# Premiere+NDS CableCARD+Cablevision



## BBB123 (Jun 20, 2010)

We've been trying to get our Tivo Premiere setup with an Mcard from Cablevision (long island, coram area). The tech(s) have been here 3 times now, each time putting a card or 2 in the tivo and then the "cablecard decoder" screen is shown which states that the card is getting a firmware update. We have let it attempt this update for several hours and on different occasions, with no success. Finally, they waited while I called tivo while they were here. 

Tivo says that cablevision's cablecard (its an "NDS videoguard") needs to be updated in some way that the Tivo box cannot do but cablevision insists that it is the latest version of the firmware and TiVo is at fault. While the tech was here he was on his nextel with another tech experiencing the exact same issue with the same tivo box.

Does anyone have a primiere box on cablevision with similar problems or know a solution? Or, is anyone using cablevision+Mcard+premeire with success? Especially on long island area?

Today the tech adds... "so do you still have the box for the tivo if it doesn't work?" awesome. help please.


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## etz (Sep 8, 2006)

I had Cablevision install a cablecard in a Premier a few days ago. This was in Nassau County. Works OK. Of course this was the third truck roll and fourth cablecard. 

First tech brought a singlestream card, second brought a "bad" card and could not install, third tech brought another "bad" card, but he left and brought back another that worked. Even then, he didn't bind the card properly which required me to call tech support later that day (they fixed it from their end).


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## JGoldy (Jan 14, 2010)

I've had Cablevision M-Cards installed into two Premiere boxes for approximately 2 months now. Absolutely no problems. I'm in the central NJ area.


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## MrRob19 (Jul 3, 2010)

Hi there BB123, I too have had problems getting my new Tivo Premiere hooked up with the Cablevision M-card. This happened back in the first week of June (almost a month ago). A cable tech. came to my house and instead of installing the cable card to my Tivo like he was scheduled to he came to simply tell me that Cablevision was having compatibility issues with their M-cards on the new Premiere boxes. This was news to him that day and apparently a new issue to Cablevision as well. My f'in luck!! Anyway, he had told me to wait about 2-3 weeks and call back to inquire about it. End result was that I called last week only to get nobody, not one person over there that was even aware this problem/issue existed. Not one Cablevision tech. support person new anything about this!!! It's going on almost a month now that I've had to stare at my untouched Tivo Premiere box, which is just sitting in a corner in my room waiting desperately and impatiently to be used. I really don't know what to do at this point. If no one at Cablevision seems to know anything about this what the f*** am I supposed to do at this point?

BTW, what is an "NDS videoguard"?


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

I have had an M-card installed in a Premiere for about 3 weeks with Cablevision Suffolk County. While the installer admitted he had never done one before, there were no issues and he was finished in about 30 minutes.


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## MrRob19 (Jul 3, 2010)

I guess then, since some of you have had success with Cablevision's M-card I will schedule another appt. with a tech. to come by to install the cable card and cross my fingers that it will work the second time around.

I did have one other question though, I was told by Cablevision that in addition to the cable card I need to have them install a "tuning adapter" in order to get all of the channels. Did all of you have this installed with your card as well???


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## Darthsnipe (Jun 28, 2010)

MrRob19 said:


> I guess then, since some of you have had success with Cablevision's M-card I will schedule another appt. with a tech. to come by to install the cable card and cross my fingers that it will work the second time around.
> 
> I did have one other question though, I was told by Cablevision that in addition to the cable card I need to have them install a "tuning adapter" in order to get all of the channels. Did all of you have this installed with your card as well???


The tuning adapter is needed for certain channels such as some movie channels, International channels, and a few others. Unfortunately, I have had mine installed and my tuning adapter issues have not been solved. Have them install the tuning adapter and tell me your end result. I am in the Nassau County region. Check out my post on the forums and you will see what I have gone through. It should have been bumped a couple of times because I have still yet to solve my problem so I should have the post somewhere near the top of this forum.


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## MrRob19 (Jul 3, 2010)

Hi Darthsnipe. cable guy came today to connect the cable-M card to my Tivo (what a rip-off to pay $34.95 for this easy set-up ). And when I asked him about the tuning adapter he told me that they were having compatibility problems with them and suggested I didn't connect one to my Tivo. Since I don't get any of the channels I would be missing if I didn't have a T.A. this doesn't bother or affect me. Not a big deal for me unless I choose to get HBO or Showtime package in the future and want to get all of their channels.

