboot and send a tech. *sigh*

Guess I'll be breaking out my contact list of managers and raising some hell again. There's no way I'm wasting my time having some idiot tech come out here. It makes NO sense that a hardware fail or issue at my residence would affect ONE channel. Much more likely the problem is on their end. Just like last time.


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## Static

Hey Stone.. I hooked up the new box shortly after posting that info... I havent had a single issue since last friday. Knock on wood and keep fingers crossed. third box is a charm?

lol


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## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> Well, I can join the party with a problem now. I mysteriously lost ONE channel (AMC HD) which was SDV and supposedly still is. It won't tune. It's the only problem channel I found. It used to work just fine.
> 
> I've done the required reboots; nothing.
> 
> My gut tells me it's what happened last time which is they moved channels OFF of SDV but didn't update their map which controls where TiVo looks for channels.
> 
> Of course the phone operator at the CableCARD desk could do nothing other than suggest a reboot and send a tech. *sigh*
> 
> Guess I'll be breaking out my contact list of managers and raising some hell again. There's no way I'm wasting my time having some idiot tech come out here. It makes NO sense that a hardware fail or issue at my residence would affect ONE channel. Much more likely the problem is on their end. Just like last time.


quick question:

1) when u turn to it & go into the UDCP screen on the TA are you showing in the LTS0 or LTS1 the Chan/SRC/CA showing one of them on that channel, & if so are you showing it having a src?


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## cwoody222

Grumock said:


> quick question:
> 
> 1) when u turn to it & go into the UDCP screen on the TA are you showing in the LTS0 or LTS1 the Chan/SRC/CA showing one of them on that channel, & if so are you showing it having a src?


Interesting you should ask. Last night I was showing 0 for SRC and was getting the on-screen message when I tried to tune to the channel that said "This channel is temporarily unavailable" which is what it said during my last round of problems.

For a short time today, after a full reboot of everything I was NOT getting that message but instead just getting a black screen. During that time I WAS showing a SRC for that channel.

Shortly after, the message returned as did the 0 SRC value.

Also, when the SRC is 0 if I try to tune to that channel in the CableCARD Testing menus I cannot even type that number - it automatically jumps me to the next number.

When I was getting a value in the SRC I was able to attempt to tune to the channel in the CableCARD Testing but the channel was just a black screen.

Both CableCARDs work fine for every other channel. Hence why I disagree with them needing to bring me out new CableCARDs tomorrow.

I really hate who their ONLY solution after a reboot doesn't work is, "Well, I'll send a tech with new hardware!"


----------



## Grumock

I don't recall. Was this the same channel you had an issue with before?


----------



## cwoody222

Grumock said:


> I don't recall. Was this the same channel you had an issue with before?


No, this is not the same channel.

Previously I got the "This channel is temporarily unavailable" message on 11 channels. They deteremined that those 11 channels were recently moved off SDV. Something on their end and boom, it was fixed.

The tech last night told me this channel is still on SDV but if it were moved recently, he wouldn't know.

I'm going to ask them to force a refresh of the channel map tonight in case the TA reboot didn't - for some reason - get a fresh one. But that still won't help if it's wrong on their end (which was the case last time).


----------



## cwoody222

Grumock - so what does a SRC value of 0 tell you?


----------



## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> Grumock - so what does a SRC value of 0 tell you?


not getting the source for the channel. Normally I would think that means it has been moved from the SDV map or mini carousel. The black screen makes me think that the channel is not there as well.


----------



## cwoody222

cwoody222 said:


> Well, I can join the party with a problem now. I mysteriously lost ONE channel (AMC HD) which was SDV and supposedly still is. It won't tune. It's the only problem channel I found. It used to work just fine.
> 
> I've done the required reboots; nothing.
> 
> My gut tells me it's what happened last time which is they moved channels OFF of SDV but didn't update their map which controls where TiVo looks for channels.
> 
> Of course the phone operator at the CableCARD desk could do nothing other than suggest a reboot and send a tech. *sigh*
> 
> Guess I'll be breaking out my contact list of managers and raising some hell again. There's no way I'm wasting my time having some idiot tech come out here. It makes NO sense that a hardware fail or issue at my residence would affect ONE channel. Much more likely the problem is on their end. Just like last time.


They fixed this today by "doing something" (their quote LOL) on their end and it did NOT require a truck roll as they suspected last night.

Another win! (I guess)


----------



## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> They fixed this today by "doing something" (their quote LOL) on their end and it did NOT require a truck roll as they suspected last night.
> 
> Another win! (I guess)


Probably just had to refresh something on the Head End (DNCS) side i would imagine.


----------



## FrustratedInGP

Update ... I canceled my Sunday apt & re-scheduled it for tonight ... tech came in, explained to me it's never going to work, removed both cablecards, connected his JDSU meter, says signal comming into the prem is fine, which actually just makes me realize he never tested with the TA in-line, anyway, made a call to whom ever the techs call, they advised is should be working, I should note at this point that when the tech & I were first chatting, I told him, that I was told by TWC NCCC to have the tech call them first, since the tech couldn't seem to get the answer he need from the first call, he then called the NCCC, they told him there was some sort of provisioning error & that they couldn't fix it ... thanks for calling, tech then had to call back into his normal resource center they call, he called back in, explained what he was told by the NCCC about the provisioning error, which they couldn't see. Tech at this point was somewhat frustrated & figured he need to speak to his manager, stepped outside ... I then decided to call the NCCC myself, explained there was a twc tech on-site, they told me they couldn't talk to me (???) & that the tech had to call them ... I asked for some slack since this was a on-going issue for 2& half months now ... they said "sorry" ... have the tech call back ... I was polite & said ok ... then me being braininess ... decided todo a full re-tune ... tech stepped back in ... tivo is re-tuning ... explained to the tech about the re-tune ... tech then asked i was going to be back in tomorrow night ... I said sure ... so the tech + manager are supposed to be in tomorrow night ... meanwhile ... the tivo is re-tuning ... this is with one of the cablecards, the same TA, someone asked about if I have splitters etc ... the only splitter which I can think of would be somewhere in the attic of the apt I'm in ... I'm renting & TWC are the bulk supplier to this apt complex & the cable is part of my rent ... the feed for the TA is coming out of the wall into the TA via a new "monster" coax cable, out of the TA via another new "monster" coax cable & into the tivo ... no splitters ... the only other cable outlet in the apt is in our bedroom which I've run another "monster" coax cable (25ft) back into our 2nd bedroom & into a NetGear Cable modem which is our broadband connection to the world ... of the NetGear modem/router I've connected via Cat5 a Cisco Firewall/Router which my PC, my wife's iMac & my PowerBook all plug up for internet access ... which in "theory" has nothing to do with anything ... so the tivo has re-tuned & surprise, surprise ... I got's nothen ... no lower channels ... no mid channels ... what the !!! ... ah the joy of technology ... just to let ya'll know ... for two weeks now, been watching tv sans cablecards & TA ... so I know the tivo can tune the normal 2 to 100 channel range ...


----------



## cwoody222

So you had ANOTHER tech out and you let him leave AGAIN without getting it working?!

DO NOT LET THEM LEAVE UNTIL THEY GET IT WORKING! IT IS POSSIBLE!

And stop doing things like a "retune" when they're outside. LET THEM DO WHAT THEY WANT TO DO. But INSIST they GET IT WORKING.

You are being your own worst enemy here. Sorry.

Have you spoke to any management locally? That can go a LONG way. CALMLY explain to them your experiences and frustration.

I didn't put up with ONE botched install. I don't understand why you're putting up with two and a half months of it!


----------



## cwoody222

Your cable is part of your rent. Do you know what channels you're SUPPOSED to get? Are you SURE it includes digital cable, HD, etc?

Is your account set up to properly bill you for things like CableCARDs which I'm sure are not covered by the apt subscription.


----------



## SCSIRAID

FrustratedInGP said:


> Update ... I canceled my Sunday apt & re-scheduled it for tonight ... tech came in, explained to me it's never going to work, removed both cablecards, connected his JDSU meter, says signal comming into the prem is fine, which actually just makes me realize he never tested with the TA in-line, anyway, made a call to whom ever the techs call, they advised is should be working, I should note at this point that when the tech & I were first chatting, I told him, that I was told by TWC NCCC to have the tech call them first, since the tech couldn't seem to get the answer he need from the first call, he then called the NCCC, they told him there was some sort of provisioning error & that they couldn't fix it ... thanks for calling, tech then had to call back into his normal resource center they call, he called back in, explained what he was told by the NCCC about the provisioning error, which they couldn't see. Tech at this point was somewhat frustrated & figured he need to speak to his manager, stepped outside ... I then decided to call the NCCC myself, explained there was a twc tech on-site, they told me they couldn't talk to me (???) & that the tech had to call them ... I asked for some slack since this was a on-going issue for 2& half months now ... they said "sorry" ... have the tech call back ... I was polite & said ok ... then me being braininess ... decided todo a full re-tune ... tech stepped back in ... tivo is re-tuning ... explained to the tech about the re-tune ... tech then asked i was going to be back in tomorrow night ... I said sure ... so the tech + manager are supposed to be in tomorrow night ... meanwhile ... the tivo is re-tuning ... this is with one of the cablecards, the same TA, someone asked about if I have splitters etc ... the only splitter which I can think of would be somewhere in the attic of the apt I'm in ... I'm renting & TWC are the bulk supplier to this apt complex & the cable is part of my rent ... the feed for the TA is coming out of the wall into the TA via a new "monster" coax cable, out of the TA via another new "monster" coax cable & into the tivo ... no splitters ... the only other cable outlet in the apt is in our bedroom which I've run another "monster" coax cable (25ft) back into our 2nd bedroom & into a NetGear Cable modem which is our broadband connection to the world ... of the NetGear modem/router I've connected via Cat5 a Cisco Firewall/Router which my PC, my wife's iMac & my PowerBook all plug up for internet access ... which in "theory" has nothing to do with anything ... so the tivo has re-tuned & surprise, surprise ... I got's nothen ... no lower channels ... no mid channels ... what the !!! ... ah the joy of technology ... just to let ya'll know ... for two weeks now, been watching tv sans cablecards & TA ... so I know the tivo can tune the normal 2 to 100 channel range ...


I would suggest the following.... I assume you still have the cablecard installed...

1) Hook the TiVo straight to the wall behind the unit for RF... no splitters no passthru no TA USB.
2) power cycle the TiVo and let it boot up completely past the 'acquiring channels' screen.
3) Go to live tv and attempt to tune two of your _local_ HD channels and note and report what messages you get when you do this.
4) if you hit live tv it should cycle back and forth between those two channels and you should see their info in the title banner
5) Go into DVR Diags and take a picture of all the screens and post them here
6) Go into the cablecard CA screens and check its state. Here is a link to TiVo's doc on those screens. check 'em all

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/137


----------



## Stone1555

FrustratedInGP said:


> Update ... I canceled my Sunday apt & re-scheduled it for tonight ... tech came in, explained to me it's never going to work, removed both cablecards, connected his JDSU meter, says signal comming into the prem is fine, which actually just makes me realize he never tested with the TA in-line, anyway, made a call to whom ever the techs call, they advised is should be working, I should note at this point that when the tech & I were first chatting, I told him, that I was told by TWC NCCC to have the tech call them first, since the tech couldn't seem to get the answer he need from the first call, he then called the NCCC, they told him there was some sort of provisioning error & that they couldn't fix it ... thanks for calling, tech then had to call back into his normal resource center they call, he called back in, explained what he was told by the NCCC about the provisioning error, which they couldn't see. Tech at this point was somewhat frustrated & figured he need to speak to his manager, stepped outside ... I then decided to call the NCCC myself, explained there was a twc tech on-site, they told me they couldn't talk to me (???) & that the tech had to call them ... I asked for some slack since this was a on-going issue for 2& half months now ... they said "sorry" ... have the tech call back ... I was polite & said ok ... then me being braininess ... decided todo a full re-tune ... tech stepped back in ... tivo is re-tuning ... explained to the tech about the re-tune ... tech then asked i was going to be back in tomorrow night ... I said sure ... so the tech + manager are supposed to be in tomorrow night ... meanwhile ... the tivo is re-tuning ... this is with one of the cablecards, the same TA, someone asked about if I have splitters etc ... the only splitter which I can think of would be somewhere in the attic of the apt I'm in ... I'm renting & TWC are the bulk supplier to this apt complex & the cable is part of my rent ... the feed for the TA is coming out of the wall into the TA via a new "monster" coax cable, out of the TA via another new "monster" coax cable & into the tivo ... no splitters ... the only other cable outlet in the apt is in our bedroom which I've run another "monster" coax cable (25ft) back into our 2nd bedroom & into a NetGear Cable modem which is our broadband connection to the world ... of the NetGear modem/router I've connected via Cat5 a Cisco Firewall/Router which my PC, my wife's iMac & my PowerBook all plug up for internet access ... which in "theory" has nothing to do with anything ... so the tivo has re-tuned & surprise, surprise ... I got's nothen ... no lower channels ... no mid channels ... what the !!! ... ah the joy of technology ... just to let ya'll know ... for two weeks now, been watching tv sans cablecards & TA ... so I know the tivo can tune the normal 2 to 100 channel range ...


Any update on this?


----------



## dcstager

I'm getting more and more missed recordings after months of flawless operation. Maybe it's the new fall season and more people are watching TV whereas in July and August, not much was on and so this is affecting the switched digital video servers at the Time Warner end. Tivo really needs to implement a workaround that re-tunes SDV channels to make sure so many scheduled recordings are not missed. The whole idea of the Tivo is to reliably record your shows and on SDV systems like Time Warner it no longer does.


----------



## cwoody222

dcstager said:


> I'm getting more and more missed recordings after months of flawless operation. Maybe it's the new fall season and more people are watching TV whereas in July and August, not much was on and so this is affecting the switched digital video servers at the Time Warner end. Tivo really needs to implement a workaround that re-tunes SDV channels to make sure so many scheduled recordings are not missed. The whole idea of the Tivo is to reliably record your shows and on SDV systems like Time Warner it no longer does.


TiVo DOES re-tune at the start of every recording even if it's on the same channel already.

So if you're missing recordings, that's not the reason.


----------



## SCSIRAID

cwoody222 said:


> TiVo DOES re-tune at the start of every recording even if it's on the same channel already.
> 
> So if you're missing recordings, that's not the reason.


He is talking about doing a retune in the case of a tune failure. The failure mode being seen is that a tune fails to complete and you get a black screen. You can go into DVR diags when this happens and see Program Lock = No. At this point your recording is toast. TiVo does no recovery in this case and you miss your recording. Ive seen it quite a few times. All TiVo would have to do to deal with this is detect the situation where the tune does not result in program lock = yes within a reasonable time and then execute a retune.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> I'm getting more and more missed recordings after months of flawless operation. Maybe it's the new fall season and more people are watching TV whereas in July and August, not much was on and so this is affecting the switched digital video servers at the Time Warner end. Tivo really needs to implement a workaround that re-tunes SDV channels to make sure so many scheduled recordings are not missed. The whole idea of the Tivo is to reliably record your shows and on SDV systems like Time Warner it no longer does.


The new fall shows are on broadcast TV which should actually lighten the load on SDV.... I had a 'miss' just the other day.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> I'm getting more and more missed recordings after months of flawless operation. Maybe it's the new fall season and more people are watching TV whereas in July and August, not much was on and so this is affecting the switched digital video servers at the Time Warner end. Tivo really needs to implement a workaround that re-tunes SDV channels to make sure so many scheduled recordings are not missed. The whole idea of the Tivo is to reliably record your shows and on SDV systems like Time Warner it no longer does.





cwoody222 said:


> TiVo DOES re-tune at the start of every recording even if it's on the same channel already.
> 
> So if you're missing recordings, that's not the reason.


Yes TiVo does re-tune a channel at the start (and at the end) of a recording. Unfortunately, if the channel is SDV, it can fail that re-tune, just like it can fail an initial tuning to any SDV channel. Thus you can be sitting there with channel ### already tuned and when TiVo starts a recording on that same channel, it can fail the re-tune and you get no recording.

What dcstager is talking about is tuning *re-tries*, i.e., TiVo would detect it has failed to tune (or re-tune) a channel, and retry tuning. DVR Diagnostics for a channel that has failed to tune show "Program Lock: No", so obviously the TiVo has the information right at hand to know it hasn't made a successful tune of the channel.

TiVo recently has taken the public position that SDV tuning failures are purely the problem of the Cable Cos and their TA devices (see **this post**). This has come around to bite them in the rear in their controversy with the cable operators in regard to FCC Proceedings #79-80 (**here**). Just look at the recent NCTA and TiVo filings. TiVo has blamed the cable operators (correctly I think) for numerous problems with TA's but the operators are throwing TiVo's own recent statements that there are no know issues with TA's back in their face. Note that TiVo's TA Troubleshooting web page (**here**) has recently changed its wording so the "no known issues" statement is no longer there. A year ago, this same web page gave the work-around for SDV tuning failures, i.e., channel-up/channel-down for a manual retune (which doesn't help for scheduled recordings, of course). The wording on that page has changed (at least) twice since then.

EDIT: SCSIRAID's post #905 came in while I was composing this post, so we cross-posted. No disagreement, however, I think.


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## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> EDIT: SCSIRAID's post #905 came in while I was composing this post, so we cross-posted. No disagreement, however, I think.


Absolutely agree... Not enough info to say whose problem this really is... but... its interesting that Im not seeing this complaint from Moto systems.

However, reguardless of whose problem it is... TiVo could easily work around it and improve TIVO CUSTOMER satisfaction... Just pointing to the cableco doesnt cut it with me. I can only hope that they are acting as an advocate for their own customers to get this issue fixed.... either by working with Cisco to fix it or by including their own workaround.


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## dcstager

SCSIRAID and dlfl have summarized the problem I'm complaining about correctly. Tivo could and should implement a fix because the problem undercuts the primary appeal of Tivo, i.e., set it and forget it. I'm getting ready to cut the cable cord and just go with over the air and Internet purchases to see the shows. Now that Austin has Clear (WiMAX internet) I can dump cable completely. The TW people in Austin are already doing everything possible. As you say, Tivo could fix this even if they don't have to. This is the last bug to be swatted and then they can move on to newer and better machines and leave the existing customer base with a reliable product. I can get the next generation Tivo if I want the new bells and whistles.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> This is the last bug to be swatted and then they can move on to newer and better machines and leave the existing customer base with a reliable product. .


Well.... there is one more bug in need of swatting.... Thats the 'no suggestions with a TA attached' bug. My S3 and THD are both suffering from it. My Premiere is recording suggestions just fine. The Premiere also suffers from the tune fail issue by the way.


----------



## cwoody222

Maybe I'm just lucky (and I hope I don't jinx myself) but since getting my first CableCards and TA in June the only problems I've had are:

- when the problem is at TW's end with something provisioned wrong with my cards or something they've messed up with the SDV "map" for TiVo's. Both times were fixed in a day (due to me not putting up with crap!  ) and I missed a total of 2 shows.

- 1 channel (FX) would routinely "freeze" when coming and or out of commercials and never recover. That problem seems to have fixed itself as it hasn't happened in months now.

Like I said, maybe I'm lucky or maybe it's just because I pressed and pressed to MAKE them fix things and get it working right but my SDV & TA setup is fairly reliable. More reliable than my OTA antenna was (it was only a small indoor one... but I was OTA for 3+ years so it wasn't that bad).

Other than when TW did not have my account provisioned properly has my TiVo ever missed a channel change due to the TA.

I don't want to sound like a shill for TiVo or TW and I I fully believe things are FAR from perfect with installs and tech support but the hardware & software CAN work.

PS I have a Series3 bought the first month they came out. So, "old" hardware.

PPS I don't use Suggestions. Never had. So I don't know about that.


----------



## dcstager

SCSIRAID said:


> Well.... there is one more bug in need of swatting.... Thats the 'no suggestions with a TA attached' bug. My S3 and THD are both suffering from it. My Premiere is recording suggestions just fine. The Premiere also suffers from the tune fail issue by the way.


The suggestions recording bug truly is out of Tivo's hands. The cable operator sets the flag that blocks speculative recordings. That's part of the SDV software. How could Tivo "fix" this if they wanted to? You accurately described how to fix the tune fail issue and you successfully fixed the picture break up bug with your expert troubleshooting.

If TivoJerry is out there -- lobby the Tivo masters to address the serious and crippling tune fail issue -- even if it's not Tivo's fault. More and more operators are going to SDV and Tivo must act in spite of it being someone else's problem. The fix is harmless even if the cable operators later figure it all out.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> The suggestions recording bug truly is out of Tivo's hands. The cable operator sets the flag that blocks speculative recordings. That's part of the SDV software. How could Tivo "fix" this if they wanted to? You accurately described how to fix the tune fail issue and you successfully fixed the picture break up bug with your expert troubleshooting.


Not true in this case. TWC Carolinas does not block speculative recordings as that would impact their DVR also. I went all thru that with TWC Engineering while working with them on the pixelation issue. To back that up further, note my statement that My S3 and THD with TA are recording zero suggestions... and my Premiere with TA is recording hundreds of suggestions.... If suggestions were being blocked by TWC SDV policy... then Premiere wouldnt record any either.

Adding more evidence, check the 'Find Programs' / 'TiVo suggestions' page and you will find zero suggestions being queued up for recording. If the issue were blocked tunes, you should expect to still see suggestions queued up but ultimately failing to record.

I find the evidence overwhelming that this is a TiVo SW problem.

Also... note Jerry's post on the subject...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8156580#post8156580


----------



## dlfl

My TA did not get it's authorization renewed (the "Sub Expires" date in the third screen of the "Power Key" section of TA Diagnostics) so, it started the 8-blink dance (and I lost all SDV channels) at the exact time predicted by Sub Expires (10:40 pm Eastern) tonight.

I called TWC SW Ohio support and explained what was happening to the (somewhat dumbfounded) rep, who said she was going to have to transfer me to "Customer Service" since "they handle TiVo stuff" (yet another new wrinkle in their support facade -- never heard that one before).

But, I asked her if she had a "Screen 07" on her computer. At first she didn't know what I meant but then she found it. I asked her to hit the Enter key and she did -- voila! My Sub Expires date jumped 30 days ahead, the TA light went steady -- all fixed as quick as that! BTW, the name she knows that screen by is the "Customer Balancing" screen.

Forum member grumock is who I remember telling us about "Screen 07" and I had tried this once before but the rep in that case didn't get it. But it worked this time, so thanks, grumock!

I had gone 3 months with the Sub Expires date getting updated once a week but starting about 3 weeks ago the automatic hits they were sending stopped. I asked the rep to send a message to the techies that I wasn't getting the hits anymore. Actually if it could be this easy every time, I don't mind all that much doing it once a month.


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## Grumock

Thanks Del! I guess this means I'm not always making it up as I go along LOL.


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## pL86

The SDV channels in NYC have been macroblocking and dropping audio since Friday night (October 8). It only occurs during the primetime evening hours, starting around 7 pm. The SDV channels are otherwise fine during the day or overnight. I did some searching and found some similar posts in the TWC Carolinas thread from over a year ago. Apparently, the conclusion was that it was related to some MPEG issues? Was that ever fixed? Can we in NYC expect to deal with this for several months before someone figures it out?


----------



## Grumock

pL86 said:


> The SDV channels in NYC have been macroblocking and dropping audio since Friday night (October 8). It only occurs during the primetime evening hours, starting around 7 pm. The SDV channels are otherwise fine during the day or overnight. I did some searching and found some similar posts in the TWC Carolinas thread from over a year ago. Apparently, the conclusion was that it was related to some MPEG issues? Was that ever fixed? Can we in NYC expect to deal with this for several months before someone figures it out?


QUICK QUESTION: What type of tuning adapter are you using there? Cisco STA1520 or Motorola MTR700?


----------



## SCSIRAID

pL86 said:


> The SDV channels in NYC have been macroblocking and dropping audio since Friday night (October 8). It only occurs during the primetime evening hours, starting around 7 pm. The SDV channels are otherwise fine during the day or overnight. I did some searching and found some similar posts in the TWC Carolinas thread from over a year ago. Apparently, the conclusion was that it was related to some MPEG issues? Was that ever fixed? Can we in NYC expect to deal with this for several months before someone figures it out?


Yes... It was a TiVo SW problem and is fixed in 11.0h.


----------



## pL86

Grumock said:


> QUICK QUESTION: What type of tuning adapter are you using there? Cisco STA1520 or Motorola MTR700?


Cisco 1520.



SCSIRAID said:


> Yes... It was a TiVo SW problem and is fixed in 11.0h.


Strange because I have the latest software but the problem just started for me (and others based on some responses in the TWC NYC thread on avsforums).

*Update:* A TWC NYC viewer with a company DVR and STB says on avsforums that he's also having the same problem. So it appears that this incidence of pixellation isn't being caused by Tivo or the tuning adapter.


----------



## SCSIRAID

pL86 said:


> Cisco 1520.
> 
> Strange because I have the latest software but the problem just started for me (and others based on some responses in the TWC NYC thread on avsforums).


What do you see in DVR Diags when you see the macroblocking? Is RS Uncorrected incrementing? What signal strength and SNR is indicated in both TiVo DVR Diags and the TA Diags?


----------



## pL86

SCSIRAID said:


> What do you see in DVR Diags when you see the macroblocking? Is RS Uncorrected incrementing? What signal strength and SNR is indicated in both TiVo DVR Diags and the TA Diags?


I'll check tonight when I assume it will happen again. I did glance at the menu briefly yesterday night and I think the RS Uncorrected value wasn't going up at all. Nor did my signal strength or SNR seem out of whack at all.


----------



## Grumock

pL86 said:


> I'll check tonight when I assume it will happen again. I did glance at the menu briefly yesterday night and I think the RS Uncorrected value wasn't going up at all. Nor did my signal strength or SNR seem out of whack at all.


only at night & only SDV channels?


----------



## pL86

Grumock said:


> only at night & only SDV channels?


Yes. The linear channels are never affected but ALL the SDV channels macroblock simultaneously. It starts around 7 pm, continues until 11 or midnight and then it clears up until primetime the next day. I've been tuned to an SDV channel for the last hour and it's been perfect. All the other SDV channels are fine right now but they start pixellating like clockwork around 7 pm. That's been the pattern the last two days.


----------



## cwoody222

Anyone in the Northeast (with MSG Network) having problems with HD hockey coverage?

If so, can you PM me?

NEVERMIND: Problem solved.


----------



## SCSIRAID

I heard thru the grapevine that TWC Raleigh TA's will be getting an update on Thursday.....


----------



## Grumock

SCSIRAID said:


> I heard thru the grapevine that TWC Raleigh TA's will be getting an update on Thursday.....


is that going to be the 1202 FW?


----------



## SCSIRAID

Grumock said:


> is that going to be the 1202 FW?


The grape didnt go into that level of detail... ;>) but I would imagine that it will be 1202. We will find out...


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> The grape didnt go into that level of detail... ;>) but I would imagine that it will be 1202. We will find out...


Is 1202 going to eliiminate the need for periodic re-authorization signals (i.e., updating the Sub Expires date, thus preventing the 8-blink outage)? I've heard grape both ways on this one.

Next question is when TWC SW Ohio gets around to this update -- never mind that's imponderable.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Is 1202 going to eliiminate the need for periodic re-authorization signals (i.e., updating the Sub Expires date, thus preventing the 8-blink outage)? I've heard grape both ways on this one.
> 
> Next question is when TWC SW Ohio gets around to this update -- never mind that's imponderable.


Your Luck? I am thinking next year. Sry u do have the 1001 though right?


----------



## SCSIRAID

Grumock said:


> is that going to be the 1202 FW?


Grape was right... The downstairs TA shows that it rebooted at 1:26 am and now has .1202 code. Ill have to check the upstairs two later. Whether this will make a difference remains to be seen. Ive had two lost recordings due to the tune failure issue in the last two days.


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## FrustratedInGP

K ... so a third techie showed up from TWC ... he's been @ the prem before ... nice enough dude ... but the poor guy after being here almost 20mins felt like a deer in the headlights ... so let me back up a min ... I can't remember were I left of on my previous post, so let's just say, that prior to this techie showing up, I was still down, no HD & with everything disconnected, I at least was able to watch SD channels. The previous techie had pulled out the two Cable Cards, swapped the external adapter, tried to re-initialize one of the cable cards, but could still not get anything working as far as high & low channels, he couldn't swap the cable card out (again) because he didn't have any on his truck, he did tell me that he was going to come back the next day with a card ... well ... three days past, he didn't call & he didn't come back, so I called TWC again & requested a tech to come on-site & replace the cable card, since at this point, I had nothing to loose. Hence, this techie showed up, with another cable card, initialized the card, the tuning adapter & for at least a solid 20mins, it was the same, no lower channels (1 to 100) & some spotting HD channels, he started testing with his meter the signal coming out of the wall & everything looked like is should be screaming at a 100mph, but alas, nothing. Then the weirdest thing happened, he disconnected the cable @ the TIVO, the RF in-put lead, waited I'd say about 30seconds & then all of a sudden, the all the channels came back. I have all my lower channels now, all my upper channels now & it's been working perfectly for two weeks now ... I can't explain it ... all I know it took no less then 4 tuning cards & three external Motorola adapter modems to get it all back together were it was before this nightmare started. I don't have anything definitive to point at ... nothing in the "aha" sense, as mentioned, the tech did swap the cable card & the tech before him swapped out the modem adapter & I swapped out all the old coax, the barrel connector at the old wall plate. But, as mentioned ... it's all working ... perfectly ... two weeks ... good luck to anyone else whom maybe going through this ... but ... all I can say I guess is have TWC keep swapping cablecards & modems till I guess a cablecard & modem agree to finally work together & the last step, disconnect the input @ the TIVO for at least 30sec's & let the TIVO reset what ever it resets internally when the RF input is connected cause that what it seems like was the missing puzzle piece in my case. Night ya'll ...


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## cwoody222

I still don't think all these CC's and TA's are really bad hardware. I think more likely it's that the techs don't know HOW to install them and their first thought is "Well, I did everything right so the hardware MUST be bad".


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## Beernutts

FrustratedInGP said:


> K ... so a third techie showed up from TWC ... he's been @ the prem before ... nice enough dude ... but the poor guy after being here almost 20mins felt like a deer in the headlights ... so let me back up a min ... I can't remember were I left of on my previous post, so let's just say, that prior to this techie showing up, I was still down, no HD & with everything disconnected, I at least was able to watch SD channels. The previous techie had pulled out the two Cable Cards, swapped the external adapter, tried to re-initialize one of the cable cards, but could still not get anything working as far as high & low channels, he couldn't swap the cable card out (again) because he didn't have any on his truck, he did tell me that he was going to come back the next day with a card ... well ... three days past, he didn't call & he didn't come back, so I called TWC again & requested a tech to come on-site & replace the cable card, since at this point, I had nothing to loose. Hence, this techie showed up, with another cable card, initialized the card, the tuning adapter & for at least a solid 20mins, it was the same, no lower channels (1 to 100) & some spotting HD channels, he started testing with his meter the signal coming out of the wall & everything looked like is should be screaming at a 100mph, but alas, nothing. Then the weirdest thing happened, he disconnected the cable @ the TIVO, the RF in-put lead, waited I'd say about 30seconds & then all of a sudden, the all the channels came back. I have all my lower channels now, all my upper channels now & it's been working perfectly for two weeks now ... I can't explain it ... all I know it took no less then 4 tuning cards & three external Motorola adapter modems to get it all back together were it was before this nightmare started. I don't have anything definitive to point at ... nothing in the "aha" sense, as mentioned, the tech did swap the cable card & the tech before him swapped out the modem adapter & I swapped out all the old coax, the barrel connector at the old wall plate. But, as mentioned ... it's all working ... perfectly ... two weeks ... good luck to anyone else whom maybe going through this ... but ... all I can say I guess is have TWC keep swapping cablecards & modems till I guess a cablecard & modem agree to finally work together & the last step, disconnect the input @ the TIVO for at least 30sec's & let the TIVO reset what ever it resets internally when the RF input is connected cause that what it seems like was the missing puzzle piece in my case. Night ya'll ...


Be wary of this type of achievement. It sounds to me like there my be a loose connection inside your TiVo, and when he disconnected the RF or re-connected it, he "jiggled" it back to working. Everything you pointed at in your previous posts said bad signal. Well, the signal is fine getting to your TiVo, so, there must have been something not quite working right when the signal gets routed once inside TiVo.

That's my suspicion.


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## Velvetme

I just got my tuning adapter after 7* appointments (6 missed, one without the hardware)

Suggestion for future. Try it yourself/ unplug/replug/reboot until menus indicate it might be functional. 
Card status locked
Authenticated with packets
Etc. 

Pressed live tv twice and channel up, then down, and poof. 

This came over the support line for brighthouse which is a TWC franchise, and it did work on the first card and the first TA


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## SCSIRAID

All three of my TA's rebooted this evening. They are still on .1202 SW so Im not sure what may be up... They didnt do it all at once though... about an hour apart. Good news is that everything came back up cleanly.


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## Klankster

Seriously, I'm just biding my time until DirecTV releases their new Tivo. The whole tuning adapter technology is one of the biggest kludges I've ever seen. The number of recordings I've missed because of this craptastic TA technology is unbelievable. For something like five straight months on the 28th day of each month, my TA went into the 8-blink mode while we weren't around and the machine missed a bunch of recordings. Apparently something caused the Time Warner system to not extend the TA's authorization. Finally I was able to streamline the process of getting a TW tech to reset the TA, but I'm sick of missed recordings and the headaches of having to call Tier 3 support and talk their techs through the process of resetting their hardware. If it wasn't the authorization extension, it was bad signal levels that prevented the TA from tuning, and the techs had to come out and futz with the signal. This never happened with our HR10-250; the only reason we tried the S3 was because DirecTV had no Tivo option after the HR10-250 was obsolete.

(Rant mode off)


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## Tim N.

I searched through this thread and do not see answers to why my TA will not "lock". If this is already discussed, I apologize.
I am in TW, Yorba Linda. We went SDV on Nov 17, 2010. My Motorola TA blinks yellow. This is supposed to indicate it has not sync'd with the local office. I have tried to call TW. They say the TA is working fine. TW has never hit my CC during the TA calls. I am missing a few channels. When I ask TA diagnostics to come up it has no network address. Is the TA supposed to have a non-zero address? The code level is 1.35.
The TA channel check says "NO CHANNELS AVAILABLE". 

Anyone have any ideas how to get this working correctly? Thank you.


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## dcstager

I want the Direct TV HD Tivo too. I hope they come out with it soon.


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## Klankster

dcstager said:


> I want the Direct TV HD Tivo too. I hope they come out with it soon.


I keep hearing from people not to hold my breath on the DirecTV unit. But the instant it comes out, I'm getting one and leaving Time Warner behind forever. About 30 minutes after posting my earlier message (above), my TA decided not to decode about half my premium channels, putting up the lame "this channel is temporarily not available" message. Rebooting the Tivo did nothing. I had to spend about 30 minutes on the phone talking to two different people to get the thing back up.

Get this: I call and get a regular support person (this was about 11:30 PM) and tell her I have a tuning adapter problem and need to speak to a Tier 3 support tech. She puts me on hold for a couple minutes then comes back and tells me that Tier 3 closes at 3PM!!! WTF?! I said that is not possible and that this always happens around midnight, it's happened probably a dozen times and every time I have spoken to a Tier 3 tech. Please connect me. She goes away again and a few minutes later another guy comes on and after a bunch of stuff finally has me unplug the TA, reboot it and he sends out a signal to the TA and it starts receiving the channels a few minutes later.

What a bunch. Incompetent with a Capital I. Well, everybody but the Tier 3 technician. And their hardware is crap. Unable to recover from whatever glitch happened to stop it from decoding channels. If our air traffic control system was this reliable, we'd have dozens of planes falling out of the sky every day.

Sheesh.


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## dlfl

Tom, your experience is typical. TWC keeps telling the FCC that their TA customers are generally happy. You can easily help correct this impression in just a few minutes of time -- see this.

You need to understand that the *only* incentive TWC has to satisfy TA and CableCARD customers (mostly TiVo owners) is the stick provided by the FCC.


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## dcstager

When you get the channel not available message, the Tivo usually says press select to re-tune the channel. If you change channels up and then back down it will tune in the "not available" channel.

Just try this for now. Unplug the tuning adapter and your Tivo. Wait 30 seconds. Plug in only the TA. Wait for the light to stop flashing (solid green) - this might take a few minutes. When the light is solid, then plug in your Tivo and let it boot up completely. When it's done, go to watch live TV and try to change a channel. It will say it is loading channel maps. When that is done your system will be working as good as it's going to.

Still hoping for a decent Direct TV Tivo-HD. I'm debating just doing over the air, but what will I do for ESPN and Fox News?


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## Beernutts

Tim N. said:


> I searched through this thread and do not see answers to why my TA will not "lock". If this is already discussed, I apologize.
> I am in TW, Yorba Linda. We went SDV on Nov 17, 2010. My Motorola TA blinks yellow. This is supposed to indicate it has not sync'd with the local office. I have tried to call TW. They say the TA is working fine. TW has never hit my CC during the TA calls. I am missing a few channels. When I ask TA diagnostics to come up it has no network address. Is the TA supposed to have a non-zero address? The code level is 1.35.
> The TA channel check says "NO CHANNELS AVAILABLE".
> 
> Anyone have any ideas how to get this working correctly? Thank you.


Tim,

The Moto TA's Network address doesn't really matter, but you should have an IP address (checked in the TA's "INTERACTIVE INFO" screen). Also, check the status of the SDV in the "SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO STATUS" screen.

If there's no IP address, have the TWC rep hit your TA.


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## lrhorer

Klankster said:


> About 30 minutes after posting my earlier message (above), my TA decided not to decode about half my premium channels, putting up the lame "this channel is temporarily not available" message.


Actually, it probably wasn't half your premiums. It was probably all your SDV channels - which hyappens to be about half your premiums.



Klankster said:


> Rebooting the Tivo did nothing.


That was your first mistake. Rebooting the TiVo is usually only necessary if you can't receive any channels, at all. Generally, it shoudl be your next-to-last resort.



Klankster said:


> I had to spend about 30 minutes on the phone talking to two different people to get the thing back up.


That was your second mistake. Calling TWC should be your last resort.

If all you were missing was SDV channels, then probably unplugging the USB port for a few seconds and plugging it back in would have restored your channels. It sometimes takes a minute or two, but if your get the "TA Disconencted" message when you pull the USB plug and then get the "TA Connected" message when you plug it back in, you shoud be on your way to gettihg your channels back.

If that doesn't work, then unplug both the power to the TA (not the TiVo) and the USB cable. After 30 seconds, plug the power to the TA back in and wait about 3 minutes. Then plug in the USB cable. IF you still don't get the "TA Connected" message, then unplug the power to the TiVo and the USB cable. After 30 seconds, plug back in the TiVo and let it boot fully. Then plug in the USB cable.



Klankster said:


> What a bunch. Incompetent with a Capital I. Well, everybody but the Tier 3 technician. And their hardware is crap. Unable to recover from whatever glitch happened to stop it from decoding channels. If our air traffic control system was this reliable, we'd have dozens of planes falling out of the sky every day.


Actually, the scary truth is the Air Traffic software and hardware is even less reliable than the TA. The main thing preventing planes from falling out of the air are the people in the towers and the cockpits. Fortunately, they are much, much better than TWC's CSRs.


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## Klankster

lrhorer said:


> If all you were missing was SDV channels, then probably unplugging the USB port for a few seconds and plugging it back in would have restored your channels. It sometimes takes a minute or two, but if your get the "TA Disconencted" message when you pull the USB plug and then get the "TA Connected" message when you plug it back in, you shoud be on your way to gettihg your channels back.


Well, this whole thing is kind of like working with superstitions -- Maybe if I unplug the TA, throw some chicken bones and dance clockwise around the room then plug it in it'll start working. (Top USB port? Bottom? Usually the Tier3 guys make sure I'm plugged into the bottom one (I am), and I wonder if that's superstition as well!)

I mostly restarted the Tivo because I've had Tier3 techs ask me to do so in the past and the restart takes so painfully long that I decided to do it first to save some time.

All I know is, despite Tivo saying to press SELECT again to try tuning, that pretty much never works.

I've tried various approaches in the past, including some of the things you mention, but almost without fail, getting the Tier3 guys to re-send whatever authorization it is gets the thing working again. I believe that's the only fix when you have the 8-blink thing happening -- Correct?

Speaking of which, it makes me think that perhaps someone (if they haven't done it already) should put a TA troubleshooting guide up somewhere, that lists specific failure modes and how they can be resolved. That would be really nice and perhaps save people some frustration and time.


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## lrhorer

Klankster said:


> Well, this whole thing is kind of like working with superstitions -- Maybe if I unplug the TA, throw some chicken bones and dance clockwise around the room then plug it in it'll start working.


No, it's based upon my personal experience and testing. I've had a bit more experience than most with TAs. San Antonio was the second city in the nation to roll out the TA, and I got mine the very first day they were made available to the public. I've had three of them, ever since they were introduced almost 21 months ago. That's something like 5 TA-years.



Klankster said:


> (Top USB port? Bottom? Usually the Tier3 guys make sure I'm plugged into the bottom one (I am), and I wonder if that's superstition as well!)


It is. Unless I am quite mistaken, both are on the same root hub.



Klankster said:


> I mostly restarted the Tivo because I've had Tier3 techs ask me to do so in the past and the restart takes so painfully long that I decided to do it first to save some time.


Ahem. You wanted to save time so you first tried the thing that takes the longest? I'm afraid that's poorly considered on the face of it. The fact the TiVo is the most stable device in the mix only makes it moreso. I can tell you despite a modestly significant amount of testing, I have never come across an issue where rebooting the TiVo alone ever cleared the problem.

In addition, a liittle understanding of how the TiVo and the TA work alows one to infer if the TA itself goes away, all that won't work is the SDV channels. If the CableCard goes away, then clear QAM channels will work, but not premium channels. If none of the channels work, then the TiVo has slipped into a coma, and no amount of fiddling with the TA will help.



Klankster said:


> All I know is, despite Tivo saying to press SELECT again to try tuning, that pretty much never works.


It always works if the issue is merely the SDV feed has timed out. Any time you are not actively recording something and are "tuned" to an SDV channel, then the SDV server may allocate the stream to someone else. At that point, you will see the SELECT message. It's frequently there when I turn on one of my TVs.



Klankster said:


> I've tried various approaches in the past, including some of the things you mention, but almost without fail, getting the Tier3 guys to re-send whatever authorization it is gets the thing working again. I believe that's the only fix when you have the 8-blink thing happening -- Correct?


No, but a corrupt customer profile can certainly cause it. Many times I have been able to recover from 8 blinks just by re-booting the TA. I don't recall ever being abe to fix 8 blinks by merely pulling the USB cable.



Klankster said:


> Speaking of which, it makes me think that perhaps someone (if they haven't done it already) should put a TA troubleshooting guide up somewhere, that lists specific failure modes and how they can be resolved. That would be really nice and perhaps save people some frustration and time.


'Not a bad idea.


----------



## Klankster

lrhorer said:


> Ahem. You wanted to save time so you first tried the thing that takes the longest? I'm afraid that's poorly considered on the face of it. The fact the TiVo is the most stable device in the mix only makes it moreso. I can tell you despite a modestly significant amount of testing, I have never come across an issue where rebooting the TiVo alone ever cleared the problem.


hehe -- Well, I meant save time on the tech call. I have had "missing channel" problems in the past that were cleared up by a Tivo reboot, and figured it was worth a shot because if it worked, I wouldn't have to spend even more time working my way through the gauntlet of Time Warner personnel to get to a Tier 3 tech, only to have him ask me to do a restart and sitting there with him waiting for it to finish the restart process. "It is still restarting?" "Yeah, it says 'just a few more moments'..."

And yeah, there was a potential net time savings because while it was restarting on my own terms, I went and did some stuff that needed doing elsewhere in the house, instead of sitting there during the call with the tech watching the "please wait" prompt spin.


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## lrhorer

Klankster said:


> hehe -- Well, I meant save time on the tech call.


Ah, yes. I definitely recommend going through the entire routine before calling TWC, or at least start the TiVo reboot while you are on hold waiting for a CSR to come online. Given that hold times are often double-digits, dailing the phone a bit early is not a bad idea. One can always hang up.


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## Tim N.

Beernutts said:


> Tim,
> 
> The Moto TA's Network address doesn't really matter, but you should have an IP address (checked in the TA's "INTERACTIVE INFO" screen). Also, check the status of the SDV in the "SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO STATUS" screen.
> 
> If there's no IP address, have the TWC rep hit your TA.


I called TW and requested a hit. Before that I removed power and USB from the TA; waited over 3 minutes between Power UP and reconnecting the USB; then called TW. I experienced the usual transfers before a tech understood what a TA was, but after CC 'hit' the TA status light finally went to solid yellow and the stations tuned correctly.
Then I went to the TW office. Picked up the second TA and went through the procedure again. The results were also positive.

Thank you for the advice and thank you for this Forum. Without it the world would remain "dark."


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## dougdingle

I'm on TW in Southern California, Eagle Rock to be specific.

After filling out the web form, a couple of Motorola units arrived a month later with no email or notice.

Hooked them up, one had a dead power supply which I replaced from my shop, steady flashing yellow light on both.

Checked firmware version, it was 1.27. I had read here (or somewhere?) that 1.35 was required to have them work. 

Called TW. They tried hitting them a couple of times, no joy, the CSR kept saying I had to reboot the TiVo. I said that was like computer tech support insisting I reinstall Windows, and I wouldn't reboot the TiVo until I had a solid yellow light.

Finally, he said they would roll a truck. Despite my asking the tech have two TA's with him, he shows up with one, says the guy at the factory would not give him two. Also admits he knows NOTHING about TA's, they're not due for training until the following week although TW's been shipping them for a month in this area. So I ask him if he's interested, and when he says yes, take about 10 minutes and school him. He pays attention, makes some notes, gets the concept.

