Subscription Required when changing channels

[ToddD]

Brighthouse Tech was out today and he had my system working in less than 3 minutes. The CableCard AND the TA were not provisioned correctly. He reports that the National Help desk NEVER gets them provisioned correctly, only the local desk (that customers do not have access to). Was told this by another tech a few days ago as well. Seems like something is missing to allow self install, if there is not any way for that install to be successful. (Or maybe that is the point.)

P.S. Add this Brighthouse employee to my growing list of employees who state that cable cards will be going away soon. Yes I have been told that many many times. So they are being trained to say that.

[JohnW248]

Brighthouse Tech was out today and he had my system working in less than 3 minutes. The CableCard AND the TA were not provisioned correctly. He reports that the National Help desk NEVER gets them provisioned correctly, only the local desk (that customers do not have access to). Was told this by another tech a few days ago as well. Seems like something is missing to allow self install, if there is not any way for that install to be successful. (Or maybe that is the point.)

P.S. Add this Brighthouse employee to my growing list of employees who state that cable cards will be going away soon. Yes I have been told that many many times. So they are being trained to say that.

Well I'm glad you got it working. The cableCARD and TA are supposed to be provisioned before you get them. That's something they are supposed to do when they take delivery and put them into their system. Then the card can be paired properly and work.

In fact a cableCARD that isn't provisioned will look like this on the CA screen:

Cisco CableCARD(tm)
Conditional Access Details

System Id: 0x0E00
Status: Not Staged ---this should say Ready
Internal Secure Micro Serial No:
02:06:00:71:7E:00
Secure Micro Software Ver:
3.14

When I had a non-provisioned TA it said

INITIALIZATION
Status: Brd'ct Only ---when this happened I could only get SDV channels that were on the node--no upstream
CPU/Bus: 594/174
MEMORY
Ev Pool: 741
System Heap
Total: 116891640

Obviously your issues were different than I had and mine go back several years so they may have been running different server software then.

[erkotz]

Brighthouse Tech was out today and he had my system working in less than 3 minutes. The CableCard AND the TA were not provisioned correctly. He reports that the National Help desk NEVER gets them provisioned correctly, only the local desk (that customers do not have access to). Was told this by another tech a few days ago as well. Seems like something is missing to allow self install, if there is not any way for that install to be successful. (Or maybe that is the point.)

P.S. Add this Brighthouse employee to my growing list of employees who state that cable cards will be going away soon. Yes I have been told that many many times. So they are being trained to say that.

As I have said repeatedly on this forum, CableCARDs are not going anywhere. There are millions deployed and the operators are not going to toss that equipment overnight. Yes, the future likely lies in some sort of downloadable security standard, but as far as I know the standard hasn't yet even begun being created, so we're a couple years until devices start showing up using this. Also cable operators are obligated by the FCC to continue offering CableCARDs (even Charter, with their waiver, has to continue supporting existing CableCARD deployments). Will CableCARD still be with us in 20 years? Maybe not. 10 years? I'd bet operators still have low-end boxes deployed using it.

[ToddD]

Brighthouse Tech was out today and he had my system working in less than 3 minutes. The CableCard AND the TA were not provisioned correctly. He reports that the National Help desk NEVER gets them provisioned correctly, only the local desk (that customers do not have access to). Was told this by another tech a few days ago as well. Seems like something is missing to allow self install, if there is not any way for that install to be successful. (Or maybe that is the point.)

P.S. Add this Brighthouse employee to my growing list of employees who state that cable cards will be going away soon. Yes I have been told that many many times. So they are being trained to say that.

As I have said repeatedly on this forum, CableCARDs are not going anywhere. There are millions deployed and the operators are not going to toss that equipment overnight. Yes, the future likely lies in some sort of downloadable security standard, but as far as I know the standard hasn't yet even begun being created, so we're a couple years until devices start showing up using this. Also cable operators are obligated by the FCC to continue offering CableCARDs (even Charter, with their waiver, has to continue supporting existing CableCARD deployments). Will CableCARD still be with us in 20 years? Maybe not. 10 years? I'd bet operators still have low-end boxes deployed using it.

