Media Center EPG Cutover

Global guide related discussion. All Windows versions.
SushiLover

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#1821

Post by SushiLover » Fri Oct 02, 2015 7:52 pm

Localemperor wrote:
SushiLover wrote:Are you getting an error message when you try to download the TV data or is it that it just won't try at all?
It says that it can't download the TV setup data. Where it should let me pick Chicago OTA, it just says it can't download it. I've tried a pure Hosts file, as well as the various IP addresses others have posted. I've tried other zip codes, including those that people have said worked, and even some far away from me to see if I can download anything. No luck.
I was having the exact same issue. I added 65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com 72.246.56.59 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com to my host file, ran ipconfig release, renew and flushdns then rebooted my PC and modem at the same time. I was then able to enter zip 60657 and download the Guide. Maybe I just finally got lucky?

dmagerl

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#1822

Post by dmagerl » Fri Oct 02, 2015 7:53 pm

thumperyz69 wrote:One question. Since the areas are much smaller these days for zip codes how do I add the guide information for out of area stations??? I don’t see a way to scan in WMC for additional zip codes???
The only easy way I know to do it is to dedicate a tuner(s) to each Metro area you're trying to get.

When setting up TV, it gives you a list of tuners to set up. Just select a subset of the total. If you have 2 tuners, then only set up 1. Go through set up and select the guide listing for the first metro area. At the end it will ask if you wish to set up the remaining tuners. Say yes and then pick the guide listing for the other metro area. The guide listings from both metro areas will be merged into one complete guide listing.

This has one shortcoming in that your tuner pool has now been cut in half. You have dedicated tuners for each metro area and cant treat them as one big tuner pool.

This technique also depends on the guide listings for both metro areas being available in WMC. You may have to use a different zipcode halfway between the two areas to get them both. You can go to http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/tv-listings and enter different zipcodes until you get both the desired metro areas.

Another way is to download and run Guidetool but then you have to manually add each and every out of area station before you can associate a guide listing with them. That can be a real pain though.

In my area, I'm missing the listings for Rockford, Il. I just assigned a single tuner to Rockford during TV setup and get the listings that way.

Localemperor

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#1823

Post by Localemperor » Fri Oct 02, 2015 11:29 pm

SushiLover wrote:
Localemperor wrote:
SushiLover wrote:Are you getting an error message when you try to download the TV data or is it that it just won't try at all?
It says that it can't download the TV setup data. Where it should let me pick Chicago OTA, it just says it can't download it. I've tried a pure Hosts file, as well as the various IP addresses others have posted. I've tried other zip codes, including those that people have said worked, and even some far away from me to see if I can download anything. No luck.
I was having the exact same issue. I added 65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com 72.246.56.59 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com to my host file, ran ipconfig release, renew and flushdns then rebooted my PC and modem at the same time. I was then able to enter zip 60657 and download the Guide. Maybe I just finally got lucky?
Those were the same IP addresses I had in my host file, but I did the rest of the steps as you suggested with the same zip code and same problem.
Has anyone adjusted their firewall in the router/modem? Mine is a 2Wire from AT&T, and it says I can add a user-customized program, but I don't know the values I should use for the Port or Range, Protocol, Application type, etc.

thumperyz69

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#1824

Post by thumperyz69 » Fri Oct 02, 2015 11:41 pm

dmagerl wrote:
thumperyz69 wrote:One question. Since the areas are much smaller these days for zip codes how do I add the guide information for out of area stations??? I don’t see a way to scan in WMC for additional zip codes???
The only easy way I know to do it is to dedicate a tuner(s) to each Metro area you're trying to get.

When setting up TV, it gives you a list of tuners to set up. Just select a subset of the total. If you have 2 tuners, then only set up 1. Go through set up and select the guide listing for the first metro area. At the end it will ask if you wish to set up the remaining tuners. Say yes and then pick the guide listing for the other metro area. The guide listings from both metro areas will be merged into one complete guide listing.

This has one shortcoming in that your tuner pool has now been cut in half. You have dedicated tuners for each metro area and cant treat them as one big tuner pool.

This technique also depends on the guide listings for both metro areas being available in WMC. You may have to use a different zipcode halfway between the two areas to get them both. You can go to http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/tv-listings and enter different zipcodes until you get both the desired metro areas.

Another way is to download and run Guidetool but then you have to manually add each and every out of area station before you can associate a guide listing with them. That can be a real pain though.

In my area, I'm missing the listings for Rockford, Il. I just assigned a single tuner to Rockford during TV setup and get the listings that way.
Thanks but I know there is a way because I did it using the "GuideTool" about 2 months but for the life I do not remember how to scan and bring in additional lineup areas...and then merge usign the Guidetool...surely someone can point this dummy here (me) in the right direction...

