Ice Guide from Ibook to masterpiece

[deangag]

Hi there,

I just bought a Masterpiece and am extremely happy with it and am looking forward to getting to know its functionality better as time goes on.

There is so much info  on the Topfield that its almost a bit overwhelming!

I have signed up to IceTV and it looks great but would really appreciate some help.

I have the Topfield in the bedroom attached to a 37"LCD. I also have an Ibook which is connected to the internet via wireless broadband. What I would like to do is attach my Ibook via USB to the Topfield and upload the latest Ice Guide listings. What I would like to know is how do I get to this point and what programs (TAPs will I need and in which order).

I would like to do everything through the Ibook if possible but I have a PC as well and could use this if I had to but it would be easier with the Ibook.

My topfield is absolutely stock so far. I checked the firmware and i think I have the latest already installed on it for this model (TF5000PVRt MPB), that is, Oct 2005.

I have read some stuff already but am a bit of a noob with all of this. I'm not even sure if I can set this up via a Mac or not. So far I have gathered that to set the guide up I need the program IceGuide4Topfield but this is only a PC program - the website does not give any info on setting up IceGuide on a Mac.

I have been to noates.com and checked out the Mac software there such as MacTF and MacTF-EPG but not sure if they are what I need or not.

Maybe the best way is to set up the Topfield on the PC and then update it though the Mac.

I'm very confused as you can tell! Could someone please point me in the right direction as to what programs I'll need and the order in which I should do it.

If I cant do this through my Ibook is there anyway I can do it via a USB memory stick? This would mean I wouldn't have to take my Topfield into the other room every time I want to update the guide.

Thanks for any tips,

Cheers,

Dean

[tick007]

Hi Dean,

Well I have some good and bad news.  Please take a look at this thread:

http://www.icetv.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=176.0

Bottom line is that you can't go "end-to-end" with a Toppy, a Mac, IceTV, and automated updates yet.  :-\  I know, because this is the exact set up I have, and I am waiting with baited breath for someone out of the various parties you mention to string it all together so my Mac Mini based media centre finally works the way I want! ;)

Anyway, you want to install MacTF and ToFi from Nathan Oates.  This allows you to update the firmware on the Toppy from your Mac, as well as upload/download files (e.g. to pull down shows to burn to DVD - however you may want to consider a Mac app called MPEGStreamClip for this - it can talk to Toppys and pull down shows for you).  You will probably also want to install the ProgressBarKeys and JustEPG TAPs for your Toppy as well (copy them up using MacTF).  These two TAPs I find essential.  There's lots of info around the place describing all they can do...

MacTF-EPG isn't useful at the moment, as it doesn't use ICE to get it's TV guide data from.  I tried cludging it to get it working underneath the hood, and it wasn't worth the time and effort in the end (I ended up starting to rewrite various bits of code, and realised this was bad if it was only going to be kludge...)  I never got it properly working in the end.

Nathan Oates also looks like he is currently writing a Mac based version of ICEGuide4Topfield (search on this forum for the link), and this actually works quite well!  However, it doesn't do scheduled updates yet.  It's the closest effort yet however.  It also doesn't work for me any more since I changed to using OpenVPN instead of PPTP for my home VPN, as it can't pick up my proxy setting properly any more, and the app doesn't allow you to explicitly specify your proxy settings. *sigh*  Ah well, it is just beta software at the moment. ;)

The Mac IceTV widget mentioned in the thread above is not real useful at the moment.  It just allows you to see the IceTV data on your Mac (so you can see the TV listings on your Mac).  If what Peter Vogel promises is true however, we may finally have the home run we've been waiting for in the next couple of weeks... *fingers crossed*

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Lee.

[eyesoar]

Hi
I have been using ICEGuide4Topfield for a couple of weeks and it works brilliantly.
I had previously used an old pc laptop to talk with my toppy and had run various free guides they always worked for a while then fell over, untill they were setup from scratch again.

But even when it was working it took ages to upload the epg.

ICE4Topfield works very quickly (sure it isnt automated, but plugging my mac into the toppy once every few days ffor a few seconds is pretty painless.


I now have ICE running with justepg a far nicer guide than the standard one.

I just have to get it working with JAG EPG so I get the nice recorded show schedule back againg, the default one sucks.

so to summarise track down ICEGuide4Topfield for mac by Nathan Oates is great.
One button to fetch one to upload it dosnt get any easier.

Eye

[perthwa1]

I think that there is also an OS issue with the Oates software.  Some of it requires OS 10.4.X.  What is your ibook's OS version?