To set up the guide initially, I did a pull of the provider's entire lineup. This gives the channel IDs for you to use in you ???.chl and ???.ren files.
These are just text files with a different extension that works with the software (mc2xml). Use notepad (or similar) and do 'save as' and then 'text file' but change the file extension to 'chl' and then OK.
mc2xml.exe will bring up the interface to use the software to pick a provider.
For those wanting totally free, use the microsoft legacy option.
Enter Postal/Zip code and Country Code. I use 33334 and US and then
The default pull is for 2 weeks. The choices then are 0. Digital Terrestrial Lineup (TER) which is what I use for the Miami locals.
Then I use USA, DIRECTV (SAT) for the remaining US channels.
After the first run, open the mc2xml.xml file in a text editor. The free notepad ++ works well for this. You can download a portable version of this application.
After the file is opened, I go down to the part of the file where the <programme start="blah, blah, blah> info starts and delete all the following info to the end. Then save as uschannels.xml. This gives you the channel IDs for Directv to use in your us.chl and us.ren files. Open a new text file and copy the IDs for the channels you want to show in your pvr/guide and add them on individual lines and save the file as us.chl.
My text files are called:
ota.chl
ota.ren
us.chl
us.ren
freesat.chl
freesat.ren
uk.chl
uk.ren
us.chl contents
AETV
E
REELZ
COMEDY
LIFE
LMN
COOK
FOOD
DFC
DLC
DIY
HGTV
HISTORY
VICEHD
SYFY
FX
FXX
OXYGEN
WE
AMC
BRAVO
TCM
IFC
TNT
TBS
TRUTV
TVLAND
HALL
HMMHD
IONDHD
USA
SPIKETV
TLC
DLC
OVATION
DEST
AHC
CHILLER
BBCA
NGCHD
NGWILD
ID
DSC
APL
NASA
CNN
HLN
FNC
CNBC
MSNBC
WGNA
NEWSMX
CSPAN
CSPAN2
CSPAN3
WEATH
WN
HBO
HBO2
HBOSIG
HBOP
HB2P
HBOF
HBOCHD
HBOZHD
MAX
MAXP
ACMAXHD
5MAXHD
THMAXHD
SHOW
SHOWP
SHO2
SHOCSE
SHOWX
SHOWBHD
NEXTHD
TMC
TMCXHD
STZENC
STZENWS
STZENAC
STARZ
STARZP
STZE
STRZCIH
STZCHD
STZIB
STZKHD
SONYHD
WABC
WCBS
WNBC
WNYW
FREFMHD
us.ren contents
(please see post #21 - sorry about that)
Provider: I use BSkyB - England (United Kingdom)
uk.chl contents
LONLIVE
BBC1
BBC2
BBC4
ITV1HDL
ITV2HD
ITV3HD
ITV4HD
ITVENC
ITVBEUK
FXUK
C4HD
MORE4
E4
SKY1
SKYLIVI
SKYAT
SKYART1
SKY2
ALIBI
GOODFD
WATCHUK
GOLD
DAVE
QUEST
CHALL
CBSRELT
CBSACVM
CBSDRMA
PICKTV
REALLY
CH5HD
5USA
5ST
FXUK
HOME
TRAVEL
DMAX
DITURBO
DISSCI
EDEN
CIHD
SCINDRR
SCINGRE
SCINDIS
SCINFAM
SCINAAA
SCINCOM
SCINCRT
SCINSFH
SCININD
SCINPRE
SCINSEH
MOVIE24
FILM4UK
DRAMAUK
YESTDAY
HORROR
TRUMOV1
TRUMOV2
SKYNEWS
BBCNEWS
EUNEWS
CCTVNWS
RUSTOD
RTUKHD
FR24POR
ALJAZEN
BBCWS
CNNEUVM
uk.ren contents
LONLIVE:London Live
BBC1:BBC ONE
BBC2:BBC TWO
BBC4:BBC Four
ITV1HDL:ITV
ITV2HD:ITV 2
ITV3HD:ITV 3
ITV4HD:ITV 4
I123.89887.schedulesdirect.org:ITV Encore
ITVBEUK:ITV Be
C4HD:Channel 4
MORE4:More 4
E4:E4
I140.75804.schedulesdirect.org:4 Seven
SKY1:SKY One
SKYLIVI:SKY Living
SKYAT:SKY Atlantic
SKYART1:SKY Arts
SKY2:SKY Two
ALIBI:Alibi
GOODFD:Good Food
WATCHUK:Watch
GOLDE:Gold
DAVEave
COMCN:Comedy Central Europe
