Comcast said temporary connectivity issues between set-tops and data centers that surfaced over the weekend were partly to blame for outages that affected a portion of the MSO’s X1 video customers, noting that a box reboot should fix the issue for most.
"We are aware of outage issues that impacted some X1 customers this weekend,” a Comcast spokesperson said, in a statement. “While service has been restored for most, those who are still experiencing problems will be able to resolve the issue by performing a simple reboot (hold down the green power button on the front of the box for 30 seconds). We know our customers value their TV experience and we apologize for the inconvenience.”
Comcast is still trying to pinpoint the root cause of the problem, but a portion of customers on X1, Comcast’s IP-capable next-gen video platform that features apps and a cloud-based interface, first reported a problem at about 9 p.m. ET on Saturday (November 1) and then again at about 10 p.m. on Sunday (November 2).
It’s not known how many X1 customers were affected, but a subset of them across Comcast’s footprint did experience problems. Comcast hasn’t announced how many of its 22.37 million video subs are on X1, but did note last month that it has deployed about 5 million X1 boxes so far.
While some boxes self-corrected after losing connectivity temporarily, other customers required a set-top reboot.
The @ComcastCares Twitter handle tweeted a message Monday morning that affected customers could restore X1 service by unplugging the cord from the box from the electrical outlet, and waiting 30 seconds before plugging the box back in. While customers reported that doing so solved the issue, others noted that they were still having problems.
Customers also reported about the issue on the Comcast’s X1 customer forum, identifying errors labeled “RDK 00104,” “RDK 03006,” and “XRE 00250.” The RDK is the Reference Design Kit, the preintegrated software bundle in all X1 boxes, while XRE stands for Cross-platform Runtime Environment, a platform-independent protocol for distributed applications. Some X1 customers reported having audio but no video.
Comcast’s X1 platform also suffered an outage last fall that lasted about an hour.
