Introducing EPG123

[Scallica]

I believe it does kill extenders, correct me if I`m wrong...
Certainly, removing and re-adding WMC breaks all third party tools and settings.

Clearing the eHome folder does not break extenders.

[garyan2]

I switched my primary HTPC to EPG123/SD. The entire process took about 15 minutes. I started at Step 0, but I did not uninstall/reinstall WMC. I simply stopped the WMC services, deleted the contents of the eHome folder, and ran TV setup again. The deleting of the directory contents did not remove my custom WMC theme or break extenders or remove custom shortcuts in WMC, so that was good.

Outstanding.

Question: Which services did you stop in order to delete the eHome folder? I had done that a long time ago, but lost the link which is why I never mentioned it.

[Scallica]

Question: Which services did you stop in order to delete the eHome folder? I had done that a long time ago, but lost the link which is why I never mentioned it.

Windows Media Center Receiver Service & Windows Media Center Scheduler Service

[garyan2]

Question: Which services did you stop in order to delete the eHome folder? I had done that a long time ago, but lost the link which is why I never mentioned it.

Windows Media Center Receiver Service & Windows Media Center Scheduler Service

hmm ... I tried those and didn't work for me. I'll try again later.

EDIT: oops. I had tried to delete the eHome directory and failed. It is possible to delete the contents of the folder though with the above services stopped. Thank you!

[ewtaylo]

So I am trying this out on a test machine before I put it into production and everything went well until I logged into SD using epg123. It complains about me not having any JSON lineups set. So I tried to use mc2xml but it will not run on my 64 bit 8.1 machine. So then I installed emby but I did not create an emby account so I was unable to see how I was to set a JSON lineup.

What is the preferred method of getting a JSON lineup added to SD? I thought in reading through the thread that this was handled but I am stuck.

Thanks

SD account = ewtaylo and I set an xml lineup (even thought that was not needed for this case)

[garyan2]

So I am trying this out on a test machine before I put it into production and everything went well until I logged into SD using epg123. It complains about me not having any JSON lineups set. So I tried to use mc2xml but it will not run on my 64 bit 8.1 machine. So then I installed emby but I did not create an emby account so I was unable to see how I was to set a JSON lineup.

What is the preferred method of getting a JSON lineup added to SD? I thought in reading through the thread that this was handled but I am stuck.

Thanks

SD account = ewtaylo and I set an xml lineup (even thought that was not needed for this case)

If you have the latest version, it should have popped up with the lineup configuration window. If the window didn't pop up, there is a button below the login button labelled 'Lineups'. Click that and Add New to add your lineup(s) and apply.

[STC]

I believe it does kill extenders, correct me if I`m wrong...
Certainly, removing and re-adding WMC breaks all third party tools and settings.

Clearing the eHome folder does not break extenders.

Thank you for the clarification. I thought I read somewhere that it did and I don't have extenders on my test rig.

[glorp]

Diving into this issue revealed a couple things: the default timeout is 100 seconds, not 60 like I thought, and my retries were not working anyway. I am attaching v0.7.1 to correct the retries and copied rkulagow's method on the retries. First 60 seconds, then 120 seconds, then 240 seconds without any delays between. I believe this will reduce the likelyhood of epg123 failing due to web timeouts.

Basically good news all around. My EPG123 scheduled task ran and completed normally off EPG123 v0.7.1. A new days' data was added to schedule from Mar 12->Mar 13. I captured a trace log but everything worked properly so no need to send it unless you want to see it.

Total run time was about 9 minutes. Took ~7 minutes to get to the loadmxf step. The vast majority of that time was spent Entering/Exiting sdGetArtWork() for 1 program, many, many times.

I'm going to just keep trace logging on all the time unless there's a reason not to? My log today was only ~140K. I can rotate them daily with a utility and keep exactly 7 days so excessive log growth should not present me any problem. If you don't hear again, assume it's working

Also the scheduled mcupdate task ran a few hours earlier today, gave me the two expected messages about Client Maintenance in the Event Log, and I can see that mcepg2-0.db in ehome was time stamped from that run. No doubt it is doing gc without me ever setting up a guide through WMC.

I do have ~37000+ files in cache but I guess that's to be expected. 520 channels, 14 days so I guess 37000 invidual unique programs in those. Just seems like a lot of file management. They don't take up any significant space.

Nice job! Where's the contribution link?

[kanipek]

Back in the good old days before Rovi, We used to get season number info displayed in the WMC listings for most TV series. I was wondering if that is something you can look at implementing?

