TVGOS ( TV Guide On Screen ) Devices - Page 3

HA! Well, thanks for what you did...I'll use that as a starting point to look at the Sony pages and, if I half-way understand what that stuff is, maybe I'll make a comparable list for version 7 (which is apparently NOT 2-dimensional. but simple linear)...Tony

hi avnstf.. my panny E95 has v7 TVGOS.. as i recall there are about 30 screens and it's linear ( left to right )... i'll try to be patient enough to generate a spreadsheet of all the fields, though i don't know what most of them actually mean... interestingly enough, the screens DO contain ' slicing screens ' although as i understand it, v7 cannot do atsc slicing... the E95 is analog only and NTSC all the way, circa 2004, and appears to receive updated patch level once it locks onto a host.... rg

rkg22,
Did you ever get your listings back?.... I'm in Henderson currently receiving the guide data via PBS ch 10 OTA. A few months back when PBS dropped out for a few weeks, I got my data from CBS ch 8.1 (digital) OTA. I do have a Cox cable card in my Sony DVR (dual inputs); but I have been getting the TVGOS data OTA on the antenna feed on a $15 rabbit ear antenna from Radio Shack.

Edit 3/9/09: --- Well Sh*t. After several weeks of good TVGOS service from PBS, it dropped last night with no new listing for day 8. I will see what happens tonight.

Edit 3/10/09: Still no updates, but several other people nationally haven't received any updates the last 48 hour also; as reported over at the Sony DVR thread.

Regards
MK

You've done a great job with this entire topic, everyone is in your debt.

Let me understand the ridiculus, redundent procedure that is necesary to force TVGOS to display listings from a digital channel. Of course, this is assuming you do have a digital channel that is supplying TVGOS data and also assuming it is sending data correctly.

1. After the device (TV, DVR, etc.) has been reset, you set it on the host channel for a period of time (overnight for example), so it will aquire the first firmware upgrade to be loaded,
2. It then aquires the 2nd firmware upgrade over the next time period (how ever long it will be). Durning this time the device is left on, unlike when the device is just updating just the program listing data.
3. The 3rd stage is the actual program data download time which is over a period of a few days (in addition of the previous time). This is done when the device is off.

Leaving the device 'on' stops the TVGOS feature from 'searching' all the channels looking for a 'Host'.
The device has to be reset first before this procedure is done to clear out the previous firmware upgrades.

Ok, is the above correct?

If so, here is the question; Why does the firmware have to be re-aquired every time? If the listings are just incorrect, why does the device have to reload the firmware? I would understand if the system crashed and wouldn't boot, just as one would reload the O/S for a 'toasted' computer. But, if some settings are just wrong, you don't reload the whole O/S, you just change those settings.

What (or whose) procedure are you referring to? Is this the one for the Sony DHG?

Generally, If your TVGOS is RESET for some reason, the TVGOS firmware reverts to the original factory version, in which case the unit has to download the current firmware version...is that what you are talking about? (e.g., that's what happens if the Sony DHG is reset...)

Yes to both, but the process seems to be the same for any TVGOS device. It is for my Mits DLP.

That's not how my TVGOS devices work. On my new Sony TV with digital TVGOS you need to leave the TV off for a period of time to allow the TV do download guide info. AFAIK no firmware is ever downloaded, only guide info.
Same for my analog Panasonic EH-55 DVDR. Only guide info downloaded and they want to you to leave the device off for 24 hours to initially download guide info as well as find the station broadcasting the TVGOS.
Tivo on the other hand seems to get firmware from it's daily guide downloads either from phone line or internet connection.

edit:both my devices are version 9

So I assume it's a unit with version 8 TVGOS, like the Sony...

Yes, I too have been watching with some dismay at the convoluted process people seem to be trying 1) to get that unit to acquire a digital CBS station as the host channel and/or 2) to try, in a unit where the TVGOS has been reset, to get to having a digital host channel WITHOUT first having it find an analog channel to, for example, set the clock.

I have a Sony, but I've been just sitting out things, since it still WANTS to get its data from analog, in this case PBS (except that for the last 3 days our PBS station - AND our digital CBS station, as it turns out - has NOT been broadcasting TVGOS).

I have gone so far as to test whether I can download data from CBS digital by using the G*-test/leave-unit-on-overnight method, and THAT works. However, I've been hoping that the TVGOS people would solve our problem (as Magic 8 ball had said they would, though bwall23 cites documentation that disputes that). OR - at worst - I've hoped that, when analog TVGOS really does go away (other than these occasional lapses caused presumably by Gemstar playing around), I could use the DTVPal to boot my unit up to a functional firware version, from which my Sony would then go and find the digital statiomn...

