# Pairing Jail



## BruinGuy (Apr 16, 2015)

I got my new Tivo Roamio Plus yesterday. As you can imagine I was pretty excited. I had tried Tivo about 6 years ago but sent it back in favor of a Window's Media Center cable card tuner.

But this new Tivo is much different. A LOT to like. 

So, last night I connected to the network via Moca, and all was well. I popped in the Cable Card from my PC and voila! it just worked. I could do all the things I expected. Even the higher tier channels like ESPN, HGTV, etc worked fine. But, unfortunately, no HBO. Said I didn't have authority to it. That's ok, I thought, I'll tackle that tomorrow.

So, today I call Verizon and get a guy that knows nothing about cable cards. It happens. After about 15 minutes I give up, thank him, and hang up. Verizon has a computer attendant that can do the pairing via phone. So, I call that number, enter the card ID, host ID and data ID. It says it's pairing and it could take a half hour. 

I hang up, wait a half hour then look. Nope. Still no HBO. But, wait, now I don't have any of the other encrypted channels. All I can see is local channels. Crap, I'm worse off than when I started. So, I go through the automated process again. Same result.

Bummer, I have to call again. This time I get a woman that knows cable cards and Tivo. Woohoo. She sends the signal down. For a second I get ESPN but it goes away and I'm back to only local channels. She tries this again. She even decommissions the card and resends the info. I spend over an hour on the phone with her. She says that no matter what she does she can't write to the cable card. It still has the old host ID from the PC tuner.

Sigh. She sets up a FedEx of a new card that will arrive Tuesday. I'm hoping that fixes things. Otherwise I get the joy of missing a half day of work waiting for the cable guy.

Any other suggestions you may have that I can try before Tuesday would be very appreciated.


----------



## b-ball-fanatic (Aug 5, 2003)

There isn't anything you can do....pairing has to happen on Verizon's end. And there's no point in trying again with the old CC since they've already sent a new one.

Are you still thinking about upgrading the Roamio's HDD? If you are, wait to pair the new card until _after _you've done the HDD upgrade.


----------



## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Be sure to ask Verizon for a manual validation. Their regular methods are borked.

If you don't want to deal with the phone, you can follow and message @verizonsupport on twitter with the Card, Host, Data ID's and Serial Number printed on the card. They're superheroes compared to phone support.


----------



## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Verizon also has a Direct forum which has given me good results.

https://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzdirect

One other thing, you might want to check the Data ID again, I believe that changes readily even if you just pull the card out and reinsert it.


----------



## BruinGuy (Apr 16, 2015)

b-ball-fanatic said:


> There isn't anything you can do....pairing has to happen on Verizon's end. And there's no point in trying again with the old CC since they've already sent a new one.
> 
> Are you still thinking about upgrading the Roamio's HDD? If you are, wait to pair the new card until _after _you've done the HDD upgrade.


Thanks for the tip. Yes, the new drive arrives today (Sunday! Thanks Amazon Prime) so I'll insert that in preparation for the card on Tuesday.

The good news is that the guide works fine so I can go through the task o setting up my OnePass in the meantime. Good news is that I have my wife's FIOS DVR to keep me entertained.


----------



## BruinGuy (Apr 16, 2015)

BigJim and fcfc2,

Thanks for your help. This forum truly is awesome.


----------



## tootal2 (Oct 14, 2005)

BruinGuy said:


> I got my new Tivo Roamio Plus yesterday. As you can imagine I was pretty excited. I had tried Tivo about 6 years ago but sent it back in favor of a Window's Media Center cable card tuner.
> 
> But this new Tivo is much different. A LOT to like.
> 
> ...


When I moved my cable card from my pc to my new tivo roamio I could not get it paird. So they had to send a tech out that didn't like tivos. He put a new card in that was still linked to a old account and he had to clear the old account from the card but after a hour and half of tivo bashing he got the new card working.

He also seemed shock when I told him it records 4 shows at a time


----------



## b-ball-fanatic (Aug 5, 2003)

fcfc2 said:


> One other thing, you might want to check the Data ID again, I believe that changes readily even if you just pull the card out and reinsert it.


Yeah, that's the key....or at least it always has been when I've had pairing snafus. The Host and Card IDs are static, but the Data ID gets changed very easily, requiring re-pairing to get your full channel package again. It's very annoying, and it's why you want to complete any other changes and save pairing for the last step.


----------



## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

tootal2 said:


> When I moved my cable card from my pc to my new tivo roamio I could not get it paird. So they had to send a tech out that didn't like tivos. He put a new card in that was still linked to a old account and he had to clear the old account from the card but after a hour and half of tivo bashing he got the new card working.
> 
> He also seemed shock when I told him it records 4 shows at a time


I wonder if he would faint if you had a plus or pro that recorded 6 shows at once! LOL


----------



## rsnaider (Apr 25, 2002)

I have done this with FiOS many times and recently 2 weeks ago.

