USING MC2XML TO MAKE YOUR OWN EPG - tuturial with open discussion

expatter

expatter

You betta werk!
Feb 28, 2015
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#1
Just thought I would post this for anyone who might be frustrated with EPG descriptions being off. This has driven me nuts in the past and didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind it. Some channels would be off an hour and others might be off by 7, 7.5 or 8 hours! I got tired of having a half-populated EPG due to pulls not having any UK data off and on, so I started to pull my own data using mc2xml.exe and tailored the guide to just the channels I have displayed in the pvr. It's relatively easy to set up by using text files to pull only the channels I watch or want to see listed: 1 file to pull the channel data for only the channels I use and 1 file to rename them to what is listed in the pvr for channel names used by NFPS. I have tweaked the channel order and some channel names to display how I want to see things, not the 800-odd channels that are on the server.

Since I got sick of having to resort to IPTV resets and clearing data of TV and Guide databases, since that wipes out all of my customized settings, this is the perfect solution for me and I can pull data on a weekly or biweekly basis, depending on the hardware of the device I'm using.

Prior to my biting the bullet and doing my own data pulls, I first used ninja. It wasn't always consistent and many of the descriptions were just too generic and didn't actually give episode-specific info but were just generic tv programme descriptions from microsoft, while some channels have Spanish descriptions or data for another channel or no data at all. I prefer to know the actual episode data. I used IVUE for quite a while but as with most providers related to anything IPTV, they are constantly changing and many of the channels were just blank and they have way too many updates and the ini creator, etc revealed itself to not be the best solution. Then Andy TV was fantastic until Soloman put up a video on youtube and ticked off the developer and he pulled it from mainstream use. Next, Mayfair TV Guide stepped up to take over and all was good until they too became unstable and then there was TDB and same story. So I said, 'why am I driving myself crazy playing this game relying on temperamental devs when I can just do it for myself and solve all the problems?' But no matter how many times I downloaded the data, there were these crazy time offsets in the different channel streams. I got real tired of IPTV providers thinking that because something is free or cheap that it is OK to offer something that only partially works. It made me want to spit teeth! So I decided to rely on something more reliable - myself!

Back to the issue of the EPG data being 'off' I finally discovered that all I had to do to get the correct settings for the EPG to match the local time was to make sure I was pulling the guide data in UTC rather than local time. I did have to clear the databases one last time and set things back up (again) to how I wanted the channels to appear (or not appear) in the pvr, but now I don't have to wait on anyone to ensure I have a fully working EPG.

I definitely recommend this option for anyone experiencing ANY issues with their EPG. It only takes about 5 minutes each week to get the guide data and all is golden. I've been doing this for a couple of months now and the guide loads every time and is fully populated. Hooray!
 
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#4
He has tailored the guide for his own use, eliminating channels that he doesn't want but that others might wish they had, so he is giving instructions. I suppose if he wants to offer it, others could download it and determine if it is worthwhile for them, although I think his original approach is commendable as well.
 
#5
ivueguide said:
post your webgrab file then and share with everyone. that would be better than a post detailling how wonderful you are :)
Click to expand...

My point was not how wonderful I am, rather that I got sick and tired of being frustrated all the time and decided to do my own pulls. I don't use webgrab, but mc2xml and it's quite a bit less complicated, not to mention way faster to download the pulls.

And I'd bet that nobody else would be happy with my data as I have no sports, music or porn channels info. I pull the UK listings for SKY and get the UK locals (the channel 4 group is my favourite) and the SKY movie channels. On the US side I get several of the news stations, the NY locals and premium movies from Direct TV and the Miami locals from OTA terrestrial from my former zip code in Fort Lauderale, as I like to keep up with my old home town. Beyond that I pretty much only watch 4seven and More 4 and channel 4 and the movie channels. But for the most part I just watch stuff from Specto since I hate commercials anyway. And since most of the channels I WANT to watch mostly don't work consistently, I use another IPTV service that IS more consistent. But using my guide, at least I know what's on...

