title says it all

Have been a CableCard proponent from the start after reading Gary Merson's experience with them

Comcast uses Scientific Atlanta cards and I have four Sharp LCD displays that accept the cards: I had a great deal of trouble with the cards at startup and worked closely with Comcast techs who are very good

I finally got the cards to work OK; they still stop working from time to time and I would call for a signal hit: happy for a while

Last week was the final straw: new firmware was downloaded and the cards have never been the same: some cards lose authorization; some lose channels: all of the cards refuse to give me my favorites: INHD's and Discovery HD

I hooked back up my 3250HD stb (also have an 8000 PVR) and am considering giving up on these cards: at least until they get some reliable firmware and hopefully 2 way cards

It seems the cablecos just don't want to deploy one way cablecards :(

I still believe cards give better PQ than most stb's but it does not seem worth the stuggle to keep them working

My cable company requires an in-home vi$it to coordinate activation activities. I don't think cablecard was envisioned to be this complicated. Should it be?

Paul

There was a known issue with the cards that were sent out about 2 months ago. I wonder if the firmware uploaded by Comcast had the same problem that caused a number of MSO's to send back the cards they received in April and May of this year.

Comcast just called and acknowledged other customers are seeing the same problem on Sharp TV's: ever since the firmware update a few days ago

I sell a lot of CableCard ready HDTV's and have experienced a lot of trouble getting them to work properly. Most customer give up and get a box. I have been very persistent with the equipment manufacturers and cable providers and in some cases I have been successful in getting CableCard systems to work very well.

In some cases we replaced the TV's or got the TV manufacturer to write new firmware. Some times we got new CableCards. IN all cases it took my persistence in putting the equipment senior engineering and product managers together with the cable providers senior engineering folks.

The moral of the story is "Don't give up"

-Robert

I have success with my 4th card, my 3rd was ok as well but their was a head end problem that was solved after my 4th was installed. I still have 148 firmware.

Could you call Comcast and just get cards with 148 installed ?

On the "Sharpness" of the problem, do they have problems with other brands as well ?

One quirk that remains with my Sharp - the channel banner on some analogs (especially CNN) keeps flashing, audio switches between mono and stereo as if its detecting a change in the audio stream.

Don't give up - these cards are terrific when working IMO. I have no plans for bringing back the old STB.

title says it all


Comcast uses Scientific Atlanta cards and I have four Sharp LCD displays that accept the cards: I had a great deal of trouble with the cards at startup and worked closely with Comcast techs who are very good


Comcast also uses Motorola CableCARDs, and from what I've gathered here and at dslreports.com, the Motorola seems to have less issues than the SA cards. I have a Moto card and after an initial problem which was fixed with a FW upgrade from Mitsubishi, it's worked just as it's supposed to.

I've also seen the name Sharp and Scientific Atlanta come up more often than most manufacturers when it comes to CableCARD problems, but that's only been gleaned from reading various threads on CableCARD problems, so I have no idea if it indicates any sort of trend regrading those particular manufacturers.

As described in other threads, my Sony DHG-HDD500 with a Motorola card receives no channel information at all from Comcast. Four cards are all the same. Sony blames Comcast/Motorola, since the CableCARD info screens indicate that the card does see the Comcast network.

Comcast supervisors are "researching" the issue. I'm looking for people who have this DVR working with Comcast/Motorola.

my Comcast says all of their head end gear is made by Scientific Atlanta, so they are only using S/A cards

I went through several batches of defective S/A cards as well

I doubt they will revert to 148 firmware but it would be OK with me: funny Comcast told me the purpose of 149 was to improve the stability of the card :(

I have a Sony 42" WE655 and the card has been great up until last month. Just like the first poster i would lose digital channels once in a great while but a "push" would fix it. Now in the last month I have not gotten INHD1, and for the first few weeks I thought something was just wrong with the channel. Now I'm losing all digital channels here and there. I've lost ABC, NBC, INHD1, ESPNHD (breaks up real bad), ComcastHD is gone, etc. I have to wait until next week to get a new card. I have a Sci Atlanta PKM600 dated 8/10/04.

Just talked again with the lead engineer at the Head End, he is not sending out OS 149 through the system. Any new cards will have 149 preloaded so I can keep 148 running on my card.

my S/A Cable Cards with 1.49 seem to be stable now

Comcast told me they had a lot of problems with several brands of TV's when 1.49 cards came out; including a new restaurant that just opened with 8 CC TV's

Keeping my finger crossed ;)

Is there any chance all these problems are by design or is it simply a case of a new technology which up until now isn't embraced by the masses?

Is there any chance all these problems are by design or is it simply a case of a new technology which up until now isn't embraced by the masses?

I can see why the cablecos don't like cards:

for every card installed, they could lose some PPV revenue, and gain a new technology which so far has been problematic: very few cards have been fielded and many have had issues

the cableco techs take the card seriously and are working to resove the issues

CC's are a great idea: a properly integrated 2 way card could eventually replace the stb : Cards can provide better PQ than a stb in my opinion

Cards can provide better PQ than a stb in my opinion
Absolutely, especially on analog and standard digital channels. With HD I notice a bit less video noise on my CableCARD feed as opposed to the STB. The black levels are also better with the card, the STB tends to crush the blacks. This is with a Motorola CC, Comcast and a Mits 73" RPTV.

I have also seen unpredictable black levels and lousy analog output with STB's. CableCARD has made the set a far better one, one remote and I can tune anything, air, analog cable, digital cable, no input switching, no cables.

Terrific idea, whomever came up with it. Hope it becomes the standard, I'm sure the cable companies will find a way to introduce VOD, in fact, the head end said two way cards will come. Anyway, the FCC is mandating support for them, so that helps.

Some people say 2-way Cable Card is coming and others say the cable companies are dragging their feet on it. What's the real deal?

Some people say 2-way Cable Card is coming and others say the cable companies are dragging their feet on it. What's the real deal?
Both really, although it's slanted more toward the cablecos dragging their feet to allow them time to develop their home networking super duper DVR box among other things. They have petitioned the FCC to push back the mandatory implementation date of third party equipment. Evidently they think their solution will be so compelling that there won't be much of a market for third party stuff. Part of that solution are things like a "home page" whenever you turn the box on which will have ads, and PPV and VOD selections, etc.. Cable wants to have control of your TV viewing portal, third party equipment will limit their ability to do this.

The problem I have with that proprietary type of solution is that performance and PQ are often to level of "just good enough", that's what I like about CableCARD, it takes the often mediocre performance of the STB out of the equation. One example of this is in the area of resolvable resolution. John Mason did some tests with an Scientific Atlanta box and a Motorola box and neither box presented anything above 1350 lines of horizontal resolution to the display.

I would love to be able to purchase a performance oriented DVR/media center that would extract ever last bit of quality that can be had with the cable signal, although I expect it will be years before we see such a thing. In the mean time we're stuck with whatever the cableco deems "good enough", their equation is weighted more towards cost over performance, where ours our weighted just the opposite.

In my area, there is a a huge push by Comcast to upgrade their system to support Digital Voice (unlimited Local & Long Distance Calling), and they are again increasing internet access speeds (I get 6 Mbps now before the speed increase ;) )


Verizon has an incredible number of crews installing fiber to each home: they have brought in crews and trucks from other areas to get it done

Competition is good!

re 2 way CableCards: I don't think there is a mandate for 2 way cards or an implementation date, but I think a 2 way card is essential

Comcast just announced they are going to offer 8Mbps/768kbps very soon. This is good news for folks that use HSI, and as you indicated, Comcast is also working on VOIP. This stuff concerns me in the respect that all this added effort and services require more bandwidth. Maybe a small amount, but considering on my Comcast system we're so BW starved that we don't even have channels that are available in neighboring Comcast systems, adding anything means less of what I really want from my cable company...TV channels, specifically, more HD channels. Cable has a finite amount of bandwidth and in order to implement many of these services and applications possible PQ effecting solutions may be used, such as rate-shaping, etc.

HDTV is becoming less of a priority for cablecos as they move toward HSI, VOD, telephony and other things, it would be nice to have a cable TV company along the lines of a Voom, a company that's main priority was PQ performance.

I sell a lot of CableCard ready HDTV's and have experienced a lot of trouble getting them to work properly. Most customer give up and get a box. I have been very persistent with the equipment manufacturers and cable providers and in some cases I have been successful in getting CableCard systems to work very well.

In some cases we replaced the TV's or got the TV manufacturer to write new firmware. Some times we got new CableCards. IN all cases it took my persistence in putting the equipment senior engineering and product managers together with the cable providers senior engineering folks.

The moral of the story is "Don't give up"

-Robert

I'd say the moral of the story should be don't even try! :D

As I've said in other threads, I don't see the point of cablecards in TVs (well, maybe a small TV for a bedroom). Cablecards in DVRs--yes. I hope that Cablecards will be better implemented in DVRs.

Keenan

in order to do VOIP, Comcast has had to upgrade their system to make it more robust

for example, every pole mounted line amp's power supply had to be changed from a 60v transformer to a large UPS: ocasional TV or internet outages are to be expected, but telephone service is expected to be highly reliable

so I think we benefit because the whole system is stronger: that and more internet speed make me :)

I do miss VOOM though; but E* has eased the pain with their VOOM service and the 942

Keenan

in order to do VOIP, Comcast has had to upgrade their system to make it more robust

Yeah, I'm just a little bitter because I'm still on a 550MHz system and Comcast has indicated they have no plans to upgrade it to 750-860. Their plan is to convert all 64 QAM to 256 QAM, which they are doing now, and then figure out what they are going to do with analog. I suspect that the analog will stay until there is no more analog signal to carry as digital simulcasting on 550MHz systems is tough if not impossible due to lack of bandwidth. We lost Showtime HD early in the year to add our local FOX-HD affiliate we're so tight on BW.

I'm sure all the goodies are great on the systems that have or will have them, but low BW systems like mine will likely never see that stuff for a very long time. We have a very low channel count and no VOD even. HSI was just started a few months ago with a 3mbps rate.

Well after 2 missed appts they finally showed up today. It wasn't my cable card but the signal was too low. He had to go climb a pole and fix it, but it worked.

Two days later I lost every digital channel again. I'm having them install a new card but after that it's a call to Sony.

It's now one month that my Comcast Chicago CableCARD (Sony DVR) is not working.

Two days later I lost every digital channel again. I'm having them install a new card but after that it's a call to Sony.

similar situation here, but only on one model Sharp; an LC-45GX6U (the card is authorized, but receives no channels): 3 other Sharps work OK, but I did learn something new;

Comcast learned of a Sharp firmware update for this problem: it is applied via an SD cardupdate by a Sharp tech

Sharp has ordered the update and will come out to install it- no schedule yet

in the meantime, Comcast gave me the new 8300 DVR which has a working HDMI port (audio & video) : nice unit

Does anyone know what the latest CableCARD firmware upgrade for the Panasonic PX50Us is supposed to fix? My CATV provider's CableCARD, SA PowerKEY / Albany Time Warner, delivers good performance; but I can't get around the "copy authorization" issue when the CCI byte is 0x02 which disables the TVs optical digital audio out interface. Of course the only support I'm getting is some finger-pointing between Time Warner --> Scientific Atlanta --> Panasonic.

The problem I have with that proprietary type of solution is that performance and PQ are often to level of "just good enough", that's what I like about CableCARD, it takes the often mediocre performance of the STB out of the equation. One example of this is in the area of resolvable resolution. John Mason did some tests with an Scientific Atlanta box and a Motorola box and neither box presented anything above 1350 lines of horizontal resolution to the display.

And FredB's measurements (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5911408&&#post5911408) with his Calif. TWC head end, showed an 'excellent' 1600 lines effective maximum resolution with HDNet's test patterns and a CableCard. Wish Comcast would settle with HDNet so we'd get more measurements. No doubt head ends play a role in final rez; mine does use rate shaping to extend bandwidth availability by trimming higher frequencies/resolutions. [Edit: A more recent post points out FredB's ~1600 line measurement isn't possible since his LCD panel falls short of this resolution.]

Wouldn't buy a new display just to get ~1600 lines with a CableCard. But might pick up a STB, especially a 2-way CableCard model, that would let me use a CableCard--one that works--with my vintage year-2000 CRT RPTV.

Wouldn't want to open the can of worms about whether, after MPEG decoding, there's even any HD material, aside from test patterns, with 1600-line effective resolution remaining. Many references point out ~1700 lines is the limiting resolution (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5667245&&#post5667245) of 1080i/p and that's apparently reduced by ~15% maximum after decoding, producing the familiar ~1445 lines max rez. -- John

No doubt head ends play a role in final rez; mine does use rate shaping to extend bandwidth availability by trimming higher frequencies/resolutions.

Up until a couple of months ago, the general consensus was that Comcast did not rate-shape. But I do believe it's coming. During the NBA playoffs the local Comcast headend at Sutro Tower(SF) that feeds the bay area fiber ring was playing around with a machine which I was told is called a "big ben", a rate-shaper evidently. Their experimentation was a disaster, 2 of the channels they were playing with ended up being very sketchy on PQ and suffered from numerous pixelated and frozen images. The engineer at the local ABC station, KGO, talked to the Comcast people and the next day everything was fine. I have no doubt though that eventually RS will be put into use permanently.

But might pick up a STB, especially a 2-way CableCard model, that would let me use a CableCard--one that works--with my vintage year-2000 CRT RPTV.
I would love to see a competitive market for quality cable decoders(STBs-DVRs).

Many references point out ~1700 lines is the limiting resolution (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5667245&&#post5667245) of 1080i/p and that's apparently reduced by ~15% maximum after decoding, producing the familiar ~1445 lines max rez. -- John
Hopefully we will be lucky to retain at least that 1445 lines in the future. It's almost as if the cablecos realize that 95% plus of the displays in use are not capable of resolving that much data anyways, so why send data that will not be used and conserve the bandwidth. I think the difference between 1700 and 1445(1350) would be unnoticed by the large majority of viewers. OTOH, the difference between 1445(1350) and what DirecTV is sending, 1280 does seem to definitely be noticeable, although with DirecTV there are some BW issues thrown into the equation as well.

Comcast just called and acknowledged other customers are seeing the same problem on Sharp TV's: ever since the firmware update a few days ago

Mark, since many (most?) of these problems seem to be associated with Sharp TVs, could it be Sharp's problem and not the cable card?

Mark, since many (most?) of these problems seem to be associated with Sharp TVs, could it be Sharp's problem and not the cable card?

Ken

last night I did some more checking and found out it was operator error (me)

the center pin of the F connector broke off :the Sharp would still receive analog channels but not digital: a new cable solved the problem with the LC-45- so now all 4 cards are working :)

The heart of the CableCARD matter: all the CableCARD TV makers have spent considerable money to get their respective sets "CERTIFIED" by Cablelabs. They should all be operating properly. The typical scenario is the cards have problems and the system operator goes back to the set maker for a fix.


Thanks for the updates on your CableCARD issues.

Gary

Keenan, the unit is a BigBand Networks device. http://www.bigbandnet.com/
BigBand is the only competiton to the Terayon CherryPicker, the orignial rate shaper.
http://www.terayon.com/tools/static_page/view.html?phase=show&id=1069788189&tool_id=100&cat_id=9

Mallego

Keenan, the unit is a BigBand Networks device. http://www.bigbandnet.com/
BigBand is the only competiton to the Terayon CherryPicker, the orignial rate shaper.
http://www.terayon.com/tools/static_page/view.html?phase=show&id=1069788189&tool_id=100&cat_id=9

Mallego
Thanks, that explains why I could never find anything on "big ben", I had the name wrong.. :)

FWIW - After swapping around 4 cards and jumping through various hoops w/ TWC in attempts to resolve my four missing HD channels, they moved my CC to slot 1 from slot 3 on the head end and I magically began receiving the channels. They only finally looked into my account setup in depth after 3 service calls and a new TV didn't solve the issue. Their CC guru said the CC often acts flakey when not on slot 1 at the head office.

Anyway, PQ via CC is awesome, but like some of you my optical audio is being disabled on INHD and HDNET on my Panny TH-42PX500. IIRC, this has to do w/ the broadcast flag. Anyone have any advice on how to resolve this? Suppose I'll start by complaining to TWC. It's certainly maddening that a show broadcast in DD5.1 can't be enjoyed in 5.1. Oh, and my 1 year old PDP apparently didn't honor these flags because it always output via optical.Interesting, this makes at least two of use who are experiencing the same problem. I'm not sure what "housecor's" set-up is but I'm confident he's not connected to Albany Time Warner's cable system. I'm not sure if the Panasonic PX50/500Us are the source of failure, but I doubt it. It's hard to imagine a content provider like INHD needs to "copy-protect" the audio soundtrack of a volcano exploding... I've seen (or rather heard) TW flip the CCI byte value on ESPN-HD where Dolby Digital over my TV's optical output was first enabled and is now disabled... an unlikely coincidence which occurred during the few weeks I've been using a CableCARD. I wonder what Time Warner & Scientific Atlanta are really up to?

