Phillie14586

TV Guide not updating

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2 hours ago, Millstadt Weber said:

I didn't know anything about the coding either. I simply typed in what was posted and worked out typo issues and other issues that others faced and solved.  My geniatech EPG TV Guide service ended on Feb. 5 (even though I am good till Nov. 22). I was up and running with schedulesdirect later on Feb 5. And It was fully automated by Feb 7. I have had no glitches since Feb 7. The Program guide gives me 17 days of schedules and is properly color coded and has season and episode numbers for TV shows. I am running on a MacMini 2009 and on a 2010, both with Mac OSX 10.11.6, and EyeTV 3.6.9 (7520 and 7524). 

It isn't that hard to do. So I have had 15 days of service since geniatech stopped serving us. And I am good to go even if geniatech never comes thru. Yes, I am losing 9 more months of their service (which doesn't even exist now). And yes, I had to read thru the posts and give it a try. But it all worked and I don't even think about it now.

So give it a try. And if you have questions and issues, we are here to share what we have learned and experienced.

I do appreciate your efforts, and I will try this out. I'm still a little traumatized from an earlier effort some time ago to install Linux that went on for several fruitless days, and led to my getting EyeTV in the first place.

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3 hours ago, Millstadt Weber said:

I didn't know anything about the coding either. I simply typed in what was posted and worked out typo issues and other issues that others faced and solved.  My geniatech EPG TV Guide service ended on Feb. 5 (even though I am good till Nov. 22). I was up and running with schedulesdirect later on Feb 5. And It was fully automated by Feb 7. I have had no glitches since Feb 7. The Program guide gives me 17 days of schedules and is properly color coded and has season and episode numbers for TV shows. I am running on a MacMini 2009 and on a 2010, both with Mac OSX 10.11.6, and EyeTV 3.6.9 (7520 and 7524). 

It isn't that hard to do. So I have had 15 days of service since geniatech stopped serving us. And I am good to go even if geniatech never comes thru. Yes, I am losing 9 more months of their service (which doesn't even exist now). And yes, I had to read thru the posts and give it a try. But it all worked and I don't even think about it now.

So give it a try. And if you have questions and issues, we are here to share what we have learned and experienced.

I've been looking over the how-to and have a couple of questions. Where there are things like "chmod 755 mc2xml"  and "./Users/username/getepg.sh" are the quotes part of the string, or are they serving the usual prose function of separating the string from the explanatory text?

 

In the part of script: 

# Reload EyeTV with the file

open -a EyeTV $XMLTV

fi

Is that last glyph the ligature or the letters f i ?  I had better sort these things before I plunge in. Thanks.

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Yes the quotes " are explanatory and not part of the command.

As for the ending "fi" is just the letters "f" and "i".  I didn't type them in. I opened TextEdit and cut and pasted the entire procedure in, and the changed the username to my username in lines 2, 3 and 5, and changed on line 9 the schedules direct username:password to the username:password I used in signing up with schedules direct plus changing to my own rural home zip code.

I was really cautious about automating with launchd / launchctl, so I waited a couple of days before tackling that. But when I did, it worked.

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2 hours ago, Earl Noe said:

I've been looking over the how-to and have a couple of questions. Where there are things like "chmod 755 mc2xml"  and "./Users/username/getepg.sh" are the quotes part of the string, or are they serving the usual prose function of separating the string from the explanatory text?

 

In the part of script: 

# Reload EyeTV with the file

open -a EyeTV $XMLTV

fi

Is that last glyph the ligature or the letters f i ?  I had better sort these things before I plunge in. Thanks.

Sorry: I just figured out the quote button on the forum page. So obviously I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack. Yet the old saying is true. "Necessity is the mother of invention."

 

Yes the quotes " are explanatory and not part of the command.

As for the ending "fi" is just the letters "f" and "i".  I didn't type them in. I opened TextEdit and cut and pasted the entire procedure in, and the changed the username to my username in lines 2, 3 and 5, and changed on line 9 the schedules direct username:password to the username:password I used in signing up with schedules direct plus changing to my own rural home zip code.

I was really cautious about automating with launchd / launchctl, so I waited a couple of days before tackling that. But when I did, it worked.

