# New Hard Drive - Do I Need to Pair CableCARD Again?



## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

I sent my TiVo Edge to WeaKnees to have the hard drive replace. I figured the CableCARD was paired to the TiVo Edge by serial number/MAC address (it's been a while since I paired it). It was working fine minus the hard drive issues when I sent it off. Received it today with a new hard drive. TiVo itself is working great, but none of my channels are appearing.

Does a new hard drive unpair the CableCARD from the TiVo requiring me to call Comcast? Was hoping to avoid this.

WeaKnees did send the same unit I sent them so that's not an issue.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

southerndoc said:


> Does a new hard drive unpair the CableCARD from the TiVo requiring me to call Comcast? Was hoping to avoid this.


I'm afraid it does require you to call Comcast, or you can try their online tool.

The only way I'm aware of to avoid this is if the original hard drive is still running, and a copy is made to the new hard drive, either with software (like MFSTools) or a cloning dock. It is possible that Weaknees tried to keep your recordings and could not. Do you still have your old recordings? If so, that would be unusual to lose the pairing. If not, that is a pretty good sign the cableCARD settings are lost. The CableCARD settings are tied to the hardware, both the TiVo and the hard drive. Any change will generate a new set of numbers. What you could do, once you get the TiVo paired, you could buy a new drive, and make a spare backup copy.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

I called and was able to get it activated within 5 minutes.

Glad to have my TiVo back. At least the new hard drive bought me a few more years (until a power supply or motherboard failure).

I'm really praying that TiVo markets an IPTV DVR. There's no reason they can't do it technology wise. Doubt they'll do it though since it's not a money maker for them. Wouldn't mind DirecTV licensing their autoskip patents.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

southerndoc said:


> I called and was able to get it activated within 5 minutes.
> 
> Glad to have my TiVo back. At least the new hard drive bought me a few more years (until a power supply or motherboard failure).
> 
> I'm really praying that TiVo markets an IPTV DVR. There's no reason they can't do it technology wise. Doubt they'll do it though since it's not a money maker for them. Wouldn't mind DirecTV licensing their autoskip patents.


There’s multiple good reasons this won’t be done.

There is no IPTV standard. They already have IPTV DVR’s that work with their cable partners.

It’s not currently technically possible to create an IPTV DVR that would work off-the-shelf with any cable operator.

It’s also a non-starter since IPTV is not fully rolled out so potential customers would be limited. Your typical tv viewer (TiVo’s traditional customer) has no idea what method tv gets into their house so they wouldn’t know what to buy.

Tivo has never expressed much interest in catering to a techie crowd, they made things to make tv watching easier, not things where you have to understand what delivery system your cable company uses.

But also, again, the customer is moot since there’s no standard, making it not possible.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

IPTV can use software to decrypt.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

Weird issue since changing the hard drive... have the CableCARD paired again and can watch channels, but none of my shows are recording. WTH?!?


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## wjbatlanta (Jun 29, 2011)

southerndoc said:


> Weird issue since changing the hard drive... have the CableCARD paired again and can watch channels, but none of my shows are recording. WTH?!?


I had the same problem when I had to change cable cards.......basically, I had to go back to everyone program in my list and press 'enter' before any would record.
I called support - they had no clue.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

wjbatlanta said:


> I had the same problem when I had to change cable cards.......basically, I had to go back to everyone program in my list and press 'enter' before any would record.
> I called support - they had no clue.


What do you mean press 'enter' in the list?

Mine is about to drive me crazy. OnePass episodes will be listed as going to be recorded in the To Do list, but it doesn't record. When I look online at the recording activity, it says the status is not recorded.

Some OnePasses are recording (NBC Nightly News, Bluey), but many aren't (Yellowstone, The Good Doctor, etc.). 

I have the OnePasses set to record new recordings only on specific channels. Comcast has two HD channels (one in the 800 range, the other in the 1000-1400 range). I can tune into both channels.


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

southerndoc said:


> Weird issue since changing the hard drive... have the CableCARD paired again and can watch channels, but none of my shows are recording. WTH?!?


Try moving any item up or down in your list of One Passes. Any change there will force it to recalculate the To Do List.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

ggieseke said:


> Try moving any item up or down in your list of One Passes. Any change there will force it to recalculate the To Do List.


