To jump to a specific area, please click the following links: Basic Operation Tips , Basic Setup, CableCARD Configuration, Detailed Configuration and a TiVo Series 3 Reset Tip .

Yesterday, we reviewed the Series 3 and covered basic setup and provided our recommended rating for the DVR. For more details, please jump to the review .

The TiVo Series 3 is the first DVR on the market that supports CableCARD. Other than using a cable-company-provided cable box, a DVR with CableCARD support is the only way to record HD content off cable. A CableCARD is a PCCard/PCMCIA-sized card that acts as a cable decoder. With a CableCARD, it is not necessary to have a separate cable box. As the cable still plugs directly into the back of the TiVo Series 3, the CableCARD doesn't provide the cable plugin itself. Instead, it simply acts as a digital interface that authenticates with the cable company. This allows the TiVo to display and record premium and digital content available as part of your cable package. The reason the Series 3 requires two CableCARDs is that the current CableCARD standard only supports one tuner per card. Since the Series 3 has two tuners, two cards are required.

Basic Operation Tips

Recording

When setting up single episode or season pass recording, there are a few options worth taking a look at.

Single Episode Recordings

When setting up single episode recordings, you can select from several options under the Season Pass & Other Options menu. This menu brings up a screen where you could choose to get a Season Pass, but also lets you select Options for recording an episode:

• Keep Until: This allows you to define the retention length of a recording. The options are Space needed, 1 to 7 days and Until I delete.
• Start Recording: The options are On-time or 1 to 10 minutes early.
• Stop Recording: The options are On-time or 1 minute to 3 hours late.

Season Pass Recording

When setting up season pass recordings, you can select a options that help you refine your recording under the Season Pass & Other Options menu. This menu brings up a screen where you select Options for recording this season pass:

• Keep At Most: This allows you to define how many episodes to retain. The options are 1-5 episodes, 10 episodes or All episodes.
• Show Type: This allows you to define which programs in a season pass will be recorded. The options are Repeats & first run, First run only and All (with duplicates).
  
• Start Recording: The options are On-time or 1 to 10 minutes early.
• Stop Recording: The options are On-time or 1 minute to 3 hours late.

TiVo Series 3 Basic Setup

Video Connection

The TiVo Series 3 supports video output to your TV, receiver or video switcher using HDMI, component, S-Video or composite video. All video outputs are active simultaneously. If you want to show the same video on different displays or record output from the TiVo to a VCR, computer or camcorder using the S-Video jack you can do so. If you are unsure which connection is best, please read the TechDigs.net article Get the Right Video Connection on Your HDTV. If your devices support HDMI, use HDMI.

Audio Connection

The TiVo Series 3 supports audio output to your TV, receiver or audio switcher using optical or analog RCA jacks. If you are unsure which connection is best, please read the TechDigs.net article Are You Maximizing Your Audio? Check Your Wires! If your devices support optical, use optical.

Antenna Connection

TiVo supports over-the-air (OTA) analog and digital broadcasts. Therefore, if you are in a market which has OTA HDTV, you can connect an antenna to both receive and record HDTV programming OTA as well as SD broadcasts.

Cable TV Connection

The TiVo has a standard Cable-In jack on the back of the box. To record basic cable with the Series 3, you need only to connect the cable. The key difference with the Series 3 is the support of the aforementioned CableCARD. So, to receive and record HD plus encrypted and subscription channels, you not only need to connect the cable, but also install and configure the CableCARDs.

Our basic TiVo Series 3 setup guide is:

Note: Step 7 requires the cable company to come to your home. We recommend that you perform steps 1-6 about two hours before the cable technician is scheduled to arrive.

