No TV Signal & No channel maps

[igacek]

Hi TheGreenButton forums!

I received a Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe, and I'm having some crazy troubles with it. When I got it, nothing would work. Ceton emailed me with the 1.2.2.6 beta Firmware, and a System image, both which I flashed. I then picked up a CableCARD from Comcast, and paired it with the Ceton InfiniTV 4. The Windows Media Center setup went fine and it found the tuner, but when I try to watch TV, I am getting "No TV Signal. There is currently no TV signal detected for this channel" on every channel. I've had Comcast re-pair and activate the CableCARD multiple times to no avail. The coax I'm connected to does work, as I just tried it with a cablebox connected to my TV yesterday.

Some concerns I have...

This is what each of my four tuners looks like:


Also, my CableCARD screen at 192.168.200.1 is showing:
Number of Channels: 0
Channel Maps Received: 0
VCT ID: 0
Out Of Band Frequency: 75.0Mhz
Out Of Band Carrier Lock: Locked
Out Of Band MER: 25db/10

Lastly, here is what my Tuning Adapter tab looks like:


My question is:
Where do I go from here? Windows Media Center won't display any TV channels even though I've ran the setup countless times. I've opened a ticket with Ceton but they told me to contact Comcast, and Comcast can't come to my location for an entire week. I'm at a loss of what else to do.

[JohnW248]

Is your area on Moto or Cisco? You don't show the cableCARD pairing but the card CAN be paired and STILL not work if the card isn't provisioned, in most cases that means that the serial number is in the digital control network for your headend along with the according department's information on the channel packages you get.

Also some cable systems also "pair" the TA, this is more common with the Moto TA than Cisco systems but if the TA isn't authorized or getting a proper signal, then it won't work. How is the TA connected? Is it possible that there is a bad cable or splitter feeding the TA?

For a test, remove the coax from the tuner and connect it directly to the TA, then power cycle the TA and see if it will start to initialize. You won't be able to see anything this way, but the TA should start, if it doesn't try another TA and it might be wise to have a service call to verify signal and signal strength to your drop. I just went through a tedious couple of power cycles and usb unplug replugs on a Cisco TA with a USB device today after running Windows updates and then having to do another full power cycle on the host machine. After that the TA showed disabled and I had to go through the previously mentioned routine. In your case, has any of this ever worked for you? If not, I would suggest starting with RF and working forward.

Also as a test, disconnect the TA USB cable and see if the cableCARD will get a channel map. You won't get any SDV service but you'll see encrypted channels, etc. If that doesn't work, then you really need a cable company guy to scan your drop.

[igacek]

Is your area on Moto or Cisco? You don't show the cableCARD pairing but the card CAN be paired and STILL not work if the card isn't provisioned, in most cases that means that the serial number is in the digital control network for your headend along with the according department's information on the channel packages you get.

Also some cable systems also "pair" the TA, this is more common with the Moto TA than Cisco systems but if the TA isn't authorized or getting a proper signal, then it won't work. How is the TA connected? Is it possible that there is a bad cable or splitter feeding the TA?

For a test, remove the coax from the tuner and connect it directly to the TA, then power cycle the TA and see if it will start to initialize. You won't be able to see anything this way, but the TA should start, if it doesn't try another TA and it might be wise to have a service call to verify signal and signal strength to your drop. I just went through a tedious couple of power cycles and usb unplug replugs on a Cisco TA with a USB device today after running Windows updates and then having to do another full power cycle on the host machine. After that the TA showed disabled and I had to go through the previously mentioned routine. In your case, has any of this ever worked for you? If not, I would suggest starting with RF and working forward.

Also as a test, disconnect the TA USB cable and see if the cableCARD will get a channel map. You won't get any SDV service but you'll see encrypted channels, etc. If that doesn't work, then you really need a cable company guy to scan your drop.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I am in a Cisco area. The first card Comcast gave me was a Motorola which didn't work at all, then they were like "Ohh yeah, you need a Cisco! Haha sorry about that". So definitely a Cisco area. This is going to be a really dumb question, but what is a TA? I don't think it's a bad cable coming to my InfiniTV 4 since I hooked up a cable box yesterday to test, and it worked perfectly. Again since I'm not familiar on what a TA is, I can't do your test yet. I am using a PCIe Ceton InfiniTV 4, and do not have any USB cables/other peripherals for the card outside of the card itself and the Coax-to-InfiniTV cable adapter.