We hook up the one he's brought with him, it's at firmware 1.35, he calls in, they hit it from Mom, and the TiVo spontaneously reboots. While it's rebooting, the yellow light turns solid. When it's done rebooting, it's all working. He's remarkably impressed that I knew which firmware version was required, knew where to look on the diagnostics screen, and that the damn thing actually works now.

He calls back in and insists another tech be sent to his next call because he's not done, drives all the way back to the factory to get me another TA. Shows up about 45 minutes later, we install the second one, it's also at 1.35, he calls in, they hit it, it begins working immediately. The second S3 did not reboot.

No problems so far, it's been about a week.


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## MustHaveTivo

OK, They sent version 1.27 TAs. If I understand correctly, they *might* automatically update once connected to cable, but if not I have to call and request an refresh and if that does not work, I need a truck roll for a new TA with 1.35.

How long would it take to get the update automatically if it were going to? An hour? A day?


----------



## dougdingle

MustHaveTivo said:


> OK, They sent version 1.27 TAs. If I understand correctly, they *might* automatically update once connected to cable, but if not I have to call and request an refresh and if that does not work, I need a truck roll for a new TA with 1.35.
> 
> How long would it take to get the update automatically if it were going to? An hour? A day?


Sorry, no idea. Mine with 1.27 were both hit repeatedly, and never got the 1.35 update. It took a couple of days between when they were hit, and when the tech showed up with the new TA, and in that time they never updated.


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## Grumock

MustHaveTivo said:


> OK, They sent version 1.27 TAs. If I understand correctly, they *might* automatically update once connected to cable, but if not I have to call and request an refresh and if that does not work, I need a truck roll for a new TA with 1.35.
> 
> How long would it take to get the update automatically if it were going to? An hour? A day?


Yes it needs to have 1.35 & yes in a perfect world it should update when connected to the cable. Reality is, that sending hits to the Tuning adapter, MAY actually get it to update. More then likely though, if the update hasn't taken in an hour it's not going to take, & a truck roll will need to be scheduled for the tuning adapter to be swapped out.


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## MustHaveTivo

Grumock said:


> Reality is, that sending hits to the Tuning adapter, MAY actually get it to update.


Freak out - the refresh hit did cause them to update to 1.35! Still blinking yellow, though. Do I keep waiting?

Edit - I have no IP address. So I guess I need more hits to the TA.


----------



## Grumock

MustHaveTivo said:


> Freak out - the refresh hit did cause them to update to 1.35! Still blinking yellow, though. Do I keep waiting?
> 
> Edit - I have no IP address. So I guess I need more hits to the TA.


Well no IP indicates that it's not locking into a 2way mode which could be related to a signal issue. Have you tried a reboot on it since the FW updated?


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## MustHaveTivo

Grumock said:


> Well no IP indicates that it's not locking into a 2way mode which could be related to a signal issue. Have you tried a reboot on it since the FW updated?


Yes, and I got another refresh hit for good measure, then rebooted again...

There's a truck roll scheduled for tomorrow, so hopefully the tech can sort it out.


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## MustHaveTivo

OK, we got a tech who owns a TiVo (!) but was new to TAs. He called the NCCS, who said they could "see" our TAs, but they were somehow not right, and told him to call his dispatch because they could see more info. So he did, and they said our account was messed up in several ways - 1) the ticket generated when we ordered the TAs had not been closed, 2) our TAs were not linked to our cablecards (?) and 3) our cablecards were not linked to "outlets" (?). They fixed stuff in our account and now it works.


----------



## dlfl

Yesterday, a large fraction of my SDV channels would not tune. The problem was erratic, i.e., a given channel might tune now but ten minutes later it would not.

I finally noticed in TA diagnostics that the TA had rebooted at 5:30am that morning. I assume it was done by TWC. It's on a UPS. Rebooting it again seems to have solved the problem.

For several months it had been stable with just my "usual" problems of having to watch the Sub Expires date, which sometimes doesn't get updated, and missing 1 to 3 recordings per week due to the SDV tuning failure issue.

Why does TWC reboot my TA? It wasn't done as part of a Sub Expires update because that date hadn't changed after the reboot, and it usually gets updated every week or two without a reboot.

Oh I know what to do! I'll just call TWC support and ask about this! 

And I'll also ask them why they haven't updated our TA firmware from 0.1001 to 0.1202.  BTW does anyone know any specific advantage of the 0.1202 ?


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## pmiranda

dlfl said:


> Why does TWC reboot my TA? It wasn't done as part of a Sub Expires update because that date hadn't changed after the reboot, and it usually gets updated every week or two without a reboot.
> 
> And I'll also ask them why they haven't updated our TA firmware from 0.1001 to 0.1202.  BTW does anyone know any specific advantage of the 0.1202 ?


I would have guessed a firmware update, but if it didn't change rev then I dunno :-(


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## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Yesterday, a large fraction of my SDV channels would not tune. The problem was erratic, i.e., a given channel might tune now but ten minutes later it would not.
> 
> I finally noticed in TA diagnostics that the TA had rebooted at 5:30am that morning. I assume it was done by TWC. It's on a UPS. Rebooting it again seems to have solved the problem.
> 
> For several months it had been stable with just my "usual" problems of having to watch the Sub Expires date, which sometimes doesn't get updated, and missing 1 to 3 recordings per week due to the SDV tuning failure issue.
> 
> Why does TWC reboot my TA? It wasn't done as part of a Sub Expires update because that date hadn't changed after the reboot, and it usually gets updated every week or two without a reboot.
> 
> Oh I know what to do! I'll just call TWC support and ask about this!
> 
> And I'll also ask them why they haven't updated our TA firmware from 0.1001 to 0.1202.  BTW does anyone know any specific advantage of the 0.1202 ?


It could be that you had a 'hang' situation in TA firmware and a deadman timer triggered a reboot without any involvement from TWC.


----------



## dlfl

pmiranda said:


> I would have guessed a firmware update, but if it didn't change rev then I dunno :-(


I hadn't thought to check for a firmware update. I checked. It didn't.


SCSIRAID said:


> It could be that you had a 'hang' situation in TA firmware and a deadman timer triggered a reboot without any involvement from TWC.


It happens every 2 or 3 months. Once it happened in mid-afternoon, which seems unlikely if TWC were doing it (I would hope). I probably should just reboot it every month.


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## rtfromnc

I consider my lucky, but I had TWC (Cary, NC) come out and install my first M Card and TA. The tech had everything working with very little trouble in less than 30 minutes. SCSIRAID has the TWC tech's in this area trained very well.

However, with all that I have been reading my day will come and I will be reporting issues like most everyone else. I will enjoy it while it lasts.


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## cwoody222

My TA got unplugged last night and I didn't notice until this morning. I nervously plugged it back in an - thankfully - everything started working again right away.

Sad that I'm so scared about this tech. That says a lot about how unreliable it can be in many cases. Luckily, not mine.


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## TinKC

I have 3 Premieres with 3 TAs. 2 of them I have never had any problems with since initial installation, about 7 weeks ago. The problem child of the group has had the TA replaced once. Tonight, after a long day at work, I sink into the covers and plan on watching my favorite show, the season premiere of Big Love, only to find out my TA was down and didn't record! How sad I am! (and frustrated). I'm noticing that the only channels it seems to not be tuning into are any of my HBO channels, BBCAmerica HD, Biography HD, the Style HD channel, and about 3 others. I can get all of my network HD channels. I can get basic cable HD channels like E, HGTV, ComedyCentral. I've unplugged the USB, which gives me the TA disconnected notice on the screen and TiVo recognizes the TA has been connected when I plug the USB back in but the HBO channels & StyleHD are still not tuning. Any ideas what the problem could be or a possible solution?

*pardon any typos - typing on my iPad


----------



## Grumock

TinKC said:


> I have 3 Premieres with 3 TAs. 2 of them I have never had any problems with since initial installation, about 7 weeks ago. The problem child of the group has had the TA replaced once. Tonight, after a long day at work, I sink into the covers and plan on watching my favorite show, the season premiere of Big Love, only to find out my TA was down and didn't record! How sad I am! (and frustrated). I'm noticing that the only channels it seems to not be tuning into are any of my HBO channels, BBCAmerica HD, Biography HD, the Style HD channel, and about 3 others. I can get all of my network HD channels. I can get basic cable HD channels like E, HGTV, ComedyCentral. I've unplugged the USB, which gives me the TA disconnected notice on the screen and TiVo recognizes the TA has been connected when I plug the USB back in but the HBO channels & StyleHD are still not tuning. Any ideas what the problem could be or a possible solution?
> 
> *pardon any typos - typing on my iPad


When you disconnect the USB cord is the Light blinking? If so, this is what I would do. Leave the USB unplugged & pull the power on the tuning adapter. Give it about 10 seconds then plug the POWER only back in. Let it go through it's flash dance & when it finally goes back to full solid (about 5 minutes or so)plug the usb back in.


----------



## dlfl

TinKC said:


> I have 3 Premieres with 3 TAs. 2 of them I have never had any problems with since initial installation, about 7 weeks ago. The problem child of the group has had the TA replaced once. Tonight, after a long day at work, I sink into the covers and plan on watching my favorite show, the season premiere of Big Love, only to find out my TA was down and didn't record! How sad I am! (and frustrated). I'm noticing that the only channels it seems to not be tuning into are any of my HBO channels, BBCAmerica HD, Biography HD, the Style HD channel, and about 3 others. I can get all of my network HD channels. I can get basic cable HD channels like E, HGTV, ComedyCentral. I've unplugged the USB, which gives me the TA disconnected notice on the screen and TiVo recognizes the TA has been connected when I plug the USB back in but the HBO channels & StyleHD are still not tuning. Any ideas what the problem could be or a possible solution?
> 
> *pardon any typos - typing on my iPad





Grumock said:


> When you disconnect the USB cord is the Light blinking? If so, this is what I would do. Leave the USB unplugged & pull the power on the tuning adapter. Give it about 10 seconds then plug the POWER only back in. Let it go through it's flash dance & when it finally goes back to full solid (about 5 minutes or so)plug the usb back in.


Some further thoughts on this based on my experience, assuming a Cisco STA1520 TA:
All you may need to do is reboot your TiVo to force it to go through the "Acquiring Channels" phase (rotating drill bit symbol).

If you perform Grumock's suggested procedure, there can be two variations from what he said:
1. After it finishes rebooting, the TA may flash 6-blinks-pause instead of a steady light. This is OK, it's just saying it's ready to go but doesn't see a USB connection to the TiVo.
2. After you power-cycle the TA it may just flash a few times then the light goes out permanently. In this case hit the button on the front of the TA to get it to continue booting up.


----------



## notting

My Tivo HD/cablecard/TA has been pretty solid for months now... until tonight. ESPN was very pixellated, and then the screen froze. I came back 20 minutes later, and I couldn't tune anything. I would get signal lock, but a black screen.

I attemped to go into the cable card diagnostics, but would only get errors like "'Could not load CableCard screen ''//apps/Card.html'". I tried bouncing the Tivo and the TA, but it didn't really improve - it would be tunable for a couple of minutes, and then freeze again.

Some searching mentioned possibly attenuating the signal. I disconnected the amp that I had, and it magically came back to life w/o any reboots. So, I figured it was fixed... until I tuned to ESPN, at which point it would pixellate for ~5 seconds, and then freeze.
Any subsequent tuning yields a black screen (whatever was tuned on the other tuner when I switched to ESPN would still work.), and on that channel, 'Tune State' would be 'Ending'. Neither TA diagnostics nor cable card diagnostics will load.

FWIW, without the amp, Signal strength 81-93, SNR 34-35 dB.

Tuner - 693Mhz, -12 dBmV
FDC - 74Mhz, -10 dBmV
RDC - 25Mhz, 41 dBmV.

I'm at a loss why watching a particular channel would essentialy hose the entire system.


----------



## notting

notting said:


> FWIW, without the amp, Signal strength 81-93, SNR 34-35 dB.
> 
> Tuner - 693Mhz, -12 dBmV
> FDC - 74Mhz, -10 dBmV
> RDC - 25Mhz, 41 dBmV.


So, some rejiggering of where the splitters live in the system (house -> splitter -> TA -> Tivo) magically wakes it up w/o a reboot, and yields:

Signal 80-100, SNR 33-34 dB.

Tuner - 717 MHz, -5 dBmV.
FDC - 74Mhz, -3 dBmV.
RDC - 25 MHz, 32 dBmV.

And ESPN HD still breaks the tuners.


----------



## SCSIRAID

notting said:


> So, some rejiggering of where the splitters live in the system (house -> splitter -> TA -> Tivo) magically wakes it up w/o a reboot, and yields:
> 
> Signal 80-100, SNR 33-34 dB.
> 
> Tuner - 717 MHz, -5 dBmV.
> FDC - 74Mhz, -3 dBmV.
> RDC - 25 MHz, 32 dBmV.
> 
> And ESPN HD still breaks the tuners.


Those numbers are pretty good. Id try it myself but I am on my way out of town as we speak.


----------



## dlfl

notting said:


> So, some rejiggering of where the splitters live in the system (house -> splitter -> TA -> Tivo) magically wakes it up w/o a reboot, and yields:
> 
> Signal 80-100, SNR 33-34 dB.
> 
> Tuner - 717 MHz, -5 dBmV.
> FDC - 74Mhz, -3 dBmV.
> RDC - 25 MHz, 32 dBmV.
> 
> And ESPN HD still breaks the tuners.


Are those signal and SNR values a range over a number of channels? Those values should be just fine. Sometimes they vary more than that if you look at a wide range of channels.

The RDC value seems lower than typical although I'm not sure if that means anything.

If your problem is really only one channel, it's hard to see how a signal level or splitter type problem would be the explanation. But that is such a heavily watched channel you would expect they would get numerous complaints from your neighbors if the delivered signal was defective. Puzzling!

Of course there is a known example of signals that were not defective but caused problems only on TiVos, and I'm referring to the "SDV Pixelation" problem that was diagnosed by none other than SCSIRAID and finally fixed by TiVo in a software update.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> The RDC value seems lower than typical although I'm not sure if that means anything.


The RDC is vital for SDV since it is the return. Normally it should be between 35-55. Outside of that, issues do arise.


----------



## dlfl

Grumock said:


> The RDC is vital for SDV since it is the return. Normally it should be between 35-55. Outside of that, issues do arise.


But it's still hard to see how this could explain his ESPN problem, I think. Poor SDV return communications should cause problems tuning many channels I would think.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> But it's still hard to see how this could explain his ESPN problem, I think. Poor SDV return communications should cause problems tuning many channels I would think.


I would agree, but since it's not that far off it's possible. Thing is that normally most areas ESPN is not a SDV channel though too.


----------



## Grumock

notting said:


> I attemped to go into the cable card diagnostics, but would only get errors like "'Could not load CableCard screen ''//apps/Card.html'". I tried bouncing the Tivo and the TA, but it didn't really improve - it would be tunable for a couple of minutes, and then freeze again.
> 
> .


this would indicate more likely a faulty card though if you can only access the cable card diags from time to time.

Sorry I have not been following this issue but has the card been swapped out?


----------



## RTPGiants

notting said:


> My Tivo HD/cablecard/TA has been pretty solid for months now... until tonight. ESPN was very pixellated, and then the screen froze. I came back 20 minutes later, and I couldn't tune anything. I would get signal lock, but a black screen.
> 
> I attemped to go into the cable card diagnostics, but would only get errors like "'Could not load CableCard screen ''//apps/Card.html'". I tried bouncing the Tivo and the TA, but it didn't really improve - it would be tunable for a couple of minutes, and then freeze again.
> 
> Some searching mentioned possibly attenuating the signal. I disconnected the amp that I had, and it magically came back to life w/o any reboots. So, I figured it was fixed... until I tuned to ESPN, at which point it would pixellate for ~5 seconds, and then freeze.
> Any subsequent tuning yields a black screen (whatever was tuned on the other tuner when I switched to ESPN would still work.), and on that channel, 'Tune State' would be 'Ending'. Neither TA diagnostics nor cable card diagnostics will load.
> 
> FWIW, without the amp, Signal strength 81-93, SNR 34-35 dB.
> 
> Tuner - 693Mhz, -12 dBmV
> FDC - 74Mhz, -10 dBmV
> RDC - 25Mhz, 41 dBmV.
> 
> I'm at a loss why watching a particular channel would essentialy hose the entire system.


Holy crap, I wish I had read this thread earlier tonight. I'm having the EXACT same problem with ESPN tonight out of the blue. If I reboot, etc. things get back to normal, but tune ESPN and I get hosed.

My FDC is -9, RDC is 48. But after the ESPN stuff I get the same TA "not available" diagnostic issue.

Trying to tweet/email with TWC right now about it.

Edited to add:
Yesterday Tivo decided to tell me my cable lineup no longer exists and to "click here" to change it. When I do that, it tells me it's no longer configured to use cable. As a consequence, I'm trying a guided setup now. Which of course resulted in a locked up "Please Wait" while the TA was attached. So it's doing a guided setup w/o the TA for now. Will replug it in after.


----------



## notting

Grumock said:


> Sorry I have not been following this issue but has the card been swapped out?


Not yet. Figured I'd troll for ideas before having to get the CS confusion.

WRT to the RDC value, was mainly posting it for reference. ESPNHD isn't SDV, unless they've switched it recently.


----------



## RTPGiants

Got a call from the TWC CableCard support desk.

They said they've had 6 or 7 people with the same problem as notting and me. Specifically they said the common thread was that Tivo told each of us about our channel lineup being invalid. This is true, it happened to me yesterday. They blame Tivo for that.

He disliked my -9 FDC, saying it should be -7 or lower and insisted on a truck roll to address this. I'm not sure why this is really an issue because I'm pretty sure it's been there for months, but I scheduled a Friday roll anyway.

He also said that everyone seemed to have a similar experience with ESPN (1500). I told him this suggested a problem upstream, but he wouldn't give any ground on this instead insisting it's likely a Tivo or signal issue.

In any event, I've completed guided setup and now the TA is sharing channels with Tivo. Assuming this works, I'm just going to skip tuning 1500 for now.


----------



## notting

RTPGiants said:


> Got a call from the TWC CableCard support desk.
> 
> They said they've had 6 or 7 people with the same problem as notting and me. Specifically they said the common thread was that Tivo told each of us about our channel lineup being invalid. This is true, it happened to me yesterday. They blame Tivo for that.


I assumed that someone botched something when they added the new channels for today (just got the message.). Will re-do guided setup anyway.


----------



## RTPGiants

Ugh, now Tivo and the TA are fighting. Tivo told me it couldn't get channels, but it won't stop trying.


----------



## RTPGiants

Ok reboot solved. TA talked with Tivo. They're happy now. Not going to try ESPN for fear of being in this mess again.


----------



## dlfl

RTPGiants said:


> Got a call from the TWC CableCard support desk.
> 
> They said they've had 6 or 7 people with the same problem as notting and me. Specifically they said the common thread was that Tivo told each of us about our channel lineup being invalid. This is true, it happened to me yesterday. They blame Tivo for that.
> 
> He disliked my -9 FDC, saying it should be -7 or lower and insisted on a truck roll to address this. I'm not sure why this is really an issue because I'm pretty sure it's been there for months, but I scheduled a Friday roll anyway.
> .........


You may not realize how lucky you are to be in one of the more "TiVo-enlightened" TWC regions -- Mine, TWC SW Ohio, is not one of those!

I can't picture my region even noticing they had 6 or 7 complaints on this, and it would be a rarity to find someone who knew what an FDC was (or cared).

If these 6 or 7 complaints were from TiVo users only, you can excuse them thinking it must be a TiVo problem.


----------



## RTPGiants

dlfl said:


> You may not realize how lucky you are to be in one of the more "TiVo-enlightened" TWC regions -- Mine, TWC SW Ohio, is not one of those!
> 
> I can't picture my region even noticing they had 6 or 7 complaints on this, and it would be a rarity to find someone who knew what an FDC was (or cared).
> 
> If these 6 or 7 complaints were from TiVo users only, you can excuse them thinking it must be a TiVo problem.


This isn't level 1 support. This was the CableCard help desk. Pretty sure this is a national support level, not regional.

I do forgive them for blaming Tivo, but when all your customers are telling you tuning a specific channel triggered the problem, maybe you should investigate that.


----------



## cwoody222

That's a really weird problem; please let us know how it turns out. I tried my ESPN last night and it was fine.


----------



## dlfl

RTPGiants said:


> This isn't level 1 support. This was the CableCard help desk. Pretty sure this is a national support level, not regional.
> ........


Yes the NCCS is national, located in one of the Carolina's actually. The number has been posted here many times, and I have recommended them. How did you get them involved? The local support is supposed to bring them in rather than you calling them directly. Most of the time my local support people have never heard of NCCS, and some have insisted it didn't exist! I've had to give them the number (!) and pressure them to call it.

Unfortunately, the last time I dealt with NCCS the person I got did not seem all that knowledgable, although I know there are people there who are very good.


----------



## RTPGiants

dlfl said:


> Yes the NCCS is national, located in one of the Carolina's actually. The number has been posted here many times, and I have recommended them. How did you get them involved? The local support is supposed to bring them in rather than you calling them directly. Most of the time my local support people have never heard of NCCS, and some have insisted it didn't exist! I've had to give them the number (!) and pressure them to call it.
> 
> Unfortunately, the last time I dealt with NCCS the person I got did not seem all that knowledgable, although I know there are people there who are very good.


I tweeted at them to @TWCableHelp. We emailed from there and they sent my email details to NCCS who then called me about 1/2 an hour later.

I agree the guy I got was not the most knowledgeable in comparison to other NCCS people I've talked with in the past, but that could be due to time of day (late night).


----------



## RTPGiants

Talked with NCCS again. They confirmed that it's Raleigh area only, all people with problem had the "lineup no longer available" message and all related to 1500. They're checking the head end, but still think the signal is fine and therefore are escalating it up the Tivo chain. Tivo claims no firmware/channel updates.

They still want to do truck rolls to swap cable cards, etc. I'm curious if anyone else here has an appointment with them?

ETA: I also logged a case with Tivo and asked them to keep a look out for similar cases and TWC cooperation. They claim they had an email case with the same problems, but that the user was a Comcast user in NC. Seeing as Comcast doesn't service NC, I'm assuming this was a typo and is probably another TWC user.


----------



## cwoody222

Sigh... they ALWAYS want to do truck rolls? So suddenly multiple people all had their CableCARDs / signal all fail at the same time? Idiots.

What I would do is schedule the truck roll like a week in the future just to placate them, then continue them to fix it on their end. When they did (every time), cancel the truck roll.

And the twitter folks there are very good!


----------



## notting

RTPGiants said:


> They still want to do truck rolls to swap cable cards, etc. I'm curious if anyone else here has an appointment with them?


Yup, they're setting up a truck roll for me for Saturday... we'll see what comes of it.


----------



## Stone1555

Has anyone tested with a twc box to see if the issue happens there. If not it sounds like the TiVo just isnt meshing with the ESPNHD Signal, same as the GSOD issue that was happening only on TiVo's.

Just throwing that out there


----------



## RTPGiants

Stone1555 said:


> Has anyone tested with a twc box to see if the issue happens there. If not it sounds like the TiVo just isnt meshing with the ESPN3D Signal, same as the GSOD issue that was happening only on TiVo's.
> 
> Just throwing that out there


Have not tried the TWC box I have just sitting collecting dust, but I can. But to be clear, it's not ESPN3D, it's regular ESPNHD.


----------



## Stone1555

Sorry about that, post edited


----------



## RTPGiants

So couple of interesting followups.

I came home and had a message waiting from TWC (I wish they'd actually use my cell) stating that there was an area problem that has been resolved.

I checked Tivo, and ESPN is still pixelated. I can quickly change off of it before it completely hoses up the TA/CC though.

I then tried my ancient HD box from TWC (non-DVR). This does not show pixelation, but instead flashes to a black screen about once every 2 seconds and then resyncs. This would seem to indicate that it too is having some sort of signal problem, but that it handles it differently.

Of interest is that 1501 (ESPN2) seems to be partially bad. I see no issues on Tivo, but on the HD box, it exhibits the same screen-to-black behavior, but much less frequently, maybe about once per 20-30 seconds.

For reference, my TA diag screens are reporting FDC of -8, RDC of 54. Both seem to vary a few db from time to time, but are pretty much in that range. I forget how to check signal strength on this box. I know there used to be a channel that had it.


----------



## dlfl

RTPGiants said:


> So couple of interesting followups.
> 
> I came home and had a message waiting from TWC (I wish they'd actually use my cell) stating that there was an area problem that has been resolved.
> 
> I checked Tivo, and ESPN is still pixelated. I can quickly change off of it before it completely hoses up the TA/CC though.
> 
> I then tried my ancient HD box from TWC (non-DVR). This does not show pixelation, but instead flashes to a black screen about once every 2 seconds and then resyncs. This would seem to indicate that it too is having some sort of signal problem, but that it handles it differently.
> 
> Of interest is that 1501 (ESPN2) seems to be partially bad. I see no issues on Tivo, but on the HD box, it exhibits the same screen-to-black behavior, but much less frequently, maybe about once per 20-30 seconds.
> 
> For reference, my TA diag screens are reporting FDC of -8, RDC of 54. Both seem to vary a few db from time to time, but are pretty much in that range. I forget how to check signal strength on this box. I know there used to be a channel that had it.


Signal problems should never be able to hose your TiVo like happened here -- but unfortunately they can. (Just as network problems should never be able to lock up your TiVo when using Netflix -- but they can.)

Your FDC/RDC values both suggest too much signal loss between your TiVo and the cable plant. The RDC adjusts itself to a higher than average value in order to overcome the loss (as I understand it anyway). Having the cable co check your signal probably is a good thing.

DVR Diagnostics will give you signal strength, SNR and RS Error counts for the two tuned channels. Interesting to see if the low strength (less than 70), low SNR (less than 33) or growing RS error counts correlate with your video problems.

Each of your channel signals is sharing a 6 MHz QAM modulation channel with several other signals. I suspect the QAM channel that carries ESPN also carries ESPN2 and there is something wrong with that QAM modulator. At least that's one theory that could explain it. Doesn't matter -- your cable co has to figure it out (hopefully).


----------



## clcbmason

RTPGiants said:


> So couple of interesting followups.
> 
> I came home and had a message waiting from TWC (I wish they'd actually use my cell) stating that there was an area problem that has been resolved.
> 
> I checked Tivo, and ESPN is still pixelated. I can quickly change off of it before it completely hoses up the TA/CC though.
> 
> I then tried my ancient HD box from TWC (non-DVR). This does not show pixelation, but instead flashes to a black screen about once every 2 seconds and then resyncs. This would seem to indicate that it too is having some sort of signal problem, but that it handles it differently.
> 
> Of interest is that 1501 (ESPN2) seems to be partially bad. I see no issues on Tivo, but on the HD box, it exhibits the same screen-to-black behavior, but much less frequently, maybe about once per 20-30 seconds.
> 
> For reference, my TA diag screens are reporting FDC of -8, RDC of 54. Both seem to vary a few db from time to time, but are pretty much in that range. I forget how to check signal strength on this box. I know there used to be a channel that had it.


I was having the same issues, the screen going black following attempts to go to ESPN. I was convinced my Tivo died until I came here, thinking that the video card had crapped out. Just tried it again and the same thing happened. I have a truck in route and will let you know what happens with a new card.

The bummer is that I bought a Premier and was just going to have him install the card in that, again thinking that it was a dead Tivo HD.

Keep you posted. Hopefully the new card works, although I am not hopeful.


----------



## RTPGiants

I'm really skeptical of anyone telling me my FDC/RDC are out of range. First off, they vary. RDC bounces between the 40s and 50s. Second, they've been in this range for more than a year with very few problems since SCSIRaid's pixelation fixes. This combined with all the other people having problems really makes me think this is way beyond "my" signal strength.

And good luck to the guy above me with the truck roll. Please try to give him as much info as you can on the issue. If a new CC fixes it, great, but I really have my doubts. It's possible a Premier will handle the issue differently though, so you might get lucky. Another reason I'm reluctant to deal with TWC is that the last time they touched my CC it took them hours to get the stupid thing authorized. Popping in a new one combined with 20 minute Tivo reboots (due to acquiring channels) has potential to waste a LOT of time.

Some other info. ESPN2 (1501) reports QAM 256, 87 signal strength, SNR of 35dB, 0 RS Uncorrected, 26 RS Corrected (not rising). I'm not going to change it over to 1500 as I don't want to lock Tivo at the moment. But on 1105, it's also QAM 256, 100 signal strength, 36 SNR, 0 for both RS. Noteable difference is that 1105 is in a much lower frequency.


----------



## clcbmason

RTPGiants said:


> I'm really skeptical of anyone telling me my FDC/RDC are out of range. First off, they vary. RDC bounces between the 40s and 50s. Second, they've been in this range for more than a year with very few problems since SCSIRaid's pixelation fixes. This combined with all the other people having problems really makes me think this is way beyond "my" signal strength.
> 
> And good luck to the guy above me with the truck roll. Please try to give him as much info as you can on the issue. If a new CC fixes it, great, but I really have my doubts. It's possible a Premier will handle the issue differently though, so you might get lucky. Another reason I'm reluctant to deal with TWC is that the last time they touched my CC it took them hours to get the stupid thing authorized. Popping in a new one combined with 20 minute Tivo reboots (due to acquiring channels) has potential to waste a LOT of time.
> 
> Some other info. ESPN2 (1501) reports QAM 256, 87 signal strength, SNR of 35dB, 0 RS Uncorrected, 26 RS Corrected (not rising). I'm not going to change it over to 1500 as I don't want to lock Tivo at the moment. But on 1105, it's also QAM 256, 100 signal strength, 36 SNR, 0 for both RS. Noteable difference is that 1105 is in a much lower frequency.


Truck roll and new CC appear to be a waste of time. The Premier did not ever recognize the card. Not sure what I am going to do now, but I think I have a new Premier AND a perfectly functioning HD.

Is a wait and see approach the best at this point?


----------



## RTPGiants

clcbmason said:


> Truck roll and new CC appear to be a waste of time. The Premier did not ever recognize the card. Not sure what I am going to do now, but I think I have a new Premier AND a perfectly functioning HD.
> 
> Is a wait and see approach the best at this point?


I think I might approach it from the non-Tivo angle. Since TWC's own equipment also has problems, I'm probably going to see if they can fix that. If so, I suspect Tivo problems will resolve. I'll let them do a roll for that.


----------



## dlfl

RTPGiants said:


> I'm really skeptical of anyone telling me my FDC/RDC are out of range. First off, they vary. RDC bounces between the 40s and 50s. Second, they've been in this range for more than a year with very few problems since SCSIRaid's pixelation fixes. This combined with all the other people having problems really makes me think this is way beyond "my" signal strength.
> .......


I agree -- RDC/FDC issues are probably not your problem. I just noticed they seem a little high/low compared to typical values. The large variation you are seeing does seem unusual to me. Mine are steady for weeks at a time and only vary a few dB even over many months.


RTPGiants said:


> Some other info. ESPN2 (1501) reports QAM 256, 87 signal strength, SNR of 35dB, 0 RS Uncorrected, 26 RS Corrected (not rising). I'm not going to change it over to 1500 as I don't want to lock Tivo at the moment. But on 1105, it's also QAM 256, 100 signal strength, 36 SNR, 0 for both RS. Noteable difference is that 1105 is in a much lower frequency.


All these numbers look good. QAM256 is just the type of modulation.


----------



## clcbmason

Just called Tivo and they said they have not heard anything. Called TWC and they said the have called Tivo and they are working on it. Is anyone working to resolve this?

In the meantime, I have what I think is a perfectly functioning Series 3 and a replacement Premier. Which one do I have the CC put into today? The premier to see if it works, or the Series 3 to confirm that the ESPN crash is legit?

How much is DirecTV again?

Talked to a CC guy at TW and he said they are working on it, but they are confused as to what caused it and why it happened in such a confined radius.


----------



## notting

clcbmason said:


> J
> In the meantime, I have what I think is a perfectly functioning Series 3 and a replacement Premier. Which one do I have the CC put into today? The premier to see if it works, or the Series 3 to confirm that the ESPN crash is legit?


The troubleshooter in me says put it in both just to get more data - to confirm the issue on Series 3, and see if it persists on Premiere. Whether the tech has the patience for that is another matter, and it's not worth opening up the Premiere if it's still in the box just for that.


----------



## stevesdigi

Got new HD TIVO and called TW for cablecard and TA. Installed on Thurs, guy came back on Fri and said it would take 24hrs to start working. Sat morning TIVO said it had updated cablecard and I rebooted - still no SDV but all else was good. Got a tech to come out on Thurs and he called in to get the TA authorized and all works good now. Only took a week!

Now if the internet only worked as it is supposed to ... I sure miss my VERIZON FIOS, it's not available here - sigh!


----------



## RTPGiants

stevesdigi said:


> Got new HD TIVO and called TW for cablecard and TA. Installed on Thurs, guy came back on Fri and said it would take 24hrs to start working. Sat morning TIVO said it had updated cablecard and I rebooted - still no SDV but all else was good. Got a tech to come out on Thurs and he called in to get the TA authorized and all works good now. Only took a week!
> 
> Now if the internet only worked as it is supposed to ... I sure miss my VERIZON FIOS, it's not available here - sigh!


Congrats. Typically if the TA is unauthorized, it'll flash in sequence (I think it's 8 flashes). If you happen to end up in that state again, call level 1 support and have them transfer you to the national cablecard helpdesk. They can send a "hit" that will get it going immediately w/o waiting and w/o a tech.


----------



## dlfl

8-blinks-pause is the TA's signal it has lost authorization. You can see the date/time at which this will occur (at least for Cisco TA's) in TA diagnostics, under "PowerKEY Information", 3rd page in. It's called "Sub Expires".

Although I used to have to go to NCCS for this, more recently several of us have been able to get this fixed by local support by just asking them to go to "Screen 07" or the "Customer Balancing Screen" and just hit enter. They may have no idea why this works, but it does.


----------



## notting

clcbmason said:


> Talked to a CC guy at TW and he said they are working on it, but they are confused as to what caused it and why it happened in such a confined radius.


We got an automated phone call this morning saying that a problem in our area was fixed; didn't have a chance to check it then. But I tried tonight and ESPN HD is working fine. So perhaps they figured it out.


----------



## karlthepagan

I got a multi-card from TW today. I had a horrible customer service experience and they sent a guy to service my existing DVR when I wanted it replaced by a cable card for my HD TiVO.

The tech (who was very helpful) told me that TW wasn't issuing cable cards anymore! I guess I was lucky he had one in his truck... :/

Also the tech got it working in 30 minutes... speedy!


----------



## cwoody222

notting said:


> We got an automated phone call this morning saying that a problem in our area was fixed; didn't have a chance to check it then. But I tried tonight and ESPN HD is working fine. So perhaps they figured it out.


Wow - without a truck roll?!


----------



## cwoody222

karlthepagan said:


> The tech (who was very helpful) told me that TW wasn't issuing cable cards anymore! I guess I was lucky he had one in his truck... :/


Yes they are. According to the FCC they have to. As a matter of fact, very soon - if not already - they have to allow self-installs too.

Your tech was either lying or didn't have all the facts straight.


----------



## cwoody222

stevesdigi said:


> Got new HD TIVO and called TW for cablecard and TA. Installed on Thurs, guy came back on Fri and said it would take 24hrs to start working.


I love that 24-hour thing. Not true. If they get it working properly it works instantly.

They say that so they have an excuse to leave with it not working. Or because they actually believe it.


----------



## RTPGiants

notting said:


> We got an automated phone call this morning saying that a problem in our area was fixed; didn't have a chance to check it then. But I tried tonight and ESPN HD is working fine. So perhaps they figured it out.


I got that call yesterday and it was still broken. Just tried now and all looks good!


----------



## clcbmason

I went to reinstall my Series 3, having returned the Premier, and now it does not even recognize that I have put the CC in. Did I lose the card reader in the process of taking it out and putting it back in? Or, is this the third bad card in a row? 

Does a bad card elicit an error message, or does it just not register in the Tivo?


----------



## RTPGiants

clcbmason said:


> I went to reinstall my Series 3, having returned the Premier, and now it does not even recognize that I have put the CC in. Did I lose the card reader in the process of taking it out and putting it back in? Or, is this the third bad card in a row?
> 
> Does a bad card elicit an error message, or does it just not register in the Tivo?


Reboot Tivo after it's in?


----------



## PedjaR

My Tivo Premiere complained about invalid channel lineup three days ago. I allowed it to pick up new lineup (seems to be a fairly common problem at the time in Raleigh area). After that, the guide displays proper shows for non-HD channels, broadcast HD channels and EncoreHD; the rest of HD channels display "to be announced" in the guide (but work properly when watched live). I thought it is just a temporary thing, but it's been almost three days now, no improvements. Any thoughts? I forced a couple of connections, rebooted both Tivo and Tuning Adapter, to no avail. I am thinking about re-running Guided Setup, but I am afraid of losing stuff (series/wishlists, maybe even recordings).


----------



## cwoody222

You won't lose recordings, SP's, etc by rerunning Guided Setup.


----------



## PedjaR

cwoody222 said:


> You won't lose recordings, SP's, etc by rerunning Guided Setup.


Thanks. What about cable card pairing and whatever info needed for tuning adapter?


----------



## cwoody222

PedjaR said:


> Thanks. What about cable card pairing and whatever info needed for tuning adapter?


I'm not positive but I think you should be fine. The CARD is tied to your cable co account, the TiVo hardware and the CARD's serial number... none of which should change with a Guided Setup. I think.

TA should also be fine, that's just hardware, there's really no setup needed on the cable co end. Those are pretty easily swappable.


----------



## RTPGiants

No pairings or anything else is lost during a guided setup. Don't be concerned if Tivo reboots during the last step of the first one and makes you go through it all again. It takes forever, but it's ok.


----------



## PedjaR

Re-run Guided Setup, everything's fine now. Thanks.


----------



## JavaJoe_2

On my truck roll (01/22/11) the tech spent about 8 hours trying to get the CC and the TA "married" and still no luck....what a joke! I also have the full digital tier. The tech only has the hardware, it's the one's that send the signal to the box that don't seem to know what's up. IMO
I guess they will be back on Wednesday to "try" again......
BTW: this is TWC in Milwaukee, WI.
This is frustrating and "Hopefully" worth it.


----------



## Grumock

RTPGiants said:


> Congrats. If you happen to end up in that state again, call level 1 support and have them transfer you to the national cablecard helpdesk. They can send a "hit" that will get it going immediately w/o waiting and w/o a tech.


your right about 8 blinks but anyone can go to the "07 screen" or "customer balancing screen" and hit enter. It's not something magical that the NCCSD does.


----------



## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> Yes they are. According to the FCC they have to. As a matter of fact, very soon - if not already - they have to allow self-installs too.


Yep I think they have 7 more months before the dead line for self installs, maybe 6. LOL


----------



## Grumock

cwoody222 said:


> I love that 24-hour thing. Not true. If they get it working properly it works instantly.
> 
> They say that so they have an excuse to leave with it not working. Or because they actually believe it.


Absolutely right!


----------



## Grumock

JavaJoe_2 said:


> On my truck roll (01/22/11) the tech spent about 8 hours trying to get the CC and the TA "married" and still no luck....what a joke! I also have the full digital tier. The tech only has the hardware, it's the one's that send the signal to the box that don't seem to know what's up. IMO
> I guess they will be back on Wednesday to "try" again......
> BTW: this is TWC in Milwaukee, WI.
> This is frustrating and "Hopefully" worth it.


Did he happen to say that the cards are "Pair Failing"? If that is the case, it does not matter who is on the other end. That normally is a few things like, it was not inventoried correctly or possibly is not registered in the DNCS .


----------



## JavaJoe_2

Grumock said:


> Did he happen to say that the cards are "Pair Failing"? If that is the case, it does not matter who is on the other end. That normally is a few things like, it was not inventoried correctly or possibly is not registered in the DNCS .


No, he never mentioned that. The Tivo Premier and XL recognized the cards and TA, they just couldn't seem to get it working.
Hopefully Wednesday.


----------



## Grumock

JavaJoe_2 said:


> No, he never mentioned that. The Tivo Premier and XL recognized the cards and TA, they just couldn't seem to get it working.
> Hopefully Wednesday.


If you go into the *CP info* screen on the Cable card Menu do you have *CP auth received* or waiting for at the top of the screen?


----------



## JavaJoe_2

Grumock said:


> If you go into the *CP info* screen on the Cable card Menu do you have *CP auth received* or waiting for at the top of the screen?


The tech took everything with him when he couldn't get it working.
He will be back on Wed.
But, Thanks for your help.
When he installs...I will look for that.
All he looks at is the host screen and he told me he knows nothing else about the other screens.


----------



## TinKC

Okay, I'm back...unfortunately. I really didn't have time this week to mess with the TiVo & TA so I was fiddling around with it this morning. I have tried every combination of unplugging, waiting, replugging, etc without any luck of receiving those same few channels. My very last attempt was restarting TiVo (which I knew was logically unneccessary but this TA situation seems to defy logic) without the TA and pretty much plugging everything back in as though it was the first time connecting the TA. After this process, the TA was not tuning to ANY channels. The TiVo recognizes the TA has been disconnected & reconnected and the light on the TA isn't flashing, it's solid green. However, it will not tune. For now, I have disconnected the TA altogether so I can at least have my non-SDV and non-HD channel shows recorded. Both of my other TiVo Premieres & TAs are working properly without any problems and tuning to all of the channels they should be. I don't know what I should do from here? Do I need to call Time Warner tech support? Should I first go get a replacement TA?

(This was my initial post last week, in case you don't remember)


TinKC said:


> I have 3 Premieres with 3 TAs. 2 of them I have never had any problems with since initial installation, about 7 weeks ago. The problem child of the group has had the TA replaced once. Tonight, after a long day at work, I sink into the covers and plan on watching my favorite show, the season premiere of Big Love, only to find out my TA was down and didn't record! How sad I am! (and frustrated). I'm noticing that the only channels it seems to not be tuning into are any of my HBO channels, BBCAmerica HD, Biography HD, the Style HD channel, and about 3 others. I can get all of my network HD channels. I can get basic cable HD channels like E, HGTV, ComedyCentral. I've unplugged the USB, which gives me the TA disconnected notice on the screen and TiVo recognizes the TA has been connected when I plug the USB back in but the HBO channels & StyleHD are still not tuning. Any ideas what the problem could be or a possible solution?
> 
> *pardon any typos - typing on my iPad


----------



## Grumock

TinKC said:


> Okay, I'm back...unfortunately. I really didn't have time this week to mess with the TiVo & TA so I was fiddling around with it this morning. I have tried every combination of unplugging, waiting, replugging, etc without any luck of receiving those same few channels. My very last attempt was restarting TiVo (which I knew was logically unneccessary but this TA situation seems to defy logic) without the TA and pretty much plugging everything back in as though it was the first time connecting the TA. After this process, the TA was not tuning to ANY channels. The TiVo recognizes the TA has been disconnected & reconnected and the light on the TA isn't flashing, it's solid green. However, it will not tune. For now, I have disconnected the TA altogether so I can at least have my non-SDV and non-HD channel shows recorded. Both of my other TiVo Premieres & TAs are working properly without any problems and tuning to all of the channels they should be. I don't know what I should do from here? Do I need to call Time Warner tech support? Should I first go get a replacement TA?
> 
> (This was my initial post last week, in case you don't remember)


It appears to me that the RF output on that Tuning adapter has taken a dive on you & yes I would recommend getting a new one. The RF is a pass through so if you are getting a channel without it & you connect the RF through the TA & power it up without the USB connected the same channel should continue to come through.


----------



## Static

ok, first of... let me say that the "out" rf on the TA is NOT needed.. in fact its better NOT to use it.

Get a good quality splitter (not the cheap 600Mhz kind... a GOOD one)
Split the cable pre-TA/tivo. One cable goes to the tivo, the other, to the TA. Then just join the Tivo to the TA with USB. The usb is all that is needed because Tivo just needs to know where to tune to get that channel.

I have had the best luck with that setup.. and if you find the right TWC tech.. he will confirm this (Tier III support told me about it)

Now.. back to my issues... once again.. my TA has crapped out. It lasted 4 whole months.. not now I need to unplug /plug in the USB daily for the tivo to see it again. I cant stand this anymore.


----------



## pmiranda

Static said:


> ok, first of... let me say that the "out" rf on the TA is NOT needed.. in fact its better NOT to use it.


I use the extra output to drive the rarely-used tuner card in my HTPC.


----------



## dlfl

Static said:


> ok, first of... let me say that the "out" rf on the TA is NOT needed.. in fact its better NOT to use it.
> 
> Get a good quality splitter (not the cheap 600Mhz kind... a GOOD one)
> Split the cable pre-TA/tivo. One cable goes to the tivo, the other, to the TA. Then just join the Tivo to the TA with USB. The usb is all that is needed because Tivo just needs to know where to tune to get that channel.
> 
> I have had the best luck with that setup.. and if you find the right TWC tech.. he will confirm this (Tier III support told me about it)


AFAIK, the only signal difference (at the TiVo input) between the two configurations is the level. As I understand it, the Cisco TA amplifies the passed-thru signal by about 1 dB, while with a splitter you will loose about 4 dB. (A perfect lossless 2-way splitter will still loose 3dB because the power is being divided into two channels and 3 dB is simply 2X in power.)

Which way is better then just amounts to whether a 1 dB boost or 4 dB reduction is better, which depends on what the signal level was to begin with, i.e., whether it's too high or too low. In most cases it won't make any difference.


Static said:


> Now.. back to my issues... once again.. my TA has crapped out. It lasted 4 whole months.. not now I need to unplug /plug in the USB daily for the tivo to see it again. I cant stand this anymore.


