TV Guide On Screen - post your info here! [Text View] - Page 4

mallu2u

11-07-05, 09:48 AM

The download schedule is in the TVGOS diagnostics it's in the Section VBI Data- VBIDLSched menu. See attached.

The next scheduled download appears in the Section VBI Data- VBI Info menu under DLTimer. See attached.

kdogg: I tried resetting the TVGOS info as well as looking into the download schedule.

1- Reset did not seem to work as intended. Entering numbers did blank the setting but no setting was changed at all
2- The TV guide scheduled for me shows downloads only 4 times a day for 60 min duration. Around 4 am, 5pm, 10 something and one more.
3- However since the past two days the tv guide has not been downloading at all. Tried everything but same end result
4- I have a Sharp TV, have connected both OTA and Cable Analog to the Analog Input of TV.

Can you suggest something?

mallu2u

11-07-05, 09:55 AM

Just to keep this post going, here's my latest:

Last night the update WORKED SUCCESSFULLY! Today's info was already there, but now it has tomorrow's and Next Sunday's info. Only Thursday also has some data, but the rest of the days are empty. At least it's breathing life.

One thing I thought to change tonight is I noticed my host channel WGBH PBS is downloaded in the channel listings in TVGOS as 97 when in fact it's supposed to be 99 (97 is the TVG scrolling screen). I wonder if TVGOS somehow gets confused with this discrepancy so I edited the channel number to correctly be 99.

Some progress.

And the host channel is imp coz you subscribe to cable?

Shaner1

11-07-05, 10:40 AM

I decided to put my Antenna back on the TV, hoping to use it just for getting the TVGOS listings. I set it up yesterday so hopefully last night it downloaded something... anything... Bueller...?? :)

I can live with it like that because I can hide the antenna in the closet and it still works, though I wish it worked through the cable line. I'm thinking the reason it worked before is because I had the antenna set up and the listings were coming from the OTA signal. Either that or it doesn't work through the cablecard. I should have checked the diag screens back when I was happy with TVGOS and had no problems, but being that there was no problems there was no reason to check! lol

timdf

11-07-05, 12:00 PM

magredc5

11-07-05, 12:32 PM

Hi Guys,
Just installed a Sharp LC-45GD7U + cablecard and the HDTV performance is stunning - now if I could just get the TVGOS to work again.

Before the CC was installed the TV guide used to work fine, but now since the SA CC was installed I get nothing.
The cable is plugged into digital cable and analog cable inputs as before and I get my full set of analog and digital channels.
I've noticed that when I turn the set on in the morning sometimes it's tuned to an unusual channel so I assume the TVGoS is searching for data - but with no luck.

I suspect the cablecard is somehow blocking the TV guide data - but as this info normally comes from an analog channel I'm surprised.

Does anyone have any suggestions ?

Thanks Tim

I have a Cable Card and am having intermittent success so far, but it TVGOS is alive and breathing. I only have my cable connected to one input on the TV, which is used by the cablecard. Not all channels are digital. My TVGOS host channel is an analog PBS channel that the TV channel map (via the cablecard) shows that it is analog. The fact that your TV is tuned to a different channel has been reported here before and sounds like an interaction with the TVGOS application and the TV tuner. The best thing I've found to work on my TV to get the CableCard and TVGOS synched is:

- Reset the cablecard slot (my TV has a power off sequence to do that). Don't remove the CableCard as I've been told that will require you to call the cable company to reset the pairing info. Your TV should have an option to reset the slot to force it to redownload the channel mapping data. If not, try pulling the plug for a few minutes to force a reset, or call Sharp as they're supposed to help with TVGOS issues.

- Reset the TVGOS. Some people have reported that entering 00000 as the zipcode, then NO and NO in the setup will force the app to reset, then run setup again with the correct zip code.

- Verify that your channel map in TVGuide matched the correct channel map. If you make any customization changes to the TVGOS channel display settings, you may have to repeat the above steps.

Not sure this will work completely, but i haven't changed my TVGOS info for over a week and I have a couple of days of data right now.

magredc5

11-07-05, 12:34 PM

And the host channel is imp coz you subscribe to cable?

Host channel is not specific to Cable or OTA. My understanding is what TVGOS uses as the "home" channel to receive it's data over the VBI portion of the channel. It's supposed to be an analog channel, usually PBS.

kdog044

11-07-05, 12:55 PM

hanged at all
2- The TV guide scheduled for me shows downloads only 4 times a day for 60 min duration. Around 4 am, 5pm, 10 something and one more. Are you saying you don't have any downloads listed in the VBIDLSched that are 180 minutes? If that is the case you never will get any listings. The 60 minute downloads are just for updates or changes. Your page should look like the one attached although the times may be different.

kdog044

11-07-05, 01:01 PM

I can live with it like that because I can hide the antenna in the closet and it still works, though I wish it worked through the cable line. I'm thinking the reason it worked before is because I had the antenna set up and the listings were coming from the OTA signal. Either that or it doesn't work through the cablecard. I can say that the TVGOS does work with cable cards as that is how I get my data. If it only works with OTA then my guess is WOW is blocking the VBI data. I have Comcast and I only had a problem when they changed the PBS channel that I was receiving the VBI data on to digital. They added a new analog PBS channel and after multiple attempts I started getting data again. My host channel has not been correct for a while but I continue to receive listings. The only place it is correct is in the "Clock Set Chan" of the Section Other-Clock 2 menu.

kdog044

11-07-05, 01:06 PM

Has anyone besides me had trouble finding out what "channel lineup" to choose in the TVGOS setup? Right now my set shows 22 Comcast lineups to select from (plus several more for other cable providers)TVGOS could tell you if they ever call you back but Comcast will be clueless. I just started with the first choice and looked at what channels showed up. If that didn't look right I went back to the setup and chose the option that the channels weren't correct and chose the next option. You should eventually be able to find a lineup that matches what you have. For me, it was 2751 but I'm sure you have a different lineup in Northville than I do downriver.

kdog044

11-07-05, 01:23 PM

In regards to the download schedule as it relates to those you have DST is looks like the schedule increments in 12 minute intervals until it gets to the hour difference of standard time. For example, during DST the original first download time was at 6:21 GMT which was 2:21 EST. Once we move back to standard time that meant the download was now 1:21 EST. A few days ago the download time changed to 6:33 GMT and now when I checked today it was at 6:45 GMT. My guess is over the next few days it will keep incrementing by 12 minutes until it gets to 7:21 GMT which would put the download back to 2:21 EST. I'll keep checking it every day to see if my theory holds true.My theory appears to be partially correct. Intially the download schedule was incrementing by 12 minutes but now it is only by 6 minutes. I still believe it will stop once it get the complete hour made up for standard time. So far, the first download incremented as follows:

6:21 GMT, 6:33 GMT, 6:45 GMT, 6:51 GMT, 6:57 GMT. My guess is the next change will be 7:03 GMT and I imagine over the next week will get to 7:21 GMT where it will stop until April when DST starts again.

FYI, the three remaining 180 minute download times are also incrementing at the same rate.

magredc5

11-07-05, 01:23 PM

Are you saying you don't have any downloads listed in the VBIDLSched that are 180 minutes? If that is the case you never will get any listings. The 60 minute downloads are just for updates or changes. Your page should look like the one attached although the times may be different.

Kdog:

I have the 3 DLIDs and corresponding schedules, but I them listed 3 times (i.e. the block for 70, 81 and 27 and their 4 download times are repeated 3 times). I posted my schedule info above. Any idea if that's a problem? That could explain why my data is sporadic if it uses an incorrect schedule, although they all have almost the same timing info. Only the second block is a few minutes different.

Here's the attachment again with the screenshots.

kdog044

11-07-05, 01:35 PM

Kdog:

I have the 3 DLIDs and corresponding schedules, but I them listed 3 times (i.e. the block for 70, 81 and 27 and their 4 download times are repeated 3 times). I posted my schedule info above. Any idea if that's a problem? That could explain why my data is sporadic if it uses an incorrect schedule, although they all have almost the same timing info. Only the second block is a few minutes different.

Here's the attachment again with the screenshots.I believe the only reason you would have the schedules repeated is if you are getting (or have programmed) that you have both cable and OTA since they have different data. Is this how yours is setup? If not, you need to go through your TVGOS setup again and make sure you select "NO" for the question "Do you have an antenna connected to your TV?". I can tell by looking at your screenshots that the download is trying to start but never completes successfully. When successful the start and end times will match. See attached. The only ones that ever get a LstSuStrt are the type 70 which are the ones for the listings.

P.S. If you are using a cable card like me you should also answer "NO" to the question as to if you have a cable box connected. You setup should be as follows:

Cable Service Connected? YES
Cable Box Connected? NO
Antenna Connected? NO

magredc5

11-07-05, 01:51 PM

I believe the only reason you would have the schedules repeated is if you are getting (or have programmed) that you have both cable and OTA since they have different data. Is this how yours is setup? If not, you need to go through your TVGOS setup again and make sure you select "NO" for the question "Do you have an antenna connected to your TV?". I can tell by looking at your screenshots that the download is trying to start but never completes successfully. When successful the start and end times will match. See attached. The only ones that ever get a LstSuStrt are the type 70 which are the ones for the listings.

P.S. If you are using a cable card like me you should also answer "NO" to the question as to if you have a cable box connected. You setup should be as follows:

Cable Service Connected? YES
Cable Box Connected? NO
Antenna Connected? NO

Kdog:

Thanks. Yes, I have the setup like you indicated (Cable YES, Cable Box NO, Ant NO). I've never been able to get the LstSUStrt to update. Actually after thinking about the multiple schedules, I wonder if they could be left over from trying different zip codes that are stored in it's memory. In any event, I'll see how it performs this week and then kick it.

I guess I'll try resetting TVGOS using the code "653214741". I assume this pretty much resets the entire application.

John

mallu2u

11-07-05, 02:01 PM

Are you saying you don't have any downloads listed in the VBIDLSched that are 180 minutes? If that is the case you never will get any listings. The 60 minute downloads are just for updates or changes. Your page should look like the one attached although the times may be different.

Yes there are no 180 min listings. Therefore I want to know how to correct it. Although I only want listings for OTA channels, I have combined inputs from both OTA and Dish Satellite into Analog input. For channel settings, I only mention I have Analog air and no cable.

mallu2u

11-07-05, 02:02 PM

Host channel is not specific to Cable or OTA. My understanding is what TVGOS uses as the "home" channel to receive it's data over the VBI portion of the channel. It's supposed to be an analog channel, usually PBS.

Where do I look for the host channel and where do I correct that, if needed

kdog044

11-07-05, 02:02 PM

Kdog:

Thanks. Yes, I have the setup like you indicated (Cable YES, Cable Box NO, Ant NO). I've never been able to get the LstSUStrt to update. Actually after thinking about the multiple schedules, I wonder if they could be left over from trying different zip codes that are stored in it's memory. In any event, I'll see how it performs this week and then kick it.

I guess I'll try resetting TVGOS using the code "653214741". I assume this pretty much resets the entire application.

JohnJohn, I would try the reset as your schedule shouldn't have multiple entries like yours does. Give it a few days and if that doesn't work I would suggest a complete TV reset.

Jim777

11-07-05, 02:25 PM

when I fist got my set about a month ago the TVGOS feature was working perfectly then one day about 2 weeks ago I lost everything, I have tried everything and even reset the set and started the whole tv setup and tvgos setup and nothing, I have cablevision in westchester ny

Do a search for Cablevision on this thread an you will find a long history of problems. There is no agreement between them and Gemstar to transmit data but they apparently do so sporadically. I have Cablevision in LI and I also use an OTA antenna to get the TVGOS data. Sometimes I get it from Cablevision, sometimes OTA. There is no pattern to this and no one seems to be able to find out what they are doing. If you want to use the TVGOS you may have to do the same.

erichbraun

11-07-05, 08:56 PM

I have been reviewing the threads, but am yet to find a solution. I have a Sharp Aquos w/ a Cable card and am using New York City Time Warner cable. I successfully used TV Guide On Screeen for 5 months. About 1 month ago the time started to lag by several hours and then I lost all of the listings within a couple days. I called Sharp to claim my warranty and they sent a technician in, he blamed the Cable Card and I had TW come in and replace it without any success. We tried a reset without success, tried the setup numerous times and all without success. I now have the technician coming back, but doubt he will do anything. What might work? How does TV Guide work? TW says it has nothing to do with the Cable Card since all of the channels are coming in successfully. Should Sharp replace the unit? Is there a trick to resolve this easily?

dsr15

11-07-05, 11:26 PM

I installed the 1.5.2 firmware today. Now we'll see if it makes a difference...

Also, did anyone have any recommendations for HD digital recorder for use with OTA HDTV on my Toshiba 62HM94? I could go Symbio for $200, but might not be worth it unless my TVGOS starts working.

tx
dsr

Bushman4

11-08-05, 12:18 AM

Many companies BOAST about this TVGOs feature on their sets when it has like a
50/50 chance of working. Just doesn't make sense.

magredc5

11-08-05, 09:31 AM

Where do I look for the host channel and where do I correct that, if needed

The Host Channel info can be seen on one of the diagnostic screens of TVGOS. Do a search in this forum for "753159852" (the code to access the diag screens) and you'll see the procedure to pull up this info. You can't change it, but you can see if the correct analog PBS channel is the one that's selected by TVGOS. It should look something like 1:0-99 (The 1 is the input, i.e. antenna 1, the 0 I believe means analog, and 99 is the channel #).

If it's not the correct channel, then try the recommended resets in this thread (reset zipcode, reset TVGOS, reset TV, etc.).

PS. I had another successful download yesterday. The best way to check is to scroll the listings to the last day - if it's populated then you received your download. I also didn't originally have anything for today, but now I do. I still have multiple DL schedules, but I noticed they have different STIDs which may determine which ones are used. I also saw for the first time yesterday an entry in LstSUStr instead of N/A. It's definitely breathing.

Jim777

11-08-05, 11:54 AM

Good news. The full patch 08.06.32 downloaded last night. This was four nights after the pre-patch 08.05.11 downloaded on Thurs night. During that time I lost all my listings and diagnostic information and there were no data downloads. However, as of this morning, my listings have began to populate (Day 1,2,8) and the host channel is OTA WNET. Tonight I'll make some channel edits to see if they will hold. I'll keep everyone posted.

kdog044

11-08-05, 12:31 PM

My guess is the next change will be 7:03 GMT and I imagine over the next week will get to 7:21 GMT where it will stop until April when DST starts again.

FYI, the three remaining 180 minute download times are also incrementing at the same rate.This morning the download changed to 7:03 GMT so it looks like the times are changing as expected. Unfortunately, I will be out of town until Saturday so I won't be able to follow the daily schedule.

mallu2u

11-09-05, 10:12 AM

I believe the only reason you would have the schedules repeated is if you are getting (or have programmed) that you have both cable and OTA since they have different data. Is this how yours is setup? If not, you need to go through your TVGOS setup again and make sure you select "NO" for the question "Do you have an antenna connected to your TV?". I can tell by looking at your screenshots that the download is trying to start but never completes successfully. When successful the start and end times will match. See attached. The only ones that ever get a LstSuStrt are the type 70 which are the ones for the listings.

P.S. If you are using a cable card like me you should also answer "NO" to the question as to if you have a cable box connected. You setup should be as follows:

Cable Service Connected? YES
Cable Box Connected? NO
Antenna Connected? NO

kDog: The above screen in my case has only inactives and blacklisted for all the schedules. But I see the red light (indicatiing its downloading) a lot of times. Not sure whats happening. Obviously the guide isn't working. My analog is set for Air only. Running out of ideas now.

mallu2u

11-09-05, 10:16 AM

The software and patch version for the TVGOS is found on the second line in the Section System-System Info screen. Mine currently has:

08.01.27/08.05.11/00.00.00/FF12233/64/0000
Build time: July 29, 2004

The first six numbers are the software version and the second six is the patch version.

I don't know if this is the same software and patch numbers are used for other manufacturers. Its possible that they could vary.

I shall check the same on my TV but I guess what I saw for my screen was something like:

08.01.15/00.00.00 etc

what does that mean? I shall re-check this at home and report back.

Shaner1

11-09-05, 10:17 AM

I'm starting to get data now with the Antenna put back on. I guess I'll keep it in just to get TVGOS but wish I didn't have to. I'm also bummed out that Toshiba nor TVGOS has contacted me yet on this it's been almost 2 weeks.

Jodeus

11-09-05, 01:20 PM

magredc5

11-10-05, 03:45 PM

Having read through this entire thread and posted once or twice when i was going to setup TVGOS I have to wonder if the new TVs have fixed the problems that most of the users are experiencing.
My Toshiba 42HP95 plasma has had the full guide with no problem after the first 3 days of setting up the guide. I just checked and I have the full 8 days.

-Jody

I think the new sets like mine have updated S/W since I have not seen many of the issues reported like TVGOS resetting, but I did have to wrestle with it to get it to work. As of today, it has been updating every night since the weekend.

Prior to the weekend, it was not consistently updating over the previous 10 days that I have enabled it. I think my inconsistency issues were related to synching up the channel map in the Cable Card and TVGOS. Every time I reset the CableCard slot to address initial setup problems, I then needed to reset TVGOS.

Here are the things I did and the results:

- Reset Cable Card: Power Off TV, unplug, TV, Hit Power Button 2X, Plug in TV, Power Up TV. This strange procedure was apparently provide to Comcast who asked me to do this when I have problems on decoding some channels. Results: Channels all worked propertly, but TVGOS lost it's TIME (reset) and would not update.

- Reset TVGOS Zip Code: Was having intermittent success with downloads (partial for one day, or none). Selected the first zip code in my town and saw immediate downloads the next day, but still not successful every day.

- If I reordered any of my channels in TVGOS under the display settings, it seemed to get out of sync with the TV's channel map so I had to do another reset using the Zip Code. I did not know about the TVGOS reset code "653214741" and haven't tried it yet.

- IMPORTANT: I think this is what has finally made it work consistently in the past 4 days. In TVGOS, check where your Host Channel is defined in the channel listings. My Host Channel is WGBH 99 (analog), but when I looked in the TVGOS listings WGBH was set to Channel 97 (which is the TV Guide scrolling channel). I editted the WGBH entry to correctly tune to 99 instead of 97. My theory is that TVGOS knows that WGBH is the host channel, but had trouble tuning to it consistently since it had it's channel incorrectly defined as 97. After I set it to 99, my LstSUStrt field in the diag screens started showing a valid timestamp instead of N/A.

It still too early to say all the problems are fixed, but it looks good. I do think that some problems are also related to data transmission over the cable network.

John

mallu2u

11-10-05, 05:32 PM

Jim777

11-10-05, 08:47 PM

I shall check the same on my TV but I guess what I saw for my screen was something like:

08.01.15/00.00.00 etc

what does that mean? I shall re-check this at home and report back.

The SW version numbers vary based upon the TV manufacturer. 08.01.15 apparently is for Sharp. 08.01.27 is for Toshiba.

Jodeus

11-10-05, 08:56 PM

A couple of weeks ago when I originally setup my TVGOS I reported that I was missing some HD channels including ESPNHD and INHD2.
Well I'm happy to report that I looked tonight and both of those have appeared in my TVGOS listing!
I know have a full channel listing and very happy with it. Having put the channels in the order that I want, I don't miss 'channel order' at all.

-Jody

Jim777

11-10-05, 10:02 PM

Well so far so good. I have not lost my channel edits after two nightly downloads. We'll see how long it holds. Hopefully it will.

I spoke with TVGOS technical service today and was told that so there have been no reports of problems with the new patch so it will likely be rolled out to the rest of the US and Canada soon. It is only for Toshiba sets, so others will not see any changes.

Displaced Husker

11-10-05, 11:07 PM

I haven't lost my edits in over a week. Something new... It now get ads on the listing screen. I don't have the guts to see if it resets by hitting the guide button while watching SYmbio. Maybe they are getting it.

magredc5

11-10-05, 11:39 PM

magredc5: So you're saying that look at the host channel in the TVGOS service menu and then match the description of the channel with the right host number in the TVGOS listing menu? I think I saw the channel as 97 for me, if my memory is serving me right. I shall look at it and report back.

If you go into your TVGOS diagnostic screens and look at the Host Channel info on you System Settings screen, note the channel. Mine is 1:0-99 which is channel 99. This channel must be an analog channel. To confirm, I went into the TV's setup menu and looked at the channel map, and 99 is the only Analog channel noted, the rest were Digital.

Then check your TVGOS listings and check what that analog channel is defined as in the listings. I know that my channel 99 is WGBH, but when I looked at my TVGOS listings, it was WGBH was set to channel 97. So I went into the TVGOS Setup, went into Change Channel Display. and edit WBGH to tune to 99 instead of 97. According to the manual, the “tune channel” is the channel on which you receive the station. So my assumption is TVGOS may use that to tune to the host channel when the TV is off and it needs to download listing data.

