# Cablevision Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter Reboots



## ferjy Fangle

I am starting this thread for all Cablevision customers with a Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter (TA). Received mine on 04/27/09 and hooked it up without much problem. It worked fine for about a month until about 06/03/09 when it started to reboot approximately every 1/2 hour. Called Customer Support (CS) and was told that I needed to replace the TA as they were having issues with some of them. Got a replacement TA on 06/06/09 and hooked it up, replacing all included parts (USB cable, power supply and coaxial cable). Much to my disappointment the same reboot issue continued to occur. Called CS again and they said everything looked fine on their end and that I should make an appointment for a tech to come out with a new TA to replace the one I had and check the signal. I am skeptical about the Tech being able to do anything. I have read on other threads where there is a firmware upgrade (0801 or 2) to the TA which is specifically for this issue. I informed one of CS HD Specialists of my findings and was told this is the first they had heard about reboot issues with the TAs . So here I am with the USB on the TA disconnected so the TiVo recordings and live TV are not interrupted by the reboots. Luckily there is nothing that I am recording on any SDV Channel, so I can leave the TA disconnected until this issue is resolved. Are there any other Cablevision customers experiencing these types of issues with the TA?

My TA:
Cisco STA1520
Software Versions
PTV OS: Explorerlkg6 NGP OS
FLASH:
STA1.00_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0702
App(s): SARA v1.61.34.1


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## SCSIRAID

ferjy Fangle said:


> I am starting this thread for all Cablevision customers with a Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter (TA). Received mine on 04/27/09 and hooked it up without much problem. It worked fine for about a month until about 06/03/09 when it started to reboot approximately every 1/2 hour. Called Customer Support (CS) and was told that I needed to replace the TA as they were having issues with some of them. Got a replacement TA on 06/06/09 and hooked it up, replacing all included parts (USB cable, power supply and coaxial cable). Much to my disappointment the same reboot issue continued to occur. Called CS again and they said everything looked fine on their end and that I should make an appointment for a tech to come out with a new TA to replace the one I had and check the signal. I am skeptical about the Tech being able to do anything. I have read on other threads where there is a firmware upgrade (0801 or 2) to the TA which is specifically for this issue. I informed one of CS HD Specialists of my findings and was told this is the first they had heard about reboot issues with the TAs . So here I am with the USB on the TA disconnected so the TiVo recordings and live TV are not interrupted by the reboots. Luckily there is nothing that I am recording on any SDV Channel, so I can leave the TA disconnected until this issue is resolved. Are there any other Cablevision customers experiencing these types of issues with the TA?
> 
> My TA:
> Cisco STA1520
> Software Versions
> PTV OS: Explorerlkg6 NGP OS
> FLASH:
> STA1.00_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0702
> App(s): SARA v1.61.34.1


.0701 definitely had problems with reboot issues here in Raleigh (Scientific Atlanta system). However, the reboot interval was not every 30 mins.. was more like every 2 days. .0801 resolved the problem.


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## ADG

How did you obtain the firmware upgrade?


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## SCSIRAID

ADG said:


> How did you obtain the firmware upgrade?


Are you talking to me? Time Warner pushed the update to the TA in the same manner that they update their regular boxes. I was one of the local beta folks and was involved in the troubleshooting of the rebooting issue.


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## ADG

SCSIRAID said:


> Are you talking to me? Time Warner pushed the update to the TA in the same manner that they update their regular boxes. I was one of the local beta folks and was involved in the troubleshooting of the rebooting issue.


I was, sorry. Thanks. Apparently Cablevision hasn't gotten there yet.


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## NJ_HB

I also have re-boot issues, CV NJ Raritan Valley.
Maybe TiVo could work on a software fix that accounts for the TA re-booting and restore the aborted recording when the TA is back online or reschedule it if available.


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## ferjy Fangle

NJ_HB said:


> I also have re-boot issues, CV NJ Raritan Valley.
> Maybe TiVo could work on a software fix that accounts for the TA re-booting and restore the aborted recording when the TA is back online or reschedule it if available.


Can you supply any more information about your TA reboot issues? (Frequency of reboots, when they started and firmware version of your TA.) Thanks.


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## deaddeeds

Cox customers have the same box we are up to firmware .0901.

My TA:
Cisco STA1520
Software Versions
PTV OS: Explorerlkg6 NGP OS
FLASH:
STA1.00_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0901
App(s): SARA v1.61.36.1


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## ferjy Fangle

Seems like the COX Cable people are having the same problems as Cablevision is starting to have. COX deployed their TAs a few months earlier. Oh joy, the fun we are about to have trying to convince Cablevision that the firmware needs to be updated in order for the TAs to work properly!  I have a feeling that Cablevision will not listen or learn from others experiences. They will have to reinvent the wheel!! :down:

For more info. see COX Cable thread:
"SDV Tuning Adapter - Cox No. VA"


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## bobian

I too have had similar problems. Went round and round for weeks. Replaced the TA, replaced my TIVO (seems some tivos had interface problems). Problem would not go away. Finally a cablevision rep came to my house, did some rewiring, checked and corrected some signal strength issues, and at least for the last few days the problem seems to be in "remission." In any event I would like to see TIVO not "hang" on a reboot, but continue recording in the background. I have had far too many"partials" as a result of TIVO "hanging" after a reboot. Interesting enough, after the reboot TIVO does record new entries in the to do list, it only interrupts that which it is recording at the time of re-boot.


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## NJ_HB

ferjy Fangle said:


> Can you supply any more information about your TA reboot issues? (Frequency of reboots, when they started and firmware version of your TA.) Thanks.


I have since disconnected the TA via usb until this gets resolved so I can't get the firmware version. I left it on and I can see that it re-boots at random times.
The other day I went to watch the LOST ROOM marathon and the first episode was truncated 37 mins in.


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## ferjy Fangle

Cablevision tech came yesterday with new TA. One of the best techs I have dealt with from Cablevision, his name was Matt. I explained the issue and the information I had regarding the rebooting of the TA from other posts on this Forum and elsewhere. He admitted that they had very little experience with the TA, but was very interested in learning. He checked the signal, which he said was fantastic and called his direct Supervisor to inform him of the problem with the TA. He even left me the phone number of his direct supervisor which I should call if I experienced any more problems. He replaced the TA (my third one now) and both my S Cards with one M Card (nothing to do with the reboot issue). It turns out that the M Card is only half the price of the S Cards (at least I got a savings in my monthly bill! ). Anyone out there with 2 S Cards in their TiVo HD, can save money on their monthly bill with Cablevision if they have them install an M Card. Just make sure you do not get hit with the Service Call charge! Needless to say the rebooting issue occurred again four hours after the tech left, so I disconnected the USB port from the TiVo. Called the Supervisor's number which the Tech had given me and explained the situation to him. He seemed very interested and would look into it and get back to me. And the saga continues!!


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## thedanks

I have a tech coming to my house tomorrow because i keep getting the screen come up that a tuning adapter has been connected and i have to hit continue. Is this the same issue as the rebooting. I have noticed the tuning adapter start to blink occasionally.


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## ferjy Fangle

thedanks said:


> I have a tech coming to my house tomorrow because i keep getting the screen come up that a tuning adapter has been connected and i have to hit continue. Is this the same issue as the rebooting. I have noticed the tuning adapter start to blink occasionally.


Yes it is.


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## NJ_HB

CV offered to have a tech come out to me but I declined because I did not want to lose a work day and I honestly don't want them tinkering with the TiVo for a problem they won't be able to fix. The TA re-boots at random almost daily, even if the tech comes out and the event occurs while he's there he may still blame the TiVo. I think the fix is going to be software related because the TA reboots even if disconnected from the TiVo.

Why does CV have those movie channels on SDV any way, can't they designate other obscure or rarely watched/listened to channels as SDV so we would not have to use a TA?


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## Lrscpa

I have everything currently plugged into a decent quality power strip, but after the lights have been flickering during this stormy weather recently, I was thinking about a UPS for the Tivo and Tuning Adapter. More an annoyance than anything else, after a brief outage (less than 30 secs), it seems to take multiple reboots for the TA to come back, plus the recording gets interrupted.

Would an inexpensive APC do the trick?


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## rcamille

I have the same problems, but my tivo units (i have 2) wont even tune the movie channels. They used to, but now it says it is unable to tune the channel and i should try again or some nonsense.

Will i get the firmware upgrade (if CV ever sends it) if the tuning adapter is connected to the coax, is turned on, but is not connected to the TiVo's USB?

How do I determine the firmware version of my tuning adapters?

Thanks


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## Lrscpa

rcamille said:


> How do I determine the firmware version of my tuning adapters?
> 
> Thanks


On Tivo -

Messages and Settings 
Cablecards,...
Tuning Adapter Diagnostics
You should get a text based screen. The FV version is 2-3 pages in. Currently CV is on v7.02.

PS: Sorry about the thread hijack above. Was an accident.


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## SCSIRAID

Lrscpa said:


> On Tivo -
> 
> Messages and Settings
> Cablecards,...
> Tuning Adapter Diagnostics
> You should get a text based screen. The FV version is 2-3 pages in. Currently CV is on v7.02.
> 
> PS: Sorry about the thread hijack above. Was an accident.


Are you sure it wasnt .0702 ?


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## Lrscpa

SCSIRAID said:


> Are you sure it wasnt .0702 ?


yes - I slipped a decimal place.


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## ferjy Fangle

Also see threads:

Cablevision SDV Tuning Adaptor - Problems?
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=425225

Cablevision SDV Tuning Adapters (again)
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=426969


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## yfor11

I had a technician from Cablevision at my house checking the TA. He told me that the problem is likely because I had placed an equalizer on top of the TA and that did not allow the heat to dissipate, causing it to overheat and to reboot.

According to him, the TA generates a lot of heat and that's the reason for the many heat vents on the top. He also told me that they were pushing quite a few TA's and they did not have any complaints - mine was the first one.

So now my TA is on top, breathing freely and so far it did not reboot. I keep my fingers crossed.


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## ferjy Fangle

Can people tell me what type of Cable Boxes their Cable provider uses (what standard for two-way communication their Cable Provider uses). Cablevision of Woodbury Long Island, NY uses a Scientific Atlanta Explorer SA4250HD. I want to try and determine if there are different Firmware Versions for the Cisco TA for different Cable Systems. I was told this by a Cable Rep, but I have my doubts. I find it hard to believe that a Scientific Atlanta / Cisco system would need different firmware in their TAs.


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## NJ_HB

yfor11 said:


> I had a technician from Cablevision at my house checking the TA. He told me that the problem is likely because I had placed an equalizer on top of the TA and that did not allow the heat to dissipate, causing it to overheat and to reboot.
> 
> According to him, the TA generates a lot of heat and that's the reason for the many heat vents on the top. He also told me that they were pushing quite a few TA's and they did not have any complaints - mine was the first one.
> 
> So now my TA is on top, breathing freely and so far it did not reboot. I keep my fingers crossed.


Do you mind updating your sig, or telling us what town/system you are on thanks.


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## SCSIRAID

ferjy Fangle said:


> Can people tell me what type of Cable Boxes their Cable provider uses (what standard for two-way communication their Cable Provider uses). Cablevision of Woodbury Long Island, NY uses a Scientific Atlanta Explorer SA4250HD. I want to try and determine if there are different Firmware Versions for the Cisco TA for different Cable Systems. I was told this by a Cable Rep, but I have my doubts. I find it hard to believe that a Scientific Atlanta / Cisco system would need different firmware in their TAs.


There are several versions of TA firmware floating around. Also.. just because you may be on a Scientific Atlanta system... doesnt necessarily mean that your SDV system is Scientific Atlanta... Ours in Raleigh is SA but other places uses providers such as Big Band Networks. Eventually, I would expect that everybody will be running on an OCAP platform where I would expect all TA's would have the same firmware and load anything specific to a system thru OCAP. Note that Im speculating... I dont have any specific knowledge of the differences in the FW versions in the wild. In Raleigh, we are running .0801.


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## normthegreycat

Hey folks - just an fyi I am in North Jersey and recently had the STA1520 and an M Card installed in my TivoHD - that Cisco STA1520 runs HOT man... When the CV dude came, he sat the TA on top of my TivoHD.. I was checking it out no more than an hour later and went to pick the thing up and it almost burned my hand..  I have since moved it and it is running way cooler. I would not be surprised if some of the issues I have seen some folks having are due to overheating units. Just wanted to put it out there to make sure that sucker has plenty of room to breathe if at all possible. The thing has vents all over it, so I would assume they know these things run hot... I haven't had the setup for too long but will check back in with an update once I have had it running for a few weeks longer.. also the CV dude was a nice guy but didn't know much about them at all.. so do your own homework on the TAs.
I am in Morris County, NJ my version is .0702

There is also a Scientific Atlanta sticker on the bottom of my STA1520 for what it's worth...


