The ongoing saga of TV guide functionality for Channel Master DVRs, particularly the CM 7600, has been a source of frustration for many users. However, recent reports suggest a potential workaround involving TV Guide PiGS (PiGS). One user, Bob, shared a successful experience, sparking renewed hope and investigation into how to restore guide data. This article delves into Bob’s experience, the potential technical explanations behind it, and how other users might replicate this success to regain their Channel Master Tv Guide.
Bob’s Success with TV Guide PiGS
According to Bob’s report, installing TV Guide PiGS for Windows on a PC and configuring his CM 7600 with a static IP address – crucially pointing the DNS to the PiGS PC – enabled him to update the guide data for two weeks on one of his CM 7600 units. This is a significant development as many users have been struggling with outdated or missing guide information.
Understanding the TV Guide Mystery
The situation is complex, partly due to the different guide sources used by Channel Master over time. Initially, it appeared that both the CM 7500 and CM 7600 shared the same guide system. However, it later became evident that they operated independently. The CM 7500 utilized Rovi (now TiVo) for its guide data, while the CM 7600 relied on Gracenote – the same provider used by Schedules Direct.
This divergence raises a crucial question: could changes in guide data providers on platforms like Google’s Live Channels app be related to the current issues? There’s speculation that Google might have switched the Live Channels app from Rovi to Gracenote. If this is the case, it’s possible that legacy code for accessing the older Rovi guide remains within the CM 7600’s firmware as a fallback. When the Gracenote guide access was disrupted, the system might have reverted to attempting to download the older Rovi guide data.
However, this raises another question: why isn’t everyone automatically receiving this older guide data on their CM 7600s? Historically, Channel Master made guide data available for download, one day at a time, for CM 7500 users not utilizing PiGS.
The PiGS Advantage: Spoofing and Hostnames
The key to PiGS’s potential success might lie in its ability to spoof both the old and new guide hostnames. It’s believed that the CM 7500 previously used a different hostname for guide data retrieval. When this legacy server was discontinued, direct access for devices relying on that hostname would have been cut off. If Live Channels’s fallback mechanism points to this outdated hostname, it would explain why direct internet access fails to retrieve guide data. PiGS circumvents this issue by acting as an intermediary, spoofing both the old and potentially the new guide host, thus providing the necessary data to the CM 7600.
Call for Community Testing and Further Investigation
It’s important to acknowledge that this explanation remains speculative. Furthermore, Bob reported that only one of his CM 7600 units successfully updated. This inconsistency could be due to variations in software versions on different devices. It’s possible that Google might have removed the fallback code in later iterations of Live Channels.
Therefore, further testing is crucial. More CM 7600 users are encouraged to try the TV Guide PiGS setup to determine the consistency and reliability of this method for restoring the channel master tv guide. Fortunately, PiGS is available for free, and Schedules Direct offers a 1-week free trial, making it accessible for users to experiment and contribute to finding a definitive solution for the channel master tv guide issue.
