Anyone think that by the time this feature is reasonably mature, it would have been easier and more cost effective for Comcast to have let TiVo add OnDemand and PPV to the TiVo HD and Series3?

I don't think TiVo wants to be a hardware company, but they seem to be doing a better job than Comcast. I would be fine with renting a Comcast-branded TiVo box instead of adding slow, buggy software to the Comcast STB.

I was able to skip ahead using the tick markers while watching the playback of a basketball game. If this is what replaced the 30 second skip, its odd. After you fastforward and then hit the skip button, it skips 15 minutes and then keeps going. Certainly not as useful the jump back feature when you fast forward and then hit play. IMO this is better then the 30 second skip.

As far as i can tell, nothing replaced the 30 sec skip. I was just talking about the jump back after the fast forward, which works well for skipping commercials. The only time i have ever used the skip to tick is when i want to advance more than 15 minutes in a program.

As far as i can tell, nothing replaced the 30 sec skip. I was just talking about the jump back after the fast forward, which works well for skipping commercials. The only time i have ever used the skip to tick is when i want to advance more than 15 minutes in a program.

With the regular DVR software, there was no jump back so I either watch part of the commercial or had to review a bit. The jump back is great. I never programmed the 30 sec skip into my silver remote so I guess I do not know what I was missing.

Good evening...to sort of follow up on my tivo install adventures for the day...after speaking to a rep on the phone I decided to forget about and just wait for tomorrow. Had a couple of dvds I was going to bring to my room to watch since the dvr wouldn't give me anything. Well, when I came up to bed lo and behold my dvr is back to normal..I turned it on and hit the my dvr button and there was Tivo. Not sure how or why but it was there. What is surprising to me is that the rep on the phone tested my box and said the modem was not responding and they would definitely need to bring a new box in the morning. Not sure whats happening but will give it a whirl.

Same thing happend to me....except now it's NOT working again and I have cancelled my tech visit. I've been waiting on hold for an hour to speak with soemone at Comcast! How FRUSTRATING!!!

Just got TIVO downloaded on my Comcast box. It is definitely not ready for prime time. On Demand freezes indefinitely. Comcast says they are having server problems for TIVO subscribers with On Demand. When you switch tuners during live programming it plays live for a few seconds then skips back about ten seconds and starts again. And it is accompanied by tiling. The navigation is slower than the regular DVR. I may go back to the generic DVR until they get the bugs worked out.

Im having the exact same problem... is On Demand working for you yet?

Have you ever used a Tivo? The Tivo fast forward was designed to make it easy to skip commercials and the Comcast version has this feature. The only reason I miss the 30 second skip is because I like to use it between plays in football games.
That was the perfect use for the 30 second skip. You could watch a football game in about and hour and 20 minutes using it. Except when a team went no huddle...that used to mess things up badly:mad:

I post to add some comments about TiVo functionality, which may be useful to some of you who are new to TiVo.

From the inception of the TiVo, in 1999, until very recent months the 30 second skip ahead feature was hidden and could only be enabled by entering a code. With the last couple of versions of the version of the TiVo software used on TiVo's own boxes, however, the skip ahead feature has been enabled automatically.

As someone else has already noted, the 30 second skip ahead feature is tremendously useful for watching football. Skipping ahead 30 seconds immediately after one play ends will usually take you to the point just before the snap of the next play. Handy! Even if a no huddle offense is being run, doing a 30 second skip ahead, immediately followed by a press of the Instant Replay button, which results in an 8 second back space, will usually put you in the right place for the next play.

When the TiVo is in fast forward mode, pressing the Advance button takes you to the next tick mark on the time scale. The tick marks are 15, 30, or 60 minutes apart, depending on the length of the recorded program. When you set the TiVo in fast reverse mode, the feature works exactly the same but in the opposite direction,. This feature allows you to get to the end, or back to the beginning, of a program very quickly.

How many, if any, of these features are available in Comcast’s version of the TiVo soft ware are beyond my personal knowledge, of course.

I post to add some comments about TiVo functionality, With the last couple of versions of the version of the TiVo software used on TiVo's own boxes, however, the skip ahead feature has been enabled automatically.



Is the 30-second skip enabled in the TiVO HD?

From the inception of the TiVo, in 1999, until very recent months the 30 second skip ahead feature was hidden and could only be enabled by entering a code. With the last couple of versions of the version of the TiVo software used on TiVo's own boxes, however, the skip ahead feature has been enabled automatically.

The Tivo's 30 sec is still a hidden feature, user needs to enter a code on their remote to turn it on, and enter again to turn off. The difference in the latest 9.x version software, is that the 30 sec skip used to be off by default, every time the Tivo is rebooted for any reason, it's gone and user needs to enter the code again. Starting in software 9.x, the 30 sec stays on after a reboot.

And yes the 30 sec works on all existing Tivos, including all the standalones, (including Tivo HD), and all the DirecTivo's.

I officially am back to the I guide comcast DVR. So fed up with this TiVo bull! I think that if comcast was serious about this rollout they wouldve taken much better care of us early adopters. I'll be watching here to see if/when we see a more refined comcast tivo and ill switch back...my guess 2015??

Is the 30-second skip enabled in the TiVO HD?
As noted in earlier posts to this thread I have an S3. Thus, I have had no direct experience with the HD. Still, I would be surprised to learn that the 30 second skip ahead feature was not now automatically enabled in the HD, just as it is in the S3. The HD and S3 are very similar and, at last report, were running the same version of the TiVo software (9.x).

When the TiVo is in fast forward mode, pressing the Advance button takes you to the next tick mark on the time scale. The tick marks are 15, 30, or 60 minutes apart, depending on the length of the recorded program. When you set the TiVo in fast reverse mode, the feature works exactly the same but in the opposite direction,. This feature allows you to get to the end, or back to the beginning, of a program very quickly.

How many, if any, of these features are available in Comcast’s version of the TiVo soft ware are beyond my personal knowledge, of course.

This feature is active. I can confirm it as one person having the first tivo installed in derry, nh.

As noted in earlier posts to this thread I have an S3. Thus, I have had no direct experience with the HD. Still, I would be surprised to learn that the 30 second skip ahead feature was not now automatically enabled in the HD, just as it is in the S3. The HD and S3 are very similar and, at last report, were running the same version of the TiVo software (9.x).

I bought a Tivo HD in December and I had to activate the 30 second skip.

The Tivo's 30 sec is still a hidden feature, user needs to enter a code on their remote to turn it on, and enter again to turn off. The difference in the latest 9.x version software, is that the 30 sec skip used to be off by default, every time the Tivo is rebooted for any reason, it's gone and user needs to enter the code again. Starting in software 9.x, the 30 sec stays on after a reboot.

And yes the 30 sec works on all existing Tivos, including all the standalones, (including Tivo HD), and all the DirecTivo's.
I can’t dispute that because I have enabled the 30 second skip feature when I first setup every TiVo I ever had. Thus, when I saw, beginning with Version 9.x of the software, that cold reboots of my S3 no longer removed the feature, I assumed that the default had been changed, too.

Had my installation yesterday. Tech came to house while wife and kiddies were home, and swapped out my dct for another dct. I have DD, (without tivo sounds) through optical. He also had my remote!! Got home from work at half time of the Pats game. I had to make some adjustments, changing to 1080i from 480, and enabling DD. Everything worked fine. I'm in Roslindale. Keep my fingers crossed. GO PATS!!!

Had my installation yesterday. Tech came to house while wife and kiddies were home, and swapped out my dct for another dct. I have DD, (without tivo sounds) through optical. He also had my remote!! Got home from work at half time of the Pats game. I had to make some adjustments, changing to 1080i from 480, and enabling DD. Everything worked fine. I'm in Roslindale. Keep my fingers crossed. GO PATS!!!

I hope you're experience is better than mine! I'm in Milton on a Dch box.

Had my installation yesterday. Tech came to house while wife and kiddies were home, and swapped out my dct for another dct. I have DD, (without tivo sounds) through optical. He also had my remote!! Got home from work at half time of the Pats game. I had to make some adjustments, changing to 1080i from 480, and enabling DD. Everything worked fine. I'm in Roslindale. Keep my fingers crossed. GO PATS!!!

I hope you're experience is better than mine! I'm in Milton on a Dch box.

It sounds like the DCT boxes work much better with this tivo software upgrade. Seems like it might be a hardware issue. Thank you Kevin Martin for making Comcast and Moto to give out these dch boxes.

It sounds like the DCT boxes work much better with this tivo software upgrade. Seems like it might be a hardware issue. Thank you Kevin Martin for making Comcast and Moto to give out these dch boxes.

I have a pair of DCH boxes running the Tivo software and other than no being able to get DD things have been ok. I did have a problem with the guide detail data running out, but that was on server side.

Having said that there are little issues with the software, as there were with the iguide software, which make it a step down from a real Tivo. I plan to order a Tivo HD for my living room and keep a DCH running the Comcast Tivo software in my bedroom. My reasons for wanting the real Tivo are:

Better performing
You can add additional storage
You can transfer shows to a PC or Portable Media player

The Tivo also has MRV, which lets you steam shows from one Tivo to another; while I might use if I had a pair of Tivo's it doesn't interest me all that much.

-Bruce

Anyone have an idea when comcast will roll out an updated I-guide? 2009??

I thought It was supposed to be early 08. I am holding out for that. From what I have seen and heard about it, it's WAY better than this Comcast/Tivo junk.

I just wish we had a more firm release date. Also, it'll just update on it's own from what I understand. You won't have to order it or anything. You'll wake up one day and have the newer version.

I know this Tivo was "coming soon" over a year and a half ago. And that info came from a Comcast employee. So, I wouldn't really believe any dates they give out for I-Guide A26 anyway. It does look pretty cool though.

Tried searching forum to find this to no avail...

Anyone know how to teach the Comcast TIVO remote?

Download the Comcast Tivo Guide linked on page 107 of this thread

I saw screen shots somewhere of this iGuide (I think it was iGuide anyway), and I'm pretty sure that isn't what I have on my 3416. Is iGuide something that is generally available, or is it also in testing or what? (Or just a link to somewhere that explains it would be adequate; sorry, playing catch-up here, I know...)

Edit - Nevermind, I did some Google searching and the iGuide is what I have.

The other guide I saw packed quite a bit more info into the screen. It's pretty cheesy to have a 150" hi-def projection image, and only be able to see about three program names on the screen at once. Sad.

Yea. It looks like A26 will be in widescreen format.

Thank God

Maybe that's what I saw. Ah yes, A26... this screen shot is the one I saw:

http://www.itvt.com/TVGuide-MyTVGuide-2007-cable-sm.jpg

Mentioned in this (http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r19107718-iguide) thread and taken from here (http://www.itvt.com/wvlao%5Bitvt%5D-htmlissue7.32pt3.html). I guess I'll go search AVS for A26. Anything is better than the current POS.

That may be A26, but I think this is A27:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/10/hands-on-with-the-latest-tv-guide-software-comcast-dvr/

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/01/tvguidetru2way0182008.jpg
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/01/tvguidetru2way0092008.jpg
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/01/tvguidetru2way0012008.jpg
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/01/tvguidetru2way0102008.jpg
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/01/tvguidetru2way0192008.jpg
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/01/tvguidetru2way0132008.jpg

Is it the Tivo Killer? We won't really know until we get a hands on. The way Comcast moves around here, I'm sure it'll be a few years. I wish sooner though, as that new guide looks real slick. At least it's much more graphical than Tivo and look at the large screen program listings. 11 channels displayed at once showing two hours. Wow, thats what I'm looking for. Graphics are really polished as well. We will have to see how it performs and how it handles searching and DVR features. It looks way too complex for low end Motorola DCT-2000's though. Wonder if they will be stuck with the current iteration of I-Guide? Note how there is an HD hockey game on, but the channel number is 2. Will it finally have the ability to remap HD channels to the regular numbers? Or is this guide strictly the upgrade from the old Gemstar TVGuide+ built in software available for some TV's? Sure it has the On Demand link, but that's a part of DCR+ and Tru2Way. Though it still has the Comcast Blue, Light Blue (Kids), Green (Sports) category grid color scheme.

I still want to try the Tivo software when it's available, despite its drawbacks. It looks better than I-Guide, but when the new I-Guide comes out, I want to try that as well. If the new I-Guide figured out how to hack widescreen graphics out of the Motorola box, why didn't Tivo figure it out? Or perhaps the new guide only runs on Motorola DCX boxes, Scientific Atlanta boxes, and TV's with Tru2Way DCR+.

Sweet, TWO better-looking versions than the junk I have, plus a Tivo version I can't get.

("Tivo killer" seems awfully optimistic given their track record. All I really want is wishlist & keyword recordings.)

Sweet, TWO better-looking versions than the junk I have, plus a Tivo version I can't get.

("Tivo killer" seems awfully optimistic given their track record. All I really want is wishlist & keyword recordings.)

Looks like the new iGuide is going to be everything that Tivo does not have a patten on. It may not be a Tivo killer but it sure looks like it will give it a run for its money. Based on the images, I would love to see this one my HD box soon.

Tried searching forum to find this to no avail...

Anyone know how to teach the Comcast TIVO remote?

All the codes for TVs and amps are in the settings screen.

Looks like the new iGuide is going to be everything that Tivo does not have a patten on. It may not be a Tivo killer but it sure looks like it will give it a run for its money. Based on the images, I would love to see this one my HD box soon.

I am willing to bet that when this version of iGuide becomes available there will be a new and more flashy version of Tivo software as well.

That may be A26, but I think this is A27:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/10/hands-on-with-the-latest-tv-guide-software-comcast-dvr/

Is it the Tivo Killer? We won't really know until we get a hands on. The way Comcast moves around here, I'm sure it'll be a few years. I wish sooner though, as that new guide looks real slick. At least it's much more graphical than Tivo and look at the large screen program listings. 11 channels displayed at once showing two hours. Wow, thats what I'm looking for. Graphics are really polished as well. We will have to see how it performs and how it handles searching and DVR features. It looks way too complex for low end Motorola DCT-2000's though. Wonder if they will be stuck with the current iteration of I-Guide? Note how there is an HD hockey game on, but the channel number is 2. Will it finally have the ability to remap HD channels to the regular numbers? Or is this guide strictly the upgrade from the old Gemstar TVGuide+ built in software available for some TV's? Sure it has the On Demand link, but that's a part of DCR+ and Tru2Way. Though it still has the Comcast Blue, Light Blue (Kids), Green (Sports) category grid color scheme.

I still want to try the Tivo software when it's available, despite its drawbacks. It looks better than I-Guide, but when the new I-Guide comes out, I want to try that as well. If the new I-Guide figured out how to hack widescreen graphics out of the Motorola box, why didn't Tivo figure it out? Or perhaps the new guide only runs on Motorola DCX boxes, Scientific Atlanta boxes, and TV's with Tru2Way DCR+.

