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[RoderickGI]

21.0.45 (2/4/2016)

1. Changed: Added a time-out user configuration for EPG loading when running an external XMLTV application inside MC (previously we used a hard-coded 20 minutes value).

There is a problem with the new time-out functionality for XMLTV data loads. Sorry I didn't noticed it earlier. My first test runs produced data so I didn't look further. But now I can see a problem.

It appears that MC is running the external XMLTV gathering process more than once. See the attached image of my EPG Collector history. It shows for each day a second or even third run of EPG Collector is started exactly 20 minutes after the original, and correct, start time. i.e. The EPG collection is supposed to start at 8:00am, which it does, then EPG Collector records a new start at 8:20am, and then sometimes a new start at 8:40am. The fact that it is exactly 20 minutes would imply that something of the old hard coded 20 minute limit has been left behind, and MC just relaunches the process if it is still running at the 20 minute mark. Possibly MC is checking if the process is still running after 20, then another 20 minutes, and this causes the relaunch?

My current time-out is set to 65 minutes, as my EPG Collector and metadata lookup can run to 50 minutes easily. So I am actually using the new functionality. In the case of EPG Collector a new start seems to continue using the existing run, although it does seem to muck up the detailed logs a bit at each new start time.

In the case of the IceTV EPG data collection, this seems to have broken the process. See http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=103131.0

I haven't tested with anything that could confirm exactly what is happening, such as counting how many times the process is started, but I would guess we need a fix.

[Yaobing]

Can you check your registry and see if the EPG profile was saved correctly?

It is in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JRiver\Media Center 21\Properties

and the value to check should be "EPG - ProfileN" where N is a number, 0, 1, 2, etc.

It should look like this:

(1:7)(9:Arguments)(0:)(8:ExecFile)(73:F:\JRiver\Software Downloads\MC2XML\mc2xml - Donorware version\mc2xml.exe)(8:AutoLoad)(1:0)(7:RunExec)(1:1)(4:Mode)(1:1)(8:DataFile)(72:F:\JRiver\Software Downloads\MC2XML\mc2xml - Donorware version\xmltv.xml)(14:TimeoutMinutes)(2:25)

In my example above, TimeoutMinutes is set to 25.

[RoderickGI]

Grrr. The forum edited your post and replaced "J. River" with "JRiver", which meant that I didn't find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JRiver\Media Center 21\Properties" in my registry, however I did find the correct location, "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\J. River\Media Center 21\Properties".

But there is no "EPG - ProfileN" in that location. Just an "EPG - Last Silent Refresh" and "EPG - Windows Client Id".

A search finds some value values in;

"HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-4085021488-1570754162-1044395572-1004\Software\J. River\Media Center 20\Properties",
"Value Name" = "EPG - Profile 0",
"Value Data" = "(1:6)(9:Arguments)(84:/ini="C:\Users\htpc\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPG CollectorMHEG5+EIT.ini")(8:ExecFile)(64:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPGCollector.exe")(8:AutoLoad)(1:1)(7:RunExec)(1:0)(4:Mode)(1:1)(8:DataFile)(62:C:\Users\htpc\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector\TVGuide.xml)"

also;
"Value Name" = "EPG - Profile 1",
"Value Data" = "(1:6)(9:Arguments)(84:/ini="C:\Users\htpc\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPG CollectorMHEG5+EIT.ini")(8:ExecFile)(64:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPGCollector.exe")(8:AutoLoad)(1:0)(7:RunExec)(1:1)(4:Mode)(1:1)(8:DataFile)(62:C:\Users\htpc\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector\TVGuide.xml)"

also;
"Value Name" = "EPG - Profile 2" with
"Value Data" = "(1:2)(8:AutoLoad)(1:0)(4:Mode)(1:3)"

So those are the original EPG Profiles from MC20, which has been uninstalled. There are also still registry entries for MC18 and MC19, both of which have been uninstalled. A bit annoying that MC leaves junk in the registry even when properly uninstalled. I guess I am going to have to run a cleaner... But that is a separate issue.


The current MC21 EPG Profiles are found in;
"HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-4085021488-1570754162-1044395572-1004\Software\J. River\Media Center 21\Properties"

"Value Name" = "EPG - Profile 1",
"Value Data" = "(1:7)(9:Arguments)(84:/ini="C:\Users\htpc\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPG CollectorMHEG5+EIT.ini")(8:ExecFile)(64:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPGCollector.exe")(8:AutoLoad)(1:1)(7:RunExec)(1:1)(4:Mode)(1:1)(8:DataFile)(62:C:\Users\htpc\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector\TVGuide.xml)(14:TimeoutMinutes)(2:65)"

So that is the correct, current profile, since it has a time-out of 65 minutes, which is what I set it to a couple of days ago.

