[mythtv-users] Cable company changes channel numbers?

[Bill Meek]

On 4/22/22 20:54, DryHeat122 wrote:
> 
> 
> On Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 6:12 PM David Engel <david at istwok.net <mailto:david at istwok.net>> wrote:
> 
>     On Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 04:25:45PM -0700, DryHeat122 wrote:
>      > On Sun, Apr 17, 2022 at 8:56 PM Gary Buhrmaster <gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com <mailto:gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com>>
>      > wrote:
>      >
>      > > On Mon, Apr 18, 2022 at 3:36 AM DryHeat122 <dryheat122 at gmail.com <mailto:dryheat122 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>      > >
>      > > > But once I know that, then what do I do to get it dialing the right
>      > > channel numbers? Does SchedulesDirect have to provide a new lineup, or....
>      > >
>      > > Well, yes, and no.  ScheduleDirect gets the
>      > > channel numbers from the provider (well,
>      > > SchedulesDirect's upstream, Gracenote
>      > > gets the data from the provider, which goes
>      > > downstream to SchedulesDirect).  *Some*
>      > > providers provide the updated channels
>      > > proactively (they care (at least a bit) about
>      > > their customers.  *Some* do not (although
>      > > when a SchedulesDirect/Gracenote ticket
>      > > gets created it gets fixed, eventually).
>      > >
>      > > If the provider is not proactive, you will
>      > > need to open a lineup ticket with
>      > > SchedulesDirect (which turns into a
>      > > ticket at Gracenote) to get the channel
>      > > numbers updated.  Typically your
>      > > provider will include the changes on your
>      > > bill in the additional information section
>      > > (the part most never read (FD: I read
>      > > those sections)), and you should review
>      > > that part of your past bills to add info
>      > > to the lineup ticket to get everything
>      > > updated.
>      > >
>      > > mythfilldatabase, with certain options,
>      > > may attempt to add new channels.
>      > > Sometimes that works ok, and sometimes
>      > > not so much.
>      > >
>      > > There is also a 3rd party utility documented
>      > > on the MythTV wiki that can be used with
>      > > the premier xmltv grabber for the json
>      > > SchedulesDirect feed that can (attempt)
>      > > to automatically correct the
>      > > channel/xmltvid/name values when
>      > > Gracenote/SchedulesDirect gets the
>      > > new data.  I regularly (about once every
>      > > other month) use that 3rd party utility to
>      > > check and re-sync my ScheduleDirect
>      > > lineup with my MythTV configuration.
>      > > Highly recommended.
>      > >
>      > > Which is the 3rd party utility you refer to?  I have checked with
> 
>     https://github.com/garybuhrmaster/MythUtil <https://github.com/garybuhrmaster/MythUtil>
> 
>      > SchedulesDirect and they have the right channel numbers (maybe have had for
>      > a while). I'm not sure what the problem is, then, because shouldn't the
>      > scheduler start using the new channel numbers it gets from DirectTV?  Or is
>      > the problem that my recording rules specify the old channel numbers? If
>      > that is the problem, is there a way to automatically fix those, or do I
>      > need to delete and re-create the recording rules?
> 
>     MythTV doesn't autmatically add/delete/move channels.  There are plans
>     to improve things some day but developers and round tuits are in short
>     supply.  Until things improve, there is the aforementioned MythUtil
>     and the --do-channel-updates and --only-update-channels that can be
>     used with mythfilldatabase.  If you use tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite,
>     MythUtil is by far the better choice.
> 
>     David
>     -- 
>     David Engel
>     david at istwok.net <mailto:david at istwok.net>
> 
> 
> So in an effort to clear out all the old channels and start over, I decided to re-configure the xmltv grabber. I went through the steps on the 
> wiki, and when I went to run mythfilldatabase when I got to the channels for every one it I got an error  "unknown xmltv channel identifier: 
> Ixxxxx.json,schedulesdirect.org <http://schedulesdirect.org> - skipping channel."  What causes that?
> 
> I also am not sure I used the correct config file names in re-running the configuration because of two confusing file-namings in the wiki.  
> First, it says to run
> 
> tv_grab_xx_xxxxxx --configure --config-file $HOME/.mythtv/YYYY.xmltv
> 
> replacing YYYY with the video source name. But I have two video sources, a hdpvr and a hdhr.  Does that mean I have to do this procedure twice, 
> once for each video source?
> 
> Second, later under Setup with tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite it recommends config file name: --config-file $HOME/.mythtv/SD.xmltv  Is that a 
> different filename from  $HOME/.mythtv/YYYY.xmltv?  If so, and if I have to run the procedure for each source, do both sources use 
> $HOME/.mythtv/SD.xmltv for as the second config file for it too?
> 
> Finally, if I start over on this should I go in and delete any existing $HOME/.mythtv/*.xmltv files, or can I just leave them alone?
> 
> Thanks....
> 
> Steve

Maybe this will help:

The idea is to run tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite as user mythtv (assuming that's the user
that the backend runs as). Then the additional files will look similar to this:

   https://forum.mythtv.org/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=3480&start=15#p19508

You'll see there that two .xmltv files were created, but both use the same sqlite DB.

-- 
Bill