I thought I'd also add that I called Tivo Support to question them about this as well. They told me that he is aware of the issues between the Scientific Atlanta/Cablevision T.A.s with the new Tivos (4 series) and you must just keep trying one T.A. after another until you get one that works...it's basically a hit or miss with them.
He also told me that they don't support the T.A.s, it's your cable provider that handles any issues.

Well, hope this helps you and I hope Cablevision is on top of fixing these T.A. issues real soon...but somehow I doubt it!


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## katz_jd (Jul 18, 2010)

You do NOT need a tuning adapter with the HD premier box and an M-card. We found this out after three visits from the Cablevision techs. As of now, we are getting all channels (Cablevision Gold Package) except HBO on-demand, which apparently cannot work with a one-way card like the M Card.


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## suzook (Oct 22, 2006)

katz_jd said:


> You do NOT need a tuning adapter with the HD premier box and an M-card. We found this out after three visits from the Cablevision techs. As of now, we are getting all channels (Cablevision Gold Package) except HBO on-demand, which apparently cannot work with a one-way card like the M Card.


This depends on the location...You must not be on a sdv system. The Mcard has NOTHING to do with SDV.


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## katz_jd (Jul 18, 2010)

We are in Suffolk County, Long Island.


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## suzook (Oct 22, 2006)

katz_jd said:


> We are in Suffolk County, Long Island.


So you are NOT using a tuning adapter? And you get all the hd hbo and shotime channels without it? Im in brookhaven, and cant get them without the adapter


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## don129 (Jun 29, 2010)

MrRob19 said:


> Hi Darthsnipe. cable guy came today to connect the cable-M card to my Tivo (what a rip-off to pay $34.95 for this easy set-up ). And when I asked him about the tuning adapter he told me that they were having compatibility problems with them and suggested I didn't connect one to my Tivo. Since I don't get any of the channels I would be missing if I didn't have a T.A. this doesn't bother or affect me. Not a big deal for me unless I choose to get HBO or Showtime package in the future and want to get all of their channels.
> 
> I thought I'd also add that I called Tivo Support to question them about this as well. They told me that he is aware of the issues between the Scientific Atlanta/Cablevision T.A.s with the new Tivos (4 series) and you must just keep trying one T.A. after another until you get one that works...it's basically a hit or miss with them.
> He also told me that they don't support the T.A.s, it's your cable provider that handles any issues.
> ...


Save the $35 trip charge. Call Cablevision and ask the 1st rep you speak with for the "Customer Service" dept. Once you get that rep, ask for a one time credit of the fee. They'll say they can't but keep pushing... they will do it. I just got the fee reversed on the installation of the M card for my new premier.


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## macgyver58 (Sep 30, 2010)

BBB123 said:


> We've been trying to get our Tivo Premiere setup with an Mcard from Cablevision (long island, coram area). The tech(s) have been here 3 times now, each time putting a card or 2 in the tivo and then the "cablecard decoder" screen is shown which states that the card is getting a firmware update. We have let it attempt this update for several hours and on different occasions, with no success. Finally, they waited while I called tivo while they were here.
> 
> Tivo says that cablevision's cablecard (its an "NDS videoguard") needs to be updated in some way that the Tivo box cannot do but cablevision insists that it is the latest version of the firmware and TiVo is at fault. While the tech was here he was on his nextel with another tech experiencing the exact same issue with the same tivo box.
> 
> ...


I was looking for a solution to my problem and came across your post. I also just bought a Tivo premiere and live in Nassau county. Trying to get my new Tivo to work with an M-card from cablevision and so far after 3 phone calls each to Tivo and cablevision and one tech visit I;ve had no luck. I was wondering if you ever got your problem solved. Im trying to decide whether to send the Tivo back although i would rather not.


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## MrRob19 (Jul 3, 2010)

Hi there McGuyver58 (BTW, my all-time favorite show), as you'll notice I've contributed a few postings to this thread concerning the same issue you are currently having. I don't know what's going on with the mess of a situation that people on LI are having with the Cablevision M-cards and tuning adapters but in my case (I'm from Freeport LI), the first time the cable guy came back in June he didn't even come with an M-card even though that was what I had set up the appt. for. Told me they had no more in stock but thought to come to tell me that although they were out of them, they're cards were having compatibility issues specifically with the new 4 series Tivos (the one I had) and that I should wait a couple weeks and call back to see if it was resolved with Tivo. So I did that (waited a month) and then called Cablevision to follow-up on this as he suggested and nobody - not one person - over there knew that they were even having any issues of this sort in the first place. So long story short, not knowing the answer I decided to just make another appt. with them for an M-card installation telling them to please bring the damn card this time...guy came, installed the card and BAM -- thing worked like a charm...no freakin problems at all. This was back in July. It's now 3 months later and I've had no problems since. So I honestly don't know what all the commotion is about regarding Cablevision and they're m-cards. It worked for me even though some said it wouldn't. 