As Ilan pointed out, the whole point of my post was for people to realize that rather than depending on anyone else for a less than perfect guide, it really isn't hard to use the free mc2xml.exe and pull a guide that is tailored to only the channels you have in your pvr. That is for those who HAVE tweaked their pvr to only show certain channels. If you do this on a weekly basis, it only takes a few minutes and you can easily combine guides.

What I do is pull the OTA and save ota.xml. Next I pull the US from Direct TV and save as US.xml and include the ota.xml and call it usfull.xml Then I pull the UK from SKY and save as uk.xml and include the usfull.xml and save it all as epg.xml.

I have a few pcs that have KODI on them and a Minix NEO Android TV. None of them have any problems loading up the guides and the files are about 50 MB each week.

All of these guide pulls can be gotten from the Microsoft legacy (media center) data for free but I find them too generic on some stations/programs so I paid $15 for a year's sub at Schedules Direct and got a username and password and have what I find are much better descriptions.

Since I have changed the channel names in my pvr to have them say what I want, my guide data wouldn't be populated in your system as the channel names wouldn't match. If you do your own, you will have have a sense of satisfaction AND a fully working guide.
 
#6
olsts said:
Would you we will to share more details on how to do your setup. I am using an Android Mbox, MxIII using Kodi 16.1. Have been finding ninja to be crap, EPG never loading consistently.
Click to expand...


I'VE EDITED THIS THREAD TO UPDATE TO MY CURRENT USAGE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THROUGH DOZENS OF POSTS. I'VE CHANGED THE PROVIDERS FROM THE INITIAL POSTING AND THIS REFLECTS THOSE CHANGES.

The whole purpose of this thread is to show how you can use mc2xml to make your own epg. Each user may have their own preference as to what they would like to see in their pvr from the NFPS lineup. Since there are no kids in my household, I don't pull any data for those channels, nor do I have them in my m3u. Same goes for sports, I don't watch them and don't include them. I am currently pulling data from Schedules Direct from 5 providers for guide data:

BSkyB - Eire (Ireland) (United Kingdom) Ireland Channels
BSkyB - England (United Kingdom) UK Channels
Comcast Broward County - Cable (Pompano Beach) Miami Locals
DIRECTV - Satellite (USA) US Channels
Bell Fibe TV - Digital (Montréal) CA Channels

I set up 2 text files for each of the providers: ???.ch and ???.ren. Eg. For Ireland they are called Ireland.chl and Ireland.ren

The purpose of doing this is so that the entire lineup doesn't get downloaded. The Ireland.chl tells the software to pull only the channels in the file. The Irenland.ren file tells mc2xml to change the name of the channel from Schedules Direct format to NFPS format, so the epg populates for IPTV. You put whatever channels you want to see in your pvr in each of the .chl and .ren files. This saves on the size of the download.

You can also set up a batch file to tell mc2xml how many days worth of a guide to pull data for. You can pull data for up to 2 weeks.

My batch file looks like this: (getguide.bat)

mc2xml -J user:password -D ireland.dat -C ireland.chl -R ireland.ren -F -a -U -u -d 150 -o ireland.xml
mc2xml -J user:password -D uk.dat -C uk.chl -R uk.ren -F -a -U -u -d 150 -I ireland.xml -o uk.xml
mc2xml -J user:password -D comcast.dat -C comcast.chl -R comcast.ren -a -F -U -u -d 150 -I uk.xml -o comcast.xml
mc2xml -J user:password -D us.dat -C us.chl -R us.ren -a -F -U -u -d 150 -I comcast.xml -o guide.xml
mc2xml -J user:password -D ca.dat -C ca.chl -R ca.ren -F -a -U -u -d 150 -I guide.xml -o guide1.xml

This pulls the Ireland data first and saves the xml file.
Next it pulls for the UK data and merges the output to (I) Include the Ireland data with the UK data.
Next it pulls the Comcast data for the Miami locals and includes the previous data (uk.xml) with the Comcast data (comcast.xml)
Next it pulls the US data and includes the Miami locals in the output (guide.xml)
And finally it pulls the Canada data and includes all previous data in the final output (guide1.xml)