Geez, nothing like jumping ahead being we're still on the A24 guide! That thing is beautiful though. Can we just fast forward about a year or so, so we can have it? But as great as that thing looks we'll still have some people that won't want it if the record light doesn't work right. :)

The A26 looks great to me. I'd be happy with that for a while until A27 is available. I read somewhere that they just skipped over A25 so maybe we'll se A26 sometime in Q1 '08. I'm sure that's overly optimistic though.

Got Tivo installed on Saturday. Tech came out after a 2 hour download onto a DCT box of another customer. I had a DCT but opted for a DCH. DL'd in 30 minutes and functions quite well. I don't get the complaints of others. I had a 30hr Tivo back in the ver 2.0/3.0 of the software and I am relieved to have Tivo back after putting up with comcast DVR junk for so long. I have not tried on demand yet.
No DD though. Any idea when there will be a fix? Not the end of the world.

Go Pats!

Finally everything is up and working. Comcast tech came out after 3 missed appts. to drop off remote. On Demand started to work Saturday afternoon (apparently it was a server problem and not one with my modem as they previously thought) so I was able to cancel my Sunday night appt.

Everything seems to be working pretty smoothly... Even better than with the IGuide it seems.

The only issue I am having now is with the Dolby Digital 5.1 on my DCH box.. and I was promised that it would be fixed in the First Quarter with a firmware upgrade.... so I will keep the DCH and the 160gb hard drive for now and deal with the 2 ch audio.

About the remote... does the new Tivo software work with the same IR signals used by the real Tivo remotes, or is it just a "re-skinned" Comcast remote? I was reading brytrinque's note above, about the tech not bringing the remote, and wondered if the Tivo remote I already have (or the Pronto setup, really) would work with it.

Not a big deal, just curious.

About the remote... does the new Tivo software work with the same IR signals used by the real Tivo remotes, or is it just a "re-skinned" Comcast remote? I was reading brytrinque's note above, about the tech not bringing the remote, and wondered if the Tivo remote I already have (or the Pronto setup, really) would work with it.

Not a big deal, just curious.

it basically uses the sames codes as the comcast silver remote with a few exceptions. I tried my directv tivo remote while I was waiting for comcast to bring my new remote and nothing worked.

Got Tivo installed on Saturday. Tech came out after a 2 hour download onto a DCT box of another customer. I had a DCT but opted for a DCH. DL'd in 30 minutes and functions quite well. I don't get the complaints of others. I had a 30hr Tivo back in the ver 2.0/3.0 of the software and I am relieved to have Tivo back after putting up with comcast DVR junk for so long. I have not tried on demand yet.
No DD though. Any idea when there will be a fix? Not the end of the world.

Go Pats!

No fix timeframe right now for DD. It works with the DCT (should have kept it) and not with the DCH and Comcast is trying to figure out why this is because the tivo software is the same for the boxes. The only difference is one is a normal box and one is a host box that the FCC is mandating all cable providers have.

Well if Comcast needs any "real world" beta testers then I will volunteer. I found more bugs in a week on Tivo than they did.

Pete
--
http://www.petelanglois.net (http://www.petelanglois.net)

I live in Acushnet MA 02743 and had a new Comcast TiVo MoTo DCH3416 installed today. I have 2 TiVo HD's and wanted to try it out. No lag that I would complain about. All seems normal with that. Feels like a TiVo. The Ba-Doop sounds were on. I don't use them, but I left it on for an hour. After each successful button press you get a Ba-Doop but also a sort of low audio Bong as in an incorect button press. I believe this was a reported bug but is by no means a big deal.

I heard that program info does not include the year or if it's a repeat and this is true. On Demand free stuff works great. You can only FF at double speed with OD and everything else can go faster up to four arrows instead of 2. 8 second rewind works, FF, RW, Pause, Play all respond normally. I don't find any nasty bugs, no freezing, rebooting etc. I have a couple of weeks of guide data. Upcoming shows display properly. It feels right.

I have not used the latest version of Comcast without TiVo, so I can't compare, but this implementation of TiVo on Comcast is damn good. I'm not using Dolby Digital as some report it doesn't work after the TiVo upgrade. So I can't confirm that. I hear that the DD will be fixed by March. I wonder if fixes are being done on this software very rapidly, because I have not experienced, at least yet, any issues that would make me want to revert back to a generic Comcast DVR. Some complain about the missing 30 second skip, but again not an issue for me, I never use it and maybe most people don't even know it existed.

This experience so far is better than I expected after some complaints I read in this forum. In fact I had cancelled my appointment then changed my mind after reading here that some people were happy. I like the PIP while in the menus. It's just great to see a TiVo logo on the same page as a Comcast logo. I made a Season Pass and a Wishlist for an Actor. Everything is working like it should. There are probably a lot of little details some will get into as far as preferences for sorting and the like which are there, but I couldn't tell you if they are better or worse, it's not something that concerns me. I'm just happy the damn thing works after hearing a few people were not happy and reverted back.

Aside from knowing my TiVo HD's can do a lot more like MRV, TiVo-To-Go, TiVoCast, Amazon Unbox, Rhapsody, Photos etc., this Comcast TiVo feels like the real deal to me.

Aside from knowing my TiVo HD's can do a lot more like MRV, TiVo-To-Go, TiVoCast, Amazon Unbox, Rhapsody, Photos etc., this Comcast TiVo feels like the real deal to me.

I've read the last 30 pages of this thread with a lot of interest, as I'm in Cambridge, MA, and I've been wanting to ditch an old (free, hand-me-down) ReplayTV I have and get rid of the POTS landline it requires for nightly updates. I knew the Comcast DVR was crappy, but something I haven't seen mentioned in the discussion is whether the new ComcasTiVo can dump recordings off to a VCR or DVD recorder....?

A roommate of mine back in 2001 had a (Series 1?) TiVo that could do this, and it's a feature I use on my Replay quite a bit. I did some searching in the ComcasTiVo user guide posted a couple pages ago, but didn't see anything. So, can you save recorded programs to other media (even if it's in real time, and analog, like a Replay)? For that matter (and much less important), can the Moto DVR save to other media?

I know I'd miss the 30 second skip, which the Replay has, but I've always preferred the TiVo software to Replay's, and if I can stop paying Verizon for a landline, paying Comcast to rent a DVR isn't such a bad deal.

But not being able to save shows onto DVD might be a showstopper....Any confirmation one way or the other would be really helpful. Thanks.

I've read the last 30 pages of this thread with a lot of interest, as I'm in Cambridge, MA, and I've been wanting to ditch an old (free, hand-me-down) ReplayTV I have and get rid of the POTS landline it requires for nightly updates. I knew the Comcast DVR was crappy, but something I haven't seen mentioned in the discussion is whether the new ComcasTiVo can dump recordings off to a VCR or DVD recorder....?

A roommate of mine back in 2001 had a (Series 1?) TiVo that could do this, and it's a feature I use on my Replay quite a bit. I did some searching in the ComcasTiVo user guide posted a couple pages ago, but didn't see anything. So, can you save recorded programs to other media (even if it's in real time, and analog, like a Replay)? For that matter (and much less important), can the Moto DVR save to other media?

You cannot directly dump recordings onto a VCR or DVD-R. You have to play the program back and press record on the VCR or DVD-R. I've never had Replay TV but I have recording programs to my Moto DVR and copied them over to a VCR for my parents.

Had installation on Sat. 1st impression, a happy wife. We owned 2 series 2 tivos before having upgraded to HD last January, and wife loved it. When we switched to HD it was either Comcast DVR or Tivo HD @ 800. I reluctantly chose Comcast but was happy to find this post on forum (coming soon!?!). Wife always hated the Comcast UI. When I got home from work on Saturday she, before I even asked, told me she loved the new tivo. I made all the setiings adjustments and have been pleasantly surprised at how well it all works. Funny thing is i never knew about the 30 sec skip until reading this post and had tivo since the late 90's. The one great thing about us having to wait the duration for introduction was that we actually used our On Demand that we neglected for all those years. So please put us down as Very Happy customers!

You cannot directly dump recordings onto a VCR or DVD-R. You have to play the program back and press record on the VCR or DVD-R. I've never had Replay TV but I have recording programs to my Moto DVR and copied them over to a VCR for my parents.

Thanks for the reply. Right, it's not anything more sophisticated that pressing record on the VCR (though the Replay and my old TiVo does provide a 10 second header with program info at the beginning, ). I just wanted to make sure there were enough outputs on the backplane for connecting directly to a VCR, (and that they were enabled, unlike the ethernet port).

That was the perfect use for the 30 second skip. You could watch a football game in about and hour and 20 minutes using it. Except when a team went no huddle...that used to mess things up badly:mad:

My trick for no huddle is to hit "15-seconds back" THEN the "30-second skip". :)

i just got the 3416 upgraded to tivo. it kept all my old saved videos which was cool. but now the 30 second skip doesn't work. the button on the old remote does the chapter skip thing. i tried to enter the code "select - play - select - 3 - 0 - select" but it didn't work. it took me to channel 30 instead. is there another code to get that to work?

also the tech said that the HDMI out was disabled? has anyone else noticed this?

My trick for no huddle is to hit "15-seconds back" THEN the "30-second skip". :)
The Backspace button actually takes you back 8 seconds, not 15, but that's a good tip, nevertheless. I'll try it on the NFC and AFC Championship games next weekend.

i just got the 3416 upgraded to tivo. it kept all my old saved videos which was cool. but now the 30 second skip doesn't work. the button on the old remote does the chapter skip thing. i tried to enter the code "select - play - select - 3 - 0 - select" but it didn't work. it took me to channel 30 instead. is there another code to get that to work?

also the tech said that the HDMI out was disabled? has anyone else noticed this?
That is something that is not yet enabled in Tivo. It may or may not be at some point in time.

Why would the HDMI be disabled? If that is the case, no one else has reported it so far.

HDMI is enabled. I use it.

Good afternoon,
I have to admit that I was apprehensive about going through with my Tivo software install, especially after reading all of the negatives on the board. But after 4 days now of putting two different dvrs through the paces I have to admit that I am really happy with the software. Yes, I can't get dd 5.1 on my new dch 3416 box but I assume that will eventually be fixed..other than that it was like going home again after giving up my tivos to come to Comcast. My favorite feature is probably not a big deal to most..but its the 15 minute ticks on recordings. I hated recording a football game on the old dvr software and if I wanted to see something at the end of the 3.5 hour game I would have to sit there and fast forward through the whole thing to get there, now its just a second or two to skip right up to the end. The software is much cleaner looking and no longer do I have to delete repeated episodes of the same show. Plus, love having the peanut style remote again..feels more natural in my hand than the silver one.I am happy with it..knocking very hard on wood!

Tom

Without passing judgement on the absurdity of staying with SD equipment :) , can anyone tell me if the TiVo software is available on SD DVRs, or only only on Comcast's HD DVRs?

TIA......

Without passing judgement on the absurdity of staying with SD equipment :) , can anyone tell me if the TiVo software is available on SD DVRs, or only only on Comcast's HD DVRs?

TIA......

Moto boxes only. So if you have a Pace DVR, you will need to change.

HDMI is enabled. I use it.

Ditto

I went into the menu and restarted the tivo and the hdmi works now. the tech had some trouble getting it going and was on the phone for a while, i think mine was his first install.

Onto more important things... can you use the tivo desktop software with the moto box? I tried to run through the setup but it asked for a "media access key" which isn't in my "system information" menu.

also can you configure the guide and menu to use the full screen instead of the 4:3 aspect ratio?

Without passing judgement on the absurdity of staying with SD equipment :) , can anyone tell me if the TiVo software is available on SD DVRs, or only only on Comcast's HD DVRs?

TIA......

What SD DVR does Comcast deploy?

can you use the tivo desktop software with the moto box? No.

Comcast will eventually come up with their own Multi-room Viewing capability, but indications are that it won't be integrated with TiVo's.

also can you configure the guide and menu to use the full screen instead of the 4:3 aspect ratio?

I've tried and I cannot change the menu to full screen when on an HD channel.

What SD DVR does Comcast deploy?

Pace DVR in Moto areas and Scientific Atlanta has a SD DVR box for SA areas.

I believe there is a Motorola DCT-3080 SD-DVR but Comcast does not carry that model.

What SD DVR does Comcast deploy?

I don't know for sure, because I don't have one. I know some folks that do, though, and according to a price list I saw, the SD DVR was cheaper, so I got to thinking about whether I could just add TiVo to an SD box.

But I just double checked the fine print, and it says, "TiVo service is not available in all areas and requires a Motorola High-Definition Digital Cable box with Digital Video Recorder service."

So....whoops. Sorry to bother y'all.

For anyone that has Tivo installed on their Comcast box, is the recording of a series "smarter" than that of the normal Comcast iGuide? That's one of my main gripes with iGuide; that when you set it up to record a series automatically, it can't distinguish between duplicate showings and so records every instance of an episode. And if I go in and manually turn off the extras, if I subsequently create or modify some other series, the box turns back on all the extras and I have to turn them off again. I've pretty much given up on series recording for this reason; it's a lot less headache to just set each episode manually.

So if ComcasTivo is, like "normal" Tivo, smarter about series recordings and duplicate episodes, that would be strong incentive for me to sign up, if and when Comcast ever gets it rolled out here in Colorado.

TIA.

For anyone that has Tivo installed on their Comcast box, is the recording of a series "smarter" than that of the normal Comcast iGuide? That's one of my main gripes with iGuide; that when you set it up to record a series automatically, it can't distinguish between duplicate showings and so records every instance of an episode. And if I go in and manually turn off the extras, if I subsequently create or modify some other series, the box turns back on all the extras and I have to turn them off again. I've pretty much given up on series recording for this reason; it's a lot less headache to just set each episode manually.

So if ComcasTivo is, like "normal" Tivo, smarter about series recordings and duplicate episodes, that would be strong incentive for me to sign up, if and when Comcast ever gets it rolled out here in Colorado.

TIA.

Comcast Tivo will not record an episode if it has already been recorded. I tape The Daily Show and I only get one recording per day.

Anyone else has this issue?
Almost every time i switch on my (720p) plasma, i get a green screen instead of the tivo menu. I can make it go away by hitting the 'exit' and the 'tivo' buttons several times, but it's really annoying. The box is connected with an HDMI cable directly to my tv.
I believe this also happens when switching SD/HD content, but it's erratic.

Can someone also shed some light on what exactly is the difference between the "hybrid" and "fixed" modes in the video settings?

The (moto)tivo is now recording suggestions like there's no tommorow. last time i checked, there were 60 entries there. I wish there was an option to just limit the number of suggestion, or at least, not to pop up the now-recording-are-you-sure confirmation every time i try to navigate away from a suggestion being recorded. i might just turn off the whole suggestion recording, even though i like the feature in general.

