[mythtv-users] Guide display, channel editor confused about analog and digital channels

[stefan_jones at comcast.net]

System: MythTV .21. Happauge PVR-150, pcHDTV3000. Everything records and plays just fine. 

Scenario: Until recently, the only digital channels available via my Comcast standard cable sub were the HD versions of the network stations . . . essentially, cablecasts of the local digital broadcasts. 

A few weeks back, Comcast added dozens of new clear QAM digital channels. These are digital copies of the traditional Standard Cable offerings: CNN, Comedy Central, TNT, etcetera. ( In a month or so, the analog versions will be gone . . . . something many of you will be dealing with eventually!) 

These channels are tunable by my HDTV, and the MythTV scanner could find them too but the mappings were all wrong. For example, clear QAM channel 73#6 contained Sci-Fi according to my HDTV (and the Silicon Dust mappings), but on MythTV that channel contained MSNBC. (I actually recorded off of it . . . the channel guide showed an episode of Star Trek, but what was recorded was the President's speech.) 

So I used the scanning methods described on the Wiki. I found the channels I wanted, created a channels.conf file, and imported it. Whee! The new channels appeared in my Edit Channels screen. 

I then edited the new channels, adding the XMLids for MOST of the channels from the Schedules Direct site. (I also gave them unique names . . . for example Comedy Central (digital) to differentiate it from Comedy Central on the analog spectrum. Since these share the same XMLid I thought it would be good to seperate them. (Note: The network HD stations have their own XMLids. (KPTV channel 12 and KPTV-DT 12_1 would have their own unique IDs.) 

Then I ran mythfilldatabase, with renew all and do channels specified. 

Started front end. Went to the channels guide. Found lines for SOME of the new channels . . . the ones that I didn't bother adding XMLids for . . . generally a bunch of religious and home shopping channels. The other new channels didn't appear. 

Here, it gets annoying. 

I exited front end, stopped the backend, started mythtvsetup, entered the channel editor. Specifed that the "digital" channels only be shown. The "unique" digital channels showed up (the HD network stations, and the stations I didn't bother entering an XMLid for); however, the ANALOG station equivalent of the newly entered stations showed up on the chart. If I edited these it showed the analog station number rather than the QAM channel. For example, Sci-Fi Channel 59 rather than QAM 236#8. 

Now, I COULD erase the analog channels. But since I only have one digital tuner I'd like to have the option to record a given channel with either tuner. 

Anyone run into this? Anyone have a suggestion as to how to un-bollix the problem? I know that MythTV really doens't like channels with the same XMLid, but this is going beyond the pale to bug terriroty. 


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