Netball Problems with MCE

[Shane]

Ice Team,

I have noticed that a scheduled series recording my wife has set up for the Netball Highlights show that is on (I think) Friday nights on ABC is being detected as already recorded pointing to the show that was on last week. It is then not recording it.

Is this a description/ID issue that can be fixed? The show seems to have an identical description to last weeks.

Thanks,
Shane.

[Russell at IceTV]

Hi Shane,

I found a netball highlights program on ABC on Saturdays at 2pm -- could this be it?  The exact series name is "NETBALL" and the episode name is "The Highlights Show 2006".  It looks like it's been showing in that same time slot for a while now.

My guess is that maybe the "series recording" settings for that show on your MCE are set so that it only gets the first runs, and not the repeats?  That would explain the problem because this particular show is always the same series name, episode name, and description, as you mentioned.  Sort of like a news program really.  So you'd probably just want to set it so that it records all showings instead.

Let us know if that's not the right solution...

Russell

[Shane]

Russell,

Thanks for the reply on this.

Yes thats the show, however I am only just voicing the issue as my wife only just last week set it to record (so two shows have been on since then).

I have checked the series settings and it is set to record first run and reruns. Also - I've never tried to series record a news program - perhaps it will have the same problem as this?

Any further ideas?

Thanks,
Shane.

[Russell at IceTV]

Ah, I suddenly see the problem now, and I understand what's causing it.  I think it's something we can take care of on the server end, but we need to discuss the best way to do it.  Give me a bit of time to talk it over with the people here and I'll get back to you with an answer asap.

Thanks,
Russell

[Russell at IceTV]

Hi again Shane,

Ok, it should be fixed now, starting with this Saturday's showing.  But you need to make one change...  In order to take care of this properly, we had to make a new program name called "NETBALL: The Highlights Show 2006" (that's the full program name, not the program name and episode name like it was before).  You should see it in the guide if you do a manual update.  If you create a series recording for it with the same "first run and reruns" option, it should record it every Saturday.

The problem has to do with how we create programs and episodes in our database, and for this particular program, it's sort of unique in that it has both normal episodes where a particular episode name is used for a single show's content (think of shows like The Simpsons) and episodes where the same name is used multiple times, but with different content each time (like news programs).  We decided it was best to break that one episode out into a new program name of its own.  Then MCE will understand that it's like a news program and that the content is changing each week, so it'll record every showing instead of just the first.

As soon as the guide becomes available for Saturday July 1st, you should hopefully see that MCE has it scheduled for recording again.  Then we'll know for sure that it's fixed.

Thanks for letting us know about this,
Russell

[Shane]

Russell,

Thanks for the response on this - really appreciated. Glad I found a bug that could be fixed - anything to make the IceTV guide experience better is a good thing

Regards,
Shane.

[mickmcd]

Hi Guys,

As much as I hate to admit it, I seem to be having a similar problem with Big Brother. My MCE will record the daily show fine, but refuses to record the special shows like the Evictions, Intruders, Adults Only, etc. I get the same "previous showing has already been recorded" message.

I have checked all settings a number of times and my MCE is configured properly - could you check this out from your end please?

BTW - good job. Been using for about 7 months now and this is the first noteable problem that I have had so far.

Cheers,

Michael.

[Russell at IceTV]

Hi Michael,

Yes, you've found the same problem that Shane did, and our guide people beat you to it actually and are already on it. :-)  It's another case of an episode of a program needing to be its own separate program, so that MCE will understand that it's different content being shown each time instead of the same episode (and same content) being repeated.  Shane's really opened up a can of worms here :-), and the guide folks are looking through the database trying to find other cases of the same problem.  We'll post back here once it's all taken care of.

Thanks,
Russell

[Russell at IceTV]

Ok guys,

We've started a new "IceGuide Content forum" where we'll post announcements about program name changes that might affect your series recordings.  Please take a look at the new postings there, starting with Netball and Big Brother.

http://www.icetv.com.au/forum/index.php?board=5.0

Thanks,
Russell

[Shane]

Shane's really opened up a can of worms here :-)

Glad I could help as always

Regards,
Shane.