[mythtv-users] Culling my MythTV channels

[Fred Hamilton]

On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 2:32 PM R. G. Newbury <newbury at mandamus.org> wrote:

> You do not make it clear how you are getting your EPG data.
> If you are using mythfilldatabase directly to download the DataDirect
> feed from SchedulesDirect (which is what the program mfdb does), then
> you have to set the channel listings to be downloaded *at
> schedulesdirect.org*, using your browser. You will have to click to
> deselect the channel boxes you do not want: all 800 of them.
>

That's the way I used to do it, before I flailed around off and on for a
few months and got xmltv to (mostly anyway) work with the JSON service. It
was after I switched to SD JSON that the automatic mfdb that myth runs
daily(?) stopped getting programming updates.  I found that
mythfilldatabase --only-update-channels *does* update the schedules, but it
takes 15-25 minutes to complete, so I figured there was something
sub-optimal about my config, which is why I started this thread.

If you are using the SD JSON service (which is set in mythtv-setup),
> then the channels for which data is to be downloaded are controlled by
> the 'visible' entry in the mythconverg channel table.
>

Ah, that's very helpful to know.


> You will have to mark the unwanted channels "invisible". If you know
> enough mysql to live dangerously, you can amend the channel table in
> mythconverg to set 'visible=0' for the channels you do NOT want. You can
> probably achieve the desired result, or near to it fairly quickly, by
> adding a 'where' clause: 'where channum > 200'.
>
> (If you do not understand these hints, then you are unlikely to damage
> your database by trying something).
>

I think you meant "likely" :-).  I've successfully made small edits to the
db before, and the temptation to use the where clause is great enough that
I will try again!  (Will backup entire system and database first.)  Thanks
for that tip.


> The other route is to use the channel editor. Enter the channel editor
> in mythtv-setup (#6) and either;
> enter each channel, scroll down, and toggle the 'visible' check-box,
> or use the quicker route of just selecting the channel in the listing,
> and deleting it (using 'D' iirc).
> In the first case, you retain all of the channels found by your scan, so
> you can re-select a channel if you find you want it. In the second case,
> your list contains only the channels you presently want.
>

> After doing this, mythtv will only download data for the limited list of
> channels.
>

After hiding or deleting or only after deleting?

Thanks Geoff, this is very helpful!
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