usb connection on sky + box

jpk1976

I just noticed a usb connection on the front of my sky + box-what if anything can I do with this?Is there a chance that it will play avis or can I save recorded programmes and transfer them to my PC?apologies if this has been posted before.

John mac

its not used for anything. (Not enabled)

byte

Yeah, sadly it has no use. I can't even charge my PS3 controllers with it!

norbert64

they were obviously made for a purpose right, as in, they could practially speaking, be used.

It's just that SKY have disabled them/locked the function out?

DeadSkin

I didn't even know there was a usb connection on it, before I ordered Sky.

The engineer who installed it pointed it out and said you can transfer recorded programs to a laptop or whatever.
At the time, I just thought cool and forgot about until I saw this thread.

Stoopid engineer.

It's there for a reason, no???

cpu-dude

DeadSkin wrote: »

I didn't even know there was a usb connection on it, before I ordered Sky.

The engineer who installed it pointed it out and said you can transfer recorded programs to a laptop or whatever.
At the time, I just thought cool and forgot about until I saw this thread.

Stoopid engineer.

It's there for a reason, no???

Oh you can't be doing that now, that be file sharing!

watty

For "expansion".

There were several possibilities. None exist so the ports are disabled and can't be used.

1) Game Controller
2) External Modem instead of internal one (even maybe for Broadband)
3) Portable PMD for Sky (axed)

From the start boxes had a serial port for 1 & 2 and also a PCMCIA type of Module holder too. None of this was ever used. That's over 10 years ago now.

Companies add low cost interfaces because "just in case". The ports may even be "free" in the sense of built-in to a SoC needed for something else. They have talked about Broadband applications for years but not enough customers have Broadband. That's why if you are in UK on a Sky LLU exchange you get free basic DSL. So that some day in UK there will be enough customers to justify Broadband applications. Can't see it happening here though.

DeadSkin

Are they disabled by software? Just curious!

norbert64

perhaps with the advent of the whole External HDD media players etc they may have a rethink about using the connection.

Well, one can dream i guess.

MACHEAD

Nope it deffo doesn't seem to be enabled at all, can't even detect a voltage out, (should be 5v if it's working). But apart from that, I may be corrected here but aren't the recordings on your Sky+ hard drive just a data stream, which is decoded 'on the fly' as you play it back. So even if you could transfer the data from the HDD to another device, you wouldn't be able to play it back on anything else anyway.

mjsmyth

Unencryopted streams are easy to convert to other file formats. There are various free options out there that are almost drag an drop.

Unfortunately the recordings from a sky box, even if they were accessible, are encrypted and therefore you are unable to convert to other file formats.

Tim M-U

i use it to charge my ipod!

byte

Strange. Not a peep out of it for me. Won't charge my PS3 controllers, so assumed no voltage

itisyeah

MACHEAD wrote: »

Nope it deffo doesn't seem to be enabled at all, can't even detect a voltage out, (should be 5v if it's working).

That is incorrect. I use mine to charge my ipod and it works fine.

DeadSkin

Tried charging my mp3 player by the usb too and no joy.

Are Sky+ boxes made by the same manufacturer? If not, maybe some manufacturers have enabled the usb slot.

byte

DeadSkin wrote: »

Tried charging my mp3 player by the usb too and no joy.

Are Sky+ boxes made by the same manufacturer? If not, maybe some manufacturers have enabled the usb slot.

No, there are a few different manufacturers and models.

Pace, Thomson and Amstrad are three that come to mind.

I've a Pace V3, and get no life from the USB port.