MySky HDi gobbles up available space

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#885153 27-Aug-2013 10:04

Problem I find with DVRs is they need to be dumb enough for everyone to use.

As soon as you add a lot of features you run the risk of complicating the gui - which instantly loses the wife/family approval factor. I would image they would be a nightmare to support.

having said that the storage on MySky is pathetic (can't hold a full weekend's NRL games) and I am not paying eleventy billion dollars for a bigger hard drive.

There were third party STBs that take the Sky Card - Vu+Duo but the screenshots of the GUI put me off.

Then there is the full custom route as described above - but TV is something I want to just work.

That's why I use Netflix for everything but sport.

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#885158 27-Aug-2013 10:20

wasabi2k: Problem I find with DVRs is they need to be dumb enough for everyone to use.

As soon as you add a lot of features you run the risk of complicating the gui - which instantly loses the wife/family approval factor. I would image they would be a nightmare to support.

having said that the storage on MySky is pathetic (can't hold a full weekend's NRL games) and I am not paying eleventy billion dollars for a bigger hard drive.

There were third party STBs that take the Sky Card - Vu+Duo but the screenshots of the GUI put me off.

Then there is the full custom route as described above - but TV is something I want to just work.

That's why I use Netflix for everything but sport.

I was using a holiday home recently and the satelite decoder was showing standard freeview channels and once i popped in my sky card it unlocked the sky channels.
You could BYO memory stick to use it as a PVR and/or usb hard drive. I forget the brand but it was easy to use. Downside was the gui.... too much going on and would confuse most people.

Benoire

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#885163 27-Aug-2013 10:24

Goosey that was probably a linux based PVR with a shocking EPG but can do both FTA and encrypted with the right card...

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#885166 27-Aug-2013 10:30

Goosey:

No, I have not rung Sky about this problem. They should already know about it. I was hoping to ascertain here just how widespread the problem is before I decide if it's worth pursuing it further. Otherwise I guess I will just have to put up with it.

Classic ! Comment of the month !

edit: please call sky... Im sure they would love to know (however first you may want to reset the unit and see what happens). Im with the others and think that the ondemand service is using its own partition.
Out of interest how much content do you currently have stored i.e. if you dont have any programs stored does your disk space remaining still show 1-2% as you stated.

Not sure what you are trying to infer. Or is this just an insult or clever(!?) throw away comment I should ignore?

I currently have about 80 percent disk space used. Mostly stuff I want to keep or stuff recorded in the last year or so I have yet to watch. The 20 percent grows and shrinks all by itself on a daily basis. So sometimes when I look the available space is under 1 percent. I have purposely refrained from recording or booking programs to record so I can see what happens. No change, it still does the same thing. I reset my PVR frequently, no difference. And if I ring up Sky they will probably suggest a replacement - I would then lose all my kept recorded programs. My ideal solution is a firmware upgrade that fixes the problem.

trig42

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#885169 27-Aug-2013 10:36

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Goosey:

No, I have not rung Sky about this problem. They should already know about it. I was hoping to ascertain here just how widespread the problem is before I decide if it's worth pursuing it further. Otherwise I guess I will just have to put up with it.

Classic ! Comment of the month !

edit: please call sky... Im sure they would love to know (however first you may want to reset the unit and see what happens). Im with the others and think that the ondemand service is using its own partition.
Out of interest how much content do you currently have stored i.e. if you dont have any programs stored does your disk space remaining still show 1-2% as you stated.

Not sure what you are trying to infer. Or is this just an insult or clever(!?) throw away comment I should ignore?

I currently have about 80 percent disk space used. Mostly stuff I want to keep or stuff recorded in the last year or so I have yet to watch. The 20 percent grows and shrinks all by itself on a daily basis. So sometimes when I look the available space is under 1 percent. I have purposely refrained from recording or booking programs to record so I can see what happens. No change, it still does the same thing. I reset my PVR frequently, no difference. And if I ring up Sky they will probably suggest a replacement - I would then lose all my kept recorded programs. My ideal solution is a firmware upgrade that fixes the problem.

