Yes the Menu button hack will work on some models (it's a very rude looking screen that is presented), but if the box is swapped out, the replacement box will probably not support the hack. If this is a customer site, it is probably best to change video inputs briefly while that rude screen flashes by -- and be prepared for a call if the customer swaps the box. It will be an uncomfortable call because you may not be able to restore the former functionality of the system.

I always warn from the outset that cable boxes are surly. I'll make a "best effort" to deal with the situation, but make the client aware that this is a fragile effort at best.

My bad; I couldn't open the link on my phone and wrongly assumed (yes, fulfilled that acronym) that it was video detector.

The unit you listed detects front display status LED. That should work.

You guys keep bringing up the "if the box gets swapped out, it may not work".

I understand concerns about firmware upgrade because client won't understand what happened beyond the fact that "your solution no longer works; come and fix it".

But if the box is swapped, the power hack not working is no longer your liability.
At the very least, you're going back there to fix the emitter, and that's a billable service call.
Next, hardware swap voids any/all sort of warranty for system performance.
It's no different than client getting new box that no longer has S-Video output and wanting to blame me because the box can't be easily connected (without me coming over) to the rest of the system or operated by controller I sold them (again, without my programming).

Unit swap by a service provider is the easiest thing to be able to wiggle out of non-billable warranty/service work.
"Mr. Client, it's obviously not my fault that the cable company swapped out your box and the feature I used on old unit is no longer available/supported on this new one".

I know, I know. We're in business to provide solutions, and I get that.
All I'm saying is that worrying about device swap and lost functionality is or should be at the bottom of a very long list of concerns.

I think that it is important to manage expectations up front.

It's a truism that the last person to touch an item owns it and owns any problem with it...unless that person is the cable or satellite company. Then it's always US. It's very hard to come back and tell the client that the cable box swap caused a problem. As Buzz says, expectations need to be handled. I go a step further and repeat over and over that the cable company's idea of everyone's need is a box that works however the cable company wants it to work this week. That the cable box is designed to work with a TV and nothing else, and once we try to leave the 1980s the cable company is a thorn in our side, consequently in the client's side.


You say this as though a client paying money for something simple is easy for the client and doesn't cause them to resent the tweakiness of the system. Blame for this must be assigned before it ever happens! It's a lot easier to say "remember when I told you that the cable company will cause us problems? This is one of them."


That's a really important point but I really hesitate to tell the client that all the hard work they've paid for goes out the window with a box swap. That sounds like a really really twitchy system. If someone told me that about some kind of system I've bought, I'd want a different vendor who could guarantee the system keeps working. Thus: blame the cable company in advance for things that cable companies do.


And yet, people will do that. Dealing with it is part of the successful installer's interpersonal toolkit.


Absolutely. But MUCH better if you can tell them, very politely, that you warned them that this will happen.


...that should always be addressed at the beginning of a business relationship with a customer. It shouldn't be so far down that it's ignored.

Ernie, you get a big +1 for everything you just said :-)