Windows 7 EPG Beta Readme: 09/07/2009

[Russell at IceTV]

The following items should now be fixed:

• Cast list. On the program details pages, you can use the left and right arrow keys to move between the pages "synopsis", "actions", and "other showings". There's now a 4th page called "cast + crew", which contains actors and directors for the program.  Since we used to put this information at the end of the description, not all programs will have a "cast + crew" page yet, but our guide team is working on moving the data so it appears on this new page for more programs in the future. We also plan on including more data in the future, since Windows 7 also supports Writers, Guest Actors, and Producers.
• Recording shows that are serial but not episodic. Like news programs, or shows like Neighbours that don't have episodes. These programs should now work correctly with series recordings, and all episodes should get recorded instead of just the first one.
• Ability to create a series recording for a program. Some programs such as Lipstick Jungle and Desperate Housewives didn't allow you to create a series recording for them. This is now fixed.

NOTE: this is a fairly major change in the way we create the Windows 7 guide, and we've found that Windows 7's Media Center doesn't like it when you load the guide in this new format over the top of the old format guide you're currently using.  In some cases it seems to overwrite it with the new data, and in other cases it doesn't.  The only way we've been able to successfully convert Media Center to the new format to fix the problems above is to reset Media Center back to the factory defaults and then load the new guide data in from scratch.  This means you'll need to run a command to do the reset, and then go through the Media Center setup again, to let it find your tuners and scan for channels.  After that, you can load the new guide data and create your series recordings again.  We know, this is a pain, and we'd love to find a way around this, but I'm afraid this is the best solution we've been able to find so far.  Media Center for XP and Vista seem to be fine with overwriting the old format data with the new format, but Windows 7 doesn't like it.

Because this is such a big change, we'd like to get a few guinea pigs brave beta testers to try it out first, before we change everyone over to the new format.  If you'd like to give it a try (and we hope you will), the directions are listed below.  Basically you'll be doing the reset mentioned above, and then changing the batch file that pulls down the guide data so that it pulls it from a different program on our server, in the new format.  If all goes well, we'll eventually start using the new format in the normal program on our server, so everyone will get it.  At that time, everyone will need to do the reset.  But we'll give notice here before we do it.

Instructions for switching to the new format guide data, to fix the problems listed above:

Short version for advanced users:

• Close Media Center and reset its database: run the following in an administrator Command Prompt window, from the c:\windows\ehome directory: mcupdate.exe -MediaCenterRecoveryTask
  
  UPDATE: It's been suggested that if you have a 64-bit machine, there's a safer way to do this:
  • Go to Control Panel / System and Security / Administrative Tools / Schedule tasks.
  • Open Task Scheduler Library / Microsoft / Windows, then click "Media Center".
  • Right click "MediaCenterRecoveryTask" and select "Run".
  
  
• Start Media Center and go through the Live TV Setup again, including scanning for channels.
• Change epg to epg3 in the webget command, in the batch file "load_icetv_epg.bat", and then run the file to load the guide data in the new format.
• Edit the channels, create manual mappings to "-IceTV" channel names if necessary, and re-create series recordings.

Long version for everyone else:

• First you need to reset Media Center's database (thanks to dgaust for posting the instructions):
     
  
     
  • Close the Media Center window if it's running.
  • Open an Administrator Command Prompt. Go to Start / All Programs / Accessories, right-click on "Command Prompt", and select "Run as administrator. This will open a black Command Prompt window.
  • Type the following command and then press Enter, to change to the Media Center directory (assuming it's on your C drive): cd c:\windows\ehome
  • Type the following command and then press Enter: mcupdate.exe -MediaCenterRecoveryTask
    
    UPDATE: It's been suggested that if you have a 64-bit machine, there's a safer way to do this:
    • Go to Control Panel / System and Security / Administrative Tools / Schedule tasks.
    • Open Task Scheduler Library / Microsoft / Windows, then click "Media Center".
    • Right click "MediaCenterRecoveryTask" and select "Run".
  
