Hauppauge DCR 2650

[roy]

@Roy - update us on the cablecard self install when you do it. Maybe I can talk our local Charter office into letting me do it, if I can sound intelligent. Party line from corporate is a $49.95 install fee, no DIY.

BTW - Haup Facebook page entry from yesterday says ship "next week".

Mike

I read that as of Aug 1, cable co's were mandated to offer self install for cablecard if they offer self install for anything else (modem, cable box). I picked up my card from the comcast office along with the instructions they printed from an email received that morning. Just has a phone number to call with the numbers you get from the card to pair it.

[pcostanza]

In my opinion, the truck rolls they charge you far are useless as they rarely know anything about your system anyway.
The only problems I've had with pairing have been the occasional 'head end' problems where I've not been able to get my premium channels. I've had to work up the tech ladder to have someone 'rebuild' my account then pair it.

[soccerdad]

I just called Hauppauge and they told me they are delayed due to a "plastic" problem and they will all ship on 8/22.

I told them it would be nice to keep us customers informed and she said they would be notifying people who have them on order.

This is why I usually don't buy the first of anything. Good thing I didn't rent my cable card yet. It might give TWC time to get their act together with them. It will also give sub some time before we start hounding him for support.

[roy]

Bummer! I know plastic tooling and molding, and there is never a firm date for good parts. Lucky my first cablecard from comcast is no added cost.

[soccerdad]

Incidently if you have a cable STB you might be able to tell if channels you want are available. For me I need these four "freely" flags to capture via firewire (probably the four video outputs).


Martin

Martin, are you getting this information via firewire or from your STB directly? I would love to see what is clear in my area. I have 2 STBs.

[mikeh49]

With a Motorola STB you can enter a diagnostic mode and get info about the channel (frequency, etc), signal strength, and the various parameters of the box outputs, including the copy freely and 5C status.

Here's some info from timmmoore's firewire capture page (it only mentions 5C; my Moto box also shows the copy freely status):

Code:

To check whether 5C is enabled for a channel on a DCT-6200, 6208, 6412:

    Start with DCT6412 turned on and connect the firewire cable between the DCT6412 and your PC
    Tune to a channel you are interested in recording from
    Enter DIAGNOSTICS page on the DCT6412 as follows with remote: Press Cable, Power off, Select, Select
    Scroll down to: d11 INTERFACE STATUS and then click right arrow to enter that module
    In 1394 I/O DEVICE section you should see ACTIVE PORTS=1 (indicating the Firewire connection is active) and look at 5C IMPLEMENTATION value. If it is something other than 0 this means 5C protection is enabled and you won't be able to capture that channel
    To get out of the Status Page click left arrow with remote and scroll down to EXIT and click Select



There are 2 types of SA3250HD, to check whether 5C is enabled for a channel depends on the type (try the instructions for one type and if it doesn’t work try the other).

For a SA3250HD with SARA software:

·         On the box itself (not using the remote), press and hold the "+" button for a few seconds, the "envelope" light will come on blinking. (the + button is the "bulls-eye" in the middle of the 4 "arrow" keys).

·         Press the "info" key next

·         19 pages of data are available. Use the left / right navigation keys to move thru pages. Firewire port status is last or second to last page. SA will show CCI/EMI state rather than use the "5c" nomenclature. This is shown channel by channel so you must change channels to check state of the channel of interest

·         Quit by pressing the "exit" key on the front panel.



For a SA3205HD with Passport software:

·         Go to your diagnostic channel (try 996)

·         Press "exit" on the STB, a new screen opens

·         Scroll down to 1394, it will display info for the last channel you tuned to

The page is here:

http://home.comcast.net/~timmmoore/firewire/readme.htm

HTH.

BTW, I got an e-mail today with the week of 8/22 ship.

[mvallevand]

Martin, are you getting this information via firewire or from your STB directly? I would love to see what is clear in my area. I have 2 STBs.

From the Scientific Atlanta STB. I can get it on the SA 8100/8300 and 4250HD

Martin

[soccerdad]

I have a 4250HD. So you are doing this with firewire and tim moores utility?

[mvallevand]

I have a 4250HD. So you are doing this with firewire and tim moores utility?

No on the STB, I get them from info from the avsforums http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=471859

"There are two ways to enter Diagnostic Mode

1. Press and hold Select on front of unit until Mail light starts to flash, then press INFO.
2. Press and hold Pause on remote until Mail light starts to flash (around 10-15 seconds), then press Page Up (-). On some remotes, Page (+) might need to be used instead."

Martin

[soccerdad]

Thanks Martin and Mikeh49
I tried every way from those posts and they don't work on my box. I can get the diagnostics on channel 1999, but that just gives me mac addresses, cablecard id and IP stuff. I can't exit out to the other information. Looks like TWC has the firmware updated to keep these from working. I quess I will just have to wait and see when my hardware arrives. If my STB is locked out, it makes me nervous what the flags are set to.