HTPC and PVR the home for MegaEPG

A change in Microsoft EPG causes the vista_he script make an exception and terminate the MegaEPG without producing the guide. The script expected every show to have a category and today's EPG contains shows without category assigned. For the quickest workaround, please replace the vista_he.pyc file in the MegaEPG\Script directory with this corrected version (link removed since the corrected script is now a part of the release). Only the provided single file update is required. I will prepare a complete setup package for the version 1.0.2 with this fix included; the quick patch just lets you bring the MegaEPG back to work immediately.

MegaEPG 1.0.1 has been released (see the Downloads section). The only change in the release is the automatic timezone detection. A big mess with one hour shifting should come to the end now. You don't need to specify the tzoffset parameter anymore (in fact it'll be ignored if the timezone data is successfully obtained from the Windows OS).

Before using the version, set your system timezone back to the Israel Daylight time (Israel timezone, daylight adjustment checkbox is checked).

You can skip this version if you never experienced the shifting problem (for example, you don't use the vista_he script). Linux users may still need to specify the tzoffset parameter if your version of wine fails to autodetect the system timezone.

The version is mature and stable enough to cut the endless beta releases off, so it is promoted to 1.0. Download it from the official distribution page. Very minor changes were made since 0.9.12. The following channels are added or corrected for HOT customers: Fox News, Extreme, Starworld, HOP, Teva Hadvarim, Aljazeera, France 24, GTV, ESC.

A stable version number means that only bug fixes and a minor maintenance will be done for the version. I'm starting to work on the next release and this is the time for your suggestions and feedback as well as for donations (if you find the project useful). My plans for the next release include DVB-S EPG support and a comprehensive series detection. I'm also thinking about better integration with Windows Media Center, online correction service and other cool features.

MegaEPG 0.9.12 has been released. Download it from the official distribution page. Many bugs have been fixed and issues resolved, this could explain why it took so long to release. The problem with Hebrew characters in the user directory name has been fixed. Vista support has been improved: a bug fix for 64-bit version and improvement for Vista without Media Center (e.g. Home Basic or Business versions). tv2day scripts have been improved as well in parsing of the production year and original name.

You'll also notice some visual changes in the EPG configurator epgconfig. Show description download method for channels is now displayed with icons. The scripts page now comes before the channel pages.

The most important new feature is introduction of a new cache mode: Always except today. The new mode will download the guide for today in order to get the most updated guide and will use the cached guide for the following days. You can still use the existing cache modes though the new one is the most effective both for the EPG accuracy and time/resources consuming.

For a complete list of changes please refer to Docs\ChangeLog.txt. And the last but not least thing: a reminder to donate if you like the project and want to see it further developed and supported.

No viruses/trojans found after a tough checking. The distribution on the mirror site was just broken for an unknown reason. I extracted files from the distribution and except few broken ones they were genuine. You can ignore the AVG antivirus warning, it's a false alarm. Next time if you receive such a warning please tell me immediately. Verify the package signature regardless of the source you downloaded it from!

It has been reported that the AVG antivirus finds a trojan in some MegaEPG executable files. I tested the distributions on the sites and found that the megaepg_setup on the mirror site (a Google page, by the way) was changed! I don't know who an how changed the file and whether a virus was injected in. All I know right now is that the file has no digital signature I signed it with. I will continued the investigation tomorrow. I have removed the megaepg_setup from the mirror and would like to ask everyone who lately downloaded the megaepg_setup.exe from the mirror link to verify its digital signature (Right mouse click, Properties, the tab "Digital Signatures" should be there and the signature must be valid, otherwise the file is NOT genuine) and if the signature does not exist or not valid, remove the program immediately, download and install it from the site.

Always (always!) verify the file signature *before* running the megaepg_setup. Read more about the signature and pvr.co.il root certificate installation. Stay tuned, more clarification is to come.

The MegaEPG project was designed to be multiplatform. Yet making the package for Linux requires some non-trivial efforts and a separate HTPC Linux system for testing - none of which I currently have. From the other hand people are demanding the Linux version of the MegaEPG and I have spent some time checking for a meanwhile solution. Now you can use the current MegaEPG distribution on Linux with wine. The steps I did to get fully working MegaEPG on Linux:

1. Install the wine package if it's not installed. I tested with wine version 0.9.36, there is no warranty for other versions.
2. Download the megaepg_setup.exe to your home directory and run the megaepg setup by executing: wine megaepg_setup.exe
3. Go thru the Setup wizard, don't change the installation path. Continue with the Configuration wizard if you want (although you can create the configuration file megaepg.ini manually in the directory ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/MegaEPG
4. Now you can run or cron it as usual. The command for execution: wine "c:\\Program Files\\MegaEPG\\megaepg"
5. The result EPG file is in ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/MegaEPG/xml/epgdata.xml. Copy it to appropriate location or provide the path to your TV application.

I tested the method on Fedora Core 6 distribution. Please let me know how it works on another Linux distributions. For FC6 the wine package can be easily installed with the Package Manager (Add/Remove Software from the Gnome menu). Choose the Search tab, type "wine", check the wine-0.9.36 and install it. The package manager will automatically install the dependencies.

MegaEPG 0.9.11 has been released to the public. Download it from the official distribution page or from the mirror site.The release introduces 2 new scripts: hot_ru for Russian HOT customers and vista_he - downloading a complete guide from the Microsoft EPG service. The channels definition file has been updated as well reflecting the latest YES changes and new channels. New channels include 5+ Live, 5+ Gold, El Jazzeera English, France 24, Rotana and RTM.

If you are uploading from the previous version, you may backup the cache directory. Copy it to another location before installing the MegaEPG and move back after the installation. The setup removes the cache by default.

vista_he script usage

Microsoft provides the EPG service to its Vista Media Center users for free. The EPG service license requires you to use the service exclusively with the Vista Media Center. In addition to the service license and translating the lawyers' language to a plain one, I am kindly asking you to appreciate Microsoft's hard work (and who knows the situation with EPG in Israel would agree with me that was really hard work) and the resources Microsoft is investing in order to support the service. You may use the script only if you have a valid Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate edition license and for purposes that do not conflict with the service license.

The script is capable to obtain a complete EPG for all the available channels. Below is an example of the minimal megaepg.ini file for use with the script (do not use the epgconfig Wizard since it does not currently support "all channels"), rather copy-paste the example and save as the megaepg.ini:

The site has been redesigned. The first version based on the famous WP engine did not meet my requirements for the site management. All the content, users and the forum were transferred to the new engine and I hope nothing got lost. I'm sorry for any inconvenience the transition may cause. Update the RSS feed links if you are using RSS readers.

If you are experiencing synchronization problems with Israel summer time, it’s advised to temporarily disable the Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes in the System-Control Panel-Date and Time-Time Zone tab. Disable also the Internet time synchronization till the time servers in the world know about the DST change in Israel.

Set the correct clock then and rerun the MegaEPG. There is no need to remove the cache.