I don't think Goosey was inferring anything. Just saying, Call Sky. It is their box, and you can be sure it isn't telling them that it is chewing up HDD space. They will not know until YOU tell them. At which point, they will probably replace the box.

I have had MySky for a few years now, and the unit we have has never displayed the behaviour you speak of. It does sound like you have a faulty unit.

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#885175 27-Aug-2013 10:55

OK, thanks for the advice. My MySky HDi is 5 years old this month and has worked pretty well flawlessly all this time. Some problems in the earlier days were often fixed via a firmware upgrade but I haven't noticed any of these (firmware upgrades) lately. Given some of the problems I have read about in the past I thought it would be better to stay with my current PVR, with a known problem, rather that see if I can get a replacement with some other problem I don't yet know about. But I will certainly take on board your suggestion. I might even upgrade to the bigger disk plus model acknowledging all my kept recorded programs would then be lost permanently to me.

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Goosey

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#885177 27-Aug-2013 11:04

no, I wasnt trying to imply anything other than 'call sky'. Now we know you have content you want to save... could you try good old fashion play back of all these programs while your recording to PC or another PVR of sorts (borrow / or buy a cheap RCA/HDMI to USB video converter). Im sure a few all night play backs (using the built in scheduler) could solve your 1st world problems !

Hammerer

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#885183 27-Aug-2013 11:15

I had problems like this due to power and shutdown issues which 'corrupted' the disk so disk space was allocated even though it wasn't used for anything. Sky can tell you how to run a diagnostic that checks the disk check.

jamesrobert

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#885188 27-Aug-2013 11:23

I don't think that it is a good idea to use a MySky for archiving programmes. Better to transfer the ones you want to keep to another hard drive; it is possible.

B1GGLZ

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#885193 27-Aug-2013 11:30

Goosey: no, I wasnt trying to imply anything other than 'call sky'. Now we know you have content you want to save... could you try good old fashion play back of all these programs while your recording to PC or another PVR of sorts (borrow / or buy a cheap RCA/HDMI to USB video converter). Im sure a few all night play backs (using the built in scheduler) could solve your 1st world problems !

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You basically have too much data stored and they are not designed for permanent storage. They're intended for recording, watching later then deleting.
You either need a MySky+ with more space or get the data off your HDD onto some other form of starage as suggested above.
There are other boxes around that will cope with your requirements and read your Sky card.
Checkout UltraPlus X-9200HD PVR

NonprayingMantis

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#885194 27-Aug-2013 11:30

Benoire: Not quite true Mantis; many of the linux units will read the sky card in the internal cam with the right card software and allow you to watch Sky, I myself run a full distributed Sky setup from my windows server in the cupboard (4xdvb-s/S2 cards etc) to clients around the house in HD with 'unlimited' recording (if I run out I had a new HDD to the server or upgrade an old one).

Look up Oscam (not OSRAM) :-)

yeah, I was assuming a plug and play type solution. obviously there are ways round it if you have decent technical knowledge

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Benoire

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#885196 27-Aug-2013 11:32

I actually think the PVR boxes are generally p'n'p as most come with OScam, MGCamd or others installed and setup... Not that I would know, I use windows HTPCs :-)

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#885246 27-Aug-2013 13:36

Thanks, guys. Really good help and advice here. It all makes sense. So I have outlived my existing PVR. I have had 5 years out of it. On the plus side I paid $600 outright for it. Had I rented it would have cost me $900. Sky must hate me now. 8-)

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#885380 27-Aug-2013 15:56

Just remember you dont own it !
And as per their T&C the content stored on it may be wiped without notice (more so when their lease/rights to those programs end).

trig42

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#885384 27-Aug-2013 15:58

login: Thanks, guys. Really good help and advice here. It all makes sense. So I have outlived my existing PVR. I have had 5 years out of it. On the plus side I paid $600 outright for it. Had I rented it would have cost me $900. Sky must hate me now. 8-)

If you paid the $600, just call them, they will give you a new one. As mentioned above, the $600 doesn't mean you own it, it just means you don't have to pay the $15 monthly (I don't think Sky offer that anymore).

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