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I appear to have this sorted out now. Evidently, although I did not realise it, the input for recording from the sky box to the hdd box does not allow for showing the programme guide - I have no idea why and don't care to know, the input on the hdd box to use it for receiving freeview is different. I had been transferring from sky to hdd and hadn't realised that to show the programme guide I had to change the input. It's all too complicated to understand but as it now appears to be working, that's OK.