John

timdf

11-11-05, 10:46 AM

my Sharp LC-45GD7U TV guide has been 100%.
That is to say it down loaded the channel line-up that exactly matches that stored by the SA cablecard.
Prior to the reset TVGoS gave me a choice of about 6 lines up - none of which were correct. Now I only have a choice of 'TimeWarner 24' or 'no match' and TimeWarner 24 is bang on correct.
Also noticed the TVGoS user interface on the Sharp is somewhat different to that on my Panasonic DMR-E85H.

Hope this helps someone.

Tim

Jodeus

11-11-05, 02:34 PM

George

What ads have you been getting? I haven't seen anything other than the TV Guide stock ad yet.

-Jody

mallu2u

11-11-05, 04:38 PM

If you go into your TVGOS diagnostic screens and look at the Host Channel info on you System Settings screen, note the channel. Mine is 1:0-99 which is channel 99. This channel must be an analog channel. To confirm, I went into the TV's setup menu and looked at the channel map, and 99 is the only Analog channel noted, the rest were Digital.

Then check your TVGOS listings and check what that analog channel is defined as in the listings. I know that my channel 99 is WGBH, but when I looked at my TVGOS listings, it was WGBH was set to channel 97. So I went into the TVGOS Setup, went into Change Channel Display. and edit WBGH to tune to 99 instead of 97. According to the manual, the “tune channel” is the channel on which you receive the station. So my assumption is TVGOS may use that to tune to the host channel when the TV is off and it needs to download listing data.

John

John: Thanks. I shall try that.

Displaced Husker

11-11-05, 06:55 PM

George

What ads have you been getting? I haven't seen anything other than the TV Guide stock ad yet.

-Jody

I seen three so far (1) a promo for an upcoming show, (2) what the stars are watching, and (3) an ad for four free issues of the new TV Guide

HarleyMyler

11-12-05, 12:33 PM

Just to keep this post going, here's my latest:

Last night the update WORKED SUCCESSFULLY! Today's info was already there, but now it has tomorrow's and Next Sunday's info. Only Thursday also has some data, but the rest of the days are empty. At least it's breathing life.

One thing I thought to change tonight is I noticed my host channel WGBH PBS is downloaded in the channel listings in TVGOS as 97 when in fact it's supposed to be 99 (97 is the TVG scrolling screen). I wonder if TVGOS somehow gets confused with this discrepancy so I edited the channel number to correctly be 99.

Some progress.

Frankly, I can't see why they don't encode the data on the TVGOS channel. Seems like a no-brainer to me--if you are getting it, then you are getting the data.

chrislam

11-13-05, 01:53 PM

TV Guide Problem w/ my Samsung 6168W

I live in the Portland Oregon area. The OTA PBS SD channel (10-2) does not show up in the TV Guide listing. It does show up on "Channel List" of the TV, but not within TV Guide. I have both OTA antenna and basic cable (analog only).

Any idea on solving this problem is highly appreciated.

Daniel Tonks

11-14-05, 01:03 AM

kdog044

11-14-05, 09:27 AM

This morning the download changed to 7:03 GMT so it looks like the times are changing as expected. Unfortunately, I will be out of town until Saturday so I won't be able to follow the daily schedule.I returned from out of town and checked the schedule yesterday. The schedule now correctly reflects the move to standard time and the first download is scheduled for 7:21 GMT. I don't know if it incremented by 6 minutes over 3 days or 12 minutes and 6 minutes over two days since I was gone for four days but the times should remain fixed until DST.

FYI: My host channel is still not correctly identified but I continue to get listings. The VBI channel is correct some of the time but not every day so the TVGOS must still work even when the host channel is not correct in the diagnostics menu.

mlciskey

11-14-05, 12:17 PM

How do you report missing channels to TVGOS? I haven't been able to find an email address for support anywhere.

My guide seems to work fine, but there are several missing OTA and a couple of cable channels missing from the full list. It seems strance since the TV Guide online listings have them.

Thanks,
Mark

chrislam

11-14-05, 01:47 PM

If you have any other PBS SD channel channel available (such as the analog one), just remap it to 10-2. In my area they don't have ANY mappings for the HD channels, so I have to remap the standard off-air version to the HD channel.

Thanks. I tried your suggestion. In the channel editor, I don't know how to manually enter "10-2".

The way I select 10-2 is by entering "10", then press the channel up buttom twice, which goes first to 10-1, then 10-2.

When you re-mapped an HD channel to the SD one, how did you enter the dash ("-") as part of the HD channel number?

Daniel Tonks

11-14-05, 05:34 PM

I guess that depends on how your original device works... on my Sony DHG-HDD500 the "dot" or "dash" is a button on the remote so I just push it. :-)

chrislam

11-14-05, 07:05 PM

I guess that depends on how your original device works... on my Sony DHG-HDD500 the "dot" or "dash" is a button on the remote so I just push it. :-)

It works! I found the dash on the remote, and remapping works as you stated. Thank you. You make my day!

hwedel

11-15-05, 11:26 PM

I Have cablevision of ny with a ids cablecard and my tvguide only loads the station symbols and not the station listings, also the time does not load any suggestions thanks

magredc5

11-16-05, 09:47 AM

I Have cablevision of ny with a ids cablecard and my tvguide only loads the station symbols and not the station listings, also the time does not load any suggestions thanks

If your time hasn't loaded then it's likely not able to find your host channel properly. Try resetting the zip code to another one in your area and let it reset overnight.

Shaner1

11-16-05, 10:27 AM

kdog044

11-16-05, 02:50 PM

This may not help anyone but I'll post it just in case.

I called Toshiba yesterday because I'm having trouble with my CableCard again, they are sending me Seine 1.5.8 to see if that helps. (it also may be the card since it was working fine before, I'm having it replaced on Friday by my cable company) Just thought I'd mention that there is a 1.5.8 firmware available since the last I knew it was at 1.5.2.

I didn't think to ask if any TVGOS fixes were in it so you guys might want to check it out. Actually, there is 1.5.5 out today as I received it from another user. I don't know what happened to 1.5.3 or 1.5.4. Let me know when you get 1.5.8 as I like to keep up to date as well as mantain all the available versions. it would be nice if Toshiba posted them on their support site with information on what issues are addressed with each version.

hwedel

11-16-05, 03:06 PM

Having problems with my tv guide on sharp lc-26d7u can you please email me a contact number for tv guide thanks hwedel

magredc5

11-16-05, 03:28 PM

Having problems with my tv guide on sharp lc-26d7u can you please email me a contact number for tv guide thanks hwedel

You need to call Sharp at 800 237 4277. That's the number that should be in your user manual - it's also on the TVGOS web site.

Shaner1

11-16-05, 06:32 PM

Actually, there is 1.5.5 out today as I received it from another user. I don't know what happened to 1.5.3 or 1.5.4. Let me know when you get 1.5.8 as I like to keep up to date as well as mantain all the available versions. it would be nice if Toshiba posted them on their support site with information on what issues are addressed with each version.

When I get it I'll zip it up and post it here.

HarleyMyler

11-17-05, 03:11 PM

When I get it I'll zip it up and post it here.

Toshiba just told me that they are sending out 1.5.8, but it will take a week (of course!). My concern about downloading, not to state the obvious, is the question of whether or not something will get screwed up. Has anyone done this? I mean, DL'd an update, put it onto a card and had it load to the set? If something goes wrong, can you just put the previous card in and it will straighten itself out? Can you have multiple s/w versions on the same card?

TIA,

Harley

kdog044

11-17-05, 04:36 PM

Toshiba just told me that they are sending out 1.5.8, but it will take a week (of course!). My concern about downloading, not to state the obvious, is the question of whether or not something will get screwed up. Has anyone done this? I mean, DL'd an update, put it onto a card and had it load to the set? If something goes wrong, can you just put the previous card in and it will straighten itself out? Can you have multiple s/w versions on the same card?

TIA,

HarleyHarley,

I have updated mine about five times now and I've never had any adverse affects from the update. I can tell you that you cannot go back to previous versions. The files are typically about 3.5 MB but I don't see any reasons to have multiple versions on the card. You can copy the previous version to your PC if you want to keep the old version and then copy the new one to the card prior to updating. Check your PM for more information.

kdog044

11-17-05, 04:42 PM

When I get it I'll zip it up and post it here.I don't think you can do it because the file size exceeds the allowable limit (500 KB). Unless you have a hosted site or FTP server the best way is to e-mail it to someone. I have copies of all the previous versions including the latest one (1.5.8). If someone has a hosted site I can e-mail them the versions if they want to post them.

Skatter21

11-18-05, 09:31 AM

You need to call Sharp at 800 237 4277. That's the number that should be in your user manual - it's also on the TVGOS web site.
TV Guide - Gemstar Technical Support

800-386-7380
option 2

Jim777

11-18-05, 09:28 PM

Well my edits did not hold with the new patch (08.06.32). I lost them on Monday. I spoke to Gemstar customer service and it turns out that the patch does not fix the problem of losing edits with Toshiba cable card sets after a certain amount of time, or when you exit out of Symbio using TVGOS. Supposedly it fixes losing the edits when you lose power and provides some additional functionality such as being able to make edits by highlighting the channel number in the editor and moving it up or down to re-order its location. The patch is expected to be distributed nationally starting next Monday or Tues. Unfortunately, they will need to develop another patch for the other fixes. That's a bummer.

Jim777

11-18-05, 09:32 PM

I Have cablevision of ny with a ids cablecard and my tvguide only loads the station symbols and not the station listings, also the time does not load any suggestions thanks

See my post #768 in this thread

thyoung47

11-19-05, 08:49 AM

IHA Tosh 57H94 being fed by a Moto 6412 on HDMI and direct cable feed on Ant 1. IHA Moto cable card installed along with a Symbio. I have been running 1.5.1 software which seems to work fine except for the occassional line-up resets and another weird problem. My provider is Insight Comm and our HD channels are in the 7XX range. Channels 764 - 767 have picture & no sound and 768 & 769 have no picture or sound. These channels work fine through the STB/DVR. Tosh indicated to me that they had at least one other customer in my area fed by the same provider & expreiencing a similar/identical problem. Signal strentgh is fine and changing Cable cards had no effect.

Anyway, I received the 1.5.8 update on Thursday and applied it without any problem that afternoon. For some reason, after the power-down reset, my TVGOS had trouble settling on the right VBI channel. After several more reset, it found the correct channel. The 764 - 769 channels now work fine HOWEVER now when I select channel 763 which is the local FOX HD channel, the screen goes blank for 15 - 20 seconds and the cable card resets. Any TVGOS listing data is lost. I will contact Toshiba Support on Monday....

Just wanted everyone to be aware of my problem.... YMMV, based on your model set, cable card and provider...

magredc5

11-19-05, 10:39 AM

HarleyMyler

11-20-05, 03:14 PM

If your time hasn't loaded then it's likely not able to find your host channel properly. Try resetting the zip code to another one in your area and let it reset overnight.

Based on my observation, time setting on a Toshiba should happen quickly (less than 1 hr) and it is not dependent on program data loading schedules. I believe you can use it to verify that a VBI channel has been found. Unless someone else knows otherwise, it appears that time and program data are derived from the same channel. So, once you get time, you should get data (that's what takes a while). You need to be sure not to tell the set that you will set time manually.

mallu2u

11-21-05, 09:59 AM

How does one get to know if the correct host channel is found? Got the guide for two days and now nothing! I have Sharp TV. MY zip code is 20166

Displaced Husker

11-21-05, 02:58 PM

How does one get to know if the correct host channel is found? Got the guide for two days and now nothing! I have Sharp TV. MY zip code is 20166

Did your cable system go all digital? Mine did a couple months ago. TVGOS provides downloads via an analog PBS station. I had to go into the channel editor and change my PBS from of the digital station it was set on, to a new analog PBS station they put on the system.

Mine has run great since.

mallu2u

11-21-05, 04:11 PM

magredc5

11-21-05, 04:28 PM

I have OTA only. I checked PBS on antennaweb for 20166 and I see both channels 26 and 62 but I only get channel 62.1 (digital). In that case, as long as I see channel 62 as my host channel, then I shall get the guide, right? Or having either 26 or 62 as host channel shall work?
Reading again, I should manually edit the channel listing for PBS as 26 or 62 and thats it, right?

No, TVGOS only works today with analog channels and transmits the data over the VBI area of that channel. Digital channels are not yet supported, but supposedly the technology is being developed and will hopefully be available next year.

On cable, the cable co. will set up an analog PBS channel in the channel lineup and transmit TVGOS on that channel.

mallu2u

11-21-05, 06:27 PM

saw the guide. PBS correctly appears as channel 26 but is switched off since I did not want analog channels..only digital channels. But this should not prevent the guide to appear, right? also, I diabled 62.1 for PBS..just for test and kept only 26.1 as PBS. I switched 'on' analog PBS ..just for kicks. lets see if the host channel changes from 62 to 26.

Displaced Husker

11-21-05, 06:46 PM

maddogFool

11-22-05, 10:28 AM

Based on my observation, time setting on a Toshiba should happen quickly (less than 1 hr) and it is not dependent on program data loading schedules. I believe you can use it to verify that a VBI channel has been found. Unless someone else knows otherwise, it appears that time and program data are derived from the same channel. So, once you get time, you should get data (that's what takes a while). You need to be sure not to tell the set that you will set time manually.
Another data point, regarding upgrading to Toshiba Seine 1.5.8 (courtesy of kdog44). I upgraded successfully (last night during MNF), with CableCard continuing to function and my TVGuide data and settings retained. However, the time in the guide screen never resynced (remained "--:--"), although my OSD time was correct, and channel call sign labels displayed. I checked it this morning and the time remained unset.

Having read a previous post about this situation, I did a hard reset of the TV, twice, with no luck obtaining time after several minutes. In my experience, it is obtained pretty quickly. So now the OSD time is off too (naturally). And of course, all the guide/channel info is gone, although it retained my ZIP code settings, so I'm even worse off, because I can't edit the VBI channel in the guide. I've got Comcast Motorola/Cablecard, with digital simulcast but my analog PBS station (12) is assigned to 97, according to the channel setup menu. Checking in the TVGuide service menu, no host channel as been identified. Maybe I should have done the TVGOS reset (653214741) instead of the hard reset, but I didn't have that info handy and was looking for instant gratification. My bad.

From everything I know, if you don't get the time sync'ed, it means you haven't identified the VBI host channel, and you'll never get any further, which is why I attempted the reset. Maybe I need to do it a couple more times, in combination with the TVG reset. If it hasn't found it tonight, I guess I'll split the coax into ANT2 and redo the TVGuide setup and hope it finds the host channel there.

The moral of the story -- be cautions when upgrading firmware..

kdog044

11-22-05, 11:10 AM

Another data point, regarding upgrading to Toshiba Seine 1.5.8 (courtesy of kdog44). I upgraded successfully (last night during MNF), with CableCard continuing to function and my TVGuide data and settings retained. However, the time in the guide screen never resynced (remained "--:--"), although my OSD time was correct, and channel call sign labels displayed. I checked it this morning and the time remained unsetThis occurs each time you update firmware. My TV finds the date and time correctly but since Comcast changed the usual analog PBS channel (channel 6) to digital it has a hard time finding the new host channel (new analog PBS channel 97). I have disabled the channel 6 in the Toshiba add/delete channel option but the host channel never is correct. The weird thing is I still get listings. Today, however, I lost all listings and it looks like the TV is trying to get the new patch from TVGOS as my patch is listed as 08.05.11 and the set of numbers beneath the patch revision are all scrambled. I am going to leave the TV off for a few hours to see if it ever gets the complete patch. I would take a picture of the menu but my digital camera is broken (thanks to my daughter).

Jim777

11-22-05, 12:07 PM

I also upgraded to the Seine 1.5.8 on Saturday and am now having problems getting downloads. When I initially upgraded everything seemed to be fine. My TVGOS data and patch were retained and the problem I was having recording with my Symbio was fixed. However, when I turned the TV on several hours later all my TVGOS data and along with the patch was lost. The next day Sunday there was no change. I did not get a clock set nor any data. I did a TVGOS reset Sunday morning to see if that would change anything. It hasn't. It seems that it is searching for a VBI channel with data however its only doing it on the cable input and not the OTA input where I get my analog PBS data. This morning I did a factory reset of the TV to see if that will help. In the past that has done the trick so I will keep my fingers crossed.

maddogFool

11-22-05, 01:02 PM

This occurs each time you update firmware. My TV finds the date and time correctly but since Comcast changed the usual analog PBS channel (channel 6) to digital it has a hard time finding the new host channel (new analog PBS channel 97). I have disabled the channel 6 in the Toshiba add/delete channel option but the host channel never is correct. The weird thing is I still get listings. Today, however, I lost all listings and it looks like the TV is trying to get the new patch from TVGOS as my patch is listed as 08.05.11 and the set of numbers beneath the patch revision are all scrambled. I am going to leave the TV off for a few hours to see if it ever gets the complete patch. I would take a picture of the menu but my digital camera is broken (thanks to my daughter).
I guess I'm confusing the issue, thinking the date/time acquisition is directly related to host channel. I think I understand you to say they're not necessarily linked, at least as far as the service menu reporting the channel.

As I've described, my TV has a much more fundamental problem at the moment -- failure to obtain current date/time, which I think is the first thing that must happen before it can acquire any TVG info. I just hope I haven't reset myself into a chicken/egg situation, where I need to have my Seine 1.5.8 patched before it can acquire data, but since I did a reset, it's unable to find a TVG channel. If nothing else works, I'll try the ANT2 route. Or I'll take out the cable card to see if it can find it, then re-insert. I'll see what it's like tonight, after 12 hours.

I'm posting in the hope that it will be of help someone else in a similar situation.

maddogFool

11-22-05, 01:05 PM

a.b.christie

11-22-05, 03:06 PM

I've been gone 3 the last 5 months I still have sysem 1.5.0. The Symbio is basicly useless. Has anyone found that the newer software versions help with symbio recording?

kdog044

11-22-05, 03:34 PM

I just hope I haven't reset myself into a chicken/egg situation, where I need to have my Seine 1.5.8 patched before it can acquire data, but since I did a reset, it's unable to find a TVG channel. If nothing else works, I'll try the ANT2 route. Or I'll take out the cable card to see if it can find it, then re-insert. I'll see what it's like tonight, after 12 hours.

I'm posting in the hope that it will be of help someone else in a similar situation.The new firmware does work as I have been able to get the date and time as well as the listings (I didn't do a complete TV reset). There is a menu in TVGOS related to the clock and this channel is where it gets the data for the date and time. It's called Section Other-Clock 2 and the entry is Clock Set Chan. This should be the same as the VBI channel. Mine normally has been successful in using channel 97 for this even though the host channel is identified incorrectly. The new TVGOS patch seems to have wiped out all the listings and now all the channels are turned off with the exception of the PBS channel I changed. The complete patch still hasn't downloaded so if some of you are having problems you may want to check the page which shows the patches and see if it is the old 08.06.07 version or you are like me and getting the new pre-patch 08.05.11. I don't think that things will get corrected until the complete patch loads. Under the build time normally there isn't any data but now I have the following" P:81F00000,4452,328018/0,-1". Also, the first line whicih shows the ID is different "ID:81873-202H6T8-HV50T/000039100049560D". Only the first part after the / is the same and all the other numbers are different.

mallu2u

11-22-05, 04:19 PM

These above patches being talked about are from TVGOS or Toshiba? Just curious..so that I can check my TVGOS as well.

kdog044

11-22-05, 07:25 PM

These above patches being talked about are from TVGOS or Toshiba? Just curious..so that I can check my TVGOS as well.TVGOS

Jim777

11-22-05, 08:49 PM

Jim777

11-22-05, 08:54 PM

These above patches being talked about are from TVGOS or Toshiba? Just curious..so that I can check my TVGOS as well.

Although the patches referred to are for TVGOS they relate to Toshiba sets only. Sharp and other manufacturers that use TVGOS have different software version and patch numbers.

maddogFool

11-22-05, 09:59 PM

Good news when I got home. Although I still don't have a time or clock set, the pre-patch did download (08.05.11). I also have the info under the build time of: P:81F00000,4452,328018/0,-1. Numbers on the ID line are "8T37V-30778T2-XV509/000039100049489E". 380 Channels have also downloaded all in the off position. Last time it took four days for the full patch 08.06.32. Hopefully it will be quicker this time.

I think I'm seeing similar progress, but not as far along as Jim777 and kdog44. No time or clock set, but I've got the P:81F00000,4452,328018/0,-1, with a different ID: "2V375-24V4XTV-H4508/000039100049305F". Patches showing are 08.01.27/08.05.11. Not sure what that all means. I can only assume that patch downloads are ongoing, and maybe all will be right, clock and otherwise, when it completes.

I guess I'll forget about doing resets for now. Pulling out my cable card made no difference in getting the time to sync. No valid clock channel is showing up for me in clock2 screen regardless.

kdog044

11-23-05, 09:50 AM

FYI,

I confirmed with Gemstar that the patches download are the type 81 so you need to make sure your set is off for one of three download times listed for that type. For me the times are 12:41 AM EST, 1:11 PM EST, and 11:01 PM EST. The GMT times are 05:41, 18:11, and 04:01.

dsr15

11-23-05, 04:46 PM

Still trying to get a listing on my 62HM94 (ota). I now have the 1.5.5 firmware.

