Every once in a while people will screw with the available channels (either on accident or on purpose) and I then do a sync/import from the sources to correct this. Problem is I have 5 different sources. Others probably have more! It's cumbersome to manually go into each source and do the same function over and over on all clients. Would it be possible to have a Import/Sync all sources option at the bottom of all your sources so it does all of them with 1 click!?!?!?!?
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At least Android has this sync/import option.... Apple users, the main focus of Channels development, has no such feature.
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Does the "Sources" server setting not address this: Settings > Clients > Client Settings > Server Side Only > Sources?
(I don't personally use the feature, so I don't know if it enforces whether a source is enabled or not. Additionally, if you don't want your household members mucking with your settings, why not enable kiosk mode on the clients ... and when set from the server, it cannot be overridden arbitrarily at the client.)
Apple = main focus? Yuck!
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I looked at that. Think it only allows you to choose which sources you want available to clients. Not the same.
Checking Kiosk mode...
Considering your previous comment regarding Apple devices, that setting would not be of use to you; it is limited to Apple clients only. (Did you notice that Apple logo beside the setting?)
My post was in response to there being no setting for Apple devices regarding sources.
Nope. That just shows/hides whole sources per client. Does nothing to sync/update lineup changes made.
The only way i have found to sync/update changes i make in the server Admin (setting a channel to Fav, disabling or enabling a channel) is to go into each source setting in the client app, and scroll through the list of channels, manually changing their state.
Or, to do a full re-sync of all sources, uninstall the app, re-install.
It is nice on my 2 Android tv clients, to just use that Sync/Import feature.
( i tend to add/remove channels maybe couple times a month, as Plex, Pluto, Samsung etc sources add channels occasionally. )
I didn't even know about Kiosk mode but may fit the bill! Anyone know specifically how Kiosk mode works? Meaning if I install the app then make some minor changes to that single client, then enable Kiosk mode on it, will it just lock it down how it is at that particular moment? Or will it jump back to default set up?
Kiosk mode simply keeps the Clients for accessing settings so what you set on the client webpage will remain as you set it ... cannot be changed by client. For example any new Clients that connect to my server cannot delete anything... and run in KIOSK mode.
Ya. I see that you can add Kiosk mode on each individual client too which is nice so it doesn't effect all.
This probably won't change the fact that random HDHR scans will randomly add/re-add channels and they will show up in the guide randomly. So the request to Sync/Import All Sources with 1 click is still requested.
Yep I keep getting channels that are disabled constantly showing up in my guide.
It's annoying as hell.
The developer's response is always "that's what channels collections are for."
They're not wrong. Collections do generally solve this issue.
Channel Collections are a centrally managed server-based set of channels that can selectively be made available to (specific) clients, which can be dynamically managed and updated live.
It is still an annoying bug why does Channels DVR insist on showing channels that are disabled makes no sense. Why should I have to do it with collections ? .., The Server knows exactly what channels are available, but I guess the client software is not smart enough to query the server. Stop suggesting workarounds for bugs geez.
The client gets the guide data from the server why can't it get the Channels? This has been happening for years.
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You are not wrong. It has always been stated that client settings are unique to the client, including channel availability.
Because of differences between platforms, channel collections were introduced as a server-based way to meet user requests.
Is it perfect, no. Does it work, yes. Can it be onerous, especially if you are putting myriad FAST feeds beyond the standard OTA/cable tuners with the TVE supplement, yes.
When answers/solutions are given, there is always push back because it's not exactly as desired by certain users. When this pointed out, complaints ensue anew. It seems to the cycle of this forum.
A more accurate assessment is that many of us have been using various DVR software for a couple decades now, and we've seen how it can be done properly, instead of with a workaround.
Let's not get going on this again. The developers have taken their stance that the 'workaround' is the 'solution.'
Back on the sync issue - is there a scenario when the client would specifically NOT want to sync with the server? Could there be a checkbox on a server that says "always sync all clients with the server?" At that point any client that connects to a server would automatically check for channel sync every time they startup on the client.
Not buying what you are selling the same way it queries for the guide it can query for the channels.
This is the only piece of Clent software that insists on using Channels that are disabled on the HDHR units.
You've seen how others have done it, and accept that as the way to do it; deviation from that method is a "workaround". I now understand how you are approaching this.
For the same reason that there is a kiosk mode and other finicky solutions to edge cases: to keep a client in a particular state for a particular user that is not influenced/driven by other others.
You're right, it can; I've so stated. But that is not what is happening, and you know how to achieve a similar state with the tools available within this software.
It all comes down to this: if you want this software to work exactly like SageTV, Tvheadend, MythTV, etc., I regret to inform you that it doesn't; but there is nothing stopping you from continuing to use your preferred software that works as you desire. However, if you wish to use other software, sometimes that requires learning how to do things differently to achieve a similar (but maybe not exact) experience as you have used in the past.
I have historically thought of a computer program as something that is meant to not only facilitate something, but to also make life easier/nicer/save time for the user.
We, as a forum community, have identified a use case where the software forces the user to spend more time sussing out channel lineups than other pieces of software. This is what normal, common sense folks consider an area that could be improved on, so the 'problem' of rogue channels is solved the first time the server is configured, rather than a constant maintenance item for the server operator. Channels is a very good DVR software, and I appreciate the ability to come into the forum to suggest areas of improvement.
I use more than one piece of DVR software anyway to gain the many advantages of the non-Channels DVR server. This isn't meant to be a software competition and I don't want anyone here in the forum to feel like they don't belong here or that their ideas and thoughts are unimportant.
