Free US Zap2xml scraper - Zap2It replacement (5 Viewers)

[jaymode]

FYI for others: Creating an empty xmltv.dtd file in the same place as the tvguide.xml worked for me.

 

[anonim1]

I just installed RC3. One thing to note is the existence of an xmltv.dtd file; it is located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\xmltv. I copied the xmltv.dtd file from there to the C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\xmltv folder, and the error about it missing went away.

Unfortunately, I am unable to connect to the zap2it.com servers using zap2xml at the moment (9:45pm Eastern time). Is anyone else experiencing this issue? I tried visiting the website to log in manually, but there appears to be an issue on their TV listings page as well. Hopefully it will be resolved soon..

 

[hinto]

a few more notes for anyone trying to navigate the bizarre convolution we need to go through to get TV data...

in the split/tv server version, activate the xmltv plugin in the tv server config, then go to the plugin's config, then go to the second tab and read the channel data, then go back to the first tab and import the xml file you created. worked for me.

 

[knight1fox3]

Originally the XMLTV methodology in this post was working for me. Now when I start MP, and navigate to the guide, every channel says "No Data Available". I re-scanned for channels and named each channel the same name as what is shown on the Zap2It website (for my area and zip code). When I go into the TV Server Config, and then to the XML plug-in config, all the channels on the second tab have a red indicator. I believe the red indicator means something doesn't match up. In the first tab on the XML plug-in config, when I click "import", it says imported successfully but no channels are actually imported. Has anyone else had this problem? I am running MP RC2 and WinXP. Any insight to this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[hinto]

yeah, i'm also getting "no data" intermittently. haven't had the time to try and figure out why yet.

 

[knight1fox3]

Hmmm....well I thought maybe my cable provider went updated their channel names. So I re-scanned for channels and then named them accordingly based on what Zap2It had for my zip code area and cable provider. I then created the latest tvguide.xml file and then clicked "Load/Refresh" on the 2nd tab of the XMLTV config. But as I mentioned, the status indicator for every channel is red (which means the channels don't match the mapping?). Still trying to find out if anyone else has had this problem. I will continue to try a few more things to see if I can get it working again.

 

[BrunoB]

I've had MediaPortal working just fine for almost a year - including the TV Listings. I'm using Zap2It which gets its data from tvlistings.com

I've noticed over the past week or two that the tv listings within MP get messed up for a day or two, then fix themselves, etc. Since I hadn't changed a thing, I concluded that tvlistings might have. I updates the latest version of zap2it - no luck. I checked the TV channel names in the xml file and the web site - no change.

For some reason, the data being recieved from tvlistings is either being corrupted, or they've changed their format in such a way that it creates interpretation errors within the MP plugin.

It'll be up to the plugin developer to take a look and let us know what's up.

Just of note, I'm loosing all channel data within an hour or two - they all go blank. Not sure where they pick up again.

In case this is a big problem and can't or won't be fixed, is anyone else in Canada and using a different provider than zap2it?

Just thought I'd let everyone know what I'd noticed in the past couple of weeks.

 

[knight1fox3]

Hi BrunoB,

Your last post was very informative. I also have been using Zap2It (USA listings) for about 5 or 6 months with no issues. I scheduled a batch file to run once a week to get the latest listings. I also can only assume that Zap2It has changed their format. In my case I have NO data at all in my tvguide. I have been trying different things and playing around some of the settings.

I wonder if its time to switch from this method to something else. Or like BrunoB mentioned, if there is an alternative program to Zap2It (for both USA and Canada). Perhaps we should start a separate post on this?

 

[hinto]

2008-12-09

* Updated to handle zap2it's latest website changes

* Note: I highly recommend checking out the more advanced mc2xml, as it has been running without incident for quite a while. It was harder to code and make portable than zap2xml, but the listings are more reliable and more complete with long descriptions, cast info and movie ratings.

from zap2xml

mc2xml is at mc2xml

 

[wyzazz]

Anyone have any idea how to use mc2xml with MediaPortal? Of course as a free (as in beer) solution, more specifically in the US? Thanks!