How are people finding MySky ?

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272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#30841 16-Mar-2006 12:48

JohnPorter:
manaia: The reason for bookings appearing in the planner in my experience after a reboot is a broken series link manager process.

Exactly my concern. So there are two reasons a booking (eg 3rd Rock in my case) does not show up:

1. A broken series link manager.
2. It hasn't found the next episode in the series yet, even though the program is daily, has always worked ok in the past, and it has been six hours since the recording, and the required series link info just happened to be broadcast within a few seconds after I rebooted.

Three guesses which one I find more plausible! For the time being I think I will try rebooting rather than trusting!

Has anyone else tried trusting? Did it work?

Hi John,
I've done some research and there is another reason why a series-link booking may not turn up in your Planner. If you are south of Taupo (as I understand you are) then you may not receive the necessary series link information if you are not tuned to a SKY channel. This doesn't mean you have to be on a SKY channel all the time but, if you are finding that series links aren't turning up, you might want to put the box on SKY1 when you go to bed.
M.

JohnPorter

187 posts

Master Geek

#30847 16-Mar-2006 13:56

manaia: I know the rewind/play problem you're talking about. It is inherent to the current implementation of the filesystem and playback mechanism used by MY SKY and there is little prospect at this time of SKY getting it improved. When I use MY SKY to review I tend to avoid the rewind/play combination for this reason and use the slomo feature instead. It doesn't improve the rewind/play point imprecision (and allowing for the 2s holding 'play' for the slomo to kick in is a pain) but it reduces the chances of my having to repeat the process.

Hi manaia,

Thanks for the confirmation. I guess I'll drop that line of enquiry with CS then. I have started using slomo sometimes too, depending on the situation. Also, I have discovered that the Pause button DOES freeze at a precise point during rewind. So I could have used that for the subtitles, had I known then.

I just tested this on some movie credits - a logo took 7 seconds to scroll from the bottom of the screen to the top. If I rewind and hit Pause at the right time, I can pause it with the logo precisely at the bottom of the screen every time. Then I hit Play and it jumps off somewhere else. But using Pause is suitable for a lot of the things I rewind for.

I take it then that due to the current implementation there is not much chance of backward slomo, multispeed slomo or frame at a time forward and back? I have come to consider these as standard on my HDDR and the last few VCRs I had. If the problem is what I think it is, the forward ones would be possible and the backward ones would be difficult.

But the two second hold for slomo is not related to the filesystem, so surely that could be done some other way. On the last couple devices I bought, the rewind and ff buttons become slomo controls when playback is paused. Even just holding Pause for 2 seconds would be preferable. You play up to the point you want to slomo and then press and hold Pause. It pauses for 2 seconds while you hold, then goes into slomo.

BTW, the way the rew/ff buttons change the speed up and down is quite useful. My last VCR has that, but my HDDR sadly does not. It means you can skip through commercials at 30x, then after 6 seconds of skipping, cut it back to 6x to avoid missing the start of the program (and having to rewind!).

Thanks for your help,
John

JohnPorter

187 posts

Master Geek

#30853 16-Mar-2006 14:41

manaia: I've done some research and there is another reason why a series-link booking may not turn up in your Planner. If you are south of Taupo (as I understand you are) then you may not receive the necessary series link information if you are not tuned to a SKY channel. This doesn't mean you have to be on a SKY channel all the time but, if you are finding that series links aren't turning up, you might want to put the box on SKY1 when you go to bed.

Ok, I'll add item "3. South of Taupo". I didn't realise MySky has an embedded GPS unit! :-) I presume the location is declared at installation so the box grabs the correct regional signal. You are correct - I am in Christchurch.

How about using the Preview Channel for that? I never watch any channel - I timeshift everything (which is why I don't care about entering 3 digits). Does recording count? As long as I record something off a Sky channel every day I'll be ok?

Since EPG data IS received while on standby (if you wait a few minutes after a reboot before taking it off standby, you don't get the "please wait while I gather my thoughts" message), I assumed series link info would be too.

I always put the box on standby when not in use. The old decoder I always left on so my VCR's IR blaster could change Sky channels. If you leave it on Sky 1, doesn't it continuously record to the hard drive, for the instand rewind feature? Initially I assumed it kept this buffer in RAM, but I do hear what sounds like HDD head movement when tuned to a channel. Except perhaps the Preview Channel, which doesn't support instant replay.

