Noobie Guide to Schedules Direct on NextPVR

[jp2code]

I am in my 7-day free trial of Schedules Direct.

Yesterday, I fumbled around and found a way to add it to my EPG Source. Apparently, you must Right-Click the Live TV feed while it is going to show the menu for it.



I selected it, entered my username and password, and it was happy.

The EPG, though, looked no better than it did with XMLTV as the EPG Source.

In the settings, it shows that the EPG is updated at 2:47 AM.



So, I walked away (went to work), and checked it again this morning.

Today, I have the same EPG that I had the day before.



Is there a guide that can show someone who is illiterate with NextPVR and SG how to get going?

If I can't get this to work during my 7 day trial, I'm certainly not going to pay for it.

[Graham]

Is there a guide that can show someone who is illiterate with NextPVR and SG how to get going?

Does this help ... http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...ulesDirect

It may be that NextPVR needs to be told the mapping between the channel name used by Schedules Direct and the channel name used by NextPVR. For example, NextPVR may have found a channel name that is "ABCD" and Schedules Direct may have the same channel as "ABCD-HD".

[jp2code]

That should help.

When I created an account, I did some of those steps, but not all of them.

[rkulagow]

The article that you looked at is for the XML service; it requires you to use the website to add a lineup, etc. Schedules Direct has two EPG offerings; the XML feed and the JSON feed.

NextPVR 3.4.8 and above have native support for the Schedules Direct JSON service; 21-30 days of data, season/episode, graphics, cover art and more frequent schedule updates.

I can't help you with the configuration steps for NextPVR because I don't run it, but there are plenty of folks who have it working with the JSON service. Hopefully someone that's already using the JSON service can update the Wiki to detail those steps.

If you get stuck and are actively still trying to get the "Schedules Direct" grabber working then when you have one day left in your trial I can give you a one-time extension until you get it all sorted out.

[sub]

Here is a quick video to demonstrate how you configure NextPVR to use listings from Schedules Direct. Hopefully this clears it up?

[video=youtube;nqJ7QiYS3Rk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqJ7QiYS3Rk&hd=1&feature=youtu.be[/video]

[jp2code]

I just saw where he had a pop-up asking, "Would you like the application to have a go at auto mapping the rest of the channels? (based on the channel name)"

That certainly would be a time saver if it works for me!

[sub]

Bulk Map should allow you to do your mappings fairly quickly. It's works for most types of setups. The notable exception is QAM channels, where there is usually no channel name or channel number information included with the broadcasts, so NextPVR has no way to automatically determine the mappings.

As you can see in the video, it only took a couple of minutes to get the EPG setup with Schedules Direct.

[johnsonx42]

a mythical magic "someone" really needs to update the schedules direct instructions on the wiki, they are for NextPVR 3.2.9 and earlier; they make no sense to anyone attempting to apply them to later versions supporting the SD-JSON service.

[jp2code]

So, I'm doing this now (because I just got home).

All good.

Instead of the message shown in the video, I see a slightly different one warning me that once this is done it cannot be undone.

That was a little spooky, but it is what it is, I guess. Like, there is no point in reading the Rules if you can't join without accepting them. Same thing.

So, I clicked Continue or OK. I forget.

Now it starts purring along when all of a sudden I come across this:



Poop.

I clicked Continue (what else should I do?), and now it says it is merging. There isn't really a status bar, so I can't tell if it is doing anything or not.

It says it is "Merging KLGV-LD", but that message has been on the screen since I started this message.

Is my NextPVR all messed up now? Do I need to go buy another computer?

[sub]

So, I'm doing this now (because I just got home).

All good.

Instead of the message shown in the video, I see a slightly different one warning me that once this is done it cannot be undone.

You didn't do what I did in the video then. You clicked the 'Auto-Merge channels with Same Name' button in the lower left of the Bulk Map. I did not click this in my video, and you don't need to do this either. It's not relate to mapping your channels to Schedules Direct.

You'd typically use this button if you got a selection of the same channels from different sources. ie, like WCBS from an ATSC tuner, and WCBS from a set CableCard device. It tells the application to treat them as the same channel. So if a WCBS recording was scheduled, it could use either tuner, and WCBS would only show up once in the guide.

Either way, it probably wont do any harm - just restart the application. This time do what I did in the video. ie, selected 'Schedules Direct' in the drop down for one channel. If there is an exact name match, it'll make it automatically and offer to try mapping the rest for you. If there isn't an exact name match, you can manually make the mapping using the drop down in the last column, then it'll off to try mapping the rest for you.