IPG Inconsistencies

[57]

I have a 9865 (NB3) running Navigatr firmware and I also utilize AnyPlace Web "Manage PVR", as well as RAPTV on my iPad. The Rogers IPG has never been very good, but most of the time it records most of my scheduled recordings. Since January 2016 (post Navigatr?) the IPG has become increasingly less reliable.  Here's a list of recent issues.

1. Before the change to DST the IPG was "incorrect" by one hour for all the scheduled recordings after the time change, as well as the programmes shown in the guide the following week. This is very confusing for people. It's also unnecessary since SARA firmware doesn't do this (I also have 8300HD PVRs.)

2. After the change to DST, programmes that were recorded on the PVR prior to the time change showed as being recorded at times different from when they were actually recorded.  Not only that, but the "recording time" would be different depending on which way you accessed the information. On the PVR itself it would be off by 1 hour. On AnyPlace it would be off by 5 hours. On RAPTV it would be off by 4 hours.

3. This week the daily recordings don't seem to be scheduling properly.  Only 1-2 days instead of 4-5. (And yes, I am aware that sometimes the guide "catches up" with these sorts of issues, but this week it hasn't and recordings have been missed because of it)

4.  I have a scheduled series recording for "Edwardian Farm" on TVO 2AM Tuesday.  The Navigatr IPG shows the programme as "Wartime Farm" with the description for an Edwardian Farm episode.  On AnyPlace or RAPTV it shows as "Edwardian Farm".  If I hadn't noticed, I would have missed recording it on my PVR due to a totally incorrect title on the 9865 IPG.

5. The PVR/AnyPlace/RAPTV uses "name based recording". The problem is that the names of the programmes are constantly changing.  This means that series recordings are missed even if one letter of the name of the programme changes. This has been going on for roughly 11 years now.  As an example, Mercer Report may become The Mercer Report.   "The Fifth Estate" has been listed about 3-4 different ways during the past 2 months!  Rogers, get your IPG provider to give us consistent programme titles. Or write proper firmware that would circumvent these issues. TiVo knows how to...

6. Many of the programmes have "generic" information in the programme description instead of what's actually airing.  For example instead of stating who the guest is on "Mansbridge One on One" it simply states that "Peter interviews Canadians"  There are similar examples for almost all interview programming and late night programming.  I do understand that this information is not always available, but it usually is and the IPG provider is missing information that's available in many places on the web.

7. Currently on Smithsonian Channel (540).  It shows TBA for the entire week.  This happens often on this and other channels..

8. For the Formula One race this weekend, there were several pre and post-race programmes. When I set these to record they showed properly on the 9865, however, on AnyPlace/RAPTV they showed totally incorrectly - as NCAA basketball or SportsCentre.  How weird is that?

9. The "new" tag that is supposed to indicate new programming is often not correct. It's often missing from new programming or it's shown as new when a programme is a repeat. (and yes I am aware that "new" is relative to that particular channel)

10. The user experience is totally different depending on which device, firmware, software, computer, browser you're using.  We should be able to see the same thing whether we're looking at the IPG or recordings at the PVR, from our computer, with our tablet, etc. However, the experience is totally different with different information showing. For example on the PVR, a programme description may show the year of production, while AnyPlace doesn't show it, or vice versa. Or the programme title/description could be competely different.  It's almost impossible for an average user to comprehend all these differences when someone like me with 14 years of heavy Rogers IPG experience and extensive experience on forums, has difficulty.

The above is but a short list of IPG problems. There are many more that I've recorded over the years, but I thought this would suffice to give Rogers some feedback regarding their IPG, which has become increasingly unreliable.  You're driving away your customers with these sorts of problems, without even mentioning Navigatr.

*** Edited Labels ***

[OLDYELLR]

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@57 wrote:

For Formula 1 this weekend in Sochi, all of the websites I looked at, including TSN, have all 3 events for Russia starting at 8AM EDT. However, the Rogers IPG shows Qualifying and the Race at 7AM EDT, so be prepared for a mess later this week.

