I have a Samsung HL-R4667w using a SA PMK600 Cable Card. Everything has worked great until the following:
On the eve of December 3rd, BrightHouse Tampa Bay updated the system with a new version of firmware for their Cable Cards. On the morning of December 4th, I powered on my television only to receive a message stating "Cable Card Firmware Upgrade In Progress." This message does not go away. I've allowed my television to "download" this upgrade for up to 7 hours with no results.
A technician came out and swapped out the card for a new one, but the cards did not have the new firmware either, so the same message came up. This firmware upgrade disables the ability for the user to enter the Cable Card menu to check the status of the CP Auth, Host-ID settings, etc. It essentially locks up the Cable Card function. With the firmware upgrade in progress, all analog and digital channels are not viewable.
I did notice something interesting though when looking at my TV diagnostics screen (MUTE,1,8,4,Exit). When the cable card is not inserted and the tuner is on a digital channel, the FAT statistics are as follows:
Carrier Lock Status: Locked Signal Noise Ratio: [34-36]dB Signal Level: 25dB PCR Lock Status: Locked
Now, as soon as the cablecard begins the firmware upgrade, the Carrier Lock Status and PCR Lock Status both become unlocked with brief periods (one to two seconds) of being locked at irregular intervals. Also, the Signal Noise Ratio jumps all over the place from 10 to the mid 20s, but never seems to get to the 35dB range.
The 25dB Signal Level seemed very high to me, but the technician connected the cable directly to his signal-checking device and it comes in as 0 / +1 dB. He says tuners often don't report the true Signal Level.
Like I mentioned before, life was good (great) before this firmware update had been put in the system, and absolutely nothing on my end has changed (the signal level has remained the same even from before with a STB). I was able to receive all digital channels, including all high-defintion channels without any problems.
It appears that every time new firmware becomes available, I'm going to need a technician to bring a new card. I guess the Samsung has issues downloading firmware? In any case it's going to be very annoying if this is true, and I love the idea behind the Cable Card. I hate STBs.
Any insight (cableguy!) would be greatly appreciated.