EPG123 & Hauppauage Collossus Anyone? Tuner Not Available

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marvin-miller

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EPG123 & Hauppauage Collossus Anyone? Tuner Not Available

#1

Post by marvin-miller » Sun Mar 27, 2016 5:33 am

Hi folks!

I followed with interest EPG123 as I was running into the same Microsoft/Rovi issues that everyone is facing so today I thought I would give it a try.

Windows 7 / Clean MCE install w/Hauppauge Colossus.

If I use Arcsoft I can see the video & audio from the Colossus. This tells me hardware is OK :mrgreen:
I have the guide data from Schedules Direct in Media Center - this tells me the EPG123 steps were done OK.

When I click on any listing in the guide I get this;

Tuner Not Available

The tuner is currently in use by another application or is not working. Close all other applications, restart Windows Media Center, and then try again.

As mentioned, the Tuner does work. I'm curious is anyone has got the EPG123 changeover to work with the Hauppauge Colossus or if this is some other issue?

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#2

Post by KenL » Sun Mar 27, 2016 6:46 am

It definitely works but it takes a hack to correctly follow the proper installation steps for EPG123 and result in a working Colossus input.

For starters just install the Colossus normally in Media Center and get everything working properly, including other tuners you may be using.

Once that is working (with Rovi) you need to archive a backup lineup file:

Code: Select all

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\mcepg2-0\backup\lineup\20160325_xxxxxxx
Then you do a clean start with EPG123, and load this file directly into the db before loading the EPG123.mxf and then running lineup selector. The main reason for the hack is to be able to say "no" to terms to prevent future Rovi downloads.

garyan2 can explain it better than I can:
garyan2 wrote:Have you tried to archive your latest lineup file in programdata\microsoft\ehome\mcepg2-x\backup\lineup? I have had some success in the past in starting fresh and using loadmxf to import the backup lineup file to restore all tuner functions and frequencies.

You could theoretically accept the TOS, setup all the tuners, archive the backup, rerun tv setup and denying the guide TOS, and importing the lineup backup file... then run epg123.
If you can do exactly what he posted there it does work like a charm. I had three files in the backup lineup folder after a fresh setup of all tuners, I used the largest (newest) one after checking that it seemed to include all my channels.

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#3

Post by marvin-miller » Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:15 am

OK, for starters, many thanks for your reply! I'm sure you know what it's like to do the whole install/un-install/re-start routine over and over...everyone here will know what that's like :yawn:

All right, I did another clean install, I set up MCE with Rovi and checked to see that the tuner and blaster are working. They are! So we're clean and we're Green :thumbup:

I then backed up the eHome directory in Program Data and verified that it has a \backup\lineup folder with files in it.

At that point, I'm a bit lost, so I did the install for EPG123 and got back to the Tuner Not Found issue.

I'm encouraged, because I think I'm in the right place (even though it does not work). I have the backup of the working install. At this point, I have no clue what the *.mxf thing is you're talking about :roll: Any ideas on what to do next?

BTW, many thanks to both the EPG123 guy and yourself for trying to help address this issue. I have many thoughts about Bill Gates, none of which I will post up as they would make you laugh but also cause me to get an FBI file....

What do I do now?

PS>I already tried to install Media Portal, both the 1.x version and the 2.x version with no success on either front. I'm on the edge of the cliff baby! Any more of this and I'll get my rifle and start climbing the stairs up the clock tower! :crazy:

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#4

Post by KenL » Sun Mar 27, 2016 1:27 pm

I suspect you are very close now.

All that remains is to take the lineup back up file (from your archive of: C\programdata\microsoft\ehome\mcepg2-x\backup\lineup\) "201603xx_xxxxxx" and rename it "lineup.mxf"
Next run:

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe -i lineup.mxf
Not sure if the -i is needed but it worked for me.

Or if that doesn't work go back and redo tuner setup again, click "no" to terms and keep clicking OK until tuner setup is done (fails?) and close media center. Now run the EPG123 registry file and then (using the above command) load the "lineup.mxf" file you renamed with loadmxf.exe.

Once it finishes loading, open MC and you should have channels (without listings) which will now tune properly. So you can proceed with EPG123 and lineup selector to add listings to those working channels.

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#5

Post by garyan2 » Sun Mar 27, 2016 5:26 pm

KenL wrote:I suspect you are very close now.

All that remains is to take the lineup back up file (from your archive of: C\programdata\microsoft\ehome\mcepg2-x\backup\lineup\) "201603xx_xxxxxx" and rename it "lineup.mxf"
Next run:

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe -i lineup.mxf
Not sure if the -i is needed but it worked for me.