Probably a long shot but the next time you get things working, look in TA Diagnostics..Status, for FDC and RDC in dBmV units. I'm wondering if your OOB (out-of-band) communication link may be marginal and the TA drops off line because of this. (?)


----------



## cableguy763

The rf output of the cisco ta is +3 dbmv.


----------



## mike_ca_74

Over the last 3 weeks or so I've had an issue with my tuning adapter apparently rebooting every few minutes. The light blinks, then goes solid for a bit, then starts blinking again. On top of all this, I get the constant "A tuning adapter has been connected to your Tivo" message, which interrupts what I'm watching and stops any recordings.

Time Warner techs have been out here 5 times, and swapped 5 tuning adapters, but I'm still having trouble. The 4th tech that was out here seemed pretty knowledgeable. He said that a lot of Tivo customers in the area are having the same problem, and that the tuning adapters are dropping off the DNCS. He told me they had a concall about this last week, and that they thought they had the problem solved, but once again I have the same issue, even after once again swapping the tuning adapter.

Most people at Time Warner seem completely clueless as to what's going on. Every time I call in all they do send a tech over that once again just swaps a tuning adapter, but no results. Whenever they put a new tuning adapter in, it'll work for a day or so, and then back to rebooting.

Calling NCCS doesn't help. They're very understanding and seem to be technically knowledgeable, but aren't familiar with this issue.

Is anyone else on Time Warner having the same problem? Any solutions?


----------



## Grumock

mike_ca_74 said:


> Over the last 3 weeks or so I've had an issue with my tuning adapter apparently rebooting every few minutes. The light blinks, then goes solid for a bit, then starts blinking again. On top of all this, I get the constant "A tuning adapter has been connected to your Tivo" message, which interrupts what I'm watching and stops any recordings.
> 
> Time Warner techs have been out here 5 times, and swapped 5 tuning adapters, but I'm still having trouble. The 4th tech that was out here seemed pretty knowledgeable. He said that a lot of Tivo customers in the area are having the same problem, and that the tuning adapters are dropping off the DNCS. He told me they had a concall about this last week, and that they thought they had the problem solved, but once again I have the same issue, even after once again swapping the tuning adapter.
> 
> Most people at Time Warner seem completely clueless as to what's going on. Every time I call in all they do send a tech over that once again just swaps a tuning adapter, but no results. Whenever they put a new tuning adapter in, it'll work for a day or so, and then back to rebooting.
> 
> Calling NCCS doesn't help. They're very understanding and seem to be technically knowledgeable, but aren't familiar with this issue.
> 
> Is anyone else on Time Warner having the same problem? Any solutions?


just curious since i have not heard this one. If you leave the Tuning adapter unplugged as far as USB does it still do the same reboot thing?


----------



## mike_ca_74

Grumock said:


> just curious since i have not heard this one. If you leave the Tuning adapter unplugged as far as USB does it still do the same reboot thing?


Yes - you can still see the lights doing the different flashing patterns, although it never goes solid for long.

Some other facts: Each time they give me a new tuning adapter it'll work for about 24 hours, and then start the loop gain. Also, if I leave the tuning adapter disconnected overnight, then power cycle it, and then reconnect it to the Tivo, it might work OK for a few hours before starting the cycle again.


----------



## Grumock

mike_ca_74 said:


> Yes - you can still see the lights doing the different flashing patterns, although it never goes solid for long.
> 
> Some other facts: Each time they give me a new tuning adapter it'll work for about 24 hours, and then start the loop gain. Also, if I leave the tuning adapter disconnected overnight, then power cycle it, and then reconnect it to the Tivo, it might work OK for a few hours before starting the cycle again.


stupid question here: Have you tried a different power outlet, and or power strip? I take it the techs have swapped the power supply as well? Sorry one more thing, is it a Motorola or Cisco Tuning adapter?

Sorry just had to ask


----------



## mike_ca_74

Grumock said:


> stupid question here: Have you tried a different power outlet, and or power strip? I take it the techs have swapped the power supply as well? Sorry one more thing, is it a Motorola or Cisco Tuning adapter?
> 
> Sorry just had to ask


Yes, they did swap the power supply after the 2nd tuning adapter swap, per the recommendation of NCCS. I haven't tried a different power strip though. I can give that a shot and see what happens. It'll be funny if that's what the problem is.


----------



## Grumock

mike_ca_74 said:


> Yes, they did swap the power supply after the 2nd tuning adapter swap, per the recommendation of NCCS. I haven't tried a different power strip though. I can give that a shot and see what happens. It'll be funny if that's what the problem is.


Well just seems real strange to have so many doing the same thing. Is this a Motorola or Cisco tuning adapter?


----------



## lrhorer

cableguy763 said:


> The rf output of the cisco ta is +3 dbmv.


I think you mean +3 dB. The output level (in dBmV) will vary widely depending upon the channel and the network topology.

The term "dB" is a measure of the ratio of two power levels, in this case the input of the TA WRT the output of a TA. The term "dBmV" refers to a signal level relative to a reference of 1 millivolt across 75 ohms.


----------



## lrhorer

Static said:


> ok, first of... let me say that the "out" rf on the TA is NOT needed


Some sort of split is required. It doesn't absolutely have to be the output of the TA, but it certainly simplifies the plumbing.



Static said:


> .. in fact its better NOT to use it.


This is just false. In general it is going to be better to use the TA's internal directional coupler. There are cases where other solutions are preferable, but not for most installations.


----------



## lrhorer

mike_ca_74 said:


> Over the last 3 weeks or so I've had an issue with my tuning adapter apparently rebooting every few minutes. The light blinks, then goes solid for a bit, then starts blinking again. On top of all this, I get the constant "A tuning adapter has been connected to your Tivo" message, which interrupts what I'm watching and stops any recordings.


Trying to troubleshoot any issue second hand is fraught with pitfalls. That said, the symptoms you describe sound very much like a USB problem. Have you tried replacing the USB cable? Have you tried a different port on the TiVo? While not terribly likely, it could be a bad USB cable, and replacing it is extremely cheap and easy. Also make sure the USB cable is not near any sources of high level emf, especially an RF source or a feed for an electrostatic speaker. Replacing or re-routing the USB cable and / or reorienting the TA and the TiVo might fix the problem with a little luck. Unfortunately, however, without being there, and given the history you provided, my prime suspect would be the USB port on the TiVo. Again, moving to the other port might help, but a flaky root hub is a really good candidate for issues such as yours. It's also not impossible it could be corrupt software on the TiVo, but this really sounds like a hardware problem.


----------



## lrhorer

Grumock said:


> Well just seems real strange to have so many doing the same thing. Is this a Motorola or Cisco tuning adapter?


It's not strange. It just strongly suggests it is not a problem with the TAs.


----------



## Grumock

lrhorer said:


> It's not strange. It just strongly suggests it is not a problem with the TAs.


I would agree with you 100% but was trying to be nice about it.


----------



## Grumock

lrhorer said:


> While not terribly likely, it could be a bad USB cable, and replacing it is extremely cheap and easy.


Well if it does the same thing without the USB connected it is not a USB issue. It is more likely that it is a Power issue IMHO.


----------



## lrhorer

Grumock said:


> Well if it does the same thing without the USB connected it is not a USB issue. It is more likely that it is a Power issue IMHO.


Did he say that? If so, I didn't catch it. Certainly he isn't going to get the whirling disc and the notice that a TA has been attached unless a TA is indeed, attached.


----------



## Grumock

lrhorer said:


> Did he say that? If so, I didn't catch it. Certainly he isn't going to get the whirling disc and the notice that a TA has been attached unless a TA is indeed, attached.


Yes in fact I asked earlier



Grumock said:


> just curious since i have not heard this one. If you leave the Tuning adapter unplugged as far as USB does it still do the same reboot thing?





mike_ca_74 said:


> Yes - you can still see the lights doing the different flashing patterns, although it never goes solid for long.
> 
> Some other facts: Each time they give me a new tuning adapter it'll work for about 24 hours, and then start the loop gain. Also, if I leave the tuning adapter disconnected overnight, then power cycle it, and then reconnect it to the Tivo, it might work OK for a few hours before starting the cycle again.


----------



## jtotry

We live in southern california and have time warner cable as well. We've got two tivos with cable cards and turner adapters and are experiencing the SAME EXACT situation. Of course, we've called time warner, they send someone out, it works for an hour or so and again, the rebooting happens every few minutes. I've noticed that it happens alot more at night than during the day. Not sure what's up...but we are beyond frustrated...Any help would be appreciated.



mike_ca_74 said:


> Over the last 3 weeks or so I've had an issue with my tuning adapter apparently rebooting every few minutes. The light blinks, then goes solid for a bit, then starts blinking again. On top of all this, I get the constant "A tuning adapter has been connected to your Tivo" message, which interrupts what I'm watching and stops any recordings.
> 
> Time Warner techs have been out here 5 times, and swapped 5 tuning adapters, but I'm still having trouble. The 4th tech that was out here seemed pretty knowledgeable. He said that a lot of Tivo customers in the area are having the same problem, and that the tuning adapters are dropping off the DNCS. He told me they had a concall about this last week, and that they thought they had the problem solved, but once again I have the same issue, even after once again swapping the tuning adapter.
> 
> Most people at Time Warner seem completely clueless as to what's going on. Every time I call in all they do send a tech over that once again just swaps a tuning adapter, but no results. Whenever they put a new tuning adapter in, it'll work for a day or so, and then back to rebooting.
> 
> Calling NCCS doesn't help. They're very understanding and seem to be technically knowledgeable, but aren't familiar with this issue.
> 
> Is anyone else on Time Warner having the same problem? Any solutions?


----------



## lrhorer

Grumock said:


> Yes in fact I asked earlier


Yeah, I missed that. In that case, you are correct. If the TA is misbehaving without the TiVo attached, then it's a very different kettle of fish. OTOH, I'm not quite sure what the TA's behavior is supposed to be when disconnected from the TiVo.


----------



## dlfl

mike_ca_74,

Sorry if I missed this in all the posts, but is your TA powered via a UPS? Both it and your TiVo really should be. Even the smallest UPS will back up a TA and TiVo. As an experiment, try unplugging and replugging your TA power as fast as you physically can do it. I bet it reboots. Yes, you would expect some other devices to show signs of power dropouts but maybe the TA is more sensitive to this than all the other devices. I have one digital clock that is sometimes the only device in the house to reset as a result of a power glitch. Of course my TiVo and TA are on UPS so they don't reboot.


----------



## Beernutts

jtotry said:


> We live in southern california and have time warner cable as well. We've got two tivos with cable cards and turner adapters and are experiencing the SAME EXACT situation. Of course, we've called time warner, they send someone out, it works for an hour or so and again, the rebooting happens every few minutes. I've noticed that it happens alot more at night than during the day. Not sure what's up...but we are beyond frustrated...Any help would be appreciated.


Motorola or Cisco Tuning Adapter?


----------



## jtotry

Beernutts said:


> Motorola or Cisco Tuning Adapter?


Cisco


----------



## mike_ca_74

lrhorer said:


> Trying to troubleshoot any issue second hand is fraught with pitfalls. That said, the symptoms you describe sound very much like a USB problem. Have you tried replacing the USB cable? Have you tried a different port on the TiVo? While not terribly likely, it could be a bad USB cable, and replacing it is extremely cheap and easy. Also make sure the USB cable is not near any sources of high level emf, especially an RF source or a feed for an electrostatic speaker. Replacing or re-routing the USB cable and / or reorienting the TA and the TiVo might fix the problem with a little luck. Unfortunately, however, without being there, and given the history you provided, my prime suspect would be the USB port on the TiVo. Again, moving to the other port might help, but a flaky root hub is a really good candidate for issues such as yours. It's also not impossible it could be corrupt software on the TiVo, but this really sounds like a hardware problem.


Here are answers to many of the troubleshooting questions:

1. It's a Cisco TA.

2. Changing the power outlet and removing the power strip did not fix the problem.

3. I've tried both USB ports, and both have the same problem.

4. The USB cable has been swapped. Twice.

5. As another poster that's having the same problem mentioned, it seems to start more often overnight. I'll get it working again after a series of TA / Tuning Adapter reboots, but then when I check on it the next morning it starts flashing.

6. Looking at the TA diagnostics screen gives a lot of good info. Based on its phase in the cycle, it'll go between the diagnostics being unavailable, "In Progress" and "Ready", but even when it's in the "Ready" state the TA's lights will flash and the Tivo won't be able to tune the TA channels.

7. The first few times the TA reboots, the Tivo will give me the "TA is connected" screen, but after a while it'll stop giving me that screen. It seems like the Tivo just gives up on the TA after a while, even though it's clearly connected.

8. I've called Tivo about this and they've offered to send me a replacement (Refurbished) Tivo HD, but I don't want to go through all that hassle and lose my season passes unless I'm pretty certain the problem is with the Tivo. As another poster has mentioned, it could very well be the USB root hub, but then we wouldn't have lots of others with the same problem.


----------



## mike_ca_74

mike_ca_74 said:


> Here are answers to many of the troubleshooting questions:
> 
> 1. It's a Cisco TA.
> 
> 2. Changing the power outlet and removing the power strip did not fix the problem.
> 
> 3. I've tried both USB ports, and both have the same problem.
> 
> 4. The USB cable has been swapped. Twice.
> 
> 5. As another poster that's having the same problem mentioned, it seems to start more often overnight. I'll get it working again after a series of TA / Tuning Adapter reboots, but then when I check on it the next morning it starts flashing.
> 
> 6. Looking at the TA diagnostics screen gives a lot of good info. Based on its phase in the cycle, it'll go between the diagnostics being unavailable, "In Progress" and "Ready", but even when it's in the "Ready" state the TA's lights will flash and the Tivo won't be able to tune the TA channels.
> 
> 7. The first few times the TA reboots, the Tivo will give me the "TA is connected" screen, but after a while it'll stop giving me that screen. It seems like the Tivo just gives up on the TA after a while, even though it's clearly connected.
> 
> 8. I've called Tivo about this and they've offered to send me a replacement (Refurbished) Tivo HD, but I don't want to go through all that hassle and lose my season passes unless I'm pretty certain the problem is with the Tivo. As another poster has mentioned, it could very well be the USB root hub, but then we wouldn't have lots of others with the same problem.


I was doing some troubleshooting on this again last night and finally found something that stands out.

When the Tivo is connected to the tuning adapter and everything is working correctly, on the TUNING ADAPTER diag screen, the OpStatus is "Ready". When the tuning adapter is behaving badly, the OpStatus is "Initializing".

Does anyone know what an OpStatus of Initializing mean? Does it mean the TA is having trouble communicating with the headend or the Tivo, or does it mean something else? Does this help determine whether this is a problem between the TA and the Tivo or a problem between the TA and the cable company?


----------



## Stone1555

That just shows the T/A is rebooting


----------



## dlfl

mike_ca_74,

Next time your TA is functioning OK, look in TA Diagnostics...Status, for FDC and RDC in dBmV units and post the values. I'm wondering if your OOB (out-of-band) communication link may be marginal.


----------



## mike_ca_74

dlfl said:


> mike_ca_74,
> 
> Next time your TA is functioning OK, look in TA Diagnostics...Status, for FDC and RDC in dBmV units and post the values. I'm wondering if your OOB (out-of-band) communication link may be marginal.


FDC: 6 dBmV
RDC: 35 dBmV

It's usually about the same give or take regardless of whether it's working correctly or not.


----------



## dlfl

mike_ca_74 said:


> FDC: 6 dBmV
> RDC: 35 dBmV
> 
> It's usually about the same give or take regardless of whether it's working correctly or not.


If anything, those numbers indicate a stronger-than-average link for forward and reverse communications between your TA and the cable plant. Should not be a problem.


----------



## Teeps

Anyone in Torrance Ca encountering SDV channels?


----------



## PedjaR

Stone1555 said:


> That just shows the T/A is rebooting


May be a defective TA. The first TA I got used to reboot twice a week or so. After a few weeks, I had it replaced, and the second one never reboots on its own.


----------



## Saxion

Hi all,

I'm researching the previously-reported bug where a TiVo Series 3 will stop recording TiVo Suggestions when connected to a Cisco Tuning Adapter on a Time Warner cable system. I recently moved from a Cox area to Time Warner and now have this bug.

TiVo tech support is going to work with me tonight and run some diagnostics on my TA. Beforehand, I'd like to know *if anyone has a Series 3 TiVo on Time Warner cable that correctly records Suggestions*? Knowing if there are cases in the country where this combination works might help narrow down the problem. Thanks!!!

-Brian


----------



## zowwie85

Saxion said:


> Hi all,
> TiVo tech support is going to work with me tonight and run some diagnostics on my TA. Beforehand, I'd like to know *if anyone has a Series 3 TiVo on Time Warner cable that correctly records Suggestions*? Knowing if there are cases in the country where this combination works might help narrow down the problem. Thanks!!!


Good luck. When I went that route it was a total waste of time. Series 3 HD TiVo + Cisco TA = no suggestions. TiVo ultimately offered me a few free months of service to shut up and go away, or the option of just canceling. TiVo knows about this issue and isn't likely to fix it for Series 3 owners.

My TiVo comes up with perhaps one suggestion per month and always on an analog channel. This is on Cox in Phoenix. I'm not sure if their cablecard/TA setup forces the box to use digital simulcast of the analog channels.

I still use the TiVo because the user interface is better than the one Cox has on their boxes. It sure isn't because of TiVo's customer service.


----------



## dlfl

Saxion said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm researching the previously-reported bug where a TiVo Series 3 will stop recording TiVo Suggestions when connected to a Cisco Tuning Adapter on a Time Warner cable system. I recently moved from a Cox area to Time Warner and now have this bug.
> 
> TiVo tech support is going to work with me tonight and run some diagnostics on my TA. Beforehand, I'd like to know *if anyone has a Series 3 TiVo on Time Warner cable that correctly records Suggestions*? Knowing if there are cases in the country where this combination works might help narrow down the problem. Thanks!!!
> 
> -Brian


Do you have the older S3 or the HD? (Both are "Series 3"). I don't know if the suggestions issue differs between the models but responders need to know if you want to be specific.

Try searching this thread on "suggestions" -- many pertinent posts and I think the answer depends on specific cable system, i.e., can differ from one TWC system to another.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Saxion said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm researching the previously-reported bug where a TiVo Series 3 will stop recording TiVo Suggestions when connected to a Cisco Tuning Adapter on a Time Warner cable system. I recently moved from a Cox area to Time Warner and now have this bug.
> 
> TiVo tech support is going to work with me tonight and run some diagnostics on my TA. Beforehand, I'd like to know *if anyone has a Series 3 TiVo on Time Warner cable that correctly records Suggestions*? Knowing if there are cases in the country where this combination works might help narrow down the problem. Thanks!!!
> 
> -Brian


Dont waste your time. An S3 or THD with a TA typically will not record suggestions. I have both and neither will populate Find Programs/ TiVo Suggestions or record suggestions. I also have a Premiere with TA that records suggestions just fine. We can only hope for a code update from TiVo to address this.


----------



## Saxion

dlfl said:


> Do you have the older S3 or the HD?


I have the older S3. But it would be useful to know if anyone has Suggestions working (with a Cisco TA) _*on either an S3 or HD*_. We know Premier works fine.


----------



## Saxion

SCSIRAID said:


> Dont waste your time. An S3 or THD with a TA typically will not record suggestions. I have both and neither will populate Find Programs/ TiVo Suggestions or record suggestions. I also have a Premiere with TA that records suggestions just fine. We can only hope for a code update from TiVo to address this.


Thanks SCSIRAID. I suppose it is useful to let them go through their diagnostics on my TiVo, if for nothing other than to keep this issue alive in their system. The CSR I spoke to today did not know about this issue, and a search for Time Warner + Cisco TA + Suggestions in their "known issues" database did not yield a definitive answer. So, I'm not sure how aware they are of this. If people keep complaining, maybe they will fix it.


----------



## dlfl

Saxion said:


> Thanks SCSIRAID. I suppose it is useful to let them go through their diagnostics on my TiVo, if for nothing other than to keep this issue alive in their system. The CSR I spoke to today did not know about this issue, and a search for Time Warner + Cisco TA + Suggestions in their "known issues" database did not yield a definitive answer. So, I'm not sure how aware they are of this. If people keep complaining, maybe they will fix it.


Strangely  TiVo and TWC customer service reps are usually not aware of whatever problem you have.

Here is a link to a TiVo support page . Note it says they have done extensive testing with TA's. Yet they are not aware of the suggestions issue  and they don't mention the SDV tuning-failure problem, which I know has been called to their attention. (I'm pretty sure the suggestions issue has been called to their attention too.)

A year or more back, this page did acknowledge the tuniing-failure problem and described the tune up/down manual workaround. Then a few months ago the page stated there were no TA problems. Now they acknowledge some new problem but not the two problems that bother us most.

It's pretty obvious there is little hope they will fix these issues for the discontinued Series 3 models. The SDV tuning-failures also occur on the current Series 4 models so maybe they will fix it for them. But they still may not fix it on the Series 3 because the software base is different.

In TiVo's defense, this situation just reflects the consumer culture. A TiVo that was designed, supported and debugged the way we would like would cost much more and would sell very few units.


----------



## mike_ca_74

mike_ca_74 said:


> I was doing some troubleshooting on this again last night and finally found something that stands out.
> 
> When the Tivo is connected to the tuning adapter and everything is working correctly, on the TUNING ADAPTER diag screen, the OpStatus is "Ready". When the tuning adapter is behaving badly, the OpStatus is "Initializing".
> 
> Does anyone know what an OpStatus of Initializing mean? Does it mean the TA is having trouble communicating with the headend or the Tivo, or does it mean something else? Does this help determine whether this is a problem between the TA and the Tivo or a problem between the TA and the cable company?


Just to tie up all the loose ends on this, for those that have been following this and to help anyone else who runs across this same issue, this problem was resolved last week.

The fix was for TWC to upgrade the firmware from 801 to 1202.

It only took them 3 weeks, several internal concalls, and multiple truck rolls to numerous customers to figure out that if you're having issues, they might get resolved by upgrading to the latest version.


----------



## Saxion

dlfl said:


> Strangely  TiVo and TWC customer service reps are usually not aware of whatever problem you have.
> 
> Here is a link to a TiVo support page . Note it says they have done extensive testing with TA's. Yet they are not aware of the suggestions issue  and they don't mention the SDV tuning-failure problem, which I know has been called to their attention. (I'm pretty sure the suggestions issue has been called to their attention too.)


Just to follow-up: I called TiVo tech support back, and we ran through some diagnostics on my Tivo. He then went off to talk to some other senior support people, came back and told me "we are aware of this issue, we are working on it, and that's all I can tell you." Others have gotten a similar response. Who knows if they really are working on it or not, but at least they acknowledge there is an issue.


----------



## SCSIRAID

mike_ca_74 said:


> Just to tie up all the loose ends on this, for those that have been following this and to help anyone else who runs across this same issue, this problem was resolved last week.
> 
> The fix was for TWC to upgrade the firmware from 801 to 1202.
> 
> It only took them 3 weeks, several internal concalls, and multiple truck rolls to numerous customers to figure out that if you're having issues, they might get resolved by upgrading to the latest version.


Wow... 0801 is ANCIENT....


----------



## wrankin

SCSIRAID said:


> Dont waste your time. An S3 or THD with a TA typically will not record suggestions. I have both and neither will populate Find Programs/ TiVo Suggestions or record suggestions. I also have a Premiere with TA that records suggestions just fine. We can only hope for a code update from TiVo to address this.


Funny, I'm in your area (Durham in my case) and on TWC. My Tivo HD + Cisco TA seems to record suggestions just fine - although I noticed that none of them are HD channels.

Running 11.0j OS and 1202 firmware on the TA.

-bill


----------



## tracktime

I've suffered as most of you have with my Cisco TA for almost 2 years now. In the past the biggest issue seemed to be that the TA would lose communication with TW but over the past week Tivo and the TA frequently lose contact. Typcially they find each other again but sometimes only if I remove the USB cable. Any ideas?

The local (Cleveland area) TW service is questionable at best. No one seems to be trained on the TA at all. Is their a method to get to the TW national support group without going through 10 levels of local support first?

Alan


----------



## dlfl

The TWC NCCS (National Cable Card Support) desk is here:
866.532.2598
AFAIK know they frown on customers calling them directly but frequently will go ahead and help you. They open at 10 am EST and have Saturday hours. There have been numerous experiences posted where NCCS solved problems quickly while local support was just going to "roll a truck".

When you talk to a local support person, they are supposed to know about NCCS and can bring them on line with you. But they usually don't even know NCCS exists and will even argue with you that it doesn't.

Cable cos have no incentive to train people on CC's or TA's, so don't hold your breath on that situation. Only about 0.5% of their digital subscribers use these things.


----------



## tracktime

Thanks I'll give them a try next week.


----------



## Grumock

tracktime said:


> Thanks I'll give them a try next week.


did you even have them swap out the tuning adapter yet, since the continued loss of communication?


----------



## PaulGuyer

How does one even get one of these troublesome tuning adapters. I'd really like to be able to see all the channels I'm paying for. I filled out the web form over two weeks ago. No one has contacted me. I called customer service twice and they only thing they know is to tell me to fill out this form. There is no acknowledgement that the form was received, no way of knowing if the order is in process. I'm very frustrated and disappointed. Why is it I can call customer service and get the cablecard in a matter of days but this tuning adapter process is such a mystery to everyone. What's the key to getting to someone at TW that knows something about these?


----------



## dlfl

PaulGuyer said:


> ....... What's the key to getting to someone at TW that knows something about these?


Try asking for "Tier 3" support -- that works in some TWC regions.

Otherwise see my post #1070 above. If you're getting stonewalled locally I wouldn't hesitate to call the NCCS directly.

The only possible excuse for them not giving you one immediately, via a truck roll if necessary, is if they just went to SDV and don't have them in stock yet (which isn't acceptable either, but it happens).

My personal experience is that the web sign up is a black hole, and I've seen many posts by others to the same effect.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Otherwise see my post #1070 above. If you're getting stonewalled locally I wouldn't hesitate to call the NCCS directly.
> .


Not sure why you would tell anyone to call them for a Tuning adapter? From what I have been made to understand they do not have the ability to track those orders.


----------



## dlfl

Grumock said:


> Not sure why you would tell anyone to call them for a Tuning adapter? From what I have been made to understand they do not have the ability to track those orders.


NCCS usually talks to the cognisant local people when you raise an issue, and the hope would be they could at least get some meaningful response on the TA situation. It doesn't cost much to try.

NCCS does know something about Tuning Adapters. I've had conversations with them about firmware versions, etc.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> NCCS does know something about Tuning Adapters. I've had conversations with them about firmware versions, etc.


Yea they know about them but they dont track the orders that are placed for them. At least that is what i was told by them when i was trying to get one some time back.


----------



## dlfl

Grumock said:


> Yea they know about them but they dont track the orders that are placed for them. At least that is what i was told by them when i was trying to get one some time back.


Yeah, I heard you the first time. 
I still think it's worth a try calling them as a last resort.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Yeah, I heard you the first time.
> I still think it's worth a try calling them as a last resort.


LOL wasn't sure


----------



## PaulGuyer

Well I finally got an email acknowledgement saying they were going to FedEx the TA to me by next Tuesday. What I did was go back to the form and fill it out and submit it half a dozen times, thinking that might attract some attention somewhere. The ol' squeaky wheel.


----------



## dlfl

PaulGuyer said:


> Well I finally got an email acknowledgement saying they were going to FedEx the TA to me by next Tuesday. What I did was go back to the form and fill it out and submit it half a dozen times, thinking that might attract some attention somewhere. The ol' squeaky wheel.


Congratulations! (Do not cash this until you actually have the TA, however.)

As Churchill said: "Never give in, never give in, never give in .... etc."

One can only wonder in amazement at what system must be at the other end of that web form.


----------



## Grumock

PaulGuyer said:


> Well I finally got an email acknowledgement saying they were going to FedEx the TA to me by next Tuesday. What I did was go back to the form and fill it out and submit it half a dozen times, thinking that might attract some attention somewhere. The ol' squeaky wheel.


LOL wonder if you are going to get 6 sent to you now?


----------



## AntiAppel

OK, so on March 11th, my TA went on the fritz. I am unable to receive my switched channels. Talked to multiple people on the phone, all the way up to Tier 3, supposedly. Also called the national hotline, and they we unable to fix the problem. TW sent a truck by on the 12th, and they were unable to get the issue resolved. They gave me the story that it was probably downloading updates, and could take awhile. They claimed they would have someone call me the next day to see if the isssue was resolved. I chose not to wait and call them this morning, once again no fix, not to mention no one ever called! Anyway they are sending another crew out tomorrow morning and I had some questions. My Tuner dBmV is -2, FDC is -9, and RDC is 42. I've been told anything between -7 and +7 is where you want to be, as well as anything better than -10. Obviously someone is not telling me the truth. Does anyone actually know what these values are supposed to be, and perhaps could prove it. Also if these value are wrong, is there anything I can do to fix it by myself?


----------



## SCSIRAID

AntiAppel said:


> OK, so on March 11th, my TA went on the fritz. I am unable to receive my switched channels. Talked to multiple people on the phone, all the way up to Tier 3, supposedly. Also called the national hotline, and they we unable to fix the problem. TW sent a truck by on the 12th, and they were unable to get the issue resolved. They gave me the story that it was probably downloading updates, and could take awhile. They claimed they would have someone call me the next day to see if the isssue was resolved. I chose not to wait and call them this morning, once again no fix, not to mention no one ever called! Anyway they are sending another crew out tomorrow morning and I had some questions. My Tuner dBmV is -2, FDC is -9, and RDC is 42. I've been told anything between -7 and +7 is where you want to be, as well as anything better than -10. Obviously someone is not telling me the truth. Does anyone actually know what these values are supposed to be, and perhaps could prove it. Also if these value are wrong, is there anything I can do to fix it by myself?


The -9 for FDC is a little troubling (given -2 for the much higher frequency tuner input) but will probably work OK. How do you have it all hooked up? Is there anything between the 'wall cable outlet' and the RF in of the TA? Does the TA indicate that it is authorized?


----------



## AntiAppel

Let's see, it comes into the and is split, one of which goes to my cable modem, the other to an amp, that TW installed. From the amp it goes to 6 port splitter, and that goes directly into the TA and then to the Tivo. I tried hooking it up straight to the amp, and that improved the signal greatly, however I still get the 8-blink error. I've read that I should have it re-provisioned, which is something I've yet to hear of. I also plan on having them try a new card as well.


----------



## dlfl

The 8-blinks indeed means the TA is not authorized. Ask them to go to the "Customer Balancing" screen (screen 07) and hit the Enter key. 

What system (i.e., location) are you on? Are they just now starting SDV? If so, they probably just don't have their system correctly configured to send the authorizing signals, in which case: good luck.

Be sure to request a credit adjustment on your account for the days you are missing your channels.


----------



## Grumock

AntiAppel said:


> Let's see, it comes into the and is split, one of which goes to my cable modem, the other to an amp, that TW installed. From the amp it goes to 6 port splitter, and that goes directly into the TA and then to the Tivo. I tried hooking it up straight to the amp, and that improved the signal greatly, however I still get the 8-blink error. I've read that I should have it re-provisioned, which is something I've yet to hear of. I also plan on having them try a new card as well.


yea 8 blink is just indicating that it is not authorized which you can see on page 3 of the "Powerkey information" page6, in the tuning adapter diagnostics. This can be easily resolved, sometimes by having the rep on the phone go to the 07 or "customer balancing screen" & hit enter. If that does not work then NCCS will more then likely have to call the DNCS or Head End and have them send a stage hit to the RF MAC address to the TA.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> The 8-blinks indeed means the TA is not authorized. Ask them to go to the "Customer Balancing" screen (screen 07) and hit the Enter key.
> 
> What system (i.e., location) are you on? Are they just now starting SDV? If so, they probably just don't have their system correctly configured to send the authorizing signals, in which case: good luck.
> 
> Be sure to request a credit adjustment on your account for the days you are missing your channels.


LOL said the same thing but you are faster then me.


----------



## AntiAppel

OK. So first of all I'm in Green Bay, WI, and have had the channels working fine for sometime now. The tech that came this morning got someone on the phone, and now I am out of the 8 blink. Also I'm not so sure the 8 blink is an authorization problem, as my stuff is all authorized. I've heard a lot lately saying it actually means that it is bricked, but back to the current status. I now have it constantly blinking, as was told that it is receiving a firmware update, and that is blocking the communication. Anyone know what the current build is? It's been "updating" for just over 3 hours now, so I don't believe that to be the true problem. I was told the tech was going to call in a few hours and check in to see what's going on, so I suppose now I just have to sit and wait until he calls. Also the person I spoke with yesterday gave me a 3 day credit on my entire cable bill, which is rather nice, but I'd rather have my channels.


----------



## dlfl

There is lots of confirmation that 8-blinks is authorization. Where did you see otherwise? It's a specific authorization for the TA -- having other things authorized doesn't prove the TA is authorized.

The latest TA firmware is .1202 but my area is stuck on .1001, which seems to work OK.


----------



## Grumock

AntiAppel said:


> OK. So first of all I'm in Green Bay, WI, and have had the channels working fine for sometime now. The tech that came this morning got someone on the phone, and now I am out of the 8 blink. Also I'm not so sure the 8 blink is an authorization problem, as my stuff is all authorized. I've heard a lot lately saying it actually means that it is bricked, but back to the current status. I now have it constantly blinking, as was told that it is receiving a firmware update, and that is blocking the communication. Anyone know what the current build is? It's been "updating" for just over 3 hours now, so I don't believe that to be the true problem. I was told the tech was going to call in a few hours and check in to see what's going on, so I suppose now I just have to sit and wait until he calls. Also the person I spoke with yesterday gave me a 3 day credit on my entire cable bill, which is rather nice, but I'd rather have my channels.


 Is it blinking 3x and a pause? That would be getting a firmware update, the other two patterns are 8 blinks and a pause = brick mode Then 6 blinks and a pause = USB disconnect


----------



## AntiAppel

dlfl I googled a code list, and being that I don't have enough posts yet I am unable to post the link.
I've also heard it from multiple techs, a few of which I would tend to believe. I do have the .1202 firmware so I no know that's not the problem.
Interestingly enough the tech that was here this morning just called me and gave me some insight. Apparently the problem is not just with my TA but others near me, and on the east side of town. He told me the you know what is starting to hit the fan, and they are working on getting it resolved. He found it odd that some where working and some were not, so I told him about the lease expiring and that may be why it is happening. While typing this other person called me to check on the situation, and I told him the same thing was going on. I'm assuming it is something on TW's end that is messed up, as everything seems to be fine on my end. I'll keep you guys update with any info that is passed along to me, and if you have any additional idea's I'd love to hear them as well.


----------



## snowbunny

I'll be having a TA installed on Wednesday (finally). I've noticed a huge degradation in service using the TW digital converter-and-DVR all-in-one over the last few months.

The tech sent an electronic query to my DVR and said that apparently it's the DVR itself (oh so reassuring). I'm hoping that re-installing my Tivo Series 3 helps. I'll report back here - and if I don't get any joy, I am considering switching to AT&T Uverse even though the cost is a bit higher.


----------



## dcstager

snowbunny said:


> I'll be having a TA installed on Wednesday (finally). I've noticed a huge degradation in service using the TW digital converter-and-DVR all-in-one over the last few months.
> 
> The tech sent an electronic query to my DVR and said that apparently it's the DVR itself (oh so reassuring). I'm hoping that re-installing my Tivo Series 3 helps. I'll report back here - and if I don't get any joy, I am considering switching to AT&T Uverse even though the cost is a bit higher.


What make and model DVR did they give you? I'm looking at some of the new features of the TW DVR and I'm debating getting the whole Internet/Digital TV/Home Telephone package and move my Series 3 to the spare bedroom with just over the air HD. The SDV makes the S3 unreliable for time shifting cable channels. I'm pretty sure they use a Scientific Atlanta PVR that you can plug in an external drive to increase capacity.


----------



## AntiAppel

Ok, so last night whatever TW did fixed my problem. I was getting ready for bed, and bam! everything worked! They wouldn't tell me what they did when they called this morning, but I would assume that it must have been something at the headend.


----------



## dlfl

AntiAppel said:


> dlfl I googled a code list, and being that I don't have enough posts yet I am unable to post the link........


Now that you have 5 posts, would you mind posting the link for the TA blink codes? I googled also but came up with nothing useful.

On a related note there is a PDF document on Cisco TA diagnostic screens downloadable here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?omjm4jzhlq4

It's oriented toward the screens shown on Set Top boxes but there is a lot of commonality with the TiVo TA diagnostic screens. However AFAIK it doesn't say anything about the blink codes.


----------



## jhwpbm

I've started missing recordings over the past few days (maybe since Thursday) after months of perfect service. The same channels don't work on my TWC DVR, either, so I'm pretty sure it's an issue at the TWC end. Service says they need to do a truck roll to my house, but first available appointment is a week and a half away! Which means to me a bunch of folks with this problem, since TWC in Dallas usually turns around a truck roll overnight.

Anyone else in Dallas experiencing this issue, or have any ideas on how to resolve? The SDV adapter is showing a solid yellow light, which typically indicates it's functioning properly, but it seems it's just not getting any return signal from the provider, and since it doesn't work on the TWC DVR either, pretty sure it's a problem at their end.


----------



## pmiranda

Can you go into the diagnostics and see if the channels you're missing are on a common bunch of frequencies? I had an issue once with a bad connection in the attic where I'd lose SDV "channels" at random and it was certain QAM frequencies that were not making it through the connection.
If not that, I'd bet they screwed up your account. Call back and ask them to make sure it's "balanced". If the billing system doesn't agree with the distribution system you'll lose channels as well.


----------



## jhwpbm

pmiranda said:


> Can you go into the diagnostics and see if the channels you're missing are on a common bunch of frequencies? I had an issue once with a bad connection in the attic where I'd lose SDV "channels" at random and it was certain QAM frequencies that were not making it through the connection.
> If not that, I'd bet they screwed up your account. Call back and ask them to make sure it's "balanced". If the billing system doesn't agree with the distribution system you'll lose channels as well.


Thanks for the hint - I wound up talking with Tech Support yesterday and confirmed everything looks "right" on their end, but the "Digital Plus" channels are missing on my end, both on my cable box and on my TiVo + CableCard. Still don't think that's something a truck roll will fix :/ but they're sending someone out tomorrow.


----------



## HTH

As I recently mentioned in Season Pass Alerts (to maybe organize a local protest) I had a failure of both my Tuning Adapters that cost all my Friday recordings. Only because I noticed it in time was I able to get some shows recorded on their repeat airings, but as I listed some have no repeats scheduled, including the pilot for Chaos premiering that night.

The number of Title Wishlists I've had to set up to find repeat airings of recordings missed due to Tuning Adapter problems is growing, with no repeats in sight. I'll have to resort to streaming video or DVD rentals to see some of them.

What's worse is that I took extra action this morning to ensure a show I've had repeat problems recording was also scheduled on the two TiVos, even going so far as to pre-tune the backup unit to the channels, and still they both failed simultaneously.

I don't think it is a spontaneous reboot issue here. For me, they just stop and require manual restarting.

Here's everything on the TiVo HD's TA that looks like version information:

PTV OS: Explorer1kg6 NGP OS
FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801
App(s): SARA v1.61.36.1
Version: PKEY-EMB_4.0.5.50-p,
11:00:27 Jul 2 2008
Instance 0
Name: Image File
Version: 1.0.0.801
Q: P
Date: 02/11/09 7:48:46 PM GMT
Instance 1
Name: OS
Version: 8.2.0.6176
Q: R
Date: 02/09/09 10:09:59 PMGMT
Instance 2
Name: SARA
Version: 1.61.36.1
Q:
Date: 02/11/09 7:04:10 PM GMT
Instance 3
Name: MIPS NetProcs
Verison: 1.0.49.1
Q: R
Date: 10/17/08 8:20:19 PM GMT
Instance 4
Name: MIPS Diagnostics
Version: 1.0.12.1
Q: R
Date: 09/18/08 1:11:22 AM GMT
Instance 5
Name: NVM Library
Version: 1.0.2.1
Q: R
Date: 10/09/08 6:32:05 AM GMT
Instance 6
Name: HAL Driver-p
Version: 101.1.1302.150
Q: D
Date: 12/23/08 4:18:44 PM GMT
Instance 7
Name: DOCSIS CM Bin
Version: 10.7.91.1
Q: R
Date: 12/23/08 4:18:44 PM GMT
Instance 8
Name: PkeyEMB
Version: 4.0.5.50
Q: R
Date: 07/02/08 3:00:28 PM GMT
Instance 9
Name: Linux
Version: 1.0.27.1
Q:
Date: 10/17/08 7:24:43 PM GMT
Current DCT: Hub=0, Version:
1826, ChangeTime: 0401.231856
OUI/HwVer: 0x0011d9/0x0652
SwVer: 11.0k-01-2-652


----------



## darkavich

I had the same problem tonight. my TA crapped out and ended up not recording shows, specifically SyFy.


----------



## dlfl

HTH said:


> .........FLASH: STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0801
> .........


That (.0801) is a very old software version on your TA. The latest version is .1202 although mine is running .1001 without major problems. You should ask your cable co to push an update out.


darkavich said:


> I had the same problem tonight. my TA crapped out and ended up not recording shows, specifically SyFy.


Are you on the same system (i.e., location) as HTH ?


----------



## HTH

I just returned the TA from my TiVo HD and exchanged it for another. A check of the settings and it is also .0801, so I doubt they're pushing any revisions. The front desk droid I dealt with had no reports and no technical knowledge of any problems.

These Tuning Adapters are insidious devices. They insinuate themselves between your hardware and the cable signal and do both more and less than what they should. They digitize analog channels in order to support dual tuning so your recording quality settings are usurped while also setting the no-copy bit on the result so you can't transfer the it to another unit in your home. They are prone to sudden and simultaneous failure without giving any outward sign that they have failed to encourage you to switch to the cable company's DVR.

This new TA unit is going back into its bag. I've reprogrammed my TiVo HD to have only channels that aren't SDV and I'll be adjusting my recordings accordingly between units. At least I know broadcast HD recordings I know I can always transfer to the Series3 for viewing.

(Lincoln was one of TWC's beta testing sites for the mystro update which prevents and corrupts channel changing at program start time. We've never gotten any satisfaction over the failure to deliver service over that nor any fixes; we're not going to get any over this either.)

Any chance another device can be connected to monitor these TAs for failure and issue a signal that they require PM (provocative maintenance), such as an audible alarm, an e-mail, or a text message? Or cut their power for 5 seconds and reestablish as an automated PM? How about just output a log to a dot matrix printer? Something Arduino-based?


----------



## dlfl

HTH,

Consider getting TWC's National Cable Card Support desk involved, see this post:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8412703#post8412703


----------



## Beernutts

HTH said:


> ...They digitize analog channels in order to support dual tuning so your recording quality settings are usurped while also setting the no-copy bit on the result so you can't transfer the it to another unit in your home.


The TA's don't digitize Analog channels, nor do they modify the CCI bits. At least the Motorola TA's don't, and I would be willing to bet the Cisco TA's don't either.


----------



## cwoody222

I'd like some clarification from Time Warner about the CCI bits and whether what they're doing blocking EVERY channel (except locals) is legal.

They've told me they only block channels that request to be blocked but that's a complete LIE since other cable companies don't block those channels and I certainly don't believe that EVERY SINGLE CHANNEL except locals (which they cannot legally block) asked them.

I'm going on a trip this week and it's a real PITA to only rely on local broadcast channels to put on my iPhone for the plane trip.


----------



## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> I'd like some clarification from Time Warner about the CCI bits and whether what they're doing blocking EVERY channel (except locals) is legal.
> 
> They've told me they only block channels that request to be blocked but that's a complete LIE since other cable companies don't block those channels and I certainly don't believe that EVERY SINGLE CHANNEL except locals (which they cannot legally block) asked them.
> 
> I'm going on a trip this week and it's a real PITA to only rely on local broadcast channels to put on my iPhone for the plane trip.


This is an old issue that has been beat to death on this forum. Here is a huge thread on it:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=434742
The official written (email) TWC response given to numerous people is shown in post #83 of that thread:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7562980#post7562980
Here is a quote from that email that summarizes their legal position:


> With respect to Time Warner Cable's content protection settings, however, they are established in accordance with applicable law and its own agreements with programmers.


Some readers think that says they are doing it because their provider agreements require it but that is NOT what it says. The kicker is that "applicable law" says they can assign copy protection on anything but local channels. This is not just my interpretation -- I think it's safe to say that is a consensus.

If anyone can document that TWC has told you something inconsistent with the above, that would be extremely interesting -- please post!


----------



## SCSIRAID

Beernutts said:


> The TA's don't digitize Analog channels, nor do they modify the CCI bits. At least the Motorola TA's don't, and I would be willing to bet the Cisco TA's don't either.


Correct... they dont digitize. However, what they do is to remap the analog channels to their digital equivalents.... i.e. what TWC calls Digital Simulcast.


----------



## Saxion

dlfl said:


> That (.0801) is a very old software version on your TA. The latest version is .1202 although mine is running .1001 without major problems. You should ask your cable co to push an update out.


FYI, I'm currently involved in getting my TWC market (San Diego) to do just that. It hasn't been easy. Phone support was useless (they knew nothing about TA versions) and exchanging my TA for a new one was similarly pointless (the new one also had .0801). I finally wrote a (post) letter to corporate, specifically the VP of Operations for Time Warner Cable, West Region. You can find her contact info here.

