Just spoken to Sky Cancelations as I can get the same package with virgin at the same price.
Lovely lady appologised offered a free engineer call out ....which I took
and a loss of viewing credit
made me laugh when she said engineer would service box....which by now we know is not going to work but would replace it for a new box if he cannot resolve issue
I think I have an AMSTRAD Sky+ PVR, I haven't has the update yet.
What exactly does the update do, is it the new EPG that the Sky+ HD users got?
I usually get updates pretty quickly, (but it's 24th Nov) and I'm still non the wiser about this update. My PVR is un-modded though, so I don't foresee any problems...
Anyone enlighten me as to what this update actually does??
Went to my brothers over the weekend, I updated his Amstrad box about 4 years ago with a Maxtor 250Gb hard drive, as he has just upgraded to HD I asked if I could have his old box "for testing purposes", came home and plugged it in, planner problem is non-existent, however instant rewind doesn't work :mad: Have checked all settings and it is on, going to do a full sytem re-set and re-download latest software to see what happens, I still have my Pace box sitting next to it ready to swap back if they ever fix it!
The software update has affected my Sky+HD box - some programmes set up in the planner have failed to record . However I'm not getting the "Please wait " problem or blue screen . I can now tell if a programme added to the planner to record later will fail as the option to cancel the recording using the R button is missing from the list of options detailed at the bottom - in it's place is the option select backup to return .
Having switched Auto-standby off I had 2 days of no problems on Friday and Saturday. Sunday and today have brought back the same old "Failed" recordings and non-responding box even though it has not been in standby for 4 days now.
My box does respond to a complete power off - must be at least 20 seconds though, something about capacitors discharging an engineer once told me.
This is becoming a joke i rang c/s and wot a waste of time and money that was its gettin to the point that i just want to beat the crap out of my sky box and never see one again but i will miss being able to record my programs
Update 16.50
Sky called to say it is still running tests to figure out what exactly has gone wrong. Its spokesman said it'll have news tomorrow morning, when we'll cobble a fresh story together.
Update 16.50
Sky called to say it is still running tests to figure out what exactly has gone wrong. Its spokesman said it'll have news tomorrow morning, when we'll cobble a fresh story together.
I've contacted Watchdog about this via their website @ www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog Figured the more poeple that complain to them about Sky the more likely they are to run with the story.
Suggest as many people as possible do the same. Strngth in numbers and all that.
Hehe - He's refering to the facility of some drives to have acoustic management.
Ahh! I didnt associate AAM which I hadnt heard of with acoustic management which I have heard of. That'll be the same acoustic management that HP use to make their desktop PC's really quiet but painfully slow
I think Sky have applied some reverse AAM to the cooling fan in my updated Sky+ box. I come downstairs in the morning and I am welcomed to a rather annoying 'is the neighbour hoovering' type noise from the Sky+ box.
Same problem as everyone else. 250Gb Samsung drive fitted to a Pace V2 box a good while back.
I've been having occasional failed recordings over the past few months, cause - power cut - which there never was, so I assumed the PSU was on its way out.
I've since upgraded to an HD+ box and was about to fork out for a repalcement PSU to fix the old box and keep as a spare when I stumbled on this thread.
I've now put the original 40Gb drive back in after copying from the Samsung with copy+ and so far it seems ok. I can get into the planner every time now, even after a power cycle.
I'll post again if it reverts back to 'please wait'.
Been having the same problems with my Pace V2 since Thursday (strangely enough not sooner).
Rang Sky Friday and spoke to a very nice young lady who, after the usual fight to make her realise I'm not a techno-moron, told me that the problem was one that Sky was aware of, and that the engineers were working to get a solution asap. She suggested waiting two to three days to see if the problem was resolved. If not, ring again.
Presume three days because of the weekend?!?
Rang again today and spoke to a very officious and self important pillock who stated catagorically that "there is no known problem with software updates". I argued that the box was fine before the much publicised update, and it isn't now, so it must be something to do with them...
She wasn't interested and could only offer me a service call at £65
I kept my calm and was very polite at all times and said I'll probably cancel my subscription over this matter, even though I'd subscribed to Sky since it's earliest days.
The reply was basically "suit yourself"!:mad:
I then rang again and spoke to a very understanding young man who went off to speak to his manager for a few minutes and came back saying they DO know of a problem and were working to resolve it, but in his opinion it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, so would I like a free service call on Wednesday for a technician to swap out my box?
