Disabling the ice_epg_loader tap

[dclayw]

I have the IceBox2 running wirelessly. Is it possible to disable the ice epg loader tap? I believe what this tap mainly does is load EPG data from the ICE files into the Topfields EIT? I am using JustEPG as my EPG reader and have it set to read the ICE files directly, i.e. it does not need to read the EIT to get EPG data. The reason I want to disbale the ice epg tap is because it appears to continually check the Toppy hard drive for updates to the ICE files (something like every 30 seconds). This means the hard drive never spins down. I don't want my hard drive continually spinning, it's a personal preference.

I know there are other options like TED-ICE and setting JustEPG to read TGD files, but all I want to do for now is disable the ice epg loader tap. If I delete or rename it, it just gets reinstalled. If all it does is essentially populate the EIT then I don't need it or want it.

And why does it do these checks every 30 seconds. Are ICE files updated through the IceBox more frequently then once/day?

Thanks
Dave

[dJOS]

I have the original Icebox and it annoys me no end that I cant prevent it from transferring the ICE_TAP to my Toppy once a week! I use TEDS-ICE + EPG_Uploader and I only have the ICE box to provide wireless connectivity to my Toppy for remote programming etc.

Ice, can you please add an option to both IceBoxes that allows the automatic upload of the TAP to the toppy to be disabled for TEDS-ICE Users?

[pvogel]

Just to get this straight, is the problem that the IceBox2 fetches and installs the TAP even if all days to upload are not checked?  If that is the case, please provide details of how we can reproduce this.

Also, are there cases where you wnat to fetch the Ice EPG but not the TAP?

Thanks

Peter

[brianh]

Just in case it helps - I use the IceBox2, TEDS-ICE with EPG_Uploader v10 to get the Ice info - following the TEDS install, all I did was use the toppy's file menu to move the Ice uploader tap out of the AutoStart folder (I think I just moved it into the main Program files folder) & I haven't had a problem yet... that was at least a month ago now.

Cheers,
Brian H

[mtb]

I have a similar TED/S setup and have seen the ice tap reappear occasionally.  I haven't had the chance to check yet but believe it happens when I reboot the IceBox2 or after a power failure.

[Nomad]

Just to get this straight, is the problem that the IceBox2 fetches and installs the TAP even if all days to upload are not checked?  If that is the case, please provide details of how we can reproduce this.

Also, are there cases where you wnat to fetch the Ice EPG but not the TAP?

Thanks

Peter

Yes it uploads about once a week even if no days are ticked in the setup screen. You can see the date its going to upload from the "information screen" on the Icebox2.  Its an absolute pain in the bum for us TEDS/ICE and JustEPG users.  And yes if you can make optional to only upload the ICE data that would be the great for most JustEPG users.

If you can fix it it would be great.

Iceguide Information 
Firmware Version: 200604131104 
Latest Firmware Version: 200604131104 
Last Fetch: Unknown 
Next Fetch: 2006-07-28 18:54:50 

System Information
Current time: 2006-07-27 16:35:21 
Active for: 6 days 21 hours 40 mins 10 seconds 

rgds Damon

[dJOS]

Just to get this straight, is the problem that the IceBox2 fetches and installs the TAP even if all days to upload are not checked?  If that is the case, please provide details of how we can reproduce this.

Also, are there cases where you wnat to fetch the Ice EPG but not the TAP?

Thanks

Peter

Hi Peter, I have icebox mk1 and it does this once a week, without fail, under the circumstances you list above.

In reference to you 2nd question, I use TEDS-ICE so it isn't a useful option to me personally.

Device Status from my IceBox1
Firmware Version 200512291545
Date 2006-07-27 19:05:49
Next Fetch Due 2006-08-01 09:18:28
Uptime up 3 days, 9:47
iceguide Loader OK
Topfield OK
PVR Space Available 98GB of 189GB
     
IP Address Default Gateway MAC Address Link Quality ESSID Connection State
Ethernet Interface 192.168.1.17 NONE 00:09:5B:F7:EC:9F  N/A N/A FAILED
Wireless Interface 192.168.0.125 192.168.0.1 00:09:5B:F7:CD:40  28/94 Universe OK

[brianh]

Well, after thinking I was immune - no such luck...  what I have noticed is that even with all days to upload de-selected, the re-loading of the TAP happened at the "Next Fetch Due" date indicated by the IceBox2. 

I have no idea where the Next Fetch Due date is derived from; the only uploaded TAP previously on my box was 2/07 (one I had moved out of Auto Start) but it's possible  that it has been uploading & overwriting the copy in the Auto Start folder.  I will keep an eye on it & see if I can track the activity.

hope that helps,

Cheers,
Brian H

[pvogel]

This is on the todo list but unfortunately not a high priority.  We will investigate in the next week or two.

Peter Vogel
CTO IceTV

[srto2]

I'm actually using the ICE TAP these days, but when I wanted to overcome the thing resurrecting itself, I moved it to Program Files and created a new file (just a text file with a couple of bytes in it) with exactly the same name as the ICE TAP and put that in Auto Start.  So far as I recall that fixed the problem...

Cheers,
Rob

[peteru]

The easiest workaround for this behaviour is to rename one of your other TAPs (such as TonyH's epg_uploader) to:

Code Select Expand

Auto Start/ice_epg_loader_201010101010.tap

Creating an empty file with that name will also work.

Please keep in mind that once you have done this, you will no longer receive any automatic updates until you delete/rename this file.

[dclayw]

About 2 weeks ago now, (the day after I created this thread) I made the ice epg loader tap 0 bytes, keeping the same file name. I just created an empty file using notepad and gave that file the same name as the ice epg loader. This appears to work OK, I'm still getting the ice files uploaded daily and the ice tap is not being uploaded. My ice loader tap is called ice_epg_loader_200511111435.tap.

peteru, what did you mean when you said that if you make this change you will no longer receive any automatic updates until you delete/rename this file. Are updates sent/retrieved more often then once/day. This was one of the questions I asked in my original post.

Dave

[peteru]

I should have been more precise: The ice_loader TAP will not be updated when a new version becomes available.

[richardnau]

So let me just get this straight... Sorry to labour the point.

The ICE TAP is not involved in retrieving the ICE data over the Internet. The data files are fetched by the ICE Router (I have the Netgear version) which 'inserts' them into the Toppy when scheduled. The ICE TAP simply takes the data from ICE-format files and puts it into EIT files that the Toppy would use to display EPG data.

But if I use JustEPG (which I do), then I don't need to load the ICE data into the EIT files, and so I don't need the pesky ICE TAP that won't let my hard drive spin down.

So if I take one of the steps mentioned earlier (replacing the ICE TAP file with an empty file of same name), then:

1) the ICE TAP won't run, so the HDD will be able to spin down;
2) the ICE router will think the ICE TAP is already loaded and won't reload it into the Toppy
3) and as a JustEPG user, I won't notice the absence of ICE data in the EIT files anyway (assuming I set up JustEPG to read ICE files not EIT files).

Have I understood correctly?

Richard.

[mtb]

I have a similar TED/S setup and have seen the ice tap reappear occasionally.  I haven't had the chance to check yet but believe it happens when I reboot the IceBox2 or after a power failure.

Oh well, there goes that theory - I noticed that the Ice tap had appeared again yesterday when I bounced the Toppy - I can't be sure when it reappeared but I haven't bounced the ASUS since my last post and all the Fetch options are off.