A common yet easily rectifiable problem when watching your favourite digital television programmes, is for your pictures to freeze or not appear, and your digital set top box (which is used for either Sky, BBC Freesat or Freeview systems) to stop responding to any commands to change the channel or enter the menu.
Digital set top boxes (or satellite receivers in general) are like mini computers, and are prone to crashing which is where the software fails to operate as expected and cannot be operated by traditional methods.
The solution to rectify this problem, and return either your Freeview, Sky or BBC Freesat satellite receiver to a functional state, a reset of the box will be required.
We have outlined below the necessary procedure to perform a reset:
For BBC Freesat, Sky Digital & Freeview Receivers:
- Unplug the set top box from the power socket for approximately five minutes. This allows the receiver to power down and clear it’s memory
- Reconnect the set top box and allow the software approximately one minute to load itself correctly
- Take the receiver off standby mode by pressing the power button on either the box or the remote control.
- If successful, your digital television channels should be ok and watchable, and you should be able to change channel as expected.
If you have a Sky Digital satellite receiver and the above method didn’t cure your problems, you may need to perform a ‘system download’ to force the box to download the latest software and channels.
To perform a system download for Sky, follow the instructions below:
- Unplug/Turn off the power supply powering the Sky digital(Sky, Sky+ or Sky HD) receiver.
- Hold you finger down on the ‘backup’ button located on the front of the receiver (Please note, holding the backup button on the remote control will not work)
- Reconnect the receiver or turn the power back on at the supply, whilst pressing down the backup button
- After approximately 15 seconds, lights should appear on the front of your Sky digital receiver, and a message on screen explaining a download is in process – DO NOT SWITCH OFF THE RECEIVER!
- Allow this process upto 15 minutes to perform fully. Once completed, the Sky digital receiver will automatically go to standby mode by default.
- Press the power button on your remote control, and your Sky digital viewing service should be resumed!
If the above procedures do not cure your home viewing problems, there may be something else in your digital system which could be causing a disruption to your service, such as, the satellite dish or aerial, cabling or even slight mis-alignment or your satellite dish or TV aerial. A visit from an highly trained Aerialforce engineer can help fully diagnose the fault, and implement a remedial course of action.
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