Corrupt programme guide in SageTV

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Corrupt programme guide in SageTV

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#166278 8-Mar-2015 11:00

I'm coming up to my 10th Anniversary of using SageTV. Its been pretty stable up to recently and haven't been on the forums for a long while,

I'm using EPG collector to get the EPG from my DVB-T freeview tuner, XMLTV Importer to create a lineup and the XMLTV plugin in SageTV. All has been good for years but now I'm getting corrupted programme names in the programme shedule. All the data in the various .xml files from the EPG collector and XMLTV importer looks good so I have no idea what is happening between XMLTV Importer and SageTV. Any clues where I should look?

Pete

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1253265 8-Mar-2015 12:48

Are you based in NZ?
I wonder if you're seeing the effects of this:
http://freeviewforum.co.nz/recorder

[edit: linked the link :)]

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#1253294 8-Mar-2015 13:16

Yes I'm in nZ

Thanks for the link and thats very interesting, but possibly coincidental. I'm using EPG collector to grab the data off freeview and the output .xml file has the data in plain text without any scrambling. Same for the XMLTV importer files, the content looks good.

Pete

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1254007 9-Mar-2015 13:44

Right, I see.

So you said all has been good for years, right? Things don't usually just break without cause, so is there anything that you changed at or around the time that the problems started?

I wonder whether the issue could be related to the text file encoding...

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#1254372 9-Mar-2015 21:44

After hours of fiddling about trying to sort it out I gave up. It may be the recent encription of the data but the .xml files all are in plain text but most programmes and descriptions in SageTV are scrambled (some aren't). There are barely two shows of data on each channel.

So I switched to getting the EPG of the sky satelite and mapping it to the DVBT freeview channels.

I've done it this way in the past clunky but seems to be sorted for now.

Pete

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1254934 10-Mar-2015 20:51

doubletop: After hours of fiddling about trying to sort it out I gave up.

That's a shame. For the record...

doubletop: It may be the recent encription of the data...

It is compression, not encryption. There's a significant technical difference... though the end result (scrambled data) would probably be the same from your perspective.

doubletop: ...but the .xml files all are in plain text.

I mentioned encoding in my previous post. By that I meant text/character encoding; different ways of storing text data. For example: UTF-8, ASCII, ISO/IEC 8859 etc.
The XML file may appear as plain text when you open it in whatever viewer you're using, but if SageTV doesn't understand the file's encoding then it may interpret the contents incorrectly (=> scrambling).

doubletop: ...but most programmes and descriptions in SageTV are scrambled (some aren't).

Hmmm, odd.

doubletop: There are barely two shows of data on each channel.

...which indicates you might be doing an EIT grab. For DVB-T, the full guide information for 8 days is only available via MHEG 5. EIT is present... but only with now/next program information. DVB-S (satellite) has full guide information in both formats.

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#1255040 10-Mar-2015 23:15

I suspect you have given me some clues.

I'm using EPG collector, on Sky capturing EIT data. (MHEG5 failed)

I load the data into SagetTV with XMLTV Importer

Some channels have full data and some only now and next and the scrambled text or "no data"

If I watch a channel with just now and next at the point the programmes swaps I then get the next "next". Which implies I'm get EIT from DVB-T tuner for that cahnnle rather than from EPG collector.

I saw something along those lines on here about media portal (or so) and there was a fix to switch off the local update. I've no idea how to do that with SageTV.

But progress in the understanding at least.

Do all Sky channels have full 8 day EIT data or do some just have now and next?

Pete

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1257019 12-Mar-2015 12:19

doubletop: I suspect you have given me some clues. I'm using EPG collector, on Sky capturing EIT data. (MHEG5 failed)

My understanding is that Sky has full EIT and OpenTV data on the 12519H transponder. Sky definitely does not have MHEG5 data. Only Freeview has that.

So to be clear, when using EPG Collector...
If collecting for Sky channels, collect either EIT or OpenTV data from transponder 12519H.
If collecting for Freeview satellite channels, collect either EIT or MHEG5 data from transponder 12456H or 12483H.
If collecting for Freeview HD (terrestrial, DVB-T), collect MHEG5 data from any one of the transmitter frequencies for your area.

doubletop: I load the data into SagetTV with XMLTV Importer Some channels have full data and some only now and next and the scrambled text or "no data"

I can't give a sure-fire explanation for why this is happening, but my best guess at this point is that:

SageTV is overwriting the EPG Collector -> XMLTV -> XMLTV Importer data with data collected from the channels you're tuning.
SageTV does not understand how to decompress (descramble) the EPG data it is collecting.

My recommendation would be to look for a way to prevent SageTV from grabbing EPG data (so that you're getting all data via the XMLTV Importer.

doubletop: If I watch a channel with just now and next at the point the programmes swaps I then get the next "next". Which implies I'm get EIT from DVB-T tuner for that cahnnle rather than from EPG collector.

Yep, I'd agree. As above: I'd be looking for a way to disable that because Sage won't be able to grab MHEG5 data, and the EIT data it gets will either be scrambled or only cover the current and next programs.

doubletop: Do all Sky channels have full 8 day EIT data or do some just have now and next?

Yes, I think all channels have full 8 day EIT data. However, I think only the 12519H transponder will be carrying full 8 day information for all channels. The other Sky transponders probably have full 8 day EPG for the channels that they carry, and now/next for the other channels.

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doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#1259897 15-Mar-2015 21:57

Thanks for the usefull information that I've used in my investiagtions.

I now have a collection running for the three frequencies and collection types you suggested. I've also found that setting disable_data_scanning = true should stop sageTV overwriting the epg.

The touble is no I'm getting some channels with good 7/8 day epg some with "no data" and some with gibberish, but now more that now/next.

Is there anything I need to set in epgcollector to ensure it decodes the coded data?

Pete

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1260477 16-Mar-2015 17:43

doubletop: The touble is no I'm getting some channels with good 7/8 day epg some with "no data" and some with gibberish, but now more that now/next.

Please can you give specific examples of each of the cases.

doubletop: Is there anything I need to set in epgcollector to ensure it decodes the coded data?

For OpenTV I think you have to set the country field on the advanced tab... but that's it.

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#1260651 16-Mar-2015 22:13

Screenshot attached

And I'd add the last capture file from EPG Collector but I've no idea how to attach files

pete

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#1261275 17-Mar-2015 20:35

I'm getting somewhere with a combination of OpenTV and MHEG5 on the channels you've suggested. However EPG collector is reporting data on Four+1 and Te Reo but after XMLTV Importer has run there’s no epg in SageTV. I get the Al Jazeera epg but can't tune it although the SageTV .frq file gives me tuning data.

Pete

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1263687 19-Mar-2015 20:23

If EPG Collector is getting data but it isn't showing in Sage then I suppose you should check the XMLTV Importer settings. I presume it has a mapping of some kind?

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#1264726 21-Mar-2015 21:02

I remapped everything in EPG Collector and XMLTV importer. then it sorted it.

For some reason EPG collector had created something like "TV Four plus1" and that appeared to map to the equivalent in XMLTV and SageTV , but no EPG. After I started from scratch I got something like "TVFourPlus1" in EPG collector and that flowed through to SageTv, with EPG.

This stuff has always been a nightmare with SageTV and for some reason it holds on to channels even if they don't exist. for example I've got a full set of sky channels to choose from and my Sky box went back to them years ago. There's no easy way to purge the crap.

Anyway thanks for your help I'm about 98% done after 20hrs of F..ing about over the past wweks

Pete