XP WMC Guide not supported?

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va45

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XP WMC Guide not supported?

#1

Post by va45 » Fri May 29, 2015 1:21 am

Looks like the XP WMC Guide update server is not working as of May 8th. Guide daily updates have stopped.
I could see the server access the data, but would not pull. So had to load Win7, and it worked with no problems.
The software sow the Charter and Direct TV box with no problems. Had to Rem to place the IR sensor over the box IR to make it change channels correctly. Sorry that XP WMC has stop, will miss it. We have a HP DEC Z558 and love it.

dkrom

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#2

Post by dkrom » Fri May 29, 2015 9:44 am

va45 wrote:Looks like the XP WMC Guide update server is not working as of May 8th. Guide daily updates have stopped.
I could see the server access the data, but would not pull. So had to load Win7, and it worked with no problems.
The software sow the Charter and Direct TV box with no problems. Had to Rem to place the IR sensor over the box IR to make it change channels correctly. Sorry that XP WMC has stop, will miss it. We have a HP DEC Z558 and love it.
This topic is coming up often... I'm jealous yours lasted so long, mine died back in November. I posted a workaround awhile back. It's below with a few updates:

I've found a workaround. It does require you obtain a copy of 2002 XP Media Center Edition (mine was SP1) and a second computer (it can be an old junk computer or probably even a laptop **Even better using a VM** - no TV card is needed with the 2002 version of Media Center). Basically, I have to start-up the 2002 machine once or twice a week (however updated I want my guide) and move some files to my 2005 Media Center Computer. It seems that the 2002 version creates some setup files to trigger a full 2 week download in a 2005 machine when the files are placed in the correct location. Below are directions if you are interested:

1. Install MCE2002 on a different machine.
2. On the 2002 machine Set up the guide exactly how you did on the MCE2005 machine. Just skip the IR sensor missing page and click next to continue without a remote. Make sure you select the right TV provider - remember to scroll down if necessary to select. DO NOT FINISH THE GUIDE SETUP, click back on that last screen until you get to the Welcome screen again.
3. In the 2002 machine go to the folder c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\eHome\EPG - there you will find four files with an alphanumeric code for a name but extensions of .guide, .programs, .scheduleentries, .xml - Copy these files to a flash drive. **I've found only the .xml needs to be copied, but I still do them all anyway.
4. Stop all services related to Media Center on the MCE2005 computer. (Control Panel>>Administrative Tools>>Services)
5. On the MCE2005 machine go to c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\eHome\EPG and create a backup folder, then move the 3 files in that folder with the extensions .xml, .sdf, and epg.sdf to the backup folder.
6. Copy and paste the 4 files from the flash drive (files from the 2002 machine) into that folder (c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\eHome\EPG)
7. Turn your services back on - as soon as you turn the services back on the 4 files will trigger a 2 week download of the guide. It will take about 10-15 minutes to download.

I keep mine in a VM and leave it at the Download Complete screen of the setup process on the 2002 machine. When I need the guide updated again I just open the VM, click back a couple times, and trigger a new download. I also setup shares so I don't need the flash drive anymore. The whole process takes about 5 minutes (not including step seven).

Do this however often you want your guide updated...

taylortrash

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#3

Post by taylortrash » Sun May 31, 2015 4:21 am

Anyone got a link to a 2002 iso I have a key but all I can find are my 2004 and 2005 discs

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Crash2009

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#4

Post by Crash2009 » Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:05 am

taylortrash wrote:Anyone got a link to a 2002 iso I have a key but all I can find are my 2004 and 2005 discs
Try the Windows XP Repository over at MDL. You will need a username and password.

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#5

Post by taylortrash » Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:10 am

unfortunately only 2k4 and 2k5 there as well

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Crash2009

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#6

Post by Crash2009 » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:33 am

http://mc2xml.hosterbox.net/

Have you tried any of these "other" services.
Attachments
GuideService.JPG

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#7

Post by dkrom » Mon Jun 08, 2015 11:02 pm

Crash2009 wrote:http://mc2xml.hosterbox.net/

Have you tried any of these "other" services.

I just tried this and couldn't get the xml back into media center. Since there are no directions for getting the xml into the MC, what I did (removed the three files I would normally remove and put the xml file in that folder to kick start the guide) corrupted the current guide, so I'm hoping my 2002 hack will bring it back. I'll probably try again and just rename the xml file to the same name as the xml in the ehome folder, but I really don't think that will work. I'm thinking this program is more for downloading the guide from the media center repository for use in other guide programs.

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#8

Post by taylortrash » Mon Jun 08, 2015 11:05 pm

Yeah it's definitely intended to use the mce guide data as a free provider for other software. dkrom do you know of an iso source for 2002?

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Crash2009

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#9

Post by Crash2009 » Mon Jun 08, 2015 11:30 pm

dkrom wrote:
Crash2009 wrote:http://mc2xml.hosterbox.net/

Have you tried any of these "other" services.

