back to article Game of Moans: Sky coughs to BORKED set top box BALLS-UP

Sky customers have been complaining for months about a firmware update that has cocked up their set top boxes but the media giant has been slow to repair the glitch, it has been claimed. An unknown number of Sky HD boxes have been crashing, failing to record pre-set programmes or altogether disrupting the TV service. Sky has …

  1. Valeyard

    mine's broken

    My set top box ix broken because it doesn't balance on top of my flatscreen TV and keeps crashing onto the floor

  2. GitMeMyShootinIrons

    I am one of those victims...

    I spend more time resetting the underpowered, overworked Sky box than I do watching it. I've knocked movies on the head and gone elsewhere.

    Glad to hear they're finally listening and hopefully doing something. I, for one, am bowing down to the Australian Overlord in prayer to make it so...

    1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: I am one of those victims...

      I am not a victim but I have friends who are. They will be pleased if it is not their out of warranty box which needs repairing or replacing as they have been led to believe.

      1. Ragarath

        Re: I am one of those victims...

        They will be pleased if it is not their out of warranty box which needs repairing or replacing as they have been led to believe.

        This is what I was thinking it was a faulty box. I've even replaced the HDD in case that was causing the errors, although I wanted to for a bigger storage space anyway. Sky just tell you to reset which is useless advice and a factory reset will lose all your recordings so is bad advice.

        We have lost so many recordings because of this, luckily most of them were on catch up and have been noticed. I'm dreading going through the series that I have recorded but not had time to check. There might be some big gaps.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I am one of those victims...

      At least they're attempting to fix the problem. Most set top box manufacturers don't give a damn - they just shove their shoddy untested kit out the door and collect the money. The only time a firmware update appears is when it turns up in a new model.

  3. ukgnome

    Unsurprisingly, after hearing from The Register on Monday, Sky promised to release a new update today.

    Dear Reg - Please can you contact Greater Anglia about it's appalling service to IT commuters?

    Also, please fire off a few emails to the twunts that control the wifi service called the cloud as I don't want a dumb post office advert auto-playing at every bloody station.

  4. TheProf
    Devil

    WOW!

    "Unsurprisingly, after hearing from The Register on Monday, Sky promised to release a new update today."

    Jeepers! You must wield a mighty stick in tech circles if you can get a problem fixed with one phone call. Any chance of you sorting out the Greek financial problem?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: WOW!

      The key word here is "promised". That's not quite the same as "fixed".

      Promises are cheap, like Greek government bonds.

    2. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: WOW!

      Whilst el Reg is throwing its weight around could they please please demand Microsoft fix VS2013 so it doesn't spend most of a build cancelling nondescript tasks instead of actually building something...?

      Pretty please?

      I like VS2013 but this behaviour is a frustrating time waster.

    3. theblackhand

      Re: WOW!

      The Greek financial problems are easy - defer the IMF repayments to allow the Greeks to get a concession and the EU to get paid without any toys being thrown out of the pram. Just spend a few weeks "negotiating" so that it looks like all sides worked hard to achieve the deal.

    4. Trigonoceps occipitalis

      Re: WOW!

      After the Greeks how about the West Lothian Question?

  5. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    FAIL

    Which bit is broken?

    The 39% owned by Rupert, or the remaining 61%?

    Just curious...

    1. Jeff Green

      Re: Which bit is broken?

      It's always the other bit ...

      Whoever you ask!

  6. HkraM

    There's another problem with the latest firmware on some boxes that Sky know all about but still haven't fixed - after a week or two they start to forget series links, but power-cycling the box brings them all back.

    1. GettinSadda

      Ah - I must try this. I have discovered that sometimes it doesn't even ask if you want to series link when something is clearly marked as "1 of n" etc.

      1. AndrueC Silver badge
        Coat

        sometimes it doesn't even ask if you want to series link

        That's usually down to the channel concerned not having set the metadata up correctly. CI has done this a number of times as has Discovery. I usually fire off an email and they usually fix it. That can also be the reason why series links sometimes break but if rebooting brings them back then that sounds like the box.

