# Charter cable / cisco tuning adapter



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

Charter came out to install a cable card in my new tivo premiere. They had no clue what they were doing and had to call in a supervisor. Long story short i finally got it to the point where it would attempt to set up. Everything was going well then it got to a screen that said acquiring channels. It just kept saying 50% done and not moving. The charter guy left cuz he said it was closing time and to let it run and call him monday if any problems. Well it stopped after he left and it said unable to acquire channels. I got nothing. No tv. 

I looked how he hooked it up: the line into my apartment has a 2 way splitter attached to the end. One end went to my cable modem. The other he screwed into the cable out slot on the tuning adapter. He then took a cable and hooked it up from the cable in on the tuning adapter to the back of the tivo. He left me a usb cable in its package that he said isn't needed. 

So to me it seems he hooked up the cables incorrectly and forgot to hook up the usb? Or am i wrong? I hooked up the ta the opposite way he did and then hooked up the usb. I called charter and made sure all components were active and paired. I tried running setup again and it just stops at the acquiring channels screen again. I dont want to call back the original guy he had no clue. He told me he does 1 tivo per year and he has never seen "this new fancy one". He didnt even know it needed an internet connection he kept telling me it wasnt necessary. 

Any Suggestions? Going on day 3 with no cable. 

Edit to add: it is a scientific atlanta cable card


----------



## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

Did you (power down) reboot TiVo and t/a, after connecting the tuning adapter & TiVo correctly?


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

Teeps said:


> Did you (power down) reboot TiVo and t/a, after connecting the tuning adapter & TiVo correctly?


Thanks for the tip. I actually have basic cable now. The expanded basic channels are not working though. Is this probably something a phone call could resolve? I have all the basic channels in SD and HD.


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

So after a call to charter it appears I have all my channels now. However the light on the tuning adapter is blinking and the tech told me this is not normal and it should be solid. they want to send someone out to "fix it". 

what adverse effects does the blinking light have? what might not be working? i don't want someone to come out if everything works but they want someone to come.


----------



## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

Blinking green light on the Cisco TA is not normal if it is working correctly.

See the troubleshooting info here:
Cisco Tuning Adapter Status Troubleshooting


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

Spent about an hour on the phone with charter last night. They re-provisioned my equipment, paired everything again, had me reboot numerous time, I read them all the serials and nothing.

The light is blinking still. I notice I get most my channels but not all. I will have to have a tech come out they said. I have a feeling he is going to be as clueless as the first. 

I'm about ready to just get DirecTv


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

Just an unhappy followup to all this. I only got about 50% of my channels after the initial visit after all. After numerous tech visits and calls to charter they simply said, sorry we cant figure it out maybe you should rent our dvr. They told me to call tivo cuz they have no clue what is wrong since "no one uses these tivo things". I did call tivo and they said my equipment isnt paired correctly or provisioned correctly. So charter pretty much told to get our dvr or deal with half your channels. This is disgusting customer service. 

Looks like i may be have to sell my new TiVo and go to directv


----------



## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

Zenmaster2013 said:


> Just an unhappy followup to all this. I only got about 50% of my channels after the initial visit after all. After numerous tech visits and calls to charter they simply said, sorry we cant figure it out maybe you should rent our dvr. They told me to call tivo cuz they have no clue what is wrong since "no one uses these tivo things". I did call tivo and they said my equipment isnt paired correctly or provisioned correctly. So charter pretty much told to get our dvr or deal with half your channels. This is disgusting customer service.
> 
> Looks like i may be have to sell my new TiVo and go to directv


You haven't really given us much info except your travails with Charter. How is the TA hooked up now? Have you only used one TA? Did they change it out when it wan't working?

I have Charter in Riverside, CA. I can give you a number of guy who knows about this stuff if you are in this area. I have had two TiVos installed and both worked right off the bat with no issues.


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

UCLABB said:


> You haven't really given us much info except your travails with Charter. How is the TA hooked up now? Have you only used one TA? Did they change it out when it wan't working?
> 
> I have Charter in Riverside, CA. I can give you a number of guy who knows about this stuff if you are in this area. I have had two TiVos installed and both worked right off the bat with no issues.


Hey thanks for the reply. The ta is hooked up with the 1 line of the split coax coming into it and then a coax going out to the tivo. The usb is hooked up from ta to tivo. He did swap out my ta and cable card and had it all reprovisioned and re-paired but no luck.

I live in the san gabriel valley.


----------



## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

Zenmaster2013 said:


> sorry we cant figure it out maybe you should rent our dvr.
> 
> They told me to call tivo cuz they have no clue what is wrong since "no one uses these tivo things".


