pace 2500n stuck in standby

[lizclassic54]

Our box which is 4 years old is stuck, once again. The power was switched off at the mains withoout unplugging first...by ME
Anyhow, have switched off at mains, held down backup switch on 2500 and turned power back on , held until lights all lit up and let go. Message about s/w download appears and after 15 mins NOTHING
The same happend at xmas when the poer was accidently switched off
After 2 weeks it miraculously started to work , all by itself.
Its half term so a quicker solution would be most appreciated

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi there.

It's possible that the box itself is faulty. It certainly shouldn't be a problem if it's turned off at the mains. I have a 2500, and it regularly gets unplugged and/or turned off.

I understand your half-term frustrations. It's a week that seems like a month!

Doing the backup button thing was probably a bad idea if the box wouldn't come out of standby anyway.

What holding the backup button in actually does is to force an over-the-air update of the firmware, which coincidentally Sky are rolling out at the moment for HD channels and an EPG reshuffle.

Don't panic though.

Are you a Sky subscriber?

Without holding the backup button in, what happens when you now power up the box?

Does it just stay in standby? Try turning it on and off with the remote control (slowly) a few times (four or five) mine usually takes two tries from the powered-off state.

Do you get any error messages?

Let us know the answers to those questions before we try anything else

STICK

[lizclassic54]

I tried what you suggested. The pace box doesnt do anything except the red light is continually illuminated even whne i press the remote control on/off switch which doesnt make sense. No error message or lighta goingon/off only RED light
I am a Sky subscriber and called them initially but will not be paying £65 to sort out a problem that might just fix itself like it did after Christmas....all on its own! I suspected that Sky were doing a software update over that period also? Am I right?
I suppose you may have another few suggestions? Thank you so much for all you help so far and I hope we can solve it!
Liz

[BGonaSTICK]

No problem.

It's highly possible that Sky rolled something out at Christmas, as they tend to do quite frequently, and in phases - so not everyone gets it at the same time.

Well, I think we're left with three options.

The first is just to leave it unplugged for 24 hours and try powering on again.

The third option is to buy a second-hand digibox, maybe off ebay. If the box does prove to be faulty (and it certainly seems a possibility, although does kick-start itself eventually) this is probably your best, and cheapest option.

I think that the box may have a weak power supply, which is causing some difficulties.

The second option (ehh? LOL) and probably the best, is to try the backup button trick again. It may well be stuck mid-way through a re-flash. Whatever you do, don't cut the power at any time during this process. Also, do not move the dish or unplug the dish cable either - you may trash your box permanently.

You should leave the firmware updating process for a couple of hours. Sometimes it takes that long. You should also try it three or four times, as it is a known problem that it does not always work first time.

My guess is that although your box is a bit suspect, that persistant attempts at performing the power-off, hold backup button in, power-on and hold until lights flash, release button procedure will do the trick.

Let us know how you get on Liz.

STICK

[BGonaSTICK]

Sorry, also meant to say that it may just be that your box doesn't particularly like being updated, and that when it fixed itself last time it was due to the fact that repeated Over The Air attempts by Sky to update the EPG software eventually worked, causing it to sprang back to life on its own.

STICK

[lizclassic54]

thank will giev it a go. BUt should i wait a bit longer now or start NOW from the top with a switch off/holdbackip/switch on?

[BGonaSTICK]

If it's still in the 'software download' mode, i'd leave it until a couple of hours has gone by, otherwise go for it now.