1. Connect the TiVo to your home network using Ethernet (an optional Wireless adapter is also available). If you don't have a home network, connect the TiVo to your phone line using the phone jack.
2. Connect the Cable Service cable to the Cable-In jack on the back of the TiVo.
3. Optionally, connect the TiVo to an antenna using the Antenna-In jack.
4. Connect the TiVo video output to your TV, receiver or video switcher using HDMI, component, S-Video or the composite video. All video outputs are active simultaneously. To determine the best video connection method, please read the TechDigs.net article Get the Right Video Connection on Your HDTV.
5. Connect the TiVo audio output to your TV, receiver or audio switcher using optical or analog RCA jacks. To determine the best audio connection method, please read the TechDigs.net article Are You Maximizing Your Audio? Check Your Wires!
6. Connect the TiVo power cord.
7. About an hour before the cable technician is scheduled to arrive, follow the guided setup until you get to the installation of the CableCARDs. Then wait for their arrival and hope they're on time. Be sure they first install, configure and check CableCARD 1, and then CableCARD 2. To check each CableCARD, look at basic cable, subscription and subscription HD channels to be sure encryption is working. After both CableCARDs are setup and all channels are coming in, you will no longer require the cable tech. In our test market, Comcast provides CableCARDS without an install or monthly charge. Leeds, the tech who came out, understood exactly what to do and the overall experience was good.
8. Spend the time during the guided setup to identify which channels you receive. While you can do this later, you'll save time if you do it now.
9. Initially, only one day of the guide will be available.

CableCARD Configuration Details

Most of us will never need to deal with this level of detail for CableCARD configuration as it's usually done by a technician. However if there's trouble, it's valuable to know how to review the CableCARD configuration and know if it's properly configured.

In the CableCARD Menu for CableCARD 1 and 2 there are five sub-menus. The three we're going to focus on are CableCARD(tm) Pairing, CableCARD(tm) Status and Conditional Access.

CableCARD Pairing Screen

Starting with CableCARD 1, enter the CableCARD(tm) Pairing screen. It is used to display key data that must be provided to the Cable company. The fields are:

• CableCARD(tm): This ID is linked to the CableCARD, however most Cable companies don't use this value and instead use the UnitAddress.
• Host: Host is the ID that is linked to the specific host device, such as your TiVo. It does not change unless you change to a different TiVo.
• Data: This is a dynamic ID that is generated during a host reset or new CableCARD installation. It's the key piece of data that will change if reset your TiVo, move cards around or make other substantial changes. If the value changes, the Cable company must update their Data field value to match it.
• UnitAddress: The unit address is the ID that is linked to the CableCARD. It does not change, unless you change CableCARDs.

At a minimum, it's crucial that the Cable company has the correct values for Host, Data and UnitAddress.

CableCARD Status Screen

Once the Cable company has the values from the CableCARD(tm) Pairing screen, there are at least two ways they may reset the CableCARD to establish a connection. Comcast calls the first one Cable Card Validation (CCV) which restarts the card. Comcast calls the second one Cold Initiate which not only restarts the card, but also issues a download of all the segments that reflect the services you should be receiving. The CableCARD(tm) Status menu shows the state of any download. When the Cable company does a Cold Initiate, it's worth going to this menu to see how many segments are left to download, or if the download has even started. The Cold Initiate can take about 10 minutes. Note: this screen does not automatically update, so you'll have to exit and re-enter the CableCARD(tm) Status menu to refresh it.

Conditional Access Screen

Once the download is complete the Segments left to download will be 0, and the State will be Wait To Start. During this process you will probably received an error including error code 161-4. This is okay. Essentially it's saying that the TiVo could not communicate with the CableCARD because the CableCARD is resetting. Wait until you can get back into the CableCARD menu and then check check the Conditional Access screen to see if the connection is complete and successful. It may take up to another five minutes to fully sync up. Just like the CableCARD(tm) Status screen, this screen does not automatically refresh so you'll have to exit and re-enter. When the CableCARD configuration is successful, the Conditional Access screen fields should be as follows:

• Encryption: DES
• Connect: yes, EnabledByCP: yes
• Auth: SUBSCRIBED
• CA enable: possible
• Host Validation: VALID (with a number)
• Copy Protection Key: Enabled

Test Channels Menu

At this point, exit the CableCARD menu and select the Test Channels menu for CableCARD 1. Be sure to test basic cable, expanded cable, subscription channels, HDTV basic cable and HDTV subscription channels -- verifying that you can receive all the proper channel classes.

