Introducing EPG123

An evolving, supported alternative to Rovi
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★ Download the latest EPG123 here: https://garyan2.github.io/ <> Setup guide here: https://garyan2.github.io/install.html
rkulagow

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#61

Post by rkulagow » Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:10 am

OK, but since this isn't QAM (where the hardware needs to scan every single frequency to pull the transport ID, network ID, etc) because NoogMan says that he has an M-Card, then is there some way to just tell MCE "I am using a set top box"? Because then can't MCE just go to channel 101, 102, etc?

If I'm totally off-base in how MCE does things just tell me and I'll stay quiet.

NoogMan

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#62

Post by NoogMan » Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:14 am

Yeah, basically, the channel lineup from SD is perfect like it is. Can't we just tell it to build and overwrite any existing guide with the new one being "Saved and executed"?

NoogMan

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#63

Post by NoogMan » Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:48 am

wish there was a way to edit the "mcepg2-0 file", or have epg123 just overwrite the portion of that database file that has the channel lineup.

choliscott

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#64

Post by choliscott » Tue Feb 16, 2016 3:38 am

I'm not looking at WMC at the moment, but if I remember correctly, you can select/unselect all channels

NoogMan wrote:Using the referenced lineup software worked PERFECTLY! I have data, but now I have 9700 additional channels I need to get rid of. Why did it set the guide up with 10004 channels? Is there a way to make windows NOT create a guide until the channel lineup from YOUR software tells it to be created? I only need 360 channels, NOT 10000. I don't know how I can manually select/deselect, or else I can deselect all, then select 360.....still seems like a pain. Any reason why during the live tv process it would keep creating 10K channels?

NoogMan

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#65

Post by NoogMan » Tue Feb 16, 2016 4:59 am

choliscott wrote:I'm not looking at WMC at the moment, but if I remember correctly, you can select/unselect all channels

NoogMan wrote:Using the referenced lineup software worked PERFECTLY! I have data, but now I have 9700 additional channels I need to get rid of. Why did it set the guide up with 10004 channels? Is there a way to make windows NOT create a guide until the channel lineup from YOUR software tells it to be created? I only need 360 channels, NOT 10000. I don't know how I can manually select/deselect, or else I can deselect all, then select 360.....still seems like a pain. Any reason why during the live tv process it would keep creating 10K channels?

Yes, you can select/unselect....I have a list from 1-10004,,,yes 10K! I deselected all, then used the zap2it lineup to select what I wanted. I had to individually click over 200 channels....that's a major pain.

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garyan2

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#66

Post by garyan2 » Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:07 am

New build that includes adding/removing lineups from your account. Thank you to rkulagow from Schedules Direct in helping everyone out while I got this coded up. Be aware that you are limited in the number of adds/subtracts by Schedules Direct and my code currently does not track that.

EDIT: I guess I should point out that I currently only service USA and Canada in the lineups and once you log in, EPG123 will enable the new Lineups button.

/Mod Edit: Added to first post
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

DaveInPa

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#67

Post by DaveInPa » Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:19 pm

NoogMan wrote:Using the referenced lineup software worked PERFECTLY! I have data, but now I have 9700 additional channels I need to get rid of. Why did it set the guide up with 10004 channels? Is there a way to make windows NOT create a guide until the channel lineup from YOUR software tells it to be created? I only need 360 channels, NOT 10000. I don't know how I can manually select/deselect, or else I can deselect all, then select 360.....still seems like a pain. Any reason why during the live tv process it would keep creating 10K channels?
The 10k channels problem is part of WMC when using cablecards. I've been using Schedules Direct with Big Screen EPG to import guide data and the problem happens before any new guide data can be loaded. I've been tinkering since August 2015 and have run TV Setup many times and before I can import any guide data, I always have channels 1-9999.

I'm pretty sure that when you use an M-card and don't tell WMC which cable lineup you are using, it provides channels on every frequency... basically 10,000 channels.

Having so many channels is very cumbersome and it slows the guide down. The only solution I have found is to use Guide Tool and delete channels. I only need channels up to 800's. So I select channel 900 and then go to the highest channel (9999) and "shift left click" the mouse to select every channel from 900-9999.

Guide tool will take a while to select all of them (it might look like the program stops working but it hasn't). Then select the delete channel button. You can do this for all the channels (or channel ranges) you don't want.