I told him it was a modded box (120gig Maxtor) and he said something along the lines of "don't forget to take your 120gig hdd out before he calls or you'll loose it"
Been doing a few experiments with various HDD's I've got kicking around since the box is faulty anyway (ho,ho).:p
Basically, can't get any HDD over 40 gig to work, but everything 40 or under (that didn't come out of The Ark) seems to work fine !?!?
I found this thread last night after having moved to Sky HD on saturday because of not being able to have confidence in a planed program being recorded. I registered last night so that I could pass on a discovery I made while I was still trying to use my Pace v2 box.
I was going through the full re-boot operation too but it would only be successful if it restarted with the 'searching for listings' screen. If it started directly with 998 sky info program then it still wouldn't access the hard drive.
The Answer (still only temporary but worked every time) was inspired by the re-set instructions for my eeePC was to:- Unplug power supply,,Hold power button on box in for 5 to 9 seconds,, Reconnect power, wait for usual couple of minutes and press on button.
When I press the on button with the power disconnected with my ear close to the button I can hear a faint squirt noise like actually listening to a capacitor discharging.
Hope this helps some of you, I found it a faster fix tha a full reboot
I have been experiencing the same problems since last Monday.
I have been pulling the mains plug and rebooting in order to gain access to the planner. Sometime I would have to repeat the process in order to access the planner.
I have a PVR2
Pace
6.2.03
9F2104
1.31B07
5.04.e
4 year old 160gb Maxtor 4R160L0 drive
After reading the last 20 pages I have turned off the Auto Standby. Let's hope this will be a work around!
If any of you get a free service call from a sky engineer DONT let them take your old box away. I had an argument with them a couple of years ago now when in this exact same situation they wanted to take away my old modded box and replace with a new one. It turned out my problem was of worn lnb's on the dish which the engineer had replaced and then he wanted to take the old box away and replace it with a new one as this was standard practice. I argued and asked at least let me take the HD out as it had hours of recorded programmes I wanted to keep. He said he could not do this and I stood firm. I ended up on his mobile talking first to customer services and then when they refused to budge on the issue to cancellations. My argument was that I had owned the box for two years and it was mine not theirs to do with as I please. They eventually backed down and the engineer said it was the first time ever that he had left a box with a customer after replacing it with a new one. It is possible folks to get or keep what is rightfully yours if you dig your heals in. Be strong people
Been doing a few experiments with various HDD's I've got kicking around since the box is faulty anyway (ho,ho).:p
Basically, can't get any HDD over 40 gig to work, but everything 40 or under (that didn't come out of The Ark) seems to work fine !?!?
I have noticed the Maxtor Fireball 3 40GB (2F040L0) HDD still works normally.
Is the Sky software checking the reported HDD size on boot-up or is it something else?
If you have a spare HDD and time for another experiment, what happens if you change the reported size of a bigger drive down to 40GB using a HDD utility like Seagate Seatools. Does it then work?
I have noticed the Maxtor Fireball 3 40GB (2F040L0) HDD still works normally.
Is the Sky software checking the reported HDD size on boot-up or is it something else?
If you have a spare HDD and time for another experiment, what happens if you change the reported size of a bigger drive down to 40GB using a HDD utility like Seagate Seatools. Does it then work?
I'll try and make time to have a go at this tommorrow, but what with having the morning off Weds for the Service Engineer, and the time I spent playing with my Sky+ box today (when I should have been working )...
I'd love to try my original Maxtor 40Gb, but it went "tits up" a few months ago after long and faithfull service (3 years plus) in a lanbox enclosure, and like a numpty I binned it!
If any of you get a free service call from a sky engineer DONT let them take your old box away. I had an argument with them a couple of years ago now when in this exact same situation they wanted to take away my old modded box and replace with a new one. It turned out my problem was of worn lnb's on the dish which the engineer had replaced and then he wanted to take the old box away and replace it with a new one as this was standard practice. I argued and asked at least let me take the HD out as it had hours of recorded programmes I wanted to keep. He said he could not do this and I stood firm. I ended up on his mobile talking first to customer services and then when they refused to budge on the issue to cancellations. My argument was that I had owned the box for two years and it was mine not theirs to do with as I please. They eventually backed down and the engineer said it was the first time ever that he had left a box with a customer after replacing it with a new one. It is possible folks to get or keep what is rightfully yours if you dig your heals in. Be strong people
I admire your balls Jim, and I'll try it on, but seeings as how they are offering me a new box (actually refurb in all probability) in exchange for my old one in order to solve this problem, I don't feel I can push it quite so hard. Especially when you consider the 'broken' box is donkeys years old and was not purchased from sky in the first place.
