TV Guide Listings for HTPC's

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illicit

553 posts

Ultimate Geek

#24273 19-Jul-2008 18:44

I initially used xmlTVNZ for my MCE05 TV GUide listings about a year or so ago and when V2.5 fell aprt because of skys webite change, i paid for v3.0, which lasted about a week because i found a much better way of downloading TV Guide info.

xmlTVNZ relies on website to pull the information from - if something changes with the website or the site is down or overloaded it doesnt work.

The listings available at http://epg.pvr.geek.nz/epg/ are pulled directly from the D1 satellite feed - Freeview and SKY channels updated twice per day and including a blurb about the shows - like the sky decoder epg has.

Further info on this (and a download tool- http://209.97.223.191/epg.exe ) can be found at - www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=34&TopicId=16290

Going by Revens details ther are over 300 people who have paid for xmlTVNZ - assuming an average $20 "donation for development" Thats $6000!!!! and $20 is probably a "nice" estimate - Its not a donation if you have to pay to get something, ITS A PURCHASE.

Just trying to save you guys getting ripped off for an unreliable way of getting your guide info, if your happy stick with it, but there are alternatives for those who are unaware.

mcraenz

1091 posts

Uber Geek

#149534 19-Jul-2008 22:20

I would think the legality of hosting that EPG data is a bit dubious. EPG sources like this tend to come and go. I don't think you can really call Reven a rip, I mean he provided it free for ages and has no doubt spent hours and hours working on it. And now he's making some cash off it; as you pointed out stuff all! I think the donation way is a good way to do it, you give what you want.

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illicit

553 posts

Ultimate Geek

#149559 19-Jul-2008 23:56

$6000 is stuff all.....?! I must be in the wrong job.

gehenna

6109 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#149572 20-Jul-2008 02:43

illicit: $6000 is stuff all.....?! I must be in the wrong job.

Yep, over 2-3 years $6k is stuff all, which is how long I've been using the reven info, but it may have been going longer than that which would make the $6k figure even less meaningful.

aucklander

392 posts

Ultimate Geek

#149775 21-Jul-2008 09:29

I installed this over the week-end: http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Utility/Djkxml
and it works.

It created the xml file from the first attempt.
The only issue I had: it was not properly imported by Media Portal straight away. I compared the file structure with the xmltvnz file and there are some diferences preventing Media Portal to import the data: the channels are stored as codes, not as names.

I do not have the xmltvnz 3.0, I tried the 2.5 some time ago but it does not work, not being maintained anymore.
In xmltvnz 2.5 file, you have lines like: channel_id="01" but in the 3.0 version I think they are like: channel_id="tv1".

I used DJKXML, and all I had to do after that is to replace all the occurences of the string "01" with "tv1" which is what Media Portal expects to find. Maybe is my setup only, I am not sure. The codes are listed on the site where you go and download the DJKXML from.

That is a lot of "keyboard work", to replace all the strings as described above. So after more research, I found a free tool which automates this process. You only define the rules once and it saves them in a text file with entries like this:
"01"="tv1"
"02"="tv2"
"36"="tvnz6"
......
......

just replace the codes as described on the web page with the channel names, same way Media Portal expects them to be. If there is interest, I can post my "translation" of the codes. I have DVB-T channels only.

Now, I run the DJKXML file and after 2-3 minutes it creates the tvguide.xml file (it could be created with a diferent name, I do not remember). Then I run the free tool to replace all the strings as described above. If the author can make the changes I talked about in the source code, that will be much easier. Or maybe other people do not have a problem with the codes the way they are...

mobo Intel DH55PJ, RAM: 4GB RAM, Nova-T 500 HD + Avermedia Trinity tuner card, Geforce 520 video, 120GB SSD Sandisk + 640 WD + 1000SG, Win7 Home Prem 64-bit, Media Portal 1.15.0; BTC 9019URF Cordless Keyboard, Panasonic 55" (HDMI cable), HTPC Case Silverstone Grandia GD05B.