There are probably enough Comcast tech funnies to do one-a-day forever.

Today...

After a Comcast box played analog audio thru a Denon AVR 3305 forever, an X1 box comes in. Now, no analog sound for 10-30 minutes on system fire-up. Coaxial digital also affected. Blu-ray, AppleTV unaffected. Sometimes a power cycle or even a cable box off/on sequence brings it back. Told the client to get the box exchanged. Since it is an older AVR, HDMI goes straight to the Samsung TV. The AVR is just dealing with audio.

Today the tech says the box is fine, the receiver is "incompatible " and has to be replaced. The X1 box "has DHCP" and the receiver can't deal with it.

Sigh...

Hmmmm.....

I wasn't aware that analog audio and coaxial digital were affected by DHCP.

I really cant even figure out how it could possibly effect it!

Reminds me of a service call where I met with the comcast guy that was bitching about the splitter configuration and inline booster.

I told him that all I did was pull the wires.

You guys did the splitter/booster and trashed the LV panel in the process.

It was a short service call............

Been awhile and I know EG will be upset since I do not recall model. Had a customer pick up a Sharp tv years back. Maybe 10 years ago. Plugged HDMI into it from set top box and had problems with audio(think it was optical) going to the old Elite rec. The fix was running audio out of tv. So it happens. Also had this yesterday with an LG tv, Samsung six tuner dvr and an old Yamaha rec using optical from box. They had box swapped with an Arris and works fine.

I have a system with a DirecTV H25 receiver where the analog audio wont work if the HDMI is connected. Its a Yamaha RX-V 2 zone AVR. I need the analog for the deck speakers. The house is a rental in a resort. Next door is an identical house, with an identical system, and analog works on that receiver.

Isn't the audio out something that can be changed in the menu of the DH25?

A customer called last Saturday morning, about 8:15. I was up and saw who it was, so I answered because they're nice people, they pay well and don't yell at me for stupid reasons (like not being able to watch TV at 11:15 on a Saturday night an then call again after fifteen minutes, yelling because I didn't return the call).

Anyway, she first said that calling T-W for a better rate worked- they're now paying $89/month for Data, Phone and TV, with more features, speed and channels. Then, she said the installer couldn't make all of the speakers work and they needed a new optical cable. Also, the universal remote wouldn't change the channels or power off the cable box. It's a simple system, so I had used a Harmony before they pissed me off, so I had her use the help button, which got the cable box to respond correctly. Then, I had her press the Mode button on the AVR until the blue LED indicator came on and the rest of the speakers worked.

Never had to replace the optical and I doubt her husband was happy about making the trip to Radio Scrap before anyone else was open- the closest one is about 1/2 hour away.

Another one signed up for T-W after pulling the plug for a couple of years and apparently, T-W wanted to charge for the re-installation but I wasn't involved with that conversation. I got there after they had received the cable boxes and when I tried to initialize the DVR, it wouldn't finish the sequence, which tells me it's not receiving digital info. I checked the feed with my 7" TV and it worked for the analog channels, so I wasted a bunch of time with some putz in tech support. The next guy I spoke with set up a service call for the next day and when he showed up, he found that the guy who was there two days before never removed the trap on the pole. He went to the pole, looked up and then left without doing anything else. DOH!

You misunderstand my motives. I don't get upset when there's no model number. You simply can't expect exact solutions without it, so be ready to waste time until you present a clearer description of the problem.

Plus, I'd never expect detailed information from a story so old that it's a legend by now, especially when the installer can't remember if there was an optical cable. Actually, I guess it's not a legend. It's just an interesting anecdote now.

Sometimes it is no more than conversation. Just taking part, maybe jog someone's mind giving them an idea or. Well you get the picture.

Just this week customer was trying to switch from Centurylink to Comcast data service. Comcast tech shows up, without a modem. Can't find the existing router because, he doesn't recognize the DSL modem as a router. And leaves.