The (moto)tivo is now recording suggestions like there's no tommorow. last time i checked, there were 60 entries there. I wish there was an option to just limit the number of suggestion, or at least, not to pop up the now-recording-are-you-sure confirmation every time i try to navigate away from a suggestion being recorded. i might just turn off the whole suggestion recording, even though i like the feature in general.

Just set your Tivo to record something in HD and fill up the hard drive, so it won't have any space to record suggestions. Shouldn't be that hard on the Moto boxes with 120 or 160 GB HDD.

All kidding aside, Also once the hard drive is filled with suggestions, Tivo won't be recording suggestions around the clock. On my standalone, I see suggestions recorded only a few times a day, even though I have enough I usually have space to record 30-50 suggestions. In the Find Program menu, there is also a Suggestion entry, I can go in there and see what programs are being scheduled to record. Maybe that would be useful for you.

I just got the Comcast TiVo and it looks and feels like a TiVo. I've only had it since Monday. I don't expect it to work any different than a TiVo in this regard. Inside the TO DO list, all duplicate showings of the same program at different times and on different channels are displayed with a red ball with an X through it to denote it will not be recorded.

I think you'll be much happier with Comcast TiVo if you had TiVo before. My only gripes are that I don't have a TiVo remote for it yet, the search for programs function can be slow and I don't know if I can change the channel grid, but I would prefer the TiVo style list that allows you to quickly see all the upcoming programs for a particular channel.

I'm beginning to find the PIP annoying. When watching a recorded program and then you leave in the middle of it, it keeps playing in the PIP window and when go back to resume watching a recorded program, it will start where you ended seeing it in the PIP window by changing a channel etc. I have been looking for a way to shut PIP off.

I also have 2 TiVo HD's and I think the Comcast TiVo is a good second choice and a first choice (I have no other Comcast DVR experience, this is my first) if you must have Comcast VOD and PPV. I like my TiVo HD's better, but Comcast TiVo feels like a real TiVo minus all the extras as you know. I had it installed to try it out and also because I was able to get a $20 credit on my bill for 12 months. Otherwise, I really don't need it. I havn't found a compelling reason to choose it over a real TiVo.

But not being able to save shows onto DVD might be a showstopper....Any confirmation one way or the other would be really helpful. Thanks.

I just use the S Video out and a L&R audio out on the Moto box to a DVD recorder and save things that way

Anyone else has this issue?
Almost every time i switch on my (720p) plasma, i get a green screen instead of the tivo menu. I can make it go away by hitting the 'exit' and the 'tivo' buttons several times, but it's really annoying. The box is connected with an HDMI cable directly to my tv.
I believe this also happens when switching SD/HD content, but it's erratic.

Can someone also shed some light on what exactly is the difference between the "hybrid" and "fixed" modes in the video settings?

The (moto)tivo is now recording suggestions like there's no tommorow. last time i checked, there were 60 entries there. I wish there was an option to just limit the number of suggestion, or at least, not to pop up the now-recording-are-you-sure confirmation every time i try to navigate away from a suggestion being recorded. i might just turn off the whole suggestion recording, even though i like the feature in general.

From the users manual at http://www.comcast.com/tivo :

Hybrid, and Fixed Formats
Just as TV programs are broadcast in a variety of formats, TV equipment receives and displays
video in a variety of formats. For any given program, the broadcast format may or may not
match a format that your HDTV is capable of displaying.
The Comcast DVR with TiVo® service offers two types of formats which control how broadcast
signals are converted—if at all— for display on your TV.
Hybrid. When you use a hybrid format, the DVR converts standard broadcast signals to
480p. It converts HD broadcasts to the HD format you choose. Hybrid is recommended if
your TV supports either 720p or 1080i, but not both.
Fixed. When you use a fixed format, the DVR converts signals broadcast in other formats to
the fixed format you choose, and video is always displayed in this format. Choose the fixed
format that matches your TV’s highest resolution. Using a fixed format eliminates any
screen flicker associated with switching formats automatically, as hybrid formats.

I don't know if I can change the channel grid, but I would prefer the TiVo style list that allows you to quickly see all the upcoming programs for a particular channel.


You can not change the grid guide to the Tivo style guide. I just switched from a DirecTv Tivo and that is the first thing I tried to do after my install then received my remote( with the correct ENTER button to access the guide settings.

Comcast Tivo will not record an episode if it has already been recorded.... anytime during the last thirty days, unless you specifically set the Season Pass up to record All including Duplicates.

... anytime during the last thirty days, unless you specifically set the Season Pass up to record All including Duplicates.

that would be my asterisk

After serveral phone calls, I received some very personal attention, a direct phone number and to my satisfaction, I was able to pick up a remote at my local office less than a mile away.

I have learned pressing enter on the TiVo remote for more options while in the channel grid gives me no option that I was hoping for, a TiVo style grid.

I did learn you can pause the PIP anytime you want and that will stop and save your unfinshed recording where you left off to resume later. I love pausing the PIP, because I really don't like to continue a program I'm not watching.

I have not read the manual, so I should download it when I get a chance. I still have no major complaints. Still impressed with how well it works like a TiVo, except for the missing TiVo syle channel list.

Everything is functioning as it should except for a slower search result than my TiVo HD which requires some patience or your button presses will stack and execute all at once. I can't say enough about how much I really miss the famous easier to use TiVo style channel list from which I could set up recordings very quickly for my favorite channels. For those that don't know how that works. The channels are on the left and a page full of programs and times are displayed on the right for scrolling down through very quickly. This allows you to browse through programs by channel for up to two weeks and pick to record very quickly. I like to choose Discovey programs and Multiplex movies this way. It allows you to look for new stuff by channels very fast.

Is there a way for the Comcast-Tivo box to pass-thru the signal and let my TV process it? Or our choices are only fixed/hybrid?

Just got the Comcast Tivo. So far I'm very unimpressed. The guide is horribly slow as is the response time to the remote. Most annoying is the gigantic guide that practically covers the whole screen as you change channels and can't be customized or removed. So far I don't really see any significant benefits at all over the Comcast one either. The only reason I got it was because of all the problems I was having before, but this one seems to come with a whole slew of new problems of it's own. Think I'm giving up on Comcast's DVR, this thing is more headache than it's worth.

Most annoying is the gigantic guide that practically covers the whole screen as you change channels and can't be customized or removed.

Are you referring to the channel/show info that comes up as you change channels? I thought you could just press the right cursor on the remote to toggle through the 3 size settings.

Most annoying is the gigantic guide that practically covers the whole screen as you change channels and can't be customized or removed..

If you talking about the info window that pops up after you switch channels and hangs around for 4 or 5 seconds, you can press the "Exit" button to have it immediately go away.

Same setup, HDMI, optical digital sound. No TIVO sound effects. Played around with the audio setting in the TIVO menu, no luck.

I've been watching and reading this thread for over a year now. And now that Comcast is finally rolling out their version of TiVO... It's got me wondering again - Comcast TiVO vs. TiVO HD.

The Comcast TiVO interface and features will never match the real thing. TiVO to Go, the Music interface, sharing between units. I'm tired of waiting, and I'm really worried that it will be a much inferior product, when compared to the real thing. So I think I've talked myself into not waiting any longer, and have decided to purchase a TiVO HD.

My biggest concern is SDV. I've seen and read reports that Denver, CO (where I am) has started rolling out SDV channels. And as of yet, SDV isn't supported on TiVO hardware. It could be another year - and who knows, maybe even longer - before it is.

Can someone tell me which Denver channels are SDV, and if Comcast is only using SDV to deliver new channels?

I really hate this Moto box with the IGuide - I want my TiVO... but I don't want to lose channels I watch either. Does anyone know, or can you point me toward a list of these channels?

Thanks!
Timm

Are you referring to the channel/show info that comes up as you change channels? I thought you could just press the right cursor on the remote to toggle through the 3 size settings.

Correct and the smaller size channel banner does go away faster without the need to hit the Exit button.

My biggest concern is SDV. I've seen and read reports that Denver, CO (where I am) has started rolling out SDV channels. And as of yet, SDV isn't supported on TiVO hardware. It could be another year - and who knows, maybe even longer - before it is.
Timm

Check out this Definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_video)

It is not the channels that are SDV - it is the cable plant
you are attached to, as shown in the above reference.

Just got the Comcast Tivo. So far I'm very unimpressed. The guide is horribly slow as is the response time to the remote. Most annoying is the gigantic guide that practically covers the whole screen as you change channels and can't be customized or removed. So far I don't really see any significant benefits at all over the Comcast one either. The only reason I got it was because of all the problems I was having before, but this one seems to come with a whole slew of new problems of it's own. Think I'm giving up on Comcast's DVR, this thing is more headache than it's worth.
It seems to me that the best way to improve TiVo's functionality is to break yourself of both changing from one live channel to another and surfing the unfiltered program guide. I have had TiVos since 2000 and became convinced long ago that TiVos are at their best when you use one of the several utilities provided in the Find Programs menu to find what you want to watch. You can search for a particular title or find what’s showing at a particular time or on a particular channel. Better yet, you can filter your search and limit it to HD, movies, sports, or a bunch of other stuff in a nearly infinite variety of combinations. You don’t have to record the show you select, of course. Instead, you can watch it live. Try it, you’ll like it.

For me the best thing about Tivo is not watching anything live at all. :)

Heck, on the rare occasions we do turn on the TV just to see what's on, if it's something interesting looking we'll hit record and watch it an hour later. (Obviously this is an option on the Comcast junk, too, but without my sorely-missed vast Keyword list, I find we waste a lot more time watching live television now.)

Hello everyone. I am a Comcast deployment specialist and I am starting
this thread to provide an update on the Comcast DVR with TiVo Service.
While I cannot commit to fielding questions on this forum on a regular
basis, I will be posting additional updates periodically going forward.

I'd like to thank the early users of this product who have taken the
time to post their feedback so far. Please be assured that Comcast and
TiVo employees are actively monitoring these forums, and are working to
investigate the issues reported.

There will be a software release rolling out to the field in the next
several weeks that will address many of the issues reported. For
example, Dolby Digital output will work correctly on DCH set-top boxes.
And the HD filter option in the Guide will perform much more
responsively, and provide the correct chronological sort (rather than
alphabetical).

Beyond this near-term release, Comcast and TiVo have a roadmap for
additional software releases that will continue to improve the polish
and performance of the product, as well as add some compelling new
features.

Meanwhile, Comcast is working to improve the initial installation
process for new users. Comcast is breaking new ground with this product,
with new processes for "flipping" the set-top box to a new software
stack and activating the cable modem built in to the box. We are still
addressing some infrastructure and operational issues to make these
processes work better.

As our technicians and customer support representatives gain experience
with this product, our ability to troubleshoot issues will improve.
Please stay tuned in the beginning stages of our deployment. Both
Comcast and TiVo have high expectations for the Comcast DVR with TiVo
Service, and are working hard to overcome these initial issues.

Hello everyone. I am a Comcast deployment specialist

I think its nice to see that you're interested in the user feedback. I'd say my biggest gripe with the interface is the input lag with the remote. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to respond, during which time you are pressing other buttons, until it catches up.

I think its nice to see that you're interested in the user feedback. I'd say my biggest gripe with the interface is the input lag with the remote. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to respond, during which time you are pressing other buttons, until it catches up.

Ditto, x 100. And this is not just on the Comcast Tivo DVR; this has been an ongoing, incredible frustration for the existing DVR.

Can there PLEASE be a firmware upgrade to fix this rather serious issue? It's been going on for far too long. I have little interest in trusting Comcast to supply me with a Tivo type box (for extra $$$) if they can't even get the basics right.

-Dave

in case anyone is skeptical. This comcast rep was confirmed legit by a well known TiVo employee over at the TCF.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5890582#post5890582

Hi Comcast Rep. I had my Comcast install on Monday and I'm very pleased so far and I've owned TiVos since 2001. The search for programs to record function is slow but I got used to it and don't allow button presses to stack, if you can speed it up, great. I don't use Dolby Digital, but that fix will make a lot of people happy.

The feature I miss most is the simple TiVo guide list I was hoping to see after pressing enter on my Comcast TiVo remote for more guide options. I have this feature on my TiVos and find it much easier to see all the shows coming up by channel, especially when you have favorite channels and you like to just set to record from the guide.

Thanks again for sharing any news on the Comcast TiVo deployment, as it will prevent some from getting impatient and revert back to a regular DVR. Your post reads very much like the coversation I had with a Comcast Rep over the phone to get my Comcast TiVo remote after the install because the tech did not bring one. I'm in Acushnet MA 02743. Could it be you.

Same setup, HDMI, optical digital sound. No TIVO sound effects. Played around with the audio setting in the TIVO menu, no luck.

No TIVO sound effects. That is why I'm sticking with I guide

When will the Comcast service areas (I'm in CT) that are running Scientific Atlanta get the Comcast TiVo?

Bravo comcast! Welcome comcast rep. Absolutly ground breaking in your appearance here.
I really only have two gripes
1. no DD on the DCH - but you have addressed that
2. the long time it takes when you select 'record this episode' to register the recording (displays 'please wait').
other than that I love it. I really like the new on deman interface.
FREAK!

Man, and I thought this was already a long thread. Once word gets out, this thing will explode. Let's get the obvious one out of the way now:

Dear Comcast Rep,

I live in [STATE]. I have been waiting for Comcast Tivo
since the news leaked several years ago that a deal was
in the works. When will it be available to subscribers in [STATE]?

Signed,
Suffering with i-Guide
:D

After seeing that post, just for the hell of it I called Comcast Support and they still insist there is no such thing. LOL

I live in Salem, NH.
I had a Comcast Moto HDMI cable box and a Comcast Moto DVR box. When I heard that TiVo on Comcast is available in Salem, I jumped the gun and ordered it.

So the technician showed up, downloaded TiVo onto the DVR box and the TiVo part of the service worked fine. However, both the HDMI box and the DVR box lost all ability to display programming information. The HDMI box even stopped having On Demand.

So we called Comcast, they send in another technician with new cable boxes. When he installed the boxes, before downloading TiVo software, everything works fine - OnDemand is working, we have the program/channel information working. But as soon as he started downloading the TiVo software, the HDMI box is screwed up again and we lost OnDemand and the program/channel information.

I suspect downloading TiVo onto the DVR box actually screwed up the software in the other HDMI box.

To say the least, I am pretty frustrated right now and will be canceling both by TiVo and Comcast DVR service, and get a real TiVo.

in case anyone is skeptical. This comcast rep was confirmed legit by a well known TiVo employee over at the TCF.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5890582#post5890582

Seems a bit strange to me someone would post as "Comcast Rep" even thought the information seems legit. But we know there are Comcast employees who read the posts and even post and interact with us. So I think we really need to thank them for talking to us and not just posting information.