  
• Start Media Center and do the TV setup:
     
  
     
  • The following message will be displayed: "Windows Media Center experienced a serious problem. Before you can use Windows Media Center, you must run the Windows Media Center Setup again." Select OK, then select Continue, and then "Express".
  • Under "TV" select "Live TV Setup".
  • Confirm that the region is Australia and select "Yes, use this region to configure TV services" then select Next.
  • Enter a postcode and select Next.
  • Select I Agree and then Next.  Then repeat: select I Agree and then Next.
  • Media Center will then download TV setup data, and then say, "Downloadable Guide Not Available".  Select Next.
  • If asked, choose your signal type (generally Antenna), then select Next.
  • If asked if using a set top box select the correct answer (generally No), then select Next.
  • If asked, select the TV Signal Type (generally Digital Antenna (DVB-T)), then select Next.
  • If asked if you want to set up another TV signal select the correct answer (generally No), then select Next.
  • The channel scan will then start automatically.
  • When the channel scan is complete, select Next.
  • Select Finish to confirm that the signal setup is complete.
  
  
• Change the batch file to load the guide data in the new format:
     
  
     
  • This assumes you've already downloaded the zip file from the initial Windows 7 Readme post and extracted the batch file.
  • Use Notepad to open the file "load_icetv_epg.bat"
  • Change epg in the following line to epg3:
          webget.exe "http://iceguide.icetv.com.au/cgi-bin/epg3/iceguide.cgi?op=mxfguide" -u USERID -p PASSWORD -o icetv_epg.mxf
    Then save the file and close Notepad.
       
• Double-click the batch file to run it and load the new format guide data. This will run webget to download the guide data and load it into MCE.  This can be done with Media Center running or not, so there's no need to shut it down first. Important: be sure you've done the channel scan mentioned above before loading the guide data.
  
  


• Then follow the rest of the instructions from the initial Windows 7 Readme post:
     
  
     
  • Check the channel mappings for guide listings:
    In Media Center, go to Tasks / Settings / TV / Guide / Edit Channels.  Take a look at all the channel names.  They should end with "-IceTV" when they're correctly mapped to IceTV listings.  For example, if you have a channel with the scanned name "ABC1", it should show up here as "ABC1-IceTV".  If it doesn't, see below for how to map it manually.  Be aware that in some cases such as with regional channels, it might create a new channel that you don't actually have.  For example, in Adelaide, 7 Digital can be on both 6 and 7, and you'll probably see "7 Digital-IceTV" for both of these channel numbers.  If you only get a TV signal on channel 7, you'll want to uncheck 6 to hide it.  If you're not sure, go to the TV guide (use the green button as as shortcut) and see if you actually have a TV signal on all the listed channels.
       
  • If any of your channels aren't already mapped to the IceTV listings, you'll need to map them manually:
         
    
         
    • First, make a note of the original channel name as it was scanned by Media Center. 
    • Then click the channel name to go to the settings page.  For example, when mapping channel 2 for ABC1, the title of the settings page would be "Settings for 2 ABC1". 
    • Then click "Edit Listings" to go to the page titled "Channel 2 Listings". 
    • There should be a list of channel names in the lower right part of the screen.  Scroll down until you find the channel name you're working on, but with "-IceTV" at the end of it.  In this current example, we'd look for "ABC1-IceTV" (sometimes you have to scroll down further than you think, but they should be in alphabetic order unless you've clicked "Sort by Number" on the left side).  If you don't find the one you need, then something's wrong.  Skip down to the section below named "Help! It's not working!". 
    • If you find it, click to select it, and it should take you back to the page titled "Settings for 2 ABC1".  On this page, look for the "Channel listing" and make sure the name still has "-IceTV" in it.  In this example the "Channel listing" value would be "ABC1-IceTV".  If it doesn't end in "-IceTV", try editing the listings again.
       

Good luck, and let us know how it goes. :)

Russell

[gleggate]

Any idea when you will have the Interactive features supported under win7?

[Russell at IceTV]

Any idea when you will have the Interactive features supported under win7?

Sorry, we don't have an ETA on that yet.

Russell

[hamping]

I have loaded the new EPG into RC7100 x64.

The first thing to note is that you cant reset the database if you are running Win7 x64 because the reset function is broken in WIN 7 RC 7100- 72xx. You will need to either restore your system or reinstall windows if you do.   

The only solution that seems to work is Dumsum's suggestion here: http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/community/big-screen-software/37329-big-screen-epg-v0-4-discussion-support-thread-2.html

I did this on x64 and found that everything seems to work smoothly. The channels were perfectly mapped. And the schedules for series recording seems to work!  I will follow up with another post in a day or so when I have observed this for a bit longer.

