# Time Warner Austin tuning adapter?



## dpratt

I know there are a few techs at TW Austin who read this board. I know you guys probably don't have any idea about release dates and whatnot, but have the higher ups even started getting you guys ready for a rollout yet?

It's been quite some time that I've been on TWC, and it seems like every day a new HD channel that I cannot access is added. I would have gone to DirectTV a long time ago if it wasn't for the awesomeness that is the TiVo interface, although I'm getting a little impatient.

Please do not interpret this as me being mad at the techs there - you guys are just doing what the execs decide is a good idea. I'm just concerned that they don't really care about the (admittedly) small fraction of their customers that have TiVo.


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## BVK

dpratt said:


> I know there are a few techs at TW Austin who read this board. I know you guys probably don't have any idea about release dates and whatnot, but have the higher ups even started getting you guys ready for a rollout yet?
> 
> It's been quite some time that I've been on TWC, and it seems like every day a new HD channel that I cannot access is added. I would have gone to DirectTV a long time ago if it wasn't for the awesomeness that is the TiVo interface, although I'm getting a little impatient.
> 
> Please do not interpret this as me being mad at the techs there - you guys are just doing what the execs decide is a good idea. I'm just concerned that they don't really care about the (admittedly) small fraction of their customers that have TiVo.


Funny you should post this. I just called TW in Austin this morning. Got a customer service rep named malisa. She said she had NEVER heard of SDV. She said she would ask a tech. When she came back she said he had never heard of it either. I told her this is odd because Austin (Mr. Bowen) was one of the first adopters and gave speeches as to what to put in the switched tier, etc.

Anyway, I waited one hour and called back. Got another guy. He said that he thought the dongles had arrived, but sales had not priced them. He said maybe by the end of the month.

I'll believe it when I see them!!!

BVK


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## pmiranda

I finally got my 9.4 service update with the Tuning Adapter menu... all I need now is a Tuning Adapter!
I even recently resolved a problem I'd been having with a switched channel on my regular cable box.


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## brimimc

After reading this post I called TWC Austin to find out if tuning adapters were any closer to being available.

After which I posted my results to the tivo support forums: http://forums.tivo.com:80/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10390015

I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Time Warner Austin this afternoon and was frustrated to find out that they have no plans to support tuning adapter currently and that they wouldn't even be supporting cable cards if there wasn't a government regulation to do so.

If there are any TWC Austin techs that have differing information that would ease my mind, please let us know.


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## cableguy763

brimimc said:


> After reading this post I called TWC Austin to find out if tuning adapters were any closer to being available.
> 
> After which I posted my results to the tivo support forums: http://forums.tivo.com:80/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10390015
> 
> I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Time Warner Austin this afternoon and was frustrated to find out that they have no plans to support tuning adapter currently and that they wouldn't even be supporting cable cards if there wasn't a government regulation to do so.
> 
> If there are any TWC Austin techs that have differing information that would ease my mind, please let us know.


Time Warner Austin will definitely be supporting the tuning adaptor.


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## pmiranda

The phone support people almost never know what is really going on.
CableGuy: if you carry any sway with the managers for the front-line phone people, I beg you and them that they be educated on what a Tuning Adapter/Resolver is by the time they're available. If nothing else, a short memo that they should refer questions to a few designated people that know what they're doing.
I'd rather have to leave a message and get a call-back than waste half an hour trying to convince a brick wall that they are supposed to handle it!

For now, I will patiently sit back and wait for an official announcement.


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## TexasGrillChef

While I am in Dallas with TWC I did contact my "Friend" who works in the TWC corporate office & asked him if he knew anything about the Tuning adapter for Austin.

When he got back to me, he informed me that the Tuning Adapter is coming to Austin & should be available by the end of September at the EARLIEST to hopefully no later than November 15th.

He went on to add though... that there are certain variables that could change when they become available to the end user. Austin does *not *yet have the "units" in stock. They have been ordered but have not be received or tested yet. He was also under the impression that the "Tuning Adapter/Resolver" are now required by the FCC .

TGC


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## TiVoLance

My nonswitched HD channnels haven't been recieved in about 2 weeks. The channels show for like 2 seconds then a black screen that has the message "HDMI connection not permitted. Press SELECT for more information". Pressing SELECT does nothing. I called Time Warner Austin and the lady claims that HD channels are "down" and have been down for a while. She futher explained that there is no ETA when they will be back up but they are working on it. That sounds really bogus to me. Anyone else with this issue?


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## cableguy763

TiVoLance said:


> My nonswitched HD channnels haven't been recieved in about 2 weeks. The channels show for like 2 seconds then a black screen that has the message "HDMI connection not permitted. Press SELECT for more information". Pressing SELECT does nothing. I called Time Warner Austin and the lady claims that HD channels are "down" and have been down for a while. She futher explained that there is no ETA when they will be back up but they are working on it. That sounds really bogus to me. Anyone else with this issue?


There are no HD channels down at this time.


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## TiVoLance

Crud I guess I need to call back and be on hold forever again. Why would they tell me that?


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## cableguy763

Your hdmi connection between your tivo and tv is probably out of synch. Try turning the tv off and back on.


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## Raygun

I guess San Antonio would probably have about the same time line for SDV Tuners?
Thanks


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## echoout

Alright, I'm officially sweating it. I'm excited about UTs new defense and the first game is 3 weeks from tomorrow. Sure would be nice to catch all the weird games and be able to watch them on my own TV!!! I think last year one game came on FSN SW and one was pay-per-view. COME ON RESOLVER!!!


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## bullsi1911

Humor me for not knowing exactly what a 'tuning adapter' is-

Does that mean in the next couple of months I will be able to get all the channels of HD on my TiVo Series 3 with 2 cable cards? I'll be able to see the channels that I'm paying for but they won't let me? (Why do they need 2 way communication on basic channels? Is there some nefarious reason that then need to know when I am watching FoodNetwork HD?)

If so, TWC- Austin may not get the finger the second another option becomes available.


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## jrm01

bullsi1911 said:


> Humor me for not knowing exactly what a 'tuning adapter' is-


Check this out:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=357703
The references to "dongle" are now called tuner adaptor.


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## acvthree

The tuning adapter will allow the Tivo to record channels that currently are not viewable due to SDV.

Some cable companies have blocked channels that are not part of SDV from going to third party devices that use cable cards. The tuning adapter will have no effect on those.

Al


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## echoout

So here's a question for Austin TWC/Tivo folks. Let's say I wanted to watch a certain college football team's opening game on Aug 30 that is only being shown on FSNSW PPV and I would REALLY prefer not to go to a bar or outside my house as I have a 4 month old. 

Would I be able to go get a DVR for just a few days? How much would the single month of DVR cost me? 

Thanks! steven


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## jrm01

echoout said:


> So here's a question for Austin TWC/Tivo folks. Let's say I wanted to watch a certain college football team's opening game on Aug 30 that is only being shown on FSNSW PVP and I would REALLY prefer not to go to a bar or outside my house as I have a 4 month old.
> 
> Would I be able to go get a DVR for just a few days? How much would the single month of DVR cost me?
> 
> Thanks! steven


More than your bar tab.


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## rckstrang

Can one of you guys tell me how many channels are SDV in Austin? Are there channels that don't have SDV but are still digital?

Just want to know what to expect. Thanks.


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## echoout

That's fine with me. I was just wondering if anyone else had done this and how much it might cost. Not sure if I'm missing some hidden charges or something.



jrm01 said:


> More than your bar tab.


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## jrm01

echoout said:


> That's fine with me. I was just wondering if anyone else had done this and how much it might cost. Not sure if I'm missing some hidden charges or something.


TiVo requires a one year commitment for the subscription. There is no ethical way to get it for just a weekend.

Your cable company may not require term contracts for their DVR, but there would probably be installation fees.


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## mfogarty5

jrm01 said:


> TiVo requires a one year commitment for the subscription. There is no ethical way to get it for just a weekend.
> 
> Your cable company may not require term contracts for their DVR, but there would probably be installation fees.


I think you misunderstood the OP. He wants to know if he can get a cable company DVR for the weekend to watch a football game that is on an SDV channel that his TiVo cannot tune.

The answer here in Charlotte would be "yes" because you can just go pick up a TWC DVR at the mall, TWC office, etc. and return it to the same location.

Since you are in an area with SDV you should see if you can get a TWC DVR free of charge until the resolver comes out.


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## jrm01

rckstrang said:


> Can one of you guys tell me how many channels are SDV in Austin? Are there channels that don't have SDV but are still digital?
> 
> Just want to know what to expect. Thanks.


Check out the list here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316313&highlight=austin&page=101


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## echoout

Exactly. That's what I was hoping. Isn't the DVR less than $10 a month?



mfogarty5 said:


> I think you misunderstood the OP. He wants to know if he can get a cable company DVR for the weekend to watch a football game that is on an SDV channel that his TiVo cannot tune.
> 
> The answer here in Charlotte would be "yes" because you can just go pick up a TWC DVR at the mall, TWC office, etc. and return it to the same location.
> 
> Since you are in an area with SDV you should see if you can get a TWC DVR free of charge until the resolver comes out.


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## ajwees41

PPV is most likely 2way which the tivo can't get.


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## echoout

Wow. This is a pretty schizophrenic conversation.



ajwees41 said:


> PPV is most likely 2way which the tivo can't get.


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## ajwees41

echoout said:


> Wow. This is a pretty schizophrenic conversation.


I was replying to mfogarty5 who thinks PPV is SDV


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## echoout

Oh. Gotcha. Whoo!



ajwees41 said:


> I was replying to mfogarty5 who thinks PPV is SDV


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## jrm01

ajwees41 said:


> PPV is most likely 2way which the tivo can't get.


It is two way. But one way can be done by a phone call ordering the program and then it can be viewed on TiVo.


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## lrhorer

echoout said:


> Exactly. That's what I was hoping. Isn't the DVR less than $10 a month?


No, but the STB is. If all he wants is to watch some PPV programs, then all he needs is an HD STB. If he already has an STB, the HD version is probably the same price (it is in San Antonio), and it won't cost him a penny other than time and gas to exchange his STB at one of the TWC offices. If he doesn't have an STB already, he probably can pick one up for something like $7.95 a month with no committment. Most CATV companies do not require a truck roll to add an STB or DVR to one's account. A little smooth talking might even get the costs waived.


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## lrhorer

jrm01 said:


> It is two way. But one way can be done by a phone call ordering the program and then it can be viewed on TiVo.


If they allow it, it is technically possible. I don't think they will be allowing it.


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## ajwees41

jrm01 said:


> It is two way. But one way can be done by a phone call ordering the program and then it can be viewed on TiVo.


it depends on if the local cable company still offers a PPV channel in there lineup. Cox here has two Special PPV channels and the rest are ondemand.


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## texaslabrat

echoout said:


> So here's a question for Austin TWC/Tivo folks. Let's say I wanted to watch a certain college football team's opening game on Aug 30 that is only being shown on FSNSW PPV and I would REALLY prefer not to go to a bar or outside my house as I have a 4 month old.
> 
> Would I be able to go get a DVR for just a few days? How much would the single month of DVR cost me?
> 
> Thanks! steven


Total cost for the month will around $20-ish. You get charged for an additional STB (which may or may not be discounted depending on what other stuff you have and who you talk to) in addition to the $6.95 DVR service fee. They *might* also charge you an additional outlet fee. Still less than a bartab and a babysitter. Since there's no contract on the equipment, you can take it back the Monday after the game if you want..you might even get the DVR service fee and the STB charge pro-rated. Can't hurt to try.


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## texaslabrat

rckstrang said:


> Can one of you guys tell me how many channels are SDV in Austin? Are there channels that don't have SDV but are still digital?
> 
> Just want to know what to expect. Thanks.


Most of the HD channels are SDV. A fair amount of the digital simul-cast SD channels are also SDV. The most popular ones (ESPN, HBO, and the like) are not SDV. All the west-coast movie channels are SDV. And yes, there are digital channels that are not SDV (redundant answer but I wanted to make that clear since you specifically asked). I keep a time warner - issued DVR/STB on-hand for the few times that something's on that my Tivo can't currently tune to until such time the tuning adapter is released and/or the series 4 with tru2way functionality comes out.

If you poke around on google you can dig up a SDV channel linup for Austin.


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## Stick 2005

Seems like I keep on getting fewer and fewer HD channels with Time Warner Austin... Anyone know an update on the tuning adaptor? Seems a waste to pay as much as we do for HD channels that now seem limited to about 8 channels...


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## LakeLBJ

This is crazy - I just had a Tivo HD with Cable Cards installed in Round Rock last night (install took 6 hours and the tech put his foot through my ceiling at one point). Cable Cards finally working today after a supervisor came out.

Problem is, I'm getting hardly any HD channels, seriously, hardly any. Just the locals and ESPN HD and maybe two more. Are THAT many channels SDV?

Also, I've had my Tivo HD for a few days now and it's still stuck on 8.1. How long till it gets 9.4?


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## pmiranda

I don't think we've lost any HD's... we just aren't adding any I want (how about SciFi and Speed?)... I'm not sure if all areas get it, but I seem to get ESPN2HD, even though it's not on the official "menu".

Very frustrated even with the TW box at this point on SDV... instead of recording the F1 race from Valencia my old TiVo got a still frame for 3 hours out of the settop. I could sit on hold for 20 minutes to get a service credit, but it was faster to find it on bittorent and thanks to pyTivo, I'm watching it sharp and clear from ITV on my S3 instead of fuzzy and dull on Speed. WTF am I paying TWA an extra $12 a month for again?


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## echoout

All of the SDV channels that I want are actually SD sports channels. ESPNU, FuelTV, the regional FSNs, etc. So LAME!!


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## pmiranda

echoout said:


> All of the SDV channels that I want are actually SD sports channels. ESPNU, FuelTV, the regional FSNs, etc. So LAME!!


Yep, the whole sports pack was among the first casualties of SDV here. I don't count the new HD's as a loss since I never had them (and mostly wouldn't watch them if I did).

If the tuning widget wasn't coming soon, I'd drop the sports pack and the extra box I need to see it and just get the few shows I really miss from the internet. (Good thing my cable modem is reliable


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## LakeLBJ

According to TW, these are the only HD Channels you can get with a Cable Card in Austin. If we can't get the tuning adapter in the next few months, I'm probably going to dump Tivo and go back to the 8300HD for awhile.

1501 KTBC- HD

1511 KVUE-HD

1521 KXAN 36/4 -HD

1531 KEYE HD

1541 KLRU HD

1617 Discovery HD Theater

1635 ESPN-HD

1636 ESPN2-HD (Suggested by cableguy763 and I just confirmed it)

1654 TNT HD TNT HD

1656 Universal HD

1670 HBO East High Definition

1675 Cinemax HD Cinemax East

1678 Showtime High Definition

1687 MOJO

1692 HD Net

1693 HD Net Movies


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## cableguy763

You can add espn2 to that list.


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## nploop102

TimeWarner is a freakin rip off. I knew I was going to lose a lot of HD channels by switching to Tivo and I was ok with it. What really bugged me was that I could not pick up the cards from their lobby, insert the cards, make a phone call to their tech line, and start watching tv. Instead, they had to send out somebody to do that very simple task which ended up costing me 40 bucks for each card! Now is that a rip off or what??!?! On a positive note, my bill went down about 30/mo when they took away one box, one dvr, and the sports pack off my bill. The savings should pay for the cost of Tivo plus the 1TB drive in about 2 years.

Sorry for the rant but I am eagerly waiting for the availability of the tuning adapters too. I want my sports pack back so I can record the last few F1 races. Ferrari isn't doing well though but I guess there's always next year.


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## ajwees41

nploop102 said:


> TimeWarner is a freakin rip off. I knew I was going to lose a lot of HD channels by switching to Tivo and I was ok with it. What really bugged me was that I could not pick up the cards from their lobby, insert the cards, make a phone call to their tech line, and start watching tv. Instead, they had to send out somebody to do that very simple task which ended up costing me 40 bucks for each card! Now is that a rip off or what??!?! On a positive note, my bill went down about 30/mo when they took away one box, one dvr, and the sports pack off my bill. The savings should pay for the cost of Tivo plus the 1TB drive in about 2 years.
> 
> Sorry for the rant but I am eagerly waiting for the availability of the tuning adapters too. I want my sports pack back so I can record the last few F1 races. Ferrari isn't doing well though but I guess there's always next year.


alot of cable companies don't allow self installs of cable cards yet.


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## echoout

Yeah, I bit the bullet and went over to TWC to rent a cable box for a few days so I can watch the UT opening game. The good news is they're charging me exactly $1 for the box but I sure do dread hooking that thing up. Yeesh.


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## nploop102

echoout said:


> Yeah, I bit the bullet and went over to TWC to rent a cable box for a few days so I can watch the UT opening game. The good news is they're charging me exactly $1 for the box but I sure do dread hooking that thing up. Yeesh.


Go Horns! I hope this won't be a replay of the game against UCF last year.


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## cableguy763

nploop102 said:


> Go Horns! I hope this won't be a replay of the game against UCF last year.


I do hope it's a replay of last year's A&M game though.


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## echoout

I'm not making any predictions but I wouldn't count on that. I am quite honestly pulling for all of the Big 12 teams in the out-of-conference games. I would love to see all the best teams playing each other come October. I wish A&M were still good. And poor Baylor...man.



cableguy763 said:


> I do hope it's a replay of last year's A&M game though.


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## spolebitski

Sorry to hijack your thread, i'm a TWC customer in Wisconsin.

This weekend we got the big ten network and i am guessing that they have switched to SDV as several channels (HD content) is no longer available.

The CST had no clue what the tuning adapter was and then found something about it and would be available sometime, exact date unknown.

Is the tuning adapter really going to come out or can they keep saying someday it will come out, a year later they can say still working on it, someday?

I understand that exact information is not available but does anyone know anything more than "someday"?


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## Austin Bike

LakeLBJ said:


> This is crazy - I just had a Tivo HD with Cable Cards installed in Round Rock last night (install took 6 hours and the tech put his foot through my ceiling at one point). Cable Cards finally working today after a supervisor came out.
> 
> Problem is, I'm getting hardly any HD channels, seriously, hardly any. Just the locals and ESPN HD and maybe two more. Are THAT many channels SDV?
> 
> Also, I've had my Tivo HD for a few days now and it's still stuck on 8.1. How long till it gets 9.4?


I had the same experience. Except the foot through the ceiling.

After a week with cable cards I took them back to TWC and bought an HD antenna.

Now I get all the local stations in HD for free and all of my standard cable content in SD.

I am interested in the tuning adapter if it ever comes out but the cost/benefit of cable cards is a negative ratio with TWC.


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## George Cifranci

Here in Columbus Ohio our Time Warner customer service told me this when asked about the Tuning Adapter...

"The tuning resolver is still undergoing development testing at our
corporate offices. I don?t have a date as to when this product will
become available to our customers, but you will be notified when it
becomes available."

As it stands now 4 of our HD channels (Discovery HD, History HD, MHDTV and now The Big 10 Network) and a number of our SD channels are SDV.


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## rckstrang

jrm01 said:


> Check out the list here:
> 
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316313&highlight=austin&page=101


Out of all those channels that are SDV only I see only three that would bother me.

When they say "switched simulcast" I assume that means you can get it with a TiVo HD?

And I noticed there are many stations left off the list all together like USA, FX, A&E (regular), REAL TV, CNN. I'm sure you get those. Are they not listed because they are not SDV at all?

I also noticed HBO HD and Showtime HD are not listed. I actually think I could live in Austin with my TiVo HD without the tuning adapter.

I would still want it however.


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## texaslabrat

rckstrang said:


> Out of all those channels that are SDV only I see only three that would bother me.
> 
> When they say "switched simulcast" I assume that means you can get it with a TiVo HD?


Yes, though you are generally relegated to the analog version (the digital version being offered via SDV)



> And I noticed there are many stations left off the list all together like USA, FX, A&E (regular), REAL TV, CNN. I'm sure you get those. Are they not listed because they are not SDV at all?


Yes, you can get them...but again, in some cases only the analog version is available without SDV.



> I also noticed HBO HD and Showtime HD are not listed. I actually think I could live in Austin with my TiVo HD without the tuning adapter.


yes, HBO HD and Showtime HD are currently not switched...thus available with a current Tivo HD + CableCards.



> I would still want it however.


Ditto...I hope the guestimates of end of September for initial availability hold true. I still keep an HD STB from TW around for those things that I can't get with the Tivo...but flipping back and forth (and losing the Tivo's UI in the process) is definitely not optimal.

BTW can someone confirm that Cinemax HD is available on the Tivo HD/CC ? I don't receive it, but perhaps I just need to put in a call to have my CC's channel listing adjusted.


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## lrhorer

spolebitski said:


> Is the tuning adapter really going to come out or can they keep saying someday it will come out, a year later they can say still working on it, someday?


No, it, or rather they, are very real. They have been demonstrated for any number of journalists, and they have passed certification with CableLabs. TiVo's latest release, 9.4, supports them. Beta testing has either alreeady begun or will soon begin in a number of test markets. It is still unknown what the availablity date will be in any market, or how many will be available, and how much any market will be charging. Some have stated an open-ended intent of supplying them free, but no firm commitment has been stated by any system, AFAIK.



spolebitski said:


> I understand that exact information is not available but does anyone know anything more than "someday"?


I personally don't think they will be in most TiVo owner's hands until early 2009, but some TiVo owners might get them prior to Christmas, or possibly even prior to Thanksgiving. It wouldn't surprise me if no one has any until early 2009, especially in specific cities. I would be very surprised if they are not generally available to most TiVo owners in systems which have deployed SDV by spring 2009.


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## lrhorer

LakeLBJ said:


> (install took 6 hours and the tech put his foot through my ceiling at one point).


 Well, isn't that special?


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## ajwees41

rckstrang said:


> Out of all those channels that are SDV only I see only three that would bother me.
> 
> When they say "switched simulcast" I assume that means you can get it with a TiVo HD?
> 
> And I noticed there are many stations left off the list all together like USA, FX, A&E (regular), REAL TV, CNN. I'm sure you get those. Are they not listed because they are not SDV at all?
> 
> I also noticed HBO HD and Showtime HD are not listed. I actually think I could live in Austin with my TiVo HD without the tuning adapter.
> 
> I would still want it however.


No you can't get SDV with a cablecard at all no matter what device the cable card is in. It is only the cable company boxes with and without cablecards will get them because they need 2way communications.


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## routerman

texaslabrat said:


> BTW can someone confirm that Cinemax HD is available on the Tivo HD/CC ? I don't receive it, but perhaps I just need to put in a call to have my CC's channel listing adjusted.


I am seeing Cinemax HD on 723 MHZ. From past threads, this is a SDV frequency in my area. So Cinemax HD is likely a SDV channel. If it is, they are not available on TiVo CCs. I am in Austin so I only know about my area.


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## pmiranda

nploop102 said:


> I want my sports pack back so I can record the last few F1 races.


Me too. If the new DirecTiVo actually happens, the clock is ticking on TWA rolling out Speed in HD and the Tuning Adapter... DirecTV/TiVo Deal


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## GBK33

George Cifranci said:


> Here in Columbus Ohio our Time Warner customer service told me this when asked about the Tuning Adapter...
> 
> "The tuning resolver is still undergoing development testing at our
> corporate offices. I don?t have a date as to when this product will
> become available to our customers, but you will be notified when it
> becomes available."
> 
> As it stands now 4 of our HD channels (Discovery HD, History HD, MHDTV and now The Big 10 Network) and a number of our SD channels are SDV.


you had better luck than me...I haven't been able to get one person on the line who even knows what one is.

-George


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## danny1010

Not sure if this has already been posted...

Today, I was surprised to find that my Series3 recorded a TiVo suggestion from TBS HD since I thought TW had it on the SDV side of things. The recording was intact, so I decided to check out the channel live. Well, low and behold, I am now able to tune TBS HD now.

And with a little experimentation, I found these other channels are now available without SDV:

1611 HGTV HD
1612 Food Network HD
1653 TBS HD
1660 A&E HD

It doesn't replace not having the tuning adapter yet but it's definitely a step in the right direction. :up:


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## LostInAustin

danny1010 said:


> Not sure if this has already been posted...
> 
> Today, I was surprised to find that my Series3 recorded a TiVo suggestion from TBS HD since I thought TW had it on the SDV side of things. The recording was intact, so I decided to check out the channel live. Well, low and behold, I am now able to tune TBS HD now.
> 
> And with a little experimentation, I found these other channels are now available without SDV:
> 
> 1611 HGTV HD
> 1612 Food Network HD
> 1653 TBS HD
> 1660 A&E HD
> 
> It doesn't replace not having the tuning adapter yet but it's definitely a step in the right direction. :up:


Whoa, news to me! Thanks, I'll check it out when I get home.


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## danny1010

> Originally Posted by danny1010 View Post
> Not sure if this has already been posted...
> 
> Today, I was surprised to find that my Series3 recorded a TiVo suggestion from TBS HD since I thought TW had it on the SDV side of things. The recording was intact, so I decided to check out the channel live. Well, low and behold, I am now able to tune TBS HD now.
> 
> And with a little experimentation, I found these other channels are now available without SDV:
> 
> 1611 HGTV HD
> 1612 Food Network HD
> 1653 TBS HD
> 1660 A&E HD
> 
> It doesn't replace not having the tuning adapter yet but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
> 
> 
> 
> Whoa, news to me! Thanks, I'll check it out when I get home.
Click to expand...

I just went back to check out my new HD channels, and they're gone again. :down:

I must have just gotten lucky and tuned into them when the frequency just happened to be right. What a tease... Sorry for the false alarm.


----------



## dpratt

This is just a bump reminder.

To The Powers That Be - I will be the best beta tester you've ever seen for a consumer electronics product. :>

My Series 3 is currently hooked up to TWA cable, and being able to test a tuning adapter would make my TiVo logo-guy smile even bigger.


----------



## rv65

I too would like a tuning resolver. I was thinking of getting a 37" HDTV in another room and was thinking of getting a tivo. Time Warner san diego added 2 more HD channels which are SDV. I'm also considering the HD XL model. Too bad TWC San Diego will not let people install their own cable cards.


----------



## LakeLBJ

danny1010 said:


> I just went back to check out my new HD channels, and they're gone again. :down:
> 
> I must have just gotten lucky and tuned into them when the frequency just happened to be right. What a tease... Sorry for the false alarm.


You may want to check again - I am getting those four new channels just fine as of Saturday morning 9/13 in Round Rock. No Texas football today though...

Guess I get to check out these remastered HD Seinfeld eps on TBS-HD now...


----------



## danny1010

It's funny because they're back (for the most part) for me too. But every once in a while, I lose them again. Very strange... but I am glad to get TBS.


----------



## gqkull

Any words lately on the testing?


----------



## TexasGrillChef

If your in the San Antonio/Austin area the Tuning adapter will be available mid November.

*IN LIMITED QUANTITIES!*
The Phone techs/Customer service agents won't know about the units being available, prices, or adding to your account until the *DAY *THEY are made available.

So if your in the SA/Austin area... Start calling TWC daily around November 15th.

TGC

Oh... and *YES*... a *TRUCK ROLL* will sadly be required. My "contact" with TWC does *NOT* have any information on what the pricing will be on the Tuning adapters.


----------



## pmiranda

So two weeks after the end of the F1 season I might be able to record Speed on my S3 again :-( Oh well, at least I should be able to get it working well before next year.


----------



## lrhorer

TexasGrillChef said:


> Oh... and *YES*... a *TRUCK ROLL* will sadly be required. My "contact" with TWC does *NOT* have any information on what the pricing will be on the Tuning adapters.


It's truly silly, but not surprising - assuming it will be true for your local TWC system. That said, raising a good little bit of a fuss may well induce them to defer the cost of the truck roll. When I say, "Fuss", I don't mean you should be impolite, just forceful and direct. Being impolite will probabaly get you nowhere.


----------



## BVK

TexasGrillChef said:


> While I am in Dallas with TWC I did contact my "Friend" who works in the TWC corporate office & asked him if he knew anything about the Tuning adapter for Austin.
> 
> When he got back to me, he informed me that the Tuning Adapter is coming to Austin & should be available by the end of September at the EARLIEST to hopefully no later than November 15th.
> 
> He went on to add though... that there are certain variables that could change when they become available to the end user. Austin does *not *yet have the "units" in stock. They have been ordered but have not be received or tested yet. He was also under the impression that the "Tuning Adapter/Resolver" are now required by the FCC .
> 
> TGC


For what it is worth, I just called Customer Service then transfered to DAVID at technical at TWC/Austin about this. He knew absolutely nothing about it. He checked with his super who said that they had no information and would spread the word when they got it. Hmmmm...September 26th is today's date.

BVK


----------



## mmcgown

BVK said:


> For what it is worth, I just called Customer Service then transfered to DAVID at technical at TWC/Austin about this. He knew absolutely nothing about it. BVK


Today (Oct 8) I went to TWC/Austin on Stassney.......I was there to pick up an S-video cable, but I asked about the SDV tuning adapter/resolver. I was the only customer, so I had the attention of all five employees. I explained briefly what SDV was and why the tuning adapter was needed for cablecard users.......one then noted that she had heard they were trying to make cablecards two-way but they hadn't succeeded yet.......

Long story short, none of them had ever heard of the tuning adapter/resolver and seemed not to know anything about SDV. So I'm only confirming that there are no tuning adapters in Austin yet.

(Of course, they could be here--but no one at TWC knows what they are........?)


----------



## Eccles

pmiranda said:


> So two weeks after the end of the F1 season I might be able to record Speed on my S3 again :-( Oh well, at least I should be able to get it working well before next year.


Of course, getting TW to carry Speed in HD is a whole 'nother battle.


----------



## rv65

They have the national rights to FX HD now.


----------



## PhilipFry

Hey everyone,

I just discovered this on the Time Warner Austin site (and it's about damn time)...you can pre-order the tuning adapter for FREE!

Go here and look on the right side of the page for "Order Free Tuning Adapter":
http://www.timewarnercable.com/centraltx/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html

Enjoy!


----------



## Enrique

PhilipFry said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I just discovered this on the Time Warner Austin site (and it's about damn time)...you can pre-order the tuning adapter for FREE!
> 
> Go here and look on the right side of the page for "Order Free Tuning Adapter":
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/centraltx/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html
> 
> Enjoy!


Same here for San Antonio,Tx

http://www.timewarnercable.com/SanAntonio/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html

Edit: This is Good news for me, as I will be picking up my HD Tivo from Best Buy Today.


----------



## LostInAustin

PhilipFry said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I just discovered this on the Time Warner Austin site (and it's about damn time)...you can pre-order the tuning adapter for FREE!
> 
> Go here and look on the right side of the page for "Order Free Tuning Adapter":
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/centraltx/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html
> 
> Enjoy!


Woo! Thanks!


----------



## po00oq

Thanks for the link... This makes me very happy!


----------



## spolebitski

dpratt said:


> This is just a bump reminder.
> 
> To The Powers That Be - I will be the best beta tester you've ever seen for a consumer electronics product. :>
> 
> My Series 3 is currently hooked up to TWA cable, and being able to test a tuning adapter would make my TiVo logo-guy smile even bigger.


They won't let any of us beta test anything. They will go to an internal source, more than likely they will buy a tivo and hook it up (and never use it, only test a few channels) ... not saying it is the most logical but more than likely.


----------



## gqkull

I signed up too, has anyone been contacted for the install yet?


----------



## pmiranda

spolebitski said:


> They won't let any of us beta test anything. They will go to an internal source, more than likely they will buy a tivo and hook it up (and never use it, only test a few channels) ... not saying it is the most logical but more than likely.


Did you try signing up with TiVo to be a beta tester?


----------



## mgoyal

gqkull said:


> I signed up too, has anyone been contacted for the install yet?


I signed up, but I haven't been contacted yet.


----------



## Enforcer

You did notice that the form you submitted says its a "pre-order." Doubt the adapters are coming anytime soon.


----------



## chrisivc

Enforcer said:


> You did notice that the form you submitted says its a "pre-order." Doubt the adapters are coming anytime soon.


According to my contact from TWC central texas (im in waco but this applies to austin as well). The email i received cannot be copied or duplicated, otherwise i would post the whole thing. But the nondisclosure statement said nothing about paraphrasing...

Basically he states that the tuning adapters have been in beta testing for several weeks in austin and that testing is going well. He anticipates the adapters will be released to the public in the next few weeks.

I can barely contain myself, i will finally get to see all those HD channels i have been dearly missing for months now since they migrated to SDV. I just registered for a tuning adapter/resolver. Hopefully we get them sooner than later! Finally the first good news in months from TWC. I am really happy about it being free. I just hope they dont charge for a service call. (I was charged 3x for service calls to get my cablecards installed correctly when i first bought the unit).

Is it sad that I know more about cablecards than the actual "technicians" that come out to install them?

Sorry i went on a rant there. Have a good day everyone.
-C


----------



## JayBird

chrisivc said:


> Is it sad that I know more about cablecards than the actual "technicians" that come out to install them?


Not any worse than knowing more about a car you are interested in buying than the salesman at the dealership.


----------



## shanebowman

Saw the post about Austin and we have the same form available now too:

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


----------



## PhilipFry

danny1010 said:


> Not sure if this has already been posted...
> 
> Today, I was surprised to find that my Series3 recorded a TiVo suggestion from TBS HD since I thought TW had it on the SDV side of things. The recording was intact, so I decided to check out the channel live. Well, low and behold, I am now able to tune TBS HD now.
> 
> And with a little experimentation, I found these other channels are now available without SDV:
> 
> 1611 HGTV HD
> 1612 Food Network HD
> 1653 TBS HD
> 1660 A&E HD
> 
> It doesn't replace not having the tuning adapter yet but it's definitely a step in the right direction. :up:


Just in time for the election, I noticed that I'm now getting CNNHD (1630) and FNCHD (1632). Enjoy!


----------



## danny1010

PhilipFry said:


> Just in time for the election, I noticed that I'm now getting CNNHD (1630) and FNCHD (1632). Enjoy!


You beat me to it. I noticed half-way through last night's coverage when folks were asking me why I couldn't get CNNHD. Oh well... it's still good news.


----------



## hsfjr

chrisivc said:


> ...adapters have been in beta testing for several weeks in austin...


And yet the official word from TWC is that the beta just began... I guess that would have been Monday...

http://www.cedmagazine.com/TWC-Cisco-switched-video-adapters.aspx

Well... I read it again and I guess it also could interpreted saying that on Monday they stated that some testing is (has been?) going on in Austin and didn't indicate when it had actually begun...


----------



## Scopeman

hsfjr said:


> Well... I read it again and I guess it also could interpreted saying that on Monday they stated that some testing is (has been?) going on in Austin and didn't indicate when it had actually begun...


It started long before this Monday.


----------



## texaslabrat

Just talked to a sales droid @ TWC Austin. Still no official ETA on general availability of the tuning adapters. Additionally, he was under the mistaken impression that the 2-way communication was linked to the multi-stream cable cards. Way to go TWC training LOL.


----------



## LakeLBJ

Well, it's mid-November. Anybody hear anything??


----------



## allietx

LakeLBJ said:


> Well, it's mid-November. Anybody hear anything??


I received a random robocall from TWC-Central Texas last week. The recording said that they just do these random service checks to make sure that everything is OK with my service and that if I am having an issues or concern I can press "1". As a matter of fact, I *do* have an issue I am concerned about, and I pressed "1" and spoke with a Customer Service rep. I told him my concern was that I am not getting a lot of the channels I pay for with my digital & hd service due to the fact I have cable cards. Refreshingly, he knew about the SDV/tuning adapter situation and told me that he had heard via email that we should be able to have one "by first quarter of next year". He offered to direct me to the page to "preorder" them. I told him that I pre-ordered mine already, my question was WHEN would they be here-- I head heard that mid-November was the time. He repeated his belief that it will be Q1 2009.

I would love to hear from anyone who gets a different answer and most especially from the first regular customers in the Central Texas area who actually get them brought to their house!


----------



## stevec5375

The TWC web site in Austin has been saying these tuning adapters will be available in 4Q08. Now it's been changed to 1Q09 ???!!! I'll believe it when I see it. They keep making delivery date promises and pushing it out.

I was so fed up with having to pay full fee to them and only getting partial service that I filed a formal complaint with the FCC about the whole SDV/Cable Cards situation. It took months but I finally get a response from the FCC/TWC. Their response was that if I had a cable box I could get those SDV channels. What a fracking concept! If I wanted a cable box I wouldn't have paid $500+ for a Tivo HD Series 3 with dual cablecards.

I've learned my lesson about being an "early adopter" of new technology. From now on I'm going to wait on buying this stuff until I know it ALL works as advertised.


----------



## sandj78759

but it is in beta test and TWC is claiming roll-out by the end of the year (2008).

After we upgraded to HD we used the abysmal TWC DVR for a short while but once you're used to the Tivo interface their DVR just doesn't cut it.


----------



## Polarorbit

I called TW in Austin today to quiz them on the tuning adapter availability. They said it as delayed but could not provide real information beyond that brush off. I insisted that I was not content with that nebulous answer and the fellow said he would forward this up the chain and they would get back to me within 48 hours. My bill is over $200 a month and I reiterated I took their service based on the ability to use my Tivo HD. I guess if we all called it might push them along. Either that or they get a DVR that is better than the Scientific-Atlanta crap they supply.

How could a company liket Time Warner not understand just how absolutely horrible their S-A DVRs really are? It isn't that I am a TIVO junkie and must have TIVO. I do need a competent DVR and only TIVO seems to still have the only one available.


----------



## ostimu

Polarorbit said:


> How could a company liket Time Warner not understand just how absolutely horrible their S-A DVRs really are? It isn't that I am a TIVO junkie and must have TIVO. I do need a competent DVR and only TIVO seems to still have the only one available.


This is the thing that gets me. Have any TWC executives ever tried to use their DVR -- and have never seen a TIVO? How could they think their DVR is okay?

I moved from LA, where TWC used to use the Motorola MOXI box, and that was just fine. Why isn't the Moxi box the TWC standard? Not as slick as TIVO, but clearly based on TIVO, unlike the S-A DVR that's used in Austin (and most of the country), which seems based on the same interface that S-A developed in the mid (or early?) '90s. We used the S-A DVR for literally less than one full evening before ordering an HD TIVO, but I had no idea there were going to be these cable card issues with the HD channels.

Fortunately, many of the HD channels are just upconversions of SD channels anyway (HDTV-HD, Food-HD, etc. -- and those two are currently working), but just out of principle, I sure would like to be able to access _everything_.


----------



## GRobertV

I just got a call from a Time Warner rep here in Austin telling me that the tuning adapters are ready to be picked up. Apparently they are giving them out at their local offices with instructions for installation. No service call required. She said something like that they would be free for the first year but that they may charge something for them after that. We will see how this all works out with my TiVo HD.


----------



## BVK

They're here!! Just got a call from TWA to come by and pick one up for free. No truck roll required!! They did say they were free for now...but I asked about the future and they said might charge... 

Anyway...I'm off now.

BVK

OOPS...old news...GRobertV beat me...hehehe


----------



## echoout

Cool. It works.


----------



## stubarrett

I just picked mine up too. Came here looking to see if there was any configuration I would have to do to my S3 before I used it...

Stu


----------



## echoout

Just follow the Cisco instructions.



stubarrett said:


> I just picked mine up too. Came here looking to see if there was any configuration I would have to do to my S3 before I used it...
> 
> Stu


----------



## stubarrett

I did, very simple. I don't think that TW has me configured correctly. The light on the front of the Cisco box just blinks and the Tivo diagnostics indicate "No channels available".

Need to call TW....


----------



## echoout

Do you know if the person at the counter was able to get you in the system correctly? They couldn't get the codes to "take" on my account, which initially caused some issues.



stubarrett said:


> I did, very simple. I don't think that TW has me configured correctly. The light on the front of the Cisco box just blinks and the Tivo diagnostics indicate "No channels available".
> 
> Need to call TW....


----------



## s3victim

mine does not appear to work either. I got no instructions, just a letter saying that the tuning adapters are no longer free after 2008.

Do you have to wait for it to pick up the channel list?


----------



## stubarrett

echoout said:


> Do you know if the person at the counter was able to get you in the system correctly? They couldn't get the codes to "take" on my account, which initially caused some issues.


Mine too. Were you the guy next to me in the RR location?

Anyway, she just called me back and said that my box was now correctly 'registered'. But the box is still blinking....

Stu


----------



## echoout

No, I picked mine up from the Duval location a couple hours ago. They said I was the first (YEAH!!! IN YO FACE!!! WHOOO!!!!! Just kidding.). Anyway, they had an instruction sheet that had some codes that apparently don't work. And if they don't work, the TA won't work.



stubarrett said:


> Mine too. Were you the guy next to me in the RR location?
> 
> Anyway, she just called me back and said that my box was now correctly 'registered'. But the box is still blinking....
> 
> Stu


----------



## cableguy763

8 blinks means you need an authorization hit.


----------



## cableguy763

stubarrett said:


> Mine too. Were you the guy next to me in the RR location?
> 
> Anyway, she just called me back and said that my box was now correctly 'registered'. But the box is still blinking....
> 
> Stu


I jut hit your ta, check for a solid light now.


----------



## s3victim

yep, 8 blinks for me.


----------



## Austin_Martin

> Mine too. Were you the guy next to me in the RR location?
> 
> Anyway, she just called me back and said that my box was now correctly 'registered'. But the box is still blinking....


That was me, but I haven't hooked it up yet. Gotta finish work.

I got a call that it was now registered, did you get it working?


----------



## texaslabrat

The guy at the counter said that the code they need to authorize the TA from the pick-up area was deleted from the system earlier today..and that it was just restored around 3pm or so. That's probably the issue behind the TA's getting home and not working. Haven't tried mine yet...had to go back to work. Guess I'll see if mine actually works later tonight.


----------



## stubarrett

TW hit the Ta with an authorization and after a power cycle and 5 more minutes it works!!

While I have had many frustrations with TW, I was impressed with TW with the TA. I had a TW employee call me up to inform me that the TA was available for pick up. The guy I talked to on the phone was very candid saying that this was a new box and he would have to do some research, but he didn't feed me a line of BS, he just fixed my problem.

Thanks TW.


----------



## dpratt

s3victim said:


> yep, 8 blinks for me.


I get the same - it sat quiet for a few minutes, now I'm getting 8 blinks, pause, and then the cycle repeats.

Is there anything else I need to do?


----------



## s3victim

mine works now too (thanks cableguy763)! It's smaller than I was expecting, like a large modem or a small stb. 

FYI, another vaporware showed up today if you have a ps3. Must be Vapor Friday.