While I do appreciate your comment, and agree, Most of us I would think already know that, else we would have not spent $300 with your company as I just did. The point I was trying to make, maybe in some what of a cryptic fashion, is the given the experience I just had and others I have read about, on this forum and others, is that BrightHouse as a company does not really want these cablecards to work. Sure I get it, here in my home area, we have many families with 4 to 6 TV's. Given that they charge $20 per month for each (crappy In my opinion) DVR that's an additional $ 80 to $120 per month from each customer, an amount that can exceed the service charge for Cable,Internet and Phone service. In my family, my older parents report that they have paid BrightHouse around $2500 to date for a SD DVR and are still paying.

In the past week as I was trying to navigate through what I am calling BrightHouse CableCard H*ll, I was told over and over that these cards don't work, that they don't even have them, that there is no way to receive Tv without using BH equipment , that even if they fix my card today it won't stay fixed,that it WILL break at any given moment, and that they will be going away soon. I was not told these things by one misinformed employee, I was told these things by EVERY one of the employees I dealt with. It was quite clear that they wanted me to abandon this product and just take a BH box. When One is not dealing with the misinformed ( I believe by training) comments, one is dealing with the inept system BH has for installing and provisioning CableCards. I wondered if I was in for trouble when I noticed that BH was the only major Cable Co that had no direct Cable Card Desk phone# on the Ceton list. Boy how my gut was right about that. It took me 7 calls when I first called to find someone who would even try to pair my card. I was lied to and told that the office entered the S/N wrong and it could not be used and I would have to go down and get another card, even though I could see in the BH online tools that the S/N was correct. As I noted above, local Techs (every one I have talked to have volunteered this info without being prompted) state they have NEVER seen the national desk pair a card correctly. It does not take long before you start to wonder if they are trying to get you to give up. If you just wasted $300 of your money. it's a nerve racking empty experience. One incompetent disaster after another. Believe me when I say, this is a edited version of my 5 day H*ll. Believe me when I say, I wasted many hours of my time and of Ceton Tech Support's time for which I am very sorry.

I wondered if I should even post any of this, as I felt it was off topic for this thread, but as I think about it, I see that it is not. This thread was stared by a person who was (and is still I am afraid) just where I was yesterday: A Ceton and BrightHouse customer who is exhausted by foot dragging,incompetent people and obstruction. He just wants his stuff to work and to get what he has paid for. I was lucky, I got the right guy here who has found ways to cut through the crap and make his customer happy. Not every one is so lucky, notice our OP has disappeared after BH and we were not able to fix his issues. You know, if you do not like the rules as written there are ways to not have to comply, just make it so hard that people will quit. From where I'm sitting today, that's what is at play here. I'm far too stubborn for it to work on me, but I can sure can see how it would work on others.

[dudesky71]

OK... I had TW out yesterday and they replaced my TA and CC. I still have SDV to SDV tuning issues. I get "Subscription Required" when toggling from 1 SDV to another SDV channel. Normal to SDV tuning works fine...

Someone suggested the Mini Carousel is messed up but i posted it and it looks fine... Does anyone have any ideas? I have a ticket open with CETON for a few weeks now and I'm wondering if they will figure it out...

Thanks!

[JohnW248]

OK... I had TW out yesterday and they replaced my TA and CC. I still have SDV to SDV tuning issues. I get "Subscription Required" when toggling from 1 SDV to another SDV channel. Normal to SDV tuning works fine...

Someone suggested the Mini Carousel is messed up but i posted it and it looks fine... Does anyone have any ideas? I have a ticket open with CETON for a few weeks now and I'm wondering if they will figure it out...

Thanks!