My suggestion to you Mr. Macguyer58 is if it didn't work on the first or second install attempt try it again. Tell them this time to bring more than one m-card. I have a feeling that there are a few faulty ones and you just happen to get bad one. It's a hit-or-miss situation in my opinion. Keep trying because I know they work (on the 4 series). 

Now, the tuning adapters are another story. And I don't plan on bothering with them. I honestly don't mind missing out on a couple of channels (most of which I wouldn't watch in the first place). Good luck to you.


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## macgyver58 (Sep 30, 2010)

Thanks Rob. The most frustrating thing is that they dont seem to recognize there is a problem and then when they can't get it to work they just throw their hands up and blame it on the Tivo box. Then you have to go through the whole thing again with another tech.. over and over until someone finally figures out how to solve the problem. Every time you make an appointment for a service call you lose 4-6 hours of your day, but thats another issue.

I have another appointment for tomorrow since i was planning to be home anyway but i dont know how many times i can play this game. I honestly think they intentionally dont train their staff properly because they dont want the issue to be resolved easily. They would much rather you throw in the towel and rent a DVR from them obviously. If i wasn't such a stubborn bastard I might have given up at this point but i refuse to rent anything more from cablevision than i have to. They get enough of my money already.


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## MrRob19 (Jul 3, 2010)

I agree. They take enough of our money plus I also got frustrated with all the glitches in their Cable DVR (Scientific Atlanta) box. It was time to make a change and although a Tivo DVR is more expensive since in a way you're paying up front it's well worth it. It truly is the best possible way of recording TV shows and movies hands down. As for the Cablevision service, although the techs that come to your house are usually very nice knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to "their" services, they really are clueless regarding the Tivo. I went through 2 tech visits and many phone calls and thought I'd never get this thing working...but sure enough with patience and persistence it paid off. It made a month I had the Tivo sitting in it's open box unused and unconnected. 

I thought I'd note that the process of installing a cable card requires absolutely no knowledge whatsoever. It's a series of like 4 simple steps once insert the card in the back of the box. All you have to do is follow the instructions on the Tivo screen. All-in-all it took no more than 10 minutes the tech. to get it going. I wanted to do it myself but Cablevision refuses to let customers do it themselves probably because it's a real easy way for them to squeeze $34.95 out of your pocket and a last F.U. in your face for going with their competition. I tried to have them waive or reduce the install charge due to all the problems they'd given me and all of the hours I too lost from being stuck at home sitting and waiting for them each and every failed appt. I made. 

Well, good luck with the appt. you have today with them. Hopefully this will be your second and last one. Just a last suggestion, if the m-card he tries doesn't seem to work ask him to try another one that he may have on him or in his truck. I'm proof that they do work and I know someone else who has the same set up as me who also has had success and each one of us had a failure on at least one attempt with them. It's definitely their cards and it seems to be a luck of the draw with them. If it's not too late, maybe call them in the morning before your scheduled visit to request that the tech. bring more than one card with him (since it's very likely that he may bring only one).


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## macgyver58 (Sep 30, 2010)

Well The guy from cablevision has come and gone and i dont seem to be any closer to a solution. He tried two different cards and no luck. He claims the Tivo unit isnt reading the RF signal and Im beginning to think he may be right. Unfortunately Tivo support wasnt open yet while he was here due to the time difference, so I couldnt get him on the line with them. Next step is to call Tivo again i suppose and try to arrange for the unit to be exchanged. One thing he did notice is that the build date on my unit was June, 2008. Looks like they sent me a stale Tivo that was already almost 2 1/2 yrs old when i got it. There was also something on one of the menus that said it was unable to do a firmware update so maybe the unit is bad. I'll update this when i have a final solution.