That got the ball rolling. A rep from the VP's office called me back and got me in touch with a senior field supervisor for my area (including his cell phone number). Over the course of a few weeks, he and I confirmed that other TWC markets (specifically Austin TX, Durham NC, Raleigh NC and Green Bay, WI) had already upgraded to .1202 and that San Diego was way behind at .0801. The latest status is that they are internally testing .1202 and assuming that goes well they expect to push it out to the entire San Diego market later this week.

In short, you may have to pursue this and put some time into it, but it is possible to get TWC to update this firmware. Other folks in your market will surely thank you for it, too.


----------



## dlfl

Saxion said:


> FYI, I'm currently involved in getting my TWC market (San Diego) to do just that. It hasn't been easy. Phone support was useless (they knew nothing about TA versions) and exchanging my TA for a new one was similarly pointless (the new one also had .0801). I finally wrote a (post) letter to corporate, specifically the RVP of Operations for Time Warner Cable, West Region. You can find their contact info here.
> 
> That got the ball rolling. A rep from the Office of the President called me back and got me in touch with a senior field supervisor for my area (including his cell phone number), and over the course of a few weeks we confirmed that other TWC markets (specifically Austin TX, Durham NC, Raleigh NC and Green Bay, WI) had already upgraded to .1202 and that San Diego was way behind at .0801. The latest status is that they are internally testing .1202 and assuming that goes well they expect to push it out to the entire San Diego market later this week.
> 
> In short, you may have to pursue this and put some time into it, but it is possible to get TWC to update this firmware. Other folks in your market will surely thank you for it, too.


Excellent! Good luck. I would be curious about what specific changes were made in .1202 relative to .1001 if you get a chance to ask your TWC contact. In particular, with .1001 the cable system has to refresh the TA authorization date every week or two or the TA goes inop and blinks 8-blinks-pause. I would hope that is eliminated on .1202.


----------



## Saxion

Update to the San Diego rollout of .1202: They tried pushing it out on Wed 4/6 but botched it. Left a bunch of area TA's stuck in an incomplete firmware update state (LED blinks rapidly 3 times, repeats forever). They rolled back to .0801 early on Thurs 4/7. I don't have a clear answer yet as to whether or when they will attempt the upgrade again; they are still trying to figure out what went wrong.

Alas, still stuck at 0801 for now...

Update: They are going to try to roll out .1202 again toward the end of April.


----------



## digs0

Saxion said:


> Update to the San Diego rollout of .1202: They tried pushing it out on Wed 4/6 but botched it. Left a bunch of area TA's stuck in an incomplete firmware update state (LED blinks rapidly 3 times, repeats forever). They rolled back to .0801 early on Thurs 4/7. I don't have a clear answer yet as to whether or when they will attempt the upgrade again; they are still trying to figure out what went wrong.
> 
> Alas, still stuck at 0801 for now...
> 
> Update: They are going to try to roll out .1202 again toward the end of April.


So *you're* the reason my TA went crazy this weekend.  If we get the new firmware and it actually makes the thing more reliable I'll be first in line to thank you for your efforts. I have to say that i was astonished to hear the prerecorded message regarding tuning adapters when I called in. Even that felt like progress -- they've heard of them!


----------



## dlfl

digs0 said:


> .... i was astonished to hear the prerecorded message regarding tuning adapters when I called in. ......


Yeah that would indeed be astonishing in my TWC system (SW Ohio). Maybe the percentage of TiVo users is higher in San Diego. When my system (finally) pushed .1001 it took all the TA's off line for a day before they did it right. Now we're still waiting for .1202 and I'm not sure if I should press them for it (risking another system wide TA shut down). It's kind of hard to know whether it's worth the risk since the fixes in each update are totally unknown to us.

Ah, the TA.... a child with no loving parents.


----------



## Saxion

digs0 said:


> So *you're* the reason my TA went crazy this weekend.


Yeah, that would be me . Or rather, it's TWC's incredibly thin support for and understanding about TAs. It's a shame that simply getting our 2009-era TA firmware updated is so hard, but after all this is behind us we should have a more stable and functional TiVo!


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## Tim N.

I have two TIVOs with TA's. How long is it supposed to take from the time I request an SDV channel until it is displayed? Right now, my TIVO's are taking many minutes. Usually I give up before the channels are displayed. Does this mean my TA's are not working?


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## SCSIRAID

Tim N. said:


> I have two TIVOs with TA's. How long is it supposed to take from the time I request an SDV channel until it is displayed? Right now, my TIVO's are taking many minutes. Usually I give up before the channels are displayed. Does this mean my TA's are not working?


Mine typically tunes in about 3-5 seconds. I dont recall it every taking much more than that.


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## pmiranda

Yeah, if mine doesn't tune within a few seconds it never will.

Maybe try a different USB cable (it's a standard A-B cable) and check the TV cable connection from the TA to the wall as well.


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## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> Ah, the TA.... a child with no loving parents.


...Who incidentally never got married.


----------



## FredMilano

Don't know if this has come up before (since it is a looong thread), but recently my TiVo (TiVo HD) has started to behave quite strangely. It started at about the time I added the Tuning Adapter. I read about a lot of people having trouble tuning channels when the adapter was added, but that is not my problem. If I am watching something, it brings in the station and it stays on fine. If I am recording something, same thing happens (and even if both tuners are recording). If I am watching a recorded show AND recording two others, playback is fine. Here is the problem scenario. If I am not recording anything and watching a recorded program, the playback stutters and freezes. If I bring it back to live TV at this point, it appears that neither tuners has a picture on it. If I change channel, I get back the new channel. If I do this to both tuners, when I go back the the recorded show, it plays fine. It is almost like the effort to reconnect a channel slows down the playback. Anyone else see this? Any suggestions about what I might try to fix this? (This is on TimeWarnerCable)


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## dlfl

Unless one or both tuners are tuned to a channel that can't be tuned, whether you are recording one or two channels makes no difference to the TiVo -- or put another way you are always recording (to 30 minute channel buffers).

One theory is the TA is dropping the signals to the tuners when you are neither watching nor recording on them. There are algorithms the cable system is allowed to use to drop signal on a tuner that doesn't report it is being watched. But this doesn't explain why you see glitches on the recording you are watching -- assuming you didn't see these glitches when that video was being recorded (?).


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## FredMilano

Nope to you question about the recording actually being bad, I watched a recording that was clean the first time I watched it. I was thinking more along the lines that the TiVo is spending so much processing power to "reconnect" the channel that it was not providing enough processing to the playing function. Your comment on the algorithms makes sense, since it seems to lose the channels on the tuners after about 15 minutes (and then the stuttering on the playback starts again).


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## dlfl

Take the TA out of the system and see if the problem disappears! If it does you either have a bad TA or the Cable system is implementing a bad SDV algorithm -- although that still shouldn't cause your TiVo to glitch a playback.

A failing hard drive is a theoretical possibility although it's hard to imagine how it would cause just this behavior quirk. But if it is failing, you will soon know because the symptoms will become more widespread.


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## FredMilano

Thanks. I will give it a try over the weekend.


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## Saxion

An update for San Diego TWC customers: TWC successfully pushed .1202 to my TA yesterday. This was a test before rolling it out across their footprint. Since it went through without a hitch this time, I assume they'll roll it out to everyone soon.


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## digs0

Still on .0801 here, but I'll be curious to hear what you think about it after a couple of days of use. Still drives me insane that my TA can tune the channel, show it for 2 seconds, and then lie to my face and tell me it can't tune the channel....



Saxion said:


> An update for San Diego TWC customers: TWC successfully pushed .1202 to my TA yesterday. This was a test before rolling it out across their footprint. Since it went through without a hitch this time, I assume they'll roll it out to everyone soon.


----------



## Saxion

digs0 said:


> Still on .0801 here, but I'll be curious to hear what you think about it after a couple of days of use. Still drives me insane that my TA can tune the channel, show it for 2 seconds, and then lie to my face and tell me it can't tune the channel....


I do find the whole TiVo system to be more stable and reliable with .1202. I haven't had any mysterious reboots, channels tune consistantly, and TiVo Suggestions are working well.

TWC moves pretty slowly (been working with them for over 3 months on this TA firmware issue) but now that this test was successful, I suspect they'll be rolling it out to everyone toward the end of June (to conincide with their monthly DNCS image refresh).


----------



## dlfl

Saxion said:


> ........TWC moves pretty slowly (been working with them for over 3 months on this TA firmware issue) but now that this test was successful, I suspect they'll be rolling it out to everyone toward the end of June (to conincide with their monthly DNCS image refresh).


You mean everyone in San Diego, right? They rolled out .1202 in North Carolina last October (see post #930, this thread) and we're still waiting for it in my service area.


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## cwoody222

How do we change our own TA's version number? Where is it in the TA Diag screens?


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## dlfl

cwoody222 said:


> How do we change our own TA's version number? Where is it in the TA Diag screens?


I assume you meant to say "check" rather than "change".
This is for the Cisco STA1520 TA:
Versions and MACs ... 3rd line down: FLASH: <version number>

FYI, here is a PDF doc on the Tuning Adapter screens:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?omjm4jzhlq4
It wasn't written for TiVo screens but it's very close.


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## cwoody222

Thanks. For the record, I've got .1202 here too. No idea how long I've had it but looks like this area is up to date.

My TA's always been pretty stable (I've had it almost exactly a year) so I'd bet we've had .1202 here awhile.


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## Saxion

dlfl said:


> You mean everyone in San Diego, right?


Yes, I was speaking only of the San Diego market. We are still in the TA firmware dark ages here (on version .0801). I've been trying to get our market upgraded to .1202 for months. First a letter to corporate, then a long series of phone calls and emails with various corporate and senior engineering folks, then a botched rollout that left all area TA's inoperable, then a rollback to .0801, then a test upgrade of my TA that was successful.

I hope you fair better, but you may need to follow a similar, tortuous route if you want to get TWC to update your area TA's. Good luck!


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## dlfl

I would like to know what specific improvements 1202 has over 1001 (which I have). I have occasional failure to tune SDV channels, resulting in losing 1 to 3 recordings per week, but IIRC even people with 1202 can have this problem. I also lose all SDV channels every month or two and have to reboot everything to get them back, or sometimes I'll just lose a few channels. I wonder if 1202 fixes these problems?


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## cwoody222

dlfl said:


> I would like to know what specific improvements 1202 has over 1001 (which I have). I have occasional failure to tune SDV channels, resulting in losing 1 to 3 recordings per week, but IIRC even people with 1202 can have this problem. I also lose all SDV channels every month or two and have to reboot everything to get them back, or sometimes I'll just lose a few channels. I wonder if 1202 fixes these problems?


I never lose channels. Occasionally (1 time per month on average) I'll miss a recording due to a bad SDV channel change. Fixing that doesn't require a reboot, just to have me Ch Up and Ch Down back to the channel.

I don't know why but my TA is fairly stable. (*knock on wood*!)


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## Lorcane

I lost my SDV on June 4th, 2011 still haven't got them back even after 4 tech visits in 2 weeks. They laid a new line, sent requests to boost the signal to my node, sent hits to the TA, which it does receive, EMM got up to 85 on Sunday. Still nothing. I really wish TWC could send me the same tech, cause each one shows up knowing nothing and starting from scratch doing the same process.. I'm in South Texas, Rio Grande Valley Market. Cisco TA


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## Saxion

dlfl said:


> I would like to know what specific improvements 1202 has over 1001 (which I have). I have occasional failure to tune SDV channels, resulting in losing 1 to 3 recordings per week, but IIRC even people with 1202 can have this problem. I also lose all SDV channels every month or two and have to reboot everything to get them back, or sometimes I'll just lose a few channels. I wonder if 1202 fixes these problems?


I can't speak for 1001 (never had it) but 1202 seems much more stable than 0801. Since getting it I haven't encountered the "loosing all channels" problem nor any reboots. Also TiVo Suggestions is working (used to be very sporadic). I can't prove that those things are related to my TA firmware version, but anecdotally, things do seem better with 1202 (vs 0801).

Also: not being able to tune a channel occasionally is common to all SDV systems. It is likely not a failure of the TA. There are only so many frequencies (channels) allocated for SDV use, and when they run out, new tuning requests can be denied.


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## Saxion

Lorcane said:


> I lost my SDV on June 4th, 2011 still haven't got them back even after 4 tech visits in 2 weeks.


That sucks! Have you tried replacing the TA? I was able to exchange mine at a TWC walkup center (in the hope that a new box would have newer firmware...it did not).


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## TinKC

So I made a complaint via Twitter last week


> I am SO tired of @TWCable_KC tech probs w/ tune adapters for @TiVo!!!! Love my @TiVo , love cableTV. Why can't we all just get along?


 and today all of my tuning adapter problems are solved!

Anyone in Kansas City, tweet @TWCable_KC and they will respond pretty quickly. Mitch called me today and he was very very knowledgable with TiVo, cable cards, tuning adapters, etc etc etc. I was SO pleased with his help!


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## Teeps

SDV was foisted upon us here in Torrance the week of 20June2011.
Lucky me, or so I thought, because Time Warner had sent a tuning adapter out 9 months ago...
Install T/A, per instructions that came with it... no SDV joy.
Several calls to T/W, 2 truck rolls, 2 tuning adapters, and a new main drop to the house and I am still not having total success with SDV.

According to TiVo's interactive troubleshooting web site. The message I see indicates that there is a band width use problem... trying to shove 12lbs of *$*&^* through a 10lb pipe.

Anyone else seeing: "this channel is not currently available" message?


----------



## bumgarb

I've been a TiVo owner and user since 2003. Currently I have 2 HD TiVos. I recently moved from the East Coast to TX. These TW TAs have just about broken my loyalty to TiVo; I kinda assume that is TW intention with the bad quality equipment. I should have expected this when it took them several hours to install the TAs. 

I have one TA that is fairly stable, but it still has a monthly issue with "the channel not currently available". The other is about 10 times worse. Just about every morning "this channel is not currently available" is displayed. Even on mornings where nothing recorded overnight... some how the same channel that was on and working last night is no longer tuned. Fixing this is rarely easy as channel up, down. Most of the time I have to unplug and replug the adapter to get it working again (which takes about 5 minutes). I can't record anything off of a cable channel on this TiVo as the TA rarely tunes on the first go and occasionally becomes untuned during recording.

To make matters worse, Time Warner has all the recorded content (not local channels) Copy Protected so the TiVo feature we use the most, transferring between TiVos, is no longer usable. None of my content on Comcast or Verizon was ever copy protected. Anyone know what TW is doing this?

Any suggestions on the TA issues are welcome.


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## Teeps

TinKC said:


> So I made a complaint via Twitter last week and today all of my tuning adapter problems are solved!
> 
> Mitch called me today and he was very very knowledgable with TiVo, cable cards, tuning adapters, etc etc etc. I was SO pleased with his help!


So what did Magic Mitch do that the others' could not or would not do to get your problem sorted?


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## randywalters

Teeps said:


> SDV was foisted upon us here in Torrance the week of 20 June2011.


SDV was activated here in El Segundo on 6/22/11 sometime between 8am and noon, when i arrived home at lunch to find my TA was blinking and i was suddenly unable to tune to various channels that previously had not been a problem on my Tivo S3. My SA8300HD sitting next to my Tivo however was able to tune all the channels, including the few dozen new ones.



> Lucky me, or so I thought, because Time Warner had sent a tuning adapter out 9 months ago... Install T/A, per instructions that came with it...no SDV joy. Several calls to T/W, 2 truck rolls, 2 tuning adapters, and a new main drop to the house and I am still not having total success with SDV.


Mine still wasn't working when i got home after work that first day and the TWC CSR wasn't able to get it working and scheduled a truck roll (despite my insistence that it was at their head-end and definitely not an issue in my house), but later in the evening my LED went solid all on it's own and i was finally able to tune to almost all of the channels, but they were unreliable and remained so for the past few weeks. I have gotten the "channel unavailable" message on my Tivo several times even though my TA's LED has been lit solid since it finally came online back on 6/22.



> According to TiVo's interactive troubleshooting web site. The message I see indicates that there is a band width use problem... trying to shove 12lbs of *$*&^* through a 10lb pipe.
> 
> Anyone else seeing: "this channel is not currently available" message?


Saturday July 2nd there was some other problem or issue with our network (El Segundo is on the same TWC network as Torrance) that did not have anything to do with the actual tuning adapter because my Tivo S3 was suddenly unable to tune to about half of my HD channels, and this time my SA8300HD was also unable to tune to any of these channels either. My 8300 displayed the message "Speed Channel is temporarily unavailable, please try again later, and call TWC for more information". My neighbors were getting the same message on their 8300HDs and regular TWC HD cable boxes too. This continued through the evening but when i got up Sunday morning all my channels were working just fine, and my Tivo recorded several Speed Channel and HDT recordings throughout the day without a hitch. It might be a coincidence but since the channels came back i haven't gotten the Channel Not Available message on my Tivo for the past few days now. Time will tell.

Another issue is that the new channels still all say "To Be Announced" in the Tivo guide two weeks after they were added to my lineup (i also saw your post about this in another thread) so i contacted Tivo and reported that El Segundo (and Torrance) are both having this issue, and they confirmed the problem and escalated it to their "Lineup Specialists". They will contact Time Warner South Bay and add the program data within the week.

Here's the link i used to report the "To Be Announced" program guide issue:

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/contactsupport/lineup_tool.html


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## Teeps

This week, so far, TiVo has been tuning and recording Speed and Versus reliably. I have been double recording on the non hd versions of speed & versus, just in case... since they WERE working when HD versions were not.

On 25Jun2011 the Time Warner CR agent told me the problems I (we?) were encountering with the "station not available" message was their (t/w) problem. And, they were working on it...

I have not requested any further assistance from Time Warner, since "things seem ok" at this time.


----------



## denga

still missing all east cost and some encore stations too


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## denga

I have TWC Torrance CA. Now I'm missing most of the Encore stations, all non network HD and Premium stations. This really sucks big time. When are they going to fix this?


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## Grumock

denga said:


> I have TWC Torrance CA. Now I'm missing most of the Encore stations, all non network HD and Premium stations. This really sucks big time. When are they going to fix this?


Do you have a tuning adapter? It sounds, from what you describe, that you have SDV (switched digital video) channels missing. So if you dont have a tuning adapter, and they have implemented SDV in your area, you will not get them back without a tuning adapter.


----------



## Todd B.

My Tuning Adapter in Hawaii just got firmware .1402 tonight. I saw it reboot.

Apparently, the new firmware should be rolling out everywhere very shortly, as it provides quad-tuner capability to the TA, which is now a requirement by the FCC. http://hd.engadget.com/2011/07/12/four-tuner-firmware-update-for-cisco-tuning-adapters-rolling-out/

I'm hoping the update makes it so that I don't have to reboot the TA every few weeks.


----------



## dlfl

Todd B. said:


> My Tuning Adapter in Hawaii just got firmware .1402 tonight. I saw it reboot.
> 
> Apparently, the new firmware should be rolling out everywhere very shortly, as it provides quad-tuner capability to the TA, which is now a requirement by the FCC. http://hd.engadget.com/2011/07/12/four-tuner-firmware-update-for-cisco-tuning-adapters-rolling-out/
> 
> I'm hoping the update makes it so that I don't have to reboot the TA every few weeks.


I'll be amazed if my TWC region (SW Ohio) rolls 1402 out, since we're still sitting at 1002 (while 1202 has been out for a year or more elsewhere).

I'll be pleasantly amazed if I get 1402 and it actually improves anything -- there's always the possibility they introduced new bugs while adding the quad-tuner capability.


----------



## Stu_Bee

I admit..I haven't read this thread..but thought I'd post my Mom's resolution as of today...sorry if this is already a duplicate of someone elses experience.

- My mom's Tivo's were not getting some of the channels they used to get. This was soon after their recent switch to the new SDV Tuners from Timewarner.
- Many visits from the TW cable folks, trying different things, including re cabling the house. (made no sense to me). Still no solution.

Finally today the word is that TimeWarner had done all their SDV tests with Series 4 devices...when they saw the S3 issue, they retested and have now received new Tuners which work.
They installed it at my Parents house today, and all channels are finally reported working again.


----------



## Teeps

Stu_Bee said:


> Finally today the word is that TimeWarner had done all their SDV tests with Series 4 devices...when they saw the S3 issue, they retested and have now received new Tuners which work.


I got a similar response from TW customer service agent at the end of June2011. He said the problem WAS Time Warner's (no mention of a hardware solution) and they were working on the problem.

To note: I had the same problem with the first T/A and the second T/A.
Even had the same problem after a new drop from the pole to the house (external splice) and "proper grounding" of the main drop.

What ever has happened, a couple of days after the new drop was installed, the tuning problems seemed to self resolve. Whether T/W or TiVo did software/firmware updates remains unknown to me.
All I know, knock on wood, is I've not missed a stage of the TDF or selected Speed TV programming...


----------



## Cspot

dlfl said:


> I'll be amazed if my TWC region (SW Ohio) rolls 1402 out, since we're still sitting at 1002 (while 1202 has been out for a year or more elsewhere).
> 
> I'll be pleasantly amazed if I get 1402 and it actually improves anything -- there's always the possibility they introduced new bugs while adding the quad-tuner capability.


Got 1402 last night...no issues so far.


----------



## dlfl

Todd B. said:


> ......Apparently, the new firmware should be rolling out everywhere very shortly, as it provides quad-tuner capability to the TA, which is now a requirement by the FCC. http://hd.engadget.com/2011/07/12/four-tuner-firmware-update-for-cisco-tuning-adapters-rolling-out/.........


Apparently that must be correct. Got 1402 early this morning with minimal disruption and no channels going missing. Much better than the last TA update in SW Ohio, in which they disabled all the TA's for almost a day.


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## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Apparently that must be correct. Got 1402 early this morning with minimal disruption and no channels going missing. Much better than the last TA update in SW Ohio, in which they disabled all the TA's for almost a day.


Would be wonderful if it fixes the tuning issue (wrong frequency). Im out of town and will have to wait a few days to see if we got the update.


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## kryan2

Is the USB connection on the mtr700 to the TiVo needed??


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## SCSIRAID

kryan2 said:


> Is the USB connection on the mtr700 to the TiVo needed??


I assume the MTR700 is a Motorola Tuning Adapter.... if so... Yes.. the USB must be connected. That is how the TiVo receives the channel map and request/receive the tuning information to allow SDV to work.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> Would be wonderful if it [1402] fixes the tuning issue (wrong frequency). Im out of town and will have to wait a few days to see if we got the update.


Well I should know within a week or less. I usually miss 1 to 3 recordings per week due to this, plus occasional manual tuning failures, requiring 1 or 2 retries.

We don't really know if this is a TiVo problem or a TA problem do we?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Well I should know within a week or less. I usually miss 1 to 3 recordings per week due to this, plus occasional manual tuning failures, requiring 1 or 2 retries.
> 
> We don't really know if this is a TiVo problem or a TA problem do we?


Nope... Could be either. Personally I think it is a TA issue since the frequency the TiVo is tuned to is a valid SDV frequency and not some random number. Also I havent heard of anyone on a Moto system indicating the same problem.

However, TiVo could easily work around the issue in software by detecting the no program lock situation and retrying the tune. Based on that, they share the blame in my eyes.


----------



## Beernutts

SCSIRAID said:


> Nope... Could be either. Personally I think it is a TA issue since the frequency the TiVo is tuned to is a valid SDV frequency and not some random number. Also I havent heard of anyone on a Moto system indicating the same problem.
> 
> However, TiVo could easily work around the issue in software by detecting the no program lock situation and retrying the tune. Based on that, they share the blame in my eyes.


I put the blame on the TA. The fact that you hardly ever hear about Motorola Tuning Adapter problems, it seems to point to the Cisco TA as causing many of these issues.


----------



## pmiranda

I put more blame on TiVo since it's the same problem with the same potential workaround as we had in the days of IR blasters to control your set-top box from a S1/2... TiVo can tell when it's not getting a signal, why they heck doesn't it try to retune?


----------



## digs0

Came home from a 2-week vacation pleasantly surprised (shocked, really) to see that the TA hadn't malfunctioned once while I was gone. Checked the version number and sure enough, it's now at .1402. I haven't had a chance to play around with it too much, but I can't make it hiccup even by switching back and forth between some of the usual culprits (Animal Planet, MLB, ESPN News). 

I am cautiously optimistic. Thanks to Saxion for getting the ball rolling with TWSD! :up:


----------



## SCSIRAID

Just got back from vacation.... Raleigh is still on .1202. Only had one recording failure over the entire 2 weeks. Not too bad.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> Would be wonderful if it fixes the tuning issue (wrong frequency). Im out of town and will have to wait a few days to see if we got the update.





dlfl said:


> Well I should know within a week or less. I usually miss 1 to 3 recordings per week due to this, plus occasional manual tuning failures, requiring 1 or 2 retries. ........


Sadly, although it hasn't been a full week, I've had several SDV-channel recording failures with TA version 1402, at least as many as I would have on the previous version in the same time period. With my luck 1202, which I never got, was the "sweet spot" for this issue.

At disappointing moments like this, I resort to my ongoing fantasy about "cutting the cord". But I haven't figured out a sufficiently attractive way to replace some of the cable shows we enjoy, even if we added a Roku, which can get Amazon Prime Instant Videos and Hulu Plus. Because we are getting a TWC bundle now, my net savings dropping cable would only be $40/mo. or less, and I would want to upgrade my internet to the "turbo" service, which would cost more (since I would be depending even more on internet streaming content). The streaming services like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu-plus just don't offer everything we like and even buying content a la carte (e.g., Amazon) doesn't get us what we want. Plus this easily would more than eat up the $40/mo.


----------



## docfmiles

I cannot connect to pyTivox since installing OSX Lion, any suggestions?


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> Well I should know within a week or less. I usually miss 1 to 3 recordings per week due to this, plus occasional manual tuning failures, requiring 1 or 2 retries.
> 
> We don't really know if this is a TiVo problem or a TA problem do we?


Wow, that's terrible! Other than when the TA locks up altogether (once every six weeks or so), or when the cable itself is down, I've never missed a recording, AFAIK, and I'm on TWC with a Cisco TA.


----------



## SCSIRAID

lrhorer said:


> Wow, that's terrible! Other than when the TA locks up altogether (once every six weeks or so), or when the cable itself is down, I've never missed a recording, AFAIK, and I'm on TWC with a Cisco TA.


Ive missed only a few. I can tell pretty easily when it happens as I have two TiVo's each recording the same schedule. I can see when the two dont agree. I have caught it 'red handed' several times. What I find is that the 'failing' situation has the TA session on the correct frequency but the TiVo is tuned to the wrong frequency and thus cannot achieve program lock since the TS doesnt contain the requested program. The TiVo is on an SDV frequency... but the wrong one. I can cancel recording which causes TiVo to execute a retune and then the program appears and the TA and TiVo are now on the same frequency. The 'working' TiVo has the TA session and TiVo tuning frequency matching.

I have pics of the diag screens but I dont think they will fit in the forum.


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> Ive missed only a few. I can tell pretty easily when it happens as I have two TiVo's each recording the same schedule. I can see when the two dont agree. I have caught it 'red handed' several times. What I find is that the 'failing' situation has the TA session on the correct frequency but the TiVo is tuned to the wrong frequency and thus cannot achieve program lock since the TS doesnt contain the requested program. The TiVo is on an SDV frequency... but the wrong one. I can cancel recording which causes TiVo to execute a retune and then the program appears and the TA and TiVo are now on the same frequency. The 'working' TiVo has the TA session and TiVo tuning frequency matching.
> 
> I have pics of the diag screens but I dont think they will fit in the forum.


I caught mine "red-handed" long ago and attached photos to **this post**.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> I caught mine "red-handed" long ago and attached photos to **this post**.


Bingo... Exactly the same as mine.

I have and S3, THD and Premiere and have seen it on all three.

We got 1402 yesterday... Ill be watching closely


----------



## pdm

Anyone (In Austin or otherwise) notice Comedy Central HD not coming in? For some reason channel 1603 just will not tune in. I got the customer service to send hit or whatever. I was able to get it to tune in finally, but then it had no sound. All other SDV channels are working fine, just not 1603.


----------



## dpratt

pdm said:


> Anyone (In Austin or otherwise) notice Comedy Central HD not coming in? For some reason channel 1603 just will not tune in. I got the customer service to send hit or whatever. I was able to get it to tune in finally, but then it had no sound. All other SDV channels are working fine, just not 1603.


I have the same thing - CCHD dropped sound on Tuesday, and now it's completely black. Who should we call?


----------



## jeremyz

I've got the same problem with Comedy HD in TWC NYC country.


----------



## Yaotl

jeremyz said:


> I've got the same problem with Comedy HD in TWC NYC country.


Same here in Queens. Just finished with the online chat to try and fix the problem, but it's still there. Comedy Central SD comes in fine though.


----------



## pdm

I couldn't convince the tech on the phone rolling a truck wasn't going to fix it. If one channel is having problems, sure seems like its a problem on their end. I wish there was a way we could all reference the same problem so they know its wide spread. I can't break past the first tier tech support. Wonder if the national cable card support line would help.


----------



## Austin_Martin

Comedy Central hd isn't working for me either in Round Rock,tx (subburb of austin)


----------



## pdm

Anyone call to complain yet?


----------



## SCSIRAID

SCSIRAID said:


> Bingo... Exactly the same as mine.
> 
> I have and S3, THD and Premiere and have seen it on all three.
> 
> We got 1402 yesterday... Ill be watching closely


Well... I didnt have to watch too long. Caught it red handed tonight. S3 recording fine... Premiere had black screen and was on the wrong frequency. The TA's and the S3 were all on the same frequency, the Premiere was the odd man out.

Bummer...


----------



## dlfl

SCSIRAID said:


> Well... I didnt have to watch too long. Caught it red handed tonight. S3 recording fine... Premiere had black screen and was on the wrong frequency. The TA's and the S3 were all on the same frequency, the Premiere was the odd man out.
> 
> Bummer...


It's probably just my imagination but it seems like the tuning failures have become slightly more frequent with 1402. I noticed FDC at -4 dBmV and RDC at 39 and thought maybe those were a little marginal (both low). Then after a forced reboot due to a power outage tonight, FDC at -2 and RDC at 43. Apparently they don't automatically re-adjust until a reboot (?).

I'm trying to think of any other device in which I've had less confidence of reliable performance than the TiVo/TA combination, and yet which I've put up with for an extended period. Normally I would trash can it and get something better -- but that's not available ---- yet.


----------



## pdm

I can report that CC HD works for me again. I dont know how it got fixed, but I had just spent 55 minutes on the phone with time warner trying to take showtime package off before the free trial ended (they gave it to me for free to comp for extended outage a few months ago). 55 minutes to get showtime taken off. 

Happy CC works now, but i'm pretty sure I'm just going to get rid of cabletv and Tivo entirely within the next few months. So tired of this half working crap.


----------



## dpratt

pdm said:


> I can report that CC HD works for me again. I dont know how it got fixed, but I had just spent 55 minutes on the phone with time warner trying to take showtime package off before the free trial ended (they gave it to me for free to comp for extended outage a few months ago). 55 minutes to get showtime taken off.
> 
> Happy CC works now, but i'm pretty sure I'm just going to get rid of cabletv and Tivo entirely within the next few months. So tired of this half working crap.


It's still broken for me - did you have to walk them through fixing it, or did it just magically happen?


----------



## cableguy763

dpratt said:


> It's still broken for me - did you have to walk them through fixing it, or did it just magically happen?


This should be fixed for Central Texas now. We had it fixed yesterday but another problem showed up.


----------



## pmiranda

cableguy763 said:


> This should be fixed for Central Texas now. We had it fixed yesterday but another problem showed up.


Cool, thanks for posting!


----------



## hammer32

CCHD is back on in Copperas Cove, TX as well. I moved here two weeks ago and noticed the installer left a box behind. Turns out it was the tuning adapter (didn't have to use one with Cox in Nebraska). After hooking it up and going through the entire line-up I noticed about 20 channels I wasn't getting. 

Three CSRs told me I couldn't get HD channels with my CableCards, so I made them send a truck out. In the end the only channel I wasn't getting was CCHD, the rest were listed in the TiVo guide, but not TW's paper channel list (which the first installer didn't have a copy of).

The TiVo line-up folks have told me to use a Waco zip code instead and I'm 1.5 hours into Guided Setup again...


----------



## TracyL

Toddb from hawaii wrote: I'm hoping the update makes it so that I don't have to reboot the TA every few weeks.

Todd and any other Hawaii tivo premiere users ,
I'm trying to find other Hawaii Tivo premeire users with cable cards and tuning adapters.

If you are having to re-set, ping, send a hit, to your adapter everry 28 days or so because your sdv goes out please contact me.

I have had this issue for several months now and know it's because Hawaii time warner has set up the accounts that deal with these devices to NOT roll over every month. The adapter bricks itself because the subscription doesn't continue. THis is why we have to manualy call in a hit around every 28 days when the SDV goes out so the subscripton restarts again. I have spoken with ___who is apparently the top tier person in Hawaii and while he is nice he admited he's only done 3 premiere boxes on the island and the others are having the same problem. I told him it proves the system is at fault not the equipment. Also it's too much of a coincidence both of my adapters fail at the same time/ billing schedual. He called some other main hawaii programing source who obviously knows nothing as they both now want to switch out my two cable cards and tuning adapters (I have two tivo boxes) Switching out any of the devices won't solve the problem. They need to fix it in their system so we continue to have pings being sent to and from the adapter and tivo. It's not a tivo issue. Time Warner Hawaii has to re provision the system so the subscription doesn't end every month.

If you are having this issue please contact me as I want to find as many people as possible here so we can get this issue addressed and taken care of by a higher level, possibly on the mainland. It is apparently a quick fix that doesn't involve anyone needing to come to your place or have the phyisical equipment. Many mainland people have solved it over the phone with time warner programers who know the deal.


----------



## dlfl

TracyL said:


> ........I'm trying to find other Hawaii Tivo premeire users with cable cards and tuning adapters.
> 
> If you are having to re-set, ping, send a hit, to your adapter everry 28 days or so because your sdv goes out please contact me.
> ..............


Are the TA's Cisco? Are you getting 8-blinks-pause? This is a well known issue. We had it in TWC SW Ohio and there was a thread devoted to it:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=447167
Apparently the subscription (authorization) for the TA has be be renewed by TWC running a computer script every week or so. There was some hope that a software mod for the TA's would eliminate this requirement, but even the latest version, 1402, recently pushed, didin't do it.

You can see the exact time your TA will start blinking in the TA Diagnostic screens under "PowerKEY Information" then hit NextPage twice. It's called "Sub Expires". If properly refreshed by TWC this date should always be at least 20 days in the future.

What imaginable advantage does TWC gain by requiring these refreshes? You're not going to get any digital channels unless your CableCARD(s) is/are authorized anyway.


----------



## kkopp

I am another Honolulu, Hawaii user. I noticed they recently updated the TA to firmware 1402. I've had some issues like "The tuning adapter cannot validate the Cablecard". Then, yesterday, the issues seem to correct themselves. I suspect it may have to do with the subscription ending as you mentioned.


----------



## dreamwish

TracyL said:


> Toddb from hawaii wrote: I'm hoping the update makes it so that I don't have to reboot the TA every few weeks.
> 
> Todd and any other Hawaii tivo premiere users ,
> I'm trying to find other Hawaii Tivo premeire users with cable cards and tuning adapters.
> 
> If you are having to re-set, ping, send a hit, to your adapter everry 28 days or so because your sdv goes out please contact me.


Hi TracyL...

I'm in Honolulu on TW Oceanic, and have to reboot both my S3 and TivoHD every month because of the Tuning Adapters. Let me know what I can do. Thanks!


----------



## macd2

I'm in Cary, NC and am having reception problems with CCHD. I have heavy pixelation and the sounds cuts in and out. Other channels work fine. CCHD comes in fine with the TWC box in another room.
Is this related to other people's issues with CCHD? What can I do to fix this?


----------



## dlfl

Signal quality is the likely suspect.

In DVR Diagnostics, what are: Signal Strength (at least 80), SNR (at least 32 dB) and RS Error Counts (ideally zeros) ? And are the error counts increasing as you watch? What are the signal strengths on your other channels? Are they all down in the lower 80's or below?

Can you move the TiVo to use the cable feed in the other room, to see if that fixes it? 

You may need to tighten connections and replace or reconfigure splitters to correct signal quality. If there are no indications of a signal problem then the channel signal itself might be the problem. It's hard to imagine a TiVo defect that would affect just one channel.

The TA could be attenuating the input signal if it's defective. However it's hard to explain it affecting just one channel.


----------



## dcstager

I'm pretty sure TW Austin just pushed a tuning adapter firmware update overnight. My unit has STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1501 this morning. Since Austin is usually first to push this stuff, I'm passing along the info in case you need to ask your cableco for the latest firmware.

Hoping the blank recordings bug is addressed. My Tivo has consistently missed recording stuff on AMC-HD, SYFY-HD, SPEED-HD and Cartoon Network HD due to the bug.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> I'm pretty sure TW Austin just pushed a tuning adapter firmware update overnight. My unit has STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1501 this morning. Since Austin is usually first to push this stuff, I'm passing along the info in case you need to ask your cableco for the latest firmware.
> 
> Hoping the blank recordings bug is addressed. My Tivo has consistently missed recording stuff on AMC-HD, SYFY-HD, SPEED-HD and Cartoon Network HD due to the bug.


Hope springs eternal! Another blank recording (a.k.a. sdv tuning failure) sufferer here. Good luck with asking my TWC system (Southwest Ohio) about something like this though. They never pushed .1202 and then went to .1402 in August when I think they all had to do it because of an FCC reg.


----------



## Eccles

dcstager said:


> Hoping the blank recordings bug is addressed. My Tivo has consistently missed recording stuff on AMC-HD, SYFY-HD, SPEED-HD and Cartoon Network HD due to the bug.


Weird, I've had a TA since they beta'd here in Austin and I can only recall one or two missed recordings in all that time that weren't due to a total outage in our area.


----------



## dolfer

Reboot isn't working... Can't acquire any channels... Anyone else?


----------



## dolfer

Macd..Im in Cincinnati and CCHD is one of the most problematic channels. I miss recordings on it frequently. Much more than other channels. Cartoon HD stinks too...


----------



## dcstager

Eccles said:


> Weird, I've had a TA since they beta'd here in Austin and I can only recall one or two missed recordings in all that time that weren't due to a total outage in our area.


I've got a original Series 3 that must use 2 cablecards. Maybe it's more reliable dealing with the Tivo HD with one multi-stream card? Maybe your neighborhood has fewer total viewers competing for a channel?


----------



## chris.chandler

Just bought to Premiere Tivos and picked up cable cards and TAs from the local office.

Both TAs on both boxes blink yellow continuously. I have black screens for the (apparently SDV) channels above 170. I was on with tech support today for over and hour and the guy, who seemed reasonably well informed couldn't figure out why the neither box could lock in. 

I've got a tech coming out to my house in two days, but if there are thoughts and suggestions I could try in the meantime, I'd appreciate it.


----------



## Grumock

chris.chandler said:


> Just bought to Premiere Tivos and picked up cable cards and TAs from the local office.
> 
> Both TAs on both boxes blink yellow continuously. I have black screens for the (apparently SDV) channels above 170. I was on with tech support today for over and hour and the guy, who seemed reasonably well informed couldn't figure out why the neither box could lock in.
> 
> I've got a tech coming out to my house in two days, but if there are thoughts and suggestions I could try in the meantime, I'd appreciate it.


Try and get customer service to send a CLD (Cold Intilize) RHT (Refresh) hits to the tuning adapters and make sure that they have the proper tuning adapter codes added to them.


----------



## GM80

Just had TWC hook up digital HD service (Wichita Falls, TX) to my two Premieres with two CableCARDs and two Motorola tuning adapters. One setup seems to be working fine, but has some weird signal strength readings. The other set generally works in terms of receiving channels, but has two recurring issues:

1. Every recording we've made stops cold after about 20 minutes, and
2. Channels we're watching live often disappear into digital break-up after about 20 minutes, leaving the TiVo "searching for signal." Signal strength related? Tuning adapter related?

Here's some stats from the setup that *does work* but has signal issues that worry me:

_Tuning Adapter Diagnostics, Downstream menu_
OOB Freq SNR: 24dB
Inband Freq SNR: 36dB

_DVR Diagnostics menu_
Signal strength: 36
SNR: 29dB
RS Corrected is incrementing by 1000-2500 per second, 1400 RS Uncorrected over the past week.

From the one that *doesn't work* reliably:

_Tuning Adapter Diagnostics, Downstream menu_
OOB Freq SNR: 20dB
Inband Freq SNR: 37dB

_DVR Diagnostics menu_
Signal strength: 84
SNR: 36dB
RS Corrected and Uncorrected both at 0

Any ideas or pointers would be appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## SCSIRAID

GM80 said:


> Just had TWC hook up digital HD service (Wichita Falls, TX) to my two Premieres with two CableCARDs and two Motorola tuning adapters. One setup seems to be working fine, but has some weird signal strength readings. The other set generally works in terms of receiving channels, but has two recurring issues:
> 
> 1. Every recording we've made stops cold after about 20 minutes, and
> 2. Channels we're watching live often disappear into digital break-up after about 20 minutes, leaving the TiVo "searching for signal." Signal strength related? Tuning adapter related?
> 
> Here's some stats from the setup that *does work* but has signal issues that worry me:
> 
> _Tuning Adapter Diagnostics, Downstream menu_
> OOB Freq SNR: 24dB
> Inband Freq SNR: 36dB
> 
> _DVR Diagnostics menu_
> Signal strength: 36
> SNR: 29dB
> RS Corrected is incrementing by 1000-2500 per second, 1400 RS Uncorrected over the past week.
> 
> From the one that *doesn't work* reliably:
> 
> _Tuning Adapter Diagnostics, Downstream menu_
> OOB Freq SNR: 20dB
> Inband Freq SNR: 37dB
> 
> _DVR Diagnostics menu_
> Signal strength: 84
> SNR: 36dB
> RS Corrected and Uncorrected both at 0
> 
> Any ideas or pointers would be appreciated. Thanks!


I would check the cable between the TA and the TiVo. Both TA's stats look good but the non working TiVo stats are not good... so I would say its either the cable between TA and TiVo.. the pass thru circuitry in the TA or something with the TiVo itself


----------



## macd2

dlfl said:


> Signal quality is the likely suspect.
> In DVR Diagnostics, what are: Signal Strength (at least 80), SNR (at least 32 dB) and RS Error Counts (ideally zeros) ? And are the error counts increasing as you watch? What are the signal strengths on your other channels? Are they all down in the lower 80's or below?


I found another channel that also is having issues.
Both happen to be using the 741000 Khz frequency.
Signal Strength is 45
SNR is 27dB
RS Uncorrected counter increases rapidly.

A "good" channel, using 693000KHz,
had a signal strength of 75, SNR of 33db, and RS counters of 0.


----------



## dlfl

macd2 said:


> I found another channel that also is having issues.
> Both happen to be using the 741000 Khz frequency.
> Signal Strength is 45
> SNR is 27dB
> RS Uncorrected counter increases rapidly.
> 
> A "good" channel, using 693000KHz,
> had a signal strength of 75, SNR of 33db, and RS counters of 0.


You definitely have weak signals. Maybe a bad splitter or a connection that needs re-tighteniing? (Since you aren't having problems at your other cable drop.)

There's still the remote possibility your TA is defective and attenuating the signals.


----------



## Todd B.

Just got firmware .1501 in Honolulu tonight.

TracyL, sorry, I can't corroborate your experience. I have a Tivo HD. My biggest issues were having to reset just the TA every 2-3 weeks, because it would not be able to tune some or all SDV channels, and occasional missed recordings because "signal was not available" (failed tune). Since firmware .1402, I no longer seem to need to reset the TA periodically, but I still have failed tunes, maybe once every other week or so; about the same frequency as before. 

I've never had to periodically re-send auth signals. I did have to do it a few times when I first got the TA in early 2009. But after a few months, I stopped having to do it. I posted about it then in the "TWC Hawaii moving all HD to SDV" thread.


----------



## RTPGiants

I hate to be "that guy" in this thread again, but...

The tuning adapter had been working pretty well all summer. But now over the last few weeks, I have issues recording pretty much every switched channel. The behavior is basically always:
* Tivo attempts to tune
* Tivo records black
* Tivo later reports "video signal was unavailable"

If you catch it while it's doing this and stop the recording, Tivo re-tunes the channel and it works fine. Recording at that point works without a problem. It also never fails just browsing channels, only when it's doing a timed record that requires an automatic tune.

It still seems to me as if Tivo does something "different" when it's auto-tuning versus when the person is watching.


----------



## dlfl

RTPGiants said:


> I hate to be "that guy" in this thread again, but...
> 
> The tuning adapter had been working pretty well all summer. But now over the last few weeks, I have issues recording pretty much every switched channel. The behavior is basically always:
> * Tivo attempts to tune
> * Tivo records black
> * Tivo later reports "video signal was unavailable"
> 
> If you catch it while it's doing this and stop the recording, Tivo re-tunes the channel and it works fine. Recording at that point works without a problem. It also never fails just browsing channels, only when it's doing a timed record that requires an automatic tune.
> 
> It still seems to me as if Tivo does something "different" when it's auto-tuning versus when the person is watching.


You're experiencing worse-than-usual SDV tuning problems. Typically they also cause missed recordings. Some of us have been yelling for TiVo to program in tuning retries to combat this for years now but nothing every happens. I suppose their position may be the problem is on the Tuning Adapter side. I've noticed these problems tend to be worse on just some specific channels, which does suggest it may not be TiVo's problem. But they could (easily ??) fix it with tuning retries.

What are your OOB signal levels --- in tuning adapter diagnostics, the FDC and RDC dbmv values? These are the signals used to communicate SDV tuning messages to/from the cable plant and they could be a problem if out of spec.