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## ferjy Fangle

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


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## SCSIRAID

ferjy Fangle said:


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


I was a beta tester and reported the issue to TWC Director Tech Ops who reported issue to Cisco. Feedback from DTO was that Cisco was providing new firmware to address issue. when .0801 was pushed to my TA about 2 weeks later, problem was gone.


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## ferjy Fangle

SCSIRAID said:


> I was a beta tester and reported the issue to TWC Director Tech Ops who reported issue to Cisco. Feedback from DTO was that Cisco was providing new firmware to address issue. when .0801 was pushed to my TA about 2 weeks later, problem was gone.


Thanks. It appears that the Cable and SA/Cisco Rep. I talked with are, lets say, misinformed!


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## ferjy Fangle

An update: Just received a call from a Cablevision Rep. and it seems that they finally contacted SA/Cisco about this TA reboot issue. Lo and behold it seems that SA/Cisco acknowledged that there is indeed a problem and that there is a firmware upgrade to fix it!! They will be contacting me in the near future about it.

I feel like Fox Mulder, nobody ever believes a single word I say - Hey Hey!


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## dturturro

Any word on the firmware upgrade?


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## ADG

From the Cablevision website:

Tuning Adapter Firmware
The Tuning Adapter available from Cablevision is running firmware version STA1.0.0_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0702, which has been specifically designed to function with Cablevision's network configuration. You may have noticed higher-numbered versions in use by other cable service providers. These other versions offer no additional advantage, functionality, or compatibility over the version Cablevision has deployed.


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## ferjy Fangle

dturturro said:


> Any word on the firmware upgrade?


Cablevision of Woodbury Engineering and Service Departments have acknowledged that there is a reboot issue, which SA/Cisco has a correction for. I am expecting to be contacted shortly regarding a firmware upgrade.


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## bear3351

ferjy Fangle said:


> Cablevision of Woodbury Engineering and Service Departments have acknowledged that there is a reboot issue, which SA/Cisco has a correction for. I am expecting to be contacted shortly regarding a firmware upgrade.


I am in Long Island also, and having the same problem, a tech from Cablevision came to my house today and he changed the TA, it worked OK for maybe 2 hours and then started rebooting every 10 - 15 minutes. What a pain... I just disconnected the USB cable and I'll wait for the software upgrade. I hope is sooner rather than later.


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## dturturro

Any updates on this issue?


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## dturturro

It seems ALL of the HBO channels are on SDV on the Woodbury service. A fix for the reboot issue would sure be nice. Anyone have an update on the status of a firmware fix?


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## urwathrtz

I disconnected that P.O.S. a couple if weeks ago. The Tuning Adapter screen would come up a couple times a day. Until I really need it it's staying the way it is.


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## NJ_HB

If a lot more channels move to SDV I'm going to have to get a CV DVR and go OTA with TiVo because its just not worth the hassle. 
In addition I can no longer do MRV between S2/S3 and I get multiple partial recordings when the TA reboots. It would be better if the TA rebooted and resumed the recording upon restart.


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## normthegreycat

At least they have acknowledged it on their website finally... help may be on the way!! 

it wouldn't let me post the link as i don't have enough posts.. but if you got to the cv website and search for tuning adapters and choose the first result it will show the below:

"Software Update Coming Soon.

Cablevision is working with Cisco on a firmware update for the Cisco Tuning Adapter that will correct sporadic rebooting of the Tuning Adapter reported by a small percentage of our customers. Once the update is available, it will be automatically deployed to the Tuning Adapter."


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## NJ_HB

normthegreycat said:


> At least they have acknowledged it on their website finally... help may be on the way!!
> 
> it wouldn't let me post the link as i don't have enough posts.. but if you got to the cv website and search for tuning adapters and choose the first result it will show the below:
> 
> "Software Update Coming Soon.
> 
> Cablevision is working with Cisco on a firmware update for the Cisco Tuning Adapter that will correct sporadic rebooting of the Tuning Adapter reported by a small percentage of our customers. Once the update is available, it will be automatically deployed to the Tuning Adapter."


Thanks for the update!

http://optimum.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...GV4dD10dW5pbmcgYWRhcHRlcg**&p_li=&p_topview=1


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## dturturro

Does anyone have multiple units where some of the adapters work and others don't? If so, have you swapped the units to see if the problem follows the adapter or stays with the TiVo?


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## dturturro

Ok, an update on the HBO situation: if you are missing HBOs that are NOT SDV then call up and have them unbind (remove the cards from your account) them and rebind them and you should get them back. No luck with the other SDV reboot issue though. Some of the 800 channels are NOT SDv so give them a shot if you're missing the other SDVs.


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## dturturro

No update on this yet?


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## Lrscpa

Oddly enough, after a summer of perhaps one TA reboot, my TA rebooted 3 times yesterday. Tuner signal level which normally run -2dBmV to 1 dBmV is running at -7dBmV.


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## mad6c

Mine was rebooting fairly regularly for a while however after seeing this thread again I realized it has been pretty stable.

Up since July 9th - 39 days.


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## dturturro

Do you know what firmware the TA is running?


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## NJ_HB

mad6c said:


> Mine was rebooting fairly regularly for a while however after seeing this thread again I realized it has been pretty stable.
> 
> Up since July 9th - 39 days.


Same here, mine has stopped re-booting. (knock on wood.)


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## dturturro

Can you tell what firmware you are running on the Tuning Adapter?


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## mad6c

I think these are the versions

STA 1.0.0_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0702
App(s) SARA v1.61.34.1


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## NJ_HB

mad6c said:


> I think these are the versions
> 
> STA 1.0.0_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0702
> App(s) SARA v1.61.34.1


Same here. I think enough complaints to CV caused them to fix from their end, it just started working one day.


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## dturturro

I've plugged back in and had no problems for 2 days. It looks like the FW is the same. Perhaps CV found another cause and corrected it on their end? I was running without any reboots for over a month before I saw the first one.


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## Lrscpa

Lrscpa said:


> Oddly enough, after a summer of perhaps one TA reboot, my TA rebooted 3 times yesterday. Tuner signal level which normally run -2dBmV to 1 dBmV is running at -7dBmV.


Here is some interesting news. I recently had splitters replaced. Seems that Cablevision's 3 way splitters have a -3db tap and two -7db taps. The tech had plugged the TiVo run into one of the -7 taps outs - I moved it to the -3 tap, and all the TA hasn't rebooted since.

Suffice to say that signal strength continues to appear to play a key role in the TA's performance.


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## Lrscpa

mad6c said:


> I think these are the versions
> 
> STA 1.0.0_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0702
> App(s) SARA v1.61.34.1


FWIW, this is the same FW version that shipped with the TA's from Cablevision originally.


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## evanborkow

Lrscpa said:


> Here is some interesting news. I recently had splitters replaced. Seems that Cablevision's 3 way splitters have a -3db tap and two -7db taps. The tech had plugged the TiVo run into one of the -7 taps outs - I moved it to the -3 tap, and all the TA hasn't rebooted since.
> 
> Suffice to say that signal strength continues to appear to play a key role in the TA's performance.


Lrscpa, I hope you're on to something here. I just checked and my TA was also using the -7db output. I've switched it and am hoping for the best.

Thx for the heads up.


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## Lrscpa

evanborkow said:


> Lrscpa, I hope you're on to something here. I just checked and my TA was also using the -7db output. I've switched it and am hoping for the best.
> 
> Thx for the heads up.


Well, the TA rebooted once over the weekend, and the problems I was having with 5 or so SDV channels not coming in have stopped.


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## marcusak01

Has anyone heard any updates on this?TA is rebooting daily....


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## dturturro

No, but I think CV did something to correct the issue. I've been up with no reboots for about a month now.


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## Lrscpa

dturturro said:


> No, but I think CV did something to correct the issue. I've been up with no reboots for about a month now.


Not here - CV in Northern NJ - I went through a few periods this summer where TA reboots were limited to once every 10 days-two weeks. For the last month or two, it reboots 4-5 times/week.


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## ADG

Yes, this has to be something on their end. Most of the summer everything was fine, but this past week both of my TA's have been resetting several times a day - and very often at the same time.

Does anyone know for sure which channels are SDV? I'm considering disconnecting one of the TA's just to make sure that at least one S3 is always reliable.


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## thedanks

its happening to me regularly again on all my boxes and i felt like we were good there for a while.


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## FishTank1701

Thanks for this thread. My tuning adapter has started rebooting several times a day, notably while I'm playing back a recorded show. It's particularly frustrating, because the point at which the show is at isn't remembered, and playback resumes from the beginning of the show. (Or the paused point from which I started watching it.) I've taken to exiting out of the show and re-entering at every commercial break, just so I have a more updated pause point when the TA invariably reboots.

For the record, I'm in Central NJ, on the Cablevison of Monmouth system.


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## NJ_HB

FishTank1701 said:


> Thanks for this thread. My tuning adapter has started rebooting several times a day, notably while I'm playing back a recorded show. It's particularly frustrating, because the point at which the show is at isn't remembered, and playback resumes from the beginning of the show. (Or the paused point from which I started watching it.) I've taken to exiting out of the show and re-entering at every commercial break, just so I have a more updated pause point when the TA invariably reboots.
> 
> For the record, I'm in Central NJ, on the Cablevison of Monmouth system.


Same here, CV must be doing something, hopefully they can get it sorted so we don't lose any recordings during prime time.


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## hugopetty

I'm having the same problems here in Long Island, N.Y. too. CV came twice and added the TA, changed splitters, etc. but I still can't get the HD HBO channels even with the adapter. I'm in a wheelchair and can't get to the wires myself. 

When I run the TA diagnostics I just get a blank grey screen so I don't think it is even working. I don't know what to do next. I called CV about getting a credit since I'm not getting all the channels I'm paying for, but they said I have to wait till the problem is resolved. (I'm not confident it will ever be resolved). Anyone know what I should try next?


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## NJ_HB

hugopetty said:


> I'm having the same problems here in Long Island, N.Y. too. CV came twice and added the TA, changed splitters, etc. but I still can't get the HD HBO channels even with the adapter. I'm in a wheelchair and can't get to the wires myself.
> 
> When I run the TA diagnostics I just get a blank grey screen so I don't think it is even working. I don't know what to do next. I called CV about getting a credit since I'm not getting all the channels I'm paying for, but they said I have to wait till the problem is resolved. (I'm not confident it will ever be resolved). Anyone know what I should try next?


When you call CV try to get a tech on the line that knows about the TA.
They have to 'authorize' your TA from the home office no 'truck roll' necessary.
You may need to know the TA serial # so try to get that from the unit or from the box it came in.


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## hugopetty

Thanks NJ_HB. I'm almost afraid to mess with the TA until I'm convinced CV has worked out the bugs. It seems that a lot of people are having the rebooting issue, etc., and I don't want to screw up my scheduled recordings due to reboots...

Does anyone know if Tivo is working on a fix for this? I would have more confidence about it getting resolved with Tivo then with CV. I'm at the point now that I am ready to just give up and switch to Direct TV.


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## Royster

Well, you hear from the people who have problems and you don't hear from the people for whom it is working perfectly fine. I can't say I've had a single reboot in the entire time I've had a TA -- over six months.


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## ferjy Fangle

After 2 months of trouble free operation, my TA has started rebooting again. It rebooted over the weekend and the last two mornings. No new TA firmware, but CV did update their system in my area a couple of weeks ago. So far no lost shows, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will resolve the issue soon. They do not seem to be very responsive to this issue.


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## NJ_HB

ferjy Fangle said:


> After 2 months of trouble free operation, my TA has started rebooting again. It rebooted over the weekend and the last two mornings. No new TA firmware, but CV did update their system in my area a couple of weeks ago. So far no lost shows, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will resolve the issue soon. They do not seem to be very responsive to this issue.


I had the same problem this weekend, but its stabilized. CV updating their system probably caused our problem.


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## BigInJapan

I don't have a whole to add, but want to report that I'm having this reboot issue as well. I'm on Time Warner in Raleigh. On my second TA. Both had the reboot issue. 
Here are the variables I see people talking about in the various threads:

TA Firmware: .0801
Cable has one two-way split (modem / tv) using the splitter TWC provided. 
Signal strengths on TA diagnostics screen show Tuner: -7db, FDC: -2db. 
TiVo box is a TiVoHD with 11.0d-01-2-652. 

I haven't timed the reboot frequency, but it's in the every 30 min range. 

I'm leaving the USB unplugged for now. Any advice would be appreciated.


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## SCSIRAID

BigInJapan said:


> I don't have a whole to add, but want to report that I'm having this reboot issue as well. I'm on Time Warner in Raleigh. On my second TA. Both had the reboot issue.
> Here are the variables I see people talking about in the various threads:
> 
> TA Firmware: .0801
> Cable has one two-way split (modem / tv) using the splitter TWC provided.
> Signal strengths on TA diagnostics screen show Tuner: -7db, FDC: -2db.
> TiVo box is a TiVoHD with 11.0d-01-2-652.
> 
> I haven't timed the reboot frequency, but it's in the every 30 min range.
> 
> I'm leaving the USB unplugged for now. Any advice would be appreciated.