Examples

us.chl

I243.10112.schedulesdirect.org
I265.10035.schedulesdirect.org
I254.10021.schedulesdirect.org
I237.10057.schedulesdirect.org
I257.55205.schedulesdirect.org
I249.62420.schedulesdirect.org
I236.61812.schedulesdirect.org
I264.18332.schedulesdirect.org
I311.10093.schedulesdirect.org
I259.17927.schedulesdirect.org
I248.14321.schedulesdirect.org
I565.46710.schedulesdirect.org
I305.76894.schedulesdirect.org
I252.10918.schedulesdirect.org
I253.55887.schedulesdirect.org
I572.49141.schedulesdirect.org
I358.97287.schedulesdirect.org
I274.15807.schedulesdirect.org
I251.21484.schedulesdirect.org
I238.52199.schedulesdirect.org
I284.57390.schedulesdirect.org
I568.69130.schedulesdirect.org
I241.11163.schedulesdirect.org
I244.58623.schedulesdirect.org
I247.11867.schedulesdirect.org
I256.12852.schedulesdirect.org
I245.11164.schedulesdirect.org
I246.10153.schedulesdirect.org
I304.16123.schedulesdirect.org
I242.58452.schedulesdirect.org
I260.16409.schedulesdirect.org
I307.91096.schedulesdirect.org
I232.68065.schedulesdirect.org
I231.12574.schedulesdirect.org
I230.18544.schedulesdirect.org
I229.14902.schedulesdirect.org
I269.57708.schedulesdirect.org
I571.61469.schedulesdirect.org
I285.65342.schedulesdirect.org
I278.56905.schedulesdirect.org
I282.57394.schedulesdirect.org
I276.49438.schedulesdirect.org
I283.66804.schedulesdirect.org
I261.16125.schedulesdirect.org
I294.16618.schedulesdirect.org
I286.16617.schedulesdirect.org
I287.18284.schedulesdirect.org
I362.11187.schedulesdirect.org
I361.83698.schedulesdirect.org
I352.12553.schedulesdirect.org
I724.58333.schedulesdirect.org
I202.58646.schedulesdirect.org
I204.64549.schedulesdirect.org
I360.60179.schedulesdirect.org
I355.10139.schedulesdirect.org
I356.16300.schedulesdirect.org
I349.87925.schedulesdirect.org
I501.19548.schedulesdirect.org
I502.59368.schedulesdirect.org
I503.10243.schedulesdirect.org
I504.10244.schedulesdirect.org
I505.10242.schedulesdirect.org
I507.16585.schedulesdirect.org
I506.59839.schedulesdirect.org
I509.59845.schedulesdirect.org
I515.34933.schedulesdirect.org
I516.35975.schedulesdirect.org
I519.59948.schedulesdirect.org
I520.59961.schedulesdirect.org
I5 StarMax HD.59961.schedulesdirect.org
I522.59954.schedulesdirect.org
I545.21868.schedulesdirect.org
I546.11117.schedulesdirect.org
I547.11116.schedulesdirect.org
I548.16153.schedulesdirect.org
I549.18086.schedulesdirect.org
I550.68340.schedulesdirect.org
I551.68342.schedulesdirect.org
I553.11160.schedulesdirect.org
I555.60951.schedulesdirect.org
I535.36225.schedulesdirect.org
I538.14765.schedulesdirect.org
I541.14871.schedulesdirect.org
I525.34941.schedulesdirect.org
I526.12741.schedulesdirect.org
I529.57573.schedulesdirect.org
I531.67236.schedulesdirect.org
I528.57569.schedulesdirect.org
I530.16833.schedulesdirect.org
I542.14886.schedulesdirect.org
I396.11259.schedulesdirect.org
I390.11331.schedulesdirect.org
I392.11705.schedulesdirect.org
I398.11746.schedulesdirect.org
I567.58530.schedulesdirect.org
I557.16108.schedulesdirect.org
I517.10121.schedulesdirect.org
I570.58532.schedulesdirect.org
I312.11221.schedulesdirect.org
I279.70387.schedulesdirect.org
I271.18822.schedulesdirect.org
I266.58988.schedulesdirect.org
I333.14873.schedulesdirect.org
I329.10051.schedulesdirect.org
I335.11218.schedulesdirect.org
I327.10138.schedulesdirect.org
I328.35513.schedulesdirect.org
I331.10986.schedulesdirect.org
I333.14873.schedulesdirect.org