Interesting, this makes at least two of use who are experiencing the same problem. I'm not sure what "housecor's" set-up is but I'm confident he's not connected to Albany Time Warner's cable system. I'm not sure if the Panasonic PX50/500Us are the source of failure, but I doubt it. It's hard to imagine a content provider like INHD needs to "copy-protect" the audio soundtrack of a volcano exploding... I've seen (or rather heard) TW flip the CCI byte value on ESPN-HD where Dolby Digital over my TV's optical output was first enabled and is now disabled... an unlikely coincidence which occurred during the few weeks I've been using a CableCARD. I wonder what Time Warner & Scientific Atlanta are really up to?

optivity - My setup is virtually identical to yours:

K.C.Time Warner --> SA PowerKEY CableCARD --> Panasonic TH-42PX500U --> optical audio out --> Onkyo 5.1 receiver.

I sent an email to my local timewarner explaining the issue, but have yet to hear back. I'm betting it's either the firmware on the set or the CC incorrectly turning off optical based on flags or some problem with the CCI flags in the actual content. It just so happens INHD(s) and HDNET(s) were the channels I previously couldn't get with cablecard - now I get them, but with an optical audio dropout 2 seconds after tuning.

My experience too. I can see the Dolby digital signal on the Onkyo's display panel and after about (2) seconds the optical interface is disabled and PCM sound output takes over. I get Dolby digital on Albany Time Warner's music channel's (1200 tier) and for the local's ABC-HD, CBS-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-HD and PBS-HD, but not for TNT-HD, DISC-HD, IN-HD, IN-HD2, HDNet, HDNet Movies, YES-HD or ESPN-HD. Under the Menu/Setup option you can "drill-down" to get some CableCARD information. Whenever the CCI Byte value is set to: 0x02 with CP Authorization = OK, the TV's optical interface is disabled. If the CCI Byte value is 0x00 or 0x02 with No ECM's Detected, the interface is enabled. I've been going round & round with TW --> SA --> Panasonic for about two months and except for a lot of "finger pointing" nothing has been resolved. Right now I'm not too optimistic but hope if enough "subscribers" experience this problem with their CableCARDs something might eventually get fixed. Good luck & please update me with any progress you make.

BTW... at least the picture is a lot better.

I'm now having the same problem as Stryker.
Watching TV last night and all of sudden I lost every digital channel.
Which is most channels as Comcast is employing heavy digital simulcasting.
This is actually about the third different problem I've had in the last week
after having the card work flawlessly for about nine months.
Also comcast of central NJ (Toms River - Stafford)
Also TV is Sony KD34XB960 in case your counting its not Sharp.

we should start to post some info:

my Comcast (Eatontown, NJ office) info :

S/A cc OS build: 2.3.149s2 (0) May 2 2005

card is authorized

from my experience, with this firmware, many new channels are mapped: hence signal levels/ cabling issues are more critical; and a momentary signal loss makes the card drop out

we should start to post some info:

my Comcast (Eatontown, NJ office) info :

S/A cc OS build: 2.3.149s2 (0) May 2 2005

card is authorized

from my experience, with this firmware, many new channels are mapped: hence signal levels/ cabling issues are more critical; and a momentary signal loss makes the card drop out
After reading michaelggray's post I was just going to say that. In my particular case, having a 2-tuner DVR, the addition of the CableCARD on the cable feed dropped the signal just enough to cause a loss of signal on some HD channels, and bad pixelation on Tuner-2, shows I had recorded were a mess, unwatchable. I added a Motorola signal amp and everything works fine now.

I would have the cable company check for signal strength first, as they will need to fix the problem at no charge. Otherwise one could pick a Motorola or Electroline line amp for around $50. The only caveat is, you don't want to amplify the signal too much as that will cause problems as well.

Comcast-Santa Rosa(SF)-CA

The guy last time checked my signal and did say it was crap. I asked if it was because I had the signal split to the DVR and CC, and he said no. He said unsplitting it would only net me about 3db higher. They're coming again tomorrow, so I'll be trying a new CC.

The guy last time checked my signal and did say it was crap. I asked if it was because I had the signal split to the DVR and CC, and he said no. He said unsplitting it would only net me about 3db higher. They're coming again tomorrow, so I'll be trying a new CC.
It was 3db that made the difference between having the second tuner in the DVR functional or not in my case. When I made the split to feed the CableCARD equipped display, that is when Tuner 2 in the DVR went haywire, remove the split and it worked again. So, 3db can make the difference.

a 3 db reduction equates to a 50% reduction in signal strength

Well Comcast just left. He put in a new CC and as soon as I turned the TV on I got a box saying it was updating the firmware. In the 7 months I've had the other card, I never saw it update the firmware. So, that could definitely be the problem. It's still updating as I type this. The date on the card is 3/05 and the date on my original card was 8/04. So I hope this fixes things.

Ok the upgrade is still going, so obviously something is wrong. Should I turn the TV off and start over? I'm just worried that doing that might damage the card.

Ok the upgrade is still going, so obviously something is wrong. Should I turn the TV off and start over? I'm just worried that doing that might damage the card.

NO

leave it: some take an hour or more

you will not damage the card

Ok well I let it go for 3 hrs and still nothing. I turned the TV off, pulled the card, reinserted the card, and unsplit the signal. Let's see what happens now.

My first SA card would not update the first time and was stuck in a loop that started and stopped about every 60 minutes.

They were in the process of sending a new card out when I finally pulled the card and unplugged the TV (not power off)

After several minutes I plugged it in, did a cable scan of the QAM channels so it knew a cable card wasn't in and only then plugged the cable card in. It updated successfully at that time.

Again, this was 9 months ago and I have no idea if it has updated since - but that is what I had to do with my first SA Cable Card for it to update.

BTW, the update when it successfully happens should take less than a minute - several minutes max.

You can in theory kill the cable card by turning off power in the middle of a firmware update, but as the cable card has issues now, its really not going to do much more harm to the card that already has an issue.

If you break a bad card, its still bad. Its not going to harm your set.

all 4 of my cards are acting up again: they will not map INHD and other encrypted channels :(

I can get it to display INHD sometimes, but I get an error message:

'E203: there is no broadcast now'

I got a S/A 8300 and it works fine: PQ via HDMI rivals the card: and it works reliably ;)

Came home today to watch the end of the Nextel Race on NBC-HD and again I lost all of my digital channels. Unacceptable. I pulled the card and am giving it some time and will see if it will remap correctly when I plug it back in. Very frustrating.

I wonder if this loss of encrypted has something to do with sports special programming: e.g. when YES network comes on INHD for an upcoming game

I not sure what's causing the problem. Changing programming on one channel. New firmware for the cards. etc. But it seems odd that of all the people on theses boards from across the country, three of us that are complaining are hooked to the same headend (COMCAST SA Eatontown NJ).

reading the last 4 posts, i can see some of your issues.

First, the card isn't 2 way. When you plug it in, it does not remap the channels. You have to get the cable company to send a hit to it.

Second, if they are remapping the stations for YES - then that would cause an issue as things are moving around.

WHENEVER THEY DO ANY CHANNEL CHANGES THEY NEED TO HIT THE CARD AGAIN.

Apparently many cable systems have yet to realize this and have not made it a part of their S.O.P. when they move channels around on QAMS.

reading the last 4 posts, i can see some of your issues.

First, the card isn't 2 way. When you plug it in, it does not remap the channels. You have to get the cable company to send a hit to it.

Second, if they are remapping the stations for YES - then that would cause an issue as things are moving around.

WHENEVER THEY DO ANY CHANNEL CHANGES THEY NEED TO HIT THE CARD AGAIN.

Apparently many cable systems have yet to realize this and have not made it a part of their S.O.P. when they move channels around on QAMS.
Not sure what you mean by "it does not remap the channels". With the card out the channels show up on the original 0-117 or so channel numbers, including sub-channels. With the card in it remaps them to whatever the STB uses for channel designations, the 700's being the HD channels for example.

If you're saying all the card does is decrypt the signal, and within that signal is the re-mapped channel number, then I think understand what you mean. It's not re-mapping them, it's just re-naming then with numbers similar to the STB.

FWI, Comcast here in the SF area either is aware of hitting the cards after moving channels around, or it doesn't need to. There have been several channel moves in recent months and it's been transparent on the user end. I've never lost a channel or needed them to hit the card but I can tell they have moved by pulling the card and seeing where the new channel number is.

Comcast in my area has automated the 'hit' process although it may only be for stb's and not cards:

I can call Comcast (must be from phone number on record) and select a menu asking for a refresh hit: you can do this without speaking to a person


I have found that many of the card problems are due to improperly provisioned card authorization at the head end: it really depends who you speak to: everytime I call them with card problems the rep reminds me of the limited feature set of the card and the problems they are having: seems they would much rather rent you a stb that can do PPV

No question the 1 way card is problematic: but it shows what can be done and I hope someday to see the 2 way card working properly :)

Came home today to watch the end of the Nextel Race on NBC-HD and again I lost all of my digital channels. Unacceptable. I pulled the card and am giving it some time and will see if it will remap correctly when I plug it back in. Very frustrating.

Well I pulled my card and did a full channel scan. I get all the local HD stations PLUS DiscoveryHD. I might just cancel everything except expanded basic. Discovery lately is the only channel with anything of value.

I have had sports blackouts of certain HD channels such as ESPN when Comcast carries a local game on their sports channel.

I can also confuse the CableCARD if I change channels too quickly, it cannot see a channel, black screen, or the "no broadcast" message appears. These cards, I suspect, could use an OS rewrite.

Not sure what you mean by "it does not remap the channels". With the card out the channels show up on the original 0-117 or so channel numbers, including sub-channels. With the card in it remaps them to whatever the STB uses for channel designations, the 700's being the HD channels for example.



The card has the mapping info in it. When they send a hit to the card, it sends the channel map. When you pull the card out, the TV doesnt have a channel map. When you reinsert the card it has the last channel mapping that it was given. It does not redownload a new map as i have been told by the NOC people.

F WI, Comcast here in the SF area either is aware of hitting the cards after moving channels around, or it doesn't need to. There have been several channel moves in recent months and it's been transparent on the user end. I've never lost a channel or needed them to hit the card but I can tell they have moved by pulling the card and seeing where the new channel number is.

That is the way it is supposed to work and will work once the MSO realize they have to update the cards after ever QAM change.

Comcast in my area has automated the 'hit' process although it may only be for stb's and not cards:

I can call Comcast (must be from phone number on record) and select a menu asking for a refresh hit: you can do this without speaking to a person


I have found that many of the card problems are due to improperly provisioned card authorization at the head end: it really depends who you speak to: everytime I call them with card problems the rep reminds me of the limited feature set of the card and the problems they are having: seems they would much rather rent you a stb that can do PPV

No question the 1 way card is problematic: but it shows what can be done and I hope someday to see the 2 way card working properly :)


Last i heard with the SA cards the CSR could not reprovision the cards. They still had to get NOC to do it, unlike the STB.

If this is the case, the automated phone feature wouldn't work to reprovision the cards either.

well my latest complaint to Comcast has brought a response that it must be a problem with the Sharp displays :mad:

Another problem I noted: Sometimes when I switch channels too quickly the audio does not function until I change again slowly.

The only way to get anywhere with the cards in my experience is to have direct contact with Head End people.

The Card is still working with my Sharp 32-D7U.

I just got an LG 50PY2Dr Plasma with a built in HD recorder. Adelphia came out this afternoon and "installed" the cable card (Scientific Atlanta). Everytime we ran a cable channel scan and setup (called EZ setup) the set registered different channels. One of the 10 times we ran it I got all the channels HD and SD but it only lasted for about 5 minutes and then they started droppping off. I cannot ever get all the channels to stay programmed. The cabel guy is telling me that it is definately the LG's problem and that he has seen this a lot with LG's and not on other sets. I haven't talked to anyone really knowledgable at LG yet but the woman who took the service call thought it was the cable card. The cabel guy says that in his experience the cable cards either work or they don't and that since mine gets some channels some of the time the problem is in the LG. Does anyone out there know anything about this?

Did you check with LG tech support to see if there was a firmware upgrade available?

Fredrico1958

this is exactly what my problem is: this has to do with S/A cards with 2.3.149 firmware dated May 2 2005 (at least in my case)

Hence the title of this thread: when the cablecos tell you it is the TV they are really saying they have no clue :mad:

I have COMCAST coming tomorrow for a service call for this problem. Probably a waste of time if they bring another card and it updates to the same firmware.

I have COMCAST coming tomorrow for a service call for this problem. Probably a waste of time if they bring another card and it updates to the same firmware.

If the card even takes the firmware. Mine still hasn't.

I am getting a new Sony TV (LCD) in about a month. I was all set to get a cable card (I have no cable at this point; regular inside antena has been working well with my old TV ) but after reading this forum it seems that I would be better off getting a box. Am a correct or did I miss something?

I will check with LG today about a firmware update (the TV shipped from LG only 12 days ago). Any ideas on the best way to approach Adelphia about dealing with the SA cards and their firmware? I really appreciate the responses. Because of the internal hardive, I think, I have to use the cable card and not an external box if i want to record HD. Is that right?

I am getting a new Sony TV (LCD) in about a month. I was all set to get a cable card (I have no cable at this point; regular inside antena has been working well with my old TV ) but after reading this forum it seems that I would be better off getting a box. Am a correct or did I miss something?

You might as well at least try the CC. It's usually under $2/mth, PQ is better, and if it becomes a battle (for some it acutally works the first try!), then you can consider alternatives.

I dumped the CC last night. I got fed up with Comcast. When it worked the CC was great. But it would lose the signal about every 2 months. I would then have to call comcast and have them reset it.

Last night it went out again and they wanted me to bring it to the nearest Comcast office. Then they wanted to charge me $15.99 to have an installer come back out an re-insert the card!! WTF???

I yanked the CC out this morning and will be cancelling my service today and returning the card. I called Dish Network and they will be out on Sunday.

I got a CC installed yesterday from Comcast in Chicago. I could tell the guy had no clue how to work this, and he even admitted it during our conversation. He said that even the tech on the phone didn't know much about them, since they haven't been trained yet on how to install the cards. Well, after fiddling around with the tv, Sharp LC-32D7U, the channels came through. I had to redo the EZ channel setup from the TV Guide screen. So I can see all the HD channels, and everything seems great. My thing is that I don't get any TV Guide Onscreen listings. Supposedly, I'm to wait 24 hours before the listings download, but I don't see any DL activity at all. Is my cable card supposed to have an IP address? When I check the IP Menu, it's all at 0.0.0.0, so I'm not on their network. Had anyone else run into this? Not having the guide is becoming a really big pain.
thanks
ernesto

your card will not have an IP address because it is only one way

the next generation (hopefully) 2 way cards will show an IP address :)

I have TW. My CableCard does not show any information or program names for any of the HD channels or any channels with high numbers such as HBO.
It does show program names for the old local channels.
Does yours do any better or is this as good as it gets?

my cards are working again and:

- Comcast tech said he has another customer on a different node with a Sharp that is doing the same thing: we will both record the dates/times of outages

-Sharp is coming out next week with a firmware update for the LC-45 that is supposed to address Cablecard issues

still trying: still want my cards to work :o

dbmann (responding here to your PM as well)

I don't know much about TW or your type of card or display but I don't think Cablecards show any info other than channel name & number (e.g. SHOHD ch 223): there is certainly no guide data from a one way card

two way cards, if they ever come out, should give guide data

dbmann (responding here to your PM as well)

I don't know much about TW or your type of card or display but I don't think Cablecards show any info other than channel name & number (e.g. SHOHD ch 223): there is certainly no guide data from a one way card

two way cards, if they ever come out, should give guide data
If any sort of display based guide info is displayed it is most likely coming from the broadcaster itself, embedded in the transmission. My Mits gets some guide info on certain stations but it practically worthless.

The channel info all depends on the TV.

For example, the Sony I have shows up to a 5 letter/digit display (TBS, HDNET, MTV etc) that is actually used at the cable company head end for their reference to channels and they did not even know it was being passed on as it does not show on their cablecard equiped Panasonic test sets.

On several channels they had TEST1, TEST2, TEST3 etc. It wasn't until an engineer from NOC came out did they even understand what it was I was talking about.

