# In order to start service on this device



## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

I recently came back to TiVo after a few years with DirecTV. I had Comcast install 2 M-Cards in my Premiere and Premiere Elite. Both cable cards say "in order to start service on this device please call (800 number)" in the cable card CA screen. Comcast says this is ok and not to worry. That usually makes me worry 

All of my channels are working fine. However if I have to restart the Tivo the cable card screen will pop up with the same message "in order to start service on this device please call (800 number)" A call to TiVo support, and I was told that Comcast will need to remove the two cable cards completely from my account and add them back. I called to have that done and was told that they can just "hit" the cards. This did nothing to fix my issue and Comcast will not go any further.

Now today on one of my Premiere boxes, the video was frozen and when I changed the channel I received a message that the channel was not available & to check my signal. I checked the signal strength on the TiVo and it was in the 90-95 range. I rebooted the box and after hitting clear on the cable card warning my channels returned.

What do you think I should do at this point?


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Call comcrap and have them fix the pairing on the cards. Inform them that since the service is not working, you are due account credit day for day until they get it fixed. Its a comcast issue, they need to fix it. Escalate up the chain until you get to someone that actually knows how cable cards work. Make sure they understand that you have no intention to pay for service they are not providing. $$ is the only thing that gets them moving sometimes.


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## andyf (Feb 23, 2000)

OR read this thread and contact the Comcast CableCard Hotline.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=483203&highlight=877


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

andyf said:


> OR read this thread and contact the Comcast CableCard Hotline.
> 
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=483203&highlight=877


I have called this number already. I got the number from this site. They were no help. Although at the time they tried to pair my cable cards I had a block filter on the pole outside my home because I had internet only since I had switched to DirecTV. Maybe I will give them a call again.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

I called TiVo last night and the support guy told me to look at a few CC settings. One of them said Auth Status - Ready. It is supposed to say Auth Received. I called Comcast and the guy re-paired both my CC's. Now they both say Auth Received but the Host ID screen still says In order to start service on this device. I'm not sure if I need to call Comcast again or not. The Tivo support guy also checked my SNR and RS Uncorrected and RS Corrected numbers and says that my SNR was too high at 37/38DB and that my RS Uncorrected/RS Corrected numbers are too high as well indicating that I have a signal issue. Comcast says that they can see the SNR settings on my cable modem and that they are normal.


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## turbobozz (Sep 21, 2006)

tazzmission said:


> I called TiVo last night and the support guy told me to look at a few CC settings. One of them said Auth Status - Ready. It is supposed to say Auth Received. I called Comcast and the guy re-paired both my CC's. Now they both say Auth Received but the Host ID screen still says In order to start service on this device. I'm not sure if I need to call Comcast again or not. The Tivo support guy also checked my SNR and RS Uncorrected and RS Corrected numbers and says that my SNR was too high at 37/38DB and that my RS Uncorrected/RS Corrected numbers are too high as well indicating that I have a signal issue. Comcast says that they can see the SNR settings on my cable modem and that they are normal.


Have TiVo do a 3 way call with Comcast to work out their issues.


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## MacQ2 (Oct 17, 2006)

In the last couple weeks I had some pairing problems with Comcast and my Premiere and after re-pairing it would take 20-30 minutes before my channels were authorized.

I went through this a few times - some over the phone and once with a tech onsite and all times we had this delay. 

One time I pulled the cablecard out and put it back in and that seemed to speed the process along - although it might have been coincidence.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

turbobozz said:


> Have TiVo do a 3 way call with Comcast to work out their issues.


I asked the TiVo support guy on the phone last night if we could do a three way call with Comcast. He said they don't do that. I think he is wrong.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

MacQ2 said:


> In the last couple weeks I had some pairing problems with Comcast and my Premiere and after re-pairing it would take 20-30 minutes before my channels were authorized.
> 
> I went through this a few times - some over the phone and once with a tech onsite and all times we had this delay.
> 
> One time I pulled the cablecard out and put it back in and that seemed to speed the process along - although it might have been coincidence.


The thing is, the channels are all working and have been for two weeks now. On occasion on one TiVo box I will see a video freeze and a channel change will show an error that the signal is not working (can't recall exact error) I reboot the TiVo box and it works again.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

I occasionally have had each of my two Premieres (on Comcast) tell me a particular channel is not authorized (sometimes it's one of the local HD channels, sometimes it's one of the HBO channels).

A reboot has fixed it each time, but it would be nice if the Premiere had enough smarts to figure out that if it's displaying "channel not authorized" on a channel that it is recording, perhaps it ought to indicate there's a problem (perhaps by flashing the red ring that alleges it is recording something).