To be honest, I just want use the service for which I pay and watch TV. I'm not looking for any more...
What really p*sses me off though, is the lying, sanctimonious bitch I spoke to the second time I called Murdoch's Mafia.
Same issues with my box... Pace V2 I think with 250Gb Upgrade...
Been thinking that he box or HDD had failed and was on the verge of upgrading to HD (or maybe getting a new standard Sky + box).
This was a box off Ebay, so no idea of it's real age...
Very annoying this, but good to know I'm not alone...
Will email Watchdog in a moment with my complaint...
Cheers for all the info everyone... feel a part of a group of others that are suffering like me now, which although not a solution, makes me feel a bit better.
Tried the fix several times now. Forced download, planner reset etc etc. Followed the fix instructions from here and the Sky website but guess what ! as soon as the box comes out of standby, no planner and "please wait":mad:
Carry out the ritual "fix" and planner back until auto standby. Any more ideas on this other than turn off auto standby? I do not want to go back to 40gb because I have no idea where the missus has put the original drive:rolleyes:
Had a rather unsatisfactory follow-up reply from CSsupport yesterday. I paraphrase slightly for comic effect.......but basically, 'sorry to hear about the trouble, our engineers are working on it, if I don't hear from you within 7 days I'll close this complaint and forget all about it'
Be assured I won't stop reminding them at 6 day intervals until it's resolved one way or the other.
As has been said before on this thread, it's important we try and retain some sort of moral high-ground on this. Constant attempts to get free upgrades and the like will hurt the cause.
<GRUMP_MODE/>
Personally, I loathe and detest Sky and the way they operate, this current SNAFU is typical of their attitude to customers (particularly long-standing ones, it seems), but the simple truth is that they are the only place I can get access to the TV I want to watch, so I'm stuck with them. I'd love to cancel my contract with them, but that would hurt me more than them.
Comments
Lovely lady appologised offered a free engineer call out ....which I took
and a loss of viewing credit
made me laugh when she said engineer would service box....which by now we know is not going to work but would replace it for a new box if he cannot resolve issue
So obvious how did we miss that fix!
Schoolboy error
What exactly does the update do, is it the new EPG that the Sky+ HD users got?
I usually get updates pretty quickly, (but it's 24th Nov) and I'm still non the wiser about this update. My PVR is un-modded though, so I don't foresee any problems...
Anyone enlighten me as to what this update actually does??
FYI Amstrad Box details
Amstrad
A150512
4F2001
1.31B03
5.03g
My box does respond to a complete power off - must be at least 20 seconds though, something about capacitors discharging an engineer once told me.
No change in software details etc.
Pace
6.2.03
9F2106
1.31B07
5.04.e
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/24/sky_plus_bug/
Update 16.50
Sky called to say it is still running tests to figure out what exactly has gone wrong. Its spokesman said it'll have news tomorrow morning, when we'll cobble a fresh story together.
Has it gone backwards? Have they reversed the change? Can I switch my Auto-Standby back on again?
Regards
he he consider it fixed if it's on there !
Suggest as many people as possible do the same. Strngth in numbers and all that.
Ahh! I didnt associate AAM which I hadnt heard of with acoustic management which I have heard of. That'll be the same acoustic management that HP use to make their desktop PC's really quiet but painfully slow
I think Sky have applied some reverse AAM to the cooling fan in my updated Sky+ box. I come downstairs in the morning and I am welcomed to a rather annoying 'is the neighbour hoovering' type noise from the Sky+ box.
I've been having occasional failed recordings over the past few months, cause - power cut - which there never was, so I assumed the PSU was on its way out.
I've since upgraded to an HD+ box and was about to fork out for a repalcement PSU to fix the old box and keep as a spare when I stumbled on this thread.
I've now put the original 40Gb drive back in after copying from the Samsung with copy+ and so far it seems ok. I can get into the planner every time now, even after a power cycle.
I'll post again if it reverts back to 'please wait'.
Been having the same problems with my Pace V2 since Thursday (strangely enough not sooner).
Rang Sky Friday and spoke to a very nice young lady who, after the usual fight to make her realise I'm not a techno-moron, told me that the problem was one that Sky was aware of, and that the engineers were working to get a solution asap. She suggested waiting two to three days to see if the problem was resolved. If not, ring again.
