EPG123 success story

An evolving, supported alternative to Rovi
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newfiend

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EPG123 success story

#1

Post by newfiend » Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:02 am

This constant Guide Data outage from MS was the final straw for me. Since the switch to ROVI it's been a constant Fuster Cluck. Wrong Guide Data, Inaccurate Images for TV shows and Movies and not to mention the 3-4 times a year that the guide data just won't download. I have finally had it. I got a Subscription to SD for $25.00 a year and installed EPG123. Best move I have made with media center in a long time. Not only do I have 21 days of "accurate" guide data from today but all the images etc. are correct. I should have done this a long time ago. If you have finally had enough like me I can't recommend EPG123 enough. :thumbup: :clap:
newfiend~

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Scallica

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#2

Post by Scallica » Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:04 am

Topic split. Sorry, no EPG123 talk in the guide data outage thread. :-)
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newfiend

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#3

Post by newfiend » Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:07 am

Scallica wrote:Topic split. Sorry, no EPG123 talk in the guide data outage thread. :-)
no problem.. sorry.. But good gosh what a relief to finally have it work like it should.. :D

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#4

Post by Scallica » Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:14 am

Indeed. Worth every penny.
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Space

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#5

Post by Space » Thu Jul 06, 2017 1:44 am

It actually works better than it should. :-)

Gary should make a list of all the things that EPG123 does that the standard guide (since switching to Rovi) no longer does, as well as a list of things that WMC could never do (and now does with EPG123) even before the Rovi cut-over.

Being able to search for premieres, marking foreign shows that original airing in another country as NEW, getting more than 13 days of data, etc.

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#6

Post by lhwidget » Thu Jul 06, 2017 2:58 am

Just changed over too. I already like it - it works -

Jay

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garyan2

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#7

Post by garyan2 » Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:46 am

Space wrote:It actually works better than it should. :-)

Gary should make a list of all the things that EPG123 does that the standard guide (since switching to Rovi) no longer does, as well as a list of things that WMC could never do (and now does with EPG123) even before the Rovi cut-over.

Being able to search for premieres, marking foreign shows that original airing in another country as NEW, getting more than 13 days of data, etc.
Or how about a compare/contrast gallery between EPG123 and Rovi. http://epg123.garyan2.net/?page_id=624
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#8

Post by Space » Thu Jul 06, 2017 7:23 am

Nice, missed that. But it doesn't have everything. I think I've lost track myself :-).

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#9

Post by iasm » Thu Jul 06, 2017 5:41 pm

It was just over a month since the last outage on hd channels for me so I went with epg123 and now alls fine. Took about 45 minutes to do two machines. Since I am now getting guide data direct I feel a little more future proofed with media center .

[Moderator note: post moved]

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#10

Post by tirebiter » Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:53 pm

newfiend wrote:I can't recommend EPG123 enough. :thumbup: :clap:
newfiend~
I concur. I was already a Schedules Direct subscriber for another product. It's great that the same account can be used for multiple purposes.

I had a harder than expected time getting EPG123 working. For one thing, the Cable Card I have only supports 2 tuners, but the HD Homerun device has 3. Every time I set up the "TV Signals" in WMC it only gave me the option to select from 2 tuners. Should be OK, but for some reason, the cable card maps to the first and third tuners and the middle tuner is unused. WMC kept assigning the middle tuner.

Then, about half the time, after setting things up, the program guide was still empty.

I finally got things going by power cycling the HD Homerun just before setting up the "TV Signal". It then listed all 3 tuners, and I was able to deselect the middle one. Then, the program guide appeared when I chose "Automatch by call sign" in the "Guide Channels" window.

I'm finding I like the information provided in this program guide better than the old one. Plus, for whatever reason, there was always a 30-60 second delay from when the program guide displayed to when it would respond to mouse clicks and keyboard keys. This new guide responds right away.

I got it working yesterday, and was happy to see this morning that another day's programming was added, meaning the update worked.
posting.php?mode=quote&f=99&p=118900#
And I'm very happy about the piece of mind that I'm not at Microsoft's mercy to keep the WMC-EPG up and running. We just have to keep SD alive ;)

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#11

Post by NWIU2B » Thu Jul 06, 2017 10:23 pm

newfiend wrote:This constant Guide Data outage from MS was the final straw for me. Since the switch to ROVI it's been a constant Fuster Cluck. Wrong Guide Data, Inaccurate Images for TV shows and Movies and not to mention the 3-4 times a year that the guide data just won't download. I have finally had it. I got a Subscription to SD for $25.00 a year and installed EPG123. Best move I have made with media center in a long time. Not only do I have 21 days of "accurate" guide data from today but all the images etc. are correct. I should have done this a long time ago. If you have finally had enough like me I can't recommend EPG123 enough. :thumbup: :clap:
newfiend~
Same here. Can't believe people who are saying basically $2 a month for better, reliable guide data isn't worth it.I skipped deleting my WMC database in step 1, mainly because I've had issues getting WMC setup to complete before, so I didn't want to go through that nightmare while trying to make things better. No negative effects so far. If there ever are, then I'll bite the bullet and try that.

