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Message: <blockquote data-quote="typhoid" data-source="post: 678150" data-attributes="member: 97679">I'm still fairly new to MP, but I've managed to get it working here in the US with about 2 weeks of reliable program guide for my over-the-air stations.Here's my understanding of how it all works.  Hopefully someone who *really* knows can correct any errors.  Note that this applies to broadcast HD that I receive with an antenna.  I don't have cable, so I don't know how much, if any, of this applies to that.The "OTA" guide doesn't appear to do us much good here in the US.  As far as I can tell, US broadcasters are not sending out much, if any, guide data along with the broadcast signal.  I was able to get a couple of days from a few of my local stations, but that was it.Instead, we have to use the xmltv method, which involves the following:- You use an external program (not included with MP) to retrieve guide data from either SchedulesDirect or the guide service that Microsoft (M$) hosts for their Media Center package.  The retrieved guide data arrives at your computer as an xml file.  You may see references to other guide sources, like titantv, but here in the US the only stable, reliable sources that I found are SchedulesDirect and M$.- You create a batch file to execute the guide retriever and configure a "scheduled task" in Windows to run it once a day.  The xml file needs to have a specific name for MP, which is *not* what mc2xml names the file (of course!).  I just had the batch file rename the file after executing mc2xml.- You turn on the xmltv plugin in the MP TV Server configuration by checking the checkmark on the plugins page.- You configure the xmltv plugin to specify the folder where the guide retriever (mc2xml) is dropping the xml file.- You configure the xmtv plugin to map TV channels from the guide to channels on your TV capture card.  For me, this was the hardest thing to figure out.- Unless I've forgotten something, that's all that needs to be done.I decided to use mc2xml as the external "guide retriever".  It can retrieve guide data from either SchedulesDirect or the M$ service, but there is a "gotcha" regarding the M$ service:  The free version of mc2xml can only pull guide data from the old M$ service, which doesn't have much US broadcast HD guide data.  If you donate to mc2xml, the author will send you an enhanced version that can pull data from the "new" M$ service, which *does* include US broadcast HD guide data.ShedulesDirect is a "for fee" service, but the price is fairly reasonable from what I saw.  I chose to go with the donation version of mc2xml and the "new" M$ service because a one-time donation was less than the monthly subscription fee to SchedulesDirect.Hopefully this will help point you in the right direction.  If you need more detail, I can post a more "step-by-step" guide.Yes, it is a pain to set up, but I've been running rock-solid with an HDHomeRun and an AverTV HD Duet (4 tuners, yeah!) for several months.  The guide typically contains around 2 weeks of data and has been very accurate.Oh, and credit where credit is due - thanks to the MP team for making a really flexible and reliable alternative to M$ Media Center and thanks to all of the experts who posted enough hints and tips for me to finally figure out how to get it all set up and working.From what I've been able to learn, US broadcasters aren't required to include much OTA EPG.  I was only able to get a couple of days worth from my local stations.The HDHomeRun works just like internal tuners as far as MP is concerned.From what I can tell, mc2xml impersonates Windows Media Center and connects to the same guide source.  As such, Media Center isn't required for mc2xml to work.  I've successfully used mc2xml on Windows XP, which doesn't have Media Center.There is a catch though, in that there are 2 different Media Center guide sources.  The "old" source doesn't include much US OTA digital HD guide data.  The "new" source does.  The free version of mc2xml will only connect to the "old" source.  The "donate" version of mc2xml will connect to either guide source.</blockquote>

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