Friday, February 1, 2008

Howto: Set up parental controls on Cableone & Comcast DCT Digital Box's

Basic Parental Control Setup

The Parental Control menu allows you to set global controls based on channel or rating. You can also bypass or clear all locks from this menu, and control the display of Adult (and as of version 75.58, TV-MA) titles.

Parental Control setup can be accessed through two methods:

1. Press Menu twice to get to the main menu, select Parental Controls (Parental Control as of software version 75.58)
2. Press Menu twice to get to the main menu, select Setup, select Locks Setup (Parental Control Setup as of software version 75.58)

If you do not have a Locks PIN defined, you will be asked to create one (type in a 4-digit number) and then confirm it.

If you do have a Locks PIN defined, you will need to enter the 4-digit number.

As of software version 75.58, Service Locks and PINs Setup were moved from the main Setup menu to the Parental Control Setup menu.

Title Locks

This is a list of titles that have been locked. You can use the left and right arrow keys to select a title, and then press OK/Select to unlock it. If you do not exit the menu, you can also re-lock it by pressing OK/Select again.
If you have no locked titles, this will display No Title Locks.

(Software version 75.58 or newer)
The first program listed will be the currently viewed program. Otherwise, use the up and down arrow keys to select the program. Press OK/Select to lock or unlock a program.

Locked programs will display a padlock icon.

TV Ratings Locks

Use the left and right arrow keys to select the rating you want to lock, then Press OK/Select to enable or disable the lock.

(Software version 75.58 or newer)
Use the up and down arrow keys to select the rating to lock, then Press OK/Select to enable or disable the lock. If you enable a rating, all stronger ratings will automatically lock (example: locking TVY7 will also lock TVG, TVPG, etc...). If you disable a rating, all weaker ratings will automatically unlock (example: unlocking TVG will also unlock TVY7 and TVY).

Locked ratings will have a padlock icon.

Movie Ratings Locks

Use the left and right arrow keys to select the rating you want to lock, then Press OK/Select to enable or disable the lock.

(Software version 75.58 or newer)
Use the up and down arrow keys to select the rating to lock, then Press OK/Select to enable or disable the lock. If you enable a rating, all strong ratings will automatically lock (example: locking PG-13 will also lock R, NC-17 and Adult). If you disable a rating, all weaker ratings will automatically unlock (example: unlocking PG-13 will also unlock PG and G).

Locked ratings will have a padlock icon.

TV Content Locks

(Software version 75.58 or newer)
This offers 4 categories: Violence, Sexual Situations, Language, Suggestive Dialog. Choose a category. Use the up and down arrow keys to select the rating to lock, then Press OK/Select to enable or disable the lock. If you enable a rating, all stronger ratings will automatically lock. If you disable a rating, all weaker ratings will automatically unlock.

Channel Locks

Use the up and down arrow keys to select the channel you want to lock, then Press OK/Select to enable or disable the lock.
Locked channels will have a padlock icon.

Master Locks

This leads to a sub-menu with two selections:

Bypass Locks

If you change this to Yes and confirm, all title, rating, and channel locks will be bypassed.

Clear all Locks

(This is named Remove all locks in software version 75.58 and newer.)
If you change this to Yes and confirm, all title, rating, and channel locks will be removed.

Adult Titles

(As of software version 75.58, this has been changed to Hide Titles)
Enables or disables the display of Adult titles and descriptions.

When set to Show, Adult titles and descriptions will be displayed as normal in the Guide.
When set to Hide, Adult titles will display as Adult Programming and there will be no program description.

Hide Titles

(This is new in software version 75.58.)
Enables or disables the display of Adult or TV-MA titles and descriptions.

Use the up and down arrow keys to select the option you want, then press OK/Select to enable that option.

Hidden titles will display as Adult Programming or TV-MA Programming in the Guide and there will be no program description.

PINs Setup

These options allow you to clear or create Personal Identification Numbers (PINs).

As of software version 75.58, this has been moved into the Parental Control Setup menu.

The Locks PIN is used for Parental Control.

The Purchase PIN is used for approving PPV and OnDemand purchases.

Enter new Locks PIN

This is only shown if you do not have a Locks PIN defined.
To create a PIN, type in a 4 digit number. You will then be asked to re-type it to confirm.

To clear, enter current Locks PIN

This is only shown if you DO have a Locks PIN defined.
Type in the 4 digit number to clear the PIN. With no Locks PIN, Parental Control is disabled.

Enter new Locks PIN

This is only shown if you do not have a Purchase PIN defined.
To create a PIN, type in a 4 digit number. You will then be asked to re-type it to confirm.

To clear, enter current Purchase PIN

This is only shown if you DO have a Purchase PIN defined.
Type in the 4 digit number to clear the PIN. With no Purchase PIN, anybody can order a PPV or OnDemand movie.

If power is lost...

If power is lost, would you like to lock all programs until ratings and titles are restored?
This is only shown if you DO have a Locks PIN defined.
If set to No, anybody can view programs, even if the program guide does not have information about it and displays To Be Announced as the title.
If set to Yes, programs cannot be shown until the guide data is received and matches any parental control settings.

Service Locks Setup

This option allows you to enable or disable locks for services such as OnDemand. You must have a Locks PIN defined.

As of version 75.58, this has been moved into the Parental Control Setup menu.

After entering your Locks PIN, there will be a list of supported services.
Use the arrow keys to select the service.
Press OK/Select to lock or unlock a service.

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