InfiniTV6 upgrade safe?

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Paul Anderegg

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InfiniTV6 upgrade safe?

#1

Post by Paul Anderegg » Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:36 pm

Have an InfiniTV4 now, had a pair previously to enable 8 tuners...had to ditch the second tuner due to ongoing issues with them not playing nice with each other...constant tickets open with Ceton.

Would it be safe to simply pop out my InfiniTV4 PCIe and pop in a new InfiniTV6 PCIe? Are there issues with the 6 that the 4 didn't have? Same drivers right, just need to repair with the CableCard with my cable provider I assume. My InfiniTV4 has been working FLAWLESSLY for years now, not even a slight hiccup, in 2 PC's...if anyone else has upgraded and ran into unexpected issues, I would love to know about them.

Paul

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Crash2009

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#2

Post by Crash2009 » Sat Feb 11, 2017 4:59 pm

Paul Anderegg wrote:Have an InfiniTV4 now, had a pair previously to enable 8 tuners...had to ditch the second tuner due to ongoing issues with them not playing nice with each other...constant tickets open with Ceton.

Would it be safe to simply pop out my InfiniTV4 PCIe and pop in a new InfiniTV6 PCIe? Are there issues with the 6 that the 4 didn't have? Same drivers right, just need to repair with the CableCard with my cable provider I assume. My InfiniTV4 has been working FLAWLESSLY for years now, not even a slight hiccup, in 2 PC's...if anyone else has upgraded and ran into unexpected issues, I would love to know about them.

Paul
One difference between the 2 tuners is "Network Tuners" are supported with the TV6, but not with the TV4. PM DavidCT, and request a reply to this question.

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DavidinCT

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#3

Post by DavidinCT » Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:32 pm

Crash2009 wrote:
Paul Anderegg wrote:Have an InfiniTV4 now, had a pair previously to enable 8 tuners...had to ditch the second tuner due to ongoing issues with them not playing nice with each other...constant tickets open with Ceton.

Would it be safe to simply pop out my InfiniTV4 PCIe and pop in a new InfiniTV6 PCIe? Are there issues with the 6 that the 4 didn't have? Same drivers right, just need to repair with the CableCard with my cable provider I assume. My InfiniTV4 has been working FLAWLESSLY for years now, not even a slight hiccup, in 2 PC's...if anyone else has upgraded and ran into unexpected issues, I would love to know about them.

Paul
One difference between the 2 tuners is "Network Tuners" are supported with the TV6, but not with the TV4. PM DavidCT, and request a reply to this question.
Well the Network Tuners (shared tuner) thing, is more of a hack. The InfiniTV 6 ETH is the only that supported Tuner sharing/Tuner pooling and there was a way to enable sharing a tuner but, no way on pooling on the PCIe model. The tuner sharing required that you marked a tuner that I was unusable on the main computer.

TO the OP, different card, different chipset and they did have different drivers. You might be able to pull out the old and drop it in, the drivers MIGHT still work (depending on what version they are) but, WMC will still prompt you "WMC found a new tuner would you like to set it up ?" There will be no way to "save" your channel lineup if that is what your asking.

Common problems is, if you don't have the correct driver install, WMC will only allow you to use 4 of the 6 tuners. This can be corrected by uninstalling the driver and reinstalling (the 6 driver) or installing Tunersalid (not free).

Just to make a cleaner install, I would download the newest driver, and remove the old card, remove the old software, reboot again, then shut down, install the new card, install the newest driver (reboot if needed) open the config program to make sure it's all set. THEN run WMC and run TV setup...

And MAKE sure you give your cable company the new HOST ID, call their cablecard number (there is a list of numbers in the cable provider area here), or you will find channels start dropping off after a week or so. Make sure you talk to someone who knows how to deal with cablecards... it took me 4 attempts to deal with this.
-Dave
Twitter @TheCoolDave

Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

randman

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#4

Post by randman » Fri Mar 03, 2017 11:50 pm

I did this same swap about six months ago. I did find the latest beta firmware and upgrade the Infinitv6. As always, the hardest part was getting my cable company (Comcast) to properly pair the new tuner. That usually kills a few hours. It has been running fine ever since.

Paul Anderegg

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#5

Post by Paul Anderegg » Tue Apr 18, 2017 4:25 am

Yeah, the repairing process can be excruciating, sort of like the panel lottery when buying a new TV!

So I ordered a used 6 on eBay, it should be here this week. Can I assume the latest listed InfiniTV drivers on Ceton site have the necessary drivers for 6 tuner? I have that Sean program to save and reload my WMC recordings schedule and such, very handy. Also have a means to backup my entire disk image in the event I have to revert back to the old 4 for some reason. Only thing I need guidance on is the 4 vs 6 tuner driver thing...the only driver on Ceton saying support for 6 tuners is a beta version for Windows 8.

Paul

Paul Anderegg

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#6

Post by Paul Anderegg » Thu Apr 20, 2017 1:05 am

So, the upgrade was rather painless. I shut down the PC, swapped cards, rebooted, Ceton Diagnostics seemed happy and gave all green checkmarks. I did the clear tuners button, rediscover tuners, then opened Media Center and ran the TV signal setup. Called Cox, and within 5 minutes, the new card was paired and I was watching DRM cable channels again. Didn't have to the full Media Center setup, so my schedule was unaffected. :-)

Paul

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Crash2009

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#7

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:48 am

Have you re-booted yet?

Test Cold Boot.

Paul Anderegg

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#8

Post by Paul Anderegg » Thu Apr 20, 2017 6:45 am

My PC does not sleep, shutdown, or restart anymore...I have to hold down the power button to force a reset.

Paul

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Crash2009

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#9

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:18 am

It will shut down if you un-plug it. You might have to remove battery if its a laptop.

I wasn't suggesting a reset. I was suggesting a cold boot.

shutdown/unplug/discharge residual power.

When you start it, after the cold boot, and it still works, you got a winner. Make an image.

Paul Anderegg

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#10

Post by Paul Anderegg » Thu Apr 20, 2017 8:49 am

There seems to be some confusion, the new card works fine after several reboots, but since installing the new card, my computer is unable to be shut down without pulling the power cord. it says shutting down, then the screen goes black, but the power LED remains lit, and that's it, sticks in that state, fans whirring, disks spinning etc.

Paul

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