NiXfinity: or my RDK-03060 journey

I had every intention of writing about my recent fire assignment (Soberanes), and hope to do that soon. However, I thought my saga of following the Comcast/Xfinity (C/X) RDK-03060 error message trail might be worthy. Not just for a quick documentation, but it might help along some other Internet traveler.

I have been a C/X customer since 2002, and when I recently returned home from the Soberanes (at Big Sur, CA) I found that when I turned on my TV the screen had an intermittent message: “Unfortunately, this isn’t working

Make sure your HDMI cable is connected to an HDCP-capable device.

Or, if your set-top box has a component video connection, you can use a component cable to connect  to your TV…”

I had upgraded to C/X’s X1 box & bundle earlier in the year and hadn’t seen this message before. I decided to try un-hooking the X1 receiver and rebooting the entire system. That worked until the TV was turned off and restarted – the above message returned. That was day #1.

On day #2, when the “Unfortunately…” message appeared I called C/X customer service. They tried several fixes, none of which worked, then transferred me to Tier 3 X1 customer support. I worked with a technician that updated my systems firmware and tried various system tweaks – none of which worked. He felt a new HDMI cable would be the fix. While working with him, I discovered that by unplugging the HDMI cable and reinserting it in the back of the TV a picture would arrive. He suggested I change the HDMI cable and schedule a technician to bring a new X1 receiver.

On day #4, I made the 40+ mile round trip to C/X and obtained a new HDMI cable. It didn’t correct the problem.  I called Tier 3 X1 customer support (again) and got a different technician (the one I’d worked with was in training the next 2-weeks, and he’d closed out my work order as successful). We started over, unplugging and re-installing everything: it worked until turned-off and re-energized (as it had been doing). The tech was fairly certain a new X1 box would resolve the issue.

On day #8, C/X delivered a new X1 box and got it going: it worked for the day, but the next day it too had the same message and symptoms. The in-home visit tech had started with thinking it was the TV (as one of his Tier 3 colleagues had also suggested). However, after making several tests he had determined it wasn’t the TV. Since it, didn’t work I called all three technicians involved (on day #9) and left a voice-mail message to please call me. It is now day #16 and no call-backs from anyone. C/X did send me an e-mail survey and asked about my willingness to recommend C/X to friends & family: I gave them a zero (and they wondered why).

                  

While waiting for the return call, I did some on-line troubleshooting and found that tis issue is not mine alone. Several discussions and Q/A strings indicate the issue is due to a C/X update sent automatically to systems. C/X techs are telling folks to go out and buy new TV displays (mine was $3,000 – so, no thanks) and do the changes noted above. Eventually these info-strings indicate that none of the fixes tried will work = you have to ditch the HDMI cable altogether and go back to using your component cables (which C/X told me to ditch when upgrading to X1). I’ve gone back to component cables without incident. The question posed by on-line customers asking C/X: when are you going to provide a remedy for the problem you created, has gone unanswered. I find myself reflecting on the hole C/X cut in my driveway asphalt earlier this year when doing the X1 upgrade: they stated someone would be out soon to repair the hole (soon would’ve been 6-months ago), and the above. Now when I see the C/X commercial stating how much they care about customer service I laugh. I wonder how long it’ll be before I get a return call?