Parental locking bug disables Unlock all TV for 4 hours feature

athoma00 · ‎03-04-2010

Turning on the "Lock adult programs" feature under Options > Parental locking will cause the "Turn off locking" feature to disappear.

So long as this option is NOT enabled:

You are presented with choice to "Unlock all TV for 4 hours" when selecting a locked channel.
Able to select "Turn off locking" on the main parental locking page under Options.
You can still view Adult Titles in the VOD area.

(these are all expected behaviors)

However, when you enable this option:

You are only presented with option to "Don't unlock" or "Unlock the program" when selecting a locked channel. Therefore only being able to unlock one channel at a time. (Unexpected behavior)
The "Turn off locking" button on the main parental locking page under Options disappears. (Unexpected behavior)
The Adult Titles in VOD area DO NOT display adult title information without PIN. (Expected behavior)

Is this a known bug?

SomeJoe7777 · ‎01-30-2008

I would say it's a bug, yes. However, I have not heard of it before on this forum, so I would say it was not a "known" bug (although it is now ).

The "Turn Off Locking" option should remain in the Parental Controls menu regardless of the state of the Adult Locking option. This is the bug.

Your #1 in the second list I don't think is a bug -- that's expected behavior if you select a locked channel without turning off Parental Locking. Thus, it's not a bug, but an additional inconvenience that is caused by the bug of being unable to turn off locking for 4 hours.

Thus, if you have Adult Locking turned on, and you want to turn off locking for 4 hours, instead of a 1-step process as it should be (go to the Parental Locking menu, select Turn Off Locking for 4 hours), it is now a 3-step process (go to Parental Locking menu, turn off Adult Locking, then Turn Off Locking for 4 hours, then at the end of the 4 hours turn Adult Locking back on). Note that you can't go back into the Parental Locking menu and turn Adult Locking back on immediately, because it turns the 4 hour temporary unlock off as soon as you save the setting.

If you turn on Adult Locking, the best way to handle it is to individually unlock each channel using the PIN rather than attempting to turn off locking for 4 hours, lest you forget to re-enable the Adult Locking.

Also, you won't have to enter the PIN and unlock on every channel change, because the individual channel unlock will unlock the channel for the duration of the currently in-progress program. Thus you can leave the channel during a commercial and check out other channels, and come back without re-entering the PIN for the duration of the program.

athoma00 · ‎03-04-2010

SomeJoe7777 wrote:
.....

Your #1 in the second list I don't think is a bug -- that's expected behavior if you select a locked channel without turning off Parental Locking. Thus, it's not a bug, but an additional inconvenience that is caused by the bug of being unable to turn off locking for 4 hours

Normal behavior when selecting a locked channel WITH Parental Locking enabled but Adult locking NOT enabled is three options, 1. Unlock program 2. Don't unlock program 3. Unlock TV for 4 hours. When "Adult locking" is turned on then you only get 2 options when selecting a locked channel. Thus why I called it "unexpected behavior".

Which based on other threads I've read this is a related issue as people are wondering what happened to the "Unlock TV for 4 hours" option when selecting a locked channel and probably don't realize that it is due to the "Adult locking" being turned on.

It is a major inconvenience and should be address with a software update.

SomeJoe7777 · ‎01-30-2008

athoma00 wrote:

Normal behavior when selecting a locked channel WITH Parental Locking enabled but Adult locking NOT enabled is three options, 1. Unlock program 2. Don't unlock program 3. Unlock TV for 4 hours. When "Adult locking" is turned on then you only get 2 options when selecting a locked channel. Thus why I called it "unexpected behavior".

Which based on other threads I've read this is a related issue as people are wondering what happened to the "Unlock TV for 4 hours" option when selecting a locked channel and probably don't realize that it is due to the "Adult locking" being turned on.

It is a major inconvenience and should be address with a software update.

Ah, now I understand. So the "Unlock for 4 hours" option is actually gone in two places -- on the Parental Controls menu, and on the individual channel menu when tuning to a locked channel.

You're right, that's a 2nd bug, and a major inconvenience.

rachelmac654321 · ‎10-16-2010

After a 30 minute call yesterday, I finally convinced a representative to go look at the system updates, and sure enough it was logged into the documentation as a feature that was removed. That is about dumb!!!!

If a user wants to just sit and channel surf, they can't. So ANNOYING!!!

I was told by a representative today that you can make comments here:

http://uverseonline.att.net/contactus

Beware, it's only 400 characters and that includes spaces!!!

bkdamon · ‎12-15-2010

I want to thank you for explaining this problem so clearly.

I just came to Uverse from DirecTV and I was having a hard time trying to find out why I couldn't access the 4 hour function as described.

I have filed a complaint and hope they can address this problem. Surely Uverse can provide at the least what DTV is able to. We'll see... I need airtight access since I have a 15 year old and if Uverse can't do it I may have to return to DTV since I can't risk accidental exposure to adult material if I forget to reset the control. This needs to be easy to do, not hard.

BeeBeeSA · ‎06-26-2009

Beware that this contact us is ONLY for the Uverse Online services (where you can view shows on line). The page states this:

Thank you for visiting AT&T U-verse Online. If you have not already please visit the FAQ page for this website which addresses some common concerns of our site.

For questions or concerns related to AT&T Residential or Business Services including AT&T U-verse Television, Digital Television, Wireless Support, High Speed Internet/DSL, and Home Phone please visit www.att.com/esupport or call (800) 288-2020.

rachelmac654321 wrote:
After a 30 minute call yesterday, I finally convinced a representative to go look at the system updates, and sure enough it was logged into the documentation as a feature that was removed. That is about dumb!!!!

If a user wants to just sit and channel surf, they can't. So ANNOYING!!!

I was told by a representative today that you can make comments here:

http://uverseonline.att.net/contactus

Beware, it's only 400 characters and that includes spaces!!!

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