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Post by Skaggs on Feb 15, 2009 21:33:07 GMT -5
My TA was blinking when I came home tonight. What a PITA.
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Post by Chris Miller on Feb 15, 2009 22:47:07 GMT -5
This signal too strong issue is starting to sound a little odd. I'm starting to wonder if it's design defect with the tuning adapters. If the TWC guy can't correct it when he comes out tomorrow, I'll just get some signal strength attenuators and do it myself. When FiOs TV started deploying in luckier parts of the country, their signal strength was too high for the TiVo Series 3/HD to handle. From what I read on other forums, the TiVo's were designed to handle crappy signals from the usual suspects. The FiOs signal overloads the TiVo. Some people reported improved reception when they attenuated the signal. The fun part is the amount of attenuation will vary from person to person. Smarthome.com sells a bag of attenuators rated for different db levels. You can mix and match them to get the right level needed to get a clear signal. The product page for that part is here (Attenuator Pad Mix Bag). The fun part is that we don't know how many db to use to bring the level down to where the TA stops having senior moments. I can't reliable get the TA to lose it's connection, it's only happened twice in the last 2 weeks. |
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Post by the block on Feb 16, 2009 9:02:40 GMT -5
well I decided I didn't want to wait til friday to have this resolved so I looked around the tivo community forum and apparently the 8 blinks is somewhat common, and was able to be resolved by just calling TWC, so I tried that again hoping for better luck. I called, spoke to another CSR Chris, and he was able to refresh and see my TA. The blinking stopped all together, I hit the power button on the front of the TA, it turned on, tivo immediately recognized the TA was connected and started refreshing the channels, that took maybe 3-4 minutes and it was back.. I guess with calling about this stuff, maybe it just depends on who you talk to.. nothing got changed on my end between last night and this morning, as in I didn't go around plugging and unplugging stuff.. maybe the stars were aligned, who knows, but my TA is working and I have my SDV channels back.
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Post by hurnik on Feb 16, 2009 10:40:41 GMT -5
I haven't gotten the "blinking" issue. Just that twice (maybe 3 times) in the last few weeks most or all of the SDV channels show up as "gray" on the Tivo. Only unplugging and plugging the TA back in seems to fix that. (Power button doesn't really power it off apparently).
I have noticed that the RS corrected count is increasing on virtually any channel I tune to and the signal strength bounces between 93 and 100.
Since TW has replaced all the lines inside the house (they ran a splitter direct to the Tivo, so there's no "amplifier" in between--technically I suppose the splitter would add a db or so), perhaps the outside line is flaky?
I dunno. We'll see what the tech says today (12:30-2:30 today).
SNR is 35-36db (it's always been that since I've had the TivoHD).
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Post by Skaggs on Feb 16, 2009 17:37:43 GMT -5
I called TWC and they sent a "hit" to the TA that re-enabled all the SDV channels.
This is not what I want to go through every week.
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Post by Chris Miller on Feb 16, 2009 20:29:17 GMT -5
The TWC tech came and did his thing. Between replacing one splitter, removing another, and replacing some cable connectors, he was able clean up the signal by about 4db.
To see if the Sci-Fi channel was still acting up, I picked some random show to record later tonight The tech had never seen a TiVo go through it's paces, so I basically went into the full tilt demo mode. I brought up shows from another TiVo in the house, displayed upcoming records, played a TiVio cast. I think he wants to get one now. I know I've ruined him for the TWC DVR.
He was under the impression that Tuning Adapter firmware update scheduled for tonight was not going to happen.
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Post by hurnik on Feb 16, 2009 21:33:07 GMT -5
Well mine didn't go so well. He could find nothing wrong with the signal (not too strong, not too weak, return path fine, etc.)
Fox News (550) still shows signal strength bouncing between 93 and 100 and the RS Corrected continues to count upwards.
Signal (according to his equipment) was +6db.
We tried attenuating (reducing) the signal but that made things worse (or so it seemed)
He didn't really know anything about Tivo or cable card and had NO idea what a tuning adapter was. ("Is that like a piece of equipment you bought or did we give it to you?")
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Post by Chris Miller on Feb 17, 2009 15:00:46 GMT -5
That is a night and day difference. The guy who came to my house didn't know much about the TA, but he probably knew as much as anyone at TWC Albany.
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Post by hurnik on Feb 19, 2009 13:10:09 GMT -5
Well, guess what greeted me when I came home for lunch?
The 8-blink of death.
