Got Zap2IT working on WMC! with a LOT of work

[audinutt]

So in conclusion, I don't know what the heck ROVI is doing, but they sure don't have their act together... because the data is clearly available, I feel they aren't putting it in the correct format for WMC.
For some reason I don't think they really care either..

-Richard

[STC]

Thanks for the investigations. I would put 'blame' on both Rovi and MS WMC to have incompatible systems.

[audinutt]

Thanks for the investigations. I would put 'blame' on both Rovi and MS WMC to have incompatible systems.

I agree with this. It's actually microsoft who broke media center and now is trying to kill it off.
I feel they didn't want to pay zap2it so they made a deal with Rovi instead without caring if the data was accurate.
I was hoping with a solution like this it will stay alive for years to come.

-Richard

[Mike88]

audinutt -

Thanks for all your hard work & time & sharing all the information.

[audinutt]

I wish that it wasn't so labor intensive to setup but it works

[STC]

Perhaps you could clarify:

With Rovi, most of us are seeing incomplete descriptives whereas through Zap2it we'd see a lot more info populated. With your method of merging both how do you filter the wheat from the chaff? For instance how would you stop a generic Rovi description overwriting a good Zap2it one?

[audinutt]

Perhaps you could clarify:

With Rovi, most of us are seeing incomplete descriptives whereas through Zap2it we'd see a lot more info populated. With your method of merging both how do you filter the wheat from the chaff? For instance how would you stop a generic Rovi description overwriting a good Zap2it one?

This is why you must set it up wmc for manual download only.
Then it will not overwrite the zap2it info and make a mess of things.

I am working on a batch file that will stop all wmc services, and backup ehome, then restore ehome from an old version (several days prior) then reimport...
Setting everything up automatically has been quite a project but the final testing is nearly complete and that will then include 14 days of data again vs the 7 I have been importing.

-Richard

[STC]

/confused....

I still can't work out how you merge both but leave in the good stuff which can be from either source I believe(?)

Sorry I'm a bit thick this week.-
Mother-in-law broke her neck - is okay will recover 100% thank goodness.
2 yr old has hand foot mouth, just gave it to me. Nasty thing.
Nanny is away on Vacay
Wife having to run our businesses alone

That's my sob story over I feel a bit better now have a nice day!

[audinutt]

/confused....

I still can't work out how you merge both but leave in the good stuff which can be from either source I believe(?)

Sorry I'm a bit thick this week.-
Mother-in-law broke her neck - is okay will recover 100% thank goodness.
2 yr old has hand foot mouth, just gave it to me. Nasty thing.
Nanny is away on Vacay
Wife having to run our businesses alone

That's my sob story over I feel a bit better now have a nice day!

Okay, you setup WMC for manual download only. (it never auto downloads Rovi)
Then you import Zap2it data...
Then go to autodownload options in WMC and tick the top box. (this is what gives you supplemental data from rovi)
And continue updating and importing your xml file with Big Screen EPG.
It works... this way ONLY, tried many other ways. but this does work.

-Richard

[STC]

Richard, you will think of me as silly: what you describe says to me all data, if present (even generic stuff) from Rovi will overwrite Zap2it which is usually good data. At present my Rovi data is pitiful I would not want it to merge.

Getting away from the generic Rovi stuff is the prime reason for using Zap2it.

[audinutt]

No. The Zap2It description and original air date and such stays. Once again the Rovi is supplemental data.

[webminster]

I think the key part here is the option he's /enabling/ is the one that says download media information, cover art, etc. The other download option is disabled, so mcupdate will not download the guide data files. So the only stuff that's getting pulled is the on-demand subsidiary stuff like photos.... least that's what it looks like to me.

[audinutt]

Correct but it does supplement the full plot and some other descriptors.
I sound mention that this is mostly for movies. Shows don't seem to get any other info from Rovi

[webminster]

I'm almost on the edge to try this on a test machine, see how it works.... big question in my mind so far is, what happens when the cableco changes the lineup, changes channel X from something to something new? Does it cause an outright processing failure, or the changed channel just goes no data? Does BSEPG provide some sort of error notification to key you into re-examining the mapping, and how bad will that task wind up being (change the single mapping, or start over?)

[audinutt]

I'm almost on the edge to try this on a test machine, see how it works.... big question in my mind so far is, what happens when the cableco changes the lineup, changes channel X from something to something new? Does it cause an outright processing failure, or the changed channel just goes no data? Does BSEPG provide some sort of error notification to key you into re-examining the mapping, and how bad will that task wind up being (change the single mapping, or start over?)

That is a good question.
I haven't had to cross that bridge yet. ..

[stuartm]

Since I am not interested in paying for BSEPG on an ongoing basis. Do you know what specifically MCImportXMLTV does that prevents the additional data from showing up?

Thanks

[audinutt]

Yes it disables in band data when importing. I emailed the developer but he didn't seem interested in helping.

[audinutt]

Yes it disables in band data when importing. I emailed the developer but he didn't seem interested in helping.

What this means is that additional information won't download for these items. Artwork, details, etc.

[stuartm]

Since I am assuming that the basic mechanism is a transformation of the XMLTV data to a mxf file then invoking LoadMXF to import the data into the database (done by both tools I assume) It seems that the in-band data is somehow not being transformed? Or is it some flag that is being set in the mxf file that later allows for the in-band data to appear? i.e. something is missing from the mxf file. What I am getting at is do you know what is different about the mxf file that allows the in-band data to appear? If that is known perhaps an additional step to modify the generated mxf file in the case where the in-band data is not enabled could be performed. Thanks for any insight you may have into the details of this.

[audinutt]

Since I am assuming that the basic mechanism is a transformation of the XMLTV data to a mxf file then invoking LoadMXF to import the data into the database (done by both tools I assume) It seems that the in-band data is somehow not being transformed? Or is it some flag that is being set in the mxf file that later allows for the in-band data to appear? i.e. something is missing from the mxf file. What I am getting at is do you know what is different about the mxf file that allows the in-band data to appear? If that is known perhaps an additional step to modify the generated mxf file in the case where the in-band data is not enabled could be performed. Thanks for any insight you may have into the details of this.

It clearly states when performing the import "disabling in band data" when I used mcimportxmltv. It was in the black command window.