Sky + System Fault - Is The Box Finished?

Big Kev · 19 Nov 2006 at 18:22

I've had Sky + for a few years now and have had the odd failed recording etc, but now I can't record, pause and my planner is dead, with the message "System fault - Sky + playback and recording are unavailable".

I've tried the planner rebuild a couple of times, no good.

I've tried the full system reset a couple of times, no good.

I've tried the "hold left & right buttons whilst connecting power, then press select" option, but when it starts the process, it just goes on and on doing nothing and I can even turn the power on and watch Sky.

I presume it's beyond help, although I haven't called Sky yet, I've no intention of paying £65 or even settling for a refurb.

Unless it is repairable, I think I might just go the Freeview route and might try the Digihome PVR, as it's only £100, but I do want to watch the Ashes.

Any advice, greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

daz.wallace · 19 Nov 2006 at 18:27

This happened to mine so I replaced the hard drive with a larger capacity drive and its been fine ever since. If you have a spare compatable HDD lying around try changing it and see what happens. There are guides on the net showing you how to do it and listing compatible drives if you google

Tesla · 19 Nov 2006 at 18:53

If you remove the existing HDD it may be worth checking on the manufacturers website to see if any sort of warranty is still valid too

Although, most OEM disks seem to be 12months, not all are.

Big Kev · 19 Nov 2006 at 20:14

The only hard drive that I have lurking around, is in my spare computer and I don't really want to lose that and buying another HDD isn't worth it in my opinion, as I'm going to go Freeview at some point, so it might as well be now.

Jez · 19 Nov 2006 at 20:41

Pretty much definately the hdd mate, depending on version the box will still be worth a small amount even in its current state

Big Kev · 19 Nov 2006 at 21:53

After some thought, I might as well try another drive in the DRX180, anyone recommend which drive, 160/200G should do.

Jez · 19 Nov 2006 at 21:58

Big Kev said:
After some thought, I might as well try another drive in the DRX180, anyone recommend which drive, 160/200G should do.

http://www.geocities.com/skypluswss/hdd.htm

I had a 2500JB in my DXR180 which worked perfectly, for reference you will get around 25 pages of normal programs on the 250GB in a DXR180.

chaparral · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:06

Jez said:
http://www.geocities.com/skypluswss/hdd.htm

I had a 2500JB in my DXR180 which worked perfectly, for reference you will get around 25 pages of normal programs on the 250GB in a DXR180.

25 pages

I get under 3 pages to fill my 80gb in my pace3100 pv2..

Am going to have take the cover off and check it is a 80gb.
(The person i brought it off said they upgraded it to the 80GB from the standard 40GB)

Jez · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:10

chaparral said:
25 pages

I get under 3 pages to fill my 80gb in my pace3100 pv2..

Obviously it depends what you record, i was going on average ~30min programs, 3 pages sounds like the box is only seeing 40GB though? What HDD have you used in your upgrade to 80GB? (and out of interest, why did you only get an 80?)

Craig321 · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:10

Big Kev said:
I've had Sky + for a few years now and have had the odd failed recording etc, but now I can't record, pause and my planner is dead, with the message "System fault - Sky + playback and recording are unavailable".

I've tried the planner rebuild a couple of times, no good.

I've tried the full system reset a couple of times, no good.

I've tried the "hold left & right buttons whilst connecting power, then press select" option, but when it starts the process, it just goes on and on doing nothing and I can even turn the power on and watch Sky.

I presume it's beyond help, although I haven't called Sky yet, I've no intention of paying £65 or even settling for a refurb.

Unless it is repairable, I think I might just go the Freeview route and might try the Digihome PVR, as it's only £100, but I do want to watch the Ashes.

Any advice, greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

We had the same problem with ours, Sky came round and replaced it. Are you not in warranty any more ?

Jez · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:12

Craig321 said:
We had the same problem with ours, Sky came round and replaced it. Are you not in warranty any more ?

Even out of warranty sky will fix it for free if you threaten to leave (you have nothing to lose, you can phone back immediately and resubscribe even if they call your bluff)

I had my failed 2.5 year old DXR180 sourced from ebay replaced for free with a Pace PVR3.

Its a good option, but if the box is working then the DXR180 is arguably the best box available and he's unlikely to get another one from sky.

chaparral · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:12

Jez said:
3 pages sounds like the box is only seeing 40GB though? What HDD have you used in your upgrade to 80GB? (and out of interest, why did you only get an 80?)

Sorry
See my edit.which i was typing as you posted this..

Jez · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:13

chaparral said:
Sorry
See my edit.which i was typing as you posted this..

Unless everything you have recorded is around 1.5 hours long then you have a 40GB disk in that box with that sort of recording capacity

chaparral · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:24

Jez said:
Unless everything you have recorded is around 1.5 hours long then you have a 40GB disk in that box with that sort of recording capacity

I got some music recorded for 294mins & 168mins
Plus a load of long movies like starswars 147mins,Sahara 135mins,XXX2 120mins etc and a load of other movies around the same length.

I only record movies really..i don't watch soaps etc

So i guess this is why my space disappears so quick..

Craig321 · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:25

Jez said:
Even out of warranty sky will fix it for free if you threaten to leave (you have nothing to lose, you can phone back immediately and resubscribe even if they call your bluff)

I had my failed 2.5 year old DXR180 sourced from ebay replaced for free with a Pace PVR3.

Its a good option, but if the box is working then the DXR180 is arguably the best box available and he's unlikely to get another one from sky.

Oh, cool, I know what to do if our box ever fails out of warranty!

Big Kev · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:31

Jez said:
Its a good option, but if the box is working then the DXR180 is arguably the best box available and he's unlikely to get another one from sky.

I didn't know the box was that good, so an upgrade is the sensible option then, cheers chaps.

Jez · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:38

Big Kev said:
I didn't know the box was that good, so an upgrade is the sensible option then, cheers chaps.

Its pretty fast, the most compatible by miles so you have a choice of disk upgrades, and it doesnt rob you of 80GB as the V3 boxes do so you get the full amount every time

Big Kev · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:44

2500JB duly ordered and I should be fitting it on Tuesday, cheers Jez.

Jez · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:47

The drive needs to go into the box completely blank, no NTFS/FAT partitions (so straight from the packet)

Then simply perform a full system reset and it will format the disk for you, be prepared for the FSR to take around 20-30 mins to perform its format on the 250GB drive! (just so you dont get worried and think its not doing anything)

Big Kev · 19 Nov 2006 at 22:50

Jez said:
The drive needs to go into the box completely blank, no NTFS/FAT partitions (so straight from the packet)

Then simply perform a full system reset and it will format the disk for you, be prepared for the FSR to take around 20-30 mins to perform its format on the 250GB drive! (just so you dont get worried and think its not doing anything)

Cheers for that, sounds as simple as can be.