Samsung TV Plus for Channels [retired]

[speedingcheetah]

This i know, but how does one acces that source? Is it private? API only thing?

One can go to TVdb or MovieDB etc and access their database outside of Plex or Emby etc. And there is posts about metadata matching using tvDB in Channels before.

For custom channels via m3u, far as i have understood it, the only metadata for guide input is through external xml, so I am not seeing how the built in Guide selector used for OTA and TVE works for this feature since it works by zip code selection, which is not applicable to these FAST channels.
The option to "Change provider" only give me those zip code provided options "OTA Lineup or Digital Cable Lineup, or "Existing" XML/X-M3U, or Custom URL.

this is what comes up when i try to channel mapping for a channel, and searching for the channel name only searches the linked to xml:

What you stated meant to me that you mapped this not to the Samsung XML but to Channels own Guide, which uses Gracenote... How do you do that?

[speedingcheetah]

@babsonnexus

out why there is only 6 hours of data in the XML

If the xml is regenerated every two hrs and has always 6hours of future data, then, at any given time, at every 2hr refresh Channels does, it should always have 6hrs of future data. But it does not, often only showing 2 or 4. Even going overnight with no data.

I checked my ad blocking DNS and any firewalls, the link is not being blocked, and i can manually open the xml live, so that not the issue.

Perhaps that url is limiting pull request per ip address?

I have not seen any useful "Potential workarounds" posted.
Other than one user said they use Channels Guide data, not the Samsung xml... which puzzels me.

Edit: The App goes to 5am for data. so 12hrs data. I just went browsing the threads about Samsung and other sources. The source says it is scrapped from the server. I noticed the public url for Samsung TV Channels site. That public site is only showing 6hrs data, so i guess that is the why it is limited to just 6hrs. But still not explain why the xml is not always loading the 6hrs future guide data reliably. Feels to me is a scraping issue.

EDIT 2: Oh. The built into the TV "TV Guide" that also is Samsung TV Plus channels in it (different UI), that also will show OTA stations, if u have antenna hooked up. Has 48hrs Guide Data for the same channels that the separate app has only 12hrs for.

{Samsung sure is a MESS in this aspect, with two very different apps and UI's fighting each other. Single press of up on d pad or a channel up button, you get the Guide UI for the Samsung Channels TV Plus app, long press the Channel up button, gives you the TV's native Guide Ui, and that is the only one that has the OTA channels, but also mixes in the TV Plus ones. } Why i really like being able to just integrate Samsung channels into Channels DVR and never have to deal with the TV's apps.

[chDVRuser]

@speedingcheetah

What you stated meant to me that you mapped this not to the Samsung XML but to Channels own Guide, which uses Gracenote... How do you do that?

I'm guessing here since I don't use Samsung, but provide the lineup m3u8 to your Channels DVR custom M3U source URL https://i.mjh.nz/SamsungTVPlus/us.m3u8
and leave the XMLTV Guide Data section blank?
I would think you can then map the channels like you do for OTA.

[speedingcheetah]

@kyl416

the official Samsung TV Plus app does not have a DVR function

True, but I keep seeing articles about Samsung Smart Tv's being able to record like a DVR. Just insert a usb stick.

How Do I Record on my Samsung Smart TV? Here's How - Robot Powered Home

Only thing i find official is form the AU Samsung site. (so may be only a region based feature, and only on certain models)
I tried it on my tv, and i do not get any such options to record or Timeshift, in either the TV Plus app or the TV's native Guide Interface.

Set up and Record Live TV | Samsung Australia

[speedingcheetah]

@chDVRuser

I would think you can then map the channels like you do for OTA.

Indeed, however, that would only work for Channels that exist in that OTA lineup, such as ION, assuming they air the same thing.

Often, TVE and OTA versions of the same channel air different programing. Like Comet (or was it Charge) will not air Walker Texas Ranger, it only airs on OTA.