As for this idea that EPG123 cannot be discussed in the Microsoft guide outage thread seems strange given the current outage. There is apparently no good solution for many people currently other than EPG123, and guide data has now run out for many people. So the one real solution cannot be discussed on the outage thread? With new people visiting the thread all the time, and at best reading the last page, that seems likely to have people not realizing this is the solution.

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#12

Post by Space » Thu Jul 06, 2017 10:33 pm

I don't think it can't be mentioned, just don't go on and on about troubleshooting problems with it and such. I don't think directing people to EPG123 as an option is prohibited there, but you should also direct them to the proper forum to discuss it further than that.

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#13

Post by Byteme » Thu Jul 06, 2017 11:08 pm

Figured I'd join the forum to post another success story - I somehow managed to get by all these years without too much guide trouble, but everything came to an end July 4th when suddenly my entire guide disappeared. I've been running WMC as my sole tv system via Comcast cablecard since XP days and I'm not giving it up without a fight - there's simply nothing available that does tv dvr (with drm channels) as well as it does, especially for virtually no cost. I knew it was just a matter of time before the Rovi guide bit the dust, but hung in until this week. When I discovered this was a major outage I started searching and discovered epg123... It was a pretty painless install and once I saw the guide come up in WMC I pulled the trigger on an annual SD subscription. Really, what's $25 to keep WMC running better than ever? Not to mention a newfound confidence that I'll never have to worry about what to do when the guide is officially EOL'd - I personally don't hold out much hope that anyone at MS or Rovi are giving the current issues any real urgency.

One quick note to fellow cablecard users - I initially hesitated to run the Step 1 clean install for fear of having to reauthenticate the card (as Comcast doesn't seem to have anyone on staff that knows what a cablecard is), but I suspected the authentication is held in the card and selected the manual tuner setup option and just clicked OK on the cablecard screen - it took a few minutes, but WMC continued on and everything worked out fine. My suggestion for others is not to panic and just let the system work it's way through the setup. Afterwards you need to take a few minutes to manually select the channels you want in epg123, but all in all it was a pretty easy process.

Once again - this beathes life back into WMC and I plan to keep my system running for a long time to come. Cudos to the epg123 team - I'm definitely going to donate a few bucks for this awesome solution !

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#14

Post by Sammy2 » Thu Jul 06, 2017 11:52 pm

newfiend wrote:
Scallica wrote:Topic split. Sorry, no EPG123 talk in the guide data outage thread. :-)
no problem.. sorry.. But good gosh what a relief to finally have it work like it should.. :D
One must ponder what took you soo long? I've been enjoying epg123 for over a year now!

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#15

Post by Sammy2 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:05 am

garyan2 wrote:
Space wrote:It actually works better than it should. :-)

Gary should make a list of all the things that EPG123 does that the standard guide (since switching to Rovi) no longer does, as well as a list of things that WMC could never do (and now does with EPG123) even before the Rovi cut-over.

Being able to search for premieres, marking foreign shows that original airing in another country as NEW, getting more than 13 days of data, etc.
Or how about a compare/contrast gallery between EPG123 and Rovi. http://epg123.garyan2.net/?page_id=624
Nice work! Did you just put that together? The differences are stark!

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#16

Post by garyan2 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:45 am

Sammy2 wrote:Nice work! Did you just put that together? The differences are stark!
Yah, I had a VM with a clean Rovi, and a VM with EPG123 to take snapshots for comparison. I didn't go digging for all that is bad with Rovi, just wanted to compare.

I may refine it later.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#17

Post by WMCDUDE » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:45 am

I just backed up my drive, then installed EPG123 using a trial version of SD. I am back baby! Guide data and scheduled recordings added back in. :clap:

EPG123 is really nice (I don't need to use "My Channel Logos" anymore). :crazy: My SD trial lasts until July 13th, but I might just stick with EPG123.

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#18

Post by NWIU2B » Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:12 am

Space wrote:I don't think it can't be mentioned, just don't go on and on about troubleshooting problems with it and such. I don't think directing people to EPG123 as an option is prohibited there, but you should also direct them to the proper forum to discuss it further than that.
Based on post #18 being moved, apparently it cannot be mentioned.

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#19

Post by garyan2 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:26 am

The moderators have a lot of work trying to keep the threads on-topic. Basically, those that only care about the MS/Rovi service being down, and when MS/Rovi are going to fix it, don't want to see a lot of messages concerning something else. Even if that something else will give them everything they are hoping someday MS/Rovi will provide them. I believe the last time I got in a conversation like this, messages concerning EPG123 were considered "SPAM".

The 500+ additional users EPG123 has picked up in the last 4 days indicates the word is out there. But to your point, there are people showing up that have never heard of EPG123 and may never hear about it stuck in the other thread.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#20

Post by chrisdfw » Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:37 am

Finally made the switch. Thank you for your hard work.

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