 

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Millstadt Weber said:

I was really cautious about automating with launchd / launchctl, so I waited a couple of days before tackling that. But when I did, it worked.

OK. Thank you. It will be a while before I tackle this, but I'll let you know how it goes.

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2 hours ago, Earl Noe said:

Is that last glyph the ligature or the letters f i ?  

Bash shell scripting if/then statements go like this:

if [ raining outside ]
then
<bring umbrella>
fi
drink coffee

Drink coffee is not part of the umbrella if/then decision.

Basically, "if" and "fi" bookend the statement.

Enquiring minds can find more info here:

https://ryanstutorials.net/bash-scripting-tutorial/bash-if-statements.php

 

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As DC Rackerby said above, fi closes a conditional command that began with if [clever, yes? fi is if backwards]. In this case the conditional command checks for a working Internet connection. If you decide to dispense with that (see my next post), you simply conclude the script with the last command.

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With more time on my hands than I probably should spend on this (being retired), I decided to preserve the indispensable advice posted here in a single PDF guide (attached). After all, Geniatech could kill this Forum without notice, and I'd hate to lose this information. Sorry, but the "enter your info marked in red" color failed to transfer from NeoOffice to the PDF, but I also used brackets so you'll be able to see it. Please be sure to call any errors to my attention so I can fix them, but I have tested everything and it works.

IMPORTANT: this guide applies just to Macs (I don't know the Windows world), and to using xmltvlistings.com as the North America EPG source (which is what I am doing). Maybe someone will do a similar guide for schedulesdirect.org.

Again, thanks to everyone who has contributed to this Forum! [I'm also posting this on the other Forum thread discussing these issues, specifically on xmltvlistings].

XMLTVListings EPG with EyeTV-Guide.pdf

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1 hour ago, WisconsinEric said:

Re: ^. Sorry, wish Forum software let you edit previous posts, but it doesn't. Here's the attachment with a minor correction in a note on Step 2.

Thank you very much for that guide. I have one question. I've been manually loading the xmltv listing offered for my area. It works well, but there are a few subchannels and channels I actually receive that have no equivalent that I can find in the xmltv info offered when I change the dropdowns. I have been leaving these as EPG for want of a better alternative, but these have to be updated frequently by tuning to that channel or using the "Update ATSC Program Guide" option from the dropdown at the top of the EyeTV window. The departed TVGuide had info for these channels. Am I missing something?

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21 minutes ago, Earl Noe said:

Thank you very much for that guide. I have one question. I've been manually loading the xmltv listing offered for my area. It works well, but there are a few subchannels and channels I actually receive that have no equivalent that I can find in the xmltv info offered when I change the dropdowns. I have been leaving these as EPG for want of a better alternative, but these have to be updated frequently by tuning to that channel or using the "Update ATSC Program Guide" option from the dropdown at the top of the EyeTV window. The departed TVGuide had info for these channels. Am I missing something?

I suspect only the people at xmltvlistings.com could answer this question. Under "Adding and Customizing Lineups" on their Help page, you can customize lineups by removing channels they provide you don't want, but I don't think there is any way to add channels they don't provide that you do want. On their FAQ page basically they say to contact them if a lineup isn't right, but I've used the Contact form twice and gotten no response. Another approach would be to look at different channel lineups (they allow you up to five). Maybe a different one is a better fit for the combination of channels. Unfortunately you can't see the channels in a lineup until you've added it to your dashboard, but then you can edit it (Modify button) and I see there's a Delete button at the bottom so you can get rid of it.

Hmmm - I just got an idea. If you can find all the channels you want in at least one of the lineups, save all of them. Then go into the editor and keep just the unique channel(s) in that lineup. Download all of the lineups you want (provided it doesn't exceed 5), and load them into EyeTV. The unanswered question is whether EyeTV will just add the channels in question and keep the EPG info it already has for the channels not in your lineup, or whether it will delete everything and just add the channels from that one downloaded lineup. If the former, you're in business but you will have to test it. Cumbersome procedure, but it too could be automated if it works.

 

"

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18 hours ago, WisconsinEric said:

If the former, you're in business but you will have to test it. Cumbersome procedure, but it too could be automated if it works.

