M3U playlists and XMLTV programme guides: how they work in Vireko

1. tvg-id firstWhen the playlist’s tvg-id is exactly the same as the guide’s channel ID, the channel is matched automatically.
2. By name when the match is certainIf a channel has no guide, Vireko compares names, ignoring things like country tags, channel numbers, letter case and words such as HD or 4K. It only matches automatically when there is exactly one matching channel and it has programmes.
3. Auto-matchThe auto-match screen also looks for matches in the guides of your other playlists and pre-selects the safe ones. Nothing changes until you confirm.
4. Manual matchingChoose a channel and search the guide for the right one by name. A manual match stays until you change it.
5. A guide of its own for one channelYou can give a channel its own XMLTV address. Use a small single-channel guide, because all its programmes are assigned to that channel.

• Programmes show at the wrong timeThe guide is usually in a different time zone. Fix the times with a time shift, which you can set for one channel or for all channels in half-hour steps, up to 12 hours either way. The channel and guide shifts are added together.
• The guide loads but no programmes appearThe playlist’s channels probably lack a tvg-id, or it does not match the guide’s IDs. Use auto-match or match the channels manually.
• The link returns a web pageIf the playlist or guide address opens a web page instead of a file, use a direct download link. Google Drive share links, for example, often open a web page.
• The playlist is empty or the server returns an errorCheck the address, the login and that your subscription is active. Vireko shows the server’s HTTP error code, which tells you whether the problem is with the server or the address.
• A favourite disappeared after a refreshFavourites, watch history and continue watching for M3U channels survive a refresh, because they are tied to the stream address. If the provider changes a channel’s address, the favourite is lost and you need to add it again.
• Catch-up does not workCatch-up only works if the playlist has catch-up details and the service archives the channel. Vireko supports, among others, the flussonic, append, shift and Xtream types. If catchup-days is missing, an archive length of seven days is assumed.

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