Here's my conversation with Cheryl at TVGOS, her text is red, my answers are black. She's thinking my connection to my PBS channel 6 isn't strong enough to get the listings. It's a bit fuzzy but not awful. She had me check the close captioning on that station, and it did show off characters here and there, though who's to say if that's from bad reception or perhaps the close caption text wasn't very good from the source.

If anyone else has input/suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

dsr

Cheryl wrote:

Is there anything you can do to get the reception better on channel 6? According to the data we have, you are only 8 miles from the station, which should give you great reception. Do you have mountains in the way?

My antenna is a UHF antenna, that's why the VHF channel 6 doesn't come in great. I'll fiddle with it and see if I can improve it. I could possibly setup a VHF antenna on my TV's 2nd antenna input, but I don't know if the TV would be smart enough to grab TVGOS info from antenna 2 and apply it to antenna 1.

The type c packet error rate is too high for the Guide to setup. Try leaving the TV tuned to channel 6 when it is off. Sometimes doing this helps.

I tried this and it didn't help.

Your original problem was also a high error rate, there was a problem with the old firmware in the Toshiba TVs causing this high error rate. That problem should have been fixed by your firmware upgrade to 1.5.2. We were also having problems with Comcast in your area at the time. When you had cable, did you ever see a listing of channels, but "no listings" in all time slots or did it always say "No Data for the Screen"? Comcast has made a change, and if you were seeing a positive result of that change, you would have seen the channels listed, but "no listings". This is just a curiosity question on my part, I'm not expecting you to go back to cable.

I never got any channel listings with Comcast cable. The only thing I ever got was the time being updated. I had cable until about July of this year. I was then away for a period of time, until October of this year when I moved to antenna.

I will ask our operations team to look into KRMA to see if there is a possible problem with the data that would cause the high error rate. I'll let you know what they find. I probably won't have any update until next week.

Thanks,
Cheryl

Jim777

11-23-05, 08:41 PM

Came home 7:45 and had no clock set and no additional activity reflected since the loading of the pre-patch some time after my factory reset yesterday morning. So I went into my channel editor and turned on WNET OTA (My PBS analog station). Voila! After just a few minutes I got a clock set and the time is now showing. So hopefully if the full patch is downloaded per the type 81 schedule, next one 11:01 PM tonight, I should have it then. I'll keep everyone posted.

Jim777

11-23-05, 08:55 PM

cmlda

11-24-05, 08:10 AM

Sounds like my situation, especially the clock set failure. I've only done the factory reset, 3 times within a couple of minutes, never the TVGOS reset. Wonder if this means we'll need a 1.5.9.
How long have you had your set? I've been struggling w/my 46HM94 since i bought it in April. I live in Mont. county. It sounds like we have identical set-ups....Comcast, cablecard, channel 12 and so on. So far I've upgraded software at least 4 times...I've lost count! My TVGOS worked intermitently from April to Oct. For three weeks in Oct, it worked flawlessly. I came this close to ordering a Symbio recorder, as it is totally dependent on the TVGOS. Near the end of Oct. my guide stopped working and hasn't worked at all since then. Early this month I recieved 1.5.8 in my mailbox. I installed it to no avail. I've spoken to Toshiba...I'm getting to know them well...I was told that they were expecting a cure-all software version on the 21st (three days ago) and that they were VERY CONFIDENT that all TVGOS issues would be solved. About a week and a half ago, I got a call from a woman named Lydia from Toshiba. She had me going through the various diagnostics screens and recorded some info that she said she was going to forward to TVGOS. She also had me enter some kind of reset code and told me to unplug the set to reset it. All of this led to me getting my clock back and that's it!! I'm just hoping that this "new" software will indeed be the answer....

Jim777

11-24-05, 11:05 AM

kdog044

11-24-05, 11:11 AM

I made sure my set was off for the type 81 download that occured at 1:11 PM EST yesterday and left it off for the type 70 as well. I checked back around 5:00 PM EST and I now have the 08.06.32 patch although the string of numbers below the Build Time are still there. As of this morning I started getting listings again so we'll see how long it continues. According to Cheryl at Gemstar, if the TV doesn't lock onto the host channel you may get listings for a while but it will eventually reset and try to find it again. I can't seem to get the host channel consistently since Comcast changed the original channel to digital and added the new analog one. Supposedly TVGOS is working on getting the new channel added to the lineup which may help in the future. We shall see.

kdog044

11-24-05, 11:14 AM

Last night the 08.06.32 full patch downloaded along with a handful of listings. So it looks like we're back in business. Host channel is still blank however that should resolve over the next few nights. Under build time I now have the following code: P:81F00000,81311,6244737/0,-1I just realized we have the same DVD player. Did yours ever get the "tray lock" that plagued early versions? I had to send mine for repair and they updated the firmware to 2.0.1 and it's been fine ever since. I am pleased with the PQ of the player.

Jim777

11-24-05, 01:33 PM

I just realized we have the same DVD player. Did yours ever get the "tray lock" that plagued early versions? I had to send mine for repair and they updated the firmware to 2.0.1 and it's been fine ever since. I am pleased with the PQ of the player.

No fortunately I never had that problem. I do agree on the PQ. I went through 4 others before the Sony. I tried a Toshiba upscaler (don't have the model number), the Samsung DVD 841, Toshiba SD V592 combo, and finally the Harmon Kardon DVD 22. I compared them side by side and found the Harmon Kardon had the best PQ of the lot. However, the HK did not have a good PQ for my home made vacation DVD's which made me look into the Sony. I found the Sony was excellent in everything and that's what I eventually wound up with.

magredc5

11-25-05, 12:51 PM

Here's an interesting update.

Yesterday I had to reset my cable card - this is the second time in a month that the card seems to lose it's decoding on some HD channels (major block errors on the video) that then confuses the tuner across other channels. A reset requires me to pull the power and repower (reboot) the TV. That fixes the decoding issue, but the power cycle usually kills the TVGOS.

Well it didn't. After the power cycle the clock in TVGOS was --:-- and all previous listing data was still there. After about 30 minutes, I turned the TV off for about 20 minutes, and when powered up the clock was correctly set, and the listings were there. I noticed that some listings for the last day (next Thurs) were showing some NO LISTING or NO TITLE, but most of it was still there. I checked the diagnostics screens and it looked like it was still set to download during the next cycles.

This morning, the exisiting data was still there and the new data for the last day updated. The Thurs data still showed some lost info but that won't likely be refreshed until next Tues morning.

So it looks like my set retains data over a power cycle, and continues to download without a complete TVGOS reset. I'm posting this because I believe this is different from what others have experienced or seen.

I still believe the fix for me was to ensure my host channel was correctly enabled and defined in TVGOS with the correct channel number.

kdog044

11-25-05, 05:56 PM

I still believe the fix for me was to ensure my host channel was correctly enabled and defined in TVGOS with the correct channel number.I don't know about that as my host channel still isn't correct yet I continue to get listings. I did have more success when I disabled the old PBS channel that Comcast changed in the add/delete channel menu of the TV but TVGOS incorrectly assigns channel 3 as the host channel and it's not even a PBS channel but WB? :confused:

wbertram

11-25-05, 08:48 PM

I don't know about that as my host channel still isn't correct yet I continue to get listings. I did have more success when I disabled the old PBS channel that Comcast changed in the add/delete channel menu of the TV but TVGOS incorrectly assigns channel 3 as the host channel and it's not even a PBS channel but WB? :confused:

It's not clear what the Host and SBI channels listed on the TVGOS diagnostic screens actually mean! My present setup uses an OTA antenna and a Cable input. The TVGOS diagnostic screens display 0:0-5 as the Host and SBI channels.

I do not receive any station on OTA channel 5, and Cable channel 5 is a FOX station in a neighboring city. So it is unlikely that I receive the TVGOS data on either the OTA or Cable channels 5. The local PBS station is OTA channel 39 or Cable channel 8. So why does TVGOS list 0:0-5 as the Host/SBI channel?

kdog044

11-26-05, 11:01 AM

I do not receive any station on OTA channel 5, and Cable channel 5 is a FOX station in a neighboring city. So it is unlikely that I receive the TVGOS data on either the OTA or Cable channels 5. The local PBS station is OTA channel 39 or Cable channel 8. So why does TVGOS list 0:0-5 as the Host/SBI channel? I assume you mean VBI and not SBI channel but it sounds like you aren't correctly finding the host channel. Are you getting listings or is the time and date correct? If so, check the "Section Other-Clocks 2" menu and see what the Clock Set Chan is. This is the only place right now where the correct PBS channel is identified on my set.

magredc5

11-26-05, 11:08 AM

It's not clear what the Host and SBI channels listed on the TVGOS diagnostic screens actually mean! My present setup uses an OTA antenna and a Cable input. The TVGOS diagnostic screens display 0:0-5 as the Host and SBI channels.

I do not receive any station on OTA channel 5, and Cable channel 5 is a FOX station in a neighboring city. So it is unlikely that I receive the TVGOS data on either the OTA or Cable channels 5. The local PBS station is OTA channel 39 or Cable channel 8. So why does TVGOS list 0:0-5 as the Host/SBI channel?

My analog PBS channel is 99 (the digital cable version is channel 2). My Host channel in TVGOS System-Statistics is defined as 1:0-99. Same as Clock Set channel on Other-Clocks 2 page.

When I was previously having problems, I noticed that my PBS channel was incorrectly defined as channel 97 (right station call letters, wrong channel). I went into TVGOS setup and changed the channel number from 97 to 99. Since then it's worked fine and it's the only thing I did that seems to have made everything work perfectly for over a month after several weeks of struggling.

magredc5

11-26-05, 11:13 AM

I don't know about that as my host channel still isn't correct yet I continue to get listings. I did have more success when I disabled the old PBS channel that Comcast changed in the add/delete channel menu of the TV but TVGOS incorrectly assigns channel 3 as the host channel and it's not even a PBS channel but WB? :confused:

By disabling the channel you may be forcing TVGOS to go searching for the host channel which may or may not be successful every time (just a theory).

Rather than disabling it, if you enable it but set the channel number to correspond to the analog PBS channel, that may work. The way I verified that what the analog channel is was by going into the TV's channel map (not TVGOS, but the TV itself) and it lists all channels that you can enable/disable as well as identify which ones are analog or digital. Since I'm on a cable card and Comcast has converted almost all stations to digital transmission, almost all the channels in the channel map were identified as DIGITAL except for a small number. I noticed 99 was one of them, and then noticed that TVGOS thought it on 97, so the change in TVGOS to match the TV seemed to work.

kdog044

11-26-05, 11:50 AM

By disabling the channel you may be forcing TVGOS to go searching for the host channel which may or may not be successful every time (just a theory).

Rather than disabling it, if you enable it but set the channel number to correspond to the analog PBS channel, that may work.Nice theory but until I disabled the old PBS channel I couldn't even get guide data which is what you need before you even get the channel lineup to change channel numbers. I do also modify the old PBS channel to the new channel number once I have the lineup but once the host channel is identified (correctly or incorrectly) it will not search out a new host channel unless you change the area code or do a TVGOS reset. I am going to try and disable the WB channel in the TV's add/delete channel menu and then change the area code to see what new host channel it finds.

kdog044

11-26-05, 01:34 PM

I am going to try and disable the WB channel in the TV's add/delete channel menu and then change the area code to see what new host channel it finds.Okay, I tried turning off channel 3 and changing the area code and all it did was move up one channel and now the host channel says channel 4. :mad: For my next test I will turn off all the channels below 97 (the correct analog PBS channel) and change the zip code to wipe out the host channel and see what it finds next.

Jim777

11-26-05, 02:30 PM

For whatever its worth this is what I know about the Host/VBI channel workings and it is by no means complete:

1) The Host channel is the main channel providing the TVGOS data. When first set up the TV will search first on the Cable source for a channel sending data and if it doesn't find any it will search OTA if there is an OTA connection.
2) Although PBS stations are the primary data sources, TVGOS has used non-PBS broadcasters in the past and has explored expanding them. I know they were contemplating using FOX in the New York area but I don't think anything became of it.
3) Even after locking onto a Host channel the TV will continue to search for other channels that may be sending data. Hence when you turn on the TV and check the diagnostic screen which shows the VBI channel, that is the last channel that it looked at for data.
4) The clock set channel listed in the diagnostic screens it the last channel that data was received. Every time the TV "wakes up" to look for data and finds something it will obtain a time aka clock set. This is true whether or not the download was successful or not.
5) In my case the host channel has been OTA WNET whereas my clock sets have been Cable WNET. I think this is because the OTA is consistent at sending data, but the Cable source is sporadic hence the system chooses the OTA as Host. However, because the cable source is a better signal it will favor that when it is available.
6) There is a TV Guide Station that also is used for data transmission. It is identified by the TV Guide logo in the channel editor. There had been some kind of conflict earlier in the year on the Time warner system in NY between this data source and the PBS one that caused listings to dump, but I was told that this was corrected.
7) In the down load schedule the data source for the TV Guide channel is "4505", whereas WNET in my area is "3316". Hence I have 2 sets of identical schedules one for each. However I have only gotten data from the one identified as 3316 , never from 4505.

I have been trying to find out if there is any way to tell the TV to lock on to a particular Host channel however the TVGOS technical service area has not gotten back to me on this. My guess is that there is a way to do this however they are reluctant to give this information out as it may screw something up if the host channel is not correct. If I find anything else out I'll let everyone know.

kdog044

11-26-05, 03:59 PM

I have been trying to find out if there is any way to tell the TV to lock on to a particular Host channel however the TVGOS technical service area has not gotten back to me on this. My guess is that there is a way to do this however they are reluctant to give this information out as it may screw something up if the host channel is not correct. If I find anything else out I'll let everyone know.I doubt if it is possible as they wouldn't have use go through the trouble of changing the zip codes to have it try and find the right one when it is incorrect. I am testing my theory of only making the channel I want to be listed in the add/delete channel menu for the TV to see if I can get it to find the correct one. The good thing about the host channel is once it is correct it won't look for another one unless you update the firmware, reset the TVGOS, or change the zip code.

magredc5

11-26-05, 05:00 PM

Interesting. Here's some comparitive info FWIW:

2) Although PBS stations are the primary data sources, TVGOS has used non-PBS broadcasters in the past and has explored expanding them. I know they were contemplating using FOX in the New York area but I don't think anything became of it.

My host channel is always 1:0-99 (PBS) but I will either see that OR 1:0-12 for my VBI channel. Channel 12 is FOX.

7) In the down load schedule the data source for the TV Guide channel is "4505", whereas WNET in my area is "3316". Hence I have 2 sets of identical schedules one for each. However I have only gotten data from the one identified as 3316 , never from 4505.

I had 3 sets download schedule data and once it started working only the 3rd schedule was the one it gets the main data from, but occassionally it shows an attempt on one of the other 2 schedules for the non-main data. In the past week, a 4th schedule data set populated.

wbertram

11-26-05, 10:20 PM

I assume you mean VBI and not SBI channel but it sounds like you aren't correctly finding the host channel. Are you getting listings or is the time and date correct? If so, check the "Section Other-Clocks 2" menu and see what the Clock Set Chan is. This is the only place right now where the correct PBS channel is identified on my set.

Everything is working fine! Time, Date, and Listings are all fine.

whjeffs

11-27-05, 12:16 AM

spiff72

11-27-05, 12:17 AM

Forgive me if this has been asked, but are there going to be problems when the dates of the daylight savings time changes? I don't think that this is until 2007, but with a device like the Sony DHG-HDD250 HD recorder (that provides no way to manually set the time), will we be SOL? I see that there is an item in the TVGOS diagnostics that shows the date of the next time change, but is this hard coded? Or is it a variable date that can be sent like the guide data?

EDIT: From 1986 to 2006 this has been the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, but starting in 2007, it will be observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, adding about a month to daylight saving time.

Thanks!

magredc5

11-27-05, 10:47 AM

kdog044

11-27-05, 11:16 AM

http://www.angelfire.com/md/jeffrichards/Toshiba.html

I made this quick web page to keep the latest firmware available for all to download.

I should mention that since I installed this 1.5.8 firmware my TVGOS has not yet found the correct host channel again so right now I have no listings.

JeffJeff, I thought my TV was incorrectly identifying channel 3 (WB) as the host channel but I was getting listings and schedule information. I turned off all the channels before channel 97(PBS) and changed the zip code to reset the host channel and now I don't get anything so I'm wondering if there is data on one of the other channels besides 97. I turned them all back on with the exception of channel 6 (old VBI channel that was changed to digital) and will report back on what happens.

FYI, if you are having a problem with your set incorrectly identifying the host channel it does appear that what channels you have turned off or on in the TV add/delete channel menu affect what the TVGOS looks at so you can turn off a channel and reset your zip code and it shouldn't choose that channel.

whjeffs

11-27-05, 07:51 PM

Jeff, I thought my TV was incorrectly identifying channel 3 (WB) as the host channel but I was getting listings and schedule information. I turned off all the channels before channel 97(PBS) and changed the zip code to reset the host channel and now I don't get anything so I'm wondering if there is data on one of the other channels besides 97. I turned them all back on with the exception of channel 6 (old VBI channel that was changed to digital) and will report back on what happens.

FYI, if you are having a problem with your set incorrectly identifying the host channel it does appear that what channels you have turned off or on in the TV add/delete channel menu affect what the TVGOS looks at so you can turn off a channel and reset your zip code and it shouldn't choose that channel.

I tried that so I'll see what happens over the next couple days. Host channel is still blank. The VBI channel keeps changing every day and it hasn't found the correct channel yet. I'll just keep deleting all the incorrect ones until it hits my PBS station. I did notice I have the 08.06.32 patch now. Maybe that's why I haven't received any channel lineups or listings yet because it had to download that first?

Daniel Tonks

11-28-05, 01:47 AM

On my TVGOS device, at least, I always found that the VBI channel merely displayed the last channel I was watching before entering setup.

Also, something I'm wondering if other TVGOS devices have access to, on the DHG-HDD500 on the main hidden system menu (not the TVGOS one) there's an option to run a "G* Factory Test" which goes to a special TVGOS screen that runs a 30 second test that, among other things, determines for sure whether the last viewed channel is actually broadcasting valid TVGOS data or not.

Displaced Husker

11-28-05, 06:18 PM

TVGOS worked fine for me until I came home from a Thanksgiving trip. Now I get nothing. Gemstar is checking into it. It is not showing a broadcast signal.

kdog044

11-28-05, 06:30 PM

Well my experiment to turn off all the channels except what is supposed to be the correct host channel failed miserably. The TV would never find a host channel and I never even got the channel list, much less the guide data. I ended up doing a TVGOS reset and turned on all the channels and the TV locked back in channel 3 but I am getting the channel list and guide data. I guess I'll let it think that channel 3 is correct as long as I get the data every day. Go figure. :confused:

maddogFool

11-29-05, 10:02 AM

I guess I'll forget about doing resets for now. Pulling out my cable card made no difference in getting the time to sync. No valid clock channel is showing up for me in clock2 screen regardless.
After 3 days of no progress at all, the VBI channel never moved off 1:0-0, no time set (with the clock channel also stuck at 1:0-0), I decided to try something else. I had set up TVGOS with only ANT1 defined for cable (with CableCard, hereafter "CC"), and tried changing ZIP codes. I had previously tried removing the CC with no improvement. I was stuck on the pre-patch 08.05.11, never getting 08.06.32 (obviously because it wasn't even scanning for VBI, so it would never find a host channel).

So I changed TVGOS configuration to use ANT2 as OTA, but cheating, I simply split the Comcast cable feed and attached it to both ANT1 & 2. My thinking was that if there was a TVG problem with the CC mapping the digital simulcast, with my analog PBS at 97, maybe it would work using the original analog channels on ANT2. After about 4 hours of TV OFF, the TV acquired a clock channel and set the time correctly. That was Sunday afternoon. On Monday morning, I finally saw a change in the VBI channel, but no host channel. This morning (TUE) I saw a host channel listed, an ANT1 channel. The most recent clock channel was my local FOX station on ANT2.

I haven't yet gotten patch 08.06.32, and I didn't think to check if there is a download scheduled (as someone mentioned in a recent post). Obviously I don't have any TVG channels loading yet. I can only assume the change I made to activate ANT2 must have finally "woken up" the firmware. I'll just have to remain patient and see what happens. If I don't get the patch loaded in the next 3 or 4 days, I'll consider attaching the old rabbit ears to ANT2, to see if that makes a difference. Before I upgraded from 1.5.0 to 1.5.8, I was getting listing through Comcast, so I know they are carrying the data.

I'm a little confused as to what is happening with channels on ANT1/CC, with regards to the digital simulcast. Do the channels numbers that appear in the TVG debug screen represent the CC mappings, or the raw analog channel? By that I mean, for my clock set example, the channel reported was one I thought was a digital channel. Perhaps some but not all VBI information is preserved on digital channels. For example, closed captioning is sent as VBI, and I think that works on digital channels, right? So there is something to look at, but not everything that TVG needs. It's a crazy theory with no facts to back it up, but it would explain some of the CC problems we're having.

