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
AndyS

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#1401

Post by AndyS » Sun Feb 05, 2017 4:50 am

After doing the "Step 1 Clean Start", now Media Center won't recognize my Ceton InfiniTV 4. I reinstalled (repaired drivers), yet it won't see the tuners when I resetup Live TV from within WMC. Sigh.

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garyan2

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#1402

Post by garyan2 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:10 am

AndyS wrote:After doing the "Step 1 Clean Start", now Media Center won't recognize my Ceton InfiniTV 4. I reinstalled (repaired drivers), yet it won't see the tuners when I resetup Live TV from within WMC. Sigh.
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully some other InfiniTV 4 users can chime in and help you out to get the tuners recognized again. I believe there are reboots required.

Unfortunately you will have some time since it looks like the Schedules Direct servers are down right now (since 20:05 PST). I'm sure rkulagow will get them back up soon.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

AndyS

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#1403

Post by AndyS » Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:18 am

garyan2 wrote:
AndyS wrote:After doing the "Step 1 Clean Start", now Media Center won't recognize my Ceton InfiniTV 4. I reinstalled (repaired drivers), yet it won't see the tuners when I resetup Live TV from within WMC. Sigh.
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully some other InfiniTV 4 users can chime in and help you out to get the tuners recognized again. I believe there are reboots required.

Unfortunately you will have some time since it looks like the Schedules Direct servers are down right now (since 20:05 PST). I'm sure rkulagow will get them back up soon.
I'm restoring from an image to start again. I might do it without the clean start in the morning.

I'd also readded back my HDHomerun tuners, which I hadn't been using and weren't installed. So I can't isolate what caused it very easily. One of the two sets of tuners should have shown up I would have thought, though.

AndyS

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#1404

Post by AndyS » Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:30 am

One more question for whenever the service comes back up, do the registry edits in the first of the document happen automatically when you run the program, or are you saying to do those manually? (I assumed the former)

Also, since the newtonsoft.json.dll is already in the epg123 folder when it's unzipped, I assume I no longer would be required to go get that manually as discussed early in the thread?

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garyan2

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#1405

Post by garyan2 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:55 am

AndyS wrote:One more question for whenever the service comes back up, do the registry edits in the first of the document happen automatically when you run the program, or are you saying to do those manually? (I assumed the former)

Also, since the newtonsoft.json.dll is already in the epg123 folder when it's unzipped, I assume I no longer would be required to go get that manually as discussed early in the thread?
Correct on both counts. The registry edits are verified/edited when the GUI opens. If the registry is not correct, and the user doesn't have privileges to edit the registry, a message box will appear stating as such.

The json dll included in the zip file eliminates the need to download it yourself from Newtonsoft.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

Sancho

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#1406

Post by Sancho » Sun Feb 05, 2017 7:00 am

AndyS wrote:After doing the "Step 1 Clean Start", now Media Center won't recognize my Ceton InfiniTV 4. I reinstalled (repaired drivers), yet it won't see the tuners when I resetup Live TV from within WMC. Sigh.
Did you use the Ceton Diagnostic tool to clear tuner config and then rediscover? Not sure about the exact names, but that should get you there.

AndyS

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#1407

Post by AndyS » Sun Feb 05, 2017 3:26 pm

Sancho wrote:
AndyS wrote:After doing the "Step 1 Clean Start", now Media Center won't recognize my Ceton InfiniTV 4. I reinstalled (repaired drivers), yet it won't see the tuners when I resetup Live TV from within WMC. Sigh.
Did you use the Ceton Diagnostic tool to clear tuner config and then rediscover? Not sure about the exact names, but that should get you there.

Yep. And it then showed a red X on one of the diagnostic boxes with a note that I needed to reinstall drivers. Didn't work. Reimaging has me back to functioning, but still with no guide data. I figured I'd try it again once SD was fixed. I run out of some of my current guide data tonight, so hopefully I can figure this out.

AndyS

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#1408

Post by AndyS » Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:45 pm

If SD is showing "Warning: Unable to fetch SD-JSON lineups" on the line up support page, I assume it's pointless for me to try to figure out what went wrong with my system/tuners?

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garyan2

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#1409

Post by garyan2 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:49 pm

AndyS wrote:If SD is showing "Warning: Unable to fetch SD-JSON lineups" on the line up support page, I assume it's pointless for me to try to figure out what went wrong with my system/tuners?
I believe that means you have not added any lineups to your SD account. The servers came back up from maintenance last night, so you should be able to proceed without problem... that is except for the tuner problem you are having.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

AndyS

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#1410

Post by AndyS » Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:30 pm

OK, without doing a clean start, it works. Guide data out a couple of weeks. Thanks for the help.

Should I really try to diagnose and figure out how to get it cleaned out, or should I just leave things as is unless I see problems? I truly have no idea what else to try if the system isn't recognizing the tuners, and I don't want to risk a fresh install with all the ancient customizations I've got in place anyway with my ancient motherboard.

I'm actually tempted to reimage back to the MS guide version if the fixes roll out wide today, just to get my recordings back, then come back to EPG123 once your next major version hits. If I'm going to have to go through a reset again, might as well do it all at once.

