TVGOS ( TV Guide On Screen ) Devices - Page 38

So for fun I reset one DHG to zero, updated the firmware to .21 and set the zip code to 19020. I used to live there.

This morning I have a good clock, a lineup which I have not checked, but no listings. So if I am am getting this on my channel 10 (not 3), The front panel shows KYW. With my zipcode and DMA, fed on channel 15, it shows KYW then switches to CBS-3 in a second. I just changed that DHG to .13 and I'll see what happens.

OT: The .13 firmware fixes a bug that makes the DHG go to "auto HDMI" from 1080i when tuning a 480i channel. Trivial but cute.

Suffering from brain fever. Zipcode chosen has to be one that SE provides with TVGOS data. I did get a lineup with 19020, but it was really wrong. I'll switch to Allentown and check tomorrow. Live & learn.

It is nice to know that the two feeds are different. Perhaps that is why my dual tuner Sanyo has CBS displayed on analog 10.

We bought CATV too? SE has too much money.

I've mentioned this before but, there is no point in loading the .21 firmware to receive analog data. The .13 firmware, or lower works just fine for that. The .21 firmware is only needed to make living with digital TVGOS data a little easier.

Mark

It does fix the problem with jumping to auto hdmi. I prefer to use the 1080i fixed output. The .09 firmware doesn't fix that. I was using it for a month before changing.

Hi Joe,
They are not sending out any DTA's. If she is only paying for expanded basic which is currently $60.70/month, she will get classic cable after the 29th for $61.95/month.
If you add the digital tier now for an additional $5.99 this month and get a box at no extra charge then she will transition to the viewers pack for $65.45/month.

Also as mabuttra mentioned you do not need to use the .21 firmware to get the converted legacy stream. Also no matter what channel line up you get from the philly dma you will have to edit the entire channel line up to match yours.

Part one: It sounds like you are saying analog isn't going away? She gets about 50 vsb channels now and has an old TV in one bedroom that still uses them.

Part two: I know I could use .05, but .13 stops the switching & handshaking with HDMI. When I set 1080i I want it to stay there. I'm using this DHG to watch KYW (vsb 10) as a host. I have nothing better to do.

I wasn't talking about not installing .13. I was talking about the extra step you always take of installing the .21 firmware, only to downgrade it to .13. There is no need to install .21, just reset, and then install .13 and that's it. Although I think doing a factory default that wipes the current firmware is overkill for these things. I much prefer the TV Guide Reset to factory default, or even easier, Jed1's preferred method of entering the 653274147 system reset code. Neither of these wipes the firmware, so you can just reset, and let it go. In the case of the system reset code, you don't even have to setup the TVGOS again.

Mark

Currently we have about 75 analogs. When the transition takes place we will have about 65 analogs. I think two channels will disappear and 8 will be moved to digital.
I do know right after the 29th transition they are going to move quickly to make mahanoy city like hazleton. They do have to give a thirty day notice when they are going to shutdown the analog channels. I expect this to happen before the summer.

I also have nothing better to do. I am still messing round with the antenna as SE shutdown the FM radio stations about six weeks ago.

I just wanted TVGOS users to know that it looks like Rovi moved TVGOS to legacy status. TVGOS has been replaced with Rovi's Total Guide.
It appears that the Total Guide is web based and does not use inserters for their data.

Here is a link to Products on Rovi's web site:
http://www.rovicorp.com/products/discovery.htm
Take notice that TVGOS is no longer listed on the upper right hand side of the page.

Here is a link to Rovi's support page:
http://www.rovicorp.com/support/cons...ide-issues.htm
And the link for TVGOS support page:
http://www.rovicorp.com/support/cons...ssues/9541.htm

Also Rovi sold their majority stake in Norpak Corporation to Ross Video of Cananda. If you did not know Norpak made the analog and digital inserters for TVGOS. That means if the inserters fail they will have to purchase new ones from Ross Video.
http://www.rossvideo.com/terminal-eq...tes/index.html
In my opinion I do not see Rovi doing that as it would be a waste of money to support a product that is no longer being offered. And as stated before Rovi's Total Guide uses a internet connection to get its data.

