skycard upsidedown problem

gulliver92

Thanks to all you guys for the information on how to get free BBC channels and much more by turning the Skycard upside down.

This method works on my system and on my neighbour’s.

However I tried the same method on a friend’s digibox whose subscription is cancelled and Channels 101, 102 continued to be RTE1 and RTE2. We rebooted several time but BBC1 would not come up. What are we doing wrong?

This is what we did. We plugged out everything. We inserted the skycard upside down. We waited for a few minutes. We rebooted and RTE1 was still there. What did we do wrong?

Are there some boxes that cannot be retuned? The box is a Grundig

ShaneOC

Since the last software update the upsidedown trick no longer works. The box remebers the last card that was in it and stores the EPG for that card. If the search and scan banner has a Yellow "Messages" option then you have the latest update. My grundig and panasonic boxes have it, but my Sky+ does not.

Colm80

Just about what i was going to say

kilasser

I think if you Borrow a friends active UK card, sub or FTV and pop it in the box for a few mins it will change the EPG to the UK one. Then you can put in your Irish card upside down and still keep the UK EPG. I could be wrong on this?

mickeyboymel

That is correct Kilasser,but once the Irish card is reintroduced (correct way up) it will then remember the Irish one. This is only of use to those with a box and no subscription.

Even an unactivated UK card will work. I am trying to lay my hands on one that a neighbour got by mistake when the cards were reissued,and if I do manage to find it I will make it available to anyone who wants it for this purpose.

Tony

Very generous offer, I think I might have an old one around somewhere too

flogen

what does it do? Arent the BBC channels available without having to piss about with cards and that?

Flogen

mickeyboymel

Originally posted by flogen
what does it do? Arent the BBC channels available without having to piss about with cards and that?

Flogen

For someone who has no Sky subscription, an old UK card will bring up the "Default EPG" which places all the BBC Television & Radio Channels into the EPG in their correct positions,which enables access to the Interactive Services, Digiguide, Program Planner & Autoview Etc, rather than having them in the other channels section where you cannot use these features.There is often additional programs and live streams freely available in the BBC Interactive Menus.

Eg: 101 BBC1, 102 BBC2, 115 BBC3, 116 BBC4, 507 BBC News24, 508 BBC Parliment,616 CBBC, 617 CBeebies, 941-962 All Regions of BBC1 & BBC2.

Until now,rebooting with a blank card brought this EPG up, but since the latest software upgrade, the box now remembers the last card inserted,so if you have had an Irish card in the slot, it will always remember the Irish EPG, even with no card inserted.

On the card front, I still trying to dig it out. If we kept this thread for posting the name of the person holding it at any one time, then someone requiring it could PM details and have it posted on.

It would be of no use to anyone, only to bring the default EPG up, as it was a UK card which was never activated in the first place and has long since been cancelled,so hopefully everyone in the line would pass it on.

Anyone think this might work?

gulliver92

Thanks for the quick reply, guys. What a pity that Sky has shut the back door. Watching my free BBC channels last night I glowed in gratitude to all the teckies who subscribe to the boards. Were it not for them I would not have the convenience of the EPG. Thanks again.

One further problem might arise down the road. Will Sky be able to broadcast a software patch that will override the upside down card and reassign RTE1 to Channel 101? Is it a good idea to switch the box off at night to avoid software overwrites?

mickeyboymel

Originally posted by gulliver92
Thanks for the quick reply, guys. What a pity that Sky has shut the back door. Watching my free BBC channels last night I glowed in gratitude to all the teckies who subscribe to the boards. Were it not for them I would not have the convenience of the EPG. Thanks again.

One further problem might arise down the road. Will Sky be able to broadcast a software patch that will override the upside down card and reassign RTE1 to Channel 101? Is it a good idea to switch the box off at night to avoid software overwrites?

Unless you put an Irish card into the box, regardless of any new update, you will continue to have the default Epg. It is the last card inserted which it remembers.

samc1

I have a pace box and I have the latest software update. When I reboot with no card I get the UK EPG. Does anyone else get this?

SPAWKER

I have a couple of old uk sky cards,if anybody wants one please e-mail me.

Betelgeux

We've the solution over at Irish Satellite. If I'm allowed to put a URL in here you can find it at http://www.irishsatellite.com/forum/YaBB.pl?board=general;action=display;num=1074551977

gulliver92

What I really want to know is how do I tune an Irish Sky digibox with an expired subscription to the default British channels. I want Channel 101 to be BBC London and so on. I realise I will not be able to get the encrypted ITV and Channel 4 stations as I do not have a British free to air card.

The upside down card trick used to work until some weeks ago when Sky rewrote their software. Am I to understand that if I reboot with no card in the slot that Channel 101 will be BBC1 London and not RTE 1. So is the “no-card-in” the new upside down card trick?

Naturally I am afraid to try this on my system for fear of losing what I have.

For my friend who cannot get BBC1 London on Channel 101 is the new correct procedure
a) to reboot without a card in the slot or
b) to reboot while keeping his finger on the backup button until all the lights flash and when the message appears on screen to wait for 10 minutes?

Thanks for all your help. The service you provide here is fabulous.

ShaneOC

If you can get someone to give you a loan of a FTV card or a UK sub card then you can set the EPG to the UK one, remove the card and it will stay set. It will only take a few mins to do this and it should technically last forever.

By the way, doing a software reset will not loose anything. The worst thing that could happen is that you might end up with the Irish EPG, which is what you have now.

mickeyboymel

Rebooting without any card seems the correct solution,just tried it on a DSB 40 which has the new software and it works.

To double check I then inserted an upsidedown card,and lo and behold it was back to RTE on 101 with the "problem card" message.

So it seems the result of the latest software is: once the sensors in the card slot "make contact" with a card,the box remembers the last card used.

This is good news for everyone,thanks to Betelegux for the information.

gulliver92

Spawker,
Thanks for the free skycard. I cannot believe how generous subscribers are on this board.