Jim777

11-29-05, 08:49 PM

HarleyMyler

11-29-05, 11:31 PM

I spoke with the Toshiba help line today, here is what I discovered:

1) The 1.5.8 upgrade fixed the time setting and the power-cycle data loss.

2) The channel edits problem is presumably taken care of in the next upgrade (1.x.x, may even be 1.6), which is being readied for shipment.

3) The TVGOS software is Seine software (as I suspected) and is not downloaded through the VBI system. As such, improvements to TVGOS operations reside on the upgrade cards that Toshiba sends out.

4) All that the TVGOS people can do is help with program data issues. They can help you determine if the data is being broadcast locally, what line-ups are available, etc. They have nothing to do with the software in the set (other than establishing operating parameters when a manufacturer signs on to put the system in their set or device).

Call Toshiba and call often. I think the speed of response is directly proportional to the volume of calls they receive.

whjeffs

11-30-05, 07:11 AM

Seems like were are all having some kind of problem.

I had successfully loaded the 1.5.8 software and obtained the full patch and some listings last Thursday. However Thursday evening I lost everything when I accidentally tuned to a channel blocked by my cable card twice in a row. At that time I lost my cable signal and the Cable card had to re-acquire it. When it did everything was gone.

I did a factory reset Thursday night and waited. Early Sunday morning I received the pre-patch but have not yet gotten the full patch. I have no clock set or time. I can get it if I turn on the OTA WNET in the channel editor. However for some reason it does not last, for when I leave the TV off for several hours it will be lost. I am beginning to think that there may now be a cable card problem that is causing this resetting. As I was watching just now I lost my cable signal, got the message "low digital signal" and then the screen went blank. The picture came back after about a minute or so and everything seems Ok (I still have the pre-patch). I called the cable company and they "sent a signal" to my cable card which they said may correct the problem. If I still have a problem they will send someone to the house to check the signal coming off the pole. So at this point I'll wait another day or so and not make any adjustments and see what happens.

I am having a very similar problem. My cable company has added some new HD channels to the lineup and now sometimes when I tune to an HD channel the cablecard resets and has to reacquire the channels. I thought this had something to do with the cable company since they had added some channels but now after reading your mesaage I think it might be related to the 1.5.8 firmware. I have not received a channel lineup on the TVGOS since installing 1.5.8. The VBI channel was changing every day and has not obtained a host channel yet. Last night I deselected all of the channels form the add/remove channel list except for my PBS station and a couple of other channels I watch, then changed the zip code in the TVGOS setup. Today I have the correct PBS channel as the VBI channel but still no host channel and no time display now (I had a time display before).

If I don't get anything over the next couple days I might try reloading the 255.6.1 test software. Atleast that was working before.

Jeff

kdog044

11-30-05, 11:15 AM

Last night I deselected all of the channels form the add/remove channel list except for my PBS station and a couple of other channels I watch, then changed the zip code in the TVGOS setup. Today I have the correct PBS channel as the VBI channel but still no host channel and no time display now (I had a time display before).JeffJeff, when I tried that I had the same results, a correct VBI channel but no host channel. I ended up turning all the channels back on with the exception of the my original VBI channel which Comcast changed to digital starting my roller coaster of TVGOS issues. I then did a TVGOS reset and the next day I had the incorrect host channel but received the lineup choices and for two days now I am getting listings again. I am not going to worry about the host channel being incorrect as everything appears to be working.

FYI, whenever you remove a cable card and reinsert it you will have the wipeout with TVGOS. I think it gets confused as to where the data will come from as there is a menu in the diagnostics which indicates where the lineup will come from. I would imagine if the card is resetting it would give the same results. This has been the case since 1.5.2 so it is not related to the 1.5.8 software. My card continues to work and has done so since 1.5.2 so whatever your problems are with the cable card it is not related to the new firmware. I have Comcast and the Motorola card if it is any help to you.

maddogFool

11-30-05, 12:07 PM

After 3 days of no progress at all, the VBI channel never moved off 1:0-0, no time set (with the clock channel also stuck at 1:0-0), I decided to try something else...So I changed TVGOS configuration to use ANT2 as OTA, but cheating, I simply split the Comcast cable feed and attached it to both ANT1 & 2...
Definite progress as of last night (by progress I mean having the same limited TVG activity as everyone else who upgraded to Seine 1.5.8). I know have TVG channel definitions loaded (but no program listing data yet). Have not yet acquired the latest patch (08.06.32), but I expect it will.

VBI channel is still changing periodically, as others report. My Host Channel is still being reported on ANT2 (2:0-2), which is my local Fox station. That has stayed consistent since it showed up. Either it really is getting TVG data on that channel, or the channel reported is irrevelant/wrong, as some have thought based on their experiences.

It sounds like Jim777's experience, when he tuned to a blocked CableCard channel and lost everything and never re-acquired time or got past the pre-patch after doing factory reset, is just what I had. Still don't know whether what kick-started me was the actual data on ANT2, or the configuration change itself.

I knew I should have waited to upgrade to 1.5.8. I was naive to think that Toshiba wouldn't release anything that took a step backwards. I just don't understand why they aren't seeing these problems in their testing before they make a release.

kdog044

11-30-05, 12:31 PM

I knew I should have waited to upgrade to 1.5.8. I was naive to think that Toshiba wouldn't release anything that took a step backwards. I just don't understand why they aren't seeing these problems in their testing before they make a release.For those of you who have a cable card did you remove the card prior to the upgrade as defined in the instructions? I know I did and I am not having a problem outside of the ones I had with Comcast's change of the local PBS channel prior to 1.5.8. I continue to get listings and my only issue is the host channel appearing to be incorrect.

Also, if you want to test the TVGOS without the cable card I would recommend that after you do remove the card perform the TVGOS reset so it's not confused on what type of input you are receiving. In the TVGOS diagnostics under Section System-Statistics it will have data based on the input (CR would be for cable input, CB if using a cable box, and CC if using a cable card).

kdog044

11-30-05, 12:49 PM

Definite progress as of last night (by progress I mean having the same limited TVG activity as everyone else who upgraded to Seine 1.5.8). I know have TVG channel definitions loaded (but no program listing data yet). Have not yet acquired the latest patch (08.06.32), but I expect it will. I would make sure your set is turned off before 11:00 PM EST tonight or 1:10 PM EST this afternoon. The patches only download at three times (11:01 PM EST, 12:41 AM EST, and 1:11 PM EST).

maddogFool

11-30-05, 01:03 PM

For those of you who have a cable card did you remove the card prior to the upgrade as defined in the instructions? I know I did and I am not having a problem outside of the ones I had with Comcast's change of the local PBS channel prior to 1.5.8. I continue to get listings and my only issue is the host channel appearing to be incorrect.
Whoops! That's what I get for not reading the directions (closely). I didn't remove the CC. My bad--I deserve some of what I'm getting.
Also, if you want to test the TVGOS without the cable card I would recommend that after you do remove the card perform the TVGOS reset so it's not confused on what type of input you are receiving. In the TVGOS diagnostics under Section System-Statistics it will have data based on the input (CR would be for cable input, CB if using a cable box, and CC if using a cable card).
I did do many resets, both hardware and TVGOS, to no avail. But I suppose I had the thing in such a confused state by not removing the CC before upgrade that many of my problems can be attributed to that. Once I've got the latest patch, I'll probably change configuration and remove my ANT2 connection, both physically and in setup. I'll check, both before and after, what input is being used. That will tell me right now if it's really using 2:0-2, like it is reporting.

Jim777

11-30-05, 08:11 PM

Jim777

11-30-05, 08:25 PM

I had a Cablevision technician check out my cable signal today. He said that my signal was too strong due to the Motorola amp I had on it and that may have been causing some problems. When he disconnected it the signal strength was were it was supposed to be. He wasn't 100% sure though and I have had this signal booster on for 10 months so I don't really think that is the problem. But I'll keep it off to see if it makes any difference.

I also called Toshiba today and was told that they didn't have any information about a new upgrade ready to go out. The rep didn't seem to be all that familiar with the TVGOS problems and e-mailed their TVGOS/Cablecard specialist Paul to call me back. So we'll see what he has to say when he calls. Hopefully he can shed some light on this. In the mean time I am at a status quo, pre-patch and channels loaded with no time or clock set.

Jim777

12-01-05, 11:44 AM

I finally got the full patch 08.06.32 last night. What I did was at about 10 PM I turned on my OTA PBS station in the channel editor, turned off the TV about 15 minutes, turned it back on and had a clock set. I then went into the TV Guide set-up and changed the zip code to an adjacent one. When I did this all the channels in the editor were wiped out but I still had a clock set and time. I then turned the TV off for the night. My thinking was that this would cause it to search for more data, whereas for some reason it had stopped doing this and kept resetting itself, wiping out the clock sets. Apparently this worked. So all in all it took 5 days from the time of the pre-patch to get the full patch and only because I prompted the system.

So I will keep my fingers crossed and not make and edits or changes (or tune to blocked channels!) for a least 24 hours to let the system stabilize.

kdog044

12-01-05, 12:44 PM

I have listings for every day except Monday of next week. I continue to get successful updates every day even though my host channel is incorrect. In the Section Reception-Slicing menu I have high numbers on the Since Cold column but next to nothing in the HostChan column. I can't explain it nor can Gemstar but it appears that as long as your TV can find data somewhere the incorrect host channel doesn't prevent downloads from happening.

mallu2u

12-01-05, 03:32 PM

Does anyone on this thread have a Sharp TV besides me?

cmlda

12-01-05, 05:22 PM

OK.....this is starting to get old.....I'm nearing wits end with this TVGOS! Does anybody know for sure weather this is Toshibas problem or TV Guides problem? We, as consumers, need to rebel!! One of the primary reason's I bought this thing was for the CC/guide. I think I've been patient to this point, but really......I'm getting tired of the same old story. I'm starting to think Toshiba customer service is probably bogged down with thier new products and putting us, who have been patient for the last year, on the back burner....hoping we're gonna just forget the whole issue!

magredc5

12-01-05, 06:19 PM

OK.....this is starting to get old.....I'm nearing wits end with this TVGOS! Does anybody know for sure weather this is Toshibas problem or TV Guides problem? We, as consumers, need to rebel!! One of the primary reason's I bought this thing was for the CC/guide. I think I've been patient to this point, but really......I'm getting tired of the same old story. I'm starting to think Toshiba customer service is probably bogged down with thier new products and putting us, who have been patient for the last year, on the back burner....hoping we're gonna just forget the whole issue!

What model TV? How are you set up?

kdog044

12-01-05, 06:19 PM

OK.....this is starting to get old.....I'm nearing wits end with this TVGOS! Does anybody know for sure weather this is Toshibas problem or TV Guides problem?What exact problem are you referring to? Mine has worked from just about day one. Now I do have issues with having to turn off channels that are turned on and I was losing my edits but other than that mine works. I only started having problems again when Comcast changed my local PBS channel to digital and added a new one. Time will tell if the channel edits problem is fixed with the latest firmware.

HarleyMyler

12-02-05, 09:03 AM

OK.....this is starting to get old.....I'm nearing wits end with this TVGOS! Does anybody know for sure weather this is Toshibas problem or TV Guides problem? We, as consumers, need to rebel!!

First, let me say that I have been banging this drum for some time now, but no one seems to want to rebel ;)

Second, there are various problems that you can encounter with the system (Toshiba+TVGOS) and as far as I know, they are all fixable except for the channel edits problem. It is the channel edits that aggravate me to no end, because it is so easily worked (I explain how/why below).

OK, if nothing, including the time, is working on your guide, it means that you either are not getting data or the set is damaged. Read through the posts on this thread and you will discover how to determine if data (VBI) is available and if your set is set up to receive it.

If the Guide "sort of" works, like you get time and channels, but no program data, then you may have a CableCard (CC) issue or the local stations are corrupting the data or not getting it or whatever. After you have identified who is sending you the data (read the posts) then call the station and talk to the(a) broadcast engineer. They can tell you more about where they get the data and how and if.

If the Guide loads all the data for a week (and this takes a few days to get the "pipeline" full) then it is working as far as it is going to. If you suddenly lose all the data or the system resets every so often, well, this is just a random "blue screen of death" that you have to live with. I have seen the system work great for two or three weeks and then zone out.

If you edit your channels to get rid of all those annoying HBO's, Showtimes and whatever other premiums you don't have, as well as the shopping channels, etc., you will lose those edits. This is a known problem with the TVGOS software module in the system firmware. Currently, version 1.5.8 is available and it fixes the data loss on power cycle problem as well as the time set problem. Presumably, the next software release will fix the channel edits. Why Toshiba does not tie the channel edit system in TVGOS to the channel edit in the system setup menu is beyond me, here are my speculations:

1) there is some hardware or architecture reason that it cannot be done, or
2) they do not have the skill to do it, or
3) there is not enough room in memory for it, or, the big winner:
4) they can't do it because of licensing restrictions.

At this juncture the only thing that will speed them up and get the issues resolved is a call blitz or a class action.

magredc5

12-02-05, 10:49 AM

First, let me say that I have been banging this drum for some time now, but no one seems to want to rebel ;)

Second, there are various problems that you can encounter with the system (Toshiba+TVGOS) and as far as I know, they are all fixable except for the channel edits problem. It is the channel edits that aggravate me to no end, because it is so easily worked (I explain how/why below).

OK, if nothing, including the time, is working on your guide, it means that you either are not getting data or the set is damaged. Read through the posts on this thread and you will discover how to determine if data (VBI) is available and if your set is set up to receive it.

If the Guide "sort of" works, like you get time and channels, but no program data, then you may have a CableCard (CC) issue or the local stations are corrupting the data or not getting it or whatever. After you have identified who is sending you the data (read the posts) then call the station and talk to the(a) broadcast engineer. They can tell you more about where they get the data and how and if.

If the Guide loads all the data for a week (and this takes a few days to get the "pipeline" full) then it is working as far as it is going to. If you suddenly lose all the data or the system resets every so often, well, this is just a random "blue screen of death" that you have to live with. I have seen the system work great for two or three weeks and then zone out.

If you edit your channels to get rid of all those annoying HBO's, Showtimes and whatever other premiums you don't have, as well as the shopping channels, etc., you will lose those edits. This is a known problem with the TVGOS software module in the system firmware. Currently, version 1.5.8 is available and it fixes the data loss on power cycle problem as well as the time set problem. Presumably, the next software release will fix the channel edits. Why Toshiba does not tie the channel edit system in TVGOS to the channel edit in the system setup menu is beyond me, here are my speculations:

1) there is some hardware or architecture reason that it cannot be done, or
2) they do not have the skill to do it, or
3) there is not enough room in memory for it, or, the big winner:
4) they can't do it because of licensing restrictions.

At this juncture the only thing that will speed them up and get the issues resolved is a call blitz or a class action.

Amen:

FYI. I have the following setup in the TV

62MX195 with Cable Card
S/W 1.2.4
FW 1.69 (I mistakenly said 1.60 previously)
Sub 54

I don't have any patches on my TVGOS. I have never lost edits, and my existing data does survive power off resets and continues to download afterwards.

Lela

12-02-05, 04:23 PM

kdog044

12-02-05, 04:30 PM

one thing that sounds simple to try is hook up a regular antenna, (even just a $10 one from Wall-Mart) and try a channel scan.
then leave the tv off for the night for the tvgos info to download.
i've heard such a wide variety of answers from tvgos, but this actually has worked.If that does work it would point to a problem with your cable provider and the possibility that they are blocking the VBI data. Many of the problems people are having getting data are related to the provider and not necessarily a problem with TVGOS.

kdog044

12-02-05, 06:10 PM

Currently, version 1.5.8 is available and it fixes the data loss on power cycle problem as well as the time set problem. Presumably, the next software release will fix the channel edits.I don't know if the fix is only for brief losses of power but my lamp went out this morning and I had to unplug the unit to remove the unit and wait until I could get a replacement. The set was without power for about 12 hours and now that I have it working again the edits were lost (back to default lineup) , there is no time or date on TVGOS and all of the screens are reset with the exception of the download schedule times. It did retain my listings but everything else is reset.

Jim777

12-02-05, 08:34 PM

I don't know if the fix is only for brief losses of power but my lamp went out this morning and I had to unplug the unit to remove the unit and wait until I could get a replacement. The set was without power for about 12 hours and now that I have it working again the edits were lost (back to default lineup) , there is no time or date on TVGOS and all of the screens are reset with the exception of the download schedule times. It did retain my listings but everything else is reset.

How did you get a lamp so quickly?

fox200

12-02-05, 09:39 PM

Will TVGOS still be supported in today's electonics like Sony's dhg hdd250 when analog goes away in a few years?

spiff72

12-02-05, 09:57 PM

Will TVGOS still be supported in today's electonics like Sony's dhg hdd250 when analog goes away in a few years?

I am guessing you read none of this thread before you posted here? :rolleyes:

No one really knows the answer.

fox200

12-02-05, 10:48 PM

I am guessing you read none of this thread before you posted here? :rolleyes:

No one really knows the answer.

It was easier to ask than to read 30 pages of posts to find the answer.
Thank you for your reply.

fox

kdog044

12-03-05, 09:32 AM

How did you get a lamp so quickly?Sorry, I posted the answer in the HM/HMX owners thread. After contacting Toshiba and being told they are backordered and they couldn't give me a date for the warranty replacement and calling partstore to find out it would be a few days or at least a week to get one I was distraught. My stepson asked me if I called any local repair shops. I guess I never thought of that but went on Toshiba's web site and looked for an authorized service center in my area. I called the closest one and they had one in stock and it was the same price as partstore ($199) and I didn't have to pay shipping. Once Toshiba sends me my warranty replacement I will send them my bad one back and keep the replacement as a spare. I would encourage any 84 or 94 series owner to look to order one as a spare. it's worth the money not to have to wait weeks to get your set operating and it only takes about 5 minutes to replace. If the set fails under warranty you can just use the one Toshiba sends you for a spare like I'm doing. Makes sure you keep the old lamp unit if it fails under warranty as it will need to be sent back to Toshiba. For the record, my TV is about nine months old and had 2979 hours on the lamp.

kdog044

12-03-05, 09:36 AM

Okay, back on topic. This morning I have the date and time again and the host channel is back to the incorrect channel 3. I have the successful downloads and the guide is populating again so I guess I am back to how it was before the failure. I did have to make all my edits again so they don't remain in the event of a power loss (or at least if the power is off for 9 hours).

cmlda

12-03-05, 10:40 AM

I've been struggling w/my 46HM94 since i bought it in April. So far I've upgraded software at least 4 times...I've lost count! My TVGOS worked intermitently from April to Oct. For three weeks in Oct, it worked flawlessly. I came this close to ordering a Symbio recorder, as it is totally dependent on the TVGOS. Near the end of Oct. my guide stopped working and hasn't worked at all since then. Early in November, I recieved 1.5.8 in my mailbox. I installed it to no avail. I've spoken to Toshiba...I'm getting to know them well...I was told that they were expecting a cure-all software version on the 21st of Nov. and that they were VERY CONFIDENT that all TVGOS issues would be resolved. A few weeks ago, I got a call from a woman named Lydia from Toshiba. She had me going through the various diagnostics screens and recorded some info that she said she was going to forward to TVGOS. She also had me enter some kind of reset code and told me to unplug the set to reset it. All of this led to me getting my clock back and that's it! Since then, "Lydia" has called me back to find out how I was making out...I told her not so good. She also didn't know anything at all about the "cure all firmware"...never heard of it! She said that she would have somebody from TVGOS get in touch with me...I'm stillwaiting. As far as what my guide is doing...I've experienced just about every condition that I've read about in here. Currently, the only thig that the guide is good for is telling time!

Jim777

12-03-05, 11:09 AM

Sorry, I posted the answer in the HM/HMX owners thread. After contacting Toshiba and being told they are backordered and they couldn't give me a date for the warranty replacement and calling partstore to find out it would be a few days or at least a week to get one I was distraught. My stepson asked me if I called any local repair shops. I guess I never thought of that but went on Toshiba's web site and looked for an authorized service center in my area. I called the closest one and they had one in stock and it was the same price as partstore ($199) and I didn't have to pay shipping. Once Toshiba sends me my warranty replacement I will send them my bad one back and keep the replacement as a spare. I would encourage any 84 or 94 series owner to look to order one as a spare. it's worth the money not to have to wait weeks to get your set operating and it only takes about 5 minutes to replace. If the set fails under warranty you can just use the one Toshiba sends you for a spare like I'm doing. Makes sure you keep the old lamp unit if it fails under warranty as it will need to be sent back to Toshiba. For the record, my TV is about nine months old and had 2979 hours on the lamp.

Thanks. I know it has taken others a least a week or more to obtain one. Good advise.

