I thought I'd upgrade to a TiVo Bolt from the Premiere XL. Here's what's happened, so far:

1. Bolt arrived, video borked, requested RMA and replacement
2. Second Bolt arrived, paired the M-Card, but no Live TV (dreaded v52 error)
   • Called Comcast, they scheduled a visit a couple of days later
3. Comcast tech arrived, but couldn't see Live TV either; tried a second M-Card, but no joy; suggested I call TiVo
   • Called TiVo, they said the card wasn't paired, needed to see "AUTH"
   • Called Comcast, they said the card reader was not functioning
   • Called TiVo, they said that because the card id and serial number were visible onscreen, that the card reader was ok
   • Called Comcast, they sent a stronger signal; no joy; they sent signals to the headend; no joy; they said they'd send a new M-Card
   • New Comcast bill arrived with a charge for the new/second M-Card
4. Comcast card arrived; paired the M-Card, but no Live TV (still the dreaded v52 error)
   • Called Comcast; tried all the things; no joy

Assumption

The cabling is ok, because the Premiere XL works well, so moving the coax directly from the old box to the new should be fine, right?

Research mode

According to the internet, there's either no signal or too much signal. On the assumption that the signal is too strong, I added a couple of splitters. No joy. Actually no difference in S/N ratio. Even with NO CABLE CONNECTED, SNR reads between 9-21db.

Testing

I checked the DVR Diagnostics for each and found that:

Premiere XL

• Signal - 83%
• Signal lock - Yes
• Program lock - Yes
• SNR - 36db
• QAM - 256

Bolt

• Signal ---
• Signal lock - No
• Program lock - No
• SNR - 9-15db
• QAM - 64 or 256

Is it the TiVo?

UPDATE - Jan 19