EPG Cutover: Best Solutions Poll

[hueyatl1]

I went to http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/tv-listings because I read somewhere that this is MSN EPG page and that it was using the Rovi data. When I entered my city/zipode the drop down window brought up several options for providers in the area. However, no option for Over-The-Air(OTA) is available for anywhere in Atlanta. Here is the question:

Does Rovi provide OTA EPG data for Atlanta?

If it does not it would explain the "No Data...." issues in the EPG and all this time we are spending trying to fix Media Center is wasted time!

Can anyone confirm that Rovi is furnishing OTA data to Media Center(for Atlanta in particular)? It is noteworthy that Rovi apparently does provide an OTA data for Redmond, Washington.

[BG02578]

I reloaded WMC (win7 and deleting /ehome) because I could not get past "no setup data."

Is this a function of a "bad" zipcode?

I tried various combinations of IP addresses in the hosts file with no success.

I can add channels manually but of course I cannot get guide data. I don't even see the options for manually downloading the guide or any way to see if I am using Rovi or ZapIt.

Please add this problem to the Poll, and hopefully someone will have a Best solution.

Thanks

[columbia93]

Can someone translate for Vista users?

I don't have a Media section in the Programs and Features. WMC isn't in the uninstall area, either. I can delete the ehome in Users but can't delete the eHome in ProgramData. I deleted what I could but I'm still Zap2it.

I am not OTA - I use a set-top box with Time Warner.

[columbia93]

Can someone translate for Vista users?

I don't have a Media section in the Programs and Features. WMC isn't in the uninstall area, either. I can delete the ehome in Users but can't delete the eHome in ProgramData. I deleted what I could but I'm still Zap2it.

I am not OTA - I use a set-top box with Time Warner.

BUMP

Vista and WMC are integrated so you can't uninstall it. Can someone provide a solution for Vista users that doesn't require deleting eHome from ProgramData?

[columbia93]

Well, fudge. Now I remember how it broke long ago. I'd had problems with the guide a couple of years ago and ran that lousy sfc /scannow (however that is) and now I no longer am able to get an internet connection nor set up my TV signal - I get a fail. That happened back then, too. I remember after much searching I finally found an answer that made me write a procedure for going in an deleting something and restarting and getting it to work for a bit but, it was probably a few years ago before my last hard drive replacement. When I reinstalled WMC back then, it was fixed. I just replaced my Hard drive again about 6 weeks ago and, in the process of moving files back to this PC, I ran across those instructions. Because everything had been working for so long, I deleted it. Fudge, Fudge, Fudge!!! It took me weeks of searching last time to finally find the solution and, on top of this crazy ridiculous garbage -- I am tearing out my hair! If anyone knows how to fix this, it would be greatly appreciated. I only remember it was deleting a file and then restarting WMC. Thanks!

[Crash2009]

I am tearing out my hair! If anyone knows how to fix this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried this yet?

[83v45magna]

I went to http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/tv-listings because I read somewhere that this is MSN EPG page and that it was using the Rovi data. When I entered my city/zipode the drop down window brought up several options for providers in the area. However, no option for Over-The-Air(OTA) is available for anywhere in Atlanta.

TRY IT AGAIN: I just clicked on your link and it appeared I got the same type list with no OTA in the list. I moved the mouse cursor into the drop down list and the OTA option then appears at the bottom. Move you mouse out of there, it disappears.

[dmac]

I ended up doing a factory reset out of frustration, but did not get anywhere until I changed DNS to 8.8.8.8/8.8.8.4, then did flushdns. After the factory reset I was getting the "data not downloaded" message, which was new. I changed the DNS (8.8.8.8/8.8.8.4), flushdns, reboot, and tried downloading guide data again, with no luck. Event log indicated something about error in the previous attempt. I ran mcupdate.exe -uf -pscn 0, rebooted, and from that point on have been able to download guide data.

[Crash2009]

I ended up doing a factory reset out of frustration, but did not get anywhere until I changed DNS to 8.8.8.8/8.8.8.4, then did flushdns. After the factory reset I was getting the "data not downloaded" message, which was new. I changed the DNS (8.8.8.8/8.8.8.4), flushdns, reboot, and tried downloading guide data again, with no luck. Event log indicated something about error in the previous attempt. I ran mcupdate.exe -uf -pscn 0, rebooted, and from that point on have been able to download guide data.

Same as me "no guide due to multiple failed downloads".

So, if you agree, I guess this means that if you see this message.....a good starting point would be to start trying the DNS instructions previously mentioned a 100 times.

[Silversee]

A true American hero.

scoobybri / Brian from Baltimore.

In post 4 he details the only reliable fix to the no guide download problem. I had tried all of the fixes in all the forums multiple times with no luck. Brian's fix worked first try.

After several failed attempts, Brian's fix also worked for me. The key thing I missed the first times through was that I needed to uninstall / reinstall *both* Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player. Only after I included WMP in these steps did everything work and the "download error" disappear. Rovi data successfully showing up now (with the hosts file updated to manually point to the new server addresses).

