Need Channels to Record Show Even if a Recording Exists

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

I have a local broadcast that I record every week. The show does get properly listed at its scheduled time. And will record at its scheduled time. But once its recorded, it will not que up again for the next scheduled airing. Basically it is Sunday mass, but it is always dated 2020-03-29. That must be the original first broadcast date. Anyway, I have made a pass, but once it has been recorded, Channels always thinks its the same show already recorded and I have to manually que it up to record the next airing. So I basically would like Channels to recognize its a different show, or at least give an option to always record. And no, selecting ALL episodes in the pass does not work.

Currently I have these files:
TV\Sunday Mass with Bishop Ricken\Sunday Mass with Bishop Ricken 2020-03-29 2021-12-19-0729.mpg
TV\Sunday Mass with Bishop Ricken\Sunday Mass with Bishop Ricken 2020-03-29 2021-12-26-0729.mpg
TV\Sunday Mass with Bishop Ricken\Sunday Mass with Bishop Ricken 2020-03-29 2022-01-09-0729.mpg

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image1089Ă—975 143 KB

#2

The problem is that they all are identifying themselves as the same episode. There are two ways around this:

  1. Assuming you watch it weekly, edit your pass to "Re-record deleted episodes".
  2. If you are less vigilant about watching a program before the next one airs, your other option is to manually select the program each week to record. (Instead of using a pass, navigate to the airing in the guide, and then select "Record".)

Until they start identifying airing airing with a unique identifier, those are the only two options I see.

#3

I agree with your response as it is the current state of things. But I don’t understand why we can’t have a “record no matter what” option in the advanced pass settings. Then it wouldn’t have to worry about what’s new or not, if it’s on, record it. I realize this could lead to unintended consequences but we can figure it out and narrow our recording criteria. I would really love to leave town for a week without needing to babysit my DVR.

That said, I realize this is a niche thing and may not be worth the dev cycles considering the larger picture.

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#4

Unfortunately we're at the mercy of the EPG provider.
I mentioned before how you can do it on a TiVo which has 3 vs Channels 2 choices.
I think it would be easy to implement in a pass.

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#5

Yeah. In a perfect world we would have complete EPG data. I just think this is an obvious omission from the advanced pass settings that would solve a bunch of problems— at least for me.

But I know how it is. Sounds like a simple thing. Could be weeks of work for all I know.

#6

While this may genuinely be the case, odds are usually going the other way. What most users think would be easy to implement don't really understand how things work out in reality.

#7

That’s the wonderful world of development. Stuff that seems easy can be a huge pain and break everything. And stuff that you might think is hard turns out to be really simply.

I understand this isn’t exactly a problem with ChannelsDVR. It is a problem with data given to ChannelsDVR not being correct or complete. It’s a garbage in garbage out situation. But it would be nice if there were a robust answer to this kind of problem in Channels. In this case, the “record no matter what” would be an answer.

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#8

I used to work for a small-ish company and there was a lady in customer service always asking for new features from development. I was often copied on these requests. One day she sent one asking for a — let’s just call it — “record no matter what” checkbox.

Five minutes later the head developer emailed back with a link saying “here you go”. She replied immediately saying “That was fast. Thanks!” Half hour later she replied again saying her new checkbox doesn’t seem to do anything.

I’m guessing y'all all can finish the story from here

#9

That's an interesting problem at the source.

Why is it that the data is always the same in the EPG week after week?
Is it a problem with Gracenote, or is it that the channel always provides the same data to Gracenote? (I have no clue how Gracenote populates the EPG)

I'm wondering whether it would be worth it to write to the channel somehow and check with them.

While it is true that Channels could have an option to record everything, I'm looking at the problem from the other end. Try to fix the problem at the source. :slightly_smiling_face:

#10

May I take this opportunity to ask a sort-of-off-topic question...

How long does Channels remember that a specific episode has been recorded?

I recall this being discussed in the early days of TiVo. I think they changed it between two and four weeks at some point.

#11

For me it’s a Samsung TV thing. I doubt fixing the EPG is a realistic solution, but then again, I don’t know what effort would be required with “record no matter what”. As we are bringing in content from disparate custom channels, it seems like the new option would be nice. Would probably address the folks who are requesting the ability to record by time and channel. But a pass might be overkill for them.

#12

I’m pretty sure it’s forever. I have a pass set up for Law & Order for my wife — ended up recording them all I think. They haven’t tried to record again. If it isn’t forever it’s a long time.

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#13

Until you manually tell Channels to forget that recording.

For a previously recorded program in the guide or schedule, when viewing it in the web UI, it will show it has been "Recorded", and display a drop down menu wherein you can select "Mark as not recorded".

Otherwise, by default Channels will never record a previously recorded program. The two exceptions are if your pass is set to explicitly re-record deleted episodes, and manually scheduled one-off recordings from the guide.

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