# CableCard



## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

Does anyone know if Comcast will let you pick up a cabelcard tuner or do you still have to schedule an install for one?


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

huntermaz said:


> Does anyone know if Comcast will let you pick up a cabelcard tuner or do you still have to schedule an install for one?


In principal, Comcast will let you pick up a CableCARD, or they will send you one in the mail for you to install yourself, or you can ask for a truck roll.

HOWEVER, the answer you get from your local reps can vary widely, including the infamous "Comcast does not provide support for TiVo." Just know that what you need is a single multi-stream CableCARD (not tuner, the tuners are in your TiVo DVR) and that Comcast is required to supply it to you. Use the install method that you are most comfortable with.


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## consumedsoul (Jan 13, 2013)

yep - can easily go to your local comcast office and pick up, then call the cablecard activation # to pair your device (host ID, cable card serial # etc.) - be absolutely sure to tell them exactly which TiVo you have or some/all channels may not work. I was getting V58 errors for like a week JUST on HBO until a tech came out, called their dispatch and found out they paired w/ a 'Premier' device which was causing the conflict.



huntermaz said:


> Does anyone know if Comcast will let you pick up a cabelcard tuner or do you still have to schedule an install for one?


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

They are required to allow you to self install


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## scottfll954 (Jul 31, 2012)

Once you pick one up.. its a pretty simple process

Make sure tivo software is all up to date then call

The Xfinity/Comcast CableCARD self-install number is 1-877-405-2298 to activate a new installation.


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

Pick one up and it's a bad card. Will try again next week.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

huntermaz said:


> Pick one up and it's a bad card. Will try again next week.


There's a good chance that's not true. MANY if not most of the times it's because they don't provision/pair/activate the card correctly on your account. Did you call the cablecard hotline number listed a couple posts up when you activated?


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## consumedsoul (Jan 13, 2013)

HarperVision said:


> There's a good chance that's not true. MANY if not most of the times it's because they don't provision/pair/activate the card correctly on your account. Did you call the cablecard hotline number listed a couple posts up when you activated?


Make sure they have the correct TiVo device coded as well - my premium channels didn't show up until they corrected it from 'Premier' to 'Roamio'


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

consumedsoul said:


> Make sure they have the correct TiVo device coded as well - my premium channels didn't show up until they corrected it from 'Premier' to 'Roamio'


This post (and the last time you said this) baffle me. To my knowledge, there's nothing make/model specific about the way the CableCard is provisioned. I've certainly never been asked about what device my CableCards are going into in any of my installations.

I have to suspect that they did something wrong when they provisioned your CableCard, and the whole "premier" to "roamio" thing was a way of covering. That's just my guess, though.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

LoadStar said:


> This post (and the last time you said this) baffle me. To my knowledge, there's nothing make/model specific about the way the CableCard is provisioned. I've certainly never been asked about what device my CableCards are going into in any of my installations. I have to suspect that they did something wrong when they provisioned your CableCard, and the whole "premier" to "roamio" thing was a way of covering. That's just my guess, though.


True, as long as the Host ID, Data ID (Motorola) and Cablecard ID are correct in their system, then it should just work. I've actually told them I had a TiVo for simplicity when I was actually pairing Ceton and Silicon Dust Cablecard tuners.


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

When I inserted the card I got an 161 error and If you go into diag my TIVO doesnt even think the card is inserted. I tried the card in a MediaCenter PC tuner and it also doesn't see that the card is inserted.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

huntermaz said:


> When I inserted the card I got an 161 error and If you go into diag my TIVO doesnt even think the card is inserted. I tried the card in a MediaCenter PC tuner and it also doesn't see that the card is inserted.


Yep, sounds like a bad card!


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

HarperVision said:


> Yep, sounds like a bad card!


+1


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

Picked up a second card yesterday...samething as the first. Going to get another card today, maybe third time will be the charm.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

huntermaz said:


> Picked up a second card yesterday...samething as the first. Going to get another card today, maybe third time will be the charm.


