# Cablevision SDV Tuning Adaptor - Problems?



## ThomC (Nov 4, 2003)

Having had many issues with my S3's since getting the SDV tuning adaptor,
I'm curious what other users' experiences are.
Please elaborate any issues.

I have 2 S3's with tuning adaptors.
One has worked fine 100&#37; of the time.

The other has had constant problems including the dread green screen of doom.
I've tried everything but getting a new SDV box.
Will try to trade in the problematic one when I get a chance.


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## NJ_HB (Mar 21, 2007)

MRV - My S2s will no longer see the TiVoHD since the TA was installed.
Pixelation more prevalent than before.


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

Both of my Tivos (S3 and HD) about 40&#37; of the time cannot tune the channel of my choice thats SDV.

I'll get 

"channel temporarily unavailable"
black screen
NO SIGNAL

When it does work often I'll get random periods of pixelization then its clear again for several minutes.

Also had them "freeze" and I had to recycle the power.

Finally, the passthrough on the tuning adapter cuts the signal from 90 down to 69 ...from 63 to 42. SO I had to buy a splitter to run one run to the TA, and one straight to the tivo. Then USB to TA.

Oh and they will randomly reboot themselves..... and therefore I get kicked out of my live show, or my recorded program, only to be thrown into the "a tuning adapter has been attached" screen. And if i'm watching a show, it forgets where in the show I was, and starts me from the beginning.


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## ycrazyy (Dec 2, 2001)

I guess I have been fortunate. I have only installed the TA on one of my TiVoHD's so far (haven't had the time to do the other). But the whole process was quick and painless. I had read about the signal degradation before hand and bought splitters and cables so as to avoid the issue altogether. Setting up was a snap and the CSR's at CV actually knew what I was talking about right off the bat and he me up and running in under 5 minutes. Keeping my fingers crossed that TA #2 works like the first one...


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## dbenrosen (Sep 20, 2003)

I kept having the adapter reboot and the signal degradation was terrible. Gave up and switched to FiOS.


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## tomers (Aug 14, 2006)

I have had mine for 2 days now and it is working very well. Setup was painless. But it has only been 2 days.


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## urwathrtz (Jan 18, 2008)

Mine pooped the bed. I'll exchange it when I get the chance.


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## KJW (Sep 27, 2003)

Mine kept re-booting during primetime, causing the TIVO to restart, so I disconnected it. I'll try again after the season finale of Lost. Hopefully, by then the units will have the latest firmware, which is supposed to help with the re-booting.

also, my S2 upstairs can't see the "Now Playing" list on my S3.


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## NJ_HB (Mar 21, 2007)

I'm also getting the 'ramdom reboot' problem now. 
Rebooted last night during LOST. 
I may have to ditch this thing altogether until someone (Cable Co/TiVo) addresses.

Random re-boots, Pixelation, No MRV, no bueno.


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## KJW (Sep 27, 2003)

I have firmware .70X. cisco has, apparently, released a .801 version that is supposed to solve this problem. It would not be so bad if the adapter rebooting didn't cause the tivo to shut down and restart. I have a separate cable line going into the tivo, so there is no excuse for an interuption in service when not viewing SDV channels.


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## NJ_HB (Mar 21, 2007)

I'm going to split the cable tonight, great idea.


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## ThomC (Nov 4, 2003)

KJW said:


> I have firmware .70X. cisco has, apparently, released a .801 version that is supposed to solve this problem. It would not be so bad if the adapter rebooting didn't cause the tivo to shut down and restart. I have a separate cable line going into the tivo, so there is no excuse for an interuption in service when not viewing SDV channels.


Even if you split the cable pre-TA, the Tivo gets interupted when the TA is recognized again. 
(Stopping any recordings in progress, erasing the buffers and putting both tuners onto the same station.)
As far as I'm concerned, Cablevision has sent out a defective product that interferes with the otherwise good product it was supposed to interface with.


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## KJW (Sep 27, 2003)

ThomC said:


> Even if you split the cable pre-TA, the Tivo gets interupted when the TA is recognized again.
> (Stopping any recordings in progress, erasing the buffers and putting both tuners onto the same station.)
> As far as I'm concerned, Cablevision has sent out a defective product that interferes with the otherwise good product it was supposed to interface with.


