SOLVED: OOB No-Lock & Reboot Issues & Subscription Required

[Boogs]

Hello all,

I'm hoping someone else has had this problem and it will be an quick fix for me: I recently installed my Ceton InfiniTV, got it paired and authenticated, and set up the TV signal in Windows Media Center. While I do get most of my channels, dozens of channels (which I've confirmed I should get) are suspiciously missing; the channels show a blank screen for about 10 seconds, then "Subscription Required". And, whether or not they show doesn't seem to depend on if the channel is SDV or not (ie. I can tune both SDV and non-SDV channels). Furthermore, if I tune the channels manually in the InfiniTV Device Webpage, it "succeeds" and shows an "OK entitlement". On a side note, every time I reboot my computer the CableCARD loses its authentication.

I've opened a support ticket with Ceton and have been going back and forth for the past 3 weeks but without progress. Similarly with Time Warner I have gone through 6 CableCARDS, had 5 techs come out to visit to test the signal and pair/activate new cards. I've even had Time Warner send another Tuning Adapter -- but, still the problems remain.

Has anyone here had a similar problem? I'd love to not go back to a Time Warner set-top box, but after 3 weeks I'm starting to lose hope that this Ceton will every work like I thought it would.

Boogs

Edit: Problems all SOLVED!!!

After almost two months of working with Ceton and Time Warner, all my issues are solved. Mostly, thanks to Ceton and their fantastic support. Here's an overview of my problems and their solutions:

Problem #1: My InfiniTV could not pair or authenticate because it could not get an "OOB lock" for several weeks.
Solution: Time Warner never removed the physical Internet-Only filter upon "installation" of digital cable. After two trucks rolled to my house over a period of two weeks, they discovered the initial tech never removed the filter.

Problem #2 (after Problem #1 was fixed): Even though the CableCARD was paired, had received an authentication, and could receive all SD channels, about 2/3 of my HD channels displayed a "Subscription Required" message after showing a black screen for about ten seconds.
Solution: Time Warner did not set up my account correctly (ie. they did not set the "HD Tier" permission on my account). They said this permission was not used in all areas for Time Warner and might be easily overlooked by those who set up accounts in my area. On a side note, I must have called Time Warner a dozen times and described my problem (ie. I couldn't receive HD channels I was supposed to), specifically asked them to check my account settings/permissions, and it took almost a month to find the HD Tier permission problem.

Problem #3: I could not tune to SDV channels and my tuning adapter was blinking 8 times periodically.
Solution: The tuning adapter has not been "paired" or "authenticated" correctly. The cable company had to send hits to the tuning adapter until the light turned to a steady green.

Problem #4: My CableCARD had difficulty pairing/authenticating (it would take 3 or 4 cycles of "hits" from Time Warner, not succeed, then remove/replace and try again), and the CableCARD would lose authentication between system reboots.
Solution: Ceton RMA'd my InfiniTV and it now sustains the authentication across reboots.

What did I learn from all this?

1) Ceton support is awesome. Just fantastic. Give them your money and you won't be sorry.
2) If you're having a problem with reception/setup of your InfiniTV and your digital cable, the fix probably has something to do with the cable company.
3) Do not blindly trust what the cable company has told you. Besides them telling me dozens of times my account was set up correctly when it was not, I actually had a Time Warner representative tell me that there is no possible way to watch HD channels with a CableCARD and my InfiniTV. He said I would have to return the CableCARD and lease a HD set top box. I told him that was very interesting because even though I wasn't getting about 2/3 of my HD channels I could still tune to about a dozen HD channels and was, in fact, watching one right now. His response: "No, you're not."

[MeInDallas]

What anti virus program are you using?

[Boogs]

Microsoft Security Essentials

[jziggity]

Boogs, I ran into a similar problem awhile back, as noted in this post: http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 020#p36963 For me, it was a problem with updating my InfiniTV PCI card's firmware to the newest beta firmware. Something didn't go right or didn't take like it should. I resolved it by installing the next previous firmware back onto the card, and then trying again. The 2nd time around went fine, the TA worked fine again, and I was getting all of the channels I was supposed to. I did run into one channel that just refused to tune. It was labelled in my EPG as Nickelodeon, which I know is part of the channel package that I pay for. When I double-checked with TWC however, I learned that the EPG was actually wrong. When I was trying to tune to Nick, the channel that was there was actually Nick2, which I don't have as part of my package. Long story short there, there was a double entry in my EPG for regular Nick, so I just turned the incorrect one off to avoid confusion.