What is rebooting? The TA or the TiVo? What are you seeing?


----------



## BigInJapan

The tuning adapter is rebooting. The green light starts blinking and the TiVo gives the screen saying that a tuning adapter has been connected. It stays on solid for around 30 minutes. The SDV channels look fine in that time. Then the TA's green light starts blinking again and TiVo says a TA's been connected again.


----------



## Lrscpa

ferjy Fangle said:


> After 2 months of trouble free operation, my TA has started rebooting again. It rebooted over the weekend and the last two mornings. No new TA firmware, but CV did update their system in my area a couple of weeks ago. So far no lost shows, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will resolve the issue soon. They do not seem to be very responsive to this issue.


After a trouble free July and August, September saw daily TA reboots. I had five days last week without a reboot, but have had them each of the last two nights. No new CV firmware - still on .0702.


----------



## SCSIRAID

BigInJapan said:


> The tuning adapter is rebooting. The green light starts blinking and the TiVo gives the screen saying that a tuning adapter has been connected. It stays on solid for around 30 minutes. The SDV channels look fine in that time. Then the TA's green light starts blinking again and TiVo says a TA's been connected again.


What is the RDC value? The FDC number is fine... The tuner is a little low. You may have an issue on the upstream side. 30 mins for the light to go stead is a looooong time. Ive never seen it take that long.

Since this is a Cablevision thread... we might want to note that you and I are in a TWC area....


----------



## BigInJapan

SCSIRAID said:


> What is the RDC value? ...


I'll check when I get home tonight.



SCSIRAID said:


> 30 mins for the light to go stead is a looooong time. Ive never seen it take that long.


Sorry if I wasn't clear on this. It doesn't take 30 min to go solid. It only takes a few minutes to quit blinking. The problem is, once it does go solid, it only stays solid for about 30 min and then starts blinking again. Blinks for 5 min or so, then stays solid for another 30 min. Each time it starts blinking, the TiVo tells me that a tuning adapter has been connected. I'm taking that to mean that the TA has rebooted itself.



SCSIRAID said:


> Since this is a Cablevision thread... we might want to note that you and I are in a TWC area....


Good point. I couldn't find a TW thread specifically about the tuning adapter rebooting. If you can point me to one, I'd be happy to move this conversation over there. Or maybe I should just start a new one.


----------



## SCSIRAID

BigInJapan said:


> I'll check when I get home tonight.
> 
> Sorry if I wasn't clear on this. It doesn't take 30 min to go solid. It only takes a few minutes to quit blinking. The problem is, once it does go solid, it only stays solid for about 30 min and then starts blinking again. Blinks for 5 min or so, then stays solid for another 30 min. Each time it starts blinking, the TiVo tells me that a tuning adapter has been connected. I'm taking that to mean that the TA has rebooted itself.
> 
> Good point. I couldn't find a TW thread specifically about the tuning adapter rebooting. If you can point me to one, I'd be happy to move this conversation over there. Or maybe I should just start a new one.


Well... it could mean a couple things.... It could have rebooted, or lost contact with the hub or it could have lost USB connectivity to TiVo. In the TA diags... there is a date and time for the last boot which should 'tell the tale'. What is the blink pattern? Constant blinks? 6 blinks then pause or 8 blinks then pause?


----------



## blacknoi

My two cablevision cisco turning adapters probably reboot themselves at least once to twice a week.

Usually its overnight .... or at least its NOT when I'm using the TV and/or the tivo is trying to record something.

Its just annoying to have to acknowledge the screen that says a TA has been connected.

Its always both, not just one so it would appear to be a system issue. I just had a fresh drop run to my house and levels are within spec.


----------



## hugopetty

I had my 3rd Cablevision visit today and after replacing the TA again and trying everything else the others had tried, CV told me that my tivo will not work with the TA because my tivo is the kind where the cable cards go in the back, not in the front. I there any truth to this? 
My Tivo is the HD, but I got it a few years ago. The cable cards go in the back so I guess it is a first generation HD tivo. Will this work with a TA or is CV correct?


----------



## SCSIRAID

hugopetty said:


> I had my 3rd Cablevision visit today and after replacing the TA again and trying everything else the others had tried, CV told me that my tivo will not work with the TA because my tivo is the kind where the cable cards go in the back, not in the front. I there any truth to this?
> My Tivo is the HD, but I got it a few years ago. The cable cards go in the back so I guess it is a first generation HD tivo. Will this work with a TA or is CV correct?


Im on TWC but my Cisco TA works perfectly with my S3 (first generation with cablecards in the back).


----------



## hugopetty

Thanks SCSIRAID, I thought it should work, and I really didn't believe that the CV tech had a clue what he was doing. I am giving up on this whole thing. Wasted too much time on this and CV does not have reps trained in this area. I am going to head to Direct TV and see how their service is. Thanks all for your help and advise.


----------



## neil111

Hi. I'm on CV of LI/Woodbury. Just got 2 TAs. One for the TiVo HD (working fine) in the bedroom. Other for my 5 year old Panny 42" Plasma in the family room (where our S2 is located).

The Panny has a single cablecard, but no USB port. I guess that means it is not a Unidirectional Digital Cable Product (UDCP) as described on the Cisco Site.

That means I don't have most HBO channels in my family room. It seems the USB is required for the SDV channels to operate. Are there any workarounds for using the TA with an older Plasma [other than getting a cable box  or another TiVo HD which isn't in the budget now]? I presume running thru the S2 won't help, since I don't think that has a USB port on it, and it certainly can't get the HBO HD channels.

Thanks!
- Neil


----------



## SCSIRAID

neil111 said:


> Hi. I'm on CV of LI/Woodbury. Just got 2 TAs. One for the TiVo HD (working fine) in the bedroom. Other for my 5 year old Panny 42" Plasma in the family room (where our S2 is located).
> 
> The Panny has a single cablecard, but no USB port. I guess that means it is not a Unidirectional Digital Cable Product (UDCP) as described on the Cisco Site.
> 
> That means I don't have most HBO channels in my family room. It seems the USB is required for the SDV channels to operate. Are there any workarounds for using the TA with an older Plasma [other than getting a cable box  or another TiVo HD which isn't in the budget now]? I presume running thru the S2 won't help, since I don't think that has a USB port on it, and it certainly can't get the HBO HD channels.
> 
> Thanks!
> - Neil


Cablecard TV's _are_ UDCP's... However, all UDCP's aren't able to take advantage of a TA. I dont believe there are any devices currently working with TA's except TiVo S3's and THD's. The Moxi is supposed to be getting TA support eventually. I wouldnt expect any exiting TV's to ever be retrofitted to work with TA's.


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## dturturro

This is ridiculous. How long does it take to come up with a firmware upgrade?!


----------



## ADG

Cablevision states on their site that the current firmware version is appropriate for their system.


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## ferjy Fangle

ADG said:


> Cablevision states on their site that the current firmware version is appropriate for their system.


Software Update Coming Soon.

Cablevision is working with Cisco on a firmware update for the Cisco Tuning Adapter that will correct sporadic rebooting of the Tuning Adapter reported by a small percentage of our customers. Once the update is available, it will be automatically deployed to the Tuning Adapter.


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## ferjy Fangle

TA rebooted Saturday, did not notice till Sunday morning. Luckily nothing was being recorded so no shows were lost.


----------



## dturturro

ferjy Fangle said:


> Software Update Coming Soon.
> 
> Cablevision is working with Cisco on a firmware update for the Cisco Tuning Adapter that will correct sporadic rebooting of the Tuning Adapter reported by a small percentage of our customers. Once the update is available, it will be automatically deployed to the Tuning Adapter.


Not to be negative, but that comment has been up for months now. It doesn't seem to be a priority for either company.


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## ferjy Fangle

ferjy Fangle said:


> TA rebooted Saturday, did not notice till Sunday morning. Luckily nothing was being recording so no shows were lost.


TA rebooted again Wednesday afternoon. This is not a good sign, as Cablevision has not been responsive to these TA issues.


----------



## bfwk122

Mine also rebooted yesterday and it seems it does it now atleast once a day.


----------



## abdemaio

I, too, have been having the reboot issue with the tuning adapters - I am a Cablevision customer in Northern Westchester. I have disconnected the tuning adapters and am living without the SDV premium channels.

I am curious whether anyone else is experiencing the following and whether they are possibly associated with tuning adapter issues. First, while the TA's were connected there was a period of about a week when trying to tune to a channel that requires the TA my TiVo3 would sometimes reboot. This happened on two different TiVo3's.

The other issue is now, after disconnecting the TA's, I am unable to get TBSHD (which was really annoying during the MLB playoffs). I never had an issue before and there shouldn't be any reason for this but I am curious if anyone else has seen a problem like this.

Thanks ...


----------



## ADG

I've had the tuning adapters on two S3's in the same room since Cablevision made them available and have had the same rebooting issues as everyone else in this thread. Sometimes there would be weeks of trouble free service, then there would be a few days of problems. Oddly enough, the two units would often reboot at essentially the same time, pointing to something being done at the head end rather than the "home" side (ruling out power problems, which I do rule out). Well, the other night one of the s3's rebooted in the middle of recording Fringe and that was the first mid-recording problem I had - and I decided to remove the adapter from that unit and just keep it on the other. So far so good, but we really should not have to make these adjustments just to watch television and make good use of our DVR's. 

The only "good" part is that so far the channels relegated to SDV usage are not "important" in my household - but how long will that last as more and more hd channels are added?


----------



## BigInJapan

I'm on Time Warner, and I know this is a Cablevision thread. I had posted to it by mistake a few weeks back. I just want to report that my rebooting suddenly stopped this weekend. It looks like I had a firmware update pushed to me. On the Versions and MACs screen, the FLASH: value now says "STA1.0.0_1520_LR-F.1001". If I'm not mistaken, that used to end in .0801. I haven't had the dreaded blinking light since Saturday. It was happening as often as every 15 minutes a few weeks ago.

Not sure if that helps you guys. Just thought I'd throw it out there.


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## Lrscpa

Cablevision's current version ends in .0702. So you were 'one up' on us already.


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## ferjy Fangle

TA rebooted again Monday evening and I did not see it till the next morning. Again I was lucky that I did not miss any shows. CSI: Miami appears not to have been a new show, so it would not have recorded. It is just a matter of time till a show is missed. I cannot believe that people are not missing shows with these reboots. Cablevision gets a BIG thumbs down for their response to this issue. :down:


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## Lrscpa

I went over two weeks without a TA reboot, then Sunday twice during afternoon football. Both times signal levels were within bounds. 

When I came home from work on Monday, there was another reboot at 3PM. Which means that between Sunday eve, and Monday afternoon there could have been more reboots.

Still on the orignial .0702 FW.


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## ferjy Fangle

TA rebooted again last night exactly one week to the minute of the last reboot at 7:49pm. TA also rebooted at 9:07pm. I have to believe that Cablevision is either incompetent or intentionally causing/ignoring this problem to frustrate TiVo users. I am also beginning to wonder if the promise of new TA firmware was disingenuous.


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## dturturro

ferjy Fangle said:


> TA rebooted again last night exactly one week to the minute of the last reboot at 7:49pm. TA also rebooted at 9:07pm. I have to believe that Cablevision is either incompetent or intentionally causing/ignoring this problem to frustrate TiVo users. I am also beginning to wonder if the promise of new TA firmware was disingenuous.


Does Cablevision plan on going fully digital on all it's systems? I understand FD systems like the Bronx don't use SDV. Something tells me we'll get there before this phantom firmware update.

Also, since we have spells where there are NO reboots and then we all get swamped with them is it really the firmware or something that Cablevision puts in their stream (intentionally or not)?


----------



## hankuro

Just got Pio Elite 151FD + CV tuning adapter. Ran Plasma continually on HBO HD #800 without monitoring to "break in" the pixels at low contrast + brightness levels. 

Looked at TV after many hours and noticed TA reboot screen was frozen. I don't know for how many hours - maybe 3-4. Now concerned about burn in.

Questions:

1. based on all posts is it useless to call CV tech support on TA issue?
2. has there been a informed response from TIVO re TA issues?
3. should I just disconnect TV from my system until they work it out? 

Thanks.

jh in Glen Cove


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## wizzle

Last night I had a 8-blink malfunction on my Cisco tuner. Reboots would not remedy it on the tuner or my hd tivo. 

Calling our local TWC support reolved it when the tech sent a hit to it. 

Afterwards check the firmware through my Tivo and it ends in .1001

So far so good today. Lately it has been locking up a lot and I've been having to either cycle the power to the tuning adapter or restart the Tivo to get my SDV channels back.

