XMLTV not processing EPG data (1 Viewer)

[technoweary]

Win7 re-installed with MP1.33 but again xmltv imports the channels but not the data

There is a mention in the logs about "xmltv: xmlTvLastUpdate not found, forcing import String was not recognized as a valid DateTime." but unfortunately this is beyond my expertise
I have attached the logs and the TVGuide.xml and I hope someone may be able to see what I am doing wrong

Regards
TW

 

[CyberSimian]

Win7 re-installed with MP1.33 but again xmltv imports themltv-32bit channels but not the data

It was worth trying an install of MP 1.33 on Windows 7, but it turns out that MP 1.37 on Windows 10 was not the cause of the problem.

I installed EPG Collector on my test laptop, and eventually persuaded it to download the EPG for DVB-T. But trying to import "TvGuide.xml" in "TV Server Config" produced the same result as you -- the channel info was imported, but the programme info was not. This was because I had not set up XmlTv correctly.

The "read_me" file in the "xmltv" folder in the "TV Server" folder tree says to download the 32-bit version of XmlTv, but that information is out of date. The SourceForge web site shows two versions of XmlTv -- one for 32-bit, and another for 64-bit:

XMLTV

Download XMLTV for free. XMLTV obtains and processes TV listings data. XMLTV is a set of programs to process TV (tvguide) listings and help manage your TV viewing, storing listings in an XML-based format. There are utilities to download TV listings for many countries, filter programs and Perl...

sourceforge.net

You need to download the version that is appropriate for the bitness of the MP that you have installed. Scroll down the SourceForge page to where the two zip files are listed, and click the one that you want. I had installed 64-bit MP 1.37, so I downloaded the 64-bit version of XmlTv.

The XmlTv zip also contains a more-recent version of the tag definitions, which I used in place of the one included in the MP installer. Result? Success:



-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[technoweary]

It was worth trying an install of MP 1.33 on Windows 7, but it turns out that MP 1.37 on Windows 10 was not the cause of the problem.

That's good news and thank you for your help on this. I spent all weekend trying different combinations of MediaPortal and EPG Collector without success. I will start again now and make sure I use the 64bit xmltv.
What OS did you use when you succeeded in getting it working, and where did you place the Collector.ini, TVGuide.xml & xmltv.dtd files?
Regards
TW

 

[CyberSimian]

What OS did you use when you succeeded in getting it working, and where did you place the Collector.ini, TVGuide.xml & xmltv.dtd files?

The OS was 64-bit Windows 10, with a first-time install of 64-bit MP 1.37.

The "Collector.ini" file was stored in the default location that the EPG-Centre GUI suggests -- a folder somewhere within the "Geekzone" folder tree.

The "TvGuide.xml" and "xmltv.dtd" files were stored in the "xmltv" folder within the "MediaPortal TV Server" folder tree within "ProgramData".

I don't have MP installed on the computer I am posting from, so I cannot give you complete filespecs for those folders at the moment; I hope that the above information is enough for you to find the correct locations.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[technoweary]

The OS was 64-bit Windows 10, with a first-time install of 64-bit MP 1.37.

The "Collector.ini" file was stored in the default location that the EPG-Centre GUI suggests -- a folder somewhere within the "Geekzone" folder tree.

The "TvGuide.xml" and "xmltv.dtd" files were stored in the "xmltv" folder within the "MediaPortal TV Server" folder tree within "ProgramData".

I don't have MP installed on the computer I am posting from, so I cannot give you complete filespecs for those folders at the moment; I hope that the above information is enough for you to find the correct locations.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

That's great, thank you so much for the info
I will launch into re-installing as soon as I get back, (unless other work has been assigned!)
Very much appreciated
Cheers
TW

 

[technoweary]

It was worth trying an install of MP 1.33 on Windows 7, but it turns out that MP 1.37 on Windows 10 was not the cause of the problem.

I installed EPG Collector on my test laptop, and eventually persuaded it to download the EPG for DVB-T. But trying to import "TvGuide.xml" in "TV Server Config" produced the same result as you -- the channel info was imported, but the programme info was not. This was because I had not set up XmlTv correctly.

