HTPC Pages

How do you update your shows in MyTVSeries?

I was doing this wrong for a long time. I used to reload the config, parse everything all over again, and end up most of the time with doubles of all of my titles. A mess basically. What you really have to do is nothing at all - well, maybe a little - I will explain...

1. Simply add the new episodes to the existing series into their folder, or for a new create a new folder called [Title of TV show] and drop the episodes in. If it is a new Series, then remember to make sure your FanArt picture is in place already.

2. Start MP, and go into your TVSeries section, and watch the large vista like thinking circle whirl away.

Please excuse my l33t Fireworks 5k1llz in the example below, showing what would happen if you created a folder called 30 Rock, dumped episodes into it, and then launched MP as indicated above.

Now you can either leave it on this screen while MP configures the folder correctly, or simply watch another TVShow - but soon, MP will correctly add the banner, catalogue it all as it should, and show you this instead:

PICTURE IS PLACEHOLDER -replace with one that shows the 30 rock picture correctly.

TV Series FAQ

Q. I have no screen shots for each episode of all my series - how come? Any ideas on how i can get the screen shots?

A. Under Import Settings, select Online data Sync, and there is an option for Download Episode Thumbnails.

Q. How do I show the episode info? It says Info Hidden.

For episode info, Open the TV Series plugin, and under the Display Control tab, you will see the check box Hide summary of episodes not watched. Untick that and you will get the synopsis per episode.

Q. I am getting random Fan Art background images - going from one TV show like 24 to Desperate housewives and back agian gives me a different picture.

A. Double check the fan art folder, and make sure you do not have more than one picture there. I say above that it will only take the first image - it seems it will take a random one from any listed. Also, I had a second folder called old fan art in my fan art folder, and I think it was also reading files from here. When I removed this, and had double checked my fan art folder, it settled down and showed only those I had wanted it to.

Q. I get no Fan Art background images at all

A. You have the fanart images in the fanart folder? The fanart folder could be in the wrong place.

C:\Program Data\etc etc etc not C:\Program Files\etc etc..

And you havent renamed them have you? They need to stay named as 78687-xxxxxx.png to be picked up correctly. The 5 figured number refers to the TV shows Database entry.

Q. I am running XP, where are the fan art thumbs kept?

A. C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\thumbs\fan art

Q. Can you rename the TV shows so that they appear more legable?

A. I rename any TV Shows that have lots of extra characters with Natburs TV Renamer.

My mask in Natburs is: {TITLE} -[S##E$$]- {NAME}

Q. My logos are not showing?

Sometimes, logos do not show correctly, and there are a couple of things to check.

Genre tag - this may be mistagged in the TVSeries configuration. Check the pic below to see if your show has been tagged at all and use the format |GENRE| to amend if missing. You can also remove additional Genres here as well (Grey's Anatomy was classed as Drama Comedy Soap)

Show length - If you havent set them all up, it could be that that show actually runs shorter. Lost, Desperate housewives etc come under the 45min tag, not 60 minutes, and Simpsons and the Office come at 20 mins, rather than 30.

Also, check the filenames. My Comedy tag was initially not showing as it was named comedy1.png. After renaming it to comdey.png, all worked fine.

Q. They dont appear in the main menu when you first open the TVSeries, but do after you have browsed a show?

Yep, thats right. I dont know why, but thats what happens. If you find out how to get round it, let me know :)

Q. In step 3, you say copy both files, but dont make reference to the other one. What does that file do?

Hmm, dont rightly know to be honest, but when I find out, I'll let you know, or better still you tell me and I will amend this guide.....

Q. When scanning, thetvdb database reports errors, and does not parse popular shows such as Lost or Desperate Housewives, ignoring them - why?

A. Sometimes the server database fails and causes the database stored on your PC to become corrupt and not update correctly. Re-parsing the database does not seem to work - you have to delete the db3 database file completely.

Note: You will lose ALL settings when you delete the db3 file - Logo rules, and all settings relating to your setup.

Q. Sometimes when I drop files into my watched TV folder, I end up with duplicate episodes in Media Portal. Anyway to clear this?

I havent found an easy (automatic) way yet - I leave it for a while, then I delete my database (Details > Database location > Empty) and re-parse (Import settings > Parsing Test > Start Import )

Yes its a pain, but I do it once every few months or so.