Recorded programs have date time & channel instead of title

[000]

Hello Forum Folks.

I've come across an issue with my T4, whereby some recordings / programs (say 1-2 per day) are listed in my 'media' folder by their date, time and channel, instead of their name.

E.g.

20151123 1658 - TEN DIGITAL
(bad, instead of saying Ten News), then:
A Current Affair
Arrow
(ACA, and Arrow, are both correct)

It's pretty annoying because of the inconvenience. I.e.:

-You can't tell what the program is without first highlighting it in the 'media' list (to get a content text preview on the right hand side)
-Shows become out of order (unnamed shows are listed at the top, by their date), so it's hard to watch the right episode of a series
-and so on.

I looked into the media folder via an SMB network connection, and found the difference between a "correct" program and a "bad" program... The META file for a show that is bad has a line that reads exactly the same as the bad title. E.g. "20151123 1658 - TEN DIGITAL"

In a known good file for the same sort of program, the text instead reads as "Ten News". (Yes, changing the text in the bad 'meta' file, fixes the problem, and the program title is displayed correctly, and in correct order.

It's probably worth noting that I set all my programs to record either from the EPG (set to IceTV), or via the IceTV iPhone app. Most shows record without any issue, but a random couple appear incorrectly at random intervals. (Rarely the same show incorrectly named, and always different times).

Also, the files when accessed via SMB appear to be titled incorrectly there too. E.g.
20151125 1658 - TEN DIGITAL - Ten News.ts (Good)
vs
20151123 1658 - TEN DIGITAL.ts (BAD)

I started to notice the problem over a month ago. if I recall correctly, probably a few weeks before the ICETV receivership issues.

My questions are... Is anybody else having this same issue. And: any ideas why occasional programs (1-2 per day) are turning out this way (and/or how to fix it!)?

Cheers, D.

[MrQuade]

Someone else has reported this same problem with recordings taking the service name instead of the event name.

I can't find the post right now, buy I remember them saying that they were using ice TV. Are you using the Ice service as well?

[000]

Yes, using IceTV. It's times like this I WISH we could search the forums using keywords like IceTV!..,

Oh wait, you can (using a Google query like):
site:www.beyonwiz.com.au/forum iceTV service name
E.g. https://www.google.com.au/#q=site:www.b ... rvice+name

Thanks -- I'll have a dig around!

[MrQuade]

Ahh I know why. It was on Whirlpool!

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... #r48842597

[prl]

That filename format is what you get if for some reason the event/program name is empty or missing when the recording is being started. That will also be the cause of the name being missing from the .ts.meta file.

There have been some reports of gaps in the IceTV EPG for some locations. Are you seeing that? Can you find there any pattern to which programs are missing their correct names?

We use IceTV fairly heavily to manage our recordings on a T4, and we haven't seen any problems like this (IceTV Canberra guide).

[simoncasey]

Go into your timer list and find the completed timers for the problem recordings. See if there are any issues with those timers. In particular, see if the timers have a blank titles as that would be an obvious cause. I have noticed timers being created with blank titles from IceTV but that has always resolved itself before the actual recording occurred.

[000]

Ah yes, the timer list (past recordings) has gaps for titles for those particular shows. So that would suggest the IceTV EPG (in my case, in the Ice TV EPG for Perth) is having some gaps with it's titles. Hmmm.

So I guess I should contact Ice TV?

Cheers, D.

[prl]

IceTV timers have their name set when IceTV creates the timer (which may happen more than once for a recording if its time is changed). The name will be empty in the timer if the name is empty or missing in the timer data sent from IceTV.

It may be necessary to go back to IceTV support with specific details about a particular timer whose name didn't get set.

[Chuckles]

I had the same problem with IceTV earlier this week.

I noticed some fairly large gaps in the IceTV EPG content for channel 7 (Melbourne) at the time.

Hopefully they will quickly get over these early teething issues following their relaunch...

[000]

Hi folks.