        But another pet hate of mine is the way some channels just start repeating earlier shows to prolong a series. History does this a lot. They seem to just start randomly inserting previous episodes as they get close to airing the final few.

        On the plus side it seems that ITV have stopped using series link as a way to get every episode from every channel on Freesat. I gave up using series link on Midsomer Murders because even if you only marked the new episodes on ITV HD you also got the endless repeats on ITV 3. One case where the more powerful series link of Freesat was not an advantage.

        History have done that only a few days ago. The series link for Storage Wars (stop giggling) suddenly linked across to the series of repeats. They've also been known to mark repeats as being part of the series so you get two or three recordings of everything throughout the week. Very annoying when you only have two tuners in the box because it's pot luck what will get dropped and Sod's law says it won't always be the repeat you saw the day before.

        Oh and this is only tangentially related but: Why the fucking hell can't Discovery broadcast to its schedule. It doesn't show live programmes. It must be possible to know to the nearest nano-second when everything is going to end. So how the hell do they sometimes end up running two or even three minutes late? Stupid arseholes.

        Mine's the one with the list of grievances in the pocket.

        1. Bob H

          One of the problems is that broadcasters, when they enter information into the schedule might not always have their system track that what is on one channel is the same event that is on another channel. Sometimes they don't match the Series CRID but sometimes they also put in a unique Programme CRID, there is also alternate instance and HD/SD linkage which I have also noticed some channels don't always provide.

          We'd like to think that the broadcasters were joined up in their approach to metadata but experience tells me that humans keep making mistakes and the systems they have aren't sophisticated enough to keep from that happening. But then again they have to share data with Sky, Virgin, DigitalUK, Freesat, Rovi and the various news agencies/data companies, and everyone wants it in a slightly different format.

  7. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Another advert for "off plan" downloading

    it's like Sky want people to torrent ?

  8. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "We’re still working on this"

    SOP. Never consider rolling back the previous version.

    1. JimmyPage Silver badge

      SOP. Never consider rolling back the previous version.

      The problem is any non-trivial upgrade will probably do something to the data structures used. Adding a field, or changing a data type. All actions which are pretty much irreversible, unless you create a backup immediately prior to upgrade.

      And that's just for a system in isolation. What happens when the servers at the other end rely on the new data formats ?

      The real issue is pisspoor testing of releases - probably ignoring the spread of hardware they've dumped over the years that somebody is still using.

      1. AndrueC Silver badge
        Go

        Re: SOP. Never consider rolling back the previous version.

        The real issue is pisspoor testing of releases - probably ignoring the spread of hardware they've dumped over the years that somebody is still using.

        To be fair to Sky I've been a subscriber for over a decade now (my first box was a silver Panny). Only once have I been seriously impacted by a firmware fault and they rolled that back within a week. I don't agree with all the changes they have made over the years but my various Sky boxes have been some of the most dependable and reliable kit I've owned.

  9. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse
    FAIL

    You couldn't make it up...

    "Have you tried turning it off and on again, and just for added pointlessness - give the cables a bit of a jiggle".

    1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: You couldn't make it up...

      "and just for added pointlessness - give the cables a bit of a jiggle".

      For my friends that does actually seem to be one of the solutions which works for their problems! Admittedly it seems to need a full network disconnect and reconnect rather than a mere jiggle which is what had me thinking it may be a networking issue.

      That may just be coincidence but there does seem to be some correlation between 'jiggling cables' and things working again for a while.

    2. Annihilator
      Happy

      Re: You couldn't make it up...

      "and just for added pointlessness - give the cables a bit of a jiggle"

      In fairness, that's the official IT method of getting someone to check that it's definitely plugged in without the user taking umbridge and replying "of course it is, I'm not a moron!" while not checking that it has actually been unplugged by some college nerds needing to use their rock tumbler..

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: You couldn't make it up...