But if a series link booking doesn't show up in the future, I'll try tuning in to Sky 1.

manaia

272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#30857 16-Mar-2006 15:04

I take it then that due to the current implementation there is not much chance of backward slomo, multispeed slomo or frame at a time forward and back? I have come to consider these as standard on my HDDR and the last few VCRs I had. If the problem is what I think it is, the forward ones would be possible and the backward ones would be difficult.

But the two second hold for slomo is not related to the filesystem, so surely that could be done some other way. On the last couple devices I bought, the rewind and ff buttons become slomo controls when playback is paused. Even just holding Pause for 2 seconds would be preferable. You play up to the point you want to slomo and then press and hold Pause. It pauses for 2 seconds while you hold, then goes into slomo.

The SKY engineers are keen on a better trick mode interface but it isn't on the roadmap from the software designers at this time :-(. You're right, slomo could be implemented a lot better.

manaia

272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#30859 16-Mar-2006 15:14

How about using the Preview Channel for that? I never watch any channel - I timeshift everything (which is why I don't care about entering 3 digits). Does recording count? As long as I record something off a Sky channel every day I'll be ok?

Preview should be fine as it comes from Auckland. The key is not so much the channel as the stream - streams uploaded from Wellington don't include the series link data so, if you sit on them forever, you won't get the next booking.

Since EPG data IS received while on standby (if you wait a few minutes after a reboot before taking it off standby, you don't get the "please wait while I gather my thoughts" message), I assumed series link info would be too.

Yes, series link data should be received while in standby. Recordings will be made in this mode too.

I always put the box on standby when not in use. The old decoder I always left on so my VCR's IR blaster could change Sky channels. If you leave it on Sky 1, doesn't it continuously record to the hard drive, for the instand rewind feature? Initially I assumed it kept this buffer in RAM, but I do hear what sounds like HDD head movement when tuned to a channel. Except perhaps the Preview Channel, which doesn't support instant replay.

MY SKY will (in it's default settings) always record the 60 minute instant rewind buffer to the HDD. This is not supposed to adversely affect HDD life. It is an interesting idea to park the decoder on preview to avoid using the HDD.

manaia

272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#30865 16-Mar-2006 15:28

danzo: Hi. I've discovered an interesting bug which I haven't seen addressed yet here. We have a series link on a show called "Little Einsteins" on Disney Playhouse. It's my 4 y/o's absolute favorite show. When he requests a viewing (which is way more than we let him watch), he usually requests a specific episode. We have to wade through about 20 of them in our planner; there's no episode title on the planner's top level, only the series title (a litany of 20 items that all say Little Einsteins). That alone is a bit of a pain. But that's not why I write - here's the problem: The program information under "i" starts off correct but, with time, becomes wrong. When we only had a few stored, each was correct. And when getting pgm info for a live episode, it's always correct. But somewhere some slippage occurs. The result is that even though the pgm info says the episode is the "Great Sky Race", it's actually "Tulips" or some such. Our son gets pretty upset when, after sitting through the title sequence, we find that it's NOT the episode he wanted to watch. [I know, you all will say something like "just tell him to grow up and get over it".] But the point is: when there are several of a series on the drive, there's a disconnect. Episode descriptions cease relating to the program underneath the Select button. Anyone else experience this?

Hi danzo,

MY SKY might be storing the synopsis at the time of booking and then not updating it when a subsequent change is made to the EPG. This would explain why you saw the correct synopsis data on the live programme but the incorrect synopsis on the recording. This is just conjecture as it's not been tested yet, but thanks very much for posting such a detailed bug description.

Limerick

43 posts

Geek

#30873 16-Mar-2006 16:17

this is an interesting take on mySky......for all those interested.....

http://www.onfilm.co.nz/editorial.asp?EditorialID=21138&src=E

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

JohnPorter

187 posts

Master Geek

#30877 16-Mar-2006 18:14

manaia: MY SKY will (in it's default settings) always record the 60 minute instant rewind buffer to the HDD. This is not supposed to adversely affect HDD life.

