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[CountryBumkin]

I have been dealing with this manually, but now I am moving to the next stage of my setup and I want to know if I can set up MC to auto-populate the season and episode numbers so the TV Show will be listed in the correct order in Theater View.

When I record OTA now, I get the proper TV Series (and usually a description of the episode) but nothing populates for Season and Episode. The file name from the recording is somewhat cryptic so I don't think MC can't use that. I assume there is information "inside" the broadcast the MC looks at to determine Season and Episode.

I have tried the MC automatic (listed as "recommended") EPG download and the Over-the-Air EPG download. Neither gets me the Season and Episode numbers. I thought I would try "Zap2it" however you must be registered to use it, and there is no way to register as a new user at this time.

Should I be getting Season and Series (and therefore Carnac data) from the standard OTA recording (does this work for anyone else), or is everyone just entering the data manually as part of the "MC upkeep/maintenance process"?

[Yaobing]

Season and episode numbers are obtained from guide data, not from OTA stream.

[CountryBumkin]

So I guess I need to get a different source for the guide data - as I'm not getting this info now using the two guide data sources I listed.

EDIT: I'm now installing the EPG Collector Zap2it program - as mentioned in other posts. I'll post back if I run into any problems.  If it works, perhaps the process should be made a "Sticky" (or built into JRiver process).

[muzicman0]

I use Zap2XML and most current series have the season/episode info.  Not everything does, but most of what I use it for.

[rammingspeed]

I thought I would try "Zap2it" however you must be registered to use it, and there is no way to register as a new user at this time.

You can set up Zap2It without registering.  Review the web page for it and look for the section that talks about using the Zipcode and ID.

[muzicman0]

yeah, my CLI is:

C:\Users\Steven\Zap2XML\zap2xml.exe -o "C:\Users\Steven\Zap2XML\xmltv.xml" -n 12 -d 12 -Z 92694 -Y USA-CA04462-X

-o is the output file
-n 12 is not caching 12 days worth of data
-d 12 is # of days of data to get
-Z is my zip
-Y is the location code from their website URL.

[codpiece]

If someone would be kind enough to write up a guide on how to set up Zap2it, that would be awesome.  I can't figure it out...and I'm pretty smart

[CountryBumkin]

If someone would be kind enough to write up a guide on how to set up Zap2it, that would be awesome.  I can't figure it out...and I'm pretty smart

A guide (maybe becoming a Sticky for others to use) would be great. Are you running Zap2it as a windows scheduled service, or how?

[Foxenhimr]

I am a brand new MC 20 user and have yet to setup my Hauppage tuner. I currently use NextPVR and use Schedules Direct for my guide source. Will SD integrate with MC ?

[CountryBumkin]

It is my understanding from researching this, that Schedules Direct will work. You need to get something like http://sdjson.sourceforge.net/ to import the data into an XMLTV file, then set JRiver to use that for your EPG data.
And see http://www.schedulesdirect.org/approvedsoftware

BTW - I'm still working on setting this up (with Zap2it > xmltv) for my system, so perhaps someone with more experience will jump in.
Good luck

[Foxenhimr]

Thanks @CountryBumkin ! I don't see JRiver in the list on the SD page. I dabbled in XML in the early days of using Nextpvr, but found it a little complex for me - especially trying to trouble shoot when there was a problem. SD integrates quite nicely with NPVR

[muzicman0]

BTW - I'm still working on setting this up (with Zap2it > xmltv) for my system, so perhaps someone with more experience will jump in.
Good luck

Where is it failing?  What have you done so far?  I have it set up, so I can probably help...but need more details.

[CountryBumkin]

I tried last night with EPG Collector - but that was a miserable failure. I didn't know I could use Zap2it without registering, so now that I know better I am going to start setting it up tonight when I get home. I believe I have all the setup info/codes I need (thanks to your post) and have downloaded the program.

I'll post back later tonight or tomorrow on how it goes.

Anything I should be on the look out for - or will/should the setup be straight forward?

[muzicman0]

pretty straight forward.  I set up a scheduled task in Windows to run it, as it seemed that running it from within MC was not working.

In the scheduled task, you will want to set it to 'Start in' the same directory that the .exe is in.  I tried it without doing that, and it didn't work.  Here is a screenshot of what I mean.

[CountryBumkin]

Thanks for taking the time to do the screen shot. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Some questions:

1) Does the XMLTV file end up in the same directory as the program (i.e. C:\Users\Steven\Zap2XML)? Then you point JRiver (in the TV EPG Setup) to that directory.

2) Also, does the old XML file delete itself (or get written over) when the new EPG data is downloaded?  
 
3) At http://zap2xml.awardspace.info/ it says near the bottom of the page

zap2xml uses your system's time and timezone so make sure your system clock is correct. Set your TZ environment variable before running zap2xml if you want to change the timezone of scheduled programs (ie: export TZ=GMT).

zap2xml is written in perl. Perl is also packaged for windows and needs the TimeDate package to be installed from the Perl Package Manager (ppm install TimeDate))

Did you need to do anything regarding this "Time/Date package" - or is that only needed if your changing time zones - or perhaps something totally different?

I suppose I can find this out for myself soon enough.  
Thanks

[muzicman0]

In my case, I specify the whole path with the -o option, but by default it should end up in the same place...I just wanted to be sure.  Yep...I just point MC to that file for the XMLTV option.  You will have to match channels the first time (for me auto match didn't work...it may for you).  But once you do that once, it remembers the matching, and should run automatically in the background.