EDIT: OK, one side effect is that the Ceton app is still trying to show me the Rovi guide data, which obviously isn't there.

icepick

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#1411

Post by icepick » Sun Feb 05, 2017 9:03 pm

@Garyan Thx for EPG123 just installed, instructions easy to follow, guide is working great, enjoying the additional customization options! Do you have a suggested amount for donation? Thanks again! I bet you're seeing a lot of activity today... hope you are rewarded appropriately for your efforts 10x million thanks!

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garyan2

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#1412

Post by garyan2 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 9:15 pm

AndyS wrote:OK, without doing a clean start, it works. Guide data out a couple of weeks. Thanks for the help.

Should I really try to diagnose and figure out how to get it cleaned out, or should I just leave things as is unless I see problems? I truly have no idea what else to try if the system isn't recognizing the tuners, and I don't want to risk a fresh install with all the ancient customizations I've got in place anyway with my ancient motherboard.

I'm actually tempted to reimage back to the MS guide version if the fixes roll out wide today, just to get my recordings back, then come back to EPG123 once your next major version hits. If I'm going to have to go through a reset again, might as well do it all at once.

EDIT: OK, one side effect is that the Ceton app is still trying to show me the Rovi guide data, which obviously isn't there.
Having MS/Rovi still present causes issues, but is possible to live with. The biggest thing I would worry about with this setup is that MS/Rovi will still be in control of your tuner/guide channels. Whenever there is a lineup/channel change, you may find that channels you had were deleted, new ones created, and Rovi data embedded in those channels. The annoyances are the category searches and limitations in actor searches.

There is another method to remove MS/Rovi that I haven't fully vetted, but you could go through the setup using zip code 00000 and accept the Program Guide Terms of Service. Using an invalid zip code will prevent MS/Rovi from controlling lineups or downloading guide data.

For the Ceton app ... you are going to need to go to advanced settings and clear the cache. It then rebuilds it with the new data.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

AndyS

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#1413

Post by AndyS » Sun Feb 05, 2017 9:28 pm

Good call on the Ceton app. I've had to do that before. Thanks.

I may create a second image with this working, then attempt to wipe everything again to see how it goes. Might have just been something weird with the way I did things last night. At least now I have time to think through my options without having a non-functioning DVR in a household that uses it a lot. That way I could quickly revert to either the MS/Rovi options, or this non-clean version with EPG123.

Thanks again. I'll post back if I figure it out or have more questions. Will probably let it sit pat until after the Super Bowl now.

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garyan2

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#1414

Post by garyan2 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 9:30 pm

icepick wrote:@Garyan Thx for EPG123 just installed, instructions easy to follow, guide is working great, enjoying the additional customization options! Do you have a suggested amount for donation? Thanks again! I bet you're seeing a lot of activity today... hope you are rewarded appropriately for your efforts 10x million thanks!
The choice to donate or not is of course totally up to you, and the amount is whatever you think is appropriate. It is, after all, a donation and not a fee.

Yah, you could say interest in epg123 has certainly increased lately. Looks like there's been around 120 more users in the last 4 days and a few appreciative donations. I just wish v1.1.0 was ready for everybody to make the transition, but I'm not going to rush it and possibly miss something. Missing something is exactly why I didn't release it yesterday. (Though it may be ready tonight :shh: )
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

icepick

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#1415

Post by icepick » Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:37 pm

That's awesome. Do updates require a clean start?

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garyan2

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#1416

Post by garyan2 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:41 pm

icepick wrote:That's awesome. Do updates require a clean start?
Not at all. The clean start is to evict MS/Rovi for good (as far as guide listings go, anyway).
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

AndyS

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#1417

Post by AndyS » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:18 am

I couldn't resist. I went ahead and added my OTA tuners and when I did, I put in the 00000's for zip. We'll see how that goes.

IIRC, it didn't ask for the ToS because you don't put in a valid region, it just gives a box saying you might get some channel info from the signal itself, but no guide. But I got distracted in the middle and could have just not been paying attention.

Now I just have to remember how to merge my OTA channels into my cablebox channels, so that 2.1 is the same as 1002 and I can set up the hierarchy as to which has priority.. Guess that means figuring out GuideTool again? I don't see how I do that in WMC, but I didn't spend a ton of time on it. After all, there is a Super Bowl going on.

Thanks again for both the program and the help.

kansanian

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#1418

Post by kansanian » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:25 am

Been waiting to run through this setup. Wish I had earlier today. Looks like I need to either start clean or go through TV setup :/
In any case, donated some time ago. May donate again anyway, even if MS catches up by tomorrow...

For now, can't mess with it until later tonight (that sports game and all...).

Thanks again for the GREAT efforts on this little gem of a program :)

jb3

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#1419

Post by jb3 » Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:22 pm

Great program. Very clear setup instructions. Just plain works! Thank you, thank you.

tletourneau

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#1420

Post by tletourneau » Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:53 pm

Gary,

Thanks for this, it is a great addition! I am finally away from MS for updates, well worth the Schedules Direct fee and the amount I am going to donate to you on payday. Thanks again.

I do need to go through the thread to see if I have to do anything special for RecordedTV HD and its image downloading amongst other settings but it seems to have worked well with My Channel Logos XL.
Thanks,
Tom

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