[ViX_Misc] EPG Refresh, iEPG and VPS

[ronand]

Just a note regarding the other thread - I think birdman said he couldn't find any working services. Recording on the likes of BBC and ITV on 28e is working fine on 5.4.005 (release) using autotimers. I found that the only epg data that would work correctly is the openTV data downloaded with crossepg. Manual recording fails the check (but that is known already)

 

[abu baniaz]

Just in case anyone is unaware, Birdman is UK Terrestrial only. So he can't test satellite reception.

 

[birdman]

VPS is reported to work with Freeview, so it should work for you.

Is there anyway to check whether the data is being seen?

 

[abu baniaz]

@Fat-Tony, on the FTP site, there is a folder with raw stream recordings of UK Terrestrial in the AV folder. Let me know if you want a more recent grab.

 

[ccs]

Bit confused by @birdman saying "I don't think I have a single service that VPS works with, but will attempt to get it working."

I thought my posts confirmed yesterday that freeview works?

eg https://www.world-of-satellite.com/...h-iEPG-and-VPS&p=508950&viewfull=1#post508950

 

[goRt]

Bit confused by @birdman saying "I don't think I have a single service that VPS works with, but will attempt to get it working."

I thought my posts confirmed yesterday that freeview works?

eg https://www.world-of-satellite.com/...h-iEPG-and-VPS&p=508950&viewfull=1#post508950

I can confirm VPS works on FreeView

 

[Joe_90]

@Fat-Tony, on the FTP site, there is a folder with raw stream recordings of UK Terrestrial in the AV folder. Let me know if you want a more recent grab.

Works fine with Irish terrestrial service (Saorview). You need a live stream where the now/next EIT changes status to (4/running) when the programme starts.

 

[ccs]

I've never noticed these debug entries before (5.4.005, Freeview, no VPS in sight)...

18:24:41.6992 [eDVBServiceRecord] now running: BBC News at Six (1800 seconds)

[COLOR="#FF0000"]18:32:21.7105[/Color] [eDVBServiceRecord] pcr of eit change for event [COLOR="#FF0000"]18827[/COLOR]: 19514571c

18:32:21.7106 [eDVBServiceRecord] now running: Look North (East Yorkshire and... (1800 seconds)

I would see entries like these (pre-VPS) when I was recording. Are you saying that you weren't recording BBC News?

They only appear during a recording, they indicate the setting of start (and finish) markers that appear in the progress bar. (Apologies if the terminology is wrong.)

So Look North started at 18:25 with pre-padding, actually started at 18:32:21 (the marker confirms this), and the eit number in the timer was 18827.

I guess any type of source - cable, satellite, aerial, could be checked this way.

 

[birdman]

Bit confused by @birdman saying "I don't think I have a single service that VPS works with, but will attempt to get it working."

That was based on looking at the VPS plugin several years ago and being told then that it only applied to a few services, none of which was Freeview.

EDIT: Although if I try to use it (on a timer set by AutoTimer) it says that it can't determine whether the channel supports VPS.

 

[Joe_90]

It's those EIT changes (now/next running status and event ID) that the VPS plugin looks for and then starts (and stops) the recording. @goRt's Topfield recorder and my old Humax Freesat recorder do exactly the same. The VPS plugin also looking for another field (PDC) in the EIT which doesn't seem to be present in the satellite stream, but it seems to work anyway. I don't know if it will actually switch channels if an event gets moved due to the PDC not being present. The PDC is just a field indicating the day/month/hour/minute of the event, so I'm not sure what information it would use to switch channels. The CRID system is normally used for that - (series link on Sky/Freesat).

 

[birdman]

Info screen works for me.

Thanks. Turns out that it actually works for me too. Just that when you scroll down the scrollbar appears to have reached the end, but it hasn't. Another press reveals the "missing" text.

The built-in skin data needs to be changed to allow a larger one for Full-HD screens.

 

[ronand]

I don't know if it will actually switch channels if an event gets moved due to the PDC not being present.

I doubt the system is that advanced. It seems to switch to the designated recording channel 5 minutes before scheduled start and then begins monitoring the event info. I would imagine if the program started 10 minutes early then it will miss the start. If the program has changed channel I don't think the plugin has any way of knowing that and won't find it. That is my observation from very limited use of it although I'm sure goRt should be able to confirm its behaviour.

 

[birdman]

Here are 2 updated files.

Removed - see: https://www.world-of-satellite.com/...h-iEPG-and-VPS&p=509030&viewfull=1#post509030

I've changed the builtin config and information screen skin so that it is larger on HD screens.

I've also changed Modifications.py to handle the fact that the plugin makes a call using a non-Vix API to createSetup(). (So I had a crash while checking things).

Looks like the hack is needed after all.

 

[ccs]

That was based on looking at the VPS plugin several years ago and being told then that it only applied to a few services, none of which was Freeview.

EDIT: Although if I try to use it (on a timer set by AutoTimer) it says that it can't determine whether the channel supports VPS.

You can ignore that.

 

[ccs]

Forcing the config.plugins.vps.enabled setting to be written out whatever its value fixes the issue.

Not sure that this should be required, but if you drop this plugin.py in place it will at least let it be switched back on.

View attachment 61412

Is this change still needed?

 

[birdman]

Is this change still needed?

It was needed when I changed it, and no-one else has changed anything since.
So I'd say that it is. It's not affected by Updates.zip (if that is what you were querying).

 

[ccs]

It was needed when I changed it, and no-one else has changed anything since.
So I'd say that it is. It's not affected by Updates.zip (if that is what you were querying).

Thanks, I just half expected plugin.py to be in the zip file.

 

[goRt]

I doubt the system is that advanced. It seems to switch to the designated recording channel 5 minutes before scheduled start and then begins monitoring the event info. I would imagine if the program started 10 minutes early then it will miss the start. If the program has changed channel I don't think the plugin has any way of knowing that and won't find it. That is my observation from very limited use of it although I'm sure goRt should be able to confirm its behaviour.

Isn't the look ahead a configurable item, I think the default is 10 mins

Sent from my IN2013 using Tapatalk

 

[ccs]

Isn't the look ahead a configurable item, I think the default is 10 mins

Sent from my IN2013 using Tapatalk

Programmes tend to start later than scheduled or are switched to a different channel, can VPS cope with a channel change?

 

[Joe_90]

Here are 2 updated files.

View attachment 61421

I've changed the builtin config and information screen skin so that it is larger on HD screens.

I've also changed Modifications.py to handle the fact that the plugin makes a call using a non-Vix API to createSetup(). (So I had a crash while checking things).

Looks like the hack is needed after all.

Hi birdman. I've installed the .py files in the zip plus the plugin.py file from earlier. What differences should I see? I'm on a dev build and using the simple 1080 skin. I don't notice any difference in behaviour. Still working on AutoTimers but setting reverts to no when I enable it on manual timer (EPG GREEN) same as before.