Sky+ Enquiry

I was running out of space on the Sky+ HD box so I got it up to about 6% from 1% last night... then I get told the disk is full after one programme recorded which took up 1%. Can anybody explain this, please?

Does that mean it is showing only 5% free, or that the programme recorded actually used the remaining 6%? (When you place a programme in the plannner, the 'required x %' data is only an estimate. Some programmes use more - especially if in HD)

Do you have Disk Space Management set as Automatic, Manual or Warning? (I assume they are the same on the HD boxes as on SD ones).

If you select 'Manual' it will record everything you ask it to, but will begin deleting others on the disk: oldest viewed unprotected programmes first.

The best thing would be to transfer a lot of your content to DVD if you want to keep them. It's going to restrict what you can record if the box is constantly hovering around 95% full.

Yep - the Sky+ can't know how much any recording will take - as that is entirely dependent on the bitrate that the broadcaster is using (which itself can vary if they are varying the bitrate by statmuxing with other channels)

A 60 minute recording from BBC HD will take a significant amount more discspace than a Luxe HD recording for instance. A BBC One London recording will take a significant amount more than an ITV2 recording.

The 1% / 6% thing is a bit odd - but once you get close to filling a disc I think things are a lot less reliable.

I got so cheesed off with the 300GB disc in our Sky HD getting close to capacity so often that I upgraded it to a 1TB disc.

I've been thinking of doing this myself. I don't suppose you could point me in the direction of a handy guide to upgrading the disc? Those I've found so far have been a bit techy. Any hints and tips would be appreciated. Also, out of interest, what make of disc did you use, and is it as quiet as the original one?

My Sky+HD disk is almost always hovering somewhere below 6% free. A word of warning - if it gets to the 2% stage, disable the Instant Rewind. There have been a couple of occasions where I've lost bits of programmes (especially on HD) because I had them on pause, and half way through the programme it's decided the disk's full.

Can't point to a specific site I'm afraid as I used about three to get a good all-round guide. I'd done our Sky+ before so was across what needed to be done.

I used the copy program to retain our existing recordings as well so it took quite a while. (Beware that some SATA USB conversion devices are SATAI only and some drives don't work with them)

I used a Samsung F1 1TB drive - can't say it is noisier than the original. Others have reported occasional problems with 1TB drives from many manufacturers - but we've been OK so far (touch wood)

If you aren't used to working inside PCs - and don't know about mains safety - then I wouldn't do it. PCs have PSUs that are caged off, whereas the Sky boxes have exposed PSUs which could give you a nasty belt even when not plugged into the mains.

It was a simple job - apart from putting the case back together.

Thanks for the help and advice. Maybe 'techy' was the wrong word to use - 'unclear' or 'badly written' might be more appropriate. I've got some electronic know-how, so I might give it a go at some point... although my box has been a bit emptier of late, so might wait til it fills up a bit more (probably once the Winter schedules start).

Oh

A 1TB disk just for storing TV programmes! My first ever 'puter only had a 2GB hard drive for everything, and an embarassingly low amount of RAM! To think we managed to get to the moon 40 years ago on less than the computing capability of a cheap mobile!

I realise it's progress, and I'm sure it's not long before we'll all be talking about having to have 1PB disks for the tellybox, never mind the rest of our domestic facilities.

Oh

My first computer I built from a kit and had 1KB of RAM... (ZX81)

My first hard drive was 20MB... (Acorn Archimedes A310 with Watfor Hard drive podule)



Hmm - I'm well over 10TB at home for storage... (That's mainly for SD and HD video, and losslessly compressed music)