I've done that. The odd thing is that the show is in my to do list for a particular date/time, but it just doesn't record it.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

This is what I saw from the TiVo Online portal. This show was in my To Do list. I was watching TV and received a pop-up that the TiVo needed to change the channel of another tuner to record the show. It never started recording. When I looked online, this is what I found:










SD version said duplicate, one HD said not recorded, and another HD said deleted. Could this be a problem with the fact that channels are duplicated (SD, HD in 800 channel range, and HD in 1000 range? I have it set to record a specific channel (1046) which I confirmed I can receive.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

Cleared all OnePasses and ToDo list last night and repeated guided setup. Praying this works.

It's recording Bluey so far. My daughter was happy this morning (out of school due to being sick).


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

This is seriously driving me insane. Does anyone have any other suggestions I could try to see if it fixes this? At this point, my TiVo Edge is 100% unreliable.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

southerndoc said:


> This is seriously driving me insane. Does anyone have any other suggestions I could try to see if it fixes this? At this point, my TiVo Edge is 100% unreliable.


One thing that may be worth trying is to eliminate the duplicate channels. I always set my TiVo up with only the HD channels, and SD for the ones that don't have HD, for "My Channels" and "Favorites". So, in your case, select all the 1000 channels as your received channels.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

pl1 said:


> One thing that may be worth trying is to eliminate the duplicate channels. I always set my TiVo up with only the HD channels, and SD for the ones that don't have HD, for "My Channels" and "Favorites". So, in your case, select all the 1000 channels as your received channels.


I eliminated all the SD channels, but will do the same for HD. What's the major difference between 800s and the 1000s channels? The 1000s are more spread out (some in 1000 range, some in 1100 range, etc. all the way through 1600 in my area).

FWIW, I have specified the channel to record on some of the OnePasses. It hasn't made a difference.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

southerndoc said:


> What's the major difference between 800s and the 1000s channels?


here is Xfinity's response:


https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/channels-and-programming/why-3-of-the-same-channels/61b22715f069681686030055


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

Wow, the problems going on with my TiVo Edge are beyond belief...

I finally got it to record shows. My remote continues to have issues and I have to power cycle the TiVo to regain control of the remote (it goes into IR mode, a reboot of the TiVo fixes it -- taking the batteries out of the remote won't fix it).

To my surprise, when I rebooted the TiVo I had zero recordings listed. Yes, all of my recordings were gone. WTH?!?

I would've been better off purchasing a brand new TiVo and just starting over. Channels DVR is looking better and better every day. If only Channels DVR listed recordings like TiVo does.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

On another note, if I purchase a new DVR, can I transfer my existing subscription to the new DVR (I just paid the annual subscription renewal last month)?


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

southerndoc said:


> To my surprise, when I rebooted the TiVo I had zero recordings listed. Yes, all of my recordings


If your recordings disappear when you reboot, the hard drive isn't properly 'married' to the motherboard. The only solution is to run a Clear & Delete Everything on the unit.


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

ggieseke said:


> If your recordings disappear when you reboot, the hard drive isn't properly 'married' to the motherboard. The only solution is to run a Clear & Delete Everything on the unit.


Why would it not be properly married when I completed the guided setup when I received it (after WeaKnees replaced the hard drive)? I had to call Comcast to pair the CableCARD again.


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

southerndoc said:


> Why would it not be properly married when I completed the guided setup when I received it (after WeaKnees replaced the hard drive)? I had to call Comcast to pair the CableCARD again.


You would have to ask Weaknees, but that's exactly how an unmarried drive behaves. Since you already lost your recordings now is the time to run a C&DE (you will have to re-pair the CableCARD again after running it).


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

I gave up and ordered a new TiVo Edge. Hopefully it fixes my remote unpairing issue that occasionally happens and drives me insane.

Will I get a refund if I cancel the service for my current Edge (which I renewed in October)?


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## southerndoc (Apr 5, 2003)

Did the Clear & Delete Everything option and went through guided setup again. Surprisingly, I didn't have to call Comcast to pair the CableCARD again. Nevertheless, it's deleting recordings again. (sigh)

Brand new TiVo Edge arrived today. Took it out of the box and there was a rattle inside it. Was afraid a capacitor/resistor or something else was wrong with it. Got an RMA and ordered another. They are giving me a full refund on the one with the rattle.


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