2 channels not working - SLATE

[muzicman0]

I have 2 channels from Cox cable (I live in a Copy Freely zone) that are not working correctly. If I tune to the channels, there is a notice on the screen that says my equipment is outdated and needs to be replaced (I installed the latest firmware to see if that would fix, it did not). On channel scan, they come in listed as SLATE, instead of TLC and Bravo. They work on the cable box. Cox says I should be receiving the channels, and have sent signals to the cable cards, but still get nothing. Any ideas? What can I do to troubleshoot?

[jasonl]

Do you have a tuning adapter and if so does it show success/success/success/ready on the Tuning Resolver Menu page on the HDHomeRun's web page?

[muzicman0]

I have 2 primes, and both have tuning adapters. Both say 'Ready', and other channels that need the TA work.

[jasonl]

You'll need to get back in touch with Cox as they're sending the wrong channel lineup to your TAs.

Do you subscribe to any of the channels with a + next to them at https://www.cox.com/residential/tv/channel-lineup.html ? If so, do those come in correctly on the HDHomeRun or do they also show SLATE? Just guessing here, but it's possible TLC and Bravo somehow got marked as Contour-only channels, and you somehow aren't set as having equipment capable of receiving those channels. In most Cox markets, those channels are delivered with H.264 video and are transmitted on higher frequencies than are used on most cable systems, so they can only be received with newer equipment. HDHomeRun PRIME is capable of receiving those channels, as are their fancy Contour boxes, and newer T*vo devices, but not their old boxes or old T*vos. There may be some sort of setting they can flip to indicate you can receive those channels and therefore give you the correct lineup. That's the most logical explanation I can come up with, anyway. Otherwise it probably means someone made a mistake on the lineups and it will have to be sent to the local engineering group to fix.

[muzicman0]

Just a quick update to this. Since my last post, almost all of the cable channels are doing this now (all of the local channels, and just a few of the actual cable channels are still working). If I reboot the Primes, they will work for a few minutes, but then stop. I have 4 of them, so I know it's not the Primes. A Cox tech was out today, and he admitted to me that some change was recently made, and they have to send someone from the 'Net Ops' team out to fix this, at the box. He has not ETA, but is hoping for 'within a few days'. Once I have a resolution, I will post back.

[jasonl]

If you unplug the TA, does everything that's listed work correctly?

[muzicman0]

If you unplug the TA, does everything that's listed work correctly?

Um, yes...yes it does...now I'm confused! Should I leave them unplugged?

[signcarver]

When the TA is connected, all channel resolving is through that. Both the TA gets a channel map and the cablecard gets a map. In most instances the map should be the same when it comes to non-sdv channels with the TA having the advantage of also allow the tuning of the SDV channels. Depending on your provider and packages, that may be virtually none to all that require sdv.

In my neighborhood I have the opposite situation as the cablecard has mapping for the sd channels which aren't on the "wire" in my area but the TA maps those sd channels to their hd equivalent.

[muzicman0]

It used to be that I need the TA for a lot of channels. I will check the most commonly used ones to make sure they tune fine now.

[jasonl]

The lineup from the TA is the problem. Removing the TA switches back to the lineup from the CableCARD, which is correct, but won't have access to the SDV channels. It's not a fix, but it's a workaround to at least let some channels work until your cable provider figures their stuff out.

[muzicman0]

Yes, it appears that only the extension packs are missing (such as the Sports pack). This is acceptable for now. Thanks for the help!

[muzicman0]

So it looks like they finally have it working for me. Crazy how hard it was to get them to actually do something. I had to scream, yell, threaten, etc. Finally got some traction with higher ups in their service department.

NOW, please tell me there is someway other than the web interface to X out channels. I really don't want to double click hundreds of channels in the Lineup page!

[jasonl]

That's the only graphical way to do it. If your development skills are up to it, you could write a script to go through a list and disable the channels you want disabled. You have to HTTP POST to /lineup.post?favorite= with x followed by the channel number to disable.

[muzicman0]

Perfect. I can do that.

[gtb]

Perfect. I can do that.

And while under the covers it just does the HTTP POST, for those that are not programmers, there is a 3rd party contributed python app (unsupported, but works for me) that can perform some of the work for you too (HDHRUtil-Tuner-channelSetting) documented at: viewtopic.php?f=125&t=68701