Here is the information on the CableCARD info scree at 192.168.200.1

[JohnW248]

The TA is a Tuning Adapter. You posted a "disabled" under tuning adapter. If you don't have one, then that's not revelant.

Since you have a Cisco Card, right click on the CA Screen and open in new tab. A working card will look like this:
Cisco CableCARD(tm)
Conditional Access Details

System Id: 0x0E00
Status: Ready
Internal Secure Micro Serial No:
02:08:00:4E:3D:E7
Secure Micro Software Ver:
3.14
CA Time:
Mon Sep 9 2013, 8:05:00 PM GMT
Time GBAM: 126158
App GBAM: 0
Purchase GBAM: 0
EMMs Processed: 18

If you see something other than READY after status such as NOT STAGED or DISABLED, then it is a problem with the serial number being in the Digital Control Network. That's something that has to be done locally at the headend and at least with TWC I can't get anyone on the phone that can do that. So I have to schedule a service call, have the guy call dispatch and get switched to the headend and he reads them the serial number.

BTW there is nothing secret about your serial number, mac address, etc. The only people that can use that information are inside the cable company with access to the DCN.

Also click on the Host ID screen, it should look like this:
Cisco CableCARD(tm)
In order to start service for
this device please call
Ph: (855) 286-1736


CableCARD ID:0-011-430-223-690

Host ID:0-570-000-240-657

Type:One-Way Authorization Received

It has to say Authorization Received after the Type:One-Way. The host ID is unique to your tuner and the cableCARD ID is derived from the cableCARD serial number. Those two elements are hashed to send the authorization to turn on the cableCARD which is why moving a cableCARD will cause it to stop working in another device. The phone numbers shown on these pages don't work (at least for any TWC areas maybe your cable company number is accurate).

[igacek]

It looks like all of that information is correct so far. Here is my CA Status:
System Id: 0x0E00
Status: Ready
Internal Secure Micro Serial No:
02:04:00:45:3E:FF
Secure Micro Software Ver:
3.14
CA Time:
Wed Sep 11 2013, 1:57:00 PM GMT
Time GBAM: 1656
App GBAM: 0
Purchase GBAM: 0
EMMs Processed: 4

Under the "CableCARD ASD Information" I have:
ASD Information

Key Verification: Success
Provisioning: None
ASD Session: None
M-CARD ID: N/A
Host Auth: None
Auth State: Disabled
Auth Error: None
Validation Error:
None
Host ID: N/A
TDL Req: None

Does any of that look incorrect? And my Host ID screen looks to be right, too. One-Way Authorization Received, etc. Yet still I don't see any channel maps on the info screen, and when I try to view a channel in Windows Media Center, it says "No TV Signal".

[JohnW248]

Under the "CableCARD ASD Information" I have:
ASD Information

Key Verification: Success
Provisioning: None
ASD Session: None
M-CARD ID: N/A
Host Auth: None
Auth State: Disabled
Auth Error: None
Validation Error:
None
Host ID: N/A
TDL Req: None

Well every thing looks ok, I just checked the ASD info for mine and it also shows provisioning: none which I thought might be a clue. Right now I'm back to thinking that there might be an issue with the RF signal incoming, maybe some noise or something that is not letting the card pull a channel map. When you get a service guy show them the info from the web gui since they usually only work with Tivos and their own STB diagnostics. There might still be an issue with the card not being on your account properly. That can be an issue with TWC where various pieces of equipment have to appear in a certain order, you might try asking them to look at your account and having them tell you what channels they are sending to you.

[erkotz]

If you don't have a channel map, Comcast has your card provisioned wrong. No map will result in No TV Signal messages. Comcast never uses TAs, so you do not have one.

[ja216]

I do know from personal experience that there are more than a few BAD cable cards out there. MY local cablevision tech was here last week with three that did not work. Add to that the one I had which had gone bad and you have four bad ones. Seems they know that when they are called to a cablecard call - they requisition a bunch of cards "just in case" . In your place I would turn off the pc, then unplug it (or if you can turn off the power supply) . Once off, remove the cablecard and let it sit a minute, then reinstall it and restart the pc. At that stage call the cable company and have them update the card.




good luck