Frontend Channel Editor

From MythTV Official Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Scan for channels

Perform the proper channel scan in mythtv-setup (8-VSB for OTA ATSC or QAM-256 or QAM-64, with the frequency list that matches your cable system i.e. Cable, Cable HRC, or Cable IRC).

Fetch channels from listings provider

If you're using a grabber that provides sufficient information (such as Schedules Direct), MythTV can probably automatically determine the xmltvid for each channel found in the scan. Simply click the "Fetch channels from listings provider" button once the channel scan is complete. At this point, you may choose to continue with the rest of the instructions, but if the xmltvid's were populated from the grabber's data, the rest is optional.

If, however, some channels were not properly matched to the channels found in the scan, fetching channels may have created duplicate channels, which will cause issues with recording. Therefore, you will need to both delete the duplicate channel (the one that was not created by the scan) and edit the xmltvid of the channel found by the scan, as described below. Alternatively, you can preemptively edit the xmltvids of all the channels to ensure all channels are matched properly.

Start LiveTV

Run mythfrontend and enter livetv, switching to the new tuner/input if needed. 'Y'/'C'

Edit Channels

Type e to edit a channel and give it an XMLTV ID. Fill in the fields for the current channel, especially the XMLTV ID and then hit the [O]k button. Repeat for each channel that has an XMLTV ID. If the channel editor is unresponsive while Live TV is playing and you are trying to edit the channel information, try first hitting p (pause playback).

  • The normal readline keys are available (Ctrl-K,Ctrl-U,Ctrl-A, etc)
  • If you fill in one field and then hit the [P]robe button, it will fill in the other fields if one field is complete.
  • If XDS station data is available then the dialog may be filled in immediately, just hit the [O]k button
  • Ctrl-P and Ctrl-O will work like pressing the [P]robe and [O]k buttons, resp.
  • If you only know part of a channel's name aka 'Disney' try that and [P]robe, it will be completed if possible.
  • [P]robe is global for all the channel's fields, so if conflicting information exists in two of the fields the data for an incorrect channel may be filled in. Clear the incorrect fields with Ctrl-U before probing to avoid this problem.
  • If you mess up, hit "ESCAPE" to exit the channel editing dialog.

An alternative way to handle this, if you already know what channels are valid and know the XMLTV ID, is to use the MythWeb Channel Editor (under the "Settings" Menu in MythWeb). Those using Schedules Direct, can set up browser windows (or tabs if it's easier) can flip back and forth between MythWeb and SD pretty quickly.

Exit LiveTV

  • Exit LiveTV, using "ESCAPE" key
  • Wait 1 minute to be sure the datadirect listings have been updated

Get updated listings

Run mythfilldatabase to get new listings data

Notes

  • It's ok if you run mythfilldatabase after running mythtv-setup, but it won't add listings for the channels since we don't have the xmltvid's for each channel.
  • MythWeb provides an alternate channel editor, better suited for use with mouse and keyboard.