----------



## deancruse

Anyone out there know what to do?


----------



## WSP

Add me to the list of non working TA. Just get 8 blinks of the green light. The TIVO recognized the unit with a problem.


----------



## s3victim

dpratt said:


> I get the same - it sat quiet for a few minutes, now I'm getting 8 blinks, pause, and then the cycle repeats.
> 
> Is there anything else I need to do?


It takes a while, maybe 5-10 minutes, before it goes solid. But they have to "hit" it first which some people know how to do and others do not, it would seem. It's not the same as resetting it from the phone menu.

On the third(?) TA diag screen, if the powerkey says waiting EMM then you need a hit, I think.


----------



## dpratt

s3victim said:


> It takes a while, maybe 5-10 minutes, before it goes solid. But they have to "hit" it first which some people know how to do and others do not, it would seem. It's not the same as resetting it from the phone menu.
> 
> On the third(?) TA diag screen, if the powerkey says waiting EMM then you need a hit, I think.


So do I need to call TWC and have them do anything? The box I received did not have any instructions - not like I need any. :> Although, it was not apparent from the documentation if I needed to do anything besides plug it in and wait.


----------



## echoout

This was like my initial cablecard setup; not possible without the help of cableguy. No idea what I would do without him.



deancruse said:


> Anyone out there know what to do?


----------



## deancruse

On the phone with twc austin. The guys is trying, but can't figure it out.


----------



## pdm

I just hooked mine up, it is just blinking repeatedly. the diag 'powerkey' says Ready, but the first page Status says "Ready - B'cats only". Any tips on how to get someone on the phone that can poke it with the right stick?


----------



## cableguy763

pdm said:


> I just hooked mine up, it is just blinking repeatedly. the diag 'powerkey' says Ready, but the first page Status says "Ready - B'cats only". Any tips on how to get someone on the phone that can poke it with the right stick?


Your ta is not in two-way. That's what bcast says. Any splitters/surge protectors in the way?


----------



## pdm

cableguy763 said:


> Your ta is not in two-way. That's what bcast says. Any splitters/surge protectors in the way?


The only splitter is out in the 'cable box' where the main feed comes in (installed by TW guy). Goes wall -> TA -> Tivo. Hmm


----------



## cableguy763

pdm said:


> The only splitter is out in the 'cable box' where the main feed comes in (installed by TW guy). Goes wall -> TA -> Tivo. Hmm


Sounds like you have a signal issue. It might need to be checked out.


----------



## Lethargic

Just to be clear we don't do anything with the USB cord correct?


----------



## cableguy763

Lethargic said:


> Just to be clear we don't do anything with the USB cord correct?


You run the usb from the ta to the tivo.


----------



## deancruse

I'm only getting some of the SDV channels, not all of them. Any clues?


----------



## pdm

She found one issue with my account, the code was on a seperate occurance from my cable card (I have no idea what that means) but she fixed that. Now my power key says Waiting EMM, but Status says Ready (wihout the b'cast only from before, yay?)  She's a real trooper helping me out for sure.


----------



## Lethargic

Still doesn't work, and I"m getting the '8 Blinks'. I have everything connected correctly now (I think) and am in the process of resetting the tivo. Does anything else need to be done?


----------



## cableguy763

deancruse said:


> I'm only getting some of the SDV channels, not all of them. Any clues?


Go to the ta diagnostics and look at page three. You want the status of all to be "ready". If you have a status of "Ready B'cast Only" your ta is not in two way.


----------



## cableguy763

Lethargic said:


> Still doesn't work, and I"m getting the '8 Blinks'. I have everything connected correctly now (I think) and am in the process of resetting the tivo. Does anything else need to be done?


You need an authentication hit sent if you are getting 8 blinks. Send me a pm with your ta mac address from page 5 of the diagnostics and I can fix that.


----------



## deancruse

@cableguy763: On Page 3:

UNcfg: Ready
BFS: Ready
SI: Ready
SAM: Ready QPSK
IPG: Ready QAM
PowerKEY: Waiting EMM
Analof Capable: No


----------



## cableguy763

deancruse said:


> @cableguy763: On Page 3:
> 
> UNcfg: Ready
> BFS: Ready
> SI: Ready
> SAM: Ready QPSK
> IPG: Ready QAM
> PowerKEY: Waiting EMM
> Analof Capable: No


You need a hit sent to the ta. Send me the rf mac address from the back of the ta and I can fix it.


----------



## LostInAustin

I'm getting a series of 6 blinking lights. Page 3 diagnostics show 'Ready'. No splitters.


----------



## deancruse

cableguy763 said:


> You need a hit sent to the ta. Send me the rf mac address from the back of the ta and I can fix it.


on it's way via pm. thanks!


----------



## Austin_Martin

Does anyone know if you need to rerun guided setup?

The tuning adapter is solid green, but I can't tune the sdv channels.

When I go into the tuning adapter menu, dvr diagnostics, it says

tuning adapter: no

at the bottom.


----------



## Lethargic

Cableguy is awesome! Thanks for the help!!! Now have all the HD we can eat.


----------



## Lethargic

Austin_Martin said:


> Does anyone know if you need to rerun guided setup?
> 
> The tuning adapter is solid green, but I can't tune the sdv channels.
> 
> When I go into the tuning adapter menu, dvr diagnostics, it says
> 
> tuning adapter: no
> 
> at the bottom.


Did you plug in the USB cable?


----------



## SCSIRAID

Austin_Martin said:


> Does anyone know if you need to rerun guided setup?
> 
> The tuning adapter is solid green, but I can't tune the sdv channels.
> 
> When I go into the tuning adapter menu, dvr diagnostics, it says
> 
> tuning adapter: no
> 
> at the bottom.


Unplug and replug the USB cable. You might use the 'other' USB connector on the TiVo.


----------



## Austin_Martin

yes.

The weird thing is that the adapter diagnostics works. It's just in the dvr diagnostics that it lists the adapter as not being there. It might just be a programming error by TIVO.


----------



## stevec5375

I'm not getting any channels at all and no blinking lights on the TA. I was getting blinking light but I powered down the TA and rebooted it.


----------



## pdm

Mine finally said PowerKey ready but she had me reboot it because it didn't have an IP or something. Now I can see it has an IP on the RF network, but Waiting EMM is back. She just keeps sending 'hits' over and over now. Blinking is constant without pause.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Austin_Martin said:


> yes.
> 
> The weird thing is that the adapter diagnostics works. It's just in the dvr diagnostics that it lists the adapter as not being there. It might just be a programming error by TIVO.


Suggest that you reboot the TiVo.


----------



## deancruse

@cableguy763: You rock! 

I spent an hour and 15 minutes on the phone and the poor rep couldn't get it to work (he even resorted to scheduling a tech visit (punt)!). Cableguy does one thing and presto - I'm in business. Awesome. They should pay you extra to train everyone else.


----------



## pdm

she fially gave up and is going to send someone out on Tuesday. We got PowerKey to say ready finally but it continued to flash at a constant rate. I went to test channels and failed (no channels available) and then went back to diag and power key was Waiting EMM again. Guess no SDV for me this weekend.


----------



## stevec5375

I getting the exact same thing. Steady flashing light. Have an IP address and PowerKEY says "Waiting EMM".

I sent email to CableGuy in the hopes he can help me. The guy on the phone is trying but is reading directions from something that isn't very helpful.

Time Warner seems to have issues getting their personnel trained before a roll out of new technology.


----------



## Austin_Martin

> Suggest that you reboot the TiVo.


We have a winner!

So, after the TA was sent a hit, I:

rebooted the TA(powercord)
then when the light was solid again
rebooted the TIVO

Now all is well.

Thanks Cableguy!

and SCSIRAID!


----------



## LostInAustin

I'm up and running! Thanks, cableguy!


----------



## Rimshot

Just wanted to mention that I hooked up all my gear and everything worked the first time. There is hope!!

And even though I did not need cableguys help, I'm sure glad someone from time warner is monitoring this forum!


----------



## stevec5375

Now I'm back to 8 flashes and a pause and no IP address. This is nuts. The guy on the phone is very nice but I feel like he's just guessing.

Help CableGuy!!!


----------



## cableguy763

stevec5375 said:


> Now I'm back to 8 flashes and a pause and no IP address. This is nuts. The guy on the phone is very nice but I feel like he's just guessing.
> 
> Help CableGuy!!!


You're not checking your email...


----------



## Austin Bike

OK, some quick questions:

1. I just have standard cable, no digital package. Will getting the tuner give me anything extra? Some HD?

2. If I go with the digital package, will the number of HD channels be greater than what I had with cable cards? We only had ~4-5 channels of HD when we jumped to the HD package, most of which we get today with a HD antenna.


----------



## cableguy763

Austin Bike said:


> OK, some quick questions:
> 
> 1. I just have standard cable, no digital package. Will getting the tuner give me anything extra? Some HD?
> 
> 2. If I go with the digital package, will the number of HD channels be greater than what I had with cable cards? We only had ~4-5 channels of HD when we jumped to the HD package, most of which we get today with a HD antenna.


/sales mode
Go to timewarneraustin.com and check the channel list for your area. You will get a lot more hd with the ta and digital cable.
/sales mode


----------



## BGreenstone

I'm having the same problem here too, and I spent 45 minutes on the phone with TW but we could not make the blinking green light go away, so they're sending a tech out next week. 

After reading the suggestion to remove the signal booster, I did that, but then my signal strength dropped to like 65% on most channels, and that apparently wasn't even enough to get a passthru signal thru the decoder. I got nothing at all with that, and the green light still kept blinking. So, I had to plug the signal booster back in to get any channels at all.

Bummer 

-Brian


----------



## WSP

The tech that I eventually talked to gave up. I am scheduled for a truck roll next Tuesday.

I am currently have the 8 green blinks and a puase. My status is broadcast only.

Any suggestions to try between now and next Tuesday???


----------



## SCSIRAID

WSP said:


> The tech that I eventually talked to gave up. I am scheduled for a truck roll next Tuesday.
> 
> I am currently have the 8 green blinks and a puase. My status is broadcast only.
> 
> Any suggestions to try between now and next Tuesday???


From cableguy's earlier post, that means that your TA is only working 'one way'. Do you have any splitters or surge protectors between the TA and the incoming cable? You might try getting rid of them.


----------



## cableguy763

SCSIRAID said:


> From cableguy's earlier post, that means that your TA is only working 'one way'. Do you have any splitters or surge protectors between the TA and the incoming cable? You might try getting rid of them.


Actually SCSIRAID, if the ta is not authorized it can still say b'cast. My fault for jumping to conclusions. This poster probably has an authorization problem.


----------



## stevec5375

Thanks CableGuy!! I'm working. TWC should give you a BIG raise.


----------



## SCSIRAID

cableguy763 said:


> Actually SCSIRAID, if the ta is not authorized it can still say b'cast. My fault for jumping to conclusions. This poster probably has an authorization problem.


Thanks!!! Im trying to absorb as much as possible for when the TA rolls out here.


----------



## WSP

There is a spliter in line. I don't have a connector tonight to try and eliminate the spliter. The spliter was orginally provided by TW when I was doing my orginal cable card setup. 

Cableguy did contact me for information. I am still at the same status, 8 blinks and the PowerKey: Waiting for EMM.


----------



## Lovetroll

When I started I was only received a few SDV channels and had the B'CAST ONLY message. I did have my cable line run through my power conditioner, so I removed that link and had it run straight from the wall to the TA. Then it went to 8 blinks and a pause. The B'CAST ONLY was gone so I called for help.

Somewhere in the middle of the call, after the tech did something after having me on hold, it went to 5 short blinks and then a long blink, and then starting over without a pause. He wasn't sure what that meant and did something else.

By the end of the call I'm back to the steady blinking and but no B'CAST ONLY messages and everything on page 3 shows Ready (except for the Analog signal, which said None). He said it has to be a signal issue and has a call placed. Based on my previous experience with the cablecard installation (not a signal issue when it was claimed) and then problems with the digital phone (not a signal issue wen it was claimed), I'm skeptical. 

Anyone else able to get the magic non-patterened continuous flashing fixed this evening?


----------



## pdm

Thanks to cableguy I got mine working! 

Now only if there was anything on TV! I swear I thought they had sci-fi in HD here. But now I think that must have been Cox in northern VA (I just moved here). I guess I wont be able to catch the last few episodes of Atlantis in HD :-/

Anyway, Thanks cable guy. You are super helpful and really are going out of your way to be helpful and giving Time Warner a great name.


----------



## Gloftoe

I have 8 blinks, with:

BOOT STATUS
UNcfg: Ready
BFS: Ready
SI: Ready
SAM: Ready QPSK
IPG: Ready QAM
PowerKEY: Waiting EMM
Analog Capable: NO

Am I missing the auth hit too?


----------



## stubarrett

Austin_Martin said:


> We have a winner!
> 
> So, after the TA was sent a hit, I:
> 
> rebooted the TA(powercord)
> then when the light was solid again
> rebooted the TIVO
> 
> Now all is well.
> 
> Thanks Cableguy!


Used the same procedure and it's working, thanks to Cableguy!

Stu


----------



## pdm

This thing is operating strangely. My tivo crashed while I was tryign to tune in HDNet 1692. After reboot it still doesn't come in (I think I'm supposed to get it). So then I tune to channel 2, then 7 and neither comes in. I hit the power button on the TA (to turn it off) and then 2 and 7 came in fine. Turn it back on and they don't don't tune in. HGTV channel 31 works fine in both modes.


----------



## Gloftoe

Well I'm not sure exactly what the heck to do now. I rebooted my TA, and now I'm in "B'CAST ONLY" mode. Reboots don't help fix that, and I'm still getting the 8 flashes. I've been on hold with Time Warner for 15 minutes now. I have a feeling I'm not the only guy in Austin with a TA problem now. []


----------



## ostimu

I PM'd CableGuy, but it seems he may have a life and not be spending his Friday night on the TiVoCommunity forum. 

I've was on hold for 25 minutes waiting to speak to somebody at TWC. He eventually sent a signal that seems to have made it _worse_, sending me from all things "Ready" except PowerKEY (which was "waiting EMM"), but now I'm Broadcast Only. Service call scheduled for Wednesday. Oy...


----------



## tibookx

PM'ed cableguy too, his inbox must be STUFFED

I hope he as a life, as he is so cool to be helpin people out. whoever he may be, I totally agree he should be getting a raise.

MB I shouldn't have waited until 2230 to plug this sucker in and find out this doesn't want to cooperate lol

Good luck to all, and to all, SDV (yea lame joke, I know)


----------



## Lovetroll

After restarting everything I'm now back to the 8 flashing lights in a row.


----------



## Lovetroll

And now... after just turning it off and back on, the light is solid and it's working.

/shrug


----------



## dlcrow

tibookx said:


> I hope he as a life, as he is so cool to be helpin people out. whoever he may be, I totally agree he should be getting a raise.


+1 on the raise for cableguy763!!! It's a shame we don't get a vote.


----------



## cableguy763

Sorry guys, I took my wife out to dinner. All who pm'd me, I sent hits to all who left their mac addresses. I will be up another couple of hours. Let me know if it's fixed or not.


----------



## ostimu

I have no idea who you are, CableGuy (besides my hero for the week), but you fixed it. What are you doing that the people at the phone center can't manage to do?
Man, you are amazing. Seriously -- thank you for taking all of this time out of your life on a Friday night to deal with fixing the problems that TWC can't seem to fix nearly as efficiently. I guess I can cancel that service call for Wednesday!


----------



## spolebitski

Is there any chance of knowing when other regions will be getting "the call" to find out that the tuning adapter will be available?

I live in SE Wisconsin and Have TWC.


----------



## jharrod

I've gotten past the "8 blinks" and my S3 is recognizing the tuning adapter and showing that channels are available when I use the "test channels with tuning adapter" options. Everything looks ready from page 3 of the diags menu as well. But when I try to tune SDV channels I still get nothing. Anyone have any clues? Thanks in advance.


----------



## echoout

When I got to this stage, I was able to hard-reboot the TA and it took forever to boot, and it magically began working.



jharrod said:


> I've gotten past the "8 blinks" and my S3 is recognizing the tuning adapter and showing that channels are available when I use the "test channels with tuning adapter" options. Everything looks ready from page 3 of the diags menu as well. But when I try to tune SDV channels I still get nothing. Anyone have any clues? Thanks in advance.


----------



## allietx

ostimu said:


> I have no idea who you are, CableGuy (besides my hero for the week)


+1

Great human being! Thanks so very much!


----------



## echoout

Did cableguy763 ever know that he's my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for cableguy763 is the wind beneath my wings.



ostimu said:


> I have no idea who you are, CableGuy (besides my hero for the week), but you fixed it. What are you doing that the people at the phone center can't manage to do?
> Man, you are amazing. Seriously -- thank you for taking all of this time out of your life on a Friday night to deal with fixing the problems that TWC can't seem to fix nearly as efficiently. I guess I can cancel that service call for Wednesday!


----------



## texaslabrat

Sent you a pm cableguy if you happen to still be checking the boards


----------



## stevec5375

I live in Austin and got a call from Time Warner yesterday that my long-awaited Tuning Adapter for ready for pickup. The pickup went smoothly and I received a brand new unit WITH NO INSTRUCTIONS. It's pretty obvious that you:

1. Connect the cable coming out of the wall to "Cable In" on the Tuning Adapter (TA).
2. Connect "Cable Out" on the TA to the TiVo's "Cable In".
3. Connect the USB cable between the TiVo and the TA (each end is different so you can't get this part wrong.)
4. Plug in the power cord for the TA.
5. You will start out with 8 flashing lights followed by a pause on the TA. 

6. Go into the TiVo menu and locate the Tuning Adapter menu (under the Settings) (I'm not in front of my TiVo right now so bear with me.)

Now, this is where everything falls apart. Time Warner has to send a "hit" to you TA to get it to work. Or at least they had to for me.

I spent over an hour on the phone with this poor 2nd level tech support guy who tried everything to get mine to work. He would put me on hold and go talk to other people in other groups to see if all was as it should be. They said yes, but obviously it wasn't working. He finally gave up and scheduled a tech to come out this coming Tues. This was so reminiscent (sp?) of the Cable Card fiasco I went through when I got the TiVo HD Series 3 box. I can't tell you how many TW techs tromped through my condo. So I thought, "here we go again!"

The whole while I was on the phone with TWC last night, I was browsing this forum while I was on hold. Clearly, people were getting fixed by CableGuy in an instant. I sent him an email and gave him my RF MAC address. The guy finally ended up calling me at home and we spent about 15 mins total and the thing was working. AMAZING!!

It turns out he works for TWC in Austin as an Engineer. I told him they needed people like him on the front lines to help people and avoid all the frustration. He said the front line people got training on this but they were not engineers so when it deviated from the script they could get stuck.

In the end all is fine now thanks to CableGuy.

Now let me get on my soap box. If CableGuy is an engineer, obviously he makes quite a bit more money than a tech support jockey. So TWC thinks they are saving a bundle by placing less qualified people on the phone. What ends up happening in a lot of new-technology rollout is they are not adequately prepared to troubleshoot so they end up escalating everything involving multiple individuals and finally resort to sending out a truck with YAP (Yet Another Person). How much do you think all those individuals cost them? Probably as much or more than a single engineer would cost. 

I think they should put more engineers on the phone especially during roll out of new technology. They would end up spending less, certainly no more, money and have a happier customer service experience.

If it weren't for CableGuy going overboard for me. I'd still be sitting here with a nonworking TA furious about having to go through the same Gawd-awful ritual I went through with the Cable Cards install.

No wonder corporate America is slowly falling apart. We have idiots managing things. Why cannot common sense prevail?


----------



## WSP

The cableguy got me going last night.

Now I can cancel the truck roll.


----------



## jharrod

echoout said:


> When I got to this stage, I was able to hard-reboot the TA and it took forever to boot, and it magically began working.


Thanks for the advice, but no luck here. Just spent another hour on with tech support while they tried a variety of things without success. They claimed to have fixed some things, but it didn't make any difference.


----------



## routerman

stevec5375 said:


> I think they should put more engineers on the phone especially during roll out of new technology. They would end up spending less, certainly no more, money and have a happier customer service experience.
> 
> If it weren't for CableGuy going overboard for me. I'd still be sitting here with a nonworking TA furious about having to go through the same Gawd-awful ritual I went through with the Cable Cards install.
> 
> No wonder corporate America is slowly falling apart. We have idiots managing things. Why cannot common sense prevail?


I agree about the common sense approach but I am guessing that Cableguy worked on the project to roll the TA's out and putting him and others on the phones would have delayed the deployment of these devices even longer. I, for one, would rather have him working through a bug list rather than sending billing service codes to the boxes.

I am an engineer who has had to spend some time on tech support duties and I can tell you from experience, the vast number of problems are easily fixed by the normal tech support personnel. I would hate to waste lots of time with a highly-paid engineer telling people to reboot your cable box and other non-technical fixes.

On a side note, if I had spent as much time after-hours working through problems, a dinner with the wife would not have cut it. I am thinking jewelry would have been involved.

Thanks Cableguy...


----------



## stevec5375

routerman said:


> Iduties and I can tell you from experience, the vast number of problems are easily fixed by the normal tech support personnel. I would hate to waste lots of time with a highly-paid engineer telling people to reboot your cable box and other non-technical fixes.


I'm not advocating putting highly-paid engineers on the front lines all the time. If we use the Tuning Adapter roll out as an example here's what I would do if I were in management at TWC.

Thoroughly train the front line tech support people in troubleshooting with actual hands-on do-it-yourself approach. Let's play customer.

Then, when they get calls they cannot handle rather than just put you on interminable hold while they go off and ask someone else, they conference in the engineer who troubleshoots with the customer while the front line tech support person sits quietly taking notes so the next time around they don't have to involve the engineer. This quickly solves the customer's issue while educating the front line personnel. If it turns out that the engineer has to employ technical tools not available to the front line personnel, then there is a BIG problem. How can the front line people do their jobs if they don't have access to the proper tools/software?


----------



## 86285

Folks- I just found out about this thread and I, too, got my tuning adapter ("TA") yesterday. Basically, I did the following things and mine is working fine (after hooking mine up as someone suggested earlier).

What I did was after it was on for a while and the lights were blinking, I called 485-5555, selected "technical support" (option 1) then "reset cable box" (option 1). This sent the "hit" to my TA so it would be able to download its software, etc.

I gave that about 20 minutes or so, and I noticed that the TiVo was able to display the Tuning Adapter Diagnostics but still didn't activate properly. So I rebooted the TiVo (selected the "Restart" option). Make sure that the little green light on the TA is on and/or flashing (press the power button on the TA) before you restart the TiVo.

When the TiVo was in the middle of the "Welcome, powering up..." screen, the green light on the TA went solid green, and everything came up perfectly.

I am having problems accessing many channels ("not available")...I think because of the number of people now using the SDV channels. My theory (and I'm stickin' to it) is that they've run out of slots. The TiVo never asked me to press a button if I was still watching TV at any point, so I suspect a lot of new people with TiVos and TAs are keeping SDV channels attached that they're not watching. Hopefully some insider can shed some light on this.

As the tech from TW who came to my house yesterday said, being patient with this is the key to having it work properly. I'm still not satisfied with the flakiness of being able to access certain channels, but I have a feeling that would have happened with the TW DVR at this point too.


----------



## AustinWill

Just got my adapter and I'm getting the eight green flashes. The TW rep didn't seem to know too much about how to address it and eventually scheduled a service call. I see that some have figured this out here...any advice? I do have "Status: Ready - B'cast Only" on the diag screen.
Thanks.


----------



## Thistledown

I don't know what constitutes eight green flashes. My adapter would flash what seemed like indefinitely. I didn't keep track of the frequency. After 20 minutes, I unplugged the adapter, plugged it back in, and then it almost immediately came back solid. Everything worked after that.


----------



## chrud

Anyone know what it means when the green light won't stay on after turning the ta on? Power button doesn't seem to do anything, but I can get diagnostics through tivo. Channels, though, don't work.

-chrud


----------



## AustinWill

The eight green flashes is a recurring error pattern.


----------



## Mindflux

Hi! 

I've just picked up my TivoHD and need to schedule to have TW come out to my house in RR and put in some cable cards. How do I convince them I need a TA as well? Can they bring that out on the same truck roll?

I'm new to Tivo all together, so please be patient with me. I read through this thread but I am unclear as to if I'll be missing HD channels I currently get with the S.A HD DVR vs the Tivo w/ a TA?


----------



## Gloftoe

I gotta agree about cableguy763. I think he's gone above and beyond what anyone should expect from a guy on a message board. Thanks a bunch for helping all of us schmoes out!

BTW, I had to wait for a while for my adapter at the NW Time Warner location. Got it home, and I didn't have a USB cable with it (not sure if there was supposed to be one).


----------



## ahaley

Is there a difference between a balancing and addressable hit and an authentication hit? That was all they knew to send but I still end up with the 8 blinking light pattern.


----------



## rv65

Gloftoe said:


> I gotta agree about cableguy763. I think he's gone above and beyond what anyone should expect from a guy on a message board. Thanks a bunch for helping all of us schmoes out!
> 
> BTW, I had to wait for a while for my adapter at the NW Time Warner location. Got it home, and I didn't have a USB cable with it (not sure if there was supposed to be one).


It should have it, but the USB cable is the same kind you use for a printer. Maybe go back and get one. Or you can get a cheap one online.


----------



## KenricSmith

Got mine today, blinks 8 times then off. Can't seem to get it to work. Tried the call to reset it several times, took out a splitter, power cycled it and the tivo. Calling to reset it does reboot the TA, but after the couple of minutes it takes to boot, it just goes back to flashing 8 times...


----------



## ferror

I got the message about this just before 6pm last night, and raced over to the South Austin location to get one, but they were all out. Went up north this morning and got one there, but had the same problem as everyone else. Blinked 8 times. Tried calling them to hit the box, it didn't work, and they pretty quickly gave up and scheduled a truck roll for Monday. I tried hitting the box myself from the automated system. Rebooted TA and TiVo. Nothing worked. PM'ed Cableguy, waited for a little while, and *now it works!* I just had to reboot the TA one more time after he did the trick.

Can't thank you enough Cableguy! This is more like it. Seems like a lot of trouble to drive up north to get this TA if I just have to wait for someone to drive over here Monday anyway. Now I can cancel that service call. Hope the support techs get up to speed soon. I wonder what percentage of people who got tuning adapters yesterday/today read this thread and found the online order form?


----------



## Mindflux

KenricSmith said:


> Got mine today, blinks 8 times then off. Can't seem to get it to work. Tried the call to reset it several times, took out a splitter, power cycled it and the tivo. Calling to reset it does reboot the TA, but after the couple of minutes it takes to boot, it just goes back to flashing 8 times...


Aren't the offices closed today?


----------



## ferror

The offices are open 10AM-4PM today. Phones answered all day.


----------



## Mindflux

ferror said:


> The offices are open 10AM-4PM today. Phones answered all day.


Does anyone have the # for the RR loc? Nevermind it seems this place is closed on the weekends.


----------



## Rimshot

Has any one had some channels work and others not? I have tried all the boot/reboot suggestions with no luck. I just PMed cableguy but he is not online right now. Hopefully he is off taking some well deserved time off.

At any rate, I guess I should have waited a few days before posting my earlier post that everything was working fine. I guess carma caught up. 

-Jim


----------



## AustinWill

Rimshot, that's exactly what's happening with me. The lights are still blinking and I'm getting some of the channels but not others. I've also PMed CableGuy! Let me know if you find any answers.
Will


----------



## Rimshot

Actualy, my light are on nice and steady. I'm getting some of the HD channels, just not all. For example, my daughter can watch Disney HD on 1619 (oh and how I love the swuite life of zach and cody), but my wife can't watch Food TV HD 1612 (and wow to who would get between her and her shows...). 

At any rate, I await the lord of TW cable guy.


----------



## sidsub

Could someone who got it working summarize the steps? Is a "hit" on the TA the same thing as calling customer service and resetting the cable box?

I did that, waited a while and was still seeing 8 blinks on the LED. Does one have to wait for that to go away before restarting the TiVo? Is there something specific to look for in the diagnostics screen?

Thanks.


----------



## Austin Bike

cableguy763 said:


> /sales mode
> Go to timewarneraustin.com and check the channel list for your area. You will get a lot more hd with the ta and digital cable.
> /sales mode


So, if I have the standard cable package and I get a tuning adapter, I should be able to get the 1500-1600 shows (except the premium like HBO and starz) without having to get the digital package?

For instance, if I get A&E now and I get a tuning adapter, will I be able to see A&E digital as well for no additional cost?


----------



## ferror

Austin Bike said:


> So, if I have the standard cable package and I get a tuning adapter, I should be able to get the 1500-1600 shows (except the premium like HBO and starz) without having to get the digital package?
> 
> For instance, if I get A&E now and I get a tuning adapter, will I be able to see A&E digital as well for no additional cost?


The Tuning Adapter is designed to work only with specifically supported CableCard devices. And, CableCard requires digital service. Are you currently using a TiVo with CableCards? If not, the tuning adapter will not likely do anything for you. There may be some other CableCard devices that will start supporting this TA now that it is available. It is supposed to work with any CableCard device, in theory. But the support has to be there.



sidsub said:


> Could someone who got it working summarize the steps? Is a "hit" on the TA the same thing as calling customer service and resetting the cable box?
> 
> I did that, waited a while and was still seeing 8 blinks on the LED. Does one have to wait for that to go away before restarting the TiVo? Is there something specific to look for in the diagnostics screen?
> 
> Thanks.


I tried all the steps I saw others post and it didn't work for me. There is a step required to "Authorize" the TA and apparently the standard "hit" isn't enough to make that happen. Cableguy knows the trick, but I don't. He did it, then said if I get "powerkey ready on page 4 of ta diags and it still doesn't work, reboot ta." I did that and it came up working. Before it would say "Awaiting EMM" I believe. Also the first line of the diags says "Status: Ready" when it is working. If it says "b-cast only" you're not there yet.


----------



## betafu

Just spent about 90 minutes on the phone with Time-Warner, I'm in Austin. Customer service tech had me yank the USB cable from the converter box and reboot it - that caused my Tivo HD to give me a 'Tuning Adapter Connected' window, but still no bueno. 

She routed me to tech support, he had me isolate out my splitter (even though he said the coax splitter from Time-Warner should be fine) and connect directly to the converter box. Same thing. He also tried sending an authorization hit - it still blinks eight times.

He had me try rebooting the Tivo HD, it hung on a grey screen, he had me disconnect the USB cable from the converter box, still gray screened. Had me reboot the Tivo HD again and it came up fine this time. 

Connected the USB cable from the converter box (It's from Cisco) and still blinking light. He told me they were having a fifty percent success rate with getting these boxes online and that he suspects the convertor box may be very finicky about signal levels. He said they were having to roll out techs and using it as a benchmark for trend watching. 

I have a tech scheduled for Wednesday. He said that it was weird that he couldn't see a two way signal from my Tivo's CableCards, I suggested maybe that's because the mcard couldn't do two-way but he said he should still see something. 

Eight blinking green lights and a pause, the entire time. 

Anyway, I have to wait until Wednesday. Ugh.


----------



## sidsub

ferror said:


> I tried all the steps I saw others post and it didn't work for me. There is a step required to "Authorize" the TA and apparently the standard "hit" isn't enough to make that happen. Cableguy knows the trick, but I don't. He did it, then said if I get "powerkey ready on page 4 of ta diags and it still doesn't work, reboot ta." I did that and it came up working. Before it would say "Awaiting EMM" I believe. Also the first line of the diags says "Status: Ready" when it is working. If it says "b-cast only" you're not there yet.


Thanks. I see "Waiting EMM" on that page, and B-Cast only on the first page as well. So that's the problem.


----------



## Murphyld

I picked up a TA this morning at 10:30 and started trying to get it to work. All day long the support operators had me rebooting both the Tivo and the TA, unplugging the USB cable and plugging it back in. After going through 4 Time Warner tech support operators it started to work. 

After sending some signals to the TA, support tech Brian finally determined that the TA wasn't getting an IP. He did something on his end and had me reboot the TA one more time and it started to work.

Good luck everybody.


----------



## gilport

Rimshot said:


> Has any one had some channels work and others not? I have tried all the boot/reboot suggestions with no luck.


Same here, finally was able to get the TA box running, but not all SDV channels work, I get the following message on those SDV channels not working "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press SELECT to try tuning to this channel again. Contact your cable provider for more information."


----------



## 86285

My TA was working earlier today but stopped working and I started getting the 8 flashing lights. Because my TiVo HD is about to be replaced (defective unit), my TiVo service went away, so the TiVo may have started blocking communication to the USB port.

I'm starting to think that TW may have had issues with not enough SDV slots and disabled the TAs until the problem could be rectified. It would almost make sense that they wouldn't tell the people in tech support given how little information has been given to customer service about these things.

I'm confident that they'll have this all working pretty smoothly in the next few days.


----------



## sidsub

Got it going with cableguy's help as well!

Missing a bunch of channels though... I know I'm getting lots of new ones, but it looks like there's a glitch that's causing us to miss some channels. For example... I'm not getting CNNHD, FNCHD, etc... not getting DISNHD, NGCHD either. But I am now getting History HD, Animal Planet HD, Science HD, ESPN News HD... all channels I didn't get before. I don't see a pattern to what's working and what's not though.


----------



## ferror

gilport said:


> Same here, finally was able to get the TA box running, but not all SDV channels work, I get the following message on those SDV channels not working "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press SELECT to try tuning to this channel again. Contact your cable provider for more information."





gkloepfer said:


> I'm starting to think that TW may have had issues with not enough SDV slots and disabled the TAs until the problem could be rectified. It would almost make sense that they wouldn't tell the people in tech support given how little information has been given to customer service about these things.


A few have mentioned this problem of not getting some SDV channels. There doesn't appear to be much rhyme or reason, but I agree, I think it has to do with bandwidth limitation. I am guessing a bit here, but based on what I've read elsewhere, the point of SDV is to save bandwidth by only delivering channels people are watching. There is a finite amount of bandwidth available for SDV channels on your neighborhood cable segment. You always get the standard broadcast channels, and there is some number of SDV channels that can be requested by cable boxes.

I hazard to guess the system checks to see if a neighbor is already viewing the same channel you are requesting, and gives you that same stream if you request it as well. At some point, if you are in a busy neighborhood, all the streams are used up and you can't request any more SDV channels until someone releases one of them. The busier your neighborhood is at the time, the more likely this is to happen.

When it says, press SELECT to try tuning the channel again, have you tried this to see if at a later time you can actually get the channel? If so, that would almost prove this theory. Also, chances are that as the rollout of these TA's is completed, they will start moving more channels from broadcast to SDV. This will open up more bandwidth for the TA's to work with and might reduce how commonly the issue comes up. Right now, I would bet that it only happens during primetime hours. I have not personally had this issue on my own TA yet, but I'll keep notes if it happens to me.


----------



## billinaustin

The following is from the Cox No Va thread 
"It is the Cisco STA1520. Includes a power adapter, USB cable, short coax cable, Quick reference guide, Self-install sheet, and a troubleshooting guide.

The troubleshooting guide includes the following: "Cox and TiVo discovered a performance issue in the software that occasionally impacts communications between the tuning adapter and the TiVo device. Both TiVo and Cox are working on a solution that is anticipated to be ready in early January. Once available, the software will be downloaded to your devices automatically; much like the downloads you already receive from Cox and TiVo on an ongoing basis."

Also from the guide: "Customer impacts from the above issue include:
1. Loss of a block of channels to which you subscribe.
2. Difficulty tuning to a single channel. "

While this issue with Cox may not be the same as mine, it is close. While watching a switched channel I lose it and get the gray screen of death. After a while I change the channel up or down and back to reestablish signal. This is a pain when a station is being recorded on a schedule. Additionally I lose chunks of signal, 3 or 5 or 10 seconds that making watching difficult at best.


----------



## TxPres

Thanks to cableguy763, my TA is now up and running.
When I installed it yesterday, I got the "blinking lights" that everyone else seems to get. Called several times for a "hit" by TW but no success.
Sent Cableguy763 a PM. This morning there was no light on. Pushed the On/Off button and the light came on steady. Checked the Tivo and the TA seems to be working OK.
Checked some SDV channels and I seem to be getting those that I checked. However, did not go thru all channels. Most of the current SDV channels are ones that I do not watch. Just checked some that are of interest.
Not sure what will happen to people in areas that do not have someone like CableGuy763 available. Maybe that is why Austin is one of the first to get the TA.


----------



## ATX Boiler

Many thanks to CableGuy763 for getting me up and running last night with a hit to my TA. I woke up this morning with no status light. Pressed the power button and bang, steady status light. Checked the diags and PowerKEY still said "Waiting EMM". Reset the TA by pulling the power cable and now I'm golden. Page4 is all "Ready" and I'm in SDV heaven!

I still seem to be having an issue with tuning and guide info on my "Sports Pack" channels. Big Ten HD (1640), Versus HD (1646), and Golf HD (1647) all say "To be announced" in the TiVo Guide. When I tune to Versus or Golf the programming is there, but when I return to the Guide the channel has dissapeared. I have tried connecting to the TiVo service for an update with no change. Is anyone else seeing this issue? Sent a PM to CableGuy763 with hopes that he has an easy fix.

Agree with TxPres that this would have been a NIGHTMARE without someone so willing to help as CableGuy763! Can't say thank you enough!


----------



## mmcgown

Thank you TxPres, for mentioning something I hadn't thought of--after going through all the rest of the 8 blinks and hits and reboots, I woke up this morning to NO light at all.

I embarrassed to admit that I didn't think to PUSH the POWER KEY. On the other hand, I have to say--I received no instruction sheet (as the Cox No. VA customers did), and your post is the first I've seen that mentioned it.

I did play with the power key yesterday, but since it didn't appear to do anything at all, I forgot it. Now I see that it works the same as the cable box: after a reboot, wait for the time to appear and then power it on. Only problem of course is that the TA gives no clue as to what it's doing.

So, I pressed POWER and now I have a steady green light.

When I test for channels, TiVo gives a banner with a channel number, but no picture. Maybe if I wait a while?



TxPres said:


> Thanks to cableguy763, my TA is now up and running.
> When I installed it yesterday, I got the "blinking lights" that everyone else seems to get. Called several times for a "hit" by TW but no success.
> Sent Cableguy763 a PM. This morning there was no light on. Pushed the On/Off button and the light came on steady. Checked the Tivo and the TA seems to be working OK.


And--couldn't agree more that we are lucky to have CableGuy763 here in Austin!


----------



## mikesas

Another big thanks to cableguy763!
He did his magic on my TA this morning and all is well now.

FYI - I had a solid light after he hit my box, but it was still not working. I pulled the plug to reboot it again, after the light went out hit the power button, and then waited. It took almost 10 minutes, but all of my status' finally went to Ready and SDV channels started working.

I wish there was some way we could give him some better recognition.

Thanks Again!


----------



## dpratt

ATX Boiler said:


> I still seem to be having an issue with tuning and guide info on my "Sports Pack" channels. Big Ten HD (1640), Versus HD (1646), and Golf HD (1647) all say "To be announced" in the TiVo Guide. When I tune to Versus or Golf the programming is there, but when I return to the Guide the channel has dissapeared. I have tried connecting to the TiVo service for an update with no change. Is anyone else seeing this issue? Sent a PM to CableGuy763 with hopes that he has an easy fix.


I m experiencing the exact same problems myself - if I tune BigTen HD, I get a black screen and the channel goes away in the guide. Versus and Golf get a signal, but the channel goes away as well. Additionally, I cannot tune Speed (an SDV channel). I get these channels fine with the (godawful) SA 8300HD in my bedroom.

I suspect that this might be because these channels are in the separate sports package, but I could be wrong.

If you do get it working, let me know.


----------



## texaslabrat

Now I'm getting a different symptom. About 1 time out of 5, the device will get an IP address..and things look like they are going to work (status: ready, powerkey ready, etc)..but the channels don't work. Then, I reboot the TA (and/or the tivo, doesn't seem to matter), and I'm back to 8 blinks and no ip address. Does this sound like a signal issue and/or a bad box? Or am I missing something? Have a truck roll scheduled for Wednesday...but if there's an easy fix I could try before then I'd like to give it a shot.

Update: I move the TA sans Tivo to another tap. Most of my taps are off of an amplifier. I have one unamplified tap in the house for my cable modem with its own "home run" to the "demarc" (or whatever you call it) in the neighbor's back yard. I tried it there, and I get the same 8 blink behavior. Since it occasionally gets an IP address (only does 8 blinks when it doesn't get an ip address, does constant blink when it does get an ip address but doesn't seem to work), I can only assume that perhaps there's an issue with the transceiver inside. Maybe tomorrow I can go grab another TA from the office in the morning and see if that fixes it.


----------



## bmbeck

Picked up 2 TA's yesterday and am having the same 8 blinks problem as everyone else. This means I need a hit from TW right?

In the TA Diagonstics I see the following:

Screen 1:
Status: Ready - B'cast Only

Screen 3:
UNcfg: Broadcast
BFS: Ready
SI: Read
SAM: Ready QPSK
IPG: Ready QAM
PowerKEY: Ready
Analog Capable: No

I PMed my RF-MACs to Cableguy763 yesterday but haven't heard anything back yet. Doesn't seem like anyone has had success with calling tech support. Any ideas other than to wait for Cableguy763?


----------



## cableguy763

bmbeck said:


> Picked up 2 TA's yesterday and am having the same 8 blinks problem as everyone else. This means I need a hit from TW right?
> 
> In the TA Diagonstics I see the following:
> 
> Screen 1:
> Status: Ready - B'cast Only
> 
> Screen 3:
> UNcfg: Broadcast
> BFS: Ready
> SI: Read
> SAM: Ready QPSK
> IPG: Ready QAM
> PowerKEY: Ready
> Analog Capable: No
> 
> I PMed my RF-MACs to Cableguy763 yesterday but haven't heard anything back yet. Doesn't seem like anyone has had success with calling tech support. Any ideas other than to wait for Cableguy763?


sorry about that, my pm's here have been an avalanche. I have both of your ta's done. let me know


----------



## sidsub

cableguy763 said:


> sorry about that, my pm's here have been an avalanche. I have both of your ta's done. let me know


Another very grateful user here... is there any possibility that Customer Service will know what to do in the next few days? I know someone else who is going to get their TA in the next few days and I will probably have to help them but hate to put even more of a burden on cableguy763.

Thanks.


----------



## Mindflux

I should be getting my TA thursday when the tech brings out the cable cards, or so I'm told. Just to be sure I may go to the RR office tomorrow and try to get one in case the tech doesn't come with one.

