Odd issues with Freesat EPG - MP2 (2 Viewers)

[Jon Sawers]

Hi MP forum!

I have just joined the forum today, but had the program installed just over a week now. The functionality is great, but I have a persistently niggling issue that I can't work out.

For some channels (but not all), the EPG is wrong. For example, BBC2 when I first grabbed the EPG was showing the schedule for BBC News. When I did the next grab, the EPG shows for BBC1. The channel itself is showing BBC2 programs, which means I can still watch and record things, but searching for the programs is made a lot harder with the EPG being wrong.

I tried using XMLTV initially, but this wouldn't work, citing a socket error. I then moved onto WebEPG and this is where the issues happen for BBC2. I also have this same issue for some other channels which come and go, but the issues with BBC2 are persistent. Other channels, such as BBC1 and E4 are fine and show all the time.

In terms of the EPG, I am having to grab the listings from www.mydigiguide.com as the Radio Times ones all show Guide days of 0. The current mappings are included in the attached capture.png.

Can anyone shed any light on why this is happening please?

 

[CyberSimian]

For some channels (but not all), the EPG is wrong.

In the UK you have a choice of using an EPG that is downloaded from the internet, or of using the EPG that is broadcast from the satellite. I think that you are trying to do the former, but as I have never used an internet EPG with MP, I cannot identify your problem. But you could as an alternative use the broadcast EPG.

In "TV Server Config", go to the "DVB EPG" section and enable EPG capture. The default timeouts should be OK to start with. For satellite, there is a dedicated radio channel that carries the EPG for both radio and TV. You need to select that channel on the "Radio Channels" page. The name of the radio channel should make it obvious which is the correct channel to select. (I don't use satellite, so cannot be more specific.)

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[Jon Sawers]

Thanks for the reply CyberSimian, very informative.

I came from many years of WMC, making sure to change from it before Win7 loses the support of security updates in January. I used to get the guide from WMC directly, but after a hiccup on their end a few years ago, I swapped to DVBGuide, which was working flawlessly for me. This downloads the EPG from the satellite, rather than the internet. I had a look on their site to see if it would work with MP2, but the owner stopped updating it a few years ago it would appear.

I've found the channel you refer to on the radio channels, which is called "Chl Line-up". I had read a topic on this forum about using a radio channel to find the EPG, but the other topic mentioned it was called "Freesat-info" or similar, and I wasn't able to find that. I hadn't clocked that it might have another name!

I've added the channel as you suggest, but I'm not sure how I then use it to grab the EPG from it. I performed a grab from within WebEPG, but this didn't help. I'm assuming that since this grabs from the internet, it isn't working in the same way as you mentioned above.

How do I initiate a grab from the "DVB EPG" section to see if it works? Do I need to map it to the WebEPG in order to make the grab using this as the source, or just leave it enabled in the DVB EPG section as you outline above.

 

[CyberSimian]

How do I initiate a grab from the "DVB EPG" section to see if it works?

I use DVB-T/T2, so what I am about to say might not be entirely correct.

If you go to the "Manual Control" section in "TV Server Config", there should be a button labelled "Grab EPG" (or similar). Click that. It will discard the existing EPG and then perform an immediate grab of the EPG from the satellite. One of the tuners should change from "idle" to "grabbing EPG". Wait for that tuner to revert to "idle" (this may take 10-15 minutes, perhaps longer). Don't watch a TV channel or listen to a radio station while doing this.

The above is not the normal procedure for grabbing the EPG. Normally it happens automatically, depending on what options you selected on the "DVB EPG" panel:

(1) If you select "grab while timeshifting/recording", the EPG will be grabbed only when one of those activities is performed. So if you use your HTPC to listen to music and don't watch or record TV for several days, the EPG will not be updated.

(2) If you select "grab while idle", the EPG will (typically) be grabbed when a recording finishes or you stop watching TV. So you put the HTPC to sleep, but in fact it will continue running because it is grabbing the EPG. Don't worry -- it will sleep when the EPG grab is finished.

You can enable (1), (2), or both. (With DVB-T, I use (2) only.)

Do I need to map it to the WebEPG in order to make the grab using this as the source

WebEPG (and any other internet EPGs) should all be disabled. They are not required, and if they remain active, they may cause problems.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[Jon Sawers]

I use DVB-T/T2, so what I am about to say might not be entirely correct.

If you go to the "Manual Control" section in "TV Server Config", there should be a button labelled "Grab EPG" (or similar). Click that. It will discard the existing EPG and then perform an immediate grab of the EPG from the satellite. One of the tuners should change from "idle" to "grabbing EPG". Wait for that tuner to revert to "idle" (this may take 10-15 minutes, perhaps longer). Don't watch a TV channel or listen to a radio station while doing this.

I've disabled the WebEPG plug-in, and the Manual Control is currently working its way through the channels grabbing the EPG, so that is promising. The button in there is called "Refresh DVB EPG". I only have about 30 channels I'm using, so hopefully it won't take too long to complete. It doesn't seem to give a status or progression, so I don't know how far it has got through the 30 channels.

One thing I didn't establish from the documentation wiki, can I leave MP2 running when I go into the TV configuration, or should it be closed before making any changes? I've been assuming it should be closed, but that may be unnecessary.

 

[Jon Sawers]

EPG collection has finished. It shows BBC2 correctly now, but only now/next on all channels, not the 7-14 days of EPG I had before.

I have (2) ticked for EPG grabbing, and I've reduced the timeout on it to 2 minutes for testing purposes. After 5 minutes, there is still no change to the EPG

 

[Jasmeet_181]

Only tick the radio station labeled "Freesat Info", this carries the 7 day EPG for all of the Freesat channels.

 

[Jon Sawers]

Only tick the radio station labeled "Freesat Info", this carries the 7 day EPG for all of the Freesat channels.

I don't have a radio station by that name, but I'm guessing your link provides me with the details I need to add it, so I've added it manually... I think I've deciphered it correctly as attached.

 

[Jasmeet_181]

Try clicking on the Update satellite list button before rescanning for channels or use the details from the KingOfSat link (Frequency: 11425000, Symbol Rate: 27500, Polarisation: Horizontal, Modulation: QPSK, Inner FEC rate: 2/3) to perform a single transponder scan.

 

[Jon Sawers]

Try clicking on the Update satellite list button before rescanning for channels or use the details from the KingOfSat link (Frequency: 11425000, Symbol Rate: 27500, Polarisation: Horizontal, Modulation: QPSK, Inner FEC rate: 2/3) to perform a single transponder scan.

I am guessing I can't do that whilst MP2 is recording, as one tuner needs to be free? There's a show on currently, but it appears to be recording it twice (my tuner has dual inputs). Not sure why that is happening, but I'll clear out my recording schedule once I get the shows done for tonight.