An update on the TiVo EPG issues and good news!

Forums › TiVo › An update on the TiVo EPG issues and good news!

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#315705 8-Aug-2024 11:10

Some of you will have noticed that after the recent difficulties we've had, we now have pretty much a full EPG for all channels except PRIME/Sky Open. Great work has been happening behind the scenes and is still in progress. Our new Admin - Stephen @fe31nz will be known to several Geekzone members here, and has a long history running MythTV with the skills required to keep things going at a Linux/Python level.

Please support Stephen. His skills are very much appreciated by the community. Hopefully PRIME/Sky Open will be back too, but no promises.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

1 | 2

709 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3269446 8-Aug-2024 11:24

TiVO user here. Thanks for the update

Geepers

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3269565 8-Aug-2024 17:52

Very pleased and grateful to read this. Once everything is working properly please let us know how we can donate to the person/people responsible. I feel a regular donation might be an incentive to that person to keep TIVO alive!

fe31nz

1232 posts

Uber Geek

#3269623 8-Aug-2024 22:24

No donations needed for me, but at some point we may need to start paying for the Digital Ocean server where the EPG gets downloaded from. At the moment, that is being paid for by the Aussies. But it is a small amount (~$4? per month), as it is the lowest tier service. And the domain name also needs to be paid for, again I think the Aussies are doing that.

allan

2043 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3269630 8-Aug-2024 23:45

Yes thanks, still got a Tivo ticking away in the background here.

finethen

13 posts

Geek

#3269982 9-Aug-2024 18:57

That is most excellent news, thank you thank you. TiVo is still our goto service, easy, fast and responsive. Snip the ads etc. Democratic distribution returns! Count me in if you open a tip jar or sub.

Fencer101

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3270017 9-Aug-2024 20:56

Brilliant news! We have 3x TiVos running and a 4th as a spare. Much appreciated all the work that has gone into this - thought it was going to be the end. Kudos to all involved. Nothing works as easily as TiVo. Happy to help with funding.

neilpride

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3271588 14-Aug-2024 16:53

Brilliant! Thank you so much, my Tivos are nearly back to normal !

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

neilpride

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3272260 15-Aug-2024 21:12

And just like that, I’m getting prime in the EPG once more… from Friday so I assume this is a very recent development?

My TiVo is back to its old self!

Thank you, thank you whoever fixed it, this is great news…

fe31nz

1232 posts

Uber Geek

#3272271 15-Aug-2024 22:05

An update about developments today.

Many of you out there will have noticed a general lack of EPG data today. It looks like Three ran out of data today, and all the other channels were running low. Sorry about that - I had no idea it was running low until @Spong let me know, as I have had my TiVo connected to my local test EPG server, which still had two days of data. And when I had looked at the Digital Ocean server (hd.oztivo.net:8000), I could still see data being uploaded to there, so I thought it was still coming from the old EPG server and everything was all right. But that data was 006:0001*.snow.bnd files, which is for a different lineup. The FreeviewHD lineup has 007:0001*.snow.bnd files for its EPG slices.

On top of that, my new EPG server was also running low. It had only two days of data, when it should always have seven days. It turned out that the little "df" program that is used to encrypt the .bnd EPG slice files in TiVo encryption had stopped working. This file is copied from a TiVo and we do not have the source code for it, so we have to actually run the version compiled for the MIPS CPU on a Tivo S3. To do that, you use qemu to emulate a MIPS processor on your PC's x86 CPU, and qemu was failing to do that properly. It would work sometimes, but depending on the data being encrypted, at other times it would fail. And now it was mostly failing, where it was always working last week. I could not find any easy way to fix qemu and debugging it would likely take way too long, so in the mean time I have done a workaround where the raw EPG slice files are downloaded to my TiVo box and df is run on them there, then the .bnd file is uploaded again to the EPG server VM. I got that working and tested with my local EPG server, and then at 14:46 today I forced a manual upload of today's .bnd files to the Digital Ocean server.