DaveInPa

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#68

Post by DaveInPa » Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:22 pm

garyan2 wrote:New build that includes adding/removing lineups from your account. Thank you to rkulagow from Schedules Direct in helping everyone out while I got this coded up. Be aware that you are limited in the number of adds/subtracts by Schedules Direct and my code currently does not track that.

EDIT: I guess I should point out that I currently only service USA and Canada in the lineups and once you log in, EPG123 will enable the new Lineups button.
Does this new build mean that I don't have to email rkulagow to setup a Json lineup? I have an xml lineup, but when running your previous build, it would fail when trying to login. It sounds like this is fixing that problem?

I can't wait to try this out! :D

rkulagow

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#69

Post by rkulagow » Tue Feb 16, 2016 3:50 pm

If the lineup manipulation is now in the EPG123 code, then no, you don't need to mail me anymore.

rkulagow

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#70

Post by rkulagow » Tue Feb 16, 2016 3:51 pm

garyan2 wrote:New build that includes adding/removing lineups from your account. Thank you to rkulagow from Schedules Direct in helping everyone out while I got this coded up. Be aware that you are limited in the number of adds/subtracts by Schedules Direct and my code currently does not track that.

EDIT: I guess I should point out that I currently only service USA and Canada in the lineups and once you log in, EPG123 will enable the new Lineups button.

/Mod Edit: Added to first post

When you do a PUT or DELETE, the status indicates how many more changes you can make in a 24 hour period.

TODO: I will add a field to the https://github.com/SchedulesDirect/JSON ... ir-account

so that a client will know before they make the attempt. If it's already at 0, then no more changes for 24 hours.

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STC

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#71

Post by STC » Tue Feb 16, 2016 4:07 pm

I think the way the original WMC holds channels in the DB for cableCARD is to store all received. I don't know if it gets the info from Zap2it via the provider ID or from the cableCARD channelmap (or both). The deselection of channels would be via WMC (or guide tool for instance) but the DB would always hold the full lineup. Adding an available channel would result in instant guide data in the guide. Perhaps this method would be more suited to Schedules Direct (?) although it increases load and throughout.
By the Community, for the Community. 100% Commercial Free.

Want decent guide data back? Check out EPG123

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garyan2

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#72

Post by garyan2 » Tue Feb 16, 2016 4:40 pm

DaveInPa wrote:
garyan2 wrote:New build that includes adding/removing lineups from your account. Thank you to rkulagow from Schedules Direct in helping everyone out while I got this coded up. Be aware that you are limited in the number of adds/subtracts by Schedules Direct and my code currently does not track that.

EDIT: I guess I should point out that I currently only service USA and Canada in the lineups and once you log in, EPG123 will enable the new Lineups button.
Does this new build mean that I don't have to email rkulagow to setup a Json lineup? I have an xml lineup, but when running your previous build, it would fail when trying to login. It sounds like this is fixing that problem?

I can't wait to try this out! :D
It's fixed. Also fixed the error when there are 0 lineups in the json listing.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

Space

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#73

Post by Space » Tue Feb 16, 2016 5:18 pm

STC wrote:I think the way the original WMC holds channels in the DB for cableCARD is to store all received. I don't know if it gets the info from Zap2it via the provider ID or from the cableCARD channelmap (or both). The deselection of channels would be via WMC (or guide tool for instance) but the DB would always hold the full lineup. Adding an available channel would result in instant guide data in the guide. Perhaps this method would be more suited to Schedules Direct (?) although it increases load and throughout.
I am pretty sure it gets the list of channels from the guide information (originating from zap2it or now from Rovi). I don't think WMC ever looks at the CableCard channel map for anything. I have (unimportant) channels in the CableCard channel map that are impossible to tune within WMC because they are not in the list of channels sent from Rovi.
It seems strange that Microsoft would have a method of importing outside guide data (LoadMXF.exe) but not have a way to automatically add/delete channels as they appear/disappear from the guide data lineup.

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STC

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#74

Post by STC » Tue Feb 16, 2016 5:38 pm

It's weird as zap2it and Rovi list the SEACHANGE channels that are in flux (listed in the channel maps). I think that's more of an admin error more than anything. I wonder if service providers update guide providers with a pull from the channel maps. It is after all the most accurate list available!
By the Community, for the Community. 100% Commercial Free.

