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Post by antharro on Nov 19, 2005 4:18:01 GMT
...what happened to it?
I had it listed as a linked recording on my Sky+ box (means it'll keep recording each episode until the series or season ends), but the listing disappeared after the third program...
A search of the Radio Times website reveals nothing of use - nothing at all on ITV London, and just reruns of seasons one and two on Sky Travel, with them carrying the third season from the end of this month.
Anyone know anything?
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Colin
Advisor
My preserved fire engine!
Posts: 11,311
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Post by Colin on Nov 19, 2005 4:56:15 GMT
2 week gap in transmission, I think you'll find  |
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Post by antharro on Nov 19, 2005 19:31:57 GMT
Thanks for that, Colin. I wonder why there's a break...
And I wonder why Sky decided to remove the listing from the Sky+ scheduler instead of just adding the fourth program to the schedule as it would normally...
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solidbond
Staff Emeritus
'Give me 118 reasons for an Audible Warning on a C Stock'
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Post by solidbond on Nov 20, 2005 0:04:06 GMT
And I wonder why Sky decided to remove the listing from the Sky+ scheduler instead of just adding the fourth program to the schedule as it would normally... I THINK that the Sky+ scheduler only works for the 7 days ahead. So if the next episode is more than 7 days ahead, the scheduler thinks the series has finished! |
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Post by citysig on Nov 20, 2005 11:55:51 GMT
Thanks for that, Colin. I wonder why there's a break... Emmerdale has a big storyline apparently, and is running an hour-long episode next week. Being as The Tube is a regional programme, it along with all other "regionals" are being postponed for a week. I am sure the viewers to a local fishing or farming programme somewhere else in the country are as up in arms as us. But the soaps will always come first (except of course when football is to be shown - which occupies the other probable slot next week). As for any on-screen guide I can access, thanks to NTL technology, if I ask the guide what is on more than 24hrs ahead (despite the facility being apparently available) the whole thing freezes up and needs to be switched off at the mains. Great. |
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Post by antharro on Nov 20, 2005 23:52:49 GMT
Interesting. I've never really messed with the scheduler much. I find the Series Link feature very useful, tho, tho a 7 day limitation is a bit naff. I'll have a play at some point. As for NTHell *cough* NTL, that's exactly one reason I went the Sky+ TV / BT Phone / ADSL route instead of NTL for everything. My aunt's NTL box used to crash on a regular basis if you even as much as looked at it. The new silver shiny thing she has now is much better, than the old Pace box. Having said that, I know of one sure way of making my Sky+ box crash, but aside from that, it's 99% stable. And woo! for Emmerdale... not...  |
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solidbond
Staff Emeritus
'Give me 118 reasons for an Audible Warning on a C Stock'
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Post by solidbond on Nov 21, 2005 7:56:37 GMT
I know a good way to make my Sky+ box crash as well - use it  Especially if you want to use the live pause - guaranteed to only work for 2 hours after it's been rebooted, then it will refuse to work again |
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Post by citysig on Nov 21, 2005 13:54:34 GMT
I would move to Sky/BT etc if the combined cost was equal to my current bill with NTL. I've looked into having them all from separate companies, but have yet to find a combination which would replace my current services for the same money. NTL for all its occasional faults is pretty good value, and will one day hopefully catch up with technology. They have been a lot better of late than they were a few years ago. It's a bit like where I work. The technology isn't the most up to date, and there are things it doesn't like to do, but that doesn't mean for a minute I am about to apply for the jubilee line control centre (lower-case on purpose ) |
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Post by antharro on Nov 22, 2005 2:04:50 GMT
solidbond - which version of the Sky+ box do you have? Some of the earlier ones are notoriously buggy. This one: --clicky--Is one of the more stable ones. An ex girlfriend had the older version - this one, I think, and her father told me once it did crash from time to time. My + box gets quite a pounding on a daily basis - loads of time lapse stuff, programs being recorded from half way thru when I've been watching it from the start (makes the box record the program from the start, so lots of catching up to do). Seems like I've got a good one! Does the amount you can live pause before it crashes depend on how much you have stored on it? citysig - I agree NTL is good value. I've just had enough bad experiences with them (I do on-site IT work, callouts) that I've been put off them. I'd be more inclined to recommend them if they didn't limit you to using them as your broadband ISP. I know why they do it, I understand the technial issues behind it, I just don't like it.  |
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solidbond
Staff Emeritus
'Give me 118 reasons for an Audible Warning on a C Stock'
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Post by solidbond on Nov 22, 2005 8:02:08 GMT
The one I have looks like the one your girlfriend had - I have had it for just under 2 years now. The problem is, it ain't that easy to get a new box You can't seem to buy them easily in the shops, except if you are just signing up, and if you get a replacement from Sky, you don't get a choice in which model you get AFAIK. It does seem to crash according to how much is stored on the box - unfortunatley, as soon as it has less than 80% free it starts to crash - not a lot of use really I have re-formatted the drive about half a dozen times, and it still doesn't last long before it starts crashing again |
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Post by citysig on Nov 22, 2005 10:04:11 GMT
