EPG Issues

[kvgeorge1]

This has probably been posted somewhere before, but I cannot seem to find it. I am a new NextPVR user. I gotta say - amazing app! I use OTA ATSC EPG for my TV since I don't have a cable service. When the EPG is updated, it only gets about 6-8 hours of programming, leaving me hanging until the next update time. I am using Windows 8.1 and would like to know if there is a better EPG (free) plugin/service that works for NextPVR really well, or a way to configure the EPG service to gather more TV programming data, or run more often than 1 per day?

[sub]

Unfortunately OTA EPG is pretty crappy in the US. You typically only got 6 or so hours, so you pretty much have to look at alternative EPG sources like Schedules Direct or mc2xml.

[mikeh49]

From what I understand, the OTA EPG data provided in the US is essentially useless, as you have discovered. The best source of data, Schedules Direct, is not free, but pretty inexpensive at $25/year. SD is extremely reliable, accurate and you can get up to about 2 weeks of data. It is directly supported by NPVR.

There are ways to access EPG data that Microsoft provides for its MCE users, but the legality of this is indeterminate. There also seem to be some reliability issues with the MS servers.

[kvgeorge1]

Thanks for the information. Is there a way that I can get the EPG to update more often than once per day?

[sub]

Not automatically. You can manually run "nextpvr -updateepg" though, to force it to update the EPG.

[kvgeorge1]

I just ran the command and Windows 8.1 is not able to find it. I can launch the NextPVR client without issue, but from the command line - no go. Any suggestions?

[johnsonx42]

you'd need to specify the full path to nextpvr.exe, such as "c:\program files\nextpvr\nextpvr.exe" -updateepgonly

it's possible to get this to work by manually forcing EPG updates multiple times per day, but it'll be much easier and you'll have a better experience if you use Schedules Direct or MC2XML. Schedules Direct gives you a 7-day trial subscription so you can see how easy it is. Assuming you're running NextPVR 3.3.8 you just need to register a Schedules Direct account; you don't need to configure any lineups or channels on their site, that's for their old service. In 3.3.8 everything is done within NextPVR.

[sub]

I just ran the command and Windows 8.1 is not able to find it.

It sounds like you're running it form the wrong path. ie, you'll need to specify the full path to nextpvr.exe, or run it from the same directory as the executable.

[kvgeorge1]

Awesome! Thanks for all your help. Your support here is amazing.