Sky + Watching Programs and they keep video skipping and sound skipping

[m73a]

its started doing it recently... it doesn't always do it, but it does it enough to get REALLY irritating..

what causes it?

i have one of the oldest sky+ boxes i think.

Thanks.

[jewkesy]

I'm in the same boat. I've had Sky+ since day one and still have the same box.

It's been happening for a while now and seems to vary in 'jumpiness' depending on the channel, time of day, whether recording another channel, etc. Not really able to put my finger on it.

It happens when watching recordings too.

My gut feeling is the hard-drive starting to fail as the only patterns I can see is the lower levels of available space seem more stable then a fairly free drive - as if the rarely used sections of the disk are error-free.

I'm tempted to try and replace the hard-drive but if I screw it up the wife will kill me and being without Sky isn't worth me tinkering.

[RobK]

This is a known problem relating to certain Amstrad boxes, and the good news is that Sky will replace your box free of charge.

I had the same problem and contacted a gentleman called James Murdoch. His email address is james.murdoch@bskyb.com

I explained the problem in my email and within 2 day received an email back saying that they had arranged an engineer visit.
The engineer asked what the problem was, stepped out to his van and installed a new box.

Excellent service.

You can read all about this problem on Digital Spy forums

The thread about this runs to 71 pages at the moment, but if you get the chance read as much as you can.

The other advice I can give is to be firm but polite in your email.

Here is the email I sent, you can use that as a template if you like.

Dear Sir,



I am having a problem with my Amstrad Sky+ box which I hope you can help with.



I am suffering from a loss of sound in some of my recorded programs. The fault is in around 50% of all recordings, and can occur more than once in any one program.

As you can imagine, this detracts from my enjoyment of these programs.

The fault started around 6 months ago, around August or September 2006. I thought that my problem was isolated and I tried a number of attempts to rectify the problem.

These attempts took the form of system resets. Unfortunately, these attempts where unsuccessful.



The problem has got worst in the last few months, and I therefore started to look further afield for answers. That is when I came across digital spy forums. (Digital Spy Forums - Entertainment and digital TV news discussion)



This website has a wealth of information on sky+, including a number of posters on that site who are experiencing the same problem as I am. In fact, there seems to be a huge problem with Amstrad boxes according to that site, with a large number of posters encountering similar problems to mine.

My problems also seem to have a relation to a software update carried out by Sky around the time I first encountered the disruption in service.

As I am paying for a full Sky+ service I need your help to restore my full enjoyment of Sky+



That brings me to the reason for my email.



A number of posters on the Digital Spy forums have contacted you, and you have been able to help rectify their problems. I would like you to help me by replacing my faulty unit as I feel that I am paying for an incomplete service at the moment.

Sky supplied my unit to enable the full Sky+ experience. I’m not getting that at the moment.



The details of my Amstrad Sky+ box is as follows.



Model Number : XXXXXXX

Version Number : XXXXXXX

Serial Number : XXXXXXX



I can supply more details if required.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.



Name here



Address here


Tel: XXXXX XXXXXX


Good luck, and remember to let us know what happens.

[newskyBOd]

happened to me a while back i dont know what make it was

mine kept freezing on pause in the end it just blew was on the stanby light and i couldnt reeboot it

i rang sky and they came out with a fresh one and has been fine ever since touch wood

i did watch on watchdog once some people were having them replaced upto 14 times what a nightmare

[jewkesy]

Got a result!

I received an email the following day. They apologised for the faulty unit (3 years old) and an engineer is coming on tomorrow morning.

[RobK]

Got a result!

I received an email the following day. They apologised for the faulty unit (3 years old) and an engineer is coming on tomorrow morning.

Great news. Nice one.

[nognolan]

Hi,

I'm one of the main contributors to the Digital Spy Forum on this particular Amstrad issue. Two things, firstly here is a targetted link to the best advice on how to get the problem resolved:

SKY + sound is skipping on recorded programmes - Page 87 - Digital Spy Forums

Secondly, please, please, please post the system details of the failing Amstrad on that Digital Spy thread as we are trying to keep a catalogue of the extent of the problem. It is this collected data that gives each of the power of consumer leverage with BSkyB.

Thanks

[jones3]

To save me logging on to that too can you take my details as below

- Manufacturer - Amstrad
- Model Number - A20B015
- Version Number - 4F2002
- Serial Number - 00922513XX
- Operating System Version - 1.31B00
- EPG Software Version - Sky+4.10c

Thanks for the advice and I've just sent the email so I'll let you know what happens

[Fernwood]

Sent an email to Mr Murdoch on Wednesday 18th, received a reply on Friday 20th. Engineer arrived today, Sunday 22nd and installed a brand new Thomson PVR3.

Thanks for the advice !!!!

[edz999]

email sent to J Murdoch today, lets see if I get the same result as others. <fingers crossed>

(You don't think he's THE James Murdoch do you? i.e. Rupert's lad and the big boss of BskyB...!!)

ed.