A tech fault that is new to me...

DMC

I'll thaw this out in the collective mental microwave.....

On my mate's Sky box Today - just after watching the Koreans beat the Italians the screen just went blue and now there's no picture or sound.

He can still flick from channel to channel and see the current caption, get the channel guide etc etc, but just with a blue screen, and after a while a message pops up saying 'There is a technical fault with this channel' etc.

He did a signal test and there could be a problem there.

Signal strength is about 75% but there was nothing in the bar for signal quality.

He did a system details test and where it should have card number it says 'no card'.

I've tried taking the card out and putting it back in, powering down and on again etc. This has been ongoing since around 5pm today.

Any thoughts? Gratefully appriciated!

telecinesk

Digibox didnt like the football result.

Sorry, two things> I guess the flash rom is corrupted,oh joy or the switchmode psu (piece of sh..) has gone funny.The electrolyctic capacitors have a tendancy to dry up and short or burst.Take the lid off and look at the psu. (Assuming you have tech background) The psu in most digiboxes are so badly designed and provoke most of these ridiculous faults.

Worse still its a "repair" job for a bloke in a shirt and tie.]
Someone else suggest diagnosis??
Read Television Magazine, lots of help and contact details and PSU repair kits. If the box is over 12mths old I wouldnt be suprised> Sorry if I am the bringer of bad news.
Hope its just the flash memory, any approved dealer can rewrite this etc>>

Anyone else recognise this fault?

Saruman

Did you try a hard reset? It is like clearing the cmos of a PC... wipes out all options and sets to factory.. works a treat for most problems like this!

Might depend on box but remove your card. Put Digibox in standby. Switch the box off at the mains for at least 30 seconds. While unplugged, wipe the gold contacts of the card carefully with a dry tissue to remove any static build-up. (Note: use a tissue, not a jumper!) Switch the mains back on. Switch Digibox back on (it'll boot up for around 20 seconds first). Insert viewing card when prompted.

DMC

Yeah Saruman, I was thinking as much, and I think it will work, because he now has signal strength and quality as normal.

He noticed too that on the signal strength test page there was
something about 'LOCK' and previously it was saying 'not locked' -now it gives proper details.

Still only blue screen though....

Force download on the way so.

telecinesk, the box is probably in its 11th month

Cheers folks, I'll keep you informed.

dmeehan

11th month, just in the nick of time

DMC

Yep, when I heard that the signal quality reappeared, I did suggest a software download.

Worked a charm.

Happy, happy days!

Just to add, a bloke in shirt and tie job would not have worked, hes not of this parish, as it were...

Thanks again folks!

telecinesk

Glad it wasnt the doom and gloom of the shirt and tie bloke> CMOS dump, yep worked so.


Enjoy the rest of the 1 month left (joke)...

|Regards..