us.ren

I265.10035.schedulesdirect.org:A&E East HD
I254.10021.schedulesdirect.org:AMC East HD
I237.10057.schedulesdirect.org:Bravo East HD
I257.55205.schedulesdirect.org:Chiller TV
I249.62420.schedulesdirect.org:Comedy Central East HD
I236.61812.schedulesdirect.org:E! HD
I264.18332.schedulesdirect.org:BBC America HD
I311.10093.schedulesdirect.org:FREEFORM HD
I259.17927.schedulesdirect.org:FXX East HD
I248.14321.schedulesdirect.org:FX East HD
I565.46710.schedulesdirect.org:Hallmark Movies & Mysteries HD
I305.76894.schedulesdirect.org:ION Television East HD
I252.10918.schedulesdirect.org:Lifetime East HD
I253.55887.schedulesdirect.org:Lifetime Movie Network HD
I572.49141.schedulesdirect.org:MTV Live HD
I274.15807.schedulesdirect.org:Ovation HD
I251.21484.schedulesdirect.org:Oxygen HD
I238.52199.schedulesdirect.org:Reelz Channel HD
I284.57390.schedulesdirect.org:Science Channel HD
I568.69130.schedulesdirect.org:Sony Movie Channel USA HD
I241.11163.schedulesdirect.org:Spike TV HD
I244.58623.schedulesdirect.org:Syfy HD
I247.11867.schedulesdirect.org:TBS East HD
I256.12852.schedulesdirect.org:TCM US HD
I245.11164.schedulesdirect.org:TNT HD
I246.10153.schedulesdirect.org:Tru TV East HD
I304.16123.schedulesdirect.org:TV Land HD
I242.58452.schedulesdirect.org:USA Network HD
I260.16409.schedulesdirect.org:WE TV
I307.91096.schedulesdirect.org:WGN America HD
I232.68065.schedulesdirect.org:Cooking Channel HD
I231.12574.schedulesdirect.org:Food Network East HD
I230.18544.schedulesdirect.org:DIY Network USA HD
I229.14902.schedulesdirect.org:HGTV East HD
I269.57708.schedulesdirect.org:History HD
I571.61469.schedulesdirect.org:Crime & Investigation Network HD
I285.65342.schedulesdirect.org:Investigation Discovery HD
I278.56905.schedulesdirect.org:Discovery Channel USA HD
I282.57394.schedulesdirect.org:Animal Planet HD
I276.49438.schedulesdirect.org:National Geographic Channel HD
I283.66804.schedulesdirect.org:Nat Geo Wild HD
I261.16125.schedulesdirect.org:Discovery Life Channel
I294.16618.schedulesdirect.org:Discovery Family
I286.16617.schedulesdirect.org:Destination America HD
I287.18284.schedulesdirect.org:American Heroes Channel
I362.11187.schedulesdirect.org:The Weather Channel
I361.83698.schedulesdirect.org:WeatherNation
I352.12553.schedulesdirect.org:NASA TV
I724.58333.schedulesdirect.org:RT US
I202.58646.schedulesdirect.org:CNN US HD
I204.64549.schedulesdirect.org:Headline News HD
I360.60179.schedulesdirect.org:Fox News Channel HD
I355.10139.schedulesdirect.org:CNBC US HD