The "read_me" file in the "xmltv" folder in the "TV Server" folder tree says to download the 32-bit version of XmlTv, but that information is out of date. The SourceForge web site shows two versions of XmlTv -- one for 32-bit, and another for 64-bit:

XMLTV

Download XMLTV for free. XMLTV obtains and processes TV listings data. XMLTV is a set of programs to process TV (tvguide) listings and help manage your TV viewing, storing listings in an XML-based format. There are utilities to download TV listings for many countries, filter programs and Perl...

sourceforge.net

You need to download the version that is appropriate for the bitness of the MP that you have installed. Scroll down the SourceForge page to where the two zip files are listed, and click the one that you want. I had installed 64-bit MP 1.37, so I downloaded the 64-bit version of XmlTv.

The XmlTv zip also contains a more-recent version of the tag definitions, which I used in place of the one included in the MP installer. Result? Success:

View attachment 216562

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

Hello, back again, after a monumental fight with Win10 re-install.
I set everything up as you described but to no avail on my system. again xmltv loading all channels but no data.

It took ages to get Win10 re-installed as I have been switching from Win7 and back to Win10 it seems that Win10 gets very stroppy about re-installing!
I had to re-install from a very old media creation optical disc and go through years of updates otherwise I kept getting very strange messages and failure messages. Eventually got it up and running so that I could get updates to download and bring it up to date, (squeezing every last update out of Microsoft before I installed MP 1.37!

Very frustrating to see it fail again, however I see that epgtechtalk has kindly given me some pointers to check out so I will give that a try and let you know how I get on
Thanks for your attention, its very much appreciated and it gives me confidencve that it must be possible to get it back working. I just need to identify where it is not happy on my setup.
I have attached the log and the TVGuide.xml
Regards
TW

 

[technoweary]

If the MediaPortal xmltv plugin imports channels but ignores the EPG data from TVGuide.xml, here's how to troubleshoot. First, verify the EPG Collector output is correctly placed in the MediaPortal TV Server\xmltv folder alongside the unpacked xmltv-1.4.0 files and the xmltv.dtd. The plugin requires all three components in this location.

Check if the TVGuide.xml follows the correct format. The xmltv-1.4.0 parser can reject files with malformed data. Open the file in a text editor and scan for obvious errors like unclosed tags or incorrect timestamps. Save a backup before making changes.

Confirm the xmltv plugin settings in MediaPortal TV Server point to the right TVGuide.xml file path. Sometimes the plugin configuration gets reset during updates. The channel mappings between your TV setup and the XMLTV data must also match exactly. Mismatched channel IDs will cause the EPG data to be ignored.

For testing, try processing a smaller subset of channels in TVGuide.xml. If this works, the issue may be file size or corrupted data. The xmltv-1.4.0 version has specific requirements for valid EPG data that some sources don't meet. You might need to pre-process the XML through a validator before importing.

Thanks for the information, most useful as I am still struggling.
I will go through the points you mention and see how it responds
Thanks for the help, very much appreciated
Regards
TW

 

[technoweary]

If the MediaPortal xmltv plugin imports channels but ignores the EPG data from TVGuide.xml, here's how to troubleshoot. First, verify the EPG Collector output is correctly placed in the MediaPortal TV Server\xmltv folder alongside the unpacked xmltv-1.4.0 files and the xmltv.dtd. The plugin requires all three components in this location.

Check if the TVGuide.xml follows the correct format. The xmltv-1.4.0 parser can reject files with malformed data. Open the file in a text editor and scan for obvious errors like unclosed tags or incorrect timestamps. Save a backup before making changes.

Confirm the xmltv plugin settings in MediaPortal TV Server point to the right TVGuide.xml file path. Sometimes the plugin configuration gets reset during updates. The channel mappings between your TV setup and the XMLTV data must also match exactly. Mismatched channel IDs will cause the EPG data to be ignored.

For testing, try processing a smaller subset of channels in TVGuide.xml. If this works, the issue may be file size or corrupted data. The xmltv-1.4.0 version has specific requirements for valid EPG data that some sources don't meet. You might need to pre-process the XML through a validator before importing.

