Need help with EPG/Firewall problem.

[electricd7]

Hello,

My company uses a SageTV box to record its television programming (we are a TV station.) The problem is that I checked today and the EPG was empty (no data) for every station. Now I suspect that it is empty because our company also uses a system called WebAuth the makes a user authenticate (windows login/password box) every 3 hours to use the Web. I checked the System Information and it shows that the guide updated yesterday, but alas, there is no data. Is there anyway to manually do the EPG update? I am thinking a VB script or something that uses XML to grab the data from Zap2It and then parse it out and put it in a format that Sage likes. Anyone does this, or have any advice on what I might be able to do? As far as I know, there is no way to automate the "WebAuth" process. Thanks in advance!

ED7

[nielm]

The EPG does not use the HTTP (web) protocol -- it connects directly to the EPG server using a proprietory protocol on a specific TCP port.

You could get your network admins to allow traffic on that port to the Sage EPG server (you may need to contact Sage Support to see exactly what ports/addresses need to be opened)

Alternatively, you could use the XMLTV EPG plugin, and use the XMLTV grabbers to get the data from Zap2It, but I don't know whether the XMLTV grabber will support your WebAuth method.

As a last resort you could always run the XMLTV grabber on a system with 'real' internet access, and transfer the XML file on a disk!

[electricd7]

Hrmm..ok well then maybe I have another problem. I was able to see the guide for about a week or so, but now it is empty. I have tried to "force" the guide to download but still see no data. How long does it take the guide to download/import before I am able to see the listings in Sage?

[electricd7]

Also, my "Next Update" shows 0 minutes, and no matter what I do it still shows 0 minutes?

[Opus4]

You mentioned XMLTV... is that what you are using, or is this for the built-in US EPG data?

What does it say in System Information for the Last & Next EPG updates? (Edit: I see you answered that while I was typing. :))

What version of SageTV are you using and have you tried exiting & restarting SageTV? (I think one of the older versions could get stuck when the update failed & wouldn't update again until after a restart.)

- Andy

[electricd7]

I am using the built-in EPG data (and would prefer to use it if possible). The last EPG Update shows the current day and time (after I force an update but going to channel setup.) and next update shows 0 minutes. I just restarted sage (latest version as of 2 weeks ago). So far, no TV data. Thanks.

[aperry]

Don't know if it helps, but the only time I've seen "0 minutes" to next update is when an update is underway. So, perhaps your update is getting hung up for some reason.

It sounds like what's already been discussed. For some reason, your network is not allowing Sage to get out.

[Opus4]

You could double check that the firewall hasn't been changed recently & is now blocking it. Or, go to Source Details and try reconfiguring the EPG Lineup, in case that changed somehow. I would save your properties file first, though.

- Andy

[electricd7]

I have tried everything I can think of, and still no data! I don't have access to the firewall as it is controlled by Corp. However, if I knew what ports Sage was using, I could ask if those ports had been shut down. Is there a way to manually update the program guide just to get me back up and running until I figure this out?

[Opus4]

Regardless of how the EPG update is initiated, it has to have internet access to download the guide data. I don't remember which port(s) are used either, so like nielm said: perhaps ask SageTV tech support for that info.

- Andy

[salsbst]

You could use a program called Ethereal to figure out what is going wrong:

http://www.ethereal.com/