So you should check if your TiVo has downloaded EPG data since 14:46 today:

TiVo button > Read New Messages & Settings > Settings > Network > Connect to the TiVo service now

On that screen at the top left should be your EPG download status, and it should be "Succeeded" and the "Last attempt" time should be since 14:46 today. If not, use the Select button to force a new download to start.

From tomorrow, my EPG server should be automatically uploading the next seven days of EPG slice files, and everything should be back to normal again. At the moment it starts processing the EPG data at 09:30 each morning and at about 10:36 it finishes processing and uploads the data. Exactly when it does the upload will be a bit variable, depending on how much EPG data there is and whether there are any problems with looking up programmes and movies on the Internet that could slow it down.

The EPG data from my EPG server now includes the Sky Open channel, although it is still under the old Prime name. There is some rubbish data for Prime today, but from about 12:00 on Friday it looks to be correct. Three also had some rubbish data for today, but I think we are now past the time when it has good data again.

I am still working on how to update the FreeviewHD lineup to adjust for new and changed channels. Once I work that out, you should see Prime change name to Sky Open, the two Trackside channels (TS1 and TS2) get EPG data, and BaseFM change to Radio Aoterora (RadAot). And the Chinese TV channel will disappear if it has not already done so, as it has stopped transmitting. I am not sure of its old name, but you will likely still have it in your Guide unless you have forced a rescan of the channels through doing another Guided Setup.

In the future, if there are problems, please post messages here in the TiVo forum. I normally will read them in a day or two, but if it is urgent or not suitable for public posting, please do PM me. I will then get an email telling me I have a PM waiting, and will be likely to get to it more rapidly.

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3272296 16-Aug-2024 00:28

Just a follow up on Stephen's excellent post above, it's easy to do a rescan of your Tivo channels if some get deleted or moved around. For example my Tivos show 2x CTV8 channels because I haven't rescanned for some time. Just follow the procedure below.

Press the TiVo button on your remote

Choose Messages and Settings

Choose Settings

Choose Channels

Choose Channel Scan

Choose “Delete previously scanned channels”

Press “Thumbs Down” 3x times followed by the “Enter/Last” key (bottom right key on the remote).

Let your Tivo scan for channels, then when completed, choose to add them all. You should see around 35 channels in total, maybe a few more.

This will clear out the old dead channels and will keep the current channels.

You can then delete any you don’t want listed from the “Channel List” menu item if you never want them to be shown. However, this isn’t required.

You can also add Channel 200 (Juice) if it isn't already selected.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

Frenzyshadow

42 posts

Geek

#3272307 16-Aug-2024 07:18

This is great. Thanks to those responsible. Only a few channels with no EPG now. Radio NZ National hasn't had an EPG since they changed from an audio-only channel to a video channel a couple of years ago and Base FM has no EPG. Not especially worried about those two but Rush still doesn't have an EPG on any of my three TiVos. This has been the case since Rush was introduced in 2022 when it replaced Choice TV. Is there any way to get an EPG for Rush? I think I remember others saying a couple of years ago that they did get an EPG for Rush and I was asked where in the country I was. I don't know what difference that would make for an Internet-delivered EPG but I am in Wellington.

neilpride

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3272342 16-Aug-2024 09:29

fe31nz:

An update about developments today.

<snip>

...in the mean time I have done a workaround where the raw EPG slice files are downloaded to my TiVo box and df is run on them there, then the .bnd file is uploaded again to the EPG server VM.

<snip>

Firstly, thank you a thousand times over for your efforts, they are truly appreciated.

Noting your workaround needs you to use an actual Tivo to get the job done, I hope you don't have to put up with using your own daily driver Tivo for this? I do have a couple of spare Tivos so if some more hardware would help, please just say the word and I'll ship you one. Drop me a PM if so.