The channels i have enabled, do not exist in OTA lineup, so nothing to map to.

I been using Samsung Channels for several months, and only recently have noticed issues with no guide data or greatly reduced amount. Trying to get to the bottom of the issue.

[kyl416]

In territories where it's available, that function is only for actual television signals, not the streaming channels via Samsung TV Plus.

The recording function is only available for digital broadcast channels received by the TV. You cannot record videos received from an external device or Samsung TV Plus

[babsonnexus]

@speedingcheetah

every 2hr refresh Channels does

@speedingcheetah

set to update every one hour

Which is it? It makes a difference and it is difficult to offer practical advice without consistent data on which to base it upon. Also, two hours is not even an option in the dropdown. Please provide a screenshot of your Custom Channel settings.

@speedingcheetah

That public site is only showing 6hrs data, so i guess that is the why it is limited to just 6hrs. But still not explain why the xml is not always loading the 6hrs future guide data reliably. Feels to me is a scraping issue.

That's not how math works. You don't get 6 hours at the moment you pull the XML file. Every two hours, it pulls the current hour and five more into the future. If you miss that window and load into Channels just beforehand, you'll get the last XML run. Here's a visual aid, assuming a 3 hour Channels load instead of a 1 hour option:

This is only one example and the exact times will result in a significant shift in results.

[chDVRuser]

@speedingcheetah

Indeed, however, that would only work for Channels that exist in that OTA lineup, such as ION, assuming they air the same thing.

Often, TVE and OTA versions of the same channel air different programing. Like Comet (or was it Charge) will not air Walker Texas Ranger, it only airs on OTA.

The channels i have enabled, do not exist in OTA lineup, so nothing to map to.

Try Search All Lineups

[speedingcheetah]

@babsonnexus

Every two hours, it pulls the current hour and five more into the future.

So, i should have always 6hrs populated guide data then current hour + 5hrs future. At every source 2hr refresh of the xml. Channels is set to refresh every 1hr.

As i keep saying, this is NOT what is happening on a reliable basis.
I have Channels set to refresh the xml every hour, the shortest interval.
So it should be capturing the updates to the xml that is happening every 2hrs.
Would be nice if Channels could add a 30min option.

Last night, it had no data past midnight. It had refreshed the xml every hour before midnight.
I manulay refreshed the xml, at 12:19, 1:29, and 3:48. Still had no data.
I woke up later today, and it populated finally at 1pm to 7pm.

[chDVRuser]

I know what you're saying.
I originally had Channels refreshing my Pluto guide every hour, but found in the logs it wasn't doing it every hour and the times it refreshed would change. Add to that the maddox Pluto for Channels container refreshed guide from Pluto about every 3 hours and the time kept changing.

I finally modified the Pluto for Channels container to fetch every 2 hours exactly on the hour and setup a scheduled task to update the lineup and xmltv guide in Channels exactly every 2 hours, right after the Pluto for Channels container fetched guide data.

So now this is the schedule

Pluto for Channels guide fetch 01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00
Channels DVR refresh lineup    01:04 03:04 05:04 07:04 09:04 11:04 13:04 15:04 17:04 19:04 21:04 23:04
Channels DVR refresh xmltv     01:05 03:05 05:05 07:05 09:05 11:05 13:05 15:05 17:05 19:05 21:05 23:05

[speedingcheetah]

I am not using Docker, am using the built into Channels url custom m3u feature. For both Pluto and Samsung. Pluto been working fine for the last year or so.

[chDVRuser]

Problem with the Samsung EPG is you don't know exactly when it gets updated at https://i.mjh.nz/SamsungTVPlus/

Best you could do is setup a cron/Task Manager job to refresh the guide xml for the Channels DVR Server every hour.

[speedingcheetah]

Isn't that what Channels DVR server is already doing though? Or supposed to be doing.
As i mentioned, even manually trigger of refresh in Channels sometimes does not result in guide data.
No errors are shown in the logs.

