# Verify CableCARD is paired correctly?



## teeitup (Mar 31, 2009)

Is there a way to verify the CableCard is paired correctly with my Tivo Bolt? The reason I ask is I recently had my Bolt+ out-of-warranty replaced. I just installed my old card in the new box and all my channels work but I didn’t have to call the cable company to have it paired to the new box. But if I go into the cablecard menu and test channels it shows good signal strength but no picture.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

teeitup said:


> Is there a way to verify the CableCard is paired correctly with my Tivo Bolt? The reason I ask is I recently had my Bolt+ out-of-warranty replaced. I just installed my old card in the new box and all my channels work but I didn't have to call the cable company to have it paired to the new box. But if I go into the cablecard menu and test channels it shows good signal strength but no picture.


Motorola or Cisco?
If Motorola, this is a paired card. Note the "VAL: V". But that's different from having the right channel list.


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## teeitup (Mar 31, 2009)

JoeKustra said:


> Motorola or Cisco?
> If Motorola, this is a paired card. Note the "VAL: V". But that's different from having the right channel list.
> View attachment 49036


Ok thank you. It is a Motorola and shows "VAL:?" so must not be correctly paired. Weird that I get all the channels. I've even been getting a few extra channels possibly due to free previews. Not sure I will even call the cable company since it is working.


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## KevTech (Apr 15, 2014)

teeitup said:


> Ok thank you. It is a Motorola and shows "VAL:?" so must not be correctly paired. Weird that I get all the channels. I've even been getting a few extra channels possibly due to free previews. Not sure I will even call the cable company since it is working.


Question mark does means the card is not paired correctly.

What all values should be: Tivo Customer Support Community


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

teeitup said:


> Ok thank you. It is a Motorola and shows "VAL:?" so must not be correctly paired. Weird that I get all the channels. I've even been getting a few extra channels possibly due to free previews. Not sure I will even call the cable company since it is working.


For some cable providers this is only required for premium channels.

Scott


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

You have to pair with the new box. No way around that. Any partial success at this point is only temporary.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

mdavej said:


> You have to pair with the new box. No way around that. Any partial success at this point is only temporary.


My unpaired Roamio boxes haven't had a problem in six months. I will get them paired soon though as there may be some unknown effect. My feed doesn't protect premium channels (I'm getting HBO & Cinemax this weekend).


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## teeitup (Mar 31, 2009)

JoeKustra said:


> My unpaired Roamio boxes haven't had a problem in six months. I will get them paired soon though as there may be some unknown effect. My feed doesn't protect premium channels (I'm getting HBO & Cinemax this weekend).


Your scenario sounds similar to mine. I don't think I ever paired the card back when I moved it from my Roamio to the original Bolt+ a couple years ago and it has always worked fine. If I try changing to a premium channel I get the message "In order to start cable service for this device, please contact your cable provider" and it lists all the cablecard data on the screen. Non-premium channels that aren't included in my TV package give a different "This channel is not authorized. Contact your cable provider for more information (V58)" message. I started getting the Science channel and a few other additional channels recently. Also getting HBO and Cinemax this weekend but believe that is part of a free preview 5/14-5/17.


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## teeitup (Mar 31, 2009)

HerronScott said:


> For some cable providers this is only required for premium channels.
> 
> Scott


That makes sense. I believe Starz/Encore is part of my cable package. Encore is listed on my bill but there is no charge for it. I recall getting it on my Roamio before I moved the cablecard to my original Bolt a couple years back.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

When I moved to my new house last month (same region and lineup) I was getting the pairing info screen when I tuned to Showtime, my only premium channel I get. But everything else works and I don't trust them to not screw things up to get it properly re-paired. And we don't really watch the content on Showtime any more (mostly had it for Shameless). So I am just leaving things as is. I took Showtime out of the CIR list so that we don't accidentally browse to that channel....

Oh, ETA, we are on a grandfathered lineup so it really wouldn't save us anything to get it changed....


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

teeitup said:


> Your scenario sounds similar to mine. I don't think I ever paired the card back when I moved it from my Roamio to the original Bolt+ a couple years ago and it has always worked fine. If I try changing to a premium channel I get the message "In order to start cable service for this device, please contact your cable provider" and it lists all the cablecard data on the screen. Non-premium channels that aren't included in my TV package give a different "This channel is not authorized. Contact your cable provider for more information (V58)" message. I started getting the Science channel and a few other additional channels recently. Also getting HBO and Cinemax this weekend but believe that is part of a free preview 5/14-5/17.


So your plan is to ignore all of that and wait for it to magically start working? I'll keep you in my prayers.


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## teeitup (Mar 31, 2009)

jlb said:


> When I moved to my new house last month (same region and lineup) I was getting the pairing info screen when I tuned to Showtime, my only premium channel I get. But everything else works and I don't trust them to not screw things up to get it properly re-paired. And we don't really watch the content on Showtime any more (mostly had it for Shameless). So I am just leaving things as is. I took Showtime out of the CIR list so that we don't accidentally browse to that channel....
> 
> Oh, ETA, we are on a grandfathered lineup so it really wouldn't save us anything to get it changed....


I agree about not wanting to screw things up trying to get it properly paired. I called my cable provider tech support last friday about re-pairing the card. The tech support rep didn't seem very familiar with cablecards but did a few checks and thought the card was paired correctly on their end. I'm not too worried about it. With the exception of Encore (which I never watch anyways) I get all the channels in my subscription and even some extras. Who knows, maybe I would lose the extra channels if the card was fully paired. It's also convenient that this card just works in whatever box I swap it to or if I change out the Tivo hard drive.


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## teeitup (Mar 31, 2009)

Decided to try calling cable co. to see about getting my cablecard fully paired so I would get the Premium channels in my package. Found out the Data and Host ID numbers were different in their system. It wouldn't let him edit the numbers without unpairing the cablecard then re-pairing it again. Everything works as expected now.


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