Comcast sent me a flyer allowing me to have up to three free digital converters in addition to the two I already have (one HD, one SD). I called and confirmed it. I can pick them up anytime after Oct 6th.

Apparently this is a new policy they have in the NJ area. It probably has something to do with HBO leaving analog service. We once had three HBO channels now I'm down to one. On or around November 30th I'll need the converter boxes to get any HBO.


If they would simply stop encrypting the content the entire issue would be resolved... am I the only sane one here?

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R6.04, dual core 3ghz, 3 gig memory, Zotac 8400 passive heat sink dvi/hdmi out video, 500 gig sata, dual tuner hdhomerun, streamzap remote

Abby

Update: They allowed me only two DTA boxes, not three. Furthermore there are no plans to allow them to decrypt HBO. That'll cost me $2.95 extra per month per box. (Again, I already pay for HBO but will need to buy more equipment to be able to watch HBO.)

Lastly Comcast in NJ will be discontinuing *ALL* analog service on November 30th. I need to rapidly install at least one IR blaster or my LinHES is dead in the water. I also need to install a OTA antenae in my attic asap.

Furthermore I will have only two TV's on which I can watch TV starting in December. Comcast sucks moose ka-ka.

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R6.04, dual core 3ghz, 3 gig memory, Zotac 8400 passive heat sink dvi/hdmi out video, 500 gig sata, dual tuner hdhomerun, streamzap remote

Abby

All you have to do (sarcasm font) is get the ir blaster and a couple of front end boxes for your additional tv's

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My System

This is why they're losing customers like a tourist in Vegas loses money.

I dropped back to the most basic service which is pretty much just local "must carry" digital stuff (too much RF noise for good OTA here, and keeping it gets me a discount on my broadband), and started streaming most of what I want to watch.

It'd be hard to count the phones calls, junk mail, fliers, and so on, that they've sent since then to "get me back".

Is it easier to just reinstall and have LinHES find the IR blaster or should I try to add it after the fact? Has anyone put multiple IR blasters on one machine?

In the past when I've tried to modify the LinHES configuration post installation, things have gone horribly wrong.

thanks.

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R6.04, dual core 3ghz, 3 gig memory, Zotac 8400 passive heat sink dvi/hdmi out video, 500 gig sata, dual tuner hdhomerun, streamzap remote

Abby

I've had success with modifying some things post install but I've also had things get _very_ weird on occasion. For example what seemed like an unrelated system level config change (which one exactly is blurry) wiped out my xorg.conf. As a result, my recommendation is to make a good full image backup before making any major config changes like that, so if things go pear shaped you can just roll back.

I've also been meaning to work out and write up some steps for setting up and doing tiered reconstruction. Stuff like generating a list of packages and versions which are installed and configuration items which have been changed, so that you can reinstall, reapply your customizations, and get back to more or less the same place. Image backups are effective, but they're time consuming and can be kind of like swatting a mosquito with an ax. On the other hand, free time is the big bottleneck as things stand. Plugging in an external drive and running the image backup script can take a lot of wall clock time, but requires very little attention.

Because I'm lazy what is the image backup script?

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My System

Oh, I was speaking generically. I've got one of my own naturally, but it's tied to my particular disk partition setup and mount points. If you search for "deepbackup.sh" you'll find my old R5/R5.5 one which will at least provide some ideas. With R6 the mount points for my external drive and other paths are a bit different so my current script has changed to match.