If all your readings are coming back good and you don't have either a high power upstream or a lot of retrains (more than a few in a week), then look at the hardware installation. How is the wiring to the TA and the tuner? Is the drop to a two splitter and one lead each to the TA and tuner? Do you loop through the TA? Anything connected upstream of the TA other than the two way splitter? Amp? What about the USB connection from the TA to the computer? All USB hotfixes installed? On a hub or directly connected to a port on the computer? What is the chip for your usb? There are some chipsets that seem better than others.

Got to find some variable to tackle here if all your RF readings on the TA are correct. Has Ceton detected any timing issues when trying to tune to a channel?

The funny thing is, the way SDV works, when you tune away from a SDV channel it should still be on the node unless there is tremendous traffic in your area. If you can runs your test with just one non-SDV and one SDV channel and then just hit enter on your keyboard and see what happens each time you try to switch to the last tuned channel. See what your results are for say a dozen tries to a SDV channel and back to a non-SDV channel and then try the same test for a dozen times between two SDV channels.

Immediately run a scan with the Ceton Diagnostic tool and file a ticket with your tuning results and see what they can find with all the multiple tunes and tune backs.

I hope that will give them enough information to tell you where to look, at this point I'm suspecting a usb issue.

[dudesky71]

OK... I had TW out yesterday and they replaced my TA and CC. I still have SDV to SDV tuning issues. I get "Subscription Required" when toggling from 1 SDV to another SDV channel. Normal to SDV tuning works fine...

Someone suggested the Mini Carousel is messed up but i posted it and it looks fine... Does anyone have any ideas? I have a ticket open with CETON for a few weeks now and I'm wondering if they will figure it out...

Thanks!

If all your readings are coming back good and you don't have either a high power upstream or a lot of retrains (more than a few in a week), then look at the hardware installation. How is the wiring to the TA and the tuner? Is the drop to a two splitter and one lead each to the TA and tuner? Do you loop through the TA? Anything connected upstream of the TA other than the two way splitter? Amp? What about the USB connection from the TA to the computer? All USB hotfixes installed? On a hub or directly connected to a port on the computer? What is the chip for your usb? There are some chipsets that seem better than others.

Got to find some variable to tackle here if all your RF readings on the TA are correct. Has Ceton detected any timing issues when trying to tune to a channel?

The funny thing is, the way SDV works, when you tune away from a SDV channel it should still be on the node unless there is tremendous traffic in your area. If you can runs your test with just one non-SDV and one SDV channel and then just hit enter on your keyboard and see what happens each time you try to switch to the last tuned channel. See what your results are for say a dozen tries to a SDV channel and back to a non-SDV channel and then try the same test for a dozen times between two SDV channels.

Immediately run a scan with the Ceton Diagnostic tool and file a ticket with your tuning results and see what they can find with all the multiple tunes and tune backs.

I hope that will give them enough information to tell you where to look, at this point I'm suspecting a usb issue.

John, Ceton said its a CCI timeout issue. They say the tuner is not getting the CCI information fast enough after the channel is tuned. They said to have the TA and CC replaced. I did that and it still happens. This tells me it's not the MSO hardware. If I hit record on the problem SDV channel which forces it to stay tuned and locked, it works when I toggle. All of my DB/SN levels have been deemed good. All hotfixes are installed, Ceton had me do that before replacing hardware. My MB is an Intel 965WH with a Quad core CPU and 8GB ram. I'm running Win 7-64 Ultimate.

