From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

"Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> writes:

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it?

No, don’t do that.

If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

Use:
sudo <your favorite editor> smb.conf
--
https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 3/10/2026 6:08 PM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 10/03/2026 in message <jjd68mxlp3.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> Carlos E.R. wrote:

On a Linux machine, you wear two hats.

When unelevated, you slap things around without a care in the world.

When a job calls for "changes" to a secured thing, you think about
all the implications while wearing your "root hat". You are, after all,
the provider of security for the user community time-sharing the
Linux box. As the administrator/root , you don't take chances.

*******

sudo nano smb.conf    # We leave the permissions alone. Security.
                      # Yes, Jeff, you can make Windows 98 out of it by chmod 777 the-whole-world
                      # but then when the box tips over, do remember to tell us
                      # it is a "Windows 98 setup" :-) >>>
Some things inadvertently have the wrong permissions when unpacked
from a ZIP or something. Those are the ones we chmod to correct the
situation. But lots of stuff in /etc needs security and root ownership,
and we can't be smashing the permissions in /etc . Everything in
there was prepared for us, and should already have correct permissions.

Ok, I don't need to get in and do the lecture again :-)

I'll just mention that there are several editors which you can choose the one you like. You can use joe, which comes in 5 names: joe, jstar, jmacs, rjoe, jpico. Choose the one you prefer. Another one you can use is "mcedit", which is actually the editor of "Midnight Commander" or "mc".

The two traditional Linux editors are "vi" and "emacs". There are flamewars about the two. Both very powerful, but neither is easy to use, specially coming from Windows. But "vi" is present in every Linux or Unix machine.


I recommend you edit root.bashrc and create this line:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/jstar

Put there the editor you prefer. This way, when you call a command like "visudo" or "crontab -e", the edit will happen using your preferred editor instead of the default "vi".

[snipped]

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

It doesn't happen too often, but there are web pages which
actually display "best practices", the same "best practices"
that get you hired as an IT person.

It's a pain in the ass to do

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf # and type in that password

The sudo means "do it as if I was root right now". It
has the elevation needed for the job of editing
things in the /etc area.

In the Windows world, one individual was demonstrating
how an IT person handles Windows permissions. Most of
us, while editing Windows, we smash a permission and don't
put it back. This leaves a gap-toothed mess on a disk
with regard to permissions.

The IT class person, demonstrated how you can use ICACLS
utility, and record all the permissions on a tree section.
Then, reach in and smash to your hearts content. Finally,
after all necessary permissions have been restored by an
ICACLS playback command, now it is as if the IT class person
had never been there and mucking about.

These are the kinds of lessons we're suppose to learn
while repairing/preparing computers.

The one and only time I've had malware on a computer,
the truth of the matter is, I left the barn door open
and that's how the malware got in. I did not explicitly
"pull a Windows 98", but I was fascinated by an obscure
way of installing the OS. And I had not even considered
what a mess that made. And that's the foothold the
malware needed. It was easy malware to remove, but
it spoils my "track record".

I can share that experience with you by telling you
to "not leave any barn doors open" :-) If you start
fiddling write bits, sooner or later, you leave
them open.

At work, I used to do very minor admin tasks with "local root"
(a permission that isn't worth shit). But, as part of the
local IT allowing me to do that, I have to keep my house
in order and keep my nose clean with regard to "making a mess".
That's how you lose your privileges at work. (This
was on Sun Sparc machines and Unix.) Did I make grievous errors
while running as local root ? You betcha :-)

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

Whatever happened to Windows Home Server?

Couldn’t compete with Linux.

The NVidia TV Show can just share a network without DLNA, Kodi (the
app on the NVidia) treats iso files as DVDs, a rare accomplishment
but enormously useful!

Not actually that rare -- Kodi is Linux-based, after all. And Kodi
boxes are what killed Windows Media Center.

Windows Home Server was left in the dust by versatile NAS boxes
running Linux.

Windows Media Center was killed by the cost of providing
certain things. In a similar way to how Windows users
are expected to pay $0.99 for a HEVC license. A similar thing
happened to an NVidia feature, where a license fee had to be
paid for each user (whether they used a certain feature or not).
And on the very next chipset, the feature was removed (and it's
because "it cost us too much to do it").

Just recently, something on Windows had Grace Notes disconnected,
which is not really a surprise.

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

These are all the sorts of expenses that kill projects like this.