As far as my Comcast Tivo goes, I think if you are on the 2nd tuner, the DVR will not record without changing channels. Seems a bit odd I'm going to work on this.

THis sucks.. I am livid... I have been on hold for like 30 minutes

They installed Tivo this morning and now all I have is a green screen.. I have sound and a bright green screen.

terrible

THis sucks.. I am livid... I have been on hold for like 30 minutes

They installed Tivo this morning and now all I have is a green screen.. I have sound and a bright green screen.

terrible

If you are using HDMI, and I bet you are, turn the Box off and then back on. If that doesn't get it, turn the TV off and then back on. Your handshake isn't happening correctly.

When will the Comcast service areas (I'm in CT) that are running Scientific Atlanta get the Comcast TiVo?
My cable company, Cox OKC, uses SA boxes, too, and Cox has the same kind of deal in place with TiVo as the Comcast-TiVo agreement. Also, I have owned and loved TiVos since 2000. Thus, this is an issue that I am very interested in.

The last thing I heard was that implementing TiVo software on SA DVRs would require a brand new development project, entirely separate from that done for the Motorola boxes, and that it had not yet been rolled out to any SA boxes. Based on these discouraging facts, I don’t expect any of us who use SA DVRs to get the TiVo software very soon.

My cable company, Cox OKC, uses SA boxes, too, and Cox has the same kind of deal in place with TiVo as the Comcast-TiVo agreement. Also, I have owned and loved TiVos since 2000. Thus, this is an issue that I am very interested in.

The last thing I heard was that implementing TiVo software on SA DVRs would require a brand new development project, entirely separate from that done for the Motorola boxes, and that it had not yet been rolled out to any SA boxes. Based on these discouraging facts, I don’t expect any of us who use SA DVRs to get the TiVo software very soon.


I'm using S3's now. So I'm okay until SDV is broadly implemeted in my area and there are still no "dongles" available. Though, it would be nice to have TiVo DVR's with On Demand capability! Maybe the S4 will solve all of these problems? But I'm getting tired of buying equipmemt that's obsolete before it goes into production.

To be fair, we do typically get to use most electronics for three or four years before it is "obsolete". There is big difference between "obsolete" and "superseded". We can expect to see electronics superseded every six months, at the least; often every three months. That's a fundamental aspect of the consumer electronics marketplace, and isn't going to change anytime soon.

To be fair, we do typically get to use most electronics for three or four years before it is "obsolete". There is big difference between "obsolete" and "superseded". We can expect to see electronics superseded every six months, at the least; often every three months. That's a fundamental aspect of the consumer electronics marketplace, and isn't going to change anytime soon.

Good point.

If it is not ever superseded the prices would never come down too. Five years ago my father paid like six grand for a Sony 42 inch plasma. Now look at what six grand would get you.

So I've officially had the TiVo upgrade on my Comcast DCH3416 for just over an hour now and thus far I'm very pleased - even smiling. FWIW I live in Cambridge is a big apt building.

Pros:
* Easy upgrade. The kid from Comcast who came out to do the upgrade had not done an upgrade on his own (which he let me know) so I was a bit uneasy about it from the get go. It took only 15-20 min for the box to download the new software, upgrade itself, and come back online. He was in and out in just over a half hour.
* TiVo remote! I was afraid that I was going to be stuck with that terrible MOT remote but nope, I've got (another) TiVo remote for the new box.
* Bounce back. It's what makes a TiVo a TiVo and I love it. I don't miss the 30 second skip at all.
* New Guide. I always hated the guide on the Comcast HD DVR (version A24 I believe) so having the new guide with PiP is a real plus. Wish that it showed repeats (R) and year.
* New OnDemand. This is an even bigger improvement over the guide upgrade. The only reason I stuck with the Comcast box so long and didn't buy a Series3 TiVo was because I didn't want to lose my OnDemand. Now I've got both.
* My gf is happy. She's used to our Series2 DT which I'm going to hang onto for a few more months until Comcast works the bugs out on the DCH boxes.

Cons:
* No Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Personally this is a big loss as I have a nice surround system and I no longer feel like I have the full experience, especially for movies and sports (80% of what I watch). Fingers crossed that this is sorted out soon.
* Video mode shifts and sometimes becomes skewed. I've found that flipping between HD and SD content the guide goes from 16:9 to 4:3 and, on occasion, I have to flip between HD channels to get the scaling right. I have my box set for 1080i hybrid; using 1080i fixed doesn't seem to make a difference.
* Automatic channel programming doesn't seem to be enabled; I had to manually remove all of the premium channels that I don't get.
* The remote is slow to respond. Bounce back helps, so does the instant replay button, but it's still annoying.

In summary I am very happy to have a HD TiVo box and I'm optimistic that Comcast and TiVo will iron out these issues in short order prior to rolling out the software upgrade to the rest of the country.

If you are using HDMI, and I bet you are, turn the Box off and then back on. If that doesn't get it, turn the TV off and then back on. Your handshake isn't happening correctly.

I just got the green screen for maybe the fourth time in the three or so weeks I have had the tivo box.

In the past I have just cycled through the different video input on my TV and when I got back to the cable box it synced up correctly. This time that didn't work and turning the TV on and off didin't work. I'm not sure what you meant by turning the box off/on, i tried standby, but that didn't work. I finally had to unplug it and let it restart to get to video back.

For me it's a pain in the ass to get the back of the box to pull the plug and put it back in.

I just got the green screen for maybe the fourth time in the three or so weeks I have had the tivo box.

In the past I have just cycled through the different video input on my TV and when I got back to the cable box it synced up correctly. This time that didn't work and turning the TV on and off didin't work. I'm not sure what you meant by turning the box off/on, i tried standby, but that didn't work. I finally had to unplug it and let it restart to get to video back.

For me it's a pain in the ass to get the back of the box to pull the plug and put it back in.

I get it too much.. powering down the box works, but the sucky thing is that it takes like 4 minutes for it to re-boot

very glitchy.. needs a firmware upgrade

So I've officially had the TiVo upgrade on my Comcast DCH3416 for just over an hour now and thus far I'm very pleased - even smiling. FWIW I live in Cambridge is a big apt building.

Cons:
* No Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Personally this is a big loss as I have a nice surround system and I no longer feel like I have the full experience, especially for movies and sports (80% of what I watch). Fingers crossed that this is sorted out soon.
* Video mode shifts and sometimes becomes skewed. I've found that flipping between HD and SD content the guide goes from 16:9 to 4:3 and, on occasion, I have to flip between HD channels to get the scaling right. I have my box set for 1080i hybrid; using 1080i fixed doesn't seem to make a difference.
* Automatic channel programming doesn't seem to be enabled; I had to manually remove all of the premium channels that I don't get.
* The remote is slow to respond. Bounce back helps, so does the instant replay button, but it's still annoying.

* This is a known issue with the Tivo software and DCH boxes. Last I heard, Comcast, Motorola, Tivo and everyone else out in the cable universe is trying to figure out why.
* The guide seems to be 4:3 eternally. When I pull up the guide and the menu, black bars appear on the sides. What this means to me is that the guide cannot be stretched out while on an HD channel. Just like if you set the 4:3 override on the boxes to "off", you cannot stretch out an SD channel. Does the TivoHD box work the same?
* I do not understand this con. Comcast boxes do not automatically remove any channels.
* The guide and menu is slow. This is also a known problem with the Tivo. People have expressed this problem for several pages now.

Anyone have any new issues not already covered in the past 20 pages?

* I do not understand this con. Comcast boxes do not automatically remove any channels.


I know the Comcast box doesn't remove channels. Those of us used to a 'real' TiVo know that during the setup process (or any other time) you can have the box scan for channels you receive. In addition, new channels are automatically added by Tivo's guide service as they become available.

A minor issue, for sure, but I haven't seen anyone else reference it yet.

I know the Comcast box doesn't remove channels. Those of us used to a 'real' TiVo know that during the setup process (or any other time) you can have the box scan for channels you receive. In addition, new channels are automatically added by Tivo's guide service as they become available.


I have a real series 2 Tivo and I have to manually remove channels I didn't receive...but since I also wanted to remove many of the channels I do receive, removing the others wasn't really a big deal.

What I hated about the iGuide interface is you couldn't remove channels, which made paging through the guide a pain.

Anybody want to guestimate now when the Left Coast will see the upgrade? Summer? The early roll-out actually seems to be going better than I expected - most seem to have it functioning reasonably well (sorry to those with green screens and all). So, maybe it will be rolled out a bit faster. I need this so I can cancel D* which my wife insisted on retaining so she can have her TiVo.

I hear a lot of folks complaining about the Dolby 5.1 issue. I believe it is an HDMI problem on DCH only. Correct?

Why is this such a big issue to so many?

I must say that with few exceptions I prefer the Neo 6 simulated surround on my Surround sound over the 5.1 anyway.

I hear a lot of folks complaining about the Dolby 5.1 issue. I believe it is an HDMI problem on DCH only. Correct?


Incorrect - I've got my DCH hooked to my receiver via TosLink. I'm sure others will back this up.

list of problems since i upgraded to the tivo software

- same input lag as with the older guide software
- when you change channels, the onscreen display is sometimes incorrect, it shows the 7-8 program info at 8:05 rather than the 8-9 program
- tivo suggestions automatic recordings, ALL are less then 1 minute in length, even when the recording time is from when i know i haven't been using the tv, i.e. 3am
- tivo crashed or did something else to become unresponsive 2x. the screen was a dark green color and the remote and power buttons on the box did noting. although i could still see the little LED indicator when the remote button was pressed. had to unplug the cable and have the tivo restart. i have it connected through HDMI
- pressing the record button on the guide to record a program does not record the program

its only been a week since i had the upgrade, and i think it is too buggy to stick with. i don't believe it is worth the $3 to have a less functional DVR. i am going to give it 1 more week before i have them swap it back

I hear a lot of folks complaining about the Dolby 5.1 issue. I believe it is an HDMI problem on DCH only. Correct?

Why is this such a big issue to so many?

I must say that with few exceptions I prefer the Neo 6 simulated surround on my Surround sound over the 5.1 anyway.

Real surround sound - Good
Fake surround sound - Bad

To each his own, but I can honestly say, I've never in my life heard anybody say that fake surround sound is preferable to the real thing. In fact, I've always wondered why they even add them to a receiver.

Just wondering if anyone that has this Comcast Tivo has been powering off the box when they turn the TV off? I know leaving the DVR on all the time helps to avoid some problems regardless of what guide (iGuide/Tivo) & these Tivo boxes in particular are not really meant to be turned off (not even a 'cable power' button on the Tivo remote). But I used to turn my DVR off in the bedroom to cut down on the noise from the fan & hard drive and saw zero problems for the couple years I was doing that in the past. I have been leaving the box on now since it's been Tivo'd but am interested in anyone else's experience on this matter.

Just as an experiment I started recording a show and left the TV on, powered the box off, the red record light stayed on, it seemed to continue recording the show fine & it didn't ask me what I wanted to do next (like on the iGuide when you try to power off during recording). I didn't wait till the show actually finished recording before turning the box back on so I don't really know if it would've actually shut off when it was done or what. I also haven't tried setting a recording for the future & then turning the box off to see if it would come on for that show & turn back off again or what. I'm not using the Tivo remote anyway & the button with the power macro on my remote has been feeling left out lately. :(

Hmm, it sounds like I have one more reason to be glad I use component video. :)

I get it too much.. powering down the box works, but the sucky thing is that it takes like 4 minutes for it to re-boot

very glitchy.. needs a firmware upgrade

Quick fix for the green screen...hit the guide button then exit out of it..bingo..all better.....

Real surround sound - Good
Fake surround sound - Bad

To each his own, but I can honestly say, I've never in my life heard anybody say that fake surround sound is preferable to the real thing. In fact, I've always wondered why they even add them to a receiver.
I agree that two channel sound matrixed into 5.1 is, indeed, inferior to true 5.1. Nevertheless, I am grateful that my receiver can matrix two channel sources into simulated 5.1 on the distressingly frequent occasions that nothing but two channel sources are available. In short, matrixed two channel beats plain old two channel hands down, at least in my humble opinion.

I agree that two channel sound matrixed into 5.1 is, indeed, inferior to true 5.1. Nevertheless, I am grateful that my receiver can matrix two channel sources into simulated 5.1 on the distressingly frequent occasions that nothing but two channel sources are available. In short, matrixed two channel beats plain old two channel hands down, at least in my humble opinion.
I can buy that argument. I guess it is rare that I run my receiver without at least a dolbydigital signal, so I've never considered it.

Hmm, it sounds like I have one more reason to be glad I use component video. :)

What are the other reasons? Just curious.

Length of cable runs, no handshake nonsense, readily available & flexible distribution amp options, graceful degradation at the limits, that sort of thing.

Well, its dead. Again. I noticed this afternoon that my channel 881 wasn't working... completely black, no sound. Everything else was working right. So, a call to Comcast, and the Tivo tech says -- power cycle it. And of course, I do. And the box dies. The 8888 and one pixel flash that I have come to know so well. And, of course, no one can come out until I have to take a half a day off of work to sit here. So it will be Saturday before I have any service.

This will be my fourth box.

If my wife didn't demand on demand this piece of sh*t would have been gone weeks ago.

By the way, it doesn't really support HDMI. I had the green screen (and the black screen). Once I switched to component, I never had that problem again...

Oh well...

Anyone have a similar issue?

If it ever does come back to life -- a question...

Regarding the Tivo suggestions feature... shouldn't using the thumbs down rating tell the thing to not record the program? That's how it works with realtivo... Is there another way to tell it to stop recording Two and a Half Men over and over?

Well, its dead. Again. I noticed this afternoon that my channel 881 wasn't working... completely black, no sound. Everything else was working right. So, a call to Comcast, and the Tivo tech says -- power cycle it. And of course, I do. And the box dies. The 8888 and one pixel flash that I have come to know so well. And, of course, no one can come out until I have to take a half a day off of work to sit here. So it will be Saturday before I have any service.

This will be my fourth box.

If my wife didn't demand on demand this piece of sh*t would have been gone weeks ago.

By the way, it doesn't really support HDMI. I had the green screen (and the black screen). Once I switched to component, I never had that problem again...

Oh well...

Anyone have a similar issue?

881 was blacked out today because NBA TV was carrying the Celtics game in HD. Since Comcast Sportsnet has regional rights, 881 was blacked out.

Holy Crap!!! It got blown up for nothing! Da*n it!!!

I hear a lot of folks complaining about the Dolby 5.1 issue. I believe it is an HDMI problem on DCH only. Correct?

Why is this such a big issue to so many?

Per Comcast, it's a DCH problem, they offered to swap out my DCH for a DCT until the problem is fixed.

I used to get Dolby Digital, now what I get (pro logic) sucks in comparison.

Quick fix for the green screen...hit the guide button then exit out of it..bingo..all better.....