There is also a second profile;
also;
"Value Name" = "EPG - Profile 2" with
"Value Data" = "(1:2)(8:AutoLoad)(1:0)(4:Mode)(1:3)"

The same as for MC20. Note that I only have one EPG Profile shown in MC21. I used to have an XMLTV file load only task, but it wasn't associated with a tuner profile. It was created back in MC18 or MC19, and I had been using it successfully up to I implemented the new time-out functionality.


The only other mention of "EPG Profile" in my registry is in;
"HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-4085021488-1570754162-1044395572-1004\Software\J. River\Media Center 21\TV Settings\TunerTypeProfiles"

Where;
"Value Name" = "DVB-T" with
"Value Data" =

Code: [Select]

<XMLPH version="1.0">
<Item Name="Name">DVB-T</Item>
<Item Name="AudioLine"/>
<Item Name="ChanKey">1964510557</Item>
<Item Name="EPGProf">EPG - Profile 1</Item>
<Item Name="Type">4</Item>
<Item Name="Device">QUAD DVB-T BA03378CB2AF4239 etc.</Item>
</XMLPH>
Which associates the only Tuner Profile I have with the correct "EPG Profile 1".

So, is the registry in error?
Should I delete the current EPG Profile, close MC, reboot the PC, and recreate the Profile?

Or is something else going on? Please advise.


PS: The above registry location difference could be because I run my HTPC using a limited (non-Administrator) account, while MC installations are done using elevated privileges of an Administrator account, as required of course. In which case, the registry entries look just fine, with just the addition of an argument for the executable, and a minor difference in the ""(8:AutoLoad)(1:1)" section. So something else must be wrong.

[RoderickGI]

BTW, I just checked the history log for this mornings EPG Collector run. The first run started at 8:00am as scheduled. The second and last run started at 8:54am.

So the 20 minute interval didn't hold up this time.

[CountryBumkin]

Just for comparison --- this is what I get:

For EPG - Profile 0
(1:6)(9:Arguments)(0:)(8:ExecFile)(0:)(8:AutoLoad)(1:1)(7:RunExec)(1:0)(4:Mode)(1:1)(8:DataFile)(19:C:\mc2xml\xmltv.xml)

For EPG- Profile 1
(1:6)(9:Arguments)(0:)(8:ExecFile)(20:C:\mc2xml\mc2xml.exe)(8:AutoLoad)(1:0)(7:RunExec)(1:1)(4:Mode)(1:1)(8:DataFile)(19:C:\mc2xml\xmltv.xml)

I have two profiles, one where I run the executable "mc2xml.exe" within MC and the other (currently using) where I run mc2xml.exe externally with Task Scheduler then import the xmltv.xml file. I don't use/need the new "time out" feature since my EPG data download is very quick.

[Yaobing]

I will have to add some logging for the next build in order to determine whether we have to deal with registry issue.  It may be possible that your access privilege caused the difference in registry difference.  What version of Windows do you use?  That would be another possibility.  As long as we are reading from the same location as we are writing to, we should be fine.

[RoderickGI]

I'm still on Windows 7 SP1 for now.

MC is definitely writing to that location, and if I try to edit the configuration it is reading the correct location, as the 65 minute time-out is shown. The program also runs fine, it just gets run multiple times. So I suspect that the registry entries are okay. Unless the "(8:AutoLoad)(1:1)" means something significantly different to ""(8:AutoLoad)(1:0)", such as your sample and CountryBumkin's entries show.

As I am still getting EPG data, I shall leave it all set up as it is, and wait for you to let me know you have added some logging. If I get a chance I will try to watch the process at 8am one morning.

[Yaobing]

(8:AutoLoad)(1:1) means auto-loading is on.  (8:AutoLoad)(1:0) means it is off.  I did not realize that I copied a profile that is not currently used.

[imeric]

Why the change? Didn't it work just fine before adding the option to change it bwn 10 or 20 minutes?
I personally don't know what to do with this option.

[RoderickGI]

Why the change? Didn't it work just fine before adding the option to change it bwn 10 or 20 minutes?
I personally don't know what to do with this option.

If you don't need it, then you don't have to do anything with it. MC defaults to a 20 minutes time-out anyway. The option doesn't change between 10 or 20 minutes time-out for EPG data gathering, it provides the option to set the time-out in minutes to what the user requires. I have it set to 65 minutes at the moment.

