[timey]

Looks like it's started alreayd. My box has needed rebooting twice already since I got the EPG, and I haven't even had it two days yet. I am really f***ing pissed off with Sky now. The box was fine, in fact superb before this happened, now it is falling over again. Why? Why? Why? What is this EPG doing that is so bad for the boxes? And whatever it is, why can't they sort it out? The thing is, I DON'T want another replacement and I DON'T want to have to go back to my old SD box, but the way things are going I will have to cancel Sky HD because it is not really worth this hassle just to get a slightly sharper picture.

[Jarrak]

If you are only getting a "slightly sharper picture" then I think paying for HD is a waste regardless of the reliability of the EPG

[timey]

Originally Posted by Jarrak

If you are only getting a "slightly sharper picture" then I think paying for HD is a waste regardless of the reliability of the EPG

Probably right. OK, the picture IS better, but is it worth £10 a month and all the problems that the EPG is causing. If it weren't for the latter I'd just cancel HD and use the box as a normal Sky+, plus get BBC in HD for free anyway, but the new EPG problems are making me want to throw the box away altogether.

[Masteriser]

Originally Posted by timey

Looks like it's started alreayd. My box has needed rebooting twice already since I got the EPG, and I haven't even had it two days yet. I am really f***ing pissed off with Sky now. The box was fine, in fact superb before this happened, now it is falling over again. Why? Why? Why? What is this EPG doing that is so bad for the boxes? And whatever it is, why can't they sort it out?

They will in time, but don't hold your breath, they are painfully slow. They still need to bu**er up the remaining Samsung boxes then all the Amstrads before they will start to fix the bugs.

In the mean time, I suggest you disable Anytime TV, Mini TV and Auto Standby. Doing this has made my Thomson a lot less bad but nowhere near as good as it was before April (when it had the new EPG forced upon it). My HD box worked flawlessly for 14 months (after fitting a Satcure Power Supply Unit and a better Hard Disk) it honestly never missed a beat and I use it a lot as I work shifts. Once the new EPG turned up it was very unstable. If you disable the features I suggest and do a power cycle every two weeks or so, all should be reasonably OK.

[timey]

Originally Posted by Masteriser

They will in time, but don't hold your breath, they are painfully slow. They still need to bu**er up the remaining Samsung boxes then all the Amstrads before they will start to fix the bugs.

In the mean time, I suggest you disable Anytime TV, Mini TV and Auto Standby. Doing this has made my Thomson a lot less bad but nowhere near as good as it was before April (when it had the new EPG forced upon it). My HD box worked flawlessly for 14 months (after fitting a Satcure Power Supply Unit and a better Hard Disk) it honestly never missed a beat and I use it a lot as I work shifts. Once the new EPG turned up it was very unstable. If you disable the features I suggest and do a power cycle every two weeks or so, all should be reasonably OK.

Anytime: Always anyway off as I never watch it.
Mini TV: Does that really have such a bad effect (not disagreeing with you, just seems strange)
Auto Standby: Will switch this off and see if that makes a difference.

[hdfan]

Originally Posted by timey

What is this EPG doing that is so bad for the boxes?

The new EPG isn't doing anything bad. I've had the new EPG for months now and my box is fine. In fact it's working ok and the EPG is great - a vast improvement on the old EPG.

I think you have a faulty box and should be phoning Sky in the first instance.

[Masteriser]

Originally Posted by timey

Mini TV: Does that really have such a bad effect (not disagreeing with you, just seems strange)

Yes, it can and does cause problems, specifically timer clashes when the tuner is not released by the Mini TV for a dual record. It also seems to be the source of phantom "No Signal" errors when the software fails to release the tuner correctly. The last time I enabled my Mini TV (when I had a stupid day obviously) it locked up the box completely and the only way I could get it to work again was to do a forced software update as a power cycle was not enough.

Timey, have you noticed a slight reduction in PQ since getting the new EPG? It is very subtle, but it is there on my box. I am not the only one to have noticed this.