 

Yes, that's the question. Frankly, I'm leery of tinkering with it, since it is really working right for all but one subchannel I actually use. What actually happens when you add a lineup? Can you choose to download one or do you get both? I suppose I could add one, take a look at it and just delete if it doesn't seem workable.  I assume Comcast has all the broadcast channels I get, though under different channel numbers, and in theory I could delete the great number of irrelevant listings, and in theory match the remaining ones up to the Channels on my list generated by scanning the airwaves, and wind up with a workable lineup.

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28 minutes ago, Earl Noe said:

I could delete the great number of irrelevant listings, and in theory match the remaining ones up to the Channels on my list generated by scanning the airwaves, and wind up with a workable lineup.

OK. I just added the Comcast Digital lineup and it looks like it has all the broadcast channels I get, and can be pruned to make a usable schedule. Unfortunately, you can't select the ones you want by using command-F and save those, you have to work out which ones to delete. That's a bit cumbersome with a bazillion channels, but it should work.

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8 hours ago, Earl Noe said:

Yes, that's the question. Frankly, I'm leery of tinkering with it, since it is really working right for all but one subchannel I actually use. What actually happens when you add a lineup? Can you choose to download one or do you get both?

COMMENT: You get one, in fact lineups can only be downloaded one at a time. But you can have / use up to 5 different ones, which gives you room to experiment a bit.

I suppose I could add one, take a look at it and just delete if it doesn't seem workable. 

COMMENT - yes, that's what I would do.

I assume Comcast has all the broadcast channels I get, though under different channel numbers, and in theory I could delete the great number of irrelevant listings, and in theory match the remaining ones up to the Channels on my list generated by scanning the airwaves, and wind up with a workable lineup.

COMMENT – that's what I was thinking when I made that suggestion^ [previous post].

 

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2 minutes ago, WisconsinEric said:

COMMENT – that's what I was thinking when I made that suggestion^ [previous post].

I tried pruning the Comcast Digital lineup of a million unneeded listings and loading that, but it didn't fix my troublesome subchannel. I started to think I just hadn't assigned it properly when I first loaded xmltv listings. How to change the assignment? Fiddling with dropdown didn't help. Deleting EPG database and reloading listings didn't help. Finally, I deleted that subchannel from Channels and rescanned with Auto tune to add it back to Channels. When I changed the dropdown to xmltv again, I got the lineup and this time found the right listing to assign. The names in the listing can be a little misleading. All now seems to be well. I hope my fumbling around can save someone else some trouble.

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It looks like the topic, "TV GUIDE NOT UPDATING" got de-railed, and is now more about coding, hacks, and work arounds for the EPG?

As to this topic:

Has anyone had any luck with the actual EPG, or real answers from breakthroughs with TV Guide EPG, or with Geniatech?  I've gotten the same run around and even legally threatened by Angela in Support.  She basically said if anyone slanders Geniatech - they'd deal with it legally.  I don't give her an ounce of credibility.

The beginning of each of the last two weeks I've been given the same rubbish - their techs are working around the clock, and to wait another week.  I've done that twice now.  Regardless of when -- or if they get this issue fixed, I'm demanding a full refund no matter what.  

I don't know what options others have - depending where you're at - but I'm in the states, and I'm also filing a case (at least ) with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for failure to deliver a contracted service.

My suspicion:  they've completely lost any kind of TV Guide licensing and their scrambling to put together some half-a$$, make shift EPG data stream service of their own!

 

[edit]  Oh... and to date, 4:52pm, U.S. west coast time - our EPG is STILL dead.

Edited by Placebo
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When I click on 'Update Now' the EyeTV software seems to successfully connect to the server, and goes to the 'download data' step.  Sometimes the ostensible download goes on for a long time (which suggests it might actually be downloading something, or it may have some kind of variable timeout setting).  Then it goes to the 'adding programs' step.  This is where it fails with 'update failed due to server error.'   I wish there were some way of tracing the actual internet connection to see what is happening.  My Mac Mini is running the older Snow Leopard MacOS 10.6.8, and I don't think I can do that.  Maybe some later OS can.