Reference the cablecard losing its authentication, is your issue anything like what I posted here: http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 723#p37723
If so, you're probably looking at having to leave your computer running 24/7. That's the option I'm going with now. For me, when the CC would screw up and lose its authentication, a simple reboot would not solve it. I had to completely shut down my computer and start up from scratch. Every time I did that, the CC came back up and everything was running fine again.

I hope this helps!

[Boogs]

jziggity,

Thanks for the help. I tried re-setting up the firmware, etc. on my InfiniTV, but I couldn't figure out how to put the previous firmware on the card so I could reinstall the current beta firmware. I did however, have another problem. After leaving the house for a while I came back to a frozen green screen (Windows Media Center was called up and had recorded some programs on channels I do get while I was out for the day). So, I rebooted the computer which triggered another call to Time Warner to activate the CableCARD. I activated it without too much issue, then set up my TV signal on WMC and things seem to have regressed. Now I can't tune to any channel whatsoever and I get a "Service Is Unavailable" message. In the Ceton Diagnostics, it says that tuning has "succeeded" and "Entitlement OK" on every channel I've checked, to include premium channels.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but it sure is frustrating. I'm going to give the Ceton another week or two then return it if I can't get it up and running.

Thanks for the help!
Boogs

[jziggity]

I can send you the previous firmware file if you need it. I had to get it from Ceton as it wasn't available anywhere else. Let me know if you want it. In my case, I'm running a Cisco STA1520 TA (I believe, the model # is from memory). If the Ceton diagnostics is showing everything SHOULD be working, I'm going to hedge my bets on something in Windows being goobered up. Are you interested in a fresh Windows install? <sarcasm>I know that can be loads of fun.</sarcasm>

I've been reading about problems with codecs as well in some recent posts on here (somewhere, I forget where). I don't have any installed myself - still old-fashioned that way, I'll pop in the disc instead of worrying about which containers are compatible with which players, systems, etc.

I hear you on the frustration front. I'm pretty new to all of this WMC/tuner stuff. I've only been using it since late November, so my knowledge is still quite limited, and I'm still trying to resolve a couple of issues. Hopefully others can offer more suggestions!

[Boogs]

jiziggity,

Thanks for the offer... I don't know if the firmware will make a difference now -- the reason why in a few sentences. I did like your idea of a fresh Windows 7 install since I had only done my initial install about 3 weeks ago (it's a new HTPC, and I really had nothing to lose except about 3 hours of my life). So, I did the fresh install, installed all the Windows Updates and the hotfixes which Ceton has been asking me to do, and then ran the Ceton software installer. Afterwards, the Ceton Diagnostic tool couldn't even find the InfiniTV. I went to the devices tab and ran through the Reset Device Settings, Clear Tuner Configuration, and Discover Tuners buttons with the appropriate system reboots. Still the Diagnostic tool couldn't find my Ceton. I then put the Ceton in every PCIe slot I had in my computer and tried all the above steps again -- still no tuner found at all. The weird part about this is on the Device Manager I can see the Ceton as a Network Adapter, so I feel like my motherboard and Windows "knows" it's there. It even appears as a Network Connection as Local Area Connection 2, but when I check the Status it shows as "No connectivity" in the IPv4/6 rows and has 0 responses against the 1,000 or so sent to it by Windows (I'm not really sure if that means anything, I'm just grasping at straws).

Oh, and there's a flashing blue light on the back of the tuner which is blinking at about 5 Hz. I can't remember if it was a steady light when it was working somewhat correctly, but I would guess so. I have no idea what the blue blinking light means..

But, overall, it seems like things are on a downward trend. When I first installed a couple weeks ago, I could get most channels with a "Subscription Required" message for a couple dozen which I should've received, then over the past 2 days I would only get "Service is Unavailable" on every channel, and now after a fresh install the Ceton won't even show on the Diagnostics page no matter which PCIe slot it is in. My hope is quickly fading...

Boogs

Edit: added blue blinking light info

[Boogs]

I fixed the blue blinking light - thanks to Crash2009 - and now I'm back to where I started: I get a majority of my channels, but I get a Subscription Required message for several dozen HD channels which I should get. Suspiciously, I think I get every non-HD channel I'm supposed to get.

[Crash2009]

I fixed the blue blinking light - thanks to Crash2009 - and now I'm back to where I started: I get a majority of my channels, but I get a Subscription Required message for several dozen HD channels which I should get. Suspiciously, I think I get every non-HD channel I'm supposed to get.

So you did the Cable Advisor.

