First time Ice-TV user.

[Starionx]

I just want to see if I have the right idea on how ICETV works. Please correct if I am wrong.

1- They create their own 'blurbs' on all the TV shows which then get sent to the BW's EPG guide. If this is the case, then why don't they send all the info to the BW?
e.g. Actors, repeat symbol etc.

2 - All timers created through the Interactive page on their website, get sent to the BW as one off timers as needed
3 - If you want to record a show through Icetv that starts in 5 minutes, it may not be sent in time, and should be done through the BW. Is this correct?
4 - If you have several timers set though Icetv that start/stop at about the same time, and one of those timers has a time change (caused by the station), then Icetv will try to adjust the time for that timer and can cause a timer conflict, which you may not be aware of.
e.g. 2 timers, both start at 8.30pm, finish at 9.30pm - 2 more timers that start at 9.30 pm.
One of the 8.30 shows finish time gets adjusted by the station to finish at 9.40, does Icetv adjust that timer, which then causes a conflict with one of the 9.30 timers?

[madmax]

Re: 1. I thought they did send Repeat flags??
Re: 2. Yes, exactly.
Re: 3. Yes, but it's more than 5 minutes though, more like 45 mins.
Re: 4. No, Ice don't tweak their start/finish times by just a few minutes because of broadcaster overruns, that's what the Wiz's soft-padding is for. Ice's guide data will only change for something major like a complete change of timeslot.

[prl]

Hi, Starionix. Have you looked at the How IceTV Works FAQ?

And to answer the one remaining question:
1. Yes, and they do send some of the information you mention to the Beyonwiz: repeat flag, HD flag, 16:9 flag and rating are all sent. Actor information that's in the program synopsis is sent, as far as I know. The Beyonwiz doesn't support many of the other metadata tags like Actor and Genre that are available for search on IceTV Interactive.

[Starionx]

Re: 1. I thought they did send Repeat flags??

Actually, you are right, but it doesn't show in the Info box, only in the main EPG window.
My bad.

Re: 2. Yes, exactly.

Hmmm, I can see where this can cause problems. If you have 2 timers setup through Icetv starting at the same time on a daily basis, then the BW would not see a timer conflict if you manually added a one off timer (on the BW) for the same time on a future day.
I've also noticed that the Icetv interactive page won't stop you from adding any number of timers for the same time on the same day.

[Starionx]

Hi, Starionix. Have you looked at the How IceTV Works FAQ?

I did actually. I just like to clarify things that are a little murky e.g.

The Basics

...At each update, the Beyonwiz informs the IceTV server about any changes to timers made locally on the PVR, and the server informs the PVR about any changes on the server: new recordings added, recordings deleted, schedule changes, etc. The changes are resolved, and the server's list of recordings is updated,and the PVR's timer list is updated...

As Madmax mentioned, minor schedule changes do not change the Icetv created timers.

[prl]

Hi, Starionix. Have you looked at the How IceTV Works FAQ?

I did actually. I just like to clarify things that are a little murky e.g.

The Basics

...At each update, the Beyonwiz informs the IceTV server about any changes to timers made locally on the PVR, and the server informs the PVR about any changes on the server: new recordings added, recordings deleted, schedule changes, etc. The changes are resolved, and the server's list of recordings is updated,and the PVR's timer list is updated...

As Madmax mentioned, minor schedule changes do not change the Icetv created timers.

Actually, I think that my use is correct: by schedule, I mean when the programs are supposed to show, rather than when the broadcasters playing their silly ratings games actually decide to broadcast them.

However, I probably should have been a bit clearer and written something like "timeslot changes". That's funny. I have.

I don't think that IceTV has anything like the resources to track the actual broadcast times, and any I'm quite skeptical about whether such updates are of much use for timers.

[madmax]

Hmmm, I can see where this can cause problems. If you have 2 timers setup through Icetv starting at the same time on a daily basis, then the BW would not see a timer conflict if you manually added a one off timer (on the BW) for the same time on a future day.

Actually it would, if the 'future day' is 5 days or less from now, because that's how far in advance the Ice timers are sent down. In this case, the Wiz will not let you create a third overlapping timer.

[prl]

...
I've also noticed that the Icetv interactive page won't stop you from adding any number of timers for the same time on the same day.

I don't think IceTV Interactive has a tuner allocation model for any of the PVRs that it supports. It relies on getting an error message from the PVR when it tries to set the timers, which can be (in normal circumstances) up to 30 minutes later. It then flags the timers that weren't set with an error indication. A pretty unhelpful one, but an error indication nonetheless.

It's one of the things that should be done better in IceTV.

[Starionx]

Well, I tried and tried, but I could not get the Icetv timers to work properly. After the initial few timers being sent and setup on the BW, it point blank refused to setup any of the other outstanding timers that were setup in Icetv. Going to the BW's setup page, it was showing the Scheduler Task messages, and they were being processed 'OK', but the timers were not being produced. This was over a 3 hour period.

I've decided to give up on the Timer creation in Icetv, and set them up the BW.

I'm glad I only paid $49 for the yearly subscription.

Meh....

[download]

I'm glad I only paid $49 for the yearly subscription.Meh....

You could try ringing ICE (rather than here). They can look at what's happening real time and probably tell you what's going awry. Its possible your issues are related to your network setup or the BW firmware etc.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[IanSav]

Hi Starionx,

I am not an IceTV user but I believe that IceTV only sends out timer events for things scheduled to appear in the next few days. Event for later dates are sent during later updates.

