I-xmltv: TV Guide customization & Zap2It EPG utility.

[pens18aj]

8/10/06

Simply look at the size of the numbered “.xml” files in the I-xmltv folder (1-13 if you have a 14-day epg).
1.xml should be approximately twice the size of the others (2-13).
If you find any xml files that are abnormally large (almost as big as 1.xml) they should be deleted.

yep some of my files were as big as 1.xml, after cleaning them out a couple times and running some updates I still do see 12 and 13.xml bigger then 1.xml but the others ones did get cut in half. Thanks for the info I'll keep an eye on it.

You entered –0500 instead of +0000. You don’t need to re-install I-xmltv, just run “–configure.bat” and use +0000 for the time-zone offset.

Jim_ this did fix my issue. I did have the same problem come up earlier this week and since I was still testing I did change it to +0000 and since then no issue with missing data.


Thanks

[Jim_]

yep some of my files were as big as 1.xml, after cleaning them out a couple times and running some updates I still do see 12 and 13.xml bigger then 1.xml but the others ones did get cut in half. Thanks for the info I'll keep an eye on it.

I guess the easiest short-term fix will be to choose a maximum of 12 days (11 to be safe) in UpdateEPG.bat, after deleting any large (or all) xml files in the I-xmltv folder.
People with 12 days (or less) selected shouldn’t have had the problem, and do not need to check or change anything.
SET DaysOfEPG=11

If the Zap2It delivery problem doesn’t spread to other days, it should keep everyone going until they get it fixed.
I was hoping this would be a short-term Zap2It problem. But my logs indicate it started on the 8’th, and as of this post, it hasn’t been fixed. I’ll do a test download every day or so and report back when the problem is fixed.

I’d avoided non-incremental solutions in the past, because I wanted to help Zap2It by reducing their bandwidth. But everything I-xmltv does is a separate process, including the incremental feature. A single 14day xmltv download can also be enhanced, but a single long download gives the same errors if it’s longer than 12-days, and when I tried the native plugin it also came up short.
I’ve saved the logs and files that show the problem and I’ll look into finding an automatic way to avoid the problem in the future.

Jim_ this did fix my issue. I did have the same problem come up earlier this week and since I was still testing I did change it to +0000 and since then no issue with missing data.
Thanks

Glad to hear +0000 worked for the other issue.
I didn’t go through your TVGuide.xml line by line but checked it by loading it and had the same problem you reported with the gaps. The only thing that stood out was the small size percentage of your 2-13 day.xml downloads in the I-xmltv.log. Normally weekends are smaller and I was just guessing they were sending incomplete day files because of the offset.

[zehd]

I-XMLTV hogs too much of the CPU !

I fixed this by changing a couple of lines in your batch file. You migt wanna have a look, and for example add another user setting for how fast the CPU should run...

Code:

from:
SET XMLTV_Prog="C:\I-xmltv\xmltv.exe"

to:
SET XMLTV_Prog=start "I-XMLTV Update" /i /min /belownormal /b /wait "C:\I-xmltv\xmltv.exe"

Code:

and references of:
I-xmltv.exe
becomes:
start "I-XMLTV Update" /i /min /belownormal /b /wait I-xmltv.exe

I know, I know, this is supposed to be happening when everyone's asleep, and so CPU shouldn't be a problem.

I work graves. (my wife doesn't) and on my day off, when I'm watching AVI's or recorded material, and the update starts, it jerks my picture...

(Love this program)

[Jim_]

I-XMLTV hogs too much of the CPU !

I fixed this by changing a couple of lines in your batch file. You migt wanna have a look, and for example add another user setting for how fast the CPU should run...

Code:

from:
SET XMLTV_Prog="C:\I-xmltv\xmltv.exe"

to:
SET XMLTV_Prog=start "I-XMLTV Update" /i /min /belownormal /b /wait "C:\I-xmltv\xmltv.exe"

Code:

and references of:
I-xmltv.exe
becomes:
start "I-XMLTV Update" /i /min /belownormal /b /wait I-xmltv.exe

I know, I know, this is supposed to be happening when everyone's asleep, and so CPU shouldn't be a problem.

I work graves. (my wife doesn't) and on my day off, when I'm watching AVI's or recorded material, and the update starts, it jerks my picture...

(Love this program)

Thanks Frank, I’m always interested in enhancements like this and I’ll check it out!
Did you apply the change to xmltv.exe also? I-xmltv runs only for a few seconds, but xmltv.exe spends several minutes downloading and writing out the xml files.
If you want to post your modified UpdateEPG.bat, I’ll sure give it a try.
I-xmltv shouldn’t have any problems running at a reduced priority, but the xmltv.exe downloader could be a different story.

