# Migrating to the Roamio



## prisk (Nov 19, 2006)

So I finally bought a Roamio Pro and 3 Minis, to replace the S2, S3,and S4 in my house, and give the one TV that uses a cable box only (shudder!) TiVo capabilities. I plan on pulling the Cablecard-M out of the Premiere and using it in the Roamio. I also want to move the season passes and most of the shows form the current TiVos onto the new Roamio. What is the proper sequence to do the following?:

Hook up Roamio to Network and cable
Activate new Roamio on TiVo.com
Activate Lifetime
Perform initial setup/update guide
Transfer season passes
Transfer shows
Move Cablecard from S4 to Roamio
Re-pair CC to new Roamio (take large drink of scotch before dealing with Comcast)
Reformat S4 (to sell on ebay)
Activate Minis
Reformat S2 and S3

Is the the right order? Did I miss any steps?


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

The only thing that's tricky are the Minis. They need an activated Roamio before they can work properly. Activate all boxes asap (unless they were ordered from Tivo directly, in which case activation is automatic), but you might have to hold off on running their Guided Setups until the Roamio is fully activated (can take up to 24 hours).


1. Activate/Lifetime everything ASAP online (if ordered from Tivo, activation is automatic).
2. Insert cablecard
3. Connect Roamio to TV/network.
4. Run Guided Setup on Roamio
5. Re-pair cablecard
6. Transfer shows and season passes. You can transfer SP's on tivo.com, or fairly quickly with a program called KMTTG if you're savvy with it.
7. Connect & Run Guided Setup on Minis (once Roamio is activated)

Clear & Delete everything on the replaced boxes whenever comfortable, after everything's transferred and in working order.


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## prisk (Nov 19, 2006)

Will the old tivo still let me access it and its programs once the cablecard is pulled out?


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

prisk said:


> Will the old tivo still let me access it and its programs once the cablecard is pulled out?


Yup.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

The SPs transfer very quickly from TiVo.com too. When I transferred mine, in a short time it was already recording content from the 120+ SPs I transferred. The SPs started showing up on the box within a few minutes of copying them online.


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

I would recommend getting another CableCard and let the new and old TiVos run in parallel until you're satisfied that the new TiVo is stable enough. My Roamio is in its "probation period". It had a complete lock up and a CableCard reset within the first week.


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

LOL, I have to say, and many others are also saying that Comcast has finally got their act together regarding CableCard activations and transfers. Call their CableCard specific number, (877) 405-2298, and things usually go quite well. I moved ONE of my two M-cards from my S3 OLED to my new Roamio Plus right after I did guided setup, called the above number and was up and running within minutes, including premium channels. Most people are saying the same. No 100% guarantees of course, but it's far better than it has ever been.


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## prisk (Nov 19, 2006)

MScottC said:


> LOL, I have to say, and many others are also saying that Comcast has finally got their act together regarding CableCard activations and transfers. Call their CableCard specific number, (877) 405-2298, and things usually go quite well. I moved ONE of my two M-cards from my S3 OLED to my new Roamio Plus right after I did guided setup, called the above number and was up and running within minutes, including premium channels. Most people are saying the same. No 100% guarantees of course, but it's far better than it has ever been.


Great info! Thanks! Part of my motivation for moving to the Roamio was that I will be able to return a bunch of comcast boxes and cablecards, and take $30 off my bill. Glad to know there is a dedicated number to call. Dealing with Comcast is so often an exercise in pain.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

Is there an easy way to transfer recorded shows from my S4's to my Roamio Pro? I'm hoping I don't have to manually click on each episode of each show and transfer it. Any ideas?

Thanks!


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## Devx (Jun 1, 2006)

preilly44 said:


> Is there an easy way to transfer recorded shows from my S4's to my Roamio Pro? I'm hoping I don't have to manually click on each episode of each show and transfer it. Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks!


It's a lot of button presses for sure but there really isn't any other easier way. Luckily the interface in the Pro is fast with the RF remote.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

Thanks, one more question, is there any way to transfer the ratings for the Tivo Suggestions over to the Roamio from the S4?

Thanks again!


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## Devx (Jun 1, 2006)

There is no way to transfer the thumbs up/thumbs down ratings. They will need to be marked again on the new box.


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## hybucket (Nov 26, 2004)

Devx said:


> It's a lot of button presses for sure but there really isn't any other easier way. Luckily the interface in the Pro is fast with the RF remote.


I've tried to copy some shows from a dying Premiere to a TiVO HD (over wireless connection) and they take FOREVER. A one-hour program (HD) can take almost three hours.
Season Passes are a snap online.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

preilly44 said:


> Is there an easy way to transfer recorded shows from my S4's to my Roamio Pro? I'm hoping I don't have to manually click on each episode of each show and transfer it. Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks!


The easier way is use kmttg, select all of them, hit "start transfer" (or whatever the button is)... and I honestly don't remember how you do the 'push' to the other Tivo, but it can be done..


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## Diacritical (Jan 10, 2003)

Has there been any talk about migrating ratings as well as season passes? I have about 7 years of ratings built up in my S3 and would like to move them over to the new box.