Thanks

Localemperor

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#1825

Post by Localemperor » Fri Oct 02, 2015 11:57 pm

Localemperor wrote: Those were the same IP addresses I had in my host file, but I did the rest of the steps as you suggested with the same zip code and same problem.
Has anyone adjusted their firewall in the router/modem? Mine is a 2Wire from AT&T, and it says I can add a user-customized program, but I don't know the values I should use for the Port or Range, Protocol, Application type, etc.
SUCCESS!!! SWEET, JUICY SUCCESS!!!
I'm not sure if what I did was the answer, or just 1000th time was the charm, but here's what I did. I basically disabled the crap out of the Windows Firewall. Not only did I do the normal clicks to turn it off, I went into the advanced settings and, for every connection profile (public, private, etc.) I disabled it there too. Any setting that said on, I turned off. Then, even with it all off, I went into the Programs portion of the firewall and added as many .exe files located in c:\windows\eHome as I found. Next thing I knew, it ran without a problem.
Hopefully it continues to work, as I will try to turn on the Firewall settings until I find the culprit, and then report back.

Localemperor

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#1826

Post by Localemperor » Sat Oct 03, 2015 12:05 am

I can confirm it was the Windows Firewall that was the issue. I turned it back on and ran the TV Signal Setup and got the error. I turned it back off, ran the setup again, and it works like a champ.
Now to find a firewall program that doesn't cause the same problem.

SushiLover

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#1827

Post by SushiLover » Sat Oct 03, 2015 12:20 am

Localemperor wrote:I can confirm it was the Windows Firewall that was the issue. I turned it back on and ran the TV Signal Setup and got the error. I turned it back off, ran the setup again, and it works like a champ.
Now to find a firewall program that doesn't cause the same problem.
Congrats on getting it working! I made no changes to my firewall other than allowing access to whatever program Norton said was asking for Internet access at the time it was attempting to download the Guide.

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Vistaar

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#1828

Post by Vistaar » Sat Oct 03, 2015 12:31 am

Localemperor wrote:I can confirm it was the Windows Firewall that was the issue.
Before everyone with WMC guide problems starts installing new firewalls, I can confirm that Windows Firewall was running when I first downloaded TV setup data more than 2 months ago, I did not have to turn it off or create any special firewall rules, and furthermore it is running right now. I also did not have to modify my Hosts file.

Localemperor

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#1829

Post by Localemperor » Sat Oct 03, 2015 12:42 am

Vistaar wrote:
Localemperor wrote:I can confirm it was the Windows Firewall that was the issue.
Before everyone with WMC guide problems starts installing new firewalls, I can confirm that Windows Firewall was running when I first downloaded TV setup data more than 2 months ago, I did not have to turn it off or create any special firewall rules, and furthermore it is running right now. I also did not have to modify my Hosts file.
We'll, for me, it was the problem. I can easily replicate the issue, and it's with a fresh install of Windows 7. For those who can't get the other solutions to work, it's worth a shot.

Randy L

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#1830

Post by Randy L » Sat Oct 03, 2015 5:08 am

I finally got mine working!!! I am amazed at how many different things seem to work for different people. I didn't realized that there even was a guide problem until last night when I sat down to watch some new TV shows that I just assumed had been recorded correctly. Since yesterday I spent about 8 hours reading posts and trying everything. Turning off the firewall, uninstalling and reinstall media center, trying multiple IP address in the host file, removing mcepg3-x folders and files, removing keys in regedit32, running mediacenterrecovertask, running objectstorerecovertask, and just backing up and trying TV Set UP again and again and again. I tried it all several times. Finally I changed my computers preferred DNS server from Googles 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (which I have been using since I built this computer and it's the one that keeps getting recommended in forums on this topic) to my local ISP DNS server, removed all edits from the host file, ran objectstorerecovertask again and voila it worked. My ISP DNS server does ping a different IP address for the data.tvdownload.microsoft.com and cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com than the google DNS server was. I read some posts from people who got it to work using their phone to connect their PC to the internet, but I bet they were using a different DNS server with their phone. Also for the people who got it to work by going back and redoing TV Set Up over and over until it worked, maybe their ISP used a different IP address the time it worked? I have went to command prompt several times since I made the change to ping cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com and my local ISP returns a different IP address each time. Just a thought. Try a different DNS server and see.

aseries

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#1831

Post by aseries » Sat Oct 03, 2015 4:06 pm

Microsoft changed EPG source July 20, 2015 with many users experiencing Guide Update failures. Here are two links you may use to help resolve your issues. The second link helped me fix my problem but it requires some knowledge and experience with Windows command line and internal administration.

http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/wind ... e-dead-yet

http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/cfulle ... 20th-2015/

Snowdog

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#1832

Post by Snowdog » Sun Oct 04, 2015 3:35 pm

BucK wrote: Snowdog's solution above for "groundhog day" issue works!!! Guide is now updating. Thanks Snowdog.
You are quite welcome.

If it helps one person, then it was worth posting.

philetus

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#1833

Post by philetus » Mon Oct 05, 2015 12:39 am

I am running Media Center on a (Windows 7, SP1, all updates done) laptop.
I am setting it up for the first time.
I have tried to download the guide and I get an error, "he Guide Could Not Be Downloaded".
I have tried every fix I could find on the web with no resolution.
I don't know if the media Center is corrupted or I need to change a setting somewhere.
Hoping someone here can steer me straight.