(Of course, I'm still waiting to see whether the Pal will work for my LG3410a a high-def digital unit that has version 7 and can NOT get data from a digital station..)

OR, in the case of the Sony, if the base firmware version is a fatal flaw, since the unit still has another year on warranty, maybe - if its TVGOS functionality goes down the tubes - it could be sent in to be upgraded the "hard" way (sorry for the pun)...

Please add the Panasonic DMR-EH50 to the list. TVGOS V7. Supposed to work with DTVPal -

Yes, that is the normal procedure for TVGOS if everything is working correctly (note the emphasis).
If the device is new enough, that possibly no new firmware would be needed. have you ever looked at the 1st diagonstic screen for the version number(s)??
Correct. That should be the majority of the devices out there (not including the most recent DTVPal).
I was under the impression V7 will not work with a digital channel.

For those that do have a working digital host channel, doing the so called "G* Test", do you see a packet count when the test first runs? Or do you have to wait for it to finsih and then press '2' to re-run the VBI test?

My digital host channel which is suppose to be passing data comes up a 'Fail' everytimme I test it. Only with their analog channel I get a 'Pass' and the packet count shows.

V7 will work with the digital TVGOS only with something that's supposed to convert it, like the DTV Pal (notice I say supposed to).

Actually the data doesn't come from PBS, it was just most of the stations that are/were passing it along were PBS affilates. The actual data is sent over the internet which surely isn't PBS, or CBS for that matter.

Now there's a business opportunity. Build a wireless enabled device that will convert the data for use by those of us with analog only input TVGOS devices..... I'm starting to have this sinking feeling that I will be starting down the road build and maintain a mythTV/SageTV DVR. That's more ongoing work than I really wanted to get involved in. Sigh!

There isn't a specific thread for the EH50. I mostly read the EH55 one for info though they're not identical models.

Not at all. As far as the TVGOS, which is what this thread's about, the EH55 uses the V9 guide, while the EH50 uses V7. There's a big enough difference in the ways they are designed and integrated (V8 and V9 not so much).

There are many scattered threads on older, V7 models, such as the E85H. You should probably be reading those, too, at least, if you're not already.

The "nationwide" bit is incorrect, because I am still receiving OTA analog TVGOS from WUNF, the UNC-TV station in Asheville NC. (UNC-TV is North Carolina's statewide PBS network, operated by the University of North Carolina.) I have program listings through next Tuesday, the full eight days. (The Wednesday downloads haven't started yet, as I type this.)

This is on a Sony HD DVR which uses version 8, IIRC.

That is what DTVPal is suppose to do, but the feature can't be used untill Macrovision updates their system according to Frank70.

I just ran some tests using my Sony DVR since all the tests that have been run using my Mits DLP have failed. To my pleasent surprise, the test passed with somewhat flying colors. Though I still haven't tried to 'force' the digital channel from the same station. I still get good listings from their analog station, so I will wait until their analog goes dark next month.

Take a look at these screen shots. Why is there such a huge difference between a analog and digital host regarding packet counts? One would think the other way around.
First is analog, 2nd is the same station, but this is the digital feed. Note the ATSC pass on an analog channel

Also notice, the analog channel number is ID'ed correctly for the first time. It happened once on their digital chanel and a few times on their analog. Has this been a issue with any of you that access this screen on any regular basis?

I don't blame you for not wanting to "force" anything on such an expensive piece of equipment (I didn't get mine for anywhere near the low price of $250.00 from Tweeter, like some).

Ramm -

The fact is that this whole TVGOS thing is a source of anxiety for many (myself included). Not to mention that we were supposed to know how this was going to shake out by now. But BO, in his infinite wisdom, decided to make us wait until June.

Personally, I had believed that all would be ok after the transition. But now we have some people in certain areas that appear to be hopelessly lost in trying to aquire program listings. Couple that with the lack of any solid information from either Macrovision or Sony, and the anxiety level rises even further.

And there may actually be something that we can do to help ourselves. It is widely believed that the oldest V-8.x software is not digital compatible, but the newest V-8.x software is at least partially digital compatible. If we can learn how to flash the newer 8.x software to the Sony, then we will maintain at least some compatibility after June 12th, the time at which we possibly will no longer be able to recover from a spontaneous reset which causes the TVGOS software to revert to the version which is stored in the machine.

This is why I am closely monitoring the developments in the Sony thread.