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TI_Master's avatar
TI_Master
New Contributor II
11 years ago
Solved

Windows Media Center and Cox Tulsa lineup changes

For anyone in the Tulsa area using a Cablecard tuner and Windows Media Center, you may be having a ton of issues with not getting a lot of channels, etc. Some background: WMC integrates with Cablecard tuners, but rather than using the channel map pushed by Cox to the cablecard/TA, WMC relies on EPG data it receives from a third party to populate the channel list. You may notice that when you set up a Cablecard, you have to enter your zip code, and select your provider. This is done to get the proper list of channels and guide mappings. So, I have opened a Data Quality ticket with Microsoft so that they can get this resolved on their end. Please go to this URL and upvote the ticket I created: https://connect.microsoft.com/site1145/ You will need to log in to a MS Live ID in order to use that site, and possibly click the "Register" link once you have done so to create a forum screen name. Then use the "Feedback" link, and you will see the Tulsa ticket as one of the latest ones. Just upvote it to get their attention. For the technically inclined, you can use a couple of tools, GuideTool and Guide Editor, to at least get some of your channels back. Guide Editor ( http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=97 ... note that you may need to go into the second or more pages of the thread to find a copy of the tool for your specific OS) will let you create Digital channels in WMC, map them to a guide source, and basically allowed me to go create missing channels so I can get 1002, 1003, etc. GuideTool is easier to use, but wont let you create new channels, it just lets you edit or delete existing channels. Guide Editor is more powerful, but more complicated to use. But you can use these tools to get your missing channels now, rather than having to wait for Microsoft to get this fixed.
  • TI_Master's avatar
    TI_Master
    11 years ago
    This morning, the EPG data from Microsoft contains the new channel maps. To make this work properly, you will need to redo your TV setup in WMC, so that it will wipe the old channel list and load the new one, instead of merging the new list into the old one, which is a mess. Everything is working again now that I did that, all channels present and accounted for.
  • TI_Master's avatar
    TI_Master
    New Contributor II
    11 years ago
    BTW, using a tool like GuideTool, or even WMC itself, you can't just renumber the existing channels. This is because internally, the channel number is hardcoded, and is sent to the Terminal Adapter (TA) to get the headend to send you the proper channel. So you can't go in and renumber channel 702 to 1002, because while WMC will show 1002 on your screen, it is still requesting 702 from the head end. So instead, you have to create channel 1002 using Guide Editor with the proper settings, and then your system will request the new channel number properly. The real fix will be when Microsoft gets their provider to use an updated channel map, and then passes that to us.
  • StephanieA's avatar
    StephanieA
    Former Moderator
    11 years ago
    Hi TI_Master,

    We are experiencing problems with our channel guide from our recent update. The Contour mobile application, TV Connect web are still showing the old channel lineup and TIVO is not loading the new channel lineup at all. There is no ETR at this time however, the appropriate group has been notified and is working on a resolution.

  • thomas998's avatar
    thomas998
    New Contributor
    11 years ago

    My guess is Cox has deliberately failed to provide any information to anyone because they want to drive people away from their own WMC or TiVo solution because it doesn't provide them the same revenue stream.  Best thing to do is write the FCC and complain about their actions.  It is bad enough people limited choices but even worse when the monopolies start behaving badly like Cox is.

    There was no reason to change the lineup in the first place people knew what channels they wanted, this was all BS.

  • TI_Master's avatar
    TI_Master
    New Contributor II
    11 years ago
    thomas998 said:

    My guess is Cox has deliberately failed to provide any information to anyone because they want to drive people away from their own WMC or TiVo solution because it doesn't provide them the same revenue stream.  Best thing to do is write the FCC and complain about their actions.  It is bad enough people limited choices but even worse when the monopolies start behaving badly like Cox is.

    There was no reason to change the lineup in the first place people knew what channels they wanted, this was all BS.



    Agreed that it was solving a problem that really didn't need solving, my elderly non-computer literate father was extremely frustrated with Cox with all of his channels moving around, and he's the sort that doesn't do Internet, smartphone, or DVR's, so he gets by by entering the numbers on the remote.

    I don't think it was a malicious plan though, this smacks far more of ineptitude, being poorly thought out, like some VIP type got the bright idea to do it, and nobody actually thought out the ramifications or side effects, or was allowed to get in the way of getting it done.

    Case in point, yes it affected non-Coxbox users. But, it also is impacting Cox's premium contour customers, so they have really caused themselves a lot of grief by impacting the people on the higher tier plans, as well as TiVo users (probably are a decent number of them out there) and WMC users.

    Hopefully Cox will learn a lot of lessons from this, my understanding is that they intend to do this in other markets as well.
  • TI_Master's avatar
    TI_Master
    New Contributor II
    11 years ago
    This morning, the EPG data from Microsoft contains the new channel maps. To make this work properly, you will need to redo your TV setup in WMC, so that it will wipe the old channel list and load the new one, instead of merging the new list into the old one, which is a mess. Everything is working again now that I did that, all channels present and accounted for.