Also, I understand there are some actual costs in running the EPG service. Is there a way I can contribute towards this? I'd be very happy to.

Thanks again for rescuing Tivo in NZ !

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3272351 16-Aug-2024 10:53

Frenzyshadow:

This is great. Thanks to those responsible. Only a few channels with no EPG now. Radio NZ National hasn't had an EPG since they changed from an audio-only channel to a video channel a couple of years ago and Base FM has no EPG. Not especially worried about those two but Rush still doesn't have an EPG on any of my three TiVos. This has been the case since Rush was introduced in 2022 when it replaced Choice TV. Is there any way to get an EPG for Rush? I think I remember others saying a couple of years ago that they did get an EPG for Rush and I was asked where in the country I was. I don't know what difference that would make for an Internet-delivered EPG but I am in Wellington.

I remember the issue about the Rush EPG data being missing for you in Wellington about a year or so ago? The EPG admin at the time was at a loss to how it just affected you and I think one other. We do have the Rush EPG data back now as you'll see below. After performing a manual connect and download of EPG data from the Network menu, could you please do a new channel scan as I advised in this forum, then once done, go back into Settings/Channels/Channel List and see if there is more than 1x listing for the Rush Channel. If so, and if you still have no EPG for Rush, try selecting one of the alternative Rush transponders in the list. Tivos often receive TV channels from more than one transmitter and generally pick the best (strongest) ones, but occasionally they get it wrong. No certainty that this will solve your problem, but worth a try.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3272355 16-Aug-2024 11:12

neilpride:

Firstly, thank you a thousand times over for your efforts, they are truly appreciated.

Noting your workaround needs you to use an actual Tivo to get the job done, I hope you don't have to put up with using your own daily driver Tivo for this? I do have a couple of spare Tivos so if some more hardware would help, please just say the word and I'll ship you one. Drop me a PM if so.

Also, I understand there are some actual costs in running the EPG service. Is there a way I can contribute towards this? I'd be very happy to.

Thanks again for rescuing Tivo in NZ !

I hope Stephen ( @fe31nz ) doesn't mind me replying on his behalf. Stephen has very generously donated his time to take over the batten of producing the EPG from his excellent resources of running MythTV and an EPG server for users of MythTV. I supplied him with a modified Tivo to enable checking this. It's not his preferred daily driver as MythTV is capable of far more. At this stage, the monthly costs of running the DigitalOcean server that your Tivos connect to, and the domain is being paid for by our Aussie mates, after being paid for by our retiring NZ Admin since 2017. A time may come where we need to start paying, and as the "Owner" of this server, the bills will be coming to me. I'll let everyone know if and when it comes to that. Steven runs a server that creates the Tivo slices that he then uploads to DigitalOcean. Much of the raw EPG data we've had the pleasure of over the last few years has from him, so we are truly grateful. It's not easy and I doubt we can please everyone.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

Frenzyshadow

42 posts

Geek

#3272408 16-Aug-2024 11:38

Spong:

I remember the issue about the Rush EPG data being missing for you in Wellington about a year or so ago? The EPG admin at the time was at a loss to how it just affected you and I think one other. We do have the Rush EPG data back now as you'll see below. After performing a manual connect and download of EPG data from the Network menu, could you please do a new channel scan as I advised in this forum, then once done, go back into Settings/Channels/Channel List and see if there is more than 1x listing for the Rush Channel. If so, and if you still have no EPG for Rush, try selecting one of the alternative Rush transponders in the list. Tivos often receive TV channels from more than one transmitter and generally pick the best (strongest) ones, but occasionally they get it wrong. No certainty that this will solve your problem, but worth a try.

Thanks Spong. I tried a rescan but I only get one version of Rush. This is on 562 MHz which is the Discovery NZ multiplex transmitted from Mt Kaukau in Wellington. It's weird that I don't have (and have never had) an EPG for Rush on my Tivos but others have.

1 | 2