Forum Discussion

otronics's avatar
otronics
On our wavelength
12 hours ago

Recordings Wiped

Hello.

I have two Virgin Media boxes for TV in my house (one in the lounge, one in the bedroom).

One is newer, the other is an old TiVo box (about 15 years old).

The latter was so slow and of course BBC iPlayer no longer works.

So I called Virgin and they arranged a free replacement. Lovely.

It arrived with two remote controls which I found odd.

I've not fitted the new bedroom box yet (had it for two weeks - not had the time).

What happened today though is that the box in the lounge asked for a new remote control to be paired (which I have done - not that it needed a new one) but I have lost all my recordings. It's as if the box has reset.

Any idea why and if I can get the recordings back?

A reminder - this is the box in the lounge that was absolutely fine. It's the box in the bedroom that needs replacing.

Thanks.

2 Replies

  • roy247's avatar
    roy247
    Hero
    12 hours ago

    Unfortunately it sounds like you accepted an offer to update to 360. After you receive your new 360 remote's you have about 5 days to watch any recordings you haven't watched, you can then update the box yourself or it will do it automatically. This involves the hard drive being reformatted and new 360 software installed, losing all recordings and series links. The series links can only be added when the program is on the EPG.

    The old TiVo box will have been replaced with either a 360 mini box or streaming box with no hard drive so no recording ability, but they can set recordings on the main box.

     

  • japitts's avatar
    japitts
    Very Insightful Person
    2 hours ago

    Your comment "it's as if the box has reset" is closer to the truth than you probably realise, and Roy has hinted at the process.

    Virgin Media TV boxes run one of two software platforms, in a similar way to smartphones running either Android or Apple - or laptops run Apple or Windows. There's photos of the different boxes on https://www.virginmedia.com/care/tv-fault/which-tv-box - the V6 & TV360 can use the same physical box.

    The TiVo & V6 boxes run TiVo-firmware, and it sounds like you had a V6 & TiVo in your home. The newer platform is called TV360, and runs on Horizon-firmware. You cannot mix & match these two in the same home, you either have all TV360 or all TiVo/V6. 

    iPlayer is still fully supported on the V6, but as part of removing TiVo's from service, VM are promoting migrations from TiVo/V6 > TV360. The physical box which ran as a V6, is capable of running either TiVo (as a V6) or Horizon (as a TV360) software, but the legacy TiVo box can only run TiVo software.

    So, what's happened in your case is.... the legacy TiVo needed swapping out because of iPlayer support ending. You have accepted an invitation to migrate both boxes to TV360. The TiVo has been physically swapped out for a TV360-mini, now running Horizon-firmware. Your V6 has had its TiVo-firmware removed, the hard drive has been reformatted and Horizon has been installed in its place - it is now a TV360.

    It's too late for you now, but the ideal solution in your case would probably have been to swap your TiVo for a V6, and leave the V6 as-was. It's unfortunate that the implications of the TV360 migration - presumably - weren't made clear.