Thanks for all your feedback and suggestions. So far this solution appears to have worked for me:
-Work out which shows appear to become title-less, even if they appear to be random (note these down). To do this check through your PVR's recording list (ones that have a screwed up title) and look through the schedule of up-coming recordings (in my case a Beyonwiz T4), to see what upcoming shows have a blank title. It should be pretty obvious.
-Remove ALL of entries for these offending shows to record (I deleted mine from the IceTV iPhone app)
-Wait for a EPG refresh, or Force an EPG refresh straight away from your PVR
-Check that the upcoming events list has now shrunk to a more concise list, without any title-less shows
-Search (in my case through the iPhone IceTV app) for the recordings/series that you want to record again, and re-schedule them.
-Check that the newly scheduled programs have titles in the recording list (they should)
-If all is good, give yourself a well deserved beverage of choice

So far so good (no issues yet, after a day or so). Hope this helps someone else!
Cheers, D.

[csutak40]

Peter suggested I write here. I am having the same problems along with some other weird stuff. I am now convinced that the problem is on the IceTV end, but it is becoming mission impossible to get help. I raise a ticket, along with screen shots, but (other then being given a ticket number) they either don't get back to me at all, or if they do, all the screen shots are no longer valid, as the dates of the problems have passed.

Doesn't mean the problems are fixed, seem to reappear sooner or later.

One problem is the “Recorded programs have date time & channel instead of title”. Peter suggested I write here, as while looking at another problem (missing recordings) I discovered that the programs that have no name, still show the correct metadata – however (just checked another one) not always.

Peter wrote:
It's odd that they have the name missing in the filenames, but correct in the .meta file. I can't (for the moment) see how that can happen. Could you have a look at your timers file and see whether you have any timers with an empty name. If you do, could you grab a copy of the timers.xml file out of /etc/enigma2 and post it as an attachment on the Beyonwiz forum?
I hope I understood this correctly. The only (not yet recorded) timer with an empty name is for next Monday, which is weird, as I would have thought that there shouldn't be any timers for that yet. Anyway, I am attaching (if I figure out how, never done it here before) the timers.xml file Peter requested as well as some screen shots

Managed the attachments, but they ended up in back to front order, but will leave them as is

[000]

Hi Judy.

Sounds like pretty similar problems to me.

Have you tried this: -Make sure all your channels are up to date (do a channel scan). Then:

• -Pick one item (show) that is playing up on your list
  -Delete it from your schedule (I did this using the IceTV app)
  -Wait an hour or so, for your change to definitely be received by your Bwiz
  -Search for that program again (again, using say the IceTV app)
  -Re-schedule that program to record, using the latest channel
  -Wait for the program to record (twiddle thumbs, have copious amounts of beverages in between etc)
  -Check the media list afterwards, and hopefully that one show is titled correctly.

See how that goes for this one problem/program, then rinse & repeat for other shows.

Hope that helps...
Cheers, D.

PS I found if I edit the meta file, the existing shows would display correctly in the list. That helps catching up on any series, in the correct order (rather than accidentally missing them / watching them out of order).
PS 2. Thanks for the great screen shots.

[csutak40]

That worked, thank you! Being lazy (and because this weekend we'll be moving the T4 to another location and installing the T2, so thought I'd do it then) I didn't do a scan, just deleted the timer for C31 show that was the only problem one ATM and waited until the timers have disappeared, then set up the timer again.

Success!

However there is something weird still happening, which makes no sense to me. That one show (Regional Italian Cuisine on C31) has timers already set for Friday the 22nd and Saturday the 23rd. Those two were there before I deleted them (with their name and time) and reappeared now. I don't understand how that is possible? No other timer is set past 7 days (including the two other shows I record from C31)

[000]

Hi Judy,

Sounds like some progress.

With those last timers; how did you delete them? Using the Bwiz red 'delete' button, or deleting from within IceTV (E.g. IceTV app or similar, then waiting for the Bwiz to update)?

I found that if I delete from the IceTV (e.g. on an iPhone), then wait a while (my refresh is 5 minutes, but I waited an hour by doing other stuff in the meanwhile), and then came back to the Bwiz and refreshed the view, the old timers were gone.

Also just check you don't have any other timers set (that were set outside IceTV)? E.g. Autotimers set on the Bwiz direct. (But they sound like IceTV timers to me).

