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  • #1

    cable card installation headaches

    Mediacom sent nice but inexperienced tech out to install cable cards. He had never seen a Tivo and I don't think he knows much about cable cards in general. He had directions with him and refused to look at directions from Tivo. Tried first card and got a 161-4 error. Resent a hit but still same error. Tried another cable card with same results. Tried card in slot 2 with same results. Now they are telling me they don't support tivo. Called Tivo support while tech here and she researched error and said that any 161 error meant cable card was faulty and multiple cards might need to be tried because cable card technology is not very good. She said if same error comes up, I need to return Tivo 3! Cable guy put card in my tv and it seemed to work fine (didn't go through whole channel setup) so he says problem is with Tivo....not cable card. Now I'm caught in the middle because mediacom "doesn't support tivo" and I was so excited about my new tivo.

    Researched 161-4 error online after tech gone and now find out Tivo says to ignore error. I hope that I can get Mediacom to come again with a more experienced tech and more than 2 cable cards to try again but I'm afraid they will say "we don't support tivos". Irony is that I've been a loyal mediacom customer since 1992 and if cable cards will work in tivo 3 I will be tied to mediacom for years because the box doesn't work with satellite.

    Can anyone offer help?

    Thanks!
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Did the TiVo stick on the error, or would there have been a way to move past it?
    Been here a long time . . .

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    • #3
      I'm not sure how to respond. For the first several attempts, we just stopped at that point and tried again with the other card or in the 2 slot, etc. Multiple hits from cable company. I was online trying to find some help and finally found the part about ignoring the 161-4 error so the last time he tried to continue to test channels. It searched a long time for channels but then gave another error...I don't remember exactly what it said. I've requested mediacom to send out a more experienced tech who has actually done a tivo install but can't get that scheduled until next Sat. I don't think this guy had done any cablecard installs before but I couldn't see that he was doing anything wrong other than being impatient with any wait during the process. He was here two and a half hours so its not like he didn't try!

      One thing he was insistent about was setting it up to accept cable only as source. I would also like to set up an antenna because I get great HD reception on my local channels...one of which mediacom doesn't carry. Is it possible to have an antenna and two cable cards? Do you have suggestions as to what to try when mediacom comes back?

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      • #4
        Yes, you can have antenna and two CableCARDs, that is not a problem.

        We have heard reports of people going through a dozen cards before getting two that were not faulty. For some reason, there are a lot of bad cards out there.

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        • #5
          I have been watching analog cable and antenna channels for the last week. Should I perform a clean/delete and start from scratch just prior to cable company coming again to install cablecards? When they came last weekend, I had already programmed the analog/antenna channels in and I have read some posts that indicate restoring to factory defaults (erasing/deleting) may be a good idea. What do you think and how long will it take the tivo to delete everything if you recommend this step?

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          • #6
            I have been dealing w the cableCARD problem with Comcast and my new HD TiVo for a month now. Comcast can't read their own cards in the TiVo. Have had six or seven visits by all kinds of techs - no effect. Am on my third set of CableCards with no help. Can only get HD from my local channels. Comcast says they show I'm authorized to get HBO, Encore, etc. (and I can get them with the Comcast HD DVR) but they can't make the TiVo work. I called TiVo and we had a three-way with another Comcast rep, but nothing they tried worked either.

            I'm thinking I might have to send the HD Tivo box back to weaKnees and ask for a refund.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by beemd View Post
              I have been watching analog cable and antenna channels for the last week. Should I perform a clean/delete and start from scratch just prior to cable company coming again to install cablecards? When they came last weekend, I had already programmed the analog/antenna channels in and I have read some posts that indicate restoring to factory defaults (erasing/deleting) may be a good idea. What do you think and how long will it take the tivo to delete everything if you recommend this step?
              No need to do that really. But if you do, it won't hurt.
              Been here a long time . . .

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              • #8
                Originally posted by bbiffle View Post
                I have been dealing w the cableCARD problem with Comcast and my new HD TiVo for a month now. Comcast can't read their own cards in the TiVo. Have had six or seven visits by all kinds of techs - no effect. Am on my third set of CableCards with no help. Can only get HD from my local channels. Comcast says they show I'm authorized to get HBO, Encore, etc. (and I can get them with the Comcast HD DVR) but they can't make the TiVo work. I called TiVo and we had a three-way with another Comcast rep, but nothing they tried worked either.

                I'm thinking I might have to send the HD Tivo box back to weaKnees and ask for a refund.
                We can try a new box to see what happens. Is it the TiVoHD or the Series3? Did you try doing a clear and delete everything, then setting it up for just antenna, then adding the CableCARDs one by one?
                Been here a long time . . .

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