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I've never looked anywhere else but the Rogers IPG to schedule my recordings and have both Qualifying and Race starting at 6:55 a.m.  But, yes,  Zap2it has them starting at 7:55 and the TSN website says 8:00 a.m.  If the Rogers Guide is wrong, at least I'll be able to add another hour while I'm watching the recordings.  It's probably a good ides to confirm the times closer to the events.

[57]

Thank you Rogers.  The IPG for Formula 1 this weekend is now correct. If you scheduled your recordings earlier this week, you should delete those and schedule new.

[OLDYELLR]

Thanks for the heads up @57

I usually record Qualifying and the Race, each extended by an hour (unless rain is expected, when I extend it longer).  I schedule these recordings from the IPG no more than 6 days in advance because that's the max the SA8300 SARA system allows. If I do it earlier using RAPTV I get Manual Recordings.

That's what I did last Monday and now, from the IPG, I see that I'm actually recording Pre-Qualifying plus Qualifying and Pit Lane plus the Race, but still ending where I originally set them, so I guess I'm okay.

Other than a couple of times TSN or Rogers switched channels at the last moment, I've never had a problem recording Formula 1.  I't the Cycling Grand Tours that give issues, where I sometimes have to FF through half an hour of Sports Desk or stick-and-ball and make sure to record at least a couple of hours extra.

[57]

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@OLDYELLR wrote:

Thanks for the heads up @57

That's what I did last Monday and now, from the IPG, I see that I'm actually recording Pre-Qualifying plus Qualifying and Pit Lane plus the Race, but still ending where I originally set them, so I guess I'm okay.

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Don't bet on it. It may not record correctly.  I always delete and re-schedule if there was an error.  Much safer.

[OLDYELLR]

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@57 wrote:

Don't bet on it. It may not record correctly.  I always delete and re-schedule if there was an error.  Much safer.

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So what I did was l leave those scheduled recordings on 498 alone and set new ones from the IPG on 497 and 496.  Extending those by an hour as well, I now see the original ones might end an hour sooner than I wanted. Belt and suspenders, as they say. I'll see what I get.

[57]

TVO (channels 2/580) hasn't had any programming information for several days and doesn't have any information for the next week!!

[OLDYELLR]

TVO comes up just fine for me in the IPG with the SA8300HD.  Just checking RAPTV though because that guide is more like the Nextbox IPG and it's not working this morning.

[57]

TVO info is now populated for me on Navigatr and AnyPlace. Thanks Rogers.

[57]

When using AnyPlace (computer browser web interface or iPad app) there  is currently no information at all in the grid view beyond Friday evening for me. Saturday and Sunday, which should be showing, are totally blank in the IPG Grid in AnyPlace.

The IPG on my PVRs is fine

I can  search for, and find, programming that is on Saturday or Sunday in AnyPlace, but the grid is empty in AnyPlace.

Rogers, Please Fix.  Thank you.

[57]

The grid is back on AnyPlace.  Thanks Rogers.

[Alrick]

This is helpful background. However, it sounds more like a jalopy than a smooth functioning machine. The mild surprise is the is a very human factor problem in our high tech era.  Essentially it sounds like a glitch caused by gaps in data and software inability to provide alternative ways to recored. The workarounds such as time based recording that you mention sound promising to me, but probably would require the the manufacturer of the Nextbox revise the operating software to handle it. I suspect all the cable companies and their some of their customers have this aggregator headache with that technology. I would think that alternative services such as Bell's Fibe would  have the same problem on the data side, but I am wondering if their boxes come with more robust software that provides solutions to the gaps in name-based recording. 

[57]

I noticed that the Dakar rally will be broadcast on SN1 starting Sunday at 12:30PM and then at 2AM on the following days.

I tried to set a series recording (all times, all days), however, the series would only ever show one episode.  I had to eventually set a single recording for each day.

On the new Chrome/Web/computer guide, the guide doesn't go beyond this evening at around 11:30PM for any of the SportsNet channels (Channels 502, etc. as well as some other channels) and is essentially useless as I have reported in various threads here.

