Hi Guy's, not sure what happened but for the last 2 weeks I've had Sunday night repeats of "Underbelly: tale of two cities" recorded as the repeat flag has been missing and I noticed that last night's (monday) screening had the usual episode title missing.
Im using Vista media Center.
I just checked the Ice TV online guide and it looks like this has been fixed now - hopefully it's the same on my Media Center.
Quote from: djos on March 11, 2009, 01:59:48 PM
I just checked the Ice TV online guide and it looks like this has been fixed now - hopefully it's the same on my Media Center.
ok the episode titles have returned but my Vista media center still thinks sunday nights are a "first run" as the repeat flag isn't coming through.
VMC guide still show underbelly as a first run event on both win and winHD for Victoria
I have to into the synopsis to see in tiny letters "First Aired..."
There should be a repeat flag on it please
Hi
Underbelly tonight (ep title Stranded) is marked as a repeat on all channels in the guide and has been double-checked a couple of times during the week. Can you see the specific ep title & synopsis in Media Center?
There was no repeat Flag on this ep last night. through MCE Vista Country Vic, Win and WinHD
Only when I went into the synopsis and it said first aired... Could I tell if that was a repeat.
Hi
I've passed this onto our technical team because it appears to be a specific issue with Media Center, ie. this episode is repeat flagged in our guide but isn't appearing as such for you.
I'll let you know what they say.
Cheers
Hi guys,
This should be fixed now. If you reload the guide in MCE, you should see that Sunday night's showing (22/3) of "Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities" is a repeat, and Monday night's (23/3) is new. We had a problem with repeats in the guide data for MCE that was affecting several shows.
The only thing is that at the moment, Monday night's new showing doesn't have the episode set yet (although I'm sure the guide team will get to that soon) so it just shows up with the series name and no episode name.
FYI -- For shows that have an episode set, and are repeats, MCE shows "Repeat" next to the episode name on the program details page. But if the show doesn't have an episode (or if it's something like a news program that's non-episodic) the only way to tell it's a repeat is by looking for the "Original air date" at the bottom of the program details page. If there's any date at all, it's a repeat -- if not, it's new.
Thanks,
Russell
Thanks Guy, I'll check when I get home...
Quote from: Russell at IceTV on March 19, 2009, 12:01:39 PM
Hi guys,
This should be fixed now. If you reload the guide in MCE, you should see that Sunday night's showing (22/3) of "Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities" is a repeat, and Monday night's (23/3) is new. We had a problem with repeats in the guide data for MCE that was affecting several shows.
Nope still not working
Quote from: marcusstringer on March 19, 2009, 04:28:31 PM
Quote from: Russell at IceTV on March 19, 2009, 12:01:39 PM
Hi guys,
This should be fixed now. If you reload the guide in MCE, you should see that Sunday night's showing (22/3) of "Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities" is a repeat, and Monday night's (23/3) is new. We had a problem with repeats in the guide data for MCE that was affecting several shows.
Nope still not working
same, still no repeat flag for sunday night.
Hmm, that's strange. You're not seeing an "Original air date" at the bottom of the program details page, under the description, for the showings on Sunday?
Russell
All the info is there:
Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities
"A Nice Little Earner"
Allison's upward trajectory through Terry's crime organisation has taken on its own momentum and she's now in the perfect position to profit from his expansion into the UK. As for the legal institutions of NSW; they're quickly becoming the poster boys for corruption. Matthew Newton, Peter O'Brien, Dustin Clare, Roy Billing. (HDTV)
Sun 22 Mar 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM 90 Nine HD
(16/03/2009) Crime/Other, Drama/Other M
but my media center still thinks it is a first run despite the original air date of 16/3/09.
ok now it looks like this after another guide update:
Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities
"A Nice Little Earner" (repeat)
Allison's upward trajectory through Terry's crime organisation has taken on its own momentum and she's now in the perfect position to profit from his expansion into the UK. As for the legal institutions of NSW; they're quickly becoming the poster boys for corruption. Matthew Newton, Peter O'Brien, Dustin Clare, Roy Billing. (HDTV)
Sun 22 Mar 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM 90 Nine HD
(16/03/2009) Other/Crime, Other/Drama M
but my media center is still going to record it?? ???
PS. Mondays ep is now has an episode title "Diamonds"
Btw, I noticed that 2.5 Men has the same prob, Im showing all of them set to record despite the
Tue 24 Mar 8:30 PM - 9:00 PM
episode being the only one without a previous broadcast date, all those with a previous broadcast date have the same date of (17/01/2008) so im not sre if they are repeats or not?
This is still not fixed...
For other reasons (expired service) I had to re do Guide and yada yada yada...
Anyway last night I thought I'd check and Lo and behold there is still no REPEAT Flag on this series. SUNDAY NIGHTs
once again... VMC
Can someone please tell me this is being sorted out so I can stop posting, to let you know that it's still not fixed.
Underbelly has been fixed for Sunday 29th.
It is now showing the (Repeat) flag
Good job
Thanks guys...
Fixed for me too now. :)
And now it's broken again - sunday night is back and showing as a first run. ???
This is what I see in the interactive website, so... it's ok from the IceTV Website
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e276/marcusstringer/Picture1-5.png)
It's ok in the iPhone app...
So there must be something wrong with the information from IceTV's website to our VMC boxes...
I really think, judging by the amount of threads about the interactive not working/guide update data not working, that they a problem.
I would be nice if this was confirmed or denied, so we can all stop posting about it.
We're aware of the problem you guys are reporting, and are looking into it. I'll let you know as soon as we have something.
Thanks,
Russell
Thanks Russell
Ok guys, I've spent some time looking into this, and I think I understand now what's happening.
When you create a series recording in MCE, and tell it to only record new shows (and not repeats), it does just that, but it also tries to outsmart the guide data and record what it thinks you really want. I'll explain...
In this case, new episodes of Underbelly are on Monday nights and repeated the following Sunday. Everything in the MCE guide data looks correct, just like it does on the web site. Monday is new, Sunday is a repeat. But when I look at it in MCE, it's not what you might expect.
Looking at the episode on Sunday, 29/03, it shows an "Original air date" below the description of "23/03/2009", which is correct -- this episode, "Diamonds" originally aired the Monday before, on 23/03. But up at the top, it doesn't show "Repeat" next to the episode name. And when I create a series recording for this program and tell it to only record new episodes, it schedules this episode to be recorded as well. So the question is, why?
The answer is because of the way MCE does its scheduling when a new episode is repeated a few days later. If for some reason it couldn't record the new episode on the original air date (last Monday), because maybe there was a scheduling conflict or something, it records the repeated one on Sunday to help you out. It considers the repeated one on Sunday as a "new" showing, since it's only a few days later. When I changed the original air date to "01/01/1900" as a test, it suddenly showed "Repeat" next to the episode name, and unscheduled that episode.
Take a look at the two attached screenshots below, one with the original air date set to "23/03/2009" (scheduled to record, and without the word "Repeat") and the other with the original air date set to "01/01/1900" (not scheduled to record, with "Repeat").
Now, I don't know exactly what you guys are seeing, or what got recorded on your machine last week, but my gut feeling is that this is what's causing the problem. One solution would be to stop using original air dates completely, but that would disable MCE's "feature" of outsmarting the guide and recording a repeat because it knows it's actually just a repeat of a new episode that was recently aired. That doesn't seem like a great idea. So with all this info in mind, take a look at your guide again, compare your screens to my screenshots below, check to see what's scheduled for recording, as well as what was recorded the previous week, and let me know. I'm sure we can figure this out somehow.
Thanks,
Russell
Close but not quite right Russell, for me anyway.
Give me a minute, as I'm at work and need to doctor up some images for you, because I'm not series recording this...
Ok this is what I'm seeing:
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e276/marcusstringer/epg1.jpg)
This is what I should be seeing:
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e276/marcusstringer/epg.jpg)
I think that's how it's displayed, from memory...
And this is what I see from IceTV's website guide listing:
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e276/marcusstringer/Picture1-5.png)
I don't series record, so it's a but of an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a brown paper bag
Right, that's pretty much what I'm seeing too. The original air date is 23/03/2009, but it doesn't mark it as a repeat, and it doesn't show "Repeat" next to the episode name.
Whether you're using a series recording or not, I think it's the same problem and the same thing causing it: when the original air date is "fairly close" to the date it's being repeated on, MCE overrides the normal repeat status and treats it as new. If you're using a series recording, it records it unless it was recorded the previous Monday (when it was new). And if you're not using a series recording, it makes it hard to figure out if it's a repeat or not because it doesn't show the word "Repeat".
Since MCE doesn't show the original air date in the guide view, the only way I know of to figure out if it's a repeat or not is to click the program name and look for an original air date on the details screen. If there's any original air date at all, even if it's 01/01/1900 (meaning, we know it's a repeat, but we don't have the exact original air date in our database), then it's a repeat. If there's no original air date at all, it's new.
I feel your pain on this one, but I'm not sure what we can do. As I said before, we could remove the original air date from episodes of Underbelly, but it'd also be removing a feature in MCE. And some people might actually be using the feature, especially if they only have one tuner, and rely on the second airing the following week, but don't want the "real repeats" (like episodes from 2 years ago).
I'm open to suggestions on how to deal with this problem/feature tho...
Thanks,
Russell
So, just to understand this:
The Guide goes off the Title wording of "Underbelly: The tale of two cites"
And not the Episode name?
So even though there is 6 days between the first showing and the repeat, it still won't pick up because it's too close to the of the monday night screening, different episode, but same title.
Can you change it to read truncated Title then episode i.e
Underbelly: Dimonds
instead of title, subtitle
Underbelly: A tale of two cities
Quote from: marcusstringer on March 27, 2009, 10:07:47 AM
The Guide goes off the Title wording of "Underbelly: The tale of two cites" and not the Episode name?