Look for my PM thursday night..


----------



## tex123austin

Hey guys.. how do I find out what my RF MAC is so I can IM Cableguy. I also would like to suggest we create a way to paypal cableguy for his help. I'd rather send him starbucks money then have to take off work for a half day for the truck on wednesday.

Tex


----------



## texaslabrat

tex123austin said:


> Hey guys.. how do I find out what my RF MAC is so I can IM Cableguy. I also would like to suggest we create a way to paypal cableguy for his help. I'd rather send him starbucks money then have to take off work for a half day for the truck on wednesday.
> 
> Tex


You can either look at the sticker on the back of the device, or it is also listed on one of the pages in the TA diagnostics area in the tivo.


----------



## bmbeck

cableguy763 said:


> sorry about that, my pm's here have been an avalanche. I have both of your ta's done. let me know


Works great, thanks!


----------



## KenricSmith

Still have led flashing 8 times. My status looks different from what others have posted... I have:

INITIALIZATION
Status: Ready
BOOT STATUS
UNcfg: Ready
BFS: Ready
SI: Ready
SAM: Ready QPSK
IPG: Ready QAM
PowerKey: Waiting EMM
CLIENT
Authorized: No
RF Ip Addr: 10.26.69.3
SERVER
Status: Pending
TUNING ADAPTER
Authorized: No

Is this what others have that are having problems? I know my signal strength was low when the cable guy measured it when I moved in. I PMed cableguy763 but I am sure he is swamped with requests.


----------



## cableguy763

KenricSmith said:


> Still have led flashing 8 times. My status looks different from what others have posted... I have:
> 
> INITIALIZATION
> Status: Ready
> BOOT STATUS
> UNcfg: Ready
> BFS: Ready
> SI: Ready
> SAM: Ready QPSK
> IPG: Ready QAM
> PowerKey: Waiting EMM
> CLIENT
> Authorized: No
> RF Ip Addr: 10.26.69.3
> SERVER
> Status: Pending
> TUNING ADAPTER
> Authorized: No
> 
> Is this what others have that are having problems? I know my signal strength was low when the cable guy measured it when I moved in. I PMed cableguy763 but I am sure he is swamped with requests.


try it now


----------



## texaslabrat

cableguy763, is it worth even trying to hit the TA if it won't pick up an IP address? As I've mentioned previously...sometimes it will get one, sometimes it won't. Signal strength doesn't seem to be an issue as I've tested in both an amplified environment and with a home-run put in for the cable modem. What are your thoughts on that..possible dhcp issue? Bad hardware? I'm cursed?

Update...on a whim I power cycled one last time...and this time got an IP address (8 blink). I PM'd cableguy for a hit, and this time got solid green. Had to reboot the Tivo to pick up the new channels, but everything looks good now. Thanks again, cableguy 

On a side note, I have a theory the the dhcp server will only hand out an address to a given MAC once in a certain time interval (seems to be at least an hour)...hence when I left it alone for a while, then rebooted..got an IP, but subsequently rebooted soon after no IP. Just a theory, and maybe I was just unlucky or something..but that's my observation. Cableguy: can you confirm this behavior? If so...someone might want to take a look at it for instances where the TA might lose power several times in fairly rapid succession (brief power outages during a storm, for instance) since if I'm correct such a scenario would render the TA dead in the water SDV-wise for at least an hour or two. Or perhaps the limitation is only for non-authenticated units to prevent DoS attacks against the DHCP server by trying to exhaust the lease space by rogue devices...so once authenticated the limitation is lifted and it's not an issue? I'm scared to death to even touch the thing now that it's working, so I can't (won't!) test it 

And finally...if cableguy763 will set up a paypal account, I'd be more than happy to throw a thank-you donation his way  If several of us contribute..might be worth a dinner or two out with the Mrs. to make up for the lost weekend he gave up on our behalf  Just an idea...


----------



## KenricSmith

Working now, thanks cableguy. I agree with tex123austin on doing something for cableguy763. 

For reference, I was watching the Cowboys, but when I saw the message from cableguy, my box was still doing the 8 blink thing, I rebooted, and it did a flash a second for a minute or two, then went on solid and tuned to a different channel. I can now tune in the SDV channels, no powercycle of TiVo needed.


----------



## paintbrush

texaslabrat said:


> And finally...if cableguy763 will set up a paypal account, I'd be more than happy to throw a thank-you donation his way  If several of us contribute..might be worth a dinner or two out with the Mrs. to make up for the lost weekend he gave up on our behalf  Just an idea...


As another satisfied customer of cableguy763, I'm all for it! A professional who can get your problem resolved in 30 sec or so as compared to 2 independent failed attempts by the TW techs definitely deserves a little something for the holidays...


----------



## dlcrow

I'm seeing oddness when channel surfing. It'll skip channels going up and down. The skipped channels are different and not predictable.

I think there's likely a TiVo bug here, but I can't find a consistent failure case.


----------



## stevec5375

I'm certainly glad we have CableGuy as he fixed me up as well. But the bigger issue is why the @#[email protected] is TWC putting out a TA without people properly trained. CableGuy told me they got training but it must not have "stuck" in many cases. 

I called TWC a month ago and asked when the TA would be available since they had been promising 4th quarter of 2008. I was told it was in BETA test. I asked if I could be a BETA tester and was told they had already been picked. Some BETA test. All I had to do was get home with it, hook it up, and discover after being on the phone with the nicest 2nd-level support guy that he basically was guessing at what to do. Even the people he was conferring with didn't know what to do.

After one email and a phone call from CableGuy it was working. I don't know how CableGuy keeps it up. I would be furious with my employer if they did such a crappy job training their support personnel.

TWC knows they have most of us over a barrel since they monopolize most of Austin. I'm counting the days until Grande is in my neighborhood.

The Cable Card fiasco and now this TA fiasco have just sent me over the edge.

CableGuy: You are the greatest. This rant was in no way directed at you. You deserve a medal. :up:


----------



## cableguy763

texaslabrat said:


> And finally...if cableguy763 will set up a paypal account, I'd be more than happy to throw a thank-you donation his way  If several of us contribute..might be worth a dinner or two out with the Mrs. to make up for the lost weekend he gave up on our behalf  Just an idea...


Your happiness is payment enough for me. Besides, you already paid for service when you paid your cable bill.


----------



## mmcgown

paintbrush said:


> As another satisfied customer of cableguy763, I'm all for it! A professional who can get your problem resolved in 30 sec or so as compared to 2 independent failed attempts by the TW techs definitely deserves a little something for the holidays...


Count me in, too. CableGuy763 has helped me more than once. I'd be happy to chip in for a gift card......

My TA seems to be working fine. Probably it would have gone more smoothly if I'd had the correct order of steps. So for those who haven't got their TA yet, maybe knowing these steps will help. This is from the Cox/NoVa thread:


plug in the coax, 
then the TA power, 
then call a number to activate the TA, 
THEN once it's activated, 
turn on the Tivo and 
plug in the USB.


Maybe CableGuy763 can confirm or correct this.....??


----------



## Polarorbit

So, OK, they leave me a message to say the tuning adapter is available. Yeah! I call this morning order the cable cards and tunig adapter to put my Tivo on their system, but the phone person does not even know what a tuning adapter is. Sends me to tech support. Tech support says you have to go into the office to get one. I tell him that makes no sense; why can't they bring out the free device when they bring the cable cards? He says they can't. I have to pay to get the cards in stalled and then go waste my time picking up their hardware. Like they can't bring the darned thing out with the cable cards that I am paying them to install? Don't these morons think anything through? How easy would this have been to do right? Another example of customer service fumble by a cable company. I can't imagine they really want to be this stupid, but they really are.


----------



## Mindflux

Polarorbit said:


> So, OK, they leave me a message to say the tuning adapter is available. Yeah! I call this morning order the cable cards and tunig adapter to put my Tivo on their system, but the phone person does not even know what a tuning adapter is. Sends me to tech support. Tech support says you have to go into the office to get one. I tell him that makes no sense; why can't they bring out the free device when they bring the cable cards? He says they can't. I have to pay to get the cards in stalled and then go waste my time picking up their hardware. Like they can't bring the darned thing out with the cable cards that I am paying them to install? Don't these morons think anything through? How easy would this have been to do right? Another example of customer service fumble by a cable company. I can't imagine they really want to be this stupid, but they really are.


Weird. I am waiting for my cards too, and I was told there would be no install fee. Just the monthly fee on the cards themselves. I was also told they'd bring out a T.A. (Which I don't believe, so I'm going to go pick one up today if I can). This is Austin though, and your profile says you are in Chicago.

What a load of inconsistent bs.


----------



## LakeLBJ

Anybody in Austin pick up one this morning (Monday)? Wondered if they were in stock anywhere as of today. I am in central Austin so I could go to any location.

I'm not even going to try to call them because most reps don't even know what it is and when I got a TiVo they told me I could just come in and pick my cablecards up from the main office...guess what happened when I tried that...


----------



## cableguy763

LakeLBJ said:


> Anybody in Austin pick up one this morning (Monday)? Wondered if they were in stock anywhere as of today. I am in central Austin so I could go to any location.
> 
> I'm not even going to try to call them because most reps don't even know what it is and when I got a TiVo they told me I could just come in and pick my cablecards up from the main office...guess what happened when I tried that...


They are in stock in Austin/Round Rock/San Marcos.


----------



## Mindflux

cableguy763 said:


> They are in stock in Austin/Round Rock/San Marcos.


I just picked one up from RR.

I'm getting a 8 blink pattern.


----------



## beavsi956

I am getting the constant blinking thing. I have PM'd you. 

I know you can save me.....................................


----------



## Enrique

cableguy763 said:


> They are in stock in Austin/Round Rock/San Marcos.


Do you(Or anyone) know when they are going to release them in San Antonio?

Thanks.


----------



## cableguy763

I do not know. Sorry.


----------



## Enrique

cableguy763 said:


> I do not know. Sorry.


Damn, Do you mind if I move to Austin and bask in the warm glow of the TA's.


----------



## ferror

It's no surprise to any of us that upper management at TWC would care very little about the needs of TiVo users, who are utilizing CableCARD technology to access their network with their own freely chosen device. They want us to all **OBEY** and use their box. They refuse to acknowledge that their box isn't just an inferior design by market standards, it actually just won't work for a lot of us. I have tried to use that box to record shows and it just simply doesn't work unless you come to it right before a show comes on an tell it to record it. The search functionality to find programs to watch just isn't there. Nor are any other key DVR features. The box was a hack to answer TiVo without actually providing a real product to compete.

It's no further surprise that when you go to their offices, half the time you find reps who will give you a sarcastic attitude when you ask about the TA. "We are all out of them, but you could try driving to the north location, but since you only have 10 minutes you won't make it." The tone of that pissed me off. I waited for months for this. Then, no one answering the phones has any clue. Upper management decided to just throw this issue over the fence into the consumer domain and let us sort it out! They simply failed to actually train any staff to deal with this, outside of those like Cableguy who already knew! They figure their staff will eventually all figure out what's going on with these pesky TA's a few users have.

This is an absolute _**EPIC FAIL* *_ on the part of TWC to perform a rollout in an orderly fashion. I hope upper management realizes that it is those of us who see the technology for it's potential, and not it's limitations, who advance that technology for not just us, but TWC.

I, like many others, hope Cableguy can get some compensation for his hard work. I think that must come from TWC though, as I'm sure accepting payment from us would be a dicey situation for him.


----------



## LakeLBJ

Went to Time Warner in North Austin today and picked one up. No problems picking it up. It's HUGE! Tonight will, I guess, be the real test.

That beind said - and in response to ferror's post above - does anybody have one functioning without any problems and are accessing all channels?


----------



## Mindflux

LakeLBJ said:


> Went to Time Warner in North Austin today and picked one up. No problems picking it up. It's HUGE! Tonight will, I guess, be the real test.


Yeah, I thought it was going to be smaller, like the size of a cable modem.


----------



## Lovetroll

I've been running fine since Friday evening with all my channels.

And it's not really huge, it's only about a third of the size of the box they packaged it in.


----------



## ferror

Considering that it is a box which is adjunct to the CableCARDs to provide access to all channels, the size of it is totally ridiculous. The CableCARD standard is so elegant in itself, and then they do something like this. It looks as if they basically took a mainboard from a standard cable-box, stuck it in this new case with a pass-through for the COAX and a USB. They updated the firmware a little to make it communicate with the TiVo box over USB. Basically, we have a cable-box that's not a cable-box, which does everything a cable-box does, except work on its own. And this is when all of this functionality could easily exist right inside the CableCARD if that were designed properly from the outset. What a kludge. 

That said, thanks to Cableguy, my box is working correctly and I haven't yet seen any problems tuning any channels. It does work fine, once you get it working. But some do seem to have issues with tuning some channels. That mystery hasn't been solved yet.


----------



## chrisivc

cableguy763 said:


> I do not know. Sorry.


Since Waco is supposed to be a part of TWC Central Texas- does anyone know when a TA will be available for Waco customers?

UPDATE: I spoke to a customer service rep and she stated that they were available for waco residents (although I have not received a phone call to pick one up yet). Hmmm. I guess i will go try and pick one up tomorrow at the waco office.

-C


----------



## spolebitski

I was told told today by a TWC Representative that Austin is simply a test market. So is TWC Austin a "test market" or just the first to roll out the technology? Not be to be a smart ass but I did show them my letter stating it would be available "later this year" (the letter was dated July 2008). The end of the year is quickly approaching, will it be here? 

I should write them that my payment will be coming "later in the year"!


----------



## stevec5375

This is an absolute [I said:


> **EPIC FAIL* *[/I] on the part of TWC to perform a rollout in an orderly fashion. I hope upper management realizes that it is those of us who see the technology for it's potential, and not it's limitations, who advance that technology for not just us, but TWC.


The franchise for TWC is given by the City of Austin. I have complained to them before and gotten results. I also filed a formal complaint with the the FCC earlier this year about the Cable Card and SDV fiasco and got a letter from the TWC local attorney telling me to rent a cable box if I wanted full access.

As long as you sit on the sofa and complain you'll continue to get what you've always gotten. Poor service! Posting here must make you feel better but it does NOTHING to solve the TWC problem (aka monopoly).


----------



## deancruse

Interesting aside, sorry if a little off topic. 

Don't know if you folks use Twitter, but I "tweeted" when I was waiting in line for my box: "The Time Warner waiting area reminds me of the DMV. Lots of grumpy people. But, I'm waiting to be delighted. Come on TWC - surprise me!"

I got a direct message reply today from another Twitter user (@AlecTWC), who looks like he is the VP of Public relations for TWC Corporate, who said: "did we? delight you, that is?"

So I relayed the FAIL associated with this rollout as best I could in 140 characters or less (Twitter's limit): "not so much I'm afraid. If it weren't for one of your engineers who hangs at tivocommunity.com, all of us would still be sol."

I'll post when I hear back.

I think it's actually good news that TWC is using modern social media technologies to listen to customers. Now, let's see if they use the feedback to actually improve things.


----------



## Enforcer

I was very excited when my phone rang today and it was from a number i didnt recognize. I thought for SURE it was my TA call. Living in San Antonio SDV has killed me for a long time. But alas, it was some stupid call and not TWC. Come on SA, gitter-done.


----------



## ferror

Yeah, it's a blessing we got anything at all. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to sound like an armchair activist. I'm happy they are at least making progress on this. I guess as someone else mentioned, Austin was chosen as a test market since there are a lot of technical people here who can do some of their own troubleshooting. That's interesting that an exec took notice of twitter. For better or worse, this TA is the solution we got, so I'll live with it. Now, the fact that they mark almost every show as CCI 0x02 so I can't use MRV between my two TiVo's is something I would love to take up with the City of Austin. But, I guess I need to take the time to write a good letter. But, I don't mean to hijack the thread with too much off-topic...


----------



## LakeLBJ

Got a TA 'hit" from cableguy and now my TiVo HD is humming with all those HD channels I've been missing. After he pm'd me that he hit it, I restarted my TiVo and power cycled the tuning adapter. All is well in Round Rock.

Not sure WHY Time Warner hasn't adjusted the instructions letting you know that you need a hit on the box to get it going. I imagine there are many frustrated customers out there that don't read tivocommunity.com that have a dead ta.


----------



## jeblis

cableguy763 hooked me up and it looks like I get all the channels I should get (took a long time to check through them all)

Thanks cableguy763!


----------



## rvanderwerf

PMed cableguy, and couple days later its all working. The light had gone off while I was at work, when I get back turned it on, and solid green. Every channel I've tried so far works. I think better than the crappy SA box. Now I can get rid of it!

Thanks cableguy, now I can cancel the truck roll.


----------



## lrhorer

ferror said:


> Considering that it is a box which is adjunct to the CableCARDs to provide access to all channels, the size of it is totally ridiculous.


How big is it? Some say, "Big", others, "Small". C'mon folks! Is it too much trouble to open a drawer and pull out a tape measure?



ferror said:


> The CableCARD standard is so elegant in itself, and then they do something like this.


Personally, I'm not horribly concerned about the size, unless it's 4 rack units, or some such.



ferror said:


> It looks as if they basically took a mainboard from a standard cable-box, stuck it in this new case with a pass-through for the COAX and a USB. They updated the firmware a little to make it communicate with the TiVo box over USB.


Pretty much, yes. 'No reason to re-invent the wheel. A prudent engineer uses off-the-shelf components and proven technologies whenever practical.



ferror said:


> Basically, we have a cable-box that's not a cable-box, which does everything a cable-box does, except work on its own.


'Not at all. Unless they are idiots - which fact I doubt - the unit doesn't have a broadband tuner, demodulator, CableCard, or video section. All that is required is the OOB tuner, upstream modulator, and USB interface.



ferror said:


> And this is when all of this functionality could easily exist right inside the CableCARD if that were designed properly from the outset.


Not, and both deliberately and prudently so. The CableCard was intended to be just what it is - separable security. It does not and should not be anything but what it is: a decryption device designed to fit in a standard PCMCIA slot. Where the whole thing fell apart was in not defining a riigid standard fro two-way hosts from day one.



ferror said:


> What a kludge.


Absolutely.


----------



## routerman

ferror said:


> Considering that it is a box which is adjunct to the CableCARDs to provide access to all channels, the size of it is totally ridiculous. The CableCARD standard is so elegant in itself, and then they do something like this. It looks as if they basically took a mainboard from a standard cable-box, stuck it in this new case with a pass-through for the COAX and a USB. They updated the firmware a little to make it communicate with the TiVo box over USB. Basically, we have a cable-box that's not a cable-box, which does everything a cable-box does, except work on its own. And this is when all of this functionality could easily exist right inside the CableCARD if that were designed properly from the outset. What a kludge.


I am not sure but I am thinking that the reverse transmitter needed for two way communications would not fit inside the present CableCARD module. The RF amplifier could probably be crammed into it but that would have taken some advanced engineering and probably much longer product development cycle. I would also think that an RF transmitter would generate a significant amount of heat.

While size may be a concern to some, getting the product out the door was probably the priority of Cisco, Time Warner and TiVo. From what I can see from pictures of the TA, it is about half as big as my HD cable box. So when I get the new TiVo HD hooked up with the TA and pull out my S2 and the HD cable box, I will actually gain some space.

I am guessing the TA works like a proxy server. The TiVo "requests" channels and the TA somehow signals the cable server to turn on the channel or, if the channel is currently on, passes the tuning information to the TiVo. Since this is primarily what a cable box currently does, the use of a lobotomized cable box and a communications link to the TiVo probably made the most sense for this device. My guess is that this is a device with a very limited future. Tru2way is on the horizon and as soon as TiVo rolls out a tru2way device, the demand for the TA will diminish. Kind of reminds me of the current DTV tuner boxes now being sold to support old analog TVs.


----------



## texaslabrat

ferror said:


> Considering that it is a box which is adjunct to the CableCARDs to provide access to all channels, the size of it is totally ridiculous. The CableCARD standard is so elegant in itself, and then they do something like this. It looks as if they basically took a mainboard from a standard cable-box, stuck it in this new case with a pass-through for the COAX and a USB. They updated the firmware a little to make it communicate with the TiVo box over USB. Basically, we have a cable-box that's not a cable-box, which does everything a cable-box does, except work on its own. And this is when all of this functionality could easily exist right inside the CableCARD if that were designed properly from the outset. What a kludge.


The form factor is due to the haste in which the device was conceived and brought to market. Rather than spending the normal requisite 2-3 years of product development time (not to mention the expense of a full development cycle), Motorola and Cisco leveraged existing STBs they had and modified them (simplified?) for use as Tuning Adapters. I'm sure they are very sorry that they didn't meet your aesthetic requirements..but as someone who's been waiting for the release of these devices since last year when it was announced that CableLabs would develop them (and checking various forums practically EVERY DAY for updates)..I'm very glad that they took the shortcut to bring it to market as quickly as possible. So...quit your whining. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth! Tell you what..if it bothers you that much, promptly return the device and wait for a Tru2Way Tivo to be released.


----------



## lrhorer

routerman said:


> I am not sure but I am thinking that the reverse transmitter needed for two way communications would not fit inside the present CableCARD module.


Oh, it definitely could. It would be no more difficult than the RF transmitters they put into PCMCIA cards all the time for wireless access.



routerman said:


> The RF amplifier could probably be crammed into it but that would have taken some advanced engineering and probably much longer product development cycle.


It just would have been a poor idea all the way around, not the least from the mechanical perspective. Most UDCPs are not designed like laptop computers, and wires sticking out the CableCard would be problematical.



routerman said:


> I would also think that an RF transmitter would generate a significant amount of heat.


For a narrowband QPSK carrier? Not so much, no.



routerman said:


> While size may be a concern to some, getting the product out the door was probably the priority of Cisco, Time Warner and TiVo.


That, and not spending a great deal of resources on development.


----------



## texaslabrat

routerman said:


> I am guessing the TA works like a proxy server. The TiVo "requests" channels and the TA somehow signals the cable server to turn on the channel or, if the channel is currently on, passes the tuning information to the TiVo. Since this is primarily what a cable box currently does, the use of a lobotomized cable box and a communications link to the TiVo probably made the most sense for this device. My guess is that this is a device with a very limited future. Tru2way is on the horizon and as soon as TiVo rolls out a tru2way device, the demand for the TA will diminish. Kind of reminds me of the current DTV tuner boxes now being sold to support old analog TVs.


Yep..that's pretty much spot-on


----------



## texaslabrat

lrhorer said:


> It just would have been a poor idea all the way around, not the least from the mechanical perspective. Most UDCPs are not designed like laptop computers, and wires sticking out the CableCard would be problematical.


Not to mention the FCC mandates regarding the separation of security from functionality in cable access products (which you addressed in a prior post..but it's a point worth hammering home for those that don't understand why we're dealing with all of this to begin with).


----------



## jeblis

rvanderwerf said:


> Every channel I've tried so far works. I think better than the *crappy SA box*. Now I can get rid of it!


Take a look at the name on the bottom of the adapter.


----------



## lrhorer

texaslabrat said:


> Not to mention the FCC mandates regarding the separation of security from functionality in cable access products


Yeah, I feel a little like a hitchhiker picked up by a trucker in Tuscon and dropped off in the desert half-way to Las Vegas. While the specs for the CableCard were handled properly, the FCC and sort of left us worse off than if they had never started the drive toward separable security - an emminently laudible goal - in the first place by not developing a workable spec for 2-way hosts at the outset. One without the serious limitations of tru-2way, please.


----------



## texaslabrat

lrhorer said:


> Yeah, I feel a little like a hitchhiker picked up by a trucker in Tuscon and dropped off in the desert half-way to Las Vegas. While the specs for the CableCard were handled properly, the FCC and sort of left us worse off than if they had never started the drive toward separable security - an emminently laudible goal - in the first place by not developing a workable spec for 2-way hosts at the outset. One without the serious limitations of tru-2way, please.


Absolutely..leaving CableLabs to their own devices to meet the vague requirements was a disaster that didn't take Nostradamus to predict given their past foot-dragging and outright dodging of every rule thrown their way. Looks like Tru2Way might actually be a winner from what I've seen in the latest articles written about it now that the CE group has finally gotten onboard and is influencing its development...we'll have to see how Tivo's implementation of the "dual personality" tru2way dvr turns out I guess.


----------



## ferror

Ok, great points made all. I agree, the transmitter should be in the host device. They came up with the SDV idea after CableCard was specified, I guess. Like I said, I complained mainly because I was upset about the rollout, but I did have some questions about these design decisions, and you have answered them well. Thanks for the feedback. I will decline on returning the device. I agree that the form factor is not my biggest concern, however I was just looking at the whole issue from a design point of view. I can understand why engineers with a limited budget would have to make these choices, now that it's been explored in depth.

I never had anything against the engineering team. I give them total props for getting a solution to us. I meant to direct my complaints more at upper management, which only did this under mandate, and then allocated the minimum resources to the project. But, we are a small percentage of their customers, so I guess they prudently manage the project accordingly.

Oh, and I would chip in for some kind of compensation for Cableguy, if others want to do so and he is in agreement with it, and won't have any trouble.


----------



## betafu

I have to admit, I've been generally happy with my TWC experience with my TA. 

Saturday morning I picked it up, it didn't work, I did a ton of research, steps on my own, called them, got to their level two tech and he couldn't fix it, he set up a truck roll. 

Monday afternoon I get a fall from TWC from another level two tech who had been assigned to call folks from the weekend, he called me back when I got home. But by then I had walked in the door, realized the TA was off (he had been busy sending auth requests I guess to each person on the list) and turned it on - solid green light and it all works now. I even hooked my cable splitter back up and it still works. 

So overall I was pleased, it was fixed quickly and efficiently.


----------



## ferror

Sounds like they are starting to get people trained. That's great news. It means when I get my second TA for my other TiVo, I won't need to bug Cableguy again. Hey, didn't mean to offend anyone. I think I got overly emotional about this and I apologize. I thought I was commiserating, but it turned out to be whining.


----------



## jeblis

betafu said:


> I have to admit, I've been generally happy with my TWC experience with my TA.


I've had very good service from TWC Austin for the last 8 years. CableGuy has helped me twice (original cable cards with S3 weren't setup right). How many of you would proactively go out to a niche message board to support the stuff you do at work?

Internet service has been very good as well. The few times they have had to come out, the techs were pretty close to their scheduled times.


----------



## malvarez

Got my tuning adapter, and with Cableguys' help, it is up and running great. Did anyone remove the plastic sheet that appears to be covering the front and top? I started to, but it didn't look like it wanted to come off. Should it?


----------



## cableguy763

malvarez said:


> Got my tuning adapter, and with Cableguys' help, it is up and running great. Did anyone remove the plastic sheet that appears to be covering the front and top? I started to, but it didn't look like it wanted to come off. Should it?


Yes, take it off.


----------



## imyourskribe

I just got a call telling me I can head to a TWC location and pick up a tuning adapter, but I'm seeing here that some people have been sent to other locations once they get to TWC. Is there a list of numbers for all the TWC shops around Austin? I'd like to call ahead to find out if I'm going to have any luck at the location I head to, but all I can find is the general TWC number.

Thanks!


----------



## ferror

imyourskribe said:


> Is there a list of numbers for all the TWC shops around Austin? I'd like to call ahead to find out if I'm going to have any luck at the location I head to, but all I can find is the general TWC number. Thanks!


http://www.timewarnercable.com/centraltx/customer/contactus/

Yes, they don't seem to have direct numbers to all the individual locations.


----------



## imyourskribe

ferror said:


> Yes, they don't seem to have direct numbers to all the individual locations.


Ah well. Guess I'll hope for the best.

I appreciate the speedy response


----------



## RabidCow

I just got my tuning adapter today. It initially didn't work, so I called them up and went through standard tech support. The first person to take my call was able to resolve the issue (the box needed a firmware upgrade). Overall I'm happy with everything except the size and power requirements (it has a relatively huge power brick).

Box dimensions (inches): 12w x 7d x 2h

Now perhaps someone could explain why it took 3 cable installers 6 hours to install one multistream cable card yesterday. THAT was ridiculous.

edit: The installers yesterday mentioned that their supervisor had instructed them to not take any appointments for tuning adapters because they wouldn't be turned on until Jan. 1.


----------



## Mindflux

RabidCow said:


> Now perhaps someone could explain why it took 3 cable installers 6 hours to install one multistream cable card yesterday. THAT was ridiculous.
> 
> edit: The installers yesterday mentioned that their supervisor had instructed them to not take any appointments for tuning adapters because they wouldn't be turned on until Jan. 1.


Wait, what? I was told they don't have M cards?

What's your fee for that single card?

*Edit: I just talked to TW *AGAIN* and they said they don't have M cards. I asked them for a Multi Stream card, rather than two singles and they said that's not how they do it.


----------



## texaslabrat

One thing that I've noticed is that a couple of the SDV channels (Animal Planet HD in particular), I get the "Channel Temporarily Unavailable" message almost every time when I try to tune to it...pressing the "select" button a couple of times (as prompted by the tivo dialog) eventually gets it to tune in. I'm not sure if that's a Tivo issue or a SDV issue (that one channel is the main problem child I've seen..though I haven't done extensive testing yet) since most channels seem to work "normally". Maybe some channels take more time to "come up" on SDV and thus a timeout occurs? Or maybe there's a similar lag on all SDV channels that would cause this symptom, but all the other channels I normally try already had a local stream on my node running thus the problem is masked? I'm not too worried about it from a real-time viewing thing (since I can hit the button a couple of times if needed)..but I wonder if the tivo is "smart" enough to keep trying if it's attempting to record something unattended.

Anybody else seeing similar issues?


----------



## texaslabrat

imyourskribe said:


> I just got a call telling me I can head to a TWC location and pick up a tuning adapter, but I'm seeing here that some people have been sent to other locations once they get to TWC. Is there a list of numbers for all the TWC shops around Austin? I'd like to call ahead to find out if I'm going to have any luck at the location I head to, but all I can find is the general TWC number.
> 
> Thanks!


IMHO your best bet is the Mopac-Duval location since that's the central office.


----------



## ferror

Mindflux said:


> Wait, what? I was told they don't have M cards?
> 
> What's your fee for that single card?
> 
> *Edit: I just talked to TW *AGAIN* and they said they don't have M cards. I asked them for a Multi Stream card, rather than two singles and they said that's not how they do it.


I have two TiVo's, each with a single M-card. I am billed for 2 cablecards, so the cost is a little bit cheaper. The installers often show up with S-cards and try to give you two of those saying it's all the same. It works the same in the end, but you do wind up being billed for the extra cablecard. I had to work at it a bit to actually get my second M-card. I was just lucky the first time.


----------



## Mindflux

ferror said:


> I have two TiVo's, each with a single M-card. I am billed for 2 cablecards, so the cost is a little bit cheaper. The installers often show up with S-cards and try to give you two of those saying it's all the same. It works the same in the end, but you do wind up being billed for the extra cablecard. I had to work at it a bit to actually get my second M-card. I was just lucky the first time.


I just called again and asked them to note to please bring an M-card out. This rep I talked to seemed more receptive.


----------



## jharrod

Once I had the TA issues sorted out I was still missing quite a few channels, but having TW hit the CableCards again got everything working. Hope that helps some of you who are still missing channels with the TA.


----------



## Mindflux

Man, TW is not on the ball here. I just got my "Pre-Order" email.



TWC said:


> Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available to the public but is currently undergoing testing to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released to the public sometime in December in many areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.


Uhm. Hi? I already have it. So do many of my fellow TiVo-nians.


----------



## Mindflux

Got my M Card today. Took FOREVER to re-download the basic guide though. I'm missing data for everything past 6PM tomorrow and onward. 

I'm also missing channels I am familiar to, like 1502 and some of those. NBC etc in Hi Def?


----------



## Austin_Martin

Ugh. I lost all digital channels on one of my Tivos with the new tuning adapter last night.

All the digital channels, including the hd locals, just have a gray screen. The HD tier channels pop up the message "cablecards may be required".

Anyone else seen this? I tried rebooting the Tivo, but got the same result.

I'll have to try unplugging the TA and see what happens(haven't had time to mess with it).


----------



## Austin_Martin

> Ugh. I lost all digital channels on one of my Tivos with the new tuning adapter last night.
> 
> All the digital channels, including the hd locals, just have a gray screen. The HD tier channels pop up the message "cablecards may be required".
> 
> Anyone else seen this? I tried rebooting the Tivo, but got the same result.
> 
> I'll have to try unplugging the TA and see what happens(haven't had time to mess with it).


Update. rebooting didn't work, but unplugging, and replugging the usb cord did.


----------



## LakeLBJ

A little off topic....

Can anybody see/view 1655 Travel HD on the TiVo? It's not showing up in my guide data as a channel even though I can view it fine on my standard HD box in my other room. I was excited to use this channel as I figured it was a SDV channel but I can't even tune to it or see it in the guide data.


----------



## Mindflux

LakeLBJ said:


> A little off topic....
> 
> Can anybody see/view 1655 Travel HD on the TiVo? It's not showing up in my guide data as a channel even though I can view it fine on my standard HD box in my other room. I was excited to use this channel as I figured it was a SDV channel but I can't even tune to it or see it in the guide data.


1655 works here. Can tune in just fine.


----------



## KenricSmith

Mine channel 1655 didn't show up in the guide, but I can tune it in, and I added it to the channels. Did they change the lineup without notification? I though there were SDV HD channels that I already added that weren't selected.


----------



## cableguy763

You have to add it to then channels then force a connection to get guide data.


----------



## RabidCow

Mindflux said:


> Wait, what? I was told they don't have M cards?
> 
> What's your fee for that single card?
> 
> *Edit: I just talked to TW *AGAIN* and they said they don't have M cards. I asked them for a Multi Stream card, rather than two singles and they said that's not how they do it.


I don't know the fee as I've had it only a few days. I initially asked for the M card when I scheduled the installation, but was told the same thing you heard: we only do S cards. (This was at the south Austin location.) The installers showed up and said they were doing a single M card because they were out of S cards. So I got lucky. I bet if you have a polite but firm conversation with the installer you can get an M card.


----------



## cableguy763

RabidCow said:


> I don't know the fee as I've had it only a few days. I initially asked for the M card when I scheduled the installation, but was told the same thing you heard: we only do S cards. (This was at the south Austin location.) The installers showed up and said they were doing a single M card because they were out of S cards. So I got lucky. I bet if you have a polite but firm conversation with the installer you can get an M card.


TWC doesn't even buy S-cards anymore. Nor do I think cisco even makes S-cards anymore. The odds of a tech showing up with an M-card are much greater than with an S-card. It's still possible due to rotation in the warehouse to get an S-card, but unlikely.


----------



## Enforcer

Still waiting on my adaptor in the great brown south


----------



## sidsub

jharrod said:


> Once I had the TA issues sorted out I was still missing quite a few channels, but having TW hit the CableCards again got everything working. Hope that helps some of you who are still missing channels with the TA.


I am still missing several channels. When you say I should have TW "hit" the cablecards again, what do you mean? Is having them "reset the cable box" the same thing? I know cableguy initially had to send out some kind of reinitialization hit to the TA, but the TA is working okay on a lot of SDV channels I didn't used to get...

I was going to take the tack of calling and saying I just wasn't getting certain channels, but if there's a more precise thing to tell the customer service person, it might get me better results (I hope). Thanks.


----------



## Mindflux

cableguy763 said:


> TWC doesn't even buy S-cards anymore. Nor do I think cisco even makes S-cards anymore. The odds of a tech showing up with an M-card are much greater than with an S-card. It's still possible due to rotation in the warehouse to get an S-card, but unlikely.


The installer I got brought out an M card and S cards. It was his first TiVo install. It went smoothly, considering it took over 30 minutes to update the channel listing and one days worth of guide data. :down:


----------



## chapmangeo

And it isn't real difficult - but support may be an issue. Missed the launch - I was out of town. Got a 1520 hooked up last night to my Series3. Had to do a telephone hit to get the initial box auth; I expected that. Had to reboot the TiVo after the box hit to get SDV although I suspect it might have worked if I waited. However, 70% of the channels were "temporarily unavail". Looked at Tuning Adapter diags on the TiVo; I was in broadcast mode. The level 1 tech referred me to a level 2 tech who knew what a TA was. She read the box an told me my issue was low signal. Moved it to a commercial TWC internet drop, it was still "low signal". Moved it back, she scheduled an on site tech. Waited until morning. Good news: the TA had taken the deep hit overnight and was now in 2 way, most of the SDV channels tuned. Bad news: My cable cards had lost subscription service auth (missed last night's key hit). Telephone rehit the boxes. After waiting for everything to come up, it now got grey screens for everything digital. Wound up rebooting the TiVo again. Now it's working fine. I just hope I don't go through reauth issues every tim the key changes.

Summary: Don't need to harrass our loyal friend at TWC, just have to be patient. But the L tech team still needs a bit of training.

Thanks to TWC for rolling it out - not perfect, but it works. And thanks to TWC Cable Card Escalation / Greensboro for holding my hand...


----------



## Lovetroll

Austin_Martin said:


> Ugh. I lost all digital channels on one of my Tivos with the new tuning adapter last night.
> 
> All the digital channels, including the hd locals, just have a gray screen. The HD tier channels pop up the message "cablecards may be required".
> 
> Anyone else seen this? I tried rebooting the Tivo, but got the same result.
> 
> I'll have to try unplugging the TA and see what happens(haven't had time to mess with it).


I had this same problem last night around 6:40 or so. I had to unplug the TA and reboot my Tivo a couple of times to get it to work. At first I was getting 6 flashing lights and then a pause, then it went to straight flashing, then it finally came up.


----------



## BVK

I have configured my system so all devices (slingbox, tivo, tuning adapter, etc.) are powered by a power strip with surge protector. I used to do a reboot by turning off the strip, waiting, then turning it back on. This does not seem to work with the tuning adapter. You must do a reboot of the Tivo after getting the tuning adapter running. I think the issue is the adapter must grab an IP address first. (This is like the cable modem power up, wait 10 seconds, router power up recommendation for broadband)

BVK


----------



## BVK

As a reminder for noobs and those installing tuning adapter: a complete technicolored program lineup for TW Austin is available at:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/Cust...Us.ashx?CLUID=231&Zip=&Image1.x=70&Image1.y=3

You can select what you want (cablecard viewable, HD, standard, etc. channel lineup.) Be sure to click "printer friendly" at bottom to print.

As a wishlist: does anyone know where we can find a current, up-to-date copy of only the channels that are currently being switched. I wish there were a choice for that on the list above.

BVK


----------



## Mindflux

BVK said:


> As a reminder for noobs and those installing tuning adapter: a complete technicolored program lineup for TW Austin is available at:
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Cust...Us.ashx?CLUID=231&Zip=&Image1.x=70&Image1.y=3
> 
> You can select what you want (cablecard viewable, HD, standard, etc. channel lineup.) Be sure to click "printer friendly" at bottom to print.
> 
> As a wishlist: does anyone know where we can find a current, up-to-date copy of only the channels that are currently being switched. I wish there were a choice for that on the list above.
> 
> BVK


I wish there was a linup where channels weren't duplicated. Why is TNT on 67 and 510? etc.

Printer friendly doesn't keep your view preferences (Cable Card accessible etc).. hrmph.

Post 3 on the linked (Below) shows a list of channels as of March. Some have 'SDV" marked next to them.. maybe that'll help?

http://forums.hornfans.com/php/wwwt...=5510809&page=6&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0&fpart=


----------



## texaslabrat

Mindflux said:


> I wish there was a linup where channels weren't duplicated. Why is TNT on 67 and 510? etc.


Because 67 is the analog channel for TNT, and 510 is the digital simulcast one. However, with the cable cards you are probably getting the digital version on both since it's smart enough to re-map 67 to be the digital one if TWC has the channel mapping set correctly.


----------



## Scopeman

Just a reminder to all those folks picking up TAs over the next few days/weeks - triple check your signal path to remove potential issues. At the end of along truck roll the TWC tech removed an amp that another tech had installed a long time ago (LONG TIME) and replaced it. Older amp handled up to 900Mhz. New one handles up to 1000Mhz. And that simple change solved a TA issue (would not go into 2-way mode).


----------



## cableguy763

Scopeman said:


> Just a reminder to all those folks picking up TAs over the next few days/weeks - triple check your signal path to remove potential issues. At the end of along truck roll the TWC tech removed an amp that another tech had installed a long time ago (LONG TIME) and replaced it. Older amp handled up to 900Mhz. New one handles up to 1000Mhz. And that simple change solved a TA issue (would not go into 2-way mode).


Just to point something out- if your amp only goes to 900 Mhz you are fine. Scopeman had a problem with his return path that prevented two-way communication. The return path for the ta is 34.99 mhz, which is a long way from 1 Ghz. One way to check for return path issues on the ta is to go to the ta diags and look at the RDC. If it is above 53 you will probably have return path-two way issues.


----------



## Mindflux

I tried to tune into a channel last night to get "Channel Unavailable", after trying a few times I got a GSOD (wouldn't let me switch to another channel and tune in).. I switched to the other tuner which was frozen as well. When I unhooked the T.A, the TiVo restarted itself. Ugh. I hope this smooths out.


----------



## wizard5236

How do I get the TA? I call TW yesterday and they informed me that I have to fill out the request on the website. I filled out the request and recieved an email late yesterday informed me that they are not available in the Austin area at the current time. I know this to be false, as many of you have them. How did you go about requesting the unit?

Thanks in advance,

Michael


----------



## ferror

The original announcement of the TA came in early October, but rumor was going around in September. We signed up on a "preorder" list, and then finally received calls this past week. If you have not been on the list, then I am not sure how long it would take for you to get yours. Perhaps you can just get one by visiting the North Austin location and asking for one.

Here is the point in time when the news broke on this thread:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=398126&page=3

This is the link at TWC where you request a preorder for the TA:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/centraltx/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html

Good luck.


----------



## TxPres

I just went to the Duval (North Austin) location and asked for one.
No Problem.


----------



## TheSlyBear

Thanks, I'll drop by on Monday at the Duval location.


----------



## Mindflux

All I'm getting now is grey screens. TA has a solid green light but I can't pick up anything as long as the T.A is in the loop. If I put the cable from the wall to the TiVo directly I can get basic programming.


----------



## Mindflux

Now I've got cable, hooray!


----------



## Austin_Martin

> All I'm getting now is grey screens. TA has a solid green light but I can't pick up anything as long as the T.A is in the loop. If I put the cable from the wall to the TiVo directly I can get basic programming.


This happened to me, and the solution was to temporarily disconnect the USB, then reconnect.


----------



## lrhorer

cableguy763 said:


> Just to point something out- if your amp only goes to 900 Mhz you are fine.