citysig - I agree NTL is good value. I've just had enough bad experiences with them (I do on-site IT work, callouts) that I've been put off them. I'd be more inclined to recommend them if they didn't limit you to using them as your broadband ISP. I know why they do it, I understand the technial issues behind it, I just don't like it. Yes, don't get me wrong I've had plenty of bad experiences. There have been occasions where I have threatened to leave their equipment out in the garden until they collect it. Mind you, I put this against the cost, and the fact that BT never had a great record when I used to be one of their customers. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2005 17:35:01 GMT
i had mine replaced 2 weeks ago which was a pace sky + box now i have a amstrad the pace box did the same as in it would only record half a program then crash but since sky repkaced it all is fine ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by antharro on Nov 26, 2005 22:07:16 GMT
Ack, I completely forgot about this thread! Ok, to answer in turn... solidbond, it sounds to me as if you might just have a hard drive that's got a bunch of bad sectors. Then as soon as you format it again, it marks all the bad sectors so they're not used, but the drive develops a whole bunch of new bad sectors, and so the problem starts again. citysig - Interesting how different people get different experiences of different companies. I had some very bad experences with BT about 8 or 9 years ago, spent hours on the phone to them, really couldn't stand them then. But since then, they've been pretty good to me - even relaid all the cable from my house to the green box at the top of the road when I had an ongoing problem with noise on the line. As a phone provider I've not had any issue with them since. Wouldn't touch then with a bargepole as an internet provider. Had to sort some problems out for a neighbour - spent at least 30 minutes on hold every time I needed to call them about anything at all, passed from department to department, enough to make you scream. Then move to another ISP... atearlscourt - Mine's the Amstrad box. No problems here! |
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solidbond
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'Give me 118 reasons for an Audible Warning on a C Stock'
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Post by solidbond on Nov 26, 2005 23:46:31 GMT
Ack, I completely forgot about this thread! Ok, to answer in turn... solidbond, it sounds to me as if you might just have a hard drive that's got a bunch of bad sectors. Then as soon as you format it again, it marks all the bad sectors so they're not used, but the drive develops a whole bunch of new bad sectors, and so the problem starts again. I'm almost certain that this is the problem. Unfortunately, as soon as the free space gets to below 80% the Live Pause packs up, unless you reboot. So it certainly seems as if the HDD is the problem, but how do you replace it, without replacing the whole box |
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Post by antharro on Nov 27, 2005 1:48:43 GMT
Simple. Pop the cover off the box, remove old drive, replace with suitable new drive. Actually, it's not quite that simple. You have to use a specific model of drive or it won't work at all. There's a lot of conflicting information on the internet, so beware if you choose to go data hunting. Personal Computer World magazine ran an article on this a few months back. I'll have a dig thru my collection and see if I can find it. You could also pay these guys some money to do it for you, but they're asking an awful amount of money compared with the amount you could DIY it for. |
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solidbond
Staff Emeritus
'Give me 118 reasons for an Audible Warning on a C Stock'
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Post by solidbond on Nov 27, 2005 21:19:13 GMT
Well - I've now found out what is wrong with the bloody SKy+ box After it screwed up recording Top Gear, and the Live pause failed, even though there was 89% free space on the HD, I looked at the back of the box. Something didn't look quite right - the fan. The poxy fan wasn't working This of course means the HD has been overheating, causing all the problems. Of course, Sky being Sky, don't want anyone playing with their boxes, so the screws they use are security screws, so I can't even get the bloody box apart to look at the fan . A bloody p*ssed of SB |
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Post by antharro on Dec 4, 2005 18:44:31 GMT
That Sky+ box most likely has torx screws holding it together - T10 size, I think. Maplin and Screwfix sell the relevant screwdriver, otherwise your local hardware store should sell em. Or if you wanna be slightly cheaper, I find my electric tester screwdriver or various jewellers screwdrivers workswith a lot of torx screws! If you were thinking about changing the hard drive, you might find this useful. If it's been overheating, I might want to take out the drive, hook it up to my PC and run something like MHDD over it to check it's okay, see if it's got any bad sectors, etc. Otherwise, a good cleaning and a drop of oil should sort out the fan, unless it's really really died! |
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Post by antharro on Dec 5, 2005 4:22:25 GMT
*blink* All this talk of my Sky box working well has jinxed the hell out of it. I've been watching TV most of tonight while working on a few PCs, and the sound's been very occasionally cutting out, and the picture too, once or twice. Then... it literally switched itself off! ie, total shutdown then start up agin. (I have it hooked up to my sound system and you can tell by the "pops" just what it's doing - pops when it shuts down, pops when it powers up again, pops when it goes to standby...) How very very odd.  |
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Post by citysig on Dec 5, 2005 5:35:02 GMT
As an occasional late-night viewer (though not until 4am ) I have noticed my MTL box doing the odd strange thing once the hours become small. It could be "them" updating the system (though nothing ever seems updated the next day). Or maybe, since TV went "round the clock" the general "hint" to go to bed has been lost. The National Anthem followed by the high-pitched whistle used to tell people to switch off. Now we have "smart" technology throwing us the odd hint by dropping sound, or switching off. Who knows. Anyway, back on thread I notice in the listings** that, for the next couple of weeks at least, nothing major is happening down Emmerdale way, and we don't appear to be playing any football games on a Thursday night, so The Tube is due to be broadcast. **Ironically listings viewed for next 2 weeks in "Inside Soap" magazine - the wife's not mine I hasten to add ;D |
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Especially if you want to use the live pause - guaranteed to only work for 2 hours after it's been rebooted, then it will refuse to work again 
