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The First Time


Indicators

MV uses green indicator boxes at the top left of the screen to inform the user of various events:

File Overview

MV needs to make several files on your dreambox:

Config

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/conf.bin
Configured: location is fixed

This is a binary file in which MV keeps all the configuration options. I don't recommend trying to edit it by hand :-)

Details Cache

Location: configured in input menu
Default: /var/mnt/usb/mv if available, otherwise /var/tmp/mv Configured: inputs dialog

When MV reads data from all it's inputs, it can store the descriptions on external media so that memory is not filled, but descriptions can still be rapidly accessed.

Language File

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/lang.txt.?? Configured: location is fixed

This file contains most of the (non-error) textual messages which MV presents to the user. Different language files are contained in the archive, and one is selected by the user on install.

After install, MV uses the enigma GUI language setting to try and pick a file. If it cannot, it defaults to the English file (i.e. uses the filename 'lang.txt.en').

Skin File

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/skin.esml Configured: location is fixed

Currently, only for loading (non-channel) MV icons into the active skin.

Icon Map

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/icons.esml Configured: location is fixed

This file maps channel names in the User Bouquet to names of icons in the icons/ subdirectory. Please read the notes in the file for more details on format.

Input Definitions

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/inputs.txt
Configured: location is fixed

The input definitions file defines the possible inputs which may be selected by the user in the inputs dialog. See here for more info. Edit with care!

Favourite Definitions

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/fav.txt
Location configured: location is fixed

When MV reads in programs, it matches them against the definitions found in this file to decide if it should draw the users attention to the program.

Each line of this file is a definition of one favourite. The fields on each line are separated by a single space.

See here for a description of each field.

multiepg

Location: same directory as MV.

A binary file used to read MHW EPG data from a transport stream.

Downloaded files

Location: USB/CF/HDD/FLASH
Default: one of the above, depending on what is available
Location configured: inputs menu, subdir given in input definitions file

When MV downloads files, it keeps more recent ones to prevent repeated (slow) download. This is called a cache.

multiepg output

Location: /var/tmp/mhwepg.out

When mhwepg runs, all it's output goes here. If you're having problems with using MHW, it's worth looking here.

MV text log

Location: /var/tmp/mv.log

Some error messages don't in principle stop you using MV, but would be annoying if they popped up all the time in a message box. MV puts those types of texts in this log file. At the time of writing, it's only certain problems with file downloads.

Post-download Script

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/postdownload.run

Is run after every succesful download, with as argument the downloaded file path. It's stderr/stdout goes to /var/tmp/mv.log.

Post-MHW Script

Location: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/postmhw.run

Is run after every MHW scan, with as argument the path to the scanned data. It's output goes to /var/tmp/mv.log.


View Presentation Window

This configures colours and fonts for the current view.

The only thing worth mentioning are 'Channel One' and 'Channel Two'. MV alternates the colours of program boxes between these two to improve readability. If you don't like the alternating effect, just set them the same.


View Features Window

Some random things...

Inputs Manager

By default, the plugin will only read cache data that the dreambox has received from the satellite(s). The inputs menu allows you to add additional sources (defined in the inputs.txt file), and configure global input options.

Pre and Post: indicate the amount of seconds into the past and future that MV will read data into memory for. Lowering these values will result in lower memory usage by the plugin, but you will not be able to browse so far into the past/future.

There are three 'windows' to consider.
(a) <----------------------------->
(b)   <--------->
(c)      <---->

Firstly, (a) is the period for which data is available, which may be several days. When MV starts up, it loads in an amount of data (b). The reason it doesn't load in all data is to reduce memory requirements and increase speed. When you use the daybar, you're moving window (b) around within window (a). When you change the Pre and Post figures, you change the size of window (b). When you use the cursor keys to scroll around, you're moving the visible window (c) within the loaded data (b).

Storage Dir: this is the base directory in which MV stores all data it collects. It should preferably not in flash memory, to save space.

Tmp Detail Store: MV keeps a special cache of all descriptions it sees. It's location can be separately configured because e.g. if you include the program descriptions in the program box access will be faster if the Tmp Detail Store is in flash memory.

Auto Dirs: the first time MV runs it tries to set sensible values for the two directories above, dependent on the user's system. If Auto is checked, it will do the same every time it starts up. The principle usable of this is for image makers so that they can provide a tailored config for MV, without making assumptions about the user's storage options.
I recommend disabling this option once you have decided on your storage location.

Max Channels: indicates the number of channels which will be accepted from each inputs. The main purpose of this is to stop you crashing your dreambox by accidentally reading in thousands of programs from the 'All services' bouquet e.g. on Astra 19.2.

Auto Update: when new data is available as a result of the Enigma cache signalling, automatically reload all data (same as 0 button on remote), the current view is not a list view.

Note: auto-reload does not occur for MHW or download completion because:

Important:

An exception to the Post value is view 6. On this view, all enigma cache data is always displayed, in addition to data read from any other source.


Favourites Manager

Not Available in Lite Version

This shows a list of defined favourites. When editing or creating favourites, the edit window shows:

Note: at least one of Title Strings or Descr Strings must be specified. If both are specified, both must be satisfied. That is, the boolean operator between Title Words, Descr Words, Channel Words and Time Specification is AND.

You can also create new favourite definitions by pressing SHIFT-GREEN when a program is selected with the cursor or in a list view.


More About MHW and OTV

MHW and OTV data can be read from the satellite on certain channels, and gives multi-day EPG data.

If you want to use MV to read MHW data, here's a from-the-start tuturial.

Following is the more advanced stuff.

If you wish to read MHW EPG data for use with MV, do the following:

The following are defaults:
Satellite Transport Stream ID Country Some Channels Notes
Astra 19E 0451h NL (Canal Digital) Ned 1/2/3, EPG
Astra 19E 044ah FR (Canal+) Guide TV, DT1,2.., CDN1,2...
Astra 19E 0422h ES (Digital+) Guia Digital+,Novedades, Movistar,Taquilla Futbol,La Caixa

Hotbird 13E 2af8h PL (Cyfra+) TV 4, Canal+ Film, TVP 1/2/3
Hotbird 13E 03208h IT (Sky Italia)

Hotbird 13E 02e18h
FR (TPS)
M6 Music Rock, Equidia, ESPN, France 4, Ushuaia TV, TV Breizh, France 5, France Ô, LCP, M6 Music Black


You can run multiepg 'manually' (i.e. before the inputs.txt file dictates that it needs refreshing) by pressing TV on the current channel, or after marking a channel with the cursor.

If you are having problems with mhwepg, you can see the output that it produces in /var/tmp/mhwepg.out.


More On XMLTV

There are two ways you can get MV to read XMLTV data. You can either install the file manually from e.g. your PC, or you can ask MV to retrieve the file via HTTP (from a server on your network, or from the internet).

Because of the large size and inefficiency of XMLTV files, all XMLTV files are converted to EPGUI automatically (in the background) the first time they are encountered. HOWEVER: this is not a solution for enormous XMLTV files because the whole XMLTV file has to be read into memory to parse it before conversion can take place, so the dream box will probably crash.

Self-generated

There are many ways to generate XMLTV files on a PC. See here.

Once you have a file, you need to setup a regular job to copy the data to your dreambox (probably via FTP). Place the data in STORAGEDIR/myxmltv/tv.xmltv. (you can set STORAGEDIR in the Input Menu).

Now go to the Input Menu (press the DREAM button on the remote), add another input by checking one of the checkbox on the left, then select MyXMLTV as an input with the selector next to the checkbox.

If the file is encoded with latin text, you need to change the inputs.txt file, see below.

From a Server

In this case, you need to make an entry in the input definitions file, stipulating the details, and then select the entry in the input menu.

Here's an example if you want to grab an XMLTV file from a server, and the file has a fixed name:

MYTVsource x l f 0 mydir 3 mydata .xmltv http://theserver.com/datadir

'x' means the data is XMLTV format. 'l' means the character encoding of the file is latin. 'f' means the file has a fixed name, in this case 'mydata.xmltv'. The 0 means that the times in the files are GMT (zero offset). The file will be grabbed from http://theserver.com/datadir/mydata.xmltv and placed in STORAGEDIR/mydir/mydata.xmltv for reading. Once the file in STORAGEDIR/mydir/mydata.xmmltv is more than 3 days old, it will be pulled from the server again. STORAGEDIR is configured in the inputs menu.

Have a look in the default file created by MV for some more examples: /var/tuxbox/config/mv/inputs.txt.


More On Saved Enigma Cache

If you have any inputs specified with format 's', then when MV exits it will save a number of days of EPG data from the enigma cache into the specified file on USB/HDD.

While the cache is being saved, the 'S' indicator will light up.


Input Definitions File

This file consists of several lines, each line describing a source for MV. Each line has 8 fields, separated by a single space. The fields are: Note: if you have a channel with MHW data you wish to add to the input config, you can find the TSID by starting MV on the channel and pressing the INFO button.

Channel Icons


Alias Manager

When you configure non-EnigmaCache data sources, it's likely that the channel names they specify will not match the channel names in your user-bouquet. The alias manager window allows you to tell MV which channels are which.

The list of channels on the right are the channels from your current UserBouquet, plus the special entries 'UNKNOWN' and 'IGNORE'.

When you enter the window, on the left are channels which MV has found which it doesn't know what to do with. If you press OK, you can select what MV should do next time it reads the channel name (from any source).

You should IGNORE all channels you're not interested in as this will improve startup times.

The buttons on this screen select which type of channels are displayed on the left (unknown, ignored or mapped). Green exits.


Misc Menu


More On IMDB


Pressing INFO when on the description window for a film will query a server over the internet for extra film data (plot, cast, director, rating, genre, year). You must have a working internet connection to use this feature.

If there is a single match returned, the details will be displayed.

If there is more than one match, a list of the possibilites will be displayed. Press OK to select one and see the extra film data.

The server is maintained by Bjorn Hijmans, many thanks to him for that.

Autoscan To Fill EPG Data

Pressing TV, RADIO or TEXT on the remote will initiate a scan of TV channels to try and acquire broadcast EPG data for channels in the current bouquet. The scan has the following characteristics:

Miscellaneous

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