skywalker-1 tuner scan all dish channel get unknown name (1 Viewer)

mm1352000

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    Just let me know exactly what I have to do after I unzip to use the new file you posted.
    1. Stop the TV service.
      1. Open TV Server configuration.
      2. Go to the "manual control" section.
      3. Click "stop service".
    2. Open Windows Explorer.
    3. Navigate to your TV Server install directory (typically C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server).
    4. Take a backup of the TsWriter.ax file.
    5. Download and extract the provided TsWriter into the TV Server install directory.
    6. Start the TV service.
    7. Backup your channels and channel groups (this can be done in the "import/export" section of TV Server configuration).
    8. Go to the TV Channels section, select all channels and delete. Repeat for the Radio Channels section.
    9. Ensure your SDT/VCT timeout (in "General" section, "Scan" tab) is set reasonably high - of the order of 60 to 120 seconds should do it I think.
    10. Scan...
    After that, I guess you'd just confirm that all channels have names... and use Workbench or some other DB tool to check the TSID and ONID values are correct first time. Fingers crossed they will be... which should mean EPG should "just work" when you enable the grabber.

    One question regarding channel numbers...
    I did a quick check against the Dish TV guide and I get the impression that they use the service ID (AKA program number) as the [logical] channel number (ie. the number you use to select a channel on your remote).
    1. Can you confirm that is correct?
    2. Do you currently use the right-click menu in the "TV Channels" section to set all your channel numbers?
    I think the 3 "...SID..." options in that menu are Dish-specific, and I'd like to remove them if at all possible. Less configuration, less hidden menus => better product (in my opinion).
     

    wderbi

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    Just let me know exactly what I have to do after I unzip to use the new file you posted.

    One question regarding channel numbers...
    I did a quick check against the Dish TV guide and I get the impression that they use the service ID (AKA program number) as the [logical] channel number (ie. the number you use to select a channel on your remote).
    1. Can you confirm that is correct?
    2. Do you currently use the right-click menu in the "TV Channels" section to set all your channel numbers?
    I think the 3 "...SID..." options in that menu are Dish-specific, and I'd like to remove them if at all possible. Less configuration, less hidden menus => better product (in my opinion).

    (A) You are correct. The channel number is indeed the SID number and many of the top DVB apps/ FTA receivers that folks use on this side of the pond for Dish/BEV(Bell) will allow automatic assigning SID as Channel number after a scan. Most of those DVB devices will scan the channels and then allow you to arrange channels so that the SID=the logical channel number. One particular problem with this is that both DN and BEV have several channels that share the same SID. For folks who have channel list with both providers, this can be a problem. However, this problem is addressed in several of the better FTA receivers (such as Sonicview 8000HD) by having a routine that adds 2000 to all Bev channels: for example, BEV channel number for SID 209 would be 2209, or BEV SID 1500 would be 3500. This works out well because there are no Dishnet channels between 2000-3000. Would this be difficult to add to MP?

    (B) Now, as for your second question, yes I do "right click" to arrange my channels. I first do a "rename by adding SID to name", then I arrange list by SID which looks really nice in the guide to have channels listed in order as they would on a provider's box. Unfortunately, when you order by SID, MP orders the list correctly, but numbering of the channels must start with number 1, correct? For example, Dishnet's first SID (and logical channel number) is 100. However, if I type 100 on my remote, I get SID 240 (or something close). If I try tuning SID 140 (ESPN), I have to press 42 on my remote; If I want to tune SID 498 :sneaky:, I have to press 300 on the remote. It would be really nice if channel numbering can be done by SID AND logical numbering matches SID. If you were not able to add this feature, then I would ask that you do not remove the "..SID..." option.

    (C) I will test the Tswriter in a few hours. Right now, I am running 1.5...I scanned channels in with 1.3, exported data, upgraded to 1.5. and then imported channels. With my current setup, I can grab BEVs 9day guide through the satellite stream just fine with BEV SID 213; however, attempts to grab Dishnet's 9 day guide (DISH SID 239) seems to cause MP to "lockup" or "crash" after about 5 mins. I am guessing it is because it is a memory intensive event, but my single-seat HTPC is pretty beefy specs-wise (AMD Phenom II X4 965 AM3 3.4Ghz processor; 4gig memory, 64 bit). I end up having to stick with the 44-day guide for Dish (SID 200). Is there a known problem with the Dish 9-day guide, or am I correct that I am tapping out the CPU resources trying to get that guide?

    (D) Please correct me if I am wrong when it comes to EPGgrabber. It seems as if the only way I can get the EPG grabber to actually provide a guide for me in mediaportal is to do the following:

    (1) open TVserver config
    (2) make sure I have channels selected in TV EPG section that I want to use to grab EPG (I have SIDs 200, 239, 163 checked for Dish, 213 and 240 checked for BEV).
    (3) Go to the "manual control" section, select channel I want to manually test (ie 200 or 239), then press "start timeshift" , then press "refresh EPG", and let that go for about 15 min or so.

    I see the 'Timeshifting(grabbing EPG)' message on the tuner status, and I can see "packets received" steadily increasing. If it does not lock up (ie like it does using SID 239) and after about 15 min, the status changes to 'timeshifting' and I then press "stop Timeshift". I have a really nice guide when I start MP, and it is the only way I have had success.

    However, I keep reading that the EPG grabber works while MP is in standby. In fact, if I open the "manual control" section, I see that the EPGgrabber starts to work on its own after a few seconds, and I see SID 239 (or 200) 'Grabbing EPG' message in the tuner status window. After a good while, the tuner goes back to 'Idle'; however, there is NO EPG data in the guide when I start MP!:( Grabbing EPG while in standby is not working for me...I can only get EPG data in the guide only if I press "start timeshift". I am not able to populate the guide either if I was to tune to the EPG channel and watch TV in MP...for example, all of the channels are selected in the TV-EPG section of TVserver as above (200, 239, 163)---- If I am watching those channels for 30 min or so, shouldn't the EPG grabber be able to grab EPG and add data to the guide within that time? This is not grabbing EPG data for me!
     
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    mm1352000

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    Hello again :)

    First, thanks for the extensive reply - much appreciated! ...and sorry in advance for this exceedingly long response.

    (A) You are correct. The channel number is indeed the SID number and many of the top DVB apps/ FTA receivers that folks use on this side of the pond for Dish/BEV(Bell) will allow automatic assigning SID as Channel number after a scan.
    Right, okay. I'm going to have a think about whether we can do the same.

    One particular problem with this is that both DN and BEV have several channels that share the same SID. ... Would this be difficult to add to MP?
    I hope you'll forgive my ignorance... but are BEV and DN related? Do they have the same quirks? How many shared SIDs are there?

    (B) Now, as for your second question, yes I do "right click" to arrange my channels. I first do a "rename by adding SID to name"...
    Assuming we can assign LCNs correctly I would like to remove this function because the same result can be achieved in a more "generic" way by using the "show channel number" option in MP configuration.
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...ion/MediaPortal_Configuration/22_TV/TV_Client

    ...then I arrange list by SID which looks really nice in the guide to have channels listed in order as they would on a provider's box.
    Again, assuming we can assign LCNs correctly, the same can be achieved by sorting by channel number in the channel groups (or by the channel number column in the main TV Channels section/list).
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...ver_Configuration/03_TV_Channels#Other_groups

    Unfortunately, when you order by SID, MP orders the list correctly, but numbering of the channels must start with number 1, correct?
    No, not at all.

    For example, Dishnet's first SID (and logical channel number) is 100. However, if I type 100 on my remote, I get SID 240 (or something close). If I try tuning SID 140 (ESPN), I have to press 42 on my remote; If I want to tune SID 498 :sneaky:, I have to press 300 on the remote. It would be really nice if channel numbering can be done by SID AND logical numbering matches SID. If you were not able to add this feature, then I would ask that you do not remove the "..SID..." option.
    It sounds like you want to turn off the "select channels by index" option in MP configuration:
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...ion/MediaPortal_Configuration/22_TV/TV_Client

    When enabled, the channel number you enter on your remote must match the position/index of the channel in the list.
    When disabled, the channel number you enter on your remote must match the logical channel number (ie. the Dish/BEV SID).

