Prime freezing and crashes on BT TV

[bob46]

Hi,

I have a BT TV Recordable Box, it is very slow to respond to the remote, apps are slow to open, when I manage to load Prime and select a program to watch, it takes a while to load, sometimes the program starts with sound only, then after the picture loads it will crash and close the app, it will take several a goes to be able to watch a program, I have also had the same problem with Now and catch up on My5 etc.

If I can't load a program on Prime, and then try logging in on my PC, it plays straight away, I then checked my broadband speed 39.9Mb/s

I have restarted the Box and Hub several times, it is connected to the hub via a cable which I have unplugged and reconnected, no better

The software is up to date, when I try to update the apps, a message states unable to update apps

I have not done a factory reset, checking other posts this does not always work, so is there anything else I could try before going through the hassle of re setting the apps to possibly find its the same

Thanks

Robert

[NeilO · Accepted solution]

Hi @bob46 welcome to the BT community and thanks for posting, that sounds like a real pain and I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused. I'm afraid there isn't anything else to try other than a factory reset, I'd recommend first choosing the option to keep your recordings.

1. Switch the box off and then back on again. A red light should appear on the front panel.
2. Press and hold the down arrow button on top of your box for five seconds until you see 'Enter Maintenance Mode Y/N' at the bottom of the screen. When you see this, press the standby/power button.
3. After a few seconds you'll see the 'Maintenance Mode' menu. Choose and select Factory reset, keep recordings using the arrow buttons. This option will allow you to keep your recordings, scheduled recordings and any personal settings you've made to favourites and playlists. 

Post back and let me know how you get on.

Thanks

Neil

[bob46]

Neil0

Thanks for your reply, I have carried out a factory reset as you suggested, the operation is still slow but I have had no problems watching a program once it has loaded, so it is much better

thank you, you have been a great help

bob46

[miltz]

Hi Neil0,

I've had this same issue  for months with Prime and ITVX on my recordable BT box - eg last night I was trying to stream the movie Dune, which would play for a few seconds, then crash and return to the BT home screen ( Live TV recordings etc).

ITVX is slightly different,  consistently playing 1 second snapshots of the ads preceding a show (in this case Van Der Valk) before crashing when the show starts... Bizarrely, I tried playing the also available original 70s version and after the snapshot ad thing the show seemed to play ok.

I've seen a lot of complaints about the general glitchy-ness of ITVX but it does seem to play better on a laptop using Chrome, though not Safari...

We've tried all of the suggested solutions (including partial & full factory resets and even a replacement box!) but the issue persists -is there a fundamental incompatiblity issue here?

Cheers,

MM 

[brimar]

Spent 1 1/2 hours last Sunday with BT online chat, trying to solve the " prime " problem. Tried every fix they suggested. No joy. In the end they sent me a new box, that I was ASSURED would solve the problem.

Box arrived mid-week, and was quickly installed. Loaded the "prime" app. Guess what? Exactly THE SAME PROBLEM as the old box.

Got onto the chat again. After an hour, was passed to the manager. Having spent some time going through the tests, he gave up, and passed my problem to the off line experts. Waiting for them to contact me.

Will continue my story, when they eventually get in touch!

[Janecfc]

Having same problem, now given up and cancelled Prime 😞

[Choppo]

I found two solutions that worked for me….A reset from the bt box but the “software reset” option in the maintenance menu.  Or by far the best option is…..Buy a Fire stick when they’re discounted.  Much slicker and faster than the crappy bt box.  Although bt box  will now eventually play Prime content it’s slow to load, pause and you can’t risk skipping or rewinding!  It’s like something made by Commodore in the 90’s truly awful.  Would ditch bt tv for a one purchase of a DVR but for the monthly price it’s cheaper than NOW and Netflix direct with them.