Plugin: mc2xml EPG Plugin

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Earlier this evening I managed to install an initial pre, pre, pre-alpha build of the Schedules Direct plugin on my test server. Rough around the edges is being generous, but it installed and after only two rebuilds of the code, it ran and populated the EPG. So things are coming along nicely. For the record, no ETA on a release. A very, very, very rough estimate would be "hopefully before Jan 1", but that's about the best I can do right now.

So, I'm rebuilding my dad's server next weekend, and had planned on using this older mc2xml plugin. Should I go ahead and get a SD account, us it with the mc2xml until this new one when it comes out, then just swap?

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

So, I'm rebuilding my dad's server next weekend, and had planned on using this older mc2xml plugin. Should I go ahead and get a SD account, us it with the mc2xml until this new one when it comes out, then just swap?

Hmm... if possible, I'd use the Sage EPG service until the SD plugin is ready. My test env is completely running the SD plugin (and so is my production box now as well). I really can't support the mc2xml plugin anymore so I recommend not even using it.

If you can't use the Sage EPG service for some reason or you just love my plugins so much you feel like you must run one , then I'd just run the mc2xml with the MS legacy data feed. Getting SD to run with the mc2xml plugin requires hacks and leads to headaches. When the SD plugin is released, then you can create your SD account and make the switch.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Hmm... if possible, I'd use the Sage EPG service until the SD plugin is ready. My test env is completely running the SD plugin (and so is my production box now as well). I really can't support the mc2xml plugin anymore so I recommend not even using it.

If you can't use the Sage EPG service for some reason or you just love my plugins so much you feel like you must run one , then I'd just run the mc2xml with the MS legacy data feed. Getting SD to run with the mc2xml plugin requires hacks and leads to headaches. When the SD plugin is released, then you can create your SD account and make the switch.

OK, thanks!!! Nice to see you still developing inside of SageTV!

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by Slugger

If you can't use the Sage EPG service for some reason or you just love my plugins so much you feel like you must run one , then I'd just run the mc2xml with the MS legacy data feed.

I have been running the mc2xml plugin with the MS legacy data feed for over 6 months with no problems.

But I plan on switching to the SD plugin as soon as it is available.

[rnadeau]

I have been using mc2xml with sd for 5 months now and no problems.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by rnadeau

I have been using mc2xml with sd for 5 months now and no problems.

For sure, when you get it setup, it's fine. I'm just saying I no longer have an environment to reproduce, test, or otherwise troubleshoot this plugin. If you're comfortable experimenting then by all means, go for it, but if you're new to this plugin and want help (from) me, I just don't have the env to provide it anymore.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Slugger

For sure, when you get it setup, it's fine. I'm just saying I no longer have an environment to reproduce, test, or otherwise troubleshoot this plugin. If you're comfortable experimenting then by all means, go for it, but if you're new to this plugin and want help (from) me, I just don't have the env to provide it anymore.

glad I read this - I had some time and was going to switch over to your EPG system. It sounds like it would be best just to wait a bit...any idea when that might be?

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

glad I read this - I had some time and was going to switch over to your EPG system. It sounds like it would be best just to wait a bit...any idea when that might be?

Still in closed beta. Betas are looking good. No ETA available at this time.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Still in closed beta. Betas are looking good. No ETA available at this time.

hehe - good news. thanks. I suppose if Google pulls the plug we can always run your previous version with mc2xml

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Still in closed beta. Betas are looking good. No ETA available at this time.

Any updates on availability?

Thanks,
John

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Any updates on availability?

Thanks,
John

Plugin stability is pretty much solid at this point. I can't release it until the Schedules Direct service also comes out of beta. When the new SD service goes live, so, too, will my plugin.

There is no ETA on the state of the SD service at this time.

[NetworkGuy]

I just noticed that my EPG data ends on 12/24 at 8pm EST.

Has anyone seen any problems with the MS EPG data?

Thanks,
John

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I just noticed that my EPG data ends on 12/24 at 8pm EST.

Has anyone seen any problems with the MS EPG data?

