HD new box crashing - box fault or software problem
I have had my second hd box installed two and a half weeks ago after the first one, only 2 months old, crashed on numerous occasions.
The second box crashed a few times (froze, no programmes in planner) in the first 10 days so I rang the Sky technician who installed it and he told me to switch it off and to hold down the back up button to download software and ensure any patches missing would be replaced.
Things were fine with the box for about 5 days but it has now crashed three times since (froze, no programmes in planner and also blue screen tonight).
Is it worth doing the download again? Is this more likely to be a software rather than a hardware problem?
The second box crashed a few times (froze, no programmes in planner) in the first 10 days so I rang the Sky technician who installed it and he told me to switch it off and to hold down the back up button to download software and ensure any patches missing would be replaced.
Things were fine with the box for about 5 days but it has now crashed three times since (froze, no programmes in planner and also blue screen tonight).
Is it worth doing the download again? Is this more likely to be a software rather than a hardware problem?
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Comments
The symptoms you describe are indicative of the latest software on the Amstrad models ... a reboot is the only fix.
The software isn't, unfortunately, fixed yet ... although as the engineer suggested a forced update at least you should be on the latest software.
Check in the system details to see which version you are on and please can you log your system details at this link on the Sky forums so that they get a cross section of users with different box/models and the nature of the problem.
Thanks.
Cheers, I have put my details on the sky forum.
If the box continues to crash, is it worth doing the forced download each time rather than just re-booting?
The reason for the forced software update being necessary was that Sky had already provided a set of patches for the Amstrads to take them to .10 (from .6) which fixed some of the more serious issues. They haven't as yet released any more fixes - so no point in doing the forced update again yet nor on a regular basis anyway.
No doubt there will be info on this forum as and when another update is available. Until then - sorry but it's just a reboot. I've tried to remember to do a reboot every couple of days since the forced update so that the locked planner issue doesn't happen to my box as much.
Hope this helps. :cool:
Henry.:):):)
One thing I have noticed since that awful update when rebooting the box it gets the 900 channel up quite quickly and I can the access any channel but if I go to the epg or planner it takes longer to appear on screen and a message come up with "Your Sky + box is initializing please wait" or similar to that from memory.
I wish updates were selective as my STB would never be updated until at least 14 days after they were released and then only if I thought they were bug free because just about every update I can recollect Sky doing they have messed up big time. If that update was just for the good as useless Anytime + I would certainly would not bothered with it even after 14 days in quarantine
Thank you.
Henry.:):):)
Then I tried pressing "select" instead, and it correctly reserved it for viewing, with the blue clock symbol. Pressed "select" again, which cancelled it. Then I pressed the record button and this time it worked.
This happens with just about every major update I can think they have done and it usually takes weeks to sort out and it all because of Anytime+
That's because they also changed the base operating system - but it's obvious they didn't do enough testing.
To be fair they've fixed most of the major issues with .6 in .10 relatively quickly however the empty planner problem remains and they are already "on the case" with that issue according to replies on their own forum.
I'm not aware of any other MAJOR update that has caused the type of problems this last set has - yes it's probably because of a rush to implement Anytime+ and they do have lessons to learn from it. Especially with regards to informing users about a fix release being available.
Just out of curiousity have you done the forced update to alleviate some of the locking problems ?
Have you updated to .10 yet ?
So far doing this for about a week I have had a perfectly behaved 1TB box
No, prior to the Darwin software the new Amstrad HD boxes were 99% better and did not hang or loose the planner contents etc... I never had to power down my 1TB box once before Darwin, now it has to be done daily
i love the sky content, but the niggles infuriate me, the series link working when it wants to, the box freezing or locking up. And this is no different now, from when i had it installed in dec last year. I have a Thompson box now, but i had amstrad before, and the only advantage from the change is the box now does not drop out from the tv on a regular basis, which got to the point where it was unwatchable as the picture would drop out and reset 4 or five times a minute as the box and tv attempted to handshake each other continuously. So the Thompson is an improvement, but only in that.
Don't know what darwin is sorry - presume its a software upgrade/update.... but if it has come in last 12 months it has made no difference to me.
.10 did initially seem to help but in reality it does little to fix the problems
Powering off once a day for 5 mins does a better job that forcing the software download.
FWIW - Darwin is the latest operating system on at least the Amstrads and is open source.
As for the Thomson being an improvement, unless it's had it's PSU upgraded you might be in for a rude awakening with it - your earlier comment about crashes when two items recording might be an early indicator ! There are numerous threads here about Thomson PSU failures, however when the PSU has been upgraded it's a still a good box from most accounts.
The latest Amstrads WERE much better and more reliable until the latest software release(s) (but that's more easily corrected than hardware faults) and have bigger standard disk capacity so can record more programs. I presume when you had an earlier Amstrad model when you had the problems you describe ?
Sorry Annie - can't agree - .10 is much better than .6 at least for me. I've switched off Anytime and the Anytime reminder - with those switched off and upgraded to .10 the only problem I've regularly got is the empty planner and your solution of regular reboots is one I've adopted too (when I can remember to do it).
I'd recommend doing the forced software update.
Do you know, Annie, if that new release (hopefully better tested
http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/latest-news/
Thanks Annie :cool: