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[t42]

So I've been using JRiver for about a week now as a potential WMC replacement.
Tonight I noticed that I have no more EPG data for any channels; they all stop at about 1am tomorrow and I get a guide full of "Program info not available" from that point on.
There's probably something simple I've missed during setup... Any clues?!
I'm in the UK, using a BlackGold PCIe Freeview tuner card and mc2xml with I think standard settings (albeit customised to my postcode).

[RoderickGI]

It sounds like when you set up TV in MC, the EPG data collection ran once, and collected the default 7 days, and then it didn't run again automatically after that.

In Tools>Options>Television>General>Load Program Guide, make sure the checkbox "Automatically load program guide everyday in the background" is ticked. By default it should run every 24 hours, as per settings in that dialogue box. You should also see the mc2xml tuner profile in the list of EPG loading modules in that dialogue.

If not, have a read of this thread and the threads it links to, and see if you can get it running on schedule.

[t42]

Thanks for the reply. Yes the checkbox is ticked and mc2xml is in the list.
I've tried manually running the EPG data loader but still no luck.  I'll try and upload some screenshots later...

[Yaobing]

Unfortunately, BDS, the supplier of data in UK, is not updating data.  No new data could be obtained.  It could be a temporary issue, but I have no idea.

Another user reported the same issue:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,107347.msg745478.html#msg745478

[t42]

Unfortunately, BDS, the supplier of data in UK, is not updating data.  No new data could be obtained.  It could be a temporary issue, but I have no idea.

Another user reported the same issue:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,107347.msg745478.html#msg745478

Fantastic. 

Is there an alternative provider/method of getting the data into the EPG?

[CountryBumkin]

You can try the paid subscription service "Schedules Direct". They have a 7-day free trial period. In USA the subscription is $25/year.

If you decide to try this, use the "JSON" service (sdJSON). And don't mention the JRiver program because technically SD is only supposed to be used with non-commercial software.

According to their Regions page, they have EPG data for UK.
http://www.schedulesdirect.org/regions

[Fangio]

EPG Collector is worth a look: https://sourceforge.net/projects/epgcollector/files/V4.3/

[t42]

EPG Collector is worth a look: https://sourceforge.net/projects/epgcollector/files/V4.3/

Thanks, trying this now...

You can try the paid subscription service "Schedules Direct". They have a 7-day free trial period. In USA the subscription is $25/year.

If you decide to try this, use the "JSON" service (sdJSON). And don't mention the JRiver program because technically SD is only supposed to be used with non-commercial software.

According to their Regions page, they have EPG data for UK.
http://www.schedulesdirect.org/regions

Thanks, I'll look into this if the above free option doesn't work out.

[RoderickGI]

I use EPG Collector and find it excellent. Especially as I have it looking up metadata to enhance the EPG before it is imported into MC.

The are quite a few UK users of it I believe. It is a little complex to get set up right, but the support from the developer, Steve Bickell, is also excellent. So if you get stuck and can't find answers in the User Guide he provides, ask on his discussion board. Or ask back here. Or read this thread http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,100236.0.html and the threads it links to.

[trevoraiston]

Changed my settings to microsoft legacy. Now have full guide

Trevor

[CountryBumkin]

I'm glad it is working.
FYI, for those in USA and Canada, according to mc2xml http://mc2xml.awardspace.info/ you can't use Legacy (I know OP is in UK, so this doesn't apply to him).  But I don't recall what the JRiver built-in mc2xml (ver 1.4) offers, as I use the stand-alone ver 1.6 now.

Microsoft media center legacy service: Vista Media Center (and all previous versions of media center) offer Satellite, Cable and NTSC listings for many countries, but the data service might not fully support ATSC with subchannels for the North American market. Microsoft calls this the "legacy service".


And
Microsoft media center Win7+ service: If you have used Windows 7 or 8 you might have noticed more program information in the guide. It uses a completely new TV data service that seems to support everything that the microsoft legacy service supported*, but adds full ATSC/subchannel support ("OTA") for the US & Canada, plus listings include writer/producer credits, program images  , as well as other miscellaneous program details. (note: Microsoft might have a North American focus?)

[t42]

Quick update: EPGCollector has been working well for the past week. Thanks for the help!

[t42]

One minor thing with EPG Collector - when grabbing new EPG data the command line interface runs in the foreground on top of Theatre View. Is there any way to get it to run silently?

Also, on an unrelated topic, my Live TV remote button appears to take me to the previously selected TV channel and not to the current one, e.g. I can be in live TV watching channel 1, I change to channel 2, go into Guide then hit Live TV, which takes me back to live TV, but also changes back to channel 1. What's up with that?!

[Yaobing]

Also, on an unrelated topic, my Live TV remote button appears to take me to the previously selected TV channel and not to the current one, e.g. I can be in live TV watching channel 1, I change to channel 2, go into Guide then hit Live TV, which takes me back to live TV, but also changes back to channel 1. What's up with that?!

That is by design.  Live TV button doubles as "last played channel" button.

[RoderickGI]

One minor thing with EPG Collector - when grabbing new EPG data the command line interface runs in the foreground on top of Theatre View. Is there any way to get it to run silently?

I run EPG Collector at 5am, so I don't actually see what it is doing. But I also run it as an external program from within MC, and I don't believe the command window shows in the foreground when that is done. In fact I think the command window only shows if I manually run the MC EPG collection from within Standard View, which runs EPG Collector then imports the XML file.

So how are you running EPG Collector?

Also, on an unrelated topic, my Live TV remote button appears to take me to the previously selected TV channel and not to the current one, e.g. I can be in live TV watching channel 1, I change to channel 2, go into Guide then hit Live TV, which takes me back to live TV, but also changes back to channel 1. What's up with that?!