        "In fairness, that's the official IT method of getting someone to check that it's definitely plugged in"

        Decades ago, when I did telephone support for early PCs (CP/M anyone?), I would ask them to turn the power off and on at the socket. Surprisingly often, a few moments later, the sheepish customer would confirm that it had been unplugged... most likely by the cleaner the night before.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sky – which is 39 per cent owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch

    No, it isn't. It's 39% owned by Fox, of which the entire Murdoch familty owns only 12%.

  11. Paul Naylor

    Ah!

    This could explain a lot. I was looking to settle down with Sir Charleston Brookington's Weekly Wipe last night and found that it hadn't recorded, despite my having set up Series Link last week. Downloaded it from iPlayer on the box, watched it but can't see it in the Planner to delete it. Programme info is very slow to refresh too and the box seems to be quite unresponsive at times. Didn't bother doing a reset though; I just switched off the telly and did some Elite Dangerousing instead...

    1. DaddyHoggy

      Re: Ah!

      Upvote for mentioning Elite: Dangerous

    2. Calum Morrison

      Re: Ah!

      For that error, you can go in via the Android app and watch/delete a programme now. It seems to affect remote recorded series links.

  12. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Not just Pace and Samsung boxes. My Amstrad box recently dumped most of the future recordings I'd set up on series link.

    And WTF Sky? Turn it off and on again!?! This is 2015 not 1995. Standard cop-out answer from "technical" support that knows less about tech than a Neanderthal.

    Product testing. We've heard of it.

    1. Ragarath

      And WTF Sky? Turn it off and on again!?! This is 2015 not 1995. Standard cop-out answer from "technical" support that knows less about tech than a Neanderthal.

      Sounds to me like a standard response from a non-tech user. Yes in this case Sky is having a laugh, but you will not believe how many times (even in 2015) a turn it off and on again will solve the "problem" and stops wasting my time more than the 30 secs required to do something the person using said equipment (whatever that may be) should have done.

      1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

        "Sounds to me like a standard response from a non-tech user."

        If you're talking about me, you couldn't be more wrong.

        Needing to reboot indicates the software has gotten into a situation it can't handle and hasn't be coded to fail gracefully. These things should be picked up during testing and dealt with properly, instead of resorting to "turn it off and on again" for every issue.

        1. Ragarath

          I had assumed you were a tech user. But ignoring the fact that a switch off and on again is a resolution to a lot of tech problems is just ignorance and is what I would expect from a non-tech hence I parodied you.

          I did say in my post that Sky are wrong here, in their closed eco-system it should not have occurred as they control everything. This is not the same with anything that involves Software as you insinuated. I have yet to see a piece that does not have bugs that interact poorly with other software hence the first thing to try is? It is not the final resolution in a lot of cases but it is a way to get the person running again while you can figure out what is causing the problem. And that appears (now Sky have admitted the problem) to be what is happening here.

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      If it starts forgetting stuff or crashing after a while then it's probably got more memory leaks than a sieve so turning it off and on again will temporarily fix the problem, and also why their testing doesn't pick it up because they probably don't test boxes that have been on for weeks.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "And WTF Sky? Turn it off and on again!?! This is 2015 not 1995."

      My 1TB box did that a few weeks back. I didn't bother call Sky support. I just turned it off and on again. All my future recordings came back again. Actually, I turn my Sky box off and on once a month (when I remember) because earlier versions tended tended to trash the hard drive after a few weeks.

      1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

        "My 1TB box did that a few weeks back. I didn't bother call Sky support. I just turned it off and on again. All my future recordings came back again."

        I never once said I called Sky about this. A quick search of their forum was all that was needed.

        "Actually, I turn my Sky box off and on once a month (when I remember) because earlier versions tended tended to trash the hard drive after a few weeks."

        And you find this acceptable because...?

        I'd prefer they just got it right given how many years they've been in this game. Seems like they should have nailed it down better by now.

  13. Mr Rizla

    Over the last month have had to restart the box a few times because of various issues, it can stop working on some channels with a technical fault, or in schedule it wont display upcoming shows, or it just plain refuses to record anything on sky+, a reboot cures all

    Turn it off and On again lives....