Yep. In fact, few CATV systems have upgraded beyond 750 MHz, and with the advent of SDV, I doubt many more will.



cableguy763 said:


> Scopeman had a problem with his return path that prevented two-way communication. The return path for the ta is 34.99 mhz, which is a long way from 1 Ghz.


I believe the TA also makes use of a downstream OOB signal that on most CATV systems is probably around 75 MHz. I haven't had a chance to dig into the TA specs enough to be certain, but I don't believe it makes use of any other carriers. Cableguy 763 can confirm. Assuming this to be the case, then an amp with too narrow a bandwidth won't cause a problem with the TA, per se. It may prevent reception of certain groups of channels, but the TA functioning would not be affected.



cableguy763 said:


> One way to check for return path issues on the ta is to go to the ta diags and look at the RDC. If it is above 53 you will probably have return path-two way issues.


Note low frequencies are affected by much different problems than high frequencies, and neither 35 nor 75 MHz is very high. One of the most common problems affecting low frequencies is poor connections. High frequencies can jump across a piece of grit or plastic film, or even jump an air-gap, but low frequencies require a good, solid, metal to metal connection at every junction or else they will be badly attenuated. The good news here is that low frequency problems are usually easy to detect, pinpoint, and repair. Any competent technician should be able to quickly diagnose a low frequency problem and trace it to its source.


----------



## dwgsp

Would a TivoHD owner in Austin who is has a M-Card and is successfully receiving SDV channels be willing to spend a couple minutes and verify the cablecard configuration for me? I'm in Rochester, NY, where we're having problems getting the TAs to work. This morning I spent a long time on the phone with a Tivo Cablecard support person, and he suspects that the problem may be related to whether the cablecard is configured for one-way vs. two-way.

Specifically, could you check if your cablecard is authorized for one-way or two-way operation? Here's where I can see this on my Tivo:

Tivo Central>
Messages and Settings>
Account and System Information>
CableCard Decoders>
Configure CableCard 1 (Multi-Stream)>
CableCard Menu>SA CableCard / Host ID Screen

Look for a line that starts with "Type:".

On my system I see:
"Type: One-Way Authorization Received"

Thanks!
/Don


----------



## Grumock

dwgsp said:


> Would a TivoHD owner in Austin who is has a M-Card and is successfully receiving SDV channels be willing to spend a couple minutes and verify the cablecard configuration for me? I'm in Rochester, NY, where we're having problems getting the TAs to work. This morning I spent a long time on the phone with a Tivo Cablecard support person, and he suspects that the problem may be related to whether the cablecard is configured for one-way vs. two-way.
> 
> Specifically, could you check if your cablecard is authorized for one-way or two-way operation? Here's where I can see this on my Tivo:
> 
> Tivo Central>
> Messages and Settings>
> Account and System Information>
> CableCard Decoders>
> Configure CableCard 1 (Multi-Stream)>
> CableCard Menu>SA CableCard / Host ID Screen
> 
> Look for a line that starts with "Type:".
> 
> On my system I see:
> "Type: One-Way Authorization Received"
> 
> Thanks!
> /Don


sorry but you are misinformed about the cards being in two-way. There is no such thing as a True two way cards as of yet. All the cards do is decrypt the encrypted channels coming in. The TA only allows the SDV channels to come in. What you really want to look for in your TIVO is this:

Tivo Central>
Messages and Settings>
Account and System Information>
CableCard Decoders>
Configure CableCard 1 (Multi-Stream)>
CableCard Menu>CP info screen

in here you should see CP Authorization received. Also if the TiVO is set up with a SA Single stream card you will see the EMM count on this same screen.

If you have an SA M card you will still see CP Authorization receieved, but the EMM count will be on the CA (conditional access) screen. If you have SA cards & you are showing EMM count at 39 & you have CP AUTH. Try to remove the USB from the back of the TA & then put it back in.


----------



## ajwees41

Grumock said:


> sorry but you are misinformed about the cards being in two-way. There is no such thing as a True two way cards as of yet. All the cards do is decrypt the encrypted channels coming in. The TA only allows the SDV channels to come in. What you really want to look for in your TIVO is this:
> 
> Tivo Central>
> Messages and Settings>
> Account and System Information>
> CableCard Decoders>
> Configure CableCard 1 (Multi-Stream)>
> CableCard Menu>CP info screen
> 
> in here you should see CP Authorization received. Also if the TiVO is set up with a SA Single stream card you will see the EMM count on this same screen.
> 
> If you have an SA M card you will still see CP Authorization receieved, but the EMM count will be on the CA (conditional access) screen. If you have SA cards & you are showing EMM count at 39 & you have CP AUTH. Try to remove the USB from the back of the TA & then put it back in.


Grumock sorry but you are the one misinfromed the cards are 2way, but the current tivo hardware is Oneway only.


----------



## Grumock

ajwees41 said:


> Grumock sorry but you are the one misinfromed the cards are 2way, but the current tivo hardware is Oneway only.


Actually there is no True Two-way card on the market if you can find one, please post the link. The cards have the capability to do two way communication, in that respect you are correct, but they are not two way in their current state. The problem is that none of the TV's or Tivos are two way. Hence the need for TWC to develop the TA.


----------



## ajwees41

Grumock said:


> Actually there is no True Two-way card on the market if you can find one, please post the link. The cards have the capability to do two way communication, in that respect you are correct, but they are not two way in their current state. The problem is that none of the TV's or Tivos are two way. Hence the need for TWC to develop the TA.


All the cards are doing is the encryption decryption it's the hardware that is not 2way yet.


----------



## Grumock

ajwees41 said:


> All the cards are doing is the encryption decryption it's the hardware that is not 2way yet.


That is very true, couldn't agree with you more.


----------



## 86285

Just a side comment about the person who called TiVo's cablecard hotline: I recently had a horrific experience with TiVo's technical and cablecard support line. I won't go into the details (please send a note privately if you would like them) but suffice to say that I was told what I wanted to hear (incorrect info) instead of what I needed to hear (accurate info).

It turns out that the best help came from, of all places, Time Warner's own technical support. For folks getting grey screens, TW tech support can usually send a "hit" to your cablecards and TAs and that sometimes is all that is needed to get the proper auth to get it all working. If you can get to the grey screen (in CableCard diagnostics) that gives your cablecard and Host IDs, you can also verify with them that everything is "paired" correctly. Be sure to leave the TA on and connected to the cable system even if you're getting flashing lights on it. It has been my experience that it needs to receive an update from TW before it will work completely. I actually had it connected without the USB cable for a while with the flashing green light, and it finally ended up with a solid green light.

All the stuff about TiVo's cablecard support people setting up a conference call with the cable company to get things working never materialized for me at all. All the useful information they had available for me was stuff I already got from contacting people or reading what was written in the forums (thanks everyone!).

My M-card and TA on HD TiVo configuration here in Austin, TX has been working flawlessly since Monday (15th) night, and I am receiving all HD channels with no trouble. So it does seem possible for everything to work correctly, as frustrating as it is at times.


----------



## dwgsp

gkloepfer said:


> My M-card and TA on HD TiVo configuration here in Austin, TX has been working flawlessly since Monday (15th) night, and I am receiving all HD channels with no trouble. So it does seem possible for everything to work correctly, as frustrating as it is at times.


Here in Rochester, NY, there are reports that some people have gotten their S3s to work with the TAs, but I have not heard of anyone who has gotten a TivoHD to work with a TA. The TW customer support reps are saying that there's a compatibility issue with the Tivo V11 firmware. That's certainly possible, but it's interesting that V11 is working fine with the TAs in Austin.

We've tried all of the "known tricks" such as temporarily unplugging the USB cable, powering off/on the Tivo and the TA, and having TW send a reset to the Tivo/cablecard. That's why I started exploring the idea that the cablecard might be configure incorrectly.

/Don


----------



## SCSIRAID

Grumock said:


> Actually there is no True Two-way card on the market if you can find one, please post the link. The cards have the capability to do two way communication, in that respect you are correct, but they are not two way in their current state. The problem is that none of the TV's or Tivos are two way. Hence the need for TWC to develop the TA.


The current cablecards do support 2way when paired with a 2 way device. Devices that support cablelabs 'tru2way' use the current M-Card.

http://www.opencable.com/primer/cablecard_primer.html

From that link...

_"The media has frequently reported that first-generation CableCARD 1.0 modules are one-way devices. This is simply not true. CableLabs had always intended to develop the CableCARD module and host receiver standards with two-way capability. However the manufacturers of digital TVs requested that a host standard be developed that only had one-way capability. This one-way cable-ready receiver was defined by the FCC's Plug & Play order and by the Joint Test Suite (JTS). It is the definition of this one-way receiver that lacks the ability for two-way functionality, not the CableCARD module. While the FCC defined the elements of the one-way cable-ready receiver, CableLabs continued to define specifications for two-way receivers."_


----------



## Grumock

SCSIRAID said:


> The current cablecards do support 2way when paired with a 2 way device. Devices that support cablelabs 'tru2way' use the current M-Card.
> 
> http://www.opencable.com/primer/cablecard_primer.html
> 
> From that link...
> 
> _"The media has frequently reported that first-generation CableCARD 1.0 modules are one-way devices. This is simply not true. CableLabs had always intended to develop the CableCARD module and host receiver standards with two-way capability. However the manufacturers of digital TVs requested that a host standard be developed that only had one-way capability. This one-way cable-ready receiver was defined by the FCC's Plug & Play order and by the Joint Test Suite (JTS). It is the definition of this one-way receiver that lacks the ability for two-way functionality, not the CableCARD module. While the FCC defined the elements of the one-way cable-ready receiver, CableLabs continued to define specifications for two-way receivers."_


Right & this supports what i am saying is that it is the TV's & Tivos that are not two way & is why TWC had to develop the TA. But Yet a "True Two way" Card does not exist. Cable labs is trying to develop a "true two way" card that, if i am not too far off will make it so that the Hosts do not have to be.


----------



## ajwees41

Grumock said:


> Right & this supports what i am saying is that it is the TV's & Tivos that are not two way & is why TWC had to develop the TA. But Yet a "True Two way" Card does not exist. Cable labs is trying to develop a "true two way" card that, if i am not too far off will make it so that the Hosts do not have to be.


no that is not what is happening Tru2way is what is happening. Like SCSIRAID and I posted all Cable cards are 2way just the hardware isn't.


----------



## SCSIRAID

ajwees41 said:


> no that is not what is happening Tru2way is what is happening. Like SCSIRAID and I posted all Cable cards are 2way just the hardware isn't.


Exactly right... The cards are already 2way... its just that the TiVo and most other hardware that the cards plug into are NOT two way capable. If you take the very same cablecard from your TiVo, you could plug it into a tru2way device and be up and running with 2way communications.


----------



## Grumock

Ok despite the nit picking of whether the cards are a 2way device or not. The real issue is that TIVO was trying to tell a customer that it was because the card was saying one way if I'm not mistaken? That is when someone thought it was a good time to say that Tivo was right.  Sounds to me though that it was just an easy way to get the customer off the phone & point the finger to TWC. It's this back & forth finger pointing that makes us all frustrated.Just an observation though


----------



## dwgsp

Grumock said:


> The real issue is that TIVO was trying to tell a customer that it was because the card was saying one way if I'm not mistaken?


Since I'm the person who originally posted this I'll respond (though I should probably know better...). The Tivo cablecard support rep said that he "suspected" that it was related to whether the cablecard is configured for one-way vs. two-way. Note his and my use of the word "suspected", which I am quoting from my original post. SInce he was not sure, I asked if someone in Austin could check their M-card configuration. You guys then starting arguing and I am still wondering about how the M-Cards in Austin are configured.

Meanwhile, this evening I am receiving some channels that I did not receive earlier today, so some progress is being made.

/Don


----------



## 86285

dwgsp said:


> Here in Rochester, NY, there are reports that some people have gotten their S3s to work with the TAs, but I have not heard of anyone who has gotten a TivoHD to work with a TA. The TW customer support reps are saying that there's a compatibility issue with the Tivo V11 firmware. That's certainly possible, but it's interesting that V11 is working fine with the TAs in Austin.
> 
> We've tried all of the "known tricks" such as temporarily unplugging the USB cable, powering off/on the Tivo and the TA, and having TW send a reset to the Tivo/cablecard. That's why I started exploring the idea that the cablecard might be configure incorrectly.
> 
> /Don


The V11 firmware is what I have and the TA is working fine. For comparison purposes: In Austin they're using Scientific Atlanta cards (I have a single M-card) H/W model 800 Ver. 0012, and the Cisco (SA) STA1520 TA. My guess is that they're using the same devices in TWC/Rochester as well, but just in case...

On my CableCard, it is showing one-way authorization, as has been discussed ad-nasueum here recently. Under "CP Info " it shows "CP Auth Received"

On the Tuning Adapter diagnostics, all status items show as "Ready", the application is SARA v1.61.27.1 (scroll a few pages to see this).

I did have an issue at first where I was having trouble getting the TA to do anything but have the green light blinking 8 times, then pause, over and over again. This seemed to eventually go away, but I don't think it was anything related to the TiVo HD.

At one point I was having problems that most SDV channels were showing-up as "temporarily unavailable, try again later" and it seemed as though I could only get ones that had already been tuned-in by someone else. After a few days (and a replacement TiVo, for an unrelated reason) I was getting all the channels like I would with the cable company's DVR. I was always able to get non-SDV channels with the CableCard no matter what.

Hope this helps a little. If nothing else, there is hope for those with problems that this should eventually work once they find the issue and work it out. You may want to try this: Get the cablecard and TA working (as best as you can) with the green light on the TA solid (not blinking) and the USB cable plugged-in. Call TW and see if they can un-pair your cablecard, then re-pair it again. This really shouldn't make any difference, but there may be some association that takes place at the head-end (?) that we all don't know about and that the cablecard has to be paired with the TA attached or as part of your service record. I know this is a bit of a stretch, but this is what took place for me right before everything started working. I'm not an expert on this, for sure.

Good luck!


----------



## dwgsp

@gkloepfer: thanks for the detailed response. My config appears to be the same as yours. And the good news is that the probem is slowly being resolved. Last night I noticed that a few SDV channels were working, and this morning I see a few more (incremental from yesterday). So I think we're now on the right track.

/Don


----------



## lrhorer

Grumock said:


> Right & this supports what i am saying is that it is the TV's & Tivos that are not two way & is why TWC had to develop the TA. But Yet a "True Two way" Card does not exist. Cable labs is trying to develop a "true two way" card that, if i am not too far off will make it so that the Hosts do not have to be.


You are incorrect. Every 2-way protocol is supported by every CableCard. CableLabs is not developing any extension to the CableCard spec, and there is no need for them so to do. The CableCard corresponds bidirectionally with the host. It informs the host which carrier to which to tune to receive a particular stream, it decodes and if necessary decripts an incoming stream (or streams in the case of an M-Card) from the tuner(s), and it sends the resultant decrypted stream (if the original was encrypted) to the host. That is the total extent of its purpose. Any interactive services are handled exclusively by the host, which in the case of a UDCP includes the combination of the UDCP and the TA. The CableCArd does not care in the least whether any communications outside itself are interactive, and all CableCards are fully 2-way devices. None of them ever have or ever will send RF upstream (or even receive RF downstream, for that matter).


----------



## texaslabrat

Grumock said:


> Right & this supports what i am saying is that it is the TV's & Tivos that are not two way & is why TWC had to develop the TA. But Yet a "True Two way" Card does not exist. Cable labs is trying to develop a "true two way" card that, if i am not too far off will make it so that the Hosts do not have to be.


Um, if "true two way" cards don't exist..what exactly do you think are in the new cable set top boxes these days?  Since others have expanded on the details..I'll leave it that


----------



## ajwees41

texaslabrat said:


> Um, if "true two way" cards don't exist..what exactly do you think are in the new cable set top boxes these days?  Since others have expanded on the details..I'll leave it that


The new cable set tops are 2way because of the hardware not the cable card. The only thing the cable cards do is authorize the channels.


----------



## lrhorer

texaslabrat said:


> Um, if "true two way" cards don't exist..what exactly do you think are in the new cable set top boxes these days?  Since others have expanded on the details..I'll leave it that


The very same ones TiVos have in them, excepting I doubt any CATV owned devices are using S-cards. They could, however.


----------



## lrhorer

ajwees41 said:


> The new cable set tops are 2way because of the hardware not the cable card. The only thing the cable cards do is authorize the channels.


Well, technically they do not authorize the channels, and they do more than that. They provide a channel map so the Tivo knows to what frequency and which timeslots to tune in order to get a particular channel. They also decrypt the stream if it is encrypted (I think this is what you meant), and they provide the information the 2-way host needs to request a given stream for interactive services such as SDV.


----------



## ajwees41

lrhorer said:


> Well, technically they do not authorize the channels, and they do more than that. They provide a channel map so the Tivo knows to what frequency and which timeslots to tune in order to get a particular channel. They also decrypt the stream if it is encrypted (I think this is what you meant), and they provide the information the 2-way host needs to request a given stream for interactive services such as SDV.


My point was the cable boxes have the 2way hardware built while the Tivo does not.


----------



## Grumock

texaslabrat said:


> Um, if "true two way" cards don't exist..what exactly do you think are in the new cable set top boxes these days?  Since others have expanded on the details..I'll leave it that


Lets see since you are all so set in your mind set. Let me explain it as simply as possible. THE HOST IS TWO WAY! NOT the cards. that is all i am going to say


----------



## Grumock

Not sure why the two way issue is still a topic of discussion.


----------



## Grumock

lrhorer said:


> Well, technically they do not authorize the channels, and they do more than that. They provide a channel map so the Tivo knows to what frequency and which timeslots to tune in order to get a particular channel. They also decrypt the stream if it is encrypted (I think this is what you meant), and they provide the information the 2-way host needs to request a given stream for interactive services such as SDV.


Finally someone who actually understands! The cards will enable two way communication with a host that has the capability of two way communication. The cards themselves do not talk back to any server hence they themselves are not two way. Thank you for trying to make people understand. You Rock


----------



## Polarorbit

I got my TA at the South Austin office. No lines and no problem. Had to call tech support to get it working, but it is working and I am a happy camper. The integration with my Tivo HD seems to be very good - no clunky IR link. TW saved a >$200/month customer.

Cableguy763 should get a bonus for all the good customer service work he does here! This guy knows his stuff and actually cares about the customer. WTG.


----------



## KenricSmith

I can tune to Travel Channel HD but a few hours after I add it to my channels, it disappears again. Anyone else able to keep 1655 in their lineup in Austin?


----------



## Rez

KenricSmith said:


> I can tune to Travel Channel HD but a few hours after I add it to my channels, it disappears again. Anyone else able to keep 1655 in their lineup in Austin?


Are you unable to change channels and change back to 1655? If you leave the TiVo tuned to 1655 for an extended period of time the SDV feed will eventually be shut down (I assume to conserve bandwidth) and you will have only a black or grey screen.


----------



## Scopeman

KenricSmith said:


> I can tune to Travel Channel HD but a few hours after I add it to my channels, it disappears again. Anyone else able to keep 1655 in their lineup in Austin?


Is there a definitive list of all the SDV channels that we should be getting in the Austin market that we *are not* getting guide data for? And is there any consensus on who we need to report this to?

I've contacted both Liberty Media (Zap2It) and Tivo support and both point the finger at the other party...


----------



## routerman

Well I got my Tivo HD and TA working with no problems. The TW employee working in my house knew how to get both going. No problems here.

Spending today changing season passes and watching HD. Overall, a very easy process.


----------



## kentyman

Everything was working for a couple days, but now I'm getting the 8 blinks. Unfortunately I haven't posted enough to be able to PM cableguy763.


----------



## javanthropus

kentyman said:


> Everything was working for a couple days, but now I'm getting the 8 blinks. Unfortunately I haven't posted enough to be able to PM cableguy763.


I'm in the same boat right now. It was all working until I powered everything down to put everything into my cabinet. Now I get 8 blinks and don't have enough posts to PM cableguy763.

We'll see if the tech who is supposed to show up sometime tomorrow is able to help at all I suppose. Hopefully, someone will be able to solve this problem for good. It would be unfortunate to have to receive a Time Warner tech every time my system loses power for whatever reason.


----------



## byte2

Grrrr. Why does this have to be so difficult?

Chalk me up as another "8-blink" victim. After trying everything mentioned in this thread, I have yet to get an IP address or to get my TA into 2-way mode. And the only advice that seems to have any success (contacting cableguy763 via PM) is not available to me as I'm a new member of these boards.


----------



## zync

Does anyone know what the rental cost will be for the TA?


----------



## ajwees41

zync said:


> Does anyone know what the rental cost will be for the TA?


I think no charge.


----------



## javanthropus

byte2 said:


> Grrrr. Why does this have to be so difficult?


I'm sure things will get easier. While they do charge an installation fee for this right now, it's way too expensive for them to roll out a truck to reset the box every few days. I guess we as the early adopters get to suffer the pain for those who follow. 

The tech who installed everything for me yesterday told me that there are only about 300 Tivo HD users in the Austin area who are also using the tuning adapter. If that's accurate, it's no wonder that this is still a tricky process for most techs.


----------



## javanthropus

zync said:


> Does anyone know what the rental cost will be for the TA?


When I signed up, they told me there is no charge for the tuning adapter. Of course, they also told me that there would be 2 cable cards required, each with it's own charge on my bill. However, the tech brought a single MCard for me and told me it would be a single charge. We'll see what shows up on my next bill.


----------



## Austin_Martin

> Well I got my Tivo HD and TA working with no problems. The TW employee working in my house knew how to get both going. No problems here.
> 
> Spending today changing season passes and watching HD. Overall, a very easy process.


In the past week I've been seeing a lot of "channel not available" on the TLCHD and DHD channels. I've missed a bunch of recordings because of this.

It looks like the sdv plan is not quite there yet.


----------



## swfincher

I got my tuning adapter today and when I called tech support for the 8 blink issue(which they never fixed). They told me it was going to be an extra 4 dollars added to my bill for the tuning adapter rental.


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## kentyman

@cableguy763: Is there another way we can contact you? If you PM us, can we maybe reply to it? I'd just call Time Warner, but they don't seem to have the same abilities as you.


----------



## morrisb2

cableguy763 said:


> Your ta is not in two-way. That's what bcast says. Any splitters/surge protectors in the way?


Hello Cableguy,
I also have Status: Ready B'cast only. I have gone from 8 blinks to constant blinks, have had 3 techs try to hit the box. My Tivo didn't recognize the TA until I put the USB cable from the TA in the bottom slot and the W'less E'net adapter in the top slot.
Other symptoms on the diags page:
Pg.3 Uncfg-Broadcast
Powerkey:waiting EMM
Later pages: STATUSES: Tuning Mode: Unitialized
E'net IP 0.0.0.0
Late Keys: 0
Sub Expires: Expired

I have removed the splitter from my setup so the only connections is to RR for Internet.
Would really appreciate your help if you can spare the time.
Thanks in advance, morrisb2


----------



## phreak

Cableguy please provide guidance on what to tell the Time Warner Techs.
I have spoken to 2 of them and no matter what they do I am still in PowerKey: Waiting EMM. I am now waiting on a Truck Roll and would like to prevent this.


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## TxPres

Just got a letter from TimeWarner that says the Tuning Adapter will be provided at no charge for at least one year. 

Then it goes on to say that charges may apply after the initial one year period if you wish to continue to use the Tuning Adapter.


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## cableguy763

Sorry guys, I have been on a nice long holiday with my family. To all who sent me pm's and still have their ta's connected they should have their emm's now. Sorry for the wait.


----------



## kentyman

Is there a way that those of us who can't yet PM can contact you with our information, cableguy?


----------



## SCSIRAID

kentyman said:


> Is there a way that those of us who can't yet PM can contact you with our information, cableguy?


I believe if you post one more time (and get to 5) you will be able to PM.

EDIT: Looks like the magic number is 15.


----------



## kentyman

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it:



> *Note:* Until your post count is *15* you will be able to send PMs to Staff only.


----------



## cableguy763

You can click on my name and select to send me an email.


----------



## kentyman

No go:



> To be able to send e-mails to other users your post count must be *20* or greater.


----------



## chopsui

crap, i can't send a PM either. I'm stuck here with the 8 blinks. I talked to two techs and they couldn't get it working. I have a service call scheduled for wednesday but I'm not hopeful. Took 3 or 4 of them to get my cable cards working when I first got my Tivo.


----------



## morrisb2

cableguy763 said:


> You can click on my name and select to send me an email.


You can only send IM/PM if your post count is 15 or greater, an email if your postings are 20 or greater.


----------



## javanthropus

javanthropus said:


> We'll see if the tech who is supposed to show up sometime tomorrow is able to help at all I suppose. Hopefully, someone will be able to solve this problem for good.


The techs who showed up on Friday couldn't do much directly. They checked my signal levels, looked through the diagnostic menus on the TiVo, and called in to get some hits sent; all without success. In the end, they noted down my RF-MAC and left a message for someone in the DNCS to send some hits (EMMs? same thing?) on Saturday.

That seemed to happen about midday Saturday because then the 8 blinks went away and the diagnostic pages for the TA showed all Ready. My problem then was that the green light on the TA was completely off, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I tried everything I could think of except the obvious, including calling in to send automated restarts of the TA, pulling the power out of the back of the unit, and restarting the TiVo. In the end pushing the power button on front of the TA did the trick. Then the green light came on and my TiVo immediately started fetching new channel information.

Maybe it's just me, but that power button on the front of the TA is a little strange. It has no way to indicate whether it has been pressed or not, especially when you're having trouble with the TA. In fact, that button seems completely nonfunctional when the TA is in 8 blinks mode. The Time Warner techs always power cycled the TA by pulling the power cable out. If everything is working, the button does cause the green light to come on solid immediately when you press it, but after having trouble with the unit, there is no way to know if the button really does anything at all.

Anyway, everything is working now even after power cycling both the TA and the TiVo. If you have trouble and cannot contact cableguy763, you might be able to get the Time Warner techs to note down your RF-MAC and call to have the DNCS do its magic. You may have to show them where that RF-MAC is located, however, if my experience is indicative of their knowledge of TiVos and TAs so far. No slight to the techs since they seem to be operating with a bit of a gap in their training at the moment. 

A friend of mine who used to work for Time Warner tells me that it may also be possible to ask for a supervisor when calling in for support and request that he/she ask the DNCS to do their work using your RF-MAC. I didn't have to go down that road as it turns out, but maybe it will help someone.


----------



## kentyman

Should I just post my RF-MAC in here?


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## chopsui

when i go to the page that shows EMMs for the TA, it says I've recieved 10 but I still have the Waiting for EMMs on the status page. And still the 8 blinks.


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## morrisb2

javanthropus said:


> The techs who showed up on Friday couldn't do much directly. They checked my signal levels, looked through the diagnostic menus on the TiVo, and called in to get some hits sent; all without success. In the end, they noted down my RF-MAC and left a message for someone in the DNCS to send some hits (EMMs? same thing?) on Saturday.
> ABBREVIATED


There don't seem to be many real answers on this problem. I have a tech coming Friday but don't hold out any hope for getting the problem fixed.


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## Austin_Martin

Here's a kick in the pants from Time Warner.

By giving me the "free" adapters, they had to touch my account so my monthly charges have gone up by $20.

Pretty good for a free adapter. I think this puts the nail in the coffin of my cable service.

Talk about customer service!


----------



## pmiranda

Hmm... I wonder if I would save anything by ditching my converter box now that the TA is working. I should've ditched it a while ago but I still want to check signal strength since a couple SDV frequencies are weak into my TiVo.


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## morrisb2

Austin_Martin said:


> Here's a kick in the pants from Time Warner.
> 
> By giving me the "free" adapters, they had to touch my account so my monthly charges have gone up by $20.
> 
> Pretty good for a free adapter. I think this puts the nail in the coffin of my cable service.
> 
> Talk about customer service!


Are you talking about the Tuning Adapters? Why would touching your account drive the monthly charges up?


----------



## cableguy763

morrisb2 said:


> Are you talking about the Tuning Adapters? Why would touching your account drive the monthly charges up?


He probably had a campaign. Martin, have you talked to a csr about this?


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## Austin_Martin

> Are you talking about the Tuning Adapters? Why would touching your account drive the monthly charges up?


Somehow one of the representatives had added a cable box to my account when they tried to add the tuning adapters.

I phoned to get the cable box taken off my account, and the csr said that my new bill would be $20 higher(after taking off a $7 cable box!).

His explanation was that because my account was touched, the rate had gone up.

I'm going to try again today to talk to someone else, as this still seems pretty f'ed up.

I wasn't on any special rate as my one year discount for bundling had expired in September of last year.


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## Austin_Martin

> He probably had a campaign. Martin, have you talked to a csr about this?


I called again, and got a different csr. She told me she'd see what she could do, and called back saying she put me back on a promotion for a year. Now the bill is $50 a month lower. I guess I can't argue with that.

Hopefully I won't get home and find out that everythings been taken off my account(HDTV package, or cablecards, etc).


----------



## morrisb2

javanthropus said:


> A friend of mine who used to work for Time Warner tells me that it may also be possible to ask for a supervisor when calling in for support and request that he/she ask the DNCS to do their work using your RF-MAC. I didn't have to go down that road as it turns out, but maybe it will help someone.


ABBREVIATED

I had come home 3 nights after a tech supposedly "hit" my box to the green light steady, thought ok, cancelled service call. Still couldn't get the box to get channels.
I called tech support and asked to speak to a supervisor, was busy, called me back after he had called "engineering" and had them "hit" my box. There is some different wand waving that "engineering" performs that the techs don't have.
When I got home last night, behold the channels appeared. All this to get channels we paid for and watch, like DSCHD, instead of basket weaving SD, that most noone cares about.


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## KPM

I picked up a tuning adapter on January 6 and have been working with TWC since then to get the adapter to work. I have tried customer support and a service call. The installer took my adapter back to the headend to check it out and returned it still not working. It has the same symptoms frequently listed in this forum. 8 blinks, waiting for EMM etc. Where do I go next?


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## johnl4578

Got my Time Warner Terminal Adapter this week for my Tivo Series 3. It got installed and configured after a call to Time Warner tech support. They had to activate it remotely first. This will stop the green blinking light on the TA indicating it's not being seen from the main office. (this activation is critical step to get the TA working) After that was done, a quick reboot of the Tivo and a verbal verification to the TW tech, the new channels were "discovered" by the Tivo within a minute. It works perfectly as I now see all the channels. Yippee...It's all good!


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## gqkull

KPM said:


> I picked up a tuning adapter on January 6 and have been working with TWC since then to get the adapter to work. I have tried customer support and a service call. The installer took my adapter back to the headend to check it out and returned it still not working. It has the same symptoms frequently listed in this forum. 8 blinks, waiting for EMM etc. Where do I go next?


KPM,
I know this sounds goofy, but try tech support again. i had issues with mine the first time, then got Cable Guy to fix it, then had a second one installed, when i called in i got a great person who was like why did they do that, and had them both fixed again in a matter of like 10 minutes. Unfortunately that is long story short, but there are tech support folks there that can fix it. If you get no luck today, honestly try a weekday, you will find somehow who is knowledgeable, or try getting a supervisor to get you reassigned to a tech person who is better?

GQ


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## michaelb1478

I am in the Temple Belton area and got the call on monday that the tuning adapters were now available. I went and picked one up along with a giant packet of random internal TWC trouble troubleshooting emails and the basic printed out diagram of how to hook it up. I went home hooked it up and it would not initialize. Called tech support spent two hours on the phone with no success. The adapter blinks 8 times pauses then repeats this cycle over and over. I read in the giant packet of emails the guy at the TWC office gave me (mistakenly it turns out) that this means the box has to recieve an H hit from the home office, then be unplugged then rebooted. It should then obtain an IP address and function. Long story short, it did not work. At this point the phone rep wanted a tech to come out. I insisted on swapping the device and seeing if that resolved the issue. Did that and no dice same issue. So they sent a tech out to the house. I was not there at the time (at work) and my wife said the guy told her he had very little experience with these and had only had one powerpoint training lecture on them. In short he had no clue what he was doing. He checked the signal strength, verified that all the connections were correct and tried the same H hit process that I had already tried. He then stated after talking with someone on the phone that this shipment had not been put into inventory correctly and that I should go back after tuesday (they get another shipment) and get another one. My question is does anybody else in the temple area have one of these and does it work. My second question is does this sound like a valid reason for this box not to work. I am sorely disappointed in how inept everyone I have dealt with in tech support has been. Either they don't know a thing about these devices or they act like they know it all and I am an idiot who must not be doing something right. Thanks in advance for the help.


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## swfincher

@michaelb1478

I live in the Killeen area and I had the same exact problem you did. It seems it is very possible that the tuning adapter you had was not in the temple time warners database. The first box I had was still in the Austin database and so it would not authorize. I finally got in touch with the only tech in my area that has any idea about how these tuning adapter works and he got me a box that was in there database and now everything is working correctly. If you continue to have problems I would call an ask for Doug Stewart out of the Killeen Office to come do your service call.


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## Scopeman

Question for folks in Austin/Round Rock who are using the TA - are you getting all the guide data for the new channels? There are some channels (like Travel Channel HD, on 1655) that are not providing guide data yet, preventing any recording. This is beginning to drive me nuts, and there is no excuse for this as the guide data is available, someone just needs to get the channel lineups for our area correct.

Contacting Tivo and contacting Zap2It more than once over the past few weeks seems to have no effect. Am I the only one with this issue?


----------



## ferror

Might seem like a dumb question, but did you check to be sure all those channels are included in your Channel List? I think many people would have had those channels unselected if they were not receiving them. If you update your channel list, don't forget to force a Connection to the TiVo service, and then wait an hour or so for the new guide data to be populated.


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## PhilipFry

Scopeman said:


> Question for folks in Austin/Round Rock who are using the TA - are you getting all the guide data for the new channels? There are some channels (like Travel Channel HD, on 1655) that are not providing guide data yet, preventing any recording. This is beginning to drive me nuts, and there is no excuse for this as the guide data is available, someone just needs to get the channel lineups for our area correct.
> 
> Contacting Tivo and contacting Zap2It more than once over the past few weeks seems to have no effect. Am I the only one with this issue?


Nope, I have the same problem. I've tried contacting Zap2It twice, but I haven't gotten a response. I've also rerun the Guided Setup just to make sure that my TiVo had the latest lineup information. What's worse in my case is that anytime I go to one of the channels with no guide data, the TiVo drops that channel from the Channel List. I have to go back into the Settings and re-add that channel.


----------



## KPM

michaelb1478 

Your problem getting a tuning adapter working sounds very familiar. Thus far I have had two service calls to my home and two phone support calls and still not hope of the adapter working. I have another in home service call scheduled for this Wednesday. The phone support person assured that the technician on the Wednesday service call will be familiar with installation. In the mean time I am hoping that cableguy763 will be able to help. He graciously has offered to see what he can do.


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## Mindflux

Scopeman said:


> Question for folks in Austin/Round Rock who are using the TA - are you getting all the guide data for the new channels? There are some channels (like Travel Channel HD, on 1655) that are not providing guide data yet, preventing any recording. This is beginning to drive me nuts, and there is no excuse for this as the guide data is available, someone just needs to get the channel lineups for our area correct.
> 
> Contacting Tivo and contacting Zap2It more than once over the past few weeks seems to have no effect. Am I the only one with this issue?


Don't get guide data for BIOHD and TravelHD. Same boat. I've also contacted Zap2It.



PhilipFry said:


> Nope, I have the same problem. I've tried contacting Zap2It twice, but I haven't gotten a response. I've also rerun the Guided Setup just to make sure that my TiVo had the latest lineup information. What's worse in my case is that anytime I go to one of the channels with no guide data, the TiVo drops that channel from the Channel List. I have to go back into the Settings and re-add that channel.


Same thing (as stated above).

Do you guys get LMNHD? (1658) I get guide data for it but can never tune the channel.


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## chrisivc

Well my update is as follows for waco:

Brief history first: have had tivo HD since august with 2 single stream cablecards getting all of the unswitched channels perfectly. I couldnt wait to get the HD channels that i was missing out on (and paying for) but i knew the TA would be here soon so i was ok with my situation. I have been getting confirmed switched HD channels from time to time before i had the TA (but i think this has to do with a neighbor requesting that channel), because it still happens even today. I have had all of the Switched channels enabled in my channel lineup. The only things i removed from my channel list was the on demand stuff (since i couldnt use it anyways). I also have run a tivo update and rerun guided setup too.

I got the tuning adapter last tuesday and hooked it up and it went to 8 blinks. I contacted cableguy over PM and he solved the 8 blink issue within minutes. (what would we do without him, seriously?!) The TA seemed to be working great as far as i could tell and it was talking to tivo however I could not get any High Definition switched channels no matter what i did. I always got a "channel not available at this time. Press select to try to tune to this channel again". Now mind you this is just the switched HD channels (i will list them out below). After messing with it for several hours and getting nowhere, I called tech support and ended up getting a tech to come out.

The tech came out and looked at it from a perspective of the TA being the problem. The tech was on speakerphone with the Waco headend engineer for almost 2 hours while we tried everything to fix the problem. Everything was working the way it should as far as we could tell. So they ended up taking my TA and going back to the headend to see if my TA was functioning properly.

The next day they reported that the TA worked flawlessly with their tivo series 3 at the headend. So next we switched out the cable cards and tried again. Two hours later we couldnt get any of the switched HD channels. We again talked to the guys at the headend for about an hour. The guys back at the office explored to see if there was something in the "system" that would prevent me from getting those channels but couldnt find any problems. He left after he had done everything he could do but one of the cable cards was not correctly paired, so he had to come out the next day.

He came back out the next day and he checked signal levels for all of the switched channels I wasnt able to get but everything was "really hot". We tried everything in our power, including calling the headend for an hour, with no success. In fact, i wasnt getting any switched channels now. After some problems we discovered turning the TA box off (power switch where LED is off), it worked all of a sudden for the lower switched channels but we still could not get any of my HD switched channels. He had to leave again but the problem isnt solved and i havent heard back on what i should do next.

Can anyone out there provide suggestions on what I should do? I am thinking that the TA is requesting the channels correctly but for some reason either the cable system or cable cards are not reading the opened switched channel correctly thus resulting in my problem. It almost sounds like an authorization issue where the cable cards are showing that i am not authorized to view the channels because i sometimes get "you may need cablecards to view this channel" messages. The cablecards are authorized and working according to all the troubleshooting steps on tivo's support site and i am able to get my digital channels just fine. Tivo says that "In very rare cases, the lineup may be correct and your billing may be correct, but you can&#8217;t view certain channels because there is error in the way one of the packages is configured on the cable system. This will need to be escalated to a higher level in the cable provider&#8217;s support organization." It sounds like this issue but there hasnt been any escalation on TWC's part. I am willing to take my tivo to their office to see if we can get it to work there. Also would being directly hooked up the the headend effect whether or not the tivo is getting everything correctly (since the headend controls everything and doesnt seem to have a node like my neighborhood would?). I have little experience on the cable system side of things so please forgive my ignorance. Any help would be appreciated.
-C

The channels i cannot get to work ever:

1009 News 8 Non-Stop Sports HD
1010 News 8 Non-Stop Weather HD
1016 FSN HD
1017 Game HD
1018 Team HD
1027 History Channel HD
1028 Lifetime Movie Network HD
1037 TBS HD
1038 HGTV HD
1039 Food Network HD
1041 MHD
1042 Discovery HD
1044 TLC HD
1045 Animal Planet HD
1046 Science HD
1047 Versus/Golf HD
1049 Weather Channel HD
1056 Travel Channel HD
1057 Hallmark Movie HD
1058 Biography HD
1059 Big Ten Network HD


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## dpratt

Mindflux said:


> Don't get guide data for BIOHD and TravelHD. Same boat. I've also contacted Zap2It.
> 
> Same thing (as stated above).
> 
> Do you guys get LMNHD? (1658) I get guide data for it but can never tune the channel.


I have the exact same problem. Frankly, I thought that the reason I was paying a monthly subscription fee to Tivo was to get accurate and timely guide data. It would appear that I'm not, and I'm more than a little upset about this. It's been over a month now since I've put in a request to zap2it, and I sat on hold with Tivo support for 40 minutes before I hung up. Normally, tivo is very good about channel additions or lineup changes, but they have completely dropped the ball on this one.


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## PhilipFry

Mindflux said:


> Don't get guide data for BIOHD and TravelHD. Same boat. I've also contacted Zap2It.
> 
> Same thing (as stated above).
> 
> Do you guys get LMNHD? (1658) I get guide data for it but can never tune the channel.


I'm getting the guide data for LMNHD and I'm able to tune the channel.


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## Mindflux

PhilipFry said:


> I'm getting the guide data for LMNHD and I'm able to tune the channel.


DOH! I meant 1680, TMCHD.

I can get LMNHD just fine.


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## kentyman

Mine hasn't worked for weeks, and not even Cable Guy can help me. I'm at a loss.


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## jkudlacz

Not sure if anyone hear when will TA be available in Southern California. On TWC website I was told to register for free TA and that they will be available in December, then I looked again 2 weeks ago and now it says they will be available in January. I bet they won't arrive till end of February if not later. By the way FCC should fine them every week for it, so they get their act together.


Not enough that they give customers crappy boxes with outdated software, they charge ridiculous amount of money for DVR service, for HD box, for remote control now I can't even get all channels I am paying for.

I just got TIVO Series 3 and I love it, but my two cable cards cost 3.75$ a piece how much are they in other areas? TWC just wants to make money on you and if government won't regulate them they will continue increasing our fees and lowering our service quality.

Anyway, when will TA be available in SoCal?


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## Scopeman

dpratt said:


> I have the exact same problem. Frankly, I thought that the reason I was paying a monthly subscription fee to Tivo was to get accurate and timely guide data. It would appear that I'm not, and I'm more than a little upset about this. It's been over a month now since I've put in a request to zap2it, and I sat on hold with Tivo support for 40 minutes before I hung up. Normally, tivo is very good about channel additions or lineup changes, but they have completely dropped the ball on this one.


Your comments about the subscription fee (which *is* paid for the guide data) prompted me to call Tivo one more time about the issue of still not having guide data for these channels.

This time I called for a refund of my monthly service fee, and after a few minutes I was refunded the last month's fees for all three Tivo systems in my house.

Given that this is the first thing they appear to have done regarding this issue that has had an actual impact (vs apparently empty promises to fix the issue) I think it is progess.

I encourage *EVERYONE* in the Austin area who is having this same issue to make the same phone call. If every TA delivered in Austin results in a loss of a month's subscription revenue for each month this goes unresolved then we may actually get their attention and get them to drive a fix to the problem.


