Free US Zap2xml scraper - Zap2It replacement (4 Viewers)

[anony]

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!

Generate an tvguide.xml file using mc2xml. (My tvguide.xml is shared between MediaPortal and GB-PVR).
Put the xmltv.dtd file in the xmltv package in the same folder as your tvguide.xml.
In MediaPortal TV server configuration, go to plugins - XmlTv, then point to your generated tvguide.xml.
Force import.

 

[wyzazz]

Thanks for the reply! But I should have been more specific, my question more specifically is how do you use mc2xml to get the xmltv.dtd and tvguide.xml? And what service should I use this with in the US?

Thanks Again!

 

[anony]

Thanks for the reply! But I should have been more specific, my question more specifically is how do you use mc2xml to get the xmltv.dtd and tvguide.xml? And what service should I use this with in the US?

Thanks Again!

xmltv.dtd is from the xmltv package, not from mc2xml:
SourceForge.net: XMLTV: Downloading ...
(Note "Newer versions of XmlTV greater than 0.5.34 do not work on Windows. Only use 0.5.34 for now on Windows")

To get tvguide.xml the command line is:
mc2xml -c us -g 44201 -o tvguide.xml
where 44201 is your own ZIP code.

My MP TV server doesn't seem to be doing the auto-import correctly at the moment though, so I have to import it manually. My tvguide.xml is updated by GB-PVR each day.

 

[wyzazz]

Here's a thanks for the above info anony! I'll give this a try and see how it works as opposed to zap2xml.

 

[anony]

No problem, and try to report back on whether your MediaPortal automatically updates the tvguide.xml using this method.

 

[Arterio]

I'm trying to get this to work, but I'm having trouble getting the program info to load.

I used the mc2xml.exe with this command...

"mc2xml -c ca -g v3r2e8 -o tvguide.xml"

It creates a 20MB tvguide.xml file in the folder. I put the xmltv.dtd file in the same folder. Launched the TV Server Setup and loaded the xmltv plugin and pointed it to the same folder as tvguide.xml. When I press the "Import" button to force it to import, it updates it's status and says

Total Channels Imported: 68 (this is correct)

Total Programs Imported: 0

And this takes all of 1/2 a second to process.

Any idea's why it's not importing the program info?

 

[anony]

Arterio I had that problem when I did not save the channel mappings under TVServer config -> plugins -> xmltv -> mappings

 

[cybergeek]

Someone asked me in a personal message how to get this working in media portal, so I figured I would post it for all to see:

First, follow the directions from the site zap2xml to get a zap2it account and get the listings to show the 6 hour grid, and then download the windows binary from the site, then execute it so it extracts the file, and take this file, zap2xml.exe, and put it in the media portal xmltv folder, then go to start>programs>accessories>system tools>scheduled tasks, and add a new task for it using the "add a task" wizard, which should walk you through most of it. When it asks you for the program you want to run, click browse and go to file you put in the xmltv folder. Set it up to run however often you want your guide to be updated. After it is set up, right click the new task you just created, click properties, and make sure you are in the "task" tab, then where it says run, it will have the location of the directory that you selected, add the following to the very end of it, after the zap2xml.exe part: -u YOURZAP2ITLOGIN@EMAIL.COM -p YOURPASSWORD -o tvguide.xml , Replacing the capitalized letters with the appropriate login and password for zap2it, and when the schedule executes, your tvguide data should be populated. You may need to set time zone info in the media portal setup, and media portal may not instantly update the time zone info. I think that about covers it.

Hey guys I have the zap2xml.exe file downloaded and it's in my xlmtv folder I set up the schedule task in system tools but what do I do then? I was reading on a diffrent site that I have to go in to MP-TV server Configuration and go to TV channels and click the ATSC tab but when I click that tab I get the error "No ATSC tuning details available for this channel I have analog cable. Can someone please help me out here.

 

[CloFan]

Thanks for this! I was looking for an automated guide program like this, and it's great! For some reason, it doesn't grab guide data for three channesl, 2, 3, and 5 (PBS, WGN, TNT), but I'll see if that fixes itself after a couple of days of grabbing.

 

[cybergeek]

Thanks for this! I was looking for an automated guide program like this, and it's great! For some reason, it doesn't grab guide data for three channesl, 2, 3, and 5 (PBS, WGN, TNT), but I'll see if that fixes itself after a couple of days of grabbing.

Hi do you have analog or digital cable?