But as to program descriptions, as cable doesn't pass the DTV PSIP info, there is no info on the program being transmitted as there is with the SD Signals.

Man, this thread makes my cablecard problems look easy. I was wondering if anyone else had problems with just one channel with their cablecard. The millenium guy (millenium cable www.mdm.net) came out today and said that every cablecard that he's seen is having problems receiving Starz HD. All of the other channels work great, but Starz HD is digitized. I am assuming this problem is with the cable company, but was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything like it. I'm using a Sony LCD XS 60" with the cablecard. Weird thing is, Starz HD comes in find through my HD cablebox, moto 6200 on my other TV.

Comcast came for my cablcard problem on thursday. Hooked a meter up to my cable line. Said I had a bad signal and set up an order to for linemen to correct the problem. Would have been nice if they tried a different card. He was here less than five minutes.

Comcast came for my cablcard problem on thursday. Hooked a meter up to my cable line. Said I had a bad signal and set up an order to for linemen to correct the problem. Would have been nice if they tried a different card. He was here less than five minutes.

They did the same thing to me. He went out to the street boosted the signal, came back to see if the channels were there, and left. Two days later the channels went out again. Another tech came out and gave me a new card but the firmware took 4 hrs and still didn't update. I've pulled the card and I think I'm just going to give it back. I still get DiscoveryHD without the card so I can live with that.

I was wondering if anyone else had problems with just one channel with their cablecard. The millenium guy (millenium cable www.mdm.net) came out today and said that every cablecard that he's seen is having problems receiving Starz HD. All of the other channels work great, but Starz HD is digitized.

on Comcast, ESPN HD ch 202 does not come in thru the card (STZHD ch 227 works!)

I am seeing a pattern here:

-many of us are having a problem where the card is mapping less/no channels on an intermittent basis: this is across a range of cable systems and TV's

-it is a S/A card in every case I think

-the cablecos deny any responsibility and blame it on the TV

:mad:

my problems, on Cablevision sysytem - From day 1, I have been able to get 8 of the 10 channels on their Sports Pak- they are not known as channels by the Cablecard. I am also now not getting several HD channels which originally came up (INHD, ESPN, MSG, FS, Starz). The channel is recognized by the card but I get a message, "channel not available" when I call up the channel. I had the problem with HBOHD, but that has returned to normal. I had a nice supervisor come out. He thought he knew part of the problem for the Sportspak situation, but the other department at Cablevision told him to go away, there's no problem. I'm in the Morris County, NJ system.

-it is a S/A card in every case I think


That does seem to be a common thread, I don't recall seeing any ongoing issues with the Motorola cards. Mine has worked flawlessly after having the display FW upgraded.

Hi Guy`s,
Please HELP :D
I have an "Adelphia" tech comming out Thursday to install a CC in my new Sony XS955.
Called there 888# and said that I could do it myself , so they said" OK , go to your local office and pick up a card" . Fine.
I went to pick up the CC and they said " there is no way that you or anyone else is going to install a CC in there TV". I explained that I knew how to do it and that I was going to phone in the code numbers, but still no luck.
Why are they { or me } making such a big deal. After reading this thread , you guy`s have been poping CC in and out like it`s nothing , so what gives with Adelphia ?
I just don`t want a tech ( with good intentions ) to screw to my new tv.
It sounds like , I have read , the CC has to "chat" with the TV and download ( may take time ) info and then the code number is displayed and you would just call the cable co.
Am I missing something ????
If so please let me know , and if anyone has dealt with Adelphia and CC`s , please let me know by either posting or PM - me.
I really would be most greatful for any and all help.
Thanks,
Gary

jedi29

none of the cablecos will let you self install a card as far as I know

the reason is they are still very problematic, and they are compiling data such as TV types and firmware issues

Cablecards are still in the 'plug and pray' category

Basically, this is the way CATV providers have decided to conduct the installation of a CableCARD into the subscriber's TV. The process requires a direct conversation between the installer and the technician at the head-end to pair the CC & TV's host ID's and channel mappings so they don't want to have the end-user involved with this procedure. These devices enable the subscriber's hardware to decrypt the digital signal, and CATV providers want to know the equipment where their CCs are being installed.

To obtain a CC will require you to follow their procedures, but believe me it's worth it. Your TV will render a superior picture and the more subscribers there are who want this product, the more compelled CATV providers will be to support it.

The best way to avoid an over-the-wire firmware upgrade is to stress you want a CableCARD installed that contains the latest firmware available.

Thanks , Mark and optivity , for your reply and help.
Ok-- So it`s normal for them to come out and do it , a little bit fine.
Is there anything other than requesting the latest firmware for the CC ?
Here are my concerns , I sure hope you can help:
Are they going to screw up my tv.
Do they have to put "security tape" on the back of my tv ) really worried about that one :eek:
Will I be able to turn on and control my own tv while the tech is gathering the info.
Are they careful , this is a biggy, I have designed all my own HT furniture and was custom built, I have about a hundred cables ( I could just reach over and plug the card in) , are they going to be aware of there surroundings.
Are they insured ? What happens if they break ( or screw up ) the TV by installing the wrong CC or one thats really out of date.
Does the CC act as anything more than a "bridge" in which to decode signals that are already in the pipe?
Sorry for so many questions , and I know that I may seem a little picky , but hey I paid for this stuff and all it would take is a couple of mis-Q`s and I would be right back to square one.
Anyway , thanks again , and all continued help will be greatful.
I plan on writting a full and detailed account of whatever happens.
I guess where all in the same boat , just hope the name isn`t "Titanic" LOL :)
Gary

Is there anything other than requesting the latest firmware for the CC ?
Check to see if there is a FW upgrade for your display.
Are they going to screw up my tv.
Watch them, but there is no reason they would.
Do they have to put "security tape" on the back of my tv ) really worried about that one :eek:
No.
Will I be able to turn on and control my own tv while the tech is gathering the info.
Are they careful , this is a biggy, I have designed all my own HT furniture and was custom built, I have about a hundred cables ( I could just reach over and plug the card in) , are they going to be aware of there surroundings.
Are they insured ? What happens if they break ( or screw up ) the TV by installing the wrong CC or one thats really out of date.
I believe installers have to bonded. Just watch them and say something if you see them doing something you don't want. You really shouldn't have any problem in that area. The thing to do would be to make the slot easy to get to for the installer so he doesn't have to move a lot of stuff around.
Does the CC act as anything more than a "bridge" in which to decode signals that are already in the pipe?
No, it just decrypts the signals already in the pipe.

I know that I may seem a little picky , but hey I paid for this stuff and all it would take is a couple of mis-Q`s and I would be right back to square one.So far I have about $15,000 invested in my A/V & Computer equipement... I'm very picky about how it gets treated. ;)

Hi keenan and optivity,
Thank you both for all your help, maybe I can get some sleep tonight LOL :)
So , my TV was made in Feb. 05 , how do I find out if it needs a firmware update.
I plan on geting up early and move my mains out of the way and move my tv stand out and make it as easy as possible for the tech to get at the CC slot.
Does the cable co. care if you have a signal amp hooked up ?
I probly should remove the inline DC Block so that it will get the info , am I right ?
No tape , thats good.

Guy`s this is no joke, I started looking for a new tv way before the XS955 was even on Sony`s "drawing board" :eek:
I have looked at every thing , I mean every thing. I don`t think there is a manual that I haven`t downloaded in my search for a new tv.
Why so long ! Thats easy they just had to make it :D , why didn`t I buy it sooner ? Well that`s easy too. The XS tv`s were introduced last Sept. and the price tag for the 37" was 6K , then Sony saw the error of there ways and reduced it to 5.5K by then it was Oct. and head for the "silly-season" sooo I waited ( some more ) then in Jan. the tv was reduced again and redesigned ( new remote, and it still has the "still" feature even though there is no freeze button and the new remote (old one was RM-Y1003 / new is RM-Y1004).
Anyway after X-Mas it got to cold for buy anything, even though the price droped again, 4.5K now. So by spring (of course the new Samsungs and Panny`s were comming on strong) it was on sale here and there, but something inside said to wait.
So in July BB had a 500 gift card promo and a 500 rebate , and Tweeter was going to match that bringing the price down to 4K + a Tweeter 500GC , still waited, first part of Aug. (out of the clear blue) I called Tweeter to see if they still had stock and they said they did and that the price had dropped to <2.8K :) OK- I`ll see you tomorrow. Put down 20% to hold it , and by the time a friend had time with a pick-up and I went to the store to pick it up, another suprise :) Private Sale for Tweeter Customers ( not realy private ) anyway 300 more off the tv, so my waiting paid of , end price <2.5K.
Anyway as I`m sure you know the tv is already "out - of -date" but what isn`t !!!
So I got a very good tv at a every fair price , there still selling on the web for more !!
Thanks for the help ( better keep it comming ;) )
Take care,
Gary

Does the cable co. care if you have a signal amp hooked up ?
I probly should remove the inline DC Block so that it will get the info , am I right ?

Yes, they probably will, in fact I can almost guarantee it. I would remove it and see if there is a signal problem after the install, if there is, it's the cableco's responsibility to make sure you have enough signal strength. You might mention to him that you do have an amp, it couldn't hurt as he may not have one with him if indeed you need one.

What prompted you to get the amp anyway?

The DC blocker shouldn't be an issue, but if there are problems, let him know you have one on the line. The more the guy knows about your cable feed the better.

Hi keenan,
Thanks , I`ll disconect the amp and unplug it like it wasn`t in use. ( I`ll tell`m that it was for my old reciever for better radio reception when I had an ant.)
The reason I`m using one is that we have 3 tv`s and the cable comming into the home is spilt 3 ways and by using the amp, the set in the HT has the best picture. When I disconnect it there is alot of noise that goes away after I hook up the amp.
DC block A-OK , thanks.
In my area this is the 3rd cable co. we have had 1st was "Americable" then "Harron" now "Adelphia" ( and I guess Comcast by next Feb or Mar. :confused: )
Anyway , I sure do appreciate all the help you have given :)
I just would have really wanted to do it myself , I just hope it will be worth it. I sure it will.
O-I watched the Red Sox in HD the other night, WOW it was like being at the ballpark.
But every time there was a comercial , I would have gray bars on the left & right , I guess that`s normal because as soon as the game came back it was full screen 16X9 - 1080i !
Man, HD is really something , I know that the "digital channels" are SD , but was told that more HD is on the way :)
Take care and thanks again,
Gary

After 3 days of fretting, and calling Sharp and Comcast here in Chicago. Everything sorted itself out, and my CableCard is working. The TV Guide OnScreen is working, everything is downloaded. The HD stuff looks amazing. But boy do those comcast operators know nothing about cablecards. But thanks to these threads, I've learned a lot.

FYI, I admit that I know the cable techs in my area and have good relations with them - your mileage may vary - but when I had the first cable card installed in the county, he didn't want to push it in hard enough for fear he might break something. I had to give it a good push to lock it in. So some do care.

Secondly, for whatever reason, cable cards seem to need slightly more gain than a STB - don't ask me why, but I've seen it over and over.

Over the weekend I was -9dbm on Showtime and HBO HD and the cable card couldn't handle it. The STB wants minimum -8dbm but held up with it.

I'll get the line rebalanced today, but that's how tight the parameters are.

So , do the cable co.`s care (or bother) people that have signal amp`s ?
That was my problem way back , we have 3 tv`s and 1 hooked up to a 10db amp (HT-room) and on my new XS955 the SD looks better than the other 2 sd-tv`s.
Your really not hurting anything :confused:
I`ll just be glad when Thursday is over and hope they don`t mess anything up.
So maybe , it`s better to have Adelphia do it now than wait for Comcast.
Just hope we get more HD -ch.`s we should.
Gary

cable cards seem to need slightly more gain than a STB - don't ask me why, but I've seen it over and over.

Over the weekend I was -9dbm on Showtime and HBO HD and the cable card couldn't handle it. The STB wants minimum -8dbm but held up with it.

I'll get the line rebalanced today, but that's how tight the parameters are.How do you measure the signal strength?

Hi optivity,
There should be a "Diagnostics" in your on-screen menu , I think that will tell you.
Before (and now) I would just use my eyes , if the picture is grainy then an amp might help smooth things out , it worked for me.
Not realy sure how the cable card will play into this , but I`ll let you know Thurs. or Fri. IF all goes well.
Gary

I have a 3250HD as well as the cable card.

I can get to the diagnostics screen in the SA3250HD which has allowed me to trouble shoot many of these things - like the issue above.

Some of the amps do not have the bandwidth to hit the upper QAM frequencies that cable needs in their HD QAMs (650Mhz-750Mhz) as this is above standard UHF frequencies.. This can cause you real problems.

Most signal amps are not 2 way either, which will cause issues if you have a cable box, cable modem or require 2 way connections with the Head End.

Good point !
Never though about bandwidth , do they make an amp that will boost the signal for tv`s with cable cards ?
My amp is a 1 in 2 out , no cable modem (still in the dark ages with dial-up LOL)
I could always tap off one output with a terminating resistor and use the other out for my VCR!

Comcast uses amps from Viewsonics VSA-601C 15 db, 1ghz

I got a call from Comcast today that there were card failures reported in other nodes: my cards are working fine

Sharp came and did a firmware update to my LC-45GX6U that reportedly addressed card issues: firmware 1.31: no difference noted so far. it was a very quick, easy process : the tech was here for 10 minutes

Good point !
Never though about bandwidth , do they make an amp that will boost the signal for tv`s with cable cards ?
My amp is a 1 in 2 out , no cable modem (still in the dark ages with dial-up LOL)
I could always tap off one output with a terminating resistor and use the other out for my VCR!
These two are very good quality line amps,

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/signal_booster/
Signal Booster

http://www.electroline.com/en/products/drop_amplifiers/eda/index.html
www.electroline.com

I just scheduled my fifth appointment in 3 weeks.

Hi keenan,
Thanks for the links , cable cards = broadband ?
Learn something new all the time ;)

5 Times in 3 weeks , I hope you don`t have Adelphia.
That is crazy , best of luck , Stryker412 (6th time is the charmer !! )
Gary

Stryker,

I have my second appointment on Fri morning. The first time a tech came and told me I had a bad line level. They set up a work request for a line tech to come out and check out the problem. Comcast told me the line techs came out and "balanced the line". They seemed suprised that the CARD still wasn't working and set up another appointment.

Gezzzzz
What gives ?
Best of luck guy`s ,
Will I have the same results? :eek:
Hope not , like I said , I`ll be sure to post what happens tomorrow.

As stated earlier, Showtime HD and HBOHD at -9dbm and cable card could not decode. Called cable tech on his cellphone on Monday morning and gave him the readings from the SA3250HD.

He went to the actives later that day and found someone had stuck their fingers where they didn't belong (he was on vacation last week).

Signal back up - problem gone.

It pays to

1) Have a STB so you can get diagnostics to trouble shoot it yourself as you probably know more than the CSR (I have the direct number to the NOC with instructions from the Regional VPs they are to work directly on my concerns, but i seldom use the access - for the reasons mentioned here - most have to deal with the CSR and don't have that kind of access).

2) take a cable tech to lunch every now and then

3) Tell him if he's in the neighborhood, its hot and he wants a bottle of water or a can of coke to stop by anytime (I keep a few of each just for this cause)

4) and have a great relationship with the cable tech in your area!

Amazing how much easier it makes things for just a few more dollars a month.

And btw, when I need extra RG6 cable runs or the like, guess who is all to eager to supply them? So in reality, I really feel its costing me nothing and solving a ton of problems.

Yes !
That is a very good idea. :)
Becomming freinds the "cable tech" would be a good thing.
Sounds like you got things A-OK !!
Noy having to deal with the office every time something pops up must be a huge help. I can see where a few cans of coke and some bottles of water plus a lunch or 2, would indeed save time and hassle in the long run.
Maybe I can be as lucky, anything not to deal with the office !

you really want to be on good terms with the cableguy: most of the techs who come to the house are really knowledgeable, and want to help

otherwise your name will be mud (or worse) see this link:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6044693&&#post6044693

a few $$$ as a tip if he fixes your problem does not hurt either :)

Stryker,

I have my second appointment on Fri morning. The first time a tech came and told me I had a bad line level. They set up a work request for a line tech to come out and check out the problem. Comcast told me the line techs came out and "balanced the line". They seemed suprised that the CARD still wasn't working and set up another appointment.

They did that on for me on their first trip out. It only fixed things for a day or so. I am really starting to think that a firmware update from Sony will help but Sony doesn't want to admit it exists.

I need a little help.

