Every fault below comes from real call-outs across Durban and surrounding areas. Some have a quick check you can try yourself before booking anyone — where that's true, we say so. When a visit is needed, the diagnosis is done with a signal meter, quoted before work starts, and covered by our 12-month workmanship warranty. New to this part? Start with the decoder (explora / hd) component guide.
1. Decoder will not switch on
What you'll see: No standby light, no front-panel display, no response to the remote or to the buttons on the box itself. Completely dead.
Why it happens: Most often a failed power supply — the component most damaged by load-shedding switching surges. Sometimes a failed wall adapter, a tripped protection circuit, or a dead wall socket rather than the decoder at all.
How we fix it: We confirm power is actually reaching the decoder, test the supply, and separate an external power fault from an internal one. Where the decoder itself has failed we tell you plainly whether replacement or a MultiChoice swap-out is the better route.
2. E16 error — channel not authorisedE16
What you'll see: A specific channel or group of channels shows an E16 message, while other channels continue to work perfectly.
Why it happens: The subscription does not currently cover that channel, or the entitlement has not reached the decoder — typically because the box has been off for a long period or has not had signal long enough to receive its authorisation update.
How we fix it: We verify the decoder is receiving good signal and holding it long enough to take an entitlement refresh, which is the part we can genuinely fix. Account and package questions belong with MultiChoice, and we will tell you that rather than charging for a callout.
Full e16 error — channel not authorised troubleshooting guide →
3. E30 error — no signal being receivedE30
What you'll see: An E30 message reporting that no signal is reaching the decoder from the dish. Usually every channel is affected.
Why it happens: A physical break in the chain between dish and decoder: disconnected or damaged cable, failed LNB, dish out of alignment, or a failed multiswitch on a multi-room system.
How we fix it: We work the chain from the decoder outward with a meter — cable at the wall plate, connectors, multiswitch, LNB, then alignment — and repair the actual break rather than replacing components speculatively.
Full e30 error — no signal being received troubleshooting guide →
4. Explora recordings fail or the box freezes
What you'll see: Recordings do not complete or vanish from the list, the box slows down and freezes, playback stutters, and the decoder restarts on its own.
Why it happens: The internal hard drive is failing. Drives in recording decoders run continuously for years and develop bad sectors well before they die outright, which is why the symptoms are erratic long before the box gives up.
How we fix it: We confirm the drive is the cause rather than a software or signal issue, and advise honestly on the options — drive replacement where that is sensible for the model, or a swap to a current Explora where it is not.
Full explora recordings fail or the box freezes troubleshooting guide →
5. Decoder keeps restarting in a loop
What you'll see: The decoder boots part-way, shows the start-up screen, then restarts — over and over, never reaching live TV.
Why it happens: A failing power supply that cannot hold voltage under load, a software update that did not complete cleanly, or a failing hard drive that stalls the boot sequence.
How we fix it: We test the supply under load, attempt a clean software recovery where the model supports it, and identify whether the box is recoverable or genuinely at end of life — before you spend money on it.
Full decoder keeps restarting in a loop troubleshooting guide →
6. Decoder on but no picture on the TVHDCP error
What you'll see: The decoder's front panel shows it is on and responding, but the TV displays "No signal" or a black screen. Sometimes sound comes through while the picture does not.
Why it happens: An HDMI problem rather than a satellite one: wrong input selected, a failed or marginal cable, an HDCP handshake failure, or a resolution the TV cannot display.
How we fix it: We work through input selection, cable substitution, handshake order and resolution reset — including the front-panel reset sequence that recovers a decoder set to a resolution its TV cannot show.
Full decoder on but no picture on the tv troubleshooting guide →
7. Decoder overheating and freezing
What you'll see: The decoder is hot to the touch, freezes or reboots after an hour or two of use, and behaves perfectly again once it has cooled down overnight.
Why it happens: Inadequate ventilation. Decoders — Exploras especially, with a hard drive spinning inside — generate real heat, and a great many live in a closed cabinet or stacked under other equipment with nowhere for that heat to go.
How we fix it: We relocate the decoder somewhere with genuine airflow, or ventilate the cabinet it has to live in, and confirm the fault is thermal rather than a failing power supply or drive.
Full decoder overheating and freezing troubleshooting guide →
Symptom doesn't match any of these?
Faults overlap — a "decoder (explora / hd) problem" is sometimes another link in the chain wearing a disguise. Describe what your system is doing on 069 507 6822 (or WhatsApp a photo of the error screen) and we'll tell you which component it actually sounds like, free, before anything is booked.