Thanks for fixing this Russell!

[Russell at IceTV]

The first thing to note is that you cant reset the database if you are running Win7 x64 because the reset function is broken in WIN 7 RC 7100- 72xx. You will need to either restore your system or reinstall windows if you do.

That's strange, I didn't know about that problem.  But actually we tested it on a 64-bit machine running build 7100, and the reset worked as I described in my post.  Maybe there's a particular setup that causes it to happen.  Do you have any more info on that?

I did this on x64 and found that everything seems to work smoothly. The channels were perfectly mapped. And the schedules for series recording seems to work!  I will follow up with another post in a day or so when I have observed this for a bit longer.

Thanks for fixing this Russell!

Great news!  Let us know how it goes...

Russell

[dgaust]

I believe that it may be a bug in the later x64 builds that is causing the issue. It's been noted by MS and the workaround is contained in this post over at xpmediacentre.com.au. Simply deleting the .db file is not recommended as it leaves some other things hanging.

The workaround basically means open the task scheduler and running the reset task manually through there. This runs the task under the system user account, which should fix the problem.

The 32 bits versions don't have this issue.

[Russell at IceTV]

I believe that it may be a bug in the later x64 builds that is causing the issue. It's been noted by MS and the workaround is contained in this post over at xpmediacentre.com.au.

Thanks for that.  I've updated the top post in this thread with that information.

Russell

[kirlam]

Thanks Russell

I followed the steps to remove the old guide info and re-add the new guide.  Worked perfectly without a hitch and now my scheduled recordings look like they are working fine.

Thanks for getting it fixed.

Kev

[hamping]

Russell

I wonder if you have any ideas on this one.

While IceTV was fixng the data for Win 7, I had been passing Ice TV data through the Big Screen EPG program. The differnce I now notice going back to the feed direct form Ice TV I am not getting any cover art for programs and meta data from AMG on movies etc.  Is there an easy explanation for this?

[gvinpin]

Where do I download IceTV for Windows 7? ???

[dgaust]

Russell

I wonder if you have any ideas on this one.

While IceTV was fixng the data for Win 7, I had been passing Ice TV data through the Big Screen EPG program. The differnce I now notice going back to the feed direct form Ice TV I am not getting any cover art for programs and meta data from AMG on movies etc.  Is there an easy explanation for this?

BSE injects this information for you. It's not part of the IceTV guide data.

The meta-data for movies from AMG most likely disappeared because the MCE reset will have set the GeoISO2 registry key back to AU from US. Sometimes MCUpdate will also set it back. You can use this app I created to monitor the registry key and if it changes from US to something else, it will change it back. Just drop it in your startup folder.

[hamping]

BSE injects this information for you. It's not part of the IceTV guide data.

The meta-data for movies from AMG most likely disappeared because the MCE reset will have set the GeoISO2 registry key back to AU from US. Sometimes MCUpdate will also set it back. You can use this app I created to monitor the registry key and if it changes from US to something else, it will change it back. Just drop it in your startup folder.

Thanks. The URL you gave above seems to have a problem. Could you repost it?

When you talk about BSE injecting data, are you talking about the cover art for normal TV programs? If it is doing this, seems like a good thing for ICE Tv to put on the to do list....

[asummerf]

There seems to be a problem with series finales.  For example next weeks castle, I have a series recording setup which is recording tonights episode quite happily and not matching the next weeks final episode.  Only thing that I can think of is the title change, normal episode called "Castle" and next week it is "Castle - Season Finale".

I noticed the same behavior the other week with the 7 show "Thank God You're Here" with the same results.

Adam

[dgaust]

Sounds like it's EIT data mixed in. That's something the broadcasters do, IceTV wouldn't change the title of the show for a finale because it would screw up season recordings.

[dgaust]

Thanks. The URL you gave above seems to have a problem. Could you repost it?

I've fixed the link in the above post.

When you talk about BSE injecting data, are you talking about the cover art for normal TV programs? If it is doing this, seems like a good thing for ICE Tv to put on the to do list....

Yes, I am, as well as the ability to add logo's to the guide grid.  It is possible for IceTV to add images and guide logos, however that might throw up various copyright issues so it'd be something that their lawyers would need to consider.