I'll try that next time, but I'm skeptical.

After I got the green screen yesterday and was ready to move a bunch of stuff to get to the back of the cable box to pull the plug, I decided I would connect a component cable and an S-Video cable from to my TV.

Today I got another green screen on the HDMI input, so I switched to Component and I had a black (or blank) screen, so I switched to S-Video where I got a picture. I was in and out of the guide and setup, while on Svideo, and cycled through the other inputs to the TV and still had the green screen for hdmi and black screen for component. I also turned the TV on and off while on HDMI, but no luck so I had to pull the plug.

Although I guess since I get a picture with Svideo, I should be able to just restart the DVR from the menu then switch the TV input ro HDMI and be all set with out pulling the plug.

-Bruce

I'll try that next time, but I'm skeptical.

After I got the green screen yesterday and was ready to move a bunch of stuff to get to the back of the cable box to pull the plug, I decided I would connect a component cable and an S-Video cable from to my TV.

Today I got another green screen on the HDMI input, so I switched to Component and I had a black (or blank) screen, so I switched to S-Video where I got a picture. I was in and out of the guide and setup, while on Svideo, and cycled through the other inputs to the TV and still had the green screen for hdmi and black screen for component. I also turned the TV on and off while on HDMI, but no luck so I had to pull the plug.

Although I guess since I get a picture with Svideo, I should be able to just restart the DVR from the menu then switch the TV input ro HDMI and be all set with out pulling the plug.

-Bruce

Out of curiosity did you try pressing the 'format' button on the front of the box (I believe you said you have a DCH right)? I use component to my TV & use 1080i w/the override set to 480i. For some reason a few times now when switching from an HD channel to a SD channel it goes blank like that, I have audio but no video. I tried pressing the format button & the picture came in. Actually when I pressed it, it said it was going from 480p to 480i (my tv generally displays both but for some reason this has fixed it). Although you shouldn't have to do this, I just figured you might want to try it if you hadn't already.

Is it the Tivo Killer? We won't really know until we get a hands on. The way Comcast moves around here, I'm sure it'll be a few years. I wish sooner though, as that new guide looks real slick. At least it's much more graphical than Tivo and look at the large screen program listings. 11 channels displayed at once showing two hours. Wow, thats what I'm looking for. Graphics are really polished as well. We will have to see how it performs and how it handles searching and DVR features. It looks way too complex for low end Motorola DCT-2000's though. Wonder if they will be stuck with the current iteration of I-Guide? Note how there is an HD hockey game on, but the channel number is 2. Will it finally have the ability to remap HD channels to the regular numbers? Or is this guide strictly the upgrade from the old Gemstar TVGuide+ built in software available for some TV's? Sure it has the On Demand link, but that's a part of DCR+ and Tru2Way. Though it still has the Comcast Blue, Light Blue (Kids), Green (Sports) category grid color scheme.

Hope this newer version is not smothered with ads as were previous build. I think these TV Guide/Gemstar IPG's are the only IPG's out their full of click- able ads.

Figure that ads will become more invasive over time, not less invasive.

Last night, I was watching a program on-demand and a message popped asking me if I want to change channels to record something I have set up as a season pass. Not wanting to lose the recording, I allowed the box to change the channel. I then checked the other tuner to see what it was recording and it was a suggested program. I'm no Tivo expert but the box should not be giving preference to suggested programming over season pass programming. Is the season pass feature really that different from the normal dvr function?

Out of curiosity did you try pressing the 'format' button on the front of the box (I believe you said you have a DCH right)? I use component to my TV & use 1080i w/the override set to 480i. For some reason a few times now when switching from an HD channel to a SD channel it goes blank like that, I have audio but no video. I tried pressing the format button & the picture came in. Actually when I pressed it, it said it was going from 480p to 480i (my tv generally displays both but for some reason this has fixed it). Although you shouldn't have to do this, I just figured you might want to try it if you hadn't already.

Yes I have the DCH box and I have tried cycling through the formats, but that has not helped. I have also tried to manually switch from a HD to SD channel and back, but that does help.

The first few times this happened all I ended up doing is turning off/on my TV and it re-synced. the last few times that hasn't worked nor did most of the other things people have suggested here and I had to cycle power on the cable box.

Last night, I was watching a program on-demand and a message popped asking me if I want to change channels to record something I have set up as a season pass. Not wanting to lose the recording, I allowed the box to change the channel. I then checked the other tuner to see what it was recording and it was a suggested program. I'm no Tivo expert but the box should not be giving preference to suggested programming over season pass programming.The issue is that as far as the TiVo software was concerned, no one was watching the tuner you were watching. That's why it asked, to see if you were watching that tuner. While it would be nice if they made the software work differently, there is an easy work-around for the problem you are outlining, and therefore there are far more important issues that TiVo should focus its development efforts on before addressing this one.

I haven't searched the thread but I was wondering what information does TIVO software for Comcast report back to Comcast? Does it report back each show recorded, each rewind? Did Comcast get this information from the previous guide software? seems like they should be paying us for providing such useful ratings information :).

That's a good question; I haven't seen any information in that regard. I do know that the "real" TiVos do get all that information for us, what we watch, what we fast-forward over, what do we have Season Passes for, etc. It is reported back to advertisers in aggregate form (i.e., they don't get anything more than demographic data).

I haven't searched the thread but I was wondering what information does TIVO software for Comcast report back to Comcast? Does it report back each show recorded, each rewind? Did Comcast get this information from the previous guide software? seems like they should be paying us for providing such useful ratings information :).

Maybe they are already paying us for this info? Maybe, if you asked them not to report back what you are watching your subscription would go up? :)

Indeed, I'm sure the value of the aggregate data is already reflected in the pricing; that's really an irrelevancy, though, because pricing is based on perceived value not how much other revenue the supplier gets.

Indeed, I'm sure the value of the aggregate data is already reflected in the pricing; that's really an irrelevancy, though, because pricing is based on perceived value not how much other revenue the supplier gets.

Since Tivo uses the modem to deliver the guide info, I would believe any gathered information would go back to Tivo, not Comcast. If Tivo sends the data to Comcast afterwards, that's a different story.

Since Tivo uses the modem to deliver the guide info, I would believe any gathered information would go back to Tivo, not Comcast. If Tivo sends the data to Comcast afterwards, that's a different story.

There isn't any reason to assume guide data doesn't come from Comcast. In fact, it would be in Tivo's best interest to make Comcast support the considerable additional infrastructure needed to service their huge customer base.

the tivo software now does not record any scheduled program for longer than 2 minutes. if i manually record programs they seem to record the entire time. tivo suggested recordings are also only upto 2 minutes in length.

The issue is that as far as the TiVo software was concerned, no one was watching the tuner you were watching. That's why it asked, to see if you were watching that tuner. While it would be nice if they made the software work differently, there is an easy work-around for the problem you are outlining, and therefore there are far more important issues that TiVo should focus its development efforts on before addressing this one.

Basically, the box is choosing to record suggested program over season pass programing. If I am watching a VOD program, the second tuner should automatically record a season recording instead of a suggested recording and the pop should ask me if I want to change channels to record the season pass. Meanwhile, the second tuner was recording a suggested program that starts at the same time as the season pass program. This seems backwards but this seems ok with you? What is the easy work around? To disable the suggested program recording? That is ignoring the problem. I believe this is also causing the problem with people getting 1 to 2 minute recordings. So any recording issues should be top of the list.

There isn't any reason to assume guide data doesn't come from Comcast. In fact, it would be in Tivo's best interest to make Comcast support the considerable additional infrastructure needed to service their huge customer base.

I point towards the previous problem where 881 Mojo was displaying the correct info when the Celtics home games were on and my Comcast Tivo was still displaying the Mojo programming. This means the two seperate guide providers. Also, the thumbs up/down function trades data with Tivo's established database in order to work the suggested programs. Anyone with a Tivo box knows you need a phone line for the guide to download. Instead of a phone line, the modem in the boxes are activated.

Hey Quick question on the Tivo software's VOD implementation.
With I-Guide once you are playing VOD content, the box is completely locked out of doing anything except the trick play controls on the current VOD program. I find this rather annoying as I may be in a long VOD show and all of a sudden remember that I need to set something to record later. Well the Guide does not even function to view, set recordings, or even change settings. I think this is a huge oversight.

When playing VOD on the Tivo Guide, can you still bring up the Tivo menu's and settings? Or does the VOD client lock the box into it's own VOD program? If the latter is the case then it appears as if the Motorola box cannot multi task at all with the current iteration's of the Seachange VOD client.

I know an SA box playing VOD on a Passport guide will still allow the user to browse the guide or change settings during playback. Few things different there though 1) SA hardware, 2) Passport guide, and 3) Concurrent VOD Client.

When playing VOD on the Tivo Guide, can you still bring up the Tivo menu's and settings? Or does the VOD client lock the box into it's own VOD program? If the latter is the case then it appears as if the Motorola box cannot multi task at all with the current iteration's of the Seachange VOD client.

Yes, you can still bring up the menu and the settings.

BTW, great post on DSLreports.

Since Tivo uses the modem to deliver the guide info, I would believe any gathered information would go back to Tivo, not Comcast. If Tivo sends the data to Comcast afterwards, that's a different story.My understanding is that the guide data comes from Gemstar. For TiVo's own standalone boxes, the guide data comes from Tribune.

I don't think any of that affects where the viewing statistics goes. I would be very surprised if it goes to anyplace other than to Comcast.

Basically, the box is choosing to record suggested program over season pass programing.With the standalone TiVo software the way it works is that it is choosing to record the suggested program over what you might have been viewing live. It is only your manual action that would result in the season pass program not getting recorded. Don't reply to the prompt, and the season pass program will be recorded.

Yes, you can still bring up the menu and the settings.

BTW, great post on DSLreports.

Thanks!

With the standalone TiVo software the way it works is that it is choosing to record the suggested program over what you might have been viewing live. It is only your manual action that would result in the season pass program not getting recorded. Don't reply to the prompt, and the season pass program will be recorded.

Through my experience, that is not what is happening. It is the other way around. I have selected to not change channels and it did not record the season pass program. The second tuner recorded a suggested program. Priority is going to the suggest program.

so .. I've been reading this thread, but I haven't been able to figure out whether the 30 second skip iss still programmable on the TIVO interface.

if it is, can someone let me know how it's done, so that I can convert and live a happy life ? :)

Wow, that was a painful installation. After 4 hours and a swapped cable box, I finally have TIVO. They ran into several problems during the download and installation. Not pleased that I lost all my recordings due to the box swap.

With the standalone TiVo software the way it works is that it is choosing to record the suggested program over what you might have been viewing live. It is only your manual action that would result in the season pass program not getting recorded.Through my experience, that is not what is happening. It is the other way around. I have selected to not change channels and it did not record the season pass program. Emphasis added. Do you see the point now?

With the standalone TiVo software, don't reply to the prompt (i.e., do allow the channel to change), and the season pass program will be recorded.

Through my experience, that is not what is happening. It is the other way around. I have selected to not change channels and it did not record the season pass program. The second tuner recorded a suggested program. Priority is going to the suggest program.

Actually the priority is
1) Season Pass
2) Suggestion
3) Live TV

Since you were watching live TV, and the suggestion is already recording, so Tivo only lets you pick Yes/No for priority 1 (Season pass), implying that your decision will decide if Tivo will switch from 3 (Live TV) to record Season pass. When you selected No, and Tivo didn't account for the possibility that you may want to interrupt 2 (Suggestion) instead to record the season pass. It's a missed logic, with the (potential) benefit of simplified user interface.

This goes along the same line when you add a new season pass, you have the option to get all episode (add to the top of the priority list), or get as much as it can (add to the bottom of the priority list). There is no additional GUI or logic to let you specify if you want to insert that into the middle of your priority list.

It's a compromise between simplicity and flexibility. In this case I wish they could've made it a little more flexible and powerful. But if they come out with a quad-tuner model, or if they enable tuner sharing between multiple Tivo boxes, then the logic and the GUI thatis required to do this right may blow up.

Overall I am pleased with the Tivo software but I am having issues with volume. When I listen over the rca sound jacks I sometimes get a high pitched sound or at other times I have to turn the tv volume way up. I also seem to notice a big volume difference between network shows and the commercials. I have no problems if I use my digital sound output through the stereo. Turning on DRC seems to help but that doesn't make sense. DRC (Dolby Range Compression) should minimize the lows and highs

I have a DCH box with Tivo software connected via HDMI to my TV. I cannot get to the diagnostic menu using standard power off + menu or select or ok sequence. Does anyone know how to access diagnostic menu on a DCH-Tivo box?

I have a DCH box with Tivo software connected via HDMI to my TV. I cannot get to the diagnostic menu using standard power off + menu or select or ok sequence. Does anyone know how to access diagnostic menu on a DCH-Tivo box?

You're pressing the right buttons but you have to use the buttons on the front of the box, you can't use the remote.

You're pressing the right buttons but you have to use the buttons on the front of the box, you can't use the remote.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. It worked on the same box with iGuide software (using the remote or the buttons on the front of the box).

Actually the priority is
1) Season Pass
2) Suggestion
3) Live TV

Since you were watching live TV, and the suggestion is already recording, so Tivo only lets you pick Yes/No for priority 1 (Season pass), implying that your decision will decide if Tivo will switch from 3 (Live TV) to record Season pass. When you selected No, and Tivo didn't account for the possibility that you may want to interrupt 2 (Suggestion) instead to record the season pass. It's a missed logic, with the (potential) benefit of simplified user interface.

This goes along the same line when you add a new season pass, you have the option to get all episode (add to the top of the priority list), or get as much as it can (add to the bottom of the priority list). There is no additional GUI or logic to let you specify if you want to insert that into the middle of your priority list.

It's a compromise between simplicity and flexibility. In this case I wish they could've made it a little more flexible and powerful. But if they come out with a quad-tuner model, or if they enable tuner sharing between multiple Tivo boxes, then the logic and the GUI thatis required to do this right may blow up.

The suggested recording on tuner 2 started at the same time as the season pass recording.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. It worked on the same box with iGuide software (using the remote or the buttons on the front of the box).

Does the new Tivo software have it's own graphical diagnostics page like the Tivo HD and Tivo S3, displaying the tuner frequencies, QAM modulation, Cable card OOB frequency, Docsis frequency, etc.. ?

I know they moved Closed captioning and resolution setup to the new GUI, but I didn't hear if they moved some diagnostic information to the GUI as well. If you don't know what I mean, look up installing cable cards in Tivo S3 or Tivo HD. A lot of those instructions have you go into the diagnostic screens to look at information for signal levels and correct cable card pairing information.

Does the new Tivo software have it's own graphical diagnostics page like the Tivo HD and Tivo S3, displaying the tuner frequencies, QAM modulation, Cable card OOB frequency, Docsis frequency, etc.. ?
...

