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09129800 (banned)
join:2012-06-27
New York, NY

1 edit

09129800 (banned) to nycdave

Member

to nycdave

Re: [TIVO] Here comes the copy protection bit (letter)

said by nycdave:

Hmm, let's see - Verizon sent out a letter stating certain premium channels will have copy protection enabled after a specific date. 'Certain' providers want Verizon to start enforcing the CCI flag to help protect content.

Which is exactly my point - when you're in a VHO where you got lucky that someone at Verizon forgot to flip the CCI switch then it's a dumb idea to announce that information.

Keep it secret! Keep it safe!

UnnDunn
Premium Member
join:2005-12-21
Brooklyn, NY

UnnDunn

Premium Member

said by 09129800:

Which is exactly my point - when you're in a VHO where you got lucky that someone at Verizon forgot to flip the CCI switch then it's a dumb idea to announce that information.

There's no "getting lucky" about it. You can bet HBO has people all over the country checking to make sure VZ has added the CCI flag as mandated.
Expand your moderator at work

Kingscup
join:2006-03-01

Kingscup to 09129800

Member

to 09129800

Re: [TIVO] Here comes the copy protection bit (letter)

said by 09129800:

Which is exactly my point - when you're in a VHO where you got lucky that someone at Verizon forgot to flip the CCI switch then it's a dumb idea to announce

Verizon has always done things with their in VHO's in phases like adding new channels. It can take a week or two to add a channel to each VHO. This is no different. Verizon isn't just going to forget to "flip a switch."
DGGSLF
join:2007-04-14
Lynn, MA

DGGSLF

Member

Well, as I suspected would happen, my CableCARD equipped TVs can no longer tune to any of the HBO or Cinemax channels. This is after spending several hours on the phone with Verizon in early July when I received my letter. Three calls and replacement cards have still not resolved my issues.

I guess it's time for another call to tech support but I'm not too optimistc they'll be able to resolve it, as I'm not sure my older TVs support Simulcrypt, which I guess is in use in MA due to the mixed Motorola/Cisco boxes in this VHO.
DGGSLF

DGGSLF

Member

So I had another troubleshooting session with tech support on Sunday night when they called the house to see if my problem receiveing HBO and Cinemax was resolved. After a half hour, the young lady agreed to send a technician out with M Cards, since she thought the S Card could be the problem. Give this lady a raise!!

Anyway, a tech showed up yesterday and didn't know why he was there. He had no cards on the truck, so I knew this was a waste of time. He calls the depot and after his lead guy told him that CableCARDS were no longer supported, I knew it was time to see what my next move should be. He left my house and half hour later, I received a text saying my ticket was closed, though nothing was done. Some service!

This morning I went to the Verizon store and swapped the S Card from my Sony TV for an M Card. I called the activition line and after talking to a live person for 15 minutes, I now have my HBO and Cinemax channels back on the Sony. BTW, I tried the M Card on the Sharp TV and it would not even recognize that a card was plugged in, so it looks like only an S Card will work for that TV which is eight years old.

This tells me that lack of support for simulcrypt may not be the issue after all. The fact that an M Card works for the Sony TV which is seven years old, tells me that Verizon needs to figure out how to provision the other TV using S Card.

Why would the M Card work on the Sony TV but not the original S Card that had to be swapped out?

I now need to open another ticket to focus on just the Sharp which can only support an S Card.

Zero5
join:2009-07-01
Collegeville, PA

Zero5

Member

said by DGGSLF:

Why would the M Card work on the Sony TV but not the original S Card that had to be swapped out?

My best guess would be that it has to do with the firmware version that is loaded onto the CableCARD itself. A newer firmware version on the M-Card compared to an older firmware version on the S-Card could possibly be updated to a newer copy protection specification that's required for the decoding of copy protected content on HBO/Cinemax.

nycdave
MVM
join:1999-11-16
Melville, NY

nycdave to DGGSLF

MVM

to DGGSLF
Verizon can't fix a possible compatibility issue with an 8 year old TV. If the Sharp can't recognize an M-card, you are stuck with an S-card that may not be able to properly activate for the TV - that's why you can't get HBO/Cinemax to work on the Sharp.

Post in the VZ Direct forum for additional support.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA

1 edit

aaronwt

Premium Member

Does Simulcrypt have anything to do with the issue? For older devices they were not going to get an update to support it.
DGGSLF
join:2007-04-14
Lynn, MA

DGGSLF to nycdave

Member

to nycdave
Thanks. I just did.
DGGSLF

DGGSLF to nycdave

Member

to nycdave
Well I posted in the direct forum, per your suggestion but still no response. I do see a lot of activity on the forum but no response yet to my issue, which has all the details and trouble ticket numbers etc.

Guess I'll give it a couple of days and then open another ticket with 800-Verizon if still no takers. :-(
DGGSLF

DGGSLF to nycdave

Member

to nycdave
Thanks! Adam from the direct forum was very helpful and got it to work. Hopefully you guys do knowledge shares so the other techs can learn from this experience.

Thanks again!!
JohnC47
join:2012-08-24
Northborough, MA

JohnC47

Member

Ditto for me. Adam was able to get my cable cards working on my Tivo HD XL first try. This was after 3 hours of frustration on the phone with a CSR.

Thanks Adam!