Setting up 2 WMC PCs on the same network

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wgf_bean

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Setting up 2 WMC PCs on the same network

#1

Post by wgf_bean » Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:25 pm

My tuners are network attached via ethernet so I've been accessing them from both of my PCs running WMC for years. FYI I have a HDHomeRun Prime with it's 3 tuners for cable, and two HDHomeRuns with 2 tuners each for OTA.

I've set up WMC and EPG123 on one and have it working properly. What's the best way to do the second PC, considering they both need to access the same Schedules Direct account and both should have the same channel line up? Do I simple repeat the process, or can this break something?

Also is there a way force my 2nd PC to have the same lineup as the first without rescanning? I ask this because some the OTA channels may or may not be found when the channel scan is performed. It would be better to simply clone the first to the second somehow.

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garyan2

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#2

Post by garyan2 » Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:27 pm

There's a couple ways to do this.

First option for WMC setup (with tuner scan):
1. Perform EPG123 installation per the guide, but only perform Steps 1 and 2.

Second option for WMC setup (without tuner scan):
1. On the media center that is already setup, open a command prompt and run "START /WAIT C:\Windows\ehome\mcupdate.exe -u -manual -nogc". This process usually lasts less than a minute. It will be complete when you get the command prompt again.

2. Step 1 above creates updated backup files located in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\mcepgX-Y\backup\lineup, \recordings, and \subscriptions folders. X will be 2 for Win7, 3 for Win8+; Y will typically be 0 but choose the highest number for the latest backups. Inside each folder are files with no extensions using the naming format yyyyMMdd_hhmmss as a timestamp when they were created. From the \lineup folder, copy the file with the timestamp when Step 1 was performed and rename it lineup.mxf.

3. On the 2nd media center, perform Step 1 : Clean Start, proceed with the setup to open WMC but do not perform the TV Setup. Close WMC. Close EPG123 Configuration GUI after it opens.

4. You should still have the EPG123 Client GUI open with no channels in the left side listview. Click the [Manual Import] button to import the lineup.mxf file from #2. Once complete, you should have your channels in the left side listview.

First option for EPG123 setup:
1. Complete Step 3 and 4 just like the first media center but schedule it at a different time. If they are scheduled at the same time, one of them is going to fail because there can be only 1 active token at a time.

Second option for EPG123 setup:
1. You need to share the epg123 folder on the first media center so that the second can access the epg123.mxf file over the network.

2. In the EPG123 Client GUI, create a "Client Mode" task pointing to the epg123.mxf file on the first media center to update at a time after the first media center scheduled update time.

3. Depending on how you shared the folder on the first media center, you may have to change the user of the task in order to complete the update. This can be done in the 'Task Scheduler' windows tool.

TL;DR
Setup the 2nd media center just like the first but schedule the update task at a different time.

EDIT: For the first option of EPG123, you can copy the epg123.cfg file from the first media center to save time in setting up the second.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

wgf_bean

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#3

Post by wgf_bean » Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:51 pm

I did the second option on each.

After completing (on 2nd PC) I had to click on the [Rebuild WMC Database] button, otherwise WMC didn't have the listings.

WMC on the 2nd PC now correctly shows the lineup and guide, however when I attempt to view any channel I get the WMC error:

"Viewing or Listing Conflict
No tuner available to satisfy the current request."

If I go back to the 1st PC I can view fine. I even restarted the 2nd PC, but still it complains No tuner available. I know all the tuners are available. I can even view the webpage of the tuner from the 2nd PC and clearly see no tuner is in use. Is something not configuring correctly?

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garyan2

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#4

Post by garyan2 » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:31 am

wgf_bean wrote:After completing (on 2nd PC) I had to click on the [Rebuild WMC Database] button, otherwise WMC didn't have the listings.
Not sure why that was necessary. It should have refreshed automatically after the import. I'll look into it...
wgf_bean wrote:WMC on the 2nd PC now correctly shows the lineup and guide, however when I attempt to view any channel I get the WMC error:

"Viewing or Listing Conflict
No tuner available to satisfy the current request."

If I go back to the 1st PC I can view fine. I even restarted the 2nd PC, but still it complains No tuner available. I know all the tuners are available. I can even view the webpage of the tuner from the 2nd PC and clearly see no tuner is in use. Is something not configuring correctly?
I thought this might happen. This might have to do with the tuners having different GUIDs on the 2nd media center... it won't take the lineup.mxf file from the first media center. The method you used will work no problem on the same computer, but looks like the chances are slim that you can use mxf file from a different computer.

You'll have to do a tuner scan on the second computer. Goto [settings]->[TV]->[TV Signal]->[Scan for More Channels], click the [Delete All] button and then the [Scan again] button. If that doesn't work, then you'll need to perform Steps 1 & 2 of the EPG123 installation which you might as well do ... it'll take close to the same amount of time.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

wgf_bean

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#5

Post by wgf_bean » Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:04 pm

I opened the lineup.mxf files on each of the 2 PCs with a text editor and yes the GUIDs were different. In fact even the Device id for the same tuner was slightly different. So...

I did steps 1 and 2 to set up WMC. Then I did "Second option for EPG123 setup". This resulted in the correct listings and I could view the channels live, but there was no guide info.

The only way I could get the guide listing AND be able to view the channels in WMC was to do all the steps. I can't find a way for it to use the epg123.mxf from the 1st PC correctly. Note that the actual channels it found (OTA) on the 2 PCs didn't match exactly.

After completing PC2, I changed the direction of my OTA antenna to pickup addition channels. I went back into WMC Tasks->TV->TV Signal->Scan for more channels. I found a few extra channels. After this the guide info for all OTA digital channels disappeared and I can't figure out how to get the guide info back short of starting the entire process all over again.

If I make a change to the lineup within WMC as I did to add missing OTA channels, how to I instruct epg123 to fix the guide data?

Also if the line up on the 2 PCs are not exactly the same does this cause a problem with the Schedules Direct account?

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garyan2

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#6

Post by garyan2 » Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:09 pm

You should be able to go into the client and click the Automatch by: [# Number] button to get all your listings back. I'm a little confused why your 2 PCs would detect slightly different channels since they are both using the same hardware.

As far as your SD account, it doesn't know and doesn't care where the data is going... it'll be fine.

RE: using the epg23.mxf file from the 1st PC. Can you import it using the [Manual Import] button?
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

wgf_bean

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#7

Post by wgf_bean » Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:20 pm

garyan2 wrote:You should be able to go into the client and click the Automatch by: [# Number] button to get all your listings back.
Bingo! That was it. I wasn't clicking on that button.
garyan2 wrote:I'm a little confused why your 2 PCs would detect slightly different channels since they are both using the same hardware.
I set up PC1 a few weeks ago. Since then I probably moved the rotor on the OTA antenna. Even if I hadn't moved the antenna we must realize the world is analog, not digital. DTV is digital, but is carried by an analog transmission. So it can be hit or miss as to reception of OTA. Some channels are fringe.
garyan2 wrote:RE: using the epg23.mxf file from the 1st PC. Can you import it using the [Manual Import] button?
That probably goes back to me not clicking on the [# Number] button. I've changed the client on PC2 to get the updates via file sharing from PC1. I'll keep an eye on it as time goes by to see that it indeed is updating.

When a lineup is specified does the SD return all channels in that lineup, even the ones you might not have turned on? For example my OTA channel 12.1 wasn't on because WMC didn't see it. I've since manually added it. When I clicked on [# Number] button in epg123 client, it seemed to update the guide for that missing channel immediately.

Thank you Gary for all your help.

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garyan2

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#8

Post by garyan2 » Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:57 pm

wgf_bean wrote:When a lineup is specified does the SD return all channels in that lineup, even the ones you might not have turned on? For example my OTA channel 12.1 wasn't on because WMC didn't see it. I've since manually added it. When I clicked on [# Number] button in epg123 client, it seemed to update the guide for that missing channel immediately.
SD is only going to provide what EPG123 asks for, and that is determined by the stations you select in the configuration GUI... no more, no less. The reason 12.1 was populated immediately was because you had requested 12.1 in the configuration GUI and that information was downloaded and resides in the epg123.mxf file that was imported.

You can take a look in the EPG123 Client to see all the stations that are a part of the epg123.mxf file on the right side under Lineup Services.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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