Hope that helps!
D.

[csutak40]

Hi Judy,

Sounds like some progress.

With those last timers; how did you delete them? Using the Bwiz red 'delete' button, or deleting from within IceTV (E.g. IceTV app or similar, then waiting for the Bwiz to update)?

I found that if I delete from the IceTV (e.g. on an iPhone), then wait a while (my refresh is 5 minutes, but I waited an hour by doing other stuff in the meanwhile), and then came back to the Bwiz and refreshed the view, the old timers were gone.

Also just check you don't have any other timers set (that were set outside IceTV)? E.g. Autotimers set on the Bwiz direct. (But they sound like IceTV timers to me).

Hope that helps!
D.

I deleted them from the IceTV webpage. I don't have any autotimes set on the T4. Used to have one, but Dave got me to delete it, when he tried to troubleshoot a different problem a while back. I haven't been game to experiment with that again
I did wait until they disappeared from the Wiz (they all did, including the two for next week) and then they all came back when I set up the timer again

[000]

Hi Again.

Perhaps, could it be, that the timer (set in the IceTV web page) is too broad, and it's picking up those other shows as well?

Can you try shrinking down the options for that particular recording?
(or grab a screen shot of what is in that IceTV web page for that recording?)

Cheers,
D.

[prl]

Hi Again.

Perhaps, could it be, that the timer (set in the IceTV web page) is too broad, and it's picking up those other shows as well?
...

When the IceTV server deletes a timer on a T series PVR, the only factor in finding the timer to delete is the timer's ice_timer_id, which should be unique. I don't think that the message can be "too broad".

[csutak40]

Hi Again.

Perhaps, could it be, that the timer (set in the IceTV web page) is too broad, and it's picking up those other shows as well?

Can you try shrinking down the options for that particular recording?
(or grab a screen shot of what is in that IceTV web page for that recording?)

Cheers,
D.

AFAIK regardless of where I set the timer, (iPhone or Web) the options are the same. Looking at it, I suppose I could specify the network, it is just automatic with me to set them all like this, simply to avoid shows changing networks. This is very unlikely to happen with C31 shows, I suppose. I just checked the other two programs I record on C31, both are set the same way as this one, so I doubt that is the cause

[000]

Hi Judy,

I don't have that channel (Channel 31), but according to http://www.c31.org.au/program/view/prog ... an-cuisine the schedule is:

-Saturday 8pm
-Repeated Monday 7am, Tuesday 3pm, Friday 11:30am

Looking at your screen shot directly above, you've got a "Frequency" of "Record all" and "Any time". So that could explain the recordings scheduled for Friday, Saturday etc. for C31 - Regional Italian Cuisine.

(That's assuming I've understood the problem right -- please correct me if I'm wrong ).

Theoretically, updating the series recording on the IceTV web page, to select the frequency and/or time, should adjust those extra recordings. (I know it says "First Runs only", but maybe the data isn't right for some of the episodes). Just a theory...

D.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

...
(That's assuming I've understood the problem right -- please correct me if I'm wrong ).

I think you have misunderstood Judy's point.
Today is 12-Jan
Judy has two timers sent from IceTV dated 22-Jan and 23-Jan.
Both timers are dated more than 1 week into the future.
IceTV does not have a viewable EPG extending that far into the future.

[prl]

...
Both timers are dated more than 1 week into the future.
IceTV does not have a viewable EPG extending that far into the future.

But that doesn't necessarily cause problems. I have 3 timers on ABC services, 2 on SBS services and one on an SC Ten service that are set beyond the end of the EPG, on 19 Jan and 20 Jan. They all have timer names. They don't have descriptions, but that's what I'd expect, because the names are not set from the EPG, but the descriptions are.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

...
Both timers are dated more than 1 week into the future.
IceTV does not have a viewable EPG extending that far into the future.

But that doesn't necessarily cause problems. I have 3 timers on ABC services, 2 on SBS services and one on an SC Ten service that are set beyond the end of the EPG, on 19 Jan and 20 Jan. They all have timer names. They don't have descriptions, but that's what I'd expect, because the names are not set from the EPG, but the descriptions are.

