[mythtv-users] More schedules direct problems

[faginbagin]

On 3/31/2014 11:08 PM, Michael T. Dean wrote:
> On 03/31/2014, Several People wrote:
>> Have the same issue. It's been forever since I've messed with my setup.
>>
> 
> "Me too" is a wasted post when you (all of you) fail to include any useful information (read logs).
> 
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Posting_Logs
> 
> That said, the OP's problem is he was downloading at 9pm.  He should fix it by running:
> 
> mythfilldatabase --dd-grab-all
> 
> at some time other than 9pm.  See
> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/449426#449426
> and
> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/commits/449416#449416
> for more information about --dd-grab-all.
> 
> Mike

I have also been having problems with mythfilldatabase. I found --dd-grab-all worked some of the time, depending on the time of day. Next I looked at my log files, which weren't that helpful. Then I moved /usr/bin/mythfilldatabase to the side and put a shell script in its place that would run the binary mythfilldatabase with debug logging options, when executed by mythbackend. I found that, in my case, the root cause is that downloads from schedules direct are timing out, especially if mythfilldatabase is run shortly after 2am or 9pm (pre DST) or 10pm (post DST). But sometimes, I get a partial download with some <fault...> tags. Since its not a mythtv bug, I reported my problems and observations on the schedules direct support forum. If you want the gory details and want to compare your experience to mine, here's the forum thread:
http://forums.schedulesdirect.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2541

Schedules direct seems to think the problem is actually with Tribune's servers, the true source of the listings data. While I wait for a solution from either Tribune or schedules direct, I am experimenting with cron jobs run a different times of day, trying to find the sweet spot of a time of day that works more often than not.

I do think mythfilldatabase could do a better job figuring out what is and is not a successful run. It has been reporting success, even when every download attempt in a given run has timed out and no new listings data has been added to my system.

HTH,
Helen