Edited: Dedicated cableCARD Hotline phone numbers

•Comcast:877-405-2298 ◦Automated: 800-671-9094
•Cox: 888-556-1193
•RCN: 888-891-7770
•Time Warner: 866-606-5889
•Verizon:888-897-7499

[Boogs]

I paired and authenticated the card again this morning and the CableCARD is showing "CP Auth Received". Also, I can tune to my "missing" channels in the Ceton Diagnostic tool. That is, it shows that tuning "succeeded" and "Entitlement OK" (all green check-marks in the CableCARD tab). It's weird ... I feel like the Ceton is tuning correctly, but some HD channels just won't display in WMC...

[Crash2009]

I paired and authenticated the card again this morning and the CableCARD is showing "CP Auth Received". Also, I can tune to my "missing" channels in the Ceton Diagnostic tool. That is, it shows that tuning "succeeded" and "Entitlement OK" (all green check-marks in the CableCARD tab). It's weird ... I feel like the Ceton is tuning correctly, but some HD channels just won't display in WMC...

What is the make and model of your video card? Wouldn't be an Nvidia 8800 GTS would it.

[Boogs]

No, it's an embedded video card in an AMD 5600k APU. So, technically, it's a Radeon HD 7560D.

[Crash2009]

What is your signal level on the channels that work OK?

How about the channels that don't work right?

http://192.168.200.1/Services/1/Status.html

EDIT: Wrong shortcut. This one will take you right there. http://192.168.200.1/Services/1/Tuner.html

What is the Signal Level (SL) and Signal to Noise Level (SNL)?

[Crash2009]

I think I found a description and possible solution to your problem. Well at least its worth a try. For these people it appears that there was a sync problem between the TA and the CABLEcard. http://blog.vec.com/2010/05/26/troubles ... g-adapter/

After about 4 in house techs over at least 6 visits, 2 visits from 1-2 line techs and a combined visit, a new in house tech showed up. He rang actually with the ominous question ‘I hear you have some trouble with your tuning adapter and your cable card’. So I told him what had been done; he was going to make some phonecalls…

About 15 minutes later he shows up at the door and bazinga…it works.
His trick was to send hits (initialization hits if I’m not mistaken) to the tuning adapter and the cable card AT THE SAME TIME, so they would be received at the same time.

If it doesn't work, it might at least send you down the correct path.

[Boogs]

My signals are, on all channels (ie. those I get and those I get the Subscription Required message) are about 37 dB and the signal levels all vary, but are generally around 1.8 dBmV. And, there's no difference between the signal levels of the channels I get and the channels I don't get.

I'll try the tuning adapter bit tomorrow and see if that moves things along. Although, I have problems even with non-SDV channels as well. Also, I can get some SDV channels - there doesn't seem to have a pattern (that I can see) to which channels will show and which won't.

Thanks for the help though - I really want to be a proud Ceton owner!

[Crash2009]

I finally found the "detailed" Infini4 installation instructions. http://www.cetoncorp.com/documents/Infi ... e_v1_3.pdf

Is your TA a 4-channel or a 2-channel? Is it cabled like the diagram on Page 3 ?

[Boogs]

I'm not exactly sure if mine's a 2 or 4-channel TA. It's a Cisco STA1520, though. From a quick Google search, it appears with the latest firmware they should support 4-tuners. However, I have another one sitting around so I'll hook it up in that order and give it a try...

[Crash2009]

I'm not exactly sure if mine's a 2 or 4-channel TA. It's a Cisco STA1520, though. From a quick Google search, it appears with the latest firmware they should support 4-tuners. However, I have another one sitting around so I'll hook it up in that order and give it a try...

Search STA1520 up in the right hand corner of this page, and you will find your solution. These guys have been all over that thing. What firmware works and what doesn't. Error codes, more blinking lights, the whole 9 yards.

[Boogs]

I have the 1501 firmware update, the light on the TA is solid green, and the Ceton Diagnostics reports that it has enough TAs to record/watch 4 streams. Thank you for the links so far. Also, I hooked everything up in the order shown in the installation guide, but no improvements.

In other news, Ceton got back to me a few minutes ago after going through my latest diagnostics and said they think the problem is with the InfiniTV card. I started the RMA process, and I hope a new/repaired card with fix the issue. I'll report back soon to let everybody know how it went!

[Crash2009]

Looks like you have eliminated the TA as being part of the problem. Hopefully when you get your new Infini4, it will just plug and play for ya. I guess it didn't hurt anything for both of us to learn a little bit about TA's.