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What does the V+ box do all night ?
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Old 03-05-2012, 11:36   #1
clumsymum
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What does the V+ box do all night ?

right, after my other half signed us up for an upgrade to Tivo, our V+ box has been moved up to the bedroom. It is driving me do-lally.

Every so often through the night (and possibly the day too) even tho the box is in stand-by, I can hear the hard disk coming up. The box isn't set to record anything, there aren't any special lights showing on the front, it simply runs the hard drive for a few minutes, then it stops. After a random time, it's quite likely to start up again (usually just as I'm dozing off). I know they don't make a hugely loud noise, but in the dark when everything else is quiet, it is quite audible.

Now I know the boxes are supposed to receive software updates overnight, but EVERY night ? and more than once or twice a night ?

I'm thinking of making the point by just disconnecting the power at night time, altho of course then it might not get some sort of important update.

And anyway, I am just intrigued by what it is actually doing - and how much power is it using every 24 hrs?
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Old 03-05-2012, 12:05   #2
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

The EPG data held by the box is updated nightly. Typically starts just after midnight GMT. It has to do that as the EPG is for the 7 days ahead so at some point the system needs to drop the expired day and add the next. This process is a pain in the backside as often the V+ will become unresponsive.

As for the hourly or so spin up, no real idea, but I'd imagine the box is checking itself to see if it needs to start a recording?
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Old 03-05-2012, 12:13   #3
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

Turn ours off at night... The 27 minute past whirring bugged me!!
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Old 03-05-2012, 13:34   #4
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

Ditto same here, lost so many good nights sleep over the v+ box whirring, phoned Virgin up to see if I could downgrade to a normal box but was told it would cost £20 and would still probably have the same problem!
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Old 03-05-2012, 14:03   #5
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

I was asked if I wanted to keep the V+ when upgrading to Tivo. Decided to do so and returned the VHD. The V+ is a bit noisy but you can always unplug it at night.
I don't see how a VHD box would "probably" have the same issue. It has no hdd to spin up at random and I don't recall ours making any noise at all. I assume the £20 charge would be to cover carriage/ admin etc.
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Old 03-05-2012, 14:35   #6
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

The V+ boxes usually fire up at Midnight, 6am, Midday and 6pm and hourly at about 17 -18 mins past the hour. Don't know what it's for, but it's never bothered me as the fan in mine is fairly quiet.
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Old 03-05-2012, 15:11   #7
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

It's not just the fan that makes noise. The hard disc also whirrs when it's in use.
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Old 03-05-2012, 19:30   #8
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

I wasn't aware it has a fan, It just sounds like a disk drive to me.
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Old 03-05-2012, 20:16   #9
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

It has a cooling fan, like a computer. It starts when the heat increases, when the box is busy.
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Old 03-05-2012, 21:05   #10
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

No need to unplug it. There is a on/off rocker switch on the back
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Old 03-05-2012, 21:19   #11
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

Anyone else think that cheap hard ware was used in the boxes to make so much noise as to keep people awake
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Old 03-05-2012, 21:36   #12
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

I use a "green" plug bank that switches off all non essential devices when they're not required (at night in my case). My V+ is in the bedroom, so when it's time to sleep I turn off all non essential devices by remote.
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Old 04-05-2012, 09:44   #13
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

So if I turn mine off at night will it automatically download the updated epg when I switch it back on in the morning? ie. is there a downside to switching it off each night?
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Old 04-05-2012, 11:16   #14
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

Switching off causes a complete reload of the EPG (same as a reboot). Current days programmes are loaded first and you are probably looking at 5 -10 mins for the full 7 days to load. The only big problem would be if you hit a software update, and then you could be waiting 10 - 15 mins before it then completes a second reboot.
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Old 04-05-2012, 11:26   #15
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by nodrogd View Post
Switching off causes a complete reload of the EPG (same as a reboot). Current days programmes are loaded first and you are probably looking at 5 -10 mins for the full 7 days to load. The only big problem would be if you hit a software update, and then you could be waiting 10 - 15 mins before it then completes a second reboot.
so as long as I switch it back on at least 20 mins before I want to watch anything on it .... ??
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