Pace Box, New EPG Sound drop outs now constant!

Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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Enough is enough Sky.

Ever since we got the new EPG on our Pace box last year there have been regular, irritating sound drop outs on live TV. ITV HD are one of the worst but loads of channels (including Sky ones) have it, too.

I have contacted Sky to be fobbed off with the 'claim' they know nothing and it must be my box and they will come out but only if I pay Sky £65.

Yet the forums (including their own) have many complaints of an identical nature and it is blatantly obvious they have to be aware of the reality - which seems to me that the older (3 years in our case) smallest hdd boxes are struggling with the new EPG software in some way.

I have put up with this like others sure Sky must be working on the problem despite their rebuff to me and others who contacted them.

Now today the drop outs became permanent - with the sound going off, returning, off, on etc in a never ending cycle making viewing impossible.

I rebooted to zero effect - as I knew there would be from past attempts - and now have had enough.

Is anyone else with this issue finding that it has suddenly deteriorated today to the point you can no longer access certain channels in any usable way?
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Comments

  • Marti SMarti S Posts: 5,763
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    You have said before this was happening before the new EPG, so chances are your box developed a fault before you got the new EPG.

    Maybe you need to accept it was nothing to do with the new EPG and your box just developed a hardware fault. In which case Sky are not fobbing you off.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    This started for me the same week the new EPG arrived. And it did for many others as well given the posts. So I am pretty sure the new EPG and its issues with the older non Amstrad boxes is behind this. Far too much of a coincidence that we all started getting the sound drop outs and the pixelation glitches (also ongoing) that week.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    i think it would be fair to see that the CS person you spoke to won't have any knowledge of any "ongoing threads" in forums. unless it gets flagged up on their system whilst going thru the set support questions then they won't know anything about it.

    also, using support forums as a basis to judge a wide-spread forum can be misleading, as you generally don't get everyone who doesn't have a problem posting that everything is a-ok.

    i see you have 3 options going forward

    1) pay the £65 and get a replacement box, hopefully you'll get an amstrad drx890.
    2) bin the box and buy a replacement box yourself
    3) go thru to cancellations and go down that route to see if you get a free call-out.

    don't blame to people you speak to though. guaranteed they won't have any support notice about possible sound drops out possibly caused by an EPG upgrade.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    I actually contacted Sky's own official forum help system. I was aware that calling customer services was going to be pointless.

    I paid £300 to buy this box in 2009 to replace the £300 box I bought with Sky HD in 2006 that was KOd by the PSU problems.

    So I am extremely reluctant to buy yet another full price box when new customers are getting better boxes for free.

    May be a loyal Sky customer since 1989 but not going to be taken for a ride.

    If needs be I will send a polite e mail to the boss if I run out of patience here.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    I actually contacted Sky's own official forum help system. I was aware that calling customer services was going to be pointless.

    I paid £300 to buy this box in 2009 to replace the £300 box I bought with Sky HD in 2006 that was KOd by the PSU problems.

    So I am extremely reluctant to buy yet another full price box when new customers are getting better boxes for free.

    new customers in any business always get a better deal, that's just the way it goes.

    £65 will get you a replacement box, might even be an amstrad.
    or as i said, go down the cancellation route and try to call their bluff, but be prepared to follow it thru if they don't.
  • OrbitalzoneOrbitalzone Posts: 12,627
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    Many of us just fork out money for new boxes unlike others who seem to get lucky and get a free brand new box every time they threaten to leave Sky!

    I paid £250 for a crappy Thomson then when that finally drove me nuts I got a DRX890 then when that blew up I got a 1TB DRX 895 for £150 from Sky about a week before they started to give them away for £49.....

    some of us just don't seem to get lucky..... :P
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 16
    Forum Member
    Marti S wrote: »
    You have said before this was happening before the new EPG, so chances are your box developed a fault before you got the new EPG.

    Maybe you need to accept it was nothing to do with the new EPG and your box just developed a hardware fault. In which case Sky are not fobbing you off.

    There are loads of us with the same irritating sound drop out problems on our Pace boxes. People have posted on here, avforums and Sky's own forum. There are plenty of long ongoing threads regarding this issue.

    The problems DID start with the EPG update in November, briefly disappeared when we reverted to the old EPG, but we are now permanently stuck with the issues (unless there is a firmware fix).

    These problems are not imaginary. Nevertheless I stopped posting on here. I am not after sympathy. I have written to Sky twice and been ignored, phone calls are useless.

