HTPC and PVR the home for MegaEPG

Some time ago I updated the channels for Yes (there was the HD channels renumbering again, added Stars Base channel, Next HD channel and JimJam). I provided the channels.xml file to a few people but didn't announce the update. Today I've updated it again and here is the announce. There are HD2 movies channel, MTV HD, Fox Sport HD, TVCI, DomKino and NHK Word channels added. I didn't make the release but you can download the updated channels.xml file (right mouse click, Save As...) and replace the one in the Data directory.

Did you know that there is no legal way to buy Windows 7 Ultimate yet in Israel? Almost a month after the official announcement you can find Win7 Home Premium edition in every possible retail store. But what about the Ultimate edition? Release, upgrade, anything? Nada. I'm really disappointed of this weird distribution policy and can't understand why Microsoft is holding back the black boxes and doesn't sell them together with the green ones. The disrespect towards the Vista Ultimate users willing to upgrade is very strange. Is that a punishment for choosing the most powerful edition of the operating system back then?

For the 1st time since Windows 3.11 I didn't get the new operating system RTM as a beta developer, MSDN subscriber, etc. For the 1st time in many many years I went to the computer and office stores to buy the new OS release. This is kinda embarrassing experience :-) especially when you can't buy it. Only Home Premium, what a pity. Microsoft online store doesn't sell outside the US. Big local retail chains don't even have a schedule for the Ultimate edition sales. Small local shops have an OEM version of Win7 Ulitmate with the license to install it on new computers only. Yes, some of them would sell you an OEM version as a retail but it doesn't make much sense for me to pay for an illegal license.

In other words, I'm stuck and waiting. Hope I can upgrade my development computer soon and the MegaEPG Windows 7 support activity will be resumed.

The MegaEPG 1.3.3 is available in the Downloads section. The only change is the new channels support for HOT (HOT Summer, Kabbalah, CNN, HD Movies and Bollywood HD) and YES (Stars Real, Yes5, RBN). YES has also exchanged a huge number of channels again (I've lost my hope to understand why do they change the channel numbers all the time). Unfortunately I have no announces about the Windows 7 support yet. I want it, I plan it but I just don't have time to integrate and release it. It's been an extremely busy summer for me indeed. Stay tuned!

The MegaEPG 1.3.2 is available in the Downloads section. This is the urgent release due to the massive channel numbers change in HOT and YES Israel providers (again, they change the channels again!). HOT has mostly shifted some channels and added the "Tiulim" channel, YES has changed the HD channel numbers and added 3 additional HD channels. I didn't include much of the planned new stuff into this release except some bug fixes. Users of the windowed MegaEPG version (megaepgw) with the dvb script, please verify that this version works ok.

The site has been moved to the new hosting. The transition is mostly complete and everything should work as usual now. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please let me know as soon as possible if you notice any issue with the web site.

The MegaEPG 1.3.1 is available in the Downloads section. There are some fixes for the issues have been discovered since v1.3.0. HOT channels 4 and 6 have correct mapping now, BBC Prime channel was also added. This release introduces the automatic EPG database update for MCE/Vista mediacenters. Now you don't have to worry about invoking "Get Latest Guide" after running MegaEPG. The MegaEPG will insert the latest EPG into mediacenter automatically. This is especailly useful with the dvb script: you can update the mediacenter EPG as many times a day as you want.

In order to turn the automatic EPG update on, add automceupdate=1 to the global section of the megaepg.ini (this feature is off by default).

Windows MCE 2005 users should also turn the .NET security off in order to use the auto-update feature (Vista users are ok). This is the requirement of .NET v1.0 and my "no pre-requesties" policy did not allow me to request installation of .NET 2.0 :-). To turn the .NET security off, enter the command line: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\caspol -s off

You may have a different version of the .NET framework (e.g. ..Framework\v1.0.3705). Browse your Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework directory to find the latest 1.x version installed on your system. You should do this operation only once. If you'd like to stop using the auto-update feature and turn the .NET security back on, enter the command: ...\Framework\v1.1.4322\caspol -s on

The MegaEPG 1.3.0 is available in the Downloads section. There is an extensive channels update for Israel HOT provider both in hot and ynet scripts. The version is also introduces the direct DVB support for Israeli YES and HOT providers. The dvb script provides EPG directly from the satellite (DVB-S) or cable (DVB-C) stream. This is the most accurate and updated guide (the same one the set-top-box receives) thus if you own a DVB-S or DVB-C card with a Microsoft BDA-compliant driver, I recommend you to give the script a try. Please note, that the DVB support is still a Beta. I have tested it for YES. Feedbacks from HOT users are yet to be received. A more detailed information about the dvb script is in the Readme file.

The following DVB-S cards were tested and reported to work ok: Hauppauge WinTV Nova S and Nova S-Plus, GeniaTech DVB-S USB SatBox, AzureWave AD-SE200, Twinhan 1025 and all 102x series, Technotrend TT 2400. There is currently only one report for DVB-C card: Technotrend C1500. I want to thank everyone that tested their DVB card! I would like to continue and update the list of supported cards, so your feedback is still very important.

Users of the hot_he/hot_ru and ynet scripts are advised to reconfigure the channels with the epgconfig utility due to the big channels update.

This is currently for Israel users only!

In order to speed up the development of the DVB add-on, I wrote the dvbtest program to build up the list of supported DVB cards. This simple program tries to identify your DVB card and to examine the DVB stream. YES subscribers with DVB-S cards and HOT subscribers with DVB-C cards are more than welcome to download the program, run it and email me the result log file together with the info about the card they own (model and manufacturer). If you are interested, here are the details. Ensure your card is supported!

I'm working lately on DVB-S support and you surely noticed the delay in the releases. There is the saying "Never rewrite your code!" which I generally agree to, but new hot ideas make me focus on the new MegaEPG version 2 engine. I believe the DVB support will solve a lot of EPG problems. Be patient, it will be worth the waiting.

I'm taking the opportunity to mention the Vista TV Pack 2008 (aka Fiji). The MegaEPG does not support it yet. Microsoft has completely changed the EPG access and schema in this product so please don't install it if you continue using MegaEPG.

The rest is for Israeli friends: on October 5, 2008 Israel moves to the standard time (DST off, one hour back). A special attention is required. Ensure you have the DST flag off in the operating system (do not correct the clock itself!), ensure your clock is correct at morning October 5th and the EPG is not shifted. Re-run the MegaEPG if required, then update the guide in your PVR application. I wish you happy new year, much of health, wealth and only accurate EPG in the new year! :-).

It seems that YES has changed the EPG pages on their site. This is unconfirmed but the links on the site are updated and they do not refer to tv2day anymore. The bad news is that the tv2day scripts do not work. The good news is that I'm aware of the problem :-) and looking for a solution.