Help setting up Media portal - tv guide

mattress · 2008-02-14, 01:23

I am new to media potal and am having trouble getting the TV guide feature to work. I have attmepted to download tvxb but have been unable to get it to work. Is there an wasy way of using the tv guide or an easier plugin? Also everytime I try to put media portal in full screen it locks up my computer. Any ideas?

coopers · 2008-02-14, 02:18

For tv guide, you should be able to select the option in your configuration that creates the guide from the guide that is broadcast for DVT on the digital channels.
In australia that only gives you "now and next" for each channel, the US channels might have more info.

That much should work right out of the box, and if it doesn't... does your TV have an inbuilt tuner? It should also be able to show you that information at least (just so you know it's there).

Then, once you have that much working you can use webepg or something similar to download from whatever website (tvxb? Is that a site?) the rest of the guide. MP should happily merge the two and display it in your guide.

I'd suggest the lockup problem might be video card drivers and/or your directx version. Make sure they're both updated, see if it helps. Also maybe consider updating MP to the latest svn.

jburnette · 2008-02-14, 03:10

Since you're in the US, a better option for you would probably be using either the Schedules Direct plugin or the CT TV Listings plugin. You'll set up an account at either Schedules Direct (costs $20/year) or https://cttvlistings.net/ (free for 4 day listings), then install/configure whichever plugin you chose and you should be good to go.

This is really the best way to go in the US.

CT TV Listings EPG Plugin

Schedules Direct US/Canadian/Mexico EPG Plugin (Updated 10-01-2007)

mattress · 2008-02-15, 16:18

Ok I downloaded the CT TV listings plugin from the media portal site and the directions aren't the best. I have tried unziping this in several different folders and nothing seems to work. Does any one now how to set this up?

Thanks

I tired downloading a different version of CT tv listings and the directions say to unzip it in the media portal plugins folder which I did. It then says you should enable the plugin int the media portal configuration but the plugin doesn't show up. Please up, I am getting a bit frustrated with media portal.

jburnette · 2008-02-15, 19:18

The actual DLL (the plugin itself) should be in the Mediaportal\Plugins\Process folder.

Shoey Peachew · 2008-02-19, 04:09

I've had succes using zap2xml. Have a look at post #11 in this thread. Free US Zap2xml scraper - Zap2It replacement

This is the short rundown on how I get it to work for me. Yours might be different so be sure to check out the link above. All credit goes to Phylix and all the other people I learned from in the link above.

1. You basically make an account with a username and password at: TV Listings and Movie guide: Zap2it.com TV Listings. Go to TV listings click Set Preferences. Add your channels to My Favorites. Check Show six hour grid and Show only my favorites.

2. Go to Zap2xml and download the latest version. zap2xml

3. Create a folder in MediaPortal called XMLTV and extract zap2xml.exe into it.

4. Open notepad and add this to it and save it as download.bat into your XMLTV folder. Be sure to add your Zap2it username and password where indicated.

zap2xml -u YOURZAP2ITEMAIL@EMAIL.COM -p YOURPASSWORD -d 10 -o "C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\XMLTV\TVguide.xml" -O -A -T -g

5. Double click on download.bat and you will see it will download EPG data into the folder.

6. Download Oz TV Guide Downloader and install it. Oz TV Guide Downloader

7. Open the Oz TV Guide Downloader and in Configuration either set it up for Basic MediaPortal or for TV Engine depending on which version of MP you have installed.

8. Go to the EPG Data Source tab and click File and browse to your XMLTV folder and choose TVguide.xml that you created when you opened download.bat.

9. Go to the Channel Setup tab and click Reload (or possibly Reset Grid) to show the EPG data channel names and MediaPortal's channel names. Highlight a MediaPortal Channel box next to the EPG channel name and match it up to the MediaPortal channel name by using the green arrows. Be sure to click Save when you're done.

10. Click on Download New Data Now and click the Groups tab and click Reload Groups and it should update MediaPortal with your EPG data.

Now, if the TV guide data is off it might be because your timezone is off. If you're using TV Server go into TV Server setup and click XMLTV in plugins and click Apply timezone compensation... and add 1 or -1 or however many hours it's off to compesate.

Drummer8001 · 2008-07-13, 06:35

I tried to hock up zap2it through the oz tv guide downloader and when i try to update the guide by clicking download new data now button in the application I get the following pop up message. Does any one know what this means and how to fix it. "Invalid argument to date encode!" which an Ok button. How should I continue.

Thanks

2008-02-14, 01:23	#1 (permalink)
mattress Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	Help setting up Media portal - tv guide I am new to media potal and am having trouble getting the TV guide feature to work. I have attmepted to download tvxb but have been unable to get it to work. Is there an wasy way of using the tv guide or an easier plugin? Also everytime I try to put media portal in full screen it locks up my computer. Any ideas?