I don't know for sure but I suspect this is to support PVRs that only allow a very limited number of recording events.

Regards,
Ian.

[prl]

Hi Starionx,

I am not an IceTV user but I believe that IceTV only sends out timer events for things scheduled to appear in the next few days. Event for later dates are sent during later updates.
...

That's correct. It sends timers only for recordings in the next 5 days, and rolls timers in as they move into the 5-day window.

[tonymy01]

And... if you do things like delete a timer that ICE has set from the Wiz GUI, this tells ICE "he doesn't want to record this show it seems for this week" and so ICE removes the timer from the schedule, and so you won't get that timer back until you go to the ICE "my upcoming shows" (or their main EPG) and select "record" again (or perhaps reschedule). Send-all timers from your account settings in ICE also may resend everything.

Once you establish all your channels stored in the Wiz (no duplicates), establish all timers, and aren't making tonnes of changes and expecting them to come through in seconds, it does end up settling down, and I have been setting timers using remote methods on both my 5K and now the Wiz for years and years and rarely, if ever, use manual methods on the PVR itself to set timers, and it simply works and I get all the shows I want to record. With the Wiz I do keep having to check for exclamation marks with 3 way clashes on ICE, and I either choose to ditch a show I may not care to lose to reschedule one I want, or overflow those clashes onto my 5K. But it is so nice showing up at the Wiz filemanager GUI when I get home late from work and see the shows I wanted to record, and once or twice spot one in there that I hadn't realised had restarted a new season or broadcaster moved the timeslot for the show, something you would never be able to achieve with simply setting weekly timers manually.

I reckon it is this semi/fully automated remote timer setting ability is what makes a PVR, and I would never consider a PVR that doesn't support this feature (would be like going back to a VCR!). ICE certainly works well, once you get used to how it operates.

Regards

[Starionx]

I guess you guys are right (obviously it works for others). I'm just one of those people that likes to see things happen 'now'. Searching the EPG and setting up timers manually on the BW is no problem for me (it's almost therapeutic ). I like the 'more informative' blurbs for all the shows that Icetv provides that ends up on the BW EPG (too bad they don't add the actors for movies), so it's not a complete loss.

[download]

Is there any way to set a priority for ICE shows?

I'm trying to record Media Watch. Unfortunately there are two other shows on at that time I record. But its repeated on Wednesday night. Except you can't tell ICE you only want repeats. So you have to set recording all and then the Monday show gets in the way again. I'd try using record only at this time but Media Watch drifts all over the place and is only 15 minutes anyway. So that's out.

Not sure why the "Only record this time" setting must be to the minute? If a show schedule alters by 5 minutes then you miss it.

Does anyone have a suggestion of how to reliably record the repeat airing of Media Watch and not the first one?

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[madmax]

I'm just one of those people that likes to see things happen 'now'.

I learnt the hard way not to fiddle around with IceTV. Just perform an action and then wait a day or so before trying to make any changes. Rapidly adding and deleting timers can cause hissy fits with Ice, and recovering from this state is very difficult.

[Gully]

Does anyone have a suggestion of how to reliably record the repeat airing of Media Watch and not the first one?

The only option I have found is to let it set timers for both and then delete the Monday one via IceTV.

You may have to reschedule any failed timers for Monday but again that can be done via IceTV on those shows.

Far from perfect but it does work and can be done well in advance.

[prl]

Does anyone have a suggestion of how to reliably record the repeat airing of Media Watch and not the first one?

The only option I have found is to let it set timers for both and then delete the Monday one via IceTV.

You may have to reschedule any failed timers for Monday but again that can be done via IceTV on those shows.

Far from perfect but it does work and can be done well in advance.

An alternative, given the stability of the scheduling of Media Watch, is to set up a Weekly timer for the repeat on the Beyonwiz. The only problem is that you have to watch out for the start of the series, but you can flag that if you mark Media Watch as a Favorite in IceTV.

[jillybean]

Does anyone have a suggestion of how to reliably record the repeat airing of Media Watch and not the first one?

Try a keyword record for +title:"Media Watch" repeat:yes

I have a couple of things set this way (set up via the advanced search option) that seem to work ok. The 'repeat:yes' bit must somehow take precedence over the 'first runs only/first runs & repeats' which still shows up if you look at the keyword detail once it is set.

Keyword favourites/records give you a lot more options than series favourites/records.

Jill

[Starionx]

Ok, so I am using Icetv ONLY for the EPG, and I am setting up my timers from the BW EPG page. I just went to the Icetv interactive page, and it is showing a number of shows that are 'single recordings'. These are timers that I set on the BW.
Does this mean that Icetv sees the timers set on the BW, and sets the indicators on the interactive page accordingly? Is there any chance that this could cause some sort of conflict?

[madmax]

Does this mean that Icetv sees the timers set on the BW, and sets the indicators on the interactive page accordingly?

Yes.

Is there any chance that this could cause some sort of conflict?

Of course. You are limited to 2 simultaneous recordings on the Wiz regardless of where the timers were created. As mentioned before, Ice will allow you to create as many timers as you like, and report errors if they fail to be successfully sent to the receiving PVR for any reason, such as a conflict. It's too much to expect Ice to worry about how many tuners your PVR has (e.g. Windows Media Centres can have many tuners). They can only be concerned about whether or not the timer upload was successful.