I have Comcast (Brick, NJ) and I've already had 5 appointments to get a Cablecard to work in my Sony DHG-HDD500 DVR. They have tried 3 different Scientific Atlanta cards. The first one seemed to load properly: it recognized the digital channels that were available, prompted the technician to call in to Comcast to initialize it and then proceeded to 'Upgrade Firmware'. Unfortunately, that's all it did. It would upgrade for an hour, go to the first channel it could find for about 15 to 30 seconds, and repeat the firmware upgrade over and over. I let it run, but after 24 hours of this, I called Comcast and they scheduled my second appointment.

The guy that came out for my 2nd appointment confessed that he doesn't really know what to do, he didn't bring another card to try and all he did was suggest that I make another appointment and tell them to bring a new card.

I made a third appointment for a Sunday afternoon, but the guy called that morning and said that the warehouse didn't leave him a Cablecard to bring to my house so I needed to reschedule again.

My 4th appointment was with the same tech as the 2nd appointment who already told me he doesn't really know what to do, but he brought another card so we tried that. This card started out properly and was initialized with Comcast, but none of the premium channels worked. All it said was 'No signal' so the tech called the office and they sent a 'hit' to my card and received an error (which one I don't know) but they said the card was defective and I had to schedule another appointment for the guy to bring yet another card. The tech also checked my signal strength and said it was good.

My fifth and final appointment was also with the same tech and it was useless as well. They installed my 3rd card and it went straight to 'Upgrade Firmware' and that is all that it did. It didn't even do what the first two cards did like recognizing the channels and prompting the tech to call Comcast to initialize the card. The tech called and spoke to his supervisor about that and he said because it was a 'brand new card' it might need to do that before they can initialize it. That didn't seem right, but I let it run it's course and after 3 hours of 'firmware upgrade' the tech came back to the house and I handed him the card back. He told me to make another appointment but I just don't have the heart to do it yet.

I called Sony, they insisted it was the Cablecard and that I should call Scientific Atlanta directly? Has anyone had to do that?

I called Scientific Atlanta and they pretty much laughed at me and told me Sony should never have told me to call them. They also said that the Cablecard should have been uploaded with firmware for my Sony DVR before they even came out to my house?

I called Comcast again and told them what Scientific Atlanta said and they told me to call back and ask for a Technical Supervisor during the week between 10 and 4 but I haven't had a chance to do that yet.

Ok, so does anyone else have any ideas before I try again? The DVR works great otherwise and I get 7 HD channels (CBS, ABC, FOX, WB, NBC, PBS and Discovery). I just don't have the others, like HBO and stuff. I know Mark said that he got rid of the Sony DVR and went with Comcast's SA8300 version. Any other thoughts or suggestions. Should I wait a few months and try again?

I called Sony, they insisted it was the Cablecard and that I should call Scientific Atlanta directly? Has anyone had to do that?

I called Scientific Atlanta and they pretty much laughed at me and told me Sony should never have told me to call them. They also said that the Cablecard should have been uploaded with firmware for my Sony DVR before they even came out to my house?

I called Comcast again and told them what Scientific Atlanta said and they told me to call back and ask for a Technical Supervisor during the week between 10 and 4 but I haven't had a chance to do that yet.

Ok, so does anyone else have any ideas before I try again? The DVR works great otherwise and I get 7 HD channels (CBS, ABC, FOX, WB, NBC, PBS and Discovery). I just don't have the others, like HBO and stuff. I know Mark said that he got rid of the Sony DVR and went with Comcast's SA8300 version. Any other thoughts or suggestions. Should I wait a few months and try again?This is about the only useful support information you have received so far. Insist you want a CableCARD installed with the latest firmware to avoid a prolonged (and often failed) wire-upgrade attempt. Your DVR has been self-certified by Sony to adhere to the: (click --> see page 14) 'Opencable & Unidirectional Cable Products List.' (http://www.cablelabs.com/udcp/downloads/OC_PNP.pdf) Unfortunately you're caught up in the finger pointing game with Comcast --> Scientific Atlanta --> Sony as am I with Time Warner --> Scientific Atlanta --> Panasonic.

optivity

while that is good advice to ask for a card preloaded with the correct firmware, I don't think the cablecos work that way

the last time a cableguy was at my house, he showed me how they get the cards: they are bulk packed in a box of 25 or 50 shipped direct from S/A: they grab a card from the box and install it in the customer's TV or PVR and usually leave before the firmware update takes place

In my area, I doubt the Comcast office even has a Cablecard equipped TV to test the cards or get the update (I am not joking): and worse, I suspect 'bad' cards, or cards removed because they don't work, are thrown back in the box with the good ones

nove531:

I returned the Sony because the guide did not work: the Cablecard worked OK after a firmware update!! You should not have to call Sony or S/A

This is really a sad saga of the Cablecard : the idea of the card is excellent: the implementation is poor because the cablecos really have no use for the Cablecard

nove531

Your the fourth person on this thread that is having problems with the card from the same cable area (3 of us in Ocean County NJ and 1 in Monmouth County NJ by my count) and we all use the same headend i'm pretty sure (Eatontown NJ). Seems strange that from all the people all of the country that are using cards that read this thread there are four us hooked to the same headend. Anyway, I got a response from a Comcast engineer that I emailed about my recent problems he indicated that he only had problems with two other Sony's and they required firmware updates. He didn't tell me what models they were or how they got the updates. He also told me that they pushed out the update to the card on 7/01/05. About the time I started having problems. While I've had little success with Comcasts 1-800 number and the techs they've sent. The engineers in their office are usually helpful. (It's their job to keep things running). He's supposed to get back to me with particulars for my set after hears from someone else (I forget who he's checking with.

Eatontown is not the headend:

it is in Northern NJ; I think near Plainfield

Hi Guy`s,
My Cable Card...and thoughts :eek:
OK- 10:10 the Adelphia tech showed up, Inserted the CC , wrong CC.
Made a few calls and come to find out , the one he had was for another distric with a diferent line up. So the first one didn`t work. So he said that he would be back between 3-5 pm , fine.
OK, "Jim" was early , thats was a good thing considering that I had about two hours worth of work to do to put the HT back togther ( and take some time to clean + detail ).
CC # 2 >>
Worked (so to speak ), could not use my Radio Shack amp :( it blocked the HD channels but worked fine with broadcast , so now that I have it disconnected , I have "grainy" channels on broadcast SD and basic cable channels.
I ended up with quite I bit of channels ,some good ,some very good ,some so bad I`m still shaking my head "why do we pay for these" in example "The Word Net."
The really good ones like TCM , FMC ect are all SD.
That fantastic one are HD Moives , Discovery HD Theater and my local PBS.
Fox isn`t bad either as I`m typing this I`m watching the NE Pat`s in 720p 16X9 :D
I hope to be watching the Red Sox on NESN HD ( if I don`t pass out first LOL )
All and all not bad , BUT , why has my TV lost it`s program selection and it`s add digital channels ? Why would that be gone ? And what the heck does Cable Card reset do ?
I thinking by hitting reset , I`ll get my channel program back as well as digital add , might have to phone in the host ID numbers to get it acivated again ? OR just turn of the tv for the card to "talk" to the main server.
Very good Tech , really . He called before showing up and called again say that he could come early , all in all great service. ( those metal "clip boards" still make me nervous ).
So thats it for now , no HBO or Sho , just HD Plus and Digital line-up.
I would really like to know what happened to my tv`s set-up controls , like what would happen if I had to do a "hard reset" on the tv?
O-well ( deep subject :) ) the Pats are ahead , so I got a game to watch :D
I would like to thank you all , for the help you folks have taken the time to offer.
Still need some answers , many thanks !
Gary

Eatontown is not the headend:

it is in Northern NJ; I think near Plainfield

Correct.

Michael, if you could do me a huge favor and either PM that guy's e-mail or ask him if he can also get a firmware update for my TV (KDF-42WE655).

why has my TV lost it`s program selection and it`s add digital channels ?

Because the card controls all that with the channel list it gets from the cableco. Your TV's channel scan is disabled when the card is inserted. When the lineup changes, the cableco has to send the new info to your card.

I mentioned this somewhere, must not have been this thread.

The MSO will not preload a CC with the latest firmware as the only way they have to do this is install it in a HDTV with a cable card slot in their office.

They feel the connectors can be damaged with continued insertion/ejection and do not want to risk damaging their HDTV just to update the firmware in their office.

Should there be a way to update the firware without inserting it into a TV?

Yes.

But it doesn't exist last time I heard.

Sounds like a "big-time" kludge to me. CATV providers are doing all they can to "appear" as if they support CableCARD technology while in "reality" attempting to dissuade subscribers at every turn...

Even when the card enables the TV to receive all subscribed digital/HD channels (mine does) since most programs are "copy-protected" other home theater devices like: DD 5.1 receivers and LG's internal DVR are disabled.

It's all "bullshit" as far as I'm concerned... You mean to tell me Time Warner can route IP over their broadband network but can't figure out a CableCARD??? Give me a break...

They have no way to load firmware to an SA PowerKEY... how does Scientific Atlanta do it???

Like I said... it's all pure bullshit!!!

Sounds like a "big-time" kludge to me. CATV providers are doing all they can to "appear" as if they support CableCARD technology while in "reality" attempting to dissuade subscribers at every turn...



It does not have to be a kludge:

Cablecard technology is a brillant idea: trouble is it is an FCC mandate and there is nothing in it for the cablecos

Right. Why did I ever give up on my 27" Sony analogue TV? Silly me.

We should just go back to "basic cable" & dial-up Internet access... ;)

Even when the card enables the TV to receive all subscribed digital/HD channels (mine does) since most programs are "copy-protected" other home theater devices like: DD 5.1 receivers and LG's internal DVR are disabled.


This actually happens with your equipment? I have not heard of this. I expect that my Sony DVR will record HBO HD/5.1 audio programming as presented (if Comcast ever gets the CableCARD working). Any other result would defeat the purpose of the DVR.

This actually happens with your equipment? I have not heard of this. I expect that my Sony DVR will record HBO HD/5.1 audio programming as presented (if Comcast ever gets the CableCARD working). Any other result would defeat the purpose of the DVR.I don't own a separate DVR but this is the "caveat" in the owner's manual of the LG 50/60PY2DR that includes an integrated DVR:

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nessus/lg50py2dr_dvr.JPG

What this means is when the PDP detects the presence of ECMs (entitlement control message) and the CCI (copy control information) flag is set to "never," any on-board digital interface is disabled so a connected device cannot function as intended.

In my case, I have a Panasonic TH-50PX50U and subscribe to Albany Time Warner Cable. I have a Scientific-Atlanta PowerKEY CableCARD installed and the PDP has an optical digital audio out interface connected to an Onkyo DD 6.1 channel receiver. For my local HD channels: ABC-HD, CBS-HD, NBC-HD and PBS-HD the TV passes DD to the receiver, but for TNT-HD, INHD, YES-HD, ESPN-HD, etc., the TV's optical audio interface is disabled and only PCM (analogue) sound output is delivered to the receiver. It's possible, you will experience the same scenario with your Sony DVR.

The fallacy of CableCARD technology is we cannot receive the full benefit of the digital programs we subscribe to because content/CATV providers are "copy protecting" high-value (e.g. reruns of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" on TNT-HD :rolleyes: ) material which renders our "fancy" toys... basically useless.

So much for the concept of OpenCable. Time Warner must think all 50-year-old's are going to "hawk" pirated DVDs on some street-corner; or perhaps... they are trying to manipulate us into leasing their HD-DVRs instead? ;)

I think the Cablecard flags are set to 'copy never' just because that is the default setting from S/A head end gear and the cablecos have not gotten enough feedback to correct it: I questioned my local Comcast and they indicated the flags will be reset to 'copy once' in the near future

after all they rent PVR's which allow you to record the same programs

How can the Sony DHG 500 PVR with Cablecard work if the 'copy never' flag is set?

Yes, I think this is a problem with optivity's particular cableco. I'm not sure if leaving their equipment set to "Copy Never" is a sign of sloppiness or a purposeful attempt to further discourage use of the card.

Meanwhile, as I've posted elsewhere, it's now 7+ weeks and Comcast still can't figure out how to get channel info to my card, even though the card does see the network. I'm trying to decide what action to take next.

I think the Cablecard flags are set to 'copy never' just because that is the default setting from S/A head end gear and the cablecos have not gotten enough feedback to correct it: I questioned my local Comcast and they indicated the flags will be reset to 'copy once' in the near future

after all they rent PVR's which allow you to record the same programs

How can the Sony DHG 500 PVR with Cablecard work if the 'copy never' flag is set?I hope you are correct... I'll gladly pay Time Warner for their digital service; all I ask is to get what I'm paying for.

How can the Sony DHG 500 PVR with Cablecard work if the 'copy never' flag is set?It can't, neither will the 50PY2DR DVR.

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nessus/lg50py2dr_dvr.JPG

or the PX50U's optical digital interface:

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nessus/50U_opt.JPG

I don't have cable card. But it sounds to me like the cable companies never wanted it and will not voluntarily try very hard to make it work.

- Tom

Their implementation has been problematic; it's like dragging CATV providers "kicking & screaming" into the 21st century of digital service.

Hopefully with continued FCC mandates and 2-way CableCARDs there is a "shiny" future for the 'BNW' "Brave New World" of 'O'pen 'C'able. :)

BNWOC - yes I made up this acronym... :D

The one thing that a company such as a cable company cannot stand is the cold light of day on their failings. It seems to me that if everyone wrote a letter to the editor of their local newspapers identifying cable service problems such as cablecard, it would not take too long for the parent company to realize that "jig is up." I suspect that if the cable industry sees that potential future HD customers see cause for concern, they will suddenly unravel the mysteries that plague cablecard.

When I first read about one-way cablecard, I suspected cable companies would have problems making it work. Not because it so technologically complicated, but because they have more money to lose than to gain if it worked smoothly. Their conclusion would change if everyone in each community knew the problems that cable customers were experiencing.

Comcast, Adelphia, Time Warner, etc. would find solutions damn quickly. (Don't you think?)

You are 100% correct Sir... Any organization that can build a broadband-based IP network can certainly figure out the technological nuances of the CableCARD. ;)

Too bad CATV providers are so shortsighted...

I was paying Time Warner over $150 per month, but after I discovered I could not get Dolby Digital sound output to my Onkyo receiver with the CableCARD I dropped HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc., and returned an SA8300HD-DVR that I was using on my 2nd HD-ready CRT TV... the bottom line for Time Warner is they lost more than $50 per month of options I subscribed to and I will not buy any additional service from this organization until they "step up" and deliver everything I currently pay for.

People with first - hand experience should consider that letter to the local editor. When I buy my Sony SXRD this Fall, I will draft my letter if Adelphia can't figure out how to make the card work.

Ok so my tech came today and as soon as he saw my TV "Oh you have a Wega huh?" He knew about the firmware update and said that's what had to be done. He had worked on 4 Sony's and they all needed it. I put a call in to Sony and they're supposed to call back within 2 hrs.



Update: Some company called Decision 1 called to set up an appointment. The biggest thing was that FINALLY someone admitted there was a firmware update (several in fact). I have an appointment with them on friday morning.

Stryker412,
What kind of "Wega" do you have ?
I have the KDE-37XS955 , and was told by my cable tech that "those sets are the easiest to do and set up , it`s the Sharp`s and the Mits`s that can give us a hard time" and went on to say that " most often we ask the customer to call the tv co. to send a tech out for a firmware update" and I asked about my Sony ... "So far there has been no indication that a firmware update in needed"
I don`t have it hooked up for 5.1 yet , ( will soon ) but I hope I`m able to get 5.1.
The only thing that I can see as a bad thing about CC`s is that they take over the tv`s channel programing ability, and it`s left up to the cable co to add channels :eek:
Lets hope they do !!
Best of luck , and let me know if we have the same tv`s , maybe I do need a firmware update. :confused:
Thanks ,
Gary

I have a 42WE655, the 42" LCD.

I still say that postings to this site will accomplish little if anything. A single posting to a local daily newspaper could lead to a complete resolution of the issue for everyone. .................. Adelphia, Time Warner, Comcast, etc. don't like no bad publicity! A letter to the editor would provide it.

It requires enforcement of the FCC mandates to get the cable companies to pony up... Tivo's position on the sad state for Open Cable compatible devices:

"January 18, 2005
Re: Ex Parte Communications in CS Docket 97-80

This letter is in response to the January 11, 2005 ex parte filling of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA). While the CEA may well respond to NCTA’s latest arguments, the NCTA, again, distorts TiVo’s position on the CableCARD requirement, which warrants TiVo response on a few key points.

