Some channels in EPG have no data

[XJW]

I am seeing that some channels have no data in the EPG. It appears to be random. If I rescan it will often find data for that channel - but then another channel will be empty. This needs more testing as there could be a number of causes. Thoughts on debug would be appreciated.

I can see a parm in the config.xml file called scancollectionMS. I cant see a reference to it in the forum. Can you tell me what it does ? I tried changing it from 5000 to 8000 to see if it might help with the scanning but I still see channels with no data. Is this parm related to scan time for the EPG ?

I am using DVB-T with the over the air EPG.

[XJW]

Bump

[XJW]

Ok - I ran some more test this evening (after losing a recording) and the epg data appears to be randomly empty. I ran an update and ch 1 was empty. A few minutes later I ran another update and ch 2 was empty. A few minutes later and ch 1 was empty again. Its random. And I dont think the broadcast is empty otherwise it would be consistently empty.

Could it be that 60 seconds is not enough time to pull all the data leaving some channels empty ? Is there a way to extend the scan time to test this ? Any other ideas on cause ?

[XJW]

Yep - lots more testing - completely random as to which channels end up with no data.

Please let me know what data you need or whether its possible to extend the scan time.

[Reddwarf]

You could try running DVBGuide to see if epg are transmitted for all channels every day.

[sub]

You can increase the <EPGScanSeconds> setting in the <General> section of config.xml. The default is 60 seconds.

Generally though, broadcasters try to transmit all the listings within a 60 second window.

[XJW]

OK that did not work. I tried 90 seconds and 120 seconds.

Reddwarf - I dont think the data is missing from the broadcast. What I am seeing is that I can run a series of updates one after the other and a channel will show data one time, show no data the next, then show data again. Its random.

Ideas for debug ?

[Reddwarf]

OK that did not work. I tried 90 seconds.

Reddwarf - I dont think the data is missing from the broadcast. What I am seeing is that I can run a series of updates one after the other and a channel will show data one time, show no data the next, then show data again. Its random.

Ideas for debug ?

Try repeated runs of DVBGuide and see if you get consistent result. That way you can exclude your provider and your capturecard.

[XJW]

Reddwarf,

I tried the following for the ABC which is regularly missing EPG data in NPVR:
dvbguide -c226500 -b7
It consistently returned 1877 records in between 20 and 25 seconds. So hardware looks ok.
Thanks for the debug pointers. Any more ideas for isolation ?

[Reddwarf]

Reddwarf,

I tried the following for the ABC which is regularly missing EPG data in NPVR:
dvbguide -c226500 -b7
It consistently returned 1877 records in between 20 and 25 seconds. So hardware looks ok.
Thanks for the debug pointers. Any more ideas for isolation ?

Did you run it sevral times over a few hours with the -o<xmltv-filename> and compare the various xmltvfiles to see if they are identical?