Media Center EPG Cutover

Global guide related discussion. All Windows versions.
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Space

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#1561

Post by Space » Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:12 am

HDTV-WMC-fan wrote:...
Hi dnsacks,

For about the last 10 minutes I have been able to ping 65.55.186.113 just fine (sent 4 packets and getting 4 packets back). Then I started losing packets, would get 1 out of 4 packets or 2 out of 4 packets. Now I'm getting good pings again. Just makes no sense that Microsoft would only block pings part of the time! The post by grittree is way over the top, the fix DOES WORK when the Media Center servers connect.
All I get are timeouts and destination network unreachable from an interim router. Windows "ping" sees the dest net unreachables as successful pings, but they are not.

C:\>ping -n 10 65.55.186.113

Pinging 65.55.186.113 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.
Reply from 10.22.112.70: Destination net unreachable.

Ping statistics for 65.55.186.113:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 8, Lost = 2 (20% loss),

dnsacks

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#1562

Post by dnsacks » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:00 am

i found a program called "paping" that let me "ping" specific ports -- hitting port 80, I received consistent responses (though not perfect, 1 of 10 times out), so connectivity for 65.55.186.113 is MOSTLY working . . .

but still received the same directory error @ tv signal setup

Space

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#1563

Post by Space » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:13 am

dnsacks wrote:i found a program called "paping" that let me "ping" specific ports -- hitting port 80, I received consistent responses (though not perfect, 1 of 10 times out), so connectivity for 65.55.186.113 is MOSTLY working . . .

but still received the same directory error @ tv signal setup
paping does TCP port testing, so not a real ping (which uses ICMP packets). It is a better tool to see if a service is available (if you know the port being used by that service). ICMP (used by pings) just tells you that the machine is up, and they can be disallowed by the server or any router in between you and the server (and are therefore unreliable). The service ports can still be available even if you get no response from pings.

Augustus

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#1564

Post by Augustus » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:20 am

So all this ping stuff is interesting, please tell me if I am getting this right:

These are my ping results run at 9 pm est and 6 am est:

65.55.186.113 - always times out
data.tvdownload.microsoft.net - always times out - resolves to data.tvdownload.microsoft.com.akadns.com

72.246.56.59 - always good
cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com - always good, resolves to a1683.d.akami.net [23.15.8.203]

So, if I am interpreting this right, and assuming I need both of these servers, no matter what I do with regard to all the 'solutions' mentioned in this thread, I am never going to get the download as long as 65.55.186.113 / data.tvdownload.microsoft.com is not responding to me. Correct?

Also, the fact that user: HDTV-WMC-fan is getting responses to his pings at 65.55.186.113 means that he is going to get his downloads regardless of what he does, as long as he is getting WMV to get the data from that IP (flushing old DNS etc.)

Also, maybe the fact that some folks are getting responses to 65.55.186.113 / cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com explains why the 'just keep trying method' works for some people.

So, that leads to the question, is 65.55.186.113 the only IP we can use? Maybe someone can revisit whether this is the only usable IP. My backup computer which was able to get the download and Rovi data was not specifically set to point at that IP, so I don't know what it used. Maybe it did aim at that IP but just happened to do so when when it was responsive.

And lastly, why would 65.55.186.113 be responsive to some and not others? Is this a regional thing? (I'm in Vermont) Or maybe it is just being overwhelmed by everyone repeatedly trying to get downloads and failing. And if so, is there anything that Microsoft can do about it? Are they even aware that all these issues may be due to the fact that this IP address is not responsive for most of us?

Or is the real fix here just waiting until these IP issues are resolved by Microsoft, a depressing thought.

Thanks for everyone's help!
Last edited by Augustus on Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:15 am, edited 4 times in total.

HDTV-WMC-fan

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#1565

Post by HDTV-WMC-fan » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:24 am

dnsacks wrote:i found a program called "paping" that let me "ping" specific ports -- hitting port 80, I received consistent responses (though not perfect, 1 of 10 times out), so connectivity for 65.55.186.113 is MOSTLY working . . .

but still received the same directory error @ tv signal setup
Hi dnsacks,

I am not a network specialist, but kdurbin82 may be. He or she is the "real genius" and real hero mainly responsible for helping hundreds (if not thousands of us) make the switch from Zap2it to Rovi and giving us our WMC guide back.