Also lot of digital pixelation occurring on the SDV channels.


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## Aventinus22

Cablevision Rockland did a firmware update on my tuning adapter at 2 am last night. The Flash is now version STA1.0.0_1520_BDSG.LR_F.1101 and App(s) is now SARA v1.61.41.1. Hopefully this solves the rebooting problem.


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## dturturro

How do you find the version?


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## Aventinus22

dturturro said:


> How do you find the version?


From TiVo Central, select Messages & Settings, then Settings, then Remote, CableCARD, & Devices, then Tuning Adapter, then Tuning Adapter Diagnostics. This will bring you to the Tuning Adapter Diagnostics screen. Frome there, select Versions and MACs.


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## Lrscpa

I'm wondering if a manual reset of the TA will pull the new firmware, or if this is something that Cablevision needs to initate?


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## Aventinus22

Lrscpa said:


> I'm wondering if a manual reset of the TA will pull the new firmware, or if this is something that Cablevision needs to initate?


I didn't do anything to initiate the update. I was watching TV when my TiVo put up a message stating that the tuning adapter was updating.


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## dturturro

Aventinus22 said:


> From TiVo Central, select Messages & Settings, then Settings, then Remote, CableCARD, & Devices, then Tuning Adapter, then Tuning Adapter Diagnostics. This will bring you to the Tuning Adapter Diagnostics screen. Frome there, select Versions and MACs.


Thanks! I'm on the Woodbury system and also have the updated firmware. I just plugged the USB back in. Fingers crossed!


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## Dr_Zoidberg

Aventinus22 said:


> Cablevision Rockland did a firmware update on my tuning adapter at 2 am last night. The Flash is now version STA1.0.0_1520_BDSG.LR_F.1101 and App(s) is now SARA v1.61.41.1. Hopefully this solves the rebooting problem.


I'm in central NJ, and I have the same firmware. I often get multiple resets in a row, usually within an hour. Right now, just got two. This is not pleasant, and really irritating!

The other thing that's really annoying is that if I'm watching a recording, and get the message, the TiVo resets time I've been watching something back to the beginning.

Maybe they just don't want us to use them?


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## mad6c

Cablevision of Hauppauge and I have the updated versions now.


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## dturturro

dturturro said:


> Thanks! I'm on the Woodbury system and also have the updated firmware. I just plugged the USB back in. Fingers crossed!


2 days and no reboots!


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## ferjy Fangle

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times". Hope sprung eternal with the new T/A Firmware upgrade, alas our hopes were cruelly dashed when a reboot occurred on Sunday 11/29/09 at about 8:30AM, a mere five days since the new firmware was installed.


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## ferjy Fangle

ferjy Fangle said:


> "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times". Hope sprung eternal with the new T/A Firmware upgrade, alas our hopes were cruelly dashed when a reboot occurred on Sunday 11/29/09 at about 8:30AM, a mere five days since the new firmware was installed.


Another reboot @ 12/3/09, 12:18AM.


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## ADG

More important, since the upgrade there are a few 800 range channels that no long come in.


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## kiranna

I have the TA1520 with a Tivo S3 and it has NEVER worked. For *all* SDV channels it gives me the black/gray MMI screen, and when I hit "clear" to get rid of the screen I get a black screen. Some channels repeatedly give me the black/gray cablecard screen. Cablevision has been here 3 times, Tivo and I have spoken for several cumulative hours, and nobody can figure it out. I feel like throwing the whole kit and kaboodle in the trash.


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## ferjy Fangle

ferjy Fangle said:


> Another reboot @ 12/3/09, 12:18AM.


Any opinions on the new T/A firmware? Mine appears to be rebooting more often since the upgrade. :down:


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## pdonoghu

kiranna said:


> I have the TA1520 with a Tivo S3 and it has NEVER worked. For *all* SDV channels it gives me the black/gray MMI screen, and when I hit "clear" to get rid of the screen I get a black screen. Some channels repeatedly give me the black/gray cablecard screen. Cablevision has been here 3 times, Tivo and I have spoken for several cumulative hours, and nobody can figure it out. I feel like throwing the whole kit and kaboodle in the trash.


I had the same problem with my first TA. SDV channels never came in. I played with it for awhile, and it would cause my Tivo to reboot, constantly. I finally gave up, and unplugged it. After seeing reports of upgraded firmware, I figured I'd give it another try, plus Cablevision is raising it rates and wnated to see if I could get the HBO channels I pay for or just cancel them and try Netflix on demand.

This time, the box would not power on at all, so I exchanged the TA for a new one. The store rep entered the new one on my account, I asked if I needed to call it in, he didn't think so. Based on his same advice the first time, I never called the first one in. So this time, following the instruction sheet exactly, I called Cablevision support. The first level CSR had no idea what a TA was, asked for the cable card support group and she transferred me. The rep I got, Phil, new exactly what I needed. Checked to make sure where I was, connected to cable, power off, no blinking. He hit the box to authorize it. I connected the USB to the TIvo, and powered it off and back on. Tivo recognized the TA and the upper 800 HBO channels all come in. TA came with latest firmware.

Lesson learned, just because the store rep put the TA on my account, it still needs to be hit. Except for the cable card support group, most Cablevision employees have no idea about cable cards and TAs, so don't put much stock in their advice. Get the cable card support group on the line.


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## dturturro

ferjy Fangle said:


> Any opinions on the new T/A firmware? Mine appears to be rebooting more often since the upgrade. :down:


I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this, but I haven't had any reboots since the upgrade. However, I also had long stretches without reboots before the upgrade. I'm convinced that it has more to do with what's in the C* stream then the firmware. Perhaps C* is doing something with their signal that is unknowingly causing the reboots?


----------



## Lrscpa

*Anyone calling Cablevision with TiVo, Cablecard, or Tuning Adapter issues upon getting a CSR on the phone, should immediately request someone from the "Hi-Def" department. *

It seems that Cablevision actually has a certain group of CSRs that have at least heard of these things.

I will spare the details, but suffice to say that I thought I had a proper, albiet amplified signal levels. I was still missing about a third of all of the channels. After speaking with a very knowledgable CSR, a senior tech was dispatched, and reran all of the cable runs in the house. It was evident that there was water damage in the cable at one of the outdoor splitters. By removing the amp, the signal went from approx +4dBmV to -6dBmV, but I am now receiving all SDV channels.

I will check and post later but I had not had a single reboot in over a week.


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## ferjy Fangle

I actually went nine days before the T/A rebooted eek at about 3AM. Could this be some sort of progress .


----------



## NJ_HB

I also had a reboot around 3:00am.


----------



## Dr_Zoidberg

I get resets on mine daily. I believe that the TA (with the latest firmware) caused one of my USB ports to fry a while back, but I can't be sure if that was the cause. So, now, I have a USB splitter cable on the working port, so I can have both the TA and my TiVo Wireless device working. I've debated whether or not to go with a USB hub/switch, but so far, I haven't done it. I think that's my next step.

For the most part, it seems like they occur while I'm watching. Only recently have I started seeing the "TA connected" screen when I turn on the TV. Usually it happens within a few moments of turning on the TV. Hmmm, I wonder if the use of HDMI is causing some sort of drain on the system...


----------



## NJ_HB

Since the TA seems to re-boot at no specified time, I have started putting my TiVo in standby mode when I am done watching TV. I can now tell without turning on the TV when the TA reboots, since the TiVo comes out of standby and has the green light lit.
If I wake up or get home from work and the green light is on the TiVo I know right away that the TA re-booted and I need to check to see what recording got truncated.

It would be great if after a re-boot, the TiVo would start recording again.


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## ADG

Mine also rebooted for the first time in weeks. I'm guessing it's a system issue and not local to the user.


----------



## TVisitor

Just out of curiosity, when the TA reboots, does it come back on? Or does it turn on if you try to tune a channel...? I was concerned that if there was a power outage and the system came back on, that you'd need to hit the ON button on the TA (yanking the power cord and plugging it back, in the TA comes up off).


----------



## SCSIRAID

TVisitor said:


> Just out of curiosity, when the TA reboots, does it come back on? Or does it turn on if you try to tune a channel...? I was concerned that if there was a power outage and the system came back on, that you'd need to hit the ON button on the TA (yanking the power cord and plugging it back, in the TA comes up off).


On my system, TA remains powered after reboot. Also, when initially plugged in, TA also comes on automatically.


----------



## mherdeen

I'm in Monmouth County, NJ and have Cablevision. My wife got me a Tivo HD upgrade for Christmas. I was psyched at first, but after reading about all of these issues with TA's I'm starting to wonder if I'm in for a nightmare. We currently have 3 Series 2 tivo's and never have any problems. I called cablevision this morning to order the cablecard installation and they mentioned we would also need a TA. 

1. How do I know if I need a TA? I thought it was only for add-on packages like some of the sports programming.
2. Anyone out there with Cablevision in the Monmouth County area that can confirm a TA is needed for IO with HBO package?

Thanks!


----------



## pdonoghu

You need a TA for any channels that are switched digital video (SDV). Here in northern NJ, these include all of the HD 800 channels that HBO, Starz, Showtime, and Encore are on. There are other channels sprinkled around, including non HD, that are SDV.

The TA is a POS with regular reboots, and lockups. Why they cause the Tivo to also reboot, I have no idea, but it is very poorly implemented technology.


----------



## jimpmc

I've had a TiVoHD with Cablevision and did the truck roll and then picked up a Tuning Adapter from a Cablevision location when they came out.

My question is this -- I just got a TiVoHD for my folks who know nothing about all this, so I'm trying to coordinate the Cablevision requirements. Is a truck roll still needed for the cablecards and if so, will they install the Tuning Adapter at the same time?


----------



## Lrscpa

jimpmc said:


> My question is this -- I just got a TiVoHD for my folks who know nothing about all this, so I'm trying to coordinate the Cablevision requirements. Is a truck roll still needed for the cablecards and if so, will they install the Tuning Adapter at the same time?


Truck roll *is* required for cablecards (though it probably shouldn't be).
Truch roll* isn't *required for Tuning Adapter - which can be picked up at any Cablevision office/'Optimum Store'.


----------



## jimpmc

Lrscpa said:


> Truck roll *is* required for cablecards (though it probably shouldn't be).
> Truch roll* isn't *required for Tuning Adapter - which can be picked up at any Cablevision office/'Optimum Store'.


OK...but is a visit to the Optimum Store required for the Tuning Adapter, or will they bring that with a cablecard truck roll now?


----------



## mad6c

I just told them I wanted a tuning adapter with the cablecard install.

I figured if they are going to require a truck roll and charge me for the visit I was going to make them do all the work.

Tech showed up with the CableCARD and tuning adapter.


----------



## FishTank1701

@mherdeen
I'm also in Monmouth. (Marlboro) I have the TA and have disconnected it due to the constant reboots. You lose some of the 800's on our system, but not all.


----------



## Lrscpa

The saga continues....

After several months of no TA issues, I started losing about a third to a half of the SDV channels in the 800 tier. Different channels each time. I would get the Tivo message that the channel was temporarily unavailable. My signal which was amped by a CV supplied amp at the Tivo (as opposed to the demark at the house) was running +3dBmv to -5dBmV. 

Called Cablevision and escalated. Tech came and ran new run to the house, and another run from the first split (approx 75') to the second splitter that feeds the Tivo. 

Even though my signal levels now run -8dBmV to -11dBmV, the picture quality is excellent, and I receive all 800 tier SDV channels. The TA has not rebooted on its own once. One thing I've noticed when tuning SDV channels, is with the large TiVo banner visible(which shows the detailed program descriptions), when the 'Press SELECT to record' message at the bottom appears immediately, the channel will be successfully tuned. 

What the tech did show me is that at the outside splits where he also replaced the cable connectors, the mail lead was tarnished.

Seems that the more we know, the more we don't...


----------



## mherdeen

The installer should be here any minute with cablecard and TA. I've got my tivo hd setup and updated to latest software version. Keeping my fingers crossed that the install goes well. Tech did mention on the phone this morning that this will be his first TA install. I hope that's not a bad sign.

-Michael


----------



## Lrscpa

TA installs are easy - many folks here do it themselves.

Cablecard installs should be easy - assuming they have been properly provisioned from the head end.


----------



## mherdeen

OK, so cable card install went fine, no problems. Tuning adapter still doesn't appear to be working. Installer said to give it an hour or so and then power it of/back on if it still wasn't working. Well it's 5 hours later an 2 reboots of TA and no luck.

I then decided to go through every channel on both the Tivo HD and then the Cablevision box (scientific atlanta HD/DVR Receiver) to figure out exactly what channels were missing without TA installed. Maybe this will save someone else some time in the same Cablevision area as me?