Time to escalate to a supervisor or manager.
Don't give up.

Can you get FIOS?


----------



## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

Zenmaster2013 said:


> Hey thanks for the reply. The ta is hooked up with the 1 line of the split coax coming into it and then a coax going out to the tivo. The usb is hooked up from ta to tivo. He did swap out my ta and cable card and had it all reprovisioned and re-paired but no luck.
> 
> I live in the san gabriel valley.


Like Teeps said, don't give up yet. Maybe this has nothing to do with it, but how is the TiVo connected to the internet? You have a router? Is the TiVo connected to it with an ethernet cable?

Have you rebooted everything including the router?

Here's a number of a Charter guy in Riverside. He may be able to help you or maybe he knows someone in the SG Valley you can talk to.

Monty (951) 343-5116


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

UCLABB said:


> Like Teeps said, don't give up yet. Maybe this has nothing to do with it, but how is the TiVo connected to the internet? You have a router? Is the TiVo connected to it with an ethernet cable?
> 
> Have you rebooted everything including the router?
> 
> ...


Yeah it is connected via an ethernet cable to my apple time capsule. When i go into the tivo menus under tuning adapter it shows "no tuning adapter". I have rebooted my whole system many times.

Thansk for the contact info.


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

They haven't provisioned your tuning adapter. If your TiVo is getting all the channels except SDV channels, then make sure you only talk to them about the TA. Otherwise, they will get confused and mess everything up. The tuning adapter does not even need to be hooked up to your TiVo to tell if it is working. If the light is flashing, then they need to activate and provision it correctly. Only then will your TiVo recognize it.


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

rainwater said:


> They haven't provisioned your tuning adapter. If your TiVo is getting all the channels except SDV channels, then make sure you only talk to them about the TA. Otherwise, they will get confused and mess everything up. The tuning adapter does not even need to be hooked up to your TiVo to tell if it is working. If the light is flashing, then they need to activate and provision it correctly. Only then will your TiVo recognize it.


I am missing many HD channels too. I called and asked them to provision and activate and they said they did.


----------



## Zenmaster2013 (Mar 14, 2013)

Well the saga is over. Got into a strong disagreement with a supervisor today and canceled my cable. He basically said it was all tivo error and wanted to charge me $50 for the visit this week. 

I will be going to direct. Anyone want a lifetime premiere?


----------



## keyzone72 (Oct 15, 2007)

Zenmaster2013 said:


> Anyone want a lifetime premiere?


Sorry to hear they couldn't get your issue worked out. I live in Whittier, I have Charter Cable and 2 Tivo Premiere's and everything is working. Can you please send me a private message regarding your asking price for your Tivo Premiere w/Lifetime?

Thanks.


----------



## Andy D (Feb 1, 2008)

keyzone72 said:


> Sorry to hear they couldn't get your issue worked out. I live in Whittier, I have Charter Cable and 2 Tivo Premiere's and everything is working. Can you please send me a private message regarding your asking price for your Tivo Premiere w/Lifetime?
> 
> Thanks.


Can you elaborate on your experience getting your Tivo's working?

I recently connected 2 Premieres as well, the tuning adapters just sit there and blink the 8 blink code.

One Tivo receives most of the channels, the other is missing some channels that it used to get.

I plan to call Charter when I have the time to troubleshoot, but I would like to know what I should know and be prepred to do to best facilitate the troubleshooting session.

Thanks,

Andy


----------



## keyzone72 (Oct 15, 2007)

Andy D said:


> Can you elaborate on your experience getting your Tivo's working?
> 
> I recently connected 2 Premieres as well, the tuning adapters just sit there and blink the 8 blink code.
> 
> ...


Hi Andy,

Where do you live?


----------



## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

The hardest part in getting CableCARDs and TAs working is talking to someone high enough in the support chain that understands how things work and not just go by the script. 

The CableCARD has to be provisioned correctly. This usually entails having the Charter person delete the paring information currently stored in their system for the card. Then repair the card. They need the S/N, host id, and data id. If they don't ask for all three then get someone else. Most of the time they will ask for the S/N and host id. In my experience when that is all they ask for, I end up not getting all my premium channels. After that is done they need to pair the TA to the setup. Finally need to make sure that they have the correct channel map assigned to your card. 

Usually I will reboot my TiVo when the above is done. If you are not getting the channels you subscribe to, go to the CableCARD diagnostic menu. If you don't have "Auth: S", then your card is not properly provisioned or you have the wrong channel map.


----------