Jim777

12-03-05, 11:42 AM

I have made some more progress but am beginning to think that there is some kind of conflict problem with the 1.5.8 Seine and the new TVGOS patches, at least on my TV. As reported I have been able to get the full patch 08.06.32 (only after prompting by turning my OTA PBS station and changing zip codes) and have even begun to get some program listings (Cable channels 2,3,4,6,7). However, I can't get the TV to display the correct line up (even though I have reset this 3 times in the TVGOS setup menu which does give me the correct choices); the set does not seem to be able to find a host channel (its still blank); and most troubling this morning I lost my time and clock set again. I was able to regain it by turning on the OTA PBS (which had been turned off). I spoke with TV Guide customer service on Friday and they couldn't explain the behavior and said that they have not heard of any problems with the exception of the Host channel problem Kdog has. They are going to load the 1.5.8 software on a test set and see if they have any similar problems. In the mean time this morning I put another call into Toshiba customer service to see if I could reload 1.5.1 software to go back to where I was before. They said 1.5.8 was supposed to be a permanent upgrade and weren't sure what would happen if I tried to load the 1.5.1 again since no one they know has tried it. So I left another message for their TVGOS product specialist Paul to call me back on Monday.

HarleyMyler

12-04-05, 11:48 AM

This morning I have the date and time again and the host channel is back to the incorrect channel 3. I have the successful downloads and the guide is populating again so I guess I am back to how it was before the failure. I did have to make all my edits again so they don't remain in the event of a power loss (or at least if the power is off for 9 hours).

This substantiates my experience. The Guide has a few jitters now and then (not counting the channel edits issue), but otherwise works flawlessly. I have a Mot CC and a Symbio--everything plays well together. The key is getting a data channel established. When all else fails, try an OTA antenna, but make sure that one of the channels you get on it carries VBI data.

HarleyMyler

12-04-05, 11:56 AM

Amen:

FYI. I have the following setup in the TV

62MX195 with Cable Card
S/W 1.2.4
FW 1.69 (I mistakenly said 1.60 previously)
Sub 54

I don't have any patches on my TVGOS. I have never lost edits, and my existing data does survive power off resets and continues to download afterwards.

Since you haven't lost channel edits, I have three speculations:

1) No Symbio, maybe the Symbio is the problem. Does anyone else have stable channel edits and a Symbio?

2) You have not had the system long enough to lose the edits, or

3) You will (or have) lost your edits shortly after this post. Everyone else that has posted that their system works great loses it all shortly after. The Toshiba sets somehow sense this and react accordingly!

magredc5

12-04-05, 12:28 PM

Since you haven't lost channel edits, I have three speculations:

1) No Symbio, maybe the Symbio is the problem. Does anyone else have stable channel edits and a Symbio?

2) You have not had the system long enough to lose the edits, or

3) You will (or have) lost your edits shortly after this post. Everyone else that has posted that their system works great loses it all shortly after. The Toshiba sets somehow sense this and react accordingly!

:D Looks like you were right. I had to redo all the edits today, but I believe it was expected in this circumstance.

I had Comcast come out and swap my cable card today due to occasional decryption problems (2x in the past month, some channels would come in garbled and required a CC reset via power cycle).

In the process of swapping the card, the TV had to dump it's channel map and was like that for about 30 minutes before the card was activated and started downloading it's map.

As soon as I checked TVGOS, it showed the screen saying to wait 24 hours for channel lineup to download - I figured I lost everything. I went out during the afternoon during the next TVGOS download and when I returned, the channel edits were all gone and the entire channel list was there, BUT all the listings for the entire week were still there! Obviously the listing data was retained during the CC swap and once the channel lineup was reloaded it mapped what it had in memory to the lineup.

I spent a good hour re-editting the channel lineup (and changing my analog PBS channel from the incorrect 97 to correct 99). One thing I've always noticed is that once I perform channel edits, the TVGOS listings do not tune to the correct channel (it's has the channel number correctly listed, but tunes to a random other channel). I have figured that this occurs when you move channels around in TVGOS and it is somehow out of sync with the TV's channel map. I corrected this by doing the following (has worked several times perfectly):

- Power Cycle and CC Reset: Turn Off TV and pull plug, hit Power on TV twice, then plug it in and let it reboot. This will force the CC to redownload the channel map.
- Power On the TV - CC Channel map reloads. Clock on TVGOS is --:--.
- Power Off the TV - wait for a few minutes to allow the clock to sync up (literally waited only 3-4 minutes with the set off.
- Power On the TV - TVGOS showed correct clock time, and within a few minutes the TVGOS listings were synced with the TV channel map - i.e. the listing tuned to the correct channel.
- All listings for the upcoming week were still there. Also, the overnight update last night worked as expected.

So, I do believe that the TVGOS channel map can get out of sync with the TV channel map especially when you use a Cable Card since the CC automatically downloads it's channel map once when it's initially powered up. You can't go into the TV menu to force it to reload like you can with OTA (feature of how the CC works in the set). That theory may also play into why the host channel is sometimes never found, i.e. TVGOS tunes to what it thinks is the correct host channel, but the TV's channel map is out of sync and it tunes somewhere else.

Just some thoughts to consider.

whjeffs

12-04-05, 02:38 PM

I have not received a channel lineup on the TVGOS since installing 1.5.8. The VBI channel was changing every day and has not obtained a host channel yet. Last night I deselected all of the channels form the add/remove channel list except for my PBS station and a couple of other channels I watch, then changed the zip code in the TVGOS setup. Today I have the correct PBS channel as the VBI channel but still no host channel and no time display now (I had a time display before).

If I don't get anything over the next couple days I might try reloading the 255.6.1 test software. Atleast that was working before.

Jeff

Still no luck. I reloaded the 255.6.1 test software I have. My guide was working fine on that then ever since I loaded 1.5.8 and received the 08.06.32 patch I have not received anything but the time. No channel list or listings. VBI channel still changes to something different every day. No host channel obtained yet. I have tried TVGOS resets, zip code changes, turning channels off via the TV's add/remove channel list, leaving the set tuned to my PBS channel before turning the set off and so far nothing has worked. I have a few days off this coming week so hopefully I will get a chance to call Toshiba and/or Gemstar. I think my next step is going to be to hook up an antenna today to see if that does anything. After that I guess I will try a complete TV reset to factory defaults and also disconnect the Symbio until the guide starts working.

I just checked something though and found what could be the problem. The closed captioning is not working on my analog PBS station. The channels that my cable company recently added are the digital (HD & SD) PBS stations. When I tune to the new digital PBS channel, the captioning works. But when I switch back to the analog channel, same program, I get no closed captioning!

I'll go hook up an antenna now and see if that works.

Jeff

pascal D

12-04-05, 03:27 PM

I hope this might help others:
I am using a sony HDD 250 with OTA only. After much frustration and trial an error, I found out that:
1/ TV guide data is transmitted over the ANALOG PBS stations (WCVE, 23 for my area)
2/ I went through the channel set up in TV guide and set my WCVE channel to 23 (analog) as opposed to 23-1 (digital), and ever since, TV guide has been working like a charm.

Pascal

Daniel Tonks

12-04-05, 07:27 PM

Pascal: Yup, that behavior has been noted in the DHG-HDDxxx thread. You need to have the TVGOS host station enabled in the DVR's main channel list for the TVGOS software to initially find it, and then afterwards you MUST keep that station's mapping the same in the TVGOS software or it will no longer get updates.

I haven't experimented to see whether *anything* mapped to the proper host station will do, or whether it must indeed be the same "guide station ID" as when the host station was originally detected.

Jim777

12-04-05, 11:02 PM

Still no luck. I reloaded the 255.6.1 test software I have. My guide was working fine on that then ever since I loaded 1.5.8 and received the 08.06.32 patch I have not received anything but the time. No channel list or listings. VBI channel still changes to something different every day. No host channel obtained yet. I have tried TVGOS resets, zip code changes, turning channels off via the TV's add/remove channel list, leaving the set tuned to my PBS channel before turning the set off and so far nothing has worked. I have a few days off this coming week so hopefully I will get a chance to call Toshiba and/or Gemstar. I think my next step is going to be to hook up an antenna today to see if that does anything. After that I guess I will try a complete TV reset to factory defaults and also disconnect the Symbio until the guide starts working.
Jeff

Sounds very similar to my situation except I do have all my channels in the channel editor (mostly all off except basic cable channels) and I have gotten listings but only for the basic cable channels (2-67). I am still losing time (twice today), any edits I make in the editor such as turning on my OTA PBS will be undone and I still have no host channel. I have disconnected my Symbio and reset my zip code several times. I have been contemplating loading the 1.5.1 software but wasn't sure it would work after the upgrade. I am also going to try to contact Toshiba again tomorrow to get any other suggestions.

BTW I do get closed captioning for both may Cable and OTA PBS stations but they are both always being turned off in the editor. My theory is that the PBS station carrying the data has to be turned on in the editor for the TV to get the downloads. When I manually turn them on just before a scheduled download I get data. However, since for some reason it keeps turning them off the data stops and I eventually lose my clock set.

Displaced Husker

12-05-05, 12:00 AM

[QUOTE=whjeffs]Still no luck. I reloaded the 255.6.1 test software I have. My guide was working fine on that then ever since I loaded 1.5.8 and received the 08.06.32 patch I have not received anything but the time.

I was running the same software and started to have problems when I went to 1.5.8. TVGOS thought the PBS was not transmitting the data. It started working a couple days later and I changed the PBS to the analog station in my edits and it has worked fine since

whjeffs

12-05-05, 06:45 AM

I just checked something though and found what could be the problem. The closed captioning is not working on my analog PBS station. The channels that my cable company recently added are the digital (HD & SD) PBS stations. When I tune to the new digital PBS channel, the captioning works. But when I switch back to the analog channel, same program, I get no closed captioning!

I'll go hook up an antenna now and see if that works.

Jeff

SUCCESS! I got the "choose cable provider" this morning and now I have a channel list. Just waiting for listings now. Host and VBI channel are now set to antenna 2 channel 22 which is my PBS station. It looks like my cable provider must be intentionally blocking the VBI data from the analog PBS channel. Do they have any right to do that? I get closed captioning on the analog PBS channel from the antenna but not on the analog PBS channel through the cable except on the new digital one they added.
Here's something else odd though. I have a Panasonic DVR/DVD-recorder that has TVGOS built in (the older type) and it has been getting program listings over the cable with no problems at all. If they are blocking the VBI data from my PBS channel over cable, why would it not affect my DVR also?

Jeff

kdog044

12-05-05, 12:06 PM

SUCCESS! I got the "choose cable provider" this morning and now I have a channel list. Just waiting for listings now. Host and VBI channel are now set to antenna 2 channel 22 which is my PBS station. Jeff, great news and we'll keep our fingers crossed. Like I mentioned earlier, my host channel is still incorrect but I continue to get listings so I know this is not a requirement for getting data. I did edit the channel listings to change the old PBS channel which is digital to the correct analog version ( from channel 6 to 97). Gemstar is supposedly looking to get the new analog channel in the listings so I don't have to do that but I haven't received a time frame.

billbillw

12-06-05, 12:04 PM

So far, things are working well for me since the .32 patch downloaded. I also upgraded to the 1.5.8 (thanks Kdog) and I've got the time, listings, and my edits are holding. It actually shows the correct VBI and host channel too. Hopefully I can just forget about it and use the darn thing now.

kdog044

12-06-05, 12:51 PM

Like I mentioned earlier, my host channel is still incorrect but I continue to get listings so I know this is not a requirement for getting data. Here is Gemstar's response to my problem of the incorrect host channel.

As far as the incorrect host station showing up in diagnostics, the engineers were not concerned since it was still working. I believe it is going to have to cause more problems for more people before they spend any time looking into this anomaly. :rolleyes:

whjeffs

12-08-05, 12:55 PM

SUCCESS! I got the "choose cable provider" this morning and now I have a channel list. Just waiting for listings now. Host and VBI channel are now set to antenna 2 channel 22 which is my PBS station. It looks like my cable provider must be intentionally blocking the VBI data from the analog PBS channel. Do they have any right to do that? I get closed captioning on the analog PBS channel from the antenna but not on the analog PBS channel through the cable except on the new digital one they added.
Here's something else odd though. I have a Panasonic DVR/DVD-recorder that has TVGOS built in (the older type) and it has been getting program listings over the cable with no problems at all. If they are blocking the VBI data from my PBS channel over cable, why would it not affect my DVR also?

Jeff

Program listings are downloading regularly now since hooking up the antenna. Looks like they corrected most of the errors in my channel lineup for my cable provider. There are still a couple channels turned off by default but that's it. Also I see you can now use the arrow keys again when you re-sort your channels in the editor. I wonder if I should remove the 255.6.1 test software and just try it now with 1.5.8? I'll probably leave it alone for now as long as it's working and I'm getting listings.

Jeff

kdog044

12-08-05, 12:58 PM

I wonder if I should remove the 255.6.1 test software and just try it now with 1.5.8? I'll probably leave it alone for now as long as it's working and I'm getting listings.

JeffJeff, if it ain't broke don't fix it. ;) Mine has continued to populate and maintain the 8 days of listings. I did notice that occasionally a particular scheduled download did not complete successfully even though the set was off. Fortunately I had the set off for the next scheduled download and that one completed successfully.

ndnbolla

12-08-05, 08:06 PM

ds_1910

12-08-05, 10:11 PM

spiff72

12-08-05, 10:20 PM

Is there any way to enable the panel advertisement windows on the TV Guide On Screen on the Samsung DLP's? The advertisement panels are never populated with any details except for instructions on how to use the TV Guide.

You actually want to be force-fed the advertisements?? :p

That's the first time I have heard anyone say that! :D

ds_1910

12-08-05, 10:47 PM

You actually want to be force-fed the advertisements?? :p

That's the first time I have heard anyone say that! :D

Yes I am getting tired of looking at the TV Guide Instructions in these non-functioning window panes. :)

Daniel Tonks

12-08-05, 11:59 PM

ds_1910

12-09-05, 09:20 AM

In regards to advertisements, it seems they are updating models one-at-a-time. I think that might have been the big problem with the Sony DHG units - whatever update they sent out didn't actually end up working so they had to un-upgrade them... :-)

Is this an upgrade that would automatically get downloaded or does this require a firmware update on the TV?

kdog044

12-09-05, 10:41 AM

Hey guys, whats up.

I seem to be having a problem with my On Screen TV Guide. What happens is I activate it and then go through the settings. A day or two later, all of the channel listings are looking pretty good.

Then after 1 or 2 more days, every channel at every time goes to "No Listing".

So then I go to deactivate it and then reactivate it a couple days later. Same thing happens.

Can anyone help me out and exactly what is this host channel and how would I change it if I needed to?

I am using a Motorola Comcast Cable Card with the Phillips Ambilight TV.

Thanks anyone.You can't change the host channel the TVGOS is supposed to identify it. Mine isn't correct but I continue to get listings. It should be the local analog PBS channel that is broadcasting the VBI data which is what populates the guide. The only thing you can do to reset and have the TVGOS look for a new one is to change the zip code to a neighboring one and then change it back to yours. Every time you change the zip code it removes the host channel and then will try to reacquire it.

You may want to call Philips tech support and see if there are any updates to the TV related to TVGOS. I know Toshiba and Mitsubishi sets have needed updates for TVGOS to function properly.

wbertram

12-09-05, 11:31 AM

You can't change the host channel the TVGOS is supposed to identify it. Mine isn't correct but I continue to get listings. It should be the local analog PBS channel that is broadcasting the VBI data which is what populates the guide. The only thing you can do to reset and have the TVGOS look for a new one is to change the zip code to a neighboring one and then change it back to yours. Every time you change the zip code it removes the host channel and then will try to reacquire it.

You may want to call Philips tech support and see if there are any updates to the TV related to TVGOS. I know Toshiba and Mitsubishi sets have needed updates for TVGOS to function properly.

The TVGOS data is not exclusively broadcast on PBS stations. In the Philadelphia area, for example, it is broadcast on the local FOX station.

kdog044

12-09-05, 12:04 PM

The TVGOS data is not exclusively broadcast on PBS stations. In the Philadelphia area, for example, it is broadcast on the local FOX station.You are correct that PBS isn't exclusive but is normally the channel used. The best bet is to contact Gemstar to determine what channel the data is broadcast in your area. Thanks for the feedback.

maddogFool

12-09-05, 03:40 PM

The TVGOS data is not exclusively broadcast on PBS stations. In the Philadelphia area, for example, it is broadcast on the local FOX station.
Thank you for confirming that...I'm in lower Bucks County, and was having issues re-acquiring any TVG data (including clock set). I changed my setup to use ANT2 as OTA, but split my Comcast input into both (CableCard on ANT1).

My host and clock set channel has been reported as my FOX station on ANT2, and I wasn't sure if that was incorrect (as kdog44 has said is the case for him). I'm still not sure if I got mine working (after 1.5.8 upgrade) because of a cable card issue interfering with TVG data acquisition, or from the configuration change of using ANT2. As kdog44 just posted, since it's working, I'm not messing with it.

BTW, last Sunday I finally obtained .32 patch. It was interesting...I had never received the patch (only the pre-patch) after upgrading to 1.5.8, but it did obtain channel listing. No data populated, as I wasn't prompted to select my Comcast lineup by TVG. Then it all dumped and nothing happened for a couple of days. In frustration, I changed the channel to my ANT1 analog remapped PBS station (Comcast is digital simulcasting 2-78) before shutting off the TV, and about 3 days later the patch was there. Again, don't know if it's coincidence, or cause and effect. Since in the Philly area the data is also on Fox (Comcast channel 2), the simulcast would explain the different behavior. But I assume that the data is also on my PBS (WHYY-12, now remapped to Comcast 97). But since 2 come before 12 on ANT2, it locks onto the first source it sees. But why it never finds 97 on ANT1, the simulcast remap problem on which kdog44 has speculated, is still one of those Gemstar mysteries.

A couple days later I was able to select my cable channel lineup, but never any listing, and 2 days later it all dumped, and I was presented with the "re-acquiring,24 hour" message, which I never saw before and so assume is new to the .32 patch.

I have been neglecting this for the past week, as my wife gave birth to our second child, and she wouldn't appreciate me putting the TV ahead of her and the family (even though it is HD).

ds_1910

12-09-05, 03:47 PM

Does anyone have the Gemstar or TV Guide On Screen telephone support numbers? The TV Guide On Screen web site points you the TV manaufactures. Samsung said they cannot fix the Advertisement issue and that Gemstar needs to be contacted because the TV Guide Listings being supplied does not include ads.

johnerickson

12-09-05, 04:44 PM

I live in the South Bend, IN viewing area (OTA only) and have been trying since Dec 04 when I purchased my Toshiba 51H94 and Symbio to get the TVGOS working. And it wasn't until reading this forum that I was able to get that accomplished. So THANKS to all of you who have contributed.

I do have a couple questions for whoever may know the answers.

1. Does TV need to be tuned to the input where the PBS analog channel (or whatever channel is supplying data) when it is turned off? (the only day in the last 2 weeks that I did not get listings, my TV was tuned to Video 1 when it was turned off - not Ant 1 like usual).

2. On TVGOS diagnostics screen that shows when downloads occurred -
I know that when start and end times are the same for 70, good download
but, what is the difference between
a. start time but N/A for end time and
b. start time and earlier date for end time?

HarleyMyler

12-10-05, 10:45 AM

I do have a couple questions for whoever may know the answers.

1. Does TV need to be tuned to the input where the PBS analog channel (or whatever channel is supplying data) when it is turned off? (the only day in the last 2 weeks that I did not get listings, my TV was tuned to Video 1 when it was turned off - not Ant 1 like usual).

2. On TVGOS diagnostics screen that shows when downloads occurred -
I know that when start and end times are the same for 70, good download
but, what is the difference between
a. start time but N/A for end time and
b. start time and earlier date for end time?

1) No, it shouldn't. When the set is off, and it is never really off unless you pull the plug, the Seine monitors the signal streams coming from the ANT lines for VBI data. When TVGOS is being set-up, it enters a "search mode" where it scans for the data channel, after that is set, it will just tune there for data. I do not know the mechanism for what it does if the data is no longer where it thinks it is. I imagine it has some sort of timer that makes it go search again.

2. Don't know this one, it may be in the TVGOS spreadsheet that is floating around.

fox200

12-10-05, 12:39 PM

Does Gemstar provide information for the Digital Channels? Not at this time.

Will the guide still work if the channel that sends the information is deleted from the receivers channel list? Depends on the receive device. Most likely it will stop working.

Can ATSC receivers find Gemstar guide information? No, it's sent analog only. They are currently working on ATSC insertion equipment. Perhaps later this year.
When analog goes away they still plan on providing their guide info.

I learned something new. Milwaukee area has a total of four Gemstar Hosts.
They are WITI, WCGV, WMVS, WJJA. Of these four stations WMVS sends the data designed for the newest Gemstar decoders (2004 & up).
The above answers were provided by Gemstar/TV Guide.

A customer support number is available by private message.

kdog044

12-10-05, 02:00 PM

2. On TVGOS diagnostics screen that shows when downloads occurred -
I know that when start and end times are the same for 70, good download
but, what is the difference between
a. start time but N/A for end time and
b. start time and earlier date for end time?The download ID's of 70 are for the listings and that is the only one that will ever have a successful completion time. All of the others (81,27,) just show start times. If you have a N/A for the last successful time it just means that for that time slot it never completed successfully. If you get a different end time than the start time it just means for that day it didn't complete successfully at the time slot but did successfully on whatever date and time is listed for the last successful start. You will only have one start and successful end time for a given day as once it has a valid download there isn't a need for it to get it again. You may however have the same date for two different time slots if one didn't complete successfully due to problems with the download or if the TV was turned on during the 180 minute download.