    Time to cancel!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 80
    Forum Member
    Hi jaycee dove

    I rang sky up the week before xmas about my Samsung box and the totally unwatchable poor quality picture low resolution pixeling etc. After a bit of polite conversation about how I have virgin media for my BB and phone and that fact that I could move my tv services to them I was finally offered the drx895 2tb box for £49. So it my be worth a call to see just what you can get the box is a lot more responsive and its all a myth about them being a poorer picture quality than the Samsung and pace boxes its just as good if not better.
  • Marti SMarti S Posts: 5,763
    Forum Member
    There are loads of us with the same irritating sound drop out problems on our Pace boxes. People have posted on here, avforums and Sky's own forum. There are plenty of long ongoing threads regarding this issue.

    The problems DID start with the EPG update in November, briefly disappeared when we reverted to the old EPG, but we are now permanently stuck with the issues (unless there is a firmware fix).

    These problems are not imaginary. Nevertheless I stopped posting on here. I am not after sympathy. I have written to Sky twice and been ignored, phone calls are useless.

    Time to cancel!

    I know others have the same problem but they dident have it go wrong several days before the new EPG was sent to their box and I havent heard any of them say it had got so bad the box was now unusable.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 437
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    i have a sky (amstrad) 1.5tb box that is about 14 months old. and i also have have a sound dropout problem which seems to have developed after the the big EPG launch... to be honest i don't watch too much tv and thought it was problem with my surround amp or centre speaker..... but after a few months of living with the problem, i dont get the issue wit my xbox 360, ps3, apple tv or human you view box all connected via hdmi into my amp..... so the common denominator is my amp (although the sound on sky is through toslink - dd5.1)

    it certainly does seem strange.....
  • simon194simon194 Posts: 1,888
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    Enough is enough Sky.

    Ever since we got the new EPG on our Pace box last year there have been regular, irritating sound drop outs on live TV. ITV HD are one of the worst but loads of channels (including Sky ones) have it, too.

    I have contacted Sky to be fobbed off with the 'claim' they know nothing and it must be my box and they will come out but only if I pay Sky £65.

    Yet the forums (including their own) have many complaints of an identical nature and it is blatantly obvious they have to be aware of the reality - which seems to me that the older (3 years in our case) smallest hdd boxes are struggling with the new EPG software in some way.

    I have put up with this like others sure Sky must be working on the problem despite their rebuff to me and others who contacted them.

    Now today the drop outs became permanent - with the sound going off, returning, off, on etc in a never ending cycle making viewing impossible.

    I rebooted to zero effect - as I knew there would be from past attempts - and now have had enough.

    Is anyone else with this issue finding that it has suddenly deteriorated today to the point you can no longer access certain channels in any usable way?

    Which version of the EPG is it? I've sort of lost track of which is the current production version.

    My Pace box has been fine with the 13.00P version and the lastest 16.00P beta release with probably not more that a couple of dropouts an evening. I just wish they would sort out the judder on HD channels when switching from a SD channel to a HD channel when the resolution is set to Automatic.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    We got the new software update overnight (as I predicted on here with my psychic powers a day or two ago :))

    In reality I predicted it because both our Samsung and Pace boxes started acting strangely this week EXACTLY as they did in the few days prior to getting the new EPG software last year.

    I said then that in my experience the new software is dormant in a box for a short time before activated by the update and this can lead to issues increasing in the interim day or two.

    I was told on here that does not happen but I have been with Sky years and seen it occur before so I bet this might be what was occurring this week.

    And - bingo - the Samsung got new software on Tuesday and the Pace overnight today.

    Not psychic or a coincidence.

    Seems it has resolved the long gap between pressing play and the sound emerging from amps that was another 'new feature' of the latest EPG. Which is good news and offers hope it might help the (I am sure related) sound drop outs as these - like the sound returning late - onkly occurred over optical.

    Fingers crossed. But this issue is/was real and did start the week the new EPG arrived and was reported to Sky.

    Looks like they have been trying to fix it. It would have been nice if instead of telling us to fork out £65 needlessly they would have just been straight and said the truth. I would have been happy to wait knowing they were on to the case.

    Anyhow, let us hope the big problems yesterday were a result of the latent software and now it is here all will be well.
  • scepticsceptic Posts: 400
    Forum Member
    I was very attached to my Pace but recently was forced to switch over to a DRX-890. I dropped the HDD from my Pace into it to keep all my existing recordings. The difference in speed/responsiveness is amazing..! I purchased my 890 from eBay (as new). Units can be picked up for very good prices there.

    I also hear that if you are persistent with Sky and phone up to complain about your box being slow/unstable etc then many people have been successful in scoring a free box out of them.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    Sad to report the sound drop outs have not gone away with the update. Though less frequent.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    As of today the continuing, annoying sound drop outs have reached critical mass on the Pace.

    Absolutely non stop drop outs on every channel.

    I have tried everything to fix it and estab(lished a few things:

    1: It is not (as I thought) an optical lead issue. Disconnect that and it still happens.

    2: Nor is it a sound system one at all (disconnect it and use TV sound and it is still there in the background - like breaking clicks as opposed to total sound loss).

    3: Resetting the box to non stereo and non DS is no help.

