Error 2001: CS want to reformat the hard disk

[mbeattie]

This is my first posting to this forum. I've searched it for a solution and found some relevant information but no ideal solution, hence this post.

I've had V+ service for a year with no major problem apart from occasional loss of connectivity or freezing that required a reset or power off&on. A couple of weeks ago, powering up the box resulted in no "Live TV" light, no access to any V+ functionality (V+ menu, recording, DelayTV etc) and an error message of "V+ Unavailable...Quote 2001 when you call" when hitting the record button with the mini-guide visible (for any program).

Rang up customer support, who tried a few hits/"sending signals" of various sorts, gave up and said he would escalate and someone would ring me within 5 days. A few days later, I got a call from someone else who tried whatever he could do remotely, gave up and said the only solution was for them to reformat my hard disk. I have about 60 hours of programs on there from series that my family and I have been gradually catching up with and I do *not* want to lost that unless absolutely necessary.

Browsing this forum and one or two more generic forums, I've come across people with V+ error 2001 with two different apparent causes. From what I read, the underlying error means the box is told by the server that V+ service is unavailable. One cause therefore is where the problem can be solved by CS fixing up the accounting information their side. Some people (with new accounts, extra set top boxes with service allocated to the wrong one) seem to have solved their situation this way. For some, however, the problem indicates a hardware(/firmware/softwre?) problem with the V+ box and a reformat of their disk has solved their problem.

Given that I *really* don't want to reformat the disk unless needed and given that CS won't try anything else (clearly it saves them time to just reformat; they have no incentive to spend their time and effort on a solution which saves my programs), can anyone suggest an alternative?

If there's any way I can find out for definite what may be wrong with the box or reload/prod its firmware/software without losing the saved program data, then I'd like to try. I'm happy fiddling with such things (20 years in IT with systems from small to large), so if it involves magic incantations, hooking up a serial or net console or, if really needed, removing its hard disk then I'm prepared to spend a signficant amount of time doing so. I have at least a few days left before my wife gets more annoyed with the lack of ability to make new recordings than the potential loss of all the programs on the disk (more than a couple of "last in series" programs...).

Please can anyone help me diagnose this problem? I do not at the moment have confidence in VM's claim that a reformat is needed.

[Toto]

Originally Posted by mbeattie

This is my first posting to this forum. I've searched it for a solution and found some relevant information but no ideal solution, hence this post.

I've had V+ service for a year with no major problem apart from occasional loss of connectivity or freezing that required a reset or power off&on. A couple of weeks ago, powering up the box resulted in no "Live TV" light, no access to any V+ functionality (V+ menu, recording, DelayTV etc) and an error message of "V+ Unavailable...Quote 2001 when you call" when hitting the record button with the mini-guide visible (for any program).

Rang up customer support, who tried a few hits/"sending signals" of various sorts, gave up and said he would escalate and someone would ring me within 5 days. A few days later, I got a call from someone else who tried whatever he could do remotely, gave up and said the only solution was for them to reformat my hard disk. I have about 60 hours of programs on there from series that my family and I have been gradually catching up with and I do *not* want to lost that unless absolutely necessary.

Browsing this forum and one or two more generic forums, I've come across people with V+ error 2001 with two different apparent causes. From what I read, the underlying error means the box is told by the server that V+ service is unavailable. One cause therefore is where the problem can be solved by CS fixing up the accounting information their side. Some people (with new accounts, extra set top boxes with service allocated to the wrong one) seem to have solved their situation this way. For some, however, the problem indicates a hardware(/firmware/softwre?) problem with the V+ box and a reformat of their disk has solved their problem.

Given that I *really* don't want to reformat the disk unless needed and given that CS won't try anything else (clearly it saves them time to just reformat; they have no incentive to spend their time and effort on a solution which saves my programs), can anyone suggest an alternative?

If there's any way I can find out for definite what may be wrong with the box or reload/prod its firmware/software without losing the saved program data, then I'd like to try. I'm happy fiddling with such things (20 years in IT with systems from small to large), so if it involves magic incantations, hooking up a serial or net console or, if really needed, removing its hard disk then I'm prepared to spend a signficant amount of time doing so. I have at least a few days left before my wife gets more annoyed with the lack of ability to make new recordings than the potential loss of all the programs on the disk (more than a couple of "last in series" programs...).

Please can anyone help me diagnose this problem? I do not at the moment have confidence in VM's claim that a reformat is needed.

I don't think you have any options to be honest. Even a tech visit will often result in the box being swapped, thus loosing whatever programmes you have stored on there.