I've unplugged the TA and plugged it back in and now all it does is a solid blinking (there's no 8 blinks and a pause, it just blinks on and off).
After 20 minutes it's still that way.
I give up.
It's obvious TW didn't test these things with Tivo.
It's starting to make my TivoHD function like the crappy TW DVR (in the sense that it won't record stuff because the TA is on the fritz).
Does anyone have a # of a higher up at TW to call about this? The CSR are clueless as are the technicians.
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Post by Skaggs on Feb 19, 2009 14:48:11 GMT -5
Does anyone have a # of a higher up at TW to call about this? The CSR are clueless as are the technicians. When I call, the first thing I say is that I need to talk to someone who is knowledgable in the TiVo Tuning Adapters. They usually put me on hold (probably to ask someone what a Tuning Adapter is) and someone else picks up from the "HD Support" department. Ask them to "send a hit" to your TA. When they did this for me, my box turned off and the phone call disconnected (I use Vonage). After 5 minutes or so, I turned the box on by pressing the button on the front. When I tried to watch TV with the TiVo, a blue screen with a whirling wheel appeared on the screen with text that said "Acquiring Channels" or something like that. When that completed, I was sent into the "Tuning Adapter Found" menu and it asked me to check the SDV channels. I have been good-to-go since that time (Monday the 16th). I never called TWC back (nor did they call me). |
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Post by hurnik on Feb 19, 2009 17:48:48 GMT -5
I guess my point is who do we call to get this resolved once and for all. I'm not willing to have to call and reboot the thing once or twice a week. I'll just send it back permanently if that's the case.
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Post by Chris Miller on Feb 20, 2009 10:15:00 GMT -5
I didn't have to have them send a hit down to my TA. In my case, it wouldn't have worked as they couldn't even see my TA from their end. Once I rebooted it, they could see it and in my case they said the problem was with the return signal. They sent out a tech who did clean up the signal a bit.
What does sending "a hit" down to the TA involve? It seems odd that resetting the TA requires resetting your Internet connection. If I was still using RoadRunner, that would have annoyed me.
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Post by hurnik on Feb 20, 2009 13:52:59 GMT -5
I'm not sure. The lady put me on hold twice (presumably the first time to ask someone what a Tuning Adapter was) and the first "hit" didn't do anything.
She put me on hold again and sent it again and then the light went from steady blinking (never saw an "8 blinks") to a solid light.
Then I had to unplug the USB cable from the TA and plug it back in and then Tivo let me get SOME of the SDV channels. I had to wait a few more minutes before it would tune in DiscoveryHD (which is not an SDV channel I don't think).
I asked about the firmware upgrade and she had no idea what I was talking about.
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Post by Chris Miller on Feb 22, 2009 15:21:43 GMT -5
It's obvious TW didn't test these things with Tivo. I don't think the problem is between the TiVo and the TA, the problem appears with how the TA communicates back to TW. I'm not sure. The lady put me on hold twice (presumably the first time to ask someone what a Tuning Adapter was) and the first "hit" didn't do anything.... I asked about the firmware upgrade and she had no idea what I was talking about. You should escalate this past tier 1 support. They do have people there who know about the TA's, you just have to get the right person. The TA's are still new to these guys, they need to share the knowledge across their people. Given the newnewss of the TA's and the tiny number of them out in the field, we are essentially beta testing the devices. We should probably make a list of the people at TWC (both the CSR's and the techs who do the truck rolls) who know how to diagnose issues related to the tuning adapters. |
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Post by shanedude on Feb 22, 2009 16:54:23 GMT -5
When 1st got my TA home I also had to call to get it activated/ The lady at the rotterdam office gave me a tel# to use if I had any issues. This turned out to be the same # which is on my approval letter. When I called that # the rep was able to send a authorization hit right to my TA which caused the green light to lock solid while I was still on the phone. I asked that rep if I should always use this special tel# to call should I have future issues. He stated yes and if the issue required escalation that I would be sent to their internal group of techs who specialize in these units. He even gave me the ext#, 2252. I wrote all this on the back of my letter should I need to call. So far though my TA has been good with the exception of resetting about a week ago.
I am a bit new to using this Tivo, and since I purchased it as a display unit for $150 (which didn't come with any remote or directions, had to get a used remote from ebay) I am not sure of all its abilities. Without scouring the tivo newsgroups can anyone confirm that my Tivo (its the Tivo hd model) can archive HD recordings to my PC and iphone? If so, it this done via ethernet networking?
Thanks
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