I believe there was a new version of Windows Media Center spun up
and perhaps in beta test, but it would be the usual thing.
The execs have a business meeting. They spend an hour
discussing some "$0.99 per node cost", and before you know
it, some project is cancelled. Part of the concern, is the
shareholders will be displeased, and there's some deal with
Sarbanes Oxley about "giving things away when you should be
charging for them". Apple once had to make users pay for
something trivial, and this seems to be one of those
Sarbanes Oxley type issues, where you cannot pay the
customer per-node expense for them.

This is how recently two laptop companies got their
shipments to Germany blocked, because some judge
decided they had not made an honest effort to pay
the HEVC tax. Each time, it's $0.99 at work. To put
that $0.99 in their pockets, now it is costing them
big time. But this is how you run a business, $0.99
at a time. That's why we hire the expensive CEOs,
to make those sorts of business decisions.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:59:27 -0400, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

Windows Home Server was left in the dust by versatile NAS boxes
running Linux.

Windows Media Center was killed by the cost of providing certain
things.

Also, the much-vaunted “10-foot interface” didn’t work very well.

Linux is much more flexible at supporting alternative GUIs that are
not primarily designed for desktop use.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 10/03/2026 in message <10oqaen$m3rn$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

[snipped]

[snipped]

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

It doesn't happen too often, but there are web pages which
actually display "best practices", the same "best practices"
that get you hired as an IT person.

It's a pain in the ass to do

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf # and type in that password

I have no idea what "nano" is, on my Linux Mint install I edit text file
with something that describes itself as a text editor.

The sudo means "do it as if I was root right now". It
has the elevation needed for the job of editing
things in the /etc area.

Indeed, I know what sudo does.

In the Windows world, one individual was demonstrating
how an IT person handles Windows permissions. Most of
us, while editing Windows, we smash a permission and don't
put it back. This leaves a gap-toothed mess on a disk
with regard to permissions.

Indeed. This is not a Windows system but I do want to ensure I don't leave
any security holes. For some reason smb.conf is write only even though the copper plate that is installed won't do what anybody wants. I need to be
able to edit it then put its permissions back as they were.

The IT class person, demonstrated how you can use ICACLS
utility, and record all the permissions on a tree section.
Then, reach in and smash to your hearts content. Finally,
after all necessary permissions have been restored by an
ICACLS playback command, now it is as if the IT class person
had never been there and mucking about.

Wow, I must try and find the video.

These are the kinds of lessons we're suppose to learn
while repairing/preparing computers.

Indeed, I hope I have learnt something since I started using and then
building computers in 1981.

The one and only time I've had malware on a computer,
the truth of the matter is, I left the barn door open
and that's how the malware got in. I did not explicitly
"pull a Windows 98", but I was fascinated by an obscure
way of installing the OS. And I had not even considered
what a mess that made. And that's the foothold the
malware needed. It was easy malware to remove, but
it spoils my "track record".

I was hit by "Form" in the days of DOS and sometime more recently the
Java exploit that hit browsers. What I am trying to do is ensure I edit
this file and reset the permissions so I don't leave any backdoors.

I can share that experience with you by telling you
to "not leave any barn doors open" :-) If you start
fiddling write bits, sooner or later, you leave
them open.

I am aware of that which is why I have asked how I can change the
attributes to edit the file then change them back.

At work, I used to do very minor admin tasks with "local root"
(a permission that isn't worth shit). But, as part of the
local IT allowing me to do that, I have to keep my house
in order and keep my nose clean with regard to "making a mess".
That's how you lose your privileges at work. (This
was on Sun Sparc machines and Unix.) Did I make grievous errors
while running as local root ? You betcha :-)

Astonishing.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-10 23:08, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 10/03/2026 in message <jjd68mxlp3.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> Carlos E.R. wrote:

On a Linux machine, you wear two hats.

When unelevated, you slap things around without a care in the world.

When a job calls for "changes" to a secured thing, you think about
all the implications while wearing your "root hat". You are, after all,
the provider of security for the user community time-sharing the
Linux box. As the administrator/root , you don't take chances.

