FTV card, no english epg no ch4/ch5

Fr0g

(Yet another FTV thread)
My FTV card has stopped working. A kid that visits regularly keeps pulling the card out when your not looking and last time i put it back in but I have lost the english epg. channel 4 and 5 are set up in "other channels" but say "this programme is not available". This happened Sunday afternoon so i have waited 48 hours for it to come back but still nothing. Is the card useless now?

edit: have rebooted box also

watty

Check that card is fully in.

It could be the switch at back of slot that detects card inserted. This is easily damaged.

Fr0g

If the card is out it prompts me to put it in. when i put in the message changes to "to upgrade your subscription etc...". So this leads me to believe that the switch is detecting the card insertion. would you agree?

byte

Have you wiped the contacts on the smartcard? Maybe there are dirty contacts.

If you go to Services, 4, 5, does it display the card number correctly?

Normally, it only says "This programme is not available" if the card is an ROI card, either current or expired.

Fr0g

Yes, i wiped the contacts on the card and the the correct number is displayed. It seems to be behaving exactly like an expired ROI sub card. I initially activated the card in another digibox, would it make any difference if I left it in the orginal box it was activated in? Have been using it for six months in another box.

byte

No, the different box shouldn't make any difference.

Tell me what's listed on EPG from 101 to 104 with that card inserted?

watty

Why are C4 and Five in "Other channels?", Were they not on the EPG before?
AFAIK either C4 and Five work *AND* are on the EPG or if they are NOT on the EPG they don't work.

All FTV cards give C4 and Five as 104 and 105.
If they never were, then the card was either never a FTV card or was always faulty.

Fr0g

101 to 104 is now rte1 to tg4
I had set up ch4/ch5 in OCs because when i activated the card i could watch them there before they eventually appeared on the epg. I can confirm that this card was definitely an FTV card and has been working since August

I have since reset the box (holding backup button while it powers on) so this has restored the irish epg. but before I did this the box was completely unresponsive. It is now working like an irish cancelled sub. with only FTA channels (but not ITV2 for some reason).
thanks for the replies keep suggestions coming, I don't want the hassle of getting another card if possible.

Bogger77

any chance you had the fone line connected?

Fr0g

No, we completely gutted the sitting room a couple of years ago and I never rewired the phone line. I was well outside the mandatory 12 month subscription to sky by then so i didn't need it.

Charles Slane

It really sounds like the card has been damaged. The box obviously isn't recognising it as a UK card since the EPG isn't changing. In which case the card is useless.

Looks like you'll have to get another one .... and don't let that kid into the same room as the digibox again

Mossy Monk

Fr0g wrote:

A kid that visits regularly keeps pulling the card out when your not looking

the child deserves a beating

watty

It can only have an Irish EPG if it has had an Irish card last. Do you use and Irish card?

If so:
Go to 501 Sky News.
Press interactive
wait for it to load
Remove Irish Card
Insert FTV card.
Press Backup.

If it does not say pleas wait etc and load UK EPG then somehow your card has been swapped for an Irish one or broken

Check that if you do above steps by card upside down you should get UK epg with NO channels listed at 104 and 105.

Does Sky3 work with the supposed FTV card? If it does then the card is not broken or killed.

Fr0g

OK panic over I have it back. I found the FTV card at the back of the digibox. Somehow the little baxtard had swapped the ftv card with an old irish sub card which I had hidden under the digibox. I was convinced that the card I found on the floor must be the FTV card. (He's only 18 months old). I'v cleaned the congealed drools off it and it's now working fine. Sorry for the trouble. thanks for your help

DMC

LOL, sorry I do have to laugh...

Good, though, you have it back

Tip: to stop small hands pulling the card, see if you can locate the box elsewhere (higher) or, cut the card to the exact length required to hold it in place, so its flush with the cover. Cover with insulting tape, and, if needed, have pliers handy.

Newer boxes have covers on the card slots.

Mountjoy Mugger

Classic tale, indeed.

byte

So it was an ROI card after all!

Ah well, at least you're sorted again for the festive season!

Fr0g

byte wrote:

So it was an ROI card after all!

Ah well, at least you're sorted again for the festive season!

Yeah, christmas was looking fairly bleak there for a while. :eek:

Thanks for the tip DMC i think i'll try that, or maybe cut his fingers off, I haven't decided yet

Mossy Monk

tell him bad children get a lump of coal for Christmas

kleefarr

lol..

That was just the kind of thing I thought might happen to me, so when I got my FTV card I wrote FTV on it with a permanent marker.

L1011

I just flick the card over and look at the phone number, that'll tell you which country its from...

Fr0g

Mossy Monk wrote:

tell him bad children get a lump of coal for Christmas

lol, maybe I'll get him this instead

watty

You can punch a hole or two with a normal paper hole punch in the end of the card that sticks out.

Then put some nylon cord (orange builders type?) through the hole(s) and tie ends at back of box. This way it can be removed but not casually by a child.