First, we fundamentally disagree with the NCTA’s assertion that CableCARD is a priority for the cable industry. The mere fact that there is a Commission rule that requires deployment and support for CableCARDs does not make it a priority for cable. Rather, cable’s priority – measured by its level of effort – is the elimination of the integration ban and complete control of navigation devices.

It is abundantly clear that cable’s “support” of CableCARD fundamentally conflicts with cable’s own market imperatives. Cable simply has no economic incentive to enable consumer electronics companies to provide consumers with CableCARD boxes that are in any way competitive with operator-supplied integrated set-top boxes.

A CableCARD box that is competitive with an operator-supplied integrated set-top box is the distinction that the NCTA overlooks. There is little doubt that cable would support two-way CableCARD products from manufacturers such as Samsung and LG Electronics as long as those products run OCAP and look, feel, operate and are controlled by cable operators in every way. Such products, however, do not provide consumers with a competitive alternative to operator-supplied integrated set-top boxes. They don’t offer consumers additional innovative services and features. All they do is provide consumers with a choice between leasing a box from cable or buying essentially the very same box from Samsung or LG Electronics (plus leasing a CableCARD). In other words, you can lease a Honda Accord from your cable operator or you can buy a Honda Accord.

Cable’s objective of controlling the look, feel, and operation of all set-top boxes, whether leased or purchased, was clearly articulated last week at the Smith Barney Citigroup Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications conference in Arizona. According to news reports, Comcast’s CEO is quoted as saying: "As we move more and more into an Internet-type feeling on your television in a digital world …we know that the navigation system is critical. And whether it's video navigation with lots of screens and multiple choices ... or whether it's someday voice navigation, we want to be in control of the consumer's experience, not be using a third party."1

It is plain to see that this desire to monopolize the set-top rather than any concern about cost to the cable subscriber is what has precipitated the onslaught of cable lobbying on the integration ban.

We believe that Congress intended, and the integration ban is designed, to enable consumers to have a real choice of competing navigational devices. TiVo and other technology companies want to offer consumers the ability to purchase Mercedes, Fords, and Toyotas – set-top boxes that provide consumers with all of the cable operator’s video programming services to which they subscribe, but have a different user interface (i.e., look and feel) and additional features, functionality and services. Specifically, we want to offer consumers the option of purchasing a competitive box that works like today’s TiVo DVRs.

Further, we firmly believe that innovation and consumer choice are at stake in this proceeding. TiVo has consistently stated that it intends to create a unidirectional, Cable-Ready, highdefinition DVR with CableCARD. TiVo has also consistently stated that such a product needs to have dual-tuner capability to be competitive.2

While a multistream CableCARD (i.e. dual-tuner POD) specification was developed in September 2003, no multistream CableCARDs have been produced or are scheduled to be produced until mid-2006; ironically, the very same time frame in which cable operators are required to use CableCARDs themselves. Moreover, because unidirectional products are not in cable’s business interests, neither cable nor CableLabs has any intention of creating a multistream CableCARD for unidirectional products.3

Without a multistream CableCARD, the best companies like TiVo can do to bring a competitive offering to consumers is to try to create a device with two single-stream CableCARDs. In a good faith show of support for CableCARD, at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show, TiVo announced its intention to build such a device, but TiVo has little confidence that such a product would be supported adequately by cable operators or find acceptance among cable subscribers. It would be an expensive and unwieldy device with increased hardware costs, increased customer costs resulting from the need to lease two CableCARDs, and a host of complexities resulting from the fact that dual tuner functionality was not designed to be provided by two CableCARDs.

If it was not apparent before cable’s onslaught of lobbying to eliminate the integration ban, it should be plain now that requiring cable operators to use the same CableCARD security system as CE manufacturers use is the only way to give cable operators the incentive to embrace CableCARDs and ultimately enable CE manufacturers to provide consumers with competitive cable set-top boxes. TiVo urges the Commission not to make any change to the July 1, 2006 integration ban.

1 George Mannes “Comcast Shows Microsoft Some Muscle,” January 12, 2005, http://www.thestreet.com/tech/georg...s/10203012.html

2 Although TiVo was not involved in the negotiation of the Plug and Play Agreement, TiVo asked for a dual-tuner POD in the FCC rulemaking concerning that Agreement. TiVo stated that CE Manufacturers should be able to deploy devices with dual tuner functionality and stated that: “TiVo would like the Commission to require that, when a definition for a dual tuner POD is available, the MOU would permit its use by CE Manufacturers. See Comments of TiVo Inc., CS Docket No. 97-80; PP Docket NO. 00-67, filed March 20, 2003.

3 NCTA’s argument in its December 20, 2004 ex parte, that its delay in developing a multistream CableCARD should be discounted because the Commission did not require cable to develop a multistream CableCARD in the Plug and Play Agreement clearly demonstrates what happens when cable’s market incentives are not aligned with those of CE Manufacturers. Retail availability of competitive navigation devices will never exist if all cable will do is what the FCC directs them to do. This is precisely why the Commission put the common reliance rule in place in the first place. "

Good luck Stryker , FYI , don`t worry if you have to hit the CC reset ~!
Last night we had a power failure and when I got up this morrning and check the damage LOL , I found that my XS955 had lost it`s HD channels.
WFT , I thought , I`ll have to call cable and wait for a tech.
Well , I pulled up the CC menu and decided to hit reset , and screen came up stating that it would look for channels "ok" so I pressed enter , then turned tv off for about 5 min`s. / turn back on and got all my channels back :)
So know I now that hitting that reset tab is no biggy :D
Gary

I would agree that enforcement is appropriate and work well.

On the other hand, I STILL think that letters to the editor would cause concern for the big cable companies. They will not want the uninformed public to begin to get the idea that cable is not the way to go in the brand new digital era. (Double negative, but I'm sure you get the idea.)

One of the things that allows cable to get away with poor service is that cable subscribers cannot easily make their experiences public. Perhaps the ONLY way is a letter to the editor that the public reads and which serves to intimidate the distant cable corporate offices.

I still say that postings to this site will accomplish little if anything. A single posting to a local daily newspaper could lead to a complete resolution of the issue for everyone. .................. Adelphia, Time Warner, Comcast, etc. don't like no bad publicity! A letter to the editor would provide it.

Postings to daily newspapers do nothing as well.

The cable co's response is the same as they give the FCC -


"we have the latest updates from Scientific Atlanta and have made every effort we can to make it work given the equipment from Scientific Atlanta. There are also problems with the consumer's TVs which we cannot control.

Once the consumer's tv have the proper hardware and Scientific Atlanta supplies up with updated equipment/firmware, we will do implement it."

Right, and the "dog ate my homework" too! :rolleyes:

my opinion:

Letters to newspapers will do no good

Posting here is useful in that we can share technical info and perhaps help identify the problem: some cableco techs do read this forum

The most effective action is to establish a rapport with Cablecard experts within your cableco, and work with them to try to resolve the probelm: I have found many techs and headend folks who genuinely want to solve these issues and they get frustrated by their own bureaucracy just as we do

Eventually I think it will get resolved: and at this point I am determined NOT to give up because that is exactly what would please the cablecos: make them fix the darn things: it is not rocket science!

You are 100% correct, but what can one do when the cable provider's policy is to send a "copy never" instead of a "copy once" protection flag during reruns of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" on TNT-HD? :confused:

Especially when their response is: "there must be something wrong with your $5000 TV!" :rolleyes:

but what can one do when the cable provider's policy is to send a "copy never" instead of a "copy once" protection flag during reruns of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" on TNT-HD?



your point taken about the 'Copy Never' flag: this is an egregious violation of CP rules and I agree they probably know about it and just don't care to change it

This may be one area where certified letters to the cableco would be appropriate (but I would not use the "Buffy" reruns as an example :rolleyes:

Stryker,

Comcast told me the same thing last week. I have a Sony tech (Sony Qualified) coming from Atlantic TV Srvc. in Bricktown to do the firmware update. Where is Division 1 located. When I was on the phone with Sony they read me a list of cities from which they had authorized repair companies and had me choose the one located closest to me. I had to call and make the appointment myself. I'm not going to be happy if the repair tech isn't aware of any firmware update and can't fix me set. We both live in the same area I would think the same company would service our Sony sets. I'll let you know what happens later today. BTW if you want the Comcast Engineers name or email, PM me with your email and I'll send it to you.

your point taken about the 'Copy Never' flag: this is an egregious violation of CP rules and I agree they probably know about it and just don't care to change it

This may be one area where certified letters to the cableco would be appropriate (but I would not use the "Buffy" reruns as an example :rolleyes:Right, I'm just pointing out how fallacious Albany Time Warner's "copy protection" policies are.

I'm getting either no copy protection or copy once protection for my local HD channels ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and PBS all other HD channels are copy never protected which include TNT, DISC, INHD, INHD2, HDNet, HDNet Movies, YES and ESPN. I observed Albany Time Warner turn copy protection from off to on for ESPN since I originally had my CableCARD installed last June.

My assumption is Albany Time Warner must have to leave copy protection off because the locals are broadcasting the same programs OTA but since the other channels are available only from Albany Time Warner a different set of rules apply.

Albany Time Warner has also disabled copy once for all their premium movie channels: HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, The Movie Channel and Encore. This compelled me to drop $50 per month of additional service I formally subscribed to as well as return an SA8300HD-DVR I was leasing for my 2nd HD capable TV.

I'm so annoyed by this whole thing... I may drop Albany Time Warner's RoadRunner service and switch to Verizon's DSL.

Two can play at this game... but I realize I'm just one small fish.

BTW... I won't be buying any HD-Tivo's or HD-DVD players until this whole "copy protection" nonsense gets figured out. Hopefully the broadcasters, CATV providers and equipment manufacturers will eventually come to realize that the revenue pie is BIG enough for everyone to share without a need to implement some punative policies that only serve to harm those who legitimately subscribe for the digital service they receive and want to enjoy in the privacy of their homes.

A criminal will generally find a way to break the rules and it's a sad state of affairs that Albany Time Warner has decided to punish those who pay for the service they claim to provide.

How did this thread turn into a copy protection debate?

Stryker

Atlantic TV Svc. cancelled today. They told me they do not have a solution to my problem and its an issue between Comcast and SA. They said if they made the service call and the issue wasn't due to Sony the call wouldn't be covered under the Warranty and I would have to pay. They suggested I try several cards before they send out a tech.

Who is SONY sending to you on friday? What's their contact information?

The people in your local cable headquarters will seldom be able to help you if you are having a difficult time successfully installing and operating your digital television set using cablecard.

The only way a cure will be effected is if the national headquarters for your cable system decides that it will happen. The only way the headquarters will decide that it will happen is if the cable company ownership decides that it will occur.

Now, let's see. What do you suppose might cause ownership to reach that conclusion? .............. Perhaps, if we exchanged a lot of postings on the forum? ............. Hm! No, that wouldn't really do it. ............. What if we kept talking with with local cable officials? ............ Hm! Well, it might work for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE. .............. What if we wrote to the FCC? ............... Hm! No, the FCC already knows about it. ...............

How's about exposing the cable companies to nation-wide bad publicity right during the time they are locked in a life and death struggle with the competition for business? Yeah, that's the ticket! It just might provide the jolt that cable investors might need to "solve" the problem in an expeditious manner. No more holding out for the arrival of the more profitable two - way cablecard due to the immediate expense of lost customers that might not return.

Boys and girls, you can find all kinds of reasons not to write that letter, but for the most part you are headed nowhere.

How did this thread turn into a copy protection debate?It's not, but "copy protection" is one of the many technological hurdles that has become apparent during this implementation of one-way CableCARDs.

Do you have anything significant to add?

How's about exposing the cable companies to nation-wide bad publicity right during the time they are locked in a life and death struggle with the competition for business? Yeah, that's the ticket! It just might provide the jolt that cable investors might need to "solve" the problem in an expeditious manner. No more holding out for the arrival of the more profitable two - way cablecard due to the immediate expense of lost customers that might not return.Cheer up!!! Verizon FIOS is coming. I'll keep in mind the support I've received from Albany Time Warner when Verizon's high-speed Internet and DTV service becomes available. ;)

I still say that postings to this site will accomplish little if anything. A single posting to a local daily newspaper could lead to a complete resolution of the issue for everyone. .................. Adelphia, Time Warner, Comcast, etc. don't like no bad publicity! A letter to the editor would provide it.

Either you're joking or just not thinking clearly.

The subject of cable cards will go right over the heads of the Editors and 99+% of those reading the paper. No one will give you the copy space. Poor customer service within the cable industry isn't exactly "News".

Depending on the problem contacting local media might work. Members of this very forum, didn't write letters to the editor, but instead contacted reporters about issues with the local cable company, Comcast. It worked, some of the issues like a lack of/and bungled rollout of DVRs in the area were written about and actually were picked up in media all over the country. It prompted Comcast to expedite and clear up misunderstandings about their DVR rollout. It prompted TiVo to do a free giveaway promotion for TiVos. Many members of this forum have been quoted in these articles, myself included. The best thing that came out about all the negative publicity that was generated about Comcast is the SF bay area is that the regional VP now contacts a few of our members on a regular basis with info on what is happening and why other things aren't happening. That's a 100% improvement over the situation before the publicity.

I don't recall any CableCARD issues in the SF bay area, but if there were, I have no doubt the reporters would have no problem getting the concept of CableCARD understood to enable them to write about it in a way that would cause some action on the cableco's part. Comcast is very sensitive to negative publicity in the SF area, and as a result, they are far more forthcoming and responsive to the sub base than they were say 2 yrs ago.

Doing nothing gains you nothing. It definitely couldn't hurt to try, but I would try and get a reporter interested in it before I would go the letter to the editor route. Once you get a reporter online he can become a go-to guy like what we have here in SF.

A DVR hits lower on the Tech IQ threshold. I bet if you ask a hundred cable customers on the street what a cable card is, you won't get more than a couple of correct responses.

some of the issues like a lack of/and bungled rollout of DVRs in the area were written about and actually were picked up in media all over the country. It prompted Comcast to expedite and clear up misunderstandings about their DVR rollout...With the additional services they can sell... Cable providers have a lot of incentive to roll out those STBs.I don't recall any CableCARD issues in the SF bay area, but if there were, I have no doubt the reporters would have no problem getting the concept of CableCARD understood to enable them to write about it in a way that would cause some action on the cableco's part.Unfortunately, I don't believe the same incentives apply to CableCARDs and because so few subscribers have embraced them we see the power of a CATV monopoly who is doing all it can to stymie the implementation of Open Cable.

It's not, but "copy protection" is one of the many technological hurdles that has become apparent during this implementation of one-way CableCARDs.

Do you have anything significant to add?

yes I do. A few of us on here are trying to actually get them working correctly not debate the pros/cons of the CC.

A few of us on here are trying to actually get them working correctly not debate the pros/cons of the CC.Me too dude... copy protection affects how other devices work in conjunction with a CableCARD. In my case it's my Dolby Digital receiver, another participants question pertained to their LG PDP internal DVR. Everyone on this thread has questions regarding CableCARD, but I guess only yours really matters.

Optivity was the first member, as far as I know, that pointed out that CP indeed had a direct bearing on Cablecard operation: that the flags were set for 'copy never' and how they even shut off digital audio

Best we forum members all work together to resolve these issues :)

All good points, but it's still worth a try vs doing nothing and/or waiting for for a cableco who basically could care less if CableCARDs worked or not to fix something and/or point the finger at someone else.

To dismiss the method outright is a little silly as it takes little to no effort to try.

keenan, I agree that contacting a reporter is the first and probably best thing to do. If a reporter doesn't react, move on to the letter. It's less effort than almost any alternative and has the possibility of helping many, many people.

bobm, I am not joking and I believe that I am thinking clearly. As far as a letter going over the editor's head, ........... who cares as long as it gets in the paper and doesn't go over the heads of the general public and the ownership of cable television?

Obviously, in the first paragraph of your letter you will state that the expensive new digital television sets that they will likely soon be purchasing offer the choice of renting from the cable company a box for the extra-pay channels they might want or renting a cablecard from the same company for the same purpose. Tell them that the rental of the card is less costly and provides a better picture. Tell them the box lets them talk back to the cable company if they want an extra service such as pay per view while the card does not permit this function.

Tell them that the choice is supposed to be theirs to make, but the cable company can't seem to make the card work, so they do not have that choice. Oddly enough, the rental of cable boxes would appear to generate more revenue for the cable company than the rental of cards and that, perhaps, this condition has resulted in a conflict of interest on the part of the company causing them to have an inability to solve the problem of making the card work.