Or if that doesn't work go back and redo tuner setup again, click "no" to terms and keep clicking OK until tuner setup is done (fails?) and close media center. Now run the EPG123 registry file and then (using the above command) load the "lineup.mxf" file you renamed with loadmxf.exe.

Once it finishes loading, open MC and you should have channels (without listings) which will now tune properly. So you can proceed with EPG123 and lineup selector to add listings to those working channels.
Running Lineup Selector before getting the tuners working in WMC may mess things up a bit...you might have to start the setup over again.

1) epg123 step 0
2) epg123 step 1
3) import backup lineup "c:\windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe -i lineup.mxf" as described by KenL
4) epg123 step 2
5) epg123 step 3

You could swap 3 & 4 above and will work. Just need the lineup restore before the Lineup Selector tool.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#6

Post by marvin-miller » Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:13 am

I'm still lost on this guys (after a quick side-trip into seeing if I could get the new open source SageTV doing it's thing).

I see that the program has been totally updated - nice!

After a clean MC install I followed the directions, opened up EPG123, chose the channels I wanted, set the options, told it to work, waited for it to be done, and when done I went back into Media Center, looked at the guide, and all it had were the default 9000 series channels (the 7 that Media Center comes with).

Do I still need to do the "C:\Windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe -i lineup.mxf" part with a previous ROVI guide backup?

Help - it's been about a week without TV other then the bit I got from Sage and I'm missing a LOT of programs :(

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#7

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:26 am

marvin-miller wrote:I'm still lost on this guys (after a quick side-trip into seeing if I could get the new open source SageTV doing it's thing).

I see that the program has been totally updated - nice!

After a clean MC install I followed the directions, opened up EPG123, chose the channels I wanted, set the options, told it to work, waited for it to be done, and when done I went back into Media Center, looked at the guide, and all it had were the default 9000 series channels (the 7 that Media Center comes with).

Do I still need to do the "C:\Windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe -i lineup.mxf" part with a previous ROVI guide backup?

Help - it's been about a week without TV other then the bit I got from Sage and I'm missing a LOT of programs :(
After a clean install, you will have to do the loadmxf again to get the tuner setups back. After that, you can just run "epgAutomatch.exe -match" and it should match and enable everything for you.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#8

Post by marvin-miller » Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:30 am

Many thanks for the reply!

This is where I'm kind of getting hosed.....

It's my understanding that you want me to download the Rovi guide after a clean install. So..

Remove Media Center & restart
Clear out the directory C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome
Re-install Media Center
Re-start Computer
Re-run the tuner setup but during the channel scan it will not find the Rovi channels....

So that's where I'm kind of stuck..if I'm even doing that correctly?

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#9

Post by marvin-miller » Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:33 am

But even though it doesn't get the Rovi guide (at least, show that is finding channels) I do see that mcepg-2,db is 136 megs in size. So it is getting something but the guide no longer shows anything other then the 9000 channel series...

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#10

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:45 am

Okay, so let's start over ... I'm not sure exactly what state your WMC is in...

If you have a backup lineup file from C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome\mcepg2-0\backup\lineup\ from a Rovi install
1) Uninstall WMC & reboot.
2) Delete C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome directory.
3) Install WMC
4) Perform TV setup but deny the program guide TOS.
5) When TV setup is complete, close WMC
6) Import the lineup backup by running C:\Windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe -i [backup file]
[backup file] is the backup lineup file from the Rovi install which will be the latest YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS file
7) Execute epg123 (use v0.9.2 and make sure automatch is selected)
8) Open WMC and take a look ...
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#11

Post by marvin-miller » Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:50 am

Perfect - I now have an overview of what's needed.

This is (now) a clean Windows install but I do not have a backup of Rovi listings.

Quick question before I get to your steps (and this is important).

If I want to do another clean Media Center install will any changes made by EPG123 be removed by clearing out the Program Data eHome directory ? I need to nail down whether I can't get Rovi due to some other issue or, possibly, due to a change EPG123 made. If I can nail that down I can take another whack at it :mrgreen:

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#12

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:05 am

If you have a clean Windows install, then

1) Perform TV setup and accept the TOS, allow Rovi in temporarily. Once setup is complete, verify you have guide and tuners work.
2) Copy out the latest backup lineup file from C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome\mcepg2-0\backup\lineup\
3) In WMC home, go to settings->TV->TV Signal->Set Up TV Signal and click Yes on the warning prompt
4) Perform TV setup but deny the program guide TOS.
5) When TV setup is complete, close WMC
6) Import the lineup backup by running C:\Windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe -i [backup file]
[backup file] is the backup lineup file from the Rovi install which will be the latest YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS file
7) Execute epg123 (use v0.9.2 and make sure automatch is selected)
8) Open WMC and take a look ...

