TiVo, Comcast :: Serial Port Wars
I’m a fan of TiVo and have been using a TiVo Series 2 (S2) for years now with no problems. On 12 November, I noticed that my TiVo S2 would no longer change channels on my Comcast Motorola DCT cable box. Naturally, I restarted components and checked cables but nothing would get the cable box and TiVo to communicate with each other. I had a feeling that the problem was due to Comcast since the last TiVo service update occurred weeks earlier and all had been fine after the update. Turning to Google, I came across this post, Comcast Cable box – Serial connection, in the TiVo Community Forum. After browsing the posts there and reading other user complaints, it seems clear that Comcast did some sort of firmware update here in the Northeast which disabled the serial port in the older Motorola cable boxes (here’s a picture of my cable box above the TiVo.)
One could easily make the case that Comcast, in some sort of monopolistic fit, did this to push consumers to their own PVR. I doubt this is the case since a solution exists, albeit not nearly as elegant as the serial cable. Simply use the IR blaster. Another possible solution was posted and suggests that Comcast can send a “Factory Default Reset” to the cable box and raise the serial port from the dead. I’ll have to call and have Comcast give that a try before I dig out the IR blaster.
All of this has me thinking about my future TiVo plans. My TiVo S2 does not work with my HDTV using a Comcast Motorola HD box so I have it connected to my non-HD TV. Admittedly, there may be a workaround or two to get the TiVo S2 working with the HDTV-Comcast HD combo but, the last time I checked, the workarounds seemed too troublesome to bother attempting.
So do I go for the TiVo HD DVR or the pricey TiVo S3 HD DVR? Maybe I do the unthinkable and drink the Comcastic Kool-Aid (now available in blue pill form) and get Comcast TiVo. I think I’ll build my own DVR with MythTV before it comes to that.