I just tried this and couldn't get the xml back into media center. Since there are no directions for getting the xml into the MC, what I did (removed the three files I would normally remove and put the xml file in that folder to kick start the guide) corrupted the current guide, so I'm hoping my 2002 hack will bring it back. I'll probably try again and just rename the xml file to the same name as the xml in the ehome folder, but I really don't think that will work. I'm thinking this program is more for downloading the guide from the media center repository for use in other guide programs.
There is a guy working on ramming Schedules Direct into Emby, might be some new tricks for you in this post....It's only 10 pages long. It's mostly above my skill set, might not be for you.

http://emby.media/community/index.php?/ ... l=hdhr3-cc

Also there is a Schedules Direct representative "on board" in that post. Maybe he could tell you what needs to be done.

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Crash2009

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#10

Post by Crash2009 » Tue Jun 09, 2015 2:20 am

Assumedly your 2002 or 2005 MCE has some type of grabber, which goes out there and grabs tv listings. Has anybody tried to tell the grabber to look in a different place?

Is this any good to you?

http://wiki.xmltv.org/index.php/Main_Page

That other one Mc2xml grabs from json and converts to xml

•mc2xml will save your lineup selection to "mc2xml.dat" in the current directory. (It does not save -o or other input/output optional parameters other than -U/-u/-F/-A/-a)

•Run "mc2xml" from the directory where "mc2xml.dat" is located whenever you want to output a new xml file. No command line parameters are required once the "mc2xml.dat" file has been created if you use the default input/output filenames (mc2xml.chl, xmltv.xml, etc).

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#11

Post by holidayboy » Tue Jun 09, 2015 1:47 pm

I don't remember if 3rd party epg data can be imported into xp mce easily, I'll check if I have any notes.

Vista and later is much easier.

I use mc2xml to get data for mediaportal.
Rob.

TGB.tv - the one stop shop for the more discerning Media Center user.

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#12

Post by dmagerl » Tue Jun 09, 2015 9:02 pm

There used to be a program of which I've forgotten its name that would take data from tribune media (before it became schedule direct) and import it into XP's guide.

I believe it came out of New Zealand and used XMLTV. At the time, the download from Tribune media was free. It worked real well for me. Back then, Microsoft's guide data had all sorts of errors in it for my area.

It's been so long ago, I dont know if its still around. So yes, it was easy to import data into XP's guide.

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#13

Post by dmagerl » Tue Jun 09, 2015 11:08 pm

I believe the program was named Bladerunner. It was written to import guide data for Australia & New Zealand which didnt have Microsoft provided guide data at that time.

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#14

Post by dkrom » Wed Jun 10, 2015 9:42 pm

taylortrash wrote:Yeah it's definitely intended to use the mce guide data as a free provider for other software. dkrom do you know of an iso source for 2002?
Unfortunately I don't. I accidentally installed mine through the i386 folder of my OEM HP Media Center. My system must have been upgraded from 2002 to 2004 instead of a fresh install. You might want to check the i386 folder of your 2004 install CD. Maybe MS just released it as an automatically updated system and that folder might just install the older version?? From what I've read MS never released 2002 to anyone but OEM manufacturers.

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#15

Post by taylortrash » Wed Jun 10, 2015 10:30 pm

dkrom wrote:
taylortrash wrote:Yeah it's definitely intended to use the mce guide data as a free provider for other software. dkrom do you know of an iso source for 2002?
Unfortunately I don't. I accidentally installed mine through the i386 folder of my OEM HP Media Center. My system must have been upgraded from 2002 to 2004 instead of a fresh install. You might want to check the i386 folder of your 2004 install CD. Maybe MS just released it as an automatically updated system and that folder might just install the older version?? From what I've read MS never released 2002 to anyone but OEM manufacturers.
Checked my CD and it has the 2004 install in that folder. Basically what I'd need is that cab file from the CMPNENTS\MEDIACTR\I386 folder or on yours it might be just MEDIACTR.CAB in the root i386 as far as I can tell it's the main difference between the 2004 and 2005 discs.

I guess I'll keep looking

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#16

Post by fonzie » Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:23 pm

I too am looking for that mce 2002 cab file.

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#17

Post by fonzie » Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:35 am

My MCE 2005 guide keeps downloading normally no errors except no guide data. That is so strange why I would not get any errors.

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#18

Post by dkrom » Wed Aug 05, 2015 2:18 am

The 2002 iso won't help anymore. The workaround I was doing still gets the guide to download, but it's the Zap2it guide with little to no data. If either of you want I can provide you with the four files it makes, just PM me your ZIP and provider.

Basically the 2002 workaround was only necessary for 2005 Update Rollup 2 machines. The URL in the registry was changed and that URL would only give an error code and not allow ANY updates or guide setups. On another thread we figured out that changing the URL to the same one on the 2002 machine allowed the guide to download and act normal, but there is basically no data.

Now - from other posts I've read Vista is having the same guide issues. It seems that Vista still uses the old XP method for downloading guide data. I wonder if a MS help ticket was created for Vista SP2 with a complaint that the guide is not working if MS would fix it. Vista SP2 is still supposed to have extended support so maybe, just maybe, if MS fixes Vista it'll also fix XP.

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#19

Post by tinkerer103 » Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:55 pm

I currently am using bladerunnerpro with little issues It is not necessarily an easy setup but it works

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#20

Post by taylortrash » Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:02 am

tinkerer103 wrote:I currently am using bladerunnerpro with little issues It is not necessarily an easy setup but it works
Is it still available? the only link I can find send me to a printer ink blog

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