Correction: Now that the cable guy is gone, I just realized he was misreading info on the screen. The June 2008 build time was referring to the cable card not the Tivo unit


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## macgyver58 (Sep 30, 2010)

Update: Spent the last 2 hours on a three way call with Tivo and Cablevision. After trying multiple different things including disconnecting the router as a possible source of interference and resending the hits to the cable card to bind it, taking the card out of their system and putting it back its still not working. Finally the woman at cablevision came across a notation that there is a known existing problem with cable cards at the woodbury cablevision office covering a dozen or more towns including mine . The problem is being worked on but no estimate yet of when it will be resolved and they dont know what the problem is. Im not sure why no one mentioned this before but there you go. Now i have to wait a week or so and try the whole process all over again. Managed to get an 30 day extension out of Tivo on the original 30 day moeny back warranty, but if this doesnt work itself out in the next week or two I think Im going to throw in the towel, rent a cablevision DVR and think about retrying the whole thing in six months. Uggg... well this has been a waste of nearly 20 hours of my life I'll never get back


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## MrRob19 (Jul 3, 2010)

I can feel your frustration.  All I can say is if that is the case that there is a "known existing problem with cable cards at the Woodbury Cablevision office" then why don't you tell them to import some cable m-cards from other Cablevision branches throughout LI or even outside the Island if they have to. If it's a location issue. But I have a feeling there may be more to it than that. Problem is is that they're not doing anything about it and that doesn't surprise me. :down:

Well, other than that I don't know what else to tell you. I'm in Nassau county (Freeport) like you and although I had my problems initially I did finally get a card that worked. I don't know if that was luck, location or what but it's up and running and hasn't let me down yet (shouldn't have said that, don't wanna jinx myself). I know I'm not the only one with functioning m-cards in the new 4 series Tivo boxes either. 

So, good luck to you my friend. Hopefully they resolve these issues real soon before your extended money back warranty is up.


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## tjtv (Jul 3, 2007)

There is a cablevision mailing list on "Yahoo Groups". I suggest you register for it and post your story there. There is a senior executive named Wilt Hildebrand who monitors that group, and if he sees a story like this I'm sure he will offer to help you out.


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## briang5 (Jul 6, 2002)

Its threads like this that have me still using a Series 2. However, its time to upgrade, but this sort of thread is pure insantiy. It seems like it really shouldnt be this complicated.

In any event, I also feel your pain.

Can anyone provde more information on the 12 towns with the problem (I am in Massapequa)? I mean, that almost sounds like a bogus excuse, but I would like to know about it anyway and maybe use the information to help decide when to upgrade.

Also, I can second the recommendation about Walt, he helped me out many yeears ago (this reminds me to see if I can still sign into Yahoo groups).


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## briang5 (Jul 6, 2002)

Any updates on your progress ?


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## macgyver58 (Sep 30, 2010)

well after three cable tech visits and tons of phone calls including a three way phone call with tivo and cable all with no success i decided to demand a new Tivo unit. Got the new one today. put in the M-card and called cable to bind it ( which by the way three techs told me you COULD NOT DO over the phone) and bingo. It works. I wasted 20 hours of my life trying to bind a defective Tivo unit. At least now Im in business. Thx for the help everyone


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## MrRob19 (Jul 3, 2010)

MacGyver58 just wanted to say congratulations finally getting the Cablevisions' M-card to work with your Tivo after so many attempts. Go figure, it ended up being a defective Tivo box. Looks like Tivo's to blame on this one. Anyway, I'm happy you got it up and running. Enjoy your new DVR!!


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## cfcubed (Jul 20, 2005)

As a Tivo DualTuner user that passed on prior/expensive Tivo HDs, I took the plunge on a new Premiere. Rec'd it yesterday & started trying to get it usable at 7PM w/M-Cablecard in hand for self install. No go yet.
How much of the disappointment lies with Cablevision (Raritan Valley NJ) or how much lies w/Tivo corp is unclear right now. Posting so others entering these waters know what can go wrong (times approx - I checked every 15 mins or so).

*7PM* yesterday - unbox & wire in - direct cable/HDMI/WPA2 wireless. So far so good.
... during setup Tivo asks for M-card. Insert it. Call Cablevision to bind/auth. *They say its done but I only get basic channels, nowhere near what I'm paying for.*
*8PM* - decide maybe the tivo needs its OS update (to 14.5) & setup starts that.
... *8:45pm download of update fails* (disconnect) - my LAN is fine this looks like tivo server problems.
... *9:15pm download of update fails again*. Give it another whirl.
*10:15pm* Download complete! Tivo reboots & says it will take at least one hour to do so.
*11:00pm* Tivo has finally finished rebooting, but nothing but basic channels. Enough for today.
*7:30am today *- Call Cablevision to re-bind. Tech says he's pushing update to M-card. We wait. Still no channels beyond basic cable. Make appointment for tech to come this weekend.  Ugh. BTW m-card reads Authorized.
*8am* - A bit of time before going to work. Hey, I've Netflix 2-DVD-at-a-time plan & can watch Instant Queue movies no problem on PCs... Let me give NETFLIX a whirl on the PREMIERE.
... *8:15am* Using the Netflix code / activate ... WHAT? I have to upgrade to an UNLIMITED NETFLIX PLAN to watch the Instant Queue on Tivo !?!?! Yep, the fine print says that, but that's not needed for PC watching - more $$$ to spend?. Ugh.

