Guide data is not downloading

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

I recently started having an issue where guide data is not populating in the guide for most, but not all of my channels. I am running Channels DVR version 2023.11.13.2159 in a Docker running on UnRaid. I took a look at the logs and I am seeing the following:

2023/12/01 21:06:33.786781 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2023.11.13.2159 (linux-x86_64 pid:7) in /channels-dvr/data
2023/12/01 21:06:34.501108 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2023/12/01 21:06:54.301673 [TVE] action=cbs_station err=Post "https://www.cbs.com/live-tv/check-availability/": context deadline exceeded (Client.Timeout exceeded while awaiting headers)
2023/12/01 21:07:08.529562 [ERR] Failed to request m3u for PlexTV: Get "https://i.mjh.nz/Plex/all.m3u8": dial tcp: lookup i.mjh.nz: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:07:08.558786 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for PlutoTV with 389 channels
2023/12/01 21:07:11.987922 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for SamsungTVPlus with 321 channels
2023/12/01 21:07:12.181076 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for Stirr with 27 channels
2023/12/01 21:07:20.997941 [DVR] Waiting 10h52m39.002061569s until next job 1701522000-10 MST3K
2023/12/01 21:07:22.427546 [DVR] Recording engine started in /shares/plexmedia/ChannelsDVR
2023/12/01 21:07:22.683140 [SYS] Bonjour service running for dvr-winona.local. [192.168.15.10]
2023/12/01 21:07:22.692624 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using natpmp
2023/12/01 21:07:30.912567 [SYS] Created database snapshot: backup-20231202.020729
2023/12/01 21:07:31.060152 [DVR] No listings for X-TVE (6720 airings, 0 groups); starting indexer..
2023/12/01 21:07:31.096591 [IDX] Pruned 258 expired airings from XMLTV-PlutoTV in 36.258841ms.
2023/12/01 21:07:31.100279 [IDX] Pruned 2 expired airings from X-M3U in 3.498265ms.
2023/12/01 21:07:31.108014 [IDX] Pruned 16 expired airings from XMLTV-Stirr in 7.681235ms.
2023/12/01 21:07:31.125191 [IDX] Pruned 132 expired airings from XMLTV-SamsungTVPlus in 17.126896ms.
2023/12/01 21:07:31.135642 [IDX] Pruned 6 expired airings from X-VIRTUAL in 10.270731ms.
2023/12/01 21:07:31.190778 [SYS] Removing old backup backup-20231105.120334
2023/12/01 21:07:34.113019 [DVR] Indexed 20 channels (6720 airings + 0 replaced) with placeholders [1s index]
2023/12/01 21:07:34.116206 [DVR] Fetching guide data for 62 stations in X-TVE @ 2023-12-01 9:00PM
2023/12/01 21:07:39.117361 [DVR] Error fetching guide data: Get "https://tmsdata.fancybits.co/v1.1/lineups/USA-DFLTE/grid?startDateTime=2023-12-01T21:00-05:00&endDateTime=2023-12-02T03:00-05:00&enhancedCallSign=true&imageSize=Lg&imageAspectTV=4x3&stationId=16220,10183,34969,133691,113380,89360,131032,96827,123124,121307,91404,123126,97502,105440,114278,114494,123120,107241,104846,71799,111871,35044,123127,110480,123129,59684,89714,110291,123130,129941,57391,59303,55559,123123,123380,50747,49788,31046,55916,120551,123121,123128,123122,73163,52329,72422,91096,70388,57394,68367,12553,44861,123119,126738,108919,79318,107076,111043,123125,65342,92205,59155": dial tcp: lookup tmsdata.fancybits.co: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:07:39.118947 [DVR] Fetching guide data for 62 stations in X-TVE @ 2023-12-02 3:00AM
2023/12/01 21:07:44.119623 [DVR] Error fetching guide data: Get "https://tmsdata.fancybits.co/v1.1/lineups/USA-DFLTE/grid?startDateTime=2023-12-02T03:00-05:00&endDateTime=2023-12-02T09:00-05:00&enhancedCallSign=true&imageSize=Lg&imageAspectTV=4x3&stationId=110480,123129,59684,89714,110291,123130,129941,57391,59303,55559,123123,123380,50747,49788,31046,55916,120551,123121,123128,123122,73163,52329,72422,91096,70388,57394,68367,12553,44861,123119,126738,108919,79318,107076,111043,123125,65342,92205,59155,16220,10183,34969,133691,113380,89360,131032,96827,123124,121307,91404,123126,97502,105440,114278,114494,123120,107241,104846,71799,111871,35044,123127": dial tcp: lookup tmsdata.fancybits.co: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:07:44.121108 [DVR] Fetching guide data for 62 stations in X-TVE @ 2023-12-02 9:00AM
2023/12/01 21:07:49.122848 [DVR] Error fetching guide data: Get "https://tmsdata.fancybits.co/v1.1/lineups/USA-DFLTE/grid?startDateTime=2023-12-02T09:00-05:00&endDateTime=2023-12-02T15:00-05:00&enhancedCallSign=true&imageSize=Lg&imageAspectTV=4x3&stationId=111871,35044,123127,110480,123129,129941,57391,59303,59684,89714,110291,123130,50747,49788,31046,55559,123123,123380,123122,73163,52329,72422,55916,120551,123121,123128,91096,70388,57394,68367,12553,44861,123119,108919,79318,107076,126738,65342,92205,59155,111043,123125,16220,10183,34969,133691,113380,89360,131032,96827,123124,121307,91404,123126,123120,107241,104846,71799,97502,105440,114278,114494": dial tcp: lookup tmsdata.fancybits.co: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:07:49.124168 [DVR] Fetching guide data for 62 stations in X-TVE @ 2023-12-02 3:00PM
2023/12/01 21:07:54.126042 [DVR] Error fetching guide data: Get "https://tmsdata.fancybits.co/v1.1/lineups/USA-DFLTE/grid?startDateTime=2023-12-02T15:00-05:00&endDateTime=2023-12-02T21:00-05:00&enhancedCallSign=true&imageSize=Lg&imageAspectTV=4x3&stationId=92205,59155,111043,123125,65342,10183,16220,133691,34969,89360,113380,96827,123124,131032,91404,123126,121307,104846,71799,97502,105440,114278,114494,123120,107241,35044,123127,111871,123129,110480,57391,59303,59684,89714,110291,123130,129941,49788,31046,55559,123123,123380,50747,52329,72422,55916,120551,123121,123128,123122,73163,70388,57394,91096,12553,44861,68367,123119,79318,107076,126738,108919": dial tcp: lookup tmsdata.fancybits.co: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:07:54.127217 [DVR] Fetching guide data for 62 stations in X-TVE @ 2023-12-02 9:00PM
2023/12/01 21:07:59.127891 [DVR] Error fetching guide data: Get "https://tmsdata.fancybits.co/v1.1/lineups/USA-DFLTE/grid?startDateTime=2023-12-02T21:00-05:00&endDateTime=2023-12-03T03:00-05:00&enhancedCallSign=true&imageSize=Lg&imageAspectTV=4x3&stationId=104846,71799,97502,105440,114278,114494,123120,107241,35044,123127,111871,123129,110480,57391,59303,59684,89714,110291,123130,129941,49788,31046,55559,123123,123380,50747,52329,72422,55916,120551,123121,123128,123122,73163,70388,57394,91096,12553,44861,68367,123119,79318,107076,126738,108919,92205,59155,111043,123125,65342,10183,16220,133691,34969,89360,113380,96827,123124,131032,91404,123126,121307": dial tcp: lookup tmsdata.fancybits.co: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:07:59.131378 [DVR] Fetching guide data for 62 stations in X-TVE @ 2023-12-03 3:00AM
2023/12/01 21:08:04.132005 [DVR] Error fetching guide data: Get "https://tmsdata.fancybits.co/v1.1/lineups/USA-DFLTE/grid?startDateTime=2023-12-03T03:00-05:00&endDateTime=2023-12-03T09:00-05:00&enhancedCallSign=true&imageSize=Lg&imageAspectTV=4x3&stationId=123128,123122,73163,52329,72422,55916,120551,123121,91096,70388,57394,68367,12553,44861,123119,108919,79318,107076,126738,65342,92205,59155,111043,123125,16220,10183,34969,133691,113380,89360,131032,96827,123124,121307,91404,123126,114494,123120,107241,104846,71799,97502,105440,114278,111871,35044,123127,110480,123129,123130,129941,57391,59303,59684,89714,110291,50747,49788,31046,55559,123123,123380": dial tcp: lookup tmsdata.fancybits.co: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:08:04.444453 [DVR] Waiting 10h51m55.555549884s until next job 1701522000-10 MST3K
2023/12/01 21:08:16.230643 [ERR] Failed to request m3u for PlexTV: Get "https://i.mjh.nz/Plex/all.m3u8": dial tcp: lookup i.mjh.nz: i/o timeout
2023/12/01 21:10:20.232027 [ERR] Failed to request m3u for PlexTV: Get "https://i.mjh.nz/Plex/all.m3u8": dial tcp: lookup i.mjh.nz: i/o timeout

