V+ Box - Energy Saving Mode?

yidaho · 14-03-2008, 18:27

Hiya

I've tried getting sense from Virgin Media, but 4 telephone calls later I'm still none the wise, so I hope some knowledgeable soul on this forum can help?

I have a SA8300 V+ Box, HW Version 1.7, SW Version 3.1.6.1

With my previous V+ box I had no issues, but have found with this one that, after a couple of hours watching Live TV, I am unable to rewind. I get a window informing me that my "V+ Box has been in energy-saving mode so you are not able to rewind any further".

One guy on the helpline tells me this is normal (although he did spend 2 minutes telling me it's impossible to rewind Live TV at all!) and another has told me it's a fault, but I was unable to understand the tech person that she put me through to, so I got no further there..

So.. Is this a fault or an annoying new feature of the box/software? And is it possible to turn it off?

Just to reiterate; This is Live TV - not delayed, and not a recording.

Thanks.

spiderplant · 14-03-2008, 19:27

It's an annoying new feature.

You may be able to stop it happening by putting the box into Delay TV. Just pause it for a second.

ps. Welcome to the forum!

yidaho · 14-03-2008, 19:40

Thanks for the reply. Dang, that is annoying, but nice work-around. I'll try and remember to do that. Thanks again, spiderplant.

BenMcr · 14-03-2008, 19:41

It was always supposed to be there, though it is only supposed to do it outside of 'peak' times

georgepomone · 14-03-2008, 19:51

Have been trying it out for this. If you don,t do anything on the box for while that doesn,t need the disc it will go into sleep mode like previous software. As well as saving power it saves wear and tear. Like was said if you want it to keep going just pause TV then it will. This was requested by users because the hard disc kept running, even in standby.
George.

Jules · 14-03-2008, 21:14

I wish there was an option to turn it off

march.brown · 14-03-2008, 23:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by yidaho

Hiya

I've tried getting sense from Virgin Media, but 4 telephone calls later I'm still none the wise, so I hope some knowledgeable soul on this forum can help?

I have a SA8300 V+ Box, HW Version 1.7, SW Version 3.1.6.1

With my previous V+ box I had no issues, but have found with this one that, after a couple of hours watching Live TV, I am unable to rewind. I get a window informing me that my "V+ Box has been in energy-saving mode so you are not able to rewind any further".

One guy on the helpline tells me this is normal (although he did spend 2 minutes telling me it's impossible to rewind Live TV at all!) and another has told me it's a fault, but I was unable to understand the tech person that she put me through to, so I got no further there..

So.. Is this a fault or an annoying new feature of the box/software? And is it possible to turn it off?

Just to reiterate; This is Live TV - not delayed, and not a recording.

Thanks.

Hi Yidaho

I don't know if you can go to this forum thread , but I have asked the same questions on post number #122.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...=760063&page=5

I was perfectly happy with the old software even though the disk kept running all the time , even on standby ... Now if I go to standby the disk stops after two minutes and thirty seconds ...

Unfortunately , when I am actually watching the TV via the V+ box , the disk goes to ''rest mode'' which means the rewind mode will not work ... The disk needs to be running to give you the replay facility ... If you press any key on the V+ remote , the ''Rest Mode Timer'' is reset to zero ... It seems that you have to press a button on the remote every hour or less to keep the rewind facility operational ...

My V+ Volume is always set to maximum , so all I do now is to push ''Volume Up'' every half hour or so and this keeps the replay facility working ... If you are changing channels or pressing any other remote control keys , this will also reset the timer to zero ...

Bit of a bind if you are watching a long program and you want to have a quick replay !!!
.

march.brown · 15-03-2008, 11:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by march.brown

Hi Yidaho

I don't know if you can go to this forum thread , but I have asked the same questions on post number #122.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...=760063&page=5

I was perfectly happy with the old software even though the disk kept running all the time , even on standby ... Now if I go to standby the disk stops after two minutes and thirty seconds ...

Unfortunately , when I am actually watching the TV via the V+ box , the disk goes to ''rest mode'' which means the rewind mode will not work ... The disk needs to be running to give you the replay facility ... If you press any key on the V+ remote , the ''Rest Mode Timer'' is reset to zero ... It seems that you have to press a button on the remote every hour or less to keep the rewind facility operational ...

My V+ Volume is always set to maximum , so all I do now is to push ''Volume Up'' every half hour or so and this keeps the replay facility working ... If you are changing channels or pressing any other remote control keys , this will also reset the timer to zero ...

Bit of a bind if you are watching a long program and you want to have a quick replay !!!
.

It's easier to press the OK button now , as the Volume button doesn't do what it used to do prior to the code-drop ... It now brings up a ''How to do it'' page on adjusting TV volume.
.

hansi · 16-03-2008, 09:21

If the box is left on (not in standby) how long should it take for the disc to power down?

nialli · 16-03-2008, 11:05

The inability to rewind, unless you've initiated Delay TV, sounds like it could be something to do with faster channel switching perhaps? I understood that the slow switching of the channels (which is a major bug bear for some) was partly down to the way Delay TV worked, with the hard disc being 'engaged' each time the channel was changed. Could be wrong, but the latest software seems to switch channels a second or two quicker - maybe the loss of rewind of live TV is the price we pay?

spiderplant · 16-03-2008, 11:48

The new software does change channel faster, but that's not related to Delay TV. Just general software optimisations.

The spindown is purely to save energy and improve disc reliability, both things people previously complained about. You just can't win! Only around 1/3 of people ever put the box into standby, so it wouldn't be so effective if the spindown only happened in standby.

Still, it could be worse. The EU recommend that the box puts itself into standby automatically after a period of time.

hansi · 16-03-2008, 12:42

My silver V+ box powers down if it is left on, but my black V+ box only powers down if put in Standby. Strange!

hansi · 18-03-2008, 07:23

This energy saving feature is realy weird. I never put the boxes in Standby and last night the one in the bedroom must have switched the disc off during the night, but early this morning, I heard the disc switch itself back on twice for about five minutes and then switch itself off again. There were no recordings set. Really weird.

spiderplant · 18-03-2008, 08:29

It needs to use the disc occasionally during the night, e.g. adding new series episodes that have just appeared in the guide, and running the auto-delete process.

To answer an earlier question, if you don't press a button the disc spins down after 3 hours 5 minutes.

hansi · 18-03-2008, 08:50

Thanks.