If you follow the above sequence, instead of pressing the Live TV button to get back to channel 2, press the MCE Green Button or its equivalent on your remote. On my Logitech that is the "Media Center" command, which I have mapped to a button. That will usually toggle through three views; the current Guide, the MC menu, and Display View which will be showing the live TV channel. So if one press doesn't work, press it again.

Or you could just press the Live TV button twice; once to take you back to channel 1 (which means you will lose the Time Shift buffer for channel 2), and then once to get back to channel 2. You won't lose the Time Shift buffer if you use the Green/Media Center Button method.

[t42]

That is by design.  Live TV button doubles as "last played channel" button.

Is it really supposed to do both at once? I would naturally expect the first press to return to Live TV (if not in that view) then another press to select the last channel, otherwise the time buffer always gets lost as Roderick GI points out.

I run EPG Collector at 5am, so I don't actually see what it is doing. But I also run it as an external program from within MC, and I don't believe the command window shows in the foreground when that is done. In fact I think the command window only shows if I manually run the MC EPG collection from within Standard View, which runs EPG Collector then imports the XML file.

So how are you running EPG Collector?

Ah, I run it as a Windows task to output to a file for import later. How does one run it from within MC?

If you follow the above sequence, instead of pressing the Live TV button to get back to channel 2, press the MCE Green Button or its equivalent on your remote. On my Logitech that is the "Media Center" command, which I have mapped to a button. That will usually toggle through three views; the current Guide, the MC menu, and Display View which will be showing the live TV channel. So if one press doesn't work, press it again.

Or you could just press the Live TV button twice; once to take you back to channel 1 (which means you will lose the Time Shift buffer for channel 2), and then once to get back to channel 2. You won't lose the Time Shift buffer if you use the Green/Media Center Button method.

Thanks for the "Media Center" command tip!

[Yaobing]

Is it really supposed to do both at once? I would naturally expect the first press to return to Live TV (if not in that view) then another press to select the last channel, otherwise the time buffer always gets lost as Roderick GI points out.

When no TV channel is playing, pressing the button starts up TV, loading the last played channel.

Pressing the button while in live TV playing causes MC remain playing live TV, and load the last played the channel.  So if after you start the live session you have not changed channel, then the last played channel is the current channel, so no change will occur.  But if you have changed channel in the current session, the the channel will change back.

[RoderickGI]

Ah, I run it as a Windows task to output to a file for import later. How does one run it from within MC?

As part of your EPG Collector setup you would have told MC to import the resulting XMLTV file. You can run the EPG Collector as part of the same setup. See attached image for what mine looks like.

Now that you have your TV and EPG all set up with EPG Collector gathering the data, the easiest way to get to the settings you need to change is to go to;
Options>Television
>Select the Tuner Profile you are using near the bottom of the screen
>Click Configure
>Press Next through the screens without changing anything until you get to the "Method for loading Electronic Program Guide", where the XMLTV radio button should already be selected>press Next one more time.

Now you should see a dialogue box like the one in my image, with your XMLTV file being shown as the file to be loaded. If you click the "Run and executable to retrieve XMLTV data" you should be able to add in your details to run EPG Collector from within MC.

Note that the "Timeout minutes" is the time MC will allow EPG Collector to run before killing it. The timeout is there in case something goes wrong with an external program, and it never completes. I have mine set to 180 minutes at present as I had some very long runs a while back, as part of a data issue with the source. Also, I run metadata collection as part of EPG Collector, so my runs can take up to an hour or so, although it usually runs for 15 minutes total. I usually have the Timeout set to 65 minutes. I believe the default is 20 minutes. Check your EPG Collector History log to see how long you should set the Timeout.

[t42]

When no TV channel is playing, pressing the button starts up TV, loading the last played channel.

Pressing the button while in live TV playing causes MC remain playing live TV, and load the last played the channel.  So if after you start the live session you have not changed channel, then the last played channel is the current channel, so no change will occur.  But if you have changed channel in the current session, the the channel will change back.

Thanks for the explanation. I perceive there to be edge case here, where pressing the button while in the guide (but with live TV still playing in the background) will return live TV to the foreground and change to the previous channel. I guess what's missing to my mind is taking the 'focus' of the live TV into account when deciding what the button should do.

As part of your EPG Collector setup you would have told MC to import the resulting XMLTV file. You can run the EPG Collector as part of the same setup. See attached image for what mine looks like.

Now that you have your TV and EPG all set up with EPG Collector gathering the data, the easiest way to get to the settings you need to change is to go to;
Options>Television
>Select the Tuner Profile you are using near the bottom of the screen
>Click Configure
>Press Next through the screens without changing anything until you get to the "Method for loading Electronic Program Guide", where the XMLTV radio button should already be selected>press Next one more time.

Now you should see a dialogue box like the one in my image, with your XMLTV file being shown as the file to be loaded. If you click the "Run and executable to retrieve XMLTV data" you should be able to add in your details to run EPG Collector from within MC.

Note that the "Timeout minutes" is the time MC will allow EPG Collector to run before killing it. The timeout is there in case something goes wrong with an external program, and it never completes. I have mine set to 180 minutes at present as I had some very long runs a while back, as part of a data issue with the source. Also, I run metadata collection as part of EPG Collector, so my runs can take up to an hour or so, although it usually runs for 15 minutes total. I usually have the Timeout set to 65 minutes. I believe the default is 20 minutes. Check your EPG Collector History log to see how long you should set the Timeout.

Many thanks for taking the time to explain this. I've set this up as you described and will see if that makes a difference.