Software update on SKY+ pace V1 boxes- Public relations farce!

The latest software update has made pace upgraded V1 boxes unusable-

This is a SKY SOFTWARE update fault

If your pace v1 box has suddenly stopped working-This is the problem!

What a COCK-UP! by Sky this must have effected 100's if not 1000's of
people. They have promised an update by this evening- but you would have
thought Sky would have tested the software properly first!

On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 11:26:40 GMT, "The Inquisitor"
wrote:

What a COCK-UP! by Sky this must have effected 100's if not 1000's of
people. They have promised an update by this evening- but you would have
thought Sky would have tested the software properly first!

How exactly could Sky test their software to be sure that it was
compatible with the 100's if not 1000's of different and unauthorised
modifications which people might have made to their box?

At least they *are* putting it right and not just saying "well you
shouldn't have modified your box, should you?"

--

"Zero Tolerance" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 11:26:40 GMT, "The Inquisitor"
wrote:

What a COCK-UP! by Sky this must have effected 100's if not 1000's of
people. They have promised an update by this evening- but you would have
thought Sky would have tested the software properly first!

How exactly could Sky test their software to be sure that it was
compatible with the 100's if not 1000's of different and unauthorised
modifications which people might have made to their box?

At least they *are* putting it right and not just saying "well you
shouldn't have modified your box, should you?"


Good points but unfortunately completely WRONG!!!, what are these 100's and
1000's of mods you're taking about?,

THE only 1 MOD we are talking about is putting a larger hard drive than the
standard 20gig old standard drive.

The boxes belong to the people who bought them , so how can it be
"unauthorised",the hard drive is just a standard storage device on a
standard "pc type fitting"

Who about the poor sods who have had faulty drives replaced anyway.

If sky hadn't fixed this software they would have been liable to replace all
the V1 boxes they "broke" with software they imposed without customers being
asked.

On 2006-06-30, The Inquisitor wrote:

Good points but unfortunately completely WRONG!!!, what are these 100's and
1000's of mods you're taking about?,

THE only 1 MOD we are talking about is putting a larger hard drive than the
standard 20gig old standard drive.

The boxes belong to the people who bought them , so how can it be
"unauthorised",the hard drive is just a standard storage device on a
standard "pc type fitting"

Perhaps not unauthorised. Certainly unsupported.

The people who own the boxes can indeed do what they wish with them,
including smashing them into small pieces with a giant hammer.
However, Sky have no obligation to ensure said boxes continue to work
correctly.

Who about the poor sods who have had faulty drives replaced anyway.

If sky hadn't fixed this software they would have been liable to replace all
the V1 boxes they "broke" with software they imposed without customers being
asked.

Those customers all already agreed to Sky updating the software when
they signed the Sky+ contract...

--
David Taylor

"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...
In ,
(Zero Tolerance) wrote:

How exactly could Sky test their software to be sure that it was
compatible with the 100's if not 1000's of different and unauthorised
modifications which people might have made to their box?

Quite. There must be many different sizes and makes of drives in use out
there - bearing in mind that the exact number of sectors varies between
manufacturers for the same quoted capacity.

Yes but the issue is (not fully explained in the first message) that this
applies to _any_ replacement disk, including 40Gb replacements (ie same as
the original) if the original died!


At least they *are* putting it right and not just saying "well you
shouldn't have modified your box, should you?"

Indeed. That's very nice of them. They certainly didn't have to do
anything!

Not if they werent concerned about those people cancelling their no doubt
pricy payments to Sky, true. Plus all others that would be incented to move
away to freeview/PVRs if it looked like the same would happen to them. Plus
the adverse publicity.

Not to mention the rather dodgy legal ground Sky would be on, whilst the
Ts&Cs no doubt say that upgrades must be allowed, I suspect (IANAL) that the
unfair terms would apply if this upgrade stopped your box working,
especially for no good reason*. It is your box, and to arbitrarily stop it
working wmight remid you of rather monopolistic software companies that
addes bugs to its software to stop some other programs working, for example.
Plus there was implicit acknowledgement of the need to fix these type of
problems when they fixed the '17 minute bug', its not really any different ,
just a more extreme case.

*It was a very simple check, along the lines of "is this an original disk,
yes or no". Its seemingly called healthcheck or similar but its only effect
on V1's is to make some disks very unhealthy!

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 11:26:40 GMT, "The Inquisitor"
wrote:

The latest software update has made pace upgraded V1 boxes unusable-

This is a SKY SOFTWARE update fault

If your pace v1 box has suddenly stopped working-This is the problem!

What a COCK-UP! by Sky this must have effected 100's if not 1000's of
people. They have promised an update by this evening- but you would have
thought Sky would have tested the software properly first!

Mines fixed now, I did a force software update (hold down backup while
switching on mains power) and it seems to work, did the same yesterday
and no joy.
--
ButIstillneedtoknowwhat'sinthere! Thekeytoanysecurity
systemishowit'sdesigned! Thatdependsonwhyitwasdesigned!
Ihavetoknowwhatwhoeverdesigneditwastryingtoprotect !
(Blakes 7, City on the Edge of the World - Vila in typical panic mode)

David Taylor wrote:

Who about the poor sods who have had faulty drives replaced anyway.

If sky hadn't fixed this software they would have been liable to replace all
the V1 boxes they "broke" with software they imposed without customers being
asked.

Those customers all already agreed to Sky updating the software when
they signed the Sky+ contract...

And those who have never signed a Sky contract? My FTV Sky+ also
stopped working thanks to the recent firmware cock-up.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/8vef5
UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
BBC reception questions? ; http://www.astra2d.com/
Fed up with on-screen logos? : http://logofreetv.org/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

Mike Henry wrote:

How exactly could Sky test their software to be sure that it was
compatible with the 100's if not 1000's of different and unauthorised
modifications which people might have made to their box?

Quite. There must be many different sizes and makes of drives in use out
there - bearing in mind that the exact number of sectors varies between
manufacturers for the same quoted capacity.

It doesn't look as though Sky tested this firmware with anything other
than the standard drive.

My Sky+ (which contains an old 8Gb drive) also stopped working, so it
has nothing to do with drives being bigger; just different.

Sky should have tested it properly before forcing it onto people.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/8vef5
UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
BBC reception questions? ; http://www.astra2d.com/
Fed up with on-screen logos? : http://logofreetv.org/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

"David Taylor" wrote in message
...
Those customers all already agreed to Sky updating the software when
they signed the Sky+ contract...

Good point.
If I didn't buy from Sky, I didn't sign any contract.
So what right have they got to update my software?

Loz

On 2006-07-01, loz wrote:

"David Taylor" wrote in message
...
Those customers all already agreed to Sky updating the software when
they signed the Sky+ contract...

Good point.
If I didn't buy from Sky, I didn't sign any contract.
So what right have they got to update my software?

If you haven't signed a contract from Sky your Sky+ box is unlikely
to work very well anyway.

--
David Taylor