How does setting a OS level task accomplish what a third party software does internally?
Task manager? Do you mean Task Scheduler? My server is running on Win 11.
I have never used a cron job. If i recall, that is a Linux thing.
scheduled task is the windows equivalent

EDIT: I also have a 2nd server, that is Linux based, and it has the exact same issues with Guide data.
So it not a Windows thing.

[chDVRuser]

@speedingcheetah

Isn't that what Channels DVR server is already doing though? Or supposed to be doing.

Supposed to. Have you looked at the log to see if it's refreshing the guide data every hour, day after day?

@speedingcheetah

Task manager? Do you mean Task Scheduler? My server is running on Win 11.

Yah, Task Scheduler in Windows, Task Manager in Synology, cron in unix/linux.

Anyway, if you want to try it.
You can use this curl command to refresh the xmltv guide data for a source in Channels DVR
Not sure in Windows Task Scheduler if you can use curl as the command or if it has to be curl.exe

curl -s -XPUT http://<ip-of-channels-server>:<port>/dvr/lineups/XMLTV-LineupName

To find the LineupName, look at http://<ip-of-channels-server>:<port>/dvr/lineups

In my case, it's XMLTV-Pluto for my M3U-Pluto source

http://192.168.1.4:8489/dvr/lineups
{"M3U-Pluto":"XMLTV-Pluto","VIRTUAL":"X-VIRTUAL"}

So I use this command in my cron job to refresh the guide data

curl -s -XPUT http://192.168.1.4:8489/dvr/lineups/XMLTV-Pluto

[speedingcheetah]

@chDVRuser

Supposed to. Have you looked at the log to see if it's refreshing the guide data every hour, day after day?

yup, it has these lines every hour

2024/03/12 19:34:15.993153 [DVR] Fetched guide data for XMLTV-Samsung in 315ms
2024/03/12 19:34:16.131376 [DVR] Indexed 101 airings into XMLTV-Samsung (14 channels over 6h32m17s) + 28 skipped [98ms index]
2024/03/12 19:34:16.134047 [DVR]   pruned 19 replaced airings in 2ms.
2024/03/12 19:34:16.543102 [DVR] Fetched guide data for XMLTV-Pluto in 407ms
2024/03/12 19:34:17.930329 [DVR] Indexed 2152 airings into XMLTV-Pluto (54 channels over 24h30m0s) + 35 skipped [1s index]
2024/03/12 19:34:17.932963 [DVR]   pruned 84 replaced airings in 2ms.

[chDVRuser]

If it is refreshing every single hour it must be a problem at the source https://i.mjh.nz/SamsungTVPlus/

Next time you get low on guide data, check that source site to see if the xml guide file is up to date.

[speedingcheetah]

Thats what i keep thinking and saying. Channels is pulling what is there, but what is there is lacking.
The xml may be "updated" as in changed on the server url, but is it being updated with new future guide data. Seems at times, more often of late, it is not, even though the last updated time stamp says it has been. The user that maintains that i think has posted on this thread in response to issues reported.

[chDVRuser]

The way I would check is look at the first line in the xml file for the timestamp when it was created.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE tv SYSTEM "xmltv.dtd"><tv generator-info-name="www.matthuisman.nz" generated-ts="1710291943">
is Wednesday, March 13, 2024 01:05:43 UTC

Then look for an airing about 5 1/2 hours from that. start="202403130630...
<programme channel="USBB1500001GD" start="20240313063000 +0000" stop="20240313070000 +0000">

You can tell by the airing start= time if it's old or new listings

[chDVRuser]

@chDVRuser

Next time you get low on guide data, check that source site to see if the xml guide file is up to date.

Is he updating them every hour now?

[matthuisman]

its been set to update every 59 mins for as long as i can remember
But if there program data hasnt changed since 60mins ago, then the generated xml may not differ