HDHomerun Prime Owners Thread - Page 32

Tried that that, still no go for premium channels (hbo, sho, etc, likely 2/2 to hdcp). It does work for local channels and some other channels like cnn. I suspect the issue is as described above, the internal laptop display is probably connected via displayport and not hdmi/dvi and thus no hdcp and thus no protected channels.

I've been seeing a lot of laptops and all in ones use displayport... but couldn't find out for your model. My point in "correcting" sammy2 before is that your monitor may indeed be hdcp capable but use a displayport which WMC says isn't compliant even though it is (if connected to the right monitor), so just asking that question wasn't quite enough as even if you truthfully said yes to being hdcp compliant, it still may not work as wmc thinks you are not. It may also be that they decided not to have an hdcp compliant monitor. This sometimes happens with laptops as for most things that require hdcp, there is an exception for an integrated display so it may save them a few pennies. However WMC and cablecard tuners don't have this exception. In this case, you can only view protected content when connected to your hdmi port... also make sure the monitors are not cloned but I didn't mention this before as you mentioned dragging it to the monitor connected to the hdmi port so I thought it was obviously extended.

One other future possibility is with the new dlna/dtcp-ip firmware... right now there is nothing to record and integrating guide data is probably non-existent, but it may be possible for CyberLink SoftDMA and/or powerdvd 12 (full paid version, trials don't support dtcp-ip) to play these channels (there is currently a "bug" preventing powerdvd from working but SD says they are working with cyberlink to resolve this). I'm not positive but I believe the dlna spec allows for the exemption on integrated displays as I don't think most phones and tablets have hdcp compliant monitors (though they may be exempt by the resolution of the display).
Edited by signcarver - 1/26/13 at 9:51pm

Those are NOT tuning adapters, they are DTAs (digital to analog converters). Big difference.

That makes a lot more sense that he was referring to a DTA. For some reason I thought I remembered hearing a big fuss a few months ago that the price of them was going above the $2 mark (like $2.50) so didn't make the connection to the DTA from the original quote as "Tuning Adapter" was in the same sentence as "CC" (cablecard) and if someone offered me the option of a tuning adapter with a cablecard I would assume they meant TA / TR rather than DTA. Even if Digital Tuning Adapter was mentioned I would have caught it but just TA or tuning adapter I wouldn't.
Edited by signcarver - 1/27/13 at 8:25am

This is the laptop which is basically just an asus zenbook ux31a with touch capability. The displays are not cloned as the built in display is full hd 1920x1080p IPS panel (beautiful display btw) which does pass the digital cable advisor test, fwiw and the external device is a dell 2408wfp ultrasharp at 1920x1200.

Is there a way to check if the built in display is hdcp compatible? On control panel the built in display panel is just listed as generic display device. On the asus website I did not see a specific display device INF.

EDIT: Here is my EDID info:

EDID BYTES:
0x 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F

---

00 | 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 0D AE 48 13 00 00 00 00
10 | 16 16 01 04 A5 1C 10 78 02 A7 05 A6 56 54 9B 26
20 | 0C 50 54 00 00 00 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
30 | 01 01 01 01 01 01 36 36 80 A0 70 38 20 40 2E 1E
40 | 24 00 1A A5 10 00 00 18 24 24 80 A0 70 38 20 40
50 | 2E 1E 24 00 1A A5 10 00 00 18 00 00 00 FE 00 43
60 | 4D 4E 0A 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 FE
70 | 00 4E 31 33 33 48 53 47 2D 46 33 31 0A 20 00 79
80 | 00 00 3A 10 00 00 3A 10 9C 00 3A 10 E0 B1 18 00
90 | A0 DC A9 77 FF FF FF FF DC B1 18 00 E8 B1 18 00
A0 | 00 80 00 00 00 00 3A 10 00 00 3A 10 00 00 3A 10
B0 | FC B1 18 00 14 DC A9 77 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00
C0 | 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F 6B 6E 85 08 B2 18 00
D0 | 97 3B 77 77 00 00 3A 10 1C B2 18 00 98 5A C7 02
E0 | 00 00 3A 10 19 51 C7 02 00 00 00 00 58 B2 18 00
F0 | 16 52 C7 02 00 00 C5 02 00 00 00 00 5D 52 C7 02
Edited by ymarker - 1/27/13 at 9:11am

Make sure that you have only 1 display active like the external display full screen active and internal display disabled. I think that the cable advisor does not like to see 2 displays.