No it doesn't. :(

I've read about several people saying that the Comcast Tivo doesn't have the 30 second skip (which I don't use anyway), but more importantly, does it have the "skip back" feature that a real TiVo has? That's better than a 30 second skip in my opinion. It was one of the biggest issues I had when I bought an HDTV and got the Comcast HD-DVR. I kept fast forwarding too far and had to rewind, where the TiVo would jump back a little to just before the program begins.

never mind, I just found my answer. It does have the "skip back", "bounce back", whatever you want to call it feature.

never mind, I just found my answer. It does have the "skip back", "bounce back", whatever you want to call it feature.
I’ve never seen a DVR that didn’t at least have the skip back feature. Even the pitiful SARA software, which is the poster child for crippled DVR software and is used on Scientific Atlanta DVRs in many markets, has an 8 second skip back button.

Well my TiVo experience had been going well until today. Now the guide does not know the names of some of the channels but it does display them. It also has no guide info for those channels, all TBA. I called and was told that was a new issue and they will have to send a tech out tomorrow night, free of charge. Hopefully I get the same tech who did the install.

I’ve never seen a DVR that didn’t at least have the skip back feature. Even the pitiful SARA software, which is the poster child for crippled DVR software and is used on Scientific Atlanta DVRs in many markets, has an 8 second skip back button.

Well, my current Comcast dual tuner HD-DVR doesn't have it. I find myself rewinding a lot. I'm getting the upgrade to the Tivo software tomorrow. Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to getting back on the TiVo platform. Now, if the new software would allow to hook up wirelessly to my old TiVo box, I'd really be happy. It would be nice to copy over some SD stuff from my old TiVo to the big screen. It's rare that three shows are recording at once, but it does happen. Plus, I'd probably record a lot more stuff if I had more room on the Comcast DVR. With all the HD content I record and all the space it takes up, I find myself deleting some stuff I wouldn't mind keeping for a while.

I’ve never seen a DVR that didn’t at least have the skip back feature. Even the pitiful SARA software, which is the poster child for crippled DVR software and is used on Scientific Atlanta DVRs in many markets, has an 8 second skip back button.

He was talking of bounce back I think, when you are FFing and hit play, it jumps a bit back to compensate. Its separate from the instant replay button that goes back some 15 seconds.

The suggested recording on tuner 2 started at the same time as the season pass recording.

Well, I'm stumped.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. It worked on the same box with iGuide software (using the remote or the buttons on the front of the box).

I have both a DCT and a DCH w/the Tivo software on both boxes. I can press the power & menu or power & select buttons on the front of the box & it brings me to the same menus as before the Tivo software. Not sure why yours doesn't do the same. You may already know this but if you turn the power off via the front of the box & press the menu button on the remote the box will turn back on instead of going into the menu you're trying to access.

I have both a DCT and a DCH w/the Tivo software on both boxes. I can press the power & menu or power & select buttons on the front of the box & it brings me to the same menus as before the Tivo software. Not sure why yours doesn't do the same. You may already know this but if you turn the power off via the front of the box & press the menu button on the remote the box will turn back on instead of going into the menu you're trying to access.

Are you using HDMI connection? I do, and this might be the cause. I'll check later using analog connection (component).

I just recieved a courtesy call from Comcast stating that they are aware that I have had some issues and wanted to ask how everything was going with my Tivo service. I asked about both the 5.1 sound issue and the green screen issue (The only major issues Ive had so far). As other reps have stated before he said that they were both known issues and would be resolved in a firmware upgrade. He did add that the firmware upgrade was scheduled for some time in March and it would not require a tech visit.

Kudos to Comcast for checking up on their customers!

I’ve never seen a DVR that didn’t at least have the skip back feature. Even the pitiful SARA software, which is the poster child for crippled DVR software and is used on Scientific Atlanta DVRs in many markets, has an 8 second skip back button.

For about a year or so, the Microsoft guide we were beta-testing in Seattle did not have a "bounce back" option so you'd have to manually rewind if you overshot your mark during a FF.

When we were moved to iGuide/SARA, that also lacked this feature. I bought an HDTivo three days later, so I do not know if iGuide/SARA was ever updated here in Seattle with the functionality or if it still lacks it, requiring manual rewinding.

I've had it about a week now (DCH3416)

- Can't get the HDMI to work at all (green screen and other garbage). Anybody have luck w/ this?

- With component, I have to power down and restart when changing resolutions (720p/1080i or fixed/hybrid).

- Anyone know if we'll get passthru capability (no deinterlacing or scaling) like the series 3?

I had my TiVo upgrade completed this past Saturday, went fairly smoothly. However tonight, about 8:15, the box suddenly power cycled, came up to the TiVo Welcome! Starting Up screen, and has been stuck there ever since, with a db01 code on the box itself (DCT3416).

Called Comcast, 4 different customer service reps told me to reboot the box and it should be ok when it comes back on. After the second one I was having none of it, and by the time I had the 4th one on the line, I was LIVID. Alas, nothing they can do, they are sending a tech SATURDAY.

Not really sure how Comcast remained my cable provider after that call....


Anyone here have any thoughts on this? Looks like the box is fried to me.

Thanks.

I had my TiVo upgrade completed this past Saturday, went fairly smoothly. However tonight, about 8:15, the box suddenly power cycled, came up to the TiVo Welcome! Starting Up screen, and has been stuck there ever since, with a db01 code on the box itself (DCT3416).

Called Comcast, 4 different customer service reps told me to reboot the box and it should be ok when it comes back on. After the second one I was having none of it, and by the time I had the 4th one on the line, I was LIVID. Alas, nothing they can do, they are sending a tech SATURDAY.

Not really sure how Comcast remained my cable provider after that call....


Anyone here have any thoughts on this? Looks like the box is fried to me.

Thanks.


this works sometimes on cox try unpluging the coax cable from the dvr and reboot the box and see it it boots up it may have been a bad download.

looks like I may not be doing Tivo any time soon.

I had my TiVo upgrade completed this past Saturday, went fairly smoothly. However tonight, about 8:15, the box suddenly power cycled, came up to the TiVo Welcome! Starting Up screen, and has been stuck there ever since, with a db01 code on the box itself (DCT3416).

Called Comcast, 4 different customer service reps told me to reboot the box and it should be ok when it comes back on. After the second one I was having none of it, and by the time I had the 4th one on the line, I was LIVID. Alas, nothing they can do, they are sending a tech SATURDAY.

Not really sure how Comcast remained my cable provider after that call....


Anyone here have any thoughts on this? Looks like the box is fried to me.

Thanks.

Sounds like it may be stuck in one of the provisioning systems. Unfortunately, unless you get the right person they'll probably just swap it out.

Did anyone else lose the guide data & channel info for some of the HD channels tonight besides myself & WGMARQ or is this just isolated to part of the south shore?

anyone know the eta of when Comcast Tivo DVR will be available in baltimore? tried a search but couldnt find anything.

Well, my box came back to life overnight, debating whether I still want the tech to come out to see what is going on... would something like that have happened if Comcast pushed out a software update for the TiVo service?

Did anyone else lose the guide data & channel info for some of the HD channels tonight besides myself & WGMARQ or is this just isolated to part of the south shore?


im getting TBA on 828, 832, 835, 837, 839, 842, 846, 853, 854, 868, 872, 875.... in Lawrence

I wouldnt bother with a tech visit for this, as its likely related to something at the head end or wherever the guide data is coming from. Im going to call advanced technical support right now and see if i can get an answer on this issue.

double post

Did anyone else lose the guide data & channel info for some of the HD channels tonight besides myself & WGMARQ or is this just isolated to part of the south shore?

jonwww and WGMARQ

Please let me know your box model #'s dch3416 dct3412 etc. and what town you are in as well as a list of the affected channels (maybe its the exact same as mine?) so I can provide some more detailed info to ATS, the more info they have the better. If you want, you can email me your account phone # and I can forward that to the rep I spoke with.

jonwww and WGMARQ

Please let me know your box model #'s dch3416 dct3412 etc. and what town you are in as well as a list of the affected channels (maybe its the exact same as mine?) so I can provide some more detailed info to ATS, the more info they have the better. If you want, you can email me your account phone # and I can forward that to the rep I spoke with.

I have a DCH & a DCT, both were effected. Problem seems to have been corrected during the day today though. Mine are working fine again.

Just had my Comcast TiVo install today. Still at work, my wife was there for the install.

We needed a new box. My wife asked the technician if it was still a dual tuner, and he actually said it can record 6 shows at once. Is this true? I've never heard of a 6 tuner DVR before.

I'm rather skeptical. Besides the fact that a 6 tuner DVR sounds like extreme overkill, the guy couldn't hook up my TV correctly. There is no HD signal according to my wife, so he must have hooked up the TV with Coaxial only.

My wife asked the technician if it was still a dual tuner, and he actually said it can record 6 shows at once. Is this true?

umm, no.

..
We needed a new box. My wife asked the technician if it was still a dual tuner, and he actually said it can record 6 shows at once. Is this true? I've never heard of a 6 tuner DVR before.


LOL. And I've never heard of people wanting to record six programs simultaneously... :)

Got my Tivo installed today (after they cancelled an appointment for Monday because the "tech didn't have any boxes on the truck").

I didn't have an HD tuner or Comcast DVR before this, so they had to bring me a new box (DCH3416), which he connected and then needed to run the download for. It went quickly (maybe 10 minutes?) but after Tivo restarted, there was no audio on the analog outputs. Tried some stuff, then verified that there was audio on the RF, indicating that maybe the analog outputs were dead. He gently wondered if I had any objections to leaving things hooked up through RF (for now, this is an SD set). Told him (nicely) I did object, so he went to get a second box.

Second download was as quick as the first, and meanwhile he checked with a coworker about the audio problem. That guy said the same thing had happened to him, but he fixed it by power-cycling the box. Sure enough, there was no audio after the Tivo download (like with the first one), but bouncing the box did the trick. So if anyone has trouble with that after the initial download, give it a shot.

I didn't have the original Comcast box, so I can't compare to that, and I haven't had a Tivo since 2001. Instead, I had a ReplayTV for the last few years, and though the Tivo feels a bit slower than the Replay (especially when paging ahead in the guide--takes longer than it should for program info to show up when you skip ahead 2 hours with the FF button) the advantages are evident. If nothing else, the box is hugely quieter than the Replay (which were known for being loud); basically can't hear it at all.

I'm still getting my head around the dual-tuner action, but that's pretty great (keep in mind, I'm slowly emerging from the Dark Ages), though I seem to have requested enough recordings that I was prevented from recording two shows at once. Or maybe just two particular shows on particular tuners. Dunno. I'm sure I just don't have a good handle on the logic it uses to schedule tuners yet.

Weirdest part so far is that after a few minutes use, the keypress "droplet" sound effect was getting combined with either the "bassnote" error tone, or the "chime" effect, whichever had played most recently. So each keypress would sound something like "droplBASS". Whacky. For the time being I've turned off sound effects entirely to get around it.

A few hings I miss already from the Replay are:

1. a meaningful display of how much space (= record time) is left (is there one?)

2. a specific Save To VCR feature, which would throw up a program info slate (with a 10 sec countdown) as a lead-in.

3. Front-panel light showing there's new stuff.

30-second skip on the Replay was nice too, but with bounceback, I probably won't miss it too much.

Overall, I'm pleased. We'll see how that opinion holds up.

I went to delete one of my season pass programs. After I did, all of my season pass programs were deleted. Aside from the one I wanted to delete, three other shows are gone. All of them I had in there "Until I Delete".

My box has been recording but not saving suggested programs. Right now, I have one movie and one 30 minute program saved.

Anyone else?

I went to delete one of my season pass programs. After I did, all of my season pass programs were deleted. Aside from the one I wanted to delete, three other shows are gone. All of them I had in there "Until I Delete".

My box has been recording but not saving suggested programs. Right now, I have one movie and one 30 minute program saved.

Anyone else?


I haven't had that happen. But I have had something else strange happen. Every now and then it will skip forward or backwards on it's own. It will either jump forward or backwards to a tick mark then resume playing. But overall I am still much happier with this than I was with the old DVR.

Well, my box came back to life overnight, debating whether I still want the tech to come out to see what is going on... would something like that have happened if Comcast pushed out a software update for the TiVo service?

I saw a mention of something like this either here on tivocommunity (I think it was there, actually) mentioning something that if the DOCSIS modem can't contact the server, it sits there. There was some semi-legitimate reason, but was more of a Comcast "request".

I have a DCH & a DCT, both were effected. Problem seems to have been corrected during the day today though. Mine are working fine again.

One thing I noticed when I first got the box was that the guide data wasn't there initially. After the software did some processing, the guide seemed to have "disappeared" for about 5 or 10 minutes, then was fully populated. Maybe there is some issue of this happening whenever new guide data is imported, or maybe just after the first import?

I just got my Comcast TiVo upgrade today. All is well so far. Does anyone know if the 30 second skip can be programmed in? I've tried but it doesn't seem to work.

None of the 30 sec skip hacks work (comcast or Tivo) this has been mentioned about 20 times in the last 10 pages.

10 pages is a lot to read! That's too bad the 30 second hack is gone. The Motorola DVR had this feature.

One thing I noticed when I first got the box was that the guide data wasn't there initially. After the software did some processing, the guide seemed to have "disappeared" for about 5 or 10 minutes, then was fully populated. Maybe there is some issue of this happening whenever new guide data is imported, or maybe just after the first import?

I just re-read my post and realized it was semi-confusing. What I meant was that initially, I had guide data for about 4 days out, but nothing past that. The guide showed show names (but not descriptions) for 2 weeks out. If I selected a recording from that time frame, Tivo software said the program could not be found (or something like that). I am guessing that this was some left-over guide data from pre-Tivo. After a few hours, the guide became completely empty for about 5-10 minutes, then I had full guide data for 2 weeks out.

It usually takes a couple hours for the guide to completely fill in. If you go into System Information, it will actually show you how much guide data has been downloaded by saying guide data until [day]. Restarting the box often re-initializes the download if the guide seems to have stopped updating.

According to the Comcast tech, the source of the guide data used by TiVo is not the same as what the Motorola used.

It usually takes a couple hours for the guide to completely fill in. If you go into System Information, it will actually show you how much guide data has been downloaded by saying guide data until [day]. Restarting the box often re-initializes the download if the guide seems to have stopped updating.

According to the Comcast tech, the source of the guide data used by TiVo is not the same as what the Motorola used.

Right, but what I had meant is that the system info page initially displayed 3-4 days out, then displayed 0 days out for 5-10 minutes, then displayed the full 2 weeks out.

I don't know whether to believe Comcast techs (based on personal experience), but this makes sense. Tivo needs additional guide data for suggestions, etc which the iGuide wouldn't need. Probably more other data as well.