    (C) I will test the Tswriter in a few hours.
    Thanks! :)

    With my current setup, I can grab BEVs 9day guide through the satellite stream just fine with BEV SID 213; however, attempts to grab Dishnet's 9 day guide (DISH SID 239) seems to cause MP to "lockup" or "crash" after about 5 mins. ... Is there a known problem with the Dish 9-day guide, or am I correct that I am tapping out the CPU resources trying to get that guide?
    To be honest I consider the fact that the BEV guide works to be a miracle, and I'm not surprised that the Dish guide doesn't work. These features were added long before my time and I don't really understand how they work. In short, there is no known problem... but equally, I never knew it to work previously. I'd be more than happy to troubleshoot with you if you can provide log files... :)

    (D) Please correct me if I am wrong when it comes to EPGgrabber...
    I have no idea whether the channels/SIDs you quoted are correct, however assuming that they are... I'm not sure the process is quite right. Other configuration options are relevant.
    In this section:
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...figuration/TV-Server_Configuration/05_DVB_EPG
    ...what are your settings for:
    1. Grab EPG only for channels on same transponder. I expect this should be disabled in order to ensure EPG for all channels is grabbed.
    2. EPG grabbing when timeshifting/recording. Normally I expect this should be enabled so that MP updates the EPG if you happen to view/record and of the channels that you mentioned.... though if there is a lot of EPG data... sometimes updating the database has been known to cause stutters in timeshifting/recording... so maybe you have this disabled?
    3. EPG grabbing when idle. I expect this should be enabled so that TV Server automatically updates the EPG when your tuner(s) are all idle.
    Over in this section:
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...ver_Configuration/05_DVB_EPG/1_TV_EPG_Grabber
    ...I'd expect:
    1. Store data only for selected channels to be disabled, because you're grabbing EPG for all channels from only a few transponders.
    2. One channel from each transponder that carries guide data should be selected.
    That is my idea of an ideal configuration.
    Getting back to your question...
    (3) Go to the "manual control" section, select channel I want to manually test (ie 200 or 239), then press "start timeshift" , then press "refresh EPG", and let that go for about 15 min or so.
    First I should say that this would be a testing process, right? Normally we should expect TV Server to be configured in such a way that it just automatically grabs EPG as/when required/possible.
    The "refresh EPG" step would wipe out all existing EPG... and assuming you have the timeshifting/recording EPG grabber enabled TV Server should attempt to grab EPG during that 15 minutes, yes.

    I see the 'Timeshifting(grabbing EPG)' message on the tuner status, and I can see "packets received" steadily increasing. If it does not lock up (ie like it does using SID 239) and after about 15 min, the status changes to 'timeshifting' and I then press "stop Timeshift". I have a really nice guide when I start MP, and it is the only way I have had success.
    Like I said, I'm more than happy to help you troubleshoot the lock-ups - I just need the logs and a date + time to tell me when you observed/noticed the lock-up. :)

    However, I keep reading that the EPG grabber works while MP is in standby.
    The EPG grabber can work while all tuners are idle if (and only if) you have the idle EPG grabber enabled as described above. MediaPortal does not have to be open, however the TV Server has to be running (ie. the PC must not be in standby). To be clear, the EPG grabber can't work while a PC is asleep (standby or hibernate)... though I think you can configure the PowerScheduler plugin to periodically wake the PC to grab EPG.
    Personally I think the first key thing to confirm is that TV Server is capable of grabbing the EPG data that you've referred to. The second key thing to confirm is that the channels/transponders that you've configured for grabbing are correct.

    In fact, if I open the "manual control" section... If I am watching those channels for 30 min or so, shouldn't the EPG grabber be able to grab EPG and add data to the guide within that time? This is not grabbing EPG data for me!
    As per my comments above, let's confirm/check:
    1. Your settings are correct.
    2. TV Server is capable of grabbing the EPG data that you're looking for.
    3. The channels that you've selected for grabbing are correct.
    ...and then let's have log files so we can track exactly what TV Server is doing. :)

    Warm regards,
    mm
     

    wderbi

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    Hello MM,

    I will go through your post in detail, but not until after Monday Night Football (American football).;)

    However, I did a few tests with the modified TSwriter. First, the channel scan appears to name the channels as well as MP1.3. For example, with SDT/VCT set at 100 sec, I scan in 181 TV channels on 118/119W and about 20-23 channels were "unknown"...which is pretty good. If I set SDT/VCT at 60, I get 187 TV channels, but about 50% "unknown". I guess a tweak to SDT/VCT 120 might be even better! Good job taking care of the "unknown channels"!

