Unable to watch pre-recorded material without dish connected

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networkn

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#237976 27-Jun-2018 14:57

I just came across the dumbest and most annoying Sky thing ever.

Took my MySky to an AV Room to try some new equipment to see how it performed with lower def content. Wouldn't let me watch stuff I recorded already because it said it couldn't reach a signal.

Called Tech support and they confirmed it wouldn't work. Why on earth not?!

Is there a way to bypass this requirement does anyone know?

sumitonly

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#2044815 27-Jun-2018 15:06

Stop people from misusing the copyright content

davidcole

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#2044823 27-Jun-2018 15:20

So the decryption keys for content must come via satellite. I'd already assumed years ago that it must be stored encrypted on the hard drive.

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Goosey

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#2044836 27-Jun-2018 15:53

Could you try simply connecting an old LNB?

I note you can still watch recorded content when theres no signal/rain fades etc.

sbiddle

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#2044847 27-Jun-2018 15:56

Been that way forever and there have been a few posts on here in the past discussing this. It's part of their DRM requirements.

kryptonjohn

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#2044848 27-Jun-2018 15:56

networkn:

I just came across the dumbest and most annoying Sky thing ever.

Took my MySky to an AV Room to try some new equipment to see how it performed with lower def content. Wouldn't let me watch stuff I recorded already because it said it couldn't reach a signal.

Called Tech support and they confirmed it wouldn't work. Why on earth not?!

Is there a way to bypass this requirement does anyone know?

It's been this way since the day MySky came out.

Lias

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#2044867 27-Jun-2018 16:37

And people wonder why Sky is so hated ;-)

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup.

davidcole

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#2044869 27-Jun-2018 16:41

Lias:
And people wonder why Sky is so hated ;-)

They do have a drm model they have to support. If data was left unencrypted on hard drives, it’d be pulled off.

And given these boxes predate internet connectivity and people used to unplug the phone, how were they supposed to communicate encryption keys?

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rugrat

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#2044889 27-Jun-2018 17:23

I remember when they lost control of the satellite and lost signal.

Back then it was after 24 hours of no signal that play back wouldn’t work, so it’s been changed to zero now.

They refunded some money back to people that month, it cost them millions, from memory it was under 48 hours where in the contract it had after no service for 48 hours then refunds kicked in, guessing they were feeling public pressure to refund even through contractually they didn’t have to.

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#2044903 27-Jun-2018 17:43

Do you mean when their satellite died in 2006?

rugrat

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#2044907 27-Jun-2018 17:53

quickymart: Do you mean when their satellite died in 2006?

Yep, from memory the drm was on the card that went into the decoder.

Every few months they changed the encryption codes, which was got off satellite feed. They’d have overlap period where both codes would work, so if decoder was off it could get new codes when turned back on again.

Some people got caught out where for some reason they had the decoder off for a couple of months, missed the overlap period and would have to ring up to restore service.

That was my understanding of it, though I do know people that had decoder off for extended time had to ring up

rugrat

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#2044926 27-Jun-2018 18:37

Here we go a post from 2011 showing playback allowed for 24 hours as long as decoder not rebooted.

ahh, that’s why you’re getting zero hours, unplugging and plugging in will be like a reboot.

2011 post

kiwiharry

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#2044957 27-Jun-2018 19:48

I think playback rights is also somehow tied to the card too.

3 years ago I was doing renovations at our house so we were staying with extended family for a couple of weeks. Although they had Sky, they weren't subscribed to movies so I took my card and put it in their decoder.

They had a 2yo child who had previous recordings from Disney Jnr channel on their decoder but they were unable to play them with my card in the decoder, even though we could watch Disney Jnr channel live with my card.

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#2045041 27-Jun-2018 21:46

davidcole:

They do have a drm model they have to support. If data was left unencrypted on hard drives, it’d be pulled off.

I don't like DRM at the best of times, but I'm pretty sure Sky could implement DRM in a better way.. like oh.. maybe a chip on a card? :-P

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#2045056 27-Jun-2018 22:00

As far as DRM goes, it does seem a bit pointless. The keys should be downloaded at intervals and stored on the card. I'm not sure how stopping someone moving the box to another room protects copyright at all, especially since copy protection is now applied to both the HDMI and analog the outputs of the box. So, even without a satellite signal, you still need a valid card and a valid box to play back, and the contents of the drive can remain encrypted.

davidcole:

They do have a drm model they have to support. If data was left unencrypted on hard drives, it’d be pulled off.

I'm not sure what they would be mitigating against in any event. Programming can be taken off the box easily, even with their silly DRM, albeit only in real time. In SD it can be copied via the analog ports, I have done it myself in the past using a DVD recorder and the device to remove the DRM costs about $80. In HD it's just as easy, and the device to remove HDCP is even cheaper (circa $25) - I haven't done this myself, but know people who have and they have shown me their (trivial) setup to do it..

jurgensp99

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#2049899 5-Jul-2018 15:35

This is exactly what pushed me over the edge and caused me to cancel sky.

We had an LMB fail and the repair tech was only available after 10 days.

Turns out that not only cant you watch any pre recorded programming but neither can one access on demand or box sets.

Basically all services included in the paid package relies on a link to satellite so no tv for me for 10 days and no customer for them forever.