Sky update today broke my decoder

vicadd

Got a message at 12pm today saying that System Software was updating and would take 10 minutes. After an hour the screen was just blank, so I rebooted and got the same updating message.
Rang Sky and was told to leave it and they would call back. Eventually called them again and this time they said that they had released an update and it had broken some boxes. I now have to wait for them to get approval to get an engineer out to fix my box (free of charge because of their update).
Has anyone ever had this problem before or know how long it is likely to be before I'll get an engineer out? Is there anything I could do in that might fix it? Have tried leaving powered off for a while and then back on, tried rebooting with Backup button pressed. All I get is the updating screen and four lights on the front of the Pace box.

eirman

I had a good look at Digitalspy and there is no mention of an update in the past 24 hours.

Your problem has all the symptoms of an interrupted software download initiated by the user (Holding in the backup button). As far as I know this wipes the internal software and puts the latest verson into the emptied memory. Interrupting this process can be fatal. Repairs could involve fitting a new eprom chip or something like that.

Either someone was messing with your box or you have a very weird fault.

I'm no expert and the above is my best guess.

ozsat

The only message on a Sky box about a software update - is the one forced by manually attempting to download software.

It does not happen on its own.

vicadd

Thanks for the replies, but Sky said they did initiate the software update and it has caused problems for several people.
They actually rang back last night and said an engineer would call next Monday to do a direct download to the box. I was hoping that there might be a way I could do this myself before then.

eigrod

Does the phone line need to be connected for updates ?

oconnorw

What make is your digibox

vicadd

The phone line is not normally connected, but I tried with it conected and get no further.

The model is a PACE BSKYB 2500N.

Thanks.

Tony

vicadd wrote:

Thanks for the replies, but Sky said they did initiate the software update and it has caused problems for several people.
They actually rang back last night and said an engineer would call next Monday to do a direct download to the box. I was hoping that there might be a way I could do this myself before then.

To be honest I've never seen an onscreen message caused as a result of an over the air update. Are you sure no one was trying to do a manual update on the box? The engineer can only do a forced download which you can do yourself. Take out the viewing card, unplug the mains, hold down the back up button while at the same time reconnect the mains until all the lights on the front of the box are lit. wait until 2 mins after the onscreen message disappears and then switch on the box.

vicadd

I was watching the TV, SKY box was off and at 12pm it switched itself on with the Update message appearing on the screen (normally switches automatically via scart). All 4 lights came on, message went off after a while, screen went Green and then eventually blank. After over an hour, I powered off/on and got the same updating message. I have also tried the manual forced update as suggested and get the same on screen message - it doesn't disappear. Left it like that overnight, message still there in the morning and reappears after another power off/on.
SKY said they had initiated the download and that an engineer would need to physically come out and download direct to the box. I'm assuming via serial connection?

Tony

vicadd wrote:

I'm assuming via serial connection?

Its possible but I've yet to see a sky engineer doing this.

byte

Seems like an odd occurance indeed. All previous updates were done, without you barely noticing (except when box shuts itself down).

I can't imagine the engineer being able to do much except change the box. As long as Sky themselves have accepted responsibility!

ozsat

vicadd wrote:

Thanks for the replies, but Sky said they did initiate the software update and it has caused problems for several people.
They actually rang back last night and said an engineer would call next Monday to do a direct download to the box. I was hoping that there might be a way I could do this myself before then.

Sky CS will say anything and do not have details of software upgrades.

In fact software is always being transmitted - and, if you require it, you box gets triggered at around 4am/5am.

If this happened on its own and in the middle of the day - then it will be a hardware problem.

vicadd

Thanks again. I'll have to wait until Monday so and see what the engineer does.

Our man in Havana

ozsat wrote:

If this happened on its own and in the middle of the day - then it will be a hardware problem.

I once had an update at 20.45 on a saturday night and have suffered no ill effects at all.

weehamster

The people in Sky haven’t got a clue. Unless they transferred you to a technician, don’t believe anything technical coming from the call centre. They are they just to take the phone call and log it etc (and sometimes they cant even do that).

I've been installing Sky since it came out and never heard of the forced download coming up automatically. So please forgive me if I say I don’t believe you that it came up automatically.
The reason is that I've had 2 customers before who were curious about the forced download and gave it a try and screwed up the software. Sometimes the download can take a long while and so both the customers thought that it had frozen, so they unplugged/plugged it...
They both denied it at first but I managed to wriggle the truth out of them.

Of course I can’t rule it out totally knowing technology, and in that case I apologise for not believing you. I know you wont like what I've just said and about to say now, but it is my experience not to fully believe everything the customer says. Sorry.

From the model you gave, I can safely say that the box is more that 12 months old so you don’t have any warranty on it. So it will cost you.

So your options:
-You'll have to pay for the repair to your box (not recommended as once a box becomes faulty, the problem can pop up again, even after a repair)

-Cancel your sub and get a new one and you'll get a new box for free (just pay for the install) but the downside is you'll have to take out a new 12 month agreement and it must be connected to the phone line.

-Buy a new box and claim it under your house Insurance under storm damage. Talk to the engineer (not sky) about this and get a letter from him quoting the price of the box and stating that it is beyond economical repair. (Recommended)

vicadd

weehamster wrote:

I've been installing Sky since it came out and never heard of the forced download coming up automatically. So please forgive me if I say I don’t believe you that it came up automatically.
The reason is that I've had 2 customers before who were curious about the forced download and gave it a try and screwed up the software. Sometimes the download can take a long while and so both the customers thought that it had frozen, so they unplugged/plugged it...
They both denied it at first but I managed to wriggle the truth out of them.

Of course I can’t rule it out totally knowing technology, and in that case I apologise for not believing you. I know you wont like what I've just said and about to say now, but it is my experience not to fully believe everything the customer says. Sorry.

Apology accepted, although I'm not sure why you would think that I would waste my time lying??
We'll see what happens when the engineer does call out.

weehamster

Ive just told you what will happen

vicadd

Engineer came out today and replaced the box with another of the same model (not a new one). Told the person that was here that Sky had done an update that caused problems on some boxes. They said he arrived with the new (used) box in hand and simply swapped out the old one, so obviously knew what was wrong and had no intention of trying to fix my existing box.
I had to get my card matched up to the box when I got home, but all is working perfectly now.

byte

Good to see ya got sorted out.