TASK_MSG_INVALID_SERVICE

[chrisby80]

My IceTV / Topfield had been working fairly well for the last few months but it looks like it's gone temperamental again. I'm getting alot of TASK_MSG_INVALID_SERVICE errors across different channels.
I've reset the Topfield and set it back up again, and still get them. It only started happening about 5 days ago. I can't trust it well enough to set and forget so I always have to check that it's all downloaded and set properly, which I did last night, then one of the recordings failed today for today, after scheduling correctly yesterday! How annoying..
So yes tomorrow I can't get 2 programs on SC10 to schedule - there isn't a timer conflict, the channel is correctly set in My Account, there is no duplicate SC10, and I've also checked the EPG on the Topfield and confirmed the 2 programs appears on the downloaded EPG correctly. I'm at a loss.
Any other ideas? ~ I've got Oct 11 2012 firmware.

[Dave at IceTV]

This looks like a case of the Topfield trying set an updated reservation before it has updated the guide and deleted the existing reservation. This can also happen if the Topfield tries to update 2 back-to-back reservations in the wrong order.

Are the shows conflicting with themselves? Compare the start time and duration of the reservations against the start times and durations in the guide.

[davidmorr]

I set up a series recording for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on Ice. The program is broadcast on Sunday and Tuesday on SBS 2. The Sunday reservation is set up correctly. On Tuesday night, when I have nothing else set to be recorded through Ice or on the Toppy itself, I got an error e-mail immediately after I set up the recording:

IceTV has received a notification from your video recorder that it was unable to schedule one of your shows due to an error. A link to your upcoming shows page and the details of the error are provided below for your convenience.

Regards,

The IceTV team.

Manage this recording
Show Name:   Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Channel:   SBS 2
Time:   2016-06-28 20:00:00
Duration:   30
Device Label:   Topfield 2400 pop
Device Type:   Topfield TRF-2400
Message from recorder:   TASK_MSG_INVALID_SERVICE
Last Updated:   2016-06-26 22:26:28

What is the Toppy telling Ice? It cannot really be a service error as both recordings were on SBS 2, and one was set up. The fact that the e-mail came immediately means a change in the EPG is unlikely. There was definitely no previous timer for this program, and no recordings on the whole of the Tuesday.

I get these messages all the time. Recording is so unreliable I wonder why I continue with Ice.

This is using the latest firmware (Jan 2016) on a 2400.

[Dave at IceTV]

Hi David,

You also have 2 more invalid service errors for tonight: 'Top Gear' on GO! and 'Cyberwar Threat' on SBS.

PVRs often use the 'invalid service' error when they don't have a better error message to use.

It looks like the guide for those shows could be blank or does not match what is on the server. It looks like a result of the server switchover last Wed-Thu the 22nd-23rd. We didn't get Topfield PVRs working again until 10pm Thursday night. This may have resulted in the guide on the Topfield not being completely up to date for the next 7 days.

See if the following will fix the problem:

1. Go to Menu > Settings > IceTV.
2. Press the Red F1 button (next to the green button).
3. Check that the selected device is still correct.
4. Exit the menu and wait for the guide to finish loading.
5. Check which of those 3 schedules are missing from the reservation list on the Topfield.
6. Go to My Week on the website.
7. For the missing schedules, click on that episode in My Week and click on Reschedule recording.

[davidmorr]

That fixed the Tuesday night thanks. The others are a genuine conflict - three programs at the same time. Will have to work out what to do about that. Surprised that Ice did not report that conflict.