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mine has had random hangs since I first got it a couple of years ago or so. As my telephone cable isn't plugged in by default anymore, hopefully I have been spared the update....

    1. Empty1

      @AC telephone.....

      I think you'll find the updates come down the aerial rather than the phone line.

  15. The last doughnut

    Nice to know its not only YouView users who are stuck with a crap box.

    1. Colin Bull 1

      "Nice to know its not only YouView users who are stuck with a crap box."

      My 3 year Old Humax T2 freeview box is still working fantastically well. The geniuses who provide the customised software make it still a dream. FTP, DLNA, SAMBA etc etc. Program the LED lights, set padding or not. Decrypt HD. You want it, it does it.

      Got a nice new shiny TalkTalk thingy, but it can stay in its box.

  16. M_W

    Yep - Mine's borked too

    A Pace 9F3 SkyHD box which once they rolled out V10 software, keeps crashing every 2-3 days without fail.

    Interestingly when it started back in October (box was running REALLY slowly) they knew about the issue and would allow the users with flakey boxes to roll back to the previous software version (V9) but they then updated the over the air version to stop people from rolling back.

    (see http://skyepginfo.co.uk/Firmware/SkyPlusHD.php for revisions of software).

    I've spoken to sky a couple of times about the issue but their outsourced call centre bods have no clue and just keep telling people to force reset their boxes (which formats the disk and wipes out everything they have on the planner).

    I've got to the point where after many years of being a Sky customer and early adopter (and never having a freebie, having paid full cost for not only a Digibox in the old days, but also a Sky+ box and a Sky HD box) I'm now about to jump ship. The Mrs + kids are binge watching anything that is stored on the disk in half term in between crashes.

    Sky aren't willing to recompense me in any way - they're not willing to update my box or give me a discounted sub, so I'm off.

    No virgin media where I am, however, with Fibre broadband, Netflix, Amazon Prime and a decent Freesat with Freetime+ box (like the Humax HDR-1000S 2Tb) the £200 for the box will have paid for itself in 4 months saving £60 a month. I won't miss the movies (and can get Now TV if I really want to on an Apple TV) and I never had sports anyway.

  17. Annihilator
    Meh

    Temporary respite

    Finally! An admission of fault from Sky.

    As an interim solution that has worked for me, rebuilding the planner seems to work and give you a serviceable box for (at least) a couple of weeks at a time:

    http://help.sky.com/articles/problems-with-your-recordings-and-planner

    Doing the planner re-build doesn't delete anything but will cancel any recordings in progress, and takes about 5 minutes, so choose timing wisely. Fixes all the symptoms such as "lag on updating programme info", "recording schedules disappearing", "not recording series linked stuff".

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So, for the last 4 or 5 months

    Sky have failed to fulfil their contract:

    Are the affected due some financial recourse???

    1. Halfmad

      Re: So, for the last 4 or 5 months

      Contracts ? No it only ever works in one direction, when you owe them.

  19. DaveMcM

    I've been having loads of issues with the program guide going AWOL and then evenrually crawling back into life for the last few months and I've also had a few things that I'd swear I'd set to record not record so this could explain it...

    And then last week all of my planned recordings just vanished from the planner completely.... A reboot didn't do anything so I started re-adding them and after I'd set up the first 3 or 4 items the rest suddenly reappeared back from the void.

    Hope whatever they say they're releasing today finally fixes it.

  20. MJI Silver badge

    Glad I am on Freesat

    My Humax works fine, but then they know what they are doing!

    1. AndrueC Silver badge

      Re: Glad I am on Freesat

      Not always. Talk to a T1000 user. Now there was a box that had difficulty remembering series links. But my Freesat HDR is working like a charm. The EPG is horribly sluggish at first but otherwise a lovely box.

  21. gibonatriumph

    About time !!

    I've been having problems with the Guide data, as well as missed recordings.