[miracleed]

scoobybri / Brian from Baltimore ftw

[columbia93]

Again, a workaround for Vista would be appreciate - and pics of Gorilla Glue aren't helpful.

Vista doesn't allow you to disable WMC.

A couple of years ago I had a problem with WMC where it was crashing when I'd try to open it. After a very lengthy search, I'd found a solution that required deleting a file and it would work until I opened it again. After a few months, it seemed to fix itself. Unfortunately, when I replaced my hard drive a couple of months and reinstalled Vista, I deleted the instructions! I know I didn't find it on MS sites and this one seems the most likely.

(BTW, I restored my PC to 7/17 and at least fixed the problem that stupid scannow option created. At least I'm back to just a non-working guide...)

[apalousey]

I voted for #7 because even though (2. I Re-ran TV Signal Setup in WMC) I was able to finally load the Rovi EPG, it continues to be replete with errors, omissions, and serious performance issues. A few of initial issues regarding incorrect channel labels and associated program listings have been corrected, but many, many remain.

One major issue are the delays that occur while scrolling down channels in guide. Since the conversion of the WMC EPG to Rovi, significant lags (delays) occur when scrolling down the channel listings. The lags/delays occur after scrolling down the first several listings. The delay before continuing to subsequent listing(s) can vary from approximately 15 seconds to over 30 seconds. This behavior prevents to user from quickly proceeding down the channel listings, and can require several minutes of wasted time to locate the desired channel listing. This behavior did not occur under the Zap-to-It EPG. Scrolling down the channel listings was smooth, consistent, and uninterrupted by lags/delays.

[Crash2009]

and pics of Gorilla Glue aren't helpful.

I was just trying to lighten things up a bit, at the expense of your faux pas re: "pulling your hair out and looking for a fix". I knew what you meant, my Gorilla Glue wisecrack was "Out of Line"

That wasn't funny. I apologize.

Crash2009

To try to make it up to you, I have created two threads asking for help with ROVI in Vista SP1 and Vista SP2.

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 867#p93867

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 869#p93869

[Mythical]

After the initial cutover I was able to get Rovi data (such as it was) for two weeks by using a different zip code in the area. But then it stopped updating for the zip code I was using and after trying every solution I could find on this site and spending hours and hours trying to get it to work, I came up with a solution:

1. Download and burn Mythbuntu ISO onto DVD: Google: Mythbuntu
2. Install Mythbuntu. See: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19kn ... edit?pli=1
3. Sign up for SchedulesDirect EPG listings service: Google: SchedulesDirect
4. Set up MythTV backend with my 4 Hauppauge tuners and SchedulesDirect. If you have the HDHomeRun Prime, it should work out of the box. I had Hauppage HVR-2250 capture cards, so I had to install some firmware. This is easy. See: http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Haupp ... V-HVR-2250
If you have another tuner card, see: https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Digital_Tuner_Cards

Now I have a fantastic MythTV system that uses Zap2it listings again! It got all of my channels with my actual zipcode. I've spent most of today setting it all up - way less time than I spent monkeying with WMC trying to get it to work.

I bought my computer with Windows 7 Home Premium specifically for WMC with the reasonable expectation that it should work as described - and it did for over a year. Microsoft has deliberately sabotaged their own system and made it impossible for me to use it as I had been using it for over a year. (Very strong smell of Cable/Satellite company involvement in this.) For this reason I think Mircrosoft ought to reimburse me for my SchedulesDirect payments ($24/yr.) for the next 10 years. If anyone else is interested in a class action lawsuit, please reply.

Cheers!

[beameup]

Tried everything posted, but could not get it to work until I rebuilt my media center from scratch and then set dns entries in host file (as described in the posts) before running media center for the first time. BTW: Never got KB3078428 for the EPG update to show up, so don't know if this would have resolved not needing the DNS changes or not. Note: I used 84088 OTA for West Jordan, UT (Salt Lake Valley). I imagine most of the other Salt Lake valley zips are also working but didn't try them.

[cross post]

[Virgil]

Having come back from vacation to 2 weeks of missing recordings, I've spent most of the past month trying all of the solutions posted here to get the EPG back into WMC (windows 7, 64 bit, OTA tuner). Editing the hosts file, purging the DNS, reinstalling WMC, playing with the eHome file, messing with MCUpdate and recovery task, trying 50 different zip codes (Rochester NY, can't get anything local to work with Rovi). Every attempt would end with the dreaded "TV Setup data cannot be downloaded, old data will be used" dialog. I tried Kodi and just couldn't get the interface the way I wanted it. Tried Media Portal (which, BTW is a pain of an install), and it worked with my TV tuner but no sound. Tried NextPVR and got the same story - TV picture but no sound. None of these solutions could be configured with a working TV guide. At one point I even ran into the "Media Center has encountered a fatal error during TV set up" dialog. All in all about 20 hours of plugging away at the PC trying to get it to play nice. Not my best idea of how to spend the evenings after work.