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1 hour ago, UnixGuy said:

When I click on 'Update Now' the EyeTV software seems to successfully connect to the server, and goes to the 'download data' step.  Sometimes the ostensible download goes on for a long time (which suggests it might actually be downloading something, or it may have some kind of variable timeout setting).  Then it goes to the 'adding programs' step.  This is where it fails with 'update failed due to server error.'   I wish there were some way of tracing the actual internet connection to see what is happening.  My Mac Mini is running the older Snow Leopard MacOS 10.6.8, and I don't think I can do that.  Maybe some later OS can.

 

You're experiencing the same thing everyone else is.  Sure... you'll see the software attempting to connect to download the data, but that's all you're seeing happening.  There's just simply no EPG data there to download.

If seeing anything happening with the internet connection were possible - regardless of macOS - the issue isn't with the connection.  

You can get and see necessary network statistics by clicking the "Program Guide" on eyeTV software on the left column, and then click the "TV Guide Diagnostics" button at the bottom.

                 1712143165_ascreenshot.png.22ba48e563aec3eece2b00f7e70d6f68.png 

The "Program Guide Diagnostics" then displays thee area you're in, "Network" will show a good network connection (or not)  The incorrect part will probably show your EPG database being ok, when it's not - otherwise it would have downloaded and be showing you programs.

 

 

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2 hours ago, UnixGuy said:

When I click on 'Update Now' the EyeTV software seems to successfully connect to the server, and goes to the 'download data' step.  Sometimes the ostensible download goes on for a long time (which suggests it might actually be downloading something, or it may have some kind of variable timeout setting).  Then it goes to the 'adding programs' step.  This is where it fails with 'update failed due to server error.'   I wish there were some way of tracing the actual internet connection to see what is happening.  My Mac Mini is running the older Snow Leopard MacOS 10.6.8, and I don't think I can do that.  Maybe some later OS can.

The problem is not your Internet connection or your OS. If you have still got TV Guide set as your EPG source in EyeTV Preferences the "Update Now" option will continue to appear, but is useless because, as Placebo said above, there is nothing to download (or more likely the server providing it is either not taking connections or has been taken down). The error you got is the standard error message I think we've all gotten since February 5th when trying to connect to the TV Guide server (or whatever was sending its EPG to EyeTV). The command does NOT work with other EPG sources (i.e., XMLTVListings.com, schedulesdirect.org). In fact, if you change your source of EPG in EyeTV Preferences to "None" (which is what I did since switching successfully to xmltvlistings) the useless command will disappear. But if you are using one of the other EPG sources, there is this neat one-line AppleScript that will add the Update Now option back. Now let's see, who came up with that? . . . why, YOU did! 😉 (and it works)

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I'm trying to pin down precisely where the failure occurs.  If the server were simply down, it would be a different type of error.  The server appears to be up and running and taking connections, but seemingly sending no data.

Out of curiosity, I would like to be able to see what URL and port the client is connecting to, what TLS handshake is occurring, what http or https POST or GET commands it is sending, what data or error code the server is sending in reply, and whether the client is registering a timeout.  These might provide some insight into whether it is a technical problem or a license problem.

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Direct Schedule script in Terminal appears to generate TV schedule for 7 days.  I have to repeat Terminal script again after 7 days to generate TV schedule again.  Wondering if anyone is having this same problem?

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1 hour ago, UnixGuy said:

I'm trying to pin down precisely where the failure occurs.  If the server were simply down, it would be a different type of error.  The server appears to be up and running and taking connections, but seemingly sending no data.

Out of curiosity, I would like to be able to see what URL and port the client is connecting to, what TLS handshake is occurring, what http or https POST or GET commands it is sending, what data or error code the server is sending in reply, and whether the client is registering a timeout.  These might provide some insight into whether it is a technical problem or a license problem.