*******

sudo nano smb.conf    # We leave the permissions alone. Security.
                      # Yes, Jeff, you can make Windows 98 out of it
by chmod 777 the-whole-world
                      # but then when the box tips over, do remember
to tell us
                      # it is a "Windows 98 setup" :-) >>>
Some things inadvertently have the wrong permissions when unpacked
from a ZIP or something. Those are the ones we chmod to correct the
situation. But lots of stuff in /etc needs security and root ownership,
and we can't be smashing the permissions in /etc . Everything in
there was prepared for us, and should already have correct permissions.

Ok, I don't need to get in and do the lecture again :-)

I'll just mention that there are several editors which you can choose
the one you like. You can use joe, which comes in 5 names: joe, jstar,
jmacs, rjoe, jpico. Choose the one you prefer. Another one you can use
is "mcedit", which is actually the editor of "Midnight Commander" or
"mc".

The two traditional Linux editors are "vi" and "emacs". There are
flamewars about the two. Both very powerful, but neither is easy to
use, specially coming from Windows. But "vi" is present in every Linux
or Unix machine.


I recommend you edit root.bashrc and create this line:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/jstar

Put there the editor you prefer. This way, when you call a command
like "visudo" or "crontab -e", the edit will happen using your
preferred editor instead of the default "vi".

[snipped]

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

NOOO!

We are telling to not change the permissions!

Use "sudo SOMEEDITOR smb.conf"
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-11 00:59, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

On Spain, on the digital TV over the air system, each station has to
broadcast their own timetable. Tuners have a button called EPG that
displays the collected information for all stations. It needs to have
tuned once recently each group of stations (multiplex?).

It is gratis.

I had a tuner, that no longer works because the system has changed to
high definition, the Gigaset M740 AV, which ran a daily cronjob task to
tune all the groups in sequence and fill the complete EPG for the day.

Unfortunately, nobody now sells a tuner box as good as this one. But all tuners here support the EPG guide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_program_guide




Obsolete information follows:

Siemens Gigaset M740 AV

The Siemens Gigaset M740 AV is a digital television set-top box and
multimedia network receiver developed by Siemens in the mid-2000s. The
device was designed to receive DVB-T (digital terrestrial television) broadcasts and to integrate television viewing with home network
multimedia playback.

Overview

The M740 AV is a DVB-T receiver intended primarily for free-to-air
digital television. In addition to basic reception, it can function as a personal video recorder (PVR) when connected to an external USB hard drive.

The device also supports networking features, allowing users to stream
media files stored on a personal computer to a television via an
Ethernet connection.
Features

Main features of the Gigaset M740 AV include:

Reception of DVB-T digital terrestrial television
Twin tuners for watching one channel while recording another
Time-shifting (pause and rewind live TV)
Recording of television programs to external USB hard drives
Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for scheduling recordings
Playback of media files from a PC via network shares
Picture-in-picture capability

Recorded broadcasts are stored in MPEG-2 format, which was the standard encoding used for DVB-T transmissions.
Hardware

The device is built around an NEC µPD61130AS1 system-on-chip with a MIPS processor and integrated MPEG decoding hardware.

Typical hardware specifications include:

2× DVB-T tuners
Ethernet (10/100 Mbps) network interface
2× USB 2.0 ports
2× SCART connectors (TV and VCR)
RCA stereo audio outputs
S/PDIF digital audio output

Software

The system runs Linux on a MIPS architecture, enabling networking
functions and allowing enthusiasts to modify the firmware or develop additional software for the device.

Release and availability

The Gigaset M740 AV was introduced around 2004–2005 as part of Siemens’ Gigaset home-entertainment line and initially retailed for approximately €299.95 in Europe.


There were community supplied alternative firmware with improved
capabilities.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

At Mon, 9 Mar 2026 18:32:48 -0000 (UTC), Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> wrote:

On Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:57:00 +0000, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I am awaiting a HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 which I plan to use as
a home media server and to create iso files from DVDs with Brasero.

I am pretty well 100% Windows user although I am using Brasero on
one of the original micro servers to prepare iso files at the
moment, the Gen8 has a Xeon processor so I expect it to be a bit
more responsive.

I will be using Linux Mint Mate as it's cleanish and reasonably lightweight. My understanding is it will split the OS drive by
using mount points rather than partitions (on Windows I use
separate drives C:(OS) and D:(Data)). The Microserver was made
before the days of UEFI, I hope Linux can live with that.

I will use 2 x additional drives, first one for shared media,
second to back it up (in turn this will be backed up to my home
server).

If I understand it a add the second drive after the install, set it
up as GPT then mount it so it can be seen on the network.

