AVS Forum banner

Big WMC guide changes starting today

49K views 941 replies 108 participants last post by  LastButNotLeast 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Big WMC guide changes starting 7/7

MOD NOTE: Continuation of this thread coinciding with MS' announcement of WMC guide sunset date is here: https://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-h...osing-guide-data-jan-2020-a.html#post58943370
***********************************************************************************************************************


M$ is switching guide data providers 7/7. Could be a little bumpy.

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8903

I may go ahead and force an update and see how much damage is done so I don't have any surprises.
 
#6 ·
How can you tell? I think the screen that says, "guide provided by ..." will be incorrect unless the WMC app itself is replaced by a new version. I don't think that's ever going to happen. The log in task scheduler might show some clues. I'll watch it when I force an update and see if anything looks different.

I'm going to miss Zap2It. They've been very responsive over the years the few times I've had issues. But I suppose using the same provider they use for Xbox One would be better in the long term. Rovi is the guide for Dish and a couple of cable companies as well, so they should be accurate and reliable.
 
#5 ·
I'm more optimistic. If they are changing over to whoever handles Xbox One guide data, then they would have an easier time continuing to provide it.

That universe of users is also larger, so I would think there would be less problems and ones that do pop up would be addressed much quicker.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Well, my guide updated and appears to be fine. A little different, but no issues. About still shows Zap2It, but I see multiple schedules listed now where I only saw one before, and Guide Tool reset on its own.

EDIT: Others have reported the provider now says "Rovi". So it is indeed the same as Xbox One. I think that's a good sign. If there really are as few WMC users and MS says, maybe they won't mind keeping the guide data going indefinitely since the same provider does Xbox too.
 
#10 ·
Man, I love my WMC in my bedroom. 65" right in front of my bed and connected to a PC where I can do almost anything and more and watch TV at any size I want. Use as much HD space as I wish, manage my shows how I want, $3 a month for the card vs crazy costs of standalone boxes that are sooo limited. Folks don't know what they are missing.


Back on topic, thanks for the info. I am glad we are not 100% forgotten yet.
 
#12 ·
I don't know if this is a coincidence but my WMC lost its mind today for the first time since I started using it over 1.5 years ago and I was completely unaware of the guide changes.

As I said in this thread, WMC started putting my cable box on completely wrong channels today, for example entering 608 puts the box on 209, entering 664 puts it on 808, entering 754 puts it on 144.

I restarted my PC and cable box and the problem continued, I was able to solve it by going back through Setup TV Signal in WMC and it started working again.

Luckily I noticed the problem and was able to fix it between scheduled recordings so I shouldn't miss anything.

It's a total coincidence that I caught the problem in time because last night one channel was giving me a weak signal error, and it's only because I decided to test that channel again today that I caught the problem before recordings were ruined.

Would this be due to the guide changes or is it a coincidence? Has anyone else had this or a similar problem?
 
#14 ·
I forced a guide update yesterday, and everything seems to be working okay for the most part. The only thing odd I noticed is a few of my channel logos disappeared. I'm guessing there were some name changes, but should be easy enough to fix.
 
#19 ·
Well, I did an update, and it was still Zap2It/Tribune, and re-ran TV setup because it was only giving me data until July 20. After re-running the setup, it switched to Rovi, and gave me data until July 25. No big changes other than changes to the name of some channels changed yet again, and not always for the better (History HD Canada on TMS was HISTHDC, now it's just HISHD...). But it works at least to the point where everything carried over seamlessly for me. Time will tell if Rovi's listings are better or worse. (I still have my TiVo, because WMC often fails to pick up "new to Canada" shows - e.g., History Canada often delays shows weeks/months between airing in the US and Canada. TiVo will pick up the episodes as new (first time shown in Canada), while WMC never did.) And plus for WMC to have some smarts in moving all my recordings over. I needed to do it anyways because a channel didn't update and since I never watched it, I never bothered fixing it.
 
#20 · (Edited)
I had to add these entries to my HOSTS file:
65.55.186.113 data.tvdownload.microsoft.com
72.246.56.59 cdn.epg.tvdownload.microsoft.com

Then perform a manual guide update and it did finally change to Rovi.

Thoughts on this Rovi change:
1. This isn't going to resolve the frequent MS guide outages. Because when the guide outages happen, it's never been the fault of Zap2it. Changing the source of the guide info has nothing to do with MS servers mysteriously failing occasionally. I predict we will still have the same sporadic MS guide outages.
2. This isn't going to solve the MS DNS issues. Obviously some IP's work for some people and some just don't and never will. HOST file mod's are still going to be needed for some users (like me).
3. This is clearly just another move by MS to save money.
 
#29 ·
Thoughts on this Rovi change:
1. This isn't going to resolve the frequent MS guide outages. Because when the guide outages happen, it's never been the fault of Zap2it. Changing the source of the guide info has nothing to do with MS servers mysteriously failing occasionally. I predict we will still have the same sporadic MS guide outages.
2. This isn't going to solve the MS DNS issues. Obviously some IP's work for some people and some just don't and never will. HOST file mod's are still going to be needed for some users (like me).
3. This is clearly just another move by MS to save money.
Well, the outages are probably caused by the conversion software Microsoft uses failing. Probably some odd thing in the way the data is organized or something. With rovi, the hope is that the xbox team (which is well funded) will be handling all those issues and the wmc EPG will get the clean data used by the xbox. So potentially fewer failures since the xbox team will handle it. Then again, maybe rovi has better formatted data.

And yes, it's to save money. Because wmc is dead - Microsoft is killing it. So the fact that they're going to switch EPG providers to something that will likely last a long time (microsoft isn't killing xbox yet) will mean wmc for windows 7 and 8 will continue to get guide data. Plus, the data is free to us, so Microsoft saving money is a good thing. Otherwise we could be like TiVo paying $15 a month for it. Or similar prices for other solutions.
 
#22 ·
mcupdate will most likely force the new Rovi guide, not TV setup.

In my market, several call signs changed, screwing up MCL and some of my recording schedule. Nothing major, just annoying to fix.

The upside is there's a lot more thumbnails in the guide.
 
#25 ·
Are you on Stockton Comcast Cable Card? That is my provider/lineup and not missing those channels (or any other channels) after changing over to Rovi.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I'm missing BBC America HD now, it has the SD version, but does not list/have the HD version anywhere (it's not in the downloaded listings for anywhere in my area as determined by looking at the downloaded stuff in Guide Tool). I tend to watch BBC America a lot too *boo-hoo me* Oh well, I can still watch it on Android TV via Live Channels at least.
 
#28 ·
Ah ok. I just found this BOMBSHELL in my Comcast listings. Since changing to Rovi, all these channels have the wrong timezone guide listings. They should be WEST COAST FEED. Rovi WMC guide is showing the EAST COAST guide listings, therefore all recordings on these channels will be FUBAR:


HGTV HD CH746
FOOD HD CH747
DISC HD CH750
ANIML HD CH751
TLC HD CH752
HIST HD CH758
BET HD CH777
AMC HD CH798
FXX HD CH803

Already had to cancel some stuff and create corrected manual channel/time recordings. Take notes because they won't have the correct show info...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top