Sky viewing card issues

[GGH18]

Sky viewing card will no longer work with Sky channels and downloads.

The screen message says that the channels will be available shortly but they don't come.

[Mark39]

@GGH18 I've not seen that message before with Sky+ boxes. Is that exactly what is shown on screen?

Have you tried restarting your Sky box b switching off at the plug for at least 4 minutes?

[GGH18]

Thanks. Yes, the box has been re-started by first disconnecting atr the mains. Google found me a better Sky phone number and I got to speak to a human who attempted to restore the card settings remotely. All that did was bring back trhe Sky channels - but not the programmes we had downloaded. Nor would our F1 channel work. He said it was likel;ty a damaged card and, as these are no longfer available, we would need to upgrade to SkyQ. The trouble is that the +HD box is actually a new one that we bought 11 months ago as a spare, as the old box could be temperamental. So a wasted chunk of cash. Not a good day.

[Mark39]

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@GGH18 wrote:

He said it was likel;ty a damaged card and, as these are no longfer available, we would need to upgrade to SkyQ. 

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I don't want to make a bad day worse, but unless Sky's policy has changed very recently, that's not the case. They can still send you a replacement Viewing Card for your Sky+ box, and there was no need to upgrade.

By the way, Sky+ boxes were last manufactured in around 2015, so it's very  unlikely that your box was new 11 months ago.

[TimmyBGood]

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@GGH18 wrote:

The trouble is that the +HD box is actually a new one that we bought 11 months ago as a spare

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'New' to you, and possibly unused if it's been on a warehouse shelf for a decade, but definitely not recent.  Sky+ HD manufacturing had ceased in favour of Sky Q production before that platform launched in 2016, and Q boxes themselves haven't now been made for quite a few years: Glass/Stream arrived in 2021.

[TimmyBGood]

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@GGH18 wrote:

All that did was bring back trhe Sky channels - but not the programmes we had downloaded.

Playback of stored content is dependent on the local hard drive: if that fails or the box is reverted to factory settings then there's nothing there.

Nor would our F1 channel work. 

Legacy 'free' F1 is a subscription thing which typically doesn't survive account changes.

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Neither of these are directly related to the Viewing Card itself.