To answer your quick question ... there is nothing epg123 does that will prevent you from running tv setup again and getting Rovi back. The guide information for epg123 will just reside in the database until it dies out and/or the garbage collector removes it.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#13

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:16 am

Not actually sure I answered your question. Removing the ehome directory removes all guide information, tuner setups, scheduled recordings, recording history ... there will be no trace of Rovi or epg123 and nothing left over. To get either/or back, you will have to start over.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#14

Post by marvin-miller » Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:24 am

It works! It works! It works!!

You did (answer my question) - thank you :D

One of my issues was the Colossus Media Center plug-in. You have to set the signal (in my case HDMI/HDMI/Blaster) but you also have to check a little box on the far left side telling it to use the capture card listed....I had forgotten to do that. However, I needed the step-by step instructions as well as the answer to whether clearing out the program data\ehome directory reverted it back to stock.

This is fantastic! I have no less then 22 days (!!) of REAL listings and not those imitation Rovi listings.

Thank you SO much for doing this. This new revision of the program is WAY easier to use and it looks a lot better too.

Last couple of theory questions...I'm guessing that if my provider makes new channels then I won't see them in the guide automatically? I'm guessing I would have to go into EPG123 and get a new list periodically or am I incorrect in this?

PayPal donation comin' (but don't get too excited - I'm not working at the moment)

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#15

Post by garyan2 » Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:37 am

Awesome...and this will definitely help anyone else with a Collossus setup.

Currently, I have no way of detecting new channels added to the lineup, I am only tracking what the user selects to download. I am toying with some ideas, but it could prove difficult to automatically add new channels reliably. Right now the only way to get new channels would be to open the GUI and check the box next to it.
- Gary
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#16

Post by marvin-miller » Fri Apr 01, 2016 8:02 am

To me that's no big deal. I was just bombing around through Media Center and enjoying the power of the new guide listings - unreal. Also, experience now with Sage (which is unreal in it's own right) has reminded me how easy Media Center is now that we're no longer forced into a shotgun marriage with Microsoft's choice of guide provider.

This has been a remarkable blessing for me and I thank you profusely for it. In my case, I have a very good program for removing commercials (the program is called VAP and it works in concert with Video-Redo). It's hugely powerful, dead-simple and works 100% of the time with zero babysitting.

For me, this is a really big deal. Having rock-solid TV that gets auto-processed and archived is just amazing. Part of the kick I'm on is that I just picked up a new video card (950 SC+) so now I can run Media Center with all the bells and whistles and it flies through the guide while playing TV like a hot knife through butter. Add in EPG123 and it's back to being a whole new bleeding-edge world again!

Many thanks and I think the steps above will be of benefit to everyone with a Colossus. This is a great work that you've done!

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#17

Post by marvin-miller » Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:40 am

Uh-oh...possible bug?

Early this morning I scheduled a whole slew of recordings. I had +/- 220 scheduled over the next 20 days. A bunch were recorded this morning and then I re-started the media center machine. When I did, I noticed the entire recording schedule was gone. Guide still works, TV still works, but the entire scheduled recordings disappeared. All series and upcoming movies.

Anyone seen anything like that or why this might have happened? Fluke or coincidence?

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#18

Post by marvin-miller » Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:42 am

Interesting...the series recordings are still there (all the different series) but no episodes are scheduled to record.

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#19

Post by garyan2 » Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:46 am

Another user had a similar problem and this was what he identified.

... I indicate I had problems with recording DirectTV. The actual problem was under edit channels, the source (analog channels) was not selected for the channels. I could watch but not record until I check the boxes for the channels. Might want to check it out.
- Gary
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#20

Post by marvin-miller » Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:52 am

Something odd is happening. When I go into the guide ALL the channels are present (from 1 through 912) even though I used to EPG123 to only select a small portion of them. When you walked me through that last night the guide showed only those channels. It also had recordings scheduled out for 22 days or so.

Something changed since then. Now there are no scheduled recordings (even though the series recordings show up) and the guide went back to a full 912 channels. Hmmm...methinks something is up. It worked perfectly last night, the guide was correct, recordings took place, and now no scheduled recordings and the entire channel lineup has been populated to the guide.

Either it went back to Rovi or something else happened?

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