I get packets on my vsb 10 and 15. My 10 (after a reset) says KYW. My 15 doesn't say anything until I get a lineup, then it says C-SPAN. I also have a small Sanyo with a hybrid tuner (switch for TV/DTV) that says 10 is CBS. No DTV channel has any information on that TV or my Sony TV.

So I used a DHG and set the zipcode to 18018, Bethlehem, the office for SE that feeds NJ and should have a Philly DMA. After two days the "10 KYW" changed to "10 NBC10" or WCAU. With my DMA it would switch to "10 CBS-3" after a short blink of the KYW call letters.

The time on my DHG with my DMA is perfect. The time for the testing DHG is 10 seconds slow. When asked for the provider, my test unit did not list SE, just 4 RCN feeds with their DMA numbers. The host was cable 10 and the host ID was 4.

Last night I set the zipcode to Allentown 18101. It may take a fews days to resync to this zipcode. Keeping mind I am still analog, the total packets is big, over 100k, but host packets is small (<1k).

Losing TVGOS may be a blessing.

Are you interested in getting a good FM radio? With my outdoor antenna I get about 30 - 40 stations without trying on my Radio Shack radio with RW fixed outputs. My AVR only gets 2 to 10. Short time link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigaware-HD-...item2c62c12eca

Leap Day will have special meaning for us this year.

You might get a line up change pretty quickly.

As for losing TVGOS this will be tough for me as I have been using it since 1997. My old 36 inch RCA Home theater TV had the original version embedded in it. The original host station was the ABC stations. Since then I have owned four different versions of TVGOS.

I am getting a lot of FM stations but I have to adjust the antenna to get them which can be a pain sometimes.

I wouldn't want to be a CSR for SECV on leap day as all the people whom I have talked to so far hasn't even read or understand the information and is clueless as to what is going to happen. Some people thought is was a sales pitch and threw it away with out even reading it. I guess they will learn the hard way on the 29th. I am also expecting more dishes to pop up in frackville after the 29th as SECV will terminate your service with in thirty days.

Does it actually say that in one of the links? I'm not finding those words?

I think the lack of any words on TVGOS that are the real problem. Sony still sells TV's with the guide (via the internet). But they aren't doing so well. Tivo is working fine. Another week before I get the cable card. What are the odds that I could pull it from the TiVo and put it into a DHG without harm?

I pulled mine from the Sony's and put them in the TiVo's without issue. But depending on your CableCo YMMV.
To be clear, I didn't contact Charter when I made the change, I just did it and it worked without a hitch.

So then effectively, there's no change in TVGOS status.

In one sense, that's true. Rovi controls everyone's fate and they are not predictable. If my V10 goes away, which is indicated by my TV's clock, then I will panic even though it is a rolling 24 hour guide. It's not the iGuide that Rovi spoke of; I get that on my old Pace STB.

Jed1 & I share the same cable company but through different offices. On March 1 we expect some changes that may be a problem. This is why I have been watching my second TVGOS data feed from the KYW channel.

If it's just a copy of my C-SPAN feed, why are the clocks not the same? There is just too much I don't know. It's why I bought the TiVo and TViX. If the guide gets the boot, I can still record HD VCR-like, but not as classy as the SD Mag 515H.

With the tapes, I think I can still use the DHG in the same way. I just won't know for sure until it happens.

As I stated Rovi no longers makes TVGOS as it is no longer listed on their products page. The guide that replaces TVGOS, the Total Guide, does not use inserters as it is internet based and will work with an internet connection just like Tribune media services guide in your Tivo.

The V8 guide was the most embedded version but with the exception of the DHG, they were all analog dependent guides. The V9 guide was only embedded in a couple of tvs and has digital capabilities. The V10 was only embedded in higher end sonys and Samsungs. Of all the digital capable guides out there how many people are using a set top box from cable or satellite providers and never even used the guide.
The only device existing that needs TVGOS to operate is the DHG. The actual base of TVGOS users is quite small and if Rovi did decide to shutdown the inserters there will probably only a few users that will complain.

Joe,
It is not a copy of your C-Span feed. KYW has a different inserter that is in a different DMA. Basically two different inserters with two different feeds.

