Technical fault query

[Richard2005]

Hi All

Our SKY+ HD box has started playing up. First it started being very slow to respond to the remote. Then not wanting to change channels. Now I get a blue screen with the message

There is a technical fault with this channel. Press (yellow button) for more information.

I press the yellow and go through the check screens but it doesn't fix the issue. I checked signal strength which is fine and restarted etc.

Sometimes it gets completely stuck and Ihave to restart the box. Occasionally the planner and channels come back to life. though. It is driving us mad!

Any advice would be very welcome. Thank you.

[Mark39]

Have a look at Sky's advice here: https://www.sky.com/help/articles/technical-fault-with-channel-sky-plus

[Richard2005]

Many thanks for that. I checked all connections and signal strength and quality is showing as very good on both inputs. I could do a system rest I reckon. We would lose our recordings but there isn't too much there. Does this usually work do you think or could the box itself be on the way out. I wonder if it is a software or hardware problem?

[Mark39]

It's unlikely to be a software problem IMHO. From all the 'symptoms' you mentioned, I would suspect the hard disk is on its way out. A full system reset might temporarily at least restore normal working but if the disk is failing, as would be quite likely as it's at least 8 years old, it's probably only a matter of time.....

[Michael99]

Hi Richard

I have had a problem recording for a while too. Today I couldn't access Channel 411 TNT Sports 2. It comes up 'technical fault' but all the checks produce nothing. They already exchanged the Sky+ box but still no good. All I was told was that I would lose all my recordings with a full reset and that a SkyQ box would take a month or so. I cancelled my contract the other day so now they know I only have a month to go they're not going to do anything for me. I can't get anyone to help, the person I spoke to put the phone down on me unjustifiably saying I spoke inappropriately to her. What a joke! I emailed complaints and they got back to me apologising (without looking into it) but said they wouldn't ring me back until 2 days time!!

At least they won't get another £100 out of me again each month (as they have for 17 years) but they have you over a barrel if you like football and don't want to use more nefarious means. So much for loyalty!!!

[Daniel0210]

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@Michael99 wrote:

They already exchanged the Sky+ box but still no good. 

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@Richard2005 

Just be aware Sky no longer deploy an engineer for Sky+ / Sky+HD issues. If you were to call Sky they will advise you of this and recommend you change your subscription to Sky Q, Sky Glass or Stream. If you already have Sky Protect cover through Domestic and General Insurance you can still contact them for attendance.

[Richard2005]

Hi Michael

Sorry to hear of your problems, that sounds horrendous - esoecially after 17 years - we are on 15 now! We got our Sky+ box independently. We have done a factory reset a couple of times and actually managed to watch football last night but the box is definitely on its way out.  I can't decide whether just to get another refirbished Sky+ box for £50 on ebay or go SkyQ. I won't do the latter if it takes all that tme and we don't need all the bells and whistles, multiroom etc. As you say, if you want footabll, you are stuck!

[TimmyBGood]

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@Michael99 wrote:

All I was told was that I would lose all my recordings with a full reset and that a SkyQ box would take a month or so.

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Switching from Sky+ to Sky Q requires installer attendance to swap the LNB on the satellite dish, so any such delay is based on local Sky installer availability.

Yes, recordings are lost after a full reset, and after a swap to Q.  Note that they also become unreachable after a Sky+ subscription is cancelled because access to the hard drive is a subscription feature.