[JohnW248]

Here is a "tune" from the log:

Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: upnp: [192.168.200.2] Action(ua[1]) SetCurrentTunerUseReason success
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: upnp: [192.168.200.2] Action(octa[6]) SendMessageToUDCP success
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Locked: 1 Acc E: 30223
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Getting pmt for program 478
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Got pmt for program# 478
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x1fed
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x08b9
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x1de8
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x00f6
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: upnp: Event(tuner[1]): PCRLock, "1"
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x1dea
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x1de9
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x1deb
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Adding pid 0x1dec
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: Disabled table monitor for instance 0
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: upnp: [192.168.200.2] Get(tuner[1]): Frequency "837000"
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: Enabled table monitor for instance 0
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Channel is scrambled, expecting CCI
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] Sending ca_pmt to CableCARD for program number 478 index 2
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: upnp: Event(octa[6]): UDCPMessage, "AgQALAEAKQFNfwEGAAHR1wL/CAHe8u//GgG51wD/GgGcxIX/GgAAAAD/GgGy1wv/"
Jan 2 15:32:02 ocur[21]: upnp: [192.168.200.2] Get(mux[1]): ProgramNumber "478"
Jan 2 15:32:03 ocur[21]: ocur: [1] CCI 02 arrived for program# 478
Jan 2 15:32:03 ocur[21]: ocur: [1-1.c0a8c802] Using digital cp 0x40000e2

As you can see, there are lots of steps in tuning a channel. It appears you problem is the return CCI information. I've seen this maybe three times and haven't been able to pin it to the cableCARD or the Headend as yet. This might be related to the Headend server and the powerkey on your cableCARD.

I never saw this error before TWC updated the cableCARD to:
OS Ver: PKEY1.5.3_F.p.0601

If you have the same OS Ver it might be a cause of the problem and could easily be a timing issue between the headend/cableCARD/tuner

[barnabas1969]

Brighthouse Tech was out today and he had my system working in less than 3 minutes. The CableCard AND the TA were not provisioned correctly. He reports that the National Help desk NEVER gets them provisioned correctly, only the local desk (that customers do not have access to). Was told this by another tech a few days ago as well. Seems like something is missing to allow self install, if there is not any way for that install to be successful. (Or maybe that is the point.)

P.S. Add this Brighthouse employee to my growing list of employees who state that cable cards will be going away soon. Yes I have been told that many many times. So they are being trained to say that.

Todd, I live just a few miles away from you and I also have Brighthouse. My first CableCARD install back in 2011 was a major pain. But since then, BHN has improved their process substantially. My last CableCARD install went just fine. I did it myself, and only had to make a phone call. The tech you spoke to doesn't know what he's talking about.

The one secret that I will share is that if you need to install a CableCARD, and you are a Brighthouse customer, DON'T call and speak to the 1st level support people. They'll mess it up for sure. Instead, call the normal 800 number, and when someone answers, ask to speak with someone on the "PRT team". They will transfer you to PRT, and the PRT person WILL set you up correctly.

Also, CableCARD's are not going anywhere until the FCC changes their rules requiring the cable companies to support CableCARD. I don't expect that to happen anytime in the next 5-10 years.

[dudesky71]

What do you mean?
" I never saw this error before TWC updated the cableCARD to:
OS Ver: PKEY1.5.3_F.p.0601"

Are you saying you have seen this error on your system after TWC updated the firmware on the CC?

This has only been happening for a couple weeks that I can recall. This has been my complaint to CETON is that seems like TWC might have pushed a firmware update to the TA and CC and that CETON hasn't updated their code to compensate for the change... Am I crazy?

[JohnW248]

What do you mean?
" I never saw this error before TWC updated the cableCARD to:
OS Ver: PKEY1.5.3_F.p.0601"

Are you saying you have seen this error on your system after TWC updated the firmware on the CC?

This has only been happening for a couple weeks that I can recall. This has been my complaint to CETON is that seems like TWC might have pushed a firmware update to the TA and CC and that CETON hasn't updated their code to compensate for the change... Am I crazy?

Yes, I never saw the error with late CCI and Subscription Required until TWC pushed the 0601 FW update. I got my update Mon Apr 8 2013, 7:32:51 AM GMT You can find the date of you FW update by going to the Diagnostic tab of the Cisco Card and on to I think the 3rd page which will show when the card was flashed.

