DStv down?

[Captain Beer]

Anyone else having trouble with certain channels tonight? mine says E38 on some!

 

[Luke7777]

Yip, Channels 3 & 4 as well, 5 up, didn't check all of it though. Was watching Bourne Identity (again)

 

[swordfish1]

it works for me (3-5) (JHB)

 

[Doges]

PVR freezed, reset itself, and then couldn't find any signal for nearly half-an-hour. 21:30 to 22:00.......
Then, suddenly reset itself again, and voila! Working again...

 

[zeb]

I was watching a great debate on CNN with regards to the Muslim cartoon controversy. It really pissed me off when the channel disappeared.

 

[TivoZA]

I found that pulling the smart card out, then pushing it back in again and changing the channel seems to sort the problem out.

 

[zeb]

I found that pulling the smart card out, then pushing it back in again and changing the channel seems to sort the problem out.

Not this time. This was something else.
With regards to what you're talking about, I phoned Multichoice the other day and the guy told me they know about this problem, but it could be the smartcard or the decoder.
I use a 720i and this occurs once a week, or five times a day. Usually when I plan to record a program in the early hours.

 

[TivoZA]

Not this time. This was something else.
With regards to what you're talking about, I phoned Multichoice the other day and the guy told me they know about this problem, but it could be the smartcard or the decoder.
I use a 720i and this occurs once a week, or five times a day. Usually when I plan to record a program in the early hours.

Well, I did get the "E38 Service is not running" error last night at about 21:50. This error was on a couple of channels and once I removed and re-inserted the smart card, then changed the channel, the error was gone. I didn't notice the problem straight away and only pulled the smart card after 10pm so maybe things were back to normal by that stage and thus it worked. I am however using a Dual View decoder so maybe that was the difference.

The other problem that DSTV is having at present is the picture going black as discussed in the "DSTV..goes black, no sound WTF !" thread. This problem is also usually fixed by just changing the channel (and sometimes removing the smart card). It seems like it is possible to get around this problem by making use of the DSTV scart connectors as discussed here.

 

[zeb]

Been using scart for ages now, so it's not that. The E38 error occurred at about 21h15. Everything was back to normal at say 21h40.

 

[TivoZA]

Been using scart for ages now, so it's not that. The E38 error occurred at about 21h15. Everything was back to normal at say 21h40.

Based on those times I suspect that the reason just pulling the smartcard worked was then due to DSTV being back to normal by that stage.

The scart workaround should hopefully fix the "DSTV..goes black, no sound WTF !" problem, not the E38 error. Since you have been using the scart connection for ages, do you ever get the black screen problem?

 

[zeb]

Since you have been using the scart connection for ages, do you ever get the black screen problem?

Unfortunately yes.
The E38 error never happened before, but the black screen started last year and has been a random occurrence ever since.