# Upgrading to newer bolt. Transfer service, cable card and shows?



## casino187 (Aug 27, 2005)

I’m needing to upgrade to a 6 tuner bolt and have prepaid 1 year of service. Can I transfer the service to new bolt? Can I transfer the shows and onepasses? Can I do this with only 1 bolt having service? Also, will my cable card work in the new bolt without needing the cable company? Thank you for any help in advance. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

new service needed new bolt both bolts need tivo service to transfer shows you ne to call cable company to get the cable card working in the new bolt


----------



## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

It is unfortunate that you have to contact the cable co each time you move a CableCARD, but there is no way around it - at least with my cable co. Best thing - first thing to do in a call is make clear you are looking for CableCARD service and, hopefully, you get somebody who knows about it. I think I read here that some cable companies have specific CC people you can call directly.

As for transferring shows - just don't unplug the old one yet and you can either move them internally, through your home network, or you can log into your Tivo account and move them there.

I don't know how much truth there is to it but one person I talked to at Tivo a few years ago told me to not try and move all the shows or Passes at once because it might overwhelm the machine.


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

You might not need to call. It depends on your cable company, I guess. I got a replacement Bolt+ a week ago and the CableCARD/TA worked just fine from the instant I booted it up. This is a new location for me and previously in my old location I always had to call the cable company.


----------



## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

sharkster said:


> As for transferring shows - just don't unplug the old one yet and you can either move them internally, through your home network, or you can log into your Tivo account and move them there.


 Only if they get new service on the new bolt rather than transferring the existing sub.


----------



## cwb3106 (Jan 18, 2010)

sharkster said:


> It is unfortunate that you have to contact the cable co each time you move a CableCARD, ...


I'm sure the experience depends on the cable provider ... and maybe region.

When I upgraded from a Premier to a Bolt, I just moved the CableCard and Tuning Adapter from the Premier to the Bolt and powered up the Bolt. During Guided Setup the Bolt popped up the CableCard pairing screen which included the phone number to call. The number was specific to my provider and connected me directly to the network tech. The number was NOT the general help line. The tech walked me through pairing and all was good.


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

cwb3106 said:


> I'm sure the experience depends on the cable provider ... and maybe region.


Very true. I wish there was an online site. My cable feed is very nice and the CS person takes my information then gives it to a tech to perform. I get a call back in a few minutes asking if it's ok. I've probably made a dozen calls over the years and never had an issue. I'm pretty sure that my cable office only has two people using TiVo boxes. However, that will soon change ->Hydra coming to local cable company


----------



## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

rahnbo said:


> You might not need to call. It depends on your cable company, I guess. I got a replacement Bolt+ a week ago and the CableCARD/TA worked just fine from the instant I booted it up. This is a new location for me and previously in my old location I always had to call the cable company.


that might work if you don't have premium channels


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ajwees41 said:


> that might work if you don't have premium channels


I agree. But let me expand. My cable feed doesn't protect premium channels. The CCI byte is always 0x00. So I wonder if they really use the equipment number. When I got my first Premiere a few years ago they didn't even ask for it. Now they do. I've changed drives in almost everything, so that un-pairs the cable card, but there is no loss of channels. I don't have premium channels anymore.


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

ajwees41 said:


> that might work if you don't have premium channels


I have the Spectrum "Gold" package. So far so good but who knows as soon as I write this they'll all stop working.


----------



## Okiesnipe (Sep 5, 2017)

cwb3106 said:


> When I upgraded from a Premier to a Bolt, I just moved the CableCard and Tuning Adapter from the Premier to the Bolt and powered up the Bolt. During Guided Setup the Bolt popped up the CableCard pairing screen which included the phone number to call. The number was specific to my provider and connected me directly to the network tech. The number was NOT the general help line. The tech walked me through pairing and all was good.


This is my experience with Cox Cable.


----------



## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

JoeKustra said:


> I agree. But let me expand. My cable feed doesn't protect premium channels. The CCI byte is always 0x00. So I wonder if they really use the equipment number. When I got my first Premiere a few years ago they didn't even ask for it. Now they do. I've changed drives in almost everything, so that un-pairs the cable card, but there is no loss of channels. I don't have premium channels anymore.


cox protects almost everything


----------



## casino187 (Aug 27, 2005)

I wanted to follow up on my own post. I successfully upgraded to a larger bolt+. TiVo let me transfer the remaining several months on my prepaid service to the new bolt. Then temporarily activate the old bolt so I could transfer shows. When transferring shows don’t do all of them at once. Just like 20-30 at a time. My cable card worked fine in the new bolt and I didn’t have to call cox or anything. So everything seems to be working now. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

casino187 said:


> My cable card worked fine in the new bolt and I didn't have to call cox or anything. So everything seems to be working now.


Some rainy day you might want to call Cox to get your cable card paired.


----------



## casino187 (Aug 27, 2005)

JoeKustra said:


> Some rainy day you might want to call Cox to get your cable card paired.


Is there a reason for this? Maybe for pay per view or what? I really really hate dealing with Cox

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

casino187 said:


> Is there a reason for this? Maybe for pay per view or what? I really really hate dealing with Cox


No reason unless something stops working. I lived with an unpaired card for six month before I noticed. Also, my feed doesn't protect premium channels. I lost pairing when I changed hard drives.

In the cable card menu for Conditional Access there is a field "VAL" which will be "Y" followed by a number when the card is paired. It's a "?" when unpaired. Since you have received a channel list, everything will be ok until that channel list changes or something unknown happens.


----------



## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

JoeKustra said:


> In the cable card menu for Conditional Access there is a field "VAL" which will be "Y" followed by a number when the card is paired. It's a "?" when unpaired. Since you have received a channel list, everything will be ok until that channel list changes or something unknown happens.


I agree as I'd be concerned that he will eventually have an issue with it unpaired.

Scott


----------



## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

casino187 said:


> Is there a reason for this? Maybe for pay per view or what? I really really hate dealing with Cox
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


cox protects everything so unless you want issues you should have it paired


----------



## TheBigDogs (Oct 14, 2004)

Not pairing the cable card and TA creates problems in San Diego. 
Every time Cox changes the channel lineup I know to turn everything off, let it sit unplugged for a few minutes, plug it all back together and power up. If that doesn't work I have to make a call to get the cable card and TA in sync.


----------



## ellinj (Feb 26, 2002)

ajwees41 said:


> cox protects everything so unless you want issues you should have it paired


Not universally true, In RI Cox only protects premium channels like HBO, One of my boxes has an unpaired card because I don't care to record any premium content on that box. Also, you don't even really need the TA where I am unless you want to use VoD


----------