----------



## RTPGiants

dlfl said:


> You're experiencing worse-than-usual SDV tuning problems. Typically they also cause missed recordings. Some of us have been yelling for TiVo to program in tuning retries to combat this for years now but nothing every happens. I suppose their position may be the problem is on the Tuning Adapter side. I've noticed these problems tend to be worse on just some specific channels, which does suggest it may not be TiVo's problem. But they could (easily ??) fix it with tuning retries.
> 
> What are your OOB signal levels --- in tuning adapter diagnostics, the FDC and RDC dbmv values? These are the signals used to communicate SDV tuning messages to/from the cable plant and they could be a problem if out of spec.


I don't have FDC/RDC values in front of me at the moment, but in the past they've been in good range. I do agree it happens more on specific channels (SyFy, FX, AMC, Disc), but again those work fine in a manual tune, so I'm pretty sure the setup is fine in general.


----------



## cwoody222

RTPGiants said:


> I hate to be "that guy" in this thread again, but...
> 
> The tuning adapter had been working pretty well all summer. But now over the last few weeks, I have issues recording pretty much every switched channel. The behavior is basically always:
> * Tivo attempts to tune
> * Tivo records black
> * Tivo later reports "video signal was unavailable"
> 
> If you catch it while it's doing this and stop the recording, Tivo re-tunes the channel and it works fine. Recording at that point works without a problem. It also never fails just browsing channels, only when it's doing a timed record that requires an automatic tune.
> 
> It still seems to me as if Tivo does something "different" when it's auto-tuning versus when the person is watching.


I see this from time to time also. I'll go weeks with everything working flawlessly then I get hiccups.


----------



## RTPGiants

As a followup, eventually all tuning failed. Power cycled the TA and all was good. Then the other night it just spontaneously rebooted on its own late at night and flashed for a while. Since then it's been fine including auto-tunes.

I wonder if it just needs to be reset from time to time?


----------



## SCSIRAID

RTPGiants said:


> As a followup, eventually all tuning failed. Power cycled the TA and all was good. Then the other night it just spontaneously rebooted on its own late at night and flashed for a while. Since then it's been fine including auto-tunes.
> 
> I wonder if it just needs to be reset from time to time?


You should have gotten new TA firmware a couple days ago. That is probably what the reboot was. You should now have .1501


----------



## Pilot20

Hey folks, perhaps someone can provide some advice.

I've had my Tivo3 for 4 years. 1-1/2 years ago, my cable company (TWC) went SDV and I had to get a tuning adapter. What a nightmare it has been.

It took forever for TWC to get the TA working, but once it was up and running, it worked perfectly for a year.

Then I started having major problems losing channels. After many truck rolls and countless phone calls, it was determined that the TA was bad and needed to be replaced.

Once replaced, about a month ago, it worked great again until last week.

During my last episode, TWC replaced all the outside cables, installed a new amp and splitter, replaced several cable connectors, etc. in a effort to find the problem. None of these changes made any difference in signal levels or SNR readings.

Last week, I noticed that I have two SDV channels (1208 and 1209) that won't tune, and I get the "this channel is temporarily unavailable" message.

So, here we go again. A tech spent 4 hours here yesterday. He ran a jumper cable directly from the outside box to the TA. He checked the levels at the pole, at the outside box and in the attic. He made numerous calls to support. He brought in a TWC HD box and it tuned the two missing channels fine.

He left and said he turned the problem over to maintenance.

Maintenance showed up several hours later and did basically all the same things, and they gave up.

I called the TWC Nat'l Service Desk, and after admonishing me for calling them directly, they ran diagnostics and said that the TA was working fine, and that it must be an issue with the local head-end.

I have noticed that the Tivo signal levels are much lower for SDV channels than for non-SDV channels. My non-SDV's are in the 85 to 90 range and the SDV's are in the 65 to 75 range. Maybe that is normal, but I don't remember seeing that much difference before.

Anyway, I still don't receive those two channels, HGTV and Food Net. Strange that they are consecutive channel numbers (1208 & 1209). When tuned to those channels, the TIVO diagnostics have no levels of any kind. Just like the cable was disconnected.

Other than those missing channels, everything else seems to be working fine.

Anyone have any recommendations? TWC seems to be clueless at this point.

Thanks.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Pilot20 said:


> Hey folks, perhaps someone can provide some advice.
> 
> I've had my Tivo3 for 4 years. 1-1/2 years ago, my cable company (TWC) went SDV and I had to get a tuning adapter. What a nightmare it has been.
> 
> It took forever for TWC to get the TA working, but once it was up and running, it worked perfectly for a year.
> 
> Then I started having major problems losing channels. After many truck rolls and countless phone calls, it was determined that the TA was bad and needed to be replaced.
> 
> Once replaced, about a month ago, it worked great again until last week.
> 
> During my last episode, TWC replaced all the outside cables, installed a new amp and splitter, replaced several cable connectors, etc. in a effort to find the problem. None of these changes made any difference in signal levels or SNR readings.
> 
> Last week, I noticed that I have two SDV channels (1208 and 1209) that won't tune, and I get the "this channel is temporarily unavailable" message.
> 
> So, here we go again. A tech spent 4 hours here yesterday. He ran a jumper cable directly from the outside box to the TA. He checked the levels at the pole, at the outside box and in the attic. He made numerous calls to support. He brought in a TWC HD box and it tuned the two missing channels fine.
> 
> He left and said he turned the problem over to maintenance.
> 
> Maintenance showed up several hours later and did basically all the same things, and they gave up.
> 
> I called the TWC Nat'l Service Desk, and after admonishing me for calling them directly, they ran diagnostics and said that the TA was working fine, and that it must be an issue with the local head-end.
> 
> I have noticed that the Tivo signal levels are much lower for SDV channels than for non-SDV channels. My non-SDV's are in the 85 to 90 range and the SDV's are in the 65 to 75 range. Maybe that is normal, but I don't remember seeing that much difference before.
> 
> Anyway, I still don't receive those two channels, HGTV and Food Net. Strange that they are consecutive channel numbers (1208 & 1209). When tuned to those channels, the TIVO diagnostics have no levels of any kind. Just like the cable was disconnected.
> 
> Other than those missing channels, everything else seems to be working fine.
> 
> Anyone have any recommendations? TWC seems to be clueless at this point.
> 
> Thanks.


Do you get a message on the screen when you attempt to tune those channels?

Suggest that you set one tuner on 1208 and hit live tv and set the second tuner on 1209... Then go into DVR Diags and note the frequency and PID for each tuner. Then go into TA Diags and go to the sessions info and insure that you have two sessions active for the same frequencies. Cant recall offhand whether the PID's are listed in TA.

The TA sessions and the TiVo should indicate the same frequencies (and PIDs if TA shows PIDs). If they dont, the Cablecard channel map is probably screwed up at the headend.


----------



## Pilot20

SCSIRAID said:


> Do you get a message on the screen when you attempt to tune those channels?
> 
> Suggest that you set one tuner on 1208 and hit live tv and set the second tuner on 1209... Then go into DVR Diags and note the frequency and PID for each tuner. Then go into TA Diags and go to the sessions info and insure that you have two sessions active for the same frequencies. Cant recall offhand whether the PID's are listed in TA.
> 
> The TA sessions and the TiVo should indicate the same frequencies (and PIDs if TA shows PIDs). If they dont, the Cablecard channel map is probably screwed up at the headend.


I get the "this channel is temporarily unavailable" message.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tuned to the channels, one on each tuner, but didn't didn't do as you suggest. I will try that.


----------



## Pilot20

Pilot20 said:


> I get the "this channel is temporarily unavailable" message.
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions. I have tuned to the channels, one on each tuner, but didn't didn't do as you suggest. I will try that.


Here is what diagnostics indicates...

Tuner 0

Channel 1209

Freq. -

Modulation - Analog

Cable Card Assoc. - None

Signal Lock - NO

Program Lock - NO

Resolution Status - Channel Not Available

Tuner 1

Same as above except tuned to 1208.

The TA is showing no EMMs when tuned to any channel. I had EMMs yesterday but TWC was sending hits.

Also, signal levels are fluctuating between 68 - 75, and SNR is fluctuating between 28 and 33. Lots of fluctuation going on for SDV channels.

I'm getting the same signal strength bounce on the Tivo screen, but the SNR holds steady at 33.

The lack of any EMMs make me think the TA is bad...again. If the TA is bad, perhaps the signal and SNR levels are not reliable.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Pilot20 said:


> Here is what diagnostics indicates...
> 
> Tuner 0
> 
> Channel 1209
> 
> Freq. -
> 
> Modulation - Analog
> 
> Cable Card Assoc. - None
> 
> Signal Lock - NO
> 
> Program Lock - NO
> 
> Resolution Status - Channel Not Available
> 
> Tuner 1
> 
> Same as above except tuned to 1208.
> 
> The TA is showing no EMMs when tuned to any channel. I had EMMs yesterday but TWC was sending hits.
> 
> Also, signal levels are fluctuating between 68 - 75, and SNR is fluctuating between 28 and 33. Lots of fluctuation going on for SDV channels.
> 
> I'm getting the same signal strength bounce on the Tivo screen, but the SNR holds steady at 33.
> 
> The lack of any EMMs make me think the TA is bad...again. If the TA is bad, perhaps the signal and SNR levels are not reliable.


Something very strange here. Note the modulation type as 'analog'... and no 'frequency'. That is very odd.

1) Do you get an on screen message when you tune either of the two channels? EDIT: I see your other post now... The answer to #2 and #3 will have significant bearing on my next questions..

2) Do you have any other SDV channels that are working?

3) Down at the very bottom of the DVR Diags page there are a couple entries relative to TA and channel map... what do they indicate? 'Channel Map Received'? 'Ready'?


----------



## Pilot20

SCSIRAID said:


> Something very strange here. Note the modulation type as 'analog'... and no 'frequency'. That is very odd.
> 
> 1) Do you get an on screen message when you tune either of the two channels? EDIT: I see your other post now... The answer to #2 and #3 will have significant bearing on my next questions..
> 
> 2) Do you have any other SDV channels that are working?
> 
> 3) Down at the very bottom of the DVR Diags page there are a couple entries relative to TA and channel map... what do they indicate? 'Channel Map Received'? 'Ready'?


I just discovered that I'm also not receiving The Comedy Channel - HD, channel number 1452. All other SDV channels (at least the ones that I have in my favorites) are working. There may be others that are not working, but I don't watch those anyway...hence not having them in the favorites.

When tuned to 1452, the diagnostic screens (posted previously) are the same as the other channels that don't tune.

Channel Map Received is "YES".

I also just noticed that when an SDV channel has "timed out", and the "Channel Temperarily Unavailable" message is on, the DVR diagnostics are the same as on the channels that won't tune. However, on this timed-out channel, when I pressed "select", it reactivated. The channels that won't tune do not re-activate.

Thanks again for your help.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Pilot20 said:


> I just discovered that I'm also not receiving The Comedy Channel - HD, channel number 1452. All other SDV channels (at least the ones that I have in my favorites) are working. There may be others that are not working, but I don't watch those anyway...hence not having them in the favorites.
> 
> When tuned to 1452, the diagnostic screens (posted previously) are the same as the other channels that don't tune.
> 
> Channel Map Received is "YES".
> 
> I also just noticed that when an SDV channel has "timed out", and the "Channel Temperarily Unavailable" message is on, the DVR diagnostics are the same as on the channels that won't tune. However, on this timed-out channel, when I pressed "select", it reactivated. The channels that won't tune do not re-activate.
> 
> Thanks again for your help.


Well, My bet is that the cableco has a setup problem in their system for those 3 channels.

Are you certain that those 3 channels are SDV? You could try unplugging the USB between the TA and the TiVo and try tuning them again... The 3 is a suspicious number as TWC typically puts 3 HD's on a linear QAM.


----------



## dlfl

TWC SW Ohio pushed TA software version .1501 to my TA aroung midnight last night. After the message disappeared and the TA stopped blinking, I was missing some of my SDV channels, although DVR diagnostics said all was OK (e.g., had channel map). Had to reboot the TiVo, reboot the TA and cycle the USB connection before getting all channels back. Another half hour of my time wasted on this not-ready-for-primetime system.

Can't see where .1501 improved anything. Still having frequent SDV tuning failures. Of course they will never tell us what it was supposed to improve.

Digital cable may give us more channels and HD (and higher costs) but it sure doesn't give the reliability of analog cable. This applies to internet video too, what with rebuffering pauses and other problems it has including relatively limited content. This is a puzzling trend since digital versions of other types of products generally give higher reliability in addition to other benefits.


----------



## HTH

I missed two days of programming due to the TA recently. I didn't get anything that was going to record on the first tuner (single-channel CableCard) but shows that were in conflict did record on the second (a multi-channel CableCard because the installer was out of singles and had already paired the first). Instead of restarting the TA, I rebooted the TiVo and that got it working again.

It had been 20 days since my last tuning adapter failure.

I think TiVo could address it by issuing a reset to a troubled tuner/card and I'm going to look into getting my TiVo's cards reconfigured.

Hardware is a TiVo HD. My TiVo Series3 is out of order.


----------



## HTH

HTH said:


> It had been 20 days since my last tuning adapter failure.


It was 4 days since my last tuning adapter failure (2 days of up-time) when it failed again last night. So much for thinking I could schedule a weekly preemptive restart.

Missed Community, Bones, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report. The last two I'm recording at 5 and 5:30 PM CT. Bones shows a repeat on TNTHD November 15. Second-tuner shows The Big Bang Theory and Person of Interest recorded. So did The Mentalist, so apparently it reused the second tuner for it without a conflict forcing it due to it already being tuned to the channel.

Also missed was The Office. Or rather, my attempt to record it off of my cable box over Firewire failed (my patched AVCVideoCap). Whatever tripped up the TA also reset the one cable box I retained for that use. Thankfully I had an analog TiVo recording it too.

I'll likely have to skip eating lunch today so I can get home early and babysit the cable system (and set up a safety SD recording of Grimm). I need to get a Twitter account and start tweeting these failures out to the world, maybe shame TWC into doing something about it, get the networks pressuring them, making sure they get our eyeballs seeing their customers' ads rather than us seeking alternative ad-free feeds or giving up television entirely. #cablefail


----------



## cwoody222

Local networks are not allowed to be on SDV. So something else must have failed to make you miss Community, Office, Bones, etc.


----------



## HTH

cwoody222 said:


> Local networks are not allowed to be on SDV. So something else must have failed to make you miss Community, Office, Bones, etc.


When I get a failure, nothing will record on that tuner until it is reset. I only get failures when the TA is in the loop. (The old SciAtl cable box has had its own problems ever since the beta test of mystro.)

When I was running two TiVos, the one without the TA would continue to be able to record non-SDV channels whereas the one with the TA would fail to record everything. In that setup, the TA-using TiVo had two single-tuner CCs. Now that one is incapacitated (failing HDD) and the TA-using TiVo has one single-tuner and one multi-tuning CC. The multi-tuning card survives.


----------



## dlfl

HTH said:


> When I get a failure, nothing will record on that tuner until it is reset. I only get failures when the TA is in the loop. (The old SciAtl cable box has had its own problems ever since the beta test of mystro.)
> 
> When I was running two TiVos, the one without the TA would continue to be able to record non-SDV channels whereas the one with the TA would fail to record everything. In that setup, the TA-using TiVo had two single-tuner CCs. Now that one is incapacitated (failing HDD) and the TA-using TiVo has one single-tuner and one multi-tuning CC. The multi-tuning card survives.


I would be tempted to run your TiVo HD on just the one m-card, just to simplify things. You should be able to make this change without a truck roll using self-install. I believe you would have to put the m-card in the first slot to do this. I don't know why your current configuration shouldn't work but .....


----------



## NCTony5905

So reading thru this I am not the only one not loving the TWC tuning adapters...

I also have had many truck rolls, 4 in the last 2 weeks. Here is my issue and it's just weird. I have a Premier downstairs and a Series3 up. TA's on both, and the S3 is now working just fine all the channels come in (used to have pixilation issues), but on the Premier I loose channels, but mainly in the 1200-1290 range, and almost always DisneyHD on 1200, always getting the channel not available message. They have replaced the TA, the Cablecard, rechecked cables, etc. Two visits ago the tech found some issues with the signal. Since he fixed that, the S3 has been solid, as was the Premier till I had to power cycle it because of work I was doing in that room. Since then I can't get 1200, all other channels work. Any ideas??


----------



## pmiranda

Is Disney 1200 an SDV channel on your cable system?
For a while I had a notch in some frequencies that caused specific non-SDV and random SDV channels to fail. Other channels came in perfectly. That was entirely a signal path issue from the side of the house into my TiVo, unrelated to the TA.

If you're running the cable in to TiVo through the amp in the TA, one way to eliminate a source of failure (or at least move it), is to use a splitter to provide cable in to the TiVo separately from the cable to the TA. The TA provides nothing to TiVo via the coax cable...all communication is through USB. The cable out of the TA is just there as a convenience. Of course if your signal strength is marginal, then the splitter will make it worse, but then you should be fixing the signal strength issue anyway.


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## NCTony5905

Yes I believe it is a SDV channel, so again today after my last post, turned on the tv to find multiple channels between 1200-1300 not working, I just get "this channel is temporally unavailable" When I go into dvr diagnostic screen, tuner 0 which is on 1200, shows no signal strength, but tuner 1 on 1174 (PBS which works fine) I have 87 for my signal strength. The fact I am gaining an loosing channels makes me think its not a physical or signal issue..maybe I am wrong?


----------



## SCSIRAID

NCTony5905 said:


> Yes I believe it is a SDV channel, so again today after my last post, turned on the tv to find multiple channels between 1200-1300 not working, I just get "this channel is temporally unavailable" When I go into dvr diagnostic screen, tuner 0 which is on 1200, shows no signal strength, but tuner 1 on 1174 (PBS which works fine) I have 87 for my signal strength. The fact I am gaining an loosing channels makes me think its not a physical or signal issue..maybe I am wrong?


Yes, that sounds like a cablecard or TA issue. Where in NC are you? Have you power cycled the TiVo and TA?

Other SDV channels work ok... right? The issue is that only 'some' dont work.


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## NCTony5905

Well maybe I'll be eating my words from earlier, not sure why I hadn't tired this already.. I brought the S3 from upstairs (the one that works fine) and plugged it into the TA downstairs the Premier was using, exact same issues with the same channels. Took it back up stairs, all channels come in crystal clear. I guess it possible that I got to bad TAs downstairs in a row, but am starting to think maybe there is some weird issue in the cable between where the TWC box is on the outside of my house and my TA...Weird that with the 6 techs that have been here they didn't pick up on that with all the test gear.


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## NCTony5905

Oh and sorry yes, cycled the TA and Tivo, I am in Concord, NC, and yes only some channels come and go, always 1200 and 1202, disney hd and disney XD


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## HTH

dlfl said:


> I would be tempted to run your TiVo HD on just the one m-card, just to simplify things. You should be able to make this change without a truck roll using self-install. I believe you would have to put the m-card in the first slot to do this. I don't know why your current configuration shouldn't work but .....


Well, since it went out again tonight between 5:30 and 8:00 (X-Play recorded, Criminal Minds and South Park did not), I decided to try swapping the cards between the slots while it was powered off. It told me I'd have to call to start service on it. So I switched them back. It still tells me I'd have to call to start service. Both cards. Too late in the evening to do so though. So I'll miss The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, the repeat of South Park, and a Primeval rerun tonight. Broadcast channels still tune.

Criminal Minds "There's No Place Like Home" got this error [sic]:


> This program was not recorded because either the TiVo HD DVR is not authorized for this channel, the program was not purchased, or the program was not available in your area.


South Park "A History Channel Thanksgiving" got this error:


> This program was not recorded because the video signal was unavailable.


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## dlfl

HTH said:


> ........I decided to try swapping the cards between the slots while it was powered off. It told me I'd have to call to start service on it. So I switched them back. It still tells me I'd have to call to start service. Both cards. .........:


Yes, "self install" does involve making a call. The two best numbers for this AFAIK are:
866.606.5889 and 866.532.2598
These are national numbers. Your local TWC may have given you a different one. It's your choice.

Still think you should try just the m-card.

BTW, IIRC the "first slot" (where I think the m-card must go) is actually the *right*-most slot on the THD. (Not exactly intuitive.)


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## HTH

I may have been mistaken about the card in slot 2 being an m-card. It looks identical to the s-card and was identified as single-stream by the TiVo when installed in slot 1. The TiVo just doesn't identify what kind of card is in slot 2.

I may need a roll-out anyway. TWC in Lincoln has never allowed self-installs of cable cards and I may need additional diagnostics performed.


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## dlfl

A new FCC ruling requiring them to allow self-installs went into effect in early August and I get the impression from posts here that most TWC systems have complied. There is some fine print however. I think one way they can avoid it is if they require truck rolls to install their STB's.


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## HTH

Turned out their automated system can be used to reauth cards. But these aren't taking it. Got a technician on the phone for over 30 minutes repeatedly trying to reauth the card (should only require 5 minutes) and it still reports "Auth Status:Waiting for CP Auth" on both cards. Also, "RF IP addr:None yet..." for both.

I've scheduled a roll-out for tomorrow morning. Gonna have to record TDS and TCR in analog upstairs


----------



## unitron

HTH said:


> Well, since it went out again tonight between 5:30 and 8:00 (X-Play recorded, Criminal Minds and South Park did not), I decided to try swapping the cards between the slots while it was powered off. It told me I'd have to call to start service on it. So I switched them back. It still tells me I'd have to call to start service. Both cards. Too late in the evening to do so though. So I'll miss The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, the repeat of South Park, and a Primeval rerun tonight. Broadcast channels still tune.
> 
> Criminal Minds "There's No Place Like Home" got this error [sic]:
> 
> South Park "A History Channel Thanksgiving" got this error:


Re: Criminal Minds.

Were you trying to record the cable carried signal from the over the air CBS broadcast affiliate in your area, which Google says Wikipedia says is KOLN (which would make your TV a kolonoscope)?


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## cwoody222

I was under the impression that local networks CANNOT be SDV channels.

That would mean your Criminal Minds problem is not a SDV tuning issue but something else like an improperly authorized Card or something.

Your South Park issue sounds exactly like the SDV tuning issues I have from time to time.


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## HTH

I had a truck rollout. They replaced the two cards with one M-card. It took awhile for it to get authorized, so they think the issue is insufficient signal strength again. Between the wall and the unit there are three splitters for when I had far more TiVos hooked up.

They want to replace the cabling between where it comes into the house to the equipment. Unfortunately, when GoodeGuy remodeled the furnace room/laundry room to also install a toilet and upgrade the breaker box, they did not leave an access panel for where the cable comes in and is split for the rest of the house. I'm going to need a panel put in.

So now I'm thinking the tuners going out, even on two TiVos with Tuning Adapters, may have been cable signal brownouts bringing everything below tolerance.

BTW, have you noticed that the TiVo HD wants to be awakened from sleep before the TV is turned on, not after? It fails to handshake properly otherwise.


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## cwoody222

Time Warner ALWAYS thinks the problem is insufficient cable strength and ALWAYS wants to rewire. That's their go-to "solution". I wouldn't be so quick to trust them on that.


----------



## NCTony5905

NCTony5905 said:


> Well maybe I'll be eating my words from earlier, not sure why I hadn't tired this already.. I brought the S3 from upstairs (the one that works fine) and plugged it into the TA downstairs the Premier was using, exact same issues with the same channels. Took it back up stairs, all channels come in crystal clear. I guess it possible that I got to bad TAs downstairs in a row, but am starting to think maybe there is some weird issue in the cable between where the TWC box is on the outside of my house and my TA...Weird that with the 6 techs that have been here they didn't pick up on that with all the test gear.


So this gets better, another truck roll, tech ran a temp line from the side of my house in the front door to the TA. No change, still can't tune in 1200, and loosing 1300 off and on. So on a hail mary I bring the TA from upstairs (where everything works) downstairs, and bingo, downstairs premier now gets all it's channels. So take the TA from downstairs to the S3 upstairs, problems don't follow it, and I get all my channels upstairs as well..

I got nothing, it makes no sense at all....


----------



## Cspot

anyone else have a TA reboot early this morning? both of mine rebooted around 3:30 am (est). recordings still went off, but the "tuning adpater..." screen was up when I turned on tv's this morning.


----------



## bobrt6676

Cspot said:


> anyone else have a TA reboot early this morning? both of mine rebooted around 3:30 am (est). recordings still went off, but the "tuning adpater..." screen was up when I turned on tv's this morning.


Yes, mine did the same this morning.


----------



## dlfl

Cspot said:


> anyone else have a TA reboot early this morning? both of mine rebooted around 3:30 am (est). recordings still went off, but the "tuning adpater..." screen was up when I turned on tv's this morning.


Yes, mine first rebooted around 1:30 am. I couldn't recover my SDV channels despite rebooting both TiVo and TA (again) and finally when I would reboot the TA it would just blink forever. I called TWC support and their recorded message said they had an outage in my area. Even later this morning, I had to reboot the TA twice and the TiVo once before ALL my SDV channels were there. What a PITA! There is no sure-fire sequence of rebooting TA and TiVo and cycling the USB connection that is guaranteed to work every time. I don't think they could have invented a better way to frustrate TiVo users than the TA, even if they tried.


----------



## unitron

dlfl said:


> ... I don't think they could have invented a better way to frustrate TiVo users than the TA, even if they tried.


Considering that it's Time-Warner that we're talking about, they probably did try.


----------



## HTH

unitron said:


> Considering that it's Time-Warner that we're talking about, they probably did try.


They did come up with cable boxes that would fail to change the channel if you tried to do so precisely on schedule. Their workaround for the problem was to to try to change the channel again immediately, a solution that was completely unworkable for DVRs. Except, of course, their DVR, which didn't require a cable box (because it was one).

As the TiVo sent digits, the box's banner would come up which informed you want was currently showing, and if you didn't get all the digits in before the guide data in the banner updated, it would throw out the digits already entered, taking you either to the wrong channel (likely a one-digit channel) or not changing channels at all. And TiVo's clock was always in sync, so it would be reliably tripped up every time. The IR blaster speed adjustments were ineffective.

That forced me to give up using cable boxes with my Series1 TiVos. But since networks were also (inconsistently) shifting start times by a minute, padding recordings on a Series2 could also trip the bug, since it was when the next program started on the channel you were *leaving* that tripped the bug: a show sometimes starting at 9:00 PM, other times 9:01 PM, and still other times 9:02 PM couldn't have a reliable pad to prevent schedule rollover on the channel it was tuning away from, certainly without cutting into a previous program where there was no commercial break between final act and credits, or when the credits were atop the epilogue.

Unlike a VCR, a TiVo can't have its clock biased by 30 seconds to avoid the problem entirely.

And of course I am in a city where this software was being secretly beta tested. As the sabotage was considered effective, this behavior was retained and pushed to the rest of the nation. "We don't have to care: we're the cable monopoly."


----------



## lrhorer

cwoody222 said:


> I was under the impression that local networks CANNOT be SDV channels.


There is nothing intrinsically preventing the locals from being on SDV, and no legal issues with doing so. Indeed, I think most (all?) TWC systems support "do-over" on their locals, and that has to be SDV. With the exception of low-power local stations, though, putting OTA channels on SDV probably usually doesn't make a lot of sense.


----------



## lrhorer

HTH said:


> So now I'm thinking the tuners going out, even on two TiVos with Tuning Adapters, may have been cable signal brownouts bringing everything below tolerance.


"Brownouts"? Exactly what, pray tell, is a "brownout" supposed to be in terms of the RF spectrum on a CATV system?



HTH said:


> BTW, have you noticed that the TiVo HD wants to be awakened from sleep before the TV is turned on, not after? It fails to handshake properly otherwise.


Unless you are manually putting the THD in standby mode, it never "sleeps".


----------



## pmiranda

HTH said:


> They did come up with cable boxes that would fail to change the channel if you tried to do so precisely on schedule. Their workaround for the problem was to to try to change the channel again immediately, a solution that was completely unworkable for DVRs. Except, of course, their DVR, which didn't require a cable box (because it was one).


That's weird, my TiVo Series 1 was working just fine for years with a SA cable box on Time Warner. Maybe there was something I had to set up (Or not set up) in the menus to make it work correctly, but I never saw any behavior like you describe... was this change after the series 3 came out? I stopped using my S1 after the lifetime transfer deal left it without service.


----------



## lrhorer

HTH said:


> That forced me to give up using cable boxes with my Series1 TiVos.


My S1 TiVo paired with a Pace STB was considerably more reliable than the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR TWC foisted on me for 9 months.



HTH said:


> Unlike a VCR, a TiVo can't have its clock biased by 30 seconds to avoid the problem entirely.


Well, it *CAN*, but I don't recommend it.


----------



## pmiranda

lrhorer said:


> "Brownouts"? Exactly what, pray tell, is a "brownout" supposed to be in terms of the RF spectrum on a CATV system?
> ...
> Unless you are manually putting the THD in standby mode, it never "sleeps".


Occasionally a distribution amp that serves a large area will go bad... maybe that's what he means?

THD is like Chuck Norris: it doesn't sleep... it waits.


----------



## unitron

lrhorer said:


> There is nothing intrinsically preventing the locals from being on SDV, and no legal issues with doing so. Indeed, I think most (all?) TWC systems support "do-over" on their locals, and that has to be SDV. With the exception of low-power local stations, though, putting OTA channels on SDV probably usually doesn't make a lot of sense.


I'm pretty sure that if the local broadcasters didn't want to be SDV'ed, they could sic the FCC on the cable company, or get the NAB to do it for them.


----------



## unitron

pmiranda said:


> That's weird, my TiVo Series 1 was working just fine for years with a SA cable box on Time Warner. Maybe there was something I had to set up (Or not set up) in the menus to make it work correctly, but I never saw any behavior like you describe... was this change after the series 3 came out? I stopped using my S1 after the lifetime transfer deal left it without service.


You probably had a cable box that tuned analog cable channels.

Now that we're in the wonderful world of digital there are all kinds of new things that can go horribly wrong.


----------



## lrhorer

pmiranda said:


> Occasionally a distribution amp that serves a large area will go bad... maybe that's what he means?


Distribution amps do not serve large areas. SDV requires small distriubution areas off each node. More to the point, while line extenders certainly can fail, they do not suffer from anything one might reasonably term "brownout".


----------



## lrhorer

unitron said:


> I'm pretty sure that if the local broadcasters didn't want to be SDV'ed, they could sic the FCC on the cable company, or get the NAB to do it for them.


To what end? There is nothing in the regs preventing the CATV company from delivering any channel it wants via SDV. It's just that locals are a poor choice (from the CATV company's perspective) for deployment on an SDV QAM. It would be a lot of money for hardware and software that is just wasted.


----------



## unitron

lrhorer said:


> To what end? There is nothing in the regs preventing the CATV company from delivering any channel it wants via SDV. It's just that locals are a poor choice (from the CATV company's perspective) for deployment on an SDV QAM. It would be a lot of money for hardware and software that is just wasted.


If the advent of digital had done away with "must carry", you would have been able to hear the screaming of NAB lobbyists in Washington, D.C. as far away as the 49th and 50th states.


----------



## lrhorer

unitron said:


> If the advent of digital had done away with "must carry", you would have been able to hear the screaming of NAB lobbyists in Washington, D.C. as far away as the 49th and 50th states.


Actually, it's been quite some years since I looked at the "must carry" rules, so I'm not sure what their status is. It's not relevant, though. Just because a channel is "must carry" does not prevent it from being delivered via SDV. The CATV company would have to insure that STBs are available to all basic tier subs, but there's nothing saying the stream has to be linear.


----------



## pmiranda

unitron said:


> You probably had a cable box that tuned analog cable channels.
> 
> Now that we're in the wonderful world of digital there are all kinds of new things that can go horribly wrong.


Actually I had a cable box just so I could receive one freaking digital channel: Speedvision.


----------



## unitron

pmiranda said:


> Actually I had a cable box just so I could receive one freaking digital channel: Speedvision.


Fellow Time-Warner victim, huh?


----------



## pmiranda

Yeah, I'm starting to feel like a battered wife... Just got a letter this morning that they're increasing my monthly bill $7.


----------



## cwoody222

I thought there WAS a legal restriction from having local channels be SDV? Time Warner seemed to agree with me once on that, with a tech on the phone.

Either way, it wouldn't make much sense to have a local be SDV anyway since they're probably the most frequently viewed.

My parents - on Time Warner - current use Series2 connected to their SciAtl digital cable box which tunes channels for them. Works like a charm and has forever. No problems changing channels (aside from the occasional mis-fire).


----------



## Deinonych

All of my local channels are non-SDV, but that doesn't really prove anything I guess.


----------



## Deinonych

Also, I can't get one of my Tuning Adapters to work, despite having spent 45 minutes on line with tech support. The light on the front is blinking steadily, and they couldn't get it to do anything else. They wanted to roll a truck, which I declined for now.


----------



## cwoody222

Locals are not allowed to be SDV. Ever.

Oh, and your local CSRs are obviously morons. That's not any worse than mine, though.


----------



## kochsr

i requested a TA like 3 months ago and still don't have one. i'm in durham, nc. any suggestions for actually getting one of these things?


----------



## dlfl

Deinonych said:


> Also, I can't get one of my Tuning Adapters to work, despite having spent 45 minutes on line with tech support. The light on the front is blinking steadily, and they couldn't get it to do anything else. They wanted to roll a truck, which I declined for now.


Generally a truck roll doesn't fix TA problems BUT it might be worth letting them check your OOB signal levels:



> Out-Of-Band-Forward-Data-Channel (OOB-FDC).
> The portion of the cable RF range that is used to deliver system or service information to a receiver. Its frequency range is generally 70-130 Mz.
> 
> Out-Of-Band-Reverse-Data-Channel (OOB-RDC).
> The portion of the cable RF range that is used to deliver data from the home receiver to the headend. Its frequency range is 5-40 Mz.


These are the frequencies used by the TA to communicate with the cable system, and they are absolutely essential to its operation. Now I believe the same OOB channels are also used by your CableCARD(s) but it's possible the levels are low and the CC is more sensitive than the TA. Also, the CC may only use the FDC signal (not sure about that) while the TA needs both.

These frequencies are below the cable TV channel frequencies so can have more attenuation that doesn't show up in the channel reception quality. If you have a truck roll, request them to check signal quality and strength for these OOB bands in particular.

What is the probability a tech will know what OOB means? Who knows?


----------



## DaveDFW

After a couple of years of no problems, both my tuning adapters are now flashing and not connecting in North Texas, 75082.

Chat? Useless.
TWC phone? Useless.
Cablecard hotline? Curt and useless.
Cablecard install line? Can't help.

I'm only offered a truck roll for an issue that's obviously on their side. Internet is up, analog channels are fine, cablecards show connections...just the tuning adapters are down.


----------



## unitron

kochsr said:


> i requested a TA like 3 months ago and still don't have one. i'm in durham, nc. any suggestions for actually getting one of these things?


Stop by the local TWC office and tell them you want your bill adjusted downward retroactively to reflect all the channels you're paying for but not getting.


----------



## unitron

DaveDFW said:


> After a couple of years of no problems, both my tuning adapters are now flashing and not connecting in North Texas, 75082.
> 
> Chat? Useless.
> TWC phone? Useless.
> Cablecard hotline? Curt and useless.
> Cablecard install line? Can't help.
> 
> I'm only offered a truck roll for an issue that's obviously on their side. Internet is up, analog channels are fine, cablecards show connections...just the tuning adapters are down.


Drop by the local office, TA's in hand, and say you want to exchange them for ones that work.


----------



## DaveDFW

unitron said:


> Drop by the local office, TA's in hand, and say you want to exchange them for ones that work.


Not the problem. I did pick up two extra ones today, and they do the same thing. The TAs are fine, it's something on TWC's side.


----------



## unitron

DaveDFW said:


> Not the problem. I did pick up two extra ones today, and they do the same thing. The TAs are fine, it's something on TWC's side.


So drop by the office with all of the cable between your house and their head end in your hands and maybe then they'll take you seriously and fix it.

Of course we are talking Time-Warner.


----------



## lrhorer

cwoody222 said:


> Locals are not allowed to be SDV. Ever.


Please point to the FCC regulation that specifies this.


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> These are the frequencies used by the TA to communicate with the cable system, and they are absolutely essential to its operation. Now I believe the same OOB channels are also used by your CableCARD(s)


No, not quite. The CableCard has neither a modulator nor a demodulator built in. It is strictly a digital device that talks to the host, in this case a TiVo. The FDC (usually 75MHz) is demodulated by the host and the data sent to the CableCard. I don't think the TA has a receiver, at all, but I could be mistaken about that.



dlfl said:


> but it's possible the levels are low and the CC is more sensitive than the TA.


Uh-uh. First of all, the FDB is right in the middle of the low band. If it were low, then so would be the rest of the low band signals.

The RDC is the return channel. This carrier is produced by the TA itself. There certainly can be problems with the return gain of the CATV system, especially since winter weather has set in in various areas, but your message made it sound as if there would be an issue getting to the TA. The issue would be getting to the headend, not to the TA.



dlfl said:


> Also, the CC may only use the FDC signal (not sure about that)


It uses the data from the host derived by the host's tuner from the FDC.



dlfl said:


> Awhile the TA needs both.


Again, that's misleading. It is the headend that needs the RDC, not the TA. The TA most certainly makes use of the data in the FDC - it has to overwrite the CableCard's channel map, but I would expect the TA to obtain the data from the host, just like the CableCard does. It's possible not.



dlfl said:


> AThese frequencies are below the cable TV channel frequencies so can have more attenuation that doesn't show up in the channel reception quality.


Well, yes and no. They travel different paths, in part, so one path can suffer attenuation the other does not. There are also a number of issues that can affect lower frequencies much more than higher ones, but the RDC is not usually much lower in frequency than channels 2 - 6. Anything that seriously impacts 5 - 30 MHz will also affect 55 - 75 MHz, if it is in the same path. The most common is what is sometimes called a "suck-out", or a "center conductor retraction". In cold weather, the center conductor of a span of aluminum coaxial cable contracts more than the outer shield. This puts a tremendous strain on the pin vise that secures the center conductor in the connector at each end of the span. If the connector was not tightened properly or the connector is of inferior quality, the center conductor can literally pull away from the pin vise so it no longer makes metal-to-metal contact with the center conductor of the connector. RF frequencies can jump this gap, but there is always some attenuation, and the lower the frequency, the more the attenuation. Usually the lower channels - below 100MHz - are almost completely gone in this case.



dlfl said:


> AIf you have a truck roll, request them to check signal quality and strength for these OOB bands in particular.


The upstream spectrum cannot really be checked from the house. It must be checked at the headend. OTOH, the CSR has the ability to monitor the level of the return signal at the headend. Actually, to a certain limited extent, so does the user. Look in the "Tuning Adapter Diagnostics", under "RF Statistics". If the RDC Power Level is quite high, +54dBmV or more, then it may indicate an issue with the return path. If it is somewhat lower than that, then there probably is not an issue on the return. Note the closer the subscriber is to the node, the higher the RDC output has to be. Any splitters or taps in the path also increase the required transmit level. OTOH, if the subscriber is far from the node and has no splitters in the house, then the RDC power should be comparatively low. I am fairly close to the node (although not right off it), and I have an 8-way and several 2-way splitters in the house. My RDC is +48dBmV.


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> ..........The upstream spectrum cannot really be checked from the house. It must be checked at the headend. OTOH, the CSR has the ability to monitor the level of the return signal at the headend. Actually, to a certain limited extent, so does the user. Look in the "Tuning Adapter Diagnostics", under "RF Statistics". If the RDC Power Level is quite high, +54dBmV or more, then it may indicate an issue with the return path. If it is somewhat lower than that, then there probably is not an issue on the return. ........


In general thanks for your clarification of the technical details. However the user can't check the TA Diagnostics you refer to if the TA is off line, i.e., blinking all the time, as was posted by Deinonych.

The primary message of my post still stands: The TA problems could be due to OOB signal level problems and the signals should be checked. which in Deinonych's case will require a truck roll, at least for the FDC.

BTW, my FDC freq is 104 MHz (not your "typical" 75 MHz), although this isn't particularly significant.



lrhorer said:


> .......... Note the closer the subscriber is to the node, the higher the RDC output has to be.


Didn't you get this backwards?


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> In general thanks for your clarification of the technical details. However the user can't check the TA Diagnostics you refer to if the TA is off line, i.e., blinking all the time, as was posted by Deinonych.


Well, depending on the blink pattern, that's true.



dlfl said:


> AThe primary message of my post still stands: The TA problems could be due to OOB signal level problems and the signals should be checked. which in Deinonych's case will require a truck roll, at least for the FDC.


The CableCards do not report the actual signal level of the FDC, but they do report the S/N ratio (which is the really important number) and whether or not there is a signal lock on the FDC, even if no TA is attached or functional.



dlfl said:


> ABTW, my FDC freq is 104 MHz (not your "typical" 75 MHz), although this isn't particularly significant.


FCC frequency allocations, for reasons having to do with early RF amplifier limitations, place a 10MHz spacing between Channel 4 and 5, rather than the 6MHz spacing between all the other channels, except for the FM radio band between 88MHz and 108MHz. That extra 4MHz gap between 72MHz and 76MHz (known as the guard band) is most often used for OOB control signals such as the CableCard FDC. The CATV company is not required by the FCC to re-broadcast the local FM channels, so the 88MHz - 108MHz spectrum is also up for grabs. This is an "impaired" region, however, because there are very high level RF carriers OTA on these channels. This does not mean those frequencies cannot be used, but doing so can produce operational issues. OTOH, if your local OTA FM band is not jam packed with radio stations, the CTV operator may choose to place the carrier in a frequency slot not occupied by any FM radio stations. They also may simply decide to take a chance with RF interference issues due to signal ingress and place the OOB carrier at the same frequency as several FM carriers. If I were the chief engineer in that CATV system, though, I certainly would not make that decision, given the inevitable trouble calls it would produce. If there is a gap of 1MHz or so in the local FM allocations, however, then I would have no qualms about assigning the FDC in that slot.



dlfl said:


> ADidn't you get this backwards?


Nope. The further away from the node (or a line extender, if the system employs them), the lower the flat loss, which generally speaking results in less attenuation of the low frequency signals. By the same token, the further away from the node, the higher the cable loss, which means the greater the attenuation of high frequency signals. In some cases, at the very end of the feeder line, the flat loss may be as much as 20dB lower than the flat loss right at the node. Usually the tap at the node has a value around 32dB. Assuming a 30 meter subscriber drop and a 10 meter house drop with a 4-way house splitter, that is about 40dB flat loss plus about 0.75dB cable loss at 10 MHz and about 7.3dB cable loss at 700MHz. At the end of the line, however, the tap value may be as low as 4dB. The flat loss due to taps and splitters in the line along the way is highly variable, but may be as low as 8dB (or in some odd cases even less), while the cable loss at the tap may be as high as 27dB at 700MHz, resulting in a total loss at the receiver of about 51 dB at 700 MHz, of which 19dB is flat loss. Meanwhile the cable loss at the tap at 10MHz is only 2.9dB, making for a total loss at the back of the receiver of 22.7dB versus 39.8dB loss at 10MHz for the subscriber right next to the node. In more densely populated neighborhoods with more taps in the line, the flat loss at the output of the terminal tap will be significantly higher than 12dB, making the difference in attenuation on the low end less striking, but it is nonetheless true in general the farther from the node or line extender, the lower the overall attenuation at lower frequencies.


----------



## unitron

lrhorer said:


> ...
> 
> Nope. The further away from the node (or a line extender, if the system employs them), the lower the flat loss, which generally speaking results in less attenuation of the low frequency signals. By the same token, the further away from the node, the higher the cable loss, which means the greater the attenuation of high frequency signals. ...


So is flat loss resistive and cable loss reactive?


----------



## lrhorer

unitron said:


> So is flat loss resistive and cable loss reactive?


No, flat loss is constant (more or less) across the entire usable spectrum. Typically it is the result of splitting off some fraction of the signal. A 2-way splitter, for example, has a flat loss of about 4dB on both legs from the input. An 8dB directional coupler, OTOH, has a flat loss of 8dB from the input to the tap leg and 1dB from the input to the through leg. Coaxial cable, OTOH, has a loss that is proportional to the square root of the frequency. Thus, the loss per unit length at 10MHz is roughly 1/10 the loss at 860Mhz. The CATV engineer adjusts the flat loss in the system (by choosing the appropriate tap values) so the levels that reach the back of the subscriber's receiver are appropriate. That means decreasing the tap values (and thus the overall flat loss) as one moves further way from the amplifier. At first, there is plenty of additional signal level (by design) on the high frequencies, so the flat loss is determined by the levels of the low frequencies. As one moves further down the line, however, the levels of the high frequency channels drop faster than those of the low frequency channels, until at some point the levels of the high channels, which started out higher than those of the low channels, are equal to the levels on the low channels. After that point, the tap values are chosen based upon the levels of the high frequencies. The result is the total flat loss drops faster than the cable loss increases at low frequencies, and thus the farther from the amp, the lower the loss, generally speaking, at low frequencies.


----------



## dlfl

unitron said:


> So is flat loss resistive and cable loss reactive?





lrhorer said:


> No, flat loss is constant (more or less) across the entire usable spectrum. Typically it is the result of splitting off some fraction of the signal. A 2-way splitter, for example, has a flat loss of about 4dB on both legs from the input. An 8dB directional coupler, OTOH, has a flat loss of 8dB from the input to the tap leg and 1dB from the input to the through leg. Coaxial cable, OTOH, has a loss that is proportional to the square root of the frequency. ........


Good discussion lrhorer. Ironically the cable loss is predominantly due to resistance of the cable conductors. Theory (and practice) just say the dB/Meter value varies as the square root of frequency. Here's a nice discussion for those who want to wallow in the theory:
http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedia/Coaxloss.cfm


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> Good discussion lrhorer. Ironically the cable loss is predominantly due to resistance of the cable conductors.