I204.24671.schedulesdirect.org:Universal Channel
I113.68052.schedulesdirect.org:Universal Channel
5USA:5 USA
5ST:5 Star
QUEST:Quest
YESTDAY:Yesterday
CHALL:Challenge
CBSRELT:CBS Reality
CBSACVM:CBS Action
CBSDRMA:CBS Drama
PICKTVick
REALLY:Really
CH5HD:Channel 5
FXUK:FOX
HOME:Home
TRAVEL:Travel Channel UK
DMAXEmax
INVDISC:
DITURBOiscovery Turbo
DISSCI:Science Channel
EDEN:Eden
CIHD:Crime & Investigation Network
SCINDRR:SKY Movies Drama
SCINGRE:SKY Modern Greats
SCINDIS:SKY Disney
SCINFAM:SKY Family
SCINAAA:SKY Action & Adventure
SCINCOM:SKY Comedy
SCINCRT:SKY Crime & Thriller
SCINSFH:SKY Scifi & Horror
SCINSEH:SKY Select
SCINPRE:SKY Premiere
MOVIE24:Movies 24
FILM4UK:Film 4
DRAMAUKrama
HORROR:Horror Channel
TRUMOV1:True Movies 1
TRUMOV2:True Movies 2
SKYNEWS:SKY News
BBCNEWS:BBC News
CNBCEU:CNBC US
EUNEWS:Euronews
CCTVNWS:CCTV News
RUSTOD:RT International
RTUKHD:RT UK
FR24POR:France 24
ALJAZEN:Al Jazeera
BBCWS:BBC World News
CNNEUVM:CNN International
I had a few channels missing data, so I also used Freeview for that. Missing channels were 5 Star, 5 USA and True Drama (which is actually True Entertainment +1). They are hit and miss for me. But you can always use an addon for those channels (i.e. Ivue, Mayfair, Renegades, etc.)
Freesat - England (United Kingdom)
freesat.chl contents
I131.52336.schedulesdirect.org
I129.52335.schedulesdirect.org
I142.57747.schedulesdirect.org
freesat.ren contents
I131.52336.schedulesdirect.org:5 Star
I129.52335.schedulesdirect.org:5 USA
I142.57747.schedulesdirect.org:True Entertainment
Again, the reason some of the channels are listed as xxxxxxxxxxx.schedulesdirect.org is because that was the only way to get some of the channels to populate guide data. Have no idea why this is. But once I added the info this way, it pulled the data and populated the EPG. (I don't claim to have figured everything out...)
These are just text files with a different extension that works with the software (mc2xml). Use notepad (or similar) and do 'save as' and then 'text file' but change the file extension to 'chl' and then OK.
mc2xml.exe will bring up the interface to use the software to pick a provider.
For those wanting totally free, use the microsoft legacy option.
Enter Postal/Zip code and Country Code. I use 33334 and US and then
The default pull is for 2 weeks. The choices then are 0. Digital Terrestrial Lineup (TER) which is what I use for the Miami locals.
Then I use USA, DIRECTV (SAT) for the remaining US channels.
After the first run, open the mc2xml.xml file in a text editor. The free notepad ++ works well for this. You can download a portable version of this application.
After the file is opened, I go down to the part of the file where the <programme start="blah, blah, blah> info starts and delete all the following info to the end. Then save as uschannels.xml. This gives you the channel IDs for Directv to use in your us.chl and us.ren files. Open a new text file and copy the IDs for the channels you want to show in your pvr/guide and add them on individual lines and save the file as us.chl.