    4: BUT - importantly - record and watch as live a second behind and the problem vanishes!

    Can anyone think of why this should be happening.

    No usual fixes cure the box. So I am starting to think I am going to have to try again to talk nicely to Sky.
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    As of today the continuing, annoying sound drop outs have reached critical mass on the Pace.

    Absolutely non stop drop outs on every channel.

    I have tried everything to fix it and estab(lished a few things:

    1: It is not (as I thought) an optical lead issue. Disconnect that and it still happens.

    2: Nor is it a sound system one at all (disconnect it and use TV sound and it is still there in the background - like breaking clicks as opposed to total sound loss).

    3: Resetting the box to non stereo and non DS is no help.

    4: BUT - importantly - record and watch as live a second behind and the problem vanishes!

    Can anyone think of why this should be happening.

    No usual fixes cure the box. So I am starting to think I am going to have to try again to talk nicely to Sky.

    faulty box?
    unless of course everyone with a pace box is having the same level of problem.
  • drabbledrabble Posts: 757
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    My 9F3005 also was dropping out audio this afternoon mostly on ITV4 HD but present on all other channels, powering down and rebooting of both the TV and box had no effect.
  • SJLSJL Posts: 34
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    I too was experiencing sound dropouts (every 2-3 seconds a noticeable sub-second drop). This happened on all channels. It seemed to right itself within 20 minutes or so.

    I too have a Pace box and this is the first time I've observed this happening.
  • Marti SMarti S Posts: 5,763
    Forum Member
    I get what you describe after the box has downloaded a new firmware update. Has above lasts for 20-30 mins then stops.

    The workaround like you say is to pause live tv and it goes away.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    It is back to 'normal' today - so this was clearly something effecting our boxes just yesterday.

    I wonder if some software solution was on test with Pace boxes?

    Does anyone from Sky have a clue why this occurred? (As you can see - Chenks - it was widespread)

    Maybe we will get a software update this week as I note that problems usually happen a day or two before these arrive. When software is maybe awaiting activation?
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    Does anyone from Sky have a clue why this occurred? (As you can see - Chenks - it was widespread)

    it wasn't when i posted, hence the suggestion.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    chenks wrote: »
    it wasn't when i posted, hence the suggestion.

    I appreciate that. Was not getting at you. :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 16
    Forum Member
    I hope you all also post on Sky's own forum. There are plenty of us with this Pace sound dropout issue here (and there). Even so, I am not convinced that Sky believe yet that the issue is widespread. Sky have been dealing with me personally on a one-to-one basis for the last 6 weeks as a result of my posts on their forum. They don't seem to be making any progress, given that they are still asking me the same type of question when they get back to me, e.g. suggesting cables, av equipment, etc might be at fault. They even suggested I try rebooting my box again last week - !!! - the old customer service cure-all standby :yawn:

    It is the Sky box that can't cope - this has been blatantly obvious since the EPG release last November.

    To put my spin on Jaycee's synopsis:
    - I can cure the audio dropouts by watching in live pause mode, or from recordings (therefore I can't prove the issue to an engineer by recording instances where it is particularly bad)
    - last week I replaced my optical cable with a digital coax but the problem remains
    - the problem is not there over hdmi, but then neither is Dolby as the Pace box cannot carry DD over hdmi
    - on my box at least, the problem does not happen other than via an av amp, but I have tried 2 different av amps and the problem is still there
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    I have posted since the new EPG arrived and brought this problem last November - on both Sky User and Sky's own forum.

    Like you I keep getting asked the same questions so just gave up.

    I also did a one to one chat on Sky's forum with one of their people offering to help. But got no further there either.

    At times in some of the replies from Sky people who seem in the know but are probably (understandably) scared of saying too much in public in case they say something not intended for open release - I did detect hints that Sky are aware of this problem of compatability between Pace and the new EPG but have failed to fully resolve it.

    I would just like to be told this, that they are working on it and will either resolve it or offer to replace boxes that they cannot fix. That seems reasonable enough to me.

    I think having given them near on 6 months now we are being patient.

    To be honest if it is just a few times per day (the norm) it is put up withable. But the other day was an entirely new level and for hours the box was utterly useless and we had to watch via freeview.

    Something different had to be occurring for our boxes to be so much worse (same problems but to an excessive degree). So it ought to be an indication of the cause and might - of course - indicate an attempt to put it right,

    But how are we to know if nobody comes clean? All I can say is that if it happens again as bad as that then we will all be justiifed is saying to Sky that the time has come to either resolve the problem or offer us an alternative solution.
  • drabbledrabble Posts: 757
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    A couple of days ago was the only time I've had the dropouts that I noticed and can remember, I usually only listen via the TV audio/HDMI will switch to 5.1/optical out for F1 and Treme and haven't had it happen as yet.
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