[mitchec1]

Originally Posted by Masteriser

Yes, it can and does cause problems, specifically timer clashes when the tuner is not released by the Mini TV for a dual record. It also seems to be the source of phantom "No Signal" errors when the software fails to release the tuner correctly. The last time I enabled my Mini TV (when I had a stupid day obviously) it locked up the box completely and the only way I could get it to work again was to do a forced software update as a power cycle was not enough.

Timey, have you noticed a slight reduction in PQ since getting the new EPG? It is very subtle, but it is there on my box. I am not the only one to have noticed this.

There's a number of posts over on avforums mentioning the very same thing

http://www.avforums.com/forums/sky-h...y-answers.html

[mart.stokes]

Originally Posted by Masteriser

My HD box worked flawlessly for 14 months (after fitting a Satcure Power Supply Unit and a better Hard Disk) it honestly never missed a beat and I use it a lot as I work shifts. Once the new EPG turned up it was very unstable.

Every time I see a post like this (and your other one regarding phantom "no signals") I just want to reply "ditto". We must have boxes from the same production run!

As we have said before, it must be worse for those with problematic PSUs because they now have two ways of getting "no signal".

I now set most Sky progs to record twice (as most are repeated) and use a Humax to produce a second recording of the free channel stuff. Pathetic!

[hdfan]

Originally Posted by mart.stokes

Pathetic!

Get onto Sky!!! Don't waste time telling this lot. If you want something done, do something about it!!! Whinging on here won't make your box run any better.

[Masteriser]

Yes, get onto Sky. They might just send you a nice shiny new Amstrad box. Which will work well until it is its' turn to get the New EPG. Then it will be as rubbish as all the others.

The issue is the poorly implemented and extremely poorly tested software. Sky will probably sort most of the problems out given time, but they are very slow at doing this. Ask anyone who had regular Sky+ from launch about how unstable it was at the beginning and for how long. Lots of us have complained about these issues to Sky. Amazingly, almost all of us have been told it is the first time they have heard of XYZ problem and there are no known issues with the platform. However, to try and solve it, would we like to pay for an "engineer" to visit and test our system?

[StooMonster]

Originally Posted by mart.stokes

As we have said before, it must be worse for those with problematic PSUs because they now have two ways of getting "no signal".

I now set most Sky progs to record twice (as most are repeated). Pathetic!

I've started doing this too, it's the only way to ensure that you get all the programmes you want.

I have a Thomson Sky HD with an uprated new PSU from SatCure and I still get FAILED recording due to NO SIGNAL every day ... and when you switch to the channel it just has a blue screen, and the only way to fix is a power cycle.

Starting to get extremely annoyed and at the end of my tether with this crap.

StooMonster

[Pencil]

I bought a Sky+ box on eBay this afternoon.

No more crap EPG for me.

[timey]

Originally Posted by hdfan

The new EPG isn't doing anything bad. I've had the new EPG for months now and my box is fine. In fact it's working ok and the EPG is great - a vast improvement on the old EPG.

I think you have a faulty box and should be phoning Sky in the first instance.

Why would it suddenly do that after months of working flawlessly though? It has done it twice in two days since getting the EPG, when before that it had only done it twice in six months. OK, I'm not 100% sure it's the EPG, and will be keeping an eye on it, but it does seem strange and I am nervy because of previous experience with a Thomson box. At any rate, I want to avoid phoning Sky unless absolutely necessary.

[timey]

Originally Posted by Masteriser

Yes, it can and does cause problems, specifically timer clashes when the tuner is not released by the Mini TV for a dual record. It also seems to be the source of phantom "No Signal" errors when the software fails to release the tuner correctly. The last time I enabled my Mini TV (when I had a stupid day obviously) it locked up the box completely and the only way I could get it to work again was to do a forced software update as a power cycle was not enough.

Timey, have you noticed a slight reduction in PQ since getting the new EPG? It is very subtle, but it is there on my box. I am not the only one to have noticed this.

Haven't really noticed anything regarding the PQ. In fact, I thought it has looked a bit better than before. But re the mini TV, surely the problem you mention re clashed recordings would only be an issue when the machine is on, not when in standby?

[timey]

Had to reboot the box again today. Third time in four days. NOW tell me it isn't due to the new EPG. Why does it do this to perfectly good boxes?