I never said differently. That's why the highest quality. lowest loss cables have silver plated center conductors, and low loss, heavily braided shielding.



dlfl said:


> Theory (and practice) just say the dB/Meter value varies as the square root of frequency.


I believe I said that very thing. The original point is however, the engineered loss at low frequencies generally goes down the further one is from an amplifier, while the engineered loss at high frequencies generally goes up. Actually, it jumps up and down a bit, because taps and directional couplers are typically manufactured in 3dB increments, but the losses move generally in the stated directions.


----------



## dlfl

dlfl said:


> Good discussion lrhorer. Ironically the cable loss is predominantly due to resistance of the cable conductors. Theory (and practice) just say the dB/Meter value varies as the square root of frequency. Here's a nice discussion for those who want to wallow in the theory:
> http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedia/Coaxloss.cfm





lrhorer said:


> I never said differently. ......
> I believe I said that very thing. .......


Geez! Touchy, Touchy! You missed the irony I guess. (It was that unitron guessed that flat loss was resistive while in fact resistance causes most of the cable loss.)


----------



## unitron

dlfl said:


> Geez! Touchy, Touchy! You missed the irony I guess. (It was that unitron guessed that flat loss was resistive while in fact resistance causes most of the cable loss.)


Flat loss and cable loss were terms I had not previously encountered, at least by those names.

The way Les described it made it sound to me like what he was calling flat loss is not frequency dependent, which is a characteristic of resistance, and that what he was calling cable loss is frequency dependent, which is characteristic of capacitive and/or inductive reactance.


----------



## dlfl

unitron said:


> Flat loss and cable loss were terms I had not previously encountered, at least by those names.
> 
> The way Les described it made it sound to me like what he was calling flat loss is not frequency dependent, which is a characteristic of resistance, and that what he was calling cable loss is frequency dependent, which is characteristic of capacitive and/or inductive reactance.


Understood ... completely .... from the beginning. The irony is that although flat loss is usually characteristic of resistance (at least for an ideal resistor -- which doesn't exist), the resistance in cable conductors actuallly causes frequency dependent loss.


----------



## unitron

dlfl said:


> Understood ... completely .... from the beginning. The irony is that although flat loss is usually characteristic of resistance (at least for an ideal resistor -- which doesn't exist), the resistance in cable conductors actuallly causes frequency dependent loss.


I would venture to say that technically it's not the resistance but the reactance, and thus the impedence, at whatever frequency, that actually causes the part of the loss that's determined by the frequency.


----------



## dlfl

unitron said:


> I would venture to say that technically it's not the resistance but the reactance, and thus the impedence, at whatever frequency, that actually causes the part of the loss that's determined by the frequency.


Take a look at the theory presented in the reference I linked in post #1271. It's the resistance in the conductors that causes this loss.


----------



## RTPGiants

Ok, so here we go again...I've since added a Tivo Premier with its own cable card and tuning adapter. On the whole, that combo seems to work much more reliably than the HD.

But with that said, my HD was working fine until a few days ago. Now I can't get it to tune any SDV channel despite reboots of all pieces involved. The Premier continues to work fine.

Green light on the TA is solid and RDC/FDC are in normal ranges, but I forget what else I'm supposed to be looking for in cablecard and TA diags. It does seem to take "too long" to get the channel list from the TA when the Tivo is power cycled (there seems to be a too short, too long, just right phenomena with these things).

So anyway, can someone remind me what other diags to look at?


----------



## dlfl

RTPGiants said:


> Ok, so here we go again...I've since added a Tivo Premier with its own cable card and tuning adapter. On the whole, that combo seems to work much more reliably than the HD.
> 
> But with that said, my HD was working fine until a few days ago. Now I can't get it to tune any SDV channel despite reboots of all pieces involved. The Premier continues to work fine.
> 
> Green light on the TA is solid and RDC/FDC are in normal ranges, but I forget what else I'm supposed to be looking for in cablecard and TA diags. It does seem to take "too long" to get the channel list from the TA when the Tivo is power cycled (there seems to be a too short, too long, just right phenomena with these things).
> 
> So anyway, can someone remind me what other diags to look at?


My cable has a fairly typical number of channels, SDV and non-SDV. The "Acquiring Channels" phase takes 2 min 20 secs for me. Sometimes it goes a lot quicker and then I know many channels will be missing.

Maybe you have a bad TA. Try swapping TA's between TiVo's.

What are your FDC/RDC values? Another value is the Tuner value which should be in the -5 to +5 dBmV range I believe.


----------



## RTPGiants

dlfl said:


> My cable has a fairly typical number of channels, SDV and non-SDV. The "Acquiring Channels" phase takes 2 min 20 secs for me. Sometimes it goes a lot quicker and then I know many channels will be missing.
> 
> Maybe you have a bad TA. Try swapping TA's between TiVo's.
> 
> What are your FDC/RDC values? Another value is the Tuner value which should be in the -5 to +5 dBmV range I believe.


On the one that's not working:
FDC: -4 RDC: 51 Tuner: -3

On the one that's working:
FDC: -3 RDC: 54 Tuner: -2

I think those are close enough in range. All other items seem more or less the same, both are "Ready" as status, and Idle/Available for tuning status.

I will try swapping them at some point, but I'd rather not mess with the working setup at the moment.

One thing I did notice is that they have radically different RF IP Addresses. 10.75.210.x vs. 10.75.195.x which seems odd.


----------



## cwoody222

Same here. "Acquiring Channels" easily takes 2 minutes and that's when it's working fine.

My Series 3 reboot takes 7 minutes. So when I just reboot the TiVo I'm looking at 9 minutes minimal to get back up and running. If I have to reboot the TA that takes another 3 minutes or so that you have to have it unplugged meaning a good 15 minutes or so start-to-finish.

Sucks.


----------



## ToddAllen

Hopefully someone can offer some advice on a problem I'm having with my Tivo Premiere, Time Warner Cable, and the dreaded Tuning Adapter.

About 2 weeks ago I received a message (on Tivo) that 3 channels had changed from East Coast to West Coast feeds. USAHD, BRAVOHD, and SYFYHD became USAHDP, BRAVOHP, and SYFYHDP. Unfortunately now none of those channels can be tuned. All 3 channels (and ONLY those 3 channels) give the following message: "This Channel is Not Authorized"

After several attempts over the phone, TWC sent out a tech who was also unable to fix the problem. He said it was his second call of the day with the exact same issue - involving the exact same 3 channels - however nobody had a solution. Of course my ticket is still open and "being addressed", but who knows how long that could take. Has anyone experienced a similar problem or know of how it can be resolved?


----------



## unitron

ToddAllen said:


> Hopefully someone can offer some advice on a problem I'm having with my Tivo Premiere, Time Warner Cable, and the dreaded Tuning Adapter.
> 
> About 2 weeks ago I received a message (on Tivo) that 3 channels had changed from East Coast to West Coast feeds. USAHD, BRAVOHD, and SYFYHD became USAHDP, BRAVOHP, and SYFYHDP. Unfortunately now none of those channels can be tuned. All 3 channels (and ONLY those 3 channels) give the following message: "This Channel is Not Authorized"
> 
> After several attempts over the phone, TWC sent out a tech who was also unable to fix the problem. He said it was his second call of the day with the exact same issue - involving the exact same 3 channels - however nobody had a solution. Of course my ticket is still open and "being addressed", but who knows how long that could take. Has anyone experienced a similar problem or know of how it can be resolved?


Where are you geographically?


----------



## ToddAllen

unitron said:


> Where are you geographically?


I'm in Palm Springs, CA - so Time Warner San Diego / Desert Cities is the region.


----------



## unitron

ToddAllen said:


> I'm in Palm Springs, CA - so Time Warner San Diego / Desert Cities is the region.


Shouldn't TWC have had you on the west coast feed all along?

Of course we're trying to form a concept here that involves both Time-Warner and competence.


----------



## ToddAllen

unitron said:


> Shouldn't TWC have had you on the west coast feed all along?
> 
> Of course we're trying to form a concept here that involves both Time-Warner and competence.


I believe until recently there was only one feed for the HD version of these channels. It looks like USA Networks (which includes the 3 channels in question) just began a separate West Coast HD feed.
Oh, and competence isn't something I've grown to expect from TWC


----------



## cwoody222

The solution seems to be they need to authorize our CCs for the new channels. They "should" be able to do this easily.

If they can't figure it out, refuse to pay until they do or demand they don't stop trying until they do.

This is 100% their problem and their responsibility to fix.

Contact the FCC and report their incompetence if you need to.

Their is zero excuse for them still being unable to handle this stuff.


----------



## lrhorer

ToddAllen said:


> After several attempts over the phone, TWC sent out a tech who was also unable to fix the problem. He said it was his second call of the day with the exact same issue - involving the exact same 3 channels - however nobody had a solution. Of course my ticket is still open and "being addressed", but who knows how long that could take. Has anyone experienced a similar problem or know of how it can be resolved?


This probably cannot be resolved either over the phone or by a technician. Their trying to do either is just wasting their time (I find it difficult to care) and yours (which I value much more highly). Their programming department needs to send updated information to Tribune Media. It's won't hurt to work it from the other end as well, though. Submit a set of incorrect channel assignment reports on TiVo.com.


----------



## lrhorer

cwoody222 said:


> The solution seems to be they need to authorize our CCs for the new channels.


Probably not. It's more likely it's a lineup issue.



cwoody222 said:


> They "should" be able to do this easily.


Fairly so, but it's not in the hands of the CSR or the technician, in any case.


----------



## HTH

lrhorer said:


> "Brownouts"? Exactly what, pray tell, is a "brownout" supposed to be in terms of the RF spectrum on a CATV system?


Not sure, I'm not technically versed, but I remember a few decades ago a similar problem with POTS glitching sometime between 2 and 3 am every day when I ran a dial-up BBS, as well as having problems with signal strength with cable before.



> Unless you are manually putting the THD in standby mode, it never "sleeps".


Standby mode, yes. I'm suspecting it mishandles the HDCP handshake if the display is on before the TiVo sends the stream (it doesn't power down the HDMI port entirely while in Standby otherwise my source-sensing video switch would work with two TiVos connected).

The new multi-channel card is working a lot better. While I still get some missed records (first episode of recent Merlin marathon), I had to hit Select to get G4TV to tune today (though I didn't care to watch COPS), and I've had nights were I couldn't tune any of the extra premium digital movie channels in my line-up for hours, I haven't had any complete failures like I had before requiring restarting anything other than the one cable box used for Firewire recording of broadcast channels. And that's always been a problem with the cable boxes. (The timing of such events seem to suggest they're trying to reduce usage over travel holidays when people won't be home.)


----------



## Grunchie

It's late, and I am wiped from dealing with this problem all day-but I had to post something before I hit the rack. Brand new Elite. Hellish time connecting, but was finally able to complete set-up after basically disconnecting everything from the Tivo except the coax feed. I have the feeling that the set-up was so hellish because of this stupid tuning adapter. Everything appeared to be working well, I was SO excited! Then...the little yellow light of death (the "YOD") began to flash on the front of the infernal Motorola adapter that TW Cable infected, I mean supplied, me with. Solid light good. Flasing light=YOD. I "recycled" the unit (which in this case basically means yanking the cord out, no switch) many, many times and have come to the conclusion that this does nothing at all. The brain-trust at TW Cable "re-authorized" (whatever the hell that means) 10 times. YOD. I recycled the Tivo, re-seated the cable card, burned incense, whispered incantations, spoke to Tivo tech support, was bumped up to "escalated tuning adapter support". I did it all. YOD. Off and on it goes. The thing starts communicating again when it decides to, regardless of what I do to it. YOD. It usually takes 5-10 minutes, then it just starts communicating again, the Tivo then lets me know that SURPRISE, I have a tuning adapter installed! This is happening twice an hour or so, and is happening now as I write. It nukes any and all recordings in the process. INFURIATING. They are sending out a service guy tomorrow to check the signal, etc., but I am not at all hopeful. The signal is just fine. I just think the technology sucks. I am going to see the YOD in my sleep. We'll see what magic the service guy performs, but I think I will spend the next several days hassling with the return of the Tivo and the refund of the lifetime license I bought. TW has absolutely no incintive to provide good tech or equipment or service in this case. FCC fines? Bah. This thing gets up and running and they lose the $22/Month I pay for the DVR and services for that one box. Multiply that by millions and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why they provide such crappy equipment and services in this case. I was a fool to think they would, because it is a "mandate" by the feds. Now I am paying for my foolishness. From the pages and pages of blogs on this issue, it is quite apparent that so are many others.


----------



## lrhorer

Grunchie said:


> INFURIATING. They are sending out a service guy tomorrow to check the signal, etc., but I am not at all hopeful. The signal is just fine.


How do you know that? What is the RDC level?



Grunchie said:


> I just think the technology sucks.


No, but the TA was badly engineered.



Grunchie said:


> This thing gets up and running and they lose the $22/Month I pay for the DVR and services for that one box. Multiply that by millions and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why they provide such crappy equipment and services in this case.


No, but perhaps it does require something more than a fool to realize they are losing money on leasing that DVR, and multiplying that loss by millions doesn't make for a good incentive of anything.

There are not "millions and millions" of TiVo owners who are also TWC subs. *THAT* is why they have little incentive to bother with them.



Grunchie said:


> I was a fool to think they would, because it is a "mandate" by the feds. Now I am paying for my foolishness. From the pages and pages of blogs on this issue, it is quite apparent that so are many others.


Not so many. The TA is not stable, of that there is no question, but very few people are having intractable persistent issues.


----------



## unitron

lrhorer said:


> ...they are losing money on leasing that DVR...


Just out of curiousity, how much per month for how long would one have to charge before one got back all of the wholesale price originally paid for that DVR, plus lost interest on the money spent on it?


----------



## Grunchie

I know the RDC level is fine because I have lived here 25 years and they have been out before, many times. They will check it again today. And today they will tell me it is fine. Again.

Of course they are not losing money by leasing the DVR. State your source. Flat-out wrong. And when DVR's come back, they are factory refurbished and sent out to the next subscriber. My source is a TW insider on this issue. Also, read my quote. Who said "Millyuns and Millyuns?" Not me, Carl Sagan, maybe. I said millions. Time Warner operates in 28 states and has 12 million subscribers, give or take (Source: CNET) You think it is out of the realm of possibility that there are a million or more DVR's out there? It's not just Tivo, there are a number of devices that require a cable card, and more coming to market every day. 

Thanks for your support and suggestions and not just nit-picking. Really helpful.


----------



## cwoody222

I'm with Grunchie... signal levels have, time and time again, proven to NOT be the cause but almost always are the cable co's first thing to blame and try to "fix".

And they do make more money on their own boxes (even only the additional services like PPV) so monthly revenue IS at least one reason why they don't like to support TA's.

The cable co's have had years and years and years - and a federal mandate - to get these working. The fact that they still work as poorly as they do speak volumes about the feds, the cable co's motivations, and the future of 3rd party DVRs.


----------



## Grunchie

Thank you so much Chris. Well stated and thoughtful...


----------



## Grunchie

The TW guy is here right now. The signal at the device is +10db, it is rocking strong, as I already knew. +1db is acceptable according to my TW guy here. Now, replacing tuning adapter, cable card, tracing line back to source and checking the entire run.


----------



## Denyi

Grunchie said:


> The TW guy is here right now. The signal at the device is +10db, it is rocking strong, as I already knew. +1db is acceptable according to my TW guy here. Now, replacing tuning adapter, cable card, tracing line back to source and checking the entire run.


In my experience as a former field tech who has assisted in more installs then I care to remember. There is such a thing as too much signal. It has been my experience that the best range for all the CC devices out there is to make sure the high and low bands are between +7 to -7 and the RDC should be between 35-55.


----------



## Grunchie

Well, who knows? The new tuning adapter and card synced up, the line was checked (SNR, signal to noise ratio: 36. Very Clean, stong signal. But I knew that). Now time to observe. And now I have lots of partial recordings to watch, wait WHO was the KILLER? Argh! Maybe ME if this thing starts dropping again...

Cheers.


----------



## Grunchie

By the way Denyi, thanks for the reply...if it starts dropping again, maybe we will take that into account. What is the cure for too strong a signal? Can they put a filter on it or something to bring it within range?


----------



## Grunchie

Also, is there a field that reports the RDC anywhere...?


----------



## dlfl

Grunchie said:


> ....... Time Warner operates in 28 states and has 12 million subscribers, give or take (Source: CNET) You think it is out of the realm of possibility that there are a million or more DVR's out there? It's not just Tivo, there are a number of devices that require a cable card, and more coming to market every day.
> .......


There definitely are NOT a million or more TiVo DVR's out there. There were 548,000 CableCARDs installed in retail devices (not just TiVo's) as of 9/30/11 (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7021712021). And TWC probably accounts for less then 25% of that number based on their cable subscriber market share (http://www.ncta.com/Stats/TopMSOs.aspx). Also not all of TWC's 12 million subscribers are digital subscribers, probably less than 80% of them.


cwoody222 said:


> ........The cable co's have had years and years and years - and a federal mandate - to get these working. The fact that they still work as poorly as they do speak volumes about the feds, the cable co's motivations, and the future of 3rd party DVRs.


That says it in a nutshell. Anyone who's been reading this forum for a while knows this to be true.


Denyi said:


> In my experience as a former field tech who has assisted in more installs then I care to remember. There is such a thing as too much signal. It has been my experience that the best range for all the CC devices out there is to make sure the high and low bands are between +7 to -7 and the RDC should be between 35-55.


Although Grunchie's experience seems to indicate hot signal was not his primary problem, I would still agree that it is to be avoided. One theory is that long term exposure to hot signals will damage the automatic signal-limiting circuity in the TiVo's tuners.


Grunchie said:


> By the way Denyi, thanks for the reply...if it starts dropping again, maybe we will take that into account. What is the cure for too strong a signal? Can they put a filter on it or something to bring it within range?


Simple in-line attenuators costing only a few bucks will do it. Be sure they're rated for at least 1 GHz bandwith. A quality two-way splitter will give you a 3.5 dB attenuation.


Grunchie said:


> Also, is there a field that reports the RDC anywhere...?


Not sure about Motorola TA's but with the Cisco TA's the FDC and RDC levels and frequencies are reported on the first page of the TA diagnostics.


----------



## lrhorer

unitron said:


> Just out of curiousity, how much per month for how long would one have to charge before one got back all of the wholesale price originally paid for that DVR, plus lost interest on the money spent on it?


Just the hardware by itself costs them $450 - or at least it did 2 years ago, not including shipping or repairs. It also does not include the cost of the software. I don't know how much that costs them, but it is not trivial. I believe the nationwide pricing structure is $19.95 for the first DVR with the DVR tier and $9.95 for each additional DVR. Assuming the average sub gets two DVRs, a reasonable conservative number is probably $1200 on average for shipping, handling, and delivery with software for the pair. At $29.90 per month, that requires more than 40 months to amortize. I seriously doubt the average lifespan of a leased DVR is nearly four years. I know when I was working for a CATV company, the average lifespan of a converter was only about 18 months.


----------



## lrhorer

Grunchie said:


> I know the RDC level is fine because I have lived here 25 years


That means nothing whatsoever.



Grunchie said:


> and they have been out before, many times.


That doesn't mean much more.



Grunchie said:


> They will check it again today. And today they will tell me it is fine. Again.


Why don't you check it before they come? That way you know if they are lying.



Grunchie said:


> Of course they are not losing money by leasing the DVR. State your source.


I am in a related industry, and a couple of years ago, a friend of mine (a vendor to both TWC and to my company) quoted me the cost of a lot of 10,000 new Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVRs, without software. His selling price was $4,500,000.



Grunchie said:


> Flat-out wrong. And when DVR's come back, they are factory refurbished and sent out to the next subscriber.


They may be outsourcing now, I'll ask a friend who still works for them. I used to work for them, myself. When I did, they did all their own converter repair. The average life of a converter, including refurbishing, was 18 months. I seriously doubt the life of a DVR is more than 40 months. Certainly none of the DVRs TWC purchased back in 2007 are still operational, as they have all been replaced with CableCard models.



Grunchie said:


> I said millions. Time Warner operates in 28 states and has 12 million subscribers, give or take


Not even 0.1% of which are TiVo owners.



Grunchie said:


> (Source: CNET) You think it is out of the realm of possibility that there are a million or more DVR's out there? It's not just Tivo, there are a number of devices that require a cable card, and more coming to market every day.


It would be quite remarkable if I did not know this, since I own one, and have since 2005 (a Mitsubishi 62 inch DLP rear projection TV). I am the only one I know who does, however. Very few devices support CableCards. By far the largest percentage of those devices are TiVos. Less than 0.01% of TWC subs have a non-TiVo UDCP that makes use of a CableCard. Feel free to look up the reports yourself. They are posted on the web every quarter.


----------



## lrhorer

cwoody222 said:


> I'm with Grunchie... signal levels have, time and time again, proven to NOT be the cause but almost always are the cable co's first thing to blame and try to "fix".


That is because it is appropriate. I worked for the CATV company as an engineer for 5 years, and I can tell you that more than 70% of the problems not caused by the customers themselves were level related. The percentage of return problems related to levels is even higher. Unless there is a specific symptom well known to have some other source, one is just wasting time until the levels are corrected.

This has been somewhat ameliorated by fiber delivery systems, but the RF spectrum still walks a fine line between excessive noise and excessive distortion. What's more, since the return amplifiers have no dynamic Automatic Gain Control, upstream levels can be particularly finicky, especially if the subscriber is close to a node and has multiple outlets.



cwoody222 said:


> And they do make more money on their own boxes (even only the additional services like PPV) so monthly revenue IS at least one reason why they don't like to support TA's.


They do make money on IPPV and such services, but the only reason they do not make the same money on TiVos with TA is because of their policies. There is nothing physically or technically preventing a TA from providing IPPV. Your point is thus moot. The only reason they do not allow IPPV to be delivered by the TA is the very same reason they don't particularly want to support any 3rd party device.



cwoody222 said:


> The cable co's have had years and years and years


Not "years and years". Take a look at the date on the first post in this thread. It was late February, 2009 when the first Cisco TAs were deployed, so just under 3 years.



cwoody222 said:


> and a federal mandate - to get these working. The fact that they still work as poorly as they do speak volumes about the feds, the cable co's motivations


No one said they want to support them. They rather vehemently do not, but it has nothing to do with making money on their own DVRs. It has everything to do with their wanting to control every aspect of the subscriber's activities. Part of this is spawned by a near paranoia over service theft. Trust me, I used to have to deal with them, and they nearly have a heart attack at the thought of a single subscriber stealing basic cable.



cwoody222 said:


> and the future of 3rd party DVRs.


'Looking brighter and brighter, to me. Resurrect this thread in 3 years, and we'll see.


----------



## lrhorer

Grunchie said:


> The TW guy is here right now. The signal at the device is +10db


That's too high, although I doubt it is causing any issues with the TA. The TA is essentially immune to downstream issues. If there are downstream issues, they will usually show up on both SDV and linear channels, not just SDV channels. (It's also actually meaningless: dB is not a measure of signal level. It is a measure of attenuation. Signal levels on a CATV system are typically measured in dBmV. People do, however, insist on "abbreviating" "dBmV" or "dBm" to "dB". It is not an abbreviation, though. They are three distinctly different things.)

If he told you "the signal is +10dBmV", then he almost surely lied. It is rather rare for the rf spectrum to be flat at the receiver. Near the node or amp, there will be a tilt of nearly 9dB, with the highest frequency channels being up to 9dB hotter than the lowest frequency channels. At the far end of the CATV line, furthest away from the node or amp, the lowest frequency channels may be as much as 10dB higher in level than the highest frequency channels. At the back of the set, it may even be a bit more. Only customers near the middle of the feeder will have levels that are flat within 1 dB.

If the lowest level channel is +10 dBmV, then I suspect the system may be improperly balanced, although this is by mo means certain. It depends upon the system topology (including the house) and the design specs. If no linear channels are giving you trouble, then I would not tend to think it an issue, however. Without being there and observing myself, it is hard to say.



Grunchie said:


> it is rocking strong, as I already knew. +1db is acceptable according to my TW guy here.


That's actually rather hot, at least if the entire spectrum is +1dBmv (not +1dB) or more. OTOH, fiber based systems are somewhat less susceptible than pure aluminum systems to distortion from higher signal levels, and most TWC systems are 750 MHz, which means they can get away with slightly higher levels, still.



Grunchie said:


> Now, replacing tuning adapter, cable card, tracing line back to source and checking the entire run.


Nothing you ( or evidently he) reported is at all likely to be related to a TA issue, and if downstream levels are good at your receiver, then there is little or no point in checking any downstream levels back towards the headend. Since the problem is limited to your TA, there is little point in checking anything related to downstream levels, and certainly nothing along the way toward the headend. If it is an upstream problem, then the place to check is on your TiVo, which I suggested you do and you ignored.


----------



## lrhorer

Denyi said:


> In my experience as a former field tech who has assisted in more installs then I care to remember. There is such a thing as too much signal.


Actually, it is one of the most common problems. Almost all distortion above engineered specs is caused by high levels. A bad amplifier can do it, and on very rare occasions oxidation of the aluminum conductors can actually produce distortion, but both are unusual sources for distortion.



Denyi said:


> It has been my experience that the best range for all the CC devices out there is to make sure the high and low bands are between +7 to -7


That's actually a bit on the high side, especially for an 860 MHz or 1GHz system.



Denyi said:


> and the RDC should be between 35-55.


Well, unless the TA is malfunctioning, a low RDC doesn't really suggest a problem, at least not for the customer in question, but it would be fairly difficult to come up with a customer whose return feed only needs to be +35dBmV at the TA. Someone at the very end of a very long feeder with only 1 outlet might manage it. If the RDC is over 52, though, and the customer has 4 or fewer outlets, a +52 dBmV RDC is rather high, and may suggest a problem. I have 8 outlets and am rather close to a node, yet my RDC is only +49 dBmV.


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> ...........Not even 0.1% of which are TiVo owners.
> .............


Wrong by a huge factor! No need to exagerate to make the point it's a tiny fraction. The true number is somewhere between 0.5% and 1.0%. See the numbers and links in my post #1302 in this thread.


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> Wrong by a huge factor! No need to exagerate to make the point it's a tiny fraction. The true number is somewhere between 0.5% and 1.0%. See the numbers and links in my post #1302 in this thread.


Yeah, I did. Time Warner has roughly 14,000,000 subsribers, and according to the document you posted, they have 53,500 CableCard subscribers. That is 0.38% Some number of those are Moxis or CabelCard TVs, although I suspect less than 10% The actual number is clearly lower than 0.38%, but by how much I don't know for certain. 0.1% may be a low estimate, but not "a huge factor". It's not even a half an order of magnitude. OTOH, the number of TiVos would have to be higher by far more than an order of magnitude before the CATV companies would be sanguine about supporting them. I do also have to question their report. Charter is reporting about 43% of their deployed CableCards are S-Cards, while TWC claims considerably less than 27% of their CableCard deployments are S-Cards, by extrapolation from their numbers.


----------



## dcstager

Having long experience dealing with the Tuning Adapter and Time Warner I've noticed that tuning failures are affected by the number of people on the system changing channels and watching TV. This may seem obvious but during the summer I didn't suffer failures very often. When the new shows started coming back in the fall, the tuning failures began again. By tuning failures, I'm talking about scheduling a recording or having a season pass on a Switched Digital Video channel not recording or resulting in a blank recording.

If this sort of thing never happened, I'd be fine with the hassle of a tuning adapter. I've noticed that if you schedule a recording online at Tivo.com this somehow affects the Tuning Adapter or possibly the Tivo or cable card(s) and you'll get a lot of tuning failures unless you reset the Tuning Adapter. Haven't read about anyone else with this problem, but it's reproducible for me.

So in my opinion the problem could be fixed in software by the cable company - whatever software handles SDV allocations (Big Band Networks) or by Tivo programming around the cable software inadequacies with error checking and retune requests rather than recording a blank or not recording at all.


----------



## dcstager

Question for the TA experts - from my Diagnostics screen:

Tuner: 747.000 MHZ
FDC: 74.000 MHZ
RDC: 23.500 MHZ
Tuner: 6 dBmV
FDC: 0 dBmV
RDC: 40 dBmV
Tuner: 0/sec (avg)
FDC: 0/sec (avg)
RDC: 703 uSec


Anything wrong here? Anything a service call might help?


----------



## SCSIRAID

In my view... the signal is hot... +6 is a lot. My preference would be something closer to -2 or -3. But... you also have tilt with 0dBmv FDC (low frequency) and +6 dBmv high frequency. 

Are you using the 'pass thru' from TA to TiVo? The Cisco TA is reported to have gain which puts even more signal into the TiVo... 

If it were me, I would split before the TA and drive the TA from one side of the split and the TiVo from the other with a 3dB attenuator in the side that drives the TiVo.... but thats me. 

Do you have an amp involved? It would seem to get those numbers you would have to?


----------



## dcstager

SCSIRAID said:


> In my view... the signal is hot... +6 is a lot. My preference would be something closer to -2 or -3. But... you also have tilt with 0dBmv FDC (low frequency) and +6 dBmv high frequency.
> 
> Are you using the 'pass thru' from TA to TiVo? The Cisco TA is reported to have gain which puts even more signal into the TiVo...
> 
> If it were me, I would split before the TA and drive the TA from one side of the split and the TiVo from the other with a 3dB attenuator in the side that drives the TiVo.... but thats me.
> 
> Do you have an amp involved? It would seem to get those numbers you would have to?


I am using the pass thru from the TA to the Tivo - no amp. I have a splitter and an attenuator as you describe... The numbers that changed are:

Tuner: 3 dBmV
FDC: -1 dBmV
RDC: 43 dBmV

All the other numbers unchanged


----------



## xnappo

dcstager said:


> I am using the pass thru from the TA to the Tivo - no amp. I have a splitter and an attenuator as you describe... The numbers that changed are:
> 
> Tuner: 3 dBmV
> FDC: -1 dBmV
> RDC: 43 dBmV
> 
> All the other numbers unchanged


Those numbers look perfect to me.

xnappo


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> Yeah, I did. Time Warner has roughly 14,000,000 subsribers, and according to the document you posted, they have 53,500 CableCard subscribers. That is 0.38% Some number of those are Moxis or CabelCard TVs, although I suspect less than 10% The actual number is clearly lower than 0.38%, but by how much I don't know for certain. 0.1% may be a low estimate, but not "a huge factor". It's not even a half an order of magnitude. OTOH, the number of TiVos would have to be higher by far more than an order of magnitude before the CATV companies would be sanguine about supporting them. I do also have to question their report. Charter is reporting about 43% of their deployed CableCards are S-Cards, while TWC claims considerably less than 27% of their CableCard deployments are S-Cards, by extrapolation from their numbers.


I can't find the basis for claiming 14M TWC subscribers. The number given in the NCTA data I linked is a little over 12M. This translates to 0.44% using CableCARDs. Even after reducing this to account for non-Tivo devices the result is 3 or 4 times the 0.1% you threw out. I agree that it's too small to give TiVo owners any clout with TWC, but picking a number out of thin air to make that point is still not justifiable. It tends to undermiine the credibility of the many other facts you post.


----------



## cwoody222

lrhorer said:


> They may be outsourcing now, I'll ask a friend who still works for them. I used to work for them, myself. When I did, they did all their own converter repair. The average life of a converter, including refurbishing, was 18 months. I seriously doubt the life of a DVR is more than 40 months. Certainly none of the DVRs TWC purchased back in 2007 are still operational, as they have all been replaced with CableCard models.


That's it?! That hardware is shotty, then. I've had my Series3 since the first month or so that they were available at retail (fall of 2006, I believe) and it still works flawlessly. That's 60+ months.



lrhorer said:


> No one said they want to support them. They rather vehemently do not, but it has nothing to do with making money on their own DVRs. It has everything to do with their wanting to control every aspect of the subscriber's activities.


And why do they want to control all aspects? So they can sell you more - and more profitable - services.

(not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with that, there's not, they are a business)


----------



## jiffyspam

cwoody222 said:


> That's it?! That hardware is shotty, then. I've had my Series3 since the first month or so that they were available at retail (fall of 2006, I believe) and it still works flawlessly. That's 60+ months.
> 
> And why do they want to control all aspects? So they can sell you more - and more profitable - services.
> 
> (not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with that, there's not, they are a business)


By having a cable card device, you're not doing PPV or OD. This deprives TWC of a very lucrative revenue stream.


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> I can't find the basis for claiming 14M TWC subscribers. The number given in the NCTA data I linked is a little over 12M. This translates to 0.44% using CableCARDs. Even after reducing this to account for non-Tivo devices the result is 3 or 4 times the 0.1% you threw out. I agree that it's too small to give TiVo owners any clout with TWC, but picking a number out of thin air to make that point is still not justifiable. It tends to undermiine the credibility of the many other facts you post.


It means the difference between 99.5% of subscribers using TWC leased gear, and 99.9%. The difference is completely insignificant. Muiltiply the number by a factor of ten, and it makes for 97% or so of the boxes being leased, and the number of TiVos is still insignificant. Only if the number of TiVos increased by a factor of 100 or substantially more would the percentage of subs using the TiVo be high enough to warrant TWC's interest in the platform. The difference between 0.1% and 0.5% is trifling. It's nothing even remotely like a "huge factor".


----------



## lrhorer

cwoody222 said:


> That's it?! That hardware is shotty, then. I've had my Series3 since the first month or so that they were available at retail (fall of 2006, I believe) and it still works flawlessly. That's 60+ months.


Yes, but you own it, and it cost you a pretty penny. That means you are likely to be careful with it. This is definitely not the case with leased equipment on average. I've seen leased devices come back in dozens of pieces, drowned in body fluids, burned, crushed, and shot with a bullet. A fair number come back in excellent shape, but quite a few never come back in at all. Many people move and just take their DVR with them, probably out of spite. Many get stolen in burglaries, or are destroyed by file, flood, earthquake, or lightning. You are also missing the point that they are compelled to continually upgrade their equipment. I imagine few, if any, CATV systems still use the 8300HD any longer, for example. Most have upgraded to the 8300HDC.



cwoody222 said:


> And why do they want to control all aspects? So they can sell you more - and more profitable - services.


There is an aspect of that in the mix, but it's not the major incentive. Just look at the tru2way spec. Most of the policies therein - and indeed all the most unacceptable ones - have no potential for additional profit for them. In fact, they promise to cost them more money in development, but they are intended to be more secure for them and to present fewer engineering and maintenance issues for them.

Again, if greater revenue were the only intent, then they would not by policy refuse to support VOD and IPPV on TA enabled devices. It is 100% by policy, not by any technical limitations that VOD and IPPV are not supported with the TA.


----------



## lrhorer

jiffyspam said:


> By having a cable card device, you're not doing PPV or OD. This deprives TWC of a very lucrative revenue stream.


No, TWC deprives TWC of a very lucrative revenue stream. It's entirely a matter of choice for them.


----------



## Grunchie

lrhorer said:


> If it is an upstream problem, then the place to check is on your TiVo, which I suggested you do and you ignored.


How do you know what I ignored, or what I did not? I didn't see you standing in the room. And who needs to hear that? What an attitude, I'm just a guy trying to get some friendly advice. I am not an expert in these matters, and I don't claim to be one. That is why I am in this forum. That is also why I was happy to have the Time Warner rep. check everything while he was at my home.

I am in the legal arena, for what it's worth. When a person drops into my area of expertise, where my knowledge is quite considerable, and theirs typically is not, I am not a jerk to them. I don't condescend, or lord my superior knowledge over them. I try my best to exercise humility. Again, this particular arena is not my area of expertise, so lighten up.

For the record:

1. Yes, we (the TW guy and I) understood that the problem probably did not lie further upstream. The guy was just trying to be thorough. I applaud that and saw nothing wrong with it. We could not figure out what was going on, and the TW guy said sometimes these problems are finicky and sometimes one problem will appear after another is fixed. So&#8230; checking everything while the rep. was here sounded like a fine idea to me. I wasn't paying the guy by the hour. And,

2. Despite your intimate knowledge of a system that you cannot see, the problem WAS with the tuning adapter. The office that I picked the cable card and tuning adapter from supplied me with the wrong power supply. The rep. said he thought it was for a Cisco modem, but it was DEFINITELY NOT for this model tuning adapter. Same voltage, same connector, it did power the thing up and connect intermittently, after all-but when he removed that power supply and connected the correct one, BANG. It synched IMMEDIATELY. I made sure that he replaced the tuning adapter that had been plugged into the wrong power supply.

The signal dropped one time after that, and has been solid since then-I suspect that's because I inadvertently interrupted power to it.

So, we'll see.


----------



## dlfl

lrhorer said:


> It means the difference between 99.5% of subscribers using TWC leased gear, and 99.9%. The difference is completely insignificant. Muiltiply the number by a factor of ten, and it makes for 97% or so of the boxes being leased, and the number of TiVos is still insignificant. Only if the number of TiVos increased by a factor of 100 or substantially more would the percentage of subs using the TiVo be high enough to warrant TWC's interest in the platform. The difference between 0.1% and 0.5% is trifling. It's nothing even remotely like a "huge factor".


As I said before, I already agree with you that the number of TiVo users is a tiny, almost insignificant, fraction of cable TV subscribers. Obviously you're free to make the point over and over again if you please. I've made it many times myself, only usually I try not to repeat it over and over again in the same thread. And I don't use bogus numbers (your 0.1%), that have no basis in fact, to make the point.


----------



## Eccles

dcstager said:


> I've noticed that if you schedule a recording online at Tivo.com this somehow affects the Tuning Adapter or possibly the Tivo or cable card(s) and you'll get a lot of tuning failures unless you reset the Tuning Adapter. Haven't read about anyone else with this problem, but it's reproducible for me.


Most peculiar. I've been a TA user since the beta tests, and I have trouble recalling *any* problems with missed recordings that weren't due to power problems or the eventual death of my original TA. I also make regular use of online scheduling with no observed ill-effects. I wonder why it affects your so regularly.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


----------



## SMerr

I've got an interesting problem with my Cisco tuning adapter. Whenever I turn on my stereo to watch Tivo in surround sound, it causes my Time Warner/Austin, Texas Cisco tuning adapter to reboot. I've switched the original adapter for one I have attached to another TV, now the new one does it. I've moved the adapter, changed the wiring so that the Stereo does not connect to Tivo, and I've plugged the adapter into a separate electrical outlet...nothing seems to help. Could the Stereo amplifier be creating a magnetic field that screws up the adapter? Like many others, I am about to just disconnect it so I don't have problems, since it only effects seldom viewed channels.


----------



## PedjaR

lrhorer said:


> ...
> They may be outsourcing now, I'll ask a friend who still works for them. I used to work for them, myself. When I did, they did all their own converter repair. The average life of a converter, including refurbishing, was 18 months. I seriously doubt the life of a DVR is more than 40 months. Certainly none of the DVRs TWC purchased back in 2007 are still operational, as they have all been replaced with CableCard models.
> ...


Actually, _none_ is a bit too strong a word there. There is some indication (stated several times in a rather long thread 
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=723830, for example) that, while it is true that TWC does not offer them any more, people are holding on to their existing 8300HD boxes and refusing to upgrade to newer boxes. This is because the corresponding version of TWC Navigator software runs much faster and is more stable than the version running on its cable card replacement, 8300HDC, and, apparently, the same is true (to a lesser degree) of the boxes newer than 8300HDC.


----------



## unitron

SMerr said:


> I've got an interesting problem with my Cisco tuning adapter. Whenever I turn on my stereo to watch Tivo in surround sound, it causes my Time Warner/Austin, Texas Cisco tuning adapter to reboot. I've switched the original adapter for one I have attached to another TV, now the new one does it. I've moved the adapter, changed the wiring so that the Stereo does not connect to Tivo, and I've plugged the adapter into a separate electrical outlet...nothing seems to help. Could the Stereo amplifier be creating a magnetic field that screws up the adapter? Like many others, I am about to just disconnect it so I don't have problems, since it only effects seldom viewed channels.


If that separate electrical outlet is in the same room, chances are it's on the same circuit.

It could be that the current draw of that stereo when it's first turned on causes just enough of a voltage dip to screw up the TA.

Of course you should have the TiVo, the TA, and any other cable box type stuff on a UPS, but find an outlet in a nearby room not on the same circuit (flip breakers until you sort it out) and run an extension cord and plug the TA into that and then turn on the stereo and see what happens.


----------



## dcstager

Eccles said:


> Most peculiar. I've been a TA user since the beta tests, and I have trouble recalling *any* problems with missed recordings that weren't due to power problems or the eventual death of my original TA. I also make regular use of online scheduling with no observed ill-effects. I wonder why it affects your so regularly.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


I've got an original Series 3 with two cable cards and you have a single card Tivo HD. I have a Cisco TA. I'm going to opine that your node does not have as many subscribers as mine and less competition for the bandwidth. I'm sure the Big Band software is not perfect and there are some combination of user channel requests that result in some users not getting the requested channel. As you can see from the thread here, many people have this problem with the tuning adapter.


----------



## m_jonis

Eccles said:


> Most peculiar. I've been a TA user since the beta tests, and I have trouble recalling *any* problems with missed recordings that weren't due to power problems or the eventual death of my original TA. I also make regular use of online scheduling with no observed ill-effects. I wonder why it affects your so regularly.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


Consider yourself fortunate. At least once every month or two, my TA will have problems.

I've got THREE TivoHD, I've gone through 5 actually in total (replaced two of them to no avail). I've replaced 6 TA as well. The usual symptom is that I'll sit down and turn on the TV only to find the "gray" screen of death. The ONLY fix I've found is to reboot the entire Tivo.

I can be watching TV on one channel (regardless of whether it's SDV or not) and switch tuners, only to find the gray screen. Once that happens, if I switch back, that channel is now unavailable. It even affects non-SDV channels.

If I unplug the TA, the Tivo will see that it's unplugged/disconnected, however, plugging the TA back in and letting it "boot up" will not cause the Tivo to see the TA at all. Only a reboot of the TA

During these lovely episodes, I particuarly enjoy going into my now playing list, only to find a recording of 1 minute due to this problem.

Before the TA, no problems at all. BTW, we're using the crummy Cisco TA and Scientifc Atlanta M-cards.

It seems to be something with the TA and the USB connection to the Tivo (why else would the Tivo not "detect" the plugged in USB cable or powered on TA until it reboots the Tivo itself).

I'd normally say it's just the one Tivo, but all three have the problem, although when it happens they don't exhibit it at the same time. but fairly close (like I'll know within a few days, the others will have the problem as well).

I'd love to switch to FIOS, but Verizon is missing a ton of HD channels that I've become used to.


----------



## cwoody222

My TA screwed up last night on two back-to-back shows meaning it didn't record them. Once I tuned them myself it worked again. But I rebooted everything just to be sure.

God I hate those tuning adapters.


----------



## notting

Had a weird occurence happen again tonight that's happened 3 or 4 times in the past few months.

All SDV channels will suddenly go mute. They'll tune fine, but be silent. Recordings will also be silent.

Linear channels are fine, though, and can be heard normally.

Rebooting the TA seems to fix it. Why? Are the video and audio separate streams, and it's confused about where one is?


----------



## unitron

notting said:


> Had a weird occurence happen again tonight that's happened 3 or 4 times in the past few months.
> 
> All SDV channels will suddenly go mute. They'll tune fine, but be silent. Recordings will also be silent.
> 
> Linear channels are fine, though, and can be heard normally.
> 
> Rebooting the TA seems to fix it. Why? Are the video and audio separate streams, and it's confused about where one is?


The channels fed into the SDV allocator probably go through their own video and audio pre-amp/conditioner.

Someone at TWC probably tripped over a power cord.

When in doubt, play the odds and blame Time-Warner.


----------



## kochsr

i still can't get TW north carolina (durham) to actually give me a TA. any suggestions on how to make it actually happen?


----------



## dcstager

Just wanted to add a note to this long thread because Tivo has written a fix to the problem the tuning adapter and/or the Tivo not being able to tune a switched digital video channel fast enough resulting in a blank recording or a missed recording.

The only problem for Series 3 owners is that this fix is for the Tivo Elite. Yeah, I finally gave up on the 3 - lured away by four tuners and all the great Ipad/Iphone apps.

But, I've been using it and there is actually an on-screen message that says for a flash of a second that the Tivo had difficulty tuning the channel and is sending a retune request and then a near instant retuning of the desired channel. So, whoever's fault it was, Tivo seems to have addressed it on the newer machines.

It took a long time to get the Elite setup and transfer all the season passes and go through the channel listings, ticking only the stations I actually get... but I have to say that once that is done, my Time-Warner cable service and four tuner Tivo Elite is pretty sweet. I recorded four SDV programs on different channels at the same time and it worked.

I want to acknowledge all the help I've received here, especially troubleshooting the Tuning Adapter and getting the signal levels just so with splitters and attenuators so it is in the sweet spot. I'm sure things would not be working so well without these important tweaks. And thanks to the people who posted the tips about contacting Time-Warner and which number to call and what numbers they need and telling us all about the CSR screens -- I got my cablecard properly paired and working without a truck roll and without having to deal with someone clueless - the CSR I had knew what he was doing -- and I had the right answers to his questions immediately because of the prior postings of experts on this forum.


----------



## pmiranda

I've noticed that message on my Premiere, but I've also still had channels that wouldn't tune, and only after I manually rocked up and down a channel would it retune.
It's not frequent, but it happens. I suspect that the S3 made some attempt to retune as much as the Premiere, but it just doesn't put up a message?


----------



## dcstager

pmiranda - I got a lot more reliable performance on my Series 3 when I split the signal to the TA and Tivo and didn't connect the Tivo to the passthrough output of the tuning adapter. If you haven't tried that already, I think that alone make things more reliable.