Aside from the obvious On-demand and IO channels, these are the ones I don't get on the Tivo without the TA working. We have the Silver package which includes HBO, Starz and Encore - we do *not *subscribe to Showtime, TMC or Cinemax

110 Universal Sports
148 NBA TV
223 Fox Sports en Español
349 Encore On Demand
430 NBA TV
789 NBA TV HD
790 MLB Network HD
801 HBO2 HD
802 HBO Signature HD
803 HBO Family HD
804 HBO Comedy HD
806 HBO Latino HD
812 Starz Kids & Family HD
813 Starz Edge HD
816 Encore HD

We could care less about the sports stations in my house so that leaves 8 movie channels that we can certainly live without. Given the issues being reported with the TA's, I think I'm going to pull the plug on it rather than deal with getting it to work and the possible reboot issues.

A big thanks to everyone here for your support. Doing my research here over the past week definitely prepped me for this install (not to mention I taught the installer a couple of new things).

-Michael


----------



## mb117

mherdeen said:


> OK, so cable card install went fine, no problems. Tuning adapter still doesn't appear to be working. Installer said to give it an hour or so and then power it of/back on if it still wasn't working. Well it's 5 hours later an 2 reboots of TA and no luck.
> 
> I then decided to go through every channel on both the Tivo HD and then the Cablevision box (scientific atlanta HD/DVR Receiver) to figure out exactly what channels were missing without TA installed. Maybe this will save someone else some time in the same Cablevision area as me?
> 
> Aside from the obvious On-demand and IO channels, these are the ones I don't get on the Tivo without the TA working. We have the Silver package which includes HBO, Starz and Encore - we do *not *subscribe to Showtime, TMC or Cinemax
> 
> 110 Universal Sports
> 148 NBA TV
> 223 Fox Sports en Español
> 349 Encore On Demand
> 430 NBA TV
> 789 NBA TV HD
> 790 MLB Network HD
> 801 HBO2 HD
> 802 HBO Signature HD
> 803 HBO Family HD
> 804 HBO Comedy HD
> 806 HBO Latino HD
> 812 Starz Kids & Family HD
> 813 Starz Edge HD
> 816 Encore HD
> 
> We could care less about the sports stations in my house so that leaves 8 movie channels that we can certainly live without. Given the issues being reported with the TA's, I think I'm going to pull the plug on it rather than deal with getting it to work and the possible reboot issues.
> 
> A big thanks to everyone here for your support. Doing my research here over the past week definitely prepped me for this install (not to mention I taught the installer a couple of new things).
> 
> -Michael


First two times I tried to install TA myself after picking up from a local CV store, they both didn't work. Blinking light never went solid after doing EXACTLY as instructions said. Tech came with one that worked a day or two after my self install try #2 and was complaining the whole time about how many problems CV was having with those "damn things". However, he was here 5 minutes and the TA worked exactly as it should. He was more surprised than me! I think there are a lot of bad TA boxes that are still out there from the original roll out and if I had to guess, CV puts the crap ones back in with the good ones when someone returns it because they're too lazy to take care of it properly. On average, the tech that was here told me customers have to install more than 1 TA to get it up and running initially. That is one bad product rollout....


----------



## Quitauna

I would like to know if the light in front of the TA stays on or not.
Thank you



Lrscpa said:


> The saga continues....
> 
> After several months of no TA issues, I started losing about a third to a half of the SDV channels in the 800 tier. Different channels each time. I would get the Tivo message that the channel was temporarily unavailable. My signal which was amped by a CV supplied amp at the Tivo (as opposed to the demark at the house) was running +3dBmv to -5dBmV.
> 
> Called Cablevision and escalated. Tech came and ran new run to the house, and another run from the first split (approx 75') to the second splitter that feeds the Tivo.
> 
> Even though my signal levels now run -8dBmV to -11dBmV, the picture quality is excellent, and I receive all 800 tier SDV channels. The TA has not rebooted on its own once. One thing I've noticed when tuning SDV channels, is with the large TiVo banner visible(which shows the detailed program descriptions), when the 'Press SELECT to record' message at the bottom appears immediately, the channel will be successfully tuned.
> 
> What the tech did show me is that at the outside splits where he also replaced the cable connectors, the mail lead was tarnished.
> 
> Seems that the more we know, the more we don't...


----------



## SCSIRAID

Quitauna said:


> I would like to know if the light in front of the TA stays on or not.
> Thank you


The light should be on solid (non blinking) when all is well.


----------



## Quitauna

If your TA is still working is great news.
I tried 4 TAs and did find a single one that works. 
QUOTE=mb117;7694868]First two times I tried to install TA myself after picking up from a local CV store, they both didn't work. Blinking light never went solid after doing EXACTLY as instructions said. Tech came with one that worked a day or two after my self install try #2 and was complaining the whole time about how many problems CV was having with those "damn things". However, he was here 5 minutes and the TA worked exactly as it should. He was more surprised than me! I think there are a lot of bad TA boxes that are still out there from the original roll out and if I had to guess, CV puts the crap ones back in with the good ones when someone returns it because they're too lazy to take care of it properly. On average, the tech that was here told me customers have to install more than 1 TA to get it up and running initially. That is one bad product rollout....[/QUOTE]


----------



## normthegreycat

So it seems obvious that firmware did not fix the problem that a lot of us are having with this TA and cablevision. Do you think it must has something to do with signal strength or splitting? I have a couple of questions if anyone feels like contributing:

1 - Is anyone experiencing this issue with a confirmed good signal strength or without a splitter?

2 - The folks that are experiencing the TA reboots: When the TA is NOT connected, do you ever experience any brief audio dropouts or brief digital pixelation type probs (video dropouts)?

I dunno... just trying to troubleshoot / eliminate things...


----------



## ADG

Has anyone had recent reboots? I know I'm tempting fate, but there haven't been any problems here for over a month.


----------



## Lrscpa

ADG said:


> Has anyone had recent reboots? I know I'm tempting fate, but there haven't been any problems here for over a month.


I too have not had a reboot in well over a month.


----------



## NJ_HB

ADG said:


> Has anyone had recent reboots? I know I'm tempting fate, but there haven't been any problems here for over a month.


no re-boots for awhile


----------



## pdonoghu

ADG said:


> Has anyone had recent reboots? I know I'm tempting fate, but there haven't been any problems here for over a month.


Last reboot for me was Sun Jan 17 2010 at 2:58:33 PM
On Cablevision out of Oakland, NJ head end. I'm on a UPS so can exclude any momentary power glitches as reboot reason. Not quite a month, coming up on 3 weeks this Sunday.


----------



## evanborkow

I had one this morning.


----------



## Lrscpa

After almost two months of flawless performance, (with signal levels at -8dBmV to -11dBmV), last night I had the dreaded "channel unavailable message on about 6 of the premium SDV channels. They came back within an hour, but two of the channels had severe pixelization.

I just don't get how this thing works.

There was a message in the TA Diagnostics - DAVIC: LOCK LOST

Is there any other message I should be looking for when trying to diagnose what the problem is?


----------



## ADG

Lrscpa said:


> After almost two months of flawless performance, (with signal levels at -8dBmV to -11dBmV), last night I had the dreaded "channel unavailable message on about 6 of the premium SDV channels. They came back within an hour, but two of the channels had severe pixelization.
> 
> I just don't get how this thing works.
> 
> There was a message in the TA Diagnostics - DAVIC: LOCK LOST
> 
> Is there any other message I should be looking for when trying to diagnose what the problem is?


In addition to the tuning adapter on one of my S3's I also have a couple of Cablevision boxes on other sets. I often see the "channel unavailable" on the Cablevision boxes too - it's a system thing, not a tuning adapter thing.


----------



## Lrscpa

ADG said:


> In addition to the tuning adapter on one of my S3's I also have a couple of Cablevision boxes on other sets. I often see the "channel unavailable" on the Cablevision boxes too - it's a system thing, not a tuning adapter thing.


Allan - I only get it on the SDV Premium channels. If it's a system thing, how come whenever I call Cablevision, they 1) can't seem to fix on their end, and 2) usually do not know what I am talking about when I mentione Tuning Adapters and SDV?


----------



## ADG

I can only tell you what I see on my end. And yes, it's always on the SDV premium channels.


----------



## pdonoghu

Lrscpa said:


> Allan - I only get it on the SDV Premium channels. If it's a system thing, how come whenever I call Cablevision, they 1) can't seem to fix on their end, and 2) usually do not know what I am talking about when I mentione Tuning Adapters and SDV?


1) SDV is used when there is limited bandwidth, only sending the channel when there is enough bandwidth. If other customers in your area have requested SDV channels, and the bandwidth is used up, you are out of luck when you request a new channel be sent.

2) First level Cablevision support barely knows what a cable card is, and has no idea what a tuning adapter is. Ask for the Hi-def department, and you will be routed to a higher level customer support rep who is familiar with cable cards and TAs.


----------



## Dr_Zoidberg

My friggin Cisco TA reboots in pairs. It usually happens within an hour of turning on the TV. I'm getting really tired of having this thing attached to my TiVo.


----------



## dturturro

Well, its been a few months, but my TA started rebooting constantly a little after 11 last night!


----------



## NJ_HB

Mine was also re-booting and this AM there was a new SW version on the TiVo.


----------



## Lindabel

I have a "technician" here for the third time, each one different, for all of the tuning adapter problems listed here - no audio on Channel 800, frequent re-boots, etc. This guy has been on hold with Cablevision Tech Support (the same one we call) forever, and then said it was fixed and left. We went back out and got him to come back in when Channel 800 froze and the Adapter re-booted again. He is now staring at the grey screen while the Adaper light blinks. He is clueless.


----------



## Doubleh613

I have two series3 tivos with two cisco 1520 tuning adapters. Both of my tivos loose conection with the tuning adapter. I am only a Cablevision customer for 4 weeks. I have had 7 visits from diferent techs. No one can seem to help me. Is there a fix for this or what. I called tivo support and they told me there is a problem with the Cisco 1520 TA, and i should call cablevision and ask for a different model #. I called and cablevision does not offer and other ones. Anyone have any suggestions?


----------



## normthegreycat

OK check this out... did Tivo change something in their recent software update? 

I had been so annoyed by these stupid TA reboots I just unplugged the thing for months.. so this weekend I decided to give it another whirl by taking a splitter out of the picture. 

Here is the weird part.. when i checked it out this morning I noticed my Tivo was recording but when I turned on my TV the TA is connected message was on my screen.. It rebooted but still recorded my shows.. anyone else seeing this?


----------



## Lrscpa

After a rock solid few months, the TA has been rebooting on almost a daily basis. I don't know if this is attributable to the 11.0g update, but the timing of the issue makes me suspect.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Lrscpa said:


> After a rock solid few months, the TA has been rebooting on almost a daily basis. I don't know if this is attributable to the 11.0g update, but the timing of the issue makes me suspect.


I would seriously doubt that 11.0g would have anything to do with it. TiVo should have no way to cause TA to reboot.


----------



## blacknoi

I go for stretches where its fine. Then sometimes I get multiple reboots a day.

I wish tivo would just add additional code that would stop the tivo from KILLING its currently recording programs, when it detects a tuning adapter (that just rebooted).

I have gotten pleanty of partial recordings due to the way its implemented (tivo freaks and stops whatever its doing once the TA is detected).


----------



## jimmyo258

It is very possible that you tuning adapter reboots are caused by lose fittings or poor shielded wire. I believe one of the carriers for the adapter operates in the FM band. Noise being pulled from the air can cause a spike and your done.


----------



## scrim67

I'm in Monmouth County and a Cablevision subscriber.

I don't even subscribe to any of the premium movie channels so should I not even ask them to setup a Tuning Adapter when they come to setup my TIVO with the CableCards sometime next week?

Sounds like the Tuning Adapter is more trouble than it's worth currently.

A good tip I read is to ask for the HIDEF dept at Cablevision when I call to schedule an appt. I'm going to ask for an installer who is familiar with TIVOHD setups.

scrim


----------



## cpgny9

I just reinstalled my tivoHD box with cablevision in NJ (I moved for a year and had to use directv). When they came to install the turner cards, they also hooked up the tuning adaptor, which was new since the last time I used the box. After the tech left, the tuning adaptor kept rebooting and I started to get partial recordings. I searched this forum, and saw all the problems eveyone had with this particular tuning adaptor. Anyway, this went on for a couple of days and I started getting real frustrated. I noiced a post where someone said that the tuning adaptor box gets real hot (temperature). 
So I unhooked the whole setup, put the tuning adaptor on a couple of wood blocks so that there is better ventilation and reconnected everything. Well, I dont know if I had a loose wire or putting the tuning adaptor up blocks did something, but since then (about 3 weeks now) I havent had one partial or missed recording. Once I came home to the "New tuning adaptor has been connected" screen (to be fair....I acidentally bumped into the box when I was walking by, so I may have very well have been the cause), but no recordings were missed on that day (I had 4 scheduled recordings and all were fine). 
So I am thinking that maybe the excessive heat was in fact causing the tuning adaptor to reboot. I probably just jinxed myself by writing this and will probably have a half dozen reboots tonight, but as of right now, its working the way it should be. If your having reboot problems, I'd try proping up the tuning adaptor and see if that works...cant hurt to try.