My text files are called:
ota.chl
ota.ren
us.chl
us.ren
freesat.chl
freesat.ren
uk.chl
uk.ren
us.chl contents
AETV
E
REELZ
COMEDY
LIFE
LMN
COOK
FOOD
DFC
DLC
DIY
HGTV
HISTORY
VICEHD
SYFY
FX
FXX
OXYGEN
WE
AMC
BRAVO
TCM
IFC
TNT
TBS
TRUTV
TVLAND
HALL
HMMHD
IONDHD
USA
SPIKETV
TLC
DLC
OVATION
DEST
AHC
CHILLER
BBCA
NGCHD
NGWILD
ID
DSC
APL
NASA
CNN
HLN
FNC
CNBC
MSNBC
WGNA
NEWSMX
CSPAN
CSPAN2
CSPAN3
WEATH
WN
HBO
HBO2
HBOSIG
HBOP
HB2P
HBOF
HBOCHD
HBOZHD
MAX
MAXP
ACMAXHD
5MAXHD
THMAXHD
SHOW
SHOWP
SHO2
SHOCSE
SHOWX
SHOWBHD
NEXTHD
TMC
TMCXHD
STZENC
STZENWS
STZENAC
STARZ
STARZP
STZE
STRZCIH
STZCHD
STZIB
STZKHD
SONYHD
WABC
WCBS
WNBC
WNYW
FREFMHD
us.ren contents
(please see post #21 - sorry about that)
Provider: I use BSkyB - England (United Kingdom)
uk.chl contents
LONLIVE
BBC1
BBC2
BBC4
ITV1HDL
ITV2HD
ITV3HD
ITV4HD
ITVENC
ITVBEUK
FXUK
C4HD
MORE4
E4
SKY1
SKYLIVI
SKYAT
SKYART1
SKY2
ALIBI
GOODFD
WATCHUK
GOLD
DAVE
QUEST
CHALL
CBSRELT
CBSACVM
CBSDRMA
PICKTV
REALLY
CH5HD
5USA
5ST
FXUK
HOME
TRAVEL
DMAX
DITURBO
DISSCI
EDEN
CIHD
SCINDRR
SCINGRE
SCINDIS
SCINFAM
SCINAAA
SCINCOM
SCINCRT
SCINSFH
SCININD
SCINPRE
SCINSEH
MOVIE24
FILM4UK
DRAMAUK
YESTDAY
HORROR
TRUMOV1
TRUMOV2
SKYNEWS
BBCNEWS
EUNEWS
CCTVNWS
RUSTOD
RTUKHD
FR24POR
ALJAZEN
BBCWS
CNNEUVM
uk.ren contents
LONLIVE:London Live
BBC1:BBC ONE
BBC2:BBC TWO
BBC4:BBC Four
ITV1HDL:ITV
ITV2HD:ITV 2
ITV3HD:ITV 3
ITV4HD:ITV 4
I123.89887.schedulesdirect.org:ITV Encore
ITVBEUK:ITV Be
C4HD:Channel 4
MORE4:More 4
E4:E4
I140.75804.schedulesdirect.org:4 Seven
SKY1:SKY One
SKYLIVI:SKY Living
SKYAT:SKY Atlantic
SKYART1:SKY Arts
SKY2:SKY Two
ALIBI:Alibi
GOODFD:Good Food
WATCHUK:Watch
GOLDE:Gold
DAVEave
COMCN:Comedy Central Europe
I204.24671.schedulesdirect.org:Universal Channel
I113.68052.schedulesdirect.org:Universal Channel
5USA:5 USA
5ST:5 Star
QUEST:Quest
YESTDAY:Yesterday
CHALL:Challenge
CBSRELT:CBS Reality
CBSACVM:CBS Action
CBSDRMA:CBS Drama
PICKTVick
REALLY:Really
CH5HD:Channel 5
FXUK:FOX
HOME:Home
TRAVEL:Travel Channel UK
DMAXEmax
INVDISC:
DITURBOiscovery Turbo
DISSCI:Science Channel
EDEN:Eden
CIHD:Crime & Investigation Network
SCINDRR:SKY Movies Drama
SCINGRE:SKY Modern Greats
SCINDIS:SKY Disney
SCINFAM:SKY Family
SCINAAA:SKY Action & Adventure
SCINCOM:SKY Comedy
SCINCRT:SKY Crime & Thriller
SCINSFH:SKY Scifi & Horror
SCINSEH:SKY Select
SCINPRE:SKY Premiere
MOVIE24:Movies 24
FILM4UK:Film 4
DRAMAUKrama
HORROR:Horror Channel
TRUMOV1:True Movies 1
TRUMOV2:True Movies 2
SKYNEWS:SKY News
BBCNEWS:BBC News
CNBCEU:CNBC US
EUNEWS:Euronews
CCTVNWS:CCTV News
RUSTOD:RT International
RTUKHD:RT UK
FR24POR:France 24
ALJAZEN:Al Jazeera
BBCWS:BBC World News
CNNEUVM:CNN International
I had a few channels missing data, so I also used Freeview for that. Missing channels were 5 Star, 5 USA and True Drama (which is actually True Entertainment +1). They are hit and miss for me. But you can always use an addon for those channels (i.e. Ivue, Mayfair, Renegades, etc.)
Freesat - England (United Kingdom)
freesat.chl contents
I131.52336.schedulesdirect.org
I129.52335.schedulesdirect.org
I142.57747.schedulesdirect.org
freesat.ren contents
I131.52336.schedulesdirect.org:5 Star
I129.52335.schedulesdirect.org:5 USA
I142.57747.schedulesdirect.org:True Entertainment
Again, the reason some of the channels are listed as xxxxxxxxxxx.schedulesdirect.org is because that was the only way to get some of the channels to populate guide data. Have no idea why this is. But once I added the info this way, it pulled the data and populated the EPG. (I don't claim to have figured everything out...)
Last edited: