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Struggling to make USA and Malaysia work

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FredNerk
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Struggling to make USA and Malaysia work

Hi I am new to Webgrab+, I have just registered/donated, installed the latest software (on Windows 11) and siteini and am running a test to become familiar with how it works. I managed to make UK (tvguide.co.uk), Canada (tvhebdo.com) and South Africa (dstv.com) work. I however could not make USA (tried ustvgo and tvtv) nor the Malaysia ( astro.com) work. Some help would be appreciated, I have attached the log file.

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Blackbear199
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hi,welcome.

i will try to point you in the right direction
for UK use sky.com
for Canada tvpassport.com,zap2it.com,tvguide.com
for USA the 3 ini above also work for it along with directv
for malaysia astro is a good option.
in your webgrab config change your time out settings.
<retry time-out="30">4</retry>
the default timeout of 5 is too low.
also make sure your user agent is current,here's the one i use.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/109.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

tvtv.ca and tvtv.us were and still are very good for epg but they made changes lately.
they block your ip if you grab too much data along with issues with robot check's(see the faq at top of forums) or search the forums about this.its been discussed many times.
i would stay away from them if at all possible.

FredNerk
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Thanks, have changed the settings however your suggestions for Canada and USA are not in the siteini pack nor the EPG Channels table on the WG+ website? Also from my earlier message/log couldn't get Malaysia/Astro to work, perhaps the timeout setting might work.
What would you suggest?

Blackbear199
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check the international and network folders.
multi country sites are usually put there.
also open the ini and look near the top as there are usually special instructions for many ini.
there could also be a howto.txt file so look for these things.

the first thing you should always do is create a fresh channel list,never assume the included one is up to date.
the documentation tab at the top of the forums explains many things.

FredNerk
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Thanks will give it a shot

FredNerk
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Hi, I am currently building my config file however still having trouble with Malaysia "Astro" getting the following message:
[ Info ] ( 19/24 ) ASTRO.COM.MY -- chan. (xmltv_id=Discovery Channel) -- mode Incremental
[Error ] Unable to update channel Discovery Channel
[Critical] Generic syntax exception:
[Critical] message:
[Error ] no index page data received from Discovery Channel
[Error ] unable to update channel, try again later

There are no special instructions in the .ini file and no decryption.

Blackbear199
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just tried it,does your channel line look like this?

<channel update="i" site="astro.com.my" site_id="376" xmltv_id="Discovery Channel HD">Discovery Channel HD</channel>

there also discovery asia site_id="136"

Blackbear199
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i just looked and there 2 astro ini's,one should be removed.
use the astro.com.my.E
its newer.
make sure you use the channel list for it

FredNerk
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Just tried the new astro.com.my.E and seems to work however for the Nat Geo channels there is no guide info, see below:
[ Info ] ( 24/44 ) ASTRO.COM.MY.E -- chan. (xmltv_id=National Geographic HD) -- mode Incremental
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 01/02/2023 16:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 01/02/2023 22:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 02/02/2023 04:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 02/02/2023 10:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 02/02/2023 22:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 03/02/2023 04:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 03/02/2023 10:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 03/02/2023 22:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 04/02/2023 04:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 04/02/2023 10:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 04/02/2023 22:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 05/02/2023 04:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 05/02/2023 10:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 05/02/2023 22:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 06/02/2023 04:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 06/02/2023 10:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 06/02/2023 22:00
[ Debug ] skipped : show that happened before 'today' @ 07/02/2023 04:00
[ Debug ] skipped : last show, no next startime to use as stop
[ Info ]
[ Info ] Summary for update of National Geographic HD
[ Info ] no changes, no update necessary !
[ Info ] unchanged shows inspected 0
[ Info ] total after update 0

The channels I tried in the Config file are as follows:
DMAX HD
Discovery Asia HD
Discovery Channel HD
History HD
Nat Geo Wild HD
National Geographic HD

just finally is there any way to specify the number of days to download?

Thanks

Blackbear199
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in your webgrab++.config.xml
<timespan keeppastdays="" oneshowonly="">0</timespan>

its 0 based so 0 means 1 day,5 would mean 6 days.

this is all explained in the documentation tab at top of forums.
your line will probably not look like mine as i have some additional settings.
again,see the documentation.

that ini looks broken btw,i will check it.

FredNerk
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Thanks again most appreciated, works great.

Blackbear199
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u didnt listen to what i said about dont rely on the existing channel list.
i just made a new one and the channel is no longer there.

FredNerk
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Thanks, I am now working on my last listing for the USA. I am following all your instructions for Direct TV as in the .ini, Install notes and Website however am having problem, Log file attached.
I created the cookies file called it directv.com.cookies.txt as specified in the .ini file. I used Cookie.txt.export.
The message I get in the log file is:

[ Debug ] Reading cookie file: C:\Users\jbutk\AppData\Local\WebGrab+Plus\directv.com.cookies.txt
[Warning ] Cookie expired for directv.com

Then no download. help please.

ps. The Firefox addon "Firebug" referred to in online documentation no longer exists, I also tried using their new addon "Export Cookies" without success.

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Blackbear199
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it has to be in netscape format,what zip code?

FredNerk
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I am in Australia however used New York 10001, not certain about Netscape format?

Blackbear199
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it may say expired on the first run,webgrab will update it and u wont see the message again unless you dont use the ini for awhile.
dont forget to rename it,forums adds underscore for security.

FredNerk
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I have now loaded some test channels from the .xml file, the cookies error has gone however no channels downloaded.
I Have attached the log file.

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Blackbear199
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did u make a channel list using the cookie?

FredNerk
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There was a Channel list created using the "dummy" as in the instructions however that was all there was in the list, see below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

()

Once populated do I use the channels in this list and not the .xml in the WG+ website?
At the moment no channels in the "Channel List"

Blackbear199
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use these,the ini in siteini.pack is older than the great barrier reef.
i dont know why its never been updated.
included channel list is for zipcode 1001

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FredNerk
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Sadly can't make it work, what I did was:
1. Use your provided Cookies file
2. removed the "*" from the bottom section of the new .ini file
3. Added a few channels from the new .xml you provided
4. then ran WG+ and got a download error as in the attached log

In this process don't understand what role the created "directv.con.channels.xml" list performs?

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Blackbear199
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i think your confusing apples and oranges.
2. removed the "*" from the bottom section of the new .ini file
dont do this
the old ini is from like 2016 i think,just like cars things have changed.
removing these manually put the ini in channel creation mode.
add them back to how the ini was when i sent it.
read the instructions at the top of ini i sent,just use update c which i already did for u as i sent the channel list.

FredNerk
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just did as you instructed, still got the error, please see log
It it working at your end?

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Blackbear199
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it is very slow,u being so far away probably need a higher time out.
try 60 instead of 30.
i assume you can visit the website and view epg with same pc running webgrab?

FredNerk
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Made the change to 60 however same error.
I have very good internet and access the website very quickly on the same PC.
Could there be some kind of Geo block?

Blackbear199
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shouldnt be if you can view epg with same pc.
did you check the log and see if the cookie message is still there?
this site wont work without a valid cookie.

FredNerk
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It seems to be picking up the cookies, no errors, I have attached the log

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Blackbear199
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only suggestion is try create your own cookie.
i run it everyday as i use it for my own epg.

have you updated your useragent in your webgrab config xml?
try this one,its what i use.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/109.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

FredNerk
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yep same User Agent and using my own cookie.

I did notice accessing the directv web site there seemed to be no channel data, pls see the screenshot attached?

Blackbear199
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interesting,my guess is your not blocked to visit the site but the actual urls for the epg data your being blocked.

paste the url in the text file in your browser,you should see a bunch of json data.
if u get a error or nothing ur being blocked.

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FredNerk
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this is what i got, see attached

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Blackbear199
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looks ok,it should work.
u didnt mess something up add the * back to the bottom of the ini?
if thats ok,i say u have a cookie issue.

FredNerk
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I used the .ini exactly as you gave me, I have also used both the cookie you gave me as well as the one I created with the same result, I guess I will keep retry everything and see what happens?

Blackbear199
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heres a alternative.
doesnt need cookies.
i dont prefer it as it only has channel call sign for channel name so figuring out what the channel is can be confusing.
you should be ok for the sports channels your looking for.
the channel number is also included so you can visit the site and see what the channel is.

creating a channel list is also a bit complicated(see the howto.txt file) so i create directv for you.

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FredNerk
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Many thanks it worked. I will need to study the How-to, I'm not really a programmer but know enough to be dangerous.

FredNerk
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Had a look at the "How to" file however don't understand how to use it, what all the parameters mean and do I add it to the config file for each channel or once at the top? Using your step 4 example

New York, NY
c4-new-york

Blackbear199
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read it carefully a few times,depending on what your making the channel list for as different steps are required.
in you example first you have to make a provider list for new york
then using a channel line from that list(directv for example) you create the actual channel list for directv new york.

FredNerk
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Have read it many times still don't know how to use it.
My understanding is I don't need to implement Step 1 as you have already provided a list for "Flixed.io". I could create a new one for only the channels I want.
Steps 2 and 3 are not applicable as I don't use any of these stream providers.
Therefore step 4 is probably the correct option for me?
I then edit the channels in the file in step one using "site" and "site id" from "flixed" and change the "xmltv_id" and "channel name"
Apologies, this detail is not my strong suit/

Blackbear199
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i give examples and u still dont get it.
if you using usa or canada.
1. pick whatever city you want from the file provided or create your own in step 1.
goto step 4 for usa or canada
4. copy the channel line you picked in step 1 to your webgrab config.
for you update mode use c4-[whatever city name you picked] this is for you to know so when u have 10 different list made u might have a clue as to whats its for!
5. copy a the channel line from the list that you created in step 4 for whatever provider you want
again for the update mode c5-[whatever city name you picked]-[whatever provider you picked] againthis is for the same reason as above,i dont care if you put yankee doodle.

if case your wondering what the c1,c2,c3,c4,c5 means
scroll to the bottom of the ini and you will see 5 different channel list creation sections.
it how we tell webgrab which one to use.

mat8861
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FredNerk wrote:

Have read it many times still don't know how to use it.
My understanding is I don't need to implement Step 1 as you have already provided a list for "Flixed.io". I could create a new one for only the channels I want.
Steps 2 and 3 are not applicable as I don't use any of these stream providers.
Therefore step 4 is probably the correct option for me?
I then edit the channels in the file in step one using "site" and "site id" from "flixed" and change the "xmltv_id" and "channel name"
Apologies, this detail is not my strong suit/

Worst scenario if you tell the city/postal code i can make the list for you

FredNerk
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thanks, city New York and post code 10001

Blackbear199
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i check checked the files i posted above and think i see where your confused.
the stream-city file thats mentioned in step 1 i forgot to include.
the channel xml thats there is a for directv new york zipcode 10001.

here the file thats created in step 1.
it will have under scores in the filename,the forums adds these to uploads for security reasons.
maybe the howto will make more sense now.

FredNerk
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thanks for step 1
I used the New York channel line from this file in step 4 added to Config file and run it.
Unfortunately no channel list?
log it attached

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Blackbear199
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thats a normal response for creating a channel list file.your not grabbing epg data.
check your webgrab config directory for a new file.

look at what your log even says...
[Warning ] !! SiteIni flixed.io.ini in channelfile creation mode !!!

FredNerk
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Found it no more channel call signs, replaced with channel names. The channel list is however very small, none of the main channels you would expect. Where would I find them?

Blackbear199
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easiest to search the site with browser,then create a list for wherever you find them.

FredNerk
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how did you generate the original list you sent me for New York however with the Call Sign?
This list was comprehensive however needed the change from Call sign to Channel name?

Blackbear199
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everything i seen there was only a callsign for channel name.

i used new york from channel list in step 1 with c4-new-york,then with directv from list created in step 4 i ran it with c5-ney-york-directv

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