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

hybucket said:


> I've tried to copy some shows from a dying Premiere to a TiVO HD (over wireless connection) and they take FOREVER. A one-hour program (HD) can take almost three hours.


Don't use wireless. My transfers from HD to Roamio are about 25-30 Mbps through 100 Mbps Ethernet. 1-hour high def takes about 20-30 minutes.


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## Devx (Jun 1, 2006)

mattack said:


> The easier way is use kmttg, select all of them, hit "start transfer" (or whatever the button is)... and I honestly don't remember how you do the 'push' to the other Tivo, but it can be done..


If kmttg can do that then it would definitely be easier, if not a bit slower overall. It sounds like that would require having a PC with enough storage to temporarily hold all of the recordings and waiting the additional time to push the transfers to the Roamio after they are pulled from the S4's.


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## Diacritical (Jan 10, 2003)

c3 said:


> Don't use wireless. My transfers from HD to Roamio are about 25-30 Mbps through 100 Mbps Ethernet. 1-hour high def takes about 20-30 minutes.


I get the same results using wireless from my old S3. Wireless is fine if it is configured right (physical layout as well as settings) which would imply decent signal strength.


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## dwjohn (Nov 3, 2013)

Hi, I'm a new forum member, and currently have 4 Premieres, with Comcast.

I'm looking to replace these with a Roamio Plus and 3 Mini's I've just ordered. With these replacements I'm also planning to set up a MoCa network to better handle video streaming. 

Will the current Comcast cable card in my Premiere XL work with the new Roamio, or should I get a new card?


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

dwjohn said:


> Hi, I'm a new forum member, and currently have 4 Premieres, with Comcast. I'm looking to replace these with a Roamio Plus and 3 Mini's I've just ordered. With these replacements I'm also planning to set up a MoCa network to better handle video streaming. Will the current Comcast cable card in my Premiere XL work with the new Roamio, or should I get a new card?


It should work, the question is, how well? I would check the firmware version on each of your premiere's cablecards and use the one that has the latest and greatest. Certain FW versions work better than others supporting the Roamio's six tuners. There are other threads here covering those issues. (i.e. - Tuners 5 & 6, black screen issue, etc)


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## prisk (Nov 19, 2006)

dwjohn said:


> Hi, I'm a new forum member, and currently have 4 Premieres, with Comcast.
> 
> I'm looking to replace these with a Roamio Plus and 3 Mini's I've just ordered. With these replacements I'm also planning to set up a MoCa network to better handle video streaming.
> 
> Will the current Comcast cable card in my Premiere XL work with the new Roamio, or should I get a new card?


That's pretty much what I did. Just finished setting everything up. Took a couple of hours Thursday and Friday evenings, but everything worked, mostly. One TiVo Mini uses Moca (set it to channel 15 and it worked). The other uses ethernet over powerline. The third is currently using ethernet over powerline, but the signal isn't so strong, so it stutters a lot. I ordered a POE filter and two new AV2 Poweline adapters, and we'll see how that helps.

Swapping the cablecard from the old Premiere to the new Roamio took all of 2 minutes, then I called the number listed earlier in this thread. The Comcast rep re-paired the card in a few minutes and all was working. I had to call back a little while later as HBO wasn't working, but they made an adjustment and all was good.

The best part came on Saturday, when I took my 2 old Cablecards and 2 boxes back to Comcast, and they informed me that since I only had one card left, it would be free. Saving $30 a month on my Comcast bill!!!!


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## slate (Mar 8, 2002)

Sorry if I'm hijacking this post, but I'm in a similar situation. I'm going from a series 3 to a roamio.

What about the order of activating and deactivating service? I've got the $12/month plan from a long time ago and I'm under the impression that I can transfer that to my new Tivo. If I go ahead and transfer it, will my series 3 become a brick, or will I have an opportunity to transfer my season passes and shows after the series 3 is no long on the service?

Thanks,
Ben


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

TiVo will normally offer you 30 to 60 days free on your old box. If they don't offer, just ask....it's a common courtesy for existing customers.


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## slate (Mar 8, 2002)

Thank you so much for the answer. And I see they have decent support hours on weekends too. Perfect!


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## slate (Mar 8, 2002)

Just wanted to post a quick reply with my experience:
1) they gave me $100 off for ordering on the phone from them but they wouldn't/couldn't do 2-day shipping to make it in time for my fios install
2) they would transfer my old $12.95 rate to my new box but neither person I talked to said they could give me an extra few days on my old box to facilitate transfer of stuff
3) online chat rep told me in order to xfer my stuff I could re-sign up my old box and cancel it before 30 days and get my money back
4) phone rep told me to buy their $14 app and use that to xfer to my pc, then I could xfer from my pc to my new box


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## mrbubbles (Apr 12, 2003)

While not exactly the same thing, I recently had to deal with a carryover time like this. I had to swap out a bad Roamio (streaming issues only) that had lifetime. I got a replacement from Weaknees, called TiVo and they transferred the lifetime. They didn't give me a grace period, they simple started a new monthly service on the other TiVo which has a 30-day money back deal. I did have to give them a credit card but as long as you call back to turn it off in 30 days, it should cost you anything. I was able to transfer everything over with both active and then cancel the monthly and send the bad unit back for no cost.


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