Sky HD menu slow or lag and hard drive noises (Thompson box)

Hellfire

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Hi there,

I have just bought and received my Sky HD box, It is a Thompson brand box same as my father in laws and he has never had a problem with it,

I got it installed etc, It was suppose to be brand new but it had programs recorded on it, 70% recorded infact which annoyed me greatly, anyway I reset it and wiped the hard drive and did a new install, all working fine but the menu lags a lot. before I blame the seller for a faulty box, it was bought of Ebay

(Yes, I never buy from Ebay but it was brand new and a trusted seller, 100% feedback etc)

Anyway when on all channels or going through the menu it lags alot. some times it is okay for a few minutes and then it slows down, takes 5-10 seconds just to move down from say sky 1 to sky 2 and then sometimes does 3-5 channels at once, This doesn't sound normal to me

Secondly the hard drive seems rather loud, Very loud infact that I can physically hear the clicking of the hard drive reading the disks etc.

I am worried I have a duff box, If I do I think I am going to send it back but would love some feedback, This may have been asked many times and as I type I am searching the forums.

Help please....

Cheers
Graeme
 
I hope you put some feedback on Ebay saying that it wasn't a 'brand new' box.

Out of interest what's the version number? You'll find it in the system details menu. We'll then know how old it really is.
 
Well actually I have not left feedback but I have messaged them asking for them to resolve the issue (the fact it is not new) I have not yet mentioned the dodgy or slow menu as this only appeared after I had sent the message last night and I am still waiting for a reply and want to know if it is a common problem,

Can upgrading the firmware/sky box help with the EPG, if so how do I go about that,

I will set the box up again and see if the firmware/software number to see what version it is running and post back in 10-15minutes

cheers.
 
Plugged it all in, only thing not working is I need to pair my viewing card with the sky box to get the HD channels etc etc.

Details are as follows

Thompson box
Model number: 902020
Version Number: 4E3007
OS Version: 1.32B12
EPG version: Sky+8.3.2

I compared this with my father in laws and it seemed to be the same/similar settings apart from one, his version number is 4E3004

To add - The hard drive seems to be active all the time as well. constant clicking/reading.
 
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Try turning off Anytime and instant rewind if you dont use them.

This should make the box a lot quieter if not silent, and put less stress on the hard drive.
 
Plugged it all in, only thing not working is I need to pair my viewing card with the sky box to get the HD channels etc etc.

Details are as follows

Thompson box
Model number: 902020
Version Number: 4E3007
OS Version: 1.32B12
EPG version: Sky+8.3.2

I compared this with my father in laws and it seemed to be the same/similar settings apart from one, his version number is 4E3004

That's quite an old box. Your father's is one of the original batch circa May 2006, your's at an estimate is late 2006 early 2007.
 
You've bought a Sky HD box which is about 2 years old. Thomson don't make boxes any more. It might have been possible to get hold of one which had never been used, but calling that brand new is a bit sly. However, you've already confirmed that it was full of saved programmes, so it's clearly second hand and should have been described as used.

The seller knew this and still mentioned 4 times in the listing that the box was new or brand new. Even if it's been repaired, which sounds unlikely given the problems you are experiencing, it's likely to be worth about £100 at most, so you've been ripped off.

Take a look at this link, it explainas what action you should take: What to do when you don't receive your item or it's not as described (What to do when you don't receive your item or it's not as described).

Personally, I'd go straight for resolution to get a full refund. The seller is trying it on and gives e-bay a bad name for legitimate, honest traders.

Given the amount of problems around, if you buy a Sky box off e-bay, you should make sure the seller offers a warranty or guarantee of some sort.
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
Right, well all sorted mostly,

I am an impatient ****er, after a little while of setting the box up the hard drive calmed down and isn't loud, the menu's have speed up and have been find for a good couple of hours

with regards to the box being second hand I have contact the buyer, they have apologise profusely and have offered me either a full or partial refund of about 50%ish, they have been very nice about it. and as the box is working I took the partial refund, therefore I got a sky HD box for around £60-70ish, I am overal happy with this.

Paired the device and box with the viewing card but I got told it could take up to 10hours before I get the HD channels and use of sky anytime/my movies back..

DOHHHH....

Thanks for your help.
 
You've bought a Sky HD box which is about 2 years old. Thomson don't make boxes any more. It might have been possible to get hold of one which had never been used, but calling that brand new is a bit sly. However, you've already confirmed that it was full of saved programmes, so it's clearly second hand and should have been described as used.

