Inconsistent Guide data botches recordings

Live TV & DVR
1

Server Version#: 1.18.8.2527
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun CONNECT Quatro (x3 - 12 tuners total)
Guide/Lineup name: What is this?
Using XMLTV?: How would I know this?
Channel number/Name: Multiple channels & programs

When I look at the guide data for a particular show, sometimes the episode numbering is a mixture of the standard sXXeYY or a date. For example:

1
1670×663 49.5 KB

This creates a directory structure that’s jacked-up and looks like this:

drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 3 Apr 21 2019 Season 01
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 10 Feb 25 15:01 Season 02
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 10 Feb 27 04:01 Season 03
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 7 Jan 6 02:38 Season 04
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 9 Apr 21 2019 Season 05
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 4 Mar 17 15:01 Season 06
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 3 Jan 12 05:01 Season 2003
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 5 Apr 2 03:01 Season 2006
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 5 Apr 2 02:01 Season 2007
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 3 Apr 1 15:01 Season 2011
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 3 Apr 5 06:00 Season 2015
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 3 Jan 7 15:01 Season 2016
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 11 Apr 14 15:00 Season 2018
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 8 Mar 30 15:01 Season 2019
drwxr-xr-x. 2 plex plex 4 Mar 10 15:01 Season 2020

And season groupings that look like this:

2
21041×480 82.9 KB

What is causing this and what is the fix? It doesn’t seem to matter if I refresh the EPG or not, and it isn’t just limited to a particular show. I see this happening on old classic TV shows as well as new prime-time major network shows.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

2 Likes
2

I have the same issue, it’s annoying.
I’ve tried forcing a new “Refresh Guide”, deleting and re-adding the DVR, it it always comes back eventually.

I installed GetChannels and compared it to Plex’s EPG.

A lot of errors in Plex’s EPG didn’t exist in GetChannels’ EPG.
The only issue that was in both Plex and GetChannel was “The Simpsons” reruns.

3

It is frustrating with all the EPG problems with Plex. I purchased my lifetime membership when they introduced the TV/DVR feature. The membership fee was supposed to cover their cost for EPG – basically a passthrough from the provider. Maybe they should find a better provider. Ugh!

4

I know it’s not an answer that anyone will like, as I also paid for this product…but I moved away from it’s EPG source and use my own xmltv source from zap2it.com

Depending on your setup you may be able to install and use zap2xml.pl to pull your own EPG data and leave Plex’s provider behind. I built a Docker image for this purpose and share it here: https://hub.docker.com/r/crlorentzen/zap2xml
Cache of original source for zap2xml. There are also multiple other docker containers/scripts relating to this out there.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:C8l6O7yTrnsJ:zap2xml.awardspace.info/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Sorry about suggesting more work to get more control and potentially better EPG data.

Plex Documentation: https://support.plex.tv/articles/using-an-xmltv-guide/

5

Is there a guide on how one would install and set up your docker image to work with Unraid and Plex?

Since Plex dumped GraceNote our guide data is very poor. I too are having constant issues with botched recordings and missing or incorrect metadata.

Thank you

6

Sorry, but I do not know anything about Unraid, except that it is a network attached storage server system. A quick web search indicates they use some xml formatted descriptor for Docker containers. It may require learning this format, with Unraid support/forums, or others.

Not sure if this might help… https://forums.unraid.net/topic/44627-support-johnodon-zap2xm

I am also on the lookout for new, maintained tools for xmltv guides and saw WebGrab+Plus, which may already have an unraid deploy available…but I also cannot help with that.

I hope someone else can help, or maybe this other tool will be useable.

7

Thank you very much for the valuable info you shared. I will take a look at the WebGrab application. Hopefully this will solve the poor Plex guide issues.

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