Adam Howitt's Blog

May 06
2005

Motorola / Comcast DVR Mute Problem

At : 12:47 PM | Link | TV | Comments (71) | Send | 4617 Views |

I have a DVR from Comcast and it has a software bug (they all do apparently) where the remote isn't pre-programmed to handle the muting of the cable box, just the tv itself. 

This becomes a problem when you leave your DVR powered off when it needs to record something. It will happily power on and correctly records the show but when it turns itself on, the volume is muted on the cable box.  I can see the engineers thinking - we don't want to wake people up in the middle of the night when it starts recording so we'll start it in mute. 

Jeff was able to find a tip which I'll share below for resolving the issue:

  1. Press the "Cable" button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.
  2. Press and hold the "Setup" button until the "Cable" button blinks twice.
  3. Enter code 994. The "Cable" button will blink twice.
  4. Press (do not hold) the "Setup" button.
  5. Enter code 00141.
  6. Press whatever button you want to map the mute function to.

Thanks Jeff! 

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  1. This suggestion was a life saver. Thanks a bunch!

    Posted By Revolutn : Posted At 7/2/05 8:28 PM
  2. Wow, really surprised i found an answer to my problem so easily. Thanks a lot.

    Posted By SnareJordon : Posted At 7/5/05 1:00 AM
  3. You rock!!

    Posted By Matt : Posted At 8/3/05 10:04 PM
  4. Hi, thank you for the helpful information. But I accidently select vol + instead of mute to map the mute function in the step 6. Do you have the code for the volume up? thank you.

    Posted By kenny : Posted At 8/22/05 4:46 PM
  5. Thanks - this worked. And the explanation makes sense as well.

    BTW, Comment #4 - you're a dumbass.

    Posted By SM : Posted At 10/2/05 10:32 PM
  6. YOU DA MAN! Thanks!

    Posted By Andy Cagnettta : Posted At 10/9/05 9:30 PM
  7. Seriously brilliant fix...Thanks! I have to defend comment #4, tho... I also need a code to undo the fix, as I linked it to the "mute" button, which prevents me from using the closed caption feature through my tv now. I used the "hd zoom" button on my other (non-HD) tv and wanted to replace that button for the mute on my first tv, but now it uses BOTH buttons, and still can't control my tv's mute function. I know, I know... pretty dense of me, but what do I do now?

    Posted By Chris Miller : Posted At 10/10/05 12:18 PM
  8. Thanks for the solution! I called Comcast and they didn't have a solution - they just sent a signal to reset the firmware. I knew that wouldn't fix it - your solution did!

    Posted By Ben : Posted At 10/19/05 8:37 PM
  9. To comment 4 and 7, if nothing else, you could always trade in your remote and get a new one.

    And I wanted to add a Thanks for the solution. I was shocked at how quickly I found an easy solution with a google search.

    Posted By Shockey : Posted At 10/19/05 9:12 PM
  10. Totally awesome. It worked. Programmed it to one of those silly A,B,C buttons. C is 30 second skip for me. and now B fixes the stupid inane MUTE problem! THANKS

    Posted By Evan Evans : Posted At 11/16/05 11:46 AM
  11. OH MY GOD. Thanks!!!

    This was driving me crazy

    Posted By Erik : Posted At 11/30/05 9:34 PM
  12. Wow...thanks for that. I was getting around the problem by using the old remote from my lst comcast set top box that they forgot to take back from me when I got my new DVR. Thanks for the tip.

    Posted By Mark : Posted At 12/6/05 10:38 AM
  13. Another big "thank you!".

    Now, about that 30 second skip...

    Posted By PhillyMac : Posted At 12/18/05 7:49 PM
  14. This is great. Thanks alot. BTW, to comment#5, you seem smart; smarter than my little son calling people dumbass.

    Posted By nathan : Posted At 12/18/05 9:37 PM
  15. Wow! Didn't think I would find a fix that fast. Thanks

    Posted By Josh : Posted At 12/20/05 6:25 PM
  16. thanks man. you are my hero.

    Posted By J nizzle : Posted At 1/6/06 11:26 PM
  17. OMG! Just got a new comcast dvr box and the next night the dang is stuck on mute. Your site is a wonder. It sure beats callin those fools at Comcast.Thanks, you are da bomb!

