MythTV, xmltv and channels

CONCEPT

To get MythTV set up fairly easily with xmltv, I use the following steps. It works with multiple grabbers and sources. The approach should work with LMCE 0704 (stable) as well as all beta versions for 0710.

1. Download my favorite tv_grab_* versions. These are tv_grab_nl_upc and tv_grab_nl_py.
2. Make the executable and copy them to /usr/bin.
3. In mythtv-setup, these grabbers will now show up automagically. Go through the setup menus as usual (when in doubt, see generic Mythtv documentation).
4. Run tv_grab_<the one you use> --configure. Pay attention, it will probably generate a config file in .xmltv, but you will need to copy it to .mythtv. The name will depend on what you used in mythtv-setup. I find it convenient to just do a test-run of mythfilldatabase. It will complain about a missing config file: that will be the name and location you need to use. It will look something like this: /home/linuxmce/.mythtv/UPC-analog.xmltv (I used the name UPC-analog in mythtv-setup).
5. Assuming you finished mythtv-setup properly, you can now run mythfilldatabase --manual. You will have to fill in the channel numbers when asked, if you leave them blank, the channels are not added to the database! Just use the suggested names. Press enter at every other question.
6. Once done, go to http://192.168.80.1/mythweb/settings/channels. You will see a list of all channels, as shown below. Do NOT edit xmltvid (3rd column). You can change the 4th to 6th column as you see fit. Column 4 determines the order in which the guide data is shown on screen. The important column is 7. In my case, this has many 6-digits numbers. This is the frequency at which the channel is coming in. This information is usually readily available from your cable provider.

One last remark: The example image above is from a setup with two sources. Column 2 shows the source number. If your source is digital, you will have to use an ir-blaster (probably a usb-uirt) to change the channels on the cable box. Leave the frequency empty, but make sure column 4 contains the correct channel number.

--Domodude 14:27, 21 March 2008 (PDT)