As for the tapes working that will not work if there is no actual real data available as the clock set will be based on what time the recording is made. Without real time data the clock will not be set to the correct time.

Ok, I set the zip code to 18101. I reset the guide through its setup. No request for provider like last year. It's been two days.

Playing tapes will get me TVGOS. The time will be the time of the tape. I can adjust it, or adjust the time of the recording. I have tapes from every day and time period possible. It's my only hope. My channel 10 now shows NBC10 and has 200 packets/minute. KYW is on channel 3 where it belongs. The guide time is a little wrong, so that means the "channel 10" is wrong? My little brain has a hard time with making sense of this. If I'm right, I should have HSN with packets tomorrow. Or not.

I could say my legacy host is WCAU, but that would feel wrong.

Joe,
You have a line up for SECTV in allentown.
http://www.sectv.com/LV/v_lineups.html
You have to go into your TVGOS channel editor and edit the line up to match your own channel line up. You will never get your actual line up using KYW TVGOS feed as you are not in that DMA.
I had to do this for almost a year when I had no TVGOS form our DMA. I would have to edit about 250 channels to match my cablecard lineup.

In 23 days I will know what the future for TVGOS is for me. I am leaning toward the Pace RNG 200 over the Tivo because I am getting tired of fighting.
I asked SECV if they will support my 2 cablecards that I own and they will not give me a yes or no.

As for hope there is the old saying, You wish and hope in one hand and crap in the other and at the end of the day the hand that you wished and hoped in will be empty and the hand that you crapped in will be overflowing.

To be accurate, I am looking at the Allentown lineup in the same way I look at the local lineup: all dressed up with nowhere to go. It's good for the first 20+ vsb channels, and the rest is from 2008 and OTA. I can't map anything. My channels all come through with the format of xx.xxxx and only V10 can allow me to map the clear QAM channels, like WBRE HD at 84.1401 to analog 3 on my TV. I can't map too many or the TV crashes and stops working. V10 TVGOS has never had an update on my TV.

The Pace RNG200 looks good. If TiVo doesn't handle the load I will go with the Pace if it is offered by my office.

It would be easier to understand if there was one big, long, fat cable wire that connected everyone. Then I could understand two feeds with different data. My active DHG units, set for my zipcode, get an accurate 2008 guide, but it's not any good except being pretty. My test unit, set for 18101, gets the Allentown lineup and listings, yet the host data is on channel 10. Without TVGOS channel 10 displays KYW on the front panel. After TVGOS it displays NBC10. On my other units I see CBS-3 on channel 10.

I can only do manual digital recording since I have no cable cards. Next week I get one for the TiVo, and I will see if it works in a DHG too.

It's fun, but it can be a challenge. Yes, I am getting tired of this too.

I'm pretty certain that the TotalGuide is being sent OTA in the TVG1 data stream, and has been for a little over a year now. Think back to the last schedule change (11/2010) when many of the V8/V9 download times were shortened, and the ID97 times were completely dropped (ID97 downloads still occur, they just aren't in our schedule any more). The total time that V8, and V9 data is sent out shrank dramatically then. There are 16 download times listed in the schedule, covering only 5 hours of V8/V9 data. However there are 24 other downloads that happen that are not V8/V9 related. The entire time from 12:01am to 6:16pm is filled with download data. During the time that I was playing with TSReader, I found references to TotalGuide in the TVG1 data. There is definitely data besides V8/V9 TVGOS data being sent out via the TVG1 stream, I'd be surprised if my Sony out lives TVGOS.

Mark

Just to keep me busy, SE has switched my C-SPAN (TVGOS, ch 15 vsb) with HSN (ch 98 vsb). I thought my TVGOS legacy data would stick on 15. Nope, it moved also. So now I get to watch the units move the host and clock set channels. Should be fun, like watching paint dry.

It looks like the are making all the line ups the same for all the divisions. I just realized that I will have the same pesky four digits after the decimal point on the 29th.

If you want them to update your channel line up will have to email it to them but it will take any where from one to four months to get it accomplished.

