topic Re: Lost recordings after update in TV

Lost recordings after update

JeffB18 — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 14:16:22 GMT

Every time I get a message to say there is a software update ready I have 5 choices - the recommended option or factory reset whilst saving or deleting recordings. I choose the recommended option thinking that would be safe after previously losing all my recordings. However, every time I perform an update using this recommended option all my recordings are lost. I can’t use the tv without carrying out the updates so can anyone tell me how I can do this without losing all my previous recordings?

Re: Lost recordings after update

Schockwave — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 18:37:54 GMT

Hello @JeffB18 ,

Welcome to the community,

You should not lose the recordings you have, whilst updating, not sure why this is happening. What is the recommended option?

Re: Lost recordings after update

JeffB18 — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 20:06:39 GMT

Hi thanks for responding to this problem.

I’m not 100% sure of the wording but the 5 options were along the lines of:

Update software normally (recommended)
Factory reset keeping recordings
Factory reset deleting recordings
Internet software update keeping recordings
Internet software update deleting recordings.

The first time this arose I chose the second option as I wanted to make
sure I did not lose the 100+ that I had. Result - I lost them all.

Last time (this week) I chose the first option - recommended, but still
lost all the recordings I had since the first deletion.

I have no idea why they keep being deleted 😱

Any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks.

Re: Lost recordings after update

Profile closed — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:35:43 GMT

As a long term user of YouView powered kit I have to admit this messaging is new to me!

Usually you only see messages on keeping recordings during a box reset, a software update would normally just happen.

Re: Lost recordings after update

DarrenDev — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:40:15 GMT

Those options aren't part of a software upgrade - your box is going into Maintenance Mode.

https://ee.co.uk/help/tv-sport/fix-problem/how-to-reset-your-ee-tv-box

Is there any chance any of the buttons on your box are being held in? e.g. anything pressing up against them? Try tapping all the buttons, in case they're stuck. Then reboot your box by turning the power off and on - does it show the menu again?

Re: Lost recordings after update

AJHunt1 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 16:42:09 GMT

Same just happened to me. I had quite a few series and film on there including some old ones you can't get on DVD or Video. Really annoyed now. Box is hidden so no buttons where pressing down. Only thing I do is shut is off from 12.30am till 4pm or when I need it. Just to save on electricity. Now have to find series again. By Britbox subscription to watch some others. I'll have to cancel my NOW package with you to do that! Awful set up. You press the recommended selection and deletes all your library. Thanks a lot! 😡

Re: Lost recordings after update

AJHunt1 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 16:46:11 GMT

I restarted my box three times and then same maintenance menu come up. I thought I was doing the correct thing seeing. Recommended selection. Didn't say you would lose all data? What a big con.

Re: Lost recordings after update

DarrenDev — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 16:57:15 GMT

Not quite following you @AJHunt1 - why did you reboot your box 3 times?

Note: you're better setting the power settings on the TV Box to put it into deep standby at the times you don't want to use it. It's better for the life of the hardware, and costs pennies per year. It also ensures the box is able to perform updates and routine maintenance when needed.

Re: Lost recordings after update

AJHunt1 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:12:06 GMT

I switch everything off that's not needed at the time. But hey I can always go back to Freeview to save money.

Turned box on and off at mains 3 times to clear that menu coming up. There should be a pre warning saying 'are you sure you wish to do this as everything will be deleted'. I thought it was an update or an error with the box. Why is that hard reset the 'recommended' option? You might be an expert on the YouView box. I am not. But I'll take you to my work and let you process and few thousand litres of beer....

Really not impressed. Firstly you offer Discovery+ as a big option. Then you take it off the apps list and replace it with GBnews?

Might be pennies to you but it's between me keeping WiFi on or the EE box.

Re: Lost recordings after update

DarrenDev — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:33:06 GMT

A TV Box Pro in deep standby (left connected to the internet), costs about 90p per year in electricity, but can extend the lifetime of the hardware by much longer - saving costs in the long term. I don't understand the comment about choice between wifi or EE box though?

