battlezone123

We have been using a Sky box for the past five years, without a viewing card, and we were able to view all the free freesat programmes. But today, every minute, we get "insert viewing card" message on the tv screen. We have rebooted, done a hard reset but nothing works in getting rid of this message. Have looked on the internet but cannot find anything that answers my problem. Does anyone have any idea of how I can get rid of this message. Thanks.

The Guy

Usually you only get ""insert viewing card"" if you are trying to watch an encrypted channel without a card.

Are you sure you are on a free to air channel and not trying to watch an encrypted channel?

Never heard of the message ever appearing on a free to air channel before...in fact it is virtually impossible....as if an encryption flag was on a FTA channel, then it would affect EVERYONE...

battlezone123

It happens on every free to air channel - BBCs, ITV, CH4, CH5 etc. The screen flashes up "insert your viewing card" every 1 minute. It even happens when we are looking at the "TV Guide". We have not had a viewing card in the Sky box for about 5 years and never had any problems with watching the FTA channels on the Sky box. I have no idea why this is happening. Maybe the box has a fault.

The Guy

Well I don't think it is a "global" issue, as I have fired up an old SD box, and no problems....

And since SD boxes have not been supported or had any software updates for the last few years, it is not a software update that has caused the problem.

What make and model number box do you have... that may provide a clue....as I am assuming it is a SD box...?

Have you done a "manual software update" to see if the firmware has been corrupted.... or is this what you mean by "hard reset"?