Problem with XMLTV import : No Data

[ranageman]

I am using the LMGestion XMLTV importer together with a XMLTV grabber to provide my Sage EPG. However it does not seem very reliable and I am having problems e.g. after upgrading Sage, or reloading my channels.

Right now, I have EPG on two of my channels: the rest just show "No Data".

The grabber appears to be working OK - I can see the epg.xml file that is generated, and program entries appear for all channels.

In the LMGestion setup, I have the mapping set up (I think) to map the received EPG channels to Sage logical channel numbers. But it is not clear to me exactly how the mapping works, and if a problem might be due to a slight difference in how the channels are named. (The DVB-T channel lineup for example includes both "TV2" and "TV 2".).

Is there a logfile from the importer that might say something like "channel not found" or any other info that might help me debug?

Or how can I otherwise make sure that my mapping info is correct? Can someone tell me what part of the channel info has to match to what?

As ever, any help appreciated!

/RM

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by ranageman

In the LMGestion setup, I have the mapping set up (I think) to map the received EPG channels to Sage logical channel numbers. But it is not clear to me exactly how the mapping works, and if a problem might be due to a slight difference in how the channels are named. (The DVB-T channel lineup for example includes both "TV2" and "TV 2".).

In the XMLTV Importer channel editor you have to give the physical channel number that SageTV use. For DVB-T when you first scanned for all channels, SageTV creates a C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\XXXXXXXX.frq file (where XXXXXXXX is the name of your DVB-T tuner card).

This frq file contains all channels found, along with their physical numbers (the first number on a channel line). This is this channel number you have to use in the XMLTV Importer.

If you want you can very well change the channel numbers in the frq file (SageTV assign them sequentially) to suit your liking.

Also to stop SageTV from getting EPG data from the DVB-T stream, you'll have to edit your sagetv.properties file and change :

epg_data_sources/XXXXX/disable_data_scanning=true

Having this property to "true" disable epg retrieval and avoid overriding the XMLTV imported data.

Is there a logfile from the importer that might say something like "channel not found" or any other info that might help me debug?

There is log files and event viewer events logged, though none of them will report that you used an incorrect channel number.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[ranageman]

Thanks Stephane,

so the "Name" and "Call Sign" play no part in the mapping? Nice and simple then.

I tried it, but still no luck. The numbers are non-sequential (1,2 and 5) - could that be the problem.

I also saw that I had 2 <tuner>.frq files, in my case:

Hauppauge Nova USB2 DVB-T TV Receiver-0.frq
Hauppauge Nova USB2 DVB-T TV Receiver-0-DVB-T.frq

The second one appears to have the right channels in as you describe (from a recent scan), the first (older) file has a bunch of other channels which might just be the ones I can't get to go away from my Channels list (my last post)!

Is the first file maybe confusing things, and I wonder if its safe to delete it?

/RM

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by ranageman

so the "Name" and "Call Sign" play no part in the mapping? Nice and simple then.

No "Name" and "Call Sign" are only used as display names in SageTV.

I tried it, but still no luck. The numbers are non-sequential (1,2 and 5) - could that be the problem.

No the numbers in the frq file doesn't need to be in sequential order.

Hauppauge Nova USB2 DVB-T TV Receiver-0.frq
Hauppauge Nova USB2 DVB-T TV Receiver-0-DVB-T.frq

The one that ends with DVB-T is the good one.

Is the first file maybe confusing things, and I wonder if its safe to delete it?

Not a chance. The confusion must be coming from lineup overrides within SageTV.

Shutdow SageTV an open the Sage.properties file. You'll see :

* epg/channel_lineups/XX=AAAAA,BB;......

Where XX is the XMLTV Lineupe number (1, 2, 3 etc...), AAAAA is a channel ID (the Importer is creating this ID, for instance 49245), BB is the channel number you typed in the Importer.

You'll certainly see also:

epg/lineup_overrides/XX=XXX,YYY;....

and some other lines with physical overrides.

With a good XMLTV Lineup, you do not need lineup_overrides and phyical_overrides. So get rid of theses overrides lines (you may also get rid on the epg/channel_lineups/xx if you want to start fresh).

Then restart SageTV and assign again the XMLTV lineup. If all channels number in the XMLTV lineup match those in the frq file, then all will be working.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[ranageman]

Thanks for the detailed info!

I tried it like this:

- got rid of all override lines in sage.properties
- also got rid of the channel lineups

- restarted Sage. Program Guide empty (OK)
- re-scanned for channels. Got a nice clean list!
o disabled one channel I'm not interested in
o 4 channels left
- Checked the Program Guide: all 4 channels OK, No Data.
- Ran the Importer, checking that the numbers match with
those in the .frq
- Back to Sage. Refreshed the Program Guide using the trick
of toggling a enable/disable in the channel lineup.
- Result:
Now the first two channels (1 & 2) have OK program data, but appear
TWICE in the guide, once with data, once with No Data.
The last channel (5) still has No Data.

Here is my .frq file:
CH:1 onid:8400 tsid:1007 sid:101 frq:714000000 band:8 ctrl:1 #R1
CH:2 onid:8400 tsid:1007 sid:102 frq:714000000 band:8 ctrl:1 #R2
CH:3 onid:8400 tsid:1007 sid:103 frq:714000000 band:8 ctrl:1 #R-UPDATE-/-Tegnsprog
CH:4 onid:8400 tsid:1007 sid:111 frq:714000000 band:8 ctrl:1 #R-Synstolkning-forsøg
CH:5 onid:8400 tsid:1007 sid:217 frq:714000000 band:8 ctrl:1 #:TV-2-(Lorry)

Note that channel 4 I have disabled, and channel 3 has no XMLTV data. So the importer only knows 1,2 and 5.

I feel that I am so close

/RM

[ranageman]

If it helps, here is what is now in my Sage.properties:

epg/channel_lineups/1=112657,5;112768,1;112880,2;

epg/lineup_overrides/1=59,2;58,1;62,5;61,4;60,3;
epg/lineup_physical_overrides/1=59,8400-1007-102-2;58,8400-1007-101-1;62,8400-1007-217-5;61,8400-1007-111-4;60,8400-1007-103-3;

/RM

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by ranageman

- restarted Sage. Program Guide empty (OK)
- re-scanned for channels. Got a nice clean list!
o disabled one channel I'm not interested in
o 4 channels left
- Checked the Program Guide: all 4 channels OK, No Data.
- Ran the Importer, checking that the numbers match with
those in the .frq
- Back to Sage. Refreshed the Program Guide using the trick
of toggling a enable/disable in the channel lineup.

I guess your problem is that you made a channel scan, as a result (as confirmed by your next message), you'll get overrides in your lineup.

So configure again your source, this time select "No program guide", don't scan for channels. Shut down SageTV, remove any epg/channel_lineups/, epg/lineup_overrides/ and epg/lineup_physical_overrides/

Restart SageTV, go into video source configuration, select your XMLTV lineup, dont scan for channels. That's it. The XMLTV lineup contains all the info needed for SageTV (once the .frq file exists) so you do not need to scan (otherwise it adds channels and try to reconcile them with the XMLTV lineup)

Regards,
Stéphane.

[ranageman]

Stephane,

many thanks for the excellent support. It is all working fine now.

There was just some basic stuff I needed to learn there...

regards,

Dan