I've seen various versions of the values in the Conditional Access screen depending on the Cable company and your location. However, if you are having trouble getting the stations you believe you should, and your Conditional Access screen doesn't look similar to the values above, then one of the values in the pairing is likely incorrect. The Data value is the most likely culprit. Double-check all the values with the Cable company -- have them read the values to you, and then read back your values to them after confirming theirs. It reduces transcription errors.

Once successful, repeat with CableCARD 2.

Detailed Configuration

Channels Lists and Favorites

After you have access to all of your channels, you'll likely want to pare down the channel list to reflect the channels you actually receive or want to receive. Personally, I'm not interested in shopping channels, guide channels, and a few others. The Settings menu drills down to the Channel List menu where you can uncheck stations. I also uncheck all non-HD stations that have HD-counterparts for both broadcast and cable channels. That way, I don't accidentally get the SD version of Lost instead of the HD version. Be aware however, certain SD/HD channels aren't always the same. For example, while they share some of the same programs, Discovery HD is not the same as the Discovery Channel (SD). In the Channel List menu, you can also mark any channels as favorites with the Thumbs Up button. Doing so can be useful because you can then choose Favorites instead of All Channels as the channels to view when using the Guide. To use this feature, after setting up some favorite channels, press the Enter button while viewing the guide.

Audio

If you chose to use the optical jack on the back of the TiVo, then you probably have a Dolby Digital decoder in your receiver. However, if your audio system supports optical, but doesn't support Dolby Digital, then you may want to have the TiVo convert Dolby Digital to PCM. Under Audio you can also turn up, down or off the Sounds Effects. Personally, I like them off.

Displays

Under the Displays menu, there are a few menus worth configuring.

Channel Banner

The Channel banner can be set to disappear more quickly or stay displayed the normal time period. Personally, I like them to go away more quickly.

Closed Captioning

Closed Captioning has a number of settings. You can define which type of Standard (non-digital) captions you want, as well as the type of Digital Captions. Also, you can define text size, color and background color. Closed Captioning value (Off or On) controls whether captions are displayed at all. However, if even if you have Closed Captioning set to On, if Standard Captions or Digital Captions are set to None (which is the default), you won't see anything. If in doubt, use CC1 for Standard Captions and DTVCC1 for Digital Captions.

Recording

Under Recording you can choose whether you want Overlap Protection. When programs overlap by five minutes or less, Overlap Protection gives you the control to choose whether to record two programs with clipping or to just record one complete program.

Recording Quality

Recording Quality allows you to set the TiVo's default quality for recording analog programming. The better the recording quality, the more space recordings require. You can overrule this setting for any specific recording or season pass. Experiment with it a bit as the setting you choose will vary based on your TV size and your tolerance for lower quality. In general, high motion recordings should be set to higher quality. This has no effect on digtial programming as TiVo does not re-compress digital signals and records video as it comes in. Most cable TV signals will come in digital, although some channels may be analog. All HD signals coming in over cable will be digital.

TiVo Suggestions

TiVo Suggestions lets you decide whether TiVo should record suggestions based on Thumbs ratings. There's very little downside to allowing TiVo to do this. Suggestions take a lower priority both when recording and when making space available. So they'll never overrule one of your specifically selected programs.

Video

Under Video settings there are a few key menu options that are new to the Series 3.

Aspect Correction Mode

Aspect Correction Mode allows you to decide how TiVo displays video. If you have a 16:9 screen, for most programming you'll want to leave it on Panel. This way, 4:3 content doesn't get stretched. However, there may be occasions you'll want to choose Zoom. For example, SD video that is 16:9, can work pretty well on Zoom. Seldom will you want Full as it causes 4:3 video to get stretched. The Aspect button on the TiVo remote controls this in real-time. Experiment with it and set it to what works for you.

Letterbox Color

Letterbox Color allows you to set the letterbox and sidebox color to gray or black. What you choose will depend on what you find most appealing.

