Problems with my Sky HD Box

jasonb

Hi there,

We've had Sky HD for a good while now ( about a year ) but in the last few months our Sky Box has been acting up.

We noticed that if we turned off the power to the box at the plug at night time or whatever, and then came in the next day and turned the power back on again, the red standby light would come on immediately, but it would take a good 2-3 minutes before we'd actually be able to turn on the sky box ( so that the green light comes on ). So now we just leave it in standby when we're not using it.

However, sometimes we get a 'no signal screen', or sometimes a program we've set to record fails. When this happens I check the 'Signal Strength' screen in Settings, and one of the signals is fine, but the other is non-exisitent. If I reboot the sky box ( and wait the 2-3 minutes before it can power up properly ) it's fine again.

Also, sometimes the time on the Sky box is maybe 10 minutes slow. So while it's 7:05pm and programs have started, I can't select them from the EPG as it thinks it's 6:55pm, so I can't choose them yet, I can only mark them for a reminder. Once again, a reboot fixes this.

Any ideas what could be causing this and what we could do to fix it? Is it better to leave the unit in Standby or turn the power off completely each night? Thanks in advance!

J.

von Smallhausen

:cool:

jasonb wrote: »

Hi there,

We've had Sky HD for a good while now ( about a year ) but in the last few months our Sky Box has been acting up.

We noticed that if we turned off the power to the box at the plug at night time or whatever, and then came in the next day and turned the power back on again, the red standby light would come on immediately, but it would take a good 2-3 minutes before we'd actually be able to turn on the sky box ( so that the green light comes on ). So now we just leave it in standby when we're not using it.

However, sometimes we get a 'no signal screen', or sometimes a program we've set to record fails. When this happens I check the 'Signal Strength' screen in Settings, and one of the signals is fine, but the other is non-exisitent. If I reboot the sky box ( and wait the 2-3 minutes before it can power up properly ) it's fine again.

Also, sometimes the time on the Sky box is maybe 10 minutes slow. So while it's 7:05pm and programs have started, I can't select them from the EPG as it thinks it's 6:55pm, so I can't choose them yet, I can only mark them for a reminder. Once again, a reboot fixes this.

Any ideas what could be causing this and what we could do to fix it? Is it better to leave the unit in Standby or turn the power off completely each night? Thanks in advance!

J.

The Boxes are not designed to be plugged out all the time as it can lead to problems like the ones you have described. After switching it off and turning back on again, it normally takes 2-3 mins to come out of standby. As it allows the hard drive to warm up.

So it is best advised to leave the box on standby at night.

jasonb

Yep, we leave it on Standby all the time now, and have for months. However, we're still having problems with signal sometimes being lost and the clock going slow, and these can only be fixed by rebooting it...

J.

ffocused

If it is a Thompson hd box with component outputs on the back, it could be the PSU causing the problems. I had similar problems with a HD box and after replacing the psu and installing a new hard drive, it is good as new. It is a known fault with the Thompson boxes.

It is recommended to replace the hard drive if you have a faulty psu as all the hard resets have probably destroyed it.

You can order the psu from here, but you need to send your one in to exchange for a new one.
http://www.satcure.com/accs/psu.htm

The alternative is to get a sky engineer visit to swap out the box.

crosstownk

It may possibly be caused by a problem in the power supply but it could be something else. I've a refurbed Thomson and it does the same thing every 3 or 4 weeks. I'm stuck with a Thomson as it's the only one with component out.

Switching the HD box off from the mains will result in a delay when it's turned back on as it will need to reboot - much like the time it takes for your computer to be ready after a complete shut down.

A way around this is to use a plug-in timer that shuts down the mains at a time when you won't be watching/recording. Regular rebooting seems to keep the problem at bay.

You could also try a planner rebuild or try this.

John mac

a referb box may not have had a new replacement power supply.

I have had a satcure replacement power supply for a year and no problems since.