The average Joe will see that as a cable customer he might be facing a problem in the very near future. The company ownership will see that they could be facing a problem in the very near future as well.

Ready to write that letter, bobm?

I've had my cable card for a few days now and have had to reset it three times. When the settings get dropped so do all my favorite channel labels. Bummer. I've got the Motorola CableCard and a new Sony Wega E50A10 and Adelphia.

The copy protection says it's disabled in the card status view. I haven't tested the 5.1 on the HD channels yet through the receiver but I will tonight. The CCi is 0x000. Is there an issue with this set and the Mot Card firmware? I called Sony this morning and they said no tickets on this set as yet with regards to the card. I've read of other people having the same problem with loosing the settings and am wondering if I can expect this to be a weekly (or daily) occurance. If so, the card is gone. What a shame, I really like the idea of no STB.

Have a cable tech come out and try some things first. If nothing gets fixed you may need a firmware update.

The copy protection says it's disabled in the card status view. I haven't tested the 5.1 on the HD channels yet through the receiver but I will tonight. The CCi is 0x000.The CCI flag's value is channel specific. If CCI is set to 0x00 this means "copy protection" is not enabled so any on-board digital interfaces will work. If the CCI value is set to 0x02 and ECMs (entitlement control messages) are detected and the "copy never" protection bit is set, the digital output interface(s) will be disabled.

On my cable Providers system (Albany Time Warner) they do not enable copy protection for only the local stations which include ABC-HD, NBC-HD, CBS-HD, PBS-HD and FOX-HD all other HD & digital channels are copy protected.

The CCI flag's value is channel specific. If CCI is set to 0x00 this means "copy protection" is not enabled so any on-board digital interfaces will work. If the CCI value is set to 0x02 and ECMs (entitlement control messages) are detected and the "copy never" protection bit is set, the digital output interface(s) will be disabled.

That's some useful info, thanks. I'll be checking this out tonight.

On my cable Providers system (Albany Time Warner) they do not enable copy protection for only the local stations which include ABC-HD, NBC-HD, CBS-HD, PBS-HD and FOX-HD all other HD & digital channels are copy protected.

Seems I'll have to look further into this as I had planned on getting the Sony HD-DVR which accepts the card in the device, but not if I find this going on with my card. Personally I don't think my local Adelphia knows quite what to do or how to set these cards correctly yet. And the 25 buck install was a joke. Insert card, then leave. Hey thanks!

Seems I'll have to look further into this as I had planned on getting the Sony HD-DVR which accepts the card in the device, but not if I find this going on with my card. Personally I don't think my local Adelphia knows quite what to do or how to set these cards correctly yet. And the 25 buck install was a joke. Insert card, then leave. Hey thanks!The $25 install fee should entitle you to have them back as many times as it takes until they get your CableCARD working right. After they get the channel mappings straightened out, make sure the optical audio out interface to your DD receiver is working before investing in an HD-DVR device with CableCARD slot. Right now the "copy protection" paranoia of CATV providers (if that's what it is, more likely they just want to rent their DVRs) has made it difficult to integrate DCR devices, into subscriber's home theater systems, that adhere to the Open Cable standard.

I just had the Time Warner CableCard (Columbia, SC) installed on Monday to my brand new Samsung HL-R5667 and have numerous problems.

When the technician first installed it, none of the Digital channels worked - 101 and above. Finally, they came in and as soon as he left, they went off again. Watching HD was difficult because of all the pause and audio drops. The best channels are 941 INHD and 814 Special Events - absolutely stunning. I've watched two baseball games these past two nights and all I can say is incredible. ESPN-HD and NBC-HD are next with ABC-HD and CBS-HD bringing up the rear. The channels seem to cycle quite frequently showing pixels and dropping the audio for a few seconds. How can several channels be perfect and the rest be terrible? Every so often, the digital channels go off again, but I cannot determine why.

Prior to the CableCard, I had a Digital Set-Top Box (Explorer 2000) so I have yet to see if it is the CAbleCard or the signal. I will probably go by the local cable counter and pick up a HD-STB and test it out.

Now onto my most recent concern. When I turned on my Sony receiver there was a visible flicker on the TV screen. Then I noticed a transparent bar about 2 inches tall slowly rolling up the screen. I turned off the receiver but the bar was still present. I turned it back on and then off again and the bar went away. This never occurred with the Digital Set-Top Box (Explorer 2000) and the Samsung - last 10 days or with my previous TV. Also, when I plugged in the vacuum cleaner to an outlet in the room, there was a noticeable distortion to the TV with green pixels, flickers and bars. Again, this never happened with the STB or previous TV.

The Samsung is connected to the Sony receiver via the Audio Out with a THX Monster optical connection and they both plug into the Monster Power HTS 1000. These problems just started happening after the installation of the CableCard. Coincidence?

Any help or suggestions would greatly be appreciated, as I am very frustrated.

Now onto my most recent concern. When I turned on my Sony receiver there was a visible flicker on the TV screen. Then I noticed a transparent bar about 2 inches tall slowly rolling up the screen. I turned off the receiver but the bar was still present. I turned it back on and then off again and the bar went away. This never occurred with the Digital Set-Top Box (Explorer 2000) and the Samsung - last 10 days or with my previous TV. Also, when I plugged in the vacuum cleaner to an outlet in the room, there was a noticeable distortion to the TV with green pixels, flickers and bars. Again, this never happened with the STB or previous TV.

The Samsung is connected to the Sony receiver via the Audio Out with a THX Monster optical connection and they both plug into the Monster Power HTS 1000. These problems just started happening after the installation of the CableCard. Coincidence?

Any help or suggestions would greatly be appreciated, as I am very frustrated.

I think the slowly rolling bars is a ground loop issue: do a search for ground loops: pretty easy to fix

I think the slowly rolling bars is a ground loop issue: do a search for ground loops: pretty easy to fix

Thanks, I'll look into it.

What about the CAbleCard issues? Is this a common problem - receiving some HD channels clearly while others drop in and out?

Thanks, I'll look into it.

What about the CAbleCard issues? Is this a common problem - receiving some HD channels clearly while others drop in and out?

yes it is a problem that has been recently reported recently: it seems the card remaps channels and often drops some: no one is quite sure why

one theory is new firmware in S/A cards maps many more channels, and signal strength is much more critical (cards seem to like higher signal strength)

you should fix the ground loop issue first: this may have something to do with the CC problem

Perhaps if one used a powered splitter or some kind of line conditioner (being connected to a surge protector) somewhere along the coax cable, might affect the incoming signal.

I tested my Toslink out to the a/v receiver tonight and I'm getting 5.1 from the subscribed HD channels like HBO HD and Discovery, InHD etc. Guess Adelphia isn't as worried about the Copy protection yet, or more likely, just neglected to turn it on properly.

The first night of the card they did have copy protection turned on for awhile and it took out all of my HD, even the OTA HD from the antenna. It was like they took out the TV's HD decoder or something. At that point I called them and "reset" the card and things went back to non-copy protection and I got the HD back. It's kind of scary to think that they had control of my TV's functions via the card to that extent, although I'm not absolutely certain that's what happened to the set. Seems like more than a coincidence. Any thoughts about this?

A cable provider can flip the copy protection bit(s) at will. Copy protection could be enabled for one program and disabled for another on the same channel. It only depends on what is being passed in the ECM.

Ideally, CATV providers will always allow "copy once" protection, which enables digital capable devices (e.g. DD receivers and DVRs) to operate without the ability to mass-produce copies of digital quality audio/visual programs.

A cable provider can flip the copy protection bit(s) at will. Copy protection could be enabled for one program and disabled for another on the same channel. It only depends on what is being passed in the ECM.

Ideally, CATV providers will always allow "copy once" protection, which enables digital capable devices (e.g. DD receivers and DVRs) to operate without the ability to mass-produce copies of digital quality audio/visual programs.

Ok, now I kind of get it. There is an ECM sent with each individual broadcast that changes the copy protection scheme? I'm not seeing any of this activity on any channel. The status remains the same consistantly across the board. So no ECMs are being accepted/read by my card at this point?

one theory is new firmware in S/A cards maps many more channels, and signal strength is much more critical (cards seem to like higher signal strength)

This seems to be exactly my problem. I'm on my second cablecard. After continuous dropouts on higher channels, I contacted Samsung support. The tech had me check the signal using the mute-1-8-4-exit sequence. My signal is 30 & he said using the cablecard it should be at least 45. Seems the techs from TW thought my signal was good, but according to the tv manufacturer, not strong enough. Hopefully Saturday when TW comes out to boost my signal, all will be fixed. I'll post back and let you all know

The signal to noise ratio (though directly related to the signal strength) is much more important.

30 might be great for a TW Box to get a good SNR and a stable signal. The tuner in your set might need 50% more to get the proper SNR.

The signal to noise ratio (though directly related to the signal strength) is much more important.

30 might be great for a TW Box to get a good SNR and a stable signal. The tuner in your set might need 50% more to get the proper SNR.If I were to drop Time Warner's RoadRunner service and switch to Verizon's DSL what effect, if any, would this have regarding my overall DTV signal?

Where the coax enters my home, it is immediately split in half to support Internet broadband access. I'm considering the scenario above because I might be interested in renting another DVR from Time Warner and split the coax to my PDP in half... connecting the DVR to one leg and the CableCARD to the other.

If I were to drop Time Warner's RoadRunner service and switch to Verizon's DSL what effect, if any, would this have regarding my overall DTV signal?

Where the coax enters my home, it is immediately split in half to support Internet broadband access. I'm considering the scenario above because I might be interested in renting another DVR from Time Warner and split the coax to my PDP in half... connecting the DVR to one leg and the CableCARD to the other.

Cable modems like a LOW signal strength: if you feed them too much signal, it prevents the return signal (upstream) from working properly: when the cableco ran a new low loss line to my house from the street, he added a 10 db pad at the modem

IDEA: instead of a splitter where the cable enters the house: use a TAP (a directional coupler: the techs have them on the truck): the pass thru is for the cable signal (this is where the amp, if you use one, is fed); the tap output (usually 9 db down) is more than enough to feed the modem. This gives you significanly more signal to feed to your TV's and makes the modem happier :)

btw: Comcast increased modem speeds again, and I pay $10.00/month for higher speed: I typically see 9mbps down; .7 mbps up at off peak times which is really fast!

hdtvfanatic, I mispoke. The snr is the # that Samsung said was low. What do I need to have TW do to increase this #? I hope boosting the signal will also increase this # ?

Thanks

Cable modems like a LOW signal strength: if you feed them too much signal, it prevents the return signal (upstream) from working properly: when the cableco ran a new low loss line to my house from the street, he added a 10 db pad at the modem

IDEA: instead of a splitter where the cable enters the house: use a TAP (a directional coupler: the techs have them on the truck): the pass thru is for the cable signal (this is where the amp, if you use one, is fed); the tap output (usually 9 db down) is more than enough to feed the modem. This gives you significanly more signal to feed to your TV's and makes the modem happier :)
Thanks for the tip... I'll take a look into that. BTW... I forgot to mention I split the incoming signal to my cable modem and route half of it to an internal PCI TV-tuner card, but my broadband connection is good. Does that change your recommendation?btw: Comcast increased modem speeds again, and I pay $10.00/month for higher speed: I typically see 9mbps down; .7 mbps up at off peak times which is really fast!Was a bump in speed and the additional cost your choice or was this benefit decided for you? How much speed do we really need to cruise the Internet and send email?

my recommendation is first a tap for the modem at the incoming cable feed: connect the pass thru port to an amp: then feed the amp output to a splitter (select a splitter with exactly the number of ports you need)

splitters can be balanced (all ports the same output) or some have ports with different output levels: , If you use a splitter with different output levels, give the higher outputs to a Cablecard TV, lower output to a stb: you should be able to check signal level at each stb (service menu) or cc TV (TV menu)

I am not familiar with the tuner card

the amp (Comcast uses Viewsonic 2 way amps) and the splitter should be rated at least up to 1 ghz (I use splitters rated up to 2.3 ghz)

I paid the extra $10.00/month starting one month before Comcast increased the modem speed: probably don't need the extra speed for web surfing. You should also check that your modem is DOCSIS compatible: many of the older modems are not and they will limit your speed significantly: use a speed tester (google 'bandwidth speed tester': try a few of them because you can get varied results)

at my workplace, we have T1 lines and we just added cable modems: we installed a bridge that automatically selects between T1's and cable depending on which has best speed available : the cable service is from Optonline and is very fast: I see a true 10 mbps down and 1 mbps up during business hours: we are considering giving up the T1 lines or just using them for voice and backup to the cable

I have a tech here from Sony, could anyone tell me how long a firmware upgrade to the cable card from my cable company should take?

I have a tech here from Sony, could anyone tell me how long a firmware upgrade to the cable card from my cable company should take?

some take a full hour: it usually gives you a timer on the screen

Yeah my Sony says an hr but the clock never moves. I called Comcast and they said it could take a few hours. Which I hope is bogus. The Sony tech had to go to his next job anyway. He replaced my "Q" box which is what controls the coax. They said they don't do firmware upgrades anymore. Instead what they do is replace the entire part that uses the firmware. Here's some pics of the job.

http://www.myimgs.com/data/Stryker412/sony01.jpg
http://www.myimgs.com/data/Stryker412/sony03.jpg
http://www.myimgs.com/data/Stryker412/sony04.jpg
http://www.myimgs.com/data/Stryker412/sony05.jpg

"He replaced my "Q" box which is what controls the coax."

Forgive me, but what and where is the Q box? If it is something that is located at your house, then, I can see how you got the pictures. If it's something out on the line, how did you get the pictures?

What is it? Where is it? Is it something we all have, ............. like a bellybutton?

Keep us informed about this cablecard business. I will want to know all of the angles in another 6 or 8 weeks.

The Q box is inside your TV. It controls the tuner input.

Stryker412

Did changing the Q box resolve your problem?
Let us know how things worked out.
I have a service company coming Monday afternoon to upgrade the firmware in my set (Sony KD-34XBR960). They said they have an update for my specific model.

Sorry, Stryker. You SAID it was the Sony tech. (I was thinking CABLE tech. = Stupid)

Anyway, I hope that we stay informed of everyone's progress.

Unfortunately at this time I can't say whether it's fixed or not. I think my card is fubared by trying to do so many firmware updates to it. I have Comcast coming out on Monday (again) to give me a new card as well as checking my lines for signal strength.

My card has the latest update (May 2, 2005) I believe.
So I'll find out tomorrow if the update from Sony does anything.
I'll keep you posted.

What if cablecard was the ONLY way that cable could sell us more services? What if cable could charge 5 or 10 dollars for rental of the card? ............... Do you suppose that would make a difference?

I'm not really sure but these concerns are intended to be resolved with 2-way CableCARDs. The bottom line is CATV providers are not too enthusiastic about speeding up the implementation of Digital Cable Ready devices. Changing their policies to create an Open Cable environment, will provide subscribers with other digital cable ready devices to choose from in addition to what their CATV provider has to offer. This is intended to increase competition and reduce Cable TV's monopolistic stranglehold on the digital broadcast arena.

What if cablecard was the ONLY way that cable could sell us more services? What if cable could charge 5 or 10 dollars for rental of the card? ............... Do you suppose that would make a difference?

They could charge $5 or $10 for a card if they wanted.

Nothing is stopping them from doing this.

If the cable companies find a way to block their "Porn" and heavy "R" movies, Then they could charge for cable cards. America screamed about Janet Jackson's 1.5 seconds of fame at the Superbowl but says nothing about Comcast and others sending this stuff unencrypted through the system.

Dude... you're way off topic, and wrong too! :rolleyes:

Well I thought my cablecard problem was solved after my Saturday visit from TW. I had them put an amp on my line & the tv seemed to change channels faster on the higher # channels. But I had to reset my cablecard again last night. I'm about to forget the card & go to a HD DVR or learn to live with resetting my card 1-2 times a week.

Well I thought my cablecard problem was solved after my Saturday visit from TW. I had them put an amp on my line & the tv seemed to change channels faster on the higher # channels. But I had to reset my cablecard again last night. I'm about to forget the card & go to a HD DVR or learn to live with resetting my card 1-2 times a week.

We are having a similiar problem, except we've had to reset on a daily basis. Saturday I got so sick of this that I asked my husband to yank the card out thinking that it wasn't seated properly or something. After all the same cable guy didn't even tighten the connector on the back of our hd box upstairs. I was ready to have to reset/rescan again but after he put the card back in all the channels were there again and I was "subscribed" again. The card has not acted up since Saturday. A record. I'll see if it's all there when I get home from work today. So you may not have to reset/rescan, just try yanking the card like we did and see what happens. I'm hoping this solved whatever problem we've been having.

