[mythtv-users] Not getting all channels!

[Harry Devine]

Phil Bridges wrote:
> On 10/23/07, Harry Devine <lifter89 at comcast.net> wrote:
>   
>> Phil Bridges wrote:
>>     
>>> On 10/23/07, Harry Devine <lifter89 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>       
>>>> Phil Bridges wrote:
>>>>
>>>>         
>>>>> On 10/23/07, Harry Devine <lifter89 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>           
>>>>>>  Phil Bridges wrote:
>>>>>>  On 10/23/07, Harry Devine <lifter89 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Phil Bridges wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  On 10/22/07, Harry Devine <lifter89 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Marc wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Usually not.. The encrypted channels are usually encrypted over the
>>>>>> firewire
>>>>>> port too.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  I'm still pulling my hair out over this. I'm only getting 50 of my 320
>>>>>> channels to be tuned. I ran the scan utility that was included with the
>>>>>> dvb-apps tools, and used the
>>>>>> US-Cable-Standard-center-frequencies-QAM256
>>>>>> file with it. I put the output into the attached file. It is very
>>>>>> similar to the output shown at
>>>>>> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Working_QAM_cable_layout,
>>>>>> but my
>>>>>> area isn't listed. Can I assume from the output that I'm getting all
>>>>>> channels, and that I have to tweak Myth to know about them based on the
>>>>>> scanned values (rather than the current "17#0", etc.)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> Harry
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  You'll need to follow the directions here:
>>>>>> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB_search and here:
>>>>>> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Adding_QAM_Channels_For_HDTV_Tuner_Cards
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  I'll try them again, but the last time I tried to follow those
>>>>>> directions, it didn't work. The scripts that are on those pages don't
>>>>>> work at all. Maybe the scripts are geared towards another distro? I'm
>>>>>> using FC6 via MythDora 4. There isn't any contact information on those
>>>>>> pages either, so I can't contact the author and get help on the scripts.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> Harry
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  What do the scripts do when you try to execute them? In the worst
>>>>>> case, you should be able to go into the channel editor in
>>>>>> mythtv-setup, view the channels, and assign XMLTV IDs as appropriate.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  I just got home and tried running that script.  I ran fixnames.sh (shown in
>>>>>> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB_search) and it
>>>>>> repeatedly prints out the following:  "./fixnames.sh: line 8: bc: command
>>>>>> not found".  I created that script at /root/.mplayer/ and ran it on a
>>>>>> channels.conf that I had there (from the scan utility; I copied the scan
>>>>>> output text file over as channels.conf, stripping out the non-QAM
>>>>>> information).  I never bothered to type up the second script on that site
>>>>>> (scan.sh) since the first one didn't work.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Any ideas?
>>>>>>  Harry
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>             
>>>>> What happens if you just do a channel scan in mythtv-setup and then
>>>>> use those channels in the channel editor?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>           
>>>> Here's a snippet of my channel table from my database.  This is what
>>>> mythtv-setup shows me (I'm showing them in 2 rows for readability):
>>>> _*chanid   channum   freqid   sourceid   callsign
>>>> name   icon   finetune   videofilters   xmltvid   recpriority
>>>> contrast   brightness   color   hue   tvformat
>>>> *_1170     17#0         17         1            UNKNOWN17#0
>>>>                0                                                0
>>>>      32768      32768     32768  32768 Default
>>>> _*commfree    visible    outputfilters    useonairguide    mplexid
>>>> serviceid    atscsrcid    tmoffset   atsc_major_chan   atsc_minor_chan*_
>>>>     0                  1                                           0
>>>>                   1               1              NULL             0
>>>>                0                         0
>>>>
>>>> Thanks alot for the help!
>>>> Harry
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>         
>>> Did you get this from scanning for the channels in mythtv-setup?  Have
>>> you tried tuning those channels in the channel editor and assigning
>>> XMLTV IDs to them?
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> Yep, I got that from scanning from mythtv-setup.  I know that I can get
>> the XMLTVID from the tooltip in my SD lineup, but what channel do I tune
>> to?  I've been tuning to 17#0, etc., then running into the other room to
>> find the matching channel, and putting the right information into the
>> channel editor.  Like I've said in other posts, I can only tune 50 of my
>> 328 scanned channels.  The rest of them show either a blank screen, or a
>> message saying "You should've gotten a lock by now".
>>
>>     
> That's the way that I've had to match up my channels, as well.  I
> somehow managed to do it during primetime when more networks have
> their bugs in the corner.  When you do your mythfilldatabase, it
> should pull in the channel numbers, assuming you've set them up in
> your Schedules Direct account.
>
> Honestly, feel lucky you can tune 50 channels.  Most likely, the
> others are encrypted.  I'd be ecstatic with 50 - especially if
> ESPNHD/ESPN2HD were in that 50.  As it is, I'm at about 15 or so.
>
>   
I don't feel THAT lucky! :-P       I just can't figure out why it seems 
like everybody else who responds to this issue (in 2 or 3 other posts 
I've started) seem to have the "I scanned for channels and got them all" 
answer.  I have a friend who has Myth 0.19 on Ubuntu (hasn't upgraded to 
SD yet) and he has all of the channels that ourlocal cable provider 
delivers (happens to be Comcast in Southern New Jersey, just outside of 
Atlantic City).  Everything matches up in his settings (frequencies to 
channel numbers, etc.).  He sent me a spreadsheet of his channel table 
from his DB and ours look nothing alike. 

I just can't buy that getting channels is so "hit and miss".  I can 
understand premium channels like HBO, but not channels that should be 
coming over via basic cable (2 -> 99).  How would a regular TV with the 
cable plugged directly into it (i.e. no STB)?  There's got to be a 
reason for what I'm seeing, and I can't seem to figure out why.

Anyway, I appreciate the help.  Thanks.
Harry