<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 9/29/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Bob Sully</b> <<a href="mailto:rcs@malibyte.net">rcs@malibyte.net</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I recently had to take my upstairs cable box back to the cable company<br>because it was malfunctioning (bad HD reception). They swapped it for a<br>brand-new DCT3200 box, which I unfortunately could not use because the<br>
company couldn't get the CableCard to authorize, so all I was able to get<br>were the clear QAM channels.<br><br>I have a DCT6200 downstairs tied in to my Myth machine which has worked<br>fine except for the fact that I lost any useful output on the Firewire
<br>port back in January...Others were having similar problems in this area,<br>according to this mailing list, so I've been bitching about Time Warner<br>Cable ever since, figuring that they simply cut it off. I was only able
<br>to use the Firewire port for changing channels on the STB.<br><br>I wound up spending nearly two hours on the phone with TWC trying to get<br>the upstairs STB working, and finally gave up and took it back (they<br>swapped it for a second 6200, which wrks fine). However, along the way, I
<br>spoke with a tech person in Colorado Springs named Michelle, who not only<br>actually KNEW something about these systems but was very cordial and very<br>helpful. I brought up the Firewire issue with her, telling her that I had
<br>a MythTV DVR computer, and mentioning the fact that the FCC mandates that<br>the Firewire ports be enabled. She not only agreed with me - with no<br>arguments - but also sent an instruction over the network to re-enable the
<br>Firewire ports, saying that she didn't know why I had lost the ability to<br>record.<br><br>Voila!!<br><br>I now have my in-the-clear QAM channels back on the Firewire ports. It'd<br>be nice if I could record the 2nd- and 3rd-tier channels over it, which I
<br>do pay for ($100/month cable bill) - but for now, I'll take it and won't<br>complain.<br><br>So, if you have lost Firewire connectivity, keep calling your cableco<br>until you find someone who knows what they're doing!
<br><br>I'm now running two pcHDTV 5500s, each with QAM and analog, plus the<br>S-video input from the STB (the only way I can record HBO, MTV-HD, etc.),<br>now also with firewire, for a total of 6 separate tuners. Now, if I could
<br>only get lirc working right and figure out how to set up a playlist on<br>MythMusic (it's NOT intuitive at all - better yet, figure out how to call<br>Amarok from within Myth, as has already been discussed) - I'll be in DVR
<br>Nirvana.<br><br>Bob</blockquote><div><br>That's great news! Glad to hear somebody knows what they're doing at "The Cable Company"<br><br>I have a couple questions about your setup - What do the pcHDTV tuners get you now that you can get HD over firewire? Any advantages or are they just there because the Firewire wasn't working?
<br><br>What channels do you get over QAM via Firewire?<br><br>FInally, what are you using to get S-video from the cable box into your mythbox? I wasn't aware of any S-video input cards for a PC. How are you changing the channels on the S-video input?
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