[Zirak]

The is the new and improved (final?) Tivoweb module to remap channel numbers for a given station.

Earlier versions would fail under certain conditions. (if you had LOTS of channels)

There are also several other usability improvements.

Rename the module to ChannelMap.itcl before dropping in your modules directory.

Attachment has been deleted. Get it from the Tivoweb site, http://tivo.lightn.org/

 

[Zirak]

What is the channel object? (available from the ChannelMap channel list page?)

I have a tendency to overcode error checks. All my objects are of the form XXXX/XXX, and I assume that they all must be of this format. If its not the case, I will remove the error check, and everything should be groovy.

 

[Zirak]

Originally posted by ModiStru
So after my last reply I decided that you had given me enough of a hint to jump in & modify the code.

Changed line 91 to:
if {![string compare [string index $Channel 6] "/"]==0} {

This worked for my case, but I assume that forcing the check to 6 will not work for everyone. BTW, all my channel objects are in the form XXXXXX/XXXX.

Thanks a bunch!

Indeed that is it. An update is attached that allows an arbitrary length object and subobject.

Attachment deleted, newer version at bottom.

 

[Zirak]

Originally posted by airplanedan
I'm using your module with a sa tivo 3.0 and tivoweb 1.9.4b2 and it appears to be working correctly. Channels that I remap are displayed with the new numbers, however the tivo doesn't seem to recognize the changes. I've rebooted multiple times but still the original channel mappings are being used. Channelmap continues to see the correct (remapped) channel mappings. Any ideas?

Apparently a reboot won't do the trick anymore. Go to Messages & Setup / My Preferences / Customize Channels / Cable Lineups, and change the lineup to something else. Then change it back. That should commit the changes. You will have to re-customize the "channels you receive" section.

I guess I could make the module do this too.

 

[Zirak]

This version adds:

1) Ability to commit changes to the "active" lineup. No need to change the lineup back and forth in setup. Its much more convenient since setup also resets channels you receive, etc.

2) Ability to Save the current lineup configuration.

3) Ability to reload the saved configuration. Useful if you are constantly getting "incorrect" updates. I understand this happens frequently in the UK.

Drop the .txt extension and drop in the modules folder.

Tested with 3.0, don't anticipate problems in 2.5.1.

As always, use at your own risk.

Attachment deleted. See next message.

 

[Zirak]

Well, I assumed that once you did a setup the the channel objects in the lineups were fixed for all time. Bad assumption. A week or two ago I got a lineup change that ONLY added a PPV preview channel. For some reason this caused the channel objects in the lineups to be recreated from scratch. Kinda strange, but it is what it is.

This version will attempt to rebuild the map using the old lineup names and channel names, i.e. CNN/Extended Basic.

If that doesn't work, you will have to fall back to a manual rebuild.

Again, the last version until something else breaks!

Drop the txt extension, put in the tivoweb modules directory.

Attachment deleted, module is now on tivoweb site.

ChannelMap module

 

[Zirak]

Commiting changes will happen in alphabetical order, per lineup. The module checks both the long and short name to identify matches (Home Box Office Zone, and HBOZ). It does not use the channel number.

The module doesn't tamper with any favorite/channel you receive information. I am at a loss for how it would have been "switched off," unless it was previously switched off.

Was it unchecked before you started?

 

[Zirak]

I tried, but can't reproduce the behavior. The "channels you receive" information isn't stored in the same place in the database. I haven't been able to locate it. This might be some kind of D-Tivo thing.

I would be interested in hearing if others see the same behavior, and what kind of system they have. But...

At this point, chalk it up to PFM.

 

[Zirak]

Originally posted by tlphipps
OK, I hope someone can help me with this. I've searched all over this forum for two days now and can't find an answer.

I receive my local channels through my apartment complex's cable system (for FREE). Unfortunately they remap the UHF channels.

My problem is this, when I used the channel map module, the channel was remapped to the correct number, but on the satellite connection, NOT the RF connection (that's where my local cable is input). Is there any way to force the remap to happen on channel xx(ant) as opposed to channel xx(sat)?

Sounds like the multiple headend problem. This module will only look at the lineups in the first headend. It shouldn't be hard to make the module work on multiple headends, but, I have a single headend standalone - no way to test it.

Short of making it work with multiple headends, if you are somewhat adept, you should be able to switch which headend it looks at, and remap the other channels. I can point you to the three lines to change if you wish, and help as I can. I don't think its particularly risky to try, but I make no guarantee. As always, make sure you have a backup.

Ah, and its probably a bad idea to simultaneously run two copies of the module, one for each headend.

 

[Zirak]

Ok. I really don't think this will cause any problem, but I don't want to be responsible for screwing up your tivo. I think the risk is negligible - I will help, the risk is yours.

Change the 3 lines that contain this:

set headend [dbobj [lindex $source 0] get Headend]

to this:

set headend [dbobj [lindex $source 1] get Headend]

 

[Zirak]

Well, if the XX(ant) channels are not in any of the lineups on either tuner, I don't know where they come from, and/or perhaps what the mfs structures look like for dual tuners. I don't have a dual tuners, or know what a setup looks like, other than dual lineup sources. I can only guess, and probably not well.

If you give me access to your tivo, I can take a quick look to see if I can figure anything out.

 

[Zirak]

This is my best guess at what is going on, it will produce the behavior you describe.

It sounds like you are including lineups that you don't actually receive in the "commit" process. You need to uncheck any lineups that you do not get before comitting.