I'm about to forget the card & go to a HD DVR or learn to live with resetting my card 1-2 times a week.This is precisely what your cable provider wants you to do... get frustrated and pay more to lease one of their sub-standard STBs... IMO you should keep after them until they get your CableCARD working correctly.

"They could charge $5 or $10 for a card if they wanted.

Nothing is stopping them from doing this."

I think the FCC had some protective type language regarding a "fair" fee for selling or renting a cablecard. They anticipated the distaste that the cable companies would have for cablecard. It was supposed to be a reasonable fee for being able to receive what were already "extra pay" channels.

Beyond the money, many posters on this website report a better picture using cablecard rather than the low-bid boxes supplied by the cable companies. .......... But, then, who cares about having a better HDTV picture, anyway?

Beyond the money, many posters on this website report a better picture using cablecard rather than the low-bid boxes supplied by the cable companies. .......... But, then, who cares about having a better HDTV picture, anyway?
This is true in my case, the STB(Moto 6412) seems to crush the blacks and is limited in output resolution whereas the CableCARD lets everything through unmolested.

Comcast in this area doesn't charge for the card itself, if it is used on an outlet other than the primary, they charge an "Additional Digital Outlet Fee" of $6.95. If the card is used on the primary hookup there is no charge, other than what's built into the digital programming price.

Beyond the money, many posters on this website report a better picture using cablecard rather than the low-bid boxes supplied by the cable companies. .......... But, then, who cares about having a better HDTV picture, anyway?

the things we do for more and better HDTV ;)

Not only does the card give you better PQ, but a single cable solution is SO NICE:

a Cablecard TV needs only AC power and a cable connection and you are good to go (assuming the card works)

Here is an interesting article:

Audioholics.com: “CableCARDs - A Primer” (http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/specsformats/CableCARDprimer.php)

“The HUGE advantage comes in the picture quality. For those of you under the impression that the local cable company cares about quality and such things as accurate scaling, you are sorely mistaken. Local cable companies charge a small monthly fee (and usually no installation fee) for those utilizing their equipment. What this means is that they are concerned about features but certainly not about quality, since most of their customers are not aware of what they are missing.

CableCARDs allow the user to decrypt digital cable and use higher quality components to handle scaling and display of the cable channels.

Mitsubishi showed off two televisions displaying standard definition cable channels side by side at the 2004 CEDIA Expo. One unit was displaying digital cable via a provided set-top box, the other was using CableCARD. The difference was astounding. The Mitsubishi’s integrated scaler was of so much higher quality then the one provided by the cheap set-top cable box that clarity was improved, ghosting was dramatically reduced and (real) edge detail was preserved - so much so, that I wondered how I was conned into thinking that it was simply broadcast that way to begin with. THIS is why CableCARD is such a significant development.”

the things we do for more and better HDTV ;)

Not only does the card give you better PQ, but a single cable solution is SO NICE:

a Cablecard TV needs only AC power and a cable connection and you are good to go (assuming the card works)
That's nothing, I'm waiting for the first outboard de-interlacer/scaler ala DVDO, Lumagen, that will handle raw QAM signals... :D

Once the signal hits the MPEG decoder in these STBs the battle has been lost.. :(

Good news - Sony Repair Service came to my house today and was in fact able to perform a firmware upgrade on my set using a memory stick.

The bad news - It did not help my CableCARD problem. Back to Comcast for a resolution I guess.

Are other people having the same CableCARD problem I'm having. I'm missing blocks of channels on the card. I only get channel 3, 19 and 20 between the range of 2 - 20, I'm missing all of my HD channels except SHO-HD and missing about half of my HBO's. I know different cable systems will have the channels mapped differently. But are people missing blocks of channels, while everything else seems normal.

No, not at all. This has to be a BIG-TIME problem at your provider's end... Try and have the problem escalated to a technical supervisor.

Good news - Sony Repair Service came to my house today and was in fact able to perform a firmware upgrade on my set using a memory stick.

The bad news - It did not help my CableCARD problem. Back to Comcast for a resolution I guess.

Are other people having the same CableCARD problem I'm having. I'm missing blocks of channels on the card. I only get channel 3, 19 and 20 between the range of 2 - 20, I'm missing all of my HD channels except SHO-HD and missing about half of my HBO's. I know different cable systems will have the channels mapped differently. But are people missing blocks of channels, while everything else seems normal.


After getting the new card today I have the same problem. I get channel 3, then it skips to 20. I get most channels all the way to 98, but not much after that.

Optivity,

I agree. At least four of us on this national board are having problems with the same cable co. headend. (Comcast - Plainfield, NJ).

I'm puzzled that cable companies can build HUGE broadband networks to route IP... but have all these difficulties communicating with a CableCARD. :rolleyes:

This is precisely what your cable provider wants you to do... get frustrated and pay more to lease one of their sub-standard STBs... IMO you should keep after them until they get your CableCARD working correctly


Your 100% correct. I'm not going to give in to them. I pay them over $1400 a year and they should be correcting this problem. I don't understand why I only lose the pay channels but not the analog ones. Are the cablecards only controling the digitals?

Your 100% correct. I'm not going to give in to them. I pay them over $1400 a year and they should be correcting this problem. I don't understand why I only lose the pay channels but not the analog ones. Are the cablecards only controling the digitals?

The CableCard is used to provide authorization to decode encrypted QAM channels. Before Comcast installed the CableCard in my HDTV I was able to tune all analog and digital SD channels between 2 and 100, along with the local HD channels. The cable company must load the authorization into the CableCard in order for the encrypted channels to be decoded.

The problem I’m having is the CableCard keeps dropping the authorization which then blocks decoding of encrypted channels such as the pay channels and digital channels above 100. Normally it is a fairly quick process to call Comcast support and have them push the authorization into the card. For me it takes about 1 to 3 minutes to reauthorize the card once I get to a CSR.

Your 100% correct. I'm not going to give in to them. I pay them over $1400 a year and they should be correcting this problem. I don't understand why I only lose the pay channels but not the analog ones. Are the cablecards only controling the digitals?CableCARDs are only necessary to provide the authorization necessary for your DCR-TV to receive a "protected" digital signal. Analogue or unprotected digital signals can be displayed on any TV equipped with an NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuner.

I was paying Albany Time Warner Cable $150+ per month prior to installing their CableCARD and being subjected to the whimseys of their copy protection policies. To show my displeasure regarding this sad state of affairs I returned an SA8300HD-DVR that I would prefer to use with my 2nd HD-ready CRT-TV and dropped all their not so "premium" movie channels like: HBO, Cinemax, etc.

I'm 'contemplating' dropping broadband Internet and switching to DSL too. Eventually there may be enough subscribers with DCR-TVs to compel our CATV providers to step up and deliver all of the service we already pay to receive. :mad:

I turned on my TV today and instantly got a firmware update screen for the cable card. It didn't do this all last night so I have my fingers crossed but hopes low. It's been running now for about 45 mins.

Update: Well the firmware finished at about 50 mins. I started flipping through channels and none of the missing ones had come back. After flipping around for a minute, the firmware update screen came back. So nothing has changed. This will keep updating in an endless loop like it did before.

So I've upgraded the firmware on my TV, new cable card, signal test on my lines. Still nothing. I'm sorry but it has to be an issue with Comcast.

Interesting stuff from the FCC:

"we are concerned about anecdotal evidence relating to the cable industry’s current level of support for unidirectional CableCARDs and expect that performance to improve over the coming months to meet consumer expectations as they purchase CableCARD-enabled devices. To this end, we direct the six largest cable operators to file on or before August 1, 2005, and every 90 days thereafter, status reports on CableCARD deployment and support, including efforts to develop and deploy a multistream CableCARD for widespread use in digital devices available commercially."

That's encouraging, I hope it has the effect we're looking for.

Stryker412

When I went to work this morning I e-mailed the Comcast Engineer and explained my situation. When I got home his cell number was on my caller ID. I called him and he said they were working on a solution at another customers house with Sony, SA and Comcast all present. Probably your house. Anyway he asked if I was having the firmware trying to update problem your having. I'm not. Anyway he said he would get back to me. I hung up the phone and turned on the TV and everything is working normal on my end. I called back to report that my TV working OK. He said he did something at the headend this morning that must of corrected my problem.

Can you send me that engineer's e-mail in a PM?

Unfortunately it was not my house.

Yeah

I'll do it now

Can I ask a newbie question. I have Comcast delivering a HD STB DVR next week. I have a new HD TV (Philips 42pf9630a/37) which can accept HDMI and Cable Card. My question. Should I request a cable card for my services and buy a separate DVR? I don't know how to record from cable card feeds. I am moving up from direct TV SD Tivo. I want to get the best PQ and it seems like Cable card is the best way - if they work. I am in Chicago.

Interesting stuff from the FCC:

"we are concerned about anecdotal evidence relating to the cable industry’s current level of support for unidirectional CableCARDs and expect that performance to improve over the coming months to meet consumer expectations as they purchase CableCARD-enabled devices. To this end, we direct the six largest cable operators to file on or before August 1, 2005, and every 90 days thereafter, status reports on CableCARD deployment and support, including efforts to develop and deploy a multistream CableCARD for widespread use in digital devices available commercially."

could you provide a link to this?

Can I ask a newbie question. I have Comcast delivering a HD STB DVR next week. I have a new HD TV (Philips 42pf9630a/37) which can accept HDMI and Cable Card. My question. Should I request a cable card for my services and buy a separate DVR? I don't know how to record from cable card feeds. I am moving up from direct TV SD Tivo. I want to get the best PQ and it seems like Cable card is the best way - if they work. I am in Chicago.

Get the dual tuner HD DVR from Comcast AND the CableCARD for your TV. Split your incoming cable between them. Then connect the DVR to the TV via any HD output. You can then watch one program via the (much better for some channels) hardware in your TV, while recording two different programs on the DVR.

You won't be recording from the TV/CableCARD --- unless you have a firewire port and a compatible recording device like D-VHS.

Of course, since you are here in Chicago, good luck getting your card to work. Maybe you'll be lucky. Otherwise, you can join the growing Chicago ranks of the unhappy as we prepare to storm the walls of Comcast.

title of thread edited

get the card & the PVR

the more of us that get the card and keep after the cablecos to make it work the better:

they will eventually get it right especially if we keep the pressure on

Get the dual tuner HD DVR from Comcast AND the CableCARD for your TV. Split your incoming cable between them. Then connect the DVR to the TV via any HD output. You can then watch one program via the (much better for some channels) hardware in your TV, while recording two different programs on the DVR.

You won't be recording from the TV/CableCARD --- unless you have a firewire port and a compatible recording device like D-VHS.

Of course, since you are here in Chicago, good luck getting your card to work. Maybe you'll be lucky. Otherwise, you can join the growing Chicago ranks of the unhappy as we prepare to storm the walls of Comcast.

That's what I've been doing since February. It's been great until my CC started having troubles. We only use the DVR to record. I prefer the picture of the CC.

FYI->
I have had my CC in my new Sony XS955 for almost 3 weeks , and every now and then I have to reset the CC via the tv menu , because sometimes I have missing HD channels.
It`s realy no big deal ( so far ) but every time I do that I have ot go back an delete all the channels I don`t want.
Plus , the SD channels have taken a grainy look because I can use my 10db amp without lossing HD.
So , I have been looking for a broad band cable amp , so far the few that I have found have been on the pricey side , but hey I might just have to , if I want good looking SD.
I realy think they need to do alot more to help ( the cable co.`s ). IMO
Gary

Can I ask a newbie question. I have Comcast delivering a HD STB DVR next week. I have a new HD TV (Philips 42pf9630a/37) which can accept HDMI and Cable Card. My question. Should I request a cable card for my services and buy a separate DVR? I don't know how to record from cable card feeds. I am moving up from direct TV SD Tivo. I want to get the best PQ and it seems like Cable card is the best way - if they work. I am in Chicago.Markrubin & PhillyC are right. A CableCARD slot is the connection interface, which provides the best picture quality attainable with CATV digital broadcasts. The FCC has mandated cable providers open their systems in support of an Open Cable environment using CableCARD technology. Your first experience may drive you nuts as you cope with the technical nuances of CableCARDs and are subjected to the "copy protection" policies that affect your digital connections.

Don’t buy a separate DVR now. Wait until DCR-DVRs are available... of course the "copy protection" control policies will determine when it makes sense for consumers to buy additional digital cable ready components. If you want a separate DVR now, rent one from you local cable provider.

While the copy protection issues will likely be obvious symptoms it is possible the real problem is the lack of incentive the cable companies have to cooperate in this. If they really don't want to give up control of their boxes then they probably will not move very fast to expedite any resolution, regardless of what the FCC says.

- Tom

could you provide a link to this?"Commercial Availability of Navigation Devices" (http://www.fcc.gov/omd/pra/docs/3060-0849/3060-0849-11.doc) paragraph (4)

I turned on my TV today and instantly got a firmware update screen for the cable card. It didn't do this all last night so I have my fingers crossed but hopes low. It's been running now for about 45 mins.

Update: Well the firmware finished at about 50 mins. I started flipping through channels and none of the missing ones had come back. After flipping around for a minute, the firmware update screen came back. So nothing has changed. This will keep updating in an endless loop like it did before.

So I've upgraded the firmware on my TV, new cable card, signal test on my lines. Still nothing. I'm sorry but it has to be an issue with Comcast.

I went through this for a weekend 9 months ago.

I fixed it right before the cable tech showed up.

As I recall something in this sequence forced the upgrade (which should happen in a matter or minutes - no 45-50 minutes).

Unplugged Cable Card

Unplugged TV

Plugged in TV

Did QAM scan without Card inserted

Inserted card and update began and finished in a matter of minutes with actual new firmware installed.

And btw, it was a Sony HDTV - the 34XBR955

The CableCard is used to provide authorization to decode encrypted QAM channels. Before Comcast installed the CableCard in my HDTV I was able to tune all analog and digital SD channels between 2 and 100, along with the local HD channels. The cable company must load the authorization into the CableCard in order for the encrypted channels to be decoded.

The problem I’m having is the CableCard keeps dropping the authorization which then blocks decoding of encrypted channels such as the pay channels and digital channels above 100. Normally it is a fairly quick process to call Comcast support and have them push the authorization into the card. For me it takes about 1 to 3 minutes to reauthorize the card once I get to a CSR.

You are actually lucky and must be on a Comcast Motorola system.

The SA systems thus far have to have the hit from someone at NOC. Thus the CSR has to put you on hold and wait in queue to get someone from NOC to go through the procedure to do the hit.

I have no idea how competent the Comcast NOC in Augusta is (or if NOC and CSR are the same people), but make sure they have updated their procedures to hit all the cable cards with the new channel maps whenever they move a channel on the QAMs.

Many MSO's haven't figured out they have to do that everytime after any qam changes.

FYI->
I have had my CC in my new Sony XS955 for almost 3 weeks , and every now and then I have to reset the CC via the tv menu , because sometimes I have missing HD channels.
It`s realy no big deal ( so far ) but every time I do that I have ot go back an delete all the channels I don`t want.
Plus , the SD channels have taken a grainy look because I can use my 10db amp without lossing HD.
So , I have been looking for a broad band cable amp , so far the few that I have found have been on the pricey side , but hey I might just have to , if I want good looking SD.
I realy think they need to do alot more to help ( the cable co.`s ). IMO
Gary

why wont the cable company not give you an amp that will pass HD?

Has anyone used a 'directional coupler' (http://200.78.227.133/catalog/search_desc.asp?subfamilia=&familia=&frase=coupler&c_todos=1&c_subfamilia=&c_familia=&item=279&mv=201-306&tot=53&pos=28) with their coax-cable set-up? Is there any benefit when using a passive coupler instead of a splitter?

you want to use a directional coupler (tap) at the incoming cable feed to your cable modem

I use a BroadBand Products p/n BDC-1009D tap which gives you a pass thru port for your cable signal and a -9db coupled port for your modem (standard issue cableco item)

in effect this gives you some 3-5 db more signal to feed your cable TV systems and the Cablecards which work better with higher signal strength and cable modems work better with lower signal strength:

3 db is double the signal strength

got a call from Comcast Cablecard rep:

he said they made some headend changes over the last couple of days that they hope will resolve some card issues particularly with Sony TV's

he characterized them as 'open cable spec' settings

He asked how my Sharp displays were doing (knock wood they are still working OK)

Since the firmware update on the LC-45GX6U, I now get ESPNH audio but still no video (ch 202)

I also reminded him the 'copy never' flags still need to be reset to 'copy once': he will pass this on to Frank

you want to use a directional coupler (tap) at the incoming cable feed to your cable modem

I use a BroadBand Products p/n BDC-1009D tap which gives you a pass thru port for your cable signal and a -9db coupled port for your modem (standard issue cableco item)

in effect this gives you some 3-5 db more signal to feed your cable TV systems and the Cablecards which work better with higher signal strength and cable modems work better with lower signal strength:

3 db is double the signal strengthThanks, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Will a product like this: ’Steren Directional Coupler’ (http://200.78.227.133/catalog/search_desc.asp?subfamilia=&familia=&frase=directional%20coupler&c_todos=1&c_subfamilia=&c_familia=&item=280&mv=201-309&tot=16&pos=15) work, or do I need a bidirecional coupler to support broadband Internet access? What should the nominal coupling value of the port to my cable modem be? Is 6dB sufficient?