Want decent guide data back? Check out EPG123

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STC

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#75

Post by STC » Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:04 pm

DaveInPa wrote:Having so many channels is very cumbersome and it slows the guide down. The only solution I have found is to use Guide Tool and delete channels. I only need channels up to 800's. So I select channel 900 and then go to the highest channel (9999) and "shift left click" the mouse to select every channel from 900-9999.
This is a top tip. One I've been using on a regular lineup since the dawn of guide tool to remove chunks of unwanted channels such as PPV ;)
By the Community, for the Community. 100% Commercial Free.

Want decent guide data back? Check out EPG123

webminster

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#76

Post by webminster » Tue Feb 16, 2016 7:28 pm

Given it a try, looks promising. Couple things I've noticed, using this with the Lineup Selector tool:
1) Have been using MCL-XL for big channel logos, and I'm seeing the logos either disappear (in some cases), or revert to small logos. Have to rerun MCL and re-autopopulate the logos to get the (big) logos back.
2) Not sure if it's the Lineup Selector, or EPG123 (or something else), but notice now when I highlight the channel on the guide (not a program), get the callsign followed by "(EPG123)". Before it was a little friendlier, like a more descriptive name ("KUSA HDTV", or "BBC America HDTV"). Now more like "BBCAHD (EPG123)"
-Alan

DaveInPa

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#77

Post by DaveInPa » Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:06 pm

garyan2 wrote:
DaveInPa wrote:
garyan2 wrote:New build that includes adding/removing lineups from your account. Thank you to rkulagow from Schedules Direct in helping everyone out while I got this coded up. Be aware that you are limited in the number of adds/subtracts by Schedules Direct and my code currently does not track that.

EDIT: I guess I should point out that I currently only service USA and Canada in the lineups and once you log in, EPG123 will enable the new Lineups button.
Does this new build mean that I don't have to email rkulagow to setup a Json lineup? I have an xml lineup, but when running your previous build, it would fail when trying to login. It sounds like this is fixing that problem?

I can't wait to try this out! :D
It's fixed. Also fixed the error when there are 0 lineups in the json listing.

I'm not able to set a lineup with Schedules Direct JSON service. I login and get an error. The dialog box tells me to select the "Lineups" box, but it's greyed out.

After I login, it does give me my expiration date with Schedule Direct, so I think it is communicating with them.

Any suggestions?

Here is the error message:

Code: Select all

See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at epg123.ConfigForm.getLineupChannels()
   at epg123.ConfigForm.buildLineupTabs()
   at epg123.ConfigForm.loginUser()
   at epg123.ConfigForm.btnLogin_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34209 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v4.0.30319/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
epg123
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///E:/EPG123/epg123.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34234 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34238 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34251 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34209 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Core
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34209 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Core/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Core.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34209 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
Newtonsoft.Json
    Assembly Version: 8.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 8.0.2.19309
    CodeBase: file:///E:/EPG123/Newtonsoft.Json.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Numerics
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34209 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Numerics/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Numerics.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Runtime.Serialization
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34234 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Serialization/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Runtime.Serialization.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml.Linq
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34209 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml.Linq/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.Linq.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Data
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.34209 built by: FX452RTMGDR
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_32/System.Data/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Data.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

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garyan2

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#78

Post by garyan2 » Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:55 pm

Well, crap. Realize I corrected the original error, then turned around and did the exact same mistake in the lineup GUI. New build tonight, I guess.

Edit: Actually, this is the same error, I only partially fixed it. Can't express how sorry I am. Know you must be getting frustrated. If you can't wait for a few hours before I can get home, you can use mc2xml to establish your initial lineup.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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garyan2

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#79

Post by garyan2 » Wed Feb 17, 2016 12:49 am

All done this time. I actually removed my entire lineup and ran through the process without a hitch with the new build. I'll post a list of things that I plan on doing to improve the software functionally, and would like everyone's thoughts on the interface and/or some functional desires.

I'll post later, right now I want to spend some time with the kids.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

choliscott

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#80

Post by choliscott » Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:52 am

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to post a couple of pics of what I'm seeing when I select "Do Not Agree" to using guide service (I'm using a cable card).

Image

Showing 10K channels

Image

While I was able to get station name next to channel, there is no "Edit listiings" button

Image

I've tried the following:

1) Import data from EPG123 to WMC & using Lineup Selector, which the channel numbers are now populated with the channel name. However WMC is acting like I don't have a guide setup.

Has anybody who uses a cable card able to get this to work when you select "Do Not Agree" for guide service?

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