Seperate Guide channels from real channels

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Dragy
Posts: 182
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:44 pm
Location: Netherlands

Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by Dragy » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:02 am

The most unclear aspect of Argus for me are the Guide channels. The first thing you do when setting up Argus is importing channels. Of course, these get in the Channel list. After that, you want to set up the TV Guide. What happens then, is that also the Guide channels, which don't necesarily have the same name as the real channels, also get in the channels list. This is confusing, because the Guide channels and real channels are all in the same list and you do not know which channel is actually watchable and which one not. There already is a Guide Channels list in the Scheduler Console, why also include it in the chennels list?

In the Channels list, you have to link the Guide channels to the real channels. Why are the guide channels also in the channel list? It is even possible to schedule a recording on a guide channel. The result is that you get an error because the Guide channel is not a real channel..

Currently, I am using XMLTV and MP TV Server as backend. I have added [XMLTV] in front of all XMLTV channels so I can easily seperate it from the real channels. This is the best way to do it I think.

So, to sum it up, I don't understand:
- why Guide channels and real channels are listed in the same list
- why it is possible to schedule a recording on a guide channel


Thanks, I hope this can be fixed in a future version of Argus TV
Always using the latest BETA/RC version (when available) in combination with MediaPortal and his TV Server.

ams123
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 4:08 pm

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by ams123 » Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:09 pm

You sound like you have something wrong in your setup if you are seeing guide channels and "real" channels in your EPG. I believe Argus TV has this flexibility so you can combine different "real" channel sources with the same guide channel. This might apply if you had a over the air channel that was also part of your cable package so now you can combine those sources into the same guide channel to give you maximum recording flexibility. You should only be able to schedule recordings on guide channels by the way.

You may be accidentally creating multiple guide channels when you only need one for a give "real" channel.

Dragy
Posts: 182
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:44 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by Dragy » Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:52 pm

No I don't see them in the EPG, but in the channels section in the Scheduler Console. The guide channels are added when I import a XMLTV file. At this point it already goes wrong, because I don't want these guide channels in the "all channels" section, which should only be for real channels.
Always using the latest BETA/RC version (when available) in combination with MediaPortal and his TV Server.

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Sjakko
Posts: 561
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Location: Netherlands

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by Sjakko » Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:48 pm

Hi Dragy. Guide Channels and "real" Channels aren't in the same list. The following happens when you import an XMLTV file:

1. A Guide Channel is created if it doesn't exist yet.
2. A ("real") Channel is created with the same name as the Guide Channel. This happens only if a Channel with this name doesn't exist yet and probably only if this Guide Channel isn't linked to a Channel yet.
3. The Channel and Guide Channel are linked if it doesn't exist yet.

So what probably happens in your case is that (some of) your XMLTV channel names don't match their corresponding Argus TV Channel names. In this case a new Channel is created. This explains why you can't watch these Channels: they aren't mapped to a service.

The easiest solution in your case is probably:
1. Remove all your Channels.
2. Recreate all Channels by importing them via TV Server Configuration > Plugins > Argus TV Recorder > Channels > Create/Import Channels.
3. Rename the XMLTV channels in your XMLTV program to match the Argus TV Channel names.
4. Now run the XMLTV program. Make sure it doesn't re-use any remaining XMLTV files with old channel names.
ARGUS TV + Recorder, 4 x FloppyDTV DVB-C, Smargo Smartreader Plus, MDAPI Plus, ACamd, OSCam, Win7 x64.

Dragy
Posts: 182
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:44 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by Dragy » Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:33 pm

Okay, that's clear. Still I don't think this is necessary:
2. A ("real") Channel is created with the same name as the Guide Channel. This happens only if a Channel with this name doesn't exist yet and probably only if this Guide Channel isn't linked to a Channel yet.
I think the Guide channel should only be linked to channels when they already exist.


The reason I changed all my XMLTV channels with "[XMLTV]" appended is so I can easily recognize them. I want this because this problem occured before:
1. I have real channels in Argus
2. I scan my XMLTV file, which mostly has the same channel names as the real channels, so they get linked.
3. Apparently, some channel names did not match and I don't know which of the channel is the real one. (eg: "NPO1" or "NPO 1")

The same problem happens when the cable provider changes the channel names and I do a new import from MP to Argus. I delete all channels from Argus most times when a lot is changed and I don't know which channels changed. Then I'm too lazy to update my XMLTV settings, I just want to relink "NPO1" to "NPO 1" for example because I don't care for the new space in the channel name.

So, I think the creation of the non existing channels when importing XMLTV is confusing and unnecessary. It would solve a lot for me. I don't think it is a problem to have Guide channels which aren't linked to any real channel.
Always using the latest BETA/RC version (when available) in combination with MediaPortal and his TV Server.

eutx9795
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:00 pm

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by eutx9795 » Thu Apr 09, 2015 4:58 pm

Dragy wrote:So, to sum it up, I don't understand:
- why Guide channels and real channels are listed in the same list
- why it is possible to schedule a recording on a guide channel
I think this only happens when using MP TVServer as channel source.

Completely agree that real channels and guide channels must be separated/isolated.

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Sjakko
Posts: 561
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Location: Netherlands

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by Sjakko » Thu Apr 09, 2015 5:39 pm

Dragy wrote:So, I think the creation of the non existing channels when importing XMLTV is confusing and unnecessary. It would solve a lot for me. I don't think it is a problem to have Guide channels which aren't linked to any real channel.
I agree.
ARGUS TV + Recorder, 4 x FloppyDTV DVB-C, Smargo Smartreader Plus, MDAPI Plus, ACamd, OSCam, Win7 x64.

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tripkip
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 4:28 pm

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by tripkip » Thu May 07, 2015 3:57 pm

If I understand this frustration can easilty be solved by removing this step?

Code: Select all

2. A ("real") Channel is created with the same name as the Guide Channel. This happens only if a Channel with this name doesn't exist yet and probably only if this Guide Channel isn't linked to a Channel yet.

eutx9795
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:00 pm

Re: Seperate Guide channels from real channels

Post by eutx9795 » Thu May 07, 2015 5:15 pm

tripkip wrote:If I understand this frustration can easilty be solved by removing this step?

Code: Select all

2. A ("real") Channel is created with the same name as the Guide Channel. This happens only if a Channel with this name doesn't exist yet and probably only if this Guide Channel isn't linked to a Channel yet.
Yes, you're right

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