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Sky+ Recording Kaput
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Bradfield
Posts: 222 Forumite
Hi Folks
A friend of mine has had Sky+ for about eight months. Last Friday he suddenly found that the recording part was not working although he could get a sky picture.
He was on the phone to sky for about an hour and they talked him through a software update and told him how to access the special menu so he could do a planner rebuild. However, when he tries to activate the planner rebuild all he gets is a black screen.
He is pretty clueless about these things and I was planning to go round to see if there was any way I could help. Sky have arranged for an engineer to call to see him on Friday.
Is it likely to be simply a box failure or are there other things to suspect like loose connections and etc. He does have a couple of cats who like to sniff around the back of the set but he says he cant see any loose connections.
A friend of mine has had Sky+ for about eight months. Last Friday he suddenly found that the recording part was not working although he could get a sky picture.
He was on the phone to sky for about an hour and they talked him through a software update and told him how to access the special menu so he could do a planner rebuild. However, when he tries to activate the planner rebuild all he gets is a black screen.
He is pretty clueless about these things and I was planning to go round to see if there was any way I could help. Sky have arranged for an engineer to call to see him on Friday.
Is it likely to be simply a box failure or are there other things to suspect like loose connections and etc. He does have a couple of cats who like to sniff around the back of the set but he says he cant see any loose connections.
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Comments
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Why mess about with it? let Sky fix it.
Nothing worse than a DIY fix that will only last a few months then when it fails it will be outside warranty, leave well alone.0 -
Kurtis_Blue wrote: »Why mess about with it? let Sky fix it.
Nothing worse than a DIY fix that will only last a few months then when it fails it will be outside warranty, leave well alone.
Yup,sounds like a PSU failure,which means any 'repair' sky talk you thru will only be temporary as it'll fail completely anyway,best get Sky to sort it asap.0 -
Kurtis_Blue wrote: »Why mess about with it? let Sky fix it.
Nothing worse than a DIY fix that will only last a few months then when it fails it will be outside warranty, leave well alone.
I have no intention of messing around with the box, Just wondered about loose connections or any external problem that might contribute to this kind of failure. Sky quoted him quite a largish call out and box replacement fee before he reminded them that it was still under warranty.
I have a sky plus box that I got off ebay and it has worked fine for about three years. But if it starts to fail then I would want to know what the likely reason for the failure is. I would not be in a hurry to pay sky an arm and a leg to fix it.
I noted that there are a couple of sky "insiders" on this forum who probably know what the extent of the sky+ box failures are and it was really to them that I was directing the question and hoping for some explanation of what goes wrong with these boxes.
Thanks for reply anyway.0 -
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If the box is still working as a receiver then a planner rebuild may help.
http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/tv/sky-plus-hd/recording/guide-to-performing-a-planner-rebuild/That gum you like is coming back in style.0 -
I have no intention of messing around with the box, Just wondered about loose connections or any external problem that might contribute to this kind of failure. Sky quoted him quite a largish call out and box replacement fee before he reminded them that it was still under warranty.
I have a sky plus box that I got off ebay and it has worked fine for about three years. But if it starts to fail then I would want to know what the likely reason for the failure is. I would not be in a hurry to pay sky an arm and a leg to fix it.
I noted that there are a couple of sky "insiders" on this forum who probably know what the extent of the sky+ box failures are and it was really to them that I was directing the question and hoping for some explanation of what goes wrong with these boxes.
Thanks for reply anyway.
Most likely due to a PSU (power supply) failure,especially if it's a Thompson box,the PSU can be changed for around £30.A PSU failure can induce a lot of 'oddities' on the nox like failed recordings,unable to play back ect,a planner rebuild or software forced download will only be a short term fix.0 -
If it's under warranty, it's Sky's problem. Once it's not, get a replacement on eBay or similar for less than the cost of a Sky call-out.No free lunch, and no free laptop0
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Thanks for very helpful replies. I take the point that a short term fix might be the very worst thing to do if it only lasts a short while until the warranty runs out.
Useful to know that a common cause of failure is the PSU. Spike got it right when he talked about "oddities" happening. The recording and playback facilities failed and he could not do a planner rebuild, although I believe he did get a software update. At one time the picture went as well but then came back again.
I will let you know what the sky engineer says on friday.0 -
Have a look in the signal menu and make sure that there is a signal shown on input 2, might just be a problem with the connection on the back of the box, good to check the simple things first!
Paul0 -
I had this with an older Thompson HD Box, rung Sky threatened to cancel, ended up with a free New Samsung Box that's been running fine.0
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