Phillie14586

TV Guide not updating

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I searched my whole hard disk---no channels.plist file, but ChannelList.xml begins like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<array>
    <dict>
        <key>EPG Provider</key>
        <integer>103</integer>
        <key>EPG Provider Channel ID</key>
        <integer>32043</integer>
        <key>channel name</key>
        <string>Diya TV</string>
        <key>channel number</key>
        <integer>42</integer>
        <key>display number</key>
        <string>1-1</string>
        <key>logical channel number</key>
        <integer>1</integer>
        <key>minor logical channel number</key>
        <integer>1</integer>
        <key>service</key>
        <data>
        AAAAAKAEAzGYCcfoGAAAAQAAAAA=
        </data>
    </dict>
    <dict>
        <key>EPG Provider</key>
        <integer>103</integer>

        ...the other channels.

 

My EyeTV version is 3.6.9 (7416).  I did have automatic updates turned on before, but apparently I never received any beyond 7416.  They must have changed things in the setup.

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The most recent EyeTV released build is #7424, which I have. They have made a few small improvements, mostly bug fixes, along the way. The new (forthcoming?) beta is build #7427; the link to try it out was posted on one of these forums recently.

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   Catching up here...seems like 'jpMist27' and I were/are in the same furrow...

   I am pleased to report that I now have two Mini's working again with the XMLTV guide service. It hasn't been "auto-updating" but I see from recent posts that it needed a final line (</plist>) so I'll try that. The XMLTV listing for my Spectrum cable service in Florida on a coupe of channels I like doesn't match it's actual channel number, but I will try the EyeTV gear "Add Channel manually" for them and see if that works. 'EYEMISSELGATO's' "export/import" suggestion did work at restoring channels for the second disabled Mini, but since the Time Machine "restore" worked so well on the first, I just did it again on the second.

   The new Mini is still in the box but working with it is "up to bat" for this weekend. It has the 6-core i7 processor, the  1Tb SSD storage, and 16 Gigs of RAM so I'm expecting it to blaze compared to its nearest (Late 2014) predecessor with a 1Tb "fusion" drive. Never thought I'd pay $2,000 for a Mini though <gasp>, but at almost 80 nearly ancient years, it is likely to be my last!. I am determined to configure it with 'EYEMISSELGATO's' successful "schedules direct" guide solution using the "how-to's posted awhile back. Wish me luck!

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12 minutes ago, Holden said:

The XMLTV listing for my Spectrum cable service in Florida on a coupe of channels I like doesn't match it's actual channel number,

That's great. Sometimes the names of the channels in your xmltv lineup don't quite match your Channels list, but it's possible to suss out what the matching listing in your lineup is the correct match. The search box in the lineup window can help narrow it down, sometimes by call letters. If you make a mistake in assigning a listing, you can highlight that channel in the Channels list, delete it, and then do Auto Tune > Advanced > Update Scan and the channel(s) you deleted should reappear in the Channels list. You will have another chance to assign a listing when you change the dropdown for them. 

Edited by Earl Noe

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   After my early suspicions that Geniatech intended to let its TV Guide service just die, it looks like it has come to a successful "arrangement" with the Rovi Corporation for continued access to their listings service. Rovi certainly seems to have the "chops" to be around for awhile with its Macrovision roots and TIVO ownership. I see the "beta" access is offered through early May, so maybe by late May/June we'll have access to whatever this new "Premium TV Guide" service will look like. The beta does have a pretty accurate choice for my cable provider's channel listings based on the zip-code based drop-down in the Set-Up Assistant. The issue for me when its operational will be the annual subscription cost compared to its old cost and the XML-based alternatives. I suspect the addition of the "Premium" descriptor means a hefty price rise.

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10 hours ago, Holden said:

...it needed a final line (</plist>) so I'll try that.

Thanks for pointing that out.  Mine was missing too.  Now automation should be up and running.

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Yes, I had to create a new e-mail address to use since mine is already in the"got a refund" disabled file at Geniatech. I got the build from the link earlier here in the Forum and downloaded the build that is supposedly now being tested. It worked to the extent that it showed me my cable provider in the Set-Up Assistant zip-based drop down. It also showed when my access expired (May 7th. as I remember). But that was all I could evaluate. Set-up Assistant would not configure itself to talk to my cable box and finish the installation and populate the "Channels" window with my cable-provider's channel inventory and therefor show a guide based on the channels...hence no ability to change channels on my cable box with the EyeTV

 

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   Stuck on working through getting the "schedules.direct" solution working...

Using the step-by-step in the "2nd version of schedules direct.pdf", I seem to be good through Step 7...making the mc2xml file an "executable"....was successful. But in Step 8, trying to run the command "./mc2xml -J [schedules.direct username:password] just presents a ">" prompt and churns. I waited many minutes and it just "hung" there and never created an mc2xml.dat file and an xmldv.xml file in my Scripts folder. Am I just not waiting long enough? My cable service provider does have literally hundreds of channels on its coax.

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Step 8 in attached guide does mention the -c and -g.  (Note: there may be funny characters in the attached, so be wary of copy-and-paste.)

Step 8: still in the Terminal window, type in ."/mc2xml -J sdusername:sdpassword -c us -g zipcode" where username and password are what you....

 

xmltv.pdf

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That must be my problem, 'UnixGuy' as a later attempt yielded the response of "missing -g" which I saw on the schedules.direct "key" listed as "country code". I'm off to try...in the meantime I pared down my channels-pull list at schedules.direct to 54 instead of 588. I'm also seeing that the schedules.direct mapping of channel numbers is a more nearly perfect match to my actual cable channel program assignments than xmltv.com. It has only one anomaly and I've written them about fixing that. Based on previous posts to this thread, I suspect that will get fixed promptly.