----------



## dturturro

It may just be the TA took an update and needed a hard reboot to finish. I've gotten frustrated and unplugged it before and plug it back in when I need to record a SDV channel. It then will work for months after that.


----------



## teziba

STA 1520.
Cablevision.
Firmware .1101 on the TA

Still having this issue since 12/09.
Everything has been replaced a million times. 
All the techs and CV reps fear me. 
Tivo is trying but nothing works.

Help.


----------



## dlfl

teziba said:


> STA 1520.
> Cablevision.
> Firmware .1101 on the TA
> 
> Still having this issue since 12/09.
> Everything has been replaced a million times.
> All the techs and CV reps fear me.
> Tivo is trying but nothing works.
> 
> Help.


Is it really .1101 ? The latest version I've heard of is .1001.

Also you might consider **this**.

In TA diagnostics what are the strengths (dBm units) given for FDC and RDC? These apply to the signals sent between the TA and the cable system and you can have problems if they are out of acceptable ranges.


----------



## Andyw2100

teziba said:


> STA 1520.
> Cablevision.
> Firmware .1101 on the TA
> 
> Still having this issue since 12/09.
> Everything has been replaced a million times.
> All the techs and CV reps fear me.
> Tivo is trying but nothing works.
> 
> Help.


I was having the same issue. Also replaced the tuning adapter. That did not help. What did help was having only the tuning adapter plugged in to a USB port. That meant unplugging the wireless card. The problem with the tuning adapter has not come back. Of course now I've lost a lot of the functionality of my Series 3 TiVo. I also I have to periodically unplug the tuning adapter, plug in the wireless card, force a connection (to get programming data) and then unplug the wireless card and plug in the tuning adapter.

This is a royal pain in the butt.

But it beats the alternative which was like playing russian roulette with all my scheduled recordings.


----------



## Lrscpa

dlfl said:


> Is it really .1101 ? The latest version I've heard of is .1001.
> 
> Also you might consider **this**.
> 
> In TA diagnostics what are the strengths (dBm units) given for FDC and RDC? These apply to the signals sent between the TA and the cable system and you can have problems if they are out of acceptable ranges.


On the TA Diags, I show n/a for FDC and RDC? Is this possible?


----------



## dlfl

Lrscpa said:


> On the TA Diags, I show n/a for FDC and RDC? Is this possible?


I never heard of this, unless you actually do have a different firmware version --- and it still doesn't make sense. The TA has to use the forward (FDC) and return (RDC) links for its basic functioning.

You never confirmed that your firmware version is .1101 (not .1001). Could you check that please?

If the TA isn't talking to the TiVo at all you will see nothing in the TA diagnostics, I think.


----------



## dlfl

Andyw2100 said:


> ....... What did help was having only the tuning adapter plugged in to a USB port. ........


Some posters have said that which port you have the TA USB plugged into makes a difference when you also have a wireless adapter -- in other words try swapping them instead of just removing the wireless USB.


----------



## Lrscpa

dlfl said:


> I never heard of this, unless you actually do have a different firmware version --- and it still doesn't make sense. The TA has to use the forward (FDC) and return (RDC) links for its basic functioning.
> 
> You never confirmed that your firmware version is .1101 (not .1001). Could you check that please?
> 
> If the TA isn't talking to the TiVo at all you will see nothing in the TA diagnostics, I think.


Firmware version* is *.1101. Plenty of Data in TiVo Diags - see attached.


----------



## Lrscpa

Lrscpa said:


> Firmware version* is *.1101. Plenty of Data in TiVo Diags - see attached.


One More...


----------



## Andyw2100

dlfl said:


> Some posters have said that which port you have the TA USB plugged into makes a difference when you also have a wireless adapter -- in other words try swapping them instead of just removing the wireless USB.


I have tried that, but I guess it's worth trying again.

For me the tuning adapter is currently working just fine if plugged into the lower USB port, and if the wireless adapter (TiVo brand) is not attached at all. I'll fool around with it today to see if I can get both of them working together, but I am not hopeful, as I have tried this before.

I even took the advice someone here gave (possibly in a different thread) to get a powered USB hub and try that, but when I did I wasn't able to get the Tivo to connect properly through my wireless network.

I'll mess around with all of it again today, and report back if I have any success.

Thanks for the advice.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Lrscpa said:


> On the TA Diags, I show n/a for FDC and RDC? Is this possible?


Sure... That says that it cant hear (FDC) or talk to (RDC) the hub . I think you have a cable or amp problem...


----------



## teziba

sorry, i was sleeping!
i tried to post a picture/link as proof, but as a new poster, i am not yet allowed to do such things.

current setup has tivo hard-wired via ethernet. we have tried alternating USB ports with the blasted adapter. issue is consistent regardless. even if the adapter is off with USB still connected (i've seen others report this as well). 

also
FDC and RDC both show "n/a"
but switched digital is coming in just fine at the moment.. as far as i can tell anyway.

it's nice to see so many replies after this thread has been dormant for so long.


----------



## Lrscpa

SCSIRAID said:


> Sure... That says that it cant hear (FDC) or talk to (RDC) the hub . I think you have a cable or amp problem...


But other than the reboots, everything works fine.


----------



## teziba

and wait for tivo to settle their beef with the fcc.

i don't think there's any hope for resolution.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Lrscpa said:


> But other than the reboots, everything works fine.


U certain of that? Does your provider actually have SDV in operation? If you unplug the USB, do you lose the channels believed to be SDV? It would seem hard to believe the TA is working with the info in the screenshots you provided. However, stranger things have turned out to be true...  There could be some wierdness with the 1101 FW?


----------



## teziba

i'm in the same boat. 
if the usb is unplugged, i lose the SDV channels. 
but with the TA showing those n/a statuses.. it works just fine (except for those reboots of course).


----------



## evanborkow

teziba said:


> i'm in the same boat.
> if the usb is unplugged, i lose the SDV channels.
> but with the TA showing those n/a statuses.. it works just fine (except for those reboots of course).


Same thing for me


----------



## SCSIRAID

OK... I had to ask...  Must be something unique to 1101. Not having access to the levels makes it hard to diag.

Looking back at the pics and RDC and FDC dont even indicate a frequency.... Major wierd.


----------



## Grumock

WOW that should make things even more complicated!


----------



## Lrscpa

SCSIRAID said:


> OK... I had to ask...  Must be something unique to 1101. Not having access to the levels makes it hard to diag.
> 
> Looking back at the pics and RDC and FDC dont even indicate a frequency.... Major wierd.


I haven't taken the amp out of the equation or tried removing the TA, but I thought perhaps there is a bug in the .1101 software that doesn't read these values.

But that went to crap when I pulled the following from a standard cable box on the other run off the first split.


----------



## dlfl

Lrscpa said:


> I haven't taken the amp out of the equation or tried removing the TA, but I thought perhaps there is a bug in the .1101 software that doesn't read these values.
> 
> But that went to crap when I pulled the following from a standard cable box on the other run off the first split.


Neither the TA nor the STB numbers make sense. But if SDV tuning is working, both the FDC and RDC signals have to be there.

You are in transition to SDV, right? What if they are using SDV edge QAM's but are actually not switching frequencies (yet), i.e., each channel is on a fixed frequency. Thus they wouldn't be using the OOB (out-of-band, which are the FCD and RDC) signals yet. It would be interesting to see if channels you know are SDV always have the same frequency shown in DVR diagnostics, as you tune to various channels over a period of time.


----------



## SCSIRAID

dlfl said:


> Neither the TA nor the STB numbers make sense. But if SDV tuning is working, both the FDC and RDC signals have to be there.
> 
> You are in transition to SDV, right? What if they are using SDV edge QAM's but are actually not switching frequencies (yet), i.e., each channel is on a fixed frequency. Thus they wouldn't be using the OOB (out-of-band, which are the FCD and RDC) signals yet. It would be interesting to see if channels you know are SDV always have the same frequency shown in DVR diagnostics, as you tune to various channels over a period of time.


Well... FDC has to be there even for linear for the cablecard to get the channel map and entitlements, but it can be intermittent and still be ok. The values from the cableco STB confirms that there is a significant problem with the feed though.


----------



## dowlingg

I have gone through two TA's with my Tivo, and it still reboots on a regular basis. I just had a Cablevision "technician" show up, and he knows nothing about TA's. (I specifically asked customer service to send me a knowledgable rep... to no avail.) He told me I would be better off with a cable box. I replied that it is not possible because my Series 3 DVR does not support a cable box... which is what started this whole nightmare since I got the DVR last Xmas.


----------



## Jackson&Jackson

The STA1520 rebooting is not related to TiVo. I have left it powered on but disconnected from the TiVo and have been "lucky" enough to see it eventually start flashing as it reboots itself. Good times.

Firmware .1101

Cablevision has been no help. I feel like I've been teaching them about their own equipment every time I have to explain what's going on (thanks to these forums).

I've gone through 4 TAs, 2 TiVos, and about 10 different CV techs. Why will they not provide an alternative to the STA1520?

I'll keep my fingers crossed that FiOS finally makes it to my area. I can't wait to have all of their problems as a change of pace.


----------



## dturturro

Because they don't make money renting us crappy SA boxes so they don't care about us TiVo owners!


----------



## teziba

the other new thing cablevision loves to tell me is that I'm the only one suffering with this issue although I've told them to reference this board several times.

for those that have been in the same boat i've been in,
I am requesting that you send me an e-mail with your 10-digit phone number associated with your CV/optimum account.

I know this sounds creepy, but I don't know what else to do to get them to understand i have a real problem.


another tech is coming today.


----------



## NJ_HB

http://www.cablerant.com/index.php?topic=2079.0

There may be an indirect fix coming according to this post. 
In the meantime those of you who are having boxes switched out and waiting for CV to do it are wasting your time.


----------



## teziba

shoot me.

he was supposed to be coming to re-wire from the outside up to our 8th floor apartment. i know this won't do ****.

i don't know what to do.


----------



## dowlingg

> There may be an indirect fix coming according to this post.
> In the meantime those of you who are having boxes switched out and waiting for CV to do it are wasting your time.


This would be nice... but -- in my case -- my family watches the iO in espanol channels. So this won't help for me.


----------



## teziba

who is STILL having the issue with the "a tuning adapter has been connected" message popping up after the TA reboots/resynchs/whatever it does?

This board has gone kind of dormant.. I want to see who is still dealing with it.. even if you've given up dealing with your provider.


----------



## blacknoi

teziba said:


> who is STILL having the issue with the "a tuning adapter has been connected" message popping up after the TA reboots/resynchs/whatever it does?
> 
> This board has gone kind of dormant.. I want to see who is still dealing with it.. even if you've given up dealing with your provider.


Every time my TAs reboot, of course I get the message. Happens at least once a week.

Likelyhood of me tuning the SDV channel I want to the first time? probably 80%. I just avoid scheduling any recordings on SDV channels and record the SD feed which is linear in delivery.

I'm certainly not happy with the tuning adapters performance or reliability, but honestly, what can you do? I've called in my tickets when they didnt work, but other than that?


----------



## Dr_Zoidberg

I get at least a pair of reboots daily. With mine, I get one reboot, and then, usually within 3 minutes, it happens again. Wreaks havoc with my recordings.

At this point I may try one last replacement, but it might just be easier to ditch the damn thing and use my S2 with a cable box to access the SDV channels.


----------



## bfwk122

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> I get at least a pair of reboots daily. With mine, I get one reboot, and then, usually within 3 minutes, it happens again. Wreaks havoc with my recordings.
> 
> At this point I may try one last replacement, but it might just be easier to ditch the damn thing and use my S2 with a cable box to access the SDV channels.


Don't give up on it yet...Mine was the same way and then, finally brought one with them when they made a service call and I have never had a re-boot again and it has be 6 months now...Not to say it won't happen any more, but for some reason the one they had with them was the best so far...


----------



## mherdeen

I gave up completely back in February. Pulled the adapter and never hooked it back up. Couldn't deal with the frustration. I live without the channels now.


----------



## dturturro

Mine started working a few days ago. Then it started to lock up my box, so I shut it off, again!


----------



## teziba

A few weeks ago, I decided I would start calling cablevision every day. I really started to play power poker. I wasn't backing down, I was sick and tired of month after month, giving cablevision the money for their beyond subpar service. They continued to send technicians, which of course only made me more upset.

Techs would always ask us if we considered using one of their DVRs. Recently I said we'd take a DVR if we could also keep our tivo (for which we have a lifetime subscription). We kept reminding cablevision that prior to purcasing the HDXL we verified with cablevision that it would be 100% compatible. They kept saying they couldn't just give us things for free. To which I replied, "but it's okay for us to pay for unreliable, crappy service."