I356.16300.schedulesdirect.org:MSNBC HD
I349.87925.schedulesdirect.org:NewsmaxTV
I501.19548.schedulesdirect.org:HBO East HD
I502.59368.schedulesdirect.org:HBO 2 East HD
I503.10243.schedulesdirect.org:HBO Signature East HD
I504.10244.schedulesdirect.org:HBO West HD
I505.10242.schedulesdirect.org:HBO 2 West HD
I507.16585.schedulesdirect.org:HBO Family East HD
I506.59839.schedulesdirect.org:HBO Comedy East HD
I509.59845.schedulesdirect.org:HBO Zone HD
I515.34933.schedulesdirect.org:Cinemax East HD
I516.35975.schedulesdirect.org:Cinemax West HD
I519.59948.schedulesdirect.org:ActionMax East HD
I520.59961.schedulesdirect.org:5 StarMax
I5 StarMax HD.59961.schedulesdirect.org:5 StarMax HD
I522.59954.schedulesdirect.org:ThrillerMax East HD
I545.21868.schedulesdirect.org:Showtime East HD
I546.11117.schedulesdirect.org:Showtime West HD
I547.11116.schedulesdirect.org:Showtime 2 East HD
I548.16153.schedulesdirect.org:Showtime Showcase East HD
I549.18086.schedulesdirect.org:Showtime Extreme East HD
I550.68340.schedulesdirect.org:Showtime Beyond East HD
I551.68342.schedulesdirect.org:Showtime Next HD
I553.11160.schedulesdirect.org:The Movie Channel East HD
I555.60951.schedulesdirect.org:The Movie Channel Xtra East HD
I535.36225.schedulesdirect.org:Encore East HD
I538.14765.schedulesdirect.org:Encore Westerns
I541.14871.schedulesdirect.org:Encore Action East HD
I525.34941.schedulesdirect.org:Starz East HD
I526.12741.schedulesdirect.org:Starz West HD
I529.57573.schedulesdirect.org:Starz Edge East HD
I531.67236.schedulesdirect.org:Starz Cinema East HD
I528.57569.schedulesdirect.org:Starz Comedy East HD
I530.16833.schedulesdirect.org:Starz In Black East HD
I542.14886.schedulesdirect.org:Starz Kids & Family East HD
I396.11259.schedulesdirect.org:ABC New York HD
I390.11331.schedulesdirect.org:CBS New York HD
I392.11705.schedulesdirect.org:NBC New York HD
I398.11746.schedulesdirect.org:FOX New York HD
I567.58530.schedulesdirect.org:MGM HD
I557.16108.schedulesdirect.org:Sundance TV
I517.10121.schedulesdirect.org:Cinemax MoreMax HD
I570.58532.schedulesdirect.org:Smithsonian HD
I312.11221.schedulesdirect.org:Hallmark HD
I279.70387.schedulesdirect.org:OWN HD
I271.18822.schedulesdirect.org:Viceland HD
I266.58988.schedulesdirect.org:FYI HD
I333.14873.schedulesdirect.org:IFC HD
I329.10051.schedulesdirect.org:BET HD
I335.11218.schedulesdirect.org:VH1
I327.10138.schedulesdirect.org:CMT
I328.35513.schedulesdirect.org:TV ONE
I331.10986.schedulesdirect.org:MTV HD
I397.10309.schedulesdirect.org:ABC Los Angeles