Discovery+ hasn't been removed from the apps list - it's still there.

Was the box already going to the maintenance menu itself when you chose to reboot it 3 times? I can't remember what the options on the menu look like now, but I thought they mentioned whether recordings would be kept or not?

Re: Lost recordings after update

Midnight_Voice — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 18:15:37 GMT

@AJHunt1 @JeffB18 @DarrenDev @Schockwave

A YouView box that boots up and offers you the 5 options, as listed, roughly, by @JeffB18 above, knows it is in trouble, but it doesn’t know how much trouble.

As it reboots after the selection of an option, it can determine that the option chosen isn’t going to get it out of trouble, and so it chooses a more drastic option, up to and including a full Factory Reset, which makes it like a brand new box delivered today with the latest software on it.

Except if the box has an ongoing hardware problem that even reformatting the disc won’t cure, in which case it will repeat the cycle the next time you turn it on, and the next, and so on.

The small comfort you have when you watch your box wipe itself is that you haven’t done anything wrong, and there is nothing else you could have done, and your recordings (and quite possibly the box) were doomed at switch on.

The fundamental problem is that YouView never offered a way to back up your disc, and nor even, for hardware problems, to put that disc into another YouView box and carry on.

As a result, your recordings are always sitting under a virtual Sword of Damocles, with no guarantee of their longevity 🗡️

Obviously, a box coming out of standby is under less electrical stress than one booted from cold, but failures happen to both. Though I do think the switchers-off are overly represented among the failures, and their recordings pay dearly for that saving of 90 pence a year 😢

Re: Lost recordings after update

AJHunt1 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 18:38:01 GMT

90p a year? Wow. My smart meter must be lying.

I have had the box a far few years. But the thing I am irate about as it doesn't give you a warning that all recordings will be lost by doing the recommended option. It's like your windows laptop going into Bios mode and saying press 1 for reboot and then wiping your harddrive clean!

I was just trying to save a bit of money. My WiFi connects to my security system. My EE box is only on for an hour or so a day. If it's lucky! Switching it on and off should not be an issue. Do you leave your computer on all day at home or TV on standby? All that says on in my house is WiFi, cat drinking fountain, security and one Google device. Obviously I am in the wrong to save my 90p a year.

Re: Lost recordings after update

Midnight_Voice — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 08:39:50 GMT

@AJHunt1

Read my posting above again - I don’t think you quite understood it.

If what you ask for isn’t going to fix the box, what do you think it should do? Come back and tell you that?

At which point your choices are leave it like that, not working, or choose a more drastic option, a cycle you might have to try a couple of times.

But which, at present, the box does for you automatically.

And if your recordings are no longer accessible, it tries at least to get the box back working for you; but it isn’t going to wipe the box willy-nilly, unless it finds it has no other choice.

Re: Lost recordings after update

DarrenDev — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 09:50:17 GMT

Personally, yes - I do leave my TV and laptop on standby @AJHunt1 - but it's your choice to turn it on and off if you want to. It was just a suggestion that power save mode is very good when configured optimally, rather than needing to power off. It also allows the box to run self-maintenance and updates whenever needed, and the TV Box can also used to monitor the stability of your broadband allowing us to auto-recognise issues and repair them sometimes without you even knowing. It's unlikely to have been the cause of your issue though, so apologies for causing confusion.

Moving on to the actual issue you had - I've checked, and the maintenance mode never defaults to a destructive option. The default/recommended option is "Software Reset" which wouldn't delete anything from the disk. The fact that your box booted into the maintenance menu itself suggests that it had already recognise a hardware failure so none of the menu options would have fixed that without also losing recordings. Given that you've had that box for over 9 years, this sounds quite feasible. It also means it's likely to happen again.

It looks to me like you updated your contract earlier this year - you should have been offered a replacement TV Box at the time, but I cannot see any evidence that you were sent one. Did you reject the offer? Let me know if you'd like one sent.