I found it helpful info, kind of like having the years in there for movies. I see the info is available in the listings in the cache.

Episode number in the WMC listings would be awesome as well.

Just a thought. I have not used the check box to prefix titles as I don't know if that would mess with the WTV renamer script that I run every morning.

[Scallica]

Just in case somebody wasn't sure how to do this, but below are the instructions of running this as a task & not having the "command" window show

Added to wiki.

[Embiggens]

Another satisfied customer here. Finished incorporating epg123 into a rebuild this weekend and enjoying my new program data- the sXXeXX info in the listings is a nice little treat. I'll be pressing the donate button at least once.

One thing I'm still trying to sort out is channel logos. After setting up the guide, I installed my channel logos, but *did not* select the auto-populate option. Instead I moved all of the logos from the mcl-created 'big' folder over to a new folder named 'logos' in the same directory as epg123.exe. I think I have both 'use schedules direct logos' and 'allow override' boxes checked, figuring that this would allow me to use sd logos as a fallback if mcl did not produce some particular logo.

I re-ran epg123.exe once after transferring over the folder but I am not seeing the big logos yet. I'll look further at it tonight, but I'm just wondering should the way I'm doing it work? Or is there a better route people are using? Thanks!

[garyan2]

Basically good news all around. My EPG123 scheduled task ran and completed normally off EPG123 v0.7.1. A new days' data was added to schedule from Mar 12->Mar 13. I captured a trace log but everything worked properly so no need to send it unless you want to see it.

No need to see it. I was actually hoping it would reveal the reason for failing the last couple days with the probable timeout.

Total run time was about 9 minutes. Took ~7 minutes to get to the loadmxf step. The vast majority of that time was spent Entering/Exiting sdGetArtWork() for 1 program, many, many times.

The individual calls to sdGetArtwork() is for any movies and sports that do not already have an image identified in the guideImages.xml file. At the end of the process, there should be a call to sdGetArtwork() with a much larger number which will be any series' that need artwork.

I'm going to just keep trace logging on all the time unless there's a reason not to? My log today was only ~140K. I can rotate them daily with a utility and keep exactly 7 days so excessive log growth should not present me any problem. If you don't hear again, assume it's working

I currently have a cleanup routine for the log files as well. Once a log file reaches 1MB in size, it will put a timestamp in the filename and create a new file to continue recording in. There will be a maximum of 4 completed 1MB archived files plus the current log file.

Also the scheduled mcupdate task ran a few hours earlier today, gave me the two expected messages about Client Maintenance in the Event Log, and I can see that mcepg2-0.db in ehome was time stamped from that run. No doubt it is doing gc without me ever setting up a guide through WMC.

Thanks for helping us verify there were no unintended consequences concerning the GC!

I do have ~37000+ files in cache but I guess that's to be expected. 520 channels, 14 days so I guess 37000 invidual unique programs in those. Just seems like a lot of file management. They don't take up any significant space.

Nice job! Where's the contribution link?

Thanks! On the configuration GUI there is a hotlink beside the save button. It will take you to a PayPal site.

[garyan2]

Back in the good old days before Rovi, We used to get season number info displayed in the WMC listings for most TV series. I was wondering if that is something you can look at implementing?

I found it helpful info, kind of like having the years in there for movies. I see the info is available in the listings in the cache.

Episode number in the WMC listings would be awesome as well.

Just a thought. I have not used the check box to prefix titles as I don't know if that would mess with the WTV renamer script that I run every morning.

I didn't know that information was presented anywhere. There was a lot of stuff I never realized about the guide information until we lost everything and I started forming the idea for epg123.

I believe I can do the season, but there is nothing in the MXF for the episode other than what I have in there already. How and where was it presented before so I can bring back the season information for you.

[garyan2]

Another satisfied customer here. Finished incorporating epg123 into a rebuild this weekend and enjoying my new program data- the sXXeXX info in the listings is a nice little treat. I'll be pressing the donate button at least once.

One thing I'm still trying to sort out is channel logos. After setting up the guide, I installed my channel logos, but *did not* select the auto-populate option. Instead I moved all of the logos from the mcl-created 'big' folder over to a new folder named 'logos' in the same directory as epg123.exe. I think I have both 'use schedules direct logos' and 'allow override' boxes checked, figuring that this would allow me to use sd logos as a fallback if mcl did not produce some particular logo.

I re-ran epg123.exe once after transferring over the folder but I am not seeing the big logos yet. I'll look further at it tonight, but I'm just wondering should the way I'm doing it work? Or is there a better route people are using? Thanks!