You might want to pick up 2 or 3 this time and hope at least one of them works.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

I'm wondering if they're even programming his cards before they give them to him? If they're totally blank, what would they do when inserted into a device?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

HarperVision said:


> I'm wondering if they're even programming his cards before they give them to him? If they're totally blank, what would they do when inserted into a device?


I would think that the TiVo should at least recognize that a card has been inserted, unless the TiVo CableCard slot is not working.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I would think that the TiVo should at least recognize that a card has been inserted, unless the TiVo CableCard slot is not working.


But he mentioned that he also tried it in a WMC PC tuner as well with the same result.


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## huntermaz (Feb 18, 2014)

HarperVision said:


> I'm wondering if they're even programming his cards before they give them to him? If they're totally blank, what would they do when inserted into a device?


Well the third card worked. 

On a side note not sure what needs to be done to the cards from them to work but I think Harper is on to something. After the first card didn't work, i remembered that the Comcast DVR I have has a cabelcard in it. I took it out to try and use that and received the same 161-1 error and the TiVo wouldn't recognize the card. Wonder if cards have to be enabled for third party use.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I would think that the TiVo should at least recognize that a card has been inserted, unless the TiVo CableCard slot is not working.


I know that a cable card can look like it is not inserted into a TiVo as I had a cable card problem and when the Comcast tech came out he had the person on the other end of the phone re-build the card, and at first the TiVo said the card was unplugged than TiVo said a cable card was just plug in. All worked great after that.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

lessd said:


> I know that a cable card can look like it is not inserted into a TiVo as I had a cable card problem and when the Comcast tech came out he had the person on the other end of the phone re-build the card, and at first the TiVo said the card was unplugged than TiVo said a cable card was just plug in. All worked great after that.


As part of the "normal" process, when they are remotely working with the card, if they send the same signal that would reboot a whole leased STB/DVR, it will only reboot the cablecard in a TiVo. It will then say the cablecard is no longer inserted, until enough data is downloaded to re-establish communication with the TiVo. It can take up to 30 minutes, past that point where it will say a card was just inserted (but was never removed), for all the internal tables to then become fully download, processed, and the full functionality to be restored.

Cox calls it a "refresh hit", which doesn't sound like something that would reboot anything. But, it does. There have been times I had to tell them in advance, that I did NOT want such a signal sent, as I was in the middle of recording working channels, and didn't want to lose up to 45 minutes of recordings, due to losing all channels.

I've never inserted a card and not received notice its insertion was detected. But, depending on the cable provider and market, I can believe it is possible for a good card to appear bad (or the slot it goes into bad).

I'd say, in the future, that the first step to take if the TiVo fails to acknowledge the card being inserted, is that the user call their provider, and see if the provider can see if the card is inserted. Jumping to conclusions, without doing so, could make things harder than they need to be. I'm not saying this is common, or likely, just "I suppose it could happen this way".

Since a card will need to download tables, configuration, and authorization data, upon first insertion, pulling the card back out before waiting at least a reasonable amount of time, could be the same as pulling a flash drive, before it has finished receiving data, with the same possible outcomes/consequences.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

nooneuknow said:


> Since a card will need to download tables, configuration, and authorization data, upon first insertion, pulling the card back out before waiting at least a reasonable amount of time, could be the same as pulling a flash drive, before it has finished receiving data, with the same possible outcomes/consequences.


The very first time I inserted my card, it started downloading a firmware update. Pulling it out before that update completed would have most likely bricked the card.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

tarheelblue32 said:


> The very first time I inserted my card, it started downloading a firmware update. Pulling it out before that update completed would have most likely bricked the card.


Very true, and a great example of something that cablecards do upon first insertion, so long as the coax is also connected. Perhaps the TiVo somehow might fail to see the card, in some odd 1% situation, but the provider headend does see it, and pulling the card would brick it, from being pulled mid-update (or from losing power, or from rebooting the TiVo). Best to keep this in mind, before letting the urge to "troubleshoot" take over, with a new card.


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