SKY+ Problems

Francesanne

We've only had SKY since October 2008 and have had no problems whatsoever & love it :T but last night we sat down to watch a couple of programmes we'd dowloaded. Everything was fine to start with but approx. 10 minutes into the programme the picture suddenly froze,juddered & then turned the box off automatically:eek: . We followed trouble shooting advice but we ended going through the same process 3 times and in the end we gave up. Tonight we had exactly the same problems. My husband has checked all the connections and everything seems to be in place. We had no problem watching the TV through SKY but when on the phone to the technical people at SKY the picture suddenly disappeared and we had nothing but a bright blue screen but we still had the volume. We tried all the things the advisor suggested but with no success. He then suggested we fit new scart leads. We don't have any spares in the house but before we go and waste time and money tomorrow, thought I'd appeal for some much needed help.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Can't you borrow one from somewhere else in the house?

bluboy

Sounds like he's clutching at straws to me.

Do you have a tv aerial connected to the back of your sky+ box (as well as the cables from the dish) and an RF to the tv? Some people do, some don't bother, but it allows you to 'tune in' to the sky+ box on your tv like you would a terrestrial channel.
This would at least verify that the sky+ box is carrying the signal from the dish and you will be able to see any recorded programs.

It's more likely that there's something more serious amiss - from the dish, the connection from the dish, the box or the hard drive.

staylor_2

Welcome to the world of Sky, nothing to do with your scarts, all to do with your sky + box.I went through two sky plus boxes and have already went through two hd boxes since october 08. Now on my third and guess what its a refurb! Dont waste your time with Sky trying to sort out their technology and reliability problems. Ditch them and get something more reliable instead.
2 and a half years of problems are not a coincidence or bad luck. Its Skys problems and thats why I am ditching them as soon as.

Moneymaker

What's the make and model number?
See http://sam-radford.me.uk/skyplus.htm

It might help if you set "Auto Standby" to OFF in the menu.

Francesanne

staylor wrote: »

Welcome to the world of Sky, nothing to do with your scarts, all to do with your sky + box.I went through two sky plus boxes and have already went through two hd boxes since october 08. Now on my third and guess what its a refurb! Dont waste your time with Sky trying to sort out their technology and reliability problems. Ditch them and get something more reliable instead.
2 and a half years of problems are not a coincidence or bad luck. Its Skys problems and thats why I am ditching them as soon as.

Can understand why you're fed up but not going to consider throwing the towel in over the 1st problem we've had. My sister's had SKY for years and has never had a single problem. Suppose it's the luck of the draw.

Francesanne

Phantom_Flan_Flinger wrote: »

Can't you borrow one from somewhere else in the house?

We've only got TV/DVD combi in living room. Not a multi TV household. Gave spare leads to Mum.

Francesanne

Moneymaker wrote: »

What's the make and model number?
See http://sam-radford.me.uk/skyplus.htm

It might help if you set "Auto Standby" to OFF in the menu.

It's an AMSTRAD and Model No.is A2S0604. I've switched Auto Standby to off as you've suggested. We've just been checking everything out once again & have done signal test etc., and all is fine. Did a test but tried a different recording and it's doing the same again. It plays for about 10 minutes and then freezes,judders and turns itself off.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

It doesn't sound like a Scart issue.

It seems more like the hard disc to me. I take it you have no other recordings?

pilsdon

I am on my second sky+ box and it went wrong so I checked various forums.
There is often a problem when you store a lot on the machine and if the reboot method
ie switch on and off you may find that you need to reinitialise the disk analgous to defrag a computer.I did the disk clean and reload as I am reasonably ok with techy things .Sky can do some things online as well.But if you do the reinitialise you will lose all your recordings and have to reset the programme series function.I almost bought a new box but gave it a try and have been working as new for 3 months.I also turned sky anytime off as this also loads the disk

if you want to look at more links
http://www.stevelarkins.freeuk.com/sky_tv_guide.htm#Where_to_Buy_a_Cheap_Sky_Digibox

and

http://nice-design.co.uk/blog/sky-plus-system-fault-how-to-fix-faulty-sky-without-a65-callout-fee
If you are not confident go the engineer route and threaten to cancel lots of blogs tell you it works .Good luck

Francesanne

Phantom_Flan_Flinger wrote: »

It doesn't sound like a Scart issue.

It seems more like the hard disc to me. I take it you have no other recordings?

You're right it isn't a skart lead problem. We've just been out and bought a new pair. Got them fitted and the problem is still happening. We've been going through customer services on interactive section and going through all the procedures they're recommending to try. Tempers are getting a little fraught at the moment. Neither of us being very technical minded. We're currently in the process of downloading a new programme and we'll see if it reacts in the same way.