What does the V+ box do all night ?
03-05-2012, 10:36
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#1
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Inactive
Join Date: Sep 2008
Services: BB M
TV L and V+
Phone L
Posts: 142
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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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03-05-2012, 11:05
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#2
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Inactive
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: 127.0.0.1
Age: 59
Posts: 15,868
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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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03-05-2012, 11:13
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#3
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Inactive
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 12
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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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03-05-2012, 12:34
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#4
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Inactive
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1
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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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03-05-2012, 13:03
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#5
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Guest
Location: West Sussex
Services: 500gb Tivo & V+. TV XL, 60MB BB, M Phone.
Posts: n/a
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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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03-05-2012, 13:35
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#6
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cf.mega poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
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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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03-05-2012, 14:11
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#7
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Guest
Location: West Sussex
Services: 500gb Tivo & V+. TV XL, 60MB BB, M Phone.
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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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03-05-2012, 18:30
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#8
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Inactive
Join Date: Sep 2008
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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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03-05-2012, 19:16
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#9
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Guest
Location: West Sussex
Services: 500gb Tivo & V+. TV XL, 60MB BB, M Phone.
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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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03-05-2012, 20:05
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#10
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Inactive
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
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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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03-05-2012, 20:19
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#11
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Guest
Location: newcastle upon tyne
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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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03-05-2012, 20:36
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#12
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Guest
Location: West Sussex
Services: 500gb Tivo & V+. TV XL, 60MB BB, M Phone.
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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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04-05-2012, 08:44
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#13
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cf.mega poster
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: North-West Kent
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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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04-05-2012, 10:16
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#14
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cf.mega poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
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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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04-05-2012, 10:26
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#15
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Inactive
Join Date: Sep 2008
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Re: What does the V+ box do all night ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nodrogd
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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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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