Demand 5 not working

[Anonymous User]

Hi,  if possible please could somebody confirm whether 'Demand 5' is down at the moment as i'm just getting a message 'Unable to contact server - please try again'

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It's not a major issue, but I would just like to confirm it's down so i don't waste time trying to getting it working.

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Thanks in advance 🙂

[Anonymous User]

I agree you have to wait for I Player to react, but it's always been the slowest of the catch up apps in response times anyway. I suppose it's a little longer now but I haven't noticed a huge difference.

[Anonymous User]

I heard back from the BBC.

While the response was a bit cut and paste, it didn't say the navigation has changed on purpose, and they gave me some trouble shooting steps.

I decided to take this opportunity to set up my black box, which is loads better all around, with normal BBC navigation resumed.

I'd suggest those with white boxes contact the BBC or do as I did and upgrade (I got a black box with 6 months entertainment for £19 a few months ago).

[commanda6]

To clarify this issue is a long-standing issue with the demand 5 app. It has nothing to do with the recent software update. The issue occurs on standard Roku hardware as well

[Anonymous User]

@commanda6 OP posted the thread title as Demand Five, but the post text deals with BBC i Player. Others have posted the same issue after the recent update. I replied to both but the new issue OP (and others) are experiencing is with BBC i Player.

[commanda6]

Hi @Anonymous User

I take your point but remember we are talking about the white box here. The white box has always had trouble with BBC iPlayer since BBC iPlayer was updated to its HTML 5 based interface. The CPU on the box is being asked to run within an inch of its life, it stands to reason that as time goes on, the white box is only going to have more trouble. be that the cause firmware update or an update to the BBC iPlayer app itself . I don't think this is a symptom of the firmware update per say, but more a symptom of the boxes hardware limitations , causing issues

I don't think I've seen this issue with iPlayer, reported on the black box . Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

[Anonymous User]

All I know is that since the update, in app navigation for BBC I Player during playback has totally changed from the marked keys which still work in every other app (including Demand Five!) to the 4 arrows and OK button.

I've no idea if this is a deliberate change from the BBC or a bug following NOW TVs software update. I did recently noticed a change in the initial play screen in I Player, but the navigation issue started several days after that. So I am unsure.

I do hope my first post in this topic has helped others to once again navigate during playback. It is still possible to pause, rewind etc, just in a different way.

[Anonymous User]

I've sent a query to the BBC for their comments. Will report back if they reply.

[Anonymous User]

This has always been an issue on BBC iplayer since I sighed up to NOW TV, the pause/rewind has never worked.

[4268]

Works fine on my black box. Paused a program actually left it overnight whilst watching other stuff and when I put the box back on it was still paused and played no issue.

[Anonymous User]

My white NOW TV box is working fine except for Demand 5, which simply reports "Alert - Unable to connect to server".

I have reset the box to default,  disabled pings and removed and re-installed the Demand 5 app but the problem remains.  My internet and WiFi connectivity is solid.  Box is also fully updated.

Any ideas folks?