The QAM levels should be 6 to 8dbmv lower the the analog for SD and HDTV, the upstream docsis levels for the return from 42dbmv to 52dbmv and they are 16QAM. The forward levels for the modem should be from 0dmv to -10dbmv and they are 256QAM to give you an idea.

The whole idea of using a 2-way splitter or DC-8 coupler is to give you the ideal levels to your modem for forward and return.

The Cable-Cards seem to depend on the brand of TV for forward levels some like -10dbmv and some need 0dbmv.

Bob

markrubin

Which channels are you seeing the 'copy never" flags set and what does the diagnostics menu say exactly. The channels I have checked all say 'CCI byte: 0x00'. Is this something different?

markrubin

Which channels are you seeing the 'copy never" flags set and what does the diagnostics menu say exactly. The channels I have checked all say 'CCI byte: 0x00'. Is this something different?

on a Sharp LC-45GX6U I see a symbol of a cassette with a red 'X' thru it appear for a few seconds: this appears on every HD card channel with the exception of CBSHD, NETHD and YES channels

I am assuming this is a 'copy never' flag icon

on a Sharp LC-45GX6U I see a symbol of a cassette with a red 'X' thru it appear for a few seconds: this appears on every HD card channel with the exception of CBSHD, NETHD and YES channels

I am assuming this is a 'copy never' flag icon


I heard back from Frank with newer info:


"As far as the Copy Never/Copy Once, we currently have copy protection set
to Copy Freely. This seems to be an issue with a lot of cards and this
channel.[referring to ESPNH ] SA is aware of this and is currently seeking a solution. "


Now I am not sure if the Sharp is actually seeing a copy never flag or I am misinterrpreting the icon that pops up for a few seconds

Anyhow it does show that Comcast is aware of the problem and is trying to resovle it: that is very good news!!

I can see why the cablecos don't like cards:

for every card installed, they could lose some PPV revenue, and gain a new technology which so far has been problematic: very few cards have been fielded and many have had issues

the cableco techs take the card seriously and are working to resove the issues

CC's are a great idea: a properly integrated 2 way card could eventually replace the stb : Cards can provide better PQ than a stb in my opinion

This is a great observation. PPV revenue is becoming huge lately with VOD taking off so well.
Support for this card is spotty and a standard installation procedure isnt available. This isnt the cable co's fault. Its the set manufacturers.
Everyone loves to say cable co's do not want to see these work. They DO. When Two way cards are available ( and Samsung is the first to manufacture a TWO WAY capable set) then these cards will be BRILLIANT in lost box revenue, warehouse space and all other positives we arent even aware of yet.
I wouldnt mind seeing a CABLECARD team in the industry as just ONE escalation for a cablecard issue eats up a huge amount of resources to get that ONE SET up and running.
Name another field issue that takes techs, supervisors, network and engineers to resolve? ( not to mention your sets manufacturer or cable card manufacturer)
Once all is well there is almost nothing to say the EXACT tv will not work in another system for different reasons all together.

Look at these instructions for two different tvs. Obvioulsy its the same plant, same system, same frequencies, same card. And you have NO idea the hell that was gone through to get the Sharps procedure. Ill tell ya what, Sharp was no help.
**************************************
Sony WEGA Cablecard Procedure


1) Upon arrival at the customer's home, determine where the TV is located and that it is in working condition (all channels on our analog tiers are working).

2) Power down the TV and insert the cable card.

3) Power up the TV and wait for the set to display pairing info.

4) Add the card to the customer's account along with any pairing info through WFX and dispatch.

5) Send an "INT" hit to the card.

6) Go into the TV menu and find the CableCard.

7) Select reset in the cable card menu.

8) Verify pictures on all channels being subscribed to including digital and HD
***************************************

Now, the Sharp Aquos

Sharp Aquos install procedure.


Sharp Aquos dispatch number: 1-800-237-4277 Ask for the dispatch team if you need assistance.


Do not insert the cable card until step #7!


1. Install a two-way splitter so that the RF is connected to both the "analog" and "digital cable" input on the TV. There is another input, "digital-air" on the set that does not need to be connected.

2. Turn on the set and go to menu.

3. Go to setup and scroll down to EZ setup.

4. Follow the prompts until the channel setup menu appears and then say yes to analog and digital cable. Antenna-air should be set to no.

5. Highlight start search and let the TV search the channels. let it run completely and do not exit it prematurely. This takes over 10 minutes to complete.

6. After channel search is done, press input button on remote and make sure "TV" is highlighted. Hit enter on remote

7. Insert the cable card at this point.

8. Pairing info screen will come on and you can write down all info required.

9. Exit out of this screen and channel 3 analog should be coming in, at least in my case it was.

10. Enter 07 on the remote and hit the enter button.

11. Have dispatch give the card an int hit.

12. The pairing screen will appear again and then the set should go back to an analog channel (3 in my case. This is how I knew the hit went through).

13. At this point all channels should be available to view and in the proper order.
*******************************************

Now multiply these two instances by however many cablecard ready tv's exist and you will start to see just HOW complicated and screwed up the cablecard system is.
Sadly when you look at a tv manual when you get to the cablecard section it usually just states "Insert card face up and call your local cable operator to have it activated"
When that doesnt work all hell breaks loose and its a huge conspiracy.

I heard back from Frank with newer info:


"As far as the Copy Never/Copy Once, we currently have copy protection set
to Copy Freely. This seems to be an issue with a lot of cards and this
channel.[referring to ESPNH ] SA is aware of this and is currently seeking a solution. "


Now I am not sure if the Sharp is actually seeing a copy never flag or I am misinterrpreting the icon that pops up for a few seconds

Anyhow it does show that Comcast is aware of the problem and is trying to resovle it: that is very good news!!

-to add, Motos are having this same issue.

Recommendations for CCi are as follows

PPV and VOD services set to copy-never.
Premium services such as HBO set to copy-once.
Other scrambled digital services set to copy-freely
Over-the-air broadcast services not scrambled and set to copy-freely

Although most systems havent implemented this yet and have all channles set to Copy Freely.

Heh, I wish I could actually GET channels.

Some excerpts from "Cable Digital News" (http://www.cabledatacomnews.com/jun05/jun05-3.html) regarding the software approach to Downloadable Conditional Access:

"cable technology experts are working on a system that would let cable operators securely download conditional access (CA) software directly to digital subscriber devices. The software approach would thus mimic, and someday replace, today's CableCARD point-of-deployment modules"

"the proposed downloadable security technology would eventually take the place of today's embedded security systems in cable set-top boxes"

"cable operators would be able to pick and choose from a wide range of CA and set-top vendors, not just the industry's traditional duopoly of Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta, which now provide both technologies to MSOs"

"Cable execs believe downloadable CA will make the retail sale of digital cable devices more scalable, manageable and cost effective."

"The Commission hopes the move will enable consumers to buy a range of "digital cable ready" devices at retail, rather than being forced to lease set-top boxes from MSOs."

"cable operators have distributed about 40,000 CableCARDs to subscribers so far"

"a software-based system would be far simpler and cheaper for cable operators to install and manage because it would require no inventory or customer involvement in set-up"

"Cable operators are particularly eager to avoid the expense of CableCARD solutions. MSOs complain that the cards, which cost an estimated $75 apiece right now, are pricier than the entire projected cost of the stripped-down all-digital set-tops that they hope to deploy in the future."

"cable operators complain about the high cost of the embedded security systems that they still use in most of their older set-top boxes. They say they have to pay far more than they should for both digital set-tops and digital video headend controllers because the CA systems can't be separated out of them."

"The price of conditional access is not conditional access alone," Davis said. "The reality is that because you're held hostage by a duopoly, that CA system is not the only thing you're held hostage to."

"This gives us a little more control in that environment," said Davis, noting that Charter has "a split network" divided about equally between Motorola and S-A equipment. "We can bring in even niche suppliers."

I tried again today to see what my card would do after reading about the "changes" done in my area. I inserted the card and turned my TV on. It went through the "Updating Firmware" screen for an hour. After it was done the channel scan screen came up, after about 30 seconds the "Updating Firmware" screen came back. I guess I'm just lucky that way.

CUPACOFFE:

Of course, cable companies want the future TWO - way cablecards to work. There will be no conspiracy to prevent them babies from working! On the other hand, do you believe the cable companies really want today's ONE - way cablecards to work?

Yeah, I do.
Getting these to work means we will have a better understanding and experience in getting the two ways to work. Profitable or not, its a mandate. If we walk out of a customers house and have not repaired that cablecard issue and are not actively pursuiing the solution its an FCC violation.
What is being done is an HD box is offered at no cost.
Aside from that I am in the industry and daily see people pulling their hair out getting cooperation from all departments of the company and outside vendors to solve the issue.

I also wanted to address this post while Im hanging around.
Basically, this is the way CATV providers have decided to conduct the installation of a CableCARD into the subscriber's TV. The process requires a direct conversation between the installer and the technician at the head-end to pair the CC & TV's host ID's and channel mappings so they don't want to have the end-user involved with this procedure. These devices enable the subscriber's hardware to decrypt the digital signal, and CATV providers want to know the equipment where their CCs are being installed.

To obtain a CC will require you to follow their procedures, but believe me it's worth it. Your TV will render a superior picture and the more subscribers there are who want this product, the more compelled CATV providers will be to support it.

The best way to avoid an over-the-wire firmware upgrade is to stress you want a CableCARD installed that contains the latest firmware available.

It looks like Mark and Optiv are two of the most educated and helpful posters/mods in regards to the cablecard ( and probably lots lots more) but the above post is inaccurate in every sense.

There are systems where the sub CAN pick up the card from a front counter. They are given a number to call to have them activated.

The techs do not call the headend to have the pairing information added. This is easuily acheived by a local dispatch group. The headend folks most likely wouldnt have any clue how or where to add that info. ( aside from having to be staffed as a call center)

The Host and Pairing info serves mainly for two reasons right now.
1- Ensuring the card cannot be pulled out with its current activation level and slid into your neighbors tv. The host info is locked in with that card in a way a cable box cant be.

2- Ensuring proper CCI settings are in place and sent to that card.

The card can be inserted and activated without this information ever being provided during the install. There are many systems that do not even use this info yet. there are many systems that also do not have a CPMS(copy protection managment system) in place or implemented yet as well.

Also, as addresed, you cant "request" your cablecard have a certain firmware version.
1- it has to be inserted into a tv to find that out for sure.
2- it has to be inserted into a tv to have the firmware updated.

All this is pertaining to the MOTO cards as those are the ones I have the most experience with.

There are systems where the sub CAN pick up the card from a front counter. They are given a number to call to have them activated.


All this is pertaining to the MOTO cards as those are the ones I have the most experience with.
This may be the case in some systems , but it is false for Comcast in the SF bay area. In fact, I have never heard of a self-install in any Comcast system. A technician visit is required to install the card. This visit costs around $16. If it does not perform properly they will continue to come out, for free, until the problem is resolved. Subscriber self-install is not an option here. This is for the Motorola CableCARD.

Comcast in the SF bay area appears to have a very good handle on CableCARD install, off the top of my head, I cannot recall a single CC install problem in the SF bay area, at least among the members of the local Comcast thread.

Comcast in the SF bay area appears to have a very good handle on CableCARD install, off the top of my head, I cannot recall a single CC install problem in the SF bay area, at least among the members of the local Comcast thread.With Albany Time Warner the installation of my CableCARD and it's subsequent performance has been very good... right down to passing the ECMs which disable the optical audio out interface of my PDP. Perhaps it's time to give DSL a try. ;)

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nessus/verizon_dsl.JPG

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nessus/rr.JPG

This may be the case in some systems , but it is false for Comcast in the SF bay area. In fact, I have never heard of a self-install in any Comcast system. A technician visit is required to install the card. This visit costs around $16. If it does not perform properly they will continue to come out, for free, until the problem is resolved. Subscriber self-install is not an option here. This is for the Motorola CableCARD.

Comcast in the SF bay area appears to have a very good handle on CableCARD install, off the top of my head, I cannot recall a single CC install problem in the SF bay area, at least among the members of the local Comcast thread.

I didnt say San Francisco residents can pick them up at the counter.. I stated some systems let customers do this. Of course this leads one to believe there are transversely some systems that do not.
Just stating a fact and clearing up some misinformation.

FWIW, did a quick search on this forum to see if anyone mentioned picking one up. This TimeWarner customer did.
Here in Houston, you go and pick up the cablecard from a local TWC store, and then when you get home, you put it into the Sony and a screen pops up with the data/info you need to give to TWC. I called them and gave them the info off the screen, and early the next morning, I checked and the cablecard had been activated by TWC. Although it was a two day process, it was still relatively painless.
So a blanket statement that they cannot be picked up anywhere is false.

I didnt say San Francisco residents can pick them up at the counter.. I stated some systems let customers do this. Of course this leads one to believe there are transversely some systems that do not.
Just stating a fact and clearing up some misinformation.

FWIW, did a quick search on this forum to see if anyone mentioned picking one up. This TimeWarner customer did.

So a blanket statement that they cannot be picked up anywhere is false.
Never said they couldn't be picked up anywhere, I was only referring to Comcast in San Francisco and the fact that I'm not aware of any Comcast system that does allow it. :)

With Albany Time Warner the installation of my CableCARD and it's subsequent performance has been very good... right down to passing the ECMs which disable the optical audio out interface of my PDP. Perhaps it's time to give DSL a try. ;)


I've had SBC DSL for years and never seen a reason to go with cable HSI. For $25 a month I have the 3.0M/768K rate locked in for a year. For what I do on the internet, I have no need of anything faster, in fact an actual DL rate of 2.7-2.8M is more than enough.

That doesn't stop Comcast from filling my mailbox every month with offers for HSI though.. :D

I've had Charter out twice now to try and get the SA PKM600 cablecard working with my Samsung HLR6178. Neither of the technicians were knowledgable about the cablecards at all. The cablecard is not working. It receives most of the channels after resetting it (during the "Updating Channel List" message on the screen). Once the "Updating Channel List" message disappears - so do my channels. I'm left a handful of channels (channels 199, 311-315, 317, 320, 720-729, 897), that's it!

I have the diagnostics from the cablecard screens (below). Anything useful to look for in these diagnostics?? (I also have the diagnostics from the Samsung's perspective wrt the cablecard (e.g. SNR, Signal strength, etc).

Anyone else experience success or failure with Charter Cablecards?

How long did it take to get it to work? How did you do it?? (I've read on AVSForum that you need to work with the tech's at the headend
--------------------------
Scientific Atlanta Cablecard PKM600

SA CableCARD CP Screen
Auth Status CP Auth Received
Prog Number 3
CCI Byte 0x00
ECM count 0
EMM count 0
Decryption Status OK
PowerKey status Ready
EID 0xffffffff
MKS period 100 seconds
KSE count 0

SA CableCARD Diag Screen
HeapSize 3527088
MemFree 2566800 (varies)
Free Events 981 (varies)
RF IP addr None yet…
MAC addr 00:02:ED:EF:23:A7
Hardware Model 0600 Version: 0010
Bootrom Version 115
Build 2.3.148s2(0) Tue Oct 19, 2004, 4:51:29 PM EDT
Current Date/Time: Mon Jan 1 1996, 12:13:17 AM GMT
Boot time: Mon Jan 1 1996, 12:00:00 AM GMT
Current Resource Status 1c3f1dbf

The above screen displays for approx 5 seconds then changes to the following:

1 Set-Top Memory Allocation Report 3. Diagnostics Denied: 16
2 Software Version Report 1 Apps.
3 Firmware Version Report Diagnostics Denied: 4 4 MAC Address Report 0. Diagnostics Denied: 4 5 FAT Status Report Diagnostics Denied: 4