Good and important point, thanks ThomC.

Once I split the cable I disconnet the USB. this way the Tivo is not interrupted if the adapter restarts. I just plug in the USB when I want to watch SDV and unplug it when I don't. Its a pain, but a small one until they fix the firmware.


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## NJ_HB (Mar 21, 2007)

Any hope of someone from TiVo stepping in on our behalf?

Update: Missed Dollhouse and Prison Break because of another re-boot when no one was home. 
Thats it for SDV and the TA until there's a fix.


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## ycrazyy (Dec 2, 2001)

I guess I voted too early. Things were going smoothly until yesterday. Then one of my TA's rebooted when I tried to view an SDV channel. Thought it was a one time thing... then later on I was using my other TiVoHD and tried tuning to another SDV channel and that one rebooted. Now one of them has been rebooting a couple of times. May try to exchange this one at the store to see what happens but definitely does not make me happy... especially when it rebooted twice while I was watching a show so it lost my place both times.


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## yfor11 (Jun 16, 2009)

How do you split the cable signal and get both signals into a TiVo S3?


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

Also see threads:

Cablevision Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter Reboots
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=427317

Cablevision SDV Tuning Adapters (again)
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=426969


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

Can people tell me what type of Cable Boxes their Cable provider uses (what standard for two-way communication their Cable Provider uses). Cablevision of Woodbury Long Island, NY uses a Scientific Atlanta Explorer SA4250HD. I want to try and determine if there are different Firmware Versions for the Cisco TA for different Cable Systems. I was told this by a Cable Rep, but I have my doubts. I find it hard to believe that a Scientific Atlanta / Cisco system would need different firmware in their TAs.


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## NJ_HB (Mar 21, 2007)

Same as you SA4250HD here in NJ.
TA still not working, will try another swap tonight.


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

blacknoi said:


> Both of my Tivos (S3 and HD) about 40% of the time cannot tune the channel of my choice thats SDV.
> 
> I'll get
> 
> ...


Just to update my own post, I haven't bothered to look at the firmware revs but these days both of my TAs work probably about 85% of the time. I still get black screens and have to tune one channel up, then back down to correct it. Most of the time that fixes it.

They don't reboot and I very rarely see Channel Temporarily Unavailable. I guess they alotted more slots for SDV and now theres enough wiggle room to display all the channels I want to view at a given moment.


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

Can anyone answer who told them that the TA firmware upgrade from version 070* to 080* and above was for the reboot issues that are described in the TA threads, or did the upgrade just happen to coincide with the resolution of the reboot issues? I have been getting conflicting information from my Cable Reps. and even SA/Cisco themselves


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## KJW (Sep 27, 2003)

ferjy Fangle said:


> Can anyone answer who told them that the TA firmware upgrade from version 070* to 080* and above was for the reboot issues that are described in the TA threads, or did the upgrade just happen to coincide with the resolution of the reboot issues? I have been getting conflicting information from my Cable Reps. and even SA/Cisco themselves


I think it was an anecdotal conclusion from a thread regarding these machines in the Detroit market.

What did cablevision/SA/Cisco have to say about the problem?


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

KJW said:


> I think it was an anecdotal conclusion from a thread regarding these machines in the Detroit market.
> 
> What did cablevision/SA/Cisco have to say about the problem?


Cablevision Rep. told me that different Cable Systems needed different firmware versions for same TA. The SA/Cisco Rep. stated that there was no requirement for different firmware versions for the same TA, they also stated that they were unaware of any reboot issues with the TA but would not go into anymore details.

SCSIRAID (Location: Apex, NC) stated:
"I was a beta tester and reported the issue to TWC Director Tech Ops who reported issue to Cisco. Feedback from DTO was that Cisco was providing new firmware to address issue. when .0801 was pushed to my TA about 2 weeks later, problem was gone."