The hits are pretty random and I've only had it on one channel that I've caught and that was an ongoing CA renewal (that gets refreshed about every 10 minutes). Not sure there is anything Ceton can do about it, if it's something with the Cisco FW and you might have just stumbled onto the exact method to recreate it on your cable system with their servers and FW. There is lots of "variables" in the TWC operation and lots of chances for things being set wrong or reset, etc. You could or should also file a ticket with TWC national cableCARD desk in Buffalo New York since when I told them I got the FW update they were aware it was happening but had no notes on fixes, etc (which is not unusual for Cisco).

[JohnW248]

Also, CableCARD's are not going anywhere until the FCC changes their rules requiring the cable companies to support CableCARD. I don't expect that to happen anytime in the next 5-10 years.

The proposed FCC replacement for cableCARD is ALLVID and as far as I can find there have been meetings but they haven't even written any specs for what it is supposed to do. Then they'll have to come up with specs, plans, a device, test, approval. After that there is roll out and replacement which will be another period of dual support. I think your 10 years is optimistic. You know how long it takes a committee to design an elephant?

[dudesky71]

What do you mean?
" I never saw this error before TWC updated the cableCARD to:
OS Ver: PKEY1.5.3_F.p.0601"

Are you saying you have seen this error on your system after TWC updated the firmware on the CC?

This has only been happening for a couple weeks that I can recall. This has been my complaint to CETON is that seems like TWC might have pushed a firmware update to the TA and CC and that CETON hasn't updated their code to compensate for the change... Am I crazy?

Yes, I never saw the error with late CCI and Subscription Required until TWC pushed the 0601 FW update. I got my update Mon Apr 8 2013, 7:32:51 AM GMT You can find the date of you FW update by going to the Diagnostic tab of the Cisco Card and on to I think the 3rd page which will show when the card was flashed.

The hits are pretty random and I've only had it on one channel that I've caught and that was an ongoing CA renewal (that gets refreshed about every 10 minutes). Not sure there is anything Ceton can do about it, if it's something with the Cisco FW and you might have just stumbled onto the exact method to recreate it on your cable system with their servers and FW. There is lots of "variables" in the TWC operation and lots of chances for things being set wrong or reset, etc. You could or should also file a ticket with TWC national cableCARD desk in Buffalo New York since when I told them I got the FW update they were aware it was happening but had no notes on fixes, etc (which is not unusual for Cisco).

John,

i have the 0601 CC firmware. it was flashed yesterday because it was a replacement card. it updated and flashed as soon as it was plugged in. they took the old card so i cant answer what it was. im certain my previous CC was updated a few weeks ago as thats when i started noticing this. the tech even told me they sent new firmware recently that even messed up their cable boxes!

[chuckellis1]

I have this same problem with Time Warner Cable SDV. In the Ceton diagnostics, it shows a cci timeout. Switching from one SDV channel to another causes the "subscription required" message. If I then switch to a non-SDV channel and then back to the SDV channel, the SDV channel works fine.
Not to imply that the solution is simple, because I know it's not, is there something that Ceton could do to simulate switching to a non-sdv channel between switches between SDV channels?

I did submit a support ticket a year ago, but have not seen a solution yet.

Well, Ceton Support stayed with the problem and as of this moment, my system is working fine as far as the problem with switching between SDV channels.
They provided a beta firmware update (ceton_infinitv_beta_fw_13_9_24_118.IMAGE) that now allows me to switch between the switched digital channels with no problem.

Thanks Ceton!

[werds]

P.S. Add this Brighthouse employee to my growing list of employees who state that cable cards will be going away soon. Yes I have been told that many many times. So they are being trained to say that.

I have comcast and each time a new tech comes to my house they spit out a similar line about cable cards. Each time unsolicited and within the first few minutes of being there. I agree, this sounds as if the providers are giving some kind of training that either states that alludes to it, or encourages that kind of FUD.