Dial the 1800Veriozn number, get into Technical support and tell the Tech you need to 'manually validate set top box'. Tell him this is for a TiVo and provide him the 3 sets of numbers.

In each of the past half dozen attempts, I was on hold longer then the process took. Once the tech hit enter, my HBO and other channels that needed a paired card worked.


----------



## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

As a non-cable sorta guy, it absolutely amazes me to read of the nightmare with cable cards--I had thought that part of the reason for their being was to make the cable startup process essentially plug-and-play. I would have thought that the cable company could just mail the cable cards out with an instruction sheet, no more complex than with AT&T's signing users up for DSL and mailing out a router with comprehensible set-up instructions.


----------



## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

Mikeguy said:


> As a non-cable sorta guy, it absolutely amazes me to read of the nightmare with cable cards--I had thought that part of the reason for their being was to make the cable startup process essentially plug-and-play. I would have thought that the cable company could just mail the cable cards out with an instruction sheet, no more complex than with AT&T's signing users up for DSL and mailing out a router with comprehensible set-up instructions.


There is a step that is not required in modems and that is the pairing to the tivo which requires info from the TIVO and also the signals to be sent to the card on what you are authorized. Even with cable co equipment they come usually with every channel authorized and then within a minutes to hours what you are supposed to get only works. But there is no way its as hard as most encounter. The problem is there are most likely a hundred million calbe subscribers nationwide and not even 1 million cable card users so the training and the chance of dealing with them are very slim hence all the problems. It would be like calling IBM for support on a floppy drive. Maybe not the best analogy but close enough to make the point.


----------



## rsnaider (Apr 25, 2002)

A new cablecard install from FiOS will include a pairing sheet and website URL.

Go to the site with a code from the sheet, enter the numbers from TiVo and you are done. It is an issue for many here when they move a cablecard to another box and need to have it paired again.


----------



## BruinGuy (Apr 16, 2015)

rsnaider said:


> I have done this with FiOS many times and recently 2 weeks ago.
> 
> Dial the 1800Veriozn number, get into Technical support and tell the Tech you need to 'manually validate set top box'. Tell him this is for a TiVo and provide him the 3 sets of numbers.
> 
> In each of the past half dozen attempts, I was on hold longer then the process took. Once the tech hit enter, my HBO and other channels that needed a paired card worked.


They tried manual write three separate times but the card would not be written to. It's almost as if the card was in read only mode.


----------



## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

joewom said:


> There is a step that is not required in modems and that is the pairing to the tivo which requires info from the TIVO and also the signals to be sent to the card on what you are authorized. Even with cable co equipment they come usually with every channel authorized and then within a minutes to hours what you are supposed to get only works. But there is no way its as hard as most encounter. The problem is there are most likely a hundred million calbe subscribers nationwide and not even 1 million cable card users so the training and the chance of dealing with them are very slim hence all the problems. It would be like calling IBM for support on a floppy drive. Maybe not the best analogy but close enough to make the point.


Sounds like an ideal situation for automation: go to a webpage, enter the info. that the cableco needs, and the pairing is completed automatically (I guess I've read of such a process here, but it sounds like the exception, not the norm--the process requires a cable guy to actually come on out and fiddle with the card? sounds kinda barbaric in this day and age).


rsnaider said:


> A new cablecard install from FiOS will include a pairing sheet and website URL.
> 
> Go to the site with a code from the sheet, enter the numbers from TiVo and you are done. It is an issue for many here when they move a cablecard to another box and need to have it paired again.


Exactly. But then even for a re-pairing, one would think--silly me--that the process simply could be repeated for the new box.


----------



## BruinGuy (Apr 16, 2015)

OP here.

The new cable card arrived yesterday. I put it in the Roamio Plus and went to the Verizon website to activate it. I put in the code and after about 5 minutes all was working again.

Now I have a quandary. They sent me two cable cards, not one. I don't know why. What do I do with the second one? 

Also, unlike the past, there's no return envelope to return the old one. Not even a mention about returning the old one like in the past. Am I supposed to just throw it out?


----------



## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

BruinGuy said:


> OP here.
> 
> The new cable card arrived yesterday. I put it in the Roamio Plus and went to the Verizon website to activate it. I put in the code and after about 5 minutes all was working again.
> 
> ...


Hi, Since the old and extra card are unlikely to be able to be activated and since you might find yourself being charged rental or possibly unreturned equipment, I would strongly suggest you call and or chat with Verizon and return the old/ extra card.


----------



## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Definitely don't throw anything out. Contact them to return 'em.


----------



## Anotherpyr (May 6, 2015)

I have to say I recommend using @verizonsupport on Twitter. Not only did they resolve the cable card issue, they fixed the things telephone support screwed up. I think I'll use them first from now one.

I must say the new Roamio beats the early edition premiere I have.


----------

