Sky''s solution to hd box freezing......

[sparkymarky]

Well after about three weeks of random freezes and turning itself off i called sky to get a replacement box for my Thomson Hd box.

Sorry to be non-pc but spoke to dsome foreigner as usual.

I explained it has random freezes and random power offs and only way you can turn it on again is disconnect from mains.
Made me go through the usual 'turn box off, disconnect lnb feeds, turn off at mains turn on again' then said is picture still frozen.

er no i said but i told you at the start it wasn't frozen at the exact time i called. 'Well it must have fixed it mr ....'

No, it does it randomly, i persisted and all your 'procedure' has done is turn it off and reconnect to the lnbs. He couldnt see it insisting we'd done some special procedure. Well then i insisted on an engineer so after 30 mins to an 0844 number which will prob cost a fortune an engineer will be out next thursday,

it amazes me how they just go through their screen and think they've done something magical i said to him just look at what we've actually done, ignore all the press services press system settings etc we haven't done anything!!!

 

[Member 55145]

i am bender, please insert girder

 

[Stuart]

i am bender, please insert girder

Sky can kiss my shiny metal ass

 

[Andy24]

I've got the same problem with my sky hd box,turning off when it feels like it.Having to wait for 5-10 minutes to come back on again.Think i will have to get an engineer out also,that's after all the phone call's i'll have to make.

 

[scotty026]

Aaaghhh so the Thomson Hd box does suck I have had mine a few weeks now and it has frozen. I get a onscreen messages on random channels saying "No Signal" when there is. The box crashes and goes dead the other weekend I had the wifes folks in for food and the box crashed I switched it off at the wall for 1 min or so and switched the box back on, then it wouldn't start till at least 2 mins or so, while I was waiting on the box starting up my sis inlaw started to rant on about taking the plug out the wall as well as switching it off at the socket, she used to work for sky (4 years) and yes I ignored her.

I think when the box crashes again I will phone sky

 

[messenger]

Im now on Thompson Box number 5 in 2 years & this last month its started switching itself off & freezing yet again. Like everyone else it can take 2 mins to 15 mins to restart. One time i had all these purple lines across the whole screen making the picture un viewable & then took a further 2 hours of rebooting to get it working again.

Come on 5 boxes in 2 years is beyond a joke.

Anyone think its worth pushing Sky to get the Thompson replaced for a Pace box or is that just opening another can of worms??

 

[Macduff]

Had my box for around 3 week now and yesterday it froze when trying to view a recorded program. Unplugged it for a minute then back on. All seemed OK until I tried to view the same program. restart again and deleted it from the planner.

Went out last night and my wife tried to watch TV but the box wouldn't come on. Restarted it when I got home and it appears to be OK for now.

I assume this is the start of problems. I'll try to get a Pace box if it does need to be swapped out.

 

[clipper74]

I'm also amazed at how they thing their proceedures have fixed a fault. I'm on my 3rd service call and I hope 3rd HD box in 11 days! All Thomson by the way. The one that has just failed has something loose and ratteling about inside. Sounds like a screw or something has fallen out. Sky had me reboot the box to try and fix it. I laughed out loud thinking they were taking the mickey. They wern't.

I'm fortunate that it's not Sky that instaled it but a sub-contractor with their own call centre. I phoned them and explained the fault today. I'll have an engineer with me tomorrow morning. I've asked for box other than Thomson.

HD boxes don't seem fit for purpose.

Steve

 

[sparkymarky]

Well just got a replacement box....another thimpson unfortunately. boo hoo.

 

[Mickyfinn]

Anyone think its worth pushing Sky to get the Thompson replaced for a Pace box or is that just opening another can of worms??

If you haven't already tried, I'd definitely push for a Pace box.

When my Thompson finally gave up ( thank god), I told sky I wanted a Pace replacement as I had no faith in the Thompson boxes. Anyway, for whatever reason they provided one and so far it has worked flawlessly - ultra quiet, no freezing, can record two programs simultaneously and watch a third without problems, the fast fw/rev works properly and it also has a more sensitive tuner than the Thompson. Some people have reported lip-sync problems with the Pace, but , fingers crossed, I have not experienced it on my setup.

So once again demand a Pace box or even a Samsung but never a Thompson !

 

[westtra]

i get these problems with anytime turned on. turned off the box is faultless. its a thomson box by the way.

 

[J666RST]

i get these problems with anytime turned on. turned off the box is faultless. its a thomson box by the way.

My anytime was off and still had the same problems! As my box was out of warrenty (Thomson) I decided to get the rebuilt power supply from Satcure. Box was on all day yesterday and touch wood hasnt turned it self off once!

 

[kloqueman]

I am a bit dubious of my thomson box, it has locked up 4 times already and had a blue screen when turned on, with failed recordings.

i have turned off 'auto power save' and so far so good, but I can't help but think these boxes aren't all that.

i have 3 friends with virgin, they rave about the boxes.

if it goes wrong out of warranty, i'll be happy to leave! Every time a gust of wind blows I get a frozen screen, very annoying during Prison Break, lol!

 

[mjn]

Well then i insisted on an engineer so after 30 mins to an 0844 number which will prob cost a fortune an engineer will be out next thursday,

SAYNOTO0870.COM - Non-Geographical Alternative Telephone Numbers

 

[gixxerman]

I've recently fitted a replacement Satcure PSU unit myself and I reckon my Thomson HD box is more stable......but it's still not perfect.

I'm about to install a new HDD (500gb Western Digital) because I've had a few recording failures and recently, although rarely, programs that appear to be there & recorded properly but which will not play no matter what I do.
I think the now 2yrs+ old original is on the way out.

Once the HDD is replaced I am confident that the box will be pretty reliable.

I suppose we just have to expect occasional freezes and crashes, if less of them.

We do with our PCs and it's not the end of the world but I do agree they're pretty annoying when it's 'only' your TV receiver box.

 

[kenedin]

.... I've had a few recording failures and recently, although rarely, programs that appear to be there & recorded properly but which will not play no matter what I do.

Yes, they are a nuisance. In your Sky+ Planner, go into the sub menu at the bottom of the page, >Options & yellow Recorded button, and delete any unwanted and failed recordings. Try again.

I have virtually eliminated failed recordings on my box. In the Sky+ Setup, reset the Add To Start and End of Recordings to 0 minutes. Save New Settings.

It's not foolproof, but it works for me anyway.

 

[sparkymarky]

well this replacement box has gradually slowed down was quick to respond at start. planner got 68% free too. Recorded one program other night and could n't play a recorded one whilst other was recording, it just stuttered/jumped around with no sound.

Its like when a computer is performing a task and doesnt have enough memory avail to do it and everything slows down gradually catching up or does better when you close a few applications if you know what i mean.

maybe the processor isn't up to it in the box???????

 

[arcticwolve]

i got 3 hd boxes 2 are pace and 1 thomson im havin feezin issues that have started since thursday on all three , got an enginneer commin sunday so just to let you no it happens to pace to but ive not had the boxes switch of or nothin