Phila PA, USA: Alternatives To Freebie Zap2It?

[PeteCress]

HDHomeRun, OTA.

Setup | Setup Video Sources | (click on one of the HDHomeRun Tuners | Channel Setup | (scroll the list down to see channels) shows the three newly-added channels ) along with their proprietary names

Main Menu | TV | Program Guide shows 3 channels(2-1, 2-2, and 2-3) and their names ("KJWP", "Grit", and "Escape"), but "No Data" all the way across the grid.

Did the Sage.Properties thing where I delete server_update_id and expanded_until, but still no joy.

I am thinking it's the OTA-Only thing as described in http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...4&postcount=29.

Does this sound reasonable to anybody else in the Philadelphia PA/USA area?

If so, alternatives to the SageTV/Freebie Zap2It EPG?

I am thinking the freebie can't last forever anyhow, so maybe now is a good time to start looking for a workaround.

I am looking at "Mc2XmlEpgUserGuide" and it sounds promising...... but I don't want to mess up what I have.

Are there any happy Mc2XmlEpg users out there?

[Slugger]

mc2xml plugin long since deprecated, replaced by sdepg plugin (forum thread). sdepg plugin will cost you $25/year (the cost of a Schedules Direct membership). mc2xml probably won't work for you anyways if you want to go the free (as in beer) route. mc2xml can, if configured "properly", grab its listings from legacy MS WMC servers -- no idea if that still works. Even if it does, I don't think those MS servers ever provided OTA listings anyways. Even if it does have OTA listings, that plugin was abandoned years ago in favour of sdepg so even if you can get the listings data from mc2xml, I can't promise that the plugin will still work -- either way there's no support (from me).

You can attempt to setup sdepg before paying for Schedules Direct as they have a 7 day free trial before you need to pay. So you can try to get it working and if you do then simply pay for the full year's service after you get Sage configured.

Alternatively, did you try sending a support request to Sage about your EPG problems? I haven't used the Sage EPG in years now, but it should still be working and Sage still answers support emails, I think (albeit a bit slower these days).

[Skirge01]

When were these channels added to the lineup? It often takes days or weeks before the guide data shows up for new channels after they're added, especially less popular OTA ones. I usually disable these channels long before guide data will get downloaded, though. I'm using two HDHRs and have the NY lineups showing KJWPDT (2-2-1/64010), WCBSDT (33-2-1/16689), WCBSDT2 (33-2-2/74916), KJWPDT2 (2-2-2/76927), and KJWPDT3 (2-2-3/90140). I only had the first, second, and third ones enabled in my lineup (2nd one is merged with my DirecTV local channel, though), but they had guide data. For the hell of it, I just added the other channels and forced an EPG update to see if they show up. I'll report back if/when they do.

EDIT: In the time it took me to edit my original post, the EPG data showed up for the rest of the channels. If you have the same station IDs, then you probably should also be getting the EPG data on your next update, unless it's because you have the Philly lineup whereas I have the NY lineup.

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

When were these channels added to the lineup? It often takes days or weeks before the guide data shows up for new channels after they're added, especially less popular OTA ones.

Seems like about a week ago.

I'll keep an eye on it for another week or two and then, if still no luck, try a note to whatever is left of SageTV Support to ask if they can be added.

I would say that these channels are probably "Less popular"....