Perhaps you could reach out to kdurbin82.

LrngToFly

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#1566

Post by LrngToFly » Tue Aug 25, 2015 1:00 pm

So this is strange. Again, my guide data ran out on Saturday 8/22 and I've been futzing with my computer Sunday and yesterday- stupidly without a recent backup. Last night I decided to uninstall the WMC feature and not only delete the two eHome folders, but also delete the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center registry keys, expecting on reinstall of the WMC feature, the necessary registry keys would be regenerated. Apparently they're not- WMC wouldn't start up.

Anyway, I found an old Acronis True Image backup I made of my HTPC back in Jan 2013 and put it on. I had to update my Ceton drivers because it was apparently after that that I switched from 4 tuner USB to the 6 tuner Ethernet InfiniTV. After that, the new Rovi channel data pulled down as did epg data to Sep 6 (I think it said Sep 6). Very strange!

And that is after I connected using my Win7 work laptop with a never used WMC and being unable to download channel data, much less epg data.

I certainly don't know what to make of it. There were ~1.3 GB of Windows Updates to install (which I didn't do until after I got the channel & epg data.) I hope this doesn't happen again, but if it does, I guess I'll go back to this 2013 Acronis image and not install the Windows Updates this time.

At least I have two Amazon Basics HDTV antennas arriving today so that at least I'll have OTA channels on all my much used TVs in the house.

Thanks for everyone's help. Good luck to all who are still suffering. I kinda wonder if the cable channels are doing DDOS attacks against MS' servers so that we'll ditch WMC and rent their cable boxes? I save 4x8=$32 per month because of WMC. With my HTPC and 4 ceton echo devices that I've had for several years, I calculated that I hit the break even point in November 2014.

Garand

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#1567

Post by Garand » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:32 pm

TRiddle wrote:After a solid week, I mostly have a working guide. I say mostly because I'm missing a channel that gets watched frequently in our house (A&E). I've used the zip code 73131 that was posted as working for Oklahoma City, select "Dish-Oklahoma City" for my stb box channel lineup, and everything except Ch. 118 (A&E) comes in. I'm starting to think Rovi hates Duck Dynasty or something, because I could repeat it not pulling in multiple times last night once I finally got it to pulling data.

As far as I know, I'm without a way to add a stb channel to my lineup via WMC (I can only add digital channels). "Faking" a channel doesn't work either as I can't get WMC to tell my hauppauge colossus to tune 118. Does Guide Tool allow for this (I've never used it)? Would it be worthwhile to try the Dish National Lineup and forego my satellite locals (this is ok as I have 2 HDHomerun Duals)?

Once I finally manage to get in all my channels, I fully plan on leveraging some xml data into the guide, as frankly, I don't trust Rovi. But, I need to get all my channels. Anyone every seen anything like this?
Using Guide Tool was how I added in my missing channels. I had to pull the listings for specific channels from other service providers, such as Dish, DirectTV, Charter,UVerse, or the various OTA listings and meld them into Media Center. Guide Tool will essentially tell media center that channel number whatever is now A&E and to pull the listings for A&E as if the channel was provided by TV Provider X, despite the fact you are on TV Provider Z.

Guide Tool is a little kludgey to use at first. I kinda bumbled my way through it and it worked. My listings are now more complete and correct than they were on Zap2It, as my provider never updated Zap2It on channel realignments. To use Guide Tool on Vista, you have to have TV Pack. The newest version doesn't officially support Vista, but it worked for me. An older copy is available for download as well. It should work with 7 Media Center out of the box.

sparkybanana

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#1568

Post by sparkybanana » Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:12 am

I followed Hi, I was wondering if maybe you could provide some insight to my windows media center problem. I was having trouble downloading the guide for my area, I tried about 15 different zip codes but they were all still missing 2 channels, fox and another one. So I used instructions from earlier in this thread (http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... start=1100) which I pasted below. They worked perfectly and I was able to download the guide for my area for all channels, but my problem is now that 2 of the channels that were coming in perfectly now can't get a signal at all. I didn't move my antenna at all since 10 minutes before following the instructions and they were coming in perfectly, but now no matter how I move it I can't seem to pick up the channel, and the tv signal shows that I'm only getting in the red zone with one bar out of six. Do you know if something in the solution below might have caused this and how I can get the channels back, even if I have to sacrifice the correct guide listings? Thanks for reading.

