Okay, so I thought I'd put some step by step instructions for those suffering from this infernal "There is not enough memory" curse on the Sony Bravia Iplayer software... and streaming / buffering / slow operation problems. These methods worked for me.. I have a Sony Bluray BDP-S370 and I'm on Tiscali (now under the Talk Talk umbrella, but still the old Tiscali set-up) which is where most of the problems seem to be. The method should work for other networks and Sony Bravia TVs/players etc but the refreshing / factory resetting steps may differ depending on what device you have. In all cases, play around with your device until you can achieve the same result.
Problem: Sony Bravia Iplayer keeps very stupidly trying to load the (usually radio) PC version of Iplayer's home page, then crashing because "there is not enough memory" before attempting "recovery" and going round in circles till I actually want to kill myself.
Solution:
1) Reset everything on your Sony device. On the BDP-S370, from the player's home page, you go to "Resetting" - "Reset to Factory Default Settings" - then scroll down to "All settings" and reset away. Then go to "Resetting" - "Initalize Personal Information" - then click okay to reset all your internet settings. Your device should now be reset, and all the internet service icons will have disappeared. This is all fine and groovy.
2) Reset your router - for the less technically minded, this is the box plugged into your phone socket that gives you the internet. If it has wireless, it will have an antenna and usually has a load of little green lights on it! When I say reset it, I mean reset it fully - turning off and on won't cut it I'm afraid. Look for a reset hole that you poke something thin into to press a button and hold it till the lights go off and it starts to reset (this is so you can't do it by accident). If you can't find this, refer to the instructions and look for factory default resetting.
You will now may have to go through a couple of steps to get the internet going again just as you did the first time you set up - my PC browser wanted my username (with Tiscali, that's your main email) and password again.. which my browser had remembered so I just had to click connect. Also bear in mind, the wireless key (password) and network SSID (name) will be reset to the one the box came with - both normally printed on the box. If this is not the pass key you used before (maybe you changed it), you will have to remember to change all your wireless-using devices - phones, video consoles etc - to use this password. Or you could go through the steps to change your password again.. but who knows, maybe that's contributing to the problem? Once all the lights are back on your router (most importantly the "wireless" one), you can go back to your Sony device.
Okay, now go to "Set up" - "Easy set up" - and set up your device like you did the first time you got it.
Then go to "Network Settings" - "Internet Settings" then set up your internet connection again with "wired set up" or "USB wireless setup" if you use a dongle. Set up the connection as before, but remember the pass key for your system may have changed.. now it will be the original pass key usually printed on the box. One more thing - don't forget, those wireless keys (passwords) can be case sensitive.. if you need capital letters, the password set up screen on Bravia - which acts a bit like an old mobile phone texting system - has a button at the bottom which switches to capital letters ("ABC") .. thought I'd mention as, I came a cropper with this!
When you are all connected, go to "Video" and click the icon that says something like "Get internet services" or some such like. The player will then connect and bring back the icons - iplayer, lovefilm etc - to the video column. Now choose Iplayer and it SHOULD repeat SHOULD work.. if it doesn't, cry a lot. If it does, let me know.. it's always nice to know you helped.
Problem: when I use Sony Bravia Iplayer, the pictures freezes and that effing circle spins so many times, I find myself running to the kitchen to make a stiff drink before the wife clouts me because apparently this is my fault.
Solutions:
This is to do with "buffering" - when you "stream" a programme.. watch it on the internet without downloading the whole thing.. it downloads enough information so you can watch the bit you are at, and has the bit just ahead of where you are ready, then steadily more as it's needed. If connection or software is slow, the player will come to a point where the information isn't ready, and it will freeze till it is ready. You can get round this is in a number of ways without upgrading your broadband package..
1) If you are using wireless, you need to optimise your signal. Go to "Set up" - "Internet settings" - then "View network status". The signal strength is half way down, expressed as a percentage. Now, my wired broadband connection upstairs is about 9 meg (24 meg my a**se!) and I find I need a signal of 97-100% on the dongle to watch the "high quality" (not HD) Iplayer content uninterrupted. Bravia uses "high quality" by default. To achieve that signal, I plugged the USB extension cable that came with the dongle into the back, the dongle into the extension base which gives a bit of movement. If your router is upstairs, generally the higher your dongle is, the better the signal you get. Also crucial is the position of your router - and you should experiment with the antenna. Pointing one way, my signal was 45%, pointing the opposite way, it was almost always 100%.
2) If you are having trouble getting a good signal, or your broadband connection is just very cr*p generally, it's time to reduce the amount of information you need to buffer by reducing the quality of the Iplayer programmes. Don't worry - the effect is noticeable to the trained eye, but won't hamper the viewing pleasure of vaguely normal people. From Bravia's Iplayer homepage, go down to "settings" at the bottom, click on it, then scroll down to "video quality" - click on it, then choose "normal". When you have done this click "back" or the return button on your remote till you are back to the home page. Then choose your programme.
3) Another tip, if you're not impatient to get viewing, is to pause your programme at the start for a few minutes (while you make a cup of tea?) to give the buffering a head start. This can make "high quality" viewings less interrupted in my experience. Though since I've got my signal up to 100% give or take, I rarely need to do this. A combination of steps 1 and 2 should mean you shouldn't need to resort to this. Interestingly though, I've never had buffering problems with Lovefilm because that TESTS your connection and gives you the right settings. This is how it should work (Sony and BBC take note) - people of my mum and dad's generation don't want to be faffing doing signal tests, changing quality settings and doing workarounds. So sort it!
Finally, if all I have said, seems too daunting, get someone with a vaguely tech brain to read this and help you. Once you've been shown, it will be a doddle.
Good luck!!!
Paul.
