Trouble getting OTA EPG updates to work automatically

[cohenjor]

Hi all, I've walked through the steps of configuring NextPVR + Kodi and things are working well! Recordings, EPG sharing, recurring recordings, etc.

However, in my area (Seattle, WA, USA) some channels only get programming data for a couple of days out. If I miss an EPG update, it means that I miss a recurring recording.

When I click "Update EPG" in the Channels settings page, it works great. Takes a while, maybe 5-10 minutes, but when it's done all the EPG data that I need is there. But when I wait for the scheduled time, I never actually see anything happen.

I tried a few times setting the scheduled time to a couple minutes out, clicking OK, and waiting, but nothing happened. Tried both with NextPVR running and not running.


One obvious reason could be that I haven't done any configuration of a batch file at all, but I thought it should still work since I'm just doing OTA and not XML-based updates - is that incorrect understanding on my part?

I've included logs. I tried once with the timer set to 5:43PM and once a little earlier, didn't work either time. Then around 6:10-ish I did a manual update and it worked great.


Thanks for your assistance!

[sub]

The broadcast EPG in North America is next to useless. It usually only provides listings for a few hours. Nearly everyone in that part of the world uses Schedules Direct for their listings, which gives them 2-4 weeks of listings.

I can see it doing the automated EPG update at 2am. The obvious problem is that a few hours later when you go to look, you'd already be at the end of the few hours they transmit in North America, which makes a single nightly update next to useless there.

2016-05-09 02:13:16.197 [DEBUG][10] - saving 24 listings for channel: EVINE
2016-05-09 02:13:16.197 [DEBUG][10] - saving 19 listings for channel: AZTECA
2016-05-09 02:13:16.197 [DEBUG][10] - saving 23 listings for channel: AAT TV
2016-05-09 02:13:16.197 [DEBUG][10] - saving 25 listings for channel: KBS
2016-05-09 02:13:16.197 [DEBUG][10] - saving 25 listings for channel: COZITV
2016-05-09 02:13:16.197 [DEBUG][10] - saving 29 listings for channel: METV
...

[dixxfixx]

Yeah, I set up a machine for my brother, who has no cable or internet, to do OTA EPG and I found that I had to set up a scheduled task to run "nextpvr.exe -updateepgonly" every six hours to have a prayer of getting complete data.

[cohenjor]

The broadcast EPG in North America is next to useless. It usually only provides listings for a few hours. Nearly everyone in that part of the world uses Schedules Direct for their listings, which gives them 2-4 weeks of listings.

I can see it doing the automated EPG update at 2am. The obvious problem is that a few hours later when you go to look, you'd already be at the end of the few hours they transmit in North America, which makes a single nightly update next to useless there.

Ah I see, thanks for checking! I'll explore Schedules Direct. I've read around and it looks like Schedules Direct has a yearly subscription you can purchase to make it easy, but there's also a free (legitimate?) way to get that data? NextPVR's documentation isn't super clear. I'll try following them but if you have any tips I'd appreciate it.

Thanks again!

[ElihuRozen]

Ah I see, thanks for checking! I'll explore Schedules Direct. I've read around and it looks like Schedules Direct has a yearly subscription you can purchase to make it easy, but there's also a free (legitimate?) way to get that data? NextPVR's documentation isn't super clear. I'll try following them but if you have any tips I'd appreciate it.

Thanks again!

You can get a free one week trial. (One of their employees frequents these forums & you didn't hear this from me, but he will likely extend it to two weeks if you ask nicely.) Should you decide you like it, as myself & many others here have, it is only $25 for a year.

[cohenjor]

Yeah, I just finished configuring it and setting up Schedules Direct was so easy and handy to set up that I'll happily fork over $25/year for it. Always happy to support quality services. :-)