My EPG Data collection and metadata enhancement is all done by the one application, EPG Collector, external to MC. EPG Collector usually takes about 50 minutes to complete. So I need the ability to set a long time-out.

You were involved in the thread where tzr916 was having trouble with his XMLTV load, which may have been due to the 20 minute time-out. That is what prompted the change.

[imeric]

If you read what I wrote in the other post, the issue I was having and referring to (and I believe it MAY have been the same for tzr BUT I can't talk on his behalf) was not about the timeouts but rather how and where the XMLTV file gets written...
Yaobbing's answer in that same post resolved my issues.

As for timeouts I recall having issues about 6 months back when my STB load was taking more than a minute and the import wouldn't work.  That got resolved somewhere back then.

Now having said that in your case I didn't realize some people needed more than 20 minutes...

SO Maybe all we need here is a one liner explanation in the television setup for XMLTV about why that maybe required for some people.  When I saw the timeout minutes I didn't know what to do with it as for me, 5 minutes is more than I need.

[RoderickGI]

Yaobing this issue may have something to do with Windows Power Management.

The last three days the EPG Load process hasn't started until I woke the HTPC myself. This is despite having a Windows Task Manager task which wakes the PC at 7:55am, before the start of the load process at 8:00am. Windows logs confirm that this task runs successfully. I have my power options set to sleep the HTPC after 45 minutes, so it should stay awake until 8:40am, and therefore be awake for the EPG Load process.

However, when I found that the EPG Load process started when I woke the HTPC later in the mornings, I checked the System Info report in MC, and it confirms that the Guide Load process is running, but there are no entries in the Power section. i.e. The Power section says "No entries that affect the system power state".

So possibly the Guide Load process isn't keeping the HTPC awake, and it is actually restarting when I wake the HTPC later. It is hard for me to tell from the EPG Collector logs. When the Guide Load process only runs for a short time, this is probably not an issue, but with the time EPG Collector takes, MC needs to keep the PC awake until it complete.

As above, please let me know when you have added logging to check the Registry, and any other issue, and which version the logging will be in.

[Yaobing]

Yaobing this issue may have something to do with Windows Power Management.

The last three days the EPG Load process hasn't started until I woke the HTPC myself. This is despite having a Windows Task Manager task which wakes the PC at 7:55am, before the start of the load process at 8:00am. Windows logs confirm that this task runs successfully. I have my power options set to sleep the HTPC after 45 minutes, so it should stay awake until 8:40am, and therefore be awake for the EPG Load process.

However, when I found that the EPG Load process started when I woke the HTPC later in the mornings, I checked the System Info report in MC, and it confirms that the Guide Load process is running, but there are no entries in the Power section. i.e. The Power section says "No entries that affect the system power state".

So possibly the Guide Load process isn't keeping the HTPC awake, and it is actually restarting when I wake the HTPC later. It is hard for me to tell from the EPG Collector logs. When the Guide Load process only runs for a short time, this is probably not an issue, but with the time EPG Collector takes, MC needs to keep the PC awake until it complete.

I will add power management stuff for EPG loading soon.

As above, please let me know when you have added logging to check the Registry, and any other issue, and which version the logging will be in.

Only one line of logging was added, to build 48 or newer.  It reports what time-out value is being used when running the third-party XMLTV program.  The log line  should say:

Running program xxxxxx.  Time-out minutes: nn

[Yaobing]

I found a bug.  The following will be in the next build.

Fixed: Background EPG loading could be repeated every 20 minutes if the process took longer to complete.

Changed: MC will wake up the system in sleep to perform EPG loading tasks.

Changed MC will prevent the system from going to sleep if there is an EPG loading task being performed.  MC will also prevent the system from going to sleep if there is going to be a TV recording or EPG loading within the next 30 seconds.

[RoderickGI]

Excellent. Thanks for looking, finding and fixing this one.

Even better that you have already added the PC sleep management. I thought that would take a while longer.

I'll keep an eye on the release notes and test this when it appears.

[RoderickGI]

I have installed the version with the fix and run the Guide Load process manually.

That worked fine. No duplicate runs of the process. I will check the automatic run tomorrow morning and report the result.

[RoderickGI]

The automatic Guide Load process worked fine this morning. Only one run which completed as expected.

I would say this one is fixed, but it is only a sample size of one. I'll watch it the next couple of days to see all continues to be well.

[RoderickGI]

This appears to be fixed. The Guide Load process worked fine again this morning.

Thanks Yaobing.