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It sure felt good clicking "I do not agree" on those terms of service.
WMC losing guide data Jan 2020
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MOD NOTE: This is split from the original WMC guide thread to reflect the sunsetting of Windows Media Center.
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Old news by now, but Microsoft is officially pulling the plug on guide data January 2020:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-information/windows-message-center#343
As far as I'm concerned, they actually stopped when started this thread nearly 5 years ago and they switched to Rovi, which was barely better than no guide data at all.
Currently there is at least one 3rd party guide data provider that plugs into WMC:
- EPG123
It uses data from Schedules Direct. The developer of EPG123 hangs out at TheGreenButton and has answered a lot of questions there.
MOD NOTE: This is split from the original WMC guide thread to reflect the sunsetting of Windows Media Center.
*********************
Old news by now, but Microsoft is officially pulling the plug on guide data January 2020:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-information/windows-message-center#343
As far as I'm concerned, they actually stopped when started this thread nearly 5 years ago and they switched to Rovi, which was barely better than no guide data at all.
Currently there is at least one 3rd party guide data provider that plugs into WMC:
- EPG123
It uses data from Schedules Direct. The developer of EPG123 hangs out at TheGreenButton and has answered a lot of questions there.
That's actually good news. They say " To continue receiving TV Program Guide information on your Windows Media Center, you’ll need to configure an alternate TV listing provider." Which most of us already do.
I'm guessing we are safe until at least when win 8.1 support ends.
I'd say you're safe as long as those other guide providers stay in business. I still run DOS, Win 3.1, WinNT, Win95, Win XP, Win 7, etc., regardless of "support". Win 7 isn't going to just shut down at the end of Win 8.1 support.
There are three guide data providers for USA and Canada. They are TiVo (previously known as Rovi), Tribune Media (Aka Zap2it), and TV Guide. Rovi acquired TiVo a couple of years ago and took on their name. Many tv providers use Rovi/TiVo so you see the exact same errors. I can't remember who uses Tribune these days since TiVo was one of their biggest customers until Rovi bought them out. TV Guide has their printed listing book and a few providers as well. I think they also produce the TV guide channel which is a non interactive guide that shows what's on tv for those who just want to be a couch potato and have it do the scrolling.
I don't think any of them are going anywhere. Rovi is far better now than years ago because the TiVo acquisition forced them to shape up - when you have thousands of customers paying for data, and getting far worse after the transition, they complain loudly. The TiVo forums (which was once a part of AVS decades ago) were full of furious people complaining and calling about bad data. Some threads still persist today too, as the data is still full of errors.
I don't think any of them are going anywhere. Rovi is far better now than years ago because the TiVo acquisition forced them to shape up - when you have thousands of customers paying for data, and getting far worse after the transition, they complain loudly. The TiVo forums (which was once a part of AVS decades ago) were full of furious people complaining and calling about bad data. Some threads still persist today too, as the data is still full of errors.
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Schedules Direct gets their guide data from Tribune which is what we use with EPG123. It is a far cry better than the crap generated by Rovi/Tivo and well worth the $25 annual subscription.
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They don't do the scrolling guide anymore. CBS bought the TV Guide channel and turned it into the Pop network.
Although I now just use Emby guide data which is from Tribune or SchedulesDirect anyhow, for WMC it is epg123 FTW!
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WMC is telling me I have less than 3 days of guide data left (never saw this warning before). It asked if I wanted to download new guide data, I said yes, it says download complete, and still says less than 3 days of data left.
So is Dec 31 the last day of guide data? I remember 6 months or so ago they said they would eventually stop the guide data.
Does that alternative software, EPG123 I think, still work?
So is Dec 31 the last day of guide data? I remember 6 months or so ago they said they would eventually stop the guide data.
Does that alternative software, EPG123 I think, still work?
Yes, EPG123 works great!
Not only does it work well, but in recent weeks I've been getting 6 days of program data from Microsoft on one WMC machine. Our main WMC PC, which is on EPG123, is getting 16 days of program data.
Well, one big problem with the free data is it stops often - usually around the new year, when daylight saving time comes on or off, etc. it seems someone at Microsoft needs to come around and kick the server to process new guide data and it usually happens just before it runs out. There was a group that you could use to send feedback when it happened but I don't think it's monitored anymore.
