brymbo76
Established Member
I had an old Sky+ SD digibox that failed recently by something causing it to stay stuck in Standby so I bought a cheap second-hand HD replacement from a seller on ebay.
I don't even subscribe to Sky anyway, I just bought it to watch the occasional channels that Freeview hasn't got.
It came with a viewing card and when I first connected it up and switched it on, it was taking a while to load up the EPG and respond to remote commands.
The seller said in his listing that it has had a factory reset so thought maybe it just needed time to update overnight or something.
The next night I checked it was still the same. I thought I'd try doing a Sky+ Planner Rebuild. However when I tried to do that, it said that it can't be done as I am using it in 'diskless mode'. After looking around on the internet to understand what that means what what I can do to rectify it, I found I needed to do a system update and it showed me how to do it. After doing that successfully, and then also doing the Planner Rebuild as there were still some minor issues like slow menu loading, I found it was working fine.
Then to my amazement, I tried pressing 'Record' on some programme I was watching and found I was also able to record it and play it back which I didn't expect as it is my understanding that Sky disables the record feature if you don't have an active subscription.
But after a few days, a message saying recording and playback was unavailable when I tried to record something else.
I'm not sure if it was because I connected the box to my broadband via the Ethernet lead so whether some data about the box and card got sent to Sky subscriptions HQ via the internet using the ethernet lead and Sky cancelled the Sky card for using it to record programmes because it's as if by connecting the box to the internet, I am practically advertising to Sky as if I am saying: "Hey Sky, I am recording programmes on my Sky box and am not paying for it". That's my interpretation anyway on what's happened so if that was the case, the Sky took action by sending a signal down to the box and card to disable the record feature. It may even be my interpretation is wrong and maybe it would've happened inevitably over satellite?
Is this what happened?
Is there any way I can 're-trick' the box to be able to record again? Or do I have to contact Sky? If so, would they charge me a one-off fee or a monthly fee?
The viewing card was programmed for BBC1 Oxford and ITV Meridian Thames Valley region whereas I live in Wales and get BBC and ITV Wales as my local region. I would doubt if it had anything to do with using it for the wrong region to where I live.
Hope to read some good informative responses soon as to what happened and what I can do now to restore things.
Many Thanks.
I don't even subscribe to Sky anyway, I just bought it to watch the occasional channels that Freeview hasn't got.
It came with a viewing card and when I first connected it up and switched it on, it was taking a while to load up the EPG and respond to remote commands.
The seller said in his listing that it has had a factory reset so thought maybe it just needed time to update overnight or something.
The next night I checked it was still the same. I thought I'd try doing a Sky+ Planner Rebuild. However when I tried to do that, it said that it can't be done as I am using it in 'diskless mode'. After looking around on the internet to understand what that means what what I can do to rectify it, I found I needed to do a system update and it showed me how to do it. After doing that successfully, and then also doing the Planner Rebuild as there were still some minor issues like slow menu loading, I found it was working fine.
Then to my amazement, I tried pressing 'Record' on some programme I was watching and found I was also able to record it and play it back which I didn't expect as it is my understanding that Sky disables the record feature if you don't have an active subscription.
But after a few days, a message saying recording and playback was unavailable when I tried to record something else.
I'm not sure if it was because I connected the box to my broadband via the Ethernet lead so whether some data about the box and card got sent to Sky subscriptions HQ via the internet using the ethernet lead and Sky cancelled the Sky card for using it to record programmes because it's as if by connecting the box to the internet, I am practically advertising to Sky as if I am saying: "Hey Sky, I am recording programmes on my Sky box and am not paying for it". That's my interpretation anyway on what's happened so if that was the case, the Sky took action by sending a signal down to the box and card to disable the record feature. It may even be my interpretation is wrong and maybe it would've happened inevitably over satellite?
Is this what happened?
Is there any way I can 're-trick' the box to be able to record again? Or do I have to contact Sky? If so, would they charge me a one-off fee or a monthly fee?
The viewing card was programmed for BBC1 Oxford and ITV Meridian Thames Valley region whereas I live in Wales and get BBC and ITV Wales as my local region. I would doubt if it had anything to do with using it for the wrong region to where I live.
Hope to read some good informative responses soon as to what happened and what I can do now to restore things.
Many Thanks.