2008-02-15, 16:18	#4 (permalink)
mattress Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	Ok I downloaded the CT TV listings plugin from the media portal site and the directions aren't the best. I have tried unziping this in several different folders and nothing seems to work. Does any one now how to set this up? Thanks I tired downloading a different version of CT tv listings and the directions say to unzip it in the media portal plugins folder which I did. It then says you should enable the plugin int the media portal configuration but the plugin doesn't show up. Please up, I am getting a bit frustrated with media portal. Last edited by mattress; 2008-02-15 at 16:55. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

2008-02-19, 04:09	#6 (permalink)
Shoey Peachew Portal Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 20 Thanks: 8 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post My System	I've had succes using zap2xml. Have a look at post #11 in this thread. Free US Zap2xml scraper - Zap2It replacement This is the short rundown on how I get it to work for me. Yours might be different so be sure to check out the link above. All credit goes to Phylix and all the other people I learned from in the link above. 1. You basically make an account with a username and password at: TV Listings and Movie guide: Zap2it.com TV Listings. Go to TV listings click Set Preferences. Add your channels to My Favorites. Check Show six hour grid and Show only my favorites. 2. Go to Zap2xml and download the latest version. zap2xml 3. Create a folder in MediaPortal called XMLTV and extract zap2xml.exe into it. 4. Open notepad and add this to it and save it as download.bat into your XMLTV folder. Be sure to add your Zap2it username and password where indicated. zap2xml -u YOURZAP2ITEMAIL@EMAIL.COM -p YOURPASSWORD -d 10 -o "C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\XMLTV\TVguide.xml" -O -A -T -g 5. Double click on download.bat and you will see it will download EPG data into the folder. 6. Download Oz TV Guide Downloader and install it. Oz TV Guide Downloader 7. Open the Oz TV Guide Downloader and in Configuration either set it up for Basic MediaPortal or for TV Engine depending on which version of MP you have installed. 8. Go to the EPG Data Source tab and click File and browse to your XMLTV folder and choose TVguide.xml that you created when you opened download.bat. 9. Go to the Channel Setup tab and click Reload (or possibly Reset Grid) to show the EPG data channel names and MediaPortal's channel names. Highlight a MediaPortal Channel box next to the EPG channel name and match it up to the MediaPortal channel name by using the green arrows. Be sure to click Save when you're done. 10. Click on Download New Data Now and click the Groups tab and click Reload Groups and it should update MediaPortal with your EPG data. Now, if the TV guide data is off it might be because your timezone is off. If you're using TV Server go into TV Server setup and click XMLTV in plugins and click Apply timezone compensation... and add 1 or -1 or however many hours it's off to compesate. Last edited by Shoey Peachew; 2008-02-21 at 01:54.

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2008-02-14, 02:18	#2 (permalink)
coopers Portal Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Adelaide Posts: 138 Thanks: 3 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country: My System	For tv guide, you should be able to select the option in your configuration that creates the guide from the guide that is broadcast for DVT on the digital channels. In australia that only gives you "now and next" for each channel, the US channels might have more info. That much should work right out of the box, and if it doesn't... does your TV have an inbuilt tuner? It should also be able to show you that information at least (just so you know it's there). Then, once you have that much working you can use webepg or something similar to download from whatever website (tvxb? Is that a site?) the rest of the guide. MP should happily merge the two and display it in your guide. I'd suggest the lockup problem might be video card drivers and/or your directx version. Make sure they're both updated, see if it helps. Also maybe consider updating MP to the latest svn.

2008-02-14, 03:10	#3 (permalink)
jburnette Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Kentucky Age: 23 Posts: 664 Thanks: 117 Thanked 83 Times in 44 Posts Country: My System	Since you're in the US, a better option for you would probably be using either the Schedules Direct plugin or the CT TV Listings plugin. You'll set up an account at either Schedules Direct (costs $20/year) or https://cttvlistings.net/ (free for 4 day listings), then install/configure whichever plugin you chose and you should be good to go. This is really the best way to go in the US. CT TV Listings EPG Plugin Schedules Direct US/Canadian/Mexico EPG Plugin (Updated 10-01-2007)

2008-02-15, 19:18	#5 (permalink)
jburnette Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Kentucky Age: 23 Posts: 664 Thanks: 117 Thanked 83 Times in 44 Posts Country: My System	The actual DLL (the plugin itself) should be in the Mediaportal\Plugins\Process folder.

2008-07-13, 06:35	#7 (permalink)
Drummer8001 Portal User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	I tried to hock up zap2it through the oz tv guide downloader and when i try to update the guide by clicking download new data now button in the application I get the following pop up message. Does any one know what this means and how to fix it. "Invalid argument to date encode!" which an Ok button. How should I continue. Thanks