Strange Sky EPG behaviour

rellstar

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I am experiencing strange behaviour with the Sky EPG.

I purchased the receiver from eBay, it came with a Sky card.

Got my dish put up yesterday by professional installers, damn good job done. Perfect reception on all 2d horizontals and all 2A/b transponders. The problem I have is that the EPG is behaving strangely. The box has been switched off for ages so I imagine my problems might have something to do with the card's activation state but I would just like to confirm with someone.

OK, here are the symptoms:

When the card is out:
+ EPG doesn't work at all, just gets stuck on "Searching for channels"
+ Can view all FTA channels by entering their channel number directly (where the dish is receiving the transponder)
+ Channel 4 and 5 say "Channel Not Available" when their numbers are entered

When the card is in:
+ EPG shows channels up to 145 only
+ Can view FTA channels under 145 by entering their channel number directly
+ All channels over 145 say "Channel Not Available" when their numbers are entered (including Sky News)
+ Channel 4 gives standard upgrade subscription message
+ Channel 5 works fine

I thought that the EPG should work without the Sky card!

I've done a software upgrade (without the card in).

Sound like an activation problem? Do I need to call Sky to force activation. Before you all SHOUT about calling Sky from overseas I planned to call them from my old UK mobile which still works.

Thanks for your help.
 

Analoguesat

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The firmware on the box is well out of date. Leave the box connected and it should pick up the latest s/w eventually. Or try a forced update - details are on the forum somewhere

The card will have missed its stay alive signals and automatically deactivated. It should come back to life eventually, but will only give you C4 C5 5US 5Life and Sky 3.
 

rellstar

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Analoguesat said:
The firmware on the box is well out of date. Leave the box connected and it should pick up the latest s/w eventually. Or try a forced update - details are on the forum somewhere

The card will have missed its stay alive signals and automatically deactivated. It should come back to life eventually, but will only give you C4 C5 5US 5Life and Sky 3.

But I've done a software upgrade, is that the same as the firmware you're talking about?
 

dxsat

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You've done the right thing, software and firmware in a Sky box is effectively the same- and can be corrupted just like a PC, which sounds like the case with your receiver.
If the box does not right itself in a reasonable time you should complain to the seller if it was sold to you as being in full working order. The Pace 2600 is known for this problem. Receiving Channel Five but having an upgrade message on Channel Four is decidedly not normal.
 

Analoguesat

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snap said:
Receiving Channel Five but having an upgrade message on Channel Four is decidedly not normal.

It can be - the channels do not always wake up at the same time when a card has deactivated!
 

billnot

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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but ...

I can't get a precise Ebay item from your link, so can you tell me which box you've bought as I suspect it's a dud.

This behaviour is occurring on many Grundigs and Panasonic 2400 and 2500 boxes and is due to failing power supplies.
 

rellstar

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billnot said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but ...

I can't get a precise Ebay item from your link, so can you tell me which box you've bought as I suspect it's a dud.

This behaviour is occurring on many Grundigs and Panasonic 2400 and 2500 boxes and is due to failing power supplies.

Here is a link:

ebay 250112134587

Despite 2 forced upgrades the EPG is still on version 3.2.11 )(-red
 

billnot

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That's unfortunate for you. For a Pace 2600, being on version 3.2.11 does NOT cause problems with the EPG, nor with the use of a card.

However, updating the box is a right PITA because the update stream for such old software is seldom broadcast by Sky, and the box has to catch it at the right moment.

The reason I know this is that I've had (and sold) several 2600s with 3.2.11 software, telling the purchaser than one day it will update - and eventually it does. But, to repeat, that software version does not prevent full functioning of the box.

It is very rare you come across a duff 2600. I'm afraid you may be one of those rare cases. I have bought well over 100 Pace 2600 boxes, maybe 30 of them on Ebay, and I've only ever had one duff one (and one rogue seller, but that's another matter)

All you can do is to leave the box connected and turned on ready for the next 3.2.11 to 3.5.3 update, which could be tonight or in 6 months' time, and hope for the best.

You have my sympathy, but, alas, no real answers.:(
 

rolfw

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Forced updates don't always work, you sometimes just have to wait for it to happen on its own.
 
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