My understanding is the type 27 downloads are for the TVGOS patches and the type 81 downloads are for editions or changes to the listings.

joemack

12-10-05, 06:12 PM

patrick hebert

12-11-05, 09:55 PM

ive done every thing and wait over night and when i turn on my tv in the morn tvgos doesnt have any listings or anything

kdog044

12-12-05, 09:19 AM

ive done every thing and wait over night and when i turn on my tv in the morn tvgos doesnt have any listings or anythingSee the attached document and post back the results from the diagnostics screen and we'll see if we can help you. Also, post with what you have done so far and how you are getting TVGOS data (i.e. cable card, STB, OTA) and how you have the TVGOS setup (how did you answer the questions?).

Joemack, this also includes instructions on how to access the diagnostics and check your version of TVGOS.

dsr15

12-13-05, 12:34 AM

I finally got a VHF antenna and connected it to my UHF antenna in the attic to get better reception on my channel 6 PBS station. The next day, I could see categories in TVGOS. Don't remember seeing that before.

A couple days after that, I have channel listings. Wow, I think this thing is starting to work! No program listings yet. Reviewing my channel listings, it's missing about 1/2 of the available HD OTA channels. It's listing every other possible station on the analog stations, but it's only showing 3 of the digital HD stations. Is this normal?

I'm glad this is finally starting to show some progress, as I've had the TV for over a year :eek:

Also, I picked up a Symbio for $200 as that seemed to be a pretty good price. The Symbio will be much nicer if the TVGOS starts working...

dsr

77haven

12-13-05, 07:00 AM

I have just lost my TVGOS on all three of my recorders (2-sony and a very old rca) I contacted my local PBS station and they said that they are going to look into it. I get my television through Comcast, I wonder if they are causing the problem?

maddogFool

12-13-05, 09:40 AM

A couple days later I was able to select my cable channel lineup, but never any listing, and 2 days later it all dumped, and I was presented with the "re-acquiring,24 hour" message, which I never saw before and so assume is new to the .32 patch.
At last, program listings. 8 days after my HM94 (1.5.8) finally obtained the .32 patch, I finally have them. We'll see how long it lasts...I don't think I'll bother doing channel lineup edits yet, since people are still reporting dumps.

During the 8 days, I only saw the "24 hour message", with no channels displayed. I think I remember in the older firmware that you'd see channels while it was gathering data. I know people have written before in what order the data is collected, DAY1, DAY8, etc. I guess the way my TV collected data, it took it the 8 days until it caught up. It's been a long road.

kdog044

12-13-05, 10:07 AM

I know people have written before in what order the data is collected, DAY1, DAY8, etc. I guess the way my TV collected data, it took it the 8 days until it caught up. It's been a long road.It shouldn't take eight days but it will take six. It loads as follows:

DAY1, DAY2, DAY8
DAY1, DAY2, DAY7, DAY8
DAY1, DAY2, DAY6, DAY7, DAY8
DAY1, DAY2, DAY5, DAY6, DAY7, DAY8
DAY1, DAY2, DAY4, DAY5, DAY6, DAY7, DAY8
DAY1, DAY2, DAY3, DAY4, DAY5, DAY6, DAY7, DAY8

I believe what happens is it always loads DAY1, DAY2, and DAY8 and saves the previous entries so the first DAY8 entry becomes DAY7 on the next day and then moves to DAY6 as the DAY8 entry becomes the DAY7 and so on.

Mine has maintained my listings and I have not lost my edits.

dsr15

12-13-05, 10:33 AM

No program listings yet. Reviewing my channel listings, it's missing about 1/2 of the available HD OTA channels. It's listing every other possible station on the analog stations, but it's only showing 3 of the digital HD stations. Is this normal?

Got my answer from Gemstar: "We are currently having a problem with digital stations over antenna. It is a data issue on our side and we are working on a solution. I don't have any time frame as to when the fix will roll out, but it should be within the next couple of months."

Anyone else having the same problem? I'm in Denver.

dsr

maddogFool

12-13-05, 01:03 PM

It shouldn't take eight days but it will take six.
...Mine has maintained my listings and I have not lost my edits.
Thank you for that clarification. Maybe it was only 6 days, it just seemed like more with a new baby. I remember the sequence being explained a while back, but I had assumed that the DAY1 listing would show up immediately. Glad to know mine is behaving like everybody else's.

Still running with cable split into both antennas, and it is still consistently reporting the host channel as my local Fox on ANT2, and not the remapped analog PBS on ANT1. Interestingly, I often see the last VBI channel on the local horse racetrack channel. Perhaps there is alot of non-TVG blanking data that the TV often scans.

Maybe I'll try lineup editing next, just to see what happens. I'm not using a Symbios, so won't have any issues because of it.

kdog044

12-13-05, 01:30 PM

Still running with cable split into both antennas, and it is still consistently reporting the host channel as my local Fox on ANT2, and not the remapped analog PBS on ANT1. Interestingly, I often see the last VBI channel on the local horse racetrack channel. Perhaps there is alot of non-TVG blanking data that the TV often scans. I wouldn't worry about the host channel or the VBI channel if you are getting data. My host channel has been wrong for quite a while and the VBI channel has been on a variety of channels and rarely lists the correct channel. The only consistent place the channel is accurate is the Clock Set Chan in the Section Other-Clocks menu.

rbbnet

12-13-05, 02:51 PM

New Firmware Ver 1.2.8 - Results

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I own a 52HMX95 and previously had firmware version 1.2.2 installed. I too had issues with the TVGOS not working properly through my cable card. A quick call to Toshiba and they sent me the newest firmware, version 1.2.8, on a 128Mb SD card. I installed the new firmware and gave the set a day or two to update the TVGOS info. I found ALL TVGOS info as well as the ADD/DELETE channel info to be properly labeled and complete. My initial impressions are that this new firmware has indeed corrected the TVGOS and ADD/DELETE channel problems my set suffered from. Now when I tune to a channel it not only shows the channel number but correctly identifies the channel by it's proper naming such as "HBO", "ESPN", "TOON", etc...
Now if I can only get either Toshiba or my local cable company to address/fix the issues I have with the cable card or cable company not allowing me to tune all the channels I'm paying for. I'm supppose to receive basic cable along with the digital tier which includes both the HD channels and the (audio only) music channels. Once I cross into the digital tier it's a crap shoot on which channels will tune in and which ones won't. Some will tune in for 10 seconds or so before the A/V locks up and the cable card info box pops up telling me to call my cable company to get service. Whereas other channels may tune in and work fine and some may display nothing more than a black screen.
Anybody else have any good luck with the newest firmware release?

Jim777

12-13-05, 05:37 PM

At last, program listings. 8 days after my HM94 (1.5.8) finally obtained the .32 patch, I finally have them. We'll see how long it lasts...I don't think I'll bother doing channel lineup edits yet, since people are still reporting dumps.

During the 8 days, I only saw the "24 hour message", with no channels displayed. I think I remember in the older firmware that you'd see channels while it was gathering data. I know people have written before in what order the data is collected, DAY1, DAY8, etc. I guess the way my TV collected data, it took it the 8 days until it caught up. It's been a long road.

Very interesting. Glad to hear that you have made progress. During the 6 or 8 days did you have the time showing in the upper left portion of the TVGOS screen?

I am still having difficulty getting my system stabilized. I do have channel listings (only for a portion of my basic cable stations), however I keep losing my time and can only restore it by turning on the OTA PBS station that the TV keeps turning off. Maybe what I will do is just leave the set for a few days and not turn anything on in the editor and see what happens.

wbertram

12-13-05, 11:15 PM

Yes, it appears that in the Philly area the TVGOS data is supplied over the local FOX Chan 29 station. I receive that station as Cable Chan 5.

Thank you for that clarification. Maybe it was only 6 days, it just seemed like more with a new baby. I remember the sequence being explained a while back, but I had assumed that the DAY1 listing would show up immediately. Glad to know mine is behaving like everybody else's.

Still running with cable split into both antennas, and it is still consistently reporting the host channel as my local Fox on ANT2, and not the remapped analog PBS on ANT1. Interestingly, I often see the last VBI channel on the local horse racetrack channel. Perhaps there is alot of non-TVG blanking data that the TV often scans.

Maybe I'll try lineup editing next, just to see what happens. I'm not using a Symbios, so won't have any issues because of it.

maddogFool

12-14-05, 11:49 AM

I am still having difficulty getting my system stabilized. I do have channel listings (only for a portion of my basic cable stations), however I keep losing my time and can only restore it by turning on the OTA PBS station that the TV keeps turning off. Maybe what I will do is just leave the set for a few days and not turn anything on in the editor and see what happens.
I never got time sync (no clock or host channel lock in the diag screens) until I activated ANT2 in the TVG setup and split my Comcast feed there. In the past, people reported altering TVG setup (usually ZIP code) kick-starting data acquisition, so I don't really know if it was the change (for me the ZIP change didn't do it), or CableCard/digital simulcast problem with ANT1 and also having a source on ANT2 helping the situation. People have talked about editing channels, but for me, I never had any TVG channels showing (after the firmware upgrade) to edit. My CableCard selects the active channels for the main TV setup menu.

At any rate, in my experience, I didn't get anywhere until it found a clock source. My reported clock and host channels were both my local Fox station on ANT2. As I'm sure you are aware, kdog44 has not always seen his host channel info reported correctly, but mine has been consistent to date. We both have Seine 1.5.8, and both seem to work. YMMV.

P.S. I was catching up reading the Toshiba DLP thread, and finally understand that the active channels can be edited even with the CableCard. I was under the impression that the CC prevented that. I'll check my setup for the state of my analog PBS at 97.

cmlda

12-15-05, 04:12 PM

maddogFool

12-15-05, 07:36 PM

MaddogFool, I live in the same area as you, I'm in MontCo. I also have Comcast and a cable card. My guide hasn't been working since late Oct, before then it only kinda worked sometimes! Are you saying that all I need to do is split my cable and connect to ANT2, tell the guide that I'm using an antenna connected to ANT2, and everthing will be cool? I've been in contact with Toshiba ever since I bought this thing in April and they haven't been able to help at all!
I can't guarantee it will work for you, but it appears to be working for me again, after being down for a couple weeks after I upgraded my TV firmware. It hasn't been long enough for me to declare victory, but as I've described, I had nothing until I tried this. I'm still not 100% sure this is the reason it started working.

Others have reported here that TVG seems to have problems with a CableCard installed, particularly when basic cable is on digital simulcast, as Comcast has finally done in our area. They replicate the analog PBS in the 90's, but the TVG software doesn't seem to find and use it reliably. As you've read, the TVG data is also on Fox29 (either channel 2 or 5 on the Comcast mapping.)

Do us all a favor and try it, but first check the diag screens and record what VBI, clock, and host channels are reported, if any. (See earlier posts for directions.) Then split your feed and activate ANT2. I've defined mine as antenna, not cable. For channels 2-13 it doesn't matter. If you select cable for ANT2, it might not bother searching it. Another alternative is to connect rabbit ears to ANT2, but since we know that Comcast is not stripping the TVG data, you don't need to go to that extreme.

Jim777

12-15-05, 09:47 PM

Unfortunately I'm still having difficulties. I think it is a combinatation of my Cable & OTA set up combined with my cable card from Cablevision and the new 1.5.8 software.

I've spoken both to Toshiba and Gemstar customer service to no avail on several occasions. They have not been able to offer any insights or suggestions.

Here's what I've learned from trial and error at least on my set. It appears after a reset (Zip code) the system will first search for a VBI signal over the cable input for a about 48 hours even though it has no time. It will check different cable channels for the data every few minutes round the clock while the TV is off. If it doesn't find anything after about 2 days it will then start to search on the OTA input. Thus, when I was turning on the OTA PBS channel during this search to get a clock set, it mistakenly thought that the clock set data was coming from the last cable channel that was searched and it would show that channel as the clock set channel. Later it would look to that channel for data and not find anything and so it would reset and start all over. When I let the system just do its thing, after the two days it would start to search the OTA input and find the data, get a clock set, and start downloading listings. So the moral of this story is just let the system alone and it will eventually find the right data source. My so called prompting was actually retarding its progress.

However, for some reason after I started getting the downloads the TV started to become quirky. I lost many of my cable channels last night and this morning when I tried to turn on the TV the screen was blank. Audio, no video. When I activated the TVGOS on the remote the picture came on. Then when I tried to turn the TV off, both with the remote or on the front panel it would turn off then come right back on. When I activated the TVGOS and then tried to turn it off, it worked. Very weird. Then when I came home the TV Guide had been wiped out and the new patch was lost. But all the quirkiness was gone.

So I'm back to square one. I tried to reload the 1.5.1. software and it was told that because I had a later version it would not load. The T.V. then reset itself, turning off then on. I powered everything off then on and reinserted the cable card and did a zip code reset on the TVGOS. So at this point I'm just going to leave it alone for a week or so without trying to prompt it, maybe it will work. If that doesn't work hopefully the next Toshiba software upgrade will be more agreeable with my Cablecard and TVGOS. I was told by Toshiba that there will be another one out in the next couple of weeks. I'll just have to wait and see.

77haven

12-16-05, 07:07 AM

Well now I am getting the ads to come in, but still no tv listings. I have heard in my area I am not alone in this it seems that a whole bunch of people have lost their guide info.

kdog044

12-16-05, 08:46 AM

So at this point I'm just going to leave it alone for a week or so without trying to prompt it, maybe it will work. If that doesn't work hopefully the next Toshiba software upgrade will be more agreeable with my Cablecard and TVGOS. I was told by Toshiba that there will be another one out in the next couple of weeks. I'll just have to wait and see.Jim, What cable card does Cablevision use? I have the Motorola with Comcast and have no issues with the cable card and TVGOS. My only problem is the system incorrectly identifies the host channel. It used to work fine until Comcast changed the analog PBS channel (channel 6) to digital and replaced the analog channel (now channel 97). Before it always showed channel 6 and even after they switched it to digital it still tried to identify it as the host channel but I would never get any listings.

I ended up having to turn off channel 6 in the TV's add/delete channel menu before it would work again but now it seems to be stuck on channel 3 (local WB) which according to TVGOS is NOT a VBI channel. It does get the clock from the proper channel (channel 97) and I assume that is where it is getting the listings data. Once the channel map is found I also manually change channel 6 to 97 using the TVGOS channel edit menu as the new analog channel is not in the current map from Gemstar.

I also made several attempts to get the host channel correct by turning off all the channels before 97 in the add/delete channel menu. Not only did it not identify channel 97, it would never identifiy a host channel at all so I never got any channels or listings. I reverted back to just turning off channel 6 and it went back to channel 3 as the host channel and I started getting data again. I decided to leave well enough alone and I have had the full eight day listings for about a week now and get successful downloads every day.

maddogFool

12-16-05, 12:37 PM

Well now I am getting the ads to come in, but still no tv listings. I have heard in my area I am not alone in this it seems that a whole bunch of people have lost their guide info.
I'm shocked! :eek: Gemstar wouldn't be diverting resources to make their advertising work, while ignoring actual program listings, would they? No, that would be unscrupulous. ;)

Jim777

12-16-05, 08:33 PM

Jim, What cable card does Cablevision use? I have the Motorola with Comcast and have no issues with the cable card and TVGOS.

Kdog my cable card is from NDS another company not affiliated with either Motorola or Scientific Atlanta. The problems I have been having may be unique due to this particular card in combination with the new Toshiba software and the TVGOS patch. Today Toshiba told me that my situation appears to be isolated and they have not gotten reports of similar difficulties. As no data is being sent via Cablevision, the only people with the NDS card who would have this type of problem are those with the HM94 models who are also using an OTA antenna to get the TVGOS data. My sense is that there are probably not a lot of people in my area who have gone to the trouble to do this.

Regarding my data source I am sure that it is my OTA PBS station. And the TV will eventually find it but it just takes a very long time. BTW I was told that there is a way to tell the set what the correct host channel is supposed to be, however, it is only known and used by the engineers at Gemstar and they don't want to have consumers using it because it hasn't been tested enough and may have some unintended consequences.

Toshiba is also told me today about a 1.2.8 software upgrade, however, it is not for the HM94 models. Supposedly they are going to release a similar upgrade for our sets but couldn't give me any specifics.

maddogFool

12-17-05, 09:39 AM

HarleyMyler

12-17-05, 06:04 PM

Toshiba is also told me today about a 1.2.8 software upgrade, however, it is not for the HM94 models. Supposedly they are going to release a similar upgrade for our sets but couldn't give me any specifics.

I was told an an upgrade was "in the works", but they did not say it was restricted to any specific models. I have given up on channel edits until the next version comes out (1.2.8?). Other than that, everything works fine (TWC w/Mot CC).

If anyone is having trouble getting builds or complete sets, they may want to suffer through channel edits (TVGOS). This frees up memory and seems to make the data download more robust.

There is a loose communication between the Toshiba help line and the engineering section that does the upgrade programming. I think speed of response is directly proportional to the number of calls they get.

Jim777

12-18-05, 07:09 PM

Displaced Husker

12-18-05, 07:45 PM

kdog044

12-19-05, 10:07 AM

I had been running the 255.6.1 test software for several months. I have since update to the 1.5.8. It took me a couple days before TVGOS populated after the change. But since I did this about a month ago, I have not had one issue (I know it is the kiss of death to mention it).

I think the 1.5.8 is the 255.6.1 software in its finalize mode.George, I know when I make comments like that I jinx myself. :D I also enjoy similar success with 1.5.8. Although my host channel is incorrect it hasn't affected my ability to get the downloads and maintain the listings. FYI, I did make all my channel edits turning off all the channels I don't have and moving the preferred ones to the top and those have also maintained with the listings. :cool:

JR_U

12-19-05, 02:38 PM

I can't guarantee it will work for you, but it appears to be working for me again, after being down for a couple weeks after I upgraded my TV firmware. It hasn't been long enough for me to declare victory, but as I've described, I had nothing until I tried this. I'm still not 100% sure this is the reason it started working.

Others have reported here that TVG seems to have problems with a CableCard installed, particularly when basic cable is on digital simulcast, as Comcast has finally done in our area. They replicate the analog PBS in the 90's, but the TVG software doesn't seem to find and use it reliably. As you've read, the TVG data is also on Fox29 (either channel 2 or 5 on the Comcast mapping.)

Do us all a favor and try it, but first check the diag screens and record what VBI, clock, and host channels are reported, if any. (See earlier posts for directions.) Then split your feed and activate ANT2. I've defined mine as antenna, not cable. For channels 2-13 it doesn't matter. If you select cable for ANT2, it might not bother searching it. Another alternative is to connect rabbit ears to ANT2, but since we know that Comcast is not stripping the TVG data, you don't need to go to that extreme.

Thanks maddogFool!!! Your solution works on my Samsung HLR6168W with Comcast cable.:D I did exactly what you stated, split cable line to ANT2, opt in antenna in TVGOS setup, hours later I got listings. I also edited out all other "air" channels on ANT2 except FOX7 which is the source for TVGOS data in my area. Along with other "cable" channels on ANT1 that might be mistaken as a download channel for TVGOS data (I deleted FOX7, PBS12 and PBS97). I'm not exactly sure if deleting the channels mentioned helped my situation but I figure this would make it easier for TVGOS to determine the correct download source. I should say though that before I edited out these channels, diag screen reflects, host channel was 1:0:12 (PBS12 "air"), VBI channel 1:0:7 (FOX7 "air"), clock channel 1:0:7 (FOX7 "air"). I was able to download listings for a day but then lost all the data the next day. After deleting the channels I mentioned before, my host channel is now 1:0:7 (FOX7) and have continously been receiving listings ever since. Again thanks maddogfool and everyone that contributed to this thread you guys have been very helpful. I have struggled to get this TVGOS working since September, without this thread I would have been stuck with a defective Samsung TV.

ds_1910

12-19-05, 05:04 PM

Thanks maddogFool!!! Your solution works on my Samsung HLR6168W with Comcast cable.:D I did exactly what you stated, split cable line to ANT2, opt in antenna in TVGOS setup, hours later I got listings. I also edited out all other "air" channels on ANT2 except FOX7 which is the source for TVGOS data in my area. Along with other "cable" channels on ANT1 that might be mistaken as a download channel for TVGOS data (I deleted FOX7, PBS12 and PBS97). I'm not exactly sure if deleting the channels mentioned helped my situation but I figure this would make it easier for TVGOS to determine the correct download source. I should say though that before I edited out these channels, diag screen reflects, host channel was 1:0:12 (PBS12 "air"), VBI channel 1:0:7 (FOX7 "air"), clock channel 1:0:7 (FOX7 "air"). I was able to download listings for a day but then lost all the data the next day. After deleting the channels I mentioned before, my host channel is now 1:0:7 (FOX7) and have continously been receiving listings ever since. Again thanks maddogfool and everyone that contributed to this thread you guys have been very helpful. I have struggled to get this TVGOS working since September, without this thread I would have been stuck with a defective Samsung TV.