Thanks,
John

My 4 servers just updated over the night and I've got data out to 12/29/2012. I would flip a channel off and back on again to force an EPG update. Maybe when Sage wanted to update the EPG you had an ISP outage that cause it not to connect to the EPG servers. If you know you can access the internet now - disabling and then re-enabling a channel in the lineup will cause SageTV to do an immediate EPG update.

[pjpjpjpj]

By the way, in case anyone missed it, narflex has spoken:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...6&postcount=17

[NetworkGuy]

Comcast in my area (central NJ) recently changed the digital frequencies, so I had to rescan the HDHomeRun tuners to get the new frequencies. (HD Prime with CableCard worked fine and automatically switched to the new frequencies.) I mapped everything back to the channel numbers and names, so it looks the same to SageTV. This was on Dec 6th, so I doubt it is the issue.

I tried deleting and adding a channel. I also “forced” and update. All with no effect.

Log files are attached.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
John

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Comcast in my area (central NJ) recently changed the digital frequencies, so I had to rescan the HDHomeRun tuners to get the new frequencies. (HD Prime with CableCard worked fine and automatically switched to the new frequencies.) I mapped everything back to the channel numbers and names, so it looks the same to SageTV. This was on Dec 6th, so I doubt it is the issue.

I tried deleting and adding a channel. I also “forced” and update. All with no effect.

Log files are attached.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
John

At this point if no one has an idea that helps I would contact SageTV support.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Comcast in my area (central NJ) recently changed the digital frequencies, so I had to rescan the HDHomeRun tuners to get the new frequencies. (HD Prime with CableCard worked fine and automatically switched to the new frequencies.) I mapped everything back to the channel numbers and names, so it looks the same to SageTV. This was on Dec 6th, so I doubt it is the issue.

I tried deleting and adding a channel. I also “forced” and update. All with no effect.

Log files are attached.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
John

There are no errors in the log files you've posted. mc2xml is downloading whatever data is available. I'd suggest cranking up the logging to DEBUG level and running again to see the full output from mc2xml, but I don't expect anything new because if mc2xml reports an error then I dump all the output anyway. Likely it's an upstream problem with the data on the MS side of things.

This is one of the many reasons why I stopped developing/supporting this plugin. Even if we determine it's an issue with MS, what's your next play? You don't have one, unfortunately. The best you can ever do is hope MS fixes it. This is why I moved to Schedules Direct via mc2xml on my system with this plugin and then eventually started developing the Schedules Direct native plugin. If/when there are problems with the SD feed, you have support available to address the issue.

If you cannot get the data to refresh properly then you'll have to move back to the Sage EPG service or move to Schedules Direct. If you want to move to SD then I can probably get you into the current closed beta of the new SD plugin. PM me if you want to go that way.

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

At this point if no one has an idea that helps I would contact SageTV support.

Do not bother contacting Sage support for issues with the mc2xml plugin, they won't/can't help you.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Do not bother contacting Sage support for issues with the mc2xml plugin, they won't/can't help you.

My bad I didn't see what thread his post was in and wasn't using the built in EPG.

[NetworkGuy]

Here are the log files from a forced update with DEBUG turned on.

What would be eaiser, converting back to Sage EPG or moving to the closed SD beta?

Thanks,
John

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Here are the log files from a forced update with DEBUG turned on.

What would be eaiser, converting back to Sage EPG or moving to the closed SD beta?

Thanks,
John

Status ...... : No new data available

As I expected, mc2xml is saying that there is no new data available for your lineup. So the plugin is doing what it's supposed to.

Now, you can delete the dat file in your lineup dir and reconfigure mc2xml, forcing it to download all available data. That may fix your issue. But then are you going to have to do that every day? I don't know.

Which is easier going forward? That depends on why you moved to mc2xml to begin with? The easiest solution is to move back to Sage EPG, especially given Jeff's announcement from yesterday, it appears the Sage EPG service isn't going anywhere anytime soon. OTOH, if you are using features of the mc2xml plugin (scripted EPG edits, filters, etc.) then you may want to consider moving to the sdepg beta. If you aren't using any advanced features of the plugin then, honestly, I'd probably recommend going back to the Sage EPG service (read the wiki for the potential issues involved with switching back; the uninstall instructions are also there).