    Here is the problem however: when I last scanned 118/119 in the channels in MP1.3, I got 681 channels! Now I get between 181-189 on 4 different scans. Somehow, I lost ~500 channels using the same scanning settings as in 1.3!:eek: Is there any chance that the channels selection process is now a bit more exclusive causing some channels to be skipped that are below the new/ modified threshold?

    After the game, I will look into the scans in more detail...I want to make sure that my modified sat.ini files have not been changed and try the scans again. For now, my initial assessment is: Unknown channels issue = fixed, but channels found are way down.

    I did not try EPG scanning yet because other things I had to do before the game came on....
     

    wderbi

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    OK, a correction: My modified sat.ini files were NOT there! I guess with the upgrade to 1.5, all that got replaced. After sorting everything out finally, I was able to scan in 691 channels on 118w/119w...and there were less than 10 "unknown channels" scattered throughout with SDT/VCT at 120. I think this is a wonderful improvement fixing the DN scanning...GREAT JOB!;)

    I am too tired to check the scanning of the other birds tonite....I am off to bed! Will check on the other stuff tomorrow!

    Secondary assessment: Unknown channels issue = fixed; Scanning efficiency= no problems!(y)
     

    Owlsroost

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    Installed MP 1.5 + patched TsWriter yesterday - all seems to be working fine, all channels scan OK and no '10000' LCNs, (on UK Freeview/Freeview HD).

    I'll create a Jira issue for this mod.
     

    wderbi

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    Hi MM, I have gotten around to doing some more playing around and I can now report on my findings and address some of your questions:

    I hope you'll forgive my ignorance... but are BEV and DN related? Do they have the same quirks? How many shared SIDs are there?
    Yes, they are sister providers...both owned and operated by EchoStar, and uses the same technology and equipment. They both have the same quirks in a lot of ways; however, Dish handles the EPG slightly different and it is a lot more complicated with TID info.

    There are many like SIDs on both providers...at least 50-60 services with like SIDs (though they are NOT the same actual service!)

    When enabled, the channel number you enter on your remote must match the position/index of the channel in the list. When disabled, the channel number you enter on your remote must match the logical channel number (ie. the Dish/BEV SID).

    That did the trick my friend!!! :) Now I could type in the SID (LCN) on the remote, and bam...correct channel! Thanks for the tip! Is there a way to allow more time to input a channel using a standard Windows MCE remote? Anything more than two digits is a challenge unless you are precise with the button placement on your remote! The time allowed is really brief.

    As per my comments above, let's confirm/check: Your settings are correct. TV Server is capable of grabbing the EPG data that you're looking for. The channels that you've selected for grabbing are correct. ...and then let's have log files so we can track exactly what TV Server is doing
    I had my EPG grabbing setup exactly as you described as the ideal setup, but I could never get EPG to populate after standby for some reason. However, today after really paying attention, I see that it wasn't working because of the complications/ issues with the Dish 9-day EPG (discussed below). If I was to delete (uncheck) the Dish 9-day EPG channel (239 WGN) from the list of channels selected to grab guide, and used only the Dish 44hr EPG channel (200 CNN), I was able to grab the guide in standby. The key is to allow enough time for it to grab complete guide data, which I believe it goes to "idle" when that happens. In my tests so far, it looks like about 10-15 min for the dish 44hr guide, and about 15-18 min for the BEV 9-day guide (BEV SID 113).

    To be honest I consider the fact that the BEV guide works to be a miracle, and I'm not surprised that the Dish guide doesn't work. These features were added long before my time and I don't really understand how they work. In short, there is no known problem... but equally, I never knew it to work previously. I'd be more than happy to troubleshoot with you if you can provide log files
    Yes BEV does work and MP handles grabbing the 9-day guide well on my system using BEV SID 113 (not 213 I mistakenly said in the earlier post!). Unfortunately, the Dish 9-day EPG is a different story...at least on my system. In full disclosure, I seriously misrepresented my CPU specs in the earlier post: It is the Phenom X4 9350e quad core, but it is only a 2ghz processor:oops:...my main PC has that other processor in it!