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

ferjy Fangle said:


> Cablevision Rep. told me that different Cable Systems needed different firmware versions for same TA. The SA/Cisco Rep. stated that there was no requirement for different firmware versions for the same TA, they also stated that they were unaware of any reboot issues with the TA but would not go into anymore details.
> 
> SCSIRAID (Location: Apex, NC) stated:
> "I was a beta tester and reported the issue to TWC Director Tech Ops who reported issue to Cisco. Feedback from DTO was that Cisco was providing new firmware to address issue. when .0801 was pushed to my TA about 2 weeks later, problem was gone."


Im going to go out on a limb and suggest that a single firmware version will work for any cable system that is OCAP. If a system isnt OCAP, then unique firmware is required to deal with the SDV system being utilized. OCAP allows the cableco to push the required middleware layer to the TA transparently.

You listen to that SCSIRAID guy? He's a moron


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

SCSIRAID said:


> Im going to go out on a limb and suggest that a single firmware version will work for any cable system that is OCAP. If a system isnt OCAP, then unique firmware is required to deal with the SDV system being utilized. OCAP allows the cableco to push the required middleware layer to the TA transparently.
> 
> You listen to that SCSIRAID guy? He's a moron


"Moron:a person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment" - sounds like him!!


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

An update: Just received a call from a Cablevision Rep. and it seems that they finally contacted SA/Cisco about this TA reboot issue. Lo and behold it seems that SA/Cisco acknowledged that there is indeed a problem and that there is a firmware upgrade to fix it!! They will be contacting me in the near future about it.

I feel like Fox Mulder, nobody ever believes a single word I say - Hey Hey!


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## KJW (Sep 27, 2003)

ferjy Fangle said:


> An update: Just received a call from a Cablevision Rep. and it seems that they finally contacted SA/Cisco about this TA reboot issue. Lo and behold it seems that SA/Cisco acknowledged that there is indeed a problem and that there is a firmware upgrade to fix it!! They will be contacting me in the near future about it.
> 
> I feel like Fox Mulder, nobody every believes a single word I say - Hey Hey!


Excellent! Thanks for your efforts, ferjy Fangle. Let us know if you find out anything on timing.


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## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

FOr those who've had problems, does removing the tuning adapter cause any residual issues once it's out of the equation? In other words if I hook it up and have issues, will disconnecting it and going back to my prior set-up work as problem free as it's been for the past 18 months? I'm very hesitant to even hook this thing up since I've gone so long without issues... I don't wanna F something up now...


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

mrdazzo7 said:


> FOr those who've had problems, does removing the tuning adapter cause any residual issues once it's out of the equation? In other words if I hook it up and have issues, will disconnecting it and going back to my prior set-up work as problem free as it's been for the past 18 months? I'm very hesitant to even hook this thing up since I've gone so long without issues... I don't wanna F something up now...


All you have to do is unplug the USB cable and you are back to the way things were pre-TA. The coax cable pass thru is essentially 'passive' except for a little gain.


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## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

SCSIRAID said:


> All you have to do is unplug the USB cable and you are back to the way things were pre-TA. The coax cable pass thru is essentially 'passive' except for a little gain.


Thanks. And when I call CV to authorize the TA, I just give them the serial # and that's it, right? They don't do anything to or with the cablecards? I'm slightly paranoid because I had mad problems getting set up with those cards


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

mrdazzo7 said:


> Thanks. And when I call CV to authorize the TA, I just give them the serial # and that's it, right? They don't do anything to or with the cablecards? I'm slightly paranoid because I had mad problems getting set up with those cards


The TA has nothing to do with the cablecards. The cableco will likely need the RF MAC address from the back of the TA so they can enable it. The TA isnt 'locked' to any specific device... its just enabled and will work with whatever TiVo its attached to.


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## tignbart (Jul 13, 2007)

Cablevision recently added a number of channels - couldn't get them, initially, with TA. Serviceman replaced wires, etc. It all seemed well...
However, there are a number of channels that were added in the 700/800 series that do not employ SD technology. In order to get them, I need to turn the TA off. Has anyone else had this problem?


