FIOS techs left my house, thinking that everything was working correctly. (That, and it was Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.). I keep getting hung up on the "Acquiring Channel" screen. I've been on the phone with TIVO for over an hour.
Anyone have any suggestions? Here's some stuff I did:
-repeated guided setup, since installers performed it with S-card and later put in M-card; (S-card had been in their truck for a year (probably frozen). I asked for a new M-card, and another tech came and delivered one.
-conncted to TIVO service at least 5x. Have version 11.0 TIVO software.
-my TV is old, not HD (I know, I know - but it's a SONY and it works fine)
-the conditional access screen says CON: YES, but the value says: ? 0x0
-TIVO says the card has been activated but not paired;
-Verizon says they re-activated the card;
-my upstairs TV, also new installation with M-card, seems to be working fine.
-i have 2 TIVO wireless G adapters.
I've learned a lot from this forum. Thankfully I researched a little BEFORE the techs came, and was able to tell them a few things they weren't aware of. They said they'd done 1 cable card installation in the last year. They took TIVO's instruction sheet back to their garage to hang it on the wall. ?!
Anyway, any suggestions from you kind folks would be appreciated. I miss my TIVO.
Have you cofirmed that you connected the FiOS coax to the CABLE IN and not the ANTENNA IN on the TiVo? More than a few people have made that mistake.
The "Acquiring channel" screen typically displays when the TiVo is trying to download the channel maps from the CableCard. This should take 30-120 seconds after boot, and if it takes much longer than that, something is wrong. The TiVo won't be able to download the channel maps if (a) you connected the coax to the wrong input, (b) you have a poor or non-existant signal, (c) the CableCard is in the wrong slot, (d) the CableCard is defective, or (e) the TivoHD is defective.
(1) Disconnect the power to the TiVo.
(2) Confirm the proper connection to the CABLE input (disconnect the coax, check the connector, and reconnect the coax).
(3) Confirm the M-CARD is in the correct slot (the one on the right). Remove and reinsert the card into the right slot.
(4) Reconnect the power to the TiVo. Wait for it to boot.
(5) Open the System Information -> DVR Diagnostics screen on the TiVo and check your signal strength.
You might also take a look at the System Information -> CableCard -> Check Channels (or something similar) menu.
Unlike other cable providers, Verizon does not pair their CableCards to a specific device, so that's not something to be concerned about. If you have any questions about whether the CableCard is activated, swap the CableCard in your TiVo with the one in your upstairs TV. With other providers, you can't do that because the cards are paired; on FiOS, you can.
If you've done all of the above and swapping the CableCards still does not make a difference, I would probably try the TiVo with your upstairs outlet to rule out any coax connection problems downstairs. If the TiVo still doesn't work upstairs, then it is probably defective. Some small percentage (2% ?) of units are defective or damaged in shipping.
Since Verizon does not "Pair" their cable cards, it could be a bad card, or the card is not getting activated. The cards are only one way. Meaning Verizon can not really tell if they were able to activate the card unless they are standing at the TV. Go to the diagnostics page in the tivo and be sure the wireless G can connect to the network. It could be an issue with the network connection, and not being able to download the channel information.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
