Schedule Direct Issue w/ 3.3.8

[IanSpringfield]

I'm pretty sure I did check that screen and I think it only had OTA, but I could be mistaken. I'm back on 3.2.9 so I can't check again.

The thing that sealed the deal for me was the realization that even if it did work properly, I was going to get all the OTA and all the DTV channels every time I downloaded the list. I'm sure I either don't care about or don't even get 80-85% of all those channels. To go in and manually delete those channels inside NPVR is not worth it for me.

In pursuit of fixes to channel change issues and client issues, I am repeatedly downloading a new list of channels (HDMI/HDMI, HDMI/OPT, HDMI/L+R, Component/OPT, Component/L+R, etc) and mixing and matching filters and settings to see if I can make it work perfectly. The new schedules direct approach would make that whole exercise much too time consuming.

I have learned that if the Colossus isn't involved (ie, only OTA feeds from the HDHomerun or the 1600), the whole thing works great.

As soon as someone reports a path, or a patch is released, that results in flawless channel changes and flawless client from a Colossus via HDMI/HDMI (or really any other HD/DD connection), I'll give 3.3.8 (or whatever) another try. Until then, I'm pretty much stuck on 3.2.9 searching for the solution.

[mvallevand]

The thing that sealed the deal for me was the realization that even if it did work properly, I was going to get all the OTA and all the DTV channels every time I downloaded the list. I'm sure I either don't care about or don't even get 80-85% of all those channels. To go in and manually delete those channels inside NPVR is not worth it for me.

NextPVR only downloads the lineup and the channels you have mapped to use in NextPVR. It is much faster than the old interface.

Martin

[sub]

The thing that sealed the deal for me was the realization that even if it did work properly, I was going to get all the OTA and all the DTV channels every time I downloaded the list. I'm sure I either don't care about or don't even get 80-85% of all those channels. To go in and manually delete those channels inside NPVR is not worth it for me.

It only downloads the listings for the channels you've added. It wont download listing for other channels in your lineups which you haven't added.

[IanSpringfield]

sub and Martin,

Either you're not understanding me or I'm not understanding you.

If I download the channel list as HDMI/HDMI. Then I go in and delete the channels I don't want.

The next day I go in and I redownload the channel list except now as HDMI/OPT, won't it give me all the channels again?

[mvallevand]

Yes, for adding but what's the the big deal? My list for 1000 channels is 200k.

Marti

[IanSpringfield]

The bid deal is that is that I'm not going to deal with a list of 1000 channels in the guide when I only care about 50.

Also, I'm not going to repeatedly delete the 950 channels I don't want or get.

As far as why would I repeatedly download the channel list? That's covered in my post above. I know of no other way to change a channel's attributes (ie HDMI/HDMI vs Component/OPT) other than by redownloading the list.

Even with the NPVRwriter patch, 3.3.8 doesn't help any of my other issues. I was hoping it would at least make schedule direct more reliable (and it probably has) but instead it has made it much more difficult.

The executive decision was:

Pros 3.3.8 over 3.2.9 = none (same issues, no improvement)
Pros 3.2.9 over 3.3.8 = although schedule direct is likely less reliable, it is far easier for me to manage.

Perhaps SD will create a web interface for the json channels.

[johnsonx42]

I tested it here and multiple lineups do work just fine with the channel import dialog, IanSpringfield just hadn't correctly enabled the extra lineup in the Manage Lineups dialog.

However, IanSpringfield does correctly point out a big hassle with the channel import and mapping dialogs when used with Schedules Direct JSON: cable lineups have many hundreds, even thousands, of channels, but most users will only use fewer than 100 channels (in some cases FAR fewer). The presumption in the past was that the lineup would have been edited at the SD website, but that's no longer possible. I encountered this when I first mapped my 7 channels against the miles-long Time Warner Cable Digital lineup for my area, but 5 of my 7 channels are in the first 10 channels in the list and the other two were easily located in the top 100. This would become a tremendous hassle with more channels spread out over more of the list, even more so in a situation where it's frequently necessary to re-import and/or re-map channels for whatever reasons.

Would you consider creating a "Channel Filter" dialog where the user can select the channels he actually uses from each enabled lineup? Once the filter is created, then the channel import and mapping dialogs would import/display the filtered list of channels (i.e. read the live lineup from SD-JSON and then apply the filter to show only the desired channels). This would make things much simpler for pretty much every Schedules Direct user.

edit: this would be handy even for an OTA lineup in an area with many transmitters... my OTA lineup has 144 channels, and if I ever get my antenna setup again I'll only actually use about 25 of them.

[johnsonx42]

I know of no other way to change a channel's attributes (ie HDMI/HDMI vs Component/OPT) other than by redownloading the list.

I don't have any device where channels are configured that way so I can't try it here, but don't you just set the parameters you want and then click a button that says something like "Set all to current config"? Maybe that option is on the right-click menu? I know it's been discussed before.

[mvallevand]

I don't import for the HDPVR anymore I just type the channel number/name I want and add it. I'm glad I don't have to go to the SD site to manage things.

Martin

[sub]

sub and Martin,

Either you're not understanding me or I'm not understanding you.

If I download the channel list as HDMI/HDMI. Then I go in and delete the channels I don't want.

The next day I go in and I redownload the channel list except now as HDMI/OPT, won't it give me all the channels again?

The bid deal is that is that I'm not going to deal with a list of 1000 channels in the guide when I only care about 50.

Also, I'm not going to repeatedly delete the 950 channels I don't want or get.

How often would you really be doing this though? Most people are only going to setup their channel list once. After that, it's only in the event of some catastrophic problem would they be setting it up again.

If it really bothers you, talk to Schedules Direct about it. This is the way they chose to implement it.