[mythtv-users] Multiple Data Direct lineups not working

[Michael T. Dean]

On 04/27/2011 01:02 PM, Bob Shanteau wrote:
> I have 3 capture cards:
> HVR-1600 ATSC connected directly to Comcast cable
> HVR-1600 MPEG connected to Comcast SDTV settop box (Pace DC50X)
> Firewire connection to Comcast HDTV settop box (Motorola DCH3200)

So you need to have 3 MythTV Video Sources.  You can use 1 or more 
Schedules Direct lineups, as required (if all channels available through 
all sources are in a single SD lineup, then use the one SD lineup with 
all 3 Video Sources).  A MythTV Video Source is a list of channels /and/ 
their tuning information.  Since ATSC tuning is different from 
"external" tuning with a channel-change script and different from 
Firewire tuning, you must have 3 different Video Sources--even if you 
had the exact same channels available through all 3 inputs.

> I have had this system working with only the Comcast cable and HDTV box
> on my main computer for about a year, but when I added the MPEG card and
> SDTV box yesterday, I found that I could not access the HDTV settop box
> channels. Also, "Fetch channels from listing source" stopped working for
> all 3 cards. But on my spare computer (with only ATSC and analog cards),
> I can fetch channels just fine. So my first question is, how do I get
> "Fetch channels from listing source" working again?

"Fetch channels from listings source" only works on Video Sources where 
it's expected to work /properly/.  It has never worked for any Video 
Source connected to DVB/ATSC/QAM type cards--those cards /require/ 
channel scans to get the necessary information about the channels.  It 
will not work for Firewire-connected Video Sources, since those are 
treated as digital capture.  It will work for any Video Source connected 
to an analog capture card, but only if the

For Firewire-connected Video Sources, you'll need to use:

mythfilldatabase --only-update-channels --do-not-filter-new-channels

and might need to use --do-channel-updates (but doing so can mess up 
your channels, so be careful--and always back up the database before 
messing with configuration).  See:

mythfilldatabase --help

for information before using these.

> My second question relates to how one should go about adding a second
> settop box to mythTV. Before I added the MPEG card, I had only one
> Schedules Direct lineup ("Comcast digital"), which I fetched from SD for
> the Firewire card. I had also scanned for channels on Comcast cable with
> the ATSC card and edited the channels it found. All was working OK. It
> was when I added a second SD lineup for the SDTV settop box and that the
> problems started.
>
> I have read the MythTV instructions, and the way I understand it, I am
> supposed to set up a Data Direct lineup for each of the settop boxes.
> That means that on the mythtv-setup->Video Sources screen, I create two
> video sources, one called "Comcast cable" and the other "Comcast HDTV
> settop box". For each video source, I enter my User ID and password and
> click on Retrieve Lineups. Then I select the appropriate SD lineup and
> click Finish. On the on the mythv-setup->"Input Connections" screen, for
> the MPEG and Firewire capture devices, I select the appropriate video
> source and click on "Fetch channels from listings source".
>
> But I just now found a section in the mythTV docs called, "Caching
> support for Schedules Direct"
> <http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-24.html#ss24.2>. This describes
> how to set up two cards, one connected directly to cable and one to a
> settop box, where the channels available to the card connected to cable
> is a subset of the channels available to the settop box. It says to (1)
> set up a SD lineup only for the subset of channels and fetch that lineup
> for the card connected directly to cable, (2) set up the SD lineup for
> full set of channels available on the settop box and fetch that lineup
> for the card connected to the settop box, and (3) add
> "--remove-new-channels" to the arguments for mythfilldatabase. For my 3
> cards, the channels available on the card connected directly to cable is
> a subset of the channels available on the SDTV settop box, which in turn
> is a subset of the channels on the HDTV settop box. So should I follow
> the instructions in the mythtv-HOWTO for "Caching support for Schedules
> Direct" for my 3 cards?

Yes.  That's probably more easily understandable with the title, 
"Sharing one Schedules Direct Lineup with Multiple MythTV Video 
Sources".  You can either use the approach it uses or the inverse.  (It 
says to pick the most restricted source's channels, then set them up in 
MythTV, then add the rest of the channels, and set them up in the other 
Video Source in MythTV.  The alternative approach is to add all the 
channels from all your Video Sources to the Schedules Direct lineup, and 
add all those channels to all MythTV Video Sources, then delete the 
extra channels from the more-restricted sources.)

> Also, I don't see anything related to scanning for channels in these
> instructions. I just tried following the instructions on my spare
> computer and although I can see watch TV using the analog card,

Definitely don't want to scan for channels using an analog card, if you 
have good guide data (i.e. if you're a North American user with 
Schedules Direct data).  So, use the above info to Fetch those channels.

>   I can't
> watch TV using the ATSC card, meaning that there must be a step missing
> (most likely scanning for channels).

Again, you need 3 different MythTV Video Sources.  I'm guessing this is 
the problem here.

>   Also, it seems like a lot of work
> to edit my SD lineups each time Comcast changes its lineup. Is it really
> that disadvantageous to have multiple lineups on Schedules Direct?

Not sure what you mean here.

Mike