Our PACE 3100 Sky+ box refuses to do anything other than show a red light in the standby button. Unplugging then plugging back in and leaving for various periods before trying to switch on hasn't worked, nor has removing and reinserting the Sky card. Needless to say it is just outside the 12 month guarantee period. Do I phone Sky for a repair and, if so, on 08702 4044040 (Sky), 08705 800800 (Sky+), or some other number? Or can I get it repaired quicker and cheaper elsewhere?

How far outside the warranty? If just a couple of days kick up a stink about it.

How far outside the warranty? If just a couple of days kick up a stink about it.

A bit too much, ie 11 May 2004.

this happened to my box you will have to do a factory reset and indoing so the planner containing all your recordings will be wiped, the factory reset will bring the box back to life, but your hard drive may be dead, when the box is up and running again try to record something, if you cant your hard drive is dead, you can call sky up and threaten to cancel to see if they will fix it for free, the normal call out charge is

If I remeber right Sky have a one off anual repair charge of

I would be tempted by a new one, try E-bay

LINK

Link2

Link3

Good luck

unplug, then press and hold the left and right buttons(buttons next to the select key) on the box itself whilst plugging back in. keep these pressed for a while , until the circle indicator lights up green. when this happens, press select and it goes through the factory reset. wait a few mins and you should be able to power on.

Thanks for that, chas. I tried it a couple of times. The red light flashed once each time then stayed on and, after about 30 seconds, the circular playback indicator light on the front of the box lit up. The box is otherwise dead. It may be relevant that the HD had been running continuously since the box was plugged in from new, even when on standby.

Denis,

Have you tried reading through the digital spy (www.digitalspy.co.uk) forums? They sometimes get quite technical about fixing problems and/or upgrading the HDs.

Alternatively, if Sky are going to charge

Thanks for that, chas. I tried it a couple of times. The red light flashed once each time then stayed on and, after about 30 seconds, the circular playback indicator light on the front of the box lit up. The box is otherwise dead. It may be relevant that the HD had been running continuously since the box was plugged in from new, even when on standby.

can you not get the box to switch on at all after the reset? When it happened to me i could watch the digiboxbut couldnt record.

according to digispy sky+ had a new software upgrade overnight, which fixed a few bugs and will allow you to record an interactive feed, also they are saying that if you put the box into standby the hard drive powers down and stops spinning and if you switch the box on it powers back up, maybe they have learnt their lesson, i have noticed since i got the last software upgrade a couple of months ago the fan comes on alot, where as with my old box the fan never came on once in 6 mths and that probably why my box failed.

can you not get the box to switch on at all after the reset? When it happened to me i could watch the digiboxbut couldnt record.

No. Red light only.

I would be tempted by a new one, try E-bay

Thanks for those links, Alex. Unfortunately only the first one is a Sky+ box and its already more than I would want to pay.

PS If I fit one of the much larger HDs that are available (when the box is fixed), will the Sky+ box software recognise it?

Denis,

IIRC, you can fit 120gb HDs - anything over means it sometimes has problems... it's on DS somewhere... But it's just a standard seagate drive you can use, so it's not too expensive...

check this site out gives all the info for upgrading the hard drive

http://www.hummer.co.uk/sky.htm

also the new upgrade has also improved the software for new bigger hard drives in the past when you upgraded the hard drive the % free indicator info was not correct although the yellow bar (along the top of the screen)showing the disc space was correct, the new upgrade according to some posters over at digispy allows the upgrade hard drive to show the correct % free of the disc

Denis, there may also be some local digi-box specialists in your local area who will charge you less that 65 quid to repair it, or at least diagnose what is wrong with it......?

I'm still amazed my Sky box is working after I declined the extended warranty - seems every one else I know had them fail a month or two afterwards!

Chris

Kiss of Death n. Bragging how reliable a piece of equipment is only to find it a smoking ruin the next time you try to use it.

Usage (e.g.):

"I'm still amazed my Sky box is working after I declined the extended warranty - seems every one else I know had them fail a month or two afterwards!"

:rofl:

Denis...

an ex Sky employee says

Phone Sky and tell them you have a dead box.

When they mention the

This sky + mallarky... how do they install it?

do they run a extra cable from the disk to the box?

Sky+ is a Digibox with a Hard Drive built in.

Kiss of Death n. Bragging how reliable a piece of equipment is only to find it a smoking ruin the next time you try to use it.

Usage (e.g.):

"I'm still amazed my Sky box is working after I declined the extended warranty - seems every one else I know had them fail a month or two afterwards!"

:rofl:

:haha: :rofl: