Microsoft ending EPG for WMC in January

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stuartm

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#401

Post by stuartm » Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:49 pm

I think it's more likely that MS is continuing the guide until people are fooled into thinking it isn't going away, then pulling the plug abruptly. Say on April 1st :D

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Bee_Dee_3_Dee

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#402

Post by Bee_Dee_3_Dee » Sun Mar 08, 2020 11:59 pm

stuartm wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:49 pm I think it's more likely that MS is continuing the guide until people are fooled into thinking it isn't going away, then pulling the plug abruptly. Say on April 1st :D
Hmm... idk. but good one. :thumbup:

I was just dreaming... because M$ did provide a great deal recently for a game subscriptions for PC. It was like they were attempting to be cool. (LOL "M$ being cool.") :lol:

The Game Subscription's monthly price was/is as low as could be and the 1st month -- just pennies.

So, i figured maybe M$ had turned a new leaf. LOL Not possible, right? :lol:

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garyan2

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#403

Post by garyan2 » Mon Mar 09, 2020 12:52 am

Maybe @SugarFree can chime in, but she had insider information that the contract between MS and Rovi for guide data went out to end-of-March or end-of-April... I don't remember. Whenever that contract runs out, that is the definite end date. Other than that, I have no idea what MS is doing... especially after the fiasco last month when everything got scrambled a bit.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

stuartm

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#404

Post by stuartm » Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:47 am

Seriously, that would be my guess as well. Data may keep coming till the MS/Rovi contract expires.

tonywagner

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#405

Post by tonywagner » Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:57 pm

I had migrated off of the MS/Rovi guide a few months ago, but was curious about this extended guide data, so I just did a fresh Win7 WMC install in a virtual machine.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like I can access that guide data anymore. I entered my zip code and agree to everything during setup, and tried running all of the update tasks, but still no guide data. Maybe there was something in the (now unavailable) downloadable TV setup data that facilitated communication with MS/Rovi servers?

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garyan2

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#406

Post by garyan2 » Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:13 am

Correct. During the "Downloading TV Setup Data" stage, WMC would get your available lineups based on the postal code. That service is no longer available, so you can't select the lineup to download. If you did not have a clean install, and it had been setup before to use a MS/Rovi lineup, then that information would still have been stored in the database and "reused".

Basically, if your WMC knows what lineup you have, it will still be able to download it from MS/Rovi. If you are doing a clean install, then you have no way of finding out what the lineups are.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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plplplpl

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#407

Post by plplplpl » Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:15 am

garyan2 wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:13 am Correct. During the "Downloading TV Setup Data" stage, WMC would get your available lineups based on the postal code. That service is no longer available, so you can't select the lineup to download. If you did not have a clean install, and it had been setup before to use a MS/Rovi lineup, then that information would still have been stored in the database and "reused".

Basically, if your WMC knows what lineup you have, it will still be able to download it from MS/Rovi. If you are doing a clean install, then you have no way of finding out what the lineups are.
So in before the lock, as it were. :lol:

mmortal03

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#408

Post by mmortal03 » Tue Mar 10, 2020 8:09 am

garyan2 wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:13 am If you are doing a clean install, then you have no way of finding out what the lineups are.
The Internet will always find a way. :) Maybe there's a way to replicate that database information and inject it into a clean install?

tonywagner

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#409

Post by tonywagner » Tue Mar 10, 2020 1:48 pm

mmortal03 wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 8:09 am The Internet will always find a way. :) Maybe there's a way to replicate that database information and inject it into a clean install?
It's only a matter of time before Microsoft pulls the plug on the guide data completely anyway, so I'm guessing the Internet will pass on this one. :)

adam1991

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#410

Post by adam1991 » Tue Mar 10, 2020 6:02 pm

tonywagner wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 6:51 pm
adam1991 wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:54 pmAnd here we are 6 weeks later, and not only is it still working, we have now passed through the time change--and the guide never burped? Not once?
It most definitely "burped" about 3 weeks ago, when dates and times were messed up according to multiple reports:

viewtopic.php?p=138426#p138426

But remarkably, it sounds like it is corrected now.
My point is, and was, that for years now every time the time change came around the guide just STOPPED--it just STOPPED--updating for quite a long time.

And now, with the time change, it only "messed up"? And now, with the time change, that "messed up" happened AFTER MS said "no more guide data"?

What a backwards world in which we live. When it was working, it didn't work. Now that it's turned off, it works better than ever.

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DavidinCT

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#411

Post by DavidinCT » Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:03 pm

I checked today, still good till 3/20 as of now...
-Dave
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Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

cleothyme

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#412

Post by cleothyme » Sun Mar 15, 2020 10:48 pm

My data goes out to Thursday the 19th in the evening.

It looks good except lots of erroneous listings for something called "NCAA Basketball". :lolno:

n127

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#413

Post by n127 » Sat Mar 21, 2020 1:47 pm

The guide updated in the last 12 hours till April 2nd. We were without a guide for 1.5 days, which is normal now.

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plplplpl

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#414

Post by plplplpl » Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:30 pm

Image

Only thing, though, is that all the late night shows have shut down production. Oh well, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.

adam1991

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#415

Post by adam1991 » Sat Mar 21, 2020 4:06 pm

I take "gift horse" to mean the late night shows shutting down...

Mike88

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#416

Post by Mike88 » Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:19 am

My guide did end on Thurs the 19th & I figured that was really the end. When I looked at the HTPC on Sun the 22nd I noticed it recorded a program on Fri evening the 20th. So the guide had to get updated before Fri evening.

cleothyme

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#417

Post by cleothyme » Mon Mar 23, 2020 7:50 pm

Also got the guide back, out to Thursday April 2 at 8pm EST.

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plplplpl

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#418

Post by plplplpl » Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:39 pm

plplplpl wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2020 5:31 am Dear underappreciated Microsoft/Rovi employee,

Yes, you. You probably read this forum regularly although company policy prevents you from commenting. Your corporate overlords may not appreciate you and maybe don't assign you the most exciting projects, every day you spend in your lonely cubicle seems just like the previous one, you've been unfairly passed over for promotions, and you frequently wonder if this is what you went to college for. Your parents are proud you work for a big name company, but you wonder what the point of it all is; if they only knew what you really do all day. And to add insult to injury, your bosses fobbed off the WMC EPG, which is slated for termination, on you, which you might be interpreting as a not-so-subtle metaphor they're signaling you about your future career prospects.

But lo, since no one seems to notice or care what goes on in your off-the-beaten-track corner of the office anyway, you've decided that you'd take a surreptitious stand of defiance and continue giving the EPG a reprieve, a stay of execution as it were, and keep it alive for those of us who appreciate it, unbeknownst to all those around you who are oblivious to the true power that you hold.

Well, this is to say that you may not know us, and our paths will most likely never cross, but we, the great unwashed masses of Microsoft end-user proles who rely on our breadline handouts of periodic free EPG updates, hold you in high esteem for your acts of unsung bravery and devotion to the common good.

My guide now goes out to March 13th, 11:30 PM. :)
Let us once again express our gratitude to the unsung hero contributing to help keep people at home watching TV. :clap:

cleothyme

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#419

Post by cleothyme » Tue Mar 24, 2020 7:43 pm

plplplpl wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:39 pm Let us once again express our gratitude to the unsung hero contributing to help keep people at home watching TV. :clap:
Hear, hear!

mmortal03

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#420

Post by mmortal03 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 2:58 am

stuartm wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:49 pm I think it's more likely that MS is continuing the guide until people are fooled into thinking it isn't going away, then pulling the plug abruptly. Say on April 1st :D
Looks like you were close. No guide for me since the 3rd. Could this time be it? :)

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