Mike


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Comcast came out and the guy said that the signal is definitely an issue here. He said I have a "reverse tilt" condition. Not sure what that means. He had to schedule another tech to adjust the "pads" on the amp on the pole in front of my house. This was done on Sat. However the cable cards are still showing the same message about needing to call to start service. The SNR is better now (34-35 vs 36-38 before) but I am still seeing a lot of RS corrected and uncorrected errors. I still had the tech's cell number on my phone so I called him. He said that I should call the Comcast 800 number and have the pairing re-done yet again. If that does not work then I should try new cable cards.


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## Tico (Dec 10, 2002)

All of my cable cards say the same thing.

The 2 I have had in my S for several years and the 1 in my premiere...

Haven't had any issues. 

I would no worry about it!


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Tico said:


> All of my cable cards say the same thing.
> 
> The 2 I have had in my S for several years and the 1 in my premiere...
> 
> ...


Well that is good to know. Maybe I'm ok then. I still see some pretty high RS uncorrected/Corrected errors though.


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## zowwie85 (Jul 25, 2010)

RS uncorrected is worthy of a service call, provided the tech that shows up doesn't blame your TiVo because its unfamiliar.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

My Elite shows a lot of RS uncorrected but my standard Premiere is fine. Maybe a bad cable to the Elite.


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## L David Matheny (Jan 29, 2011)

tazzmission said:


> My Elite shows a lot of RS uncorrected but my standard Premiere is fine. Maybe a bad cable to the Elite.


I doubt that it's a bad cable. Others have reported the same problem with Elite seeing more errors. The Elite uses different tuner chips from other Premieres, and the new tuners may not be as good. Or they may just be more sensitive to too-low or too-hot signal strength or some other signal problem.

Recording four streams to disk doubles the data load the TiVo is required to handle compared to two-tuner models. The hard drives supposedly have plenty of capacity to handle the extra data, and we hope that other parts of the Elite do also.

EDIT: An Elite should handle at least six streams: four from the tuners to the drive, one from the Internet to the drive (when active), and one from the drive to the display circuitry. (Have I missed any?) A two-tuner TiVo has to handle two fewer, so the Elite has to handle 1.5 times the maximum data transfer load of a regular Premiere.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

L David Matheny said:


> I doubt that it's a bad cable. Others have reported the same problem with Elite seeing more errors. The Elite uses different tuner chips from other Premieres, and the new tuners may not be as good. Or they may just be more sensitive to too-low or too-hot signal strength or some other signal problem.
> 
> Recording four streams to disk doubles the data load the TiVo is required to handle compared to two-tuner models. The hard drives supposedly have plenty of capacity to handle the extra data, and we hope that other parts of the Elite do also.
> 
> EDIT: An Elite should handle at least six streams: four from the tuners to the drive, one from the Internet to the drive (when active), and one from the drive to the display circuitry. (Have I missed any?) A two-tuner TiVo has to handle two fewer, so the Elite has to handle 1.5 times the maximum data transfer load of a regular Premiere.


I find it hard to believe that a $500 Elite would not have a turner as good as a $99 Premiere. I'm going to run a new cable to the Elite just to see if the issue goes away. I have the cable running along the basement ceiling along with several CAT-5 cables. Possible interference? The coax also has a coupler because when I had DirecTV the installer cut the cable. I just tapped back into it when I switched back to Comcast.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

L David Matheny said:


> I doubt that it's a bad cable. Others have reported the same problem with Elite seeing more errors. The Elite uses different tuner chips from other Premieres, and the new tuners may not be as good. Or they may just be more sensitive to too-low or too-hot signal strength or some other signal problem.
> 
> Recording four streams to disk doubles the data load the TiVo is required to handle compared to two-tuner models. The hard drives supposedly have plenty of capacity to handle the extra data, and we hope that other parts of the Elite do also.
> 
> EDIT: An Elite should handle at least six streams: four from the tuners to the drive, one from the Internet to the drive (when active), and one from the drive to the display circuitry. (Have I missed any?) A two-tuner TiVo has to handle two fewer, so the Elite has to handle 1.5 times the maximum data transfer load of a regular Premiere.


The Elite has zero issues handling eight concurrent HD read/write streams. The two tuner Premieres have no problems with six concurrent HD read write streams. I haven't checked for seven streams on the two tuner premieres lately, but when I tried nine concurrent HD read/write streams on my second Elite last weekend it rebooted after 30 minutes of it. No issues with eight though and nine is extreme anyway.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

The RS corrected & uncorrected errors are showing up on the other Premiere too now. Looks like yet another Comcast service call.


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## replaytv (Feb 21, 2011)

If you check Comcast service reputation you will find that it is the worst or one of the worst in the industry. That reputation is richly deserved. Call them and cancel your service and tell them not to charge you for anything. 
Use antenna TV and save a lot of money.


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