Yep, sure - I was explaining to "000" what Judy was questioning:

However there is something weird still happening, which makes no sense to me. That one show (Regional Italian Cuisine on C31) has timers already set for Friday the 22nd and Saturday the 23rd. Those two were there before I deleted them (with their name and time) and reappeared now. I don't understand how that is possible? No other timer is set past 7 days (including the two other shows I record from C31)

I too have IceTV timers beyond the EPG range of my T4.
For timers without names and/or descriptions, I wait until the EPG entries are populated and then perform a GUI restart so that the timer details can be populated. A 'resend all timers' from IceTV will also populate the data - but I'm sure you know these 'work-arounds'.

[csutak40]

...
(That's assuming I've understood the problem right -- please correct me if I'm wrong ).

I think you have misunderstood Judy's point.
Today is 12-Jan
Judy has two timers sent from IceTV dated 22-Jan and 23-Jan.
Both timers are dated more than 1 week into the future.
IceTV does not have a viewable EPG extending that far into the future.

^ That
But other than that, Repeats aren't marked for this show, that is why I get several timers a week. I do understand that part.

[csutak40]

OK, I answered one post, without reading the rest. So, this is "normal" nothing to worry about. Never noticed it before.

Now, I just have to wait and see if I get any more blank timers. Also if any more timers fail to record.

[kruzenvax]

My post is likely to belong to the "captain obvious" category, but I'd like to share my findings summary just in case (as I believe the is a room for improvement):

1) I do get timers with empty titles from time to time.
2) At least at the beginning - when I was monitoring the timer list and IceTV EPG very closely - they all have been caused by the situation where T4 creates a next instance of the timer but IceTV EPG does not have any info in that time slot.
3) Sometimes this happens when this timer gets created way ahead into the future (e.g. all channels for that day are empty, may not be an IceTV problem) or this particular channel has a gap for that time slot (e.g. IceTV problem).
4) In both cases sooner or later IceTV EPG gets updated for that time slot, the issue is that the timer instance does not get updated automatically and stays empty.
5) I have tried various ways of trying to get "empty" timers without deleting them and re-creating back via IceTV. The only thing that seems to be working is GUI restart (I don't take a credit for that, it has been suggested to be on the forum elsewhere). So no IceTV plugin "refresh EPG", not even full restart of T4, just GUI restart.
6) I ended up scheduling GUI restart via sleep timer 3 times per week. Slightly messy (because I believe there is also a sleep timer problem that I reported, when after event does not get executed, so there are 3 entries: wakeup, restart GUI, shutdown) but it does get rid off empty IceTV timers.

Ideally whatever magic happens on GUI restart could be in IceTV plugin?

Thanks and apologies for likely to be well known info.

[prl]

... Ideally whatever magic happens on GUI restart could be in IceTV plugin? ...

Ideally the timers with empty names shouldn't occur at all. My inclination is that this is an IceTV server-side bug.

I've posted some detail on the IceTV forum about how I think the bug works out and how GUI restarts interact with timers with empty names.

[simoncasey]

... Ideally whatever magic happens on GUI restart could be in IceTV plugin? ...

Ideally the timers with empty names shouldn't occur at all. My inclination is that this is an IceTV server-side bug.

I've posted some detail on the IceTV forum about how I think the bug works out and how GUI restarts interact with timers with empty names.

I think there is something else happening to some users. When I asked for info on this previously there were a number of users for whom the restart didn't fix the blank timers. Too many people for it just to be that they haven't restarted enough times.

While I agree that the blank timer appears to be originating from the icetv server, (or maybe the icetv plugin?), it seems strange that it only affects some users, eg csutak40 had the issue with Hard on sbs this morning, whereas I had no issue with it. We are both in the same region so it seems odd that an icetv server problem would affect one person but not another.

I asked a similar question previously on the icetv forum, but is there any reason why the t series would fail to update the blank title after multiple restarts.

[prl]

...
I think there is something else happening to some users. When I asked for info on this previously there were a number of users for whom the restart didn't fix the blank timers. ...