Does it matter where I mount it i.e. in /root or /home or /mnt?

Yes, sort of.

Linux standards reserve the use of a number of directories, including
/root and /mnt. Your "shared media" doesn't fit within the use of
/root and (if you squint with one eye closed) might fit within the
use of /mnt or /media. If you really want to keep out of trouble, you
can either create a media sharing data directory under a) /home (like
the quintessential /home/ftp directory), or b) /usr/local/share, or
c) /var, or d) /opt, or e) under the root directory and mount your
"shared media" drive there.

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories
"Music", "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path
/Mediashare/Music or /mnt/Mediashare/Music?

Probably not.

If you are sharing with Windows systems, you will either need to run
a Samba (SMB) server in Linux on your Microserver, in which case, the
network path is whatever you configure Samba to externalize it as, or
you run a Linux NFS server on the Microserver, (and a Windows NFS
client on the Windows boxes), and externalize as
<microserver_host_name>:/mnt/Mediashare/Music

I want to try and follow any conventions that exist as if I need to
shout for help it's easier for people if the base is a conventional
layout.

Placement is the easy part; mountpoints are just directories (they
don't need to be empty) that you want to overlay with the device to
be mounted. Just pick a mountpoint that won't interfere with the
system (something empty that isn't required by the OS or it's
utilities) and go with it.

Setting up the networking will be the hard point.

Good advice. Just wanted to point out that some systems have /srv
for mounts that will be exported.

For example, I have:

$ mount | grep srv
/dev/sda1 on /srv/Extreme_Pro type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,stripe=512,data=writeback)

Which looks like:

_[/srv/Extreme_Pro]_(vallor@lm)🐧_
$ ll -n
total 28
drwxrwx--- 2 0 1026 4096 Sep 5 2025 Backup
drwx------ 2 0 0 16384 Jan 6 2025 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 3 1026 1026 4096 Mar 11 02:00 timemachine
drwxr-xr-x 9 0 0 4096 Mar 10 15:06 timeshift

Mrs. vallor's Mac Studio uses my workstation as a time capsule.

I'm running Samba with the "fruit" modules.

Many thanks :-)

Luck be with you

Best regards,
--
-v System76 Thelio Mega v1.1 x86_64 Mem: 258G
OS: Linux 7.0.0-rc3 D: Mint 22.3 DE: Xfce 4.18 (X11)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090Ti (24G) (595.45.04)
"I was arrested for selling illegal sized paper."
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

At Tue, 10 Mar 2026 11:23:01 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

Some amount of SAMBA was neutered for security reasons.
This is a constant annoyance. You are unlikely to ever
see a "Network Neighbourhood".

Just wanted to mention, Linux seems to thrive in the aloha/bonjour
world.

Here is Thunar's network tab:

https://ibb.co/Rp1d7BmH
--
-v System76 Thelio Mega v1.1 x86_64 Mem: 258G
OS: Linux 7.0.0-rc3 D: Mint 22.3 DE: Xfce 4.18 (X11)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090Ti (24G) (595.45.04)
"A camel is a horse planned by committee."
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

At Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:33:38 +0100, "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-03-11 00:59, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

On Spain, on the digital TV over the air system, each station has to broadcast their own timetable. Tuners have a button called EPG that
displays the collected information for all stations. It needs to have
tuned once recently each group of stations (multiplex?).

It is gratis.

I had a tuner, that no longer works because the system has changed to
high definition, the Gigaset M740 AV, which ran a daily cronjob task to
tune all the groups in sequence and fill the complete EPG for the day.

Unfortunately, nobody now sells a tuner box as good as this one. But all tuners here support the EPG guide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_program_guide

Those of us who have run MythTV have purchased EPG data from
a reseller, which was loaded into Mysql/MariaDB.

Having said that, I've been trying to find a mention of setting
up the EPG in the mythtv.org docs, but haven't found any
mention of it yet. Maybe they found a free source?
--
-v System76 Thelio Mega v1.1 x86_64 Mem: 258G
OS: Linux 7.0.0-rc3 D: Mint 22.3 DE: Xfce 4.18 (X11)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090Ti (24G) (595.45.04)
"Don't force it, use a bigger hammer."
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-11 14:04, vallor wrote:

At Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:33:38 +0100, "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-03-11 00:59, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

On Spain, on the digital TV over the air system, each station has to
broadcast their own timetable. Tuners have a button called EPG that
displays the collected information for all stations. It needs to have
tuned once recently each group of stations (multiplex?).