The seller knew this and still mentioned 4 times in the listing that the box was new or brand new. Even if it's been repaired, which sounds unlikely given the problems you are experiencing, it's likely to be worth about £100 at most, so you've been ripped off.

Take a look at this link, it explainas what action you should take: What to do when you don't receive your item or it's not as described (What to do when you don't receive your item or it's not as described).

Personally, I'd go straight for resolution to get a full refund. The seller is trying it on and gives e-bay a bad name for legitimate, honest traders.

Given the amount of problems around, if you buy a Sky box off e-bay, you should make sure the seller offers a warranty or guarantee of some sort.

Thanks for the reply.

Well as per bellow it is all sorted, Sky sorted my problems and the seller apologized alot and offered me a 50% refund, so all sorted, I am happy as the box is the same as my father in laws and his works absolutely fine
 
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-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
OK. Good luck. I hope it's been repaired already, otherwise, we'll speak again soon!

The Thomson boxes had a design fault which meant that the capacitors on the power supply were not up to standard for a PVR.

I'm repairing about 10-15 of these boxes (902020) a week at the moment!
 
OK. Good luck. I hope it's been repaired already, otherwise, we'll speak again soon!

The Thomson boxes had a design fault which meant that the capacitors on the power supply were not up to standard for a PVR.

I'm repairing about 10-15 of these boxes (902020) a week at the moment!

oh right, well my father had his two years and hasn't had a problem so heres hopping

out of interest how much is it to repair roughly.

also can I ask what the symptoms of this problem are? does it just turn off or stop working or?
 
oh right, well my father had his two years and hasn't had a problem so heres hopping

out of interest how much is it to repair roughly.

also can I ask what the symptoms of this problem are? does it just turn off or stop working or?

It could be any number of things like:
Failed recordings.
Stuck on stand by.
Picture breaking up.
Noisy drive.
No signal etc.

Did they give any waranty?
 
SMM75 . Please consider this to be your final warning.
Stop linking to your site . It is an excellent guide, you have a lot to offer the community. But its commercial side falls foul of the rules

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Johnscarlet
 
We'll ive actually used that website before but yes thanks and sorry for getting ya into trouble... lol

and no my mistake but no warrenty on the product. my mistake but only cost me £70.00
 
We shall see. 30 posts , I must have edited 20 of them.
If your site gets added to the swear filter , no-one will be able to link to it. And thats a whole lot worse than just you not linking to it
No more please. Unless you hand over suitable reddies to the advertising team ;)
 
We'll ive actually used that website before but yes thanks and sorry for getting ya into trouble... lol

and no my mistake but no warrenty on the product. my mistake but only cost me £70.00

If you have no waranty it may be worth upgrading to be on the safe side and you will have a very good box indeed.:thumbsup:
 
When I repaired my Sky+ PSU with the kit last month not only did it fix the channel unavailable problem but my SD picture quality improved by a noticeable amount. It was OK before, now its superb. Can't beat smooth and consistent volts.

I presume it is OK to mention sites...but just not provide links ?
 
I presume it is OK to mention sites...but just not provide links ?

Links are fine , so long as it not your own commercial site.
 
It could be any number of things like:
Failed recordings.
Stuck on stand by.
Picture breaking up.
Noisy drive.
No signal etc.

Another symptom is sluggish and clunky operation.:eek: More information here and here.

If I were you, I would save Steve's repair guide in your favourites. Both you and your father in law will need it one day. Do not be scared by the prospect of self repair. I can assure you it is not tricky.

The good news is that the parts Satcure sell are much higher quality than the cheap Chinese crap Thomson used, and, once repaired, these boxes are generally relaible.
 
Other symptoms include

Putting foot through TV
Putting foor through Sky Box
Putting foot through dog

The last one is wrong, I haven't got a dog, got a cat though. Not seen it lately !

PSU fix has a better chance of fixing the faults than anything else. As suggested follow the guide. Check your caps first for any obvious bulging.

Or pay Sky £65 for a call/replacement box of course
 
what i have noticed with my thompson box which has a terabite drive fitted and is over half full is that every month or so the menu get realy sluggish and recordinging pixelate and stutter. When this happens a sky+planner rebuild sorts it out and the box works great after thatt. So to keep everything running smooth do a planner rebuild every month or so. Just dont do a system reset or you will loose your recordings.
 

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