Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
dmeashar
Enthusiast - Level 2

Good Morning,

I am hoping someone can help me with an issue I am having with getting our the second tuner to work on TiVo box.  We have a TiVo Series 3 HD box wit a Motorola Multstream Card.  About 4 weeks ago our original box stop working and TiVo shipped a new one.

When we received the new box the original card would only display one tuner.  When I contacted TiVo they felt it was a problem with the card because the authorization information does not display on "Conditional Access" screen.

It is my understanding that the authorization is performed by the technician or at the office.  It is very important that the pairing of this information is performed correctly or the box will not work.  I saw the authorization information at one point and then when I went back in 10 minutes later it was gone.  Would this be an indication of a bad card or a bad TiVo box?

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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@dmeashar wrote:

Your posting suggests that the box is defective.  What leads you to this conclusion?  TiVo is adamant that the problem is with the card.  Their technicians state that the TiVo box has no control over the tuning functions.  Their logic is the following: Since we are receiving all channels on one tuner and only a gray screen on the second tuner the fault lies with the adapter card.

FYI, we are experiencing inconsistent display of data on the Conditional Access Screen.  Frequently there are only 4 lines of information when 9 lines should be present.  TiVo contends that the missing lines are consistent with an adapter card that is going bad.  This missing lines of data contain the authorization information required to display the second tuner.

Thanks for your help, from my discussions with TiVo and Verizon is seems that this card has presented a number of problems for both organizations.  With all of the finger pointing between the two organization, think I might try to check with the card source.   Motorola might be able to provide some insight.


Motorola does not provide any support to end-users.  You're not going to get anything from them.

 

Have you verified that you have a good signal?  Are you seeing a 90-100 signal on your TiVo?  Some installers added significant attenuation to older TiVo installs, and that is no longer necessary with version 11.0d of the Tivo software.  With the current TiVo software, attenuation usually hurts more than it helps.  If you've got a borderline signal in the 50s or 60s due to substantial attenuation, that could prevent one tuner from locking on to channels (since tuner sensitivity differs slightly).

 

There is a way to rule out the TiVo hardware as the cause.  To do that, you would remove the CableCard and run a Channel Scan under Settings -> Channels.   This will add a list of QAMs to your Channel List.  After the channel scan, open the Channels List under Settings -> Channels and enable (check) the QAMs from 71-74.  These are the unencrypted local channels.   Attempt to tune a different QAM in the 71-74 range on each tuner; if you can do that, you know the TiVo hardware is fine and the CableCard is the problem.  If you can't do that, then you know there is a problem with the box.

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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

Do you have the TivoHD (shown left) or the older TiVo Series3 (shown right)?

 

Only the TivoHD can support both digital cable tuners with a single M-CARD.   The older TiVo Series3 (shown right) always requires two CableCards -- regardless of type -- to support both tuners.

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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
dmeashar
Enthusiast - Level 2

We have the TiVo box shown on the left and it has worked with the multistream card.

Thanks,

Dawn

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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@dmeashar wrote:

We have the TiVo box shown on the left and it has worked with the multistream card.


You should double-check to be sure the M-CARD is in the right CableCard slot, because it must be in that slot to support both tuners.  If it's in the left slot, then only one tuner will work.

If you have the TivoHD and you have a M-CARD in the right slot, and can still only access your channels on one tuner (i.e. you can't record ESPN-HD and TNT-HD at once), then that suggests a defective box.

Note if someone ran guided setup with the M-CARD in the left CableCard slot, then the TiVo could still be configured for single-tuner operation.  Before you call and ask for a replacement, you should re-run guided setup just to rule that out as a possibility.

Message Edited by KenAF on 08-18-2009 03:43 PM
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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
dmeashar
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks for the information.   It is in the correct slot.

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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
dmeashar
Enthusiast - Level 2

Your posting suggests that the box is defective.  What leads you to this conclusion?  TiVo is adamant that the problem is with the card.  Their technicians state that the TiVo box has no control over the tuning functions.  Their logic is the following: Since we are receiving all channels on one tuner and only a gray screen on the second tuner the fault lies with the adapter card.

FYI, we are experiencing inconsistent display of data on the Conditional Access Screen.  Frequently there are only 4 lines of information when 9 lines should be present.  TiVo contends that the missing lines are consistent with an adapter card that is going bad.  This missing lines of data contain the authorization information required to display the second tuner.

Thanks for your help, from my discussions with TiVo and Verizon is seems that this card has presented a number of problems for both organizations.  With all of the finger pointing between the two organization, think I might try to check with the card source.   Motorola might be able to provide some insight.

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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@dmeashar wrote:

Your posting suggests that the box is defective.  What leads you to this conclusion?  TiVo is adamant that the problem is with the card.  Their technicians state that the TiVo box has no control over the tuning functions.  Their logic is the following: Since we are receiving all channels on one tuner and only a gray screen on the second tuner the fault lies with the adapter card.

FYI, we are experiencing inconsistent display of data on the Conditional Access Screen.  Frequently there are only 4 lines of information when 9 lines should be present.  TiVo contends that the missing lines are consistent with an adapter card that is going bad.  This missing lines of data contain the authorization information required to display the second tuner.

Thanks for your help, from my discussions with TiVo and Verizon is seems that this card has presented a number of problems for both organizations.  With all of the finger pointing between the two organization, think I might try to check with the card source.   Motorola might be able to provide some insight.


Motorola does not provide any support to end-users.  You're not going to get anything from them.

 

Have you verified that you have a good signal?  Are you seeing a 90-100 signal on your TiVo?  Some installers added significant attenuation to older TiVo installs, and that is no longer necessary with version 11.0d of the Tivo software.  With the current TiVo software, attenuation usually hurts more than it helps.  If you've got a borderline signal in the 50s or 60s due to substantial attenuation, that could prevent one tuner from locking on to channels (since tuner sensitivity differs slightly).

 

There is a way to rule out the TiVo hardware as the cause.  To do that, you would remove the CableCard and run a Channel Scan under Settings -> Channels.   This will add a list of QAMs to your Channel List.  After the channel scan, open the Channels List under Settings -> Channels and enable (check) the QAMs from 71-74.  These are the unencrypted local channels.   Attempt to tune a different QAM in the 71-74 range on each tuner; if you can do that, you know the TiVo hardware is fine and the CableCard is the problem.  If you can't do that, then you know there is a problem with the box.

Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
philhu
Contributor - Level 2

Have the cable company 'hit' the card

Also, a Tivo does not do QAM tuning without a card unless you've hacked the Tivo, FYI

Message Edited by philhu on 08-19-2009 08:01 AM
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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@philhu wrote:

Have the cable company 'hit' the card

Also, a Tivo does not do QAM tuning without a card unless you've hacked the Tivo, FYI


Verizon will tune the unencrypted HD channels (i.e. the HD locals) on QAMs 71-74 just fine, but they'll show up without guide data until a CableCard is installed.   You wouldn't want to use the TiVo this way, but it's an easy way to verify that both tuners work without a CableCard.

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Re: Multstream Cable Card Programming and TiVo
dmeashar
Enthusiast - Level 2

I will check this option out tonight.  I am hopeful that this solution will give me just what I need. I'll update you with the results.

Thanks,

Dawn

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