    When I first noticed the issue the guide did not show any information at all, just "no listings available" messages. Next day, and ever since, I do get Guide data but you can see the data for each page or channel slowly updating each time you hit a new time window or channel. Looks like they have updated their EPG data mechanism, either how it's supplied or how it's stored on the box.

    That could well explain all the missed recordings if they can no longer persist schedule data on the boxes.

    Box office has also been stuffed since this happened, although you can use their IP delivery channel instead, if you are lucky enough to have a decent network connection.

  22. Richard_Sideways

    I was on the phone to them just last night about this. Ours has been acting up for at least a couple of months, and they came clean about it... But why OH WHY does the perfect 'Screw You, I'm Off' come along just when Sky Atlantic starts showing 'Last Week Tonight' and have Game of Thrones on the horizon... DAMN YOU SKY!

  23. Stevie

    Bah!

    Kicked box across room again. Was wearing sneakers but assume this counts as a "reBOOT".

    Checked cables. I have some.

    How is this supposed to address a firmware problem?

  24. AndrueC Silver badge
    Meh

    I've not noticed any problems which is a relief. My Samsung box is on a timer that cuts the power to it every night at 3am and doesn't restore it until 3pm. It wouldn't be the first time that power cycling a Sky box has meant I avoided problems. What I have noticed are a number of channels being careless with series link data.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Other Game of Thrones-inspired memes

    Just to get this over with:

    -Game of Phones (Used in relation to competition between mobile phone manufacturers. Personally, I think this one is great)

    -Game of Groans

    -Game of Tones

    -Game of Doh's

    -Game of Bones (Probably an XX-rated video under this name somewhere)

    -Game of Scones

    -Game of Crones (Use anywhere biddies are going after eachother)

    -Game of Loans (Should probably be used like Game of Phones, but among international financial companies)

  26. Sgt_Oddball

    Phew, I thought our Sammy box would have to be replaced (limited edition paint jobby that came with the caveat warranty this and you loose the paint job) after 6+ years of service but I thought something was amiss when the parents moaned theirs was acting up as well (a 2 year old box so much newer).

    Just hope they get it sorted soon and with a reliable fix.

  27. Timmy B

    Just had mine replaced

    I had to do the whole "Put me through to cancellations" Sky dance. but They gave in in the end and for free send an engineer out, replaced the dish, the box and out multi-room box all for free. They threw in a £5 a month discount too. It's a pain to have to do the "I'll cancel then" thing but it does seem to work.

  28. Geoff Taylor's lovechild

    Don't hold your breath

    "Sky promised to explain to El Reg what had gone wrong. We'll update this story if we hear more from the company"

    Yeah...

    Classic turn it off and on again advice.

  29. Sheep!

    Funnily enough the latest update seems to have fixed a problem that's beset my Sky box for the last couple of years (notably since it ran out of warranty) in that if I'm recording 2 programs and watch a third, any pausing, fast forwarding or even trying to back out to the menu causes the whole box to hang. It did recently lose all the future series records but a reboot solved that and I've had no problems with it since and now seem able to record 2 programs while watching a third with no problem again.

  30. procon-IT

    Dare to complain!

    My three Samsung boxes for my multi room package all have these faults. I used The Sky Community forum to find out more. When I realised nothing was being done about the issue I dared to ask other members for feedback before sending a letter to the CEO office of Sky. Super Users got upset and had me banned from the forum. If this isn't fixed this week I will be taking this higher.

  31. procon-IT

    Three Sky HD boxes on multi room Borked and now banned from the Sky community forum.

    I have been following this for a long time. For many months Sky buried its head but then I'm one of the few that started to break the rules and go outside the forum to Watchdog, printed media and I even sent a complaint to the CEO team. Now I find myself banned from the forum for daring to reject super users telling me I cant do something. In reality what has happened is actions such as mine has got the reaction we wanted, an official statement. Now Sky daily put up a message on Twitter and other platforms stating that they are working on a fix now they know what they did to break the boxes.

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