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## Mindflux

Scopeman said:


> I encourage *EVERYONE* in the Austin area who is having this same issue to make the same phone call. If every TA delivered in Austin results in a loss of a month's subscription revenue for each month this goes unresolved then we may actually get their attention and get them to drive a fix to the problem.


Did they give you a case ID to reference or anything? Did you talk to billing or support?


----------



## Grumock

Not sure if it is going to be released there soon. Is that area not a DAC area that is using Motorola cards? Not sure if the Current TA will be working on those systems but then i could be completely mistaken. 

Oh & what has Tivo done to contribute to the development of the TA? 
Answer: not one dime if they are such a superior product then why is it that they did not put the same chip set into their boxes to supply us with a solution?


----------



## SCSIRAID

Grumock said:


> Not sure if it is going to be released there soon. Is that area not a DAC area that is using Motorola cards? Not sure if the Current TA will be working on those systems but then i could be completely mistaken.
> 
> Oh & what has Tivo done to contribute to the development of the TA?
> Answer: not one dime if they are such a superior product then why is it that they did not put the same chip set into their boxes to supply us with a solution?


They were not ALLOWED to create a 2way product due to the UDCP rules.

TiVo is the whole reason the TA even exists! If you read between the lines you will see that its very likely that TiVo threw their support behind OCAP (breaking with the CEA) in a bargin to get the Tuning Adapter created.


----------



## Scopeman

Mindflux said:


> Did they give you a case ID to reference or anything? Did you talk to billing or support?


This last time I talked to Billing. Assuming they actually process the credit it will be the first time in 4 weeks that a call to Tivo resulted in a tangible action being taken.


----------



## Scopeman

SCSIRAID said:


> They were not ALLOWED to create a 2way product due to the UDCP rules.
> 
> TiVo is the whole reason the TA even exists! If you read between the lines you will see that its very likely that TiVo threw their support behind OCAP (breaking with the CEA) in a bargin to get the Tuning Adapter created.


The TAs existing (in my opinion) because the cable cos started to feel legal pressure over the problems they created by shifting things from analog to SDV, depriving CableCard customers of channels they had signed up for.

See this article from today's news:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/01/21/fccs-martin-fines-nine-carriers-on-his-way-out-the-door/

The FCC has been somewhat firm on this point, and we should be hoping the new chairperson holds to the same hard line.

(And Tivo had to code the support for the TA into the Tivo software platform, and had to do it without actual TA hardware to test the code against. The code was released before the vast majority of beta testers ever saw the TA hardware. SO it is not correct to say Tivo made no effort to help the TA rollout).


----------



## Mindflux

Scopeman said:


> This last time I talked to Billing. Assuming they actually process the credit it will be the first time in 4 weeks that a call to Tivo resulted in a tangible action being taken.


I tried to talk to billing who passed me on to tech support to report the missing channels. He tried to look them up on TWC's channel guide, which they don't show up there either (what a joke TWC!). He said he'd forward the guide data issues on to TMS but I'm not hoping for anything to come of it.


----------



## Scopeman

*Good news* fellow Austin and Round Rock TA users (who have missing guide data as a result).

A functioning email address has been found for Tivo to report line up errors. I do know how long the email address will remain available, as I suspect that once it gets used a few times it will be turned off. But until then - SUBMIT your line-up error reports to:

[email protected]

This email address was posted yesterday in the Tivo.com Support Forums by a Tivo owner who had used it to get a line-up error resolved. See end of this thread for details and his posting of the email address:
http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaythread?postID=10417555&ie=x#e10417555

Let's try to give Tivo the (correct) impressions that there are a lot of people in Central Texas who want this guide data fixed, and fixed soon.


----------



## alex_kac

Scopeman said:


> *Good news* fellow Austin and Round Rock TA users (who have missing guide data as a result).
> 
> A functioning email address has been found for Tivo to report line up errors. I do know how long the email address will remain available, as I suspect that once it gets used a few times it will be turned off. But until then - SUBMIT your line-up error reports to:
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> This email address was posted yesterday in the Tivo.com Support Forums by a Tivo owner who had used it to get a line-up error resolved. See end of this thread for details and his posting of the email address:
> http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaythread?postID=10417555&ie=x#e10417555
> 
> Let's try to give Tivo the (correct) impressions that there are a lot of people in Central Texas who want this guide data fixed, and fixed soon.


So just to put in a positive thing here - I just got a TA here in Austin and not only am I getting every channel (don't jinx it....crossing fingers), but I have guide data as well. No issues whatsoever. Granted its only been a week, but its been flawless.

So not everyone is having these issues (yet)


----------



## Mindflux

alex_kac said:


> So just to put in a positive thing here - I just got a TA here in Austin and not only am I getting every channel (don't jinx it....crossing fingers), but I have guide data as well. No issues whatsoever. Granted its only been a week, but its been flawless.
> 
> So not everyone is having these issues (yet)


So you have guide data for 1655 and 1661? I find that hard to believe. I bet they don't even show up IN your guide 

BIO HD afaik is 1661 and 244. I had to toggle them on in my channel lineup to see them but I never get guide data for 'em.


----------



## Mindflux

I also just wrote in about Channel 267 (Chiller). It just got added recently in addition to BIOHD and TRVHD.


----------



## dpratt

Scopeman said:


> *Good news* fellow Austin and Round Rock TA users (who have missing guide data as a result).
> 
> A functioning email address has been found for Tivo to report line up errors. I do know how long the email address will remain available, as I suspect that once it gets used a few times it will be turned off. But until then - SUBMIT your line-up error reports to:
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> This email address was posted yesterday in the Tivo.com Support Forums by a Tivo owner who had used it to get a line-up error resolved. See end of this thread for details and his posting of the email address:
> http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaythread?postID=10417555&ie=x#e10417555
> 
> Let's try to give Tivo the (correct) impressions that there are a lot of people in Central Texas who want this guide data fixed, and fixed soon.


I just sent off an email - let's keep our fingers crossed that somebody at Tivo is actually listening.


----------



## Rez

Mindflux said:


> So you have guide data for 1655 and 1661? I find that hard to believe. I bet they don't even show up IN your guide
> 
> BIO HD afaik is 1661 and 244. I had to toggle them on in my channel lineup to see them but I never get guide data for 'em.


I've got a TA installation too and I do see full guide data for 1655 and 1661.


----------



## Mindflux

Rez said:


> I've got a TA installation too and I do see full guide data for 1655 and 1661.


Really? That's interesting. Zap2it doesn't even pull up those two channels as available when I plug in my Round Rock zipcode. It *DOES* for an austin zipcode though!

For those missing 1655 and 1661 guide data. Zap2it doesn't show it if you select TWC - Round Rock - Digital (if you punch in a RR zip), however if you punch in an Austin Zip such as 78750 and select TWC - Austin - Digital that guide data DOES appear.

I may have to re-run GS and put in a zipcode that will get me this guide data until something better happens.


----------



## ahaley

PhilipFry said:


> Nope, I have the same problem. I've tried contacting Zap2It twice, but I haven't gotten a response. I've also rerun the Guided Setup just to make sure that my TiVo had the latest lineup information. What's worse in my case is that anytime I go to one of the channels with no guide data, the TiVo drops that channel from the Channel List. I have to go back into the Settings and re-add that channel.


I have the same issue getting 1646 VSHD and a few other channels. When I try to manually tune to them I get the dreaded this channel is not available at this time message. So I'm not sure what the deal is. The rest of the other channels that I couldn't get before I seem to be able to watch again.


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## Scopeman

Mindflux said:


> Really? That's interesting. Zap2it doesn't even pull up those two channels as available when I plug in my Round Rock zipcode. It *DOES* for an austin zipcode though!
> 
> For those missing 1655 and 1661 guide data. Zap2it doesn't show it if you select TWC - Round Rock - Digital (if you punch in a RR zip), however if you punch in an Austin Zip such as 78750 and select TWC - Austin - Digital that guide data DOES appear.
> 
> I may have to re-run GS and put in a zipcode that will get me this guide data until something better happens.


This is a FANTASTIC solution, thanks!! The only thing this does is give you some low-number extra community channels, and possible take away one of the same, as follows:

Austin Channels 10,11,16,17,22 show up on your guide, and guide data for Round Rock Channel 10 goes away, as follows.

New Austin Channels in the Guide
06 - City of Austin Public Access
10 - Public Access
11 - Public Access
16 - Public Access
17 - Travis County Public Access
22 - AISD Public Access​
You don't actually get these channels, just the data for them.

"Lost" Round Rock channel in the Guide
10 - Community Channel​
You still get this channel (it shows City Hall meetings, etc) but without the guide data.

Given the amount of time each year I watch these channels (<zero minutes) then this solution is **AWESOME**. I knew that TivoCommunity would once again find a solution (for free) that Tivo and Zap2It could not (even though I pay them for the guide data).

I'm doing a re-configure of the first S3 as we speak. If this works I can cancel the TWC truck roll for new DVRs and eBay auctions for the S3s!


----------



## Deinonych

Just picked up my tuning adapter today. I had the 8-blinking-lights error message most of the day. While I was on hold with TW, the light stopped blinking altogether. So, I cycled the power on the TA and everything appears to be working now. Go figure.


----------



## KPM

An installer got my tuning adapter partially working last week. I receive 3 or 4 channels that I had not been getting, but now I am not receiving a number of channels on expanded basic and the digital tier that I used to get. The installer told me that he would take care of the problem from the head end the next day and give me a phone call to confirm that all is working. That was a week ago tomorrow and I have not heard anything back yet. Has anyone else lost channels when the tuning adapter was installed that they previously received ?


----------



## PhilipFry

dpratt said:


> I just sent off an email - let's keep our fingers crossed that somebody at Tivo is actually listening.


The guide info for BIOHD on channel 1661 was added for the Round Rock area today. Unfortunately, none of the 9 other channels I complained about have been updated.


----------



## Mindflux

Scopeman said:


> This is a FANTASTIC solution, thanks!! The only thing this does is give you some low-number extra community channels, and possible take away one of the same, as follows:
> 
> Austin Channels 10,11,16,17,22 show up on your guide, and guide data for Round Rock Channel 10 goes away, as follows.
> 
> New Austin Channels in the Guide
> 06 - City of Austin Public Access
> 10 - Public Access
> 11 - Public Access
> 16 - Public Access
> 17 - Travis County Public Access
> 22 - AISD Public Access​
> You don't actually get these channels, just the data for them.
> 
> "Lost" Round Rock channel in the Guide
> 10 - Community Channel​
> You still get this channel (it shows City Hall meetings, etc) but without the guide data.
> 
> Given the amount of time each year I watch these channels (<zero minutes) then this solution is **AWESOME**. I knew that TivoCommunity would once again find a solution (for free) that Tivo and Zap2It could not (even though I pay them for the guide data).
> 
> I'm doing a re-configure of the first S3 as we speak. If this works I can cancel the TWC truck roll for new DVRs and eBay auctions for the S3s!


I'm glad this worked for you. I didn't go through it with a fine toothed comb to see what had changed, since I only cared that TRVHD and BIOHD had data. For what it's worth, we're still missing guide data for "CHILLER" which is a relatively new channel... so go ahead and report that anyway.

I need to call TiVo and update my ticket to let them know that I don't get guide data if I use my Round Rock zipcode for BIOHD and TRVHD. I think I may have told them I live in "Austin".. which is just easier to do when talking to people without having to explain WHERE Round Rock is.

So, yeah please make sure when you report to TiVo (and do it, please) tell them the TWC - RR guide data isn't up to snuff like the TWC - AUS guide data.

And just to update, when I re-ran GS and put in an Austin Zip I got the guide data for channels I wasn't able to get it for just as I suspected.


----------



## Mindflux

Ok, now I dont have GolfHD (1647) or whatever is on 1646. No guide data there. Both tune fine.

Zap2it doesn't show guide data for 1646 or 1647 for either Round Rock or Austin. Very interesting.


----------



## Mindflux

1661 (BIOHD) is now on the TWC - Round Rock Zap2It Data.

Interestingly they didn't include 244, which is *ALSO* BIOHD.


----------



## chrisivc

KPM said:


> An installer got my tuning adapter partially working last week. I receive 3 or 4 channels that I had not been getting, but now I am not receiving a number of channels on expanded basic and the digital tier that I used to get. The installer told me that he would take care of the problem from the head end the next day and give me a phone call to confirm that all is working. That was a week ago tomorrow and I have not heard anything back yet. Has anyone else lost channels when the tuning adapter was installed that they previously received ?


I am in the same boat as you and i have been waiting to hear back for 2 weeks. I wish i could find someone that will work with me one on one with this issue (instead of having tech after tech look at it). The exact same thing that is happening to you is happening to me. 
-C


----------



## KPM

chrisivc said:


> I am in the same boat as you and i have been waiting to hear back for 2 weeks. I wish i could find someone that will work with me one on one with this issue (instead of having tech after tech look at it). The exact same thing that is happening to you is happening to me.
> -C


chrisivc

I picked up the TA on January 6 and have been trying to get it working since then. The TA that I have now is the third one that TWC has tried. I do get 3 or 4 HD channels that I did not get without the TA, but I lost 10 or 20 channels that I used to get. I called customer support today for the 4th time. The technician could not help. He arranged a third service call scheduled for tomorrow. This time it's supposed to be a senior technician. I will post the result of that service call.


----------



## Mindflux

More updates. Now 1661 and 1647, 1646 and 1655 have guide data via a round rock zip code. I also get guide data for 1666 (SCIFIHD) which I don't recall getting before but I can't actually tune to it.


----------



## PhilipFry

Mindflux said:


> More updates. Now 1661 and 1647, 1646 and 1655 have guide data via a round rock zip code. I also get guide data for 1666 (SCIFIHD) which I don't recall getting before but I can't actually tune to it.


I'm in Round Rock and I have the guide data for all of the HD channels now. I also have SciFiHD and USAHD, but I can't tune to either of them.

I've noticed that many of my HD channels don't have a logo displayed on the banner. Does anyone else have this problem?


----------



## Scopeman

PhilipFry said:


> I'm in Round Rock and I have the guide data for all of the HD channels now. I also have SciFiHD and USAHD, but I can't tune to either of them.
> 
> I've noticed that many of my HD channels don't have a logo displayed on the banner. Does anyone else have this problem?


I also have no logos. Not the worst problem, but a little annoying.

USAHD and SciFiHD are not even on the TimeWarner website yet. I suspect these are either about to launch (they just launched in San Antonio) or this is an error.

Hopefully these will not be in the "HDTV Tier" like Universal HD, MGMHD and HD Net, but will instead be in the normal Digital channel package. It would be nice to watch the last few hours of BSG in HD.


----------



## Mindflux

Scopeman said:


> I also have no logos. Not the worst problem, but a little annoying.
> 
> USAHD and SciFiHD are not even on the TimeWarner website yet. I suspect these are either about to launch (they just launched in San Antonio) or this is an error.


Neither is TravelHD and BIOHD either and those are 'old' channels.


----------



## mrsraben

Okay, like ya'll I've been waiting FOREVER for a fix to SDV on TW Cable, staying loyal to my TIVO because I love it so much. Just got my tuning adapter from TW last Friday. Simple to connect. Did not work. Turned it in for a new one. That one did not work. The TW guy came to the house, worked on it for an hour, said we got a bad one and we need to return it for a new one. THREE BAD ONES IN A ROW??? Anyone else having this problem??


----------



## SCSIRAID

mrsraben said:


> Okay, like ya'll I've been waiting FOREVER for a fix to SDV on TW Cable, staying loyal to my TIVO because I love it so much. Just got my tuning adapter from TW last Friday. Simple to connect. Did not work. Turned it in for a new one. That one did not work. The TW guy came to the house, worked on it for an hour, said we got a bad one and we need to return it for a new one. THREE BAD ONES IN A ROW??? Anyone else having this problem??


Sounds like a problem with your account configuration... Three bad in a row isnt impossible but certainly improbable.


----------



## mrsraben

Thank you very much for your reply! Is the account configuration something I can change or does Time Warner have to do that?


----------



## SCSIRAID

mrsraben said:


> Thank you very much for your reply! Is the account configuration something I can change or does Time Warner have to do that?


No.. TWC has to do that... You could shoot a PM to cableguy763 and he could probably fix it in about 5 mins.


----------



## NAHurry

Hi - Just got my tuning adapter the other day. I have counted 11 channels that the TiVo shows in the guide, that I get black screens for.

1640 - Big10HD
1648 - GameHD
1649 - TeamHD
1656 - UHD (HD Tier?)
1665 - USAHD
1666 - SciFiHD
1667 - BravoHD
1668 - CNBCHD
1687 - MGMHD (HD Tier?)
1692 - HDNet (HD Tier?)
1693 - HDNetMovies (HD Tier?)

Can anybody who is paying for the HD Tier confirm that those are working with the tuning adapters? What about these other ones? I've seen previous notes about SciFiHD and USAHD not working in this thread, but these others don't seem to have been mentioned yet.

Thanks!


----------



## WSP

I have the HD Tier and of the ones you have listed, I only get those you have flagged HD Tier. The only exception is that 1656 is Travel HD.


----------



## dlcrow

NAHurry said:


> Hi - Just got my tuning adapter the other day. I have counted 11 channels that the TiVo shows in the guide, that I get black screens for.
> 
> 1640 - Big10HD
> 1648 - GameHD
> 1649 - TeamHD
> 1656 - UHD (HD Tier?)
> 1665 - USAHD
> 1666 - SciFiHD
> 1667 - BravoHD
> 1668 - CNBCHD
> 1687 - MGMHD (HD Tier?)
> 1692 - HDNet (HD Tier?)
> 1693 - HDNetMovies (HD Tier?)
> 
> Can anybody who is paying for the HD Tier confirm that those are working with the tuning adapters? What about these other ones? I've seen previous notes about SciFiHD and USAHD not working in this thread, but these others don't seem to have been mentioned yet.
> 
> Thanks!


I'm seeing a similar thing on my TiVo HD, but my TiVo S3 shows the channels just fine. This is a recent issue as I know I have gotten those channels on my HD previously.

The HD thinks it is tuning correctly per the diag screens, but the screen is black with no sound.

I rebooted both the TiVo and the TA with no change.


----------



## Mindflux

NAHurry said:


> Hi - Just got my tuning adapter the other day. I have counted 11 channels that the TiVo shows in the guide, that I get black screens for.
> 
> 1640 - Big10HD
> 1648 - GameHD
> 1649 - TeamHD
> 1656 - UHD (HD Tier?)
> 1665 - USAHD
> 1666 - SciFiHD
> 1667 - BravoHD
> 1668 - CNBCHD
> 1687 - MGMHD (HD Tier?)
> 1692 - HDNet (HD Tier?)
> 1693 - HDNetMovies (HD Tier?)
> 
> Can anybody who is paying for the HD Tier confirm that those are working with the tuning adapters? What about these other ones? I've seen previous notes about SciFiHD and USAHD not working in this thread, but these others don't seem to have been mentioned yet.
> 
> Thanks!


No HD tier, and I can't tune any of those either. Along with 1680 (TMCHD)

SciFi, USA and Bravo just popped up last week though, so they may not actually be LIVE yet.


----------



## cableguy763

Those are all in the HD tier. CNBCHD,SciFi, USA and Bravo have not launched yet. I don't know why tribune thinks they have. Game and Team HD you wont get as they are ppv.


----------



## wizard5236

Is anyone else in the Austin, RR area having problems with channel 490 (outdoor channel)? I have tested all the SDV channels with no problems except for this channel. I called TW and they confirmed that there is no problem on their end and then had me test some others channels again which all worked. 

Thanks,

Michael


----------



## Mindflux

Cannot tune 490 either. Says unavailable.


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## cableguy763

490 is working at my house in Round Rock.


----------



## WSP

I also have problems with this channel.


----------



## norabbitears

Picked up my TA yesterday at the Mopac TW office, installed, and got the flashing light of death. Tel support passed me off 5 times and then then hung up, chat support tried and failed, level 2 tel tech support also a no go. One PM to Cableguy and an hour later I'm up and running. Now that's community support!


----------



## Scopeman

norabbitears said:


> Picked up my TA yesterday at the Mopac TW office, installed, and got the flashing light of death. Tel support passed me off 5 times and then then hung up, chat support tried and failed, level 2 tel tech support also a no go. One PM to Cableguy and an hour later I'm up and running. Now that's community support!


Community support at full retail prices - gotta love it.


----------



## chrisivc

KPM said:


> chrisivc
> 
> I picked up the TA on January 6 and have been trying to get it working since then. The TA that I have now is the third one that TWC has tried. I do get 3 or 4 HD channels that I did not get without the TA, but I lost 10 or 20 channels that I used to get. I called customer support today for the 4th time. The technician could not help. He arranged a third service call scheduled for tomorrow. This time it's supposed to be a senior technician. I will post the result of that service call.


Sorry for not replying back sooner, my girlfriend ended up having to go to the ER over the weekend. I had a senior tech come out on thursday with 3 other techs and after hours of support from head end and beyond, he determined that it may be a problem elsewhere in the system. He had 3 other techs out in the field working on tivos with TA's and they all had the same problem as me. These Tivo's having the same problem were in different places on the Waco system (some over 8 miles away from me). Their S3 in the office that was working great at the head end was doing the same thing as mine when it was put in the field. He is going to have a "hub tech" check some things out and he will get back to me. I offered my Tivo HD as a temporary guinea pig if that would help them find and solve the problem in the system. They havent taken it yet but they said they may want to take me up on my offer later if they need to.

I am happy that he gave me his contact info and that he has emailed me updates along the way. It feels much more personable now, it is like night and day. All of the techs were trashing tivo's and how much they hate to service them. While waiting for a bit i showed them that it wasnt the big bad wolf that they thought it was. They were impressed with all that it could do that their DVR couldnt. I showed them netflix and youtube and all the other extra features that their DVR didnt have. I know they feel a little different about it now.

I will post any more info about the progress in waco as soon as i hear about it.
-C


----------



## kentyman

Just an update that I got mine working after returning it for a new piece of hardware, and with some help from Cable Guy.

And for those who don't mind swear words, this video from The Onion reminded me a lot of my tuning adapter experience:

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of

Notice the bottom caption at 1:30, and the familiar looking screen in the background at 1:56.


----------



## Scopeman

At 4:09am this morning the TA connected to my main S3 rebooted, and all channels disappeared. The TA diagnostic screen(s) looks significantly different - it appears that there has been new firmware downloaded to the TA overnight. The TA sits there with a constantly blinking light (no pattern).

Anyone else having this issue? Reboots of the S3 and/or the ta have no brought things back to normal, and after an hour of waiting there appears to be no progress towards the TA working again.

I haven't called TWC yet, thought I would post here first.


----------



## Austin_Martin

When I woke up today, both of my machines were on the 

"Tuning Adapter has been connected" info screen. So it looks like they both rebooted at some point last night.

They did seem to be working fine though.


----------



## cableguy763

If you live in Round Rock/Hutto your ta was rebooted.


----------



## KPM

cableguy763 said:


> If you live in Round Rock/Hutto your ta was rebooted.


My tunning adapter in the Waco area rebooted yesterday afternoon. I lost most if not all of the HD channels afterward. It had only been working for one day since TWC Waco finally got it goin after 4 weeks of trying.

KPM


----------



## SCSIRAID

KPM said:


> My tunning adapter in the Waco area rebooted yesterday afternoon. I lost most if not all of the HD channels afterward. It had only been working for one day since TWC Waco finally got it goin after 4 weeks of trying.
> 
> KPM


Did it not go back to solid green after it rebooted?

I have seen a couple instances of partial recordings due to a TA reboot... but the reboot completed cleanly and it reconnected with the S3 and resumed proper operation... except that TiVo didnt restart the interrupted recordings.


----------



## KPM

SCSIRAID said:


> Did it not go back to solid green after it rebooted?
> 
> I have seen a couple instances of partial recordings due to a TA reboot... but the reboot completed cleanly and it reconnected with the S3 and resumed proper operation... except that TiVo didnt restart the interrupted recordings.


After the reboot, the TA was exhibiting 6 flashes and a pause repeatedly. Punching the button on the front of the unit off and then back on resulted in a solid green light. The TIVO seems to be tuning analog channels such as Hallmark and HGTV but not any of the HD channels such as HallmarkHD, HGTVHD, DSCHD, TLCHD etc. It did tune these channels the day before the reboot.

KPM


----------



## SCSIRAID

KPM said:


> After the reboot, the TA was exhibiting 6 flashes and a pause repeatedly. Punching the button on the front of the unit off and then back on resulted in a solid green light. The TIVO seems to be tuning analog channels such as Hallmark and HGTV but not any of the HD channels such as HallmarkHD, HGTVHD, DSCHD, TLCHD etc. It did tune these channels the day before the reboot.
> 
> KPM


The 6 flashes state seems to come during its authorization and channel map download phase. For me... right after the 6 flashes state comes the solid green 'up and running' state.

You might try unplugging and replugging the USB cable.

Does DVR Diagnostics indicate that you have a TA attached and a channel map provided... at the very bottom of the page....


----------



## krismay

I finally picked up my tuning adaptor yesgterday, but I am having trouble getting it to work (it was open box, no instructions, no USB cable, but I found the instructions on-line and I did have an extra USB cable). I hooked it all up last night, but I kept getting the 8 blinks and pause. I called TWC and they said they authorized my box, and to turn it off and back on. I did that and I got continuous blinks for over an hour so I gave up and went to bed. This morning it was back to 8 blinks and pause. I called TWC again and the technician was very nice, he said he re-authorized my box and had me turn it off and on again. This time is blinked continuously for about 2 hours and then it went to 6 blinks with a pause. The tuning adaptor diagnostics say that it was an IP address, but it says it is not authorized, and it also says it is not initialized. The TWC technician has scheduled a service call for Sunday, but I thought I would give this forum a try. Any ideas for me? Right now I am just letting it blink and hoping it might be doing something. I was told the TWC servers are very slow right now due to the analog-2-digital conversion.


----------



## cableguy763

krismay said:


> I finally picked up my tuning adaptor yesgterday, but I am having trouble getting it to work (it was open box, no instructions, no USB cable, but I found the instructions on-line and I did have an extra USB cable). I hooked it all up last night, but I kept getting the 8 blinks and pause. I called TWC and they said they authorized my box, and to turn it off and back on. I did that and I got continuous blinks for over an hour so I gave up and went to bed. This morning it was back to 8 blinks and pause. I called TWC again and the technician was very nice, he said he re-authorized my box and had me turn it off and on again. This time is blinked continuously for about 2 hours and then it went to 6 blinks with a pause. The tuning adaptor diagnostics say that it was an IP address, but it says it is not authorized, and it also says it is not initialized. The TWC technician has scheduled a service call for Sunday, but I thought I would give this forum a try. Any ideas for me? Right now I am just letting it blink and hoping it might be doing something. I was told the TWC servers are very slow right now due to the analog-2-digital conversion.


PM me the rf mac address from the back of the ta and I can fix it.


----------



## Enforcer

Live in San Antonio. Picked the TA's up the day they launched. They worked fine till today. Now have the dreaded 8 blink! What do i tell the rep to get it fixed?


----------



## krismay

Thank you CableGuy763!! You are amazing. It is working now. Thank you very much.


----------



## KPM

SCSIRAID said:


> The 6 flashes state seems to come during its authorization and channel map download phase. For me... right after the 6 flashes state comes the solid green 'up and running' state.
> 
> You might try unplugging and replugging the USB cable.
> 
> Does DVR Diagnostics indicate that you have a TA attached and a channel map provided... at the very bottom of the page....


I tried the easy way out when I got home today. I unplugged the TA for 10 or 15 seconds and let it reboot. TIVO came us with TA adpater connected message. I hit continue and channel map loaded. It works again now.

KPM


----------



## Scopeman

has onyone seen the 'new' channels like 1666 (SciFi) go live yet?


----------



## cableguy763

Scopeman said:


> has onyone seen the 'new' channels like 1666 (SciFi) go live yet?


Yes, they were turned on today.


----------



## Scopeman

thx!


----------



## ghw

Picked up my TA yesterday, hooked it up, and it immediately went into the 8 blink syndrome I see posted multiple times previously on this thread. Called service (twice) had me reboot, they "hit" the box, and then proclaimed the TA defective. I'm now scheduled for a house call in four days.

Given the number of times I've seen this problem posted, I'm highly skeptical that it is defective hardware. Seems like the only reliable fix is a PM to cableguy (which I've done). 

Anything else I should do? Help?


----------



## kaseyjohns

Ditto here in San Marcos - I had my install yesterday, and the tech brought not only the CC but the TA to go with it. Sadly, that's where the good news ends... the CC didn't get completely authorized until this morning, and now the TA is stuck in the eight blink mode.

If I'm reading the diagnostics right, it looks like the TA isn't getting any EMMs - which is the same problem the CC had, until the DNCS group took care of it this morning.

I've PMd cableguy763 with the MAC address from the TA... but should I call tech support and harass them to harass the DNCS group? From what I heard this morning from the tech, they only work 8am-6pm (which is really 8am-5pm based on yesterday).


----------



## kaseyjohns

Update: Have been on the phone with tech support for about 30 minutes now. The TA is now blinking continuously instead of the 8-blink cycle.

The 2nd tier I talked to confirmed the RF MAC address and said that everything was associated in the system, then passed me to L3. They're scheduling a tech to come out and look at it, which I'm expecting to NOT help at all. We shall see.


----------



## kaseyjohns

Finally, I have a working TA. Lead tech came by the house this morning, came in, saw the 8 blinks, sighed, and called up tech support to deal with it. He said the 8 blinks means that the TA is in "service disconnect" or brick mode. After about 15 minutes we hit the power switch and it came to life.

I'm having some minor issues with getting the "channel not available - hit select to try again" message, but didn't have enough time to really troubleshoot it to see if it was an intermittent issue or something larger in scope. But I was definitely able to pick up the newer channels that were added in the last few days (CNBC HD, USA HD, etc.)


----------



## patchman123

Help?

I just got a TA a couple of days ago from the Mopac TWC office in Austin and have not gotten it to work with my TIVO HD. I have the solid green lights and the last 3 lines of DVR Diagnostics indicate "Tuning Adapter: Operatinal; Last Status: Ready; Channel List Received: Yes" and page 3 of the Tuning Adapter Diagnostics indicates "UNcfg: Ready
BFS: Ready
SI: Ready
SAM: Ready QPSK
IPG: Ready QAM
PowerKEY: Waiting EMM
Analof Capable: No" -- though I have had PowerKEY read something like "PowerKEY: Ready" as well (I think).

In all cases, I have not been able to see the SDV channels. When I switch to 1666 (SciFiHD) for example, I get the message "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press SELECT to try tuning to this channel again. Contact your cable provider for more information."

I have spent some time on the phone with TWC and while they seem to try, it is pretty clear they do not know what they are doing and nothing so far has worked. I can schedule someone to come out -- but it would be nice to know a set of steps to see if that is really necessary. I have also tried disconnect/reconnect of USB and restarting both the TA and the TIVO in various orders with no success.

I have sent a PM to CableGuy with my rf MAC address -- I have seen he has helped many other out and I am hoping he is not too overloaded with requests.

In any event, is there a step by step description anyone has seen on how to tell if you have various kinds of issues and what the process to fix would be. I have seen discussions about which USB plug to use on the TIVO, but don't know if that really makes a difference or how to tell. I have seen discussions about checking to see if an upstream signal can be sent, but I am not sure how to check that. I have seen discussions about needing to authorize the TA and/or "hit" the TA -- but am not sure how to see if that is needed. I have had a TWC rep "hit" the TA -- but I was not confident that they knew what they were doing so I don't know if they really did "hit" it (what does "hit" a TA mean anyway?). Also, while I have seen discussion on "Authorizing" the TA -- when I asked TWC about that, both techs I spoke with on that did not seem to think you "Authorized" a TA.

Sorry to ramble a bit -- I was just hoping there might be info out there that would help with self troubleshooting for common problems so I could clearly determine if it really is necessary to have a TWC tech on site to fix. 

I would appreciate any help/suggestions that anyone could offer.


----------



## SCSIRAID

patchman123 said:


> Help?
> 
> I just got a TA a couple of days ago from the Mopac TWC office in Austin and have not gotten it to work with my TIVO HD. I have the solid green lights and the last 3 lines of DVR Diagnostics indicate "Tuning Adapter: Operatinal; Last Status: Ready; Channel List Received: Yes" and page 3 of the Tuning Adapter Diagnostics indicates "UNcfg: Ready
> BFS: Ready
> SI: Ready
> SAM: Ready QPSK
> IPG: Ready QAM
> PowerKEY: Waiting EMM
> Analof Capable: No" -- though I have had PowerKEY read something like "PowerKEY: Ready" as well (I think).
> 
> In all cases, I have not been able to see the SDV channels. When I switch to 1666 (SciFiHD) for example, I get the message "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press SELECT to try tuning to this channel again. Contact your cable provider for more information."
> 
> I have spent some time on the phone with TWC and while they seem to try, it is pretty clear they do not know what they are doing and nothing so far has worked. I can schedule someone to come out -- but it would be nice to know a set of steps to see if that is really necessary. I have also tried disconnect/reconnect of USB and restarting both the TA and the TIVO in various orders with no success.
> 
> I have sent a PM to CableGuy with my rf MAC address -- I have seen he has helped many other out and I am hoping he is not too overloaded with requests.
> 
> In any event, is there a step by step description anyone has seen on how to tell if you have various kinds of issues and what the process to fix would be. I have seen discussions about which USB plug to use on the TIVO, but don't know if that really makes a difference or how to tell. I have seen discussions about checking to see if an upstream signal can be sent, but I am not sure how to check that. I have seen discussions about needing to authorize the TA and/or "hit" the TA -- but am not sure how to see if that is needed. I have had a TWC rep "hit" the TA -- but I was not confident that they knew what they were doing so I don't know if they really did "hit" it (what does "hit" a TA mean anyway?). Also, while I have seen discussion on "Authorizing" the TA -- when I asked TWC about that, both techs I spoke with on that did not seem to think you "Authorized" a TA.
> 
> Sorry to ramble a bit -- I was just hoping there might be info out there that would help with self troubleshooting for common problems so I could clearly determine if it really is necessary to have a TWC tech on site to fix.
> 
> I would appreciate any help/suggestions that anyone could offer.


I suggest you power cycle the TiVo. Pull the power cord, wait 20 sec and plug it back in.... Let it reboot and it will probably be fine.


----------



## Austin_Martin

> suggest you power cycle the TiVo. Pull the power cord, wait 20 sec and plug it back in.... Let it reboot and it will probably be fine.


You can also try unplugging the usb cord, then plugging back in. That allowed my TA to start working when it was first hooked up.


----------



## chrisivc

patchman123 said:


> Help?
> 
> I just got a TA a couple of days ago from the Mopac TWC office in Austin and have not gotten it to work with my TIVO HD. I have the solid green lights and the last 3 lines of DVR Diagnostics indicate "Tuning Adapter: Operatinal; Last Status: Ready; Channel List Received: Yes" and page 3 of the Tuning Adapter Diagnostics indicates "UNcfg: Ready
> BFS: Ready
> SI: Ready
> SAM: Ready QPSK
> IPG: Ready QAM
> PowerKEY: Waiting EMM
> Analof Capable: No" -- though I have had PowerKEY read something like "PowerKEY: Ready" as well (I think).
> 
> In all cases, I have not been able to see the SDV channels. When I switch to 1666 (SciFiHD) for example, I get the message "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press SELECT to try tuning to this channel again. Contact your cable provider for more information."
> 
> I have spent some time on the phone with TWC and while they seem to try, it is pretty clear they do not know what they are doing and nothing so far has worked. I can schedule someone to come out -- but it would be nice to know a set of steps to see if that is really necessary. I have also tried disconnect/reconnect of USB and restarting both the TA and the TIVO in various orders with no success.
> 
> I have sent a PM to CableGuy with my rf MAC address -- I have seen he has helped many other out and I am hoping he is not too overloaded with requests.
> 
> In any event, is there a step by step description anyone has seen on how to tell if you have various kinds of issues and what the process to fix would be. I have seen discussions about which USB plug to use on the TIVO, but don't know if that really makes a difference or how to tell. I have seen discussions about checking to see if an upstream signal can be sent, but I am not sure how to check that. I have seen discussions about needing to authorize the TA and/or "hit" the TA -- but am not sure how to see if that is needed. I have had a TWC rep "hit" the TA -- but I was not confident that they knew what they were doing so I don't know if they really did "hit" it (what does "hit" a TA mean anyway?). Also, while I have seen discussion on "Authorizing" the TA -- when I asked TWC about that, both techs I spoke with on that did not seem to think you "Authorized" a TA.
> 
> Sorry to ramble a bit -- I was just hoping there might be info out there that would help with self troubleshooting for common problems so I could clearly determine if it really is necessary to have a TWC tech on site to fix.
> 
> I would appreciate any help/suggestions that anyone could offer.


In the TA diagnostics screen, scroll down to SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO and select it. Does it show you as being part of a service group? Is the server status pending? Is your "channel not available" message showing up almost instantly or does it take 30-45 seconds before it comes up?

-C


----------



## chrisivc

kaseyjohns said:


> Finally, I have a working TA. Lead tech came by the house this morning, came in, saw the 8 blinks, sighed, and called up tech support to deal with it. He said the 8 blinks means that the TA is in "service disconnect" or brick mode. After about 15 minutes we hit the power switch and it came to life.
> 
> I'm having some minor issues with getting the "channel not available - hit select to try again" message, but didn't have enough time to really troubleshoot it to see if it was an intermittent issue or something larger in scope. But I was definitely able to pick up the newer channels that were added in the last few days (CNBC HD, USA HD, etc.)


In the TA diagnostics screen, scroll down to SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO and select it. Does it show you as being part of a service group? Is the server status pending? Is your "channel not available" message showing up almost instantly or does it take 30-45 seconds before it comes up?
Is this message only coming up for most of the HD channels?

-C


----------



## chrisivc

TWC Waco Update:

After 2 weeks of troubleshooting through a lead tech and hub tech and engineers. We found that the tuning adapter was not part of a service group and it was related to a head end problem. Waco has 5 hubs and 2 of the 5 hubs were not letting the TA's become a part of a service group. This meant that the engineers had to rewrite something to let the TA become part of the service group. Once this was done, the TA was working great 95&#37; of the time. Some channels dont show up still and we are working on that but I am seeing SDV channels I have NEVER seen before. I really appreciate all the hard work from the lead tech's and engineers to figure out the problem. Having a personal contact in the tech support department has been great and it has restored my faith that there are people like cableguy out there who know what they are doing and that they do care about this issue. 

The symptoms I had was that any SDV channels would have the error saying the channel wasnt available. The error would take 30-45 seconds before it would appear though. When they took my equipment to a different hub the TA would be a part of a service group but not at my hub. 

To see if you are part of a service group-
-go to TA diagnostics and scroll down to SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO and select it
-If service group has a number - you are in a service group
-If n/a is listed - you are not in a service group.

This may help you if you are having issues with not seeing SDV channels.

I'll keep posting updates.
-C


----------



## patchman123

Thanks everyone -- and thanks Chrisivc for the help with looking at the TA diagnostics. 

I have tried disconnect/reconnect of the USB cable and also tried pulling the power on the TIVO for 20 seconds and neither worked.

I checked the SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO page of the TA Diagnostics and it looks like Chrisivc may be on to something -- I have the following on that page "Service Grp: n/a" and "Statusending".

Any idea how to fix this or what I need to tell the TWC tech support on the line? Will I need to have a TWC technician come out? It is very difficult for me to meet with them during the day so I am trying to avoid that if at all possible.

Thanks again for eveyone's help.


----------



## chrisivc

patchman123 said:


> Thanks everyone -- and thanks Chrisivc for the help with looking at the TA diagnostics.
> 
> I have tried disconnect/reconnect of the USB cable and also tried pulling the power on the TIVO for 20 seconds and neither worked.
> 
> I checked the SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO page of the TA Diagnostics and it looks like Chrisivc may be on to something -- I have the following on that page "Service Grp: n/a" and "Statusending".
> 
> Any idea how to fix this or what I need to tell the TWC tech support on the line? Will I need to have a TWC technician come out? It is very difficult for me to meet with them during the day so I am trying to avoid that if at all possible.
> 
> Thanks again for eveyone's help.


Without a service group you are stuck. It will most likely take an engineer to fix the issue with your hub (which i am assuming is the problem since it is the exact issue I had). But even if you tell them over the phone they wont listen no matter how much you complain. I had so many service calls with no progress that they finally sent out a senior technician. Once that happened, things were pretty smooth as far as progress goes (still took about a week and a half, but things were being done; it was a first for them). Try asking for a senior technician to contact you and tell the technician that you are not able to obtain a service group on the TA. Tell them if they need help with the issue ask them to contact josh (senior tech at Waco TWC). I think the issue will be spearheaded much faster if they collaborated on what they did to fix my issue. I was one of 6 waco customers that had the same exact issue as me. It ended up being on the head end of things.

Maybe telling phone support of your issue...but i dont expect them to understand at all. You may have to wait for a tech to come out and then you can explain all this to them. If they dont know what they are doing ask them to call a supervisor or head end engineer. Without a service group you will not get switched channels, plain and simple. I dont think its a bad TA or not having authorization issues. It sounds good to go, its just lost without a service group. Good luck, I really mean it (you will need it).

-C


----------



## patchman123

Thanks Chrisivc for the reply.

Actually, I had sent Cableguy a PM and he was able to get it working. (Thanks Cableguy! It is great that you are able to help us out. I hope TWC recognized how much your support on this forum is helping their customers).

However, I still have an issue -- Sometimes when I use the channel up/down going from 1664 to 1668, sometimes the channel stays black. Then I notice that it starts skipping the channel sometimes. Also, in the TIVO channel list, the channel becomes unchecked. When I check it in the list, I can get to the channel again in up/down -- but then it get's unchecked again sometimes. Also, sometimes it sees the channel when I am going up in channels (e.g. 1664 => 1665 =>1666 => 1667 =>1668), but then when I go down in channel sequence it will sometimes skip (e.g. 1668 =>1667 =>1664).

Also, my service group menu is still indicating "Statusending" and "Service Grp: n/a" even though the HD channels do come in when I explicitly select the channel (at least most of the time).

I don't really switch channels that much -- but once it dissapears from the checked list then it dissapears from the guide and then I am concerned if I have a scheduled recording it will get a black picture on the channel when it tries to record.


