MediaPortal and the handling of the EPG

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blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#101674 6-May-2012 12:58

Hi all

It's been some time since I've posed here...

I'm using MediaPortal 1.2.3 with a BlackGold BGT3595 tunder card. My primary TV source is DVB-T while I use the DVB-S(2) tunders for SBS and EPG grabbing for the terrestrial channels (by combining the channels).

Up until now this has worked well, and I've liked the idea that my EPG grabbing was all contained within MediaPortal, however with new DVB-T only channels coming on-line I am unable to scrape the EIT guide data on my DVB-S card and combine it with the DVB-T channel.

I've looked around for a solution to this, and it seems to that the logical thing to do is extract the EPG from the MHEG5 stream using Steve Bickell's EPG collector and importing it into MediaPortal. Can you guys confirm that my assumption is correct?

And lastly, just as an aside, I wonder if MediaPortal will ever have the functionality to read MHEG5 guide data? The code is obviously all there in the form of SJB's little app, but I'm wondering how common MHEG5 is so would it therefore be a priority for the MediaPortal team?

Your thoughts are appreciated.

B.

My HTPC - Case Antec Fusion Remote, MOBO Intel DH67BLB3, CPU Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz, RAM 8GB DDR3 1333, HDD 120Gig Corsair Force Series 3 SSD system | WD Caviar Black 2TB data, Tuners Black Gold BGT3595 dual DVB-S/S2, dual DVB-T, Video nVIDIA GeForce GT 520, 1024MB, Sound Intel® High Definition Audio (onboard), OS Windows 7 x64

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Biddle Corp

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#620422 6-May-2012 13:09

EPG collector seems to be the most common method for a DVB-T EPG, and is certainly the most robust solution giving you all the DVB-T channels.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#620519 6-May-2012 16:15

Do you know if there is a definitive guide for doing this with MediaPortal?

sbiddle

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#620534 6-May-2012 16:49

No, because I don't use MP.

I wouldn't see why it wouldn't be a simple process of setting up MP to point to the XML file created.

dale77

294 posts

Ultimate Geek

#620722 6-May-2012 23:36

sbiddle: EPG collector seems to be the most common method for a DVB-T EPG, and is certainly the most robust solution giving you all the DVB-T channels.

That is what I do. Works well enough.

I have a scheduled task to run the app twice a week I think. This writes a guide xmltv file to the place that the mediaportal xmltv plugin expects to find it.

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blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#620763 7-May-2012 08:11

I didn't get much of a chance to look at this over the weekend sadly, but wondered if I might need to stop the TVService service to free up the DVB-T card so the EPG Collector app can then use it.

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#620945 7-May-2012 12:40

Hi blur

Try following the MP setup instructions here:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=126&topicid=72877

You don't need to stop the TV Service as long as you have the "when card is idle do the following" set to "stop card". See the "edit tuner settings" section in the link below:

http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/141_Configuration/TV-Server_Configuration/02_TV_Servers

mm

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#620983 7-May-2012 13:43

thanks mm

Can you make any comment on the future itegration of MHEG5 into MediaPortal?

B.

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mm1352000

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#620991 7-May-2012 14:11

blur: thanks mm

Can you make any comment on the future itegration of MHEG5 into MediaPortal?

B.

I'm certainly not planning it at this point. The thing about MHEG 5 is that it is not an EPG format standare - it is a platform for applications. The Freeview TV guide is an MHEG application, which is why it looks pretty much the same on any STB. What the EPG Collector does is catch the data that the application uses to populate the guide. Not having looked at the EPG Collector MHEG code in any great detail, I'm not sure how "portable" any code that we write would be. In other words, if we supported the NZ Freeview MHEG EPG in MediaPortal I'm not sure whether that would mean that we also support the Freeview UK MHEG EPG (or any other MHEG based EPG system you care to name). I'm 70+% sure it wouldn't work that way. From a code management perspective I would rather avoid a situation where we would have to develop custom support for each MHEG based EPG. In my opinion that role would be better filled by a well supported plugin or 3rd party app (such as the EPG Collector) than integrating the code fully - we don't have the TV devs to support it.

mm

rickdry

35 posts

Geek

#621216 7-May-2012 19:56

Hi I am alsolooking to use epg collector with mepo. I have windows 7 64 bit with mdapi plus and Oscam running with tbs6984.

All works well however when I try to install epg collector it asks me to stop tv service so it can replace files it iHas in use.

I have not yet proceeded but wondering if anyone knowsif this will cause issues...

mm1352000

1149 posts

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#621310 7-May-2012 22:19

EPG Collector should not have to replace the files that TV Server is using. They are distinct applications. I've never heard of that being necessary. The only thing I can think of is if EPG Collector needs access to the tuner but TV Server is holding it (because you use "pause card" for "when card enters idle state do the following"). I suggest you ask SJB about this one.

mm

TommySharp

126 posts

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#621350 7-May-2012 23:35

My EPG collector is scheduled to run at 3am every day so worst case scenario it should find a free tuner at some point during the week. :-)

Works so well that I almost forgot I had to install it again when I rebuilt my HTPC.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#621403 8-May-2012 08:20

Well, I had a play with this last night. It was easy, and to be honest I'm not sure why I wasn't grabbing the EPG like this previously.

I think I was of the mindset that I didn?t want to have to install third party software. I was of the view that MediaPortal should be able to do this itself, however with mm?s explanation above, I now see why this isn?t the case.

Just on the topic of replacig files during the install process, I too was confronted with this. I let it replace files and things are still working fine for me.

rickdry

35 posts

Geek

#621448 8-May-2012 09:47

confirming did you stop the tv service to enable it to install and all was ok?

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#621453 8-May-2012 09:52

rickdry: confirming did you stop the tv service to enable it to install and all was ok?

Yep, all good...

SJB

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#623416 11-May-2012 10:14

The only file I can see that is part of the EPG Collector install but not a specific part of EPG Collector is Microsoft_VC100_CRT_X86.msm which looks like a Microsoft runtime library.

If it is that file it's fine to let the install replace it.

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