luv2chill:

If I am not prompted to enter a key on that other XPS 420 then it is conceivable that Dell has used a SLP (system locked preinstallation) key to "preactivate" OCUR support and it would just be a matter of figuring out where that key is stored and what it is. Worse comes to worst the hard drive could be imaged and in theory could be used on another XPS 420 system.

Of course maybe the newer XPS 420 will ask for its product key (or hell, maybe Dell actually did input the actual key on the label before shipping it) but I am definitely interested in the outcome of this. If generic keys are being used it would certainly discredit the notion that CableLabs somehow has complete control over the VMC ecosystem and can disable individual machines if it sees fit. The only way I'd think they could accomplish that would be through disabling of product keys but if systems shipped from OEMs are using generic keys to "preactivate" then it's just a bunch of hooey.

This is a very good point. I am curious if there is a generic preactivated OCUR key as well. From what I can gather, early XPS 410s and 420s shipped with two product key stickers, now they have been combined into one? (Am I right...?) If I am, I would say it's likely there is a generic key....

ChrisCicc:

Hey David, I'd love to see that promo too! (For that matter which HP model offers CableCARD support?) Thanks for the info...

Saw this here...

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/274575.aspx

Followed it to

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=867218

I went though the list, the promo code gave $400 off, tried to price it out (wife says no right now), After code with the specs like on the 1st screen (Quad core, 3gb memory, 320gb, 9300 nvidia, Vista Home Prem w/cable card support), with a single ATI tuner came out to $699 after the $400 off....

This is the system I am leaning torwards (ATX board, transplant to a nice HTPC case).

Looks like it might be dead now...if it is, sorry for posting it...it did work last week...

FYI as I suspected on the XPS 420 with factory-installed OS I was not asked for the digital cable product key (although I did not have a cable card inserted--I just went through the motions as if setting it up to do QAM). It made me wonder if the product key was only required to enter if a cable card was inserted... however I think I just proved that is not the case. I brought the DCT home and connected it on my XPS 420 that I had formatted and re-installed Ultimate on and I was prompted to enter the digital cable product key as soon as I attempted to set up digital cable (even before the screen that informed me no cable card was inserted).

So, hopefully that information is of some use. There are support documents for the DCT that mention that most OEMs "prepopulate" the PID in the registry... as per my previous post I highly doubt that Dell paid some worker to type in my specific key (especially considering that this system came from the Outlet and was not sold with any digital cable tuners). My hunch is that there is some kind of generic key that OEMs use to preactivate the DCT function, just as they use a generic key to preactivate the OS itself. What that key is and where it is stored I still don't know, however. All I know is that the "prepopulated" information is not stored where all the other MS product keys are, as the tools that read those keys (Magical Jellybean, RockXP, etc.) do not see anything other than the Vista SLP key.

So I would imagine there is something "special" about the Vista Home Premium OS image on my 420. Have you actually gone through the motions of setting up the DCTs and had it ask you for the digital cable product key? If you haven't then you should try that, as maybe the support is in all the 420 OS images. Otherwise seems like if you got ahold of a HDD image from a DCT-enabled XPS 420 and had the proper OCUR BIOS that you could proceed through DCT setup without a product key.

All theory of course... I haven't tested any of this, and considering the ruckus you've raised with Dell (they really did make it confusing by not using a different model number for DCT-enabled machines like HP did) maybe they'd just swap you for a 420 that has the key for no charge.

But I would like to get to the bottom of this, as if my digital cable product key was not entered by Dell and was not entered by me then I don't think CableLabs has near as much control as they've said they do. They might be able to disable individual tuners and individual cable cards, but without a unique product key I don't see how they could blacklist the entire PC.

Some food for thought, anyway. Hope you get your situation resolved to your satisfaction.

I got my XPS 420 in January and I had to enter the key manually during the tuner setup. This is not to say that the current image Dell uses for the XPS 420 is still that way, but as far as I know, CableCARD machines periodically phone home to validate the key, so I'd be surprised if Dell was able to use a generic key. Also, my understanding is that if you use the digital cable key to activate Vista instead of the product key, you will no longer be asked to enter the key again during the tuner setup.

Problem Solved:

This update actually happened on Tuesday, but work has prevented me from finding the time to post it until now. Dell was ultimately unable to resolve the issue. Despite escalating it pretty high, and discovering they did indeed have a problem, the only solution they could find was to have me return the computer. They did not offer a discount for a new machine to match the price I paid for the Outlet machine, although I didn't push for it as I was quickly given this solution before I could.

Thankfully this blog got out there to some people, and someone who read it happened to have an unused Digital Cable Product key from a XPS 420 that was returned. Being that it was returned, he guessed it was unused, and sure enough the key activated without issue. Comcast came and installed the CableCARD (although I'm giving them too much credit - they didn't know where to plug the CableCARD into the tuner, and they didn't know how to look up the card's numbers within Media Center. So basically I did the installation and Comcast tried to charge me $80 for it. Yeah right!), and after tweaking the 2400 HD PRO's drivers I was proudly watching Weeds on Showtime in HD in the glourious Media Center UI! Read the whole story here.

The only (minor) issues I now have are a) no XPS 420 Media Center remote and b) my computer won't stay asleep after I plugged in the tuner. Windows logs say a RTC call is waking it up (at random times, it seems). Haven't had time to dig into it, but if anyone has heard about this please let me know...

Superswiss, after I activated my machine with the Digital Cable key it didn't not ask me to activate in windows. And plugging it in without a cable card before activating the key didn't prompt it either...

I'd really like to know for sure too, luv2chill. Especially if the keys do call home periodically. I always thought that cable labs could only inactivate a CableCARD from decoding a signal (and only with the cable company's help by changing the signal sent to the card), I'd be surprised and angry if they legally can adjust the settings of our computers or deactivate them...