----------



## kaseyjohns

patchman123 said:


> Also, in the TIVO channel list, the channel becomes unchecked. When I check it in the list, I can get to the channel again in up/down -- but then it get's unchecked again sometimes. Also, sometimes it sees the channel when I am going up in channels (e.g. 1664 => 1665 =>1666 => 1667 =>1668), but then when I go down in channel sequence it will sometimes skip (e.g. 1668 =>1667 =>1664).


I've noticed this as well... I believe it has something to do with the fact that these channels (at least for me) do not have guide data. That makes me think it's a Tivo bug. The only channels I've "lost" in this manner have been those that do not have guide data... other SDV channels stay in the list. If I switch the guide into "All Channels" mode instead of "Channels I Receive", then (obviously) I can tune all channels... but apparently something is happening between the TA and the Tivo on those channel changes that is (temporarily) making the Tivo think the channel doesn't exist any more.


----------



## jconnor315

i had the 8 blink issue with Statusending and Service Grp: n/a. After trying various combinations of powering off my S3 and TA I called TW Central NY support. When going through the phone options and selecting option 4 for "trouble with my service" I was given the choice of option 1 to "active/reset my equipment". I thought I'd give that a shot before spending hours on the phone trying to explain what a Tivo and TA are. After selecting option 1 the recorded message indicated the reset has been scheduled. After a minute or so the light went off on the TA. I went into the TA diags on the Tivo and keep checking the Service Group and Status. After a minute or two I had a Service Group but no light on the TA. I pulled the power on the TA, waited a min or so and plugged back in. Still no green light after a min so I hit the power button on front. All SDV and HD channels returned! 

I am guessing what I did was the equivalent of TW tech support "hitting" the equipment. Not sure what that does but worked for me.


----------



## pdm

I got really excited that TW Austin finally had scifi-HD, even if it was just as BSG was about to end. It worked all week when I tried it, of course, when I tried to watch BSG tonight, it instantly says "This channel is temporarily unavailable. Press select to try tuning to this channel again." So, I guess still no BSG in HD for me. I did go to the diagnostics screen and it said i was part of a service group.

Wish they would carry CW in HD. Smallville is a terrible show, but I watch it anyway. Would be nice if it was available in HD.


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## jcderr

I'm having a hell of a time with my Tuning Adapter. SDV channels work about 90% of the time, but frequently enough, SDV channels will freeze up on me. I watch a lot of MLB Network (423) and it seems particularly problematic. Video and audio will freeze, and the Tivo will actually act like it's paused and I can't get it to play. The green bar still fills up, but if I screw around enough to scrub to those timecodes, the video is frozen. Sometimes this just lasts a minute, and if I ffwd to "live" it works again. Sometimes it lasts for hours.

Has anyone else seen this? Had any luck fixing it?


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## brk

My tuning adapter has been working great since the day after I picked it up and cableguy did his magic (thanks cableguy).

This morning, for the first time, it isn't able to pickup any sdv channels. based on the picture (news 8 weather radar loop) that was on the screen this morning I think it stopped at 2:12am.

solid light - no blinking syndrome.


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## cableguy763

brk said:


> My tuning adapter has been working great since the day after I picked it up and cableguy did his magic (thanks cableguy).
> 
> This morning, for the first time, it isn't able to pickup any sdv channels. based on the picture (news 8 weather radar loop) that was on the screen this morning I think it stopped at 2:12am.
> 
> solid light - no blinking syndrome.


Try rebooting the ta and see if it comes back up. You might not have two-way.


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## brk

Tried that (unplugged for 2 min) with no luck. Also rebooted the tivo just for fun.

The standard digital box in the other room works ok. But that is only there for testing.


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## pdm

The last 2 weeks SCIFI HD channel 1666 has worked all day, but when it was time to watch Battlestar Galactica 1666 says "channel temporarily unavailable". Pretty irritating! Seems kind if fishy. Maybe during prime time tv watching there is just less open channels for SDV to work, if it is this limiting it seems worthless.


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## gqkull

I too have had an issue where my SDV box is not getting all the way initialized. I have had signal sent a couple of times, then it is odd that it will cut off all cable? not sure but I may have to get that box replaced...


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## brk

Well - I called and had my boxes reset via the phone menu. Now I am back to the 8 blink. Will see what it shows in the morning.

Edit - called and talked to a tech this morning (phones were busy last night due to some regional problem in waco/temple). He looked up 8 blinks and was able to diagnose the problem and FIXED IT


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## Scopeman

pdm said:


> The last 2 weeks SCIFI HD channel 1666 has worked all day, but when it was time to watch Battlestar Galactica 1666 says "channel temporarily unavailable". Pretty irritating! Seems kind if fishy. Maybe during prime time tv watching there is just less open channels for SDV to work, if it is this limiting it seems worthless.


Yes, I get the same issue with BSG (and other recordings in the evenings from TA delivered HD channels). I have had some luck by scheduling junk recordings ahead of the ones I want - in other words, record what ever is on before BSG in order to make sure your tuned to 1666 well in advance.

I can't prove it, but it seems to improve the odds of getting the shows to record.


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## pmiranda

Scopeman said:


> I have had some luck by scheduling junk recordings ahead of the ones I want - in other words, record what ever is on before BSG in order to make sure your tuned to 1666 well in advance.


I had the same problem with SDV channels with a TW SA settop before the TA ever came out, and the same solution worked then. Still a PITA.


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## prewittj1

Hello everyone,

I just moved from Chicago to Austin, TX and was a long-time Comcast customer. I really hate the Scientifc atlanta HD boxes from TW since the interface really sucks, the image size doesn't automatically adjust to fill the entire screen, and the dvr interface is just not that user-friendly.

I was thinking about getting a Tivo hd box and have been reading the issues folks have had with the Tuning Adaptor. Just wondering if those problems have finally been resolved?

I don't want to switch to Tivo and invest a bunch of $ unless I know I won't have any problems still receiving all the channels I had before by using the cable cards and the tuning adaptor.

Can someone let me know if all is good with the TA's now?


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## mmcgown

Probably not everyone will agree with me, but my TA has worked pretty flawlessly about 99&#37; of the time since I plugged it in back in December (not counting the first 3 days of learning curve).


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## pmiranda

I'll agree that the tuning widget works quite well.
I was having some issues with macroblocking or loss of signal sometimes, but putting the TiVo on it's own cable feed instead of daisy-chaining from the TA seems to have cured it.

The cablecards on the other hand are always a PITA to get working whenever the home office breaks them. I've had one down since Friday because somebody flipped the wrong switch and nobody seems to be able to figure it out yet. Once you get everything working it's pretty sweet, just don't touch it!


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## prewittj1

What is the "tuning widget"?


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## mmcgown

I'm fairly certain it's just his name for the tuning adapter.

But I have been wrong before.


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## prewittj1

So what's the best way to connect the tuning adaptor? The diagram on tivo.com has the tuning adaptor connected in between the tivo and the cable connection in the wall. Is there a better way to connect it?


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## pmiranda

prewittj1 said:


> So what's the best way to connect the tuning adaptor? The diagram on tivo.com has the tuning adaptor connected in between the tivo and the cable connection in the wall. Is there a better way to connect it?


You can connect both to a splitter, or drive each off its own cable run (ultimately coming from a splitter, too), which is pretty handy if you run into signal strength problems like I did. You definitely don't have to daisy-chain them as suggested in the diagram, it's just the easiest way to do it.

(And yes, I did mean adapter when I said widget...I keep thinking "resolver" but knew that wasn't the correct term.)


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## SCSIRAID

pmiranda said:


> You can connect both to a splitter, or drive each off its own cable run (ultimately coming from a splitter, too), which is pretty handy if you run into signal strength problems like I did. You definitely don't have to daisy-chain them as suggested in the diagram, it's just the easiest way to do it.
> 
> (And yes, I did mean adapter when I said widget...I keep thinking "resolver" but knew that wasn't the correct term.)


Actually... the cable labs spec does call it the 'Tuning Resolver'. Of course cablecards were called "POD's" in their spec.

http://www.cablelabs.com/specifications/OC-SP-TRIF-I01-080130.pdf


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## prewittj1

Do you have a diagram or a pic of it connected to a splitter?. Sorry, but I'm very TiVo/techno illiterate.


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## MrPlastic

I live in Austin and have a HDXL with tuner adapter and also a regular cable box. I used to have pixelation problems but using a different cable and moving the Tivo unit closer to the source I now have excellent stable images.
My new problem is certain channels are unavailable and it happens on both the Tivo and the cable box. It is only on certain channels in the Sports pack. Tennis and Soccer all come in fine but Fuel and the College channels will lose signal. The error message is "channel unavailable try again later." And it'll happen while I am watching, the picture freezes.
I have called TWC and they don't seem to know what the problem is. When I do get a signal it is 100 percent. It doesn't happen to all of the channels in the Sports Pack, like Tennis or Soccer. Speed is pretty stable but sometimes I lose it too. TWC seems to think a tech can help but I am not sure. Any one have a similar problem?
SCSIRAID suggested it might be SDV overcommitment.


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## SCSIRAID

MrPlastic said:


> I live in Austin and have a HDXL with tuner adapter and also a regular cable box. I used to have pixelation problems but using a different cable and moving the Tivo unit closer to the source I now have excellent stable images.
> My new problem is certain channels are unavailable and it happens on both the Tivo and the cable box. It is only on certain channels in the Sports pack. Tennis and Soccer all come in fine but Fuel and the College channels will lose signal. The error message is "channel unavailable try again later." And it'll happen while I am watching, the picture freezes.
> I have called TWC and they don't seem to know what the problem is. When I do get a signal it is 100 percent. It doesn't happen to all of the channels in the Sports Pack, like Tennis or Soccer. Speed is pretty stable but sometimes I lose it too. TWC seems to think a tech can help but I am not sure. Any one have a similar problem?
> SCSIRAID suggested it might be SDV overcommitment.


And both the TiVo and the TWC Cable box do the same thing... right?


----------



## MrPlastic

Yes


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## WSP

I am having the same problems at this time. The problem seems to be with more that half of 1500 & 1600 channels. The non SDV seem to be OK.


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## pmiranda

When you lose signal, go to the DVR diagnostic screen and note the frequency of the lost channel, then watch the signal strength for a minute and see if it or the SNR varies. I had an issue where my signal would shift between 100% and 30% over time on certain frequencies, which would randomly affect some SDV channels. I rearranged my signal splitters to get a better signal to my TiVo and the problem went away. Note that there's no requirement for the cable signal in to the TiVo to come from the TA's passthrough.


----------



## lrhorer

prewittj1 said:


> So what's the best way to connect the tuning adaptor? The diagram on tivo.com has the tuning adaptor connected in between the tivo and the cable connection in the wall. Is there a better way to connect it?


Not ordinarily, no.


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## lrhorer

pmiranda said:


> You can connect both to a splitter, or drive each off its own cable run (ultimately coming from a splitter, too), which is pretty handy if you run into signal strength problems like I did. You definitely don't have to daisy-chain them as suggested in the diagram, it's just the easiest way to do it.


What signal strength problems? If downstream levels are too high, then an attenuator after the TA is probably the best solution. If levels are too low, then theTA has a built-in 4dB amplifier, so once again this is probably the best solution.


----------



## pmiranda

lrhorer said:


> What signal strength problems? If downstream levels are too high, then an attenuator after the TA is probably the best solution. If levels are too low, then the TA has a built-in 4dB amplifier, so once again this is probably the best solution.


Adding 4dB at the end of a long run doesn't really help, you've already lost SNR and your just amplifying what you've got. In my case, there was a notch from 711 to 729 MHz that was weak. I can't tell if it was due to some problem with the TA or the incoming signal since with the TA out of the loop the signal is back to 100%.
In any case, I just wanted to note that you don't have to hook the TA in series with the cable connection.


----------



## MrPlastic

WSP when you get your error message do you look in DVR diagnostics? I find if I am still watching and the image freezes I will have 100 percent signal strength. If I go back out and hit select some times I can get back to live action for a while, then it does it freezes again, after about 5-10 minutes. Is that the same for your problems with 1500 & 1600 channels? But this only happens for the Sports pack and not all the channels in the line up. I have cal TWC and asked them to take the Pack off and then put it back on hoping that might make a difference.


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## WSP

I performed a cold boot of both my TiVo and the tunning adapter. This seems to have solved the problems.

Here are the steps I used:

1) Powered down box boxes.
2) Disconnected the USB cable.
3) Powered the TiVo unit.
4) Powered the tunning adapter.
5) Once the tunning adapter was stable, I reconnected the USB cable.
6) TiVo then proceeded to rejoin the tunning adapter and perfomred a download (I think that his was the tunning adapter).


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## cableguy763

I have had to do the same steps that WSP did once when I accidently unplugged my S3. New firmware for the ta has not been released in Austin since January.


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## MrPlastic

Well my problem cleared up and I assume Cableguy763 had something to do with it because I didn't do anything except try to change channels. It is very nice not to see the "Channel Unavailable" message. Thanks!


----------



## mmarionsd

WSP said:


> I performed a cold boot of both my TiVo and the tunning adapter. This seems to have solved the problems.
> 
> Here are the steps I used:
> 
> 1) Powered down box boxes.
> 2) Disconnected the USB cable.
> 3) Powered the TiVo unit.
> 4) Powered the tunning adapter.
> 5) Once the tunning adapter was stable, I reconnected the USB cable.
> 6) TiVo then proceeded to rejoin the tunning adapter and perfomred a download (I think that his was the tunning adapter).


Hmm.. after several weeks of the adapter working fine, I just had to do this on my S3, and thankfully, it seems to have worked fine. At least the SDV channels I couldn't get are working now. I'd previously tried restarting the S3, unplugging the power of the TA and even unplugging the usb to see if any of that was enough. Nope, required the full power off and back on of both as above.

Interestingly, I have 2 TAs, one on this S3 and one on an HD, and the HD hasn't had an issue yet.


----------



## ferror

I have two Tuning Adapters (on two TiVo HDs) and both have been working fine ever since CableGuy did the initial fix that corrected the authorization problem that the techs at TWC always seem to have trouble with. After that point, the 8-flashes changed to solid green and they worked fine ever since. The first one I got in December, and the second one in March. In March, I tried calling in to TWC and asking them to activate it, and when they tried they said they could not communicate with it. I sent a message to CableGuy, and a couple days later the light became solid-green just like in December.

Over the past week, however, things have gotten weird. First the TA from December started the 8-flashes again. I tried power-cycling everything and it still didn't work. The next morning I was about to call into TWC to talk to them about it, and then I noticed that the light was back to solid green. I had to power-cycle the TiVo at that point, because SDV channels were not coming in. But, then SDV channels starting working again. It only happened on this one TA, my other TA was fine the whole time.

Then, a few days later, the second TA I got in March has begun doing the same thing. I tried the same tricks (power-cycling the hardware), and it still does not work. The older TA has still been working ever since it fixed itself. I was hoping my second TA would magically fix itself as well, but it still has not and it's been doing this for several days now.

I have not made any changes to my setup at all. It just spontaneously started doing this last week. Is anyone else seeing a problem like this? Is TWC sweeping through all the TAs and doing a reset on them, updating firmware, or something? Or is this just me...


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## pmiranda

Argh, just got back from being out of town and found that I missed some recordings on SDV channels and this looks like why. TA seems to have just stopped tuning and in the tuning adapter diags I see "Authorized: No".
Tried calling and doing the tech support reset my cable boxes in the voice menus to no avail. That and a couple reboots are all I've had time to do so far.
I feel bad bugging cableguy every time the TA or a cablecard takes a dump but it's the only reliable method we seem to have!


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## mmcgown

cableguy763 said:


> Try rebooting the ta and see if it comes back up. You might not have two-way.


Hi CableGuy,

You told another reader to reboot because he wasn't getting News8 radar (355)...I see I don't get 355 either, and also a number of other channels that I rarely watch. Mostly they are the channels with ONLY a brown rectangle on the TWC website channel guide (102, 261, 358 and others)--the "digital tier" (and I do pay for it).

Does this mean I am not in 2-way? What TA diagnostic screen on my TiVo-HD with M-card would answer this?

To reboot, what sequence works best? Pull USB or electric and which first?

Apology if this has been asked and answered; it's hard to follow so many threads on this topic.

Thanks for supplying an easy to follow answer for all of us who aren't so technically adept.


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## ferror

Mine has started working again, but I'm not sure who fixed it or if it fixed itself. Go figure.


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## cableguy763

ferror said:


> Mine has started working again, but I'm not sure who fixed it or if it fixed itself. Go figure.


I sent the ta's some hits soon after I got your pm.


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## cableguy763

mmcgown said:


> Hi CableGuy,
> 
> You told another reader to reboot because he wasn't getting News8 radar (355)...I see I don't get 355 either, and also a number of other channels that I rarely watch. Mostly they are the channels with ONLY a brown rectangle on the TWC website channel guide (102, 261, 358 and others)--the "digital tier" (and I do pay for it).
> 
> Does this mean I am not in 2-way? What TA diagnostic screen on my TiVo-HD with M-card would answer this?
> 
> To reboot, what sequence works best? Pull USB or electric and which first?
> 
> Apology if this has been asked and answered; it's hard to follow so many threads on this topic.
> 
> Thanks for supplying an easy to follow answer for all of us who aren't so technically adept.


The process I followed in testing was to pull usb first. If that didnt work I pulled the power to the ta and the tivo. Plug the ta in first and let it get a solid green light. Then power the tivo. In the ta diag screen that shows boot status, you want everything to say "Ready". If you get the unconfig showing "Broadcast", the ta is not in two-way. No two-way is most of the time a signal (but sometimes say a bad house amp or bad splitter) problem. Without two-way the sdv channels won't work.


----------



## pmiranda

I called tech support yesterday afternoon and after talking my way past the lady that kept asking if the box was showing the time, got to somebody who was able to see that my TA wasn't on my account. It was from the Beta, so maybe it had never been properly entered into the system and they might have done a sweep over the weekend to tighten up authorization? After he fixed the account a quick reboot (just unplugged power and replugged on the TA itself...never needed to mess with TiVo) and I was back in business.

FYI, I noticed that once the TA gets two-way running and whatever else it wants, TiVo will pop up a screen that it's been connected. If the TA isn't happy, then TiVo will ignore hooking up the TA.


----------



## ferror

cableguy763 said:


> I sent the ta's some hits soon after I got your pm.


Thanks, you came through again Cableguy!


----------



## mmcgown

Thanks CableGuy--I'll save these reboot instructions.

After another reboot failed this morning, TWC did a truck roll today. The tech found a "Power: 57 dBmV" reading in the TA diagnostics and said anything above 55 wouldn't work. 

After doing some rewiring in the attic and replacing the splitter (that was put in by the previous TWC tech!), he got the number down to 51, and the missing channels came back. 

Now, 12 hours later, the previously missing channels are still there, but the number is back up to 56 dBmV.

So I wonder how long the fix will last.


----------



## gs2342

Just a note in case it may help others...earlier tonight my sports pack channels started glitching...TTC and the college sports channels went dark while the others were intermittent. No other problems. After talking to three people at TWC, resetting the TA and Tivo, and reluctantly setting up a service call, I decided to call back and spoke to a tech who removed and reinstalled the sports pack on my account as recommended in this thread (or was it a general TA thread, I forget). 

Anyway, this worked like a charm, so if this is a recent/common glitch, perhaps the toggling of the sports pack is sufficient.


----------



## brenbloom

Just curious if anyone has gotten channels 1665,1666,1667,1668 to work on a consistent basis. Ever since TWC Austin added these channels, I get the message that they are unavailable and to press select to try tuning. I press select, get a couple seconds of video, and the screen goes back to black. When I restart my TA, I can maybe get these channels for a couple hours or so, and then the problem persists. I've sent cableguy a couple PM's regarding the problem but haven't heard anything back. Just curious if it was just me or if other people are having the same problem with these channels.


----------



## mmcgown

brenbloom said:


> Just curious if anyone has gotten channels 1665,1666,1667,1668 to work on a consistent basis. Ever since TWC Austin added these channels, I get the message that they are unavailable and to press select to try tuning. I press select, get a couple seconds of video, and the screen goes back to black. When I restart my TA, I can maybe get these channels for a couple hours or so, and then the problem persists. I've sent cableguy a couple PM's regarding the problem but haven't heard anything back. Just curious if it was just me or if other people are having the same problem with these channels.


I have this exact problem, most notably on 355 (Radar) but others as well. Tech came out and said the signal level was too low. Replaced some cables and a splitter; signal strength came up minimally and worked for a while; now it's as you say......sometimes three seconds of picture--then black. It's intermittent and unpredictable.

The signal level he checked is under Tuning Adapter Diagnostics/Post and Boot Results/Next Page (6 times) and look for "Power" near the bottom of the list. Today, mine is 57dBmV. The tech told me anything above 55 would *not* work.

It's working fine today. Go figure.


----------



## pkretz

Hi.. long term Tivo user, but new to S3 HD and cable cards over last two weeks. Time Warner CC install was "interesting" -- two different techs, over two days and 8-10 hrs of install time. Swapped out TAs once and CCs twice, but finally seem to be working pretty well now. Thanks to Joseph and Dave for all their time, and their persistence. 

My question... anyone having trouble with 16xx channels? My symptoms (notice this on Bravo and USA so far) is occasionally when we switch to these particular channels, or if Tivo tunes to record a show, the picture and audio freezes. It stays locked up, until we manually channel up or down one step, and then back... and then the channels always tune in fine. We'll be really aggravated if we get an hour recording of a frozen screen...  Any ideas about the freezing up, and how to correct it?


----------



## jfstx

All I gotta say is that time warner must be feeling the heat from att. they have launched a massive ad campaign in the austin area againist att. I'm way west and am told 2 years for time warner. Use Sprint mobile for high speed as only thing worth a shi%$E. Over the air rocks as of now. Getting all broadcasts plus several other channels that are broadcasting new stuff...ie thistv. and cw and cw2. Ion is spotty....but does come in. Wish att would show up and tivo would support!!.....have 2 s2's and 2 hd's...in ota heaven as of now!


----------



## pmiranda

pkretz said:


> My question... anyone having trouble with 16xx channels? My symptoms (notice this on Bravo and USA so far) is occasionally when we switch to these particular channels, or if Tivo tunes to record a show, the picture and audio freezes. It stays locked up, until we manually channel up or down one step, and then back... and then the channels always tune in fine. We'll be really aggravated if we get an hour recording of a frozen screen...  Any ideas about the freezing up, and how to correct it?


I have intermittent problems with all the SDV channels. It seems to be related to weak signal on a handful of QAM carrier frequencies but even with it cleaned up and strong signal occasionally I miss recordings. TiVo will show that it's recording something, but after the show is over, it will disappear from Now Playing and in the to-do list it will list the show as not recorded due to no video input signal.


----------



## pkretz

Thx... this is, unfortunately, looking complex to get SDV channels right. 

I've discovered one other issue, that is I think repeatable -- may or may note be related to my problem. I'll call TW, but will appreciate any other new ideas.

My new problem -- when we have two season passes on TivoHD that start at the same time (Sundays - In Plain Sight and Army Wives, both at 9pm), then Tivo won't tune in USAHD (1665). I get the message box saying channel is temporarily unavailable. 

Previously, I've been able to stop the (blank screen) recording on 1665 - channel up one and back to 1665 and it tunes in. Tonite, for some reason, it is frozen - I need to follow reboot process to get it back in synch. 

Anyone had experience with tuning for two simultaneous season passes -- can I get this fixed? Thx...


----------



## tdbear

pkretz said:


> Thx... this is, unfortunately, looking complex to get SDV channels right.
> Tivo won't tune in USAHD (1665). I get the message box saying channel is temporarily unavailable.
> ...
> Anyone had experience with tuning for two simultaneous season passes -- can I get this fixed? Thx...


I don't know about the simultaneous issue, but I noticed this week that SyFyHD 1666 and several other channels have been off. I locked them out until I find out why, and the Wishlist passes should then move to the SD versions... still don't know why they keep the duplicates for the SD since I think they tune to the same digital stream.

When I was living in Austin proper, 1666 definitely had issues. I don't know if it was bandwidth on thier fiber or signal strength on the copper at my house.

I'm still pissed with Tivo or Cisco (isn't it horrible not knowing who to be pissed at) with the TA losing touch with the Tivo sometimes. Even when both were on a UPS backup, sometimes the light would start blinking on the TA or Tivo just could tune to the 2nd band. I could have to unplug/plug the USB cable to get them talking to each other.


----------



## tdbear

pkretz said:


> My question... anyone having trouble with 16xx channels? My symptoms (notice this on Bravo and USA so far) is occasionally when we switch to these particular channels, or if Tivo tunes to record a show, the picture and audio freezes. It stays locked up, until we manually channel up or down one step, and then back... and then the channels always tune in fine. We'll be really aggravated if we get an hour recording of a frozen screen...  Any ideas about the freezing up, and how to correct it?


In Dripping I noticed some of the 16xx channels were off Wed and Thurs for some reason. I've removed them from my channel list until this gets fixed.

Before the cable guy came, I was getting so-so reception on 1666 but the strength was on the hairy edge. So sometimes it would work and sometimes not. The signal was still there, however. The cable tech diagnosed the problems: 1) there was a trap outside on the line as the previous owner only had internet service, and 2) the previous owner had his internet running through 2 splitters from a previous CATV connection. #1 and #2 coupled with me having to run it through a 4-way (since I didn't know about where the house splitter was), the signal was pretty critical.

So everything was find and he said near perfect at the wall on Saturday... but then I noticed the 16xx problems later in the week. I suspect they might have them offline to fix or improve. But shouldn't there be a notice posted somewhere?


----------



## box464

Specifically to CableGuy763,

I have been reading the Tuning Adapter (Austin) thread in this forum and noticed you are willing to help people out when the tuning adapter is not working correctly.

I tried to PM you but your box was full, then I emailed you...but just in case that didn't work, listing it here as well. 

I have been on the phone with a tech, in online chat with a tech, and have had a tech come out for two hours and it is still not working. The tech that came out told me the tuning adapter was fine..but it was blinking green the entire time he was here. (I didn't know at that point about the 8 blinky pattern). He also verified the signal was strong to the tv.

Could you possible help me out? I don't know what information you need other than the RF-MAC, listed below. I can see that I do not have an IP Address for the Tuning Adapter yet.

RF-MAC Number: [----------] (will pm or email to you later)

Here's other info if it's helpful.

STB SN: [-------------] (will pm or email to you later)
eCM MAC: [-------------] (ditto)

Tuning Adapter Diagnostics shows Tuning Adapter Status as Invalid. Ethernet show no ip address assigned.

Currently, my TivO recognizes the adapter. The Adapter is turned on and it is doing the 8 blinky.

I appreciate you help in this matter!

-------------

UPDATE: Yep, one or two quick messages with CableGuy and the problem is resolved (vs. 3 phone calls, 2 technicians, and a whole lot of stress). So glad I knew about this forum!


----------



## mmcgown

tdbear said:


> In Dripping I noticed some of the 16xx channels were off Wed and Thurs for some reason. I've removed them from my channel list until this gets fixed.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> So everything was find and he said near perfect at the wall on Saturday... but then I noticed the 16xx problems later in the week. I suspect they might have them offline to fix or improve. But shouldn't there be a notice posted somewhere?


I could have written this same entry.....including the part about the signal strength at the wall. After two techs were at my house in Dripping Springs at the first of August, the signal strength was great and all the SDV channels were working. But six hours later, the 16xx SDVs were gone again.

This has gone on randomly all month. On the 22nd of August, I finally called it in again, and I guess a truck will roll Tuesday.

If I can't rely on the service, I don't want to pay for it. I guess it's time to look for an alternative.

Though I think TW means well, I also think the TA technology doesn't work and was rushed out to appease TiVo users. I blame Cisco, but regardless, I think I've had enough.


----------



## pkretz

Tivo HD for a month now, generally working well after finally getting set up. Anyone else having any "issues" with USAHD (1665) and BravoHD (1667)? Periodically I get blank recording for Season Passes... happened again tonite for Top Chef on Bravo -- won't tune in the channel, and I get an hour of blank screen. 

Note: I think Tivo figures this out, and drops the blank show out of Now Playing... but I still miss the show. 

Any ideas? 

One thought that I'm having is that this (maybe?) happens also when I have two season passes set up to start at same time. Occasionally, it seems TA can't tune two channels at once, and misses one. Does that make sense? 

Appreciate any suggestions about how to improve my status.


----------



## pmiranda

pkretz said:


> Occasionally, it seems TA can't tune two channels at once, and misses one. Does that make sense?


First I'd make sure that both tuners can tune those two channels. I've had problems with the cablecard authorization where one or the other would receive at full strength but refuse to decode. I have also had problems where somebody at the office would randomly screw up whatever database entries authorize my cablecards or TA and break some channels as a result. TiVo will quietly drop recordings and I have to go into the "to-done" list to find "video signal not available" entries and track it down.
Another fun problem is that SDV channels change which QAM carrier frequency they come in on, so a channel can work fine one day but not the next. You have to catch a channel not working live and go into the DVR diagnostics screen to note the SNR and frequency, then see if there's a trend.


----------



## Crrink

Just to add to the collective info: I got a TA by mail, which wasn't set up for my account. Cableguy tried to tie it to my account, but that didn't seem to work - I then lost contact with him (hopefully he's out having fun with the family!) so I called CS. I eventually got a really calm, knowledgeable guy named Chris who was an absolute trooper. He got my TA to a solid green light and waited on the phone with me while we tried to get the TiVo to recognize it. Long story short(er), after having no luck I unplugged everything and swapped out the coax cable between the TA and TiVo. 
I powered the TA up and let it sit for half an hour. 
I powered the TiVo up and let it sit for half an hour.
I then connected the USB cable and lo and behold the TiVo recognized the TA and began (finally) getting the SDV channels.

I realize others have gotten to this point and then gone on to have problems. I'm hoping I don't become one of them! In any event, I'm posting this in hopes it'll help someone else get their TA working.
Much thanks to Cableguy and Chris from TimeWarner - they were wonderful, and we finally (finally!) got it all working.

Good luck to everyone else enduring with this hassle.


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## mmcgown

pkretz said:


> Tivo HD for a month now, generally working well after finally getting set up. Anyone else having any "issues" with USAHD (1665) and BravoHD (1667)? Periodically I get blank recording for Season Passes... happened again tonite for Top Chef on Bravo -- won't tune in the channel, and I get an hour of blank screen.
> 
> Note: I think Tivo figures this out, and drops the blank show out of Now Playing... but I still miss the show.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> One thought that I'm having is that this (maybe?) happens also when I have two season passes set up to start at same time. Occasionally, it seems TA can't tune two channels at once, and misses one. Does that make sense?
> 
> Appreciate any suggestions about how to improve my status.


I can tell you that I had lots of blank recordings on 1666, because the TA was not correctly requesting the channel. Early in August my original TA was replaced. Last week, the cable from my house to the street was replaced along with some inside wiring and fittings. The excellent guys who worked on all this said the TA is highly sensitive to interference and so what might be a minor problem (e.g., old fittings or cable) and unnoticeable without a TA--then becomes a major problem with the TA.

Since the work was done, all has worked well with the SDV channels......now if I could just figure out why my Series 2 TiVo can't "see" the Now Playing List on the TiVoHD........


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## ryandobson

It looks like the training for getting these TAs installed is still not making it through. (Austin-TWC)

My symptoms are not receiving SyFyHD, USAHD, TLCHD, BravoHD, and some others. All appear to be on SDV. It looks like you can't tell which channels are SDV anymore... that used to be on the old TWC site, before they went with the blue redesign.

I spent a day with the first TA in 8-blink mode, then traded it for another one, and it looks like it's in continuous blink mode. I've been on the phone twice in the past 2 days, and they're sending a tech out tomorrow. All the advice on the forum has been helpful. The first TA got into 'broadcast' mode, not 2-way, and now this new TA just appears to only need an EMM. Interestingly, the phone tech sent a 'hit' today while the TA was in 8-blink mode, and watching the diag screens I saw that it received it, but then she had me reboot the box (unplug-plug), and the box appears to come up into the all 'Ready' state (aka, not just Broadcast), but is waiting on another EMM.

Oh, and none of the phone techs appear to know what the 8-blink state is.

Perhaps there should be an order to the install process that is missing? 
- Install cable cards
- 'Hit' the cable cards
- Plug in TA
- Wait for light to go out on TA
- Plug in USB
- Press the power button on TA
- 'Hit' the cable cards again with the paired TA attached?

I feel like waiving a dead chicken around the box and chanting...


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## mmcgown

The dead chicken is what finally worked for me!


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## Enforcer

TW San Antonio has a group of guys dedicated to fixing the tuning adapters. Its a number directly to that office and those guys fixed my 8 blinking like problem in 2 minutes. You might try asking if TW Austin has the same thing. 8 blinking lights means its not authorized and/or its "balanced" incorrectly. Hope that helps.

One last thing. If you have no lights on the front, try hitting that button on the front. Evidently its an on/off thing.


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## ryandobson

Sometime this morning between 7-8am the constant blinking finally transitioned to a solid light. Looking at the status, I've got all "Ready", except PowerKEY still shows "Waiting EMM". None of the missing channels have appeared yet, but perhaps it's just a matter of time now. I tried rebooting the TiVo, and unplugging/plugging the USB cable to see if that made a difference.

I'm still slated to have a service call today, so we'll see if it's resolved by then.

Thanks for everyone's help here so far!


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## ryandobson

Special thanks to Mike from Time Warner Austin. He came out and analyzed out situation. Apparently the amplifier on the system was blocking out some of the communication for the TA. He took the amplifier out, rebalanced our splitters for the house, rebooted the TA and TiVo, and got everything working beautifully.


----------



## dbeard

CB,

I've been having persistent trouble receiving all of my channels. I consistently can't tune ESPNU, NBATV, DISCHD and many others. The last service rep I talked to suggested that I swap out my TA and CableCard. I swapped out the TA today and I'm still having the exact same issues. Apparently swapping out cablecards requires a service call.

Any and all assistance is greatly appreciated. If anyone can point me to any resources that might help me diagnose the issue on my own, that would be fantastic.

TIVO HD
MultiStream Cablecard
TA

Thanks,

Derek


----------



## 86285

Derek-

If you're in the Austin, TX area (possibly others) there have been numerous problems that nobody at TW wants to really admit are happening. If you haven't tried rebooting the TA (unplug TA, wait a few minutes, then plug back in and wait several minutes for solid green light) then that is a good idea to try.

Up until last week I have been having two major problems: One is like your's where the TA locks-up, and it becomes difficult (if not impossible) to tune-in any cable channels (the channel list is maintained by the TA when one is present). The other has been pixelization and sound cutting out. This isn't due to signal strength problems within my home since my neighbors are all having the same problems (and my RoadRunner connection is working fine, good signal strength and S/N). They've already sent someone out to my house to replace my TA, and that didn't fix anything (technician was good, but they can't do much when it is a system-wide issue).

This past week, I have noticed a marked improvement in the stability of the TA, so I think they're getting closer to a solution, but I am only marginally optimistic. I can't get anyone higher-up from Time Warner Cable to get back to me on any of these problems (all customer service wants to do is keep sending people to my house, which is a waste of my time and their's). I am getting very close to dropping cable TV completely, but I want to give them a few more days to respond before I take that step.

Hope this helps with your problem!

-- Gil.


----------



## cableguy763

Firmware update to 10.01 tomorrow around 0200. This affects Austin and Waco.


----------



## mmcgown

cableguy763 said:


> Firmware update to 10.01 tomorrow around 0200. This affects Austin and Waco.


Welcome back, cableguy!


----------



## pmiranda

Aw geez, and I just got it working again after a tech found and fixed a bad connection in the wiring closet... oh well, fingers crossed and here's hoping it fixes some issues for some folks!


----------



## jmbissell

I had my service upgraded to digital today which included a m-card and TA for my TiVo HD. Everything seemed to be working when the installer left but I don't think we really gave it much of a test.
Now I have the 8 blink issue and no SDV. Page 3 of the TA Diag screens shows Authorized: No, Status: Pending, Service Gp: n/a. I've called TWC support and he said they couldn't fix it at their end. I have a truck roll sched for tomorrow but I'm not sure that tech will be able to fix anything. Any help is appreciated.


----------



## dlfl

jmbissell said:


> I had my service upgraded to digital today which included a m-card and TA for my TiVo HD. Everything seemed to be working when the installer left but I don't think we really gave it much of a test.
> Now I have the 8 blink issue and no SDV. Page 3 of the TA Diag screens shows Authorized: No, Status: Pending, Service Gp: n/a. I've called TWC support and he said they couldn't fix it at their end. I have a truck roll sched for tomorrow but I'm not sure that tech will be able to fix anything. Any help is appreciated.


Disconnect the USB cable to the TA.
Remove the power plug from the TA for a few seconds then reinsert.
Wait until the green TA light stops blinking and goes steady. This can take ten minutes or more. If the light goes out completely hit the power button on the front of the TA and wait for a steady light.
Reconnect the USB connector.
The TiVo should reaquire channels (rotating yen yang symbol). If it doesn't do this, restart the TiVo.

This may fix it but probably won't, since 8 blinks usually means the cable co. has to send signals to it. In that case, see here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7668695#post7668695
The local TWC people *should* refer you to the TWC NCCS desk, but they frequently don't know anything about it.


----------



## jmbissell

dlfl said:


> Disconnect the USB cable to the TA.
> Remove the power plug from the TA for a few seconds then reinsert.
> Wait until the green TA light stops blinking and goes steady. This can take ten minutes or more. If the light goes out completely hit the power button on the front of the TA and wait for a steady light.
> Reconnect the USB connector.
> The TiVo should reaquire channels (rotating yen yang symbol). If it doesn't do this, restart the TiVo.
> 
> This may fix it but probably won't, since 8 blinks usually means the cable co. has to send signals to it. In that case, see here:
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7668695#post7668695
> The local TWC people *should* refer you to the TWC NCCS desk, but they frequently don't know anything about it.


That didn't help unfortunately. Called Austin TWC again and the tech tried whatever and couldn't get it to work. I asked about the NCCS and he sort of blew me off. Scheduled a truck roll.

A further search of these forums yielded the nugget that TiVo Support knew how to get to NCCS. I called TiVo's cableCARD Hotline and the woman knew exactly what to do and connected me to the NCCS. The only problem was that the NCCS tech didn't have access to my account! Apparently TWC has been switching over to some new billing/account system and while my account has not yet been switched they've disabled the NCCS access to the old system!

Anyway, the NCCS tech got the local people on the phone and did whatever and after a TA restart everything is now working.


----------



## dlfl

jmbissell said:


> ...........A further search of these forums yielded the nugget that TiVo Support knew how to get to NCCS. ......
> .


Actually the post linked in my previous post was *exactly* that information which would have saved you searching....... 
Anyway, glad you got it fixed.


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## jmbissell

dlfl said:


> Actually the post linked in my previous post was *exactly* that information which would have saved you searching.......
> Anyway, glad you got it fixed.


I actually did use your link and just forgot (after all the hassle) where I'd seen the NCCS info. Many thanks!


----------



## dcstager

The firmware update has not fixed the major issue of the Tivo not being able to reliably record SDV channels - especially when two recordings are happening at once. I think the problem is acute with HD SDV since I'm had the most problem with Fox Business HD and Biography HD.

Since the channels can be tuned and I'm assuming the tuning adapter is capable of handling two different SVD HD channels at once, I'm thinking that the Tivo software needs some error checking to make sure the video is being received and retuning or re-requesting the channel through the Tuning Adapter if it isn't.

How do we know if Tivo is working on these issues? Is there any software update coming for the Series3 / Tivo HD models?


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> The firmware update has not fixed the major issue of the Tivo not being able to reliably record SDV channels - especially when two recordings are happening at once. I think the problem is acute with HD SDV since I'm had the most problem with Fox Business HD and Biography HD.
> 
> Since the channels can be tuned and I'm assuming the tuning adapter is capable of handling two different SVD HD channels at once, I'm thinking that the Tivo software needs some error checking to make sure the video is being received and retuning or re-requesting the channel through the Tuning Adapter if it isn't.
> 
> How do we know if Tivo is working on these issues? Is there any software update coming for the Series3 / Tivo HD models?


Your auto-retry-on-tune idea has been suggested before on this forum. In fact the manual version of it has even been documented by TiVo as a workaround in their support pages -- so obviously they've known about it for a while.

Nobody outside TiVo knows what they're working on, except new deals and projects for their future business plan, which make news now and then.

I and many other TWC users with TA's, see pixelation on SDV channels, especially in the Carolinas area, where SCSIRAID is attempting to work with TWC engineers to resolve their problem. Then there's the blinking light problems and the hours spent on the phone to resolve those. Let's face it, TWC and TiVo (jointly) have royally screwed up the tuning adapter implementation. Frankly I think we users have to just live with what we have and hope for a future day when there is a better solution to getting cable network video with a DVR having TiVo-like features.

One option, growing in popularity, is to dump digital cable and use OTA via antenna plus Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster and YouTube. Digital cable costs more than what I get out of it anyway. I'm on the verge of doing this. The only thing that stopped me recently was that suddenly TWC decided I was eligible for a HSI/Cable package deal (no contract) that they had previously said I wasn't eligible for because I was a "CableCARD user".


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## dcstager

I am thinking of dumping TWC in Austin because I get OTA reliably and I can get Internet from AT&T or this new wireless Internet from Clear.com - which is available to me. With the free software out there to convert .mkv files to AVCHD discs that play perfect HD video on my Blu-Ray player, there is not much on cable I can't get elsewhere. Fox News and ESPN are big exceptions.

As is, the Tivo works most of the time. It's annoying not to have that 100% Tivo reliability I've grown used to. Fortunately they rerun things 10 times on cable, so I can usually try again for something I missed.

Tivo should fix this with a software update. If I can fix it with the peanut, Tivo can do it automatically.


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## woodburger

Late summer/early fall we had all of the above. Several truck rolls and it was suggested my router was down... to replace it... now, I am on my 3rd router, TW has replaced my Modem, all the wire to the street, has knocked down excessive signal level...

But I still periodically (though not as often as before) get black screens and _channel temp. not avail_. on SDV channels. I also have times when although mail works on my computer, the internet doesn't... it just hangs.

On the 22nd, while watching TV through TiVo (live) I got a pure GREEN screen in mid show - never have I seen that before. TiVo locked up, and had to be rebooted, which brought it back.

Now we have this ridiculous FOX issue... while we pay almost $250/mo.

TiVo Series 3, M card, SONY HDTV, TA.