I do a similar 2 text files for each of the providers I want to pull data from.

There are some extra channels in the above examples as I have more than 1 IPTV provider. You can tailor your pulls to whatever you want. You can change the name of channels to suit your own needs. You can either use the naming convention from NFPS or change the names to how you prefer to see them. (It depends on how you list your channels in your m3u. For example, I have changed the order of my m3u to have all UK first, then US, then Canada and I further have them in groups where they are listed mostly alphabetical. I have all the ITV channels together, and FX and FXX together, etc. Just a personal preference. I have kept the names the same as NFPS lists them, just changed the order in my pvr (Simple Client). Also, I don't use the channel numbers from NFPS, they are just numbered sequentially. But the epg is output by Channel Name first, so the guide populates with no problem since the names match. The Channel IDs are assigned by Schedules Direct. Again, since the names match, nothing else matters.

As long as the m3u lists the channel the same as NFPS, I can change the channel names within the pvr settings. Why would I want to do this anyway? Well, True Movies 1 and True Movies 2 change their name and format this time of year to True Christmas and soon Movies 24 will change to Christmas 24. I do change my channel names to reflect that and also change the logos to do the same thing.

Maybe this will help anyone wanting to make their own guide.
 
Last edited:
#11
Can you please direct me to where you show how to make your own epg for stalker? It says to go to post #5 but I can't seem to find it. I'm very frustrated being without a guide and only channel logos on my stalker client. I'm using an invidia shield, Kodi's built in stalker client but no guide at all. Please show me/ us here how you did it to get a guide working. I'm willing to learn as I too was ticked at how bad ********** got at the end. Plus now there's not even that to use. Thank you
 
#12
If you look at the upper right of each post, in the black stripe, there is a numerical designation. For example, yours is carries #11. Expatter is referring to his post that carries the #5 designation. It is his second post in this thread.
 
#13
ilan said:
What technique do you use to map the channels to the data?
Click to expand...

I use 2 text files when I run the mc2xml. Way back in the beginning and we were all working together to put the first EPG together, there was was a consolidated effort with Dara and Psyc0n pretty much taking the lead. Basically, you set up a text file for the channels you want to pull from the provider and call it anything.chl (eg - uk.chl or us.chl) and another one to rename what you pull to match what the channels are listed as with NFPS (eg - uk.ren or us.ren). When you do this you don't get the provider's entire lineup, but only the channels that you use with NFPS. It renames them from provider (Directv, Dish, terrestrial, etc) to what they are called in your pvr. Natch, you can rename the channels within KODI by using the channel manager and simply retyping the names (if you want to).

I don't have time ATM but will come back and do a basic tutorial and include links and samples. I can post my next pull to pastebin or something similar so you can see the results. It will not have any kids, music, porn, sports or Spanish info as that is not my interest. If I can squeeze it in today, I will. If not, then tomorrow.

Cheers.
 
#14
Thanks, Expatter. I appreciate your information, insights and kind gestures. After a bit of reading, I started my X.chl and X.ren files, but wouldn't mind seeing yours when you have time. I'm sure there are better, easier ways of creating the files that come with time and experience. I wasn't here during the EPG development days, and all of the files associated with those days are no longer accessible.

I'll be damned, though, the blasted 1-hour-off problem surfaced with my guide in PVR Stalker client. If I pull using my time zone as a referent, I get a guide that is 1 hour off. If I download a guide with UTC as the referent, I get a guide that is 1 hour off. What I ended up doing was replacing all of the +0000 offsets with -0100 offsets in the final xml file. It works, but I do wish I could do a straight pull without having to finagle.
 
Last edited:
#15
Ok Ilan good to find this. I'm looking at this mc2xml on the web. What are the sources of the data for say UK and US? Windows media and the other one I mentioned in the other post Ilan? This is the way to go. Looks serious! I have maybe 150 English channels only and I have machines hostings tons of BS software services for Alexa. I dont need the porn or kids shows even, I could install mc2xml on that and pull my own. I see TVMedia XMLTV service for US?
 
#17
ilan said:
Thanks, Expatter. I appreciate your information, insights and kind gestures. After a bit of reading, I started my X.chl and X.ren files, but wouldn't mind seeing yours when you have time. I'm sure there are better, easier ways of creating the files that come with time and experience. I wasn't here during the EPG development days, and all of the files associated with those days are no longer accessible.

I'll be damned, though, the blasted 1-hour-off problem surfaced with my guide in PVR Stalker client. If I pull using my time zone as a referent, I get a guide that is 1 hour off. If I download a guide with UTC as the referent, I get a guide that is 1 hour off. What I ended up doing was replacing all of the +0000 offsets with -0100 offsets in the final xml file. It works, but I do wish I could do a straight pull without having to finagle.
Click to expand...