----------



## m_jonis

dcstager said:


> Just wanted to add a note to this long thread because Tivo has written a fix to the problem the tuning adapter and/or the Tivo not being able to tune a switched digital video channel fast enough resulting in a blank recording or a missed recording.
> 
> The only problem for Series 3 owners is that this fix is for the Tivo Elite. Yeah, I finally gave up on the 3 - lured away by four tuners and all the great Ipad/Iphone apps.
> 
> But, I've been using it and there is actually an on-screen message that says for a flash of a second that the Tivo had difficulty tuning the channel and is sending a retune request and then a near instant retuning of the desired channel. So, whoever's fault it was, Tivo seems to have addressed it on the newer machines.
> 
> It took a long time to get the Elite setup and transfer all the season passes and go through the channel listings, ticking only the stations I actually get... but I have to say that once that is done, my Time-Warner cable service and four tuner Tivo Elite is pretty sweet. I recorded four SDV programs on different channels at the same time and it worked.
> 
> I want to acknowledge all the help I've received here, especially troubleshooting the Tuning Adapter and getting the signal levels just so with splitters and attenuators so it is in the sweet spot. I'm sure things would not be working so well without these important tweaks. And thanks to the people who posted the tips about contacting Time-Warner and which number to call and what numbers they need and telling us all about the CSR screens -- I got my cablecard properly paired and working without a truck roll and without having to deal with someone clueless - the CSR I had knew what he was doing -- and I had the right answers to his questions immediately because of the prior postings of experts on this forum.


That stinks. Only for those that shell out the money for the new one (you'd think it'd just be a software update). oh well. Probably won't have Tivo by the end of next year anyway (I'd rather get a Ceton card instead).


----------



## MeInDallas

dcstager said:


> pmiranda - I got a lot more reliable performance on my Series 3 when I split the signal to the TA and Tivo and didn't connect the Tivo to the passthrough output of the tuning adapter. If you haven't tried that already, I think that alone make things more reliable.


I've never heard of anyone doing that. What do you do just connect one line to the TA and then one to the Tivo directly? And it still works that way? Hmmm I might have to try that and see what happens.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> Just wanted to add a note to this long thread because Tivo has written a fix to the problem the tuning adapter and/or the Tivo not being able to tune a switched digital video channel fast enough resulting in a blank recording or a missed recording.
> .........


Interesting. Could you furnish a link that gives info on this fix?


----------



## dcstager

dlfl said:


> Interesting. Could you furnish a link that gives info on this fix?


Don't have a link. Just noticed the on screen message when it happened and I'm making an assumption here. I like the Elite. Very nice. Operation of the menus is a bit different and it has 30 second "slip" instead of skip. Still learning the nuances. MoCA internet - awesome. That is the way to go with Tivos.


----------



## cwoody222

I just replaced my S3 with a Premiere a few weeks ago. Until last night, I hadn't missed a SDV ch change.

But last night was worse than I'd had on my S3. I turned on the TV this morning to see a message that there was no SDV adapter connected at all.

I could clear that message but live TV was just black. No button presses would respond (ch up, TiVo, etc). Finally, a few minutes later, all the button presses went thru. And, all channels seem to work.

I rebooted just in case.


----------



## pmiranda

dcstager said:


> Don't have a link. Just noticed the on screen message when it happened and I'm making an assumption here. I like the Elite. Very nice. Operation of the menus is a bit different and it has 30 second "slip" instead of skip. Still learning the nuances. MoCA internet - awesome. That is the way to go with Tivos.


I happened last night for me... I was checking to make sure SPEED was tuning in before F1 practice and I got the message on a black screen but it didn't tune in until I went up a channel and back down. Maybe it has a really long timeout on each attempt but I wasn't that patient.

As for splitting the signal before the TA, I hit upon that myself during the TA beta test when the amplifier in my first TA died and wouldn't pass through any signal on its output. The TA seems much more tolerant of poor signal, so I have a 3-way splitter feeding my two TiVos and a second splitter feeding the TA, TV, and HTPC. You'll always get good signal strength from the TA out (unless its dead), but for best signal-to-noise you want the least stuff between your TiVo and the curb. If you need an amp, put it as close to the curb as you can get.


----------



## dcstager

I guess I was wrong about the fix. My Tivo Elite had a missed recording last night on a SDV channel. First one in a week though. This is a pesky problem indeed.


----------



## pmiranda

After a power outage the other night, the link to my TA crapped out and my Premiere was saying it was trying but couldn't tune anything. Rebooted the TA and it recovered flawlessly.


----------



## dcstager

Does anyone in Austin know if TW has any Motorola Tuning Adapters in use, or are they all Cisco's?


----------



## Max Camber

dcstager said:


> Does anyone in Austin know if TW has any Motorola Tuning Adapters in use, or are they all Cisco's?


I believe that they are all Cisco, though that is based on information from a year ago.


----------



## pmiranda

I've only seen the Cisco boxes here, however the install instructions do mention the Motorola boxes: http://www.timewarnercable.com/texas/support/topic.ashx/CableCARD


----------



## dcstager

I want to tell the Tivo community that the Elite would be the perfect Tivo DVR -- IF I COULD JUST GET THE GD TUNING ADAPTER TO OPERATE RELIABLY! Very frustrating. I truly have done everything. I checked every level replaced every cable. The Tuning Adapter/Switched Digital Video system simply cannot be made reliable. Time Warner here is and has done everything possible and so have I. The last thing I can think of is somehow swapping out the Cisco tuning adapter for a Motorola version. How could I discover if a Motorola tuning adapter is in my local Time Warner inventory? Who could I talk to that will even understand the issue and be willing to assist me?


----------



## unitron

dcstager said:


> I want to tell the Tivo community that the Elite would be the perfect Tivo DVR -- IF I COULD JUST GET THE GD TUNING ADAPTER TO OPERATE RELIABLY! Very frustrating. I truly have done everything. I checked every level replaced every cable. The Tuning Adapter/Switched Digital Video system simply cannot be made reliable. Time Warner here is and has done everything possible and so have I. The last thing I can think of is somehow swapping out the Cisco tuning adapter for a Motorola version. How could I discover if a Motorola tuning adapter is in my local Time Warner inventory? Who could I talk to that will even understand the issue and be willing to assist me?


I thought I read somewhere that TAs have to be certain brands and models depending on what they're running at the head end that the TAs have to talk to.

Otherwise it's like trying to use a DirecTV receiver on your Dish Network subscription.

Or BetaMax and VHS.


----------



## pmiranda

unitron said:


> I thought I read somewhere that TAs have to be certain brands and models depending on what they're running at the head end that the TAs have to talk to.


I'm pretty sure that's the case. Any given neighborhood (most likely an entire metro region) is usually either Cisco or Motorola. There are some other brands of Cableco set-tops, but they'll have either a Cisco or Motorola cablecard in them.

Dropping recordings seems to be inherent in SDV... it happened more often with my cableco DVR than it does now with my TiVos.


----------



## MeInDallas

I have the Motorola's and they work great on the Series 3 and the regular Premiere. On the Elite I'm having the same issue you are. Dropped channels, dropped recordings, black screens. I'll be watching a program and everything is great and out of nowhere all the channels go dead. I've tried everything I know to do. I'm about to just give up on the whole Elite idea. This is the only time I've ever had an issue with Tivo's was when I got the Elite.


----------



## ncted

Does anyone know if TWC is still doing cable cards without TAs in Raleigh/Durham? All I am looking for is locals in HD with their broadcast cable package. 

Thanks,
Ted


----------



## cwoody222

ncted said:


> Does anyone know if TWC is still doing cable cards without TAs in Raleigh/Durham? All I am looking for is locals in HD with their broadcast cable package.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ted


Highly unlikely that locals would be SDV as they're popular channels. You should be fine.


----------



## TiVoMonkey

RTPGiants said:


> One thing I did notice is that they have radically different RF IP Addresses. 10.75.210.x vs. 10.75.195.x which seems odd.


That's not radically different at all.

Both of those IP's fall in the same /18. That is only 16,384 IPs. I'm sure they serve at least that many customers in the cable hub site you connect to.


----------



## ncted

cwoody222 said:


> Highly unlikely that locals would be SDV as they're popular channels. You should be fine.


Cool. I am moving later this year, and I am not sure I want to stay with DirecTV because of the cost. With Tivo and Broadcast cable, I can just about cut my bill in half. Still not as good as antenna, but I seem to have bad luck with that.

Thanks,
Ted


----------



## unitron

ncted said:


> Cool. I am moving later this year, and I am not sure I want to stay with DirecTV because of the cost. With Tivo and Broadcast cable, I can just about cut my bill in half. Still not as good as antenna, but I seem to have bad luck with that.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ted


If you're going out of state, I hope that the pain of leaving is offset somewhat by going somewhere with a better cable company than Time-Warner available.


----------



## ncted

unitron said:


> If you're going out of state, I hope that the pain of leaving is offset somewhat by going somewhere with a better cable company than Time-Warner available.


Sadly, I am moving all of 3 miles down the road, so TWC it is. Another alternative is Dish Network with the welcome pack. I'll need to see which would end up costing less.

-Ted


----------



## MirclMax

I've got a cisco tuning adapter that is stuck blinking 3 lights ... which I believe indicates that it is downloading and installing software. Oddly, the other active tuning adapter is not doing the same thing ...

I can't seem to get it to do anything other than this blinking ... If anyone has any ideas ..... please feel free to post...


----------



## MirclMax

Well.. I *thought* I had waiting long enough before posting.. but apparently another 5-10 minutes more would have been even better. It seems to have resolved itself.


----------



## unitron

ncted said:


> Sadly, I am moving all of 3 miles down the road, so TWC it is...


My most sincere sympathies, fellow TWC victim.


----------



## hellsop

Every once in a while a small thing comes along that makes the day a little less foreboding.

Calling Time Warner Cable at 7 AM on a Wednesday because I've got a persistent flashy light usually isn't one of them.

"Hi! I think my tuning adapter needs an authorization hit."
"Okay. I can do that for you,"
(Wait, what? I don't have to convince someone to transfer me to CableCard Hell to get this done?)
".. and sent. Okay, you'll need to unplug and plug in your tuning adapter. You might need to do the data cable too."
"The USB one?"
"Yes. Sometimes it takes a little longer because it has to download changes or fresh channel list."

And 70 seconds later, I've got a solid light, all the channels back, and a happy TiVo again.

Who would have thought a TWC call could be that painless, effective, fast, and actually resolve the issue first time? Bernice wins the day.


----------



## pmiranda

Haha, you must be living right lately. Keep up the good Karma and do something nice for somebody today


----------



## cwoody222

I will say that my CableCARD switch from my Series3 to Premiere a month ago went very smooth and only took about a 20 min phone call (after a 20 minute hold time).


----------



## dcstager

I got a blank/missed recording on a non-SDV channel this past Monday. Never happened before. "The video was not available" error message in the recording history for a regular primetime Fox program. I wonder how that happened?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> I got a blank/missed recording on a non-SDV channel this past Monday. Never happened before. "The video was not available" error message in the recording history for a regular primetime Fox program. I wonder how that happened?


Interesting... Which model TiVo?

I saw something perhaps similar a couple times... I would find that a particular show (was from regular networks) got 'stuck' in the ToDoList.. i.e. its record date had passed but it was still in the TDL. If the TiVo (S4) rebooted, it would disappear from TDL and end up in recording history as 'video signal not available' or 'tivo was powered off' (depending on the occurrence).


----------



## pmiranda

My guess is the connection to the TA got stuck and any recording would fail, since I think once you connect a TA then TiVo checks it for tuning any channel.


----------



## dcstager

SCSIRAID said:


> Interesting... Which model TiVo?
> 
> I saw something perhaps similar a couple times... I would find that a particular show (was from regular networks) got 'stuck' in the ToDoList.. i.e. its record date had passed but it was still in the TDL. If the TiVo (S4) rebooted, it would disappear from TDL and end up in recording history as 'video signal not available' or 'tivo was powered off' (depending on the occurrence).


It was on my new Tivo Elite. I know I'm in the wrong sub-forum, but the TA issues are still out there causing anxiety. I truly have done absolutely everything possible. I should write my own instructions to document exactly what "doing everything" entails. It's been a three year process so far with the original series 3 with two cablecards and now with an Elite and 4 tuners and one cablecard.


----------



## xcrunner

Darn...so these issues are still happening? I am currently using a Windows Media Center install w/HDHomerun Prime, which while nice, has its own issues and certain tasks are not as slick as my TiVo HD was, but I don't want to go back to having channels never tune again. That part is pretty reliable with WMC and the Prime...even if it has to try tuning a million times (and tell me how it tried each of those times )


----------



## dcstager

The issues are still happening. On my set up it has been happening more and more regularly. SYFY seems to have a lot of problems and so does Travel Channel. Less frequently A&E and AMC, but it sucks to find a blank when you expected to watch Mad Men. In almost every case, the station is tuned properly, but not fast enough for the Tivo. The Tivo expects the video to be there faster than SDV can deliver it and Tivo does not recover when the signal is eventually delivered. I hope the spring update includes something to address this.


----------



## ncted

unitron said:


> My most sincere sympathies, fellow TWC victim.


Can anyone confirm the local broadcast channels in Raleigh/Durham are still not SDV? I have been talking to sales people at TWC, and they seem to think everything is SDV now. I really don't care to repeat my TA experience. If I have to use a TA to get locals, I will just stay with DirecTV.

Thanks,
Ted


----------



## unitron

ncted said:


> Can anyone confirm the local broadcast channels in Raleigh/Durham are still not SDV? I have been talking to sales people at TWC, and they seem to think everything is SDV now. I really don't care to repeat my TA experience. If I have to use a TA to get locals, I will just stay with DirecTV.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ted


It's not that I can't believe TWC being stupid, but I don't see them being that stupid, at least not for 5 and 11 and whatever the NBC and Fox affiliates up there are these days.

Channels which are that heavily used you put on there at a certain frequency and leave them in the same place all the time.

The Peruvian Knitting and Gourd Carving channel you can risk waiting for someone to ask for before seeing if you have an open slot for it, and possibly having to say "not available at this time".


----------



## ncted

unitron said:


> It's not that I can't believe TWC being stupid, but I don't see them being that stupid, at least not for 5 and 11 and whatever the NBC and Fox affiliates up there are these days.
> 
> Channels which are that heavily used you put on there at a certain frequency and leave them in the same place all the time.
> 
> The Peruvian Knitting and Gourd Carving channel you can risk waiting for someone to ask for before seeing if you have an open slot for it, and possibly having to say "not available at this time".


I believe the sales people are just being ignorant, but I was looking for confirmation.

Ted


----------



## danplaysbass

Hi Guys. I'm new to this thread and I'm not really up for reading 46 pages so I'm hoping somebody else has some insight.

I moved from Philadelphia (Verizon FioS) to Kansas City (TWC). Now I am stuck with the two tuning adapters on my tivos. 

It all started out ok. I have a TivoHD and a Series 3 OLED. Everything worked fine from the get go. The TivoHD is still working pretty good with hiccups every once in a while where I need to reboot everything.

The other tivo is another story. It worked fine for about 6 months then started having issues. It would have trouble tuning any of the SDV channels on tuner 2. I thought it was the cable cards so I had the them and the tuning adapter swapped out for new ones. The problem persisted and I started reading about the Series 3 OLED power supply issues. Mine was fine but I replaced all the caps in it anyway. Then I started getting the pixelation issues and finally the HD died.

I ended up replacing the OLED with a new premiere and I figured everything would be fine. Nope.

I finished guided setup and the first thing I got was the grey cablecard screen telling me to call TWC to authorize the device. I called and verified that both the cable card and TA were authorized. I had them resend authorizations to both. Still no luck. It works fine on all the local channels but any time you try to tune a SDV channel that grey screen comes up. This has been an ongoing battle for months and I'm sick of it. I have a TWC truck coming out tomorrow to see if they can do anything.

Anybody here have any suggestions?


----------



## lrhorer

danplaysbass said:


> It works fine on all the local channels but any time you try to tune a SDV channel that grey screen comes up.


What about non-local linear channels? Do they come in? If you remove the TA, what difference does it make?



danplaysbass said:


> Anybody here have any suggestions?


Have you checked to make sure all the connectors are not loose? Inspect the center conductors of all the cables to make sure there is not a bit of left-over dielectric preventing good contact between the center conductor and the female connector's pin vise. Check the pin vices, too. When the center conductor is removed, the two halves of the pin vice should be touching or nearly touching.

Describe the cable topology. Do you have a single, two-way splitter feeding both systems?

What is the level of the return carrier on both TAs?


----------



## danplaysbass

lrhorer said:


> What about non-local linear channels? Do they come in? If you remove the TA, what difference does it make?
> 
> Have you checked to make sure all the connectors are not loose? Inspect the center conductors of all the cables to make sure there is not a bit of left-over dielectric preventing good contact between the center conductor and the female connector's pin vise. Check the pin vices, too. When the center conductor is removed, the two halves of the pin vice should be touching or nearly touching.
> 
> Describe the cable topology. Do you have a single, two-way splitter feeding both systems?
> 
> What is the level of the return carrier on both TAs?


How do I identify the non-local linear channels?

I have verified that the cables are good. I believe the system comes in my main line and is split 3 ways, one to each tv and one to the the modem. Thats it. Last time I had the cable tech out he checked the rf levels and said they were sufficient.


----------



## danplaysbass

Also, the TA seems to boot up properly and I get a solid green light. I assume the CC is functioning properly since I can tune the locals.


----------



## lrhorer

danplaysbass said:


> How do I identify the non-local linear channels?


Anything that is not broadcast locally, but does not require the TA, is non-local and linear. Remove the TA. Anything you get is linear. Put the TA back. Do you lose anything?



danplaysbass said:


> I have verified that the cables are good. I believe the system comes in my main line and is split 3 ways, one to each tv and one to the the modem.


Well, that doesn't quite answer it. Is it a 3-way splitter, or a Directional Coupler feeding the modem and a 2-way splitter feeding the TVs? Most CATV companies split off the modem feed using a DC-9 or DC-12, usually prior to the main house splitter. If it is a 3-way splitter, then most 3-way splitters have two -7dB legs and one -3.5dB leg. Some do have three -5dB legs. What feeds the two TVs?



danplaysbass said:


> Thats it. Last time I had the cable tech out he checked the rf levels and said they were sufficient.


That really doesn't answer the question. You need to look for yourself. If one of the TAs (presumably the bad one) has a very high return signal level (typically >52 dBmV), then that unit's return signal is having a hard time getting back to the headend. The TA won't work if its upstream carrier doesn't reach the headend. If it has a substantially higher output level than the functional one, then you probably have a problem somewhere between the TA and your house splitter.

Again, what are the return transmit levels on both TAs, respectively?


----------



## lrhorer

danplaysbass said:


> Also, the TA seems to boot up properly and I get a solid green light. I assume the CC is functioning properly since I can tune the locals.


That doesn't necessarily follow. There can be CableCard issues that do not impact clear QAM channels, and the locals are probably clear QAM.


----------



## unitron

danplaysbass said:


> ...I'm not really up for reading 46 pages ...


Why not? We had to.


----------



## danplaysbass

unitron said:


> Why not? We had to.


Sorry. I missed your emoticon. I hate those things!


----------



## cwoody222

The sad part is that this thread still needs to exist after 3 years.


----------



## unitron

danplaysbass said:


> ...I'm pretty sure that a lot of the information is either outdated or irrelevant...


How would you know? You haven't read it.



danplaysbass said:


> ...If it inconveniences you to have me post here then I sincerely apologize to have ruined your day.


Others (I'm looking at you, lawn mower) will do a much more thorough job of ruining my day up close and personal than you could ever manage over the interwebs, even if you were actually trying to, which I'm sure you're not.

As for inconveniencing me by posting here, it would have inconvenienced me more if you had not, because then I would have been denied the opportunity to kid around with you. 

But seriously, don't be to quick to write off the past as being without instructional value.


----------



## danplaysbass

lrhorer said:


> Anything that is not broadcast locally, but does not require the TA, is non-local and linear. Remove the TA. Anything you get is linear. Put the TA back. Do you lose anything?
> 
> Well, that doesn't quite answer it. Is it a 3-way splitter, or a Directional Coupler feeding the modem and a 2-way splitter feeding the TVs? Most CATV companies split off the modem feed using a DC-9 or DC-12, usually prior to the main house splitter. If it is a 3-way splitter, then most 3-way splitters have two -7dB legs and one -3.5dB leg. Some do have three -5dB legs. What feeds the two TVs?
> 
> That really doesn't answer the question. You need to look for yourself. If one of the TAs (presumably the bad one) has a very high return signal level (typically >52 dBmV), then that unit's return signal is having a hard time getting back to the headend. The TA won't work if its upstream carrier doesn't reach the headend. If it has a substantially higher output level than the functional one, then you probably have a problem somewhere between the TA and your house splitter.
> 
> Again, what are the return transmit levels on both TAs, respectively?


So I had the TWC guy out yesterday with no resolution. We looked at everything and he couldn't figure it out. Our setup is as follows:

Main line comes in the house into a 2-way splitter. One goes to the modem and the other to a 15db amp. That amp feeds a 3-way splitter. The two -7 dB ports feed my TA's.

How do I check the levels from the TA? I asked him to do that but we forgot. Is it something I can do? I did have him leave me some 6dB inline attenuators in case I need to knock down the signal some and he left me a new coax line that I may run to see if it is a bad cable run to this particular tv. I'm not convinced that is the problem though because all the local channels work. Is that an accurate statement?

So to reiterate, here is what happens:

With Tivo powered and TA powered (solid green) I can watch local HD channels no problem. As soon as I try to tune to an SDV channel the attached picture pops up on the screen.


----------



## ncted

danplaysbass said:


> So I had the TWC guy out yesterday with no resolution. We looked at everything and he couldn't figure it out. Our setup is as follows:
> 
> Main line comes in the house into a 2-way splitter. One goes to the modem and the other to a 15db amp. That amp feeds a 3-way splitter. The two -7 dB ports feed my TA's.
> 
> How do I check the levels from the TA? I asked him to do that but we forgot. Is it something I can do? I did have him leave me some 6dB inline attenuators in case I need to knock down the signal some and he left me a new coax line that I may run to see if it is a bad cable run to this particular tv. I'm not convinced that is the problem though because all the local channels work. Is that an accurate statement?
> 
> So to reiterate, here is what happens:
> 
> With Tivo powered and TA powered (solid green) I can watch local HD channels no problem. As soon as I try to tune to an SDV channel the attached picture pops up on the screen.


Is the amp really needed? I have never had good luck with amps and upstream signals, even when they are supposed to be non-filtering.

-Ted


----------



## jayn_j

The tuning adapter on my browser must be malfunctioning, as I have recently started receiving posts that are a total non-sequitor


----------



## danplaysbass

ncted said:


> Is the amp really needed? I have never had good luck with amps and upstream signals, even when they are supposed to be non-filtering.
> 
> -Ted


Probably not. The house was originally wired with a 6 way splitter so in that case maybe. I could take it out with little effort.


----------



## ncted

danplaysbass said:


> Probably not. The house was originally wired with a 6 way splitter so in that case maybe. I could take it out with little effort.


Try it and see. If removing that doesn't help, you can always put it back.


----------



## unitron

danplaysbass said:


> So I had the TWC guy out yesterday with no resolution. We looked at everything and he couldn't figure it out. Our setup is as follows:
> 
> Main line comes in the house into a 2-way splitter. One goes to the modem and the other to a 15db amp. That amp feeds a 3-way splitter. The two -7 dB ports feed my TA's.
> ...


The Tuning Adapter has to send a message back up to the cable company somehow to say "Hey, feed this channel we want to watch to us".

If the way it feeds that message back up the line is through the co-ax on it's own special frequency instead of having to have an internet connection, maybe that signal isn't able to travel "upstream" through that amp that's perhaps only designed to pass stuff going "downstream".


----------



## cwoody222

Has any SDV problem ever been fixed by sending a technician out to someone's house?


----------



## unitron

cwoody222 said:


> Has any SDV problem ever been fixed by sending a technician out to someone's house?


Yes, but only if the technician was from Dish Network or DirecTV.


----------



## danplaysbass

unitron said:


> The Tuning Adapter has to send a message back up to the cable company somehow to say "Hey, feed this channel we want to watch to us".
> 
> If the way it feeds that message back up the line is through the co-ax on it's own special frequency instead of having to have an internet connection, maybe that signal isn't able to travel "upstream" through that amp that's perhaps only designed to pass stuff going "downstream".


Well my other tivo/TA does it just fine...


----------



## unitron

danplaysbass said:


> Well my other tivo/TA does it just fine...


Then swap the TAs around and see if the problem follows them.

If it does, get the one the problem followed replaced.


----------



## danplaysbass

unitron said:


> Then swap the TAs around and see if the problem follows them.
> 
> If it does, get the one the problem followed replaced.


I'm a little leery to do this. I'm on my 3rd TA for the dysfunctional box, the current one being brand new. I'm afraid to introduce a problem to my only functioning unit.


----------



## unitron

danplaysbass said:


> I'm a little leery to do this. I'm on my 3rd TA for the dysfunctional box, the current one being brand new. I'm afraid to introduce a problem to my only functioning unit.


Well, then, leave the TAs where they are and swap the TiVos around and see if the trouble travels.

Either way you learn something.


----------



## lrhorer

danplaysbass said:


> So I had the TWC guy out yesterday with no resolution. We looked at everything and he couldn't figure it out. Our setup is as follows:
> 
> Main line comes in the house into a 2-way splitter. One goes to the modem and the other to a 15db amp. That amp feeds a 3-way splitter. The two -7 dB ports feed my TA's.


Unless your house is an unusually long way from the subscriber tap, that amplifier is unnecessary. Although there is no hard and fast regulation for this, the CATV company is responsible for delivering acceptable signals to your receivers in any "ordinary" situation. Two TV outlets and a modem is just about as ordinary as it gets.



danplaysbass said:


> How do I check the levels from the TA?


Look up the return levels in the TA diagnostics. That's why they are there.



danplaysbass said:


> I did have him leave me some 6dB inline attenuators in case I need to knock down the signal some


You already may be verging on too much loss on the return with 11dB splitter loss and 1 or 2 dB loss for the amp. An additional 6dB isn't going to help. If your signals levels are too high, get rid of that amp. If your signal levels are not too high, get rid of that amp. If your signal levels are too low, get rid of that amp and have the CATV company fix their signal level issue. (Again, the exception would be if your cable drops are quite unusually long - typically over 100m, including both house and wall drop.)



danplaysbass said:


> and he left me a new coax line that I may run to see if it is a bad cable run to this particular tv. I'm not convinced that is the problem though because all the local channels work. Is that an accurate statement?


I'm not quitre sure how to answer that. It is possible there is something wrong on the cable path - particularly the return - that does not affect non-SDV channels.



danplaysbass said:


> With Tivo powered and TA powered (solid green) I can watch local HD channels no problem. As soon as I try to tune to an SDV channel the attached picture pops up on the screen.


Which merely means SDV is not working on that TA. Since the other TA is working, the likely culprit is either the TA itself, it's interface to the TiVo, or the transport system between the splitter and the TA. Note I said likely. There could be an issue which impacts the operation of the TAs to the extent that they are right on the ragged edge, and something about of the situation puches one TA over the edge. Reporting the TA return levels will help rule out that scenario or suggest it more strongly.

I reiterate:

1. Get rid of the amplifier.
2. What are the return levels?


----------



## lrhorer

danplaysbass said:


> Well my other tivo/TA does it just fine...


Which means there is something different between the two. Duh. Reporting the transmit levels will help determine what.


----------



## danplaysbass

I will do that this weekend and report back. thanks guys.


----------



## danplaysbass

danplaysbass said:


> I will do that this weekend and report back. thanks guys.


So I did the swap out with both tivos and TAs with no luck.. I decided to call tivo to see what they could do. I got a very helpful dude who called TWC and got us straighten out. Thanks for your help.


----------



## unitron

danplaysbass said:


> So I did the swap out with both tivos and TAs with no luck.. I decided to call tivo to see what they could do. I got a very helpful dude who called TWC and got us straighten out. Thanks for your help.


Did Time-Warner give you an answer or explanation that you could make heads or tails of?


----------



## ncted

OK. I got permission from the wife to get Tivo. Before I take the plunge, what is the current state of tuning adapter reliability in the Raleigh/Durham area? What should I expect as far as tuning adapter problems these days? It seems like maybe things had gotten better based on comments here and in other forums, but I thought it wise to ask.

Thanks,
Ted


----------



## ncted

ncted said:


> OK. I got permission from the wife to get Tivo. Before I take the plunge, what is the current state of tuning adapter reliability in the Raleigh/Durham area? What should I expect as far as tuning adapter problems these days? It seems like maybe things had gotten better based on comments here and in other forums, but I thought it wise to ask.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ted


I guess no news is good news? I signed up for the win back deal yesterday. Install of the TWC whole house DVR is Monday. I'll pick up the cable cards and tuning adapters on Monday afternoon and hopefully have everything running by Monday evening. Friends tell me the TWC whole house DVR is as good as DirecTV's, but somehow I doubt that. I am only getting it to get the low price switch back deal. Either way, I will be saving $40-$50 per month versus DirecTV for the next 2 years -- or more as DirecTV continues to raise prices every year while my price stays the same.

-Ted


----------



## danplaysbass

unitron said:


> Did Time-Warner give you an answer or explanation that you could make heads or tails of?


So when TWC said the CC was authorized they weren't lying, they were just ignorant to everything else that needed to be in line. The problem was that the HostID and some other information was still in the system from the original CC tied to my TiVo that died. I think the tech said it was "Authorized but not paired". Then we went through a ton of the CC and TA diagnostic menus and the guy at the TWC NCCS place made a bunch of adjustments to stuff.

It got me up and running so I am happy.


----------



## ncted

ncted said:


> I guess no news is good news? I signed up for the win back deal yesterday. Install of the TWC whole house DVR is Monday. I'll pick up the cable cards and tuning adapters on Monday afternoon and hopefully have everything running by Monday evening. Friends tell me the TWC whole house DVR is as good as DirecTV's, but somehow I doubt that. I am only getting it to get the low price switch back deal. Either way, I will be saving $40-$50 per month versus DirecTV for the next 2 years -- or more as DirecTV continues to raise prices every year while my price stays the same.
> 
> -Ted


FWIW: The TWC whole home DVR is *NOT* anywhere near as good as the DirecTV offering. I could write a book about all the problems with it. Remote playback is fine, but everything else is ridiculously bad.


----------



## dcstager

The problem with missed recordings on SDV channels was not fixed by the latest software upgrade for the Premiere series. I realize this is a Series 3 area, but since that software wasn't upgraded, I didn't think anyone expected the problem to be resolved on the Series 3. It hasn't been solved on the Series 4 and in fact, the problem has got worse because the new software misses recording on non-SDV shows too. It's happened to me on a Fox primetime program and an ABC primetime program in addition to the regular "the video was not available" for a SDV recordings that pops up regularly.

I wish that this could be fixed. It's the most persistent bug.


----------



## Teeps

dcstager said:


> I wish that this could be fixed. It's the most persistent bug.


I wish the running out of guide data bug could be fixed too.

This is related to the insertion of the Tuning Adapter (Time Warner/Torrance.)
Problem started last July 2011, weeks after t/a had to be put on line at the end of June 2011.


----------



## cwoody222

I have never had the running out of guide data bug in my 2 years with a TV on either a S3 or Premiere.

I used to miss more recordings than I do now - but never more than 2-3/week (maximum!). Now I only missed maybe 1 a week due to missed TA tunes. Usually I just have a few stubborn channels.

While it still pisses me off that it's still an issue at all, I suspect that's the reason it's so hard to fix... because there are a million different setup issues that can make the problem better or worse.

In a perfect world, the cable companies would actually CARE and attempt to fix the problems themselves... since TiVo can't be expected to have insight into each users' setup.


----------



## SCSIRAID

cwoody222 said:


> I have never had the running out of guide data bug in my 2 years with a TV on either a S3 or Premiere.
> 
> I used to miss more recordings than I do now - but never more than 2-3/week (maximum!). Now I only missed maybe 1 a week due to missed TA tunes. Usually I just have a few stubborn channels.
> 
> While it still pisses me off that it's still an issue at all, I suspect that's the reason it's so hard to fix... because there are a million different setup issues that can make the problem better or worse.
> 
> In a perfect world, the cable companies would actually CARE and attempt to fix the problems themselves... since TiVo can't be expected to have insight into each users' setup.


Ive seen the issue on my S3 (only), but in my case, the message was false... the guide data was there. A reboot eliminated the message.

The TA tune issue is the biggest hitter for me... on all of my boxes, S3, THD and Premiere.

TiVo Suggestions still dont work on the S3 due to the TA.... but I can live with that if I have to... but the TA tune is maddening.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Oh, and on the TA tune issue, Ive noticed something on it. Ive caught it red handed a couple times... and if I go into TA diags, the 'retries' value in the 'bad' session is always nonzero... So it looks like the TA is retrying the tune but it and the TiVo are not on the same page as to this retry.


----------



## Teeps

SCSIRAID said:


> Oh, and on the TA tune issue, Ive noticed something on it. Ive caught it red handed a couple times... and if I go into TA diags, the 'retries' value in the 'bad' session is always nonzero... So it looks like the TA is retrying the tune but it and the TiVo are not on the same page as to this retry.


In addition to the guide data problem; in the first month I would get channel not available(?) or something like that message.

Time Warner replaced the home drop from the pole and that problem, knock on wood, is fixed. Seems a rodent had chewed the RG6 cable up at the pole.


----------



## ncted

I was goofing around with one of my Premiers last night, and I got a message saying it could not tune the channel. In this case it was 1114 (TWC News 14 Carolina). 1115 (NY1 HD) also would not tune, so I flipped through all the HD channels to which I am subscribed. All but those 2 would tune just fine, so I did the same thing on my Cisco 8742HDC and got the same result for those 2 channels (channel unavailable at this time). I wonder how many other TA "failures" are just systemic problems and not TA/Cable Card problems.

-Ted


----------



## SCSIRAID

ncted said:


> I was goofing around with one of my Premiers last night, and I got a message saying it could not tune the channel. In this case it was 1114 (TWC News 14 Carolina). 1115 (NY1 HD) also would not tune, so I flipped through all the HD channels to which I am subscribed. All but those 2 would tune just fine, so I did the same thing on my Cisco 8742HDC and got the same result for those 2 channels (channel unavailable at this time). I wonder how many other TA "failures" are just systemic problems and not TA/Cable Card problems.
> 
> -Ted


I know that for my 'TA tune failures', they arent general/consistent issues. I have two TiVo's recording exactly the same schedule. When i get the issue, one will tune and record successfully and the other wont. This is really the only problem I see... other than this, everything works pretty well.


----------



## ncted

I have both Tivo Premiers with tuning adapters and TWC Whole House DVR (utilizing MoCA) service in my house. Currently, I have the Tivos and WHDVR in separate rooms, and there is a filter between the WHDVR setup and the rest of the cable jacks. 

My question is: If I want both Tivo and WHDVR connected to the same TVs in the same rooms, can I do that with a single cable jack per room? I am thinking all I need is a splitter at each jack and some additional MoCA filters. Is there any reason the MoCA network and/or filters would interfere with the operation of the Tivos, CableCards, TAs, etc.?

Thanks,
Ted


----------



## SCSIRAID

ncted said:


> I have both Tivo Premiers with tuning adapters and TWC Whole House DVR (utilizing MoCA) service in my house. Currently, I have the Tivos and WHDVR in separate rooms, and there is a filter between the WHDVR setup and the rest of the cable jacks.
> 
> My question is: If I want both Tivo and WHDVR connected to the same TVs in the same rooms, can I do that with a single cable jack per room? I am thinking all I need is a splitter at each jack and some additional MoCA filters. Is there any reason the MoCA network and/or filters would interfere with the operation of the Tivos, CableCards, TAs, etc.?
> 
> Thanks,
> Ted


From just a few minutes googling about filters it appears that the only place you need one is at the point of entry for the cable... ie where it enters your house. The filter keeps 'your' moca stuff from going to the neighbors.

TiVo shouldnt care about the higher frequencies >860Mhz but if it somehow was upset by them, you could use a filter there to eliminate them. The splitter you use though would appear to have to be suitable for high frequency >1.5Ghz.

Im sure there is someone more knowledgable then me out here on this subject.


----------



## ncted

SCSIRAID said:


> From just a few minutes googling about filters it appears that the only place you need one is at the point of entry for the cable... ie where it enters your house. The filter keeps 'your' moca stuff from going to the neighbors.
> 
> TiVo shouldnt care about the higher frequencies >860Mhz but if it somehow was upset by them, you could use a filter there to eliminate them. The splitter you use though would appear to have to be suitable for high frequency >1.5Ghz.
> 
> Im sure there is someone more knowledgable then me out here on this subject.


Sounds good. Do you know what frequencies the TA uses to talk upstream? They did put a filter on my DOCSIS 3 modem, so I assume that is somehow affected.

-Ted


----------



## ncted

Both of my tuning adapters have needed power cycling in the past 24 hours. They have been operation less than a week. Is this normal? Maybe a firmware upgrade?


----------



## pmiranda

ncted said:


> Both of my tuning adapters have needed power cycling in the past 24 hours. They have been operation less than a week. Is this normal? Maybe a firmware upgrade?


Both of mine crapped out sometime last Friday. Neither were blinking strangely and all status in the TiVo diagnostics appeared normal, I just wasn't able to tune any channels until I power cycled them.

I think this happens at least once a year for firmware upgrades.


----------



## ncted

pmiranda said:


> Both of mine crapped out sometime last Friday. Neither were blinking strangely and all status in the TiVo diagnostics appeared normal, I just wasn't able to tune any channels until I power cycled them.
> 
> I think this happens at least once a year for firmware upgrades.


My Premiers both noticed whatever problem occurred and displayed a message that the TA had been removed. After the TA power cycle, everything was back to normal. Once a year is not bad, although it would be nice if they could tell us it was coming.

-Ted


----------



## dcstager

I got a mail notice from TW that the SDV channels are going to be changing. I think this may help a lot of people because I don't watch most of the new switched channels. Curious that Fox News is going to switched now. Apparently Fox News is one of the "less watched" channels in Central Texas. Hmmm? Most of it seems to be standard def stuff moving over to SDV. So, I'm hoping the major HD channels are not going to be switched and that will make recordings a lot more reliable. Switch supposed to take place June 23. Will they upgrade the Tuning Adapter firmware? There is some lawsuit between Cisco and Tivo over patents. Can't be good.


----------



## kevin120

dcstager said:


> I got a mail notice from TW that the SDV channels are going to be changing. I think this may help a lot of people because I don't watch most of the new switched channels. Curious that Fox News is going to switched now. Apparently Fox News is one of the "less watched" channels in Central Texas. Hmmm? Most of it seems to be standard def stuff moving over to SDV. So, I'm hoping the major HD channels are not going to be switched and that will make recordings a lot more reliable. Switch supposed to take place June 23. Will they upgrade the Tuning Adapter firmware? There is some lawsuit between Cisco and Tivo over patents. Can't be good.


Also the local HD channels are not going SDV. Anything on the list will go SDV unless last minute changes are made in which some of the channels are not switched. I know that TWC was going to make ZEE TV and TV Aisa SDV in North Texas but that did not happen.

I actually asked about this in the other Time Warner Cable thread to see if people in Austin were getting a notice about more channels going SDV. I don't think the changes will happen before June 26th though which is when TWC is moving KXAN HD and KNVA HD on QAM to to a new QAM channel according to their legal notices. Also TWC does not usually make changes that are major like this on a weekend which june 23rd falls on.

Curious what are all the channels going SDV?

I know that the Dallas cluster is having KXTX HD moved on June 21st to a new frequency which I am assuming is 153MHz (RF19) as that channel has a QAM on it now. I am assuming that north texas is having 2 more VOD carriers added.

We had a lot of channels in North Texas moved to SDV last october which almost all of the digital SD channels went SDV and TWC added 8 more SDV frequencies for total of 24 up from 16.

I am going to assume that TWC is adding more SDV frequencies in Austin too! Probably 8 as well. I am going to assume that this should help with bandwidth congestion on SDV channels being blocked. I know that when TWC did this change in North Texas which is a 860MHz system compared to austin/central texas being at 750MHz which means you guys have less bandwidth and they are having to squeeze more in with less space I believe that Austin only goes out to 771MHz as the highest channel while Dallas goes out to 861MHz as the highest channel.


----------



## lrhorer

kevin120 said:


> Also the local HD channels are not going SDV


That is not at all surprising, for several reasons.



kevin120 said:


> I am going to assume that TWC is adding more SDV frequencies in Austin too! Probably 8 as well. I am going to assume that this should help with bandwidth congestion on SDV channels being blocked. I know that when TWC did this change in North Texas which is a 860MHz system compared to austin/central texas being at 750MHz which means you guys have less bandwidth and they are having to squeeze more in with less space I believe that Austin only goes out to 771MHz as the highest channel while Dallas goes out to 861MHz as the highest channel.


It really doesn't make all that much difference. With SDV, the primary channel limitation is not the overall bandwidth, it is the number of receivers per node.


----------



## lrhorer

dcstager said:


> Curious that Fox News is going to switched now. Apparently Fox News is one of the "less watched" channels in Central Texas. Hmmm?


There is a common misconception concerning what constitutes "less watched". The primary feeds of the big 5 national networks garner better than 80% of the viewing share, leaving 20% to divide up between the other 150 or so channels. A linear QAM modulator like those from Big Band transmit 8 QAMs. With industry norm rate shaping, each QAM supports 11 SD videos, 1 HD video and 6 SD videos, or 2 HD videos and 1SD video. If the CATV company has 3 fixed QAM modulators at each hubsite, they could deliver the top 40 HD channels and the top 64 SD channels as linear, with the rest being SDV. The question then becomes, "Will the savings incurred by buying another fixed QAM modulator at the headend rather than SDV equipment be offset by the number of channels that cannot benefit from SDV?" If a channel's market share is high enough to more or less guarantee at least one subscriber's receiver is going to be tuned to that channel on every node in town for a significant part of the day, then no benefit is gained by putting the channel on SDV.

A typical CATV company may have between 400 and 1000 homes passed per node. If we assume a 70% penetration and an average of 4 receivers per home, that amounts to between 1120 and 2800 receivers. Let's assume the number is 2000 for a round number. That means any channel whose penetration is near or below 0.05% stands a very good chance of not being watched on a particular node. That may sound small, but consider after taking the big 5 plus HBO, ShowTime, and the next 33 most popular channels off the list, the most watched of the remaining 120 or so channels will each have at the very most a .06% market share, with the vast majority falling well below .01%. "Less watched" does not only mean the Japanese Knitting Channel. It means just about all the "2" channels (CNN2, ESPN2, etc.), most of the news channels (including Fox News), and all the auxiliary movie channels.



dcstager said:


> Most of it seems to be standard def stuff moving over to SDV.


'Also not surprising, since a single QAM carrier frequency across all the nodes in town can potentially deliver hundreds, possibly even thousands of SD channels. The limitation is the number of unique SD channels per node that must be delivered. If there is a peak of about 80 unique SD SDV channels being watched per node, then they need to allocate 8 QAMs, or 48 MHz of bandwidth to deliver all the SD SDV channels being offered.



dcstager said:


> So, I'm hoping the major HD channels are not going to be switched and that will make recordings a lot more reliable.


It shouldn't. If you are getting any denials, then their CATV plant is improperly engineered. In a properly engineered plant, any individual customer should not see more than one or two denials at most per year.



dcstager said:


> Switch supposed to take place June 23. Will they upgrade the Tuning Adapter firmware? There is some lawsuit between Cisco and Tivo over patents. Can't be good.


It's unlikely to impact anything in that vein. The CATV systems forced the equipment vendors to implement the TA to keep the FCC and the CE manufacturers off their backs. The CATV companies couldn't care less whether Cisco is suing TiVo or not, and it is the CATV companies that are the CATV equipment manufacturer's customers, not TiVo or TiVo owners.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> ........ So, I'm hoping the major HD channels are not going to be switched and that will make recordings a lot more reliable. ..........





lrhorer said:


> .......It shouldn't. If you are getting any denials, then their CATV plant is improperly engineered. In a properly engineered plant, any individual customer should not see more than one or two denials at most per year.
> .........


It's not at all clear that the CATV plant is responsible for all or even most of the "SDV tuning failures" (in TiVo's). There is evidence to suggest it is a problem in the USB handshake between TA's and the TiVo, so it may be a failure of either of those devices, which I find easy to believe.

If the CATV plant is at fault, I guess we should just tell TWC support "your plant is improperly engineered".  I'm almost tempted to make that call just to see what response I would get.


----------



## kevin120

lrhorer said:


> That is not at all surprising, for several reasons.
> 
> It really doesn't make all that much difference. With SDV, the primary channel limitation is not the overall bandwidth, it is the number of receivers per node.


yes there is a is limitation of overall bandwidth in a SDV pool when the pool is peaking to the point of where they need to add more QAMs to the pool there is a SDV congestion issue pertaining to bandwidth. I find it funny that TWC added 22 HD channels since North Texas had the SDV pool expanded to 24 QAMs from 16.

We got:
Reelz Channel HD
Ovation HD
Hub HD
Bloomberg HD
E! HD
Style HD
Oxygen HD
OWN HD
Sportsman Channel HD
Fox Deportes HD
Halogen HD
Showtime Extreme HD
Showtime Next HD
Showtime Women HD
Showtime Beyond HD
ThrillerMAX HD
MoreMAX HD
TMC Xtra HD
GAME2 HD
IFC HD
MLB Strike Zone HD
3D Special Events 2

I have a feeling once Austin gets more SDV QAMs they should see the channels in the list above that they don't have added to the system shortly after the changes are made.

Three likely channels to be added between july and august:
MTV2 HD
TV Land HD
PAC-12 Network National SD/HD

TWC has a deal to make all three of these national and MTV2 HD and TV Land HD are supposed to roll out nationally this summer on TWC.

