HTPC and PVR the home for MegaEPG

Requirements: You  need to have a DVB-S or DVB-C card that has the standard Windows BDA driver. 

Download the dvbtest.zip.

1. Unpack the downloaded zip file to a temporary directory (if you running Vista, ensure that you have writting permissions to the directory).
2. Run the dvbtest.exe with --yes switch if you're testing the DVB-S card connected to YES provider or --hot switch if you're testing the DVB-C card connected to HOT provider. Examples:
dvbtest --yes
dvbtest --hot
3. The program produces the log.log file. Please email the log file to pvr@pvr.co.il and indicate the exact model and manufacturer of your DVB card. If you don't know the DVB card model, go to Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager and locate the card there (probably in Sound,Video and Game controllers).

For more information refer to the supplied readme.txt file

Since version 0.9.10 the MegaEPG package and its executables are digitally signed by the pvr.co.il certificate and timestamped in order to verify its integrity and authenticity. You are advised to install the certificate and let the operating system verify the package and the executables' signature. Follow the instructions on how to install the certificate for Windows Vista or XP/MCE2005. Please use only the Internet Explorer! Other browsers wont do the job.

Read the instructions carefully and then click on the the certificate link. If installing a unknown CA certificate sounds scary to you then: a.) Do NOT continue. Never install or run something you don't trust to! b.) read a short MegaEPG certificate and security FAQ.

Note, all pictures below are clickable and can be enlarged.

If something goes wrong with Windows Vista Media Center and you can't get or setup the EPG there, please check the following:

1. Open the registry and check out the key discSvc in Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\EPG. It should look like http://localhost...
2. Verify that the service mepgvs is running. If it is not, check the Event Viewer for possible errors/messages. In order to check the service, use Start-Settings-Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Services.
3. Check C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\MegaEPG\xml directory and ensure that the binary EPG file exists after the grabber has been executed. Check also the log directory and verify there are no errors in the latest log file. Note: when using the Windows explorer, you may have to choose "Show hidden files" in the Folder options in order to see the AppData directory.
4. Open the Internet Explorer and type: http://localhost:19679/log and ensure the page is being opened and there are no error messages on the page.
5. Check your firewall settings. Temporarily disable the firewall and try to update the TV Guide manually.

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.

If you receive Error 14 when obtaining EPG in Microsoft Windows MCE, try to check the following list:

• Double check that you have executed megaepg.exe and have the guide downloaded and ready before the MCE tries to obtain it. Ensure that the file xml\guide.bin exists. Check the log files if necessary.
• Check the system date and time. Sometimes the error 14 would occur if the clock is incorrect.
• Check the ADMIN$ share. It is created by Windows by default and must exist for correct functionality of the MegaEPG. If you removed the ADMIN$ share, create it again on the Windows directory (C:\Windows).
• Start the Internet explorer and try to open the page file://compname/admin$/ehome/MegaEPG/data/GetTVServicesMetaInfo.html where compname is your computer name. If an error occured then you either don’t have the ADMIN$ share or did not install the MegaEPG correctly.

To view the computer shared resources, click on Start, Run, enter cmd and type net share at the command line.