So just saying don't be so sure that your out-of-the-box Premiere experience is going to be _anything _like you are lead to believe from your cable co ("Just one simple call to bind your CableCard and in minutes you'll be enjoying...") or Tivo.


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## macgyver58 (Sep 30, 2010)

cfcubed said:


> [*]*8am* - A bit of time before going to work. Hey, I've Netflix 2-DVD-at-a-time plan & can watch Instant Queue movies no problem on PCs... Let me give NETFLIX a whirl on the PREMIERE.
> [*]... *8:15am* Using the Netflix code / activate ... WHAT? I have to upgrade to an UNLIMITED NETFLIX PLAN to watch the Instant Queue on Tivo !?!?! Yep, the fine print says that, but that's not needed for PC watching - more $$$ to spend?. Ugh.


I had the same problem with Netflix. Had the 2 at a time, 4 per month plan but i actually downgraded to the 1 at a time unlimited plan which works fine with the Tivo and actually saved me a $1/month so it doesnt have to cost youmore if you make that change


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## cfcubed (Jul 20, 2005)

macgyver58 said:


> I had the same problem with Netflix. Had the 2 at a time, 4 per month plan but i actually downgraded to the 1 at a time unlimited plan which works fine with the Tivo and actually saved me a $1/month so it doesnt have to cost youmore if you make that change


Thanks. Having the same plan as yours, I see I can downgrade as you did to 1 DVD @ a time or up to 2 DVDs @ a time, either unlimited. 
For me I think its -$2/mo or +2$/mo. If netflix plays well on the premiere guess its down to the same plan you choose.


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## macgyver58 (Sep 30, 2010)

cfcubed said:


> Thanks. Having the same plan as yours, I see I can downgrade as you did to 1 DVD @ a time or up to 2 DVDs @ a time, either unlimited.
> For me I think its -$2/mo or +2$/mo. If netflix plays well on the premiere guess its down to the same plan you choose.


 I have watched a half dozen Netflix movies/ TV shoes on the Premiere so far and its worked fine. Very happy that i wont have to hook up the computer to the TV any more. Just be aware that once you change your plan you wont be able to go back. They dont offer the 2 at a time, 4/mth plan anymore. I actually like this plan better though. I don't have to worry about using up my quota for the month now.


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## tattube (Oct 24, 2010)

cfcubed said:


> [*]... during setup Tivo asks for M-card. Insert it. Call Cablevision to bind/auth. *They say its done but I only get basic channels, nowhere near what I'm paying for.*


I had the same problem with comcast in California.
Turns out that when I traded in my comcast HD box for the M-card someone at comcast forgot to enter that info in the computer.
I had a tech come out to troubleshoot and he noticed the discrepancy right away...his paperwork showed he was coming to work on a set-top box issue, this even though I had asked the phone rep to make sure the tech brought another M-card.
The tech made a phone call and voila - all my channels were there.
Of course, I later had to call comcast to have them remove the home visit charge.


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## cfcubed (Jul 20, 2005)

So Sunday the cablevision tech comes out & when he hears he's diaging a Tivo/M-Card install he says "Oh, we're having problems with that." He says that two or three times, I guess to prep me for it not being fixed.

He proceeds to man-handle my tivo box & then trying to re-bind/auth the card - no go. Then he swaps a different M-card in, authorizes/binds that one & voila - get all the channels I'm supposed to have. So it _seems_ a bad card issue... Feel bad for the next customer that gets my bad M-card 
BTW, Cablevision did this service call for free, perhaps because of the problems I'd gone through with it.

And as macgyver58s related, watched a Netflix instant queue movie last night on the premiere & was happy with it. It was HD & came through fine. Of course you can't slew around the movie much w/o (buffering/download) delays, but pausing works well.

Bottom-line - Happy now w/the unit & will be keeping it.


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