TV Aspect Ratio

TV Aspect Ratio gives you three choices:

• 16:9 Widescreen: Choose this if you have a 16:9 screen.
• 4:3 Smart Screen (4:3 SD, 16:9 HD): Choose this if you have a 4:3 HDTV.
• 4:3 Classic Screen (4:3 only): Choose this if you have a 4:3 SD TV.

Video Output Format

Video Output Format allows you to choose an output standard that matches your TV. These settings vary substantially depending your TV, whether you have a scaler, etc. However, the following is a good rule of thumb:

• Native: If you know your TV supports 1080i, 720p, 480i and 480p equally well, then choose this mode. Generally best for CRT-based devices.
• 720p Hybrid: If your TV is 720p native and you watch a mixture of sources (SD analog, SD digital, HD), this is the best choice.
• 1080i Hybrid: If your TV is 1080i or 1080p native and you watch a mixture of sources (SD analog, SD digital, HD), this is the best choice.
• 480i Fixed: For SD sets without progressive scan (S-Video or composite connections).
• 480p Fixed: For SD sets with progressive scan (component connection).
• 720p Fixed: Designed for 720p sets. However, some sets may work better with 720p Hybrid. It depends on your specific TV. Try both with SD video to see which you like best.
• 1080i Fixed: Designed for 1080i/1080p sets. However, some sets may work better with 1080i Hybrid. It depends on your specific TV. Try both with SD video to see which you like best.

Restart or Reset System

Under the Restart or Reset System menu, there are a number of functions. Be careful here, especially with CableCARDs. Some menu options will reset the CableCARD Data value and require you to have to re-confirm and set those values with the Cable company.

Clear & Delete everything

The Clear & Delete everything menu resets the TiVo Series 3 back to factory settings. If you have installed and configured CableCARDs, your CableCARD will need to be re-registered with the Cable company. Most Cable providers can and will do this over the phone. But, be aware that there can be problems. For example, as of this writing, the system used by Comcast to manage CableCARD registrations inadvertently stores the old Data value in an area they call the sidecar. When changing the Data value on an existing card, even after a new value is put in this field, the field may revert to the old value automatically without their knowledge. Check before you hang up because if this error occurs, you will not receive your premium channels. It turns out, Comcast has to essentially exit the screen and re-enter, and then re-input the Data value. Bottomline, if you are doing this with your cable provider, have them double check the Data value after exiting the window on their system to be sure you both have the same number.

Other settings in the Restart or Reset System may change the Cable Cards, so don't use them unless you absolutely have to.

TiVo Series 3

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Karma said:

What a great guide to get me through the pain the... of dealing with the cable company. Thanks!

September 28, 2006

Don said:

Great article. The cablecard stuff is specific to Motorola though. It would be nice to see it updated to include Scientific Atlanta cards.

October 05, 2006

Ken said:

Very good info. However, can the Sereies 3 HD DVR also record two OTA broadcasts simultaneously, or is this only possible with a cable hookup? Also, can I watch one OTA broadcast while simultaneously recording another OTA braodcast? I would like to be sure it will provide the same HD recording capabilities for OTA only use, as it apparently does for cable.

October 06, 2006

gregkeene said:

Ken: Yes, the Series 3 can record to OTA HD broadcasts. And yes, you can watch one while recording another. Greg

October 26, 2006

Darron said:

Two days now with Comcast Washington, DC and at least 5 different technicians and none of them has any understanding of the Host and Data numbers/addresses and how to enter them into the system on their end. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FRUSTRATING! Any ideas? eMail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

December 02, 2006

TechDigs.net said:

Darron: Specifically, what you are seeing in the CableCARD configuration screens: http://techdigs.net/content/view/46/42/#ccconfig

December 02, 2006

jlib said:

TV Aspect Ratio Under TV Aspect Ratio you say: * 4:3 Smart Screen (4:3 SD, 16:9 HD): Choose this if you have a 4:3 HDTV. You should also chose this if you have a 16:9 HDTV and prefer watching SD content in unstretched 4:3 aspect ratio as it was intended. HD will be 16:9 as expected.

