[Bug] M3U sources colliding

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

Hi,

I already checked all FAQ and support pages and didn't find anything similar anywhere.

I already asked the admins for help on Discord but it doesn't really seem to be an active community over there.

When adding one or more M3U sources to my server, the wrong channels start showing up.

Examples below of what is happening (channel names are fake):

M3U #1 Channels

  • Custom channel I assigned as CNN
  • Custom channel I assigned as MTV
  • Custom channel I assigned as CBS
  • etc

M3U #2 Channels

  • Custom channel I assigned as ABC > DVR converts it to CNN guide data
  • Custom channel I assigned as FOX > DVR converts it to MTV guide data
  • Custom channel I assigned as HLN > DVR converts it to CBS guide data
  • etc

M3U #3 Channels

  • Custom channel I assigned as [whatever] > DVR converts it to CNN guide data
  • Custom channel I assigned as [whatever] > DVR converts it to MTV guide data
  • Custom channel I assigned as [whatever] > DVR converts it to CBS guide data
  • etc

This is making me crazy. I have tried deleting and re-adding the channels several times over the past month. I have tried re-assigning the correct channels. Yet, a few hours/days later, the channels magically change to whatever the first-ranked M3U has.

This also means that, since the DVR thinks the channels are duplicated over and over, most of my M3U channels completely disappear from the guide.

I'm gonna try merging the M3Us into a single source and see if the problem persists.

Either way, I this a major bug that needs to be addressed.

#2

Post examples of the m3u files as they are used by Channels DVR. Not much to go on in your description. It could be anything without the real information.

#3

Thanks for your reply kind stranger.

Example of all my M3U structures for Channels DVR:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1,Channel Name
https://link.here
#EXTINF:-1,Channel Name
https://link.here
...etc

I like to keep my m3u barebones so that the server adds its own native metadata.

  • Each channel, on each m3u, has a unique tv guide mapping, done manually on the server.
  • No channel has a duplicate anywhere.
  • The confusion between channels happens only between m3u sources.
  • My HDHomerun & TVEverywhere sources have had no issues.

Also, this may be related to the main issue: When I import a new M3U source, the server auto-maps specific channels from another m3u source. It just happens without me touching anything. And the server has no idea what the channels actually are. It just takes the 1st channel [seemingly from] my top-priority-sort m3u file and auto-assigns it to the 1st channel on the m3u I just imported.

This has been happening to me a lot, and since no one hasn't reported this so far, I'm starting to wonder if my server specifically is corrupted somehow. Otherwise, I'd assume the bug would have been reported already.

#4

What @mike_here meant is to post a "specific example" of one of your m3u entries, not a generic example.

This is a Community Forum where users support users.

If you're so sure it's to spec and don't want to provide a specific example, nothing we ordinary paying users like you on this Community Forum can do to help you and you'll need to communicate directly with the devs.

#5

Your m3u must have unique channel-id tags for each channel. If not it will conflict and get confused between sources.

This is noted in the Custom Channels docs: https://getchannels.com/docs/channels-dvr-server/how-to/custom-channels/

  • channel-id : REQUIRED unique ID for the channel
2 Likes