They make it complicated on purpose and most CSR's don't even understand how to add CableCARDs to your account. I believe the way it works now is they charge (these are prices in my area as of Jan 1, 2013) $9.95 for each outlet you will be watching TV at with any sort of equipment excluding a DTA. If you have a DVR box on said outlet it's an additional $8.00 for DVR service, making it $17.95/mo for that outlet/DVR. If you use a CableCARD, it's begins with the same $9.95 outlet fee, and then (in most cases) a $2.50 "Customer-Owned Equipment" credit making a it $7.45/mo for that outlet. A difference of $10.50 in monthly costs over renting their DVR. You pay for the outlet and the actual CableCARD equipment itself is free for first one in a device. If you do not have ANY boxes at all and just a CableCARD then I don't think the $9.95 outlet fee applies for an outlet since it's the only one you have. I could be somewhat wrong in some of this because as you mentioned, its so complicated!

I have to admit the above statement can be interpreted differently based on who is reading it. I've been considering just dropping a Dual HDHomerun for a second cable card tuner since FCC gave Cable CO's approval to encrypt the basic cable, it eventually may no longer work (who knows if they will go through with it or not). I have Ceton now, so either another one or a SD HDHR Prime 3CC. I've been wondering how they would handle me adding another CableCARD. I have a triple play so the HD Tech fee is included with the package. I also have to keep one DVR for my father (he will never understand the HTPC etc. so I'm stuck paying the $9.95 Addtl Outlet fee - $2.50 = $7.45/mo).

If I were to add the second tuner (HDHomerun Prime or another Ceton) do they consider this ANOTHER Outlet and thus a second free CableCARD and $9.95 Addtl Outlet fee - $2.50 credit = $7.45/mo, OR, just an Additional $1.50 equipment fee for the second CableCARD in the same device on the first outlet? In my eyes, the device is the HTPC since it's the device requesting the tuner and recording so it should apply as a second card in the same device. This may be wishful thinking on my part. Comcast may consider each Ceton card or Silicondust unit it's own device. I will obviously just have to attempt to call and ask but they probably won't understand what I'm trying to say and add everything incorrectly if I do go through with it.

Don't. Give them too much info as it will confuse them. Use their terms and tell them you have one device on one outlet that requires two cable cards.

That's exactly how I was thinking of approaching it, actually. How could they possibly know otherwise? I really don't think they would give me any trouble just telling them I need a second card for the current outlet.

Ok..back to my problem..I went to the local office to ask them to add the CC back to my account and to take out the cable box charge (9.25) out and the CC is free. The CSR there said that b/c I have HD DVR unit at home now so the CC is treated as a second device...that's where 9.25 come in.......I did mention about FCC stuff and on Comcast's website says that first CC is free and second CC is 1.50...The CSR said that the Comcast's website is running by third party and she (Comcast) does not know about it....then she said that I suppose the get only 3 months HD DVR free but on the system show 6 months, so she corrected it down from 6 months to 3 month...I was kinda upset but did not want to make a big deal there b/c I will return the HD DVR anyway after I get HomeRun Prime back online.
After got home, I had to call Comcast again, and they did the pairing again.....Now, it work great without any problems yet.....so I will return HD DVR this week and will see that I will get a charge of 9.25 or not.

For the laptop, I am using HP Pavilion dv6000 which is an old model...and WMC works fine..I can watch all the channels and HBO.

HomeRun Prime or WMC does get problem from time to time and require a quick fix.

Does anyone use HomeRun Prime with ATT Uverse? or does this one work with Uverse?

They can't just make $#!+ up. They have to give you a copy of the rates and they have to charge you no more than the published rate. If they do otherwise report them to the local franchise authority.

As I mentioned in my post above, your actual Cablecard is in fact free, the $9.25 is an additional outlet fee (or $9.95 in my area) to use the Cablecard on. When you return the DVR and only have a Cablecard then I think there should be no more $9.25 fee as it will be on the primary outlet.

Oh and Uverse is IPTV so they exempted themselves from CableCARD rules by saying that they are "different" Yeah they're different. The don't have the bandwidth to deliver.

Atlanta Comcast

Picked up 2 CableCards Saturday.
I currently pay $8.00 for Comcast HD-DVR. (living room)
I pay $9.95 for HD Technology fee because I have the above DVR. They don't have non-HD-DVRs.
I pay $4.95 for the 2nd Comcast set-top-box (STB) non-DVR non-HD. (bedroom)
======
$22.90

Per the CSR:
When I return the HD-DVR the $8.00 drops off.
The HD Technology Fee of $9.95 then drops off.
The 2nd STB becomes primary (in their mind) and the $4.95 drops off.

Then....
The first CableCard is $0.00.
The 2nd CableCard is $1.50.
And I get the $2.50 credit for customer owned equipment.

But, all that means nothing until I get my bill.

====================

I set only one HD-Prime in Digital-Cable mode to test (w/o the CableCard) WMC and start to get a feel for the new way of life.
Appears to be OK.
Have not loaded any other programs like Media Browser or Tuner Salad or Channel Logos or Guide Tool.

====================

Not that I need it today, but what are people using to view DVDs and Blu-Rays using the Blu-Ray player in the HTPC?