"A-) Modify Host File

– Click Start > All Programs > Accessories.
-Right-click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
-Click Continue on the Windows needs your permission UAC window.
-When Notepad opens, click File > Open.
-In the File name field, type C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts.
-Click Open.
-Replace the IP address at the bottom of file with:
65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com
72.246.56.59 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com
-Click File > Save to save your changes.

B-) CLEAN GUIDE DOWNLOAD AND ASSIGNMENT (By Wyldwof):

-Close WMC
-Open Task Scheduler – Control Panel, System and Security, Administrative Tools, Schedule Tasks
-In the left tree expand Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, Windows, Media Center
-In the right pane under name, right-click ObjectStoreRecoveryTask, and click Run (let it run for 2 mins)
-Close Task Scheduler

C-DNS FLUSH

-Click Start.
-Select Programs.
-Select Accessories and locate the Command Prompt shortcut.
-Right click the Command Prompt shortcut and select Run as Administrator from the drop down menu.
-Type ipconfig /release in the command prompt.
-Wait a few seconds for a reply that the IP address has been released.
-Type ipconfig /renew in the command prompt.
-Wait a few seconds for a reply that the IP address has been re-established.
-Type ipconfig /flushdns in the command prompt.
-Close the command prompt and reboot computer

Last step is to run “Set Up TV Signal” from the WMC settings menu. After running the set up it should take 3-5 mins for the guide to update."

Augustus

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#1569

Post by Augustus » Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:29 am

Can some please confirm something for me?

I have been pinging for days and have not been able to get a single response from:

65.55.186.113
data.tvdownload.microsoft.net (data.tvdownload.microsoft.com.akadns.com)

The pings always time out.

*** So, my question is, if I cannot get a response from this IP address, there is no way for me to download EPG data? Correct? ***

I always get good responses from:

72.246.56.59
cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com (resolves to a1683.d.akami.net [23.15.8.203])

Thanks,

HDTV-WMC-fan

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#1570

Post by HDTV-WMC-fan » Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:13 pm

Augustus wrote:Can some please confirm something for me?

I have been pinging for days and have not been able to get a single response from:

65.55.186.113
data.tvdownload.microsoft.net (data.tvdownload.microsoft.com.akadns.com)

The pings always time out.

*** So, my question is, if I cannot get a response from this IP address, there is no way for me to download EPG data? Correct? ***

I always get good responses from:

72.246.56.59
cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com (resolves to a1683.d.akami.net [23.15.8.203])

Thanks,
I used 65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com to switch my guide from Zap2it to Rovi (use .com not .net in your hosts file)

At this time I am getting intermittent ping replies with 50 percent loss

You should get 4 packets back when you ping

Augustus

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#1571

Post by Augustus » Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:17 pm

Yeah, that was just a typo, I have been using .com.

I have not gotten a single successful ping, 100% time outs over two days.

Where are you located?

imaham

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#1572

Post by imaham » Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:47 pm

sparkybanana wrote:I followed Hi, I was wondering if maybe you could provide some insight to my windows media center problem. I was having trouble downloading the guide for my area, I tried about 15 different zip codes but they were all still missing 2 channels, fox and another one. So I used instructions from earlier in this thread (http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... start=1100) which I pasted below. They worked perfectly and I was able to download the guide for my area for all channels, but my problem is now that 2 of the channels that were coming in perfectly now can't get a signal at all. I didn't move my antenna at all since 10 minutes before following the instructions and they were coming in perfectly, but now no matter how I move it I can't seem to pick up the channel, and the tv signal shows that I'm only getting in the red zone with one bar out of six. Do you know if something in the solution below might have caused this and how I can get the channels back, even if I have to sacrifice the correct guide listings? Thanks for reading.
"
Try this:

1. Setup > TV > Guide > Edit Channels
2. Pick your "red" channel out of the list, and select the channel description (i.e. Fox, callsign etc). do NOT select the check box.
3. You should see the Virtual Channel and Subchannel number displayed.
4. From the menu, select "Edit Sources"
5. You should see the Virtual Channel (the Channel number that you normally select) at the top of the display. At the bottom, you will see the RF channel shown as if it were a virtual channel. For example, it might show 4.1 at the top of the page, and 38.1 at the bottom. The RF channel in this example would be 38.
6. Verify that the RF channel number is correct. You should be able to display this channel number on your TV, or search that station out on the Internet or cable TV listings. The Red, Yellow & Green bars on TV Signal come from the RF channel.

