Guide Updates - Download Issues

[JohnBraham]

I used EPG Grabber, seems a good enough solution and didn't cost anything, took me 2-3 hours to install and re-assign my channels to use the epg grabber listings but after that it's perfect, only 1 week in advance but I don't really mind that it's enough.

Best of all it was really easy to set up I tried with Big Screen TV & Digiguide and eventually gave up (and I'm quite a technical person).

I'm using Win 8 x64 (it should work the same on Win 7).

If anyones stuck getting it working I can re-post the instructions but a quick google should help you, the fix pack to make it run on Win 8 takes a little digging to find though...

[IT Troll]

I set this up last night. It wasn't documented in way and it's not entirely obvious, but it is possible. I was planning on doing a post about it, but I'm not there yet as there are a few things I've not sorted out yet - like automating the process.

I would be interested in your Digiguide guide if nothing changes in the next couple of days.

The issue seems to be gathering some momentum now so hopefully it will be fixed now people are returning to work.

[AlunS]

Anyone seeing any further responses from MS? Are we being hung out to dry?

There are now finally some comments from MS on the MS Connect site ...

Posted by Microsoft on 1/2/2013 at 6:03 PM
Thanks for contacting us. We are currently investigating the issue and will send update once resolution has been found.

It's still not good enough though. It shouldn't require the user community to police quality control for MS on this issue, they should be working PRO-actively, not RETRO-actively. The same goes for the still horribly outdated transponder and channel lineup information which means doing a fresh setup in MCE turns into a whole days work, scanning individual transponders and searching for matching EPG entries in whatever lineup you can find them in.

[IT Troll]

Glad to hear Microsoft have finally picked up on this. But I see they have only responded to reports made yesterday and haven't gone near the original report which was opened 10 days ago when the issue was first discovered. The lack of response to this is almost as bad as the problem itself.

[puffsorted]

Is it me or are people who are using EPGCollector finding that the amount of Meta Data is way more than used to come down via Microsoft. It seems to me that lots more films etc have the little thumbnail pictures etc.

I am almost to the point now of staying with EPGCollector even if Microsoft manage the pull their finger out their **** and get their EPG going again as my EPG seems to look a lot prettier

[mark1234]

I set this up last night. It wasn't documented in way and it's not entirely obvious, but it is possible. I was planning on doing a post about it, but I'm not there yet as there are a few things I've not sorted out yet - like automating the process.

I would be interested in your Digiguide guide if nothing changes in the next couple of days.

The issue seems to be gathering some momentum now so hopefully it will be fixed now people are returning to work.

I got automation working last night. Not elegantly, but functional. I can work on typing up a how-to, though I'm also hopeful that MS have found someone with the logon to the Connect site, and they've realised something is happening.

[mark1234]

It's still not good enough though. It shouldn't require the user community to police quality control for MS on this issue, they should be working PRO-actively, not RETRO-actively.

It's always been this way unfortunately. I really feel for the Irish who have been without data for four weeks now, and their Connect tickets have been completely ignored. If this really was just an issue and not a deliberate decision, then it must be six weeks since MS should have realised there was a problem - that is the kind of defect resolution time that would have me staring at a P45.

[JohnBraham]

Is it me or are people who are using EPGCollector finding that the amount of Meta Data is way more than used to come down via Microsoft. It seems to me that lots more films etc have the little thumbnail pictures etc.

I am almost to the point now of staying with EPGCollector even if Microsoft manage the pull their finger out their **** and get their EPG going again as my EPG seems to look a lot prettier

I think if they fix it I will go for a combination, for most channels I will leave it using EPG Collector, especially as some channels seem to have significantly better data than before, for some of the core channels (BBC, ITV, CH4 etc) I will revert to the MS data so I have 2 weeks guide data.

[Heuer]

I agree the quality of metadata is far better when using EPG Collector and the 7 day window is not a problem because I use Remote Potato so can schedule recordings via their App from anywhere in the world. Having gone to the trouble of setting up EPG Collector I don't want to abandon it and then be let down by MS again. With an increasing user base and a few people clicking the 'donate' button on the EPG Collector web site (not functional, I tried!) to further spur development this could become the default data source for all WMC installations.

[JohnBraham]

I agree the quality of metadata is far better when using EPG Collector and the 7 day window is not a problem because I use Remote Potato so can schedule recordings via their App from anywhere in the world. Having gone to the trouble of setting up EPG Collector I don't want to abandon it and then be let down by MS again. With an increasing user base and a few people clicking the 'donate' button on the EPG Collector web site (not functional, I tried!) to further spur development this could become the default data source for all WMC installations.

