STB Failure mode?

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
John wrote:

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
John wrote:

I wrote earlier about problems with Waltham and itv channels
breaking up due to poor signal.


If my wife gives up and turns the TV off - when we go back to it the
sound has been lost on all channels. I have to unplug and retune to
get any sound back. Does this indicate anything?


What happens if you power down the STB and then turn it on again?
'Re-booting' it may well clear any confusion it may be suffering
from. --
Cheers,
Roger
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I have to reload the channels - and it does overcome the problem
until next time

You mean you have to re-scan to find the channels, before it will do
anything?

If so, it's seriously in need of a one-way journey to a skip!
--
Cheers,
Roger
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But are any new ones better able to cope with a poor signal ( possibly
temporary as it was fine for about 3years) possibly caused by a tree?

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
John wrote:


But are any new ones better able to cope with a poor signal ( possibly
temporary as it was fine for about 3years) possibly caused by a tree?

Just about any! There's something wrong with this particular STB. A poor
signal will always cause individual channels to break up or drop out
completely - but shouldn't result in total loss of channel memory. If
powering down and up doesn't fix it, bin it!

Another thought . . . Does it automatically download and install firmware
updates? If so, one of these could have become corrupted. I don't know how
to correct that - unless there's a way of connecting it to a computer, and
updating its firmware via the internet rather than via the airwaves.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
John wrote:


But are any new ones better able to cope with a poor signal ( possibly
temporary as it was fine for about 3years) possibly caused by a tree?

Just about any! There's something wrong with this particular STB. A poor
signal will always cause individual channels to break up or drop out
completely - but shouldn't result in total loss of channel memory. If
powering down and up doesn't fix it, bin it!

Another thought . . . Does it automatically download and install firmware
updates? If so, one of these could have become corrupted. I don't know how
to correct that - unless there's a way of connecting it to a computer, and
updating its firmware via the internet rather than via the airwaves.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Spoke with a neighbour - he is experiencing poor reception on the same
channels as me. However, on his TVs with built in Freeview he doesn't have a
problem - only on his STB TV. All are fed from a common Distribution box.

My only other Freeview is a USB stick thing on my PC - from my Dist Box. No
problems. So it is beginning to look like some STBs are worse than others
when the going gets tough.

"John" wrote in message
...


--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%


I don't think it is "turning off the TV " that is the issue - more one
of leaving the STB on a station that it cannot receive properly. Does
it somehow overload or something?




SNIP


... e.g. an effective memory leak, exhausting table resources, etc. and
then "lock up" . etc. (or equivalent error or fault condition).


Best wishes,




News Reader




Sounds likely.
Not a sign of a failing STB then?



SNIP


Hi,


I think if I were to plump for a choice I would pick poor or "cheap"
programming / design. I.e. it probably or definitely (if you go for or get
to industrial / aero grade specification! - lol) is possible to code and /
or design for failsafe and self-error monitoring, control and management
(trapping, etc.) etc. - but this can cost, and then can cost even more...

So for your average £20 box... perhaps 20/30% to maybe 50% of them are
probably a little tooo cheap (in design or coding)! and so will be far more
prone to or inherently weak in relation to corruption, self-confusion /
erroring, etc.

On the other hand... it is probably a very similar scenario in which an
ageing failing box will behave ... memory starting to go faulty, processor
letting go occasionally, power sagging causing various outages or temporary
faults, etc.

Your thoughts, idea(s) or input? lol... (and most welcome!?)


Best wishes,



News Reader

SNIP


... e.g. an effective memory leak, exhausting table resources, etc. and
then "lock up" . etc. (or equivalent error or fault condition).


Best wishes,




News Reader




Sounds likely.
Not a sign of a failing STB then?



SNIP


Hi,


I think if I were to plump for a choice I would pick poor or "cheap"
programming / design. I.e. it probably or definitely (if you go for or get
to industrial / aero grade specification! - lol) is possible to code and /
or design for failsafe and self-error monitoring, control and management
(trapping, etc.) etc. - but this can cost, and then can cost even more...

So for your average £20 box... perhaps 20/30% to maybe 50% of them are
probably a little tooo cheap (in design or coding)! and so will be far
more prone to or inherently weak in relation to corruption, self-confusion
/ erroring, etc.

On the other hand... it is probably a very similar scenario in which an
ageing failing box will behave ... memory starting to go faulty, processor
letting go occasionally, power sagging causing various outages or
temporary faults, etc.

Your thoughts, idea(s) or input? lol... (and most welcome!?)


Best wishes,



News Reader




Sounds reasonable - but to what extend is the design and manufacture of a
STB shared across many name badge owners. I would expect many boxes to be
made on the same conveyor. A bit like many TV sets were all built to a
common chassis some years ago.

With buying a PC (for example) one can see the spec (memory, processor, etc)
but a STB is a bit of a mystery (or is it?)