Edit - I deleted all my set recordings for Dakar and then I tried a reboot after my recording of Daily Planet stopped, but that didn't change anything.  Series recordings don't work for Dakar for some reason, despite the fact that the title seems to be the same each day, unlike in previous years when the title often changed.

[OLDYELLR]

 Thanks for the reminder. I was able to schedule Dakar Rally  "All Episodes This Channel"  on my 8300 PVR no problem.

[57]

Yeah, scheduling of series is sometimes weird with Navigatr. For example, last night I had set a bunch of single recordings and one as a series (just to test). That one series must have picked up next Thursday's airing  overnight because it was in the scheduled list this morning.  So, I thought I'd delete all the singles and re-do a series, but again, it only showed one programme to be recorded.  Perhaps by tomorrow it'll pick up next Friday's airing...  😉

When I set up a series recording (all times, all days), if I try to set up "another" series recording (all times all days) on say the Tuesday airing instead of the Monday airing, it won't let me because it says it's already scheduled, even though it doesn't show in the scheduled recordings list, nor is there a "red dot" in the guide indicating a scheduled recording.  The series doesn't show in my iPad app either, only the one recording (scheduled as a series).  I tried setting from the iPad app and the PVR - no difference.

This has happened to me in the past as indicated in earlier posts of this thread, but most times it works properly.  I have no idea why certain programming is problematical like this.

[OLDYELLR]

A couple of days ago I posted this in the ROGERS FIX YOUR GUIDE thread

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/TV/ROGERS-FIX-YOUR-GUIDE/m-p/413915#M44790

Well now that Zap2it has changed to a new URL and format, I no longer see Jay Leno's Garage at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday there either.  It's now at 3:00 a.m. on Sunday (Ch 79 or 184).

[jays77]

Another thing to pay attention to in the Rogers guide is, if a new program is shown on more than one channel it may not be marked new on each channel. ie: Criminal Minds is shown on CTV and also on CBS but for next week, only CBS has the "NEW" tag. There have been other incidents as well. So, if you have a show set to record as a series, you may want to double check the guide.

[57]

The IndyCar race for next weekend (Sunday, 4PM on SN 503), is only scheduled for one hour.  My guess is it should be longer than that. Edit - I went to the SN360 website and they had the race from 4-7PM, which is more like it. Looks like this is a Rogers issue...

I was attempting to schedule my recordings for the F1 race and qualifying next weekend, however, on Home Edition the major events were "blank", while the pre/post programmes were there.  I went to my PVR and was able to schedule qualifying and the race from there.

[OLDYELLR]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't keep up with Indycar and NASCAR except for the road courses.  I knew the Chinese F1 was on next weekend and I usually search for those using the * button, but came up empty for Qualifying and the Race. I had to go through all the TSN channels in the IPG for Saturday and Sunday to find them. The search function (*) with SARA is sometimes hit-or-miss

[57]

The Handmaid's Tale (Season 2, first two episodes) is airing on Bravo this Sunday evening.  I've tried to set it to record, however, on the PVR's IPG it shows TBA (or "movie" on AnyPlace Web) for most of the day.  Same on AnyPlace Home Edition, along with incorrect programming listed for parts of the evening.  The Handmaid's tale does show on Anyplace web edition at 9PM, unfortunately, you can't set recordings from there. 

Also note that episode 2 starts at an odd time (10:06?), so I think I'll just extend the first episode by 3 hours to catch episodes 1 and 2...

This is a pretty major event for many people, so c'mon Rogers, let's get the IPGs working correctly for Bravo Sunday so we can set our PVRs.

[OLDYELLR]

I see that on the Zap2it Guide, but my Rogers IPG (SARA) just shows To Be Announced from 8:00 to 10:00 pm and Good Behavior from 10:00 to 11:00 pm.

[OLDYELLR]

I see now the two episodes of The Handmaid's Tale show up as New and at the correct times (9:00-10:06 and 10:06-11:11) in my SARA IPG the same as they are in the Zap2it guide. It's always good to check scheduled recordings closer to the actual time to verify,