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## KJW (Sep 27, 2003)

tignbart said:


> Cablevision recently added a number of channels - couldn't get them, initially, with TA. Serviceman replaced wires, etc. It all seemed well...
> However, there are a number of channels that were added in the 700/800 series that do not employ SD technology. In order to get them, I need to turn the TA off. Has anyone else had this problem?


What new channels? I haven't heard about any new channels since they added the premium HD channels.


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## ADG (Aug 20, 2003)

For some reason ALL premium channels have been added in the 800 range (but so far not eliminated from the 740-800 range)


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## tignbart (Jul 13, 2007)

KJW said:


> What new channels? I haven't heard about any new channels since they added the premium HD channels.


847, 846, etc... Also MSNBC (723) started today. To see these non-sv channels, I have to turn off the ta...


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## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

Not too thrilled today. I was recording/watching True Blood on 750 last night and five minutes into it, I got pixelation/stuttering playback. It didn't go away so I disconnected the TA and recording the 11PM showing of TB... 20 minutes into that, same problem. I've never had an issue like this prior to installing the TA. The worst that would happen is a second of pixelation but no loss of sound/stuttering, and IF that happened, it was only once. I tried to watch through the second recording of the show but 10 minutes later it was still happening. 

What I don't get is this isn't even an SDV channel. I don't see the connection but all I know is for about a year and half I haven't had a single issue like this either watching live or any any of my (presumably) hundreds of recordings. Not too happy at all...


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## ADG (Aug 20, 2003)

From the Cablevision website:

Tuning Adapter Firmware
The Tuning Adapter available from Cablevision is running firmware version STA1.0.0_1520_BDSG.LR_F.0702, which has been specifically designed to function with Cablevision's network configuration. You may have noticed higher-numbered versions in use by other cable service providers. These other versions offer no additional advantage, functionality, or compatibility over the version Cablevision has deployed.


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## jsny44 (Nov 5, 2007)

Does anyone know how to check the version number of the TA?
Also, how do you upgrade the TA to the latest software rev? Is ths something that CV has to do or can I do it?


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

Cablevision of Woodbury Engineering and Service Departments have acknowledged that there is a reboot issue, which SA/Cisco has a correction for. I am expecting to be contacted shortly, regarding a firmware upgrade.


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

Over the past 4 days my tuning adapter is rebooting every 5 minutes. Today I had enough and went and exchanged. Got home, put everything back together and the same thing is happening. It is paired to a Tivo HD. I have a radio shack signal booster installed, bypassed that, same thing happens. Rebooted Tivo, no help. Even plugged the power pack in a different outlet to no avail. My second unit was doing the same thing earlier this week but now it is fine. I see that it is being suggested that a firmware update may be needed, but the reboot every 5 minutes seems ridiculous. I am also worried that if the blue screen comes on and I am not by the tv that I will get burn in on my plasma. This is drving me nuts. Is there anything else I should check? I am on LI. Thanks


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## NJ_HB (Mar 21, 2007)

I PMd TiVo Pony in April regarding the issue we are all having with the rebooting but no response yet. 
After an exchange mine blinks for a few days and then goes dark, never getting authenticated, never getting the SVD channels. What a SCAM this has turned out to be.


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

gp56 said:


> Over the past 4 days my tuning adapter is rebooting every 5 minutes. Today I had enough and went and exchanged. Got home, put everything back together and the same thing is happening. It is paired to a Tivo HD. I have a radio shack signal booster installed, bypassed that, same thing happens. Rebooted Tivo, no help. Even plugged the power pack in a different outlet to no avail. My second unit was doing the same thing earlier this week but now it is fine. I see that it is being suggested that a firmware update may be needed, but the reboot every 5 minutes seems ridiculous. I am also worried that if the blue screen comes on and I am not by the tv that I will get burn in on my plasma. This is drving me nuts. Is there anything else I should check? I am on LI. Thanks


Check your Signal Level and S/N on your Tuning Adapter Diagnostics Screens (RF Statistics). I have noticed on my setup a correlation between frequency of reboots and signal strength. The lower the signal strength the more frequent the reboots occur. You also can unplug the USB connector from the back of the TA to stop your TiVo from resetting, however you will not get the SDV channels.