    Posted By cande : Posted At 1/11/06 9:18 PM
  18. Amazing. I have called comcast support several times and not only was no one able to help me, but they were not even aware of the problem. They treated me poorly and gave me suggestions like, "press the mute button". I will switch out of comcast as soon as i can. in the meantime, thank you.

    Posted By MJM : Posted At 1/22/06 8:18 PM
  19. You and Jeff are awesome. You have saved my marriage, or at least saved me from explaining for the 101st time why her engineer husband can't work a simple dvr. Very nice blog. I hope you are enjoying the States!

    Posted By JasonG : Posted At 1/26/06 5:34 PM
  20. Thank You Jeff. This has been driving me crazy. Your solution worked perfectly. I set the cable box mute to the "A" button. Thanks so much.

    Posted By BarbW : Posted At 1/27/06 11:58 PM
  21. I accidentally programed the mute button to button number one which prevents me now from getting into the "On Demand" with either #1 or the "ON Demand" button. How do you undo a mute mapping to those buttons?

    Posted By Harold : Posted At 2/5/06 10:46 PM
  22. Had Comcast replace the unit- they claimed that it would fix the problem but, HAH!! what do they know. Thank you so much for the fix, I mapped the FAV button and it's perfect!!

    Posted By Hammer : Posted At 2/6/06 7:17 PM
  23. Excellent resource. Thanks! You'd think Comcast would cover this somewhere in the manual... or not. For those that asked, Wikipedia has an excellent entry on the 6412/3412 that also has a method to 'reset' remapped buttions. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_6412#How_To_Restore_a_Remapped_Button

    Posted By DiskDude : Posted At 2/9/06 4:51 PM
  24. Darn, thanks alot. Now I can't blame my stepkids.

    Posted By nadm : Posted At 2/16/06 11:08 PM
  25. I wonder how # 10 configured his button c to fast forward 30 seconds? BTW, thanks for the awesome Mute fix. I have had to leave my TV on so I would not trip on that bug!

    Posted By Jim : Posted At 3/5/06 1:49 PM
  26. One thousand thanks for posting this solution. Great work.

    Posted By RichardZ.com : Posted At 3/21/06 6:29 PM
  27. One thousand thanks for posting this solution. Great work.

    Posted By RichardZ.com : Posted At 3/22/06 6:32 PM
  28. One thousand thanks for posting this solution. Great work.

    Posted By RichardZ.com : Posted At 3/24/06 11:29 AM
  29. Amazing! This problem has been plaguing us for months! I wish I had done this search when it first appeared. Everyone knows you can find any answer you need on the internet!

    Posted By Sharon : Posted At 4/27/06 6:47 PM
  30. Excellent. Thank you for doing this- Comcast had no idea how to fix this, but it now works using this method, and I no longer have to unplug the unit to fix this.

    Posted By me : Posted At 5/16/06 6:20 PM
  31. My husband found your blog and used your solution...worked great the first time. Then he got a new DVR, did it again but this time he programmed the volume button to mute!!! He has ignored the problem but it is driving me crazy...every time I go to turn up the volume b/c I want to hear something, I mute it instead. HELP!!!!

    Posted By Stacy Daniels : Posted At 5/18/06 12:55 PM
  32. THANK YOU Mine was stuck on American Idol finale, I was so upset! THANK YOU

    Posted By Melissa : Posted At 5/24/06 7:17 PM
  33. Jeff,

    I thought I was going to have to watch the World Cup in Mute. Worked like a charm..

    Thanx

    Posted By se102399 : Posted At 6/14/06 1:23 PM
  34. Dude, I thought something was wrong with my DVR. Sick Fix!!! Thanks!

    Posted By B. : Posted At 6/14/06 11:40 PM
  35. you honestly rock... great workaround. nice weblog design and layout.

    Posted By Parham : Posted At 6/23/06 4:19 PM
  36. I knew I would find the answer on the internet--thank you for providing quick, and efficient help with this ridiculous problem!

    Posted By Stinky : Posted At 6/24/06 12:17 PM
  37. You are the definition of 'the man'

    Posted By gtrdlr : Posted At 6/28/06 4:59 AM
  38. Amazing fix. This has been driving me batty for a month now. It only happens when I try to watch something else while recording, so I've had to delete recordings that i scheduled, rather than not watch t.v. until the recording was over. An online search was my last ditch effort before calling comcast tech support. Thank you for saving me from that chore!