Two failures are possible: Red: The RF Channel has no reception because the Guide is pointing to the wrong RF channel. Green: There is a conflict because the Guide is pointing to an RF channel that is in use by another TV station.
Note: My personal setup uses OTA only from Buffalo NY Zip 14174. It has a mix of both Red & Green on the missing channels. That guide has 2 entries that point to an RF channel in the 2 - 6 range, which is not allowed, so they display Red.

If this is your problem you can ADD channels with the same virtual number and the CORRECT rf number. Then use GuideTool or WMC "copy" to copy the guide information from the Incorrect channel listing. Then you need to disable (uncheck) the original incorrect channel listing and wait until Rovi fixes it. There are many entries in Connect, and this problem is only an importance of 3 so far.

JK

HDTV-WMC-fan

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#1573

Post by HDTV-WMC-fan » Wed Aug 26, 2015 2:45 pm

Augustus wrote:Yeah, that was just a typo, I have been using .com.

I have not gotten a single successful ping, 100% time outs over two days.

Where are you located?
I'm in the Columbus OH area.

I believe the IPs are only needed in the transfer from Zap2it to Rovi

My guide has worked flawlessly (OTA channels) since my WMC switched to Rovi (using the fix in my post #1501).

My EPG downloads in less then a minute, so I don't think WMC is using these IPs for the guide downloads. Just did a manual download a few minutes ago and all is just fine. The forum member who is the real expert on this is kdurbin82.

Go here for the proof:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/sea ... sf=msgonly

Augustus

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#1574

Post by Augustus » Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:03 pm

HDTV-WMC-fan wrote:
Augustus wrote:Yeah, that was just a typo, I have been using .com.

I have not gotten a single successful ping, 100% time outs over two days.

Where are you located?
I'm in the Columbus OH area.

I believe the IPs are only needed in the transfer from Zap2it to Rovi

My guide has worked flawlessly (OTA channels) since my WMC switched to Rovi (using the fix in my post #1501).

My EPG downloads in less then a minute, so I don't think WMC is using these IPs for the guide downloads. Just did a manual download a few minutes ago and all is just fine. The forum member who is the real expert on this is kdurbin82.

Go here for the proof:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/sea ... sf=msgonly
No proof is needed - as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I have another machine which made the switch (I guess I got lucky with the timing) and has worked fine since then.

So I agree that the data.tvdownload.microsoft.com address is only needed for the switch over.

Interestingly, when I just pinged data.tvdownload.microsoft.com it resolved to a new, different IP: 65.55.5.170. Unfortunately that times out as well.

So maybe they are changing things up, maybe even trying to fix it. We will see.

HDTV-WMC-fan

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#1575

Post by HDTV-WMC-fan » Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:12 pm

Augustus wrote:
HDTV-WMC-fan wrote:
Augustus wrote:Yeah, that was just a typo, I have been using .com.

I have not gotten a single successful ping, 100% time outs over two days.

Where are you located?
I'm in the Columbus OH area.

I believe the IPs are only needed in the transfer from Zap2it to Rovi

My guide has worked flawlessly (OTA channels) since my WMC switched to Rovi (using the fix in my post #1501).

My EPG downloads in less then a minute, so I don't think WMC is using these IPs for the guide downloads. Just did a manual download a few minutes ago and all is just fine. The forum member who is the real expert on this is kdurbin82.

Go here for the proof:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/sea ... sf=msgonly
No proof is needed - as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I have another machine which made the switch (I guess I got lucky with the timing) and has worked fine since then.

So I agree that the data.tvdownload.microsoft.com address is only needed for the switch over.

Interestingly, when I just pinged data.tvdownload.microsoft.com it resolved to a new, different IP: 65.55.5.170. Unfortunately that times out as well.

So maybe they are changing things up, maybe even trying to fix it. We will see.

By the way, does anybody know if there is any truth to the rumors that the Windows 10 team has commandeered most of the WMC servers to handle the massive overloads caused by demand for Windows 10 downloads?

ewtaylo

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#1576

Post by ewtaylo » Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:53 pm

@Augustus -

Ping is unreliable. It has been mentioned many times in this thread. If any router between you and the destination disables ICMP then your ping dies. There are other methods to verify that a far end host is up.