Actually it goes by the ID numbers in the MCE guide data, but for discussion purposes, we can say that it goes by both the series and episode names together. So for example the series name "Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities" and the episode name "Diamonds". If a series doesn't have any episodes, then it just goes by the series name.
One catch here is that sometimes you may see a series with no episode, even though it should have one -- this happens with shows on channel Nine (like Underbelly) a bit more often because of the restricted method we use in creating the guide for those channels (the court case, etc.). So sometimes you might see it listed as just "Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities" with no episode, and that might be throwing things off here as well, because MCE treats it differently. Hopefully the episode is filled in before air time, and optimally it's filled in quite a bit in advance so you have a chance to see which episode it is and whether or not it's a repeat, and can decide if you want to record it or not.
If you're not seeing the episode name yet, and you know it should have one, your best bet might be to just wait a bit until the episode name shows up. Then things might work better with the repeat flag. It seems to me that when the episode is missing, MCE tends to treat it like a news program (i.e. non-episodic) and thinks it's always new content. I think this is the problem with "Two and a Half Men" (another show on Nine, so similar guide restrictions) right now, because that series normally has episodes, but I see that the guide hasn't had episodes for it very often lately. I think MCE is treating it like a news program, and just assuming that every airing is new.
Quote
So even though there is 6 days between the first showing and the repeat, it still won't pick up because it's too close to the of the monday night screening, different episode, but same title.
It's not that it's too close to the Monday following, it's that it's too close to the Monday before. So if the episode "Diamonds" was originally aired on Monday 23/3, and repeated 6 days later on Sunday 29/3, MCE sees both of them in the guide at the same time and treats the second one as new also, in case there was a scheduling conflict when it first aired. I believe this only happens when the original airing and the repeat airing are in the guide at the same time. If it was, say, a year between airings, it would mark the second one with "Repeat" and truly treat it as such.
That help?
Russell
Oh yeah...I see what your saying it's because they are both within the same 7 day schedule.
And if it were on the Eighth day then it would flagged as a repeat.
That makes sense.
I'll live with that, considering it doesn't happen often...
And I don't expect you to manually change this, every week.
As for Two and Half Men or series's without Episode name from channel nien.
I don't know where you get you guide information from But there are many different souces which list all episodes in order and episode names of upcoming shows.
e.g tvtorrents dot com and/or official websites etc.
That is unless of course channel nien don't stuff everyone around and actually show episodes in order...
I've talked to the guide team about the situation with "Two And A Half Men", and I think we've come up with a plan. When they come across a series like this that is normally episodic, but the episode isn't known yet, they'll assign an episode of "N/A". This should cause MCE to treat it as an episodic series, and show the word "Repeat" when it's truly a repeat. When they find out the real episode name, they'll change it in the guide. You should start seeing this happen later today.
Russell
Ok... thanks for looking into this...
On a side note, Russell, can you confirm you're having problems with the interactive / iPhone information getting to MCE updates, and are working on it?
Good work Russell, thanks for investigating in-depth. :)
I dont mind getting doubles of Underbelly but 2.5 Men is the real PITA as there are so freakin many of them they cause others shows to be missed. ::)
Quote from: marcusstringer on March 27, 2009, 01:03:36 PM
Ok... thanks for looking into this...
On a side note, Russell, can you confirm you're having problems with the interactive / iPhone information getting to MCE updates, and are working on it?
I would also like an answer to this. I have been having a lot of problems with interactive and VMC
WebGuide is your friend! ;D
Quote from: marcusstringer on March 27, 2009, 01:03:36 PM
On a side note, Russell, can you confirm you're having problems with the interactive / iPhone information getting to MCE updates, and are working on it?
If you're having problems with that, the best thing to do is to contact support (http://www.icetv.com.au/contactus), and I'm sure they can help you out, or let you know if it's a known issue.
Thanks,
Russell
Quote from: Russell at IceTV on March 30, 2009, 07:30:15 AM
If you're having problems with that, the best thing to do is to contact support (http://www.icetv.com.au/contactus), and I'm sure they can help you out, or let you know if it's a known issue.
Thanks for the reply Russell...I know the best thing for me is to contact Customer Support.
I can assume by your comment that you cannot tell me if you are or are not having problems. your various departments must not pass on critical information like the interactive web site is not working...
I am still trying various things to rule some stuff out. That's why I asked if you were having problems, because as I'm ruling stuff out here, there has been post after post about interactive not working.
Which is why I simply asked if you guys were having problems with it...
Because if you are having problems, then I will stop mucking around with my setup until the problem is fixed.
If you are not have any issues then I will continue and once complete...do as you advise and contact customer support.
This is by no means intended to come across as being mean...
Just a little frustrated that we cannot get a yes/no answer
Update:
This problem should hopefully be fixed now. The XP and Vista MCE guide now uses a format that's similar to the latest format for Windows 7 (http://www.icetv.com.au/iceforum/index.php?topic=1924), and should better handle repeats and series recordings for programs without episodes.
Let us know if you're still having problems.
Thanks,
Russell