[wibs]

We all know that Sky cards are 'married' to the box they are used in.

My question is:

How long can a SkyBox be powered off for before the card becomes 'divorced' from the Skybox, and you need to call Sky to get it 'married' again?

The reason I ask is that my colleague unplugged his Sky+ receiver, with his Sky Sports subscription card in it, and brought it to Germany, on a Sunday. On the Thursday I installed it for him, but when we tried to select Sky Sports 1 (his normal favourite channel) we get this:

http://www.bavaria-satellite.de/trou...s/image016.jpg

(Ignore the Sky Movies, I just borrowed this image from Google Images, the error message is the same as we got when selecting Sky Sports 1)

The card was removed, cleaned, reinserted, and nothing. We left it in for an hour or so, to see if it became active, but it didn't.

Is this error an example of unpairing (divorce), or something else?

Wibs

[houseparty]

hi
so he brought both his card, and sky box together, then you installed it for him.

If that's the case, it shouldn't of gone off, they will not divorce like that.

Is he using the white or blue card?

[wibs]

Originally Posted by houseparty

hi
so he brought both his card, and sky box together, then you installed it for him.

If that's the case, it shouldn't of gone off, they will not divorce like that.

Is he using the white or blue card?

White card.

I am wondering if the card is not actually 'divorced' but simply inactive, and waiting for some keep-alive or refresh signal from the satellite? Maybe waiting for just 1 hour was not enough?

Wibs

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by wibs

White card.

I am wondering if the card is not actually 'divorced' but simply inactive, and waiting for some keep-alive or refresh signal from the satellite? Maybe waiting for just 1 hour was not enough?

Wibs

It usually takes overnight, but can take up to 72 hours to receive the 'keep awake' signal.

An hour was nowhere near long enough.

[houseparty]

Originally Posted by wibs

White card.

I am wondering if the card is not actually 'divorced' but simply inactive, and waiting for some keep-alive or refresh signal from the satellite? Maybe waiting for just 1 hour was not enough?

Wibs

can you clear any channels like sky 1.

[wibs]

Originally Posted by houseparty

can you clear any channels like sky 1.

I am borrowing the box off him this evening, so I will check the status of the non-premium channels, like Sky 1. Then I will leave it on for 48 hours to see if it gets woken up, and if not he can take it back the following week, and get Sky to re-pair them.

Wibs

[SiGa]

Originally Posted by wibs

I am borrowing the box off him this evening, so I will check the status of the non-premium channels, like Sky 1. Then I will leave it on for 48 hours to see if it gets woken up, and if not he can take it back the following week, and get Sky to re-pair them.

Wibs

It should be only the premium channels that are not there.

As has been said just wait for the keep alive signal or phone Sky and re-pair.

[wibs]

UPDATE

I left the box connected at my home for the last couple of days, and when I got home from work last night all channels were now back.

No call to Sky has been made.

Strange to get a 'This is the wrong card for this set-top box' error message though.

Wibs

[SiGa]

Originally Posted by wibs

UPDATE

I left the box connected at my home for the last couple of days, and when I got home from work last night all channels were now back.

No call to Sky has been made.

Strange to get a 'This is the wrong card for this set-top box' error message though.

Wibs

Not really if it misses a keep alive signal, it turns it off.

Then when you switched it back on your channels would have returned as it was an active card, the card and box just needed time to get a signal to say that it was the valid box for the card for the premium channels.

[TuX]

double post

[TuX]

so the white cards un-pair themselves when the entitlements expire then?

[wibs]

Originally Posted by SiGa

It should be only the premium channels that are not there.

As has been said just wait for the keep alive signal or phone Sky and re-pair.

Forgot to mention: no, none of the non-premium channels were there either (Sky 1, et al). The only channels were the free-to-air, BBC1, 2, 3, Ch 4, Ch 5. Strangely, his EPG 103, ITV West (S) was also not there (same error message) but all the other ITV regions (London, Yorkshire etc, in the EPG 900s, were all there).

Wibs

[BKM]

Originally Posted by TuX

so the white cards un-pair themselves when the entitlements expire then?

Not really! It is just that the smartcards don't seem to have a message to say what has really gone wrong ("I have missed my refresh command") and so use this one instead.

[Heinz]

Originally Posted by wibs

Strangely, his EPG 103, ITV West (S) was also not there (same error message) but all the other ITV regions (London, Yorkshire etc, in the EPG 900s, were all there).

I assume you mean ITV1 London and all the BBC1 regions in the 900's.