Pause a Custom M3U source

[chDVRuser]

I know this has been a request many times.
Can we have a way to edit the Source Text so Channels DVR doesn't assign channel numbers.
Don't want to delete the source and have to recreate it later, just "pause" it.

Thinking something easy like adding some keyword at the first line?

#PAUSED
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="callsign1" channel-number="1234" tvg-chno="1234" tvg-id="callsign1" tvc-guide-stationid="12345" tvg-name="callsign1",callsign1
https://<path_to>.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="callsign2" channel-number="2345" tvg-chno="2345" tvg-id="callsign2" tvc-guide-stationid="23456" tvg-name="callsign2",callsign2
https://<path_to>.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="callsign3" channel-number="3456" tvg-chno="3456" tvg-id="callsign3" tvc-guide-stationid="34567" tvg-name="callsign3",callsign3
https://<path_to>.m3u8

[AtoZ0to9]

What about in the app

Settings, Sources, open the source, Enabled to OFF

[chDVRuser]

True, but that's a per client setting.
I want to disable the channels appearing, guide data downloading and recording from the source temporarily. From the server.

What I currently have to do is copy all the settings and store them somewhere, then delete the source.
Later I have to recreate the source with all the settings I saved.

[Fofer]

Yes, I do wish there was a better way to deal with this. I wish we could pause entire sources.
Previous discussion here:

How can I TEMP Disable CUSTOM M3U?

So here is my situation. I have a HD Prime. I have a custom URL mapped from their SD channel to their HD channel via direct URLs. However when I have storms I disconnect the Prime. Leaving the URLs not working. This is all for my mother who is in her 70s. She HAS to have the stations for the lower numbers match to the higher HD counterparts. Up until now I've been putting a "*" or "#" in the M3U code to cause Channels not to read it, thus not put the channels in the guide. When the storms pass a…

In the meantime I just end up just "hiding" every channel in the Custom Channel source that I want to "pause."

At least this bookmarklet makes this management a lot easier:

Channels Helper bookmarklet for working with Manage Lineup

Since we can now add all these awesome TVE and m3u channel sources for things like Pluto, Plex, etc., I've found myself struggling to manage the hundreds of channels often listed in the Manage Lineup dialog (Admin Settings website \ Sources). I decided to try to throw a little javascript at the problem last night, and wound up ultimately settling on a simple Bookmarklet you can use to do things like Block/Unblock all, Fav/Unfav all, sort channels by name, sort channels by number, etc. It adds …

[chDVRuser]

@Fofer

In the meantime I just end up just "hiding" every channel in the Custom Channel source that I want to "pause."

I do that when there's only a few channels. See my post in the first thread you posted

@chDVRuser

+1 for the same reason as Fofer.
I've been disabling / re-enabling the individual channels in the M3U's as a workaround.
Anytime I disable the channels, I have to Delete and Recreate the guide database, otherwise the old guide data for those channels remains until it runs out.

[racameron]

An actual enable toggle per source on the server should be the way to achieve this. Please do not introduce new directives to M3U playlists which are already too convoluted and poorly documented, and won't be supported by anyone else.

[babsonnexus]

This is now a feature of Playlist Manger for Channel (an SLM Add-on):

Check it out!

BETA: Playlist Manager for Channels (SLM Add-on)

There are a lot of fantastic methods for integrating custom stations into Channels DVR, especially from FAST and similar providers like Pluto, Plex, Tubi, Samsung TV+, ESPN+, NFL+, and plenty more! The problem is, they require a fair bit of maintenance. For instance, there are whole threads and tools dedicated just to keeping track of which stations have been added and removed. And that doesn't even get into the redundancy of when each of these services have the same stations, but you have to de…