Bob


----------



## dplaflamme

When I moved to Austin in May, I tried to use my TiVo HD for the first time with CableCards and a tuning adapter, as a TWC customer. I don't have precise notes from that period, but my memory is that TWC had to dispatch three sets of technicians to my home to try to get it to work on me; the tuning adapters kept locking up on me. I finally dropped cable TV service; anything that I can't use reliably and easily with a TiVo isn't worth it for me.

Seven months later, I'm tempted to try again. I miss some of my favorite cable TV shows.

Can anyone comment on whether problems with tuning adapters locking up have ever been resolved? Are they TiVo problems or TCW hardware problems? More importantly, _have others had experiences with this kind of problem and been able to resolve it?_


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## mmcgown

dplaflamme said:


> More importantly, _have others had experiences with this kind of problem and been able to resolve it?_


I was one of the first in Austin to get a TA in 12/08 and I had a number of problems over many months. A bad TA; bad wiring outside; and a few other things that could have been my fault, TWC's fault, or TiVo's fault.

But persistence paid off, and for the last four months, all has worked pretty well. TWC has learned a lot, and they have a few (!) good techs; and there are folks in this forum who also can help.

Most of the problems I encountered were more the fault of TWC than the TiVo. Now, as long as the TiVo and TA retain power, they stay in sync just fine.

The remaining problem seems to be with the TiVo failing to make the TA re-tune a channel that has timed out. So, you record a SyFy show; then three or six or ten hours later, you have a recording set for another SyFy show, but the channel has timed out. In that situation, it seems the TiVo fails to re-tune the channel properly, and you get a blank recording. There are creative ways around this.

So I say give it another try. Make TWC test the signal strength coming into the TA, as low signal strength seemed to be my biggest enemy.

Good luck!


----------



## dcstager

I've got a stable Tuning Adapter after doing a variation of advice given here elsewhere.

Unplug power to Tivo and Tuning Adapter. Wait 3 minutes.

Plug in Tuning Adapter and wait for solid green light on front panel - may take a while.

When you have solid green light on Tuning Adapter, plug in the Tivo and let it reboot.

When it is done, select Watch Live TV from Tivo menu and try and change a channel.

Wait for "loading channel maps" message to clear.

Seems to work reliably now and I can even tune in two HS SDV channels at the same time. Have not dropped a recording since doing this, so looks like there is some hope in Austin for the Series 3/Time Warner Combination.

In the channel list, I've de-selected any channels where a get a tuning adapter won't provide the channel and all the VOD channels. I've deselected standard definition versions where there is an identical HD channel, and I've deselected analog channels that have a digital channel duplicate.


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## tivo-macrbg

Does Austin TWC charge a rental for the TA ?


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## pdm

tivo-macrbg said:


> Does Austin TWC charge a rental for the TA ?


Not yet...seems like they probably will at some point. I've had no charges for mine and I got it same day they made them available.


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## tivo-macrbg

thanks, that means i've been over charged. Again.


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## pmiranda

I don't get charged for my TA, but I do get charged for my cablecards, as expected. Still cheaper than a rented DVR per-month. One caveat: I'm on a pricelock with the digital package, internet, and a cable box, so if you're not on a package they might be nickle-and-diming you as standard practice to get you to conform.
In any case, I'd call and see what they can do.


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## mmcgown

To tivo-macrbg.....

I just received a funny letter inthe mail from TWC Austin in which they announced that they were going to "start" using SDV on February 15. Among other things, the letter verifies that there is no charge for a Tuning Adapter at present. I presume the letter was sent to everyone--or perhaps everyone who currently has a cablecard.


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## pmiranda

mmcgown said:


> I just received a funny letter inthe mail from TWC Austin in which they announced that they were going to "start" using SDV on February 15.


I got that yesterday, too. The real content of that letter is they're moving a bunch of HD channels and some SD channels to SDV that were previously broadcast. Thank God they seem to have gotten TA's running smoothly first...
Now where is my Speed and BBC in HD!?


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## pdm

My tuning adapter seems kaput. its just flashing constantly with no pause. I've rebooted it and the tivo, I tried unplugged the tivo and giving the tuning adapter a long time to come up on its own. Anyone have any ideas? 

The tuning adapter diagnostics say on the first page Status: Ready
and on the third page:
UNcfg: Ready
BFS: Ready
SI: Ready
SAM: Ready QPSK
IPG: Ready QAM
PowerKEY: Ready
Analog Capable: NO

I think thats normal stuff, usually seems like that means its ok, but no dice for me, just still flashing.


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## mmcgown

Probably you tried this, but I've had the best luck just pulling the USB cable from the TA, counting to 10 or so, and then re-plugging it. If the TA doesn't stop blinking after a minute or so, then I guess call for help. TWC did declare my first TA dead, so maybe it's happened to you, too.


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## AtariAge

Both Tuning Adapters on both of my TiVos have been blinking since yesterday, and of course I cannot view any SDV content as a result. I have tried rebooting the Tuning Adapters, as well as the TiVos, but that has made no difference at all. I haven't called Time Warner yet, but I sure as hell will be tomorrow. 

I received the same letter about the switchover of various HD channels to SDV next month. All that's going to result is in my ditching Time Warner sooner than later. I can't believe they are moving more channels over to SDV when it's still so problematic for so many people. 

..Al


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## AtariAge

pmiranda said:


> Now where is my Speed and BBC in HD!?


Those are two of the channels I was looking for as well. Along with Comedy Central HD.

..Al


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## pdm

on one of the other status pages "SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO" it says 
Client
Authorized: NO
...
SERVER:
Status: Pending

I honestly don't know what it usually says there. Mine also stopped working yesterday, but I didn't call because this sort of thing usually sorts itself out with a couple of reboots, but not this time it seems. I'm on hold with TW now but I do not have my hopes up.


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## pmiranda

pmiranda said:


> Thank God they seem to have gotten TA's running smoothly first...


I really jinxed myself there... sat down to watch some TV and couldn't tune any SDV channels. Luckily I noticed before I missed any recordings and a reboot (of the TA only) fixed it.

My 3rd page looks exactly like pdm's now that it's working.

On "RF Statistics", make sure your status is Locked for the FDC and QAM and both have S/N of 30 dB or more (QAM S/N is on the second page of RF stats for me). FDC Power and QAM Power should also be checked (mine are -9 and -6 dBmV as a point of reference) My RDC Power is pretty high at 51 dBmV, but it's pretty reliable even though that's just 4 dBmV from the max.

Your SWITCHED DIGITAL VIDEO page should definitely have a "Yes" for Authorized. There's also a TUNING ADAPTER screen (called Tuning Resolver in the menu...how's that for software quality  that should have a Yes for Authorized.

Call up the office, talk your way to somebody that knows WTF a TA actually is, and have them check that your account is balanced and that the TA is properly listed on the account and get some hits sent. If you just picked up your TA, it takes them a few hours to get it set up in the system (even though the friendly folks at the office will tell you otherwise), so a call is usually necessary if you're not willing to wait until tomorrow.

If your RF stats all look good, the only problem you see is a lack of authorization or missing channels, the person you're talking to doesn't seem to know any of the TA lingo and all they'll do is schedule a truck roll and won't connect you to somebody further up the tech food chain, call back and hope for somebody helpful. I have actually gotten first-line folks that knew what a TA was and could do some useful things but usually they aren't that good and you have to be persistent.

Good luck!


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## pdm

thanks pmiranda. I got my TA the first day they made them available in Austin, so its been working fine (for some version of the word fine) since I got it. 

I hadn't looked at the RF page, but what I have doesn't look good. FWIW I haven't changed any cabling at all, its a new house, all new wiring run when they set us up, and in general I get good signal for the cable card.. but on the TA RF page I get..

CURRENT FDC
Status: Locked
Level: 0 dbMV
..
S/N: 33dB
CURRENT QAM
TuningMode Invalid
Status: Unlocked
Level:n/a
...
CuRRENT RDC
Power: 42dbMv

received
EMMs: 0


I was on hold with them tonight for about 20 minutes, then the hold messages stopped and it was just silent for like 5 minutes, and they hung up on me, I never got to talk to a human. 

I guess i'll try again tomorrow to get a clued human. Thanks for suggestions!


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## pmiranda

pdm: Your FDC and RDC look great to me. The QAM is probably just in Invalid/Unlocked since the TA isn't authorized.

Sorry you couldn't get to a human. Almost anybody could check that your account is balanced which has been the problem for me a few times. A couple years ago there was a web chat support that could fix this stuff, but now it only seems to support Roadrunner :-(


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## pdm

Hah, well on a whim I decided to call at midnight and see if I could convince the automated system to send the reset signal for me, but i couldn't get it to do that like it did before. ANyway, it gave me a human, and he sent refresh signal and it fixed it. I don't know what 'balanced' means, but the refresh thing fixed it. Very happy and angry at same time. 

I tell you, I love tivo, but if apple comes out with the tv show subscription service like rumors suggest, I'm pretty sure I will be getting rid of cable TV (and tivo :-( )


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## pmiranda

Excellent. I hate the voice prompt system with a passion. I'm usually debugging these problems at night when everyone else in the house is trying to sleep so I'd prefer touchtones to get to a human. The problem is the voice system never seems to get me right to tech support. The first person I talk to always has to transfer me.


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## gs2342

I have had a problem with the Sports Pack channels disappearing every six weeks or so since I got the Tivo and TA. Usually a call to TWC to unpair/pair/refresh etc. fixes it. Not this time. Now I have no SDV channels as of ~7pm. Reset the TA and Tivo and got a decent tech at TWC who sent the TA a bunch of hits but still nothing. Anyone else missing SDV channels atm?
-Jo


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## stubarrett

AtariAge said:


> I received the same letter about the switchover of various HD channels to SDV next month. All that's going to result is in my ditching Time Warner sooner than later. I can't believe they are moving more channels over to SDV when it's still so problematic for so many people.
> ..Al


The real deal breaker for me going to another provider/dvr is the lack of DLNA on any other DVR. I use my S3 as the core of my entire entertainment system to access terabytes of content (video, music, images) on my network. Granted the TA 'solution' is much like a colostomy bag, but until another solution appears that supports DLNA (or equivalent), I'm stuck with TW and cable cards.


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## dlfl

stubarrett said:


> ....... Granted the TA 'solution' is much like a colostomy bag,......


 I love it! Perfectly captures my feelings about TA's.


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## mmcgown

I agree. Can we start calling the TA the CB?


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## stubarrett

TA->CB?

While it is frustrating, given the design constraints there really was no other solution. While the TA is a PITA at times, give the choice of having a TA or not being able to access the plethora of SDV channels, the choice is obvious.

The real issue is the lack of choice since no other DVR (that I know of) supports DLNA. One can only hope that uVerse will have that one day. Till then there is no other choice.


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## mmcgown

stubarrett said:


> The real issue is the lack of choice since no other DVR (that I know of) supports DLNA. One can only hope that uVerse will have that one day. Till then there is no other choice.


I don't want to get too far off topic, and I know what DLNA stands for, but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything since -- as far as I know -- the TiVoHD was never DLNA certified anyway.


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## stubarrett

mmcgown said:


> I don't want to get too far off topic, and I know what DLNA stands for, but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything since -- as far as I know -- the TiVoHD was never DLNA certified anyway.


Thread entropy... One commenter was talking about ditching his Tivo due to TA frustration.

Maybe not certified (it is a weak standard, is there a certifying authority?), but my S3 talks to my Netgear NAS DLNA service just fine thank you!


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## dcstager

They added a few HD channels in the last few days, but my TA reports most of the channels are unavailable. They added 1601, 1608, 1609, 1616, 1628, 1641, 1642, 1643, 1651, 1663, 1671, 1672, 1673, 1674, 1679. Of these, the TA will give me 1608, 1651, and 1663. I understand the premium channels, but the rest are the same as channels I get in SD already with my package. Why would the HD versions be blocked?


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## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> They added a few HD channels in the last few days, but my TA reports most of the channels are unavailable. They added 1601, 1608, 1609, 1616, 1628, 1641, 1642, 1643, 1651, 1663, 1671, 1672, 1673, 1674, 1679. Of these, the TA will give me 1608, 1651, and 1663. I understand the premium channels, but the rest are the same as channels I get in SD already with my package. Why would the HD versions be blocked?


Does a regular TWC box get those channels? You might try a power cycle to TA and see if that clears it up. Sounds like its channel map hasnt been updated.


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## mmcgown

SCSIRAID said:


> Does a regular TWC box get those channels? You might try a power cycle to TA and see if that clears it up. Sounds like its channel map hasnt been updated.


Just FYI......I tried a TA power cycle, but some of the numbers in his list don't show up even under the "Test using cablecard" menu option.


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## xnappo

dcstager said:


> They added a few HD channels in the last few days, but my TA reports most of the channels are unavailable. They added 1601, 1608, 1609, 1616, 1628, 1641, 1642, 1643, 1651, 1663, 1671, 1672, 1673, 1674, 1679. Of these, the TA will give me 1608, 1651, and 1663. I understand the premium channels, but the rest are the same as channels I get in SD already with my package. Why would the HD versions be blocked?


They aren't really up and running yet. TiVo updated the channel list ahead of them actually going live.

xnappo


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## dcstager

I kind of thought that might be what was going on. On reflection, I'm thinking that the transition of more channels to SDV might actually improve things. As it is, there is intermittent pixellation on SDV channels. If more channels are switched, doesn't that free up more bandwidth for the channels I am actually viewing? Wouldn't more bandwidth resolve pixellation issues?

I suppose I am assuming what the cause of the pixellation is without really knowing. I'd be happiest if the channel switching was reliable. I'm glad there is a tuning adapter to keep my Tivo working. However, having a Tivo that is not dependable is a big issue. With the tuning adapter issues, I can't be sure my recordings will work. There are still missed and blank recordings where the tuning adapter can't or does not tune in the station properly.

If it's reliable, I don't care how many channels are switched. What I am being told by the cable company is that there are circumstances where the demand for certain channels by different viewers in my neighborhood can sometimes create a situation where the tuning adapter cannot deliver the channel I want due to lack of bandwidth. If more channels are switched, this supposedly will not occur or occur less often.


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## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> I kind of thought that might be what was going on. On reflection, I'm thinking that the transition of more channels to SDV might actually improve things. As it is, there is intermittent pixellation on SDV channels. If more channels are switched, doesn't that free up more bandwidth for the channels I am actually viewing? Wouldn't more bandwidth resolve pixellation issues?
> 
> I suppose I am assuming what the cause of the pixellation is without really knowing. I'd be happiest if the channel switching was reliable. I'm glad there is a tuning adapter to keep my Tivo working. However, having a Tivo that is not dependable is a big issue. With the tuning adapter issues, I can't be sure my recordings will work. There are still missed and blank recordings where the tuning adapter can't or does not tune in the station properly.
> 
> If it's reliable, I don't care how many channels are switched. What I am being told by the cable company is that there are circumstances where the demand for certain channels by different viewers in my neighborhood can sometimes create a situation where the tuning adapter cannot deliver the channel I want due to lack of bandwidth. If more channels are switched, this supposedly will not occur or occur less often.


My first question is what do YOU mean when you say 'pixelation'? Picture breakups or just lack of detail?

Moving content from linear to SDV probably means they will recover the QAM's and use them for the SDV pool. So the bit rate of the remaining linear channels wont change.

On the SDV pixelation, if you are talking about picture breakups... that isnt a bandwidth thing... its a TiVo bug. TWC says TiVo is working on it... however, that and 50 cents will get you a cup of cheap coffee.


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## dcstager

SCSIRAID said:


> My first question is what do YOU mean when you say 'pixelation'? Picture breakups or just lack of detail?
> 
> Moving content from linear to SDV probably means they will recover the QAM's and use them for the SDV pool. So the bit rate of the remaining linear channels wont change.
> 
> On the SDV pixelation, if you are talking about picture breakups... that isnt a bandwidth thing... its a TiVo bug. TWC says TiVo is working on it... however, that and 50 cents will get you a cup of cheap coffee.


I suppose I am being imprecise with the term pixelation since I'm describing what the symptom looks like. What I get are intermittent interruptions in a clear picture. It sometimes disrupts audio too , but not always. It looks like part of the picture is missing or has no details. I thought the term for this was pixelation because it looks like it wasn't encoded at a high enough bit rate such as high motion areas in football games.

Tivo says, "SDV is problematic in general. Cable companies use the technology to only send channels when a subscriber requests it. They do this when they have limited bandwidth and can not send all the channels all the time. There may be scenarios where subscribers in a given area have requested more SDV channels than the infrastructure is capable of carrying. This will lead to blank channels and recordings."

So, they didn't cop to me that the Tivo has anything to do with the problem. If they are working on the picture break ups - I'm happy. What exactly do you think is going wrong that causes the breakups only on SDV channels only on the Tivo and not on the Time Warner DVRs? What exactly is going wrong that we are seeing as a picture breakup?


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## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> I suppose I am being imprecise with the term pixelation since I'm describing what the symptom looks like. What I get are intermittent interruptions in a clear picture. It sometimes disrupts audio too , but not always. It looks like part of the picture is missing or has no details. I thought the term for this was pixelation because it looks like it wasn't encoded at a high enough bit rate such as high motion areas in football games.
> 
> Tivo says, "SDV is problematic in general. Cable companies use the technology to only send channels when a subscriber requests it. They do this when they have limited bandwidth and can not send all the channels all the time. There may be scenarios where subscribers in a given area have requested more SDV channels than the infrastructure is capable of carrying. This will lead to blank channels and recordings."
> 
> So, they didn't cop to me that the Tivo has anything to do with the problem. If they are working on the picture break ups - I'm happy. What exactly do you think is going wrong that causes the breakups only on SDV channels only on the Tivo and not on the Time Warner DVRs? What exactly is going wrong that we are seeing as a picture breakup?


Ok... so we are talking about the same 'breakups' which could also be called macroblocking or pixelation. Missing picture information basically.....

Its said to be a issue in how TiVo processes the MPEG.

Check out this thread from this post down... Im longwinded about it over there.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7735181#post7735181


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## biltrex

I'm on Time Warner cable in San Antonio, TiVo HD with the STA1520 Tuning Adapter. It's been mostly working great since I got it in the first rollout here in town. Now I'm experiencing the "8 blink, b'cast only, authorized: no" problem that seems to be popping up for some others. I chatted with TWC online last night, and she said she "refreshed the signal" and had me reboot the TA, but we're back to the 8 blink. For a short period it seemed to do the 5 short blink one long blink thing... but mostly 8.

Is this something that I should call TWC about tonight and have them do something else? Is there something specific I can tell them that will save me and them time and get it done right? Or is cableguy763 still around, swooping into fix problems like an avenging angel? 

I've tried a reboot sequence I found in this thread, and one I found on a tivo.com forum... neither worked. I unplugged them both and let them sit for 30 minutes (or more) and then tried it... nothing. Anybody have suggestions? I do have another HD cable box (not DVR) in our bedroom - will that matter?

Thanks in advance for your help!

biltrex


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## Grumock

biltrex said:


> I'm on Time Warner cable in San Antonio, TiVo HD with the STA1520 Tuning Adapter. It's been mostly working great since I got it in the first rollout here in town. Now I'm experiencing the "8 blink, b'cast only, authorized: no" problem that seems to be popping up for some others. I chatted with TWC online last night, and she said she "refreshed the signal" and had me reboot the TA, but we're back to the 8 blink. For a short period it seemed to do the 5 short blink one long blink thing... but mostly 8.
> 
> Is this something that I should call TWC about tonight and have them do something else? Is there something specific I can tell them that will save me and them time and get it done right? Or is cableguy763 still around, swooping into fix problems like an avenging angel?
> 
> I've tried a reboot sequence I found in this thread, and one I found on a tivo.com forum... neither worked. I unplugged them both and let them sit for 30 minutes (or more) and then tried it... nothing. Anybody have suggestions? I do have another HD cable box (not DVR) in our bedroom - will that matter?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help!
> 
> biltrex


In this type of a blink pattern if you have tried the reboot, then call the local office & tell them you need a "balancing hit" sent to your account. Normally you will see the TA light go out completely, & you have to hit the power button to get it to come back on. There are times that after they send it though you have to remove the USB cord & reboot the TA. Leave the USB cord disconnected until the TA stops it's blinking pattern & goes solid again. If it goes back into the 8 blink mode again after they have sent that hit ask to transferred to the Cable Card support desk & they will make contact with someone to get it out of that mode.


----------



## biltrex

Just talked to the tech who knew nothing except to send a signal, which she claimed the system wouldn't let her do. She also didn't know anything about a Cable Card support desk (though, it is Sunday, so they may not be there?)

She needed to talk to a different department to schedule the truck roll, which she also couldn't do, so now I'm going to wait on THEM to schedule this roll which... why do I have the feeling that isn't going to work, anyway? 

*sigh*

Literally nothing had happened to start this in motion except my wife rebooted the TiVo. That was it. It's been a week now of trying everybody's reboot sequence to see if I can get it to magically work. Grr.

Thanks for your reply, though. I just have the feeling that in the end, the tech's going have them send this correct balancing or provisioning hit or something that could have been done over the phone with someone remotely knowledgeable.


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## Grumock

biltrex said:


> Just talked to the tech who knew nothing except to send a signal, which she claimed the system wouldn't let her do. She also didn't know anything about a Cable Card support desk (though, it is Sunday, so they may not be there?)
> 
> She needed to talk to a different department to schedule the truck roll, which she also couldn't do, so now I'm going to wait on THEM to schedule this roll which... why do I have the feeling that isn't going to work, anyway?
> 
> *sigh*
> 
> Literally nothing had happened to start this in motion except my wife rebooted the TiVo. That was it. It's been a week now of trying everybody's reboot sequence to see if I can get it to magically work. Grr.
> 
> Thanks for your reply, though. I just have the feeling that in the end, the tech's going have them send this correct balancing or provisioning hit or something that could have been done over the phone with someone remotely knowledgeable.


this is NOT something a tech needs to come out for unless for some reason your TA has been completely removed from the system.


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## biltrex

I got your PM but since I haven't written enough posts yet, I can't reply to you (how lame is that?)... so I'll just update the thread.

Not long after I wrote that post, I got a call back, and they've actually escalated the issue to an advanced support group... they're not going to blindly roll a truck. He took my TA serial number and RF-MAC and just called back to get the Cable Card Host-ID... For the first time, I have hope that someone might be able to resolve this.


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## biltrex

I will keep updating the thread with what happens.


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## biltrex

The tech involved seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to troubleshoot something that's really trouble. Having worked almost 5 years in tech support myself... I can understand.


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## Grumock

biltrex said:


> The tech involved seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to troubleshoot something that's really trouble. Having worked almost 5 years in tech support myself... I can understand.


well if they dont get it out of the 8 blink mode from sending a balancing hit. They can call their Head End (DNCS) & have them send a MODDHCTCONFIG-S command. Once that is done you may have to reboot the TA with the USB unplugged.


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## dlfl

biltrex said:


> Just talked to the tech who knew nothing except to send a signal, which she claimed the system wouldn't let her do. She also didn't know anything about a Cable Card support desk (though, it is Sunday, so they may not be there?)
> 
> She needed to talk to a different department to schedule the truck roll, which she also couldn't do, so now I'm going to wait on THEM to schedule this roll which... why do I have the feeling that isn't going to work, anyway?
> 
> *sigh*
> 
> Literally nothing had happened to start this in motion except my wife rebooted the TiVo. That was it. It's been a week now of trying everybody's reboot sequence to see if I can get it to magically work. Grr.
> 
> Thanks for your reply, though. I just have the feeling that in the end, the tech's going have them send this correct balancing or provisioning hit or something that could have been done over the phone with someone remotely knowledgeable.


If TWC can't get it fixed on the phone within a few minutes, ask them to connect you to the TWC National Cable Card Support desk. If they never heard of this, tell them it does indeed exist and *give them the number: 866-532-2598*. If they still refuse to connect you, hang up and call NCCS directly. They don't like this because you're supposed to go through local support, but if you explain that local support refused to connect you, they will most likely try to help you. NCCS hours are 10am to 11pm Eastern time. I'm not sure if they work weekends or not.

The only reason you should need a truck roll for this is if the TA is defective, which is much less likely than they are doing something wrong in the local office, i.e., just need to send the right signals to your equipment.

You can also get to NCCS through TiVo support, but you also may have to tell them the NCCS number because some of them don't know about it either -- but they can connect you -- I've done it that way twice.


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## Grumock

dlfl said:


> If TWC can't get it fixed on the phone within a few minutes, ask them to connect you to the TWC National Cable Card Support desk. If they never heard of this, tell them it does indeed exist and *give them the number: 866-532-2598*. If they still refuse to connect you, hang up and call NCCS directly. They don't like this because you're supposed to go through local support, but if you explain that local support refused to connect you, they will most likely try to help you.


Ever think they want you to go thru the local support so that the locals can get more exposure to cable cards? That seems to be most everyone's complaint that the locals dont know much if anything. How can they when they just get told to xferr? Just asking since you always post on every forum about that desk. They have refused to help me in the past because of the reason i just stated. So think about it.


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## Malk

Grumock said:


> Ever think they want you to go thru the local support so that the locals can get more exposure to cable cards? That seems to be most everyone's complaint that the locals dont know much if anything. How can they when they just get told to xferr? Just asking since you always post on every forum about that desk. They have refused to help me in the past because of the reason i just stated. So think about it.


Funny thing is, that's exactly what they told me when I called that number. They helped me one time but told me not to use the number again. When i did use it again they refuse to help me.


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## biltrex

So, what a day it's been. 

As I mentioned, my problem got elevated to a special support team - strangely enough, not for what you'd think. It was actually that they were trying to schedule a truck roll for me, but there was something in our account that kept that from happening. 

Well, it turns out that while checking that out, they found all kinds of things were wrong with our account. In November, they switched to a new billing system, and in the transfer to that system, a lot of our account information was not input or transferred correctly. Including our phone service and the cable cards. They had a record of our cable card and tuning adapter serial numbers (I pulled them out to check), but those weren't *in* the system properly. The billing system showed my cable card as "not in inventory". 

His guess was that it had been operating on an authorization from before the billing service switchover, or something. And when my wife rebooted the TiVo, it tried to reauthorize and couldn't. Then when I did the online chat with the girl that night, she sent the refresh signal which apparently only made the borking worse... that's the theory, anyway, or something close to that.

In any case, it appears they have everything they need to proceed, but the person who could actually put all this stuff into the billing system wasn't there (not surprising, late Sunday afternoon...) So he's put in the request and hopefully in the morning, she'll be able to do the re-pairing and all I should have to do is reboot. 

Barring that, we did schedule a truck roll, because the other option is just to swap out our CableCard with a new one whose serial and mac address and everything are properly in the system. 

In other words, it appears to be a giant Charlie Foxtrot on TWC's part, but I was lucky to have the problem come across Tony's desk. He stayed with it the whole time (and will tomorrow) calling me back several times with things to try and keeping me updated on what they knew. His actions are a credit to the company.

That's what I know. I'll update tomorrow, hopefully it'll be a successful end to this episode of "Hassleville, Population: Me"

And thanks again to Grumock and everyone for their help!


----------



## dlfl

Grumock said:


> Ever think they want you to go thru the local support so that the locals can get more exposure to cable cards? That seems to be most everyone's complaint that the locals dont know much if anything. How can they when they just get told to xferr? Just asking since you always post on every forum about that desk. They have refused to help me in the past because of the reason i just stated. So think about it.


Yeah I had thought about it before you even brought it up.  I give this advice everywhere I think it will help and will continue to do so.

Four times now when I had TA problems (mostly 8 blinks) the only thing my local TWC support offered to do was schedule a truck roll, which means a 2 or 3 day wait and, as I believe you yourself have noted, is not even required to fix the problem. In each case by getting connected to NCCS the problem was fixed within a few minutes.

I've never called NCCS directly, and have always stated that they don't want you to do this. But if the local people stonewall you, I think it's justified and worth a try. However, as I've mentioned, calling TiVo support is another option to get connected to NCCS without calling directly.

You seem to be implying that after many months of no improvement in TWC local support to TA problems, including local support people not even knowing about the NCCS, I should accept waiting for an unnecessary truck roll in the name of helping TWC train it's local support people(?) Sorry but that doesn't seem reasonable to me.

The NCCS people have always been friendly and courteous to me and have always got my problems fixed quickly. Of course I always try to be friendly and polite when I talk to them, which can make a difference. I heartily recommend them.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Yeah I had thought about it before you even brought it up.  I give this advice everywhere I think it will help and will continue to do so.
> 
> Four times now when I had TA problems (mostly 8 blinks) the only thing my local TWC support offered to do was schedule a truck roll, which means a 2 or 3 day wait and, as I believe you yourself have noted, is not even required to fix the problem. In each case by getting connected to NCCS the problem was fixed within a few minutes.
> 
> I've never called NCCS directly, and have always stated that they don't want you to do this. But if the local people stonewall you, I think it's justified and worth a try. However, as I've mentioned, calling TiVo support is another option to get connected to NCCS without calling directly.
> 
> You seem to be implying that after many months of no improvement in TWC local support to TA problems, including local support people not even knowing about the NCCS, I should accept waiting for an unnecessary truck roll in the name of helping TWC train it's local support people(?) Sorry but that doesn't seem reasonable to me.
> 
> The NCCS people have always been friendly and courteous to me and have always got my problems fixed quickly. Of course I always try to be friendly and polite when I talk to them, which can make a difference. I heartily recommend them.


Guess they just did not like my attitude then LMAO. I agree with you about the local support but have a hard time thinking that it's a matter of training & not just a lack of brains for the locals. Maybe they think it will all go away if they just ignore it. I don't really know but understand the frustration many folks feel.  I also realize that I am a small fish in their ocean of customers, & am not a real revenue source for them.


----------



## biltrex

Happy to report my problem solved!

About 10 minutes ago, the TA just shut off... TiVo says "Searching for signal..."

I remembered that happening to others in this thread, so I figured that was a good sign. I went over, turned it on. Came up to the Acquiring Channel Information screen... a couple of minutes later, SIGNAL! Checked my known SDV channels and all seems well!

I'm going to go check the diag. screens to make sure, but I think that's pretty much got it!

I guess you CAN get good customer service with Time Warner, if you're lucky enough to get the right people!

Thanks again to everyone!


----------



## dlfl

Grumock said:


> Guess they just did not like my attitude then LMAO. I agree with you about the local support but have a hard time thinking that it's a matter of training & not just a lack of brains for the locals. Maybe they think it will all go away if they just ignore it. I don't really know but understand the frustration many folks feel.  I also realize that I am a small fish in their ocean of customers, & am not a real revenue source for them.


I'm assume you're right that TWC's plan is that local support will handle most problems and only bring in NCCS for the special cases. Thus NCCS probably couldn't handle the volume if every case went to them. I would say if a customer believes local support is making a reasonable effort, and is making progress, then don't immediately demand to be connected to NCCS. But if all they do is schedule a truck roll, or they fumble around for days with no solution, then it's NCCS time, and the customer should ask for that.

I've had two 8-blink cases where the local support person fixed it immediately.

The tiny fraction of customers who have TiVo's goes a long way toward explaining the poor local support, I believe. I think the only incentive TWC has to help us is to do just enough to prevent complaints to the FCC. I understand this as a business situation and don't take it personally.


----------



## Malk

dlfl said:


> I'm assume you're right that TWC's plan is that local support will handle most problems and only bring in NCCS for the special cases. Thus NCCS probably couldn't handle the volume if every case went to them. I would say if a customer believes local support is making a reasonable effort, and is making progress, then don't immediately demand to be connected to NCCS. But if all they do is schedule a truck roll, or they fumble around for days with no solution, then it's NCCS time, and the customer should ask for that.
> 
> I've had two 8-blink cases where the local support person fixed it immediately.
> 
> The tiny fraction of customers who have TiVo's goes a long way toward explaining the poor local support, I believe. I think the only incentive TWC has to help us is to do just enough to prevent complaints to the FCC. I understand this as a business situation and don't take it personally.


think you have a good point. Think i read on these once there is just 4 of them or something like that, on that desk?


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> The tiny fraction of customers who have TiVo's goes a long way toward explaining the poor local support, I believe. I think the only incentive TWC has to help us is to do just enough to prevent complaints to the FCC. I understand this as a business situation and don't take it personally.


Eh, I am still looking to move to an area that is Comcast & hope they dont have as many issues. I guess i have been sort of lucky & have not really had many issues that could not be resolved easily.


----------



## Malk

Grumock said:


> Eh, I am still looking to move to an area that is Comcast & hope they dont have as many issues. I guess i have been sort of lucky & have not really had many issues that could not be resolved easily.


LMAO I remembered a video I saw about Comcast & thought you might like to see it if you are considering moving to their area.


----------



## dlfl

Had 8-blinks this morning. Every TWC support experience is different. This time the CSR immediately said she was going to transfer me to "technical support" (?) because she had no experience with TA signals. Found out that was indeed the NCCS. I told her it was too early for NCCS to be open and she verified that from her information. So she consulted with a higher level person in the local office. After about 5 minutes on hold she came back and said they had sent a signal, and sure enough (after rebooting both the TA and TiVo) things were fixed. She also said (*Grumock* are you listening?) she had learned how to send the signal.  Of course it may be six months before she gets another TA problem and will she remember by then?

This was one of the better experiences, taking _only_ 25 mins of my time.


----------



## pmiranda

dlfl said:


> This was one of the better experiences, taking _only_ 25 mins of my time.


I miss the online chat support... usually only took a few minutes to get a support person and I could just cut-and-paste my script with cablecard and host ID's, and all other relevant info instead of having to walk them through it.


----------



## dlfl

pmiranda said:


> I miss the online chat support... usually only took a few minutes to get a support person and I could just cut-and-paste my script with cablecard and host ID's, and all other relevant info instead of having to walk them through it.


It only took me a minute or two to get to the support person. The rest was waiting for them to send the signal then waiting for the TA to reboot, the TiVo to reboot and finally the TiVo to re-acquire channels. I've tried chat with what I thought were simple questions (e.g., which of my channels are SDV?) and it was a total waste of time. Of course what I didn't know then is that is actually a *difficult* question for most support people. The bulk of their customers don't have any reason to care which channels are SDV.


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## pmiranda

That's weird, I don't think I've ever had to reboot TiVo to solve TA problems. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that rebooting TiVo never solved a TA problem for me. 
I'm bummed that lately I seem to be hitting more "Video Signal was not available" entries in the to-done log and missing shows. I guess more people are watching those new HD channels in my neighborhood than they planned.

I really really wish TiVo would try more than once to tune a channel in that situation, or at least provide an actual error or warning instead of pretending to record it and then have the recording disappear as soon as the show it over.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Had 8-blinks this morning. Every TWC support experience is different. This time the CSR immediately said she was going to transfer me to "technical support" (?) because she had no experience with TA signals. Found out that was indeed the NCCS. I told her it was too early for NCCS to be open and she verified that from her information. So she consulted with a higher level person in the local office. After about 5 minutes on hold she came back and said they had sent a signal, and sure enough (after rebooting both the TA and TiVo) things were fixed. She also said (*Grumock* are you listening?) she had learned how to send the signal.  Of course it may be six months before she gets another TA problem and will she remember by then?
> 
> This was one of the better experiences, taking _only_ 25 mins of my time.


I am happy to hear that they helped without too much issue! My heart stopped for 10 minutes after reading though LOL.


----------



## dlfl

pmiranda said:


> That's weird, I don't think I've ever had to reboot TiVo to solve TA problems. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that rebooting TiVo never solved a TA problem for me.


No rebooting the TiVo doesn't solve the TA problem. Sometimes after the TA problem is fixed, the TiVo has to be rebooted to make it do the "acquiring channels" thing -- other times it does it without rebooting. If you lost your SDV channels, they won't be back until it does the acquiring channels thing.



pmiranda said:


> I'm bummed that lately I seem to be hitting more "Video Signal was not available" entries in the to-done log and missing shows. I guess more people are watching those new HD channels in my neighborhood than they planned.
> 
> I really really wish TiVo would try more than once to tune a channel in that situation, or at least provide an actual error or warning instead of pretending to record it and then have the recording disappear as soon as the show it over.


That desire has been expressed before by a number of posters. TiVo even has the manual tune-up/tune-down workaround in their support pages, so they obviously know about it. Maybe they will put it in their next software update (?).


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## noname_com

I was on the beta testers for austin and cableguy actually came out to the house to install my box. Helluva service. The tuning adapter worked great for about 6 months then it started to act up and not get channels and what not. The tuning adapter was never moved from beta over to my account and didnt find this out till after taking the box back to the office and getting a new one. 

It worked good for another few months then again the sdv HD channels were dropping off. It seema every few months it would do this.

I have since bought 2 more tivo's and now I have 3 which 2 are the HD models and require a tuning adapter for the sdv. My new tivoHD and tuning adapter I got last summer and its worked right only about 50&#37; of the time. What I mean is it will work a week then I have to call support and then they fix it then it will work a week and then they will fix it. This was going on for three months. November, Dec, jan, and part of feburary. Finally they sent a technician out and replaced the cable card and tuner. Then time warner started charging me for 3 cable cards so had to get this fixed on the bill. So its been about 4 weeks now and the box seems to be stable when manually tuning to the station but I have notice an increase in the times I have to hit select to resend the signal to get the channel to tune. This sucks because I have missed several recordings of Burn notice on USAHD channel, and things on SyFy HD channel due to the tuner not tuning automatically. IS there any suggestions on fixing this or do I just deal with it because tivo is so AWESOME 

"Originally Posted by pmiranda 
I'm bummed that lately I seem to be hitting more "Video Signal was not available" entries in the to-done log and missing shows" that is the truth exactly what I am experiencing


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## woodburger

Lost the internet from TW Austin yesterday about 5 times. TiVo (M card) freaked, gave green screen and screamed a tone. TW always blams my router, but it's my third - all prompted by them and the last tech found the loss of connection to be UNrelated to my router.


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## zvy

I've had a TiVo Series 2 since 2002, and it's been a very pleasant experience.

Since the HD boxes hit the market, I've been wanting to get one. I've been following the discussion on this particular (TW/Austin) thread since then, but have been discouraged by the problems people have been having. I just checked the latest 3 or so pages of the thread, and while things have improved, it still seems like some people are having more-than-occasional problems.

I also just read about the soon-to-be-released TiVo Premiere (statesman.com/business/technology/tivo-hopes-for-a-lift-from-dvr-blending-310833.html). Is there any indication of a more robust SDV/TA integration between the TiVo Box and cable providers with the Premiere? While being somewhat technologically ept, I'm lazy more than anything else, and would prefer to keep things as-is rather than take on a project of keeping my cable delivery stable.


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## pmiranda

I wouldn't expect the Premiere to improve anything about cablecards or the TA...unless it secretly has Tru2Way capability, but then you'd just be the guinea pig for that, and I don't think TW even has their own hardware using that yet.

I need to reboot the TA every month or two and every few months something gets screwed up at the office and they have to do something to fix it.
I've gotten pretty brave about using the SDV channels to get HD versions of stuff I used to watch on the regular analog channels. Even when I had a TW DVR, it would drop recordings on SDV channels, so I don't view TiVo as that big of a disadvantage. You just have to keep an eye on it every day or you'll miss a recording eventually.


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## xnappo

Sigh.

So I had the nerve last night to think to myself 'gee the TiVo has been pretty stable lately'.

Woke up this morning to 8-blinking TA. 

What are the best words to use when I call in to ensure I don't have to suffer through a truck-roll discussion?

Thanks,
xnappo


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## ferror

That happened to me late yesterday afternoon. I was walking by and noticed the 8-blink occurring on both of my TAs. I haven't touched anything in the setup since last week when I setup a Premiere, and the TAs were fine then. I ended up calling in and the first person of course had no idea what I was talking about. I tried to be courteous and see if she could figure it out, but she wanted me to give her the SN off the back of my cable box. I knew she was on the wrong track, so I told her again this is not a cable box, per se, but a Tuning Adapter for my TiVo. She was puzzled, and then wanted to schedule a truck roll. I said, no this has happened to me before and it was fixed from there right away. She then asked me if I wanted to speak to a supervisor. To my surprise, the first supervisor was able to send my TAs a hit right away and the problem was solved. I guess they are slowly getting more people trained, it used to be only one or two people in the entire company ever even heard of these things. So, I guess my advice is be polite, but you'll more than likely need to get past the first person and talk to a supervisor. 

I wonder what happened lately to cause some of our TAs to lose their authorization?


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## dlfl

ferror said:


> That happened to me late yesterday afternoon. I was walking by and noticed the 8-blink occurring on both of my TAs. I haven't touched anything in the setup since last week when I setup a Premiere, and the TAs were fine then. I ended up calling in and the first person of course had no idea what I was talking about. I tried to be courteous and see if she could figure it out, but she wanted me to give her the SN off the back of my cable box. I knew she was on the wrong track, so I told her again this is not a cable box, per se, but a Tuning Adapter for my TiVo. She was puzzled, and then wanted to schedule a truck roll. I said, no this has happened to me before and it was fixed from there right away. She then asked me if I wanted to speak to a supervisor. To my surprise, the first supervisor was able to send my TAs a hit right away and the problem was solved. I guess they are slowly getting more people trained, it used to be only one or two people in the entire company ever even heard of these things. So, I guess my advice is be polite, but you'll more than likely need to get past the first person and talk to a supervisor.
> 
> I wonder what happened lately to cause some of our TAs to lose their authorization?


My TWC system has had TA's for a year or more and the level of training doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Regarding why TA's lose authorization, see **this** for one idea.


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## 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. Over time, some do, then don't. 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 mega-frustration. After the automation, it 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. I would like to join any class action against this company which apparently cannot get their service to work properly.


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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. Over time, some do, then don't. 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 mega-frustration. After the automation, it 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. I would like to join any class action against this company which apparently cannot get their service to work properly.


I replied to your almost identical post in another thread. (Double posting is not usually a good idea.) Join the crowd of frustrated TWC subscribers on this forum. This has been going on for a long time and the ideas of legal action, complaining to the FCC, etc. have been floated many times, if you search around -- but nothing of significance happens. Given the technical complexity of the system (TWC, CableCARDs, TA, TiVo) and the distributed responsibility and lack of diagnostics, I suspect a class action suit would be a lost cause.


----------



## mmcgown

xnappo said:


> Sigh. So I had the nerve last night to think to myself 'gee the TiVo has been pretty stable lately'. Woke up this morning to 8-blinking TA.
> ......
> xnappo


Sorry, xnappo--this was probably my fault. The other day I sent an email to the Vice-President for Tuning Adapters at TWC-Corporate and told him my TA had been working pretty well for several months now.....

Apparently, he turned yours off by mistake, thinking it was mine.