It is gratis.

I had a tuner, that no longer works because the system has changed to
high definition, the Gigaset M740 AV, which ran a daily cronjob task to
tune all the groups in sequence and fill the complete EPG for the day.

Unfortunately, nobody now sells a tuner box as good as this one. But all
tuners here support the EPG guide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_program_guide

Those of us who have run MythTV have purchased EPG data from
a reseller, which was loaded into Mysql/MariaDB.

Having said that, I've been trying to find a mention of setting
up the EPG in the mythtv.org docs, but haven't found any
mention of it yet. Maybe they found a free source?

That should be an edited and improved version of the EPG, but the EPG
itself is gratis. It is broadcasted as metadata of each multiplex.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Wed, 3/11/2026 3:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-03-11 14:04, vallor wrote:

At Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:33:38 +0100, "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-03-11 00:59, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

On Spain, on the digital TV over the air system, each station has to
broadcast their own timetable. Tuners have a button called EPG that
displays the collected information for all stations. It needs to have
tuned once recently each group of stations (multiplex?).

It is gratis.

I had a tuner, that no longer works because the system has changed to
high definition, the Gigaset M740 AV, which ran a daily cronjob task to
tune all the groups in sequence and fill the complete EPG for the day.

Unfortunately, nobody now sells a tuner box as good as this one. But all >>> tuners here support the EPG guide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_program_guide

Those of us who have run MythTV have purchased EPG data from
a reseller, which was loaded into Mysql/MariaDB.

Having said that, I've been trying to find a mention of setting
up the EPG in the mythtv.org docs, but haven't found any
mention of it yet.  Maybe they found a free source?

That should be an edited and improved version of the EPG, but the EPG itself is gratis. It is broadcasted as metadata of each multiplex.

The transmission system has a spot for "limited-horizon guide data".
You "know the Simpsons are next". But this does not help when programming
in advance, what to record and when to record it and on what channel. You
would have to sequentially scan all the channels, to locate materials
using the "immediate method".

This is why people buy guide data that tells them in advance, what will happen.

Paul

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-11 21:22, Paul wrote:

On Wed, 3/11/2026 3:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-03-11 14:04, vallor wrote:

At Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:33:38 +0100, "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-03-11 00:59, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

On Spain, on the digital TV over the air system, each station has to
broadcast their own timetable. Tuners have a button called EPG that
displays the collected information for all stations. It needs to have
tuned once recently each group of stations (multiplex?).

It is gratis.

I had a tuner, that no longer works because the system has changed to
high definition, the Gigaset M740 AV, which ran a daily cronjob task to >>>> tune all the groups in sequence and fill the complete EPG for the day. >>>>
Unfortunately, nobody now sells a tuner box as good as this one. But all >>>> tuners here support the EPG guide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_program_guide

Those of us who have run MythTV have purchased EPG data from
a reseller, which was loaded into Mysql/MariaDB.

Having said that, I've been trying to find a mention of setting
up the EPG in the mythtv.org docs, but haven't found any
mention of it yet.  Maybe they found a free source?

That should be an edited and improved version of the EPG, but the EPG itself is gratis. It is broadcasted as metadata of each multiplex.

The transmission system has a spot for "limited-horizon guide data".
You "know the Simpsons are next". But this does not help when programming
in advance, what to record and when to record it and on what channel. You would have to sequentially scan all the channels, to locate materials
using the "immediate method".

This is precisely what the Gigaset M740 AV did.

It ran a cronjob in the morning, scanning all channels for the complete
EPG data they had, which can cover a week of data in advance. Corrected
on the next scan.

Then, you could tell the machine to record a certain program using a
pattern match on the string name of the program, on a channel. If any
program named "Kojak" appeared any time of the day, it was recorded, for example. If the EPG changed, the programming changed accordingly. You
could define guard times prior and after the program, to cover for errors.

It can be done. And it worked very well.

And there was a computer program to fetch the recording, remove the lead
and the tail and inserted commercials and create a single file with the recording in the computer, and then convert to mkv or whatever.

Oh, and it was Linux inside, and you could access its terminal via telnet.

Fantastic little machine. But it doesn't tune HD, so currently it is
useless, gathering dust.

This is why people buy guide data that tells them in advance, what will happen.

Paul

--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
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