    Posted By Carol : Posted At 7/23/06 1:00 PM
  39. you can just press cable /setup/00141 also w/o holding it down

    Posted By Kristina @ comcast : Posted At 7/23/06 1:57 PM
  40. Addressing # 39 Kristina @ comcast

    I know this may paint me as a jerk, but frankly considering how the company you work for treats it's customer base, I do not think I will be alone when I say, get lost.

    Unless you have some information to further enhance this article, no one cares what you have to say.

    This blog article got so popular because your company's customer service sucks, and it takes like minded individuals coming together and sharing their knowledge to bypass the incompetance perpetually forced down our throats by the same.

    If you want to make a meaning full contribution, I say post ALL the remote codes so that any button could be reprogrammed to whatever function a user chooses.

    Otherwise, I just see you as a Comcast representative yelling ME TOO ME TOO long after the fact.

    That's my position, and as the first person to actually post a comment, you best believe I mean it and am sticking to it.

    God I miss my Dish Network, this is the last time I ever move w/o verifying line of sight ahead of time.

    rev

    Posted By Revolutn : Posted At 7/23/06 2:36 PM
  41. Yes, this was AWESOME!!! We spent 2-3 hours trying to figure it out. Then spent an hour on the phone with the Sony folks who guided me that it was a cable box issue. Just typed "comcast mute problem"into Google and VOILA! You rock!

    Posted By Rajeev : Posted At 8/20/06 2:31 PM
  42. Awesome! It's a damned shame that I have to GOOGLE a solution for this; you'd think someone at Comcast would FIX the problem or at least document a workable solution for customers. Thankfully, I'm forced to deal with Comcast for 3 WHOLE months ... then it's back to DirectTV for me. I'd nearly forgotten why I hate cable so intensely.

    Thanks again for the QUICK & EASY solution.

    To katrina@comcast (#39): Duh. Its probably a better use of keystrokes if you inform your colleagues of "your" little "solution".

    Posted By rogers : Posted At 9/5/06 6:03 PM
  43. Fnatasic post. Last time it happened it took me an hour to figure out how to get mute off. This time I thre in the towel and Googled it. Glad I did. Great info! Now, why the heck doesnt comcast have this info???

    Posted By Chris : Posted At 9/6/06 10:12 PM
  44. Thanks so much for the help! The instructions worked right the first time too. Go google.

    Posted By April : Posted At 9/15/06 2:25 PM
  45. Add me to the last of people happy to find a simple fix. I just got my DVR last week and I'm amazed to see that this has been a problem for over a year and Comcast still hasn't fixed it. Wow.

    Posted By Jared : Posted At 9/21/06 11:02 PM
  46. Awesome fix, thank you for posting it. Comcast sucks.

    Posted By Achoo : Posted At 9/26/06 12:19 AM
  47. Thanks SOOOOO much from Oregon. This was driving me nuts!

    Posted By JM : Posted At 9/26/06 12:47 AM
  48. Well, I wondered why the heck my DVR box was doing this. Amazing how one can Google "Comcast DVR" + mute and find the solution listed right there at the top! THANKS!! :)

    Posted By GME : Posted At 9/27/06 12:09 AM
  49. Thanks so much. You'd think Comcast would address this since it is going on year two of a problem.

    Posted By Ray R. Harris : Posted At 9/28/06 8:04 PM
  50. thankyou thankyou thankyou.

    Posted By Bork : Posted At 10/2/06 10:39 PM
  51. Thank you. Can't believe the original date of this fix and 1) it is still a problem, 2) solution is not posted on comcast.com

    Posted By Chance : Posted At 10/8/06 7:48 PM
  52. Thank you so much!!! You're the man!

    Posted By TP : Posted At 10/18/06 8:39 PM
  53. My Adelphia remote doesn't have the setup button. Any suggestions.

    Posted By tom : Posted At 10/29/06 9:45 AM
  54. WOW worked perfectly!

    Posted By Jay : Posted At 11/8/06 4:21 PM
  55. Worked great for me too!