Are you getting Ads/Promotions appearing in the Ad panes? I have a Samsung which is getting the Listings but no Ads/Promotions.

JR_U

12-19-05, 06:01 PM

No ads, just program listings.

cmlda

12-19-05, 10:31 PM

kdog044

12-20-05, 12:53 AM

Well...the results of splitting my cable to ANT2...Still "No DATA for this screen". The following values were recorded before, and then again two days after I did the split:
VBI Chan. 1:0-4/1:0-113
Host Chan. <blank>/<blank>
Host ID 0x0/0x4
Clock Set Ch. 1:0-2/1:0-113
I called Toshiba last Thursday and was basically told that TV Guide is tired of hearing from them and that Toshiba shouldn't be conveying individual complaints to TV Guide and that TV Guide is developing a plan to deal with us (the people who bought into this mess!). As much as I like this set...I'm considering a refund...anybody know of any sets that work as advertised?How do you know it's not an issue with your cable provider and the fact that they might not be sending the VBI data? Mine has worked since the beginning in some capacity (i.e. nine months). I have only had two issues with TVGOS.

1. Channel edits reverting back to defaults (has not happened in a long time but I can't say definitively it's fixed).

2. Program dumps where everything is lost. This also hasn't happened in a long time.

Only when Comcast changed the original PBS station from analog to digital did I have problems getting downloads and I have found a workaround to that issue.

Jim777

12-20-05, 10:07 AM

I called Toshiba last Thursday and was basically told that TV Guide is tired of hearing from them and that Toshiba shouldn't be conveying individual complaints to TV Guide and that TV Guide is developing a plan to deal with us (the people who bought into this mess!).

Since last week TV Guide customer service has not been returning my calls or responding to my e-mails. In fact their voicemail now says that "if you are a consumer and have a problem you should contact your manufacturer, if you are a manufacturer leave a message". So it appears that they were overwhelmed with TVGOS problems and have decided not to deal directly with the public any more. What really annoys me is that I was referred to them originally by my manufacturer, but now they don't have the courtesy to respond to me to explain what is going on. And this is after I, and a number of others on this board, have sent them screen shots and provided them with other information that has helped them troubleshoot this product over the past 10 months or so. Very unprofessional.

kdog044

12-20-05, 12:22 PM

Since last week TV Guide customer service has not been returning my calls or responding to my e-mails. In fact their voicemail now says that "if you are a consumer and have a problem you should contact your manufacturer, if you are a manufacturer leave a message". So it appears that they were overwhelmed with TVGOS problems and have decided not to deal directly with the public any more. What really annoys me is that I was referred to them originally by my manufacturer, but now they don't have the courtesy to respond to me to explain what is going on. And this is after I, and a number of others on this board, have sent them screen shots and provided them with other information that has helped them troubleshoot this product over the past 10 months or so. Very unprofessional.That's discouraging if true. I am going to send an e-mail to Cheryl to see if she sends me a reply. I'll keep you posted.

ds_1910

12-20-05, 12:52 PM

Since last week TV Guide customer service has not been returning my calls or responding to my e-mails. In fact their voicemail now says that "if you are a consumer and have a problem you should contact your manufacturer, if you are a manufacturer leave a message". So it appears that they were overwhelmed with TVGOS problems and have decided not to deal directly with the public any more. What really annoys me is that I was referred to them originally by my manufacturer, but now they don't have the courtesy to respond to me to explain what is going on. And this is after I, and a number of others on this board, have sent them screen shots and provided them with other information that has helped them troubleshoot this product over the past 10 months or so. Very unprofessional.

I have the same problem. Left Gemstar/TV Guide Onscreen a voice mail and no returned call. When I had called Samsung regarding issues with the TV Guide Onscreen, they referred me to contact Gemstar.

kdog044

12-20-05, 12:56 PM

That's discouraging if true. I am going to send an e-mail to Cheryl to see if she sends me a reply. I'll keep you posted.Here is the response I received from Gemstar.

We are not taking calls directly from consumers any longer. The procedure has always been that consumers need to go to their manufacturers and the manufacturers will send issues over to us. We are not a call center here and the call volume that is coming in is more than we can handle, so we needed to do something to curb the number of calls coming into us. TVGOS tech support was implemented to support the manufacturer's call centers regarding Guide problems.

Consumers who we have already been working with may still call or send emails and we will get back to them. Response time may be delayed.

You have been very helpful in gathering information and helping us investigate problems and we do appreciate your efforts. Feel free to continue to keep me updated and report any anomalies you see.

I hope I've helped alleviate your concerns.

Thanks again for all your help.

Cheryl

HarleyMyler

12-21-05, 09:07 AM

Here is the response I received from Gemstar.
<<< snip >>>
We are not taking calls directly from consumers any longer. The procedure has always been that consumers need to go to their manufacturers and the manufacturers will send issues over to us. We are not a call center here and the call volume that is coming in is more than we can handle, so we needed to do something to curb the number of calls coming into us. TVGOS tech support was implemented to support the manufacturer's call centers regarding Guide problems.
<<< snip >>>

Thanks Kdog for the update, to the group:

The only problem that can originate at Gemstar is data corruption and that is very unlikely. If you are getting the TV Guide channel and closed captioning, then the system should work.

If you are not getting any data at all (see numerous posts on this issue--how to tell and how to fix) then it is either the cable company or the local broadcaster who injects the data--again it is not Gemstar/TVGOS. It may also be your set, but again, I judge that to be very unlikely--especially if your close-captioning system is working.

The TVGOS software is written to the hardware of the set manufacturer. In the case of the Toshiba sets, those software upgrades that you get have the latest TVGOS program. It is indeed not a Gemstar problem. Bug Toshiba, they took your money, not Gemstar. They also cannot shut down their customer help line. But don't bug them until you are sure it is your set and not the lack of data.

The only known problem with Toshiba sets and TVGOS (other than the asinine ads problem, which I refuse to address because it is so stupid) is the loss of channel edits. Supposedly that will be fixed with the next Seine upgrade. I believe that the upgrade can be hurried along with a call blitz--not to TVGOS, to Toshiba.

kdog044

12-21-05, 11:37 AM

I thought I would post a few pics so you can see that even though my host channel is incorrect I still get the data. Since I tried to force the TV to get the correct channel and was unsuccessful I let it revert back to channel 3 it has been getting listings since 12/06. The correct channel should be 97 and it sometimes it is correct in the VBI Chan and sometimes not (this is one of times it is correct but it varies each day). Notice in the other pic there is no data in the HostChan column but in the Since Cold column it continues to accumulate. The other pic shows the successful downloads for the listings (type 70). Notice on the second entry it attempted to complete on 12/17 but wasn't successful even though the TV was off. It did, however, complete successfully on the next scheduled download. Most days the first download is the only one the TV is turned off for (2:21 AM EST to 5:21AM EST).

kdog044

12-21-05, 11:41 AM

This is the only screen where the correct channel is always identified in Failing Clock Chan and the Clock Set Chan.

Jim777

12-21-05, 02:32 PM

Great news. After loading the 255.6.1 test software (thank you Jeff) within 18 hours not only did I have time, correct VBI channel, full TVGOS patch, but also all channels and listings! That's the quickest it has ever happened. My Symbio also works fine. As this was just the first listing download, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it continues and I don't have a wipeout.

Well it looks like I'm back in business. Downloads have been occurring like clockwork and I have almost a full week of listings. I'm still not sure why the 1.5.8 software did not agree with my set (Toshiba had no clue and Gemstar was going to test out the 1.5.8 on a test set they have but never got back to me), but fortunately the 255.6.1 test software was able to override it. Channel edits also seem to be holding but I won't hold my breath.

I have noticed that the host channel is incorrect (1.0-2) Cable WCBS, where as it should be (2.0-13) OTA WNET. VBI Channel and clock set channel have been mostly (2.0-13) however, yesterday it was (1.0-13) Cable WNET, but today reverted back to (2.0-13). This is similar to what was occurring before my upgrading difficulties and hasn't impacted the data downloads. So maybe now I can finally enjoy using the TVGOS with the Symbio the way it was intended.

a.b.christie

12-23-05, 02:46 AM

It,s been about 1 month now since I loaded 1.5.8. My TVG listings suvived the process and now the only thing that causes me to lose channel edits is if I go straight to TVG from symbio.

seeingdouble

12-23-05, 08:38 AM

Although I don't have a rear projection unit, my new Pio Plasma came with the TV Guide On Screen service. During the setup process, I selected what appeared to be the correct Adelphia line up, and it initially worked pretty well, although it didn't pick up my HD channels. I re-ran the setup and chose a different Adelphia lineup listing from the setup menu. Shorty thereafter, I stopped getting any updated information, with all channels simply showing "no listing". I realized that right before I performed the second TVGOS setup, I had installed a filter on the incoming receiver cable to eliminate some herringbone interference. The filter is an in line unit I purchased from Radio Shack, which has an in/out orientation. I removed the filter from the line, and the guide appears to be updating. Perhaps the filter blocks the setup information - or maybe I just screwed up on the setup.

Well, just a thought , but maybe something worth considering for those of you that are experiencing problems with this guide.

Doksoul

12-23-05, 07:00 PM

Tvguide for me only populates occasionally. I only have OTA. My Samsung HLR TV says to see the TVgos website for info. of how it works. I've changed zip codes in the Salt Lake City area 4 different times and couldn't get any that worked worth beans.
Well, I have the RCA2160 DVR. The Tvgos website says when TVguide is showing, I can highlite a program, push record on the DVR remote, and it will set up recording. A BIG FAT LIE! I push the button and nothing happens. Local Samsung repair service has no idea how Tvguide works with the set. I called level 2 service (their best) at Samsung, and they told me that the DVR won't work to record programs unattended - remember I just said that the TVguide website says it will and Samsungs manual says to go to that site to see how it works.
There is certainly a business relationship between the TV companies and TVgos as the products are marketed to be working together and TVgos isn't providing the service for free. We have been sold crippled product that doesn't live up to the marketing hype. Shame on them all for ripping us off with lies.
The TV companies and TVguide shouldn't be allowed to lie to all of us. If a few of you pop in and says yours work, well great for you. I'm concerned for all the people this doesn't work for.
:eek: I wonder if the Federal Trade Commission would be interested in this deception.

seeingdouble

12-24-05, 01:30 PM

HarleyMyler

12-25-05, 01:12 PM

I agree with what you had to say, except for the recording aspect, which I haven't used. I guess since TVGOS is free these people don't feel they have any obligation to help us when it doesn't work; and the TVGOS website appears to be mostly a promo site. You'd think they could at least provide a bit more troubleshooting guidance.

Since I have cablecard, this is my only real option for displaying what is on, and it doesn't even list my HD channels. My cable service, Adelphia, disavows any knowledge of the product, and doesn't even know what the cable codes for my area are, although 4 are listed on the setup screen.

I have been hesitant to contact the TV manufacturer, since they probably just provide interface information, and include basic instructions in their manual.

BTW, I have found a trick that sometimes helps breath life into the display. I repeat the setup and either change the channel lineup code, or insert the zip code for a neighboring town, and that usually refreshes the display. If anything is wrong, I can then perform the setup with my actual parameters.

The problems are not with TVGOS. When TVGOS data is present (and robust) the system works great and completely as advertised with one exception: I don't get the ads, but I consider that a bonus.

If you have data problems, then there are a host of reasons, none of them having much to do with Gemstar, the company behind TVGOS. The local cable provider and the broadcasters must insert the datastream into their signal. The only thing you can blame on Gemstar is either bad data or late data. Gemstar has a BIG interest in getting good and timely data out there. Electronic equipment and comm channels do fail and do get a burp now and then--Gemstar moves quickly to correct the problems.

Channel lineup data is valuable IP. Someone has to code it, a computer has to format and inject it and a channel has to carry it. Why do you think Sony has charged for it all these years (TIVO)? So, if you get it for "free", someone has to have paid for it. The Gemstar marketing plan was twofold: 1) sell a license to a set (or device) manufacturer and allow them to decode and display the data--this is why on the front of your device you have a red and white "TV Guide" logo and 2) sell advertising along with the program listings. I think something has gone south. Licensing issues that are coupled to cable TV may be what is delaying development or souring interest. Many of the problems seem to be associated with CableCards, which were forced on the industry by congress. This touches deeply on the channel edit problem that Toshiba sets have. Cable companies do not want you to shut out the premiums. They want them always present so that you can see what you are missing and, hopefully, add them to your lineup.

The TVGOS advertising was a good idea, but it may not have panned out either with the system itself (possibly a bandwidth thing) or with how it would be marketed to the advertisers. Maybe Gemstar has no way of knowing how many subscribers have working TVGOS systems, or even use them--that would cause a fee problem. It could be any number of things and the only way we will find out is either by accident or from a press release.

I want to emphasize that based on what I was told by the Toshiba help line people, the TVGOS software resides on the host (device) and is programmed in the host device core language. With Toshiba's, it is the (proprietary) Seine processor. All Gemstar does is provide the data format and how the display will look. I am guessing that they also have an SDK written in C, C++ or Java. All the set manufacturer does is port it into their device. Here is where the fun begins.

seeingdouble

12-26-05, 09:09 AM

Doksoul

12-26-05, 10:24 AM

seeingdouble thanks for pointing out how you get your TVguide to populate. I've done that too. It's just that after a number of days of having it populate, it suddenly has nothing. And sporadically re-populates. I'm sure it's not the firmware in the TV that decodes the info. as that doesn't change. Only the input changes, i.e. the broadcast carrier signal and Tvgos info. I have great reception so it's not a signal issue.

As HarleyMyler pointed out... the TV companies pay a licensing fee to TVguide to put the logo on the tv and when we buy the tv we support both of them...Hence his use of "free"...meaning it is apparently free, but WE do pay for it through fees from the purchase price. Additionally TVguides advertizing to a captive audience is us paying for it. There is a third party I didn't name: the cable and local tv broadcasters...but at least my local broadcasters didn't put in print any promises to us about tvguide! Since the TV manuf and TVguide make their promises in writing, their the libel ones. I don't know what the business relationship is between tvguide and the cable/broadcasters, but that doesn't matter to the consumer. If the TV manuf and TVguide are sued and want to turn around and blame the cable co. and broadcasters, then they turn around and countersue after they loose.
Anyhow, I am not a person who jumps to sueing...but I know we are being ripped off. We bought a system that's supposed to work NOW. The literature with our products doesn't say TVguide will work in a few months, a year, a few years...the literature implies it works now and that's what we should expect. Think of how mass a fraud this is upon the whole American public who has bought into HDTV...I'm sure it works for some, but for the majority...it just doesn't work. That's many millions of folks frustrated with trying to get this thing to work.....or just turning it off, even though they paid for it.

HarleyMyler

12-27-05, 01:30 PM

HarleyMyler,

I believe we are pretty much in agreement. I believe my My Pioneer software is Linux-based, so once Pio programs my set is correctly, and their manual tells me how to set it up, their job is pretty much done.

It then comes down to the cable provider, who in my case is Adelphia, with whom I believe the lion's share of the responsibility falls. As I stated in my post, they are pretty much clueless. Since they are currently in Chapter 11, the situation probably won't improve until Cox, Time Warner, or whoever takes them over - hopefully soon.

Although I don't pay a fee for the TVGOS, I realize there ain't no free lunch, so there is a money trail to follow - one which ultimately leads to their parent Gemstar. This is a "TV Guide" product, which has their name on it. It seems that it is their responsibility to work with the vendors, and at least educate us so we know who to deal with, and apply pressure to get our problems fixed.

I agree to most of what you are saying, but unless Gemstar is playing with the formatting, things are pretty much under the control of the set. My guess at the sequence is this:

1. Gemstar offers a program listing service that can be accessed by a set buyer for free since they encode the data into the signal.

2. A device manufacturer sees this as a value-added feature and pays Gemstar for the privilege of adding TV Guide to their device (henceforth "Toshiba" to ease the typing burden).

3. Gemstar licenses the technology to Toshiba and gives them a standards spec for the data formatting as well as an SDK so that they can have their engineers program the TVGOS graphics and databasing into their sets (they also get a jpg or gif with the TV Guide logo to affix wherever they like).

A few wrenches are thrown into the mix just to make things interesting--the CableCard and the Symbio both interact with the TVGOS and again, Gemstar has nothing to do with these. In fact, the Symbio is a uniquely Toshiba issue.

So, if there are devices working fine out there it means that the data streams are fine and the spec is robust.

If a set is not getting data, then look to the transmission system.

If data is coming in but it is corrupted, incorrect, etc., then Gemstar may be the problem, but given the number of subscribers and the variance in sets out there, I would say that they would fix a problem such as this very quickly. In other words, if you are the only house in the block not getting a guide, look to your set.

Finally, listing resets, channel edit resets, etc. are the fault of the software and it is my opinion that the manufacturer's software, that is running in the set, is the problem.

jyagnd

12-29-05, 01:52 PM

I have been researching the whole TVGOS/CableCARD situation. I would like to ask all participants that have problems (with guide data) to list their cable provider as well as location and if they are using a CableCARD or direct cable connection. I believe this would be a great help to everyone involved finding a solution, since these issues seem to be isolated by market and provider. I am curious if (for example) many or all TWC markets have problems, or if it is only certain markets they serve with others properly operating.

Thanks

Gary Merson
HDTV Insider
in my area channel 13 wnet is the supplier of guide data for tvgos
here is the deal that i've come up with so far
cablevision long island has gone to a digital channel 13 on the cable card
when you type in 1 3 on your remote the cable card is mapped to the digital feed of channel 13 without the card it would tune into the anaolgue feed
when i set up the tvgos with my ant b (no cable card)
i get all the data and the guide works great BUT only on ant b (i cannot use the guide to tune to ant a channels it will only tune ant b channels)
when i run the guide setup on ant a without the card it also gets the needed data

going threw the ant a channels (with cable card) some are digital some are still analogue ( my pioneer hd 5061 can show what is analogue and what is digital)
channel 13 (needed to get data ) is now digital
tho some channels on the card are still analogue (tv land ect ect)
now my question
is possible to get them (Cable companies) to map channel 13 to the analogue channel 13 on my card (and others that have the same issue) i am sure it will work if they can
they can tell individual cards what can, and cannot be received (pay channels)

they should be able to map individual cards that need analogue 13

any cable guys or gals out there that can tell me if this is possible??

basicly to get the guide to work on the cable card you need an analogue version of the station that supplies the data on your cable system
and most cable systems (mine Cablevision long island) has switched most channels to digital on the cable card

magredc5

12-29-05, 11:55 PM

I'm convinced that some CC/TVGOS issues are due to the cable company channel map and the TVGOS Channel map being out of sync related to the host channel.

I use a CC with Comcast New England and have it working flawlessly now. I even just went through a full TVGOS reset while upgrading my TV's software this week, and this is how I got it to work perfectly again:

- TV was reset and TVGOS still had correct zipcode and setup info, but I had the message that it needed to download data within the next 24 hours (i.e. download the channel map and then listings).

- The next morning, it had the channel map and some listing data, but a lot of listings showed NO LISTING or NO TITLE.

- My CC channel map lists WGBH PBS as channel 99 - this is the analog Host Channel for my area as also noted in my TVGOS diag screens (1:0-99). However my TVGOS channel map lists WGBH as channel 97. I edit WGBH and change it's tune-to channel to 99.

- On the next listing download, all listings correctly update.

I believe that for some reason when TVGOS gets its channel map, the proper host channel info is not correct. I don't know who is responsible for sending this lineup but it looks like it's Genesis since my CC channel map correctly shows channel 99 as WGBH ANALOG. Maybe it takes a while for Genesis to get channel map data updated and my cable company changed the analog PBS channel in the recent past.

It seems to me that TVGOS must be getting information in it's setup download that tells it what it's host channel should be and uses the channel designator (WGBH) to determine that. Since it's initial channel map shows WGBH as channel 97, I think it tries to tune to 97 but then can't get the proper data so it "flounders" and gets some data after scanning the other channels. Once I edit WGBH in TVGOS to correctly tune to 99, everything works fine.

verriere

12-30-05, 09:08 AM

magredc5

12-30-05, 12:35 PM

Hey magredc5,

What are your other "critical" channels: Clock Set Channel & Failing Clock Channel? On the Comcast analog cable I am getting these as 1:0-16 and 1:0-11, Fox and NHPTV respectively. On the analog cable my Host Channel is 1:0-2, WGBH. I have been considering adding the CC, but was somewhat concerned about some of the horror stories involving CCs and TVGOS. So far it has been sounding like NE Comcast has been getting it right. My Sony HDD250 is functioning flawlessly on the analog cable. Your experience with the CC has me thinking now that these TVGOS devices may, in the hands of a competent cable provider, be able to survive the demise of analog TV.

Verriere:

My Clock Set and Failing Clock channels are all 1:0-99 (WGBH Analog), as is my Host Channel. My VBI Channel is usually 1:0-99, but sometimes I do see it listed in the diag screen as 1:0-12 (Fox Digital) but no issues with the TVGOS performance.

