SUB please read RE: Zap2It

[groover km]

All - Before we all start panicking, check this thread here:

http://bb.labs.zap2it.com/viewtopic.php?...c&start=30

It seems that this is a *temporary* measure while zap2it resolve some issues, I'm guessing regarding server load. Just to preach to the choir again...

1) IMPORTANT! Change the default time for your EPG update. I schedule mine for 10am and have never had a problem with it.

2) Do you really need the 'full EPG update'? How often does the schedule really change? Again, this leads to unnecessary server load.

3) How many days guide do you really need? Well, depends how often you check it. Does *anyone* need 13 days of data? I would suggest only if you only use the guide once every 12 days. Think about this.

Three days sucks, but I am willing to believe them when they say it is temporary. As a *free* service, we all have a responsibility to use it responsibly, do we not? Community?

Sub - saw your post in the thread; hat's off to you in promoting/ supporting/ develping GB-PVR in so many arenas.

[j3flight]

Sub, regarding the box labeled "complete EPG reload".....
Can you describe the exact behavior of the Zap2It grabber with this box enabled and disabled?

If I turn the complete reload OFF to save some of their bandwidth, I'm mostly concerned about programming changes that won't get picked up... i.e. Does GBPVR update the 'current day' at all, or does it just get one day at the far end of the schedule?

I ask this because that forum mentions that MythTV updates its database in that way... Each day, it grabs TODAY and grabs ONE DAY at the end of the schedule. This seems tricky, but a good way to correct for any late scheduling changes without refreshing the whole schedule each time.

Thanks.

[pBS]

that sounds like a great idea..lessen the load and update time...that would mean we only get notification of the changes on the day of recording..which is fine for automatic adjustments, but those that require user interaction would leave a small window for them to notice..
although i think this would be great for the non-total updates..

i wonder what the totals are for GBPVR users at Zap2it?
could the new 'complete epg reload' setting account for any of this?
mine seemed to be much more taxing than usual..so i turned it off..

maybe set the default behavior of 'complete epg reloads' to off ? [<CompleteEPGReload>true</CompleteEPGReload>
:from config-master.dont-edit-me.xml]
or give a schedule of days for complete reload? [like every xx days]

[ram4x4nut]

Personally I think Zap2It needs to set it up so if you update during their busy times you get 3 days, if you update during whatever they deem as a "slow" time then it will allow up to 13 days. It would be a simple time check on their part.

[j3flight]

If I were zap2it, I wouldn't like that one bit. It doesn't solve their problem and it will annoy users creating all kinds of support issues. What happens if the congested periods start to shift because people catch on to this 3-day punishment thing?

All of a sudden, you, as a respectable zap2it user who was grabbing at non-peak time of 11am, now only gets 3 days because 11am has become jam packed. So, you move your download time and start getting all your data again. Only problem is, EVERYBODY is doing this and you're back where you started, only the peak times are now moving...

No thanks. They need a better overall solution because these things run automated and only about 5% of people using zap2it actually read the forum. The other 95% will think that zap2it doesn't work like it should, only giving them 3 days when they've requested 10.

[groover km]

...only about 5% of people using zap2it actually read the forum. The other 95% will think that zap2it doesn't work like it should, only giving them 3 days when they've requested 10....

... and will then go and buy MCE and their subscription service, thus relieving the load on the zap2it servers for those of us 'in the know'. Mwahahah...

[turkey]

I know this may be a bit premature, because zap2it has not made a decision about their services, but the mythTV system sound like it would work well for us. According to the thread in the zap2it forum about this, mythTV downloads day 13 and tomorrow only. This reduces the load on zap2it's servers, and gives us accurate listings (reload of tomorrows listings) and listings far in advance (13th day)

I think it would be smart for someone to make a patch to add this type of epg update to gbpvr. Even better, it would be smart to be able to configure exactly which days to get from zap2it. For example, download day 1,2 and 7; or download day 1,2,3,4; or download day 1 and 13. Is this a possibility?

[Digital712]

I know this may be a bit premature, because zap2it has not made a decision about their services, but the mythTV system sound like it would work well for us. According to the thread in the zap2it forum about this, mythTV downloads day 13 and tomorrow only. This reduces the load on zap2it's servers, and gives us accurate listings (reload of tomorrows listings) and listings far in advance (13th day)

I think it would be smart for someone to make a patch to add this type of epg update to gbpvr. Even better, it would be smart to be able to configure exactly which days to get from zap2it. For example, download day 1,2 and 7; or download day 1,2,3,4; or download day 1 and 13. Is this a possibility?

I agree this makes more sense than downloading the whole listing needlessly every night.

[j3flight]

... and will then go and buy MCE and their subscription service, thus relieving the load on the zap2it servers for those of us 'in the know'. Mwahahah...

Haha... Evil, yet, effective!

[j3flight]

I think it would be smart for someone to make a patch to add this type of epg update to gbpvr. Even better, it would be smart to be able to configure exactly which days to get from zap2it. For example, download day 1,2 and 7; or download day 1,2,3,4; or download day 1 and 13. Is this a possibility?

The only person that could create said patch is sub. ... and since I know very little about how the database is handled in GBPVR, that may require very little or a whole lot of work to be able to grab like that...