----------



## WSP

Had the same TA problem as mentioned in an earlier post, LED blinking 8 time. Tried the usual fix of unplugging the TA and then plug it back in. The problem was still present.

I placed a call to TW Austin and reported a problem with the TA. The person on the other end did not question my problem with the TA. They only wanted to schedule a truck roll for Friday afternoon.

Got a call about noon today from TW saying to check my channels again. All was working. They said that they had to rebalance my account. Cancelled the truck roll. 

They must have made some system wide change and this person was cleaning up all of the TA problems caused by the change.


----------



## xnappo

mmcgown said:


> Sorry, xnappo--this was probably my fault. The other day I sent an email to the Vice-President for Tuning Adapters at TWC-Corporate and told him my TA had been working pretty well for several months now.....
> 
> Apparently, he turned yours off by mistake, thinking it was mine.


Haha gee - thanks a lot!

It wasn't too bad actually. I used the online chat (which I prefer). Log:

Ivy Cox: Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable. At the end of our chat you will be given the option of taking a brief survey. My name is Ivy. Please give me a moment while I access your account.
Ivy Cox: You want us to refresh the signals to the tuning adaptor, is that correct [In the initial description I put that I had lost authorization for my tuning adapter and needed a 'balancing hit']
Chris: yes please
Ivy Cox: I will be glad to help you.
Ivy Cox: I have refreshed the signals.
Chris: ok - the LED is still blinking - does it take a while or do i need to reboot?
Ivy Cox: You need to reboot to refresh the signals I sent.
Chris: ok, rebooting...
Ivy Cox: Has it rebooted?
Ivy Cox: I presume you are still with me, and I will receive a 
response shortly.
Chris: yes
Chris: sorry
Chris: it has rebooted and i have a solid light. thank you
Ivy Cox: Wonderful!
Ivy Cox: It was a pleasure assisting you.
Ivy Cox: Is there anything else that I can assist you with?

Chris: no thanks - thank you for your help. have a good evening.
Ivy Cox: You are always welcome.
Ivy Cox: Thank you, you too.

xnappo


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## dcstager

Maybe Time Warner can set up a "request balancing hit" link on their web site? When I had DirectTV they had a link to re-hit/re-authorize your receiver when needed. It was nearly instantaneous. I think Time Warner could do the same thing and take some workload off the CSRs since many are not well versed on Tuning Adapters anyway.

And what's the latest firmware for the Cisco TA? Is Time Warner Austin pushing out the latest firmware as fixes are created?

Also, I got a letter from Time Warner announcing that the software for their own DVRs is changing to offer more features. I wonder if that is going to cause Tivo problems?


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> Maybe Time Warner can set up a "request balancing hit" link on their web site? When I had DirectTV they had a link to re-hit/re-authorize your receiver when needed. It was nearly instantaneous. I think Time Warner could do the same thing and take some workload off the CSRs since many are not well versed on Tuning Adapters anyway.


Maybe TWC Austin might do that. I can picture my TWC system, SW Ohio, doing that about the same time pigs learn to fly. 


dcstager said:


> And what's the latest firmware for the Cisco TA? Is Time Warner Austin pushing out the latest firmware as fixes are created?


The current version is .1001 . A TWC NCCS person told me about a month ago he had heard they were getting a new update ready but he had no details. When my system attempted to push out the current version in January, they screwed up everyone's TA's for a day before they got it right.


----------



## xnappo

dcstager said:


> Maybe Time Warner can set up a "request balancing hit" link on their web site?


That would be nice!

xnappo


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## dcstager

I think we are really close to having everything fixed here in Austin, because there is someone in this forum reading the messages and doing what can be done. So obviously from that standpoint Austin has an edge on SW Ohio. We got a little more live music venues in this place too and probably better BBQ. I encourage all Tivo Community members to move to Austin, TX. It's a great place to live. Very high percentage of good people here too.


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> I think we are really close to having everything fixed here in Austin, because there is someone in this forum reading the messages and doing what can be done. So obviously from that standpoint Austin has an edge on SW Ohio. We got a little more live music venues in this place too and probably better BBQ. I encourage all Tivo Community members to move to Austin, TX. It's a great place to live. Very high percentage of good people here too.


Another Austin booster. Will you be immune when our economy completely tanks due to excessive government spending? If so, I'll be moving in and it may get pretty crowded there!


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## dcstager

dlfl said:


> Another Austin booster. Will you be immune when our economy completely tanks due to excessive government spending? If so, I'll be moving in and it may get pretty crowded there!


Texas has a $6 billion surplus. Glenn Beck wrote Texas on his chalkboard as the model for other states to copy and California as the model to avoid. Texas is not going to take anything sitting down. The Texans will probably win the lawsuits over all this stuff. Success speaks for itself. Failure looks for excuses. The Texans are successful across the board. All the California creative talent in all fields are moving here. And people are really nice here.

Aside from leading the fight against socialism, in Austin you can pick up all the locals over the air with a simple UHF loop antenna and you've got a guardian angel on the cable company looking out for Tivo users. What more do you need from a city?


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> Texas has a $6 billion surplus. Glenn Beck wrote Texas on his chalkboard as the model for other states to copy and California as the model to avoid. Texas is not going to take anything sitting down. The Texans will probably win the lawsuits over all this stuff. Success speaks for itself. Failure looks for excuses. The Texans are successful across the board. All the California creative talent in all fields are moving here. And people are really nice here.
> 
> Aside from leading the fight against socialism, in Austin you can pick up all the locals over the air with a simple UHF loop antenna and you've got a guardian angel on the cable company looking out for Tivo users. What more do you need from a city?


How 'bout a 6 pack of ice cold Lone Star?


----------



## dlfl

dcstager said:


> Texas has a $6 billion surplus. Glenn Beck wrote Texas on his chalkboard as the model for other states to copy and California as the model to avoid. Texas is not going to take anything sitting down. The Texans will probably win the lawsuits over all this stuff. Success speaks for itself. Failure looks for excuses. The Texans are successful across the board. All the California creative talent in all fields are moving here. And people are really nice here.
> 
> Aside from leading the fight against socialism, in Austin you can pick up all the locals over the air with a simple UHF loop antenna and you've got a guardian angel on the cable company looking out for Tivo users. What more do you need from a city?


Hope Texas is prepared to "financially secede" from the USA. By that I mean refuse all federal funds (schools, highways, medicaid, etc.). I think that's what it's going to take to put your "...not going to take anything sitting down" promise into practice. More power to you! Maybe I won't have to move to Australia after all!


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## mmcgown

dcstager said:


> Texas has a $6 billion surplus.


Though we are getting dangerously close to being off-topic, I'm compelled to point out that . . .

John OBrien, director of the Legislative Budget Board, which advises legislators on budget matters, recently estimated that the current pace of spending will exceed incoming revenue by $11 billion by the time the 2012 fiscal year begins on Sept. 1, 2011.


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## dcstager

mmcgown said:


> Though we are getting dangerously close to being off-topic, I'm compelled to point out that . . .
> 
> John O'Brien, director of the Legislative Budget Board, which advises legislators on budget matters, recently estimated that the current pace of spending will exceed incoming revenue by $11 billion by the time the 2012 fiscal year begins on Sept. 1, 2011.


I'm pretty sure that a lawsuit between states or between states and the Federal government go to the Supreme Court. They have original jurisdiction over such things. They will probably say that the Congress exceeded its authority with the health care thing. It's happened before. I'm hopeful for the future rather than anticipating gloom and doom. The Texans seem to have their S together here at all levels and something good will come of it. Good things come from good people.

And the Lone Star beer isn't so tasty compared to the local Shiner, 512 and Live Oak brews. The best brew around these parts though is from Houston: St. Arnold's Amber Ale. Sitting back and watching the Astros or the Rangers on your Tivo, you got to have the right beer handy. They have a liquor store here called Specs and it's probably got your local beer. So if you moved here from anywhere, you can still get you regular beer in Austin.

The Tivo Community knows about the guy in Austin who handles and fixes Tivo issues with Time Warner cable customers. He's one of many good people I've come across here. My insurance agent, real estate agent, butcher, grocer, bbq pit master -- I'm tripping across great people in all walks of life just about everywhere here. The Wal-Mart here is the cleanest one I've ever seen anywhere. Austin has a high-percentage of good people and things will get done and will get better and will improve across the board here. It's inevitable. From top to bottom in all walks of life good people are in place. As they say for evil to prosper, the good men are doing nothing. It's not the case here. The good people are doing a lot.

Now if they can just fix this last bug that causes the occasional blank recording on switched digital video channels!


----------



## xnappo

dcstager said:


> Now if they can just fix this last bug that causes the occasional blank recording on switched digital video channels!


Come on now - you forgot to mention the roads 

xnappo


----------



## AlexK777

I have been wondering why I have been missing a bunch of HD channels for about the past year, but never really did anything about it. I just now learned about the whole tuning adapter stuff. <groan>

Can I go into an office (Austin) and pick these up, or does someone have to come out and install it?


----------



## Grumock

AlexK777 said:


> I have been wondering why I have been missing a bunch of HD channels for about the past year, but never really did anything about it. I just now learned about the whole tuning adapter stuff. <groan>
> 
> Can I go into an office (Austin) and pick these up, or does someone have to come out and install it?


normally they have to come out & install it. Some areas you can fill out an online form & they mail it to you.

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


----------



## pmiranda

AlexK777 said:


> Can I go into an office (Austin) and pick these up?


Yes. You'll still probably have to call in and talk to somebody to get it working. In theory they set everything up and it'll start working on its own overnight, but I've never been that patient


----------



## MisterClown

My tuning adapter is only sort of working. I can not get Disney Channel HD, but some others come in. I have no light on my tuning adapter. I tried having them hit the box remotely, but it didn't seem to work.

Can anyone help ? I can't take off to have a truck roll happen


----------



## Grumock

MisterClown said:


> My tuning adapter is only sort of working. I can not get Disney Channel HD, but some others come in. I have no light on my tuning adapter. I tried having them hit the box remotely, but it didn't seem to work.
> 
> Can anyone help ? I can't take off to have a truck roll happen


the light does not come on when you hit the power button next to where the light would be? Have you tried to reboot the TA yet?


----------



## MisterClown

Grumock said:


> the light does not come on when you hit the power button next to where the light would be? Have you tried to reboot the TA yet?


I have not noticed a power button. I typically pull the power, but I will look for this at home. What is happening is once power is restored, the light is steady for a bit, then blinks and then goes off.

I did pull the power cable after requesting Time Warner 'hit' the tuning adapter, but the light still goes off.

Do you know if there is a difference between unplugging and pushing the power button ?

Thanks!


----------



## dlfl

MisterClown said:


> I have not noticed a power button. I typically pull the power, but I will look for this at home. What is happening is once power is restored, the light is steady for a bit, then blinks and then goes off.
> 
> I did pull the power cable after requesting Time Warner 'hit' the tuning adapter, but the light still goes off.
> 
> Do you know if there is a difference between unplugging and pushing the power button ?
> 
> Thanks!


Assuming this is a Cisco TA, yes there definitely is a button next to the light, and the behavior you describe (after power cycling) is exactly when you need to press that button (i.e., when it stops blinking). Be aware that after you get it blinking again, it may take 10 minutes or so before it goes into a steady light, or a 6-blinks-pause sequence, either of which means it's time to reconnect your USB connector, if you had disconnected it.


----------



## MisterClown

dlfl said:


> Assuming this is a Cisco TA, yes there definitely is a button next to the light, and the behavior you describe (after power cycling) is exactly when you need to press that button (i.e., when it stops blinking). Be aware that after you get it blinking again, it may take 10 minutes or so before it goes into a steady light, or a 6-blinks-pause sequence, either of which means it's time to reconnect your USB connector, if you had disconnected it.


THANK YOU! I never noticed the button before. Now it works. I appreciate all of you helping me.


----------



## brk

My tuning adapter has worked great for almost 2 years. Changed the bundle (dropped phone) and TA stopped working. Spent 48 minutes on the phone and TA still does 8 blink pattern.

They want to roll a truck. From past experience that doesn't guarantee results.

What is best way to proceed?


----------



## pmiranda

Keep calling back until you get somebody that knows something or will actually connect you to tech support. First-line tech support folks should still at least be able to make sure your account is balanced (cable cards and TA authorized).


----------



## brk

I am on my third person. Will keep trying


----------



## brk

Third try failed. I will just wait until the truck comes out (which probably won't help).


----------



## dlfl

brk said:


> Third try failed. I will just wait until the truck comes out (which probably won't help).


Have you tried the TWC National Cable Card Support (NCCS) desk on this?
It's preferable to ask your local TWC support person to call them (while you stay on the line), but if they refuse you can call them yourself. (Many local reps have never heard of NCCS although it's been there for years.) The NCCS number is: 866-532-2598. Their hours start at 10am Eastern so don't ask your TWC rep to call them earlier than that.


----------



## Grumock

brk said:


> My tuning adapter has worked great for almost 2 years. Changed the bundle (dropped phone) and TA stopped working. Spent 48 minutes on the phone and TA still does 8 blink pattern.
> 
> They want to roll a truck. From past experience that doesn't guarantee results.
> 
> What is best way to proceed?


Are you actually in Austin area?

Really odd! The 8 blink & pause should be able to be resolved by having the local rep just go to the 07 screen (balancing screen)& hit enter, but you may be on a different billing system they call CSG. If that does not get the light to stop you may need to reboot the TA. If it goes right back to 8 blink mode, then NCCS will need to call the DNCS (head end) to get the stage hit sent to the tuning adapter, since the billing system hit does not appear to be going through.


----------



## malvarez

I'm having the same issue right now. New TIVO Premier, got cable cards on Friday, and tuning adapter on Saturday (installer didn't know he was suppose to bring one after I called twice to remind them....really), and it never stopped blinking. Called on Sunday, and the customer service guy couldn't get it going after 20 minutes of trying. I haven't tried additional calls yet, but the truck roll is this Friday.


----------



## brk

Yes - I am in Austin. Something must be messed up on my account. I plugged in the cable box (that I am required to have but never use) and it didn't work.

When I rebooted the Tivo with the cable card, the cable card said not authorized also.

I am going to let them roll their truck. Seams fair that they waste their $$ and time on something that should be a simple fix.


----------



## brk

The guy came out. Very nice & polite. Checked the signals and then called in and waited on hold for a long time. It took them quite a bit of time, but finally got everything to work again!!


----------



## brk

Well - looks like the fix was to add a $7.99 fee for the tuning adapter (the bill showed up today). A helpful customer service agent has adjusted it. Waiting to see if the TA will stop working now.


----------



## dlfl

brk said:


> Well - looks like the fix was to add a $7.99 fee for the tuning adapter (the bill showed up today). A helpful customer service agent has adjusted it. Waiting to see if the TA will stop working now.


Monthly fee or one-time charge? Are they saying it was a mistake? So far the only payment most TWC customers make for TA's are the pain and suffering of dealing with them.


----------



## Grumock

dlfl said:


> Monthly fee or one-time charge? Are they saying it was a mistake? So far the only payment most TWC customers make for TA's are the pain and suffering of dealing with them.


Agreed! I have never heard of them charging for a tuning adapter. Now that said, it's possible that is the future plans, but again this is the first I ever heard of anyone being charged $ for a TA.


----------



## dcstager

Austin definitely has the best handle on tuning adapter issues. Mine was updated yesterday at 3 AM, so they are at least getting the latest firmware pushed out.

The missed recording problems with tuning adapters has been minimized to a tiny fraction over the last six months in Austin. I'm fairly sure the technical experts here have determined it is a TA issue, but that Tivo could address it with a software change.

However, it's a complicated software/hardware interaction. You have the CableCo's SDV switching software, the Tuning Adapter, CableCards, and Tivo Software all interacting. In Austin at least, the techs are taking care of their part of the problem, but I think the SDV software and TA firmware which may be the actual source of the problems is beyond their direct control. I'm satisfied that at my local end, everything is being done that can be done.

However, we are lucky here in Austin to have people who are aware and knowledgeable and willing to do something about a technical issue that affects comparatively few customers.

I can't imagine that this level of customer service is available to most cable tv customers in most markets. They have also made improvements to their own boxes which are getting very tempting now that external drives to increase capacity are enabled.


----------



## jacquescas

I hate to be the new guy with all the obvious questions.

I'm from Houston where I have a Tivo series 3 working just fine with comcast. I am relocating to Austin. I was told by some people that Tivo was not compatible with Time Warner Cable in Austin. Recently I stumbled across this thread and others that said it can work.

Can someone please give me an idea of how well it works, how much rigging is needed and if its worth the trouble? Thanks.


----------



## pmiranda

Works fine. You need two cablecards and a tuning adapter, but a truck roll for a new install should be free and if there are no wiring problems in your new place you can be up and running after a new Guided Setup in a matter of hours.
You will miss some recordings because of SDV at random, but that was true when I had a TW DVR.


----------



## jacquescas

Thanks so much for the quick and complete answer. Hope to have it up and running in the next couple of weeks.


----------



## richlove

jacquescas said:


> I hate to be the new guy with all the obvious questions.
> 
> I'm from Houston where I have a Tivo series 3 working just fine with comcast. I am relocating to Austin. I was told by some people that Tivo was not compatible with Time Warner Cable in Austin. Recently I stumbled across this thread and others that said it can work.
> 
> Can someone please give me an idea of how well it works, how much rigging is needed and if its worth the trouble? Thanks.


I have had lots of problems with Time Warner Austin and my TIVO Series 3.
The recurring problem for me is that the emm count keeps going back to zero. Tech comes here and calls someone at the home office, they send some hits and the emm count goes up to 100. But a week later it is back to zero again.
The symptom when it goes back to zero is that you cannot get switched digital channels, or the picture freezes or channels take forever to show up when you are surfing from channel to channel.

I finally gave up and bought a TIVO Premier. The emm count never goes to zero on that one but it does get down to 10 or so. But the Premier box is not immune to problems with Time Warner either, just better than the Series 3.

I really hate Time Warner
If they did not have a cable monopoly here, I would dump them in a second.


----------



## lignumaqua

Just to say thanks for posting the info about NCCS. They solved my problem today.

We purchased a Tivo Premiere last week and started new cable service from TW Austin as a possible replacement for satellite. TW installer (actually a contractor) showed up two days ago to install the cable card and tuning adaptor. He ran out the door before everything powered up and, when I came to check it, nothing was working. I don't think he had any clue about tuning adaptors, turns out he hadn't connected the USB cable, or even left one for me to connect, so I had to go and find one for myself. Completely incompetent.

I was then left with the flashing green LED on the TA for many hours. Initially it was flashing in the 8 pattern but that changed to a continuous flashing at some point. I first tried the on line 'chat' with customer service who attempted to fix it, nothing. I then called TWC phone support and they confirmed it hadn't been activated and repeatedly tried to do it, but failed. Finally they gave up and scheduled a truck roll for three days later.

Just found this forum and called the NCSS number listed in this thread. Spoke with a very helpful and knowledgeable person and the problem was fixed in about 30 seconds!  Solid green LED and all SVD channels. Huzzah! He told me he's basically just reset everything from scratch and it fixed it instantly.

That's thumbs up for NCCS and this forum, and three thumbs down for local TW and their useless installer.


----------



## pmiranda

lignumaqua said:


> turns out he hadn't connected the USB cable, or even left one for me to connect, so I had to go and find one for myself. Completely incompetent.


What's extra insulting about this is it comes in the box with a new TA from Cisco. Either he didn't even look or it was an old one.

You might want to call your local support folks to make sure it's listed on your account correctly or it might just get turned off in a month or two when the automatic audits happen. This happened to me a few times before I figured out what was wrong... the tech support folks would keep re-enabling it, but the billing folks didn't know that my account wasn't "balanced".


----------



## Grumock

richlove said:


> I have had lots of problems with Time Warner Austin and my TIVO Series 3.
> The recurring problem for me is that the emm count keeps going back to zero. Tech comes here and calls someone at the home office, they send some hits and the emm count goes up to 100. But a week later it is back to zero again.
> The symptom when it goes back to zero is that you cannot get switched digital channels, or the picture freezes or channels take forever to show up when you are surfing from channel to channel.
> 
> I finally gave up and bought a TIVO Premier. The emm count never goes to zero on that one but it does get down to 10 or so. But the Premier box is not immune to problems with Time Warner either, just better than the Series 3.
> 
> I really hate Time Warner
> If they did not have a cable monopoly here, I would dump them in a second.


If you had your EMMS droping to 0, unless you were rebooting the tivo, it sounds like it was a tivo problem. Especially since another tivo unit did not see the same issue.


----------



## dcstager

Can the Austin guardian angel look into pushing out the latest tuning adapter firmware? My TA is dropping recordings and suffers from tuning failures much more frequently. I am just hoping that the latest might help.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> Can the Austin guardian angel look into pushing out the latest tuning adapter firmware? My TA is dropping recordings and suffers from tuning failures much more frequently. I am just hoping that the latest might help.


What version are you currently on? Raleigh is on 1202.


----------



## dcstager

SCSIRAID said:


> What version are you currently on? Raleigh is on 1202.


I'm on 1202 as well. Aren't they up to 1230 now? Is there an upgrade for SARA (Scientific Atlanta Resident Application)?

I have no idea what is the root source of the problem, but it's driving me to distraction. The Tivo must be reliable.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dcstager said:


> I'm on 1202 as well. Aren't they up to 1230 now? Is there an upgrade for SARA (Scientific Atlanta Resident Application)?
> 
> I have no idea what is the root source of the problem, but it's driving me to distraction. The Tivo must be reliable.


I haven't personally heard of anything newer than 1202. Are you getting the black screen issue or failed recording issue (video signal not available) with SDV channels where the TA frequency and the TiVo frequency are different? I still see that every once in a while.


----------



## dcstager

I just get the missed recording because video is unavailable thing as has been talked about. I'm likewise noticing that tuning SDV channels fails frequently and you have to change the channel up then down more than once to tune the channel. I've also been watching a SDV channel and had the video change to another channel without tuning to another channel. I was watching SYFY channel and midway through the program it just fuzzed out and became Cartoon Network. Lots of flaky behavior in the last couple of weeks. I get the channel unavailable message more frequently and pressing select to re-tune sometimes works and sometimes not. The software on the cableco side seems to be becoming unstable lately, but I don't know if that changed either.


----------



## snowbunny

Could someone post a list of the current Austin SDV channels? I posted one waaaaay back, but the latest one I can find here is actually a San Antonio list:

"Switched Basic Simulcast Analogs
2 - KCWM (Hub AB)
5 / 6 - KENS (Hub AB @ 5 and Hubs U, AA, AC, AD @ 6)
6 - CITY (D1/CP)
6 - Local (Hub AB)
7 - Guide
10 - PACT1/Local
11 - PACT2
11 / 12 - *KSAT *(Hub U @ 11 and Hub AB @ 12)
13 - KAKW
14 - KADF
15 - ME-TV
16 - PACT3 (D1/CP)
17 - ACCESS (D2 Only)" .....

I am curious as to whether the local channels are really switched as well, since in another thread one poster says that is not allowed.

What I would really like is a massive refund from both TiVo and TWC for purchasing a Series 3 with lifetime. I have been effectively unable to use it for years and am just now trying to get it to work again. I get channels 1-22 and that's it. It took me three appointments just to get it done, given TW's scheduling - they were late on one and cancelled, they were *early* on one and I wasn't home yet and then they were late on the third (9 pm on Friday night!) but since I was home, they did the install.

If I have to buy a Tivo Premiere just to get service, someone will pay.


----------



## pmiranda

snowbunny said:


> Could someone post a list of the current Austin SDV channels? ...
> 
> What I would really like is a massive refund from both TiVo and TWC for purchasing a Series 3 with lifetime. I have been effectively unable to use it for years and am just now trying to get it to work again.


I'm confused...the TA has been out and available at no charge for years now. It even works almost all the time and (knock on wood) fails less often than my S3...which isn't very often these days, either.
Is this a complaint about needing to rent cablecards to get all the channels? I haven't tried in a long time but I thought the locals were all available in the clear in HD even on basic cable, but then that complaint wouldn't belong in a TA thread.


----------



## snowbunny

I was told that the truck roll to get the adapter was a one-time $40 fee. Before the TA - and granted I am late on getting one - I couldn't use my S3. Now I'm having to invest huge amounts of time in getting it to work. You would think that the Austin techs would have the install down by now!


----------



## pmiranda

You can just go pick up a TA at the office and avoid the truck roll. At least I was able to do that a year or two ago...maybe call ahead to make sure they have one on hand but it is usually faster for me to drive there than get somebody on the phone that knows what they're doing  In my experience you'll still end up spending half an hour on the phone with them at home getting it to work, but at least you should be able to do it when it's convenient for you. In theory if you just wait a few hours after picking it up it will be all set up in the system but I've never been that patient.

Adding a TA to your setup will make it more sensitive to signal quality, and it will use frequencies that you don't use now, so be sure to check all connections in your house to avoid chasing your tail on that.

Good luck and I hope you are enjoying lots of beautiful HD channels soon!


----------



## snowbunny

I asked if I could pick one up and was told "no."

I called ready to work on the missing channel issue to be told (very nicely) that there was nothing to be done other than to send a tech.

Has anyone switched to Uverse? We have gotten availability within the last few months and I am now sorely tempted, but I don't want to jump out of the frying pan into the fire.


----------



## SCSIRAID

snowbunny said:


> I asked if I could pick one up and was told "no."
> 
> I called ready to work on the missing channel issue to be told (very nicely) that there was nothing to be done other than to send a tech.
> 
> Has anyone switched to Uverse? We have gotten availability within the last few months and I am now sorely tempted, but I don't want to jump out of the frying pan into the fire.


Have you checked to see if your cablecards indicate 'CP Auth Rcvd'?


----------



## snowbunny

SCSIRAID said:


> Have you checked to see if your cablecards indicate 'CP Auth Rcvd'?


Yes, they indicated the above.


----------



## m3000

Thank goodness for the Internet! I've spent hours trying to figure this damn thing out, and finally stumbled across this thread (and all about SDV) after Googling one of the random terms in my Tivo Diagnostic screens about tuning adapters.

I finally took the plunge on upgrading to a Premiere so I could Tivo in HD, and on Saturday called TW Austin about getting a CableCard for a Tivo. They said I couldn't pick it up because it was "technical", that it'd be $40 to get someone to install it, and the earliest they could come was today (Wednesday) at some point between 8am and 9pm (thanks for being exact!). A bit upset, but ok, whatever, maybe it is actually complex. 

Guy calls about 2:30 (to my home phone, not my cell which I had told them to call, luckily my wife was home!) so I meet him at my apartment. He starts by saying he knows nothing really about CableCards, and asks if I know how to plug one in. I'm paying $40 freaking dollars for this?!?!

So I plug in the M-Card for him, info screen pops up, he calls the phone number to get it activated, and I see HD channels on my TV  (again, I'm paying $40 to have him read 2 numbers to the tech on the other end????) 

Until I realize I'm actually missing about half my cable HD channels (Comedy Central, Nick, WE, etc) which come up with a black screen and "Channel not available. Contact your cable provider for more information." 

Guy has no idea what's going on, so tries the other M-card he brought. That one does a very long firmware update, and after finishing, I have no channels at all! So switch back to the first M-card, still no channels. Another guy shows up at this point with a new cable since they think it's a signal problem, but makes no difference. Do a reboot with the original card in there, get the HD channels back (except for the one's missing as before) and the guy says it must be bad CableCards, and tells me to call tech support to get another guy to come out with some more. And then leaves. Total time: 2 hours

Cue more TW calling and internet searching. Called Tivo who said it looked like a channel activation issue (no mention of SVD which is surprising in hind sight, but otherwise he's by far the most competent person I talk to today). TW says the earliest they can get someone out is a full WEEK from now! Which would make it almost 2 weeks since my first call. 

Do more google searching, come across this thread, and realize this is probably what I'm running into. Call up TW again (4th time today!) and the CSR has no idea what I'm talking about with this "tuner adapter" thing. I can hear him Google it, and after a minute or two he says "Oh yeah, you can pick it up at the TW lobby". He claims no one uses a Tivo since they're all happy with the TW DVR and so that's why none of the 6 different TW people I talked to in this whole saga ever once mentioned a Tuner Adapter. 

So we'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm not optimistic since snowbunny was told he couldn't just pick one up, but who knows. And hell, at this point it's probably not even the solution to my problem, but it sounds like the closest thing at the moment.


----------



## mmcgown

As of August 8, TWC cannot charge you for this installation. Insist upon a refund.

See this thread.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=473130&goto=newpost

And where on earth are you that TWC installers STILL don't know about cablecard and tuning adapter installations??


----------



## m3000

In Austin! 

I also realized it was actually 8 Time Warner support people who don't know about TA's, since the tech support guys called two different times to their internal support about this problem. Specifying a Tivo each time. 

I picked up a TA though from their offices at lunch, so will try it out when I get home tonight. ::Crosses fingers::

The girl there knew exactly what I was talking about, and was shocked that she was the first person who had a clue.


----------



## mmcgown

This would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Austin was a test market for tuning adapters, and I got mine in December 2008. I recall many of us on this forum wondering whether the sequence of eight blinking lights on the TA was a good or bad sign (and I think it was a bad sign, but it's been so long now that I don't remember). Someday when you're bored, you can find pages of discussion on this forum about our travails. At one point, I had a senior tech and network control engineer in my house trying to get the TA to work, and they finally succeeded. So, while there were quite a few bumps in the road at that time, I would have thought by now--nearly three years later--that Austin TWC reps/techs would be fairly knowledgeable about cablecards, TAs, and TiVos. Shame on me!


----------



## m3000

Success! At last! 

So I got the TA hooked up, and got the 8 blinking lights. From reading previous posts, I knew that meant it had to be re-balanced, so I called up TW. The first girl had no idea what I was talking about, and put me on hold for 2 minutes to come back and tell me "A tuning adapter is a piece of hardware that..." and which point I reminded her I knew what one was, but that I needed it re-balanced. She then kept trying to get me to get the model of the Cable Box, so I just hung up.

So next I tried chat support, and he pretend to know what was going on, but didn't fix the problem at all. I'm very jealous of the person who had that work before.

So I finally called the national number, and he got me fixed up in 30 seconds. I told him a little about the incredible headache I went through (11 total techs, and not one of them knew what a tuning adapter was) and was shocked. 

Anyways, got my install fee taken off, upgraded internet for a year, Showtime for a year, taking off my cable box fee even though I have the price-lock guarentee (though still going to try that form to get a refund...), and I'm filing some FCC complaints about this.


----------



## echoout

m3000 said:


> Anyways, got my install fee taken off, upgraded internet for a year, Showtime for a year, taking off my cable box fee even though I have the price-lock guarentee (though still going to try that form to get a refund...), and I'm filing some FCC complaints about this.


I actually got the very first tuning adapter in Austin and it has never been perfect. Its actually acting up worse than ever right now with NBCHD, HGTVHD and others completely locking like the old days.

Anyway, recently, after many mistakes TWC gave me "free" Showtime for a year which they immediately charged me for. They are the worst. I've had them out probably 5 times this year due to a remodel and they have literally screwed up every trip in some way.


----------



## cableguy763

echoout said:


> I actually got the very first tuning adapter in Austin and it has never been perfect. Its actually acting up worse than ever right now with NBCHD, HGTVHD and others completely locking like the old days.
> 
> Anyway, recently, after many mistakes TWC gave me "free" Showtime for a year which they immediately charged me for. They are the worst. I've had them out probably 5 times this year due to a remodel and they have literally screwed up every trip in some way.


NBCHD is on a broadcast ingress frequency in Austin. NBCHD and HGTV are not in SDV, so if you are having problems with them go in to your dvr diagnostics after tuning to them and see what your s/n is. You very likely have a noise problem.

Also, technically, I had the first TA in Austin


----------



## echoout

cableguy763 said:


> NBCHD is on a broadcast ingress frequency in Austin. NBCHD and HGTV are not in SDV, so if you are having problems with them go in to your dvr diagnostics after tuning to them and see what your s/n is. You very likely have a noise problem.
> 
> Also, technically, I had the first TA in Austin


Weeeelllll, that's not what you told me, but fair enough, you're the man. 

I'm assuming 33dB on the SNR in DVR Diagnostics is NOT awesome?


----------



## cableguy763

echoout said:


> Weeeelllll, that's not what you told me, but fair enough, you're the man.
> 
> I'm assuming 33dB on the SNR in DVR Diagnostics is NOT awesome?


33 is fine. It's when it dips below 30 is when you see macroblocking. That is the screen to check when are having issues though. Of course I was assuming thats what the problem was.


----------



## echoout

cableguy763 said:


> 33 is fine. It's when it dips below 30 is when you see macroblocking. That is the screen to check when are having issues though. Of course I was assuming thats what the problem was.


Okay, looking back I realize I don't understand the Diagnostics screen so much.

The first page (Tuner 0) says SNR 31dB
The third page (Tuner 1) says SNR 26dB
The fifth page (Cablecard 2?) says OOB SNR 25dB
The seventh page (Cablecard 1?) says OOB SNR 25bB

Soooo, not sure what the different SNRs are but most are well below 30dB. What should I do next. I rewired my house doing a homerun setup the way a really cool TWC tech suggested with really high-end coax so not sure what the issue is. What do I do?

Thanks again!


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## cableguy763

echoout said:


> Okay, looking back I realize I don't understand the Diagnostics screen so much.
> 
> The first page (Tuner 0) says SNR 31dB
> The third page (Tuner 1) says SNR 26dB
> The fifth page (Cablecard 2?) says OOB SNR 25dB
> The seventh page (Cablecard 1?) says OOB SNR 25bB
> 
> Soooo, not sure what the different SNRs are but most are well below 30dB. What should I do next. I rewired my house doing a homerun setup the way a really cool TWC tech suggested with really high-end coax so not sure what the issue is. What do I do?
> 
> Thanks again!


Ok, the 1st and 3rd page are what you want to look at. Page 1 is tuner 0 and say NBC hd (kxan dt) is tuned at 585 MHz and your s/n is 30 or below, you are getting ingress. Can you check to make sure your connections are all tight? Do you have any cheap jumpers in the path? Is it possible in the new construction you have a Sheetrock screw going through your line? I hate to tell you to schedule another truck roll because a tech with a meter can find these issues, but by doing some simple checks maybe we can eliminate some fairly obvious ones.


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## echoout

cableguy763 said:


> Ok, the 1st and 3rd page are what you want to look at. Page 1 is tuner 0 and say NBC hd (kxan dt) is tuned at 585 MHz and your s/n is 30 or below, you are getting ingress. Can you check to make sure your connections are all tight? Do you have any cheap jumpers in the path? Is it possible in the new construction you have a Sheetrock screw going through your line? I hate to tell you to schedule another truck roll because a tech with a meter can find these issues, but by doing some simple checks maybe we can eliminate some fairly obvious ones.


I have a panel in my bedroom closet with the splitters TWC dude put in. Does cable length come into play? The one to my Tivo might be pretty long. Other than that, no cheap **** but I'll go make sure all connections are tight. I have that TWC maintenance plan or whatever, wonder if this kind of stuff will be negated? Thanks, man!


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## m3000

cableguy763 said:


> NBCHD is on a broadcast ingress frequency in Austin. NBCHD and HGTV are not in SDV, so if you are having problems with them go in to your dvr diagnostics after tuning to them and see what your s/n is. You very likely have a noise problem.
> 
> Also, technically, I had the first TA in Austin


I started having the same problem on Sunday. The problem isn't with Tivo/CableCard, since I re-hooked up TW's DVR and had the exact same problem. The guy on the phone was really grouchy about using a CC and kept trying to blame the CC/Tivo until I re-hooked up the TW equipment. I eventually got him to stop complaining after I told him "well if your DVR didn't suck so much, I wouldn't have to use a Tivo"

I've always had on again off again issues with NBC in HD (on TW equipment) and even have issues getting good signal with my (admittedly probably pretty crappy) OTA antenna, but losing Food Network and HGTV in HD is new. Tried different coaxial cables, but still same issue. No splitter or anything either.

Very interesting it's hitting both of us. They have a truck coming out Friday to take a look, I wonder if anyone else has called in about this.... it might be an issue at their feed. Where are you located at? I'm right next to Zilker...


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## m3000

It only took 3 weeks, but finally everything's working! 

The TW guys came out Friday, confirmed the cable between the wall and the tap was bad, and then told me I'd have to schedule another guy to come out and replace the cable. Which would take another week! 

So finally this afternoon the cable install guy came out, replaced an ancient splitter that TW had installed probably decades ago (which didn't solve the problem, but couldn't hurt either), and then finally replaced the outside cable. And now I finally have crystal clear KXAN, no more blockiness or missing channels, they all come in great. Checked the signal strength too, and all look MUCH better than before. Even my Internet is significantly faster (as determined by Speedtest.net)

So anyone Googling this, if KXAN (Austin NBC) HD is not coming in, is blocky, or has terrible audio and video quality, force TW to come and replace your cable.


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## Primate

I'm hoping someone can help me or at least give me a number to call that might be able to help.
I have a TiVo hd with time warner cable in san Antonio. We have an sta 1520 with the 8 blink error. I've been working with their csr's for probably 4 hours total at this point and had a tech come out and no one can seem to solve this.
Today the tech came out checked things out and put an amp on the house. He had me rebooting the TiVo and he was unplugging the sta a couple times then told me to call the csr and he left.
I called twc and we went through a bunch of stuff and she has scheduled another technician to come out.
I feel like I'm going around in circles and I feel like it has to be something in their system setup wrong.
I'm getting channels up to 124 which is ESPN he which won't come in at all. I don't get channels 124 through 178 but I do get 182. I don't get the ones after that though.
Can anyone please help?


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## m3000

Call the National support desk: 866-532-2598

No one in the local office had any idea how to get the TA to work until I called them, and they had it going in 30 seconds.


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## Primate

thank you, I will do that today and can hopefully cancel the appointment tomorrow.


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## aymanme

I also got my TA in Dec 08 and it had been working ok ... but the whole thing just fell apart a couple of days ago when the drive died. I had a backup but never could get it to work. I suspect it has something to do with winmfs, but there is no way to be sure. At this point, I just need everything paired again. I'll try the national support and see what happens. It was painful on the phone with local support so long to see exactly 0.0 change.


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## Teeps

I had a similar problem(?) after installing a 2TB internal drive.
The cable cards could not be authorized.
What I learned:
When you first put the power to TiVo. 
The TiVo should only have one cable card, card 1 (lower slot.) 
The TiVo should not be connected to the Tuning Adapter (assuming you have one.)

Either way, Time Warner has to authorize cable card 1 before cable card 2 will authorize.
If both cards are installed, neither card will authorize.
If the tuning adapter is connected, neither card can be authorized.

Summary:
Install 1 cable card in TiVo's #1 slot.
Connect cable from the pole to the TiVo.
Power up TiVo.
Run guided setup.
Once you can see non encrypted tv.
Call Time Warner's cable card support # for your area.


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## n64ra

Hi All,

I've had a tuning adapter through TWC Austin for approximately 15 months. Today was the first day it did the 8 blinking lights. I confirmed on the second page of the tuning adapter diagnostics that it was unauthorized. I called 1-866-532-2598 (national number not TWC Austin). The wait was minimal. The guy had me unplug the power and the USB from the tuning adapter. Then I plugged in the power only. We waited for it to boot up (no light lit up). Then he had me press the power button on the tuning adapter. Once the solid light was illuminated, I plugged in the USB cable. Tivo said searching for channels. Once that was over, my channels had returned. Thankfully no tech was send out. I only wish I had asked him if he did anything on his end.

So thanks m3000 for that number!


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## stevencollins

I just wanted to add a ray of hope - after reading this thread I had fears that our new TiVo would never get up and running with TWC Austin.

It didn't start well - the first guy worked for a subcontractor, and admitted he had never personally done a CableCARD install. The CableCARD was fine, but the tuning adapter did the 8 blinks. Guy essentially said, "I have no idea what to do, I'm leaving."
He was supposed to come back the next day with his boss, but they never showed up! 

At this point, though, I have to say Time Warner actually stepped up to the plate. After getting an earful from my housemate, they agreed to send their "TiVo specialist", an actual TWC employee (maybe this was even cableguy763 in the flesh?) the next day. He had it working in 15 minutes.

So don't give up hope -- and I think it helps to realize that there are very few people working for (or subcontracting for) TWC who REALLY understand how these things work. And to let TWC know that you know that.


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## dlfl

n64ra said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I've had a tuning adapter through TWC Austin for approximately 15 months. Today was the first day it did the 8 blinking lights. I confirmed on the second page of the tuning adapter diagnostics that it was unauthorized. I called 1-866-532-2598 (national number not TWC Austin). The wait was minimal. The guy had me unplug the power and the USB from the tuning adapter. Then I plugged in the power only. We waited for it to boot up (no light lit up). Then he had me press the power button on the tuning adapter. Once the solid light was illuminated, I plugged in the USB cable. Tivo said searching for channels. Once that was over, my channels had returned. Thankfully no tech was send out. I only wish I had asked him if he did anything on his end.
> 
> So thanks m3000 for that number!





stevencollins said:


> I just wanted to add a ray of hope - after reading this thread I had fears that our new TiVo would never get up and running with TWC Austin.
> 
> It didn't start well - the first guy worked for a subcontractor, and admitted he had never personally done a CableCARD install. The CableCARD was fine, but the tuning adapter did the 8 blinks. Guy essentially said, "I have no idea what to do, I'm leaving."
> He was supposed to come back the next day with his boss, but they never showed up!
> 
> At this point, though, I have to say Time Warner actually stepped up to the plate. After getting an earful from my housemate, they agreed to send their "TiVo specialist", an actual TWC employee (maybe this was even cableguy763 in the flesh?) the next day. He had it working in 15 minutes.
> 
> So don't give up hope -- and I think it helps to realize that there are very few people working for (or subcontracting for) TWC who REALLY understand how these things work. And to let TWC know that you know that.


Unfortunately, VERY FEW people and there is no corporate incentive for better TiVo support.

Look at the post I quoted just above yours here. That's the way it should work. The 8-blink sequence is well known and it means your TA is not authorized, which takes just one signal sent from the cable co. -- never requires any on site activity other than perhaps rebooting your TA and TiVo.

You can actually examine the expiration date of your authorization in the TA diagnostics pages. For Cisco TA's at least, it's in the "Power Key" section on the 3rd page, and the item is labeled: "Sub Expires:". It should give a date that is a week or more in the future.

It's not unusual for cable cos to completely botch the refreshing of this authorization which must occur about once a month. For the first year I had a TA, I got 8-blinks once a month and had to call to have it refreshed.


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