When Gemstar owned the guide the cable companies used to send them the new channel line ups so Gemstar could update the TVGuide magazine. Then Gemstar would use that informtion to update the TVGOS channel line ups. One problem though, the earlier guides had limited memory so they would only activate the most popular channels for the guide.
Then when cable companies started to use embedded guides in their STBs then they stopped reporting the data to Gemstar.
Of course when Rovi bought Gemstar they sold the magazine, the TVGuide channel, and the TVGuide website to different companies.

There is some problems with this. You can not have an interactive guide when you use inserters as they are not capable of two communications. Also those places that don't have inserters won't be able to use the guide.
I don't think Tivo or Microsoft would want to use a guide that relied on a device that is not available everywhere. This is why nobody uses their guide software, other than some cable companies that use their IPG guide in their STBs. This is the reason that Tribune media services guide is used in all these products.

I like my out of date lineup. Cheaper than a newspaper. Four decimal places suck. I have 144 of them. That's why I like the Favorites function. Snow tomorrow.

The four decimal places are a platform issue. My Magnavox only displays and uses the significant digits. Might be related to having an XXX.XX display. Ever see eBay ads for the DHG with 1234 as the channel displayed? That's funny since it only tunes to 1023.

They just sold Roxio also. Trying to help their stock price I guess.

Depends on your definition of an interactive guide. I consider the Sony to be an interactive guide. you can view listings, get program descriptions, set recordings, it is all interactive, and it is only a one way device. After reading the hype on Rovi's webpage, I'm completely unimpressed. I'm pretty sure I have seen that information on their site before, and I haven't even been to their site in over a year. I don't know how you can conclude anything about the future of TVGOS from that. Rovi is trying to capture the cablebox guide market which they have been trying to do for several years. I see nothing in there to draw a conclusion, as you have, that TVGOS is dead.

I did get one thing wrong in my last post. The new data that Rovi is sending out only started less than a year ago. The last schedule change occurred in February 2011, not November of 2010, as I posted earlier. That is when this new data started, that I found the references to TotalGuide in. I think the reason the TVG2 PID vanished, is that Rovi may have been planning to launch the new guide data in a separate PID, but then decided that they could squeeze the existing V8/V9 data into a small enough footprint to make room for the new data. This is speculation on my part, but at least I acknowledge that.

Mark

Interesting. Do we know if this coincided with the increased difficulty in setting a HostChan in many cities, the thing that spurred the development of the MDI procedure?

Observations for zipcode 18101 (Allentown, PA):

They have ads. All CBS.
Host ID 4
CRLineup A2C
Providers are all RCN - four lineups for selection.
Nothing special about the VSB selection. I don't get their data.
Most significant: channel numbers on the lineup go up to 3000. This might be a problem with the Sony DHG if you want to enter a manual channel number.

Machine is wiped and I'm going to see how it likes 17921 (Ashland, PA). Back to watching paint dry.

Mark,
I apologize for my post to you as it was made in haste and didn't come out right.
I believe your findings in the data stream 100%. I would find it idiotic of Rovi to develop a new guide and try using inserters at all to get data to them. If it was left up to me to develop a new guide to replace TVGOS, getting rid of the inserters would be number one on the list.

Rovi did end TVGOS and is replacing it with Total Guide. The only place you can find a reference to TVGOS is one simple page in their support section. They even eliminated the FAQs and the zip code search for TVGOS.

My definition of interactive would be you can access the guide from a remote source, like a PC or cell phone, to set reminders or set recordings just like you can do with Tivos and some cable companys STBs.
The Total Guide is supposed to even search streaming sites like Netflix when you search for movies, etc. This would be hard to do with the inserters.
Right now, with TVGOS, when you do a search it only searches the data that has been downloaded to the volatile memory of the guide from the inserters. I would not call that interactive as even my original TVGOS version from 1997 did the same thing. And if the inserter data is not available because there is no inserter or the insterter is broke then there is nothing to search.

Here is a related thing that occured today as to how quickly things can change with CE products.
Arris announced the end of support for the Moxi DVR.
http://www.moxi.com/us/

Also the new CEO of Sony admitted that Sony is severly damaged financially and drastic measures have to be taken so Sony can survive.