====================

I've read somewhere (head spinning with Tee.Emm.Eye) of a program/routine that takes a recorded show and peels out the commercials so then you have a 40 minute program to watch and no "skipping" needed. Worth the effort to implement?

If you have a STB still, won't they still charge you the HD Tech fee and the outlet fee for it? Ditch all CableCo STB's and use the prime exclusively.

MediaBrowser has no effect at all on using the DVR functionality of WMC.

You won't need tuner salad unless you have more than four tuners. My Channel Logos is well worth the $3.40 IMHO. I don't use guide tool.

I rip Blu-rays to mkv at my desk in my office and store them on the library for instant access via MB.

I don't use comskip or any of the other commercial hiding/stripping software. A lot of what I record is marked copy once so these programs don't work with that material. There's other threads that discuss this as it really isn't HDHR Prime related (except the Prime is used to acquire the content).

I also highly suggest dropping $25 for assassin's guide. All this and more is in these fantastic, step-by-step illustrated guides.

Thanks for the input.
I hate trying to invent the wheel by my self.

If you have an Xbox or better yet an echo then you don't need the CableCo's STB. Of course you need to have ethernet it that room.

• The 6 available tuners in the 2 primes shouldn't require you to use tuner salad unless you are trying to use all 6 on a single running instance of WMC. That instance of WMC would require tuner salad. I've never seen 6 things that I'd want to watch air at the same time, but it's possible I guess
• Makemkv to store your disc collections to your hard drive space, then playback your library from the couch without touching the discs
• One of the most popular comskip programs is MCEbuddy. Although its the name of an all in one scheduled program that uses a "bundled" program to skip commercials. You can download other commercial skip programs to replace the bundled one. I don't think any of them are worth the processing power. FF/RW behaves very well in WMC with recordings, so I use that and don't bother post-processing

I don't own an Xbox or an Echo.
No Ethernet at that location but I can install one myself.
This is in the bedroom which is an hour or less a day of usage.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Obviously another instance of WMC will work as well

Yes, another PC with WMC will do the trick for everything but recorded content marked copy once. Charter is not so generous with copy once. Everything in the digi-tier one and digi-tier two packages is marked as such. Most, if not all, of the expanded basic is not marked thus.

Thanks for the suggestions.

No On Demand with the Prime or any CableCARD tuner. I have my own library of several hundred on demand movies.

We have 2 or 3 times in a year actually used the On Demand and that was for movies. Never have done PayPerView nor desire at this time. So no loss with CableCard for me anyway.
Thanks for the reminder.

Be careful with this. I was told the same thing, but what they aren't mentioning is that $0.00 for the first CableCARD is for an S-CARD, which is only capable of decoding/decrypting a single stream. The HDHR Prime requires an M-CARD, which can handle multiple streams at once. They consider an M-CARD an additional device and my bill went up $8.95 or so. I did get a small credit for owning my own equipment.

You'll want to make sure you pick up an M-CARD, or you'll have to make another trip to their office to swap out the card (unless you are having them bring it to your house).

Just wanted to make sure you were aware.

Good luck!

--James

Did get an M-card.
The CSR said that is the only kind they have.
As to the monthly fees, only the paper copy of the bill will reveal the truth.
Until that arrives..........

Thanks for the heads up.

While there's no regulation about that if it isn't listed on their price sheet as a different charge then they cannot charge it but I can see them hitting you up for a "per outlet charge" because technically it is an outlet. The cable card is still free but the outlet charge is $8.95.

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cablecard-know-your-rights

I only use one. $0 for first is for an M-card. The monthly customer-owned-equipment credit is nice

I've also fully recouped the purchase price of my surfboard modem by adding up the amount I would've otherwise paid to lease it, and began "earning" a small amount each month there as well

My bill reads as follows

$44.99 XFINITY TV - Digital Starter
$51.95 XFINITY Internet
-$2.50 Customer-owned Equipment
$10.52 Franchise Fee, State Franchise Fee, State and Local Sales Tax (this is $6.88 for TV/Int combined), FCC Regulatory Fee

$104.96, this reflects their non-promotional pricing. It was ~$55 for first 6 months due to a helpful representative in the brick and mortar location

I have the SurfBoard SB-6120. Since DocSysXXX(?) was coming I decided to upgrade my old D-Link router to a D-Link (DIR-655) wired/wireless gigabyte and upgraded the modem at the same time. No modem rental fee for me. As you said, has more than paid for itself. Since I bought a reliable product I'm not worried. (knocking-on-wood).

Atlanta Comcast pricer 10/01/2012.

Performance Internet at $51.95. (when combined with TV)
Digital Starter at $65.95. (includes the SD-STB and remote control for the primary outlet)

Hopefully my bill will be greatly reduced after I return their HD-DVR.

You have an equal chance of getting hit with the full outlet fee of $9.95 - $2.50 credit for the Cablecard, rather than $1.50. It's entirely hit or miss with Comcast and card billing.