The EPG being off was fixed for me when I added the -U -u into the command line. What I do is typically like this: mc2xml -D uk.dat -C uk.chl -R uk.ren -d 200 -F -u -U -a -o uk.xml

mc2xml -D us.dat -c us.chl -r us.ren -d 200 -F -u -U -a -I uk.xml -o guide.xml

I have an additional bit in my command line structure as I have a sub to schedules direct. But the
Code: 
http://mc2xml.awardspace.info/
site where you download mc2xml explains all the handles and how to use everything.

Once the files are downloaded in UTC, there is no time offset in the pvr anymore. Using -U -u downloads the date/time in UTC and seems to have fixed the problem for me. And it drove me nuts for about 6 weeks before I figured it out!

I'm on the East Coast using EST and the guide is perfect for me. Out of the channels I select, only Esquire, C-Span 3 and Newsmax seem to be empty for me. But I don't pull kids or music channels. I have extra channels like HALL for Hallmark as I have another IPTV Service that has this channel.
I'm typing up a tutorial now. I just have to finish something else first.
 
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Reactions: ilan
#18
Great job, Ex! I will tinker with the command line options tomorrow to see if I can get the time issue sorted. (I wasn't using the UTF-8 option.) Hopefully, you gave me a heads up and it won't take "6 weeks" to get the bugs whacked :). This kind of stuff can drive a body bonkers!
 
Last edited:
#19
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
DAVE:Dave
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
PICKTV:pick
REALLY:Really
CH5HD:Channel 5
FXUK:FOX
HOME:Home
TRAVEL:Travel Channel UK
DMAXE:Dmax
INVDISC:
DITURBO:Discovery 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
DRAMAUK:Drama
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...)
 
#20
Pulling the guide data

Putting it all together.
I will list what I do for using Schedules Direct. Yours will be slightly different for using Microsoft Legacy.

mc2xml (-J user/password) -D ota.dat -C ota.chl -R ota.ren -d 200 -a -U -u -F -o ota.xml
mc2xml (-J user/password) -D us.dat -C us.chl -R us.ren -d 200 -a -U -u -F -I ota.xml -o us.xml
mc2xml (-J user/password) -D freesat.dat -C freesat.chl -R freesat.ren -d 200 -a -U -u -F -o freesat.xml
mc2xml (-J user/password) -D uk.dat -C uk.chl -R uk.ren -d 200 -a -U -u -F -I us.xml -o guide.xml This is how you can merge 2 files

NOT EVERYONE WILL HAVE TO DO THIS, JUST DEPENDS ON HOW COMPLETE THE DATA FROM YOUR PULL IS!
After this is done, open freesat.xml and go down to where <channel id="blah, blah, blah", and highlight all the info down to the end of the page where it says </tv> then move up one line (ends with </programme>) copy the highlighted text. Close the file and open guide.xml in notepad++ and go to line 5, where <channel id="blah, blah, blah" is and insert a carriage return. Go down 1 line and paste the data in memory.
Resave the file (guide.xml)

I do it this way because you can only include (merge)1 file in your output file. I tried it by adding the following options: -I ota.xml -I freesat.xml -o epg.xml and it didn't work for me.

(200 is hours, so 8.3 days is what I get. You can change this number to whatever you want to pull. If you leave it blank you will get 2 weeks and the file will be large and not all equipment will be able to load it. It all depends on your hardware.

You can only make 6 changes to your lineup per day. So if you decide to try out different providers and see the difference in their data, be aware of this.

When you go to hxxp:awardspace.info to download mc2xml.exe, I suggest you take the time to read the info there. It will give you everything you need to know about how to use the software. And reading is a powerful tool...

I'm sure that Ilan will be very helpful with those of you using Microsoft Legacy.

I will do my pull now and then upload it to pastebin, then come back and give a link to download my version of epg. It will have 8 days of data and be around 50 MB. Those whose hardware can handle it will have a rather full epg for the next week.

Cheers.
 
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