So, the solution I came up with consists of...
1) Uninstall/reinstall WMC, run TV setup as best you can. Agree to playready and guide terms of service. Add missing channels to guide if needed. Don't worry that guide has no data. I also deleted the hosts file - won't be needing it anyway.

2) http://mc2xml.hosterbox.net/
This is a free small program that will grab EPG data from your preferred source and store it as an XML file. This can be run as a scheduled task. The setup is fairly simple and is explained on the download page - put the exe in afolder, make a UpdateEPG.bat file with your parameters, and set it to run. There are 3 possible sources - Microsoft legacy,Titan TV, and Schedules direct. I couldn't get the first two to work. You'll also need to use Task Scheduler to set this up to download data as often as you see fit.

3) http://www.schedulesdirect.org/
This is the listing source - there's a free 1 week trial so you can get it working and make sure all is good before taking the plunge. The cost is $25 for an annual subscription, which IMO is well worth the price, not to have to deal with another week of evenings cursing at Media Center. You set up your zip code and listings (cable/OTA etc) and then plug your login information into the MC2XML program. Thus, probably a good idea to set up Schedules Direct first, so it's all ready when you configure the grabber program. For a typical OTA channel line up (12 channels) a week's worth of programming will result in around a 6MB file. The syntax in the UpdateEPG.bat file (see 2, above) can be played with to download the length of data you want. You can also configure it to only download certain channels, but that's probably not necessary at this point.

4) http://mcefun.nrossen.dk/
The third thing is a free small program from a Danish guy (a.k.a. God!) which takes your grabbed XMLTV listings and injects them into the back of Media Center. The configuration is fairly simple. You just point it at the xml made by the grabber, and let it go to work. It will run a command prompt dialog and it will take quite some time to go through all the data (expect the dialog to be open for at least 5 minutes). The config' box even includes a wizard to set up a scheduled task to do the WMC inject when you want. There are also options to import logos and film images and other accessory information to spruce up the guide.

There are some other small tweaks required...
- Turn off guide updates within WMC, so it doesn't try to over-write the ones you inject in the back end.
- The MCImportXMLTV utility has a nice GUI to match up the channels in MWCM with the ones in the XML file, but some of them didn't match up - some channels needed editing in the Settings>TV>Guide>Edit Channels within WMC.
- I recall that on the first run, the utility threw an error, looking for a "xmltv.dat" file. I simply opened NotePad and made a blank text document and saved it with this name, and the problem went away.
- Timing wise, it's probably a good idea to set up the task scheduler to run the grabber first, then do the WMC inject about 10 minutes later.

The end result is a complete color coded mighty fine looking set of listings!

[Moderator note: topic merged]

[Handyman129]

Using the info from tzr916 below, I changed the IP's in my Hosts file and it worked perfectly. I tried all the rest and at least a hundred different zip codes, but the IP change in the Host file did the trick. Thanks!

None of these solutions work 100% and I honestly think it's the complete random luck of whatever your DNS resolves to AT THAT MOMENT as to whether or not updating the EPG is successful.

I have used Comcast's (my ISP) DNS, Google's DNS, my employer's DNS, set hosts files to every address under the sun - none of it works reliably. I've done the zip code thing, same story.

data.tvdownload.microsoft.com resolves to different things in different parts of the country, and I've used Looking Glass to test them all. No dice. Flushed DNS an infinite amount of times. Nada.

cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com is a load balanced address that is distributed among several Akamai caching sites across the globe. You may notice that you get a completely different one every 5 minutes you run an nslookup (no matter what DNS you use).

The only thing that I haven't done is uninstall WMC completely and start over. It's unfathomable that Microsoft would do this without having a contingency plan in place. I simply can't reach Rovi at all from either my location or my PC. Or I just haven't been lucky enough yet.

Hate this problem.

My experience with DNS / HOSTS file:
Last Sept 2014 a whole bunch of people stopped getting guide updates. I was one of them. I tried every static DNS I could find and could not get guide to download/update. As soon as I entered some IP's into my HOSTS file, my guide downloaded/updated perfectly. I left those IP's in my HOSTS file. Until this Rovi mess- Tried several times but could not get Rovi to download so changed the IP's in the HOSTS file and the Rovi instantly updated.

New HOSTS:
65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com
72.246.56.59 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com


Old HOSTS:
65.55.5.170 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com
2.16.216.176 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com

[mlcarson]

My solution was to go with Tivo since they were having such a great sale with lifetime service. If I hadn't gone this route, I think the only solution other than going with something besides WMC is the one presented by Virgil since it uses Schedules Direct. There are so many different issues right now thanks to Rovi that it's going to take months to fix them all. I think that eventually they'll get everybody's channels added and provide some type of guide data but it's not going to be the quality that everybody here is used to. The problem that I don't see going away is the generic guide listings for many channels and shows. That's why I think anything but an alternate guide source will be doomed to failure.

Audinutt had an alternate solution using Big Screen EPG. I'd love to know which way is better. Does the mcefun.nrossen.dk program have any additional issues with a cablecard setup?