Of course, I took it as the opportunity to switch to epg123 and now have a ton of guide data, more than I ever had before. Takes under an hour to do, and with holiday programming it means there's lots of idle time to do such things without losing programming.
Of course, I took it as the opportunity to switch to epg123 and now have a ton of guide data, more than I ever had before. Takes under an hour to do, and with holiday programming it means there's lots of idle time to do such things without losing programming.
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I don't think anyone will be kicking the server anymore. I got a popup a couple of weeks ago saying Microsoft is retiring their guide data service in January 2020. They didn't say which day in January but I wouldn't be surprised if it was January 1.
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I figured this day would eventually happen, which is why I initially supported the HDHomeRun DVR Kickstarter campaign thinking they would have DRM recording and playback capability. Turns out it was just wishful thinking on my part as they never officially announced that level of support at the time. When EPG123 came out I jumped on it and couldn't be happier. I turned off automatic updates on my Windows 7 HTPCs ages ago so I jumped the gun and cut myself off from Microsoft completely. Their announcement of no longer supporting Windows 7 means nothing to me as I intend to keep using it for as long as my hardware stays alive.
The one thing that concerns me about Windows 7 is whether or not Microsoft will still activate licenses for it in the event that I have to do a reinstall on down the road.
The one thing that concerns me about Windows 7 is whether or not Microsoft will still activate licenses for it in the event that I have to do a reinstall on down the road.
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By then everything we're doing on 7 will work on 10 (or 19, or whatever they're up to), so it will probably be time to say goodbye to 7 anyway.
That said, I'm still very happy with 7 and just started my trial with Schedules Direct, and I will agree that the transition, though not completely painless, wasn't bad.
Michael
That said, I'm still very happy with 7 and just started my trial with Schedules Direct, and I will agree that the transition, though not completely painless, wasn't bad.
Michael
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When I was running WMC EPG123 worked great. I already had a SchedulesDirect subscription, no issues pulling that guide data into WMC. Recommended if you wish to stay with the MS ecosystem.
Since then (a few years back now) I have found that the only channels my cable co sets as Copy Once are the premium movie channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) so I have gone back to my tried and true MythTV setup.
I only bring this up in this thread to let folks know there may be valid alternatives to their HTPC setups. Mine is a stripped down version of Xubuntu running MythTV (Google how to install the PPA) with HDHomeRun Prime and Ceton ETH-6 tuners. Have been a happy user of MythTV since 2006, am using it to watch the Alamo Bowl right now. It drives 7 different TVs in our house, using Raspberry Pi 3+ as frontends.
So, back to the original issue: I was using SD before they became SD. Many of the members worked for or had agreements with Zap2it Labs and when the whole DRM issue hit hard in 2007, went on to create SD to maintain the best possible EPG. I thank them for their perseverance during those times and I will continue to use their service.
Since then (a few years back now) I have found that the only channels my cable co sets as Copy Once are the premium movie channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) so I have gone back to my tried and true MythTV setup.
I only bring this up in this thread to let folks know there may be valid alternatives to their HTPC setups. Mine is a stripped down version of Xubuntu running MythTV (Google how to install the PPA) with HDHomeRun Prime and Ceton ETH-6 tuners. Have been a happy user of MythTV since 2006, am using it to watch the Alamo Bowl right now. It drives 7 different TVs in our house, using Raspberry Pi 3+ as frontends.
So, back to the original issue: I was using SD before they became SD. Many of the members worked for or had agreements with Zap2it Labs and when the whole DRM issue hit hard in 2007, went on to create SD to maintain the best possible EPG. I thank them for their perseverance during those times and I will continue to use their service.
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The odds of Microsoft ever reviving WMC in a later version or getting it certified by Cable Labs is pretty much zero. Unless SiliconDust gets their HDHR app certified to work with copy protected content, Windows 7 will continue to be the only game in town when it comes to watching and recording said channels. When Microsoft drops something they rarely, if ever, go back and pick it back up.
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Thanks for posting this info. I just ran through the process and the guide data looks better than ever. I subscribed to Schedules Direct and also donated to the EPG123 dev, what a great effort to save MCE. We still use it every day with the Ceton Quad Tuner / Verizon FIOS.
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