Good point, assuming the donate works we really should, EPG Collector seems the best solution and someone's obviously spent some time and effort on it, lets encourage the further dev of this!

[B16mts]

Before i throw this pc through my window, does anyone have any quick fix ideas?

Ive retuned it all, shuffled channels about with guidetool. Run epg collector a few times and im nearly there. However i cant get channel data on somemchannels beyond now and next.

Why cant life be simple?

Martin

[camelopardis]

I got automation working last night. Not elegantly, but functional. I can work on typing up a how-to, though I'm also hopeful that MS have found someone with the logon to the Connect site, and they've realised something is happening.

Thanks Mark .... I'm sure a lot of us would find that very useful. I would much prefer 14 days worth of data, so not interested in the in-band data solutions. I've tried playing around with Media Portal but I'm not really getting on with it, I'd much rather stick with WMC - its worth £15 pa if the Digiguide EPG is at least as good as the WMC data

[Heuer]

A Digiguide 'guide' would be most helpful so we can compare the pro's and con's of the various alternatives.

Already been through this before when TiVo UK decided to switch off their EPG for the Series 1 machines last year despite the fact some 30,000 users had paid £199 each for a "lifetime" subscription. Someone even tried to sue them for breach of contract but it came to nothing, obviously. Fortunately the TiVo community are made of sterner stuff and created their own downloadable EPG (AltEPG) so the S1 TiVo's are still up and running! Mine was a lifesaver with the current hiatus because the 13 year old machine carried on as usual, never missed a recording and is a joy to use compared to anything else available today.

[KungFuKid]

I have managed to get my guide working, a big thank you to everyone that posted instructions and replied to my threads!

One thing to note for others: I ticked the "automatically map EPG data" and is completely screwed up my channel line up! All sorted now with help from the GuideTool software.

[KungFuKid]

After installing and apply EPG collector Its very, very slow to browse the movie guide, is anyone else experiencing this?

[JohnBraham]

I have managed to get my guide working, a big thank you to everyone that posted instructions and replied to my threads!

One thing to note for others: I ticked the "automatically map EPG data" and is completely screwed up my channel line up! All sorted now with help from the GuideTool software.

I'm glad I was too scared to click that option, mapping it by hand was a bit laborious but gave a good result and satisfying in the end.

[KungFuKid]

I have managed to get my guide working, a big thank you to everyone that posted instructions and replied to my threads!

One thing to note for others: I ticked the "automatically map EPG data" and is completely screwed up my channel line up! All sorted now with help from the GuideTool software.

I'm glad I was too scared to click that option, mapping it by hand was a bit laborious but gave a good result and satisfying in the end.

yeah I wish had avoided that, quite a painful process of getting everything back to where it should be!

[barnabas1969]

It's still not good enough though. It shouldn't require the user community to police quality control for MS on this issue, they should be working PRO-actively, not RETRO-actively.

It's always been this way unfortunately. I really feel for the Irish who have been without data for four weeks now, and their Connect tickets have been completely ignored. If this really was just an issue and not a deliberate decision, then it must be six weeks since MS should have realised there was a problem - that is the kind of defect resolution time that would have me staring at a P45.

I agree. There is no reason why Microsoft can't setup some way to monitor their processes and to be notified proactively when there is a problem.

[jack_kelly]

For anybody on Freeview its my understanding that 7 days EIT data is available and can be downloaded inband by WMC.
Make sure that the inband data is not disabled for each channel.

I have Freeview (in the UK) and Windows Vista 64 bit. I can't see any option to allow me to get EIT data. Is this option only available in Windows 7 (I seem to remember someone saying that it's only available in Win7)?

Is anyone successfully populating their WMC EPG using over-the-air EIT 7-day data in on Windows 7 WITHOUT using any third-party software?

[Pixelz]

Yes,

For Windows 7 and Freeview in the UK, with no third-party software, you should expect to see a 7-day EPG populated from the broadcast EIT, provided you have not disabled in-band updates, and you have tuned to one of the Freeview frequencies for at least 5 minutes. However, this 7 day EPG will be for SD channels ONLY. This is becuse the EIT encodes HD channel listings and Windows 7 does not support decoding of this format.

To receive Freeview HD listings, you either need Microsoft to restore the EPG download service, or else use a third-party solution such as EPG Collector or DVBGuide.

HTH