    Posted By PC : Posted At 11/9/06 6:43 PM
  56. I live in Los Angeles and Time-Warner recently bought out Adelphia and so I had them come out and take away my MOXI DVR and replace it with the MOTOROLA DCT6416. Sometimes, newer isn't always better. MOXI had a much better and more user friendly interface. Also, you only had to it one button on the remote to operate your remote. With my new Atlas remote I have to toggle back and forth between tv/cable. Pain in the ass. Now, on my second day of owning this new DVR, I get the MUTE message from my cable box and of course the remote doesn't make it go away. So I call Time-Warner and the recording says it's a 30 minute to talk someone! Amazing! So I hang up, type in a search for cable box mute and come to this great page! I linked the fix to my "A" button, as it wasn't being used and that fixed the problem. (I am 100% sure that had I even gotten through to Time-Warner they would not have known how to solve this problem!)

    Posted By michael : Posted At 11/12/06 1:56 AM
  57. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My husband is hunting and I thought I would have my tv stuck on mute for a week. Thank you!!!!!

    Posted By NMS : Posted At 11/18/06 4:21 PM
  58. Thanks Jeff the fix worked great.

    Posted By Mike : Posted At 11/30/06 6:17 PM
  59. Did you screw up and have the Mute key overwrite another key, like the volume that you didnt want to reassign? Follow these steps to reset the key/keys.

    Press the device key ("Cable", "TV", or "AUX") for the device you want. Press and hold the "Setup" key until the selected device button blinks twice. Type in the code 994. The selected device key will blink twice. Press the key you are restoring twice. The device key will blink twice if successful.

    Posted By Shaun : Posted At 12/7/06 8:22 PM
  60. I got my box from Time/Warner yesterday and ran into this problem today. Excellent fix. I am continually amazed by the availability of this type of information on the net, and I'm grateful to Adam/Jeff and all who contribute these tips here and elsewhere. As for the rant at #40 above, as usual no good deed goes unpunished. Keep up the good work.

    Posted By phil : Posted At 1/9/07 2:03 AM
  61. awesome. thanks guys. this was driving me nuts.

    Posted By andrew : Posted At 1/15/07 10:06 PM
  62. Tom on Comment 63. If you have not solved your problem yet you can do so by programming the volume control and assigning it to the CBL key. The procedure is in the remote users guide Item #7. If you don't have that guide you can E-Mail me at dobepol@adelphia.net

    Posted By Don : Posted At 1/19/07 2:40 PM
  63. There is another great resource at Wikipedia: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR

    Posted By Adam Howitt : Posted At 1/23/07 9:42 AM
  64. For Mediacom Motorola DVR remote with the same problem. press CBL and OK at same time until CBL lights up then press vol + then CBL. This turns on your cable box volume control.

    Posted By Dave : Posted At 2/18/07 5:49 PM
  65. Thanks this was a great quick and easy fix!!

    Posted By pocketheather : Posted At 2/21/07 7:10 PM
  66. great fix! now,however, i have a new problem. i hit "my dvr" and my recordings are simply gone. blank page there. do you think they are lost? is there a way to retrieve them off the drive?

    Posted By Carol : Posted At 2/21/07 9:11 PM
  67. Thanks to everyone for the comments and I'm glad this has been such a big help. In answer to your question Carol, the same happened to us recently and it was because RCN installed some new software. You get a much better set of features but it wipes your DVR to do it. I was told there is no way to recover them...

    Posted By Adam Howitt : Posted At 2/22/07 7:48 AM
  68. Such a life saver. This thing stayed in Mute mode through mid-afternoon while I was gone and my DVR recorded shows (in mute thanks to Comcast). So I called them and asked what to do... 4 people had no clue... YOUR SOLUTION WORKED THE FIRST TIME! BOOYAA!

    Posted By Steven : Posted At 2/17/08 3:28 PM
  69. Thank you ! I called comcast and there suggestion was to bring the box back that it is a hardware failure, IDIOTS !

    Thank you, you rock !

    Posted By Dan : Posted At 4/23/08 9:04 PM
  70. Thank you sooo much! You are a lifesaver!

    Posted By Sonya : Posted At 8/17/08 4:02 PM
  71. i rewired everything today thinking i had a faulty wire somewhere. thanks so much for the info. you would think the idiots at comcast would post this on their site.

    Posted By Doug : Posted At 9/6/09 12:30 AM
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