All cable boxes completely reset EVERY morning at 3AM -- Suggestions, thoughts, experiences please!
anOnc
getting reset at 3AM to the extent that ALL DATA seems to be purged
from the box and then re uploaded over the next couple of hours. I say
'all data' because right after it the boxes reset at 3AM if I try to
look at the Program Guide, it is completely empty from all of the
programs right down to the channel call letters; I cannot go into On
Demand I will just see a message the reads 'That service is being
restored, please try again in ...; I can't get into the Quick Menu; I
can't go into Info; etc.. The only words, grids, menus that are there
are what I believe to be hard coded into the box.
This started happening about three months ago, I've been very patient
in hoping that Comcast would somehow just fix it. Now I am being much
more proactive in pursuing getting this problem fixed because I am
tired of just being apologized to and never having the issue
escalated. Why now? Because on January 1st my HSI went completely out
and my cable television boxes finally stopped reloading data after the
3AM resets--this time the boxes sat bare until a tech finally came out
on January 5th and got things running again after missing a scheduled
January 4th appointment with no real reason nor apology from Comcast.
Needless to say that the tech did not fix the 3AM reset issue, that is
still happening and no one that I speak with at Comcast can even
understand that there is an actual problem now that I've had a tech
visit the apologies that I used to get are now "that's normal" claims.
I like to think of 1/1/2011 as my own personal Y2K because that's the
date that finally put my system down after limping along for three
months!
Today I called the Comcast helpdesk here in Saint Paul, MN and was
actually able to get the issue escalated to a first level supervisor
who I will graciously refer to as Thumbtack. Thumbtack claims that
these cable box resets are "perfectly normal and that they happen to
every single Comcast customer, every night, of every year at 3AM
because there is hardly no one watching TV at that time". That's a
pile of crap, she knows it and I know it--well she may not really know
it but hey, I still love my little Thumbtack. So Thumbtack finally
agreed that she would escalate my "non-problem" to a Second Level
Technician. So now I am waiting for that phone call to come. I just
hope that Thumbtack really did escalate the issue...
For what it's worth I think that there must be something set wrong in
my account in some Comcast database that is causing this problem to
afflict my system. The system kept trying to repair itself through the
end of the year and then when the new year hit, the system was no
longer able to simply reset my cable boxes and it threw my system
account into shambles to the point that it did not know how to try to
self correct and that's why I was without HSI and cable boxes for the
first four or five days of this year.
Now, I would like to please ask for any input that anyone out there
has about any aspect of this issue.
Does my hypothesis about something being set wrong in my account in
some Comcast database seem plausible, or not?
Does your cable box reset itself every single night at some
pre-determined time to the extent that I explained above?
What happens when your cable box does reset?
Would you believe that Thumbtack actually escalated the issue? Does
the job description Second Level Technician even exist at Comcast?
Please, anything that comes to mind about this experience as related
to your Comcast service and or experiences will be appreciated. The
more ideas I have, the better it will enable me to speak to my Second
Level Tech Support person or when I speak with the St. Paul City
Government's Media Services Department to ask them for help in getting
this resolved.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this long post. I did my
best not to make it sound like merely a rant but tried to make it more
of a call to arms for other mere customers (like me) and those
technically in the know that are surely hanging around this newsgroup!
Thanks again everyone, I hope that everyone has a great day and stays
Comcast trouble free for the rest of their days with Comcast!
Dan M.
RickMerrill
They are called "Level 2".
> Please, anything that comes to mind about this experience as related
> to your Comcast service and or experiences will be appreciated.
This reminds of situations that have been explored in this Usenet group in the past
where specific times of day were recorded. In at least one of these situations the
cable company ultimately discovered that a neighbor was stealing cable access during
AM hours that the neighbor figured would not be noticed.
What you need to do is to keep an exact log of what you observe and the time of day
that you see it. You should even take a few readings of your modem signal strength
at 2:am and 4:am.
good luck!
anOnc
Thank you very much Rick for your insight! I will indeed start logging
the issue immediately, that can only help whoever actually ends up on
the case. I'm no super tech by any stretch but checking the modem
signal strengths actually makes sense to me too.
Wish me luck, wait you already did, thanks!
AnnE
While I am not up at that horrible hour for the most part, once in
awhile I am and voila........the TV turns OFF when Comcast decides to
do whatever they do. You can hear the HDVR purring like a cat. And
it is I that might be making noises but certainly NOT purring. lol
Let us know what you find out.
thx AnnE on the other side of Mpls
anOnc
That's funny AnnE! I will be certain to keep this group updated,
hopefully a resolution won't be too far off!
