New Channels Tags Starting with zero

Ian Jones · 2024-07-06T09:17:00+00:00

I have a number of IPTV networks with approx 10,000 channels. When a new channel tag is created (or channel group), it appears in tvheadend with a default "...

DeltaMikeCharlie

Ian Jones The script works but unfortunately, tvheadend does not re-read the file until the server is restarted,

You could try updating the channel tag via the API instead.

https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/api-description/channel

Also, how frequently is this happening? Could you turn off your Kodi clients before changing the tags and then turn them on once the changes have been made?

Chris G

DeltaMikeCharlie

Would it not be better to fix whatever causes the issue rather than script a fix?
Whether it's a TVH or Kodi issue, or both.

Since the issue I was having only happened on my Vero, I asked on their support forum.
They replied, basically saying it was a Linux/Kodi/TVH issue.
They also said TVH 4.2 is the only “supported” version of TVH.
I think the TVH team need to label 4.2 as old/legacy/depreciated and make 4.3 “stable”.

I don't want to hijack this guy's thread, but I think the issues are related.

Ian Jones

DeltaMikeCharlie

Could you help me but telling me the command to run using the API which would replace my SED command?

DeltaMikeCharlie

Chris G Would it not be better to fix whatever causes the issue rather than script a fix?
Whether it's a TVH or Kodi issue, or both.

Agreed. I was simply pointing out how to use the API to change the sort order.

I'm not 100% convinced that this is a TVH issue. More needs to be investigated on the Kodi side to see what is triggering this behaviour. I would guess that having 2 (or more) tags with the same sort order should just fall back to using alphabetical-by-name.

v4.2 is very old and v4.3 is actively developed/maintained. I believe that the system has changed to 'rolling releases', but I don't remember the exact details.

Before any remediation is undertaken, I think that this behaviour would need to be observed on the latest versions of both TVH and Kodi as it may have already been resolved.

Chris G

DeltaMikeCharlie Before any remediation is undertaken, I think that this behaviour would need to be observed on the latest versions of both TVH and Kodi as it may have already been resolved.

I keep both up-to-date.
No channel groups on Vero/Linux has been a thing since I can remember.
It wasn't always the case, but I have no idea when it started.
I have never run 4.2.

DeltaMikeCharlie

@Chris G - I have no experience with a 'Vero 4K', can you please provide some more details?

From what I have read, it seems to be a Debian distribution with Kodi installed branded as 'OSMC'. Is this correct?

If so, what version of Kodi does it use and what version of the pvr.hts addon are you using?

Chris G Windows and macOS are fine.

What is fine? Are you running Kodi on these platforms and they show channel groups?

What version of TVH are you running? Is it running on the OSMC box?

Chris G

DeltaMikeCharlie
Yes, Vero is the hardware.
It's just a Linux box running OSMC... Similar to LibreELEC.

TVH: Ubuntu server running Docker HTS Tvheadend 4.3-2344~gd2e41b553
Kodi : 20.5 (the latest release of OSMC)
Addon: 20.7.2 (auto updates)

Kodi under Windows/macOS is correctly showing channel groups.

DeltaMikeCharlie

Chris G Kodi under Windows/macOS is correctly showing channel groups.

Which version of Kodi are you using on these platforms?

Chris G

DeltaMikeCharlie
21.0
I should clarify that the same issue has persisted across multiple versions of Kodi… It's not because OSMC is a version behind.

DeltaMikeCharlie

I hope that I am summarising this correctly:

1 x TVH v4.3
2 x Kodi v21 - Shows channel groups OK
1 x Vero/OSMC, Kodi v20.1 - Does not show channel groups.

I can't see how this is a TVH issue. I think this points to Vero/OSMC/Kodi somehow.

You have 2 versions of Kodi that work OK on different platforms. It's only the Vero/OSMC combination that does not seem to work.

In the Kodi PVR settings on Vero/OSMC, do you have the 'Synchronise channel groups with backend(s)' setting enabled?

DeltaMikeCharlie

Ian Jones Could you help me but telling me the command to run using the API

CURL or WGET. You could also rewrite in Python and use the HTTP library.

Ian Jones

DeltaMikeCharlie haha thanks. Sorry I means the full command line syntax if the specific tag has been identified?

DeltaMikeCharlie

Ian Jones Sorry I means the full command line syntax if the specific tag has been identified?

Did you read the examples in the API documentation?

https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/examples

Ian Jones

I did but I couldn’t see a way of writing the sort order to the tag unless I’ve missed something. There is a channel category. Maybe I’m not competent enough to work it out. Sorry

DeltaMikeCharlie

Find the UUID of the Channel Tag that you want to modify.

http://[TVH_IP]:9981/api/channeltag/grid

You can even fine-tune the query to only return Channel Tags that have a sort index of zero.

http://[TVH_IP]:9981/api/channeltag/grid?filter=[{"field":"index","type":"numeric","value":"0"}]

Update the Channel Tag object with the index value that you want.

http://[TVH_IP]:9981/api/idnode/save?node={"uuid":"[INSERT_UUID_HERE]", "index":"[INSERT_SORT_INDEX_HERE]"}

Chris G

Just wanted to let you guys know that my issue appears to be fixed after updating to (the yet to be officially released) OSMC/Kodi 21.
Seems like it was a Kodi issue and 21 fixed it.

DeltaMikeCharlie

Chris G Seems like it was a Kodi issue and 21 fixed it.

Thanks for letting us know.

Ian Jones

DeltaMikeCharlie I've upgraded but need to wait until channel changes so I can see what happens

Ian Jones

I can't get the filtering to work and also how would you add multiple contains, i.e. enabled and index 0? Sorry!

DeltaMikeCharlie

Ian Jones how would you add multiple contains

I don't know, I would have to work it out by trial and error, as I did with the last example that I provided you.

Have a look at the API documentation. It seems that the filter is a JSON array, perhaps you could add a second filter definition to that array.

https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/api-description/common-parameters