10 pages is a lot to read! That's too bad the 30 second hack is gone. The Motorola DVR had this feature.
Ten pages is a lot to read so I am confident that most of us did not take it amiss that you made the rational decision to ask about the 30 second skip ahead as an alternative to wading through 10 pages of posts, most of which had nothing to do with the 30 second skip feature.

It’s too bad that there is no way to setup the 30 second skip feature on the Comcast-TiVo boxes but there it is. As has been pointed out previously in this thread, it’s been possible to setup TiVo's free standing boxes with the 30 second skip ahead since TiVo's inception in the ‘90s. This leads me to conclude that not including it on the Comcast-TiVo DVRs was a conscious decision – and that whoever made it should be ashamed. :)

You don't have to read 10 pages. A simple search in this thread for "30 second" yields 5 pages and about 8 messages down on the first page is the answer.

Ten pages is a lot to read so I am confident that most of us did not take it amiss that you made the rational decision to ask about the 30 second skip ahead as an alternative to wading through 10 pages of posts, most of which had nothing to do with the 30 second skip feature.

It’s too bad that there is no way to setup the 30 second skip feature on the Comcast-TiVo boxes but there it is. As has been pointed out previously in this thread, it’s been possible to setup TiVo's free standing boxes with the 30 second skip ahead since TiVo's inception in the ‘90s. This leads me to conclude that not including it on the Comcast-TiVo DVRs was a conscious decision – and that whoever made it should be ashamed. :)

There is plenty of useful information in the past ten pages including the good and bad experiences of us users. I think it is in the best interest of any new poster to review the past 10 pages because you may find the answer to your question or see that you are not alone in your joy or dismay of Tivo comcast service. ;)

I just got a Comcast Motorola 3412 I Tivo box and am having problems with the program lists when searching for programs to record.

When doing a search by name, it will only show the first couple of pages of names. For example entering just "T" it won't get beyond "Ta...", however, there are more listings such as everything starting with "Th" which it will show if I enter "TH".

When searching by channel, it shows all the shows in time order, and I can scroll through the list. However, if I use the page up and down, it does the page, then a couple of seconds later it jumps back down one line.

Also, the response time going from fast forward to play is ridiculous. My old 1st generation Tivo is at least twice as fast to respond, maybe faster.

Comcast sent a tech out who changed the cable itself (the wire :rolleyes:), then opined that it was probably a software problem and left. They're supposed to call tomorrow.

My wife asked the technician if it was still a dual tuner, and he actually said it can record 6 shows at once. Is this true? I've never heard of a 6 tuner DVR before.

I'm pretty sure that the Tivo Series 3 (and likely Tivo HD) has 6 tuners: 2 NTSC, 2 ATSC, and 2 QAM. You can record from any 2 of the tuners at once, not all 6. Maybe he was confused over this.

That is correct.

Has anyone else with a Comcast Tivo unit seen the above described problems with paging through the lists of programs?

Has anyone else with a Comcast Tivo unit seen the above described problems with paging through the lists of programs?

Yes, I saw something similar to the one line jump back you described. I forget all the details about it but I do remember when I was setting up season passes & going through the guide that it would go back to where it should & then either back another day or back an extra line. I did find it's behavior a little annoying.

Is there some way to fix this? I realize these are very new in this area, but they really should work.

I had my TiVo upgrade completed this past Saturday, went fairly smoothly. However tonight, about 8:15, the box suddenly power cycled, came up to the TiVo Welcome! Starting Up screen, and has been stuck there ever since, with a db01 code on the box itself (DCT3416).

Called Comcast, 4 different customer service reps told me to reboot the box and it should be ok when it comes back on. After the second one I was having none of it, and by the time I had the 4th one on the line, I was LIVID. Alas, nothing they can do, they are sending a tech SATURDAY.

Not really sure how Comcast remained my cable provider after that call....


Anyone here have any thoughts on this? Looks like the box is fried to me.

Thanks.

Update to this situation. Had my tech visit today, excellent technician! Didn't think the box itself was the problem, figured my issues on Wed night were related more to software than anything else. He did discover (which it looks like the original install tech ignored) that my signal levels were low, and after checking the cable drop outside, ended up replacing the cable run. Signal strength is much better now, and I'll be keeping an eye on that box to see if it does anything else. My initial reaction when it first happened was it looked to be a software update. Of course the CSRs on the phone are clueless. I think Comcast really needs to get them up to speed, and fast, or set up a dedicated TiVo call center.

At any rate, I'm back in business. The adventure continues.

10 pages is a lot to read! That's too bad the 30 second hack is gone. The Motorola DVR had this feature.

Watch out new poster. There are many people on this thread that have been around for a couple of years. There is a very low tolerance level for newbies, differing opinions, and laziness (by that I mean not reading the last two years of posts to get a simple answer to question with out getting flamed).

Enjoy your new Comcast Tivo.

Has anyone else with a Comcast Tivo unit seen the above described problems with paging through the lists of programs?I believe that this problem also exists in the 9.1 version of the standalone TiVo software. Maybe it was fixed in 9.2? (My S2 is at 9.1 and exhibits that strangeness while my S3 is at 9.2 and as far as I remember, doesn't.)

So if my memory is correct, it is a core software problem, they know about it, they've fixed it, and so it is only a matter of time before that fix gets to you.

There is a very low tolerance level for newbies, differing opinions, and laziness You'll find that there is some measure of tolerance for newbies and for differing opinions, as long as they're expressed with intelligence. (I often express an opinion different from that of the majority, here, as my signature indicates, and while it isn't always a cakewalk, there are enough good people here who keep the rude mud-slingers on their side of the issue in line.) You are correct, though, that messages that exhibit laziness, including messages that demonstrate a lack of knowledge (rather than a difference of opinion), are not well-received.

Ah, that's interesting, well hopefully they'll have a fix pushed out soon.
Thanks

In strategic shift, Comcast, TiVo team up
Move is 1st step toward a more open platform

http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2008/01/21/1200977297_4839/539w.jpg
Comcast is offering TiVo as a premium service only in the Boston area.

By Carolyn Y. Johnson
Boston Globe Staff / January 22, 2008

Comcast begins rolling out TiVo service today - complete with its characteristic chirpy sound effects - to digital video recorder customers willing to pay a monthly premium.

more stories like thisThe new alliance represents a chance for TiVo, the company that basically created the digital video recorder category, to reach a large customer base without requiring people to buy separate pricey hardware. But few people are looking to add more fees to their burgeoning cable bills.

"TiVo is clearly the leader in terms of innovation on DVRs, so most products built by other companies - most of the DVR products you see are provided by cable or satellite companies and are competitive with TiVo - but not as slick and not as cool," said David Card, senior analyst at Jupiter Research. The alliance is "good for TiVo because TiVo maybe proves itself as a technology licenser for a broader audience. But the key question is, is it cool and slick enough to justify a premium price?"

Customers who sign up for the new service, now available only in Greater Boston, will add an extra $2.95 per month onto their cable programming package - plus the $12.95 per month for Comcast digital video recorder service.

The new service is Comcast's first step toward using a new cable platform called Tru2way, meant to spur innovation by allowing developers to create applications that can work across different set-top boxes and equipment.

The TiVo service allows browsing of Comcast's On Demand programming and television content in one directory, including the ability to look for programming by keyword. By typing in "Clooney," for instance, it's possible to find movies like "From Dusk 'Til Dawn" through On Demand or other TV specials featuring George Clooney.

The new service also includes a "suggestions" function that uses a viewer's preferences to recommend other programming they might enjoy and automatically record it. Comcast's TiVo service also comes with a peanut-shaped remote that allows people to give programs a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" that helps train their cable box about preferences.

"The Boston market is really ground zero with Comcast for deploying next-generation applications and services, it's really been a pioneer" market, said Kevin Casey, president of Comcast's northern division, who said that in the beta-testing for the product, his TiVo automatically recorded some of his favorite World War II shows.

TiVo's deal with Comcast does set TiVo in competition with itself, but it also gives the company an easier way to reach more customers with the interface and service that has earned the company devoted fans.

"For Comcast, it's an opportunity to provide an experience users love," said David Sandford, TiVo's vice president of product marketing for service provider division, noting that it was also an inexpensive way for people to get the "core TiVo experience" without buying TiVo hardware and service in addition to cable.

The new interface is more TiVo-like and is designed to be an improvement over what Comcast customers are used to seeing, but Card said the cable company's biggest problem would be educating customers about the service and convincing them it was worth paying extra. The software download can be pushed automatically to a set-top box, but Comcast will send a service technician to help with installation and demonstration.

The deal also signifies the larger shift in the cable industry as content continues to proliferate. Cable customers need to navigate a slew of channels and On Demand programs today, but eventually may face a future of seemingly infinite content on TV.

"Eventually you're going to have to be able to search across the Internet," Card said. "What you need is graceful integration."

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/01/22/in_strategic_shift_comcast_tivo_team_up/

Update to this situation. Had my tech visit today, excellent technician! Didn't think the box itself was the problem, figured my issues on Wed night were related more to software than anything else. He did discover (which it looks like the original install tech ignored) that my signal levels were low, and after checking the cable drop outside, ended up replacing the cable run. Signal strength is much better now, and I'll be keeping an eye on that box to see if it does anything else. My initial reaction when it first happened was it looked to be a software update. Of course the CSRs on the phone are clueless. I think Comcast really needs to get them up to speed, and fast, or set up a dedicated TiVo call center.

At any rate, I'm back in business. The adventure continues.

Well, hopefully that fixed the problem, I'm still having issues with the green screen showing up when switching to on demand (although switching the output to 1080i fixed seems to have helped that, as it seems to go green when the tv changes resolution)

Like I told you yesterday, shoot me a PM if youre having problems and ill send them up the ladder. If the box is still restarting ill come swap it for you.

Eric

Two new problems:

Fourth box...

1. On VOD HD the sounds cuts in and out and the video is choppy with lines of resolution kicking in and out.

2. The program guide has no future programs -- meaning that when I look for a season pass the thin g tells me that there are no upcoming episodes. Law and order is on about 200 times a day so its not doing something right.

3. Not recording any suggestions...

Two new problems:

Fourth box...

1. On VOD HD the sounds cuts in and out and the video is choppy with lines of resolution kicking in and out.

2. The program guide has no future programs -- meaning that when I look for a season pass the thin g tells me that there are no upcoming episodes. Law and order is on about 200 times a day so its not doing something right.

3. Not recording any suggestions...

1. I've noticed that happening yesterday however I know my stereo seems to be a little faulty lately.

2. If you turn the box off and back on, it losses the listings. I've also noticed that yesterday morning, there were no listings but it filled in.

3. Option turned off? Box is full? You can check to see why certain programs were not recorded. I know a few days ago, my box went a few days without recording any suggestions and then it recorded 15 in one day.

1. I've noticed that happening yesterday however I know my stereo seems to be a little faulty lately.

2. If you turn the box off and back on, it losses the listings. I've also noticed that yesterday morning, there were no listings but it filled in.

3. Option turned off? Box is full? You can check to see why certain programs were not recorded. I know a few days ago, my box went a few days without recording any suggestions and then it recorded 15 in one day.

If the listings aren't filled in the suggestions won't work, I am sure when number 2 is fixed 3 will fix itself.

If the listings aren't filled in the suggestions won't work, I am sure when number 2 is fixed 3 will fix itself.

So, how many days should it take for the listings to load?:mad:

Just to add to the chorus: I am in the Boston area and will not be upgrading to Tivo. Tivo is nice, but I personally want more storage space (whether actual space on the hard drive or better compression) and more HD VOD offerings at better quality. If they offered to replace my 160GB DVR with a 500GB to go with the Tivo upgrade I would probably be in. Otherwise, we wait and see (and see what the competition is doing as well).

Just to add to the chorus: I am in the Boston area and will not be upgrading to Tivo. Tivo is nice, but I personally want more storage space (whether actual space on the hard drive or better compression) and more HD VOD offerings at better quality. If they offered to replace my 160GB DVR with a 500GB to go with the Tivo upgrade I would probably be in. Otherwise, we wait and see (and see what the competition is doing as well).


The 160GB models are the biggest Motorola offers.

Just to add to the chorus: I am in the Boston area and will not be upgrading to Tivo. Tivo is nice, but I personally want more storage space (whether actual space on the hard drive or better compression) and more HD VOD offerings at better quality. If they offered to replace my 160GB DVR with a 500GB to go with the Tivo upgrade I would probably be in. Otherwise, we wait and see (and see what the competition is doing as well).

I also want to add to the chorus: I upgraded to Tivo and I enjoy it. 500GB is only a matter of time. The only bug that bugs me is DD5.1. Again, it's only a matter of time when it's fixed.

I'm in the Boston area. My TiVo box is 160 GB. I've never even come close to using half that amount of space. They never offered a 500 GB upgrade to me, but frankly thats an absurd amount of space for a DVR. If you want to keep the show forever, buy the DVD.

The 160GB models are the biggest Motorola offers.

Well yeah but can't Comcast just demand that Motorola make new equipment for them? :rolleyes:

Well yeah but can't Comcast just demand that Motorola make new equipment for them? :rolleyes:

Why not? Comcast is the largest cable operator in the country. And likely Motorola's largest customer of DVR boxes...

However, they'll only do so if customers actually will substantially reward Comcast for demanding that from Motorola. For too many customers, the 160 GB is enough. :shrug:

Of course Comcast would HAVE to raise their rates to give you a 500 GB model. =)

Big time.

We'll have to wait & see what the Moto DCX series has to offer when it comes out in a year or so.

I wonder if Comcast is desperate to push Tivo. In the past 2 days, I've received 3 calls from Comcast's outside sales agency telling me that I signed up to be notified when Tivo was available and they were calling to schedule the appointment. When I tell them that it's still too buggy for me, they say 'but do you still want it?". I'm expecting another call tonight...

They did pay an extraordinarily large chunk of change to TiVo for it. The project manager at Comcast is probably sweating a ton that he's gotten such a distressing end-product out of the deal. I don't doubt TiVo did the best they could, but sometimes, in business, things just don't work out.

It may sound silly but I really like the 30 sec skip. Considering the current bugs and the fact that 30 sec is apparently deliberately missing, I am in no rush to install TiVo. I guess I'll see if Comcast TiVo SP2 is any better ;>) .

Why not? Comcast is the largest cable operator in the country. And likely Motorola's largest customer of DVR boxes...

Motorola is in the business of making electronics, part of that being cable boxes. Right now, they are dealing more with the demands from wireless companies then cable companies.

Just to add to the chorus: I am in the Boston area and will not be upgrading to Tivo. Tivo is nice, but I personally want more storage space (whether actual space on the hard drive or better compression) and more HD VOD offerings at better quality. If they offered to replace my 160GB DVR with a 500GB to go with the Tivo upgrade I would probably be in. Otherwise, we wait and see (and see what the competition is doing as well).