Augustus

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#1577

Post by Augustus » Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:56 pm

ewtaylo wrote:@Augustus -

Ping is unreliable. It has been mentioned many times in this thread. If any router between you and the destination disables ICMP then your ping dies. There are other methods to verify that a far end host is up.
Such as? I'm new to all this so please help me understand how I can effectively test the availability of data.tvdownload.microsoft.com.

There is no point in me trying all the fixes in this thread if I cannot connect to this server. If I can verify that the server is available, then I can further pursue some of the fixes.

Thanks for your help.

dnsacks

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#1578

Post by dnsacks » Wed Aug 26, 2015 4:23 pm

Augustus wrote:
ewtaylo wrote:@Augustus -

Ping is unreliable. It has been mentioned many times in this thread. If any router between you and the destination disables ICMP then your ping dies. There are other methods to verify that a far end host is up.
Such as? I'm new to all this so please help me understand how I can effectively test the availability of data.tvdownload.microsoft.com.

There is no point in me trying all the fixes in this thread if I cannot connect to this server. If I can verify that the server is available, then I can further pursue some of the fixes.

Thanks for your help.
Agustus -- first step is trying to open the address in a web browser -- If you get a 403 error, access forbidden, you're receiving a response back from the server at that address telling you that access to the port used by web browsers (80?) is disabled/denied on the server side (and confirmation that you're reaching the server) -- OTOH, if your web browser just hangs, VERY good chance that you're not reaching the server.

My prior post mentioned a command line app called "paping" that lets you "ping" specific ports and protocol and gets around the ICMP issue. I couldn't ping the site at issue at all, but got relatively consistent connectivity to port 80 using paping.

Alas, I remain without tv guide support on my clean install of Win 8.1 professional

Augustus

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#1579

Post by Augustus » Wed Aug 26, 2015 4:40 pm

dnsacks wrote:
Augustus wrote:
ewtaylo wrote:@Augustus -

Ping is unreliable. It has been mentioned many times in this thread. If any router between you and the destination disables ICMP then your ping dies. There are other methods to verify that a far end host is up.
Such as? I'm new to all this so please help me understand how I can effectively test the availability of data.tvdownload.microsoft.com.

There is no point in me trying all the fixes in this thread if I cannot connect to this server. If I can verify that the server is available, then I can further pursue some of the fixes.

Thanks for your help.
Agustus -- first step is trying to open the address in a web browser -- If you get a 403 error, access forbidden, you're receiving a response back from the server at that address telling you that access to the port used by web browsers (80?) is disabled/denied on the server side (and confirmation that you're reaching the server) -- OTOH, if your web browser just hangs, VERY good chance that you're not reaching the server.

My prior post mentioned a command line app called "paping" that lets you "ping" specific ports and protocol and gets around the ICMP issue. I couldn't ping the site at issue at all, but got relatively consistent connectivity to port 80 using paping.

Alas, I remain without tv guide support on my clean install of Win 8.1 professional
I'm not sure that that is true about what a 403 error implies. I do indeed get the 403 error when I enter data.tvdownload.microsoft.com into a browser which you say indicates the site is up, but then I found a site called Uptrends.com and under their tools I ran the up-time test and data.tvdownload.microsoft.com fails from all tested points with a "high protocol error." It also shows no return data on their speed test and the DNS report shows errors as well. I tested other sites such as google.com and they ran fine.

Ping may be unreliable, but the time outs it is reporting are certainly consistent with the errors reported at Uptrends.

I still think that the best hypothesis here is that there are server issues at the root of all this, and that the fixes mentioned on this thread worked only because they were coincident with the server being up.

Good luck to all.

imaham

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#1580

Post by imaham » Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:02 pm

HDTV-WMC-fan wrote:
By the way, does anybody know if there is any truth to the rumors that the Windows 10 team has commandeered most of the WMC servers to handle the massive overloads caused by demand for Windows 10 downloads?
Well, that's certainly something uppermost in MY mind, rumor or not. Recall that MS expected this to be seamless, so they likely had it in their plan that their download server(s) would be 100% dedicated to W10 by July 29. It sounds plausible.

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