2005 EPG update

Freeview EPG changes - 18th October 2005

On Tuesday, 18th of October the Freeview channel line-up is being re-organised. Some channels will be moving to different numbers, to free up space for more new channels in future, and move some types of programming together.

This Toppy.org.uk guide explains what you’ll need to do to ensure you can carry on watching and recording your favourite programmes. Please note: this guide was written before the EPG changes. It may be updated later on the 18th with more information.

If you’d like to see the full lineup of channels, you can read about it in this Digital Spy news story.

Overview

There are a few steps that you’ll need to take to ensure that everything works ok. Not all of them are compulsory - but we do recommend you follow all the of these. To keep this page concise, we’ve referred to other documents and resources which you may find useful, especially if your a newcomer to the Toppy.

Back up your timer list

Backing up your list of timers ensures that you will be able to recreate them after resetting your Toppy, without having to enter them all manually.

Install the new October bug fix firmware

Although the BBC made changes to the interactive applications which stopped the Toppy from crashing, we still recommend that you upgrade to the latest firmware, which should prevent a recurrence of the problem. Additionally, this firmware resolves a couple of minor bugs and allows users to record from TopUpTV channels again.

Perform a factory reset

After installing a new firmware, a factory reset is recommended, to ensure that the unit functions correctly. Your recordings will not be affected, but you will need to recreate favourite lists, and all timers will be cleared.

Scan for channels

Resettting the box removes all channels from the system. Rescan to search for all channels, and ensure that they are stored on their new channel numbers. You will need to recreate your Favourites lists after rescanning, and some TAPs may need changes.

Update and restore your timer list

The final stage in the process is to update the timer list that you backed up, to reflect the new channel numbers for any recordings that you scheduled. We have a script on this site that will automatically update the list created by the UK Timers TAP.

Update your TAPs

While you have your Toppy connected to your computer, we recommend that you download the latest versions of any TAPs that you use, and update them.

Now you know what’s involved, let’s go through the process step by step.

Back up your timer list

This step is optional, and saves you having to enter all your scheduled recordings later

Backing up your timer list simply means that you don’t have to schedule all the recordings again when you reset your Toppy. It’s very simple to do; we’re going to use the UK Timers TAP.

If you don’t have the TAP installed, click the link and download it to your PC. Copy the file to the Program Files folder on your Toppy, then select it with the remote control to start it. (If you’ve never installed a TAP before, you should download and read our Beginner’s Guide).

Press the White key on the remote to activate the TAP, then press Menu, highlight Export Timers and press OK. When the export has finished, press Exit three times to return to normal viewing. Now, look on your Toppy, inside the Program Files folder, and you should see a folder called UK TAP Project. Within that folder is a file called TimerList.txt, which you should copy to your PC. If you installed the TAP as in the Auto Start folder, the UK TAP Project folder will be within ProgramFiles\Auto Start.

Install the new firmware

This step is optional, but highly recommended

The new October bugfix firmware restores the ability to record TopUpTV channels, together with some other minor fixes. We recommend that users of earlier firmwares upgrade to this version, 5.12.09. You can download a zip file containing the firmware from here or from our secondary server.

The firmware upgrade is installed in the same way as previous ones; it does not matter which version you have already - all upgrades are complete in themselves. If you’ve never upgraded the firmware before, you should read our guide to upgrading; the latest version, for the August firmware update, is available here. Pages 2 and 3 cover the update process in some detail. Note that you need a PC running Windows to perform the software update.

Perform a factory reset

This step should be included if you upgraded your firmware

When you restart your box after upgrading your firmware, press the Menu button on the remote, then Installation, press OK, and then select Factory Setting and press OK. Your box will be reset, losing timers, stored channels and favourites. Recorded programmes will not be affected. You will need to set options such as AV settings, for the type of TV you use.

Scan for channels

Press the Menu key on the remote to get to the Toppy’s main menu, then select Installation, press OK and select Service Search, then OK again. Set the search type to Auto, then select Start Search and press OK. Your box will store all the channels, with their new channel numbers. When it has finished, you may want to use the Organize Favourites option to recreate favourite channel lists.

Update and restore your timer list

If you skip this step, you will have to find all the programmes you want in the EPG, and schedule recordings again

The timer list file that you stored contains references to the old channel numbers. We have provided a script that will update it with the new channel numbers automatically. Scroll down to the bottom of this page, and click the Browse button. Browse your hard drive to find the TimerList.txt file that you created with the UK Timers TAP, and select it. Then click the Convert Timers button.

The site will process your list of timers, updating them with the new channel number for both TV and Radio stations. Depending on the web browser you use, you a new TimerList.txt file may be automatically downloaded to your computer, or you may simply see a browser window appear, containing the new timer data. If that happens, you will need to save the contents of the browser window as a file called TimerList.txt.

Now, copy the file back to your Toppy, into the same location as the original, ie within the UK TAP Project folder. Start UK Timers, and call it up by pressing the White button on the remote. Now press Menu and choose Import Timers. The new timer list will be read in and your timers should be updated correctly. If not, you will need to edit them manually.

Please note that the timer editing service is provided as a best effort, and of necessity had to be written before the EPG changes were live, so it is offered without any guarantee. Please check your timers afterwards to ensure that they are all correct.

Update your taps

If you intend to carry on using the UK Timers TAP after using it to backup and restore your timers, we recommend that you install the channel logo pack, which can be downloaded here. The file contains folder called UK TAP Project, within which you will find a file called logo.dat. This needs to be copied to your Toppy, into the UK TAP Project folder used by the UK Timers TAP. If you have the TAP in your Auto Start folder, then copy it to the UK TAP Project folder within that folder. If you already have the logo pack, including the logo for the More4 channel, you do not need to update it.

If you use Jag’s EPG TAP, you will also need to clear the EPG cache file that it creates. Press the key you use to display Jag’s EPG, Menu, scroll down to Delete EPG Buffer Content and press 1. You may wish to run a scan again afterwards by pressing Play twice.

If you use the MyStuff TAP in conjunction with Jag’s EPG, you will also need to tell the EPG TAP to recreate the CSV export file that MyStuff uses to show programme information.

Registered users of the site forums and of site Services can access your personalised download page, where you will find links to all the TAPs that you have selected. You can also access TAP download links via the TAPs button at the bottom of this page.

If you have any problems, come along to the forums, and ask for help.

Timer update service

To update your timer list, click Browse, select your TimerList.txt file, and then click Convert Timers. The file must be called TimerList.txt for the script to work.

Tick the box if you are in Wales and received S4C2 on channel 13 before the EPG changes.

This service is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.