Windows 7 Media Center EPG updates?

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freitasm

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#57823 25-Feb-2010 20:10

Is just my configuration, or Windows 7 Media Center only updates the EPG when you are watching a channel? If you leave the MC on home, or guide then the EPG doesn't update...

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richms

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#302301 25-Feb-2010 20:41

mine doesnt, and worse still, if I leave it on C4, the next few TVNZ shows dont update either.

I really should sort out the stuff to get the guide off the net but really CBF since I watch so little TV compared to downloaded shows.

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sbiddle

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#302303 25-Feb-2010 20:51

Since EIT isn't supported I believe each network only transmits the EIT data for their own channels, ie you won't get updates for TV3 while watching the TVNZ MUX.

I have no idea how often Windows MCE actually ateempts to update the EIT data itself.

mikehayton

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#305196 7-Mar-2010 11:54

It should update the listings - either through automatic download if listings available on the microsoft servers (which it isnt in NZ) and then also through the listngs in the DVB transmission.

The inband listings are obtained when youre tuned to the service (aka channel) either in live tv or when its recording a program. It will also automatically periodically tune to the services (in a most recently used to least recently used order). For this its triggered by the mcudpate_scheduled task that runs mcupdate with a -pscn 15 (which means kick off periodic scan if it hasnt run in the last 15 hours)

Have you diabled the mcupdate_scheduled task?

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DestRoYeDnz

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#305301 8-Mar-2010 08:30

What type of Tuner are you using?

Im running Dual DVB-T Tuners in Media Centre 7, Spent countless hours trying to get the EPG to work (Lack of MHEG5 support) but in the end used Bigscreen EPG and it has worked flawlessly since

freitasm

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#305335 8-Mar-2010 10:02

DestRoYeDnz: What type of Tuner are you using?

Im running Dual DVB-T Tuners in Media Centre 7, Spent countless hours trying to get the EPG to work (Lack of MHEG5 support) but in the end used Bigscreen EPG and it has worked flawlessly since

HDHomeRun... Might have to get Bigscreen EPG anyway for the long EPG. Is that out of beta yet?

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DestRoYeDnz

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#305362 8-Mar-2010 10:49

Still in beta, But working well, I just need to figure out automating it.

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#305397 8-Mar-2010 12:41

DestRoYeDnz: Still in beta, But working well, I just need to figure out automating it.

There is a button to setup a scheduled task. Or you can just set one up yourself.

@freitasm the developer does not seem to be in any hurry to release the first full release and just keeps extending the beta license. I think there are basically no bugs left that affect us in NZ and hey until it is released it is free

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#305399 8-Mar-2010 12:48

Can someone post a step by step/screenshot guide on how to use Big screen EPG with an external xml listing in Windows 7? I tried it but could not get EPG's working under Win 7.

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Asmodeus

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#305406 8-Mar-2010 13:26

Heres the guide that came out with the older version. The latest version has new features and some changes but the basics are still the same

http://www.datafilehost.com/download-ee11c5e1.html

DestRoYeDnz

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#305412 8-Mar-2010 13:51

Ill get the xml listing for you once i get home.

newbellies

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#306427 11-Mar-2010 22:52

I never was able to get listings other than current/next. Then i switched from Nova-S to the card mentioned here, and had to fudge the frequency numbers slightly to find the channels. Ever since, I get 7 days programming in the guide from the satellite.

freitasm

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#306428 11-Mar-2010 23:03

The satellite service offers 7 day EPG. The terrestrial service requires MHEG5 support, which is different.

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Regs

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#306437 11-Mar-2010 23:42

i set my mce to record tv1 and tv3 news every day, so perhaps thats why i've never noticed it as a problem. the EIT data must be grabbed for all channels on the transponder when you tune into one channel though because the only one that loses listings for me is SBS (which is also on diff polarity).

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mikehayton

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#307246 15-Mar-2010 06:00

On DVB, the EIT tables contain the schedule. There's two types of tables:
EIT [present/following] - these now/next table is transmitted frequently and contains the program on now and next.
EIT [sched] - this table holds about 4 hours or so of schedule data. The broadcaster can transmit up to 14 or so days of tables in a carousel fashion.

what I've seen on DVB-T in NZ, is that the EIT data has data for now/next but the main schedule is kind of there and kind of not - often the first table has full data. And then the following ones have the schedule but the title is replaced with a '?'. This looked crappy in the guide, so Media Center ignores these '?' entries. These entries are also tagged with a CRID - an id that can be used to correlate the inband entry with an entry from another source (e.g. downloaded from freeview servers, or extracted out of the MHEG stream (specifically there's a clear text file of guide data being sent in the DSM-CC).

For some reason, all the guide data is being transmitted in the EIT[sched] on DVB-S.

Media Center will try to merge together the same service (e.g. ONE, TWO, etc) from different sources (DVB-T, DVB-S...) into one channel. So the guide isnt cluttered up with multiple ONEs etc. Media Center will try to use to best source available when recording (e.g. it would try to use the HD one over SD). Though the data from DVB-S wont have any HD flags. I cant remember if DVB-T is ranked higher than DVB-S - but you can change the preference order of the sources on a channel via tasks->settings->tv->guide->edit channels->select channel on right->edit sources->move the sources up/down and press Save.

It should be possible for someone to write a plug in into media center to extract and pull out the DSM-CC and then take the file and convert its format and load it into Media Center. But I think you'll need to parse the DSM-CC tables. There might be some stand-alone programs that you could schedule to run in the middle of the night and it would tune to the channels, extract the listings file, convert to xmltv and then use one of the existing tools around to load the xmltv into media center.

Note though a downloaded EPG is better than the one transmitted inband. The inband one doesnt have much structure to it (there's just a title and description field - no actors, no episode title, no artwork, etc). If you can find a good source, the download one is the way to go.

Still an EPG is better than no EPG at all.

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