On Comcast's Digital Cable service, 1:0-2 is still WBGH, but it's Digital (TVGOS is currently not able to pass data over digital channels but that is supposed to change in the next few months). So on Comcast Digital, they retransmit WGBH Analog on channel 99. TVGOS is supposed to get that info when it downloads it's initial setup/channel map info based on the zip code entered.

sderby

12-30-05, 06:50 PM

Going through this thread, it seems that most of the messages are about Toshiba sets, but has anyone had any luck getting TV Guide On Screen working with a Mitsubishi set? I have a WD-52527 and after a month of fiddling, I'm ready to give up. I live in Stockton, CA (near Sacramento) and my local TVGOS provider is (I think) KVIE, the local PBS affiliate, though KQED (PBS station in San Francisco) is also carried by my cable company. The TV also seems to like locking on to local ABC affiliates, but it never stays there for more than an hour or so. (When using the cable box, I can see what channels TVGOS is trying to use.)

I've tried using my zip code, neighboring zip codes, and even KVIE's zip code in Sacramento, but with no success. I've tried using the cable card, using a cable box and even using rabbit ears. The guide always tells me "No Data for this Screen" (or something like that) though recently it has started displaying the correct time. I have no idea how to get into the TVGOS service menu on this set. It's obviously different than for Toshibas.

I finally called Mitsubishi's customer service about this and, surprisingly, the representative I talked to wanted to just brush it off. He said "Oh, your cable company must not be sending the data." When I pointed out that it doesn't work with an OTA antenna either, he agreed that there must be a problem. He's supposed to talk to Gemstar and get back ahold of me, but I'm not holding my breath.

Any suggestions on getting TVGOS working with a Mitsubishi in the Stockton/Sacramento area?

Jim777

12-30-05, 10:03 PM

is possible to get them (Cable companies) to map channel 13 to the analogue channel 13 on my card (and others that have the same issue) i am sure it will work if they can
they can tell individual cards what can, and cannot be received (pay channels)

I also have Cablevision of LI and have my TVGOS working perfectly well now using an antenna in my attic hooked up to the antenna 2 input. I tried to use amplified rabbit ears but am too far away (35 miles from the Empire State Building where WNET transmits OTA) to get a clear enough signal.

You will not have any success with Cablevision supporting TVGOS as it enables you not to need a set top box for the listings and that costs them revenue. They have been unreceptive to requests from Gemstar to insert the TVGOS data on the WNET digital feed for the same reason.

henrywei

12-31-05, 01:24 AM

Just a data point from a newbie in New York, NY:

I recently got the Toshiba RD-XS34 (HDD + DVD recorder). My apartment actually has two raw basic cable TV signals coming in on two separate cables -- RCN and Time Warner. Four days of RCN and the unit never received the listings -- I never even got to choose the cable carrier -- but less than one day of Time Warner connection has brought up the TVGOS "choose your cable provider" screen. I suspect the unit is downloading listings right now.

Interestingly, the VBI channel was 5 (Fox) and host channel was blank when I first started out on the Time Warner connection. However, I decided to experiment and choose RCN as my cable provider from the screen that popped up. Now the VBI channel has changed to channel 13 (WNET/PBS) and host channel 13 rather than blank.

(Goal is to see if the Time-Warner signal will somehow let me jump-start the listing download and the switch over to the RCN signal again, though I'm doubtful that'll work. At least I have channel labels now, though.)

HOUDINI64

12-31-05, 11:37 AM

I am hoping someone will be able to help me I am at my wits in.... I am in Bakersfield, California and have Bright House Networks cable which was Time Warner before the switch over.... Here is my problem my girlfriend bought me my Samsung 46" rear projection tv for christmas I had my old 30' widescreen lcd hooked up to a SA 8300HD settop box... When I got the new tv hooked up I wanted to go to a cable card which I had read many threads on hear so on Tuesday they came and installed one and there is a difference in the PQ and I have all my tv fuctions back I do not want to go back to the set top box but I cannot get the TVGOS to load up it has been two and a half days now.... I called Samsung and they told me after waiting a hour that I would not be able to use the TVGOS because of the cable card and everything being digital and that the TVGOS downloads off of analog and could not give me anymore of a answer... So went to TVGOS to see if there was a way to get in touch with them and no there is not.... So then I got some good rabbits ears from a friend and hooked them up to the other rf port and did a quick auto program of the channels and then set up TVGOS once again and let it sit over night and nothing can some please help me out if there is a answer or anything I can do so I do not have to go back to the set top box please reply or send me a private message any help would be thankful....

jyagnd

12-31-05, 02:31 PM

i found this online in the cable act of 1992
regarding tvgos and cablevision issue that cablevistion states they are not resposible for

The Commission has established rules to assure compatibility between home electronic equipment and cable television systems so the advanced features of television receivers (TVs) and VCRs will function when connected to cable service. These rules were adopted in accordance with the provisions of Section 17 of the 1992 Cable Act.

so should i think that cablevision should fix the issue with tvgos not getting data with the cable card. because they went digital on the channel needed to get the guide data with the cable card.

(i get a fully functional guide without the cabel card )

i also sent a request to a class action lawyer to see if it is possible to make cablevision carry this data so our high end tvs will work as built

sderby

01-01-06, 01:51 PM

After repeated fiddling and using the reset code (653214741), I actually managed to get to the "Choose a provider" screen on my Mitsubishi WD-52527, but the listings will not populate. In the diag screens, Host Channel is always blank, so I guess it hasn't successfully found a host channel yet.

Kdog has previously posted the scheduled transmission times for the TVGOS listings data. Does anyone know if these are transmitted simultaneously in all time zones or at the same local time? For example, in EST, the listings data is broadcast at 2:20am, 7:00am, 10:00am and 1:46pm. Does that mean that in PST, the data is sent simultaneously at 11:20pm, 4:00am, etc. or is it time delayed at sent at 2:20am, etc. local time?

The fiddling continues...

Jim777

01-01-06, 04:43 PM

magredc5

01-02-06, 12:02 AM

sderby

01-02-06, 11:35 AM

Since the download times are listed as GMT, I assumed that the data is transmitted simulaneously to all timezones. I.e., my download typically occurs during the 7:21 GMT schedule, which is 2:21 EST.

The timezone info seems to be only to correctly set the local time and access the correct listings.

Hmmm. Two conflicting answers. Can someone outside of EST check their DL schedule and post the DL times here? I'd post mine (in PST), but my TVGOS still hasn't identified a useable host channel.

kdog044

01-02-06, 12:04 PM

Hmmm. Two conflicting answers. Can someone outside of EST check their DL schedule and post the DL times here? I'd post mine (in PST), but my TVGOS still hasn't identified a useable host channel.The times are in GMT so they would download at whatever the equivalent time zone is for your area. Unless your download schedule lists a different GMT time then it would occur at the same time.

FYI: For those of you concerned with the host channel it doesn't have to be correct to get downloads as mine hasn't been correct for some time but it MUST identify a channel. If your host channel is blank you will never get any downloads. Also, the channel lineup is sent by TVGOS so if there is a channel missing or identified incorrectly they are the only ones that can correct it. I did get word that they finally added the new PBS analog channel to my area but unless you do a reset you will not get a new channel map. Since it has been working for over two weeks I'm not going to mess with it and will wait until I have any problems to see if the channel has been added or not.

sderby

01-02-06, 12:25 PM

The times are in GMT so they would download at whatever the equivalent time zone is for your area. Unless your download schedule lists a different GMT time then it would occur at the same time.

Are you certain about this, kdog? That seems to contradict what Jim said above. If I ever get mine to load a DL schedule I guess I'll know for sure (and I'll report my results here).

FYI: For those of you concerned with the host channel it doesn't have to be correct to get downloads as mine hasn't been correct for some time but it MUST identify a channel. If your host channel is blank you will never get any downloads.

Interestingly, mine hasn't identified a host channel, but I'm getting some listings (incomplete, though). I *think* what's happening is it's finding a legitimate host and starting the download, but something happens so it doesn't complete the listings download. OTOH, in the diag screens it doesn't list *anything* for any DL start times (but it has some listings), so I'm kind of mystified at the moment.

My latest adventure with TVGOS is trying to figure out why it keeps latching on to A&E or Bravo, which surely are not sending listings (or are they?). This wouldn't be so disconcerting except that when the TV latches on to the VBI for A&E, it's prevented from finding the correct host channel.

Jim777

01-02-06, 12:56 PM

[QUOTE=sderby]Are you certain about this, kdog? That seems to contradict what Jim said above. If I ever get mine to load a DL schedule I guess I'll know for sure (and I'll report my results here).

Well perhaps I am mistaken in my recollection. My download times are in GMT. The key one is at 7:24 which is 2:24 AM local here. I had thought that the 2:24 AM was the same local time across all time zones when the TV "woke up" to look for data. However, for Kdog I guess it would be 1:24 AM and on the west coast 11:24 PM.

I also do not have a correct host channel, however, I get my downloads regularly. I believe it gets it from the VBI channel. Apparently, even after setting a host channel the system continues to search all the channels and when it finds data it uses it.

sderby

01-02-06, 01:14 PM

Well perhaps I am mistaken in my recollection. My download times are in GMT. The key one is at 7:24 which is 2:24 AM local here. I had thought that the 2:24 AM was the same local time across all time zones when the TV "woke up" to look for data.

I was able to confirm that you were right. The download times are adjusted for local time. The first listings download begins at about 2:20am local time no matter what time zone the set is in. I still haven't gotten a download schedule on my set, but I went out to a local electronics shop and checked their TV. The first DL there (PST) is listed as 10:21 GMT, which is 2:21 am local time.

kdog044

01-02-06, 03:14 PM

[QUOTE=sderby]Well perhaps I am mistaken in my recollection. My download times are in GMT. The key one is at 7:24 which is 2:24 AM local here. I had thought that the 2:24 AM was the same local time across all time zones when the TV "woke up" to look for data. However, for Kdog I guess it would be 1:24 AM and on the west coast 11:24 PM.

I also do not have a correct host channel, however, I get my downloads regularly. I believe it gets it from the VBI channel. Apparently, even after setting a host channel the system continues to search all the channels and when it finds data it uses it.I am also in EST so mine is at 2:21 AM as well, Are you sure the schedule isn't 7:21 GMT and not 7:24?. You are correct that the TVGOS will continually look for channels with VBI data but in my experience if it doesn't define a host channel it never gets the downloads. If you look at the VBI channel in the diagnostics it can be on any number of different channels depending on when you access them. Many times the channel is correct (channel 97) but many times it is not so I think it only lists the last channel it had searched for data on when you accessed the diagnostics. Obviously it always finds the correct one for me as I get new downloads every day. As I mentioned earlier, the only place that I get a consistent correct channel is in the Other Clocks menu for the clock set chan.

Jim777

01-02-06, 03:35 PM

[QUOTE=Jim777]I am also in EST so mine is at 2:21 AM as well, Are you sure the schedule isn't 7:21 GMT and not 7:24?. You are correct that the TVGOS will continually look for channels with VBI data but in my experience if it doesn't define a host channel it never gets the downloads. If you look at the VBI channel in the diagnostics it can be on any number of different channels depending on when you access them. Many times the channel is correct (channel 97) but many times it is not so I think it only lists the last channel it had searched for data on when you accessed the diagnostics. Obviously it always finds the correct one for me as I get new downloads every day. As I mentioned earlier, the only place that I get a consistent correct channel is in the Other Clocks menu for the clock set chan.

Sorry. Thought you were on Central time.

The time in the schedule is 7:24 GMT. However I have two sets up download schedules. The first set is for station ID 3316 which I believe is for the PBS station here, WNET. The first set is the only one that shows activity. The second set is for station ID 4505 and has times that are all 3 minutes earlier. So it has 7:21. I believe that 4505 is the TV guide channel which is not being used.

My VBI channel listings and clock set chan reflect the same behavior as you describe.

Natergfunky

01-02-06, 09:17 PM

sderby

01-03-06, 07:57 AM

Does anyone know how to determine what a VBI channel of 1:0-486 when going through a set-top box would correspond to in an actual broadcast channel, and would this still essentially need to match the Clock set chan ?

486 isn't in the analog range, but who knows what the STB is doing? Try tuning the STB to 486 and see what channel shows up. I think it's more likely, though, that TVGOS just couldn't find a VBI channel. You're not in an area that's switched to all-digital are you?

The VBI channel will often match the clock set channel, but not always. There may be multiple channels that broadcast information (not necessarily TVGOS information, though) in the VBI.

kdog044

01-03-06, 09:16 AM

Does anyone know how to determine what a VBI channel of 1:0-486 when going through a set-top box would correspond to in an actual broadcast channel, and would this still essentially need to match the Clock set chan ?The channel reported is just the last channel TVGOS searched for data on and isn't necessarily a good indicator of whether it is working or not. The best place to look in the diagnostics is in the VBI Downloads page. For the type 70 downloads look for a successful completion date and time for a given day.

kdog044

01-03-06, 10:51 AM

I had something weird happen yesterday. I was looking through the guide when the picture froze and finally kicked me out of the TVGOS. When I looked at the listings they were all reset to default and I had lost the time and date. I checked the diagnostics and everything was reset such as the Reception Slicing menu and the VBI downloads. What was interesting is I didn't lose any listings. I went back and edited all the channels and as of today the time and date are back and so are the VBI download information and it was successful getting new program data for the day. I guess that means that the channel edits reset problem still exists but at least it doesn't appear to affect the existing listings and outside of having to make the channel edits all over I didn't need to do anything else to keep the TVGOS functioning.

rbbnet

01-03-06, 11:17 AM

Jim777

01-03-06, 01:25 PM

You know, my TVGOS had been working in it's entirety up until I asked it to hide the channels I wasn't suppose to receive. Ever since editing my channels nothing works properly anymore. I'm ready to abandon mission, suck it up, and get that damn cable box I don't want. At least that darn thing will work.

It may be that you inadvertantly turned off the channel that you are receiving your downloads from. I would turn all the channels back on again and wait a couple of days to see if you start receiving data again. If you do, check your clock set chan and make sure you don't turn that one off.

rbbnet

01-03-06, 02:47 PM

It may be that you inadvertantly turned off the channel that you are receiving your downloads from. I would turn all the channels back on again and wait a couple of days to see if you start receiving data again. If you do, check your clock set chan and make sure you don't turn that one off.

I have already started from scratch with the TVGOS set-up as well as re-enabled all channels. I wish I were at home where I could be a lil more preceise in my descripts, but I've never seen anything on my set that would indicate which channel the updates are coming from. My TVGOS seems to load and update fine with all channel info being there and being correct. Albeit the channel will not always display the correct info when tuning to it. What I mean is, say you ask the TV to change to channel XX. It does so and also displays the calls letters associated with that particular channel, such as ESPN. More often than not these call letters are all out of whack, something that started only after my channel edits. Also you can be looking at the TVGOS hunting something to watch. When you find the station and press "enter" sometimes the channel will not tune. It will display the proper channel numbers but the screen will simply stay black as if no info is there to be displayed. After monkeying with TVGOS and resetting the channels in the channels editor I can get it to operate correctly. But having to go thru this crap everytime we use the TV is totally unacceptable. It is totally aggrevating to be able to watch your fav local channel in HD today only to have to go thru a full TVGOS reset in order to tune to it today. None of these issues take into consideration the fact that even when it will tune in the HD channels I have to then go to a lower digital channel, tune it in first, then go back to the HD channel.. just to get audio.

celwin

01-03-06, 09:40 PM

I have already started from scratch with the TVGOS set-up as well as re-enabled all channels. I wish I were at home where I could be a lil more preceise in my descripts, but I've never seen anything on my set that would indicate which channel the updates are coming from. My TVGOS seems to load and update fine with all channel info being there and being correct. Albeit the channel will not always display the correct info when tuning to it. What I mean is, say you ask the TV to change to channel XX. It does so and also displays the calls letters associated with that particular channel, such as ESPN. More often than not these call letters are all out of whack, something that started only after my channel edits. Also you can be looking at the TVGOS hunting something to watch. When you find the station and press "enter" sometimes the channel will not tune. It will display the proper channel numbers but the screen will simply stay black as if no info is there to be displayed. After monkeying with TVGOS and resetting the channels in the channels editor I can get it to operate correctly. But having to go thru this crap everytime we use the TV is totally unacceptable. It is totally aggrevating to be able to watch your fav local channel in HD today only to have to go thru a full TVGOS reset in order to tune to it today. None of these issues take into consideration the fact that even when it will tune in the HD channels I have to then go to a lower digital channel, tune it in first, then go back to the HD channel.. just to get audio.

I'm in complete agreement. Honestly if I had known I was going to have these CC issues with this television, I would have never bought an HDTV. I'm close to having buyer's remorse. I have a HDTV that I rarely see HD content on becuase of this ANNOYING cable card/TVGOS issues. The tv is basically now a screen to watch DVDs.

jumpinjoe

01-03-06, 10:04 PM

Everything is working fine except for my ability to tune the local HD channels via cable. When I tune to one of these stations my TV will freeze and then I will lose the time and channel line up.

Only way to get local HD is via my OTA antenna. Adelphia is coming out on Friday with a new cable card and I hope this solves my problems. I too am getting discouraged but when it works it's great!

Watching the Orange Bowl in HD via OTA right now is worth all the aggrevation.

rbbnet

01-03-06, 10:19 PM

Jim777

01-03-06, 10:32 PM

I have already started from scratch with the TVGOS set-up as well as re-enabled all channels. I wish I were at home where I could be a lil more preceise in my descripts, but I've never seen anything on my set that would indicate which channel the updates are coming from. My TVGOS seems to load and update fine with all channel info being there and being correct. Albeit the channel will not always display the correct info when tuning to it. What I mean is, say you ask the TV to change to channel XX. It does so and also displays the calls letters associated with that particular channel, such as ESPN. More often than not these call letters are all out of whack, something that started only after my channel edits. Also you can be looking at the TVGOS hunting something to watch. When you find the station and press "enter" sometimes the channel will not tune. It will display the proper channel numbers but the screen will simply stay black as if no info is there to be displayed. After monkeying with TVGOS and resetting the channels in the channels editor I can get it to operate correctly. But having to go thru this crap everytime we use the TV is totally unacceptable. It is totally aggrevating to be able to watch your fav local channel in HD today only to have to go thru a full TVGOS reset in order to tune to it today. None of these issues take into consideration the fact that even when it will tune in the HD channels I have to then go to a lower digital channel, tune it in first, then go back to the HD channel.. just to get audio.

In the past when I have had problems I would try a TV Guide Reset (there is a code you would put into the TVGOS setup screen change system settings, that is found earlier in these posts). I don't know if that is what you already have done. If that didn't work I would do a factory reset of the TV, (which would unfortunately require you to re-input all your picture settings). This can be done in the setup/installation screen of the TV. In both cases I would have to wait at least 48 hours to see if it would work. Also if you get multiple cable providers to choose from, if the wrong one is selected it will cause your channel lineup to be incorrect.

rbbnet

01-03-06, 10:52 PM

Seeing how you have a XX94 model and I have a XXX95 model... I think our software is totally different. From reading post I pretty sure they're different. My TVGOS set-up is fairly simple.. input zip, chose cable carrier, answer if you have a VCR connected.. pretty much it. Wait a day or two to populate the guide.. viola. There's also another section within the TV's main menus where you can check or uncheck a box for each channel that tells the TV to allow the set to tune to each channel. This is outside that of the TVGOS controls. And of cource you can go back int othe TVGOS set-up and edit channels as well as tell the TVGOS to hide channels.

jumpinjoe

01-04-06, 09:51 AM

The ability to get my locals in HD via cable is the only reason I ever opted for the CC. Luckily for me HD is about all the CC ever did do. But too often I have to rework the entire set-up in order to keep getting those 5-6 HD channels. I'm paying for prolly 100 extra channels and only getting a dozen of them, 6 of which are HD.

when I called Adelphia to let them know about the problem they were pretty good about it and gave me a credit for the days I was without partial service.

Jim777

01-04-06, 01:42 PM

[QUOTE=rbbnet]Seeing how you have a XX94 model and I have a XXX95 model... I think our software is totally different. From reading post I pretty sure they're different. My TVGOS set-up is fairly simple.. input zip, chose cable carrier, answer if you have a VCR connected.. pretty much it. Wait a day or two to populate the guide.. viola. There's also another section within the TV's main menus where you can check or uncheck a box for each channel that tells the TV to allow the set to tune to each channel. This is outside that of the TVGOS controls. And of cource you can go back int othe TVGOS set-up and edit channels as well as tell the TVGOS to hide channels.[/QUO

I don't know what the exact differences are but from what you describe I think they are still very similar. I have the same TVGOS set up function and TV menu to select my tuned channels. I think you may need to do more than just reset via the TVGOS setup to clear out your problem. I and others have used the code 653214741 in the TVGOS setup to reset the TVGOS. You would go into the TVGOS setup, and highlight change settings without going into it and type in the code. That should clear out the TVGOS and prompt you to reset it again. If that doesn't work a full TV reset as I described above might do the trick.