Yesterday they finally caved. They removed the tuning adapter and installed a DVR cable box FREE OF CHARGE for us to use in conjunction with our HDXL. It's a little bit of an inconvenience, but at least now we get everything that we're paying for. Being able to record 4 things at a time now.. It's the least they could do after providing me with crappy service for almost a year.


----------



## Jackson&Jackson

That is a great workaround for a problem that will never be fixed. It costs Cablevision a few pennies to send out another box into the field and they don't have to field calls from irate customers. Everyone should try this.

As for what the flashing lights mean (the 2 minutes of flashing between the blue screen "tuning adapter connected" messages), one of the so-called experienced techs said that no one really knows. I'm glad they're so good with communicating with Cisco--that really make me confident in their problem resolution. Anyway, it can be re-created by reseating the power adapter, so clearly it means that the device is resetting (as opposed to the 6-blink patterns I'm sure most of you witness as you disconnect the USB cable to avoid blue screen interruptions when you're not watching SD channels).

Good luck to all in getting a spare cable box or even better luck getting a TA that doesn't constantly reset. I'll still be waiting for FiOS.


----------



## NJ_HB

My TA started re-booting once a day again, so I disconnected it for the Fall.


----------



## Lrscpa

NJ_HB said:


> My TA started re-booting once a day again, so I disconnected it for the Fall.


Check your signal levels - for me, when low; TA would reboot regularly. Took two supervisor visits, full new cable re-runs from the pole and an amplifier to knock my down to twice since June.


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## mlear

For what it's worth, my Cisco TA reboots daily, and mostly multiple times. When I get home from work and turn on the TV, I see the Tuning Adapter has been connected message waiting for me.

I'm not sure how to remedy this problem. It's completely frustrating, and occassionaly, when I am watching TV or recording a show, it dies and the Tivo RESETS ITS BUFFER!!! I'm about ready to drop the premium channels from Cablevision and just live off internet-NetFlix for movies.


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## Grumock

mlear said:


> For what it's worth, my Cisco TA reboots daily, and mostly multiple times. When I get home from work and turn on the TV, I see the Tuning Adapter has been connected message waiting for me.
> 
> I'm not sure how to remedy this problem. It's completely frustrating, and occassionaly, when I am watching TV or recording a show, it dies and the Tivo RESETS ITS BUFFER!!! I'm about ready to drop the premium channels from Cablevision and just live off internet-NetFlix for movies.


just curious. Are you using a wireless adapter as well? If so, have you tried to unplug it just for a day & see if it reboots anyway?


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## teziba

mlear said:


> I'm about ready to drop the premium channels from Cablevision and just live off internet-NetFlix for movies.


Why not just do what I did? You might as well get what you're paying for (and then a little extra).

ALSO
I just want to be a little more technical. 
Who ELSE has seen that when the tuning adapter is rebooting? ONE message appears, the light on the TA blinks for approx 2 minutes and then the second message appears (the same, tuning adapter has been connected message).

Does anyone know what the lights mean? I don't have the issue anymore, but I'm still curious.


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## Royster

I think I've had one issue with my TA ever. I wasn;t getting some higher number HBO stations and a technician came out, replaced some cable, restarted the box and it just worked. 

That's not to minimize these problems, but TA do sometimes work just fine.


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## teziba

Royster said:


> I think I've had one issue with my TA ever. I wasn;t getting some higher number HBO stations and a technician came out, replaced some cable, restarted the box and it just worked.
> 
> That's not to minimize these problems, but TA do sometimes work just fine.


Cisco STA 1520?


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## Grumock

teziba said:


> Does anyone know what the lights mean? I don't have the issue anymore, but I'm still curious.


Yes. Normally:
3 blink & a Pause is updating 
8 blink & pause is Brick mode & no SDV 
6 blink & pause is USB connectivity & no SDV until USB is reconnected.

normal reboot: light goes solid for about 15 seconds then starts blinking like a turn signal & eventually goes back to solid.


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## Royster

teziba said:


> Cisco STA 1520?


Yep.


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## hankuro

mlear said:


> For what it's worth, my Cisco TA reboots daily, and mostly multiple times. When I get home from work and turn on the TV, I see the Tuning Adapter has been connected message waiting for me.
> 
> I'm not sure how to remedy this problem. It's completely frustrating, and occassionaly, when I am watching TV or recording a show, it dies and the Tivo RESETS ITS BUFFER!!! *I'm about ready to drop the premium channels from Cablevision and just live off internet-NetFlix for movies.*


 That was my solution until wife insisted on Showtime for some program. However, I will not hook up tuning adapter ever again. We just don't get 2 of the Showtime channels which is better than losing recordings due to rebooting or having to switch inputs to a secondary CV DVR.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

bfwk122 said:


> Don't give up on it yet...Mine was the same way and then, finally brought one with them when they made a service call and I have never had a re-boot again and it has be 6 months now...Not to say it won't happen any more, but for some reason the one they had with them was the best so far...


Well, Today I got fed up. The TA crapped out while recording Big Bang Theory and Bones. I unplugged the TA from the TiVoHD, because I realized most of my channels don't require it, and so everything seems OK, BUT NOW, I can't tune to ABC HD, Channel 707.

I replugged both cable cards, and restarted my TiVo. No luck. I ended up calling Cablevision for assistance, and they told me to physically return the TA for a new one (big surprise), and they re-authorized the cablecards. No luck, still can't get 707. The woman asked me to reboot my TiVo, and offered to set up an appointment for this Saturday for someone to come and look into the channel issue.

Comments? Can anyone in NJ confirm that channel 707 requires the TA? The woman said that the way things are now, I'd only need the TA for channels above 800. I think I can live without 'em if it means I can be free of the resets.

The TA was connected, but not in-line with the TiVo. It's off a splitter. If I try looking at signal strength of the channels, it varies, but it's 75% or higher, and 0 on 707.

Ok, and on my S2 Tivo and Cable Box, 707 is fine. I'm willing to bet that if I reattached the TA I'd get it again.


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## berkshires

I am having a new install of service, cable cards and TAs today in the Bronx on 2 TiVo HDs. 

How much of the channel line up is dependent on a functioning TA? 

How likely are these TA problems?

Should I consider refusing the TA install today, or try it and remove it if its not working? Is it complex to remove?

Thanks.


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## mherdeen

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> Comments? Can anyone in NJ confirm that channel 707 requires the TA? The woman said that the way things are now, I'd only need the TA for channels above 800. I think I can live without 'em if it means I can be free of the resets.
> 
> The TA was connected, but not in-line with the TiVo. It's off a splitter. If I try looking at signal strength of the channels, it varies, but it's 75% or higher, and 0 on 707.
> 
> Ok, and on my S2 Tivo and Cable Box, 707 is fine. I'm willing to bet that if I reattached the TA I'd get it again.


I'm in Monmouth County (Ocean Township) area and we get all Network channels, including 707 without the TA. We had a TA installed back in December when we got our new HD Tivo and I removed the thing 2 days later due to all the issues. We've been living without it since. We do get many channels above 800 too.


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## SCSIRAID

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> Well, Today I got fed up. The TA crapped out while recording Big Bang Theory and Bones. I unplugged the TA from the TiVoHD, because I realized most of my channels don't require it, and so everything seems OK, BUT NOW, I can't tune to ABC HD, Channel 707.
> 
> I replugged both cable cards, and restarted my TiVo. No luck. I ended up calling Cablevision for assistance, and they told me to physically return the TA for a new one (big surprise), and they re-authorized the cablecards. No luck, still can't get 707. The woman asked me to reboot my TiVo, and offered to set up an appointment for this Saturday for someone to come and look into the channel issue.
> 
> Comments? Can anyone in NJ confirm that channel 707 requires the TA? The woman said that the way things are now, I'd only need the TA for channels above 800. I think I can live without 'em if it means I can be free of the resets.
> 
> The TA was connected, but not in-line with the TiVo. It's off a splitter. If I try looking at signal strength of the channels, it varies, but it's 75% or higher, and 0 on 707.
> 
> Ok, and on my S2 Tivo and Cable Box, 707 is fine. I'm willing to bet that if I reattached the TA I'd get it again.


I doubt that your cableco is using SDV for an OTA Network channel... they shouldnt be. Do you have other cableco boxes that can tune 707? Do you still have the splitter between the TiVo and the cable from the wall? Does anything change if you bypass the splitter and take the TiVo straight to the wall?

With a 75 for signal strength, I would consider using the TA passthru connection and ditching the splitter. The passthru has gain on the RF which should improve the signal strength a bit.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

SCSIRAID said:


> I doubt that your cableco is using SDV for an OTA Network channel... they shouldnt be. Do you have other cableco boxes that can tune 707? Do you still have the splitter between the TiVo and the cable from the wall? Does anything change if you bypass the splitter and take the TiVo straight to the wall?


Yes, as I said, I get 707 on the S2 with a cable box. After typing that up, I did remove the splitter from the setup and went to the wall directly, and even reset the TiVo, but as of this morning, still no 707. I do get some of the channels above 800, but not all of them, so I suspect that the main HD movie channels like SHO and TMC aren't SDV, but their other channels are.

I am going to replace the TA on Saturday morning before the tech comes, and I'll bet it works. Hopefully it won't reset (HA!).

I may try to push for an M card, regardless.


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## SCSIRAID

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> Yes, as I said, I get 707 on the S2 with a cable box. After typing that up, I did remove the splitter from the setup and went to the wall directly, and even reset the TiVo, but as of this morning, still no 707. I do get some of the channels above 800, but not all of them, so I suspect that the main HD movie channels like SHO and TMC aren't SDV, but their other channels are.
> 
> I am going to replace the TA on Saturday morning before the tech comes, and I'll bet it works. Hopefully it won't reset (HA!).
> 
> I may try to push for an M card, regardless.


So that tells us that there are no filters to discard the high channels which is a good thing to know.

Just for grins... you might try inserting the TA in the RF chain between the wall and the TiVo... no usb.. just RF. That will increase your signal level a bit... may do something or nothing... just another data point.

You mentioned that you may push for an M Card... do you have 2 S cards in it now?


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## njdtivo

I'm in New Jersey and you do not need a TA for 707.

In fact you really don't need the TA for much. I have 2 TAs sitting in my closet, never installed. The only things you lose are a small # of the pay HD channels (like a few of the HBOs and Showtimes), and I believe the foreign language channels. Most of them work just fine without the TA


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## hankuro

njdtivo said:


> I'm in New Jersey and you do not need a TA for 707.
> 
> I have 2 TAs sitting in my closet, never installed.


I agree that the best place to install the TA is in the closet - disconnected.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

SCSIRAID said:


> You mentioned that you may push for an M Card... do you have 2 S cards in it now?


Yes. I've had the TiVoHD before CV had M cards available.



hankuro said:


> I agree that the best place to install the TA is in the closet - disconnected.


I'd love to, but I want my ABC in HD, so hopefully I can convince them I don't need the TA to get it. I know I don't but the hard part is convincing them


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## blacknoi

SCSIRAID said:


> I doubt that your cableco is using SDV for an OTA Network channel... they shouldnt be. Do you have other cableco boxes that can tune 707? Do you still have the splitter between the TiVo and the cable from the wall? Does anything change if you bypass the splitter and take the TiVo straight to the wall?
> 
> *With a 75 for signal strength, I would consider using the TA passthru connection and ditching the splitter. The passthru has gain on the RF which should improve the signal strength a bit.*


I actually HAVE to use a splitter, as using the passthrough on the tuning adapter drops my signal down into the 50s and renders the tivo useless. Using the splitter I get in the low 90s. This is true of both my TAs.


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## SCSIRAID

blacknoi said:


> I actually HAVE to use a splitter, as using the passthrough on the tuning adapter drops my signal down into the 50s and renders the tivo useless. Using the splitter I get in the low 90s. This is true of both my TAs.


Are you using a Cisco or Motorola TA? Cisco has an amp in it... the Motorola does not (thats what im told anyway.. i have cisco).

If you have a cisco and its dropping your signal level... its defective.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

Well, got the new TA. Tried it powered on and inline, but not connected via USB, STILL couldn't get 707/ABC. Plugged in the USB, and then I could. Just for the hell of it, I left everything else in place, unplugged the TA's USB connection, and lost the friggin channel. Oh well, I'll find out what the deal is when the cable guy comes at 11...

I am beginning to wonder if 707 here is on SDV when it clearly shouldn't be...


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## Dr_Zoidberg

Well, today sucked. Had the cable guy here for 2 1/2 hours, and was then on the phone with TiVo and Cablevision for another 1 1/2.