It seems like it can retrieve guide data for some of my channel sources, but fails for others. This at least partially tells me network connectivity seems to be fine. I opened a console for the Channels DVR docker and pinged tmsdata.fancybits.co and it was able to ping fine. I also opened a docker instance of Firefox and tried to navigate to one of the tmsdata.fancybits.co URLs above. It was able to get to the URL with no issue but it asked for a username and password. I tried my Channels DVR user account credentials but they didn't work (not sure if its using those credentials or something else). I checked my account status and it shows my subscription is active. Any idea what is going on and how to fix?

#2

Appears to be a network issue as you're getting timeouts, but I would update to the latest prerelease version of Channels DVR (you're running the latest stable release) first to see if that fixes it.

If it doesn't, then after updating to the latest prerelease version, run Troubleshooting to see if it detects any issues.
DVR web UI Support > Troubleshooting

#3

Thanks for the tip! I was able to resolve the issue. The troubleshooter was showing I was having DNS problems. I have an internal Pi-Hole DNS server (also running on Docker on the same server). Although I had disabled Pi-Hole to rule out any ad blocking going on, it didn't fix the problem. However, when I removed the Pi-Hole as a DNS server in UnRaid and let it default to an external DNS server, everything started to work. Not sure what is going on with my Pi-Hole and why it's not resolving DNS correctly. I guess something to take a look at tomorrow.

1 Like
#4

The developers recommend that you point DNS for your channels DVR server at your ISP's DNS servers. This will result in your getting pointed the best content distribution for your sources.

I also use alternate DNS to block advertisements and hostile sites. It's not necessary for cDVR and using the best CDN can make a huge difference in reliability, speed and avoid jitter.

#5

I suggest that you set up a group in Pi-hole without any blocklists applied and place all of your streaming devices in that group. There's no real need to have Channels DVR using any blocklists. It's what I do and I'm one of the Pi-hole developers.

It would be interesting to see what is being caught and what adlists you are using, feel free to DM me if you are open to digging in a bit.