New User, channel setup + config question

[midiboy]

Hi !

I downloaded the SageTV trial version and I am trying to get acquainted with this program although it is very different from what I am used to in TV programs (Dscaler, ChrisTV etc.)

Even after reading the manual and playing around with the program for hours I cannot seem to find a solution for two questions:

1. I have SageTV set up to get the EPG through the XMLTV plugin. Only problem is, that EPG only contains about 80% of all the channels I get through my cabel provider. So I am trying to add the rest of the channels manually but I cannot seem to do this in SageTV. Any other program I tried lets me add individual channels, name them and map a channel to it. This even works works fine with Mediacenter apps like GV-PVR, Mediaportal etc.

But I cannot seem to do this in SageTV or am I missing something ? If I try to add a new source for the same tuner card that was previously set to the XMLTV Lineup and autotune again, this overwrites my XMLTV lineup for that tuner. Adding individual channels manually does not seem to be possible ..



Any help would be appreciated !

2. Is there the possibility to change the entries in the first menuscreen? I would like SageTV to just display TV related entries, I use ZoomPlayer and Winamp so I do not need the MediaJukebox and MediaLibrary and DVD entries in the top menu. Instead it would be great if I could add the "TV" entry (CTRL-V) to the menu to directly jump to LiveTV without going through the LiveTV Guide. That one is sorely missing from the top menu for a TV APPLICATION!

Thanks for your help !
Alex

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by midiboy

Hi !

I downloaded the SageTV trial version and I am trying to get acquainted with this program although it is very different from what I am used to in TV programs (Dscaler, ChrisTV etc.)

Even after reading the manual and playing around with the program for hours I cannot seem to find a solution for two questions:

1. I have SageTV set up to get the EPG through the XMLTV plugin. Only problem is, that EPG only contains about 80% of all the channels I get through my cabel provider. So I am trying to add the rest of the channels manually but I cannot seem to do this in SageTV. Any other program I tried lets me add individual channels, name them and map a channel to it. This even works works fine with Mediacenter apps like GV-PVR, Mediaportal etc.

But I cannot seem to do this in SageTV or am I missing something ? If I try to add a new source for the same tuner card that was previously set to the XMLTV Lineup and autotune again, this overwrites my XMLTV lineup for that tuner. Adding individual channels manually does not seem to be possible ..



Any help would be appreciated !

First, where are you located, if you're in the US you don't need XMLTV. Otherwise, Sage will let you remap channels, but won't let you "add" any, if they aren't in the XMLTV file (or available from zap2it if you're using the native guide data), you can't get them. But that's not really a bad thing since Sage is pretty much crippled without guide data (show-based scheduling and all).

2. Is there the possibility to change the entries in the first menuscreen? I would like SageTV to just display TV related entries, I use ZoomPlayer and Winamp so I do not need the MediaJukebox and MediaLibrary and DVD entries in the top menu. Instead it would be great if I could add the "TV" entry (CTRL-V) to the menu to directly jump to LiveTV without going through the LiveTV Guide. That one is sorely missing from the top menu for a TV APPLICATION!

Thanks for your help !
Alex

With the Stock STV (aka interface), no, but a few of the custom STVs (SageMC) let you customize the menu and launch external programs.

[midiboy]

Thanks stranger89 for your reply !

I am in Austria so I pretty much need XMLTV. But there is no Austrian feed available so I have to use a German one. As I said, this covers rougly 80% of all available channels but none of the local Austrian ones.

I know that I won´t be able to use EPG on those but I could still watch LiveTV on those channels or record manually IF SageTV would let me add those channels manually. But it seems like this is not possible. I don´t want to sound arrogant, but isn´t this a great oversight in such an advanced TV application?

I will try SageMC ....

Thanks for your help !
Alex

PS: Maybe the additional channels can be added manually through the config file or something ? I don´t mind editing a text file ....

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by midiboy

I don´t want to sound arrogant, but isn´t this a great oversight in such an advanced TV application?

I guess it depends on you POV, for those of us who have guide data there's no reason to add channels.

Of course you might want to search, perhaps you could create/modify your own XML for your locals.

[midiboy]

Hi !

First, why has this topic been moved to the EPG subforum ?? It has nothing to do with the Frey Technologies EPG service ...