Hi epgtechtalk
The TVGuide, and xmltv files reside all go into C:\Program Data\TeamMediaPortal\xmltv\
Re configured EPG Collector to grab one channel and set up xmltv in MediaPortal for the one import but the same result
Just the channel and no data?
The only thing I can see is the TVGuide.xml does state xmltv version 1.0 although I unpacked 1.4 in the xmltv folder?
I do not have the technical expertise to see any issues in the log or TVGuide so files are attached
Thanks again for the help, much appreciated
Regards
TW

 

[CyberSimian]

The TVGuide, and xmltv files reside all go into C:\Program Data\TeamMediaPortal\xmltv\

That is not the correct location. Is it a typo in your post, or are the files really in that folder?
This is where that folder should reside and what it should contain:

 Volume in drive C is 10L_137S_20250607_1ST
 Volume Serial Number is 227E-9B80

 Directory of C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\xmltv

2025-06-09  10:31    <DIR>          .
2025-06-09  10:31    <DIR>          ..
2025-05-03  19:06               522 ReadMe.txt
2025-06-09  08:45        11,875,745 TVGuide.xml
2025-05-25  01:15            30,516 xmltv.dtd
2025-05-03  19:06            22,416 xmltv.dtd0
2025-05-25  01:17        28,423,474 xmltv.exe
               5 File(s)     40,352,673 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  40,524,308,480 bytes free

The file "xmltv.dtd0" is the version of the "dtd" file that is included in the MP installer, but as you can see it is significantly smaller than the one included in the XmlTv zip file, so I renamed the MP one and I used the zip-file one, and that caused no problems.

This is the XmlTv that I used:

 Volume in drive D is IP700_D
 Volume Serial Number is 70FD-3000

 Directory of D:\store\x\xmltv\1_4_0\64

2025-06-09  10:29    <DIR>          .
2025-06-09  10:29    <DIR>          ..
2025-05-25  01:15            17,895 Changes
2025-05-25  01:15            18,431 COPYING
2025-05-25  01:15            10,798 QuickStart
2025-05-25  01:15             6,284 README-Windows.md
2025-06-09  10:16        22,754,561 xmltv-1.4.0-win64.zip
2025-05-25  01:15            30,516 xmltv.dtd
2025-05-25  01:17        28,423,474 xmltv.exe
               7 File(s)     51,261,959 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  22,815,662,080 bytes free

I unzipped the XmlTv zip file into the above folder, and then copied the "exe" and "dtd" files into the MP TV Server folder shown earlier.

This is the EPG Collector folder where the "ini" file is stored:

 Volume in drive C is 10L_137S_20250607_1ST
 Volume Serial Number is 227E-9B80

 Directory of C:\Users\Iceman\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector

2025-06-11  18:27    <DIR>          .
2025-06-11  18:27    <DIR>          ..
2025-06-09  08:45               224 EPG Collector.hst
2025-06-09  08:39               311 EPG Collector.ini
2025-06-09  08:34               307 EPG Collector.ini.bak
2025-06-09  09:28           123,106 EPG Collector.log
2025-06-11  18:27                 0 epgcollector.txt
2025-06-08  01:02    <DIR>          TuningParameters
               5 File(s)        123,948 bytes
               3 Dir(s)  40,522,731,520 bytes free

I hope that this helps to get XmlTv working for you.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[technoweary]

That is not the correct location. Is it a typo in your post, or are the files really in that folder?

Yes, that's a typo, (it must be the hours spent fighting Windows10), I gave you totally wrong information. Apologies.

I unpacked the xmltv 1.4.0 win64.zip into C:\Program Data\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\xmltv
I let the xmltv.dtd file replace the existing file that was installed with Mediaportal 1.37
The original file was smaller, as you say
TVGuide.xml is output by EPG Collector into the same location

The EPG Config file is here

Very sorry about the wrong info but it looks as though the setup is the same on my system

epgtechtalk suggested that I reduce the amount of channels grabbed as a test and that sounded like a good idea so I re-configured EPG Collector to just grab the BBC News channel and set the xmltv for the one channel in MP. However it did not make any difference and imported the name but none of the data

The TVGuide.xml file with the one channel looks OK to me but I did notice that it is showing xmltv version as version="1.0", not 1.4

Thanks again for all your help on this
Regards
TW