[mythtv-users] Channel Setup

[Nick]

On 16/10/05, Richard Smith <rick_t_smith at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Nick, that's really helpful (I failed to find this stuff in the
> archives).  My 'problem' is that I live in the UK and have a PVR-350 and
> a DVB card.  This means I get far more channels than I can or want to
> watch, and certainly far to many to make debugging very easy.  So I want
> to start with a small set of channels and gradually build up.  Just a
> few follow up questions if I may.........

I use a comination of DVB-T cards and PVR-x50 cards with ntl:digital cable.

>
> Nick wrote:
>
> >On 14/10/05, Richard Smith <rick_t_smith at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I'm struggling to understand the mechanics of setting up the channel
> >>information in Mythtv/XMLTV.
> >>
> >>What is the relationship between the channel.xmltv files and the channel
> >>table in the database?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >The xmltv files define the channels that the grabber will get for each
> >video source. If using the uk_rt grabber, they will contain the XMLTV
> >IDs of the channels which are defined in the channels table in the DB.
> >The grabber then maps the XMLTV ID to the BBCs own numbering scheme
> >for listings and retrieves the correct ones.
> >
> >
> >
> I've seen a suggestion that prefixing the channel name with 'not' will
> stop mythfilldatabase from downloading channel information.  Is that
> correct?  I'm not sure that I've seen that working.......

In my *.xmltv files for my various video sources that use the uk_rt
grabber, I just make sure that the IDs of the channels I want are
includes, and those that I don't are not.

>
> >>What does clearing the channels in mythtvsetup actually do?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >It removes the channel definitions from the channels-related tables in
> >the database.
> >
> >
> >
> 'DELETE FROM channel WHERE TRUE' ? Or is it more complex?

Clearing the channels in mythtvsetup should erase the channels from
the channels table and remove the dvb-related stuff too.

>
> >>What is the role of mythfilldatabase in respect of  the channel information?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >It gets your listings using a grabber (using the xmltv files) or XML
> >source file, and then, using the XMLTV IDs in the channels table,
> >updates the program listings data in the database for the relevant
> >channels.
> >
> >
> >
> >>What is the best way of managing a channel database?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >(In the UK) Once it is defined, new channels are usually very rarely
> >added (unless you don't want to add channels in one go). Therefore,
> >there is very little in the way of required maintenance. If you do
> >need to make changes to channels, you can either edit the DB directly
> >via mysql, or use a visual DB editor.
> >
> >In the case of DVB, the system will detect new channels automatically.
> >It is then up to you to decide how to rename it and associate a
> >suitable XMLTV ID with it to make it work with your chosen grabber.
> >
> >
> >
> By changing the 'name' field and adding the XMLTV Id to the channel table?

As ITV4 has just appeared on my box (it starts broadcasting 1st
November) I'll tell you what I did with it:

When new channels are found by MythTV, their chanid is set to the new
available one for the source. This doesnt need to be altered at all.
You can then however set the channum field to one that makes more
sense to you (for my DVB-T channels I set them to match the
ntl:digital numbering scheme). freqid can be left empty. callsign and
name I also set to match my ntl:digital channels so that only one copy
of the channel listings appear in mythweb and the guide.I then add a
suitable XMLTVID to the channel for the uk_rt grabber, and make sure
that the setting for 'use EPG' is correct (i.e. I use it for radio
channels, but do not use it for those channels I am using the uk_rt
grabber for.)

Assuming your <source>.xmltv file then has the XMLTVID of this channel
in it, the next time you run the uk_rt grabber listings for this
channel should appear.

HTH,
Nick