    When trying to grab the 9-day Dish EPG (Dish SID 239), the TV server locks up (crashes) hard after about 6-7 minutes. I have to use task manager to stop TVserver, but I have to reboot the PC to get the TVserver service going again. :( Looking at the log, I get "'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown " Error at 2100 EST. If you look at the TVserver log in the zip archive, you will see that the crash occurred after successfully grabbing the BEV EPG. Perhaps the Dish 9-day EPG is much more memory intensive? I do know that they are handled by each provider differently.

    It could be a simple matter of my CPU is not beefy enough an will need to be upgraded. What do you think?

    Installed MP 1.5 + patched TsWriter yesterday - all seems to be working fine, all channels scan OK and no '10000' LCNs, (on UK Freeview/Freeview HD).

    FWIW, I do still see '10000' LCN after scanning BEV birds (91w/82w). However, it changes to SID after you use right-click to change channel number to SID. I didn't pay attention to whether DN scans did the same...

    Thanks in advanced!
     

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    mm1352000

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    Thanks again for the feedback wderbi! :)

    That did the trick my friend!!! :) Now I could type in the SID (LCN) on the remote, and bam...correct channel! Thanks for the tip! Is there a way to allow more time to input a channel using a standard Windows MCE remote? Anything more than two digits is a challenge unless you are precise with the button placement on your remote! The time allowed is really brief.
    Have a look here in MP configuration (note: need to be in advanced/expert mode - see top right corner):
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...al_Configuration/13_GUI/6_On-Screen_Display_*

    The zap delay is probably the setting you want to tweak. If not it will be the zap timeout. I can never seem to remember which is which, and I think the wiki may have the descriptions the wrong way around.

    Yes BEV does work and MP handles grabbing the 9-day guide well on my system using BEV SID 113 (not 213 I mistakenly said in the earlier post!). Unfortunately, the Dish 9-day EPG is a different story...at least on my system. In full disclosure, I seriously misrepresented my CPU specs in the earlier post: It is the Phenom X4 9350e quad core, but it is only a 2ghz processor:oops:...my main PC has that other processor in it!

    When trying to grab the 9-day Dish EPG (Dish SID 239), the TV server locks up (crashes) hard after about 6-7 minutes. I have to use task manager to stop TVserver, but I have to reboot the PC to get the TVserver service going again. :( Looking at the log, I get "'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown " Error at 2100 EST. If you look at the TVserver log in the zip archive, you will see that the crash occurred after successfully grabbing the BEV EPG. Perhaps the Dish 9-day EPG is much more memory intensive? I do know that they are handled by each provider differently.
    Hmmm....
    dvb:dvb ready.EPG 6730 channels
    That is a lot of channels. I'll take a look at the code and see what I can see. No promises...

    It could be a simple matter of my CPU is not beefy enough an will need to be upgraded. What do you think?
    No, it isn't your CPU. If anything it is your memory (RAM)... however the code may need to be rejigged to handle that huge number of channels.

    FWIW, I do still see '10000' LCN after scanning BEV birds (91w/82w). However, it changes to SID after you use right-click to change channel number to SID. I didn't pay attention to whether DN scans did the same...
    Yeah - that is as expected for the moment. Ideally we'd just pick up the LCN correctly. DN/BEV are the only provider I know of which uses SID as LCN.
     

    wderbi

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    The zap delay is probably the setting you want to tweak. If not it will be the zap timeout. I can never seem to remember which is which, and I think the wiki may have the descriptions the wrong way around.
    Thanks...I will check that out!(y)

    That is a lot of channels. I'll take a look at the code and see what I can see. No promises...
    What the...???!!! Where did MP get that number?:eek: I have scanned in ~2700 TV channels in my lists, maybe about 280 radio channels. Perhaps that number is representative of all possible services offered by both providers? Even that does not make sense to me...I cannot imagine anywhere near 4000 services that I am not in a spot beam for...perhaps 700-800 more, even that is a stretch!

    No, it isn't your CPU. If anything it is your memory (RAM)... however the code may need to be rejigged to handle that huge number of channels.
    Well, I am running ddr2 1066 4gig ram ...perhaps that is marginal for MP in my 64bit system?
     

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