It seems to me to be common sense that recording to a HDD 24x7 for several years would wear something out, but someone in my company (who manages hundreds of databases on dozens of servers with many terabytes of disk) says he has not seen any indication that usage, even hard usage, is related to HDD failures. So I don't know. Common sense is not always right in circumstances like this.

danzo

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#30879 16-Mar-2006 19:53

Manaia:MY SKY might be storing the synopsis at the time of booking and then not updating it when a subsequent change is made to the EPG. This would explain why you saw the correct synopsis data on the live programme but the incorrect synopsis on the recording. This is just conjecture as it's not been tested yet, but thanks very much for posting such a detailed bug description.

My pleasure. Sorry, but I don't quite follow (that first sentence, particularly). If you'd care to elucidate, I'd be much obliged. Thanks.

tonyhughes

Hawkes Bay
8476 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

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Lifetime subscriber

#30881 16-Mar-2006 19:57

This user figured it out and edited his post after I loaded this page, but I figure others may like to know how too, so I will leave this explanation here

danzo: [also: forgive my newbie-ness, but how do you put that border around quoted text?] Thanks.

Simply find the post you wish to 'quote', and look at the line that the username & date/time are one - off to the far right is a button marked quote. Click that and you will see what happens...

You can also create the box out of the blue by typing the [ quote ] tags without spaces, and use [ /quote ] without spaces to close it.

wonderstuff

110 posts

Master Geek

#30882 16-Mar-2006 20:02

Generally speaking HDs of the size that MySKY has have a MTBF (Mean time between failures) of 500k to 1M hrs. This relates to 50 to 100 years of continuouse use.

I presume that this is just for normal read/write use and that continusously writing will diminish it significantly, but hey, I would be happy with 10 yrs! :-)

JohnPorter

187 posts

Master Geek

#30906 17-Mar-2006 02:21

Everything recorded ok today, including the right length for One News, and future bookings have all appeared as they should. Fingers still crossed!

manaia

272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#30913 17-Mar-2006 10:18

danzo:
Manaia:MY SKY might be storing the synopsis at the time of booking and then not updating it when a subsequent change is made to the EPG. This would explain why you saw the correct synopsis data on the live programme but the incorrect synopsis on the recording. This is just conjecture as it's not been tested yet, but thanks very much for posting such a detailed bug description.

My pleasure. Sorry, but I don't quite follow (that first sentence, particularly). If you'd care to elucidate, I'd be much obliged. Thanks.

[disclaimers] 1. I am not speaking on behalf of SKY TV. 2. This is just a theory and has not yet been tested. 3. I am frequently wrong :-) [/disclaimers]

I think what may be happening is that the programme synopsis (what you see when you hit the 'i' key twice which holds the programme title) is grabbed by MY SKY at the time the booking is made (whether manually or by series link). When the channel manager comes along a couple of days later and decides to change the episode transmission order he or she updates the EPG database. This ensures that the correct synopsis (and episode title) appears when you watch the programme live. However MY SKY is still holding onto the out-of-date programme information. This would fit your description and there has been some confirmation from the EPG developers that the EPG software works this way.

BobW

90 posts

Master Geek

#30938 17-Mar-2006 14:47

I have a problem with the information "i" screen which I haven't seen anyone else mention.

When I press the programme information button "i" on the remote (twice, to get the detailed info) I get a description of the programme that is currently playing. This is fine. Pressing the right arrow key on the remote displays a description of the next program on that channel, which is also fine. But press the right arrow again, to show a description of the program after that, and it always says that the information is not available.

I get the same result on all channels if I look at the detailed "i" screen for any program more than about an hour ahead.

The programme descriptions are available for a week ahead in the Guide (in fact they seem to be downloaded on demand), so why aren't they also available in the "i" screen?

Comments?

Thanks,

Bob.

tonyhughes

Hawkes Bay
8476 posts

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Retired Mod

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Lifetime subscriber

#30964 17-Mar-2006 21:16

BobW: I have a problem with the information "i" screen which I haven't seen anyone else mention.

Is this in relation to a New Zealand based system? If not, it may pay to start a new thread. (Sorry, you flag indicates another country).

Speaking of which, this thread now covers a lot of sub topics for MySky. Perhaps its time to start some seperate threads, this will increase the quality and relevancy of replies, and make each thread more valuable in its own right.

Cheers
Tony Hughes

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