The same channel can and often will exist in more than one lineup. The most intuitive example of this is a cable provider that has both analog and digital service. The tivo will only use the lineups appropriate to your setup - I.E. Digital only, or Analog only. CNN exists both on digital and analog, but are likely on different channel numbers.

By using more lineups in the commit than you actually "get", you apparently have several channel conflicts across the lineup. When you do the commit with this problem, the module is going to dutifully compare each channel number in each lineup you have selected against what is in the active lineup. If it is different, it will be changed. If you have multiple occurences of CNN with different channel numbers in the lineups you have selected to commit, there will be one (or more!) changes for the "active" CNN each time you press commit.

You need to deselect the lineups that are not part of your service before you commit.

If for some reason, you actually get CNN on multiple channels (strange!), then you will need to skip the commit process, and go back to the "Customize Channels" section in setup, and de-select and reselect your lineup. This does the same thing as commit, except that it clears your "favorites" and resets "channels you receive.'' The entire purpose of "commit" is to prevent reseting these two items.

 

[Zirak]

Lineups live at : MFS:Setup:Source[0,1] :Headend:Lineup
The active list lives at: MFS:Setup:Source[0,1?]:Channel

Changing the channel mapping only changes the channel number in the Lineup.

Commiting copies the channel numbers from all the channels in all the selected lineups (one by one) to the same channels in the active list. If a channel appears twice, even across lineups it will be copied twice. The point of the commit is to NOT effect the channels you receive/favorites section, otherwise I would not have bothered. Try committing with all the boxes unchecked, it wont hurt.

I have never looked at a dual tuner system/satelite system - I don't know what these structures look like on those. Hopefully this will help at least identify where the data is.

The headend you listed looks OK, whatever that means. The real question is what channels are in each of your lineups, and what channels are listed in your active list.

I think I have a little script that will dump the active list, let me check.

I don't think it will make a difference if you run the code outside tivoweb.

I would guess that the FIRST channel that matches in the active list would be changed to the LAST time that channel appeared in a lineup. It might get them both, I would have to look at the code again. (Actually, the channel would change twice, but the last one would be the "effective" change)

20 minutes between screens is amazingly long. That sounds like 2000 channels! Are you a satelite company executive?

 

[Zirak]

This will list the active channels for a source. You might need to edit it and run it for both sources - again, I don't know what the db looks like for your setup...

Even though I wrote it, I won't necessarily CLAIM this code.

drop the .txt
chmod +x
./listactivechannels

 

[Zirak]

This lists the channels in the lineups. Again, it will need to be modified to deal with more than one source.

 

[Zirak]

I don't think the time is related to connection speed, but rather looking through all the channel objects. The html returned can't possibly be big enough to make bandwidth a factor.

Still, a remap takes 5-10 seconds for me with ~100 channels, and the commit takes about 30 seconds. Scaling these numbers up to 20 minutes would imply an ungodly number of channels.

I can think of no obvious explanation for 20 minutes. How many channels do you have?

 

[Zirak]

Originally posted by Andrel
Talking of the devil, Got a lineup change from Tivo and this moved around 200 channels(I only remap 20). I restored my saved lineup, remap around 200 channels, including all of mine but 4. I saved the restored lineup and the commit change. May take a while but I will understand what is going on!

Oh well I only have to remap 4!

Yes, I lineup change from tivo will cause everything to revert back to the way it was. The save/restore buttons are already there to "restore" back to a current known state. This is done via looking for matches of lineup/channel name. If a channel moves from one lineup to another, it will not be restored. If the name changes, it will not be restored.

I suppose the overhead of 900 channels causes significant extra memory/processing time. It sounds like its enough to cause significant swapping, and thus a significant degredation in speed. Pure speculation.

The saved lineup is stored as a tcl program, but it is simple to figure out/edit if that is what you want to do.

It sounds like it is working for you, albeit slowly.

It seems strange that you have such a large number of incorrectly mapped channels. You should take this up with tivo. Most people only have a couple that are incorrectly mapped. All of mine are currently mapped correctly from tivo. I find that the the lineup changes I receive are only off for a couple of days before they get fixed. So far, I have gotten the changes before the cable company implements them.

 

[Zirak]

Apparently not. I don't know where "over the air channel lineup" information is stored in the database, as my system isn't setup for such. Its apparently not in the same place as the cable/direct-tv lineups. From the last few posts, it seems like the dish network stuff may somehow be different, but I'm not sure.

If I had a "development" tivo, or someone gives me access to theirs, I would look at it.

Again, quite surprised that over the air stuff would be wrong. Its not like stations change their broadcast channels frequently. Have you tried asking for a fix from tivo?

 

[Zirak]

Originally posted by Dweller

I suppose I will ask pony to provide teh info to you, and then commence holding my breath... seriously doubt he will be willing to help, but IMO if TiVo wont give us teh ability to manually adjust lineups then they should step up to teh plate and help people like you that ARE willing to help us with these issues and support you in any way they can.

I understand the frustration of it not working. But bothering Pony/Tivo to support hacks like this isn't the route to go.

 

[Zirak]

Originally posted by Dweller

I am VERY sorry to hear that this isnt going to work for me.

A thought - You could configure the input for a local cable company, remap the channels to where they really are, and just set the rest to channels you don't receive.

It may or may not work, depending on whether the cable company provides all the local channels. I think they are required to, by law.