When I originally tested the TVGuideSupercharger package, I could see the high process usage during the download & enhancements. But my MPV remained responsive until afterwards, when GBPVR actually updated its database. At that point everything became very sluggish for several minutes, until GBPVR has finished loading the EPG.
I couldn’t do anything about the GBPVR recording service part so I didn’t give it any more thought.

Thanks again!
Jim

[drachan]

Ok, new here, and this is my first post. I've been trying to find a solution to my problem with no luck. I went through the step-by-step install instructions for i-xmltv - ran the updateEPG.bat once and entered in all the info. When I went to run it again, it asked for the same info. The instructions say to delete the ".xmltv" folder and try again. Unfortunately, there is no such folder. Additionally, the tvguide.xml is never created. I am running the multi-lineup setup and have looked in every folder. Any idea what I'm doing wrong here? There is no log created by xmltv either. It seems as if the xmltv.exe is not creating the files necessary for i-xmltv to work....?

[Jim_]

Ok, new here, and this is my first post. I've been trying to find a solution to my problem with no luck. I went through the step-by-step install instructions for i-xmltv - ran the updateEPG.bat once and entered in all the info. When I went to run it again, it asked for the same info. The instructions say to delete the ".xmltv" folder and try again. Unfortunately, there is no such folder. Additionally, the tvguide.xml is never created. I am running the multi-lineup setup and have looked in every folder. Any idea what I'm doing wrong here? There is no log created by xmltv either. It seems as if the xmltv.exe is not creating the files necessary for i-xmltv to work....?

Sorry about that!

Short answer:
Create a folder named “xmltv” in the I-xmltv folder and try it again.
Note: No dot in the folder name with the multi version.

Long answer:
My zip program doesn’t include folders in the archive unless they have at least one file in them, that’s why the lineup folders contain a file called “empty.txt”. Guess I forgot to put one in the xmltv folder :o , and you must be the first person to try the multi-lineup function…

I’ll post a patched UpdateEPG.bat for the multi-lineup function when I get a chance.
When I did the test to confirm your problem, I also noticed the xmltv.log was empty.
It’s used for the zap2it status & messages function, and I want to correct it before posting a fixed UdateEPG.bat

Keep in mind the long-term reliability of the multi-lineup version hasn’t been tested because I use a single lineup. I’ll see what I can do, but fixes & multi-lineup updates will be slow until I have more time available.

Jim

[Jim_]

I-XMLTV hogs too much of the CPU !

I fixed this by changing a couple of lines in your batch file. You migt wanna have a look, and for example add another user setting for how fast the CPU should run...
<snip>

Frank, changing it to "belownormal" would hog more CPU!
I’d checked the priority months ago, so my memory had faded.
I monitored it again last night when GBPVR did its “automatic” EPG update just to be sure.
When GBPVR calls UpdateEPG.bat during the automatic update, all the processes are run at IDLE.

[drachan]

Thanks. I was up for a couple of hours last night trying to figure it out...

[zehd]

Frank, changing it to "belownormal" would hog more CPU!
I’d checked the priority months ago, so my memory had faded.
I monitored it again last night when GBPVR did its “automatic” EPG update just to be sure.
When GBPVR calls UpdateEPG.bat during the automatic update, all the processes are run at IDLE.

Well then what's going on...? :confused:

With your standard batch file, my computer stutters to a crawl while viewing a avi or recorded mpg. With my edits, not a problem...

With your way, Task manager shows XMLTV running at Normal, which battles with GB-PVR.

With my mod, Task manager shows Below Normal, and defers to GB-PVR...

If XMLTV behaved itself and ran at low or idle CPU, I would have never looked into this...

[zehd]

For the new season, my cable provider has decided to release a couple of analog channels up on the digital bandwidth. That means same channels, different channel numbers. And here's the log...

WARNING: multiple channel mappings for 'CFCN'
WARNING: multiple channel mappings for 'EA2'

K... CFCN is broadcast on 3 (analog cable) and 232 (digital cable)
EA2 is broadcast on 34 (analog cable) and 64 (digital cable)

I no longer have '3' or '64' as choices in the TV listings.

Zap2it is up to snuff. I ran the config again, manually checked channels, those channels are there...

Is it possible that GB-PVR, while updating from your TVGuide.XML, is disallowing the second channels? If so, then why would there be an error in the I-XMLTV log?

(BTW - Regarding the other issue about CPU use, I used your original bat and again, while running at normal, other things running at normal have to share with XMLTV - I think XMLTV should defer CPU (IMHO))