Makes sense, but I lack technical knowledge on how to get that information. As for "technical problem or a license problem," I thought of something else: Geniatech is trying to start its own premium-priced EPG subscription service. Evidence: look at the tab for EyeTV Plus, which appeared mysteriously in the last update of EyeTV. It lists tens of thousands of programs available, with options to subscribe in a variety of countries. However, it is available only in Germany, and all the text on it (you now can see less than you used to be able to) is in German. If you try to log into it, it says your subscription has expired and then an big "Entry forbidden" sign (in German) appears on the screen. The number of shows available appears to change daily (in those little gray number of shows windows beside each category), so it must be an active service that already has an active Internet connection built into EyeTV 3 software. Those are facts; my speculation: Geniatech wants to introduce this widely and so terminated its contract with TV Guide, but didn't get it finished in time (would be normal for a tech company). So that gives us a choice between vaporware and abandonware. 😒

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22 minutes ago, WisconsinEric said:

Makes sense, but I lack technical knowledge on how to get that information. As for "technical problem or a license problem," I thought of something else: Geniatech is trying to start its own premium-priced EPG subscription service. Evidence: look at the tab for EyeTV Plus, which appeared mysteriously in the last update of EyeTV. It lists tens of thousands of programs available, with options to subscribe in a variety of countries. However, it is available only in Germany, and all the text on it (you now can see less than you used to be able to) is in German. If you try to log into it, it says your subscription has expired and then an big "Entry forbidden" sign (in German) appears on the screen. The number of shows available appears to change daily (in those little gray number of shows windows beside each category), so it must be an active service that already has an active Internet connection built into EyeTV 3 software. Those are facts; my speculation: Geniatech wants to introduce this widely and so terminated its contract with TV Guide, but didn't get it finished in time (would be normal for a tech company). So that gives us a choice between vaporware and abandonware. 😒

Yes, I think you may be onto something there.  It is when new stuff is introduced that the old stuff is obsoleted.  Or it may break if there are software upgrades.  I'm also wondering if the project to upgrade EyeTV to a 64 bit program might have something to do with it.

https://www.geniatech.eu/blog-8-eyetv-32-bit-macos-highsierra-10-13-4/

In trying to make TV Guide work with a 64-bit version of EyeTV, they may have broken access by the 32-bit version.  Lots of things would be different with 64-bit data.

At least this would mean Geniatech are still actively developing EyeTV.

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In the 4 screen shots below I show my Channels and Program Guide. 

The first Screen Shot shows the EyeTV Preferences "Guide" Page. My subscription is good till Nov. 22, 2019, yet since Feb 5, I get "Update failed due to a server error," just like everybody else. Therefore on the "Channels" page, I left channels 5.2, 7.2 and 8.2 as "TV Guide", switched channels 5.3, 7.3 and 8.3 to "ATSC/OpenCable", and changed all the rest to xmltv (where I get the TV Guide info from a subscription that I have with schedulesdirect.org - $25 for a year).

The second Screen Shot shows the "Program Guide". Channels 5.2, 7.2 and 8.2 don't show up since there is no info for them. Channels 5.3, 7.3 and 8.3 (ATSC/OpenCable) show up but don't have Season/Episode numbers. And all the rest are color coded by program type and do have season/Episode numbers.

Screen shot 3 shows the "Program Guide" from 5:00 to 7:00 pm tonight. The ATSC/Open Guide Channels 5.2 ends at 6:00 pm. 7.3 ended earlier, and 8.3 ends a little later (not even 24 hours for some channels).

Screen shot 4 shows the "Program Guide" from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on March 13 (16 and a half days from now). The channels using the xmldv Guide info from schedulesdirect.org goes out almost 17 days.

I have been using this procedure (see the xmltv.docx file) since Feb. 5th and haven't had any problems. No hacks, just using the EyeTV xmldv option, and getting the Tv Guide schedule from schedulesdirect.org). I outlined a procedure (based on input from many on this forum) that automatically does this each day, and it works great.

I started with the free 7-day trial subscription to schedulesdirect.org, then upgraded to the 1-year subscription once I was convinced this procedure worked and that I don't think geniatech will solve there own problem (which I e-mailed them about back in January and received the answer on Feb 2, "It is a technical issue. We are fixing it. We will inform you immediately once it is back to normal."). So far on Feb. 25th it isn't fixed. But I have a fully working TV Guide and am recording shows on 2 EyeTV Hybrids.

So check this out as well as WisconsinEric's alternative to schedules direct using xmltvlistings.com.

Screen-1.tiff

Screen-2.tiff

Screen-3.tiff

Screen-4.tiff

xmltv.docx

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