FreeviewHD DVB-T EPG Setup

This page will show you how to setup the TV Guide (EPG) for Freeview HD DVB-T (Digital Terrestrial) .  This will give you 7-10 days worth of tv guide using the data that is broadcast via DVB-T, the tvserver does not need internet access as all the data is from the DVB-T signal.  You should do this after you have scanned[ |Scan DVB-T]all the channels and mapped them to all your TV tuners (if more than one tuner).  TV-Server also has a built in DVB-T EPG grabber, however using EPG Collector and this guide provides a more robust and reliable EPG.

Note: If you want an EPG for Sky TV or satellite Freeview you will need to look here and here.

Step 1 - Download XMLTV.DTD

Download xmlvtv.dtd and save it to c:\epg\xmltv.dtd

Step 2 - Install EPG Collector

Download EPG Collector from http://sourceforge.net/projects/epgcollector/files/?source=navbar

Click Files, then click on the highest version number (Currently this is V4.3)

Choose to download the installer package eg. "EPG Collector V##### Install.msi"

Run the EPG Collector Installer and install to the default location

32bit    C:\Program Files\Geekzone\EPG Collector\

64bit    C:\Program Files (x86)\Geekzone\EPG Collector\

Now install the latest fix pack eg. "EPG Collector v#.# FixPack #.zip"

Step 3 - Configure EPG Collector

CREATE COLLECTION PARAMETERS

Open EPG Center (Start -> All Programs -> EPG Collector -> EPG Center)

Click File -> Create Collection Parameters

Choose "New Zealand - Terrestrial Freeview - Auckland"

Note: It doesn't matter if your not in Auckland, we will customise this

TUNING TAB

1. Select the tuner(s) you want to use

2. Select the area you are in

3. Change the Collection Type to EIT

3. Click Update

4. Tick Use FreeSat Huffman tables to translate compressed text

5. Click [OK]

4. At the bottom of the page under Selected scanning frequencies delete the provider you are not using

(ie if you added Christchurch, then there will also be a provider called Auckland which you need to delete)

OUTPUT TAB

1. Output file path -> Click Browse

2. Set to path c:\epg\tvguide.xml

SAVE CHANGES

1. Click File -> Save As

2. Save the file as c:\epg\freeview.ini

TEST

1. Click Run -> Collect EPG Data

2. Do you want to use the parameters currently loaded to run the collection? [YES]

3. This takes around 2-5 minutes, wait

4. You should get a message pop-up box saying "The run completed successfully."

5. Assuming you did all the above correctly this should now of created a file called tvguide.xml in the c:\epg\ directory

Step 4 - Check

Browse to c:\epg\

Check you have the following 3 files

freeview.ini        - created when we saved our configuration in step 3

tvguide.xml       - created when we did a test run in step 3

xmltv.dtd           - downloaded in step 1

Step 5 - Setup TV Server

Open TV Server Configuration

Go to Plugins

Enable "XmlTv"

Expand [+] Plugins

Choose "XmlTv"

GENERAL TAB

1. Folder where tvguide is located (c:\epg)

Browse to your tvguide.xml file

2. Setup the following tick boxes

[X] Import new tvguide.xml

[  ] Import files in new tvguide.1st

[X] Delete old programs before input

[  ] Apply time compensation

3. Click Force Import

4. Now complete the Mappings tab below, after doing this click Import a second time, after you run the second import you should see the message "tvguide.xml:File imported successfully".  The second time you import, TV Server will become unresponsive for about 2 minutes while it loads the tvguide.xml into the MP EPG.

MAPPINGS TAB

1. Click Load/Refresh

2. Check that "Tuning Channel" matches up with "Guide Channel"

3. Once you have adjusted any miss-matched channels click SAVE

4. Now go back to the general tab and click Import. (when you click import the second time TV Server Configuration will become unresponsive for a 1-2 minutes while it imports.

Click [OK] to close TV Server Configuration and save changes.

If you don't click OK then the changes will not be saved.

Go to into TV-Server Configuration once again and click import and check everything is working.

Now load up MediaPortal and you should have a working tv guide

Step 6 - Schedule automatic EPG updates

Download update.zip and extract update.bat to c:\epg\update.bat

Press WIN+R and type cmd and press enter

Type cd c:\epg and press enter

Type update.bat and press enter

Check that there are no errors

Now set up a regular scheduled task in windows to run update.bat
Win XP    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308569
                 http://www.iopus.com/guides/winscheduler.htm
Win 7       http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/windows7/schedule-a-task
                 http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/12444-task-scheduler-create-new-task.html
 

Troubleshooting

update.bat expects the default install directory for EPG Collector to be

C:\Program Files\Geekzone\EPG Collector\epgcollector.exe (32bit)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Geekzone\EPG Collector\epgcollector.exe (64bit)

For more help visit

The NZ MediaPortal Thread

Geekzone EPG Forum

EPG Collector Discussion Forum

Message kiwijunglist on MP Forum