At this point I am considering just getting rid of the DCT700's and
moving forward with the DVR service like the 99.9% of the world has
probably already done. I may just be a DCT700 hold out that Comcast is
trying make an example out of...or worse!
anOnc
wrote:
>On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:18:08 -0600, anOnc
><Joh...@jehovahs-witness-protection-program.gov> wrote:
>
><snip>
>>
>>Please, anything that comes to mind about this experience as related
>>to your Comcast service and or experiences will be appreciated. The
>>more ideas I have, the better it will enable me to speak to my Second
>>Level Tech Support person or when I speak with the St. Paul City
>>Government's Media Services Department to ask them for help in getting
>>this resolved.
>
><snip>
>
>>Dan M.
>
>I strongly suggest that you post about this problem in the Comcast Help and
>Support Forums, http://forums.comcast.net/ .
>
>mady
Thank you very much for that link mady! Comcast Help and Support
Forums...I really think that I am the last one to know about pretty
much everything that happens or exists on this little planet of ours.
I will certainly be posting over there now that I know about them!
Probably not this evening but soon.
anOnc
wrote:
>On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:18:08 -0600, anOnc
><Joh...@jehovahs-witness-protection-program.gov> wrote:
>
><snip>
>>
>>Please, anything that comes to mind about this experience as related
>>to your Comcast service and or experiences will be appreciated. The
>>more ideas I have, the better it will enable me to speak to my Second
>>Level Tech Support person or when I speak with the St. Paul City
>>Government's Media Services Department to ask them for help in getting
>>this resolved.
>
><snip>
>
>>Dan M.
>
>I strongly suggest that you post about this problem in the Comcast Help and
>Support Forums, http://forums.comcast.net/ .
>
>mady
Hi mady, I appreciate what you did earlier today so much that I just
had to stop back this evening to say thank you one more time for
pointing me towards the Comcast Forums! So, Thank You!
There are others over there that have basically had the same problem
that I am having now albeit with slightly different versions of
hardware. It sure feels good to know that the people that have been
telling me that 'it reboots every night? That is normal' are wrong.
Well, now I've got to shorten up my issue and go ask an Expert at the
forums of Comcast! By the way if you're ever over there and you see
me, please do say hi! My username is the same as here, anOnc. Thanks
again mady, you simply rock!
Adam H. Kerman
>Hi mady, I appreciate what you did earlier today so much that I just
>had to stop back this evening to say thank you one more time for
>pointing me towards the Comcast Forums! So, Thank You!
>There are others over there that have basically had the same problem
>that I am having now albeit with slightly different versions of
>hardware. It sure feels good to know that the people that have been
>telling me that 'it reboots every night? That is normal' are wrong.
>Well, now I've got to shorten up my issue and go ask an Expert at the
>forums of Comcast! By the way if you're ever over there and you see
>me, please do say hi! My username is the same as here, anOnc. Thanks
>again mady, you simply rock!
Please return to this thread and post a followup once you have the
solution to the issue.
anOnc
Of course I will do that Adam, I would never not do that but I
understand that you have no way of knowing whether or not I practice
Usenetiquette. And now-a-days there are more that don't than do.
Anyway, pleased to meet you Adam.
I was actually coming back in to make an update here. It just passed
the witching hour of 3AM here and I am in the middle of a little test.
Here's what I did.
At 2:57AM I unplugged one of the DCT700's from it's live cable
connection since that will make it impossible for Comcast to send the
box their evil code. Now I am preparing to plug the cable back into
the DCT700 hoping that the upload is a one time deal and that upload
failures are simply ignored since they will try again for sure in 24
hours.
Fingers crossed here it goes, I've waited long enough, time to plug it
back in, it is 3:16AM AND... the cable is plugged back in...so far so
good all of the 47 hours worth of upcoming program data is still in
the Guide...
Man only 47 hours worth of Guide data took 24 hours to download, that
sure seems slow. But oh well, at least the data is still there.
3:20AM still good! BUT the other two boxes that I did not unplug are
indeed void of any Guide data, no On-Demand, etc.. Comcast's code hit
those two DCT700's as usual but the test box is still going strong.
3:26AM still good. IF Comcast does resend their Evil Code to the test
box before tomorrow morning at 3AM I will come back here and mention
that.
As of now I consider this test a complete success!