I haven't found anything in the code that would explain why an unnamed timer's name wouldn't get set with two GUI restarts once the EPG entry for the timer was available,

That doesn't mean there isn't one, but I don't see this problem at all, so it's hard to try and trace it through the debug log (and/or by adding stuff to the debug log).

[simoncasey]

...
I think there is something else happening to some users. When I asked for info on this previously there were a number of users for whom the restart didn't fix the blank timers. ...

I haven't found anything in the code that would explain why an unnamed timer's name wouldn't get set with two GUI restarts once the EPG entry for the timer was available,

That doesn't mean there isn't one, but I don't see this problem at all, so it's hard to try and trace it through the debug log (and/or by adding stuff to the debug log).

Is there anything that could lock the timer and prevent it getting modified? It might explain why the title is blank to start with.

I was intrigued by csutak40's comment that when she removed the series recording for Hard, she had a single recording remaining. But that might be due to changes she may have made in trying to fix the problem.

However, it would be good if icetv could make some progress on identifying why the blank titles arrive in the first place, as that would make any other issues largely irrelevant. Eg I have a blank timer for Vera on Sunday night on ABC.
Weirdly enough, the shows that appear in the timer list with blank titles are often the same. Vera is a previous culprit.

[prl]

... Is there anything that could lock the timer and prevent it getting modified? It might explain why the title is blank to start with.

The timer is being created anew both when it is sent from IceTV and when its name is updated from the EPG when a timer with an empty name is read from timers.xml. In the first case, the name is a parameter to the class's object constructor (__init__()). In the second case, the name is updated by the class's object constructor because the name being passed into the constructor is empty, "empty" meaning anything that can be converted to a python False value. That includes values like None and "". I don't know of any locking mechanisms that might be applied to the timer's name.

I was intrigued by csutak40's comment that when she removed the series recording for Hard, she had a single recording remaining. But that might be due to changes she may have made in trying to fix the problem.

That happens for me, too, but I don't have the empty timer names problem. I doubt that it's related to the problem, but I can't rule it out completely.

However, it would be good if icetv could make some progress on identifying why the blank titles arrive in the first place ...

On that, we are in furious agreement

[prl]

Daniel Hall @ IceTV has posted on the IceTV forum that he'll be trying out a fix in the server soon.

Let's hope it sorts the problem, because it's been a curly one.

[kruzenvax]

Great!

Thanks

[Grumpy_Geoff]

Perhaps Daniel's fix has worked as I've not had any timers without names for a few days now.
I still have some without description - I assume those were received beyond the then Tx EPG range.

[csutak40]

Perhaps Daniel's fix has worked as I've not had any timers without names for a few days now.
I still have some without description - I assume those were received beyond the then Tx EPG range.

I was about to partly agree with the above. I haven't seen any timers without names lately. However, I was too busy looking for those, to even take notice of the descriptions, so I had a look. I discovered that I had quite a few without description. I don't think they were received beyond the range - see attached, which is for tomorrow. I checked on the IceTV page, they do have the description for it

However, while checking these, I did find one without date and time. FWIW, it is for C31 again

[prl]

... I discovered that I had quite a few without description. I don't think they were received beyond the range - see attached, which is for tomorrow. I checked on the IceTV page, they do have the description for it
...

The important conditions for a description to remain empty are that the timer was first received when it was beyond the end of the EPG, its time hasn't been updated by IceTV after it fell within the EPG range, and that the UI hasn't been restarted since it moved into the EPG range.

Individual timers re-check the EPG for their description if it's empty when IceTV updates them (e.g. with new time information), and all timers with missing descriptions re-check the EPG for their descriptions whenever the UI restarts (including on a restart from shutdown or a reboot). In some cases, two restarts of the UI may be needed to update all the timer descriptions that can be updated.

[csutak40]

I just got a notification that there is a new post in this thread, but I can't find it. What am I doing wrong?

[Grumpy_Geoff]

I just got a notification that there is a new post in this thread, but I can't find it. What am I doing wrong?

It was deleted SPAM from user "RichardCrall"