Strange problem with Digi TV

[willie]

Not so much asking for help but more asking if this has happened before.....
Got home from work on monday night turned on telly to catch up on the days events get the blue error box coming up saying my smartcard is not inserted correctly please re-insert and press the red button which i do (Strange bit here the smart card has never been removed from the day and hour i got the box)
Then done the usual things that you are asked to do when you call up tech support IE turn of box for a period of time then switch on again woth no effect whatsoever.
Then phone up support who told me to do what i had already done after a cobsiderable time of trying this and phoneing tech support an engineer is booked and should be arriving tommorow sometime but have been told that even when he does come and the problem still exists there is not a lot that he can do as it related to the smart card so has any other members experienced a simalar problem and if so what was the resolution.

[Mick]

Did they tell you to clean the smartcard? - sometimes they can get dirty.

[Rob]

Over time, sometimes static or something like it can build up and affect the smart card. If the STB can't properly communicate with it due to this interference, Digi TV gives up.

Sky boxes can have the same problem.

Quite why there is a need for a smart card on the ntl boxes, I don't know.

[willie]

Yes they said to clean with a clean cotton cloth to remove any dirt or any static build up

[Mick]

Hmm odd, I have heard of instances where the smartcard has warped with the intense heat of some STB's, anything visible, on the card that could indicate this?

[willie]

yup there is some brown burn like marks on the card as if it had been scorched

Originally Posted by Web Junkie

Not so much asking for help but more asking if this has happened before.....
Got home from work on monday night turned on telly to catch up on the days events get the blue error box coming up saying my smartcard is not inserted correctly please re-insert and press the red button which i do (Strange bit here the smart card has never been removed from the day and hour i got the box)
Then done the usual things that you are asked to do when you call up tech support IE turn of box for a period of time then switch on again woth no effect whatsoever.
Then phone up support who told me to do what i had already done after a cobsiderable time of trying this and phoneing tech support an engineer is booked and should be arriving tommorow sometime but have been told that even when he does come and the problem still exists there is not a lot that he can do as it related to the smart card so has any other members experienced a simalar problem and if so what was the resolution.

I can't understand why you have been told there is nothing that can be done when the tech arrives. The Tech can swop the box, which if the issue is as it sounds like a card issue, will resolve it. The new box will come with a new card.

If you press Page Up, Page Down, Blue, what does the text say about the CA status?

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Web Junkie

yup there is some brown burn like marks on the card as if it had been scorched

I used to get this all the time when we had Ntl and a 2000 box, when they swapped it for a 4010 it stopped.

[willie]

Can not get to the CA status page

Originally Posted by Web Junkie

Can not get to the CA status page

Where are you?
Do you get anything pressing page up page down and then blue?

[willie]

Get absolutly nothing when doing this

So your old ntl ? The 'where are you' bit asked about that!

I think either the card or the reader is knackered. See my previous post, I can't see why a visiting tech can't resolve with a new box.

[willie]

Aye i am old ntl original cabletel area what i think the techie meant was that the box i do have could not be fixed but a new one would do the trick

[willie]

Update
New box installed the fault was the card reader it self and not the card

Glad its all sorted.