[Moderator note: topic merged; search before posting]

Randy L

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#1834

Post by Randy L » Mon Oct 05, 2015 5:02 am

philetus wrote:I am running Media Center on a (Windows 7, SP1, all updates done) laptop.
I am setting it up for the first time.
I have tried to download the guide and I get an error, "he Guide Could Not Be Downloaded".
I have tried every fix I could find on the web with no resolution.
I don't know if the media Center is corrupted or I need to change a setting somewhere.
Hoping someone here can steer me straight.

[Moderator note: topic merged; search before posting]


What exactly have you tried.

LineNoise

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#1835

Post by LineNoise » Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:37 pm

Hello All,

I come to you out of pure desperation and defeat. I've been struggling over varying issues with WMC for some time now. After trying everything suggested here several times I finally discovered that WMC had corrupted files via "sfc /scannow". After attempts to repair failed, I had no choice but to reload windows. I was actually relieved that there was a fix in sight.

That brings us to today where I've reinstalled windows, but still cannot get the guide to download and in the process of troubleshooting WMC no longer sees my tuner. The good news is SFC doesn't find any integrity issues anymore :lolno:

Today, on a fresh installation of windows 7 I have:
  • Disabled windows firewall
    ran SFC to check for corruption
    Tried every known zip code in the state of IL that I could find
    Changed my DNS servers to google, then back to comcast (ipconfig /release, /flushdns, /renew / reboot router / reboot PC)
    Added the recommended entries from this forum to my host file
    Ran objecttaskrecovery and also mediacenterrecovery
I went full superstition on this guys, I ran a burn-in test on my PC overnight for 8.5hrs and it handled it fine. I downloaded a brand new ISO FROM MICROSOFT (Took me 2 hours because my original key only allowed french or korean languages and support wanted me to buy a new key for $40, I won and they gave me a new key). Went and bought a brand new flash drive to install from. Made sure the BIOS was updated. Downloaded fresh drivers from ASUS. Slipstreamed all updates into install.

My setup worked flawlessly for 14 months and now I'm losing my mind. Knowing this SHOULD work, but not being able to get it working is about to push me over the edge out of pure frustration. I've been coming back to this thread looking for ideas for nearly a month and now I'm stuck; I was so sure reinstalling windows would solve my issue. I really hope that you guys have some more tricks up your sleeves, thanks for listening and I appreciate all the work people have put in to this thread and any further assistance people can provide. Thank you :D
Last edited by LineNoise on Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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rmeden

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#1836

Post by rmeden » Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:49 pm

Linenoice, you don't mention what version of Windows you're using.

If you're using Vista, you'll need to upgrade to TV Pack 2008

LineNoise

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#1837

Post by LineNoise » Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:56 pm

Edited my original post. I'm using Win7 Pro.

Localemperor

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#1838

Post by Localemperor » Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:29 pm

LineNoise wrote:Edited my original post. I'm using Win7 Pro.
How deep did you go in turning off the Windows Firewall? When I turned it off from the first screen, it didn't help. It was only when I went into the advanced settings and turned everything off did mine start to work. I also added every exe file to the list of applications the firewall will recognize,not just the regular WMC executable.
You may want to export the current policy before you make too many changes.

LineNoise

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#1839

Post by LineNoise » Mon Oct 05, 2015 11:35 pm

I just went in and shut it off for home networks. That's all I've ever done and haven't had issues. I never keep windows firewall on, ever since XP.

I got it working! I have no idea how or why, but it's finally working!!!

There were about 60 updates waiting to install (even though I slipstreamed) so I ran updates til there were no more
I removed the Ceton network adapter from device manager and removed the Ceton software (don't recall exact order) & rebooted
I removed WMC & rebooted
I uninstalled Digital Cable Advisor & playready & rebooted
Manually deleted the enitre eHome directory & rebooted
Noticed PlayReady left a directory, nope - reboot
Then I ran SFC and it found some IE files corrupted, but it fixed them & rebooted
Ran diags on my SSD and other drives - no issues found
Activated WMC & rebooted
Installed Ceton software & rebooted
Ran Digital cable adviser, then ran through TV setup and nearly fell off my chair when the providers showed up

I've been through this process a hundred times. The ONLY thing I did differently this time was select 'Yes' to join the customer experience program.... Not sure if that had anything to do with it, but I can't help but think it may have... I suspect my SSD because of the IE file corruptions so I will be running that periodically to see if I get anymore corruptions. What a relief to finally get this working!

ppilot

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#1840

Post by ppilot » Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:06 am

So after dealing with the issues in the other thread I decided to clean install my HTPC and setup WMC from scratch.

Everything went smoothly until setting up the TV Tuners.While setting up the TV Tuner I get the following error "Download Failure - The new tv setup data could not be downloaded"

Am I going go have to do that three step method to get the guide working? Also who can I complain to at Microsoft about this stupdity?

At this point WMC is completely unusable, so I am stuck using HDHR View.

WMC on Windows 8.1 Pro

[Moderator note: topic merged; search before posting]

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