Online Error - No Interactive / OD Stuff

xeepo · 07-06-2010, 11:52

Not long had VM TV installed, last week infact... But *since install* the online light has been flashing on the front of my V+ box and none of the interactive or OnDemand features work because of this. I have to admit, that I'm an enormous cinic as when I lived with my parents we used to have Telewest Active Digital back in the day and it experienced the same issue... and Telewest at the time weren't exactly forthcoming in rectifing the issue...

However, since I'm now paying... obviously it's my issue to sort

got phone and BB as well, which both appear to be working fine. The V+ box however has this online issue (light flashing and error code: 1036) and periodically (about every 5mins?) the tv picture drops out completely for about a second (so my telly does the channel / wide adjustment thing most flatscreens do now...) - I've assumed this is something related to the online thingy issue...??

Digital Fanatic · 07-06-2010, 12:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeepo

Not long had VM TV installed, last week infact... But *since install* the online light has been flashing on the front of my V+ box and none of the interactive or OnDemand features work because of this. I have to admit, that I'm an enormous cinic as when I lived with my parents we used to have Telewest Active Digital back in the day and it experienced the same issue... and Telewest at the time weren't exactly forthcoming in rectifing the issue...

However, since I'm now paying... obviously it's my issue to sort

got phone and BB as well, which both appear to be working fine. The V+ box however has this online issue (light flashing and error code: 1036) and periodically (about every 5mins?) the tv picture drops out completely for about a second (so my telly does the channel / wide adjustment thing most flatscreens do now...) - I've assumed this is something related to the online thingy issue...??

Just call 151... you need a tech to check your signal level.

xeepo · 07-06-2010, 12:15

Sorry, I forgot to mention - the original installer popped back that evening and they've also been around once since then to take a look and from that we now know there's nothing wrong between our box and where the cable meets the street. A phrase the guy used was "the signal to noise ratio isn't great enough" they apparently need to be at least 34 but ours is 33.1.... I'm hoping that means a little more to someone else than it does me!

Digital Fanatic · 07-06-2010, 12:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeepo

Sorry, I forgot to mention - the original installer popped back that evening and they've also been around once since then to take a look and from that we now know there's nothing wrong between our box and where the cable meets the street. A phrase the guy used was "the signal to noise ratio isn't great enough" they apparently need to be at least 34 but ours is 33.1.... I'm hoping that means a little more to someone else than it does me!

SNR needs to be above 29... anything less and that can cause problems. Is your broadband working ok? If it is then you have either a faulty stb of a problem with the internal wires.

Give VM another call on 151.

HTH

xeepo · 07-06-2010, 23:57

Hmm, I think he tried with a new box... I'll certainly be giving them another call cos I'm not paying for somehing that only half works. The broadband seems fine, but How seriously would this sort of thing affect Bb Internet connectivity?

Digital Fanatic · 08-06-2010, 00:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeepo

Hmm, I think he tried with a new box... I'll certainly be giving them another call cos I'm not paying for somehing that only half works. The broadband seems fine, but How seriously would this sort of thing affect Bb Internet connectivity?

If there is a problem with the return path from the cab or external cable, then your broadband would keep going off at the same time the interactive/VOD did.

So it sounds like an internal cable issue to me if the box was swapped out... You need a principle engineer by the sounds of it.. how many call outs have you had?

xeepo · 08-06-2010, 00:06

Well, the guy installed it... Came back a few hours later then another guy came round 2 days after. So, technically 3... :p

Digital Fanatic · 08-06-2010, 00:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeepo

Well, the guy installed it... Came back a few hours later then another guy came round 2 days after. So, technically 3... :p

ha ha

... ok, so you've had 1 service visit after the installer came back again... it won't flag as multi-fault just yet.

You will need another tech to call out and see if he/she can pin this down. give them another call. Let us know how you get on.

xeepo · 08-06-2010, 12:20

Ok, I've got a techhy coming round tomorrow 12-4; last night the box seems to have died all together though - which is a bit weird but hopefully we might have tracked down the issue

The powers on, and if you put your ear to the top of the box it has a very quiet hum sound, but there's no lights or display on at all on the box itself and no picture or sound going to the telly... (Internet and phone are still fine though) so yeah - hopefully the box being replaced will sort the online issue too.. rather than this being a totally seperate thing

will keep you posted!

Digital Fanatic · 08-06-2010, 15:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeepo

Ok, I've got a techhy coming round tomorrow 12-4; last night the box seems to have died all together though - which is a bit weird but hopefully we might have tracked down the issue

The powers on, and if you put your ear to the top of the box it has a very quiet hum sound, but there's no lights or display on at all on the box itself and no picture or sound going to the telly... (Internet and phone are still fine though) so yeah - hopefully the box being replaced will sort the online issue too.. rather than this being a totally seperate thing

will keep you posted!

Good stuff, let us know how you get on... hopefully we can get to the bottom it it once and for all.

xeepo · 11-06-2010, 11:19

Just had an engineer out. He's replaced the box, fiddled with the wires and found that he stil couldn't get the box to lock on the downstream. However having just had a look at the technical settings, we've got a few bits and pieces which i think are worth mentioning.

DHCP status - return path is off
PIN status value - PinUninitilised
IP address - 0.0.0.0
SNR 36.0db
Return power - UNKNOWN
Timers - UNKNOWN
QOS - UNKNOWN
1036 #101
164 Failed to lease an address with DHCP

Does this mean anything to you? Should we set a manual IP address? We should have a senior technician coming out this afternoon.

jb66 · 11-06-2010, 11:47

Sounds like an it issue not a signal issue

xeepo · 11-06-2010, 15:28

Had an engineer out this morning who swapped the dead Samsung box for a different Samsung box - however still has the online light flashing issue, as I originally mentioned.

Following him being here for about 45mins, he apologied and said he didn't know why this was playing up and said he'd get someone else to come take a look later on. They've just left and we still aren't enjoying the interactive/OD stuff...!

Not only did one van arrive, but two! Once again, the new Samsung box (that was about an hour old!) was swapped over for an SA one (laggy as hell!) The guy said that he thinks that the frequency is slightly too low or something, and mentioned the headend - which I believe is over in Croydon for me? So they're thinking it's a network issue, which they're going to investigate over the next few days, apparently... so fingers crossed!

While on the subject any know know what error codes 1036 and 1021 mean?
(The Samsung boxes were all returning the 1036 code, and the SA one is saying 1021)

jb66 · 11-06-2010, 16:01

Basically the same thing, on demand issue and no return path

danthompson · 14-06-2010, 15:21

xeepo - have you had any further progress with your interactive? I'm having a very similar issue.. first had it installed about 6 / 7 weeks ago, noticed as soon as the engineer left that interactive wasnt working.. phoned up, had someone come out 2 days later and they informed me it was a local fault and it'd be back up in 2 weeks. I waited 2 weeks and nothing happened, I called back and they sent another engineer a week later. He said it was a national fault and I should wait a week, so I did and nothing happened. I then called again and a few days later had a third engineer who replaced the box (losing us over 3 pages of recordings) but still no interactive. He said he'd refer it to networks and I should wait a week, I said that was fine but can someone please call me and update me! So, a week later and no phone calls, I called Virgin again and they sent another engineer out - he was very helpful and tried alot to fix it, including installing another box (again, losing recordings). He came back today as well and changed the cable, but still no result.. so he's gonna refer it to networks...

The first 3 engineers were pretty useless and just acted like they didnt care, the final guy has been much better, but still doesnt know whats causing the fault! It is getting annoying though as we were told one of the best things about Virgin was the interactive!