Also there are nowhere near 2000 homes per node in an SDV system let alone 1000 it is probably closer to 250-500 although several nodes might make up a SDV tuning service group.


----------



## lrhorer

dlfl said:


> It's not at all clear that the CATV plant is responsible for all or even most of the "SDV tuning failures" (in TiVo's). There is evidence to suggest it is a problem in the USB handshake between TA's and the TiVo, so it may be a failure of either of those devices, which I find easy to believe.


If that were true, then more likely than not it would also impact non-SDV channels. The TA overwrites the channel map for all digital channels when it is functional. Moreover, a failure on the USB port would not result in a tuning denial. A tuning denial response means the TiVo has successfully contacted the headend host and the host has responded that there are no available QAMs.



dlfl said:


> If the CATV plant is at fault, I guess we should just tell TWC support "your plant is improperly engineered".  I'm almost tempted to make that call just to see what response I would get.


Have you ever seen the movie I, Robot with Will Smith? In the movie, James Cromwell's character, a hologram, keeps telling Will Smith's character, "You have to ask the right questions." Tell the CSR you need to speak with an engineer who knows how many nodes are in the city and how many subscribers, and how many tuning requests are serviced on average per hour.


----------



## lrhorer

kevin120 said:


> yes there is a is limitation of overall bandwidth in a SDV pool when the pool is peaking to the point of where they need to add more QAMs


This is rarely the case. When it is the case, a single SDV QAM per node in a city the size of Dallas or Austin can support hundreds of channels. Once again, it is the number of unique streams on a node that determines how many QAMs per node are required, not the number of channels offered by the CATV system. Reduce the number of subscribers per node (the CATV system hopes by increasing or re-organizing the number of nodes, not reducing the number of subscribers), and the number of channels that can be delivered increases exponentially.



kevin120 said:


> to the pool there is a SDV congestion issue pertaining to bandwidth.


Yet again, this is rarely the case. It is certainly not impossible, but the issue is not bandwidth but the number of unique streams on a node.



kevin120 said:


> I find it funny that TWC added 22 HD channels since North Texas had the SDV pool expanded to 24 QAMs from 16.


Um, OK. Eight linear QAMs can handle 16 channels. Eight SDV QAMs can handle many, many times that. The small number of channels they added clearly has nothing to do with the number of QAMs per node they added. Indeed, adding more SDV channels *decreases* (slightly) the number of necessary QAMs, since adding more channels decreases the penetration of the existing channels.



kevin120 said:


> I have a feeling once Austin gets more SDV QAMs they should see the channels in the list above that they don't have added to the system shortly after the changes are made.


I really couldn't say. I may be mistaken, but I think Austin has as many SDV QAMs as we do in San Antonio, and we have had those channels for ages. OTOH, I don't know the node loading in Austin vs. San Antonio, either.



kevin120 said:


> Also there are nowhere near 2000 homes per node in an SDV system


I never said there was. I explicitly said typically 400 - 1000, serving perhaps up to 3000 receivers, assuming an average of 2 dual tuner DVRs per subscriber and 3 subscribers for every 4 homes passed. That may be a bit high, but it is a good, round number.



kevin120 said:


> let alone 1000 it is probably closer to 250-500 although several nodes might make up a SDV tuning service group.


It depends on the CATV company. The lowest number I have ever heard quoted was 400 homes, or about 300 subscribers. It's possible some CATV companies have installed enough nodes to make the number as low as 250 homes or under 200 subscribers. That is an awfully small number, though. A 750 MHz system can pretty easily support at least 150 HD streams. I know for a fact some CATV systems pass as many as 1000 homes per node, especially in areas of low penetration. There is no point in adding more nodes if half the people in the neighborhood don't have cable.


----------



## lrhorer

ncted said:


> Sounds good. Do you know what frequencies the TA uses to talk upstream? They did put a filter on my DOCSIS 3 modem, so I assume that is somehow affected.


It varies from city to city, but look in the TA diags and it will tell you. It might even vary from node to node or hubsite to hubsite. Here at my house it is 16.75 MHz. It's always going to be between 5 MHz and 40 MHz.


----------



## dlfl

dlfl said:


> It's not at all clear that the CATV plant is responsible for all or even most of the "SDV tuning failures" (in TiVo's). There is evidence to suggest it is a problem in the USB handshake between TA's and the TiVo, so it may be a failure of either of those devices, which I find easy to believe.
> ........





lrhorer said:


> If that were true, then more likely than not it would also impact non-SDV channels. The TA overwrites the channel map for all digital channels when it is functional. Moreover, a failure on the USB port would not result in a tuning denial. A tuning denial response means the TiVo has successfully contacted the headend host and the host has responded that there are no available QAMs.
> ............


OK, here is some evidence to consider:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7963092
I think what I call an "SDV Tuning Failure" is different from what you're calling a "tuning denial response".

An SDV tuning failure, whether during manual tuning or when trying to start a recording, results in a black screen and the mismatch between frequencies shown for the channel in the Cable Cards (DVR Diagnositics) or the TA, as shown in the photos attached to the linked post. If it was a recording attempt the recording history says it failed because no video was present. If it's manual tuning, you get a blank screen -- forever or until you re-tune, e.g., channel up/down, upon which it usually tunes OK.

Then there is the other type of failure (denial ?) which, if tuning manually, results in a message saying to press select to try again -- which usually works. I don't know what happens with this type failure when it is trying to start a recording.

I get both types of failure occasionally when manually tuning. I lose 1 to 3 recordings a week. In both cases the failures occur only on SDV channels.


----------



## kevin120

lrhorer said:


> This is rarely the case. When it is the case, a single SDV QAM per node in a city the size of Dallas or Austin can support hundreds of channels. Once again, it is the number of unique streams on a node that determines how many QAMs per node are required, not the number of channels offered by the CATV system. Reduce the number of subscribers per node (the CATV system hopes by increasing or re-organizing the number of nodes, not reducing the number of subscribers), and the number of channels that can be delivered increases exponentially.
> 
> Yet again, this is rarely the case. It is certainly not impossible, but the issue is not bandwidth but the number of unique streams on a node.
> 
> Um, OK. Eight linear QAMs can handle 16 channels. Eight SDV QAMs can handle many, many times that. The small number of channels they added clearly has nothing to do with the number of QAMs per node they added. Indeed, adding more SDV channels *decreases* (slightly) the number of necessary QAMs, since adding more channels decreases the penetration of the existing channels.
> 
> I really couldn't say. I may be mistaken, but I think Austin has as many SDV QAMs as we do in San Antonio, and we have had those channels for ages. OTOH, I don't know the node loading in Austin vs. San Antonio, either.
> 
> I never said there was. I explicitly said typically 400 - 1000, serving perhaps up to 3000 receivers, assuming an average of 2 dual tuner DVRs per subscriber and 3 subscribers for every 4 homes passed. That may be a bit high, but it is a good, round number.
> 
> It depends on the CATV company. The lowest number I have ever heard quoted was 400 homes, or about 300 subscribers. It's possible some CATV companies have installed enough nodes to make the number as low as 250 homes or under 200 subscribers. That is an awfully small number, though. A 750 MHz system can pretty easily support at least 150 HD streams. I know for a fact some CATV systems pass as many as 1000 homes per node, especially in areas of low penetration. There is no point in adding more nodes if half the people in the neighborhood don't have cable.


I find it interesting that you keep mentioning that a single QAM per node can support 100s of channels that is wrong 10 channels max at a time on each QAM per node with 100s of unique QAM channel muxes throughout the system due to customer requests but the cable company only does about a 2:1 ratio of channels per QAM so if they reclaim a QAM with 10 channels they utilize that QAM with 20 SD SDV channels not all at once so if you have 200 SD switched you are going need 10 QAMs to handle the load and if you add HD channels to the mix they have a 6:1 QAM ratio so for every QAM that is reclaimed with 3 HD channels you can put 6 SDV HD channels in their place per QAM. So if you have a 100 SDV HD channels divide by 6 and you get the maximum QAMs you need for HD only but TWC squeezes in more channels per QAM in the pool so yeah they need 24 SDV QAMs to keep up with the growing number of HD channels being switched and more tuners being added.

These should be the new SDV QAMs come June 26th in Austin: 
585MHz
591MHz 
597MHz
603MHz
609MHz
615MHz
621MHz
627Mhz


----------



## dcstager

Great discussion. But if fewer HD channels are SDV, is my point about there being fewer tuning failures reasonable? I just want the Tivo to work. I hate missing the recordings. I'm getting more and more failures lately and it's just fortunate that the deep cable channels rerun the shows many times so I get my shows, but now always the first run. Some deep cable shows are one time only and I just hate looking through the recording history and seeing the "video was not available" message.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> Great discussion. But if fewer HD channels are SDV, is my point about there being fewer tuning failures reasonable? I just want the Tivo to work. I hate missing the recordings. I'm getting more and more failures lately and it's just fortunate that the deep cable channels rerun the shows many times so I get my shows, but now always the first run. Some deep cable shows are one time only and I just hate looking through the recording history and seeing the "video was not available" message.


The question is are your current tuning failures all on SDV channels? If so then it's likely having more channels on SDV will result in more tuning failures.

Here is how you tell a (successfully tuned) channel is SDV, using your DVR Diagnostics and Cisco TA tuning adapter diagnostics screens:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8024241#post8024241
You get the frequency of the channel(s) from DVR Diaganostics (cable card) and use those to ID the channels in the TA info.

You can also try to get a list of SDV channels from your TWC customer service. Good luck with that -- and don't trust it even if you do -- based on my experience.


----------



## dcstager

Sorry, I'm not being clear in my question. I record mostly HDTV channels and a few SDV channels. Most, but not all my tuning failures are on SDV HDTV channels. I've had blank video on FOX and ABC local HDTV channels once each as well. But I'm hoping the move of more HDTV channels away from SDV will generally be a good thing and I'll miss fewer recording.


----------



## kevin120

dcstager said:


> Sorry, I'm not being clear in my question. I record mostly HDTV channels and a few SDV channels. Most, but not all my tuning failures are on SDV HDTV channels. I've had blank video on FOX and ABC local HDTV channels once each as well. But I'm hoping the move of more HDTV channels away from SDV will generally be a good thing and I'll miss fewer recording.


They are not going to be moving channels away from SDV instead they are adding bandwidth to the SDV frequency range so that there are less issues with channels being blocked. Dallas had this done last year and they reclaimed over 8 frequencies to add more bandwidth for SDV and VOD as they added 8 QAM carriers to SDV and 4 QAM carriers to VOD in North Texas. TWC in Austin is going be using the reclaimed bandwidth for SDV channels not moving existing SDV channels off of the SDV servers.

TWC is going to be doing this in most of the state:
Corpus Christi date TBA
Austin June 26th
Waco June 26th
Rio Grande Valley June 19th
El Paso August 21st

From the looks of the tuning problem dlfl might be on to something about the tuning adapter because in North Texas we have the Motorola MTR700 tuning adapters and I don't hear about missed recordings also these tuning adapters never did have the problem with the blinking green light.

I personally have motorola DCX cable boxes and never have recordings that are blocked due to SDV channels so maybe it is a issue on the Cisco tuning adapter connection to the Tivo.


----------



## lrhorer

kevin120 said:


> I find it interesting that you keep mentioning that a single QAM per node can support 100s of channels that is wrong 10 channels max at a time on each QAM per node


Industry norm rate shaping is 12 SD channels, 6 SD + 1 HD channel, or 1 SD + 2 HD channels.



kevin120 said:


> with 100s of unique QAM channel muxes throughout the system due to customer requests but the cable company


SDV hypothetically allows a completely unique set of channels to be served on each and every QAM across the city. Now, in reality there will be widespread duplications of individual streams across the city, and that must be taken into consideration in capacity management, but the number of possible channels deployed is without limit.



kevin120 said:


> only does about a 2:1 ratio of channels per QAM


I seriously doubt that. There is no need. With SDV, one can easily manage 20:1 or more. Indeed, the local TWC franchise has an 850 MHz system with 72 analog channels still on tap. That leaves at most 343 MHz, or 57 QAMs to deliver all their digital channels. They supply 573 video channels, with 97 full time HD channels and over a score of On Demand HD channels. That amounts to at a minimum an equivalent of 60 linear HD QAMs and 32 linear SD QAMs. After adding in services like start-over and IPPV, that number probably nearly doubles.



kevin120 said:


> if you add HD channels to the mix they have a 6:1 QAM ratio so for every QAM that is reclaimed with 3 HD channels


That is not industry norm rate shaping, nor is it TWC's policy, at least here in San Antonio, and I have the recordings to prove it. The HD channels frequently average 18 Mbps, and that would be impossible with 3 HD channels per QAM. Some CATV providers have indeed crammed 3 HD channels per QAM, but doing so has generated a significant amount of complaints about PQ in those systems.



kevin120 said:


> you can put 6 SDV HD channels in their place per QAM.


One can deliver vastly more than that. Again, there is no hypothetical limit to the number of channels a CATV company can deliver over SDV. As long as the number of unique HD videos per node does not exceed twice the number of SDV QAMs and the number of unique SD videos does not exceed the number of QAMs, the available palette of channels has no theoretical limit.

What exactly is it, do you think, that puts a limit on the number of SDV channels that can be offered (not delivered, offered) city-wide per QAM?


----------



## lrhorer

kevin120 said:


> They are not going to be moving channels away from SDV instead they are adding bandwidth to the SDV frequency range so that there are less issues with channels being blocked.


That is no doubt true. As long as the upgrade does not require additional overall bandwidth, adding a QAM is a fairy inexpensive way of delivering more service, especially On-Demand and trick-play features like start-over. The most obvious means of doing this is to convert an analog carrier to SDV.



kevin120 said:


> From the looks of the tuning problem dlfl might be on to something about the tuning adapter because in North Texas we have the Motorola MTR700 tuning adapters and I don't hear about missed recordings also these tuning adapters never did have the problem with the blinking green light.


I never have any problems with tuning denials or tuning failures here in San Antonio, either, and I have three Cisco TAs. I do occasionally have problems with total lock-ups that completely drop either all SDV channels, all encrypted channels, or occasionally all channels, period. None of these are the result of bandwidth limitations, and clearling the issue requires either pulling and re-plugging the USB cable, rebooting the TA, or in the latter case rebooting both the TA and the TiVo.


----------



## dcstager

With the Cisco lawsuit, maybe TW can return the whole bunch as defective and replace every Cisco tuning adapter with a Motorola version?


----------



## lrhorer

dcstager said:


> With the Cisco lawsuit, maybe TW can return the whole bunch as defective and replace every Cisco tuning adapter with a Motorola version?


They would have to tear out and re-build their entire data infrastructure, including their server farms and all their STBs and DVRs.


----------



## Teeps

lrhorer said:


> They would have to tear out and re-build their entire data infrastructure, including their server farms and all their STBs and DVRs.


So are you saying that tuning adapters are not built to a single standard?

I'm confused... on more than one level with this particular SDV discussion.

A link to some reading would be welcome.

Thank you.


----------



## unitron

Teeps said:


> So are you saying that tuning adapters are not built to a single standard?
> 
> I'm confused... on more than one level with this particular SDV discussion.
> 
> A link to some reading would be welcome.
> 
> Thank you.


The Cisco ones work with Cisco stuff "upstream" and the Motorola ones work with Motorola stuff.

Like they say, standards are a wonderful thing because there are so many of them.


----------



## lrhorer

Teeps said:


> So are you saying that tuning adapters are not built to a single standard?


Nope. There are no SDV standards whatsoever, but there are two sets of competing proprietay protocols: Cisco and Motorola. The FCC never required a standard, so CableLabs never wrote or implemented one. There have been some proposals, namely DCR+ and tru2way, but so far nothing has really gelled. The CE manufacturers are pushing hard for DCR+, but CATV companies would rather have their gonads removed with a baseball bat. The CE manufacturers are uninspired by tru2way, and many of us consumers hate tru2way, including me. Big Brother needs to keep his pointy nose out of my business and allow me to run whatever software I like on a machine that I own. TiVo is bad enough. Tru2way (specifically OCAP) is legally sanctioned evil.



Teeps said:


> I'm confused... on more than one level with this particular SDV discussion.
> 
> A link to some reading would be welcome.


Well, as far as the SDV standard, it is a little hard to link to something that does not exist. For the rest, Google is your friend. Try here for starters.


----------



## lrhorer

unitron said:


> The Cisco ones work with Cisco stuff "upstream" and the Motorola ones work with Motorola stuff.
> 
> Like they say, standards are a wonderful thing because there are so many of them.


Whihc is one big reason why a TA is required in the first place. If there were a single standard, the device could be universally modified to support it. As it is, a TiVo designed to work on a Cisco system would not work on a Motorola systrem, and vice-versa.


----------



## Teeps

Thanks lrhorer,
Your answer tells me all I need to know about the evil that IS SDV.
Or, how to virtually stuff 10 pounds of crap in a five pound bag.

If verizon ever comes to my part of the city... say good bye to cable.


----------



## kevin120

People in San Antonio should be getting a letter about more channels going SDV on July 24,2012 the channels in the letter are as fallows:

Starting on July 24, 2012, Time Warner Cable will begin providing a number of our existing, lesser-viewed channels via SDV. The list is as follows:
BBC America Digital Basic Channel 225
BIO Digital Basic Channel 206
Bloomberg Television Digital Basic Channel 235
Boomerang Digital Basic Channel 204
Cloo Digital Basic Channel 233
CNBC World Digital Basic Channel 212
CNN International Digital Basic Channel 244
Cooking Channel Digital Basic Channel 214
C-SPAN 3 Digital Basic Channel 236
Current TV Digital Basic Channel 234
Destination America Digital Basic Channel 220
Discovery Fit and Health Digital Basic Channel 219
Disney XD Digital Basic Channel 224
DIY Network Digital Basic Channel 210
FLIX Digital Basic Channel 201
FOX Soccer Channel Digital Basic Channel 223
GAC Digital Basic Channel 238
G4 Digital Basic Channel 207
H2 Digital Basic Channel 237
Hub Digital Basic Channel 216
IFC Digital Basic Channel 308
Investigation Discovery Digital Basic Channel 213
Lifetime Real Women Digital Basic Channel 238
Military Channel Digital Basic Channel 217
MTV2 Digital Basic Channel 231
NBA TV Digital Basic Channel 205
Nick 2 Digital Basic Channel 239
NickJr. Digital Basic Channel 230
NickToons Digital Basic Channel 218
Ovation Digital Basic Channel 203 
Science Digital Basic Channel 215 
SOAPnet Digital Basic Channel 211
Sundance Channel East Digital Basic Channel 309
Teennick Digital Basic Channel 229 
VH1 Classic Digital Basic Channel 221
Tennis Channel Sports Tier Channel 263
Encore East Movie Tier Channel 300
Encore Love East Movie Tier Channel 301
Encore Westerns East Movie Tier Channel 302
Encore Suspense East Movie Tier Channel 303
Encore Action East Movie Tier Channel 304
Encore Drama East Movie Tier Channel 305
Encore Family East Movie Tier Channel 306
FOX Movie Channel Movie Tier Channel 307
CNN en Espanol Multicultural Tier Channel 770
iN Demand 1 PPV Channel 501
HBO 2 East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 321
HBO Signature East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 322
HBO Family East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 323
HBO Comedy East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 324
HBO Zone East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 325
HBO Latino East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 332
MoreMAX East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 341
Action MAX East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 342
Thriller MAX East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 343
WMax East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 338
@Max East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 348
Outer Max East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 339
5 Star Max East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 349
SHO 2 East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 351
SHO Showcase East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 352
SHO Extreme East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 353
SHO Beyond East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 354
SHO Next East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 361
SHO Women East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 362
SHO Family Zone East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 363
STARZ! Edge East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 311
STARZ! In Black East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 312
STARZ! Kids & Family East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 313
STARZ! Cinema East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 314
STARZ! Comedy East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 318
The Movie Channel Xtra East In Time Zone Premium Plex Channel 366
Velocity HD HD Simulcast Channel 130


----------



## dcstager

They re-aligned the channels like this in Austin already but now I can't tune in any SDV channels at all. I've rebooted and reset everything. Do I have to repeat guided setup to get it to work? I'm thinking I have an old channel lineup and I have to redo the guided setup. Anyone else in Austin having problems since the channel changes?


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> They re-aligned the channels like this in Austin already but now I can't tune in any SDV channels at all. I've rebooted and reset everything. Do I have to repeat guided setup to get it to work? I'm thinking I have an old channel lineup and I have to redo the guided setup. Anyone else in Austin having problems since the channel changes?


For guided setup to work, the new lineup has to be available on the TiVo servers. The information chain for this is:

Cable Co ==> Tribune Media Services ==> TiVo

There can be delays and errors anywhere along this chain. The available lineups are shown on zap2it.com, which reflects Tribune Media Services data. Go there and enter your location and see what lineups are available. Of course even if you see the new lineup there, it doesn't mean it will have made it onto the TiVo servers yet. But if it isn't there, you can be sure TiVo doesn't have it. When my TWC region changed their lineup, TMS/Zap2It defined a temporary lineup with a different name. Eventually they changed the name to the original name.

Anyway, if you see a zap2it lineup that looks correct, try doing guided setup and selecting that name (if available). It took days and even weeks for some folks to get valid new lineups via guided setup in my region.


----------



## pmiranda

dcstager said:


> They re-aligned the channels like this in Austin already but now I can't tune in any SDV channels at all. I've rebooted and reset everything. Do I have to repeat guided setup to get it to work? I'm thinking I have an old channel lineup and I have to redo the guided setup. Anyone else in Austin having problems since the channel changes?


I didn't think any channel numbers moved, they just reassigned the static frequencies to SDV ones, which should be handled entirely in the TA.

I don't remember when the change was supposed to happen but I don't think my TA has lost anything yet. Is you TA sub still up to data or did it expire?


----------



## cableguy763

dcstager said:


> They re-aligned the channels like this in Austin already but now I can't tune in any SDV channels at all. I've rebooted and reset everything. Do I have to repeat guided setup to get it to work? I'm thinking I have an old channel lineup and I have to redo the guided setup. Anyone else in Austin having problems since the channel changes?


The moves in Austin to sdv happened on Tuesday and the broadcast moves happened on Wednesday. My two ta's and tivo's followed the changes and I didnt have to do anything. If you want to send me the rf mac address of your card(s) and TA I can send them some staging hits for you.


----------



## dcstager

Thanks for the staging hits. It's not working and I have a truck roll scheduled. Don't know what the guy can do except maybe replace the tuning adapter. My Tivo just cannot tune in any switched channel no matter what I do. I'm really hoping that nothing is wrong with the Tivo.


----------



## pmiranda

pmiranda said:


> I didn't think any channel numbers moved, they just reassigned the static frequencies to SDV ones, which should be handled entirely in the TA.
> 
> I don't remember when the change was supposed to happen but I don't think my TA has lost anything yet. Is your TA sub still up to date or did it expire?


Doh! I cursed myself and found both my TAs had silently stopped tuning Monday morning. Luckily for me I was just able to power cycle them and everything just worked after a couple minutes.

Did you try calling the national self-install hotline? They're awesome about fixing every issue I've had in the last year. 
(866) 606-5889


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## dcstager

pmiranda said:


> Doh! I cursed myself and found both my TAs had silently stopped tuning Monday morning. Luckily for me I was just able to power cycle them and everything just worked after a couple minutes.
> 
> Did you try calling the national self-install hotline? They're awesome about fixing every issue I've had in the last year.
> (866) 606-5889


I'm just dreading the truck roll. I have MoCA hooked up to the Elite and a filter at the drop outside and I replaced all the splitters with 2 GHZ plus the stuff is all wired through my sound system and neatly organized to look nice. I'm not looking forward to re-doing everything "to make sure your stuff isn't the problem" when it was working fine before the SDV changes and the problems started immediately after the changes.

I'm not sure the self-install people can possibly do more than the cableguy763 has already done. I'll post the details after it happens.


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## Teeps

dcstager said:


> I'm just dreading the truck roll.


Given your stated circumstances it can't hurt to make sure they check the signal to the T/A first thing.
The first problem I had with T/A a year ago; was caused by a squirrel chewing the cable drop on on the pole. They also installed a ground to the electrical service box (current code the tech said) to the line drop.

I feel your pain about having a cable service vendor rooting around in the home theater wiring. Nothing good ever comes of that...


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## cwoody222

I think we can count on one hand the times a TA problem was caused by hardware (TA or TiVo) or fixed by a truck roll.

It's 99.99% a setup issue on the Cable Co's end or a software update that can be fixed remotely.


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## dcstager

Thank you behind the scenes Time Warner technical people. My problem has resolved with the last thing that somebody did. I've cancelled the truck roll and back in business. Yes!


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## unitron

dcstager said:


> Thank you behind the scenes Time Warner technical people. My problem has resolved with the last thing that somebody did. I've cancelled the truck roll and back in business. Yes!


TWC has some very nice people working for it.

It's just the corporation itself...


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## cwoody222

Good to hear.

The lesson here (as it's been in the past) is that most all TA problems can be solved remotely, via COMPETENT Time Warner employees. A truck roll or hardware swap is rarely needed.


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## Teeps

unitron said:


> TWC has some very nice people working for it.
> 
> It's just the corporation itself...


Agreed.

A TW agent Barbara was excellent, when I reauthorized the cable cards after upgrading the hdd in my S3.


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## dcstager

I'm pretty sure it was the cableguy here on the forum working the magic. I was going to disconnect all my own stuff myself so that the tech would really have a clean setup to troubleshoot. Thankfully I did not have to do that. I was able to cancel the truck roll with the automated telephone system. I do not know TW policy on MoCA. It just works so well and much better than any wireless setup I didn't want to lose that, but I'm sure they would have disconnected the MoCA filter at the drop - and it's only there to prevent my MoCA signal from bleeding out into the TW system and/or other homes nearby. But, I'm still in business and everything is working. The TA says there are over 300 SDV channels now. it was in the 200s before. Hoping for the best.


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## cwoody222

My father is trying a self-install on his new Premiere. They were able to pair the CableCARD but cannot get the SDV Adapter to go to solid green lights. Of course the operator from TW told him it's a hardware defect and to go get another box (although the local office doesn't stock them).

I'm telling him it's most likely an issue with how she set it up in their system. Any hints?


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## Pilot20

cwoody222 said:


> My father is trying a self-install on his new Premiere. They were able to pair the CableCARD but cannot get the SDV Adapter to go to solid green lights. Of course the operator from TW told him it's a hardware defect and to go get another box (although the local office doesn't stock them).
> 
> I'm telling him it's most likely an issue with how she set it up in their system. Any hints?


I went through 3 different TAs before TWC finally got their act together (4 truck rolls and 6 techs).

Same issue as yours...no steady green light.

The techs had no idea what they were doing. Finally, after many phone calls, TWC sent out their district tech manager, and after spending about 1/2 hour on the phone to the head-end folks, he got it working.

Prior to getting it working, the techs rewired everything from the poll to the attic since they were certain it was a hardware issue.

It was a very frustrating experience, but it has been working well for the last 2 years.

You just need to find the right person who knows what they are doing. Not always an easy thing to do.


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## cwoody222

Agreed! Unfortunately my father isn't as patient - or as pushy - as I am.

They tell him "hardware must be bad, go exchange it" and that's what he wants to do even though I'm telling him there's a 99% chance that's complete bull.


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## cwoody222

Well, turns out the local store DOES carry the boxes (so... now we have no idea why they didn't GIVE HIM ONE last week when he walked in to upgrade his service and made him wait for the mail instead).

But, the new box is doing the same thing (steady blink) so it wasn't defective hardware. Go figure.


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## pmiranda

Is he calling the national self-install toll free line or the local yocals?


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## cwoody222

pmiranda said:


> Is he calling the national self-install toll free line or the local yocals?


First he called the local yocals. They got the CableCARD working and told him the SDV box was defective.

Then he tried the TiVo CableCARD number and they said they can't help with SDV adapters.

Then he went to exchange the Adapter locally and it's not working either.

Next he's going to try the national self-install line.

I'm chatting with their support online too and they are suggesting a tech visit tomorrow. Gee, maybe the same techs they sent out Saturday to do a TiVo install without a CableCARD or SDV adapter? The same techs that were ordered from the store who didn't just hand him a CableCARD and adapter last week? The same techs who didn't know self-installs were even possible?

Plus, they expedited his card & adapter shipment (2 days, instead of 5-7) only because I *****ed and if he agreed to a self-install... but, the self-install is only possible if the phone reps know what they're doing!

Is it almost 2013... why has NOTHING changed in this procedure in so many years?!


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## DaveDFW

cwoody222 said:


> Is it almost 2013... why has NOTHING changed in this procedure in so many years?!


At least in North Texas, TWC has made some big improvements in this process. Tuning adapters are provisioned by the counter folks when you retrieve one at a customer service center, and cablecards are provided without a truck roll and can be paired via a call to the cablecard hotline.

Sorry to hear about your problems--it sounds like not every TWC market has gotten the memo yet.


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## Teeps

DaveDFW said:


> Sorry to hear about your problems--it sounds like not every TWC market has gotten the memo yet.


Not defending T/W; but they are, likely, held hostage by the available "local" pool of talent.

I worked tech support, automotive, in a call center for 27 years.
There were a couple dozen agents, all in the same room. Even then it was difficult to keep everyone on the same page.

So I am not surprised at the difference in quality/accuracy of service between different areas.

I suspect T/W takes a body with a pulse off the street. Trains them for a couple of days. Hands them a script, head set and a phone.

Viola! instant agent taking calls.

Woody have your pops try a different USB cable.


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## cwoody222

The in stallion tech today got the adapter authorized and now it seems good. So no hardware problems just a operator yesterday who had no idea what she was doing.


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## pmiranda

Don't bother with the local idiots or TiVo. Call (866) 606-5889. If they can't solve your issues within half an hour Ill be surprised.


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## cwoody222

He called the local number first even though I told him to call the national one. The TiVo number couldn't help with SDV Adapter issues. He wouldn't make a 3rd call (to the national number) because he was too frustrated


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## cwoody222

Spoke too soon... Adapter is authorized but he's getting LESS channel than he did yesterday. So he's got to call them back again.

Friggin' joke.


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## tatergator1

I hope you'll be calling the National CableCard number. As mentioned previously, they actually know what they are doing as opposed to the useless local customer support.

You might have to wait on hold for a little while, but they should be able to set you straight.


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## Teeps

cwoody222 said:


> Spoke too soon... Adapter is authorized but he's getting LESS channel than he did yesterday. So he's got to call them back again.
> 
> Friggin' joke.


I had similar problems, lack of all expected channels, right after tuning adapter was installed and authorized.

Short Story:
Fault in the home run cable; it was chewed by rodents up at the utility pole.


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## Scopeman

pmiranda said:


> Don't bother with the local idiots or TiVo. Call (866) 606-5889. If they can't solve your issues within half an hour Ill be surprised.


Sadly, it appears your half hour estimate is optimitic, given that I have been on hold for 28 minutes. Odds are I can't even ask for help in the two minutes remaining.

It wouldn't be SO bad if this was not just the monthly repeat of the same old TWC issue - come home, find nothing recorded, green light on TA is solid, TiVo appears fine - but look, once again no EMMs. Maybe a yet another truck roll and another pile of new wire, amps, etc. Every guy who shows up tells me the last one was an idiot. It is like watching a clown car slowly unload in front of my house, one at a time, every 30 days or so.

I'm sure my wife won't mind missing Survivor. <sigh>


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## Scopeman

Finally got off the phone with CableCard support (65 minutes). 90+ EMMS.

But was told to call 485-5555 because I wanted a credit for the lost service.

LOCAL guy would not provide credit because I didn't call at the beginning of the problem, only after I noticed it (??). And his solution was a truck roll for next Monday, at which point they will give me credit from now until then. Unreal, truly not reality-based service.

So when each of you get your monthly bill and wonder why TWC is slipping in modem rental fees, etc - it is because you are paying for my unnecessary truck roll.


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## Teeps

Scopeman said:


> So when each of you get your monthly bill and wonder why TWC is slipping in modem rental fees, etc - it is because you are paying for my unnecessary truck roll.


Yep, I got a post card informing of the modem charge.
Bought my own modem, 2 years it will be amortized.

Recently I've seen FIOS trucks lurking around near my hood; if/when FIOS is available I'm done with T/W.


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## cwoody222

My father never got his call back from them like they promised yesterday. So today he took trip #3 down to his local store and they properly authorized his CableCARD from there to get all his channels.

The saddest part is, he can get FiOS in his area but he was reluctant due to him thinking it would be "too much of a hassle". I tried and tried to talk him into dumping TW but he wouldn't.

Bet he's sorry now.


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## Pilot20

Scopeman said:


> It wouldn't be SO bad if this was not just the monthly repeat of the same old TWC issue - come home, find nothing recorded, green light on TA is solid, TiVo appears fine - *but look, once again no EMMs. Maybe a yet another truck roll and another pile of new wire, amps, etc. Every guy who shows up tells me the last one was an idiot. It is like watching a clown car slowly unload in front of my house, one at a time, every 30 days or so.I'm sure my wife won't mind missing Survivor. <sigh>*




I can so relate to this. It's just like my experience from several years ago. I was so frustrated beyond belief.

One time, after being told that the latest T/A was defective, they sent out a guy who was totally clueless. I asked him if he brought a new T/A with him. He said yes, and proceeded to unbox a new TWC DVR. Are you kidding me. I have a Tivo with cable card. I need a T/A. He didn't even know what a T/A was.

Unbelievable!!!


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## SC0TLANDF0REVER

Placement post for my American Horror Story from Raleigh TWC.

I just don't understand how they can get away with not supporting a legally mandated system. Even their $Hltty 'whole house DVR' is a joke.

As an aside, this forum should allow cursing... as much frustration that goes along with supporting this GD thing.


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## unitron

SC0TLANDF0REVER said:


> Placement post for my American Horror Story from Raleigh TWC.
> 
> I just don't understand how they can get away with not supporting a legally mandated system. Even their $Hltty 'whole house DVR' is a joke.
> 
> As an aside, this forum should allow cursing... as much frustration that goes along with supporting this GD thing.


Greetings fellow TWC victim!

Don't edit this one to add details, put them in a new post to trigger email notifications.


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## njurkovi

I wonder is somebody could help me with the following problem.
I have a 2 channel cable card which until recently has worked well. 
For no apparent reason a few days ago I can only see the first HBO channel (#511 , TWC in san antonio tx) - for all others I get channel not available.

All other (non-HBO) channels work fine.

Regards,
NJ


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## majinbuu147

Are the channels switched digital video? If so you will need a tuning adapter to get those. If you already have a tuning adapter you might need to reboot everything. I've had to reboot my equipment two or three times to get new channels to show up properly. 

Hope that helps ya


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## njurkovi

majinbuu147 said:


> Are the channels switched digital video? If so you will need a tuning adapter to get those. If you already have a tuning adapter you might need to reboot everything. I've had to reboot my equipment two or three times to get new channels to show up properly.
> 
> Hope that helps ya


Yes - sorry for not mentioning that - I do have a tuning adapter, and I booted and rebooted everything many times - still nothing ....
And all these sdv channels have been working properly till about a week ago


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## Teeps

njurkovi said:


> Yes - sorry for not mentioning that - I do have a tuning adapter, and I booted and rebooted everything many times - still nothing ....
> And all these sdv channels have been working properly till about a week ago


If you rebooted the ta and TiVo by pulling the plug from the unit.
Then it's time to call time warner.

At 866-532-2598


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## Teeps

Teeps said:


> Yep, I got a post card informing of the modem charge.
> Bought my own modem, 2 years it will be amortized.
> 
> Recently I've seen FIOS trucks lurking around near my hood; if/when FIOS is available I'm done with T/W.


Update: FIOS still not available in my area.... :-(


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## ncbill

So the cc & ta have arrived.

Is there a way to know which channels use sdv in my area?

I'm thinking of simply using the cc and not the ta, since the latter seems to cause the most problems.


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## dlfl

ncbill said:


> So the cc & ta have arrived.
> 
> Is there a way to know which channels use sdv in my area?
> 
> I'm thinking of simply using the cc and not the ta, since the latter seems to cause the most problems.


I've never heard of an easy way. I suspect it would just be easier to run without the TA and see what channels from your expected lineup are missing. In my TWC region it's about half the HD channels.

What scares me is I think the TA will become essential to get any channels after your TWC region switches to auto HD/SD, in which there is only one number for a channel and the system decides whether to send you the HD or SD version. I believe all TWC regions will be switching to that eventually. Some already have. I would love to be assured my fear is wrong -- anyone know for sure?


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## Teeps

ncbill said:


> So the cc & ta have arrived.
> 
> Is there a way to know which channels use sdv in my area?
> 
> I'm thinking of simply using the cc and not the ta, since the latter seems to cause the most problems.


If your TiVo is not modified and has a solid power supply.
The T/A should not be a problem

Putting the T/A on a lamp timer* is the easiest solution to most T/A related problems.

* cut power to ta for 4 hours a day.


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## gkottner

ncbill said:


> So the cc & ta have arrived.
> 
> Is there a way to know which channels use sdv in my area?
> 
> I'm thinking of simply using the cc and not the ta, since the latter seems to cause the most problems.


Here's a link to a post I made listing everything I get with a cable card but without a tuning adapter with TWC Cincinnati. I have the standard package.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10223284#post10223284


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## hforman

revx said:


> I just got off a call with TWC in Dallas. They said they do offer multi-stream cards and the Tuning Adapter is available and required for the SDV channels.
> 
> It took the guy quite a while to come up with these answers, though. And I think if I hadn't asked the right questions they would have steered me wrong. I got the impression that the *only* card they have is the M-card.
> 
> Hope that helps...
> re\/x


What I found with Spectrum in Orange County, California is that, if you get some off-the-wall answer from someone in advanced support, just call again and you will get an entirely different answer from someone else and tell you NOT to do what the other tech said or it could be bad.... One tech wanted the service guy to rewire my TA with a spliter coming off the TA in some weird combination.


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## dougdingle

There are only two ways to wire the cable feed with a TA. 

First way is to come from the incoming cable into the TA, then out of the TA to the TiVo. So the cable signal goes through the TA, then to the TiVo.

Second way is to come from the incoming cable to a two way splitter. One output from the splitter goes into the TA, the other output from the splitter goes into the TiVo. So the cable signal does not go through the TA to the TiVo, but directly to it.

I prefer the second way, as it's one less variable to consider when things don't work right.


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## cwoody222

So here's a new one.

Last weekend I set my father's new Bolt (upgrade offer), which was replacing a Premier. Moved the CC and then got the TA working. Took 2 calls (the MOCA adapter caused the TiVo to freak out and not pair... wasn't until I figured that out and called back that it all worked). The operator suggested he could save $50/mo by switching to a new Spectrum plan, but he had to swap out modems, for the faster speed. Deal!

Two days later, my father went to the local office and swapped the modem and took the new price/offer. He got home, and the TA had stopped working. It was blinking forever.

He called a few days later and was told there was an "outage" in the area and they couldn't do anything. Next day, same "outage". I called and demanded to talk to the CC support (the direct line no longer works). Turns out the person at the office when he swapped the modem never completed the order, it was left as an "open work order" so the TA wasn't working. The CC operator was able to close it on his end and then it all worked.

It's always something with them!

So happy I have Fios, 1 single CC, built-in MOCA, and a Mini w/ my Roamio… so much easier!


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## hforman

My "problem" keeps rearing its head. I'm convinced a neighbor is running MOCA without a MOCA filter and their Internet is spilling over into my cable as I noticed they still have a cable connected to Spectrum. I don't want to go with FIOS because the company providing it (Frontier) was doing my land line and couldn't support it and the service was AWFUL. I mean, if they can't do POTS, do you think I'd trust these idiots with fiber channel? Not a chance. At least with Spectrum, they send people over to your house that have a vague idea of what they are doing. Even if two service guys threw up their hands and said "I can't fix this" and left. Yes, and you get some first-level Tuning Adapter support now from people who don't have a clue and prefer to lie to you thinking you are "just a customer" and don't know much (v. being a 20 year tuning adapter customer). 

If interested, if my TA goes into "broadcast Only" mode, I can:

a) wait and it fixes itself (magic?)
b) wait, but I have to power reboot the TA and or the cable box (many times over 2-3 weeks)
c) May have to reseat the cable card and sometimes along with the USB cable. No idea what that does but it doesn't always work.

Spectrum (when the issue happens) tells me they can't access the TA box (no kidding) but they get upset when I remind them the household wiring was bypassed completely on some of the tests.

It's working for now. Except for weird issues with my real Cisco cable box for my series 2 Tivo upstairs.


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## Teeps

cwoody222 said:


> The operator suggested he could save $50/mo by switching to a new Spectrum plan, but he had to swap out modems, for the faster speed. Deal!


Wondering what was the new save 50 bucks deal?


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## hforman

Teeps said:


> Wondering what was the new save 50 bucks deal?


Yeah, I was thinking that myself because of what I went through.

I had a Time Warner Account. Even when Spectrum picked up TW, I stayed with my TW plan. But then I was trying to get better cable prices and they managed to "interpret" what I was saying (was only an inquiry) as "Yeah, go pull the plug on my TW account details" so they moved me to Spectrum plans where they gave me 100 MB/sec BUT, I only needed 50 at the most (I don't do much streaming -- what I really needed at the time was faster UPLOAD speed in order to use SKYPE better).

I think the $50 deal was coming from what the poster said was CC, probably Cox Cable -- guess. So, CWOODY222 would have to answer that one. I'd go with FIOS if the price was better for both the cable TV and Internet but NOT with Frontier. Spectrum is OK if you realize you have to call several times to get someone who knows what they are talking about (technically) and who isn't going to lie to you.


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## Teeps

hforman said:


> Yeah, I was thinking that myself because of what I went through.
> 
> I had a Time Warner Account. Even when Spectrum picked up TW, I stayed with my TW plan. But then I was trying to get better cable prices and they managed to "interpret" what I was saying (was only an inquiry) as "Yeah, go pull the plug on my TW account details" so they moved me to Spectrum plans where they gave me 100 MB/sec BUT, I only needed 50 at the most (I don't do much streaming -- what I really needed at the time was faster UPLOAD speed in order to use SKYPE better).
> 
> I think the $50 deal was coming from what the poster said was CC, probably Cox Cable -- guess. So, CWOODY222 would have to answer that one. I'd go with FIOS if the price was better for both the cable TV and Internet but NOT with Frontier. Spectrum is OK if you realize you have to call several times to get someone who knows what they are talking about (technically) and who isn't going to lie to you.


Understood. I would drop time warner/expectrum in a hot minute if FIOS came to town.
I've never thought about faster upload speed, what did they quote you for a bump in upload speed?


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## hforman

Teeps said:


> Understood. I would drop time warner/expectrum in a hot minute if FIOS came to town.
> I've never thought about faster upload speed, what did they quote you for a bump in upload speed?


I think I went from 10 to 12 mbps. Remember that your ISP doesn't really want you running a "server" from your home. They just forget about things like "Skype". I heard FIOS was, at one point, 50 down and 50 up. I didn't go with 300 down because I don't want to pay for bandwidth that I don't use. If I ever go with "streaming", that might change. They are starting to offer 950 down (no idea on the upload speed) but, once again, I could have lived with just 50. Since I am retired and don't skype anymore, it is all irrelevant. I won't go with FIOS as long as Frontier is running the show here. But I never say "never".


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## cwoody222

Teeps said:


> Wondering what was the new save 50 bucks deal?


It was switching from legacy TWC plan to a Spectrum plan.


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## Teeps

cwoody222 said:


> It was switching from legacy TWC plan to a Spectrum plan.


That's what I thought.

Do you have their phone service too?
Other than 100mps download, what else did you get for $50 less?

I've got TW legacy too, no phone; cable tv, internet, 3 cable cards and 2 tuning adapters.
To get the channels I want (plus about another 100 or more that I don't) my plan looks like this:

DIGITAL ACCESS
STANDARD TV
STARTER TV
VARIETY PASS
VARIETY PASS PLUS
Internet is 50mps download which is typically closer to 70mps; but I don't stream other than some youtube videos so 50 is adequate for my usage.
All that for just under 150 a month!
I would love to down grade the bill to 100 a month; but I fear it won't be the same offerings plus how long is the $50 less going to last?


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## cwoody222

I'm not 100% sure on the details; it was my parents' plan (I was calling on their behalf).

They have phone service, Internet and cable + HBO. I don't know which cable plan but they basically get "everything" except other premiums besides HBO. They have 2 CC and 2 tuning adapters and rent a modem as well.

TWC plan was approx. $250/mo. New Spectrum plan was approx. $200/mo (not a promo price) and everything was kept the same except the Internet speed went from 50mps to 150mps, requiring a new modem. That's PLENTY speed for them; they have a single desktop computer and not even any smartphones on their WIFi!


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## cwoody222

Last year I moved and was able to switch from TWC to Fios. Honestly I pay about the same with Fios, but my speeds are better (not so much after Spectrum), especially uploads, if you care about that.

But my service is rock solid plus I just hated TWC with a passion so I'd rather pay the $ to VZ than to TWC/Spectrum.

When my promo deal runs out next year I'll have to seriously look at things because at that point I'll end up paying significantly more than I would with Spectrum.


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## Teeps

cwoody222 said:


> Last year I moved and was able to switch from TWC to Fios. Honestly I pay about the same with Fios, but my speeds are better (not so much after Spectrum), especially uploads, if you care about that.
> 
> But my service is rock solid plus I just hated TWC with a passion so I'd rather pay the $ to VZ than to TWC/Spectrum.
> 
> When my promo deal runs out next year I'll have to seriously look at things because at that point I'll end up paying significantly more than I would with Spectrum.


250 a month! And I thought my bill at a buck fifty was outrageous. 
Guess I'll shut up and keep moving along.


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