More HD VOD offerings at better quality? Explain please. How can you have better quality HD?

Just to share my experience. I had TiVo installed on Friday. Worked fine on Friday and Saturday except that suggestions wouldn't stop recording even after I turned them off. Then on Sunday, I couldn't delete files or record a program that was already in progress. So, I turned off the box, cut the power and tried to restart it. Since then the box has been shot.

The technician came by this morning and mentioned that there are a lot of problems with the TiVo install. He said if it was him, with the Super Bowl looming (I'm in Massachusetts), he would go back to the old DVR. So, we're going back.

Motorola is in the business of making electronics, part of that being cable boxes. Right now, they are dealing more with the demands from wireless companies then cable companies.



More HD VOD offerings at better quality? Explain please. How can you have better quality HD?

You don't get any better quality on the the regular feeds because there is no compression but VOD-HD is obviously compressed to some degree. If you watch the same program, say CSI on CBS the picture is pristine. When you watch it on VOD it is not the same. It has more grain to it. It also lost it's 5.1 soundtrack.

I'm sure that's what he meant.

More HD VOD offerings at better quality? Explain please. How can you have better quality HD?

Maybe he meant more A-movies and less B-movies? Or more anamorphic versions? :)

You don't get any better quality on the the regular feeds because there is no compression but VOD-HD is obviously compressed to some degree. If you watch the same program, say CSI on CBS the picture is pristine. When you watch it on VOD it is not the same. It has more grain to it. It also lost it's 5.1 soundtrack.

I'm sure that's what he meant.

I believe that is what the CEO of Comcast spoke about at CES was that Comcast is going to add more HD programming on VOD as opposed to adding more HD channels. Specifically, if CSI is not available on HD through VOD then this is due to Comcast's agreement with CBS because the VOD is not ad supported.

Maybe he meant more A-movies and less B-movies? Or more anamorphic versions? :)

A-movies are going to be more expensive. Free movies will always be B-movies.

Of course Comcast would HAVE to raise their rates to give you a 500 GB model. =)

I just don't understand why you can't plug in an external usb harddrive. You can pick up 500 gigs for 100 bucks??? It's such a simple solution and how hard would it be to enable it, my box has allready got the usb port. Who's stupid idea was that, lets put usb ports on our boxes and then never allow anyone to use them

I think "stupid" is the operative word, but the "stupidity" of concern is that of the average consumer rather than the companies avoiding a heck of a lot of trouble by not offering services too confusing for most customers to handle effectively.

Is it possible to use both, cable card and cable box? I definitely need the box for VOD, but some say that the PQ with cable card is somewhat better than with the box.

I have both CableCards and a (non-TiVo) cable box (for VOD). The PQ is the same between the two.

Has the tivo software worked its way down into the Mid-Atlantic yet?

I have both CableCards and a (non-TiVo) cable box (for VOD). The PQ is the same between the two.

How does the TV know which one to use? Also, why do you have both if the PQ is the same? Are there any other reasons?

Motorola is in the business of making electronics, part of that being cable boxes. ......

If you can call the current piece of sh.. er, electronics a cable box, given the slow response time, the remote 'sleep, then wake up and do everything you asked of me while sleeping' mode, etc. Oh, and the spontaneous reset feature!

I just don't get why Comcast would overlay a complex piece of code on top of the existing, barely functional code. And charge more for it. (DOH! THAT'S the reason!).

I really have my doubts that this Tivo upgrade is really going to fly, given the problems reported pre and post Tivo. How is it that there is already a code patch for 5.1 audio? Isn't this a pretty basic function that should have been ironed out before release?

-Dave

Is it possible to use both, cable card and cable box? I definitely need the box for VOD, but some say that the PQ with cable card is somewhat better than with the box.

PQ is the same. And you can have both, but Comcast will likely charge you more. Although there is a clause somewhere that allows you to get 1 free non DVR cable box for VOD purposes for free.

If you can call the current piece of sh.. er, electronics a cable box, given the slow response time, the remote 'sleep, then wake up and do everything you asked of me while sleeping' mode, etc. Oh, and the spontaneous reset feature!

I just don't get why Comcast would overlay a complex piece of code on top of the existing, barely functional code. And charge more for it. (DOH! THAT'S the reason!).

I really have my doubts that this Tivo upgrade is really going to fly, given the problems reported pre and post Tivo. How is it that there is already a code patch for 5.1 audio? Isn't this a pretty basic function that should have been ironed out before release?

-Dave

Only by associating itself directly with cable could Tivo suddenly forget the importance of DD 5.1.

These DVR's are barely up to "release date" quality and reliability at this moment. In open market conditions, they would have failed miserably 2 years ago.

Only in a monopolistic situation, would people pay money for something that barely worked for the first 2 years.

Imagine if Plasma TV's started out with the same reliability. THey would not exist today because of the bad reputation.

I just don't understand why you can't plug in an external usb harddrive. You can pick up 500 gigs for 100 bucks??? It's such a simple solution and how hard would it be to enable it, my box has allready got the usb port. Who's stupid idea was that, lets put usb ports on our boxes and then never allow anyone to use them

Actually, it would probably be eSata (which the box has as well). I don't think that USB is fast enough.

I agree, though, I want to expand my capacity.

How does the TV know which one to use?They're connected to different inputs ("HDMI1" and "HDMI2" -- my television happens to have two HDMI inputs).

Also, why do you have both if the PQ is the same? Are there any other reasons?As I indicated, I have the cable company box for VOD. Also, there are a few hours each week that there are three shows we watch which are broadcast in HD. Each DVR only has two tuners. 3/2 = 1.5 rounded up = 2. >shrug<

I just don't get why Comcast would overlay a complex piece of code on top of the existing, barely functional code. And charge more for it. (DOH! THAT'S the reason!).Well, yes, and also because it is a reflection of customer desire; many people want a TiVo (because they've heard so much about it) without the broader ramifications (having to buy the box, take the risk of it failing, paying more for the higher quality electronics that TiVo puts into its stand-alone boxes, etc. -- that last one is really important: J6P is cheap and doesn't want to pay extra for better hardware.)

I really have my doubts that this Tivo upgrade is really going to fly, given the problems reported pre and post Tivo.I think the problems reported are not insurmountable. Things will likely stabilize as subsequent updates are applied.

How is it that there is already a code patch for 5.1 audio? Isn't this a pretty basic function that should have been ironed out before release?No, not really. Heck, the first version of the stand-alone TiVo software included a bug that resulted in loss of Closed Captions, a feature required by law, for the vast majority of localities. "Basic function" is a pretty narrow set, especially in light of how these issues are typically specific to certain configurations, localities, etc..

I just don't get why Comcast would overlay a complex piece of code on top of the existing, barely functional code. And charge more for it. (DOH! THAT'S the reason!).

It doesn't overlay, it replaces. bicker1 is more accurate with the observation that the Comcast/Motorola hardware is just hopelessly low-end.

Personally I want the Tivo software because of Season Pass and keyword-based recording, and the better processes for recognizing already-recorded content. There are lots of reasons beyond just "they heard so much about it". Tivo has a better methodology and their UI is dramatically better.

It doesn't overlay, it replaces. bicker1 is more accurate with the observation that the Comcast/Motorola hardware is just hopelessly low-end.

Personally I want the Tivo software because of Season Pass and keyword-based recording, and the better processes for recognizing already-recorded content. There are lots of reasons beyond just "they heard so much about it". Tivo has a better methodology and their UI is dramatically better.

It does run on top of the Moto stack -- its an OCAP application (though I've heard people refer to it running on Moto's slightly modified version). In any case, its a whole new beast, running on Java rather than raw OS.

In any case, I agree, after using the iGuide POS for a few weeks (I just recently upgraded to HD), I was desperate for a "real" Tivo experience. Needing to use the program grid, day +/- to record a show was painful, plus lack of wishlists made things painful (such as me wanting to record my team's games on Center Ice, where the channel varies from day to day.

Plus everything else I'm used to from Tivo -- the jump back after fast forward, a better to-do list (daily break downs of Todo was terribly inefficient)...

Instructions for enabling the 30-sec skip backdoor on the Comcast DVR with TiVo Service:

Go to TiVo Recordings list and play back a recording.

Enter the following key sequence on the remote control:
Rewind
Slow
Fast Forward
Play
3
0
Advance

(The Advance key (aka skip-to-tick key) is the key that looks like ( ->| ) .)

The user will hear a chime sound to indicate that the 30-sec skip backdoor has been successfully enabled. The user can enter the same key sequence again to turn off the 30-sec skip backdoor.

With the 30-sec skip backdoor enabled, and while in "Play" mode in Live TV, a recording, or an ON DEMAND program, pressing the Advance key ( ->| ) will jump ahead 30 seconds. While in "Fast Forward" or "Rewind" mode, pressing the Advance key will jump to the next tick mark on the trickplay bar.

If the set-top box is restarted, the 30-sec skip backdoor setting is not maintained. Following a restart, the user will need to enter the backdoor key sequence to re-enable the 30-sec backdoor.

:D

Nice find..works great!

Woah your serious, there's a 30 second skip backdoor? And it even works on On DEMAND programming? Wow, ok SOLD.

I was on the fence there for awhile, but if 30 second skip indeed works, then I'll get one when it reaches central PA.

Personally I want the Tivo software because of Season Pass and keyword-based recording, and the better processes for recognizing already-recorded content. There are lots of reasons beyond just "they heard so much about it". Tivo has a better methodology and their UI is dramatically better.

I second those reasons, as well as the 'bounce back' after FF and lack of ads in the guide, amongst other things.

Things that I think would be nice to change/fix:
*have the 3 sized info bar remember the position I want it to stay in, instead of defaulting back to the full size after a while
*when in the guide, sometimes all the show info isn't displayed so you have to select the show to see the rest of the info, would be nice to just press the 'INFO' button instead. This is annoying if the show you're trying to get info on is on at the current time, because when you select it, it changes to that channel whether you like it or not
*5.1 (which hopefully will be fixed soon)
*fix some of the lag between screens. Surprisingly my DCH box has more lag then my DCT box. Surprising because the DCH is a newer box. I've tried restarting/reseting box with no change (hopefully better soon)
*fix the Tivo sound effects on the DCH boxes (sounds a little silly but this is the box I'd like to be able to turn them on, the DCT I have them off because it's in the bedroom) (hopefully fixed soon)
*someone had mentioned changing to the Tivo style guide, which although would be nicer, I personally wouldn't make it a high priority

*Day+ in when using the guide (I realize there are other ways to advance when in the guide, but this was an easy way to forward a day to the same channel & time)
*Hard drive space remaining indication. It's nice to know when you have to hurry up & watch or delete some content before losing it or not recording something new

Also not a Tivo box type issue, but if someone has multiple DVR's in the house let them have the Tivo interface on selected boxes. Personally I'd like to have the Tivo on one & the i-guide on the other.
As I've said a couple times now in this post, this is my wish list, I'm sure other people would add or subtract from it.

They're connected to different inputs ("HDMI1" and "HDMI2" -- my television happens to have two HDMI inputs).
..

Super! I'll try it. My set has 4 HDMI inputs so it shouldn't be a problem.

I never used this feature on my old tivos. Regardless, it works, for ALL you folks that NEED this.

I second those reasons, as well as the 'bounce back' after FF and lack of ads in the guide, amongst other things.Don't get too attached to the lack of ads in the guide. That will almost surely change over time. It is still early in the deployment.

Things that I think would be nice to change/fix:
*30 sec skip (I'm getting by without it, but it would be much appreciated to have it back. For anyone that's used it you know the importance) <maybe fixed since I wrote this>I doubt that. It was always there, and as always, was an unpublished capability. Again, as always, it took time before the code was found.

*fix some of the lag between screens. Surprisingly my DCH box has more lag then my DCT box. Surprising because the DCH is a newer box.Not really. From everything we know, there are no significant differences between the DCT and the DCH that don't have to do with the separable authentication and the exterior shell.

I was delighted to learn that there is a backdoor way to set up the 30 second skip ahead feature on the Comcast-TiVo DVRs. That’s a BIG deal. The ability to skip ahead 30 seconds with a single button push will change your life. Trust me on this. It’s too bad that the 30 second skip feature is lost when the box reboots. It had been that way on TiVo's own boxes, too, until the last couple of versions of the software when, at long last, they changed things so that the 30 second skip feature, once setup, was retained, even after a reboot.

I agree with bicker1 and others who have expressed confidence that the current bugs in the Comcast-TiVo software will get resolved. The kind of frustration that is being expressed here is the sort of thing that happens to early adopters with virtually every new product, especially when, as here, they are the very first customers to get it. Fortunately, such problems almost always get solved over time.

Actually, it would probably be eSata (which the box has as well). I don't think that USB is fast enough.

I agree, though, I want to expand my capacity.

A friend of mine just switched to Dish with their HD DVR and he claims his box (don't know brand) can be updated with a USB drive. And I was just in DC this weekend visiting a friend who just got an HD DVR (Cox cable with Scientific Atlantic DVR). The box she got had only an 80G drive, but could be updated with an eSATA drive. The manual even told you where programs get stored on the multiple drives. The Comcast/Motorola boxes are WAY behind in this regard.

I think the problems reported are not insurmountable. Things will likely stabilize as subsequent updates are applied.



Yeah, well.....we'll see. The bugs on the existing platform have been around a LONG time and no fix in site. Plus, there have been some reports of the same bugs (lagging remote, etc) with the TiVo code which suggests some of the core problems still exist.

And I can't believe anyone would defend the 5.1 audio bug. That IS a basic feature whose function should have been ironed out in development.

Which is, I think, the core problem. Comcast is using it's customers as beta sites before the code is really ready. They only fix that which causes the loudest cries.

I like my Comcast for the most part - but there is a draw to Direct given the larger HD content and much cheaper price. There are days when I just want to throw the STB across the room (or take a hammer to a Comcast rep's screen :) ).

If Comcast can't or won't fix these issues soon, it may be worth the hassles of wiring and dish mounting to go to the dark side.

-Dave

Don't get too attached to the lack of ads in the guide. That will almost surely change over time. It is still early in the deployment.

Well I can enjoy until they change this.


I doubt that. It was always there, and as always, was an unpublished capability. Again, as always, it took time before the code was found.

Sorry I phrased that poorly, but removed it from my post anyway being it's been found, tested & set for my boxes. It's kind of odd how much joy just this one feature brings.


Not really. From everything we know, there are no significant differences between the DCT and the DCH that don't have to do with the separable authentication and the exterior shell.

But isn't something newer always better? :D Regardless, even if they are mainly the same inside (which I believe they are), shouldn't they be the same? Should one be clearly better then the other (at least in the 2 boxes I have, maybe this is not the same results with all boxes)? I have thought of swapping where the two boxes are, but already have season passes set on both for multiple shows & they fit better aesthetically.