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

Signal strength is between 90 to 100 with the booster on. I have unplugged the usb. Noticed if I let it sit like this for a while and then reconnect it wont reboot for almost an hour, not that that is acceptable.


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## ferjy Fangle (Nov 26, 2007)

gp56 said:


> Signal strength is between 90 to 100 with the booster on. I have unplugged the usb. Noticed if I let it sit like this for a while and then reconnect it wont reboot for almost an hour, not that that is acceptable.


Check your Signal Level and S/N on your Tuning Adapter Diagnostics Screens (RF Statistics).


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

gp56 said:


> Signal strength is between 90 to 100 with the booster on. I have unplugged the usb. Noticed if I let it sit like this for a while and then reconnect it wont reboot for almost an hour, not that that is acceptable.


Booster?? Perhaps you could detail exactly how you have things connected... from where the cable enters the house until it ends up at the TiVo. From a reboot perspective... the important stats from the TA Diag screen would be the FDC and RDC signal strengths. They are on the second screen into diags... enter diags and hit select twice.


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

cable into house split one side to modem other to radio shack booster line out from that to tuning adapter and then from adapter to Tivo. Added the booster after getting the tuning adapter a couple of months ago when I saw signal strength on Tivo was in the 60s and 70s. Now its between 90 and 100.


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

Went into diagnostics, RDC and FDC both say n/a. What does that mean?


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

gp56 said:


> Went into diagnostics, RDC and FDC both say n/a. What does that mean?


Hmmm... that sounds bad... I suggest you remove the radio shack 'booster' and check again. If it is blocking the 'return path' then the TA cant talk back to the hub.


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

Removed it yesterday, still was rebooting, but will try it again. Was working fine for 2 months though with the booster.


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## bear3351 (Jul 3, 2009)

I am beginning to think this is not compatible with Tivo. 

Yesterday I called CV and I had them re-send the signal (or whatever is called) to my TA and so far the green light has not blinked, is staying on the way it should be, I have not connected the USB cord yet, I am going to plug the USB cord later and see how long it takes to start re-booting again. Maybe it only happens after plugging the USB cord.

The CV tech on the phone also told me that if the TA keeps re-booting it means is defective, and wants me to replace the TA for the 3rd time.  Gee, is not wonder why they keep raising the rates, they must have a room full of "defectives TA's".


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

What should the FDC and RDC values be? Just read that you only get those during the reboot of the adapter, otherwise it says n/a


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

gp56 said:


> What should the FDC and RDC values be? Just read that you only get those during the reboot of the adapter, otherwise it says n/a


I would expect the FDC value to be somewhere between -8 and +4 dBmV and the RDC value less than 50 dBmV. On my TA's, the values are present all the time and are -2 dBmV and 47 dBmV. Note that I am running .0801 FW and previously ran .0701 both of which always had the values present. Where did you read that the values were only available during reboot? I would expect that during reboot, you cant look at the values since the TiVo isnt logically connected to the rebooting device.


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

On another forum. My values were in the ranges you describe, once the solid green comes on they change to n/a.
Took out the radio shack booster which is 2 way so it shouldnt affect communications anyway, still reboots. I doubt its my wiring in any way as the t/a worked fine for 2 months. Is there any point in calling cablevision service? Is there anything they can do over the phone? Currently have usb disconnected and I see the green light occassionally start blinking. Brought my 2nd t/a to this tivo and it is doing the same thing. I have read where many have had service calls to fix this problem only to have the problem come back after they leave. Not sure what to do at this point, exchange the t/a again? Thanks for your help.


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## gp56 (Jun 26, 2002)

I reconnected the t/a and it has been working fine since Monday morning. Why would that now happen? 24 hours without a glitch, when it couldnt go 5 minutes without a reboot.


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## bear3351 (Jul 3, 2009)

3 days after the USB being unplugged I plugged it back 2 days ago and now is working fine, so far in 2 days not one problem. 
Tivo updated their software from 11.0C to 11.0D that seems to have fixed the problem. I don't even want to look at the boxes, and jinx them. 

If you don't have 11.0D, you have to run set up again, or call Tivo for instructions.


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