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...and shortly after...SUCCESS, I am so *geeked*. I'm through "Step 10" now and headed for home. EyeTV whose Channels list was empty opened and now Apple's multi-colored rotating ball is hopefully telling me it is loading my inventory and I see channels where there none were before. It's about three minutes later and the Apple rotating ball has stopped and I have Program Guide

   Now on to Steps 11 through completion for automating the update process and this is one happy old dude living the retired life in Florida on his way! Note to all who are unfulfilled or struggling...as 'EYEMISSELGATO, 'UnixGuy', 'WisconsinEric' and others have posted here...YOU CAN DO THIS....these folks have saved our TV Guide-less bacon as it were!

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Awhile back, there was mention of storing EyeTV-recorded programs on external drives and the need to have programs stored in the EyeTV Archive foder inside the Documents folder. on the boot drive I have a lot of programs like all the Mad Men and Sopranos episodes on external drives. I just store them in a folder there designated as EyeTV Archive and then when the external drive is connected, I use the EyeTV Preferences option and "link" them in the second "Recording" panel to the external drive and then re-launch EyeTV and it finds the recorded programs there instead of the actual EyeTV Archive folder on the boot drive...works fine and when the external drive is disconnected, EyeTV automagically reverts to the Archive folder on the boot drive to look for programs..

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Yeah 'EYEMISS...', it does...and it makes me want to take my new and likely dangerously insufficient Unix skills and write other little helpful *scripts* to do things without so much as a ":wq"....  🙂

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1 hour ago, Holden said:

EyeTV automagically reverts to the Archive folder on the boot drive to look for programs..

I find double-clicking on an .eyetv file wherever it is stored, regardless of folder or drive name, will cause it to open in the EyeTV that is running. The preview image will stay in the Recordings pane until deleted. The preview image can not return to the associated recording when attempting to play if the volume has been unmounted, and sometimes it will not always find the recording if the volume has been unmounted and remounted, but double-clicking the file itself will cause it to resume playing where it was when stopped.

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3 hours ago, Holden said:

Awhile back, there was mention of storing EyeTV-recorded programs on external drives and the need to have programs stored in the EyeTV Archive foder inside the Documents folder. on the boot drive I have a lot of programs like all the Mad Men and Sopranos episodes on external drives. I just store them in a folder there designated as EyeTV Archive and then when the external drive is connected, I use the EyeTV Preferences option and "link" them in the second "Recording" panel to the external drive and then re-launch EyeTV and it finds the recorded programs there instead of the actual EyeTV Archive folder on the boot drive...works fine and when the external drive is disconnected, EyeTV automagically reverts to the Archive folder on the boot drive to look for programs..

Holden: I recognize your ingenuity, but that's harder than it has to be. With the external drives running, quit EyeTV, create an alias to the EyeTV Archive folder on that drive and drag it into the EyeTV Archive folder on your boot drive. Then restart EyeTV and all the programs on the external drive will be indexed along with everything on the boot drive in your list of EyeTV recordings, and you can find and play them at will. If you eject the external drive, EyeTV won't be able to find the programs of course, but it will find them the next time you connect the external drive. In theory you can do this for multiple external drives, though I never have, and I'm not sure if the folders on the external drive even have to be named EyeTV Archive (unlike the one on your boot drive, which does).

A final note: there is no requirement that the EyeTV Archive folder has to be inside the Documents folder; it can be anywhere on your boot drive, you just specify the location during EyeTV setup. I find it convenient to have it on my Desktop.

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2 hours ago, Phillie14586 said:

I have had mine on a non-boot drive for years with no problems.

Sure. I place the archive on the boot drive because it is always mounted and accessible whenever the computer is booted up. All the copies of EyeTV on bootable partitions can share the same archive, which is always available whether any of the other volumes are mounted or not. You can put it anywhere, but the boot drive is the one that's always conveniently mounted.

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On 4/6/2019 at 1:39 AM, Holden said:

   After my early suspicions that Geniatech intended to let its TV Guide service just die, it looks like it has come to a successful "arrangement" with the Rovi Corporation for continued access to their listings service. Rovi certainly seems to have the "chops" to be around for awhile with its Macrovision roots and TIVO ownership. I see the "beta" access is offered through early May, so maybe by late May/June we'll have access to whatever this new "Premium TV Guide" service will look like. The beta does have a pretty accurate choice for my cable provider's channel listings based on the zip-code based drop-down in the Set-Up Assistant. The issue for me when its operational will be the annual subscription cost compared to its old cost and the XML-based alternatives. I suspect the addition of the "Premium" descriptor means a hefty price rise.

Thanks for that as well as your test of the beta. Can you expand on this bit of news? My basic google news search didn't come up with anything for Rovi Corp & Geniatech.

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With the paid TV Guide not working, and HD HomeRun support dropped,  I've started using the SiliconDust DVR service on a NAS server, alongside EyeTV (7520) on a Mac Mini.   Despite a learning curve for the UI and, of course different feature sets..., overall the SiliconDust is getting the job done: MPEG .TS files are being saved to my NAS hard disk from guide-driven series recordings from my HDHomeRun tuner.  I can easily edit/trim/convert these recordings using other standalone software.

I think the final blow for EyeTV for me just happened last night.  Recording the final episode of the latest season of a popular comedy, partway through the EyeTV/Mac Mini setup had a panic and the OS rebooted to the login screen.  Failed recording.  Meanwhile the SiliconDust DVR NAS setup completed recording - and that's what truly matters.

Good luck with EyeTV folks, but for me it really is time to put my annual subscription money elsewhere.  Five years of using EyeTV, I'll certainly miss the video scrub editing user interface and ability to edit smart recording schedules.  Moving forward I simply need reliable recording with a supported guide, and I'll use other tools to post-process.

Edited by chuckles67

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