The cable guy told me specifically that CV had rearranged some channels recently, like Channel 707,721,108 (all ABC) and 108,132,133 (WLIW). They are now at tuning frequency 699 Mhz. When tuning to any of those channels, I get 591 Mhz, not 699. Without the TA connected, he pulled the cards, and had them reauthorized and initialized. Then, he had the backoffice guy totally deauthorize them and reauthorize 'em. Still with the 591 Mhz. There were multiple reboots involved. Just for grins, we tried also using the TA inline, and it wouldn't finish authorizing. He had to leave to the next job, and was informed that I needed to call TiVo for more help, because apparently it's getting in the way of updating the cards. They also talked about getting me to s/w rev 14.1, which is only for the new Premieres. According to their site, the latest for the TiVoHD is 11.0j, and I have 11.0h.

Spoke to one guy at TiVo who had me check some things, and his computer locked up. I asked about the 11.0j release, but we didn't get very far because his computer locked up. I called back, and spent an hour re-explaining the situation to the new guy, and we called CV back and got their guy to reinitialize the cards. STILL don't get those channels. TiVo's recommendation was to have CV swap the Cablecards. I could not get the guy to do it because, in his words, both shouldn't have broken at the same time.

Here's what I don't understand - what device(s) hold the information on what frequency to tune for what channel? The TiVo guy believes it's either the TA or the Cablecards. Is it those, or the TiVo that has the answer.

New CV appt is for Monday, and hopefully this time they will swap out the cards as requested. The CV guy who came didn't have an M card with him, so I was SOL on that front.


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## SCSIRAID

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> Well, today sucked. Had the cable guy here for 2 1/2 hours, and was then on the phone with TiVo and Cablevision for another 1 1/2.
> 
> The cable guy told me specifically that CV had rearranged some channels recently, like Channel 707,721,108 (all ABC) and 108,132,133 (WLIW). They are now at tuning frequency 699 Mhz. When tuning to any of those channels, I get 591 Mhz, not 699. Without the TA connected, he pulled the cards, and had them reauthorized and initialized. Then, he had the backoffice guy totally deauthorize them and reauthorize 'em. Still with the 591 Mhz. There were multiple reboots involved. Just for grins, we tried also using the TA inline, and it wouldn't finish authorizing. He had to leave to the next job, and was informed that I needed to call TiVo for more help, because apparently it's getting in the way of updating the cards. They also talked about getting me to s/w rev 14.1, which is only for the new Premieres. According to their site, the latest for the TiVoHD is 11.0j, and I have 11.0h.
> 
> Spoke to one guy at TiVo who had me check some things, and his computer locked up. I asked about the 11.0j release, but we didn't get very far because his computer locked up. I called back, and spent an hour re-explaining the situation to the new guy, and we called CV back and got their guy to reinitialize the cards. STILL don't get those channels. TiVo's recommendation was to have CV swap the Cablecards. I could not get the guy to do it because, in his words, both shouldn't have broken at the same time.
> 
> Here's what I don't understand - what device(s) hold the information on what frequency to tune for what channel? The TiVo guy believes it's either the TA or the Cablecards. Is it those, or the TiVo that has the answer.
> 
> New CV appt is for Monday, and hopefully this time they will swap out the cards as requested. The CV guy who came didn't have an M card with him, so I was SOL on that front.


Without a TA, The cablecard provides the channel map and tuning resolution responsibility. With the TA attached, it takes over that duty.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

SCSIRAID said:


> Without a TA, The cablecard provides the channel map and tuning resolution responsibility. With the TA attached, it takes over that duty.


According to the tech, ABC in HD is SDV. The tech today came with an M card, and a new TA. He was going on about how TiVo isn't letting through the right frequencies or some such. When he had the cablecard in, I tried ABC and it was still tuning to 591 Mhz. He hooked up the TA and it was not tuning in ABC correctly. However, one of my cats walked over the power strip and powered everything off. When everything restarted, I was getting channel 707/ABC, at 699 Mhz, which the tech said is an SDV frequency.

Ah well, I'm leaving well enough alone. it's working now, so it's a workable situation.


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## hankuro

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> According to the tech, ABC in HD is SDV. The tech today came with an M card, and a new TA. He was going on about how TiVo isn't letting through the right frequencies or some such. When he had the cablecard in, I tried ABC and it was still tuning to 591 Mhz. He hooked up the TA and it was not tuning in ABC correctly. However, one of my cats walked over the power strip and powered everything off. When everything restarted, I was getting channel 707/ABC, at 699 Mhz, which the tech said is an SDV frequency.
> 
> Ah well, I'm leaving well enough alone. it's working now, so it's a workable situation.


Can I borrow your cat?


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## evanborkow

hankuro said:


> Can I borrow your cat?


:up::up::up:


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## Dr_Zoidberg

hankuro said:


> Can I borrow your cat?





evanborkow said:


> :up::up::up:


Hey, it's only been a handful of hours, give it time 

While I'm at it, can anyone in Central NJ tell me what frequency ABC/707 is? Tune to Channel 707, then go to Messages & Settings ->Account & System Information -> DVR Diagnostics look at the Tuner that is on Channel 707. What's the Frequency, Kenneth? Mine has it at 699000 Khz, aka 699 Mhz.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

Quick update - the Tuning Adapter has worked without a reset for all this time (no "A Tuning Adapter has been connected..." messages) since it was replaced on 10/4. Sunday night, however, I stopped getting ABCHD again. The TA was blinking frequently. I finally unplugged the TA and replugged its USB port, got the message, and it started working again.

Having it work without an issue for three weeks was far better than the previous behavior. Seems like it's working pretty well, otherwise.


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## Mr1iron

I just finally got sick and tired of the constent "Tuner adapter attached" That I disconnected the 2 TA's and put them in the closet. So far I have not noticed any channels that I cannot get. 707 is fine and so are much of the 800's.(the ones I tried) If it stays this way I can say that I will not miss the TA's. I have cablevision and live in Central Jersey.


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## hankuro

Mr1iron said:


> I just finally got sick and tired of the constent "Tuner adapter attached" That I disconnected the 2 TA's and put them in the closet. So far I have not noticed any channels that I cannot get. 707 is fine and so are much of the 800's.(the ones I tried) If it stays this way I can say that I will not miss the TA's. I have cablevision and live in Central Jersey.


 I believe you've stumbled upon the absolute best solution for Cablevision's Tuning Adapter issue.


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## tivolovr

I'm having the same daily rebooting problem with the same Cisco tuning adapter.

I can't believe two years in nothing has been done.

Cable company told me to call TiVo. But for what? It's not the TiVo.

Any update from anyone on this issue?


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## Royster

I still have them only rarely.


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## hankuro

tivolovr said:


> I'm having the same daily rebooting problem with the same Cisco tuning adapter.
> 
> I can't believe two years in nothing has been done.
> 
> Cable company told me to call TiVo. But for what? It's not the TiVo.
> 
> Any update from anyone on this issue?


 Just yesterday an upper level support person from Cablevision declared that Cablevision will eliminate the need for TA's by end of this year.

Meanwhile, the solution suggested by Mr.1iron _"I disconnected the 2 TA's and put them in the closet."_ remains the best one to my knowledge.

jvh


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## blacknoi

My TA's still reboot daily. I just accept it as it seems to happen in the wee hours of the morning. Therefore most of my shows do not get CLIPPED when a reboot occurs.

If it was happening during the day-part, I probably would care more.\

Otherwise I just expect to have to click "OK" past the "you've connected a Tuning adapter" screen, every time I turn my TV on.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

hankuro said:


> Just yesterday an upper level support person from Cablevision declared that Cablevision will eliminate the need for TA's by end of this year.


My problems have returned. First, I had a problem where my cable modem would spontaneously reboot itself in the middle of things. Then they had a tech come out and "make sure all the connections are good". He swapped some splitters and things seemed OK, for a day. Then the modem reset itself a few times over the next few days. I called them back, and they ran some diagnostics again and suggested I could avoid an appointment if I brought the cm in to one of their local stores. So, I did that, brought it home, plugged it in and had them configure it. So far, so good. So then I chose to turn on the TV and watch some stuff, only to find that the TA is blinking and I'm not getting any channels at all. Reset the TA and TiVo, and the TiVo's not getting a signal - it's going through the TA right now, and it's been that way since the last incident...

Called CV, and they heard CableCards and passed me on to that guy, who went a few rounds with re-initializing the MCard, and I kept trying to get him to realize "the diagnostics show the TA isn't ready" but he ignored me. Eventually he had me unplug/replug the TA to no effect. I'm having a tech come out in TWO DAYS. ARGH!

Meanwhile the TA blinks at me six times, pauses, does it again. Joy.

CV also said that they will soon have enough bandwidth to do away with the TAs. I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, I'll just act stupid when they tell me it's coming.

Chances are I'll split off the TA again, but i had to vent, first.


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## Dr_Zoidberg

Well, color me pissed. Somehow, when the guy was in last week, he broke one of my cables connecing to the splitter he reattached. My connecting of the cable modem must've jostled the cable enough that the center line broke. We'll see if the TA re-initializes, BUT at least I'm getting channels again after replacing the bad cable. I guess I don't need a truck roll afterall.


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## expandingman

I gave my parents my Series3, and their cable company installed a tuning adapter. Same Cisco model being discussed here. It reboots about every 10 minutes interrupting their TV viewing. Awful


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## Royster

Return it. It must be faulty. I have had perhaps two reboots in the last 2 years.


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## TVisitor

I'm in New Jersey with Cablevision. I have 4 Tivo HD units. I notice that at times one of the TA's will blink at a steady rate. However, I don't seem to be experiencing any channel loss - and the TA is required for HBO channels above 800 (i.e 801, 802, 803, etc.) They all come in fine. 

Indications seem to point to "don't complain" and I'm not going to, but I'm curious - from reading their documentation, it seems that the TA should go solid after about 15 minutes. It does in the other 3 rooms. This one room DOES have an extra splitter. However, I don't experience any abnormal dropouts or channel problems which usually point to a bad signal. 

Any thoughts (I realize when it comes the TA's, it seems quite like voodoo...)

What's this about TA's going away by the end of the year? Cablevision going away from SDV...? Would existing cablecards work still?


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## blacknoi

TVisitor said:


> What's this about TA's going away by the end of the year? Cablevision going away from SDV...? Would existing cablecards work still?


When you area gets converted to all digital (for example, Long Island is going to have that happen soon: --> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r26218444-Cablevision-dropping-all-analog-signals-on-LI ), SDV will no longer be used. This is due to the new freed up bandwidth from the old analog channels now being used for the digital channels.

Your cablecard will work just as it does today once SDV goes away, you just won't need the tuning adapter anymore.


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## jcondon

blacknoi said:


> Your cablecard will work just as it does today once SDV goes away, you just won't need the tuning adapter anymore.


By the time they get around to that in Dutchess County, NY I hope to be a Fios customers (again).

Our TA reboots 4-8 times a day that we notice. I might swap it out next weekend if I get a chance but really not to optimistic they will give me one that is any better.

Probably what is more likely is I will cancel the Silver package and then I won't need it at all. I think our promotion might be running out on that package and while we do watch a fair amount of Showtime doesn't hardly seem worth the cost and aggravation when recordings stop and Tivo isn't smart enough to restart them when the TA reboots.


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## dlfl

jcondon said:


> .......Probably what is more likely is I will cancel the Silver package and then I won't need it at all. ........


Are you sure about that? Not sure what the Silver package is, but typically if a system uses SDV, 50% or more of their HD channels (not just premium channels or packages) will be SDV.


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## jcondon

dlfl said:


> Are you sure about that? Not sure what the Silver package is, but typically if a system uses SDV, 50% or more of their HD channels (not just premium channels or packages) will be SDV.


Not with Cablevision. If I cancel the Silver package I have no need for the crappy tuning adapter. It's mostly foreign language and premium movies channels. I think even the Smithsonian channel is part of the Silver package.

http://optimum.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/651##sdv_services


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## jcondon

Finally got around to disconnecting the tuning adapter yesterday. Stupid thing was rebooting and not reconnecting. Got tired of it so removed it. Called today to remove the Movie package. Got them to knock $30 a month off the bill and only lost two or three channels we ever remotely watch.

Dropped the stupid tuning adapter off at their local store while out running last min errands.

Saving $30 a month for about 10 months and having my shows tape reliably is worth more to us that the two or three channels we lost (in addition to the premium movie channels we almost never watch).


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## Breeze

How do you know when the TA is rebooting? I'm all of a sudden getting popped into the TiVo "Tuning Adapter Connected" screen that disrupts recording. Did my TA just go bad?


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## Royster

I get that two or maybe three times a year. If you are getting it frequently, it probably needs to be replaced.


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## jcondon

Breeze said:


> How do you know when the TA is rebooting? I'm all of a sudden getting popped into the TiVo "Tuning Adapter Connected" screen that disrupts recording. Did my TA just go bad?


Mine would do that several times a day at the end. Even when it was newer it would do it once a week or so.

I agree with Royster a replacement is needed. Hopefully the next one will be better.


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