Using the standard EPG download (or XMLTV with MC2xml) I get about 5-6 days worth of future programming data. Is there any way to make this larger? like 10-14 days?
I think nearly every EPG source I have looked at only supplies about 7 days. Even the commercial one here in Australia. There may be some commercial ones elsewhere that provide 14 days, but EPG availability is still an issue almost everywhere, based on my reading.
(I'M trying to set all my recordings from Sage but I can't because some shows don't show up.)
This is the real issue: Being able to create recording rules for programs that aren't in the guide. It isn't obvious how to do that.
I really want to find the time to write up a discussion paper about recording rules, and how they may work better. But it would take a bit of time to get my thoughts together, and look at some old software I have used in the past. Plus the Sage TV users around here may have better ideas than me...
But anyway, MC still does allow you to create a recording rule for a program that is not yet in the Guide.
It is simple actually. So it should be easy to set up all your Sage recording rules in MC. Just do this (most you should know):
1. In Standard View, click on Television, then click on "All Programs".
2. Click on
ANY program, then click Record. It doesn't matter what program you click on, what its name is, or anything.
3. Click the "Subscribe" radio button, then "Next".
4. Now change everything that you want to record the real program that you want. See my example image, set to record a future program for which all I know is the Series name, and that it is new, so there should be no rerun flags set in the EPG.
4a. Name: The name of the recording rule is the text used to search for the program. You can change it to some future program that is not in the guide, or a part name for the program if that will give you a more reliable chance of catching the recording.
4b. Name modifiers. If you know the exact name, require an exact match, but I usually don't do that, except for programs that have lots of name variations, such as CSI. Search all fields to provide the best chance of finding the program.
4c. Channel: If you aren't sure which channel it will show on, select "All Channels". If you know it will be provided by one particular broadcaster, but you're not sure which of their channels it will be on, select all their channels.
4d. When: Select "All Showings " if this is a new program, or select the appropriate setting. Note that you can change the "Anchor Time", but that button was sometimes greyed out for me. I had to save the recording rule, and then go back and edit the rule to be able to change the anchor time.
Yaobing: Could this be a bug? 4e. When modifiers. If this is a new program and you have selected multiple or all channel above, you may want to select "Do not record reruns" and "Do not record shows that have been recorded in the past". Of course, reruns require the EPG to identify them, and if the broadcaster changes the show Title, Name, and/or Description, as they have want to do with second and third showings for early episodes of new programs, then you may still get multiple recordings of an episode in MC. Better multiple than none though. You can improve, or worsen, your chance of recording a program by selecting which fields to use to compare previous and new episodes...
4f. Compare fields: I have selected just "Series" in my example, but that will probably result in just the first episode being recorded, as all later episodes would have a matching Series name. Usually I set this to "Series" and "Name" with the hope that the episode name isn't changed between showings, which it often is here in Australia. I almost never select "Description" as the description for one particular episode is often different for different showings. For example, my MotoGP races almost always have a decent description for the first showing, but for re-showings of the same race, the description is often just "MotoGP". So that would be considered a different episode if I included "Description" in the selection process for reruns/re-showings.
4g. Now hit Next and set your recording and retention options, plus any Tagging you want on the recording.
Easy really. But not obvious.