Presume three days because of the weekend?!?
Rang again today and spoke to a very officious and self important pillock who stated catagorically that "there is no known problem with software updates". I argued that the box was fine before the much publicised update, and it isn't now, so it must be something to do with them...
She wasn't interested and could only offer me a service call at £65
I kept my calm and was very polite at all times and said I'll probably cancel my subscription over this matter, even though I'd subscribed to Sky since it's earliest days.
The reply was basically "suit yourself"!:mad:
I then rang again and spoke to a very understanding young man who went off to speak to his manager for a few minutes and came back saying they DO know of a problem and were working to resolve it, but in his opinion it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, so would I like a free service call on Wednesday for a technician to swap out my box?
I told him it was a modded box (120gig Maxtor) and he said something along the lines of "don't forget to take your 120gig hdd out before he calls or you'll loose it"
Been doing a few experiments with various HDD's I've got kicking around since the box is faulty anyway (ho,ho).:p
Basically, can't get any HDD over 40 gig to work, but everything 40 or under (that didn't come out of The Ark) seems to work fine !?!?
I was going through the full re-boot operation too but it would only be successful if it restarted with the 'searching for listings' screen. If it started directly with 998 sky info program then it still wouldn't access the hard drive.
The Answer (still only temporary but worked every time) was inspired by the re-set instructions for my eeePC was to:- Unplug power supply,,Hold power button on box in for 5 to 9 seconds,, Reconnect power, wait for usual couple of minutes and press on button.
When I press the on button with the power disconnected with my ear close to the button I can hear a faint squirt noise like actually listening to a capacitor discharging.
Hope this helps some of you, I found it a faster fix tha a full reboot
I have been pulling the mains plug and rebooting in order to gain access to the planner. Sometime I would have to repeat the process in order to access the planner.
I have a PVR2
Pace
6.2.03
9F2104
1.31B07
5.04.e
4 year old 160gb Maxtor 4R160L0 drive
After reading the last 20 pages I have turned off the Auto Standby. Let's hope this will be a work around!
I have noticed the Maxtor Fireball 3 40GB (2F040L0) HDD still works normally.
Is the Sky software checking the reported HDD size on boot-up or is it something else?
If you have a spare HDD and time for another experiment, what happens if you change the reported size of a bigger drive down to 40GB using a HDD utility like Seagate Seatools. Does it then work?
I'll try and make time to have a go at this tommorrow, but what with having the morning off Weds for the Service Engineer, and the time I spent playing with my Sky+ box today (when I should have been working
I'd love to try my original Maxtor 40Gb, but it went "tits up" a few months ago after long and faithfull service (3 years plus) in a lanbox enclosure, and like a numpty I binned it!
I admire your balls Jim, and I'll try it on, but seeings as how they are offering me a new box (actually refurb in all probability) in exchange for my old one in order to solve this problem, I don't feel I can push it quite so hard. Especially when you consider the 'broken' box is donkeys years old and was not purchased from sky in the first place.
To be honest, I just want use the service for which I pay and watch TV. I'm not looking for any more...
What really p*sses me off though, is the lying, sanctimonious bitch I spoke to the second time I called Murdoch's Mafia.
(Appologies for the bad...)
Been thinking that he box or HDD had failed and was on the verge of upgrading to HD (or maybe getting a new standard Sky + box).
This was a box off Ebay, so no idea of it's real age...
Very annoying this, but good to know I'm not alone...
Will email Watchdog in a moment with my complaint...
Cheers for all the info everyone... feel a part of a group of others that are suffering like me now, which although not a solution, makes me feel a bit better.
Cheers,
Terry.
Carry out the ritual "fix" and planner back until auto standby. Any more ideas on this other than turn off auto standby? I do not want to go back to 40gb because I have no idea where the missus has put the original drive:rolleyes:
Be assured I won't stop reminding them at 6 day intervals until it's resolved one way or the other.
As has been said before on this thread, it's important we try and retain some sort of moral high-ground on this. Constant attempts to get free upgrades and the like will hurt the cause.
<GRUMP_MODE/>
Personally, I loathe and detest Sky and the way they operate, this current SNAFU is typical of their attitude to customers (particularly long-standing ones, it seems), but the simple truth is that they are the only place I can get access to the TV I want to watch, so I'm stuck with them. I'd love to cancel my contract with them, but that would hurt me more than them.
</GRUMP_MODE>