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I don't believe I did that
Jul. 28th, 2017 10:29 amOn the whole, I am happy with watching television through a Sky box. I now rarely watch anything "live", even waiting fifteen minutes after a programme has started so I can watch the recording and fast-forward through the ad breaks.
The only problem is that my box is now ten years old. A few years ago, Sky did some software upgrades and it turned out the older spec boxes had trouble with these. Specifically, if the box has been running too long without a reboot, it will freeze. No button on the remote control has any effect, although it will keep streaming the current programme, either live or a recording. The first time this happened with me I actually was fast-forwarding through an ad break and when the ad break ended and I pressed the button to go back to normal speed, it just kept going. Even when it got to the end of the recording, it just sat there with an "end of recording" message but wouldn't allow me to go back to live TV. Bizarrely, I was recording another show at the time, and that kept recording, but even then it kept recording even after the show had finished.
When this happens, the only thing to do is to reboot. The Sky box has no on/off switch. The only way to reboot is to unplug the box at the power socket, wait a few seconds for the capacitors to discharge and plug it back in. And then wait at least ten minutes whilst the software re-initialises.
I have now got into the habit of powering the box off a couple of times a week, which seems to reduce the number of times it freezes. Doing this just before going to bed means I don't have a problem waiting for the reboot to complete.
So, last night I was watching a programme whilst having a meal. I paused the programme to go to the kitchen for a refill. When I got back, I pressed the button on the Sky remote and nothing happened. I pressed several other buttons. The LED on the front of the box responded to show it was receiving the button presses, but the picture stayed frozen. As I'd just powered the box off the night before, I was annoyed that it had not gone a whole day before freezing. That doesn't usually happen.
I went behind the TV and unplugged the box, waited a few seconds and plugged it back in. When I got round the front of the set, the frozen picture was still there. That shouldn't happen. This flummoxed me for a time until I remembered I'd actually been watching a programme on a DVD, and I should have used the DVD remote to restart the programme.
The only problem is that my box is now ten years old. A few years ago, Sky did some software upgrades and it turned out the older spec boxes had trouble with these. Specifically, if the box has been running too long without a reboot, it will freeze. No button on the remote control has any effect, although it will keep streaming the current programme, either live or a recording. The first time this happened with me I actually was fast-forwarding through an ad break and when the ad break ended and I pressed the button to go back to normal speed, it just kept going. Even when it got to the end of the recording, it just sat there with an "end of recording" message but wouldn't allow me to go back to live TV. Bizarrely, I was recording another show at the time, and that kept recording, but even then it kept recording even after the show had finished.
When this happens, the only thing to do is to reboot. The Sky box has no on/off switch. The only way to reboot is to unplug the box at the power socket, wait a few seconds for the capacitors to discharge and plug it back in. And then wait at least ten minutes whilst the software re-initialises.
I have now got into the habit of powering the box off a couple of times a week, which seems to reduce the number of times it freezes. Doing this just before going to bed means I don't have a problem waiting for the reboot to complete.
So, last night I was watching a programme whilst having a meal. I paused the programme to go to the kitchen for a refill. When I got back, I pressed the button on the Sky remote and nothing happened. I pressed several other buttons. The LED on the front of the box responded to show it was receiving the button presses, but the picture stayed frozen. As I'd just powered the box off the night before, I was annoyed that it had not gone a whole day before freezing. That doesn't usually happen.
I went behind the TV and unplugged the box, waited a few seconds and plugged it back in. When I got round the front of the set, the frozen picture was still there. That shouldn't happen. This flummoxed me for a time until I remembered I'd actually been watching a programme on a DVD, and I should have used the DVD remote to restart the programme.
