Schedules Direct just not updating (2 Viewers)

[mores369]

I'm experiencing a problem with Schedules Direct that I didn't have in MP 1.7, but I changed a few things when I updated to MP 1.8 a few months ago. I'm running WHS 2011 and have a HD Homerun Prime Cable Card. Here's the situation:

Starting from the beginning, I do a channel scan in the normal way (TV servers, pick my card, scan in Digital Cable, map channels to other cards), then delete the channels I don't pay for. There are 6 main channels I watch (between channel numbers 600-617). I go to the Schedules Direct plugin, and have it download the details for those 6 channels, and then do the proper TV combinations and everything seems fine. I can force Schedules direct to do a full guide update, manually stop and restart the TV Service, and the TV guide gives the proper listings. Everything seems cool.

The problem is that the EPG is only downloaded once for 13 days. It just stops updating for some reason. The only way I can get updated data is to allow Schedules Direct to automatically add new channels and redo the channel combinations. Then it updates for 13 more days, and never again.

I tried getting rid of all the channels and starting over, but nothing seems to help. Any thoughts? There are a lot of Schedules direct errors in the TVService-error and TVService (look for 2014-09-10 07:34:32). I've removed all of the scheduled programs and redid them, but nothing gets rid of the "orphaned once schedule found 47" error.

Thanks in advance!
~Mike

 

[mm1352000]

Hello Mike

It is really hard to see the wood for the trees with those orphaned once log entries running every 15 seconds. The reason for that error is the channel linked to the schedule which TV Server is trying to delete has been deleted. Now the only way to get rid of that error is to manually delete the schedule from your TV Server database or start over with a fresh database.

If I were you I would sort that out before anything else.

mm

 

[mores369]

Thanks for the advice. I tried doing a full delete/re-install, and all of the database errors disappeared! Except Schedules Direct still isn't updating.
It even thinks it is updated, which is the weird thing. If you look at the TVService log file, at 2014-09-16, 05:43am, it thinks the data is good through 9/29. But you can see in the attached file that the data stops on Wednesday, the 24th, exactly 13 days after I installed it.

So, attached are the log file again. Maybe it's something simple I'm just missing....
Thanks again for your help!

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks for the advice. I tried doing a full delete/re-install, and all of the database errors disappeared!

Great.

If you look at the TVService log file, at 2014-09-16, 05:43am, it thinks the data is good through 9/29. But you can see in the attached file that the data stops on Wednesday, the 24th, exactly 13 days after I installed it.

The channels in your guide are named like "600 WHADT". However, the channels SD is updating appear to be named like "WHADT (WHA-DT)". It is like you might have two sets of channels; one which is getting updated and that is not shown in the guide, and another which is not getting updated but is shown in the guide.
Please can you take a screenshot of the TV Channels section in TV Server configuration. I want to see your channel lists...

 

[mores369]

So when I scan for channels, I only save the 6 channels I watch. Then I have to combine the channels with the 6 that come from Schedules Direct, and the EPG is populated like it should be. If I don't combine the channels, my original channels never get EPG data. The "channels not mapped to card" are the ones from Schedules Direct. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[mm1352000]

Am I doing something wrong?

Yes, I think so.
The data the SD is pulling in is getting assigned to those 6 channels which are marked with the green bubble and "Channel not mapped to a card". The other 6 channels which you actually show in your guide are not getting any data. This is as a result of your process.

Then I have to combine the channels with the 6 that come from Schedules Direct, and the EPG is populated like it should be. If I don't combine the channels, my original channels never get EPG data.

This explains why you get the initial 14 days of data.
The data is initially linked to the channels created by the SD plugin. The data gets transferred when you combine the pairs... but at that point the all-important SD mapping is lost, which means your combined channels will never get updated data.

IMHO the best way to solve this problem is to get SD to link to the channels that are scanned in rather than having it create duplicate channels which you combine. To do that:

1. Delete the 6 SD channels marked with "Channel not mapped to a card".
2. Delete the SD tuning detail for each of the 6 combined channels:
   1. Double click to edit the channel.
   2. Select the tuning detail with the green bubble.
   3. Click "remove".
   4. Click OK.
3. Rename each of the 6 previously combined channels to match the SD callsign. So for example, "600 WHADT" should be renamed simply to "WHADT".
4. In the SD plugin configuration "advanced options" tab tick "force guide update on next TvService startup".
5. Go to the "manual control" section in TV Server configuration.
6. Click "stop service"... then "start service".
7. Wait a couple minutes.
8. Go to the "TV channels" section. You should not see any new channels created by SD. If you do, it means you've done something wrong; probably the name of the TV Server channel doesn't match the SD callsign.
   
9. Open MP and check that the guide is full.

Don't hesitate to ask if any of the above is not clear.

mm

 

[mores369]

It totally worked, and now I just feel like an idiot. It was such a simple fix, and I've been stumped for weeks. I assumed two things - that the little red bubble meant that something wasn't right (that's why I was combining channels) and that I had to name the channel exactly as I saw on the Schedules Direct website (600 WHADT). I didn't realize the naming scheme had to be right on to automatically get the EPG.

By combining channels, I was hoping that it would pick up the schedule from the channel that Schedules Direct was adding and apply it to the channel I scanned. I guess that's not the case, huh? From re-reading the Wiki it looks like that's only for combining the same channel from different cards. My misunderstanding.

Anyway, thanks again for all the great support. I'll donate to the cause tomorrow when I'm supposed to be working. You made my night!

 

[mm1352000]

It totally worked, and now I just feel like an idiot. It was such a simple fix, and I've been stumped for weeks.

Don't feel like an idiot. I'd simply encourage you to realise that there are people here that would be very happy to help you, and that asking for help might save you some time.

I assumed two things - that the little red bubble meant that something wasn't right (that's why I was combining channels)...

For the record: red means the channel is encrypted; green means it is not encrypted.
Half and half means the channel has both encrypted and non-encrypted tuning details.
Technically the channels that the SD plugin creates should probably be red as well.

...and that I had to name the channel exactly as I saw on the Schedules Direct website (600 WHADT). I didn't realize the naming scheme had to be right on to automatically get the EPG.

Getting the SD plugin to link the data to the channels trips up quite a lot of people. I saw so many questions about this that one day I went and looked at the plugin code so I'd have an answer. Suffice to say it isn't exactly obvious, and there is room for improvement for the SD plugin developers.

By combining channels, I was hoping that it would pick up the schedule from the channel that Schedules Direct was adding and apply it to the channel I scanned. I guess that's not the case, huh? From re-reading the Wiki it looks like that's only for combining the same channel from different cards. My misunderstanding.

Actually, combining channels could have worked I think, so it wasn't a silly idea.

Anyway, thanks again for all the great support. I'll donate to the cause tomorrow when I'm supposed to be working. You made my night!

No problem and thanks!

Regards,
mm

 

[DCG]

I just went through the same problem and ended up having to do the same thing to get schedules to work. But I do not have any of the cable boxes and use the the number & name the channel scan on the tv set gets. I need to change the displayed name that media portal uses and was wondering if I rename my channels now that they are working will it mess up schedules direct again. I have done the setup so many times already.

 

[mm1352000]

and was wondering if I rename my channels now that they are working will it mess up schedules direct again.

No. Once the channels are linked, they stay linked even after renaming.