SchedulesDirect major changes

[dljones8053]

You are correct it don't use SD but it works for me as I tried SD for a while and found mc2xml did the same thing I needed for my EPG.

[christheman]

If you are talking about using MC2XML to download Schedules Direct data into an .xml file (not exactly a common usage), then yes, it should continue to work with the hosts file mod.

Most people are using MC2XML to pilfer Microsoft's Media Center EPG data (which as far as I've ever been able to tell was the exact same data as Schedules Direct was providing), and that won't be affected.

LOL That's an interesting use. No, for me I just use it to produce an XML file from Schedules Direct. There are times when I want to look at a different lineup or different channels without disrupting my NPVR box. MC2XML allows me to do this to my heart's content. Then there is the assurance that whatever I find works on my test computer, can be transported over to my NPVR computer and it will do exactly the same thing on that computer (since MC2XML is common to both machines).

[patrickaburrows]

So, does this mean that when NPVR 3.3.x is released to the general public, we will have only about a week to upgrade before our Schedules Direct interface begins failing in whatever version of nPVR we currently have installed? If this is the case, how can I get access to the newest test build? I would like to get that build installed on my secondary PVR for testing, before I am under the gun to get it installed on my primary PVR and the wife gets annoyed because something isn't working. I am one of those NPVR users who almost never upgrades, except when I am putting together a new PVR build to replace one that is getting old or worn out.

[johnsonx42]

So, does this mean that when NPVR 3.3.x is released to the general public, we will have only about a week to upgrade before our Schedules Direct interface begins failing in whatever version of nPVR

No. At worst you'll need to make a hosts file entry to re-direct NPVR to the SD-DD compatibility server (which you can do now if you like):

Code:

54.85.117.227  docs.tms.tribune.com webservices.schedulesdirect.tmsdatadirect.com

[christheman]

No. At worst you'll need to make a hosts file entry to re-direct NPVR to the SD-DD compatibility server (which you can do now if you like):

Code:

54.84.32.205  docs.tms.tribune.com webservices.schedulesdirect.tmsdatadirect.com

I followed that thread and tried it just for mc2xml, and all I got was an invalid login reply in the command prompt. I tried both with a good working mc2xml.dat file, and then without one. As of yesterday, no sign of life over at the mc2xml site. It might be abandoned.

It looks as if they are building a grabber for MythTV though:
http://forums.schedulesdirect.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2577
Don't know yet if that could be used as a grabber for NPVR.

[johnsonx42]

54.84.32.205 is not responding this evening; dd.schedulesdirect.org now points to 54.210.29.17; however when I try that with MC2XML I get the error "Invalid username or password". I'm really not sure whether MC2XML is supposed to work with the DD compatibility service or not... it's really not an approved program for downloading SD data, so it may do something in an odd way that SD didn't anticipate.

[johnsonx42]

My curiosity got the better of me, so I blew away the test version of NPVR off my desktop PC and installed 3.2.9, created some dummy channels and tried to map them to Schedules Direct using the DD compatibility service. At the 54.210.29.17 ip I got an endless hang. At 54.84.32.205 I got a pretty quick "unable to contact server" or something to that effect. For all I know it's not supposed to be working right now, maybe they're working on it.

[johnsonx42]

Nevermind my post above, IT WORKS!

It's just WAY slow. It took nearly 2 minutes to download a lineup with only 7 channels in it, but it did work. That was at the 54.210.29.17 IP.

Unfortunately, if you need to download a new or updated lineup in Settings->Channels->Details, it takes so long that NextPVR.exe gives up, so there's no way to map new channels. Hopefully the SD-DD compatibility service will be faster once it goes into production.

(in case it's not clear, I'm talking about NPVR 3.2.9 and earlier's built-in SD support. MC2XML is another matter, and really isn't supported here)

[christheman]

Nevermind my post above, IT WORKS!

It's just WAY slow. It took nearly 2 minutes to download a lineup with only 7 channels in it, but it did work. That was at the 54.210.29.17 IP.

Unfortunately, if you need to download a new or updated lineup in Settings->Channels->Details, it takes so long that NextPVR.exe gives up, so there's no way to map new channels. Hopefully the SD-DD compatibility service will be faster once it goes into production.

(in case it's not clear, I'm talking about NPVR 3.2.9 and earlier's built-in SD support. MC2XML is another matter, and really isn't supported here)

Thanks for the IP addresses. I will have to try those. In my case I am not mapping the entire gamut. In fact, I have fewer than 10 movie channels mapped (limited at Schedules Direct website). It updates about 700-900 entries from less than 10 channels in about 1 minute through NPVR updates.

As mentioned before, even though Sub is updating NPVR, I will still need a grabber for another machine that I don't actually have NPVR loaded on.

Oops, I see you tried it with a small lineup yourself. Well I will just have to see if I can get it going for myself now. Thanks again. P.S. my lineup is more like 30 channels, but I limit it to 30 at the SD website, and then down to about 10 with mc2xml command line arguments on my actual NPVR machine. That is to keep the NPVR database small and tidy, while allowing me to see what the other channels will be having on with my other computer.

[ram4x4nut]

No. At worst you'll need to make a hosts file entry to re-direct NPVR to the SD-DD compatibility server (which you can do now if you like):

Code:

54.84.32.205  docs.tms.tribune.com webservices.schedulesdirect.tmsdatadirect.com

Is that a permanant option or something that is just going to be around for a while?
Please don't preach to me about upgrading but I am still on GBPVR - it works great and I can choose my output format which I can't do in NPVR. I just want to know if I will be able to continue getting my EPG with that host redirect.