Awesome. Unfortunately what you are trying to do with the logos will not work. The checkboxes for channel logos is more geared toward those who do not have MCL XL. The images in the logos folder need to be named exactly as the station callsign or it won't be assigned.

I would suggest running the auto-populate and then finish up manually with my channel logos and uncheck the boxes in the GUI. Priority for the logos goes as such:

First: .\logos folder
Second: SD logo images
Third: MCL XL

MXL XL is last since if we include any logos in the mxf file and import in the guide, it will actually overwrite the logo assigned by MCL XL.

[Space]

Back in the good old days before Rovi, We used to get season number info displayed in the WMC listings for most TV series. I was wondering if that is something you can look at implementing?

I found it helpful info, kind of like having the years in there for movies. I see the info is available in the listings in the cache.

Episode number in the WMC listings would be awesome as well.

Just a thought. I have not used the check box to prefix titles as I don't know if that would mess with the WTV renamer script that I run every morning.

I've only been using WMC for about 2.5 years but I don't recall ever seeing any season number information in the listings with zap2it. I know there are add-ons such as "Recorded TV HD" that add this and many other features.

[Embiggens]

I would suggest running the auto-populate and then finish up manually with my channel logos and uncheck the boxes in the GUI. Priority for the logos goes as such:

First: .\logos folder
Second: SD logo images
Third: MCL XL

MXL XL is last since if we include any logos in the mxf file and import in the guide, it will actually overwrite the logo assigned by MCL XL.

Gotcha, thanks for the explanation.

[kanipek]

Back in the good old days before Rovi, We used to get season number info displayed in the WMC listings for most TV series. I was wondering if that is something you can look at implementing?

I found it helpful info, kind of like having the years in there for movies. I see the info is available in the listings in the cache.

Episode number in the WMC listings would be awesome as well.

Just a thought. I have not used the check box to prefix titles as I don't know if that would mess with the WTV renamer script that I run every morning.

I didn't know that information was presented anywhere. There was a lot of stuff I never realized about the guide information until we lost everything and I started forming the idea for epg123.

I believe I can do the season, but there is nothing in the MXF for the episode other than what I have in there already. How and where was it presented before so I can bring back the season information for you.

You are testing my memory....
When you clicked on an episode in the recoding schedule or guide it was in the area below the episode info and was simply "Series Name: Season xx"
Here is an example:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q ... 2738664229

That picture seems to be how I remember it as well, but I can't be absolutely certain.

[kanipek]

Back in the good old days before Rovi, We used to get season number info displayed in the WMC listings for most TV series. I was wondering if that is something you can look at implementing?

I found it helpful info, kind of like having the years in there for movies. I see the info is available in the listings in the cache.

Episode number in the WMC listings would be awesome as well.

Just a thought. I have not used the check box to prefix titles as I don't know if that would mess with the WTV renamer script that I run every morning.

I've only been using WMC for about 2.5 years but I don't recall ever seeing any season number information in the listings with zap2it. I know there are add-ons such as "Recorded TV HD" that add this and many other features.

I never used any of the add-ons for WMC. But I did have that info for probably 90%+ of the series. That add-on could be a option if I can find it.

>>I did a quick check on that add-on if it is indeed the correct one I did not read anything about this added functionality. Looks like the author is a member here. Perhaps they could provide more info.

[garyan2]

Back in the good old days before Rovi, We used to get season number info displayed in the WMC listings for most TV series. I was wondering if that is something you can look at implementing?

I found it helpful info, kind of like having the years in there for movies. I see the info is available in the listings in the cache.

Episode number in the WMC listings would be awesome as well.

Just a thought. I have not used the check box to prefix titles as I don't know if that would mess with the WTV renamer script that I run every morning.

I didn't know that information was presented anywhere. There was a lot of stuff I never realized about the guide information until we lost everything and I started forming the idea for epg123.

I believe I can do the season, but there is nothing in the MXF for the episode other than what I have in there already. How and where was it presented before so I can bring back the season information for you.

You are testing my memory....
When you clicked on an episode in the recoding schedule or guide it was in the area below the episode info and was simply "Series Name: Season xx"
Here is an example:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q ... 2738664229

That picture seems to be how I remember it as well, but I can't be absolutely certain.

I can do this. The fields are defined in the MXF document, just don't know how much effort will be required. Look for it in a future build.

Note I will only be able to do the season, not the episode number. In the past I included the season and episode in the description, but it looked really bad and don't want to do that. What you referenced is decent enough.

[STC]

RecordedTV HD is actually really good for RecordedTV organizing and viewing. The interface is polished and full of metadata.