January 08, 2007

shadowfox said:

Just starting googling about cablecards. Have been through 5 visits from comcast including 1 visit to replace the cards. The signal still won't last more than 4 hours and then just getting distorted images or no signals at all. Reset from comcast will get it up and going again but the signals never stay very long. Is there a known problem with Cable Card? Any specific site has that type of discussion? Just so you know, visit #6 from comcast has been placed with another new set of cards (hope this will help)

January 08, 2007

TechDigs.net said:

shadowfox: What a bummer. I have noticed that the Motorola Cards work better than the Scientific Atlanta cards. When the signal does come up, doe you get all stations (HD, HD premium, etc.). If not, then they didn't configure it right to begin with - I've seen that. The Comcast CableCard thread over at TivoCommunity is pretty good (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316310).

January 08, 2007

shadowfox said:

TechDigs: Well, when it works, everything is just beautiful (broadcast hd + digital plus hd). In couple cases, I was getting everything from S3 (both CCs), but on the TV (yeah, I have 3 CCs), I don't get 35 - 82, but I do receive 62 and 65. Re-hit from the office fixed that. But, I am getting nothing now. My Sony has a diagonstic option on the menu and it shows lots of error count and the SN numbers is lower than normal (27 vs 32). I actually found this site through www.tivocommunity.com/... The comcast tech I had today was actually knowledge enough to give me the history of CC and CableLabs and he told me CC is nothing but trouble for him. My next appointment is on Thursday. Meanwhile, DVD is still looks good and there are family to hug...

January 09, 2007

Ed said:

The recording quality is not just for SD broadcasts - it's specifically for *analog* broadcasts. All HDTV is digital, but not all digital is HDTV. For SD digital broadcasts, you can not set the recording quality. For some markets, SD stations are broadcast in both analog and digital, and if you have a CableCARD, the channel will be mapped to the digital version. It's quite possible that you will not be able to set the recoding quality on any channel (SD nor HDTV). As for selecting the Video Output Format, some hybrid modes will cause a flicker when you change channels. For some people, that's acceptable, but for others it's not. To avoid the flicker, select one of the fixed options.

January 16, 2007

TechDigs.net said:

Ed: Good info, that's correct. In most markets over cable most of the channels will be digital and quality can't be adjusted. Over cable, all HD channels will be digital. There are circumstances where there are analog SD channels over digital cable, but those numbers dwindling as companies move 100% digital to get back some bandwidth. On Video Output, our experience is that it depends on your HDTV and it's settings. One of the things that is useful for those with a high-end video processor (like a Silicon Optix chipset in the 7 series Olevia) is to send out signals native so that 480i and 1080i signals are deinterlaced and processed by the HDTV and not by the TiVo.

January 16, 2007

shadowfox said:

Hi TechDigs: Comcast has finally figured out what is causing my digital reception problem. This is after my repeated request for their technican to be on site in the evening (which they do have field tech available till 8 pm). The guy took some reading between their line amplifier and the node for my house and mumbled about coming back the next day. The problem was with the AGC (automatic gain control) module which needed tuning. Now I have to deal with their accounting group to get my bill in order.....

January 30, 2007

Michael said:

So I have a tivo s3 with 2 cablecards installed and properly working. I have the digital versions of the analog channels showing up on the guide for channels 801-899 (cox of arizona), but I have no picture on these channels and a message saying they are not available. Would a box refresh download these channels?

February 18, 2007

TechDigs.net said:

Michael: Carefully go through your CableCARD Status and Access screens and make sure that they look like those above. You may not have Encryption or CopyProtection enabled. That generally means pairing wasn't done right and needs to be re-done.

