This is driving me absolutely nuts. I have a Motorola DCH3200 connected to a Samsung LN40A650. My parents have the same set up and have no issues. At first I had the box connected over HDMI and it was working fine but for some reason when the TV is on the STB doesn't receive ANY input from the remote. When I change to component cables it was working fine for an hour or two and then stopped. When I switched to different HDMI ports it worked for a while. As soon as the TV is off the remote controls the box. I've tried moving the box as far away from the TV as I could, it made no difference. I am so baffled by this and it is extremely frustrating! I don't understand how the TV being on is killing the boxes remote function. If I switch the TV to "tv" where it's just static then the STB can work with the remote. As soon as I switch the source back to the STB the remote dies.
:confused:

This sounds like a head scratcher!!
Are you talking about the remote that came with the STB?

Is it possible for you to take your remote to your parents house and try it there, and bring there remote to your house for the same test?

If you can do this let me know what happened.

I'm a college student living at home so I just have to walk into the living room to get the other remote. Their remote will not work with my STB when my TV is on but my remote works fine for theirs whether the TV is on or not. When my TV is on I can usually use the remote if its touching the sensor on the box. Somehow the box is locking up or something whenever it's connected to a monitor. I have it directly connected to my surround system and it works fines. It's something to do with the video output that's killing its remote sensor. As soon as the TV is off the remote works perfectly fine.. it's completely beyond me. I'll probably call comcast today and try out a third box.


*** Yes, it's the remote that came with the STB from comcast.

Unfortunately I think it's your tv, you're not the only one with that problem.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1041947

If it's any consolation, I have a remote controlled fan. When I brought my LG home and started using it, every time I pushed a button on the LG remote, my fan would beep and change speeds. Stupid fan and tv are on the same frequency. I had to put tape over the ir on the fan and now it's not remote controlled.

Try making a tape shield around the IR receiver on your cable box, especially blocking the direction of the tv.

I got a new cable box from Comcast and it seems to be working fine so far so hopefully it continues without issue. All the tech people were completely stumped. In case anyone checks this I wanted to ask about Component 1 being highlighted in my source list even though nothing is plugged into it anymore. I even did a factory reset and the tv still thinks the input is active...

I have a problem with my comcast / motorola dch3200 , the remote stops working when the tv is set in hdmi input , but the antenna input , the remote works all the time. This lock-up happens randomly , it work most of the time then it just locks-up !! I know motorola products suck overall ( I had two motorola cable modems go bad in less than two years ).

I have a problem with my comcast / motorola dch3200 , the remote stops working when the tv is set in hdmi input , but the antenna input , the remote works all the time. This lock-up happens randomly , it work most of the time then it just locks-up !! I know motorola products suck overall ( I had two motorola cable modems go bad in less than two years )...

I have this exact issue. When TV is on and connected to the DCH3200 via HDMI, the cablebox does not respond to the remote. the instant I turn off the TV, the remote works. Driving me nuts.

Good info here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1082190

It appears to be more hdmi/cablebox related. If I have the TV on and hit a menu and it goes to a TV menu screen, the remote works again. When it goes back to the cable signal, the remote stops(or I should say the cable box stops responding since the remote is still able to adjust the tv volume, etc). It's either a faulty cable box or TV though my ps3 hooked up via HDMI is perfectly fine. When I have time I'm going to switch out the other cable box I have and see if it does the exact same thing.

I have this setting on my TV called Active control(with and without light setting) and I turned it off and now my remote works. Go figure. It's a 47" LCD by Philips btw. I hope it stays working.

Try a couple of layers of biege masking tape over the IR sensor on your cable box,It works......

Why does this work and why don't the cable companies know about it. I must have spent 20 hours trying stuff and talking to various csr's in foreign countries.

Complete newbie to this material.

Seriously this forum saved my life. I was about to throw this comcast hd box out the window in frustration. One yellow sticky note over the IR oval on the box fixed it.