We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Sky+ hd box
Options

Poppa_G
Posts: 100 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Hi.
The other day my Sky Box froze so I unplugged from the mains and wiped the viewing card. Everything is fine & dandy, but whilst putting the viewing card back, I noticed a USB connector. Can anyone tell me what this is for?
Can I insert a usb stick, and take programmes from my planner so that I could watch any such programmes on my TV upstairs, which has a usb port?
The other day my Sky Box froze so I unplugged from the mains and wiped the viewing card. Everything is fine & dandy, but whilst putting the viewing card back, I noticed a USB connector. Can anyone tell me what this is for?
Can I insert a usb stick, and take programmes from my planner so that I could watch any such programmes on my TV upstairs, which has a usb port?
0
Comments
-
No but you can use it to charge your phone4.8kWp 12x400W Longhi 9.6 kWh battery Giv-hy 5.0 Inverter, WSW facing Essex . Aint no sunshine ☀️ Octopus gas fixed dec 24 @ 5.74 tracker again+ Octopus Intelligent Flux leccy0
-
That USB connection isn't functional and not all of them provide power.
The Sky box was designed with a USB connector for a portable Sky player under development that was subsequently dropped.
More here.
Even if you could extract programmes via that USB port, you would not be able to watch them on a non Sky+ device as they are encrypted (with the exception of some unencrypted channels such as BBC and C4).
You can extract those unencrypted programmes and watch them on something else, but you need to physically remove the hard drive (not that easy on the current 890 and 895 boxes) and use a programme called ExPVR to extract recordings to your PC. I do that with some music programmes. For example I will record "Later with Jools Holland", extract the whole recording, edit out the music I want to keep and discard the rest. I can then play the video on my media player. That means that I don't have a Sky+ box full of one hour long programmes with only 5 minutes of music that I want to keep.0 -
Thanks Avoriaz, most helpful0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.7K Banking & Borrowing
- 253K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.4K Spending & Discounts
- 243.7K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.8K Life & Family
- 256.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards