MySky becoming a bit flakey?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › MySky becoming a bit flakey?

Limerick

43 posts

Geek

#9519 24-Sep-2006 13:40

Is it me or is the EPG in MySky becoming more and more flakey? I have mySky for quite a while now but it is only recently that I am missing the begining and ending of programs quite frequently.

Examples.....

High School Musical - a film on Disney - ending early missing a good 20 minutes at the end....my daughter distraught
Prehistoric Park - episode 2 - missing the last 10 minutes....my son distraught!
Weeds - again ending early.....my wife distraught! That's the set!
Big Love.....started the recording a good few minutes in
...and One news flirts around the edge all the time - missing headlines etc.....

and that is just this week.

I don't know how much control Sky have over the EPG (but at least they should get their own channels tight), but surely - as MySky is 100% dependent on the EPG thay hav some sort of contractual obligation clause with the EPG suppliers that it is accurate.

The initial release (or at least when I got it) was flakey and I lost my trust in the product. Then it stabilised and I was very happy for a long time but just recently my patience is being sorely tested.

"Part Rec" is being a bane!

Any others experiencing similar?

Super8

73 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#46757 25-Sep-2006 08:02

But hasn't that always been the problem with MySky?

I've been following MySky since it has been launched but it seems clear that many are not getting the service they signed up for.

I'd love to move on from my Panasonic E100H but MySky has yet to convince me it's stable.

May be this will change with the advent of Freeview. Hopefully there will be a PVR/Set top combo box as part of the products available.

JohnPorter

187 posts

Master Geek

#46831 25-Sep-2006 22:55

Have you rechecked your before-and-after buffers? Are they set to 2 and 10 minutes? Note that the beginnings and ends of programs will be cut very short if there is something else recording at the time. The start of One News, for example - if you record something else 5:30 to 6:00, and meanwhile a second recording say a movie from 5:00 to 7:00, then the start of One News will be very tight indeed. When I have done that, it usually starts during the headline part.

I get a lot of "Part Rec lost signal", but the lapses are not noticeable.

One thing I have noticed a lot recently is during fast forward. Usually it displays many frames per second, and the action flashes around quickly. Lately, sometimes it only shows a new frame every two seconds or so. At 30x, that means it shows one frame per minute of program, which means you overshoot the end of the commercials even more. I have noticed this several times on Prime. Not sure I have seen it on any other channel.

As far as moving on from an E100H - since I got MySky, my E100H has been sitting mostly idle, just burning the odd dvd. It MySky was not better I wouldn't be using it. It is vastly better.

Limerick

43 posts

Geek

#46840 26-Sep-2006 09:05

John,

You're right - it is vastly better - still frustrating when it gets it wrong though. And I think it is gettting it wrong more often in the past couple of months (around the time of your fast forward bug cropping up - I have noticed that too and only on some recent recordings, not old ones)

I do have the 2-10 setup and it does start at the headlines on both news's (I record 3 news as well). I am begining to think it may be because I used to record something before the news but now don't. I think MySky still has some memory of serial links it used to have.

Here's a couple of recent funnies...

1. Last night IO got a conflicting msg (i.e. cance one of these recordings if you want to continue watching this channel). The conflicts were "FA Prem Highlights Sky Sports One 9.30" and "... searching, SKy Sports One, 9.30pm". I think the second was the "floating"series link for this show.

2. I was told I couldn't record a show as two were already recording - but the box said only one was recording.

3. The recording red light NOT on, but the box is recording a program.

And those partly recorded programs are still irksome.

Hopefully it is just glitches or maybe a bad software release (when was the last?).

Still a good product though.

BigFella

105 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#46847 26-Sep-2006 09:42

One thing I have noticed a lot recently is during fast forward. Usually it displays many frames per second, and the action flashes around quickly. Lately, sometimes it only shows a new frame every two seconds or so. At 30x, that means it shows one frame per minute of program, which means you overshoot the end of the commercials even more. I have noticed this several times on Prime. Not sure I have seen it on any other channel.

Hmmm I've noticed this as well, only at 30x - it's quite a frustrating wee bug as I know have to FF at 12x. Would be worth logging a call with Sky regarding this...

Comments are my own, don't blame my employer...

JohnPorter

187 posts

Master Geek

#46922 26-Sep-2006 22:14

Limerick,

You listed 3 different things that suggest that one of the two tuners is thought (by the box) to be in use when it isn 't. Have you tried rebooting? That may clear it. I haven't had any of those issues.

I had noticed once or twice that the record light is off while recording. Not sure, but I think it may have been when two programs were recording and one finished. But don't quote me on that!

I just did some research on the 30x ff problem. Scanning back through multiple programs, it started happening between Sep 1 and Sep 4. Every program on Prime since then has the problem, including this last Sunday. A dozen programs from other channels since then all did not have the problem. That narrows it down quite a bit!

Assuming it is still skipping through at 30x, you can usually just count 8 seconds to get through 4 minutes of ads. So maybe after 7 seconds back off to 12x. That's one feature that is a big improvement over my E100H HDDR - the ability to incrementally increase or decrease the searching speed while searching. I use that every day to skip through the weather forecast. After the situation description (TV 1), I go to 12x. When I see Rotorua I slow to 6x; when I see the green of the Dunedin animation I go to 2x; when I see 3pm I hit play. That gets me quickly to the Christchurch animation I want to see.

Limerick

43 posts

Geek

#46938 27-Sep-2006 09:11

Cheers John,

Yep, I thionk that too and I reboot about once a week on average - just to be sure. But I would love to know what the circumstances are that make the box think a tuner is in use when it isn't.... I still have an aversion to deleting a program while it is recording....

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

JohnPorter

187 posts

Master Geek

#47107 28-Sep-2006 20:30

I don't reboot unless there is something unexplained going on, so I have only rebooted maybe twice since the EPG data fix months ago. I don't hesitate to delete a program while it is recording, but I do stop the recording first, and afterwards ensure the next episode is shown as booked.