It will get over written each night.  I think I run the task at 1AM, and run MC EPG service at 3AM.

If I could get Schedules direct to output the Season/Episode info in the right format, I would probably switch over, but I haven't found a way to do that.  I just think SD is a bit more complete in their EPG data.

[CountryBumkin]

I'm running the program (task scheduler) now. How long does it usually take? I set it to stop after 2 hours max.

Also, I don't see the place in "task scheduler" where the task is scheduled to run at a set/specific time. How do I schedule the task to run at 1:00 am?

I'm really excited to have this working (so far).... 

[muzicman0]

The time should be under the 'Triggers' tab, I believe.

[RoderickGI]

I tried last night with EPG Collector - but that was a miserable failure.

That is not surprising. EPG Collector uses the OTA EPG as it's source, and my understanding is that EPG is worse in America than it is in Australia, and that is saying something!

It will get over written each night.  I think I run the task at 1AM, and run MC EPG service at 3AM.

Do you use the MC schedule to wake the PC for this, or is it already awake, or woken by a Window Task Scheduler task?

I let my PC sleep and then run a Window Task Scheduler task to wake it prior to the MC Guide Load time, as the last time I checked MC wouldn't wake my HTPC for the task. This despite the fact that MC will wake a PC to record a program. (I probably asked this before, but humour me please.  )

The time should be under the 'Triggers' tab, I believe.

Yep. Triggers; Begin the task: On a schedule; then set up the schedule.

Just keep an eye on what is happening with EPG data in the USA, particularly over at Schedules Direct. I believe that they just changed their source of EPG data from the same source Zap2it uses, to a new source. It seems there is still a fair bit of uncertainty around the free data available from zap2it, and this Schedules Direct change may have an impact on its future availability.

As I am not a user of either service though I haven't looked into it too much.

[CountryBumkin]

I setup Zap2mxltv exactly like in your example (but used my zip code and ID of course) and ran it for 4 hours but it never finished or produced a file. So I stopped the task. I went back to re-examine the settings and based on the zap2xml website  http://zap2xml.awardspace.info/ I decided I did not need any "options" to get this to work except for "-Y" (lineup ID) and "-Z" (zip code).

@Musicman0: the code you shared:  C:\Users\Steven\Zap2XML\zap2xml.exe -o "C:\Users\Steven\Zap2XML\xmltv.xml" -n 12 -d 12 -Z 92694 -Y USA-CA04462-X  ends in "-X" (large case X) which I don't think does anything (zap2xml says the options are case sensitive and they don't have a large case X). A small case "x" would output a XTVD file, however for JRiver we want a XMLTV file (which is the zap2xml default).

So the program is now running "C:\Program Files\XMLTV\zap2xml.exe -Z 32766 -Y USA-OTA32766".

If this generates a file I should be good (if I need to add a specific destination/location for the xmltv file to go, I can add that later).
If not, I'll need more help.

[muzicman0]

The -X was actually part of the -Y option...in other words, it was included in the URL from Zap2It.

The other options were to make my experience better (no caching, etc).

I would suggest entering the command in a cmd (DOS) window before you create the task.  make sure it runs from there first...

Oh, and running it from program files probably won't work because from Win 7 on, programs don't have the ability to write to the program files directory.  I would suggest running it from somewhere else.  It MIGHT run if you specify the output somewhere else.

[CountryBumkin]

I tried running from command line but the program runs so fast I can't see what its doing (just "flashes" the command line). In task scheduler, it shows as "running". I ran the program again this morning - I'm at work now but when I get home later it will either be finished (good) or still running (bad).
Thanks for helping.

[muzicman0]

You should open a cmd window first, then type in the command.  That way it won't just 'flash'...but, even with the default settings (7 days), it should take 5-10 minutes I would think.  so something is not right...can you post the path the the .exe and the exact command you are using to run it?

[CountryBumkin]

You should open a cmd window first, then type in the command.  That way it won't just 'flash'...but, even with the default settings (7 days), it should take 5-10 minutes I would think.  so something is not right...can you post the path the the .exe and the exact command you are using to run it?

This is the exact path and command I'm using now: C:\Program Files\XMLTV\zap2xml.exe -Z 32766 -Y USA-OTA32766

As you can see, I installed the zap2xml program in my "Program Files" folder in a new folder called "XMLTV". The rest of the line is jus the default parameters with my zip code and the (for an OTA Broadcast Antenna) LineID copied from Zap2it website.

I also tried C:\Program Files\XMLTV\zap2xml.exe -o "C:\Program Files\XMLTV\xmltv.xml" -n 12 -d 12 -Z 32766 -Y USA-OTA32766 -X
I'll try the Command Line test when I get home - if the program didn't finish on its own.

[muzicman0]

Again, run it from something else than the 'Program Files' directory...try it from your documents folder.  It won't work from where you have it installed.

[CountryBumkin]

Again, run it from something else than the 'Program Files' directory...try it from your documents folder.  It won't work from where you have it installed.

Aha. I'll find a new location.

[CountryBumkin]

it's working !!!!

This is really nice. I have the EPG loaded into JRiver and all subscriptions/recordings setup.

Thanks for all the help.

[muzicman0]

Excellent!!  Glad I could help!