February 20, 2007

thehag said:

I have Comcast, and I have a Series 3 with 2 Motorola cablecards(4.21) installed. It's working, but every 2-3 days I have to go back in and do Test Channels and go back and verify basic cable/Premium/HD channels because the Conditional Access screen moves from Auth: Subscribed to Auth: Missing_Program_Rekey. CA Enable moves from Possible to Unknown. Encryption always remains DES but Copy Protection is always Disabled. I think this might be causing a problem where TiVo records the wrong program, and if let alone, the entire system defaults to only receiving one of the basic stations. In other words, no matter what TiVo thinks it is recording, it's actually recording the USA channel. Eventually, I am unable to change channels. At this point I have to reset both cards. I believe the Data number on both cards is not correctly filed with Comcast, but I cannot get Comcast to admit that there IS a Data number. They do verify the Host number, but that's it. Comcast keeps telling there is no such thing as a 'cold initiate'. Comcast technicians have been out here twice, but they arrive and tell me 1) they have no experience with cablecards, and 2) they don't know anything about TiVo. I've been trying to talk to a supervisor, but they are stonewalling. This is frustrating, but I can keep the system minimally functional as long as I continue to check the cards constantly and reacquire the channels. Considering what I spent on this system, I'm not happy.

March 01, 2007

TechDigs.net said:

thehag: Where are you located (city/state)? Some markets have handed it poorly. However, the nationawide staff has usually handled it well. One option is to request a new set of CableCARDs and make sure they're working before they leave. Once working they should stay working unless there's something wrong with the TiVo. Sorry for your troubles.

March 02, 2007

thehag said:

I'm in Northern California, Boulder Creek. I think the dispatch is in Sunnyvale, but it might be Santa Cruz. My first Comcast guy was a contractor (clueless), and I asked for a 'real' Comcast employee the second time, but no joy. The cards are sort of working, so I hesitate to go backwards, particularly since they insist it is all a TiVo problem. If I have them put in new cards (and if the cards are working) will the system automatically reset the Data field on their end? The Data field they say doesn't exist? What about the Copy Protection? In other words, am I on the right track? Thanks for your response.

March 02, 2007

TechDigs.net said:

thehag: If you have them put in new cards, they will have to change Data field values at their end. The values are read to the home office by the tech. Their input screen may not say 'Data', but they're definitely putting in this value. Without it, there is no pairing and therefore no authorization or encryption.

March 08, 2007

jgleitsmann said:

Question - if i am going to use 2 Comcast cable cards, do i still need to subscribe to the TIVO monthly service contract?

November 14, 2007

lcomcastc said:

FYI, I work at comcast, and yes the data number is VERY IMPORTANT if you want to see any copyrighted channels. Many reps find it difficult to install and activate cablecards for tivo's. I have been very successful with my techs though. I have often worked with customers over the phone with much success also. I have been trying to spread the word on how simple the tivo's can be, once you get the hang of it. But some people refuse to listen. I will keep trying.

December 02, 2007

ksalno said:

Maybe Icomcastc can help me with this. I'm in NJ Comcast area. I have a S3 HD DVR with twin Motorola M Series cable cards installed. After three phone calls and two tech visits, I finally talked to a supervisor today who was able to perform some magic from the office and when I got home tonight both tuners are working fine and getting all HD and other encrypted stations. However, when I tried to test the channels from the CableCard config menu, CableCard 1 showed up with a message No Channels Available. CC 2 tests all the channels just fine. Going through the CableCard menus I didn't see any significant difference in the Conditional Access or Pairing screens. However, the Network Status screen shows the OOBGTC value to be Unknown for CC1 and OOB for CC2. Everythign else looks ok except that the VCTID for CC1 is 0 and for CC2 it is 4. The VCT Rcvd is 0 for CC1 and an increasing number for CC2. I should probably leave well enough alone, now that everything is working but I am puzzled by why CC1 won't pick up any channels in Test mode and a little worried this will come back to haunt me down the road if I don't get it fixed now. Since there are so few knowledgeable sources outside of Cable Labs and Motorola on how these things really work, I am hoping someone here can explain this to me and suggest what I can do to correct it, if necessary.

February 19, 2008

patrick said:

I had a couple of old cable cards, but the lower channels were getting lots of dropouts. I got the cable tech to swap the cable cards (got new 'multistream' cards) which totally solved the problem, but now, about once a week the new cards are hung (loading the diag screen results in 'failed to load xxx.html'. Resetting power on the TiVo cures it, and I have reseated the cards to no avail. Ideas? This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

April 14, 2008

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