EPG Refresh, iEPG and VPS

[Joe_90]

PDC (it's not VPS any more), may be present on some German channels and provide some additional functionality. The VPS in the plugin name is a relic of pre-digital VCR programming I guess. I recall VideoPlus codes being printed in the TV guide here in Ireland aeons ago to help in setting VCR timers for recording. The six digit codes configured the VCR to start monitoring at a particular time and the teletext lines in the signal carried the start and end indicators for the programme. The plugin seems to work without PDC.

[ronand]

Set a normal recording with before and after buffers and then you'll see the start and end markers when playing back

Sent from my IN2013 using Tapatalk

That's not strictly true - some channels change the event id at the scheduled time not when the program actually starts/ends. The markers will still be there but won't be of much use to the plugin.

[ronand]

Also its pretty pointless having the vps check in any case - if you are using autotimers and enable the vps recording you are doing so on the assumption that it will work (the check doesn't take place for autotimers).

[goRt]

That's not strictly true - some channels change the event id at the scheduled time not when the program actually starts/ends. The markers will still be there but won't be of much use to the plugin.

This was in response to "how can I tell if the channel's signalling", not the accuracy

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[birdman]

It looks for but doesn't necessarily use VPS. It detects the change in event id. Maybe a seperate plugin without the vps check (and a name change) is needed.

According to the (translated) info the ccs(?) posted earlier, the VPS plugin is always using the eventID to do its work.
"VPS time" just seems to be what is used to lookup the eventID.

[dntaylor]

As reported I can only get VPS to stay on when I set a timer through OpenWebif and not on the receiver. Autotimer works fine and always stays on when selected.
I have tested BBC1 BBC2 ITV Ch4 on Freesat 28.2 & also Freeview. As others have confirmed VPS works fine on these channels and the programs start & finish where the red makers are displayed at the beginning and end even though I have set a buffer of 1 minute before and five minutes after the scheduled time. This is using OpenViX 5.4.007 on a GigaBlue UHD QUAD 4K.

[goRt]

As reported I can only get VPS to stay on when I set a timer through OpenWebif and not on the receiver. Autotimer works fine and always stays on when selected.
I have tested BBC1 BBC2 ITV Ch4 on Freesat 28.2 & also Freeview. As others have confirmed VPS works fine on these channels and the programs start & finish where the red makers are displayed at the beginning and end even though I have set a buffer of 1 minute before and five minutes after the scheduled time. This is using OpenViX 5.4.007 on a GigaBlue UHD QUAD 4K.

There's a fix in the other thread, so I guess the next release will fonction

[ronand]

5.4.007 was built before the fixes. You can add it yourself if you want to try

Download the modifications.py from here: https://www.world-of-satellite.com/s...l=1#post510097

Put it in /usr/lib/enigma2/python/Plugins/SystemPlugins/vps with an ftp program and delete modifications.pyo from the same folder. Restart E2 and it will build a new .pyo and then you can delete the .py file.

[birdman]

Also its pretty pointless having the vps check in any case - if you are using autotimers and enable the vps recording you are doing so on the assumption that it will work (the check doesn't take place for autotimers).

I do have a version that turns the check off, and I'm sure this can be made a configurable option.

Needs much tidying up, though, as I forgot I wasn't editing the "live" source file and was surprised that nothing seemed to have any effect. By the time I'd seen the error of my ways I'd made four or five sets of (accumulative) changes. I suspect only one is actually required - I just have to find out which one that is.


There is still the issue of setting a manual timer then changing the time or channel, but I'll leave looking at that until later.

[birdman]

I do have a version that turns the check off, and I'm sure this can be made a configurable option.

Needs much tidying up, though...

If anyone is interested in trying it out, here are the modified files.

Removed - see later post for reversed description

There's not much changed, just that it spreads over 4 files.

There's a new menu option ("Do not check for PDC" - default is Off). If you enable it then your default VPS setting gets used without the pop-up occurring (or, indeed, any check).

NOTE: that the Instant Record use of VPS only applies if you chose to record the current event (top option). If you chose one of the others VPS is disabled. So don't report this as a bug, as it isn't.

Here are the full changes (as a diff):

Removed - see later post for reversed description

[ronand]

That seems to be doing the trick. It might be better to reverse the menu option - maybe "Check for VPS" as ON/OFF instead.

[Joe_90]

Thanks birdman - have downloaded the .py files and have set a timer for testing. I would agree with ronand regarding the PDC check. Might be better to say "Check for PDC" on/off. Seems to be a double negative at present.

[birdman]

Thanks birdman - have downloaded the .py files and have set a timer for testing. I would agree with ronand regarding the PDC check. Might be better to say "Check for PDC" on/off. Seems to be a double negative at present.

I know.
So I'd switch the default too (Check for PDC - default True).

[birdman]

Here's that pair of files with the option inverted (it's now "Check for PDC").

NoPDC-Check-new.zip
NoPDC-Check-new.txt

Unless anyone spots a problem I'll submit a PR later.

EDIT:

https://github.com/oe-alliance/enigma2-plugins/pull/422

[Joe_90]

Will test shortly and report...


EDIT Working fine. Have turned off PDC check.