Anyway ...

Maybe someone from Frey Technologies can tell me if and how I can add channels manually to SageTV. All I need is to add a channel name and a corresponding channel number so that it appears in the channel list. It would appear in the EPG with "No data" but that does not matter, the same happens for the SVideo input of the PVR500.

Of course you might want to search, perhaps you could create/modify your own XML for your locals.

If you mean change the epgdata.xml, that would be a no go because this file is updated automatically through the XMLTV feed. I would have to change it manually each day so that is out of the question.

As for my second "problem" ...

I tried a bunch of customized stv´s in this forum and they either introduced great instability to SageTV (SageMCE 16x9 for instance) or they messed up my Java installation seriously (had to reinstall Java afterwards).

Also, the stv´s available introduce all kinds of unwanted services and features which I do not need (weather, commercial skip services etc.) and they are a serious pain to install ( uninstallation means completely uninstalling and reinstalling both Java and SageTV)

All I want is to change two entries in the Start Menu ... those stv´s are a serious overkill for that.

I understand that making one´s own stv is not possible currently. Why ?

Bye,
Alex

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by midiboy

First, why has this topic been moved to the EPG subforum ?? It has nothing to do with the Frey Technologies EPG service ...

Because that's where I've been putting everything that deals mainly with the EPG (It does mention more than just the Frey-provided service in the forum description) & I figured that might provide a pointer to what forum to search for answers regarding adding dummy channels & help with XMLTV. There may be some info in this forum regarding adding additional channels & you might even be able to add them as a 2nd source on the same tuner input -- I seem to recall a few posts about doing such things, but I don't remember the details.

I tried a bunch of customized stv´s in this forum and they either introduced great instability to SageTV (SageMCE 16x9 for instance) or they messed up my Java installation seriously (had to reinstall Java afterwards).

They shouldn't cause that many problems. The basics of changing STVs usually involves unzipping a file into the SageTV dir while keeping the zip file's dir structure, possibly adding some extensions to the java\lib\ext dir (or some dir name), and switching STVs inside Detailed Setup. Returning to the original STV should just include switching the STV back in Detailed Setup.

Also, the stv´s available introduce all kinds of unwanted services and features which I do not need (weather, commercial skip services etc.) and they are a serious pain to install ( uninstallation means completely uninstalling and reinstalling both Java and SageTV)

All I want is to change two entries in the Start Menu ... those stv´s are a serious overkill for that.

Check the List of available customizations for the Nielm STV Modules, which are import STV modules & include one for dynamic customizable menus. Be sure to import it into a _copy_ of the default STV, not the original.

- Andy

[midiboy]

Hi Opus,

thanks for your help. I played around with Nielm´s STV updates and those did the trick, thanks for pointing them out to me.

The other "problem" has proven to be more persistent though. I have found two ways of adding channels manually through searching this forum.

One involves creating a dummy.xml file containing those channels which gets combined with the epgdata.xml through a command. This did not work though because it results in a "broken" epgdata.xml file that contains no more EPG data except for the channels.

The second way I found was to directly add those channels to the config file for the xmltv feed. This did not work either, at least not the with Germany feed.

So I am back to square one with that problem unfortunately.

I know that most of your customers are probably living the states where a fully features EPG service is available. But I really think SageTV should at least offer such a basic possibility to add channels to a lineup manually.

Actually, SageTV is the ONLY program I tried that does not offer this capability. Mediaportal, GB-PBR, ChrisTV, Dscaler, etc. all have the capability to add channels manually.

Anyway ...

I just found another problem ...

I found out that right after installation, Sage TV would correctly tune to all my channels. I have the Hauppauge PVR500 card that offers 2 tuners plus one SVideo input. I have created two XMLTV lineups for the two tuners and I have added the SVideo input as a source in the Channel setup.

Now, if I watch LiveTV and I switch between the available channels, everything is fine UNTIL I reach the SVideo input. As soon as the SVideo input is shown, all the other tuned channels somehow loose their correct frequency. If I then try to switch to any of my other channels all I get is noise, no more picture.

This is reproducable everytime. Reinstalling SageTV with my original saved settings brings sound and picture back but I did not find any other way to solve that problem.

I have deleted the SVideo channel from my lineup in the meantime ...

Bye,
Alex