Lock channel icons ?

[NthrnNYker58 0]

Not quite sure this is the proper forum to ask this question --- but it's as good as any, I guess !

I have a question about the channel icon metadata.

I painstakingly change the channel icons in the channel guide ((LiveTV/Channels) of local stations (a lot of them) to their own custom, easily recognizable logos ......  but every once in a while, when I refresh the EPG data it will automatically replace those custom logos with generic ABC,CBS,FOX, ect ect logos ---- Is there any way to protect my work from alteration ?

A I missing a metadata setting that will lock the channel icon to the one I provide ?

Alternatively --- is there a file I can lock from alteration in the windows file sub-system ?

I would much appreciate any help with this issue !

[Luke 39843]

Hi @NthrnNYker58we'd have to look at a specific example, but most likely something changed (just enough), such that the server was not aware that it was the same channel as before and essentially removed it from your server database and then added it back. Normally your custom channel images would be retained.

Or actually, it could also be that the channel has multiple images assigned for different color themes, and so when you supply your own image you need to make sure to replace both or all of them.

[Ugnaughts 53]

@Luke

im working on format to put m3us so emby will auto setup everything for live tv.

the only thing left is getting emby to choose the dark version every time or add that icon to all 3 or give me a format to tell emby that the icon is light dark.

so when i load the m3u the icon always is added to dark. and even though im using the dark theme, it never chooses that icon. 

example 

#EXTINF:0 CUID="3"channel-number="265"tvg-name="abc"tvg-logo="E:\Emby-Server\logos\abc.png"

[Ugnaughts 53]

@Luke @Carlo

also when switching back forth from choosing m3u or guide for logo. it don't work unless you manually delete all 3 icons then select m3u as source of logo. and then it only updates the dark logo and gets the other 2 from guide. 

after looking over many posts on this topic in some way. i believe this to be the bug that causes allot of inconsistency's with people who edit there logos then they change back. 

first people need to realize the correct format in the m3u. to make sure its not a m3u format issue. then verify effected settings in emby. the only other possibility is a bug, correct?

[Ugnaughts 53]

 

@Senna@CarlosLima @Happy2Play@ebr

the first post gave me idea to test. the second post has allot of detail and so happens to be the last time i was working on this topic. im still using latest beta as well. it seem the only possibility is to backup the folder in metadata... but as far as it reading m3u correctly... thats still an issue... the feature that says preferred channel image source "m3u" just don't work, but thanks for adding the feature though:) 

i deleted both the source m3u and the guide for it. then just added the m3u source..... it displayed correct logo. although when you look at which version its using there is no icons... 

as soon as i add the guide.  it then shows all 3 logos with mine as dark and other 2 are from guide. and as usual it picks the light version for some reason. even though im on dark theme..

also i believe this is related to this topic.. when you clear cache in chrome. it defaults back to light theme.. instead of using the settings from db. because i test this scenario..... 1.remove m3u source  2 clear chrome cache 3 login select dark theme again 4 add m3u source again... although no dice...

so this is definitely a bug.. also another issue, but maybe not a bug. you have to open the source and save even though you didn't change anything, too get updates from the m3u. you would think that a guide refresh would do that as well... i assume its by design for this last issue though.. because the m3u is loaded in db and that's where guide refresh gets its info from. and is probably slightly faster that way. but if guide refresh looked at m3u each time, that would be nice... 

@BillOatman

this would be nice for when the channel logo updates based off url what's playing. did you ever get this figured out. this is not exactly what im talking about in this thread. although the solution from emby team might help us both.. 

Edited January 19 by joekingcool
update

[Ugnaughts 53]

update...

the old method of backing up the livetv folder in metadata only works IF you go into each channel and delete the other images for each channel. and never go into the source and click save after that or you will have to do over. 

last test i did  \\ remove m3u source \\ clear chrome cache \\  delete livetv in metadata \\ delete cache in emby \\ log back in \\ select dark theme \\ add source m3u \\ select preferred image source as m3u \\ then go into each channel delete other 2 images

i found that emby does resize the logo from the m3u but never puts it in the livetv metadata folder. it does but the 2 from the guide though. 

so emby resizes the logo from the m3u but never puts in the live tv metadata folder.. im not sure if this is a beta issue because i thought we could backup the livetv metadata folder in past to workaround this in the past..  BUT i might of had previous files in metadata folder from early on that emby was using..  

so as of now.. you need to manually delete other 2 logos for each channel. and never go in and click save to the source m3u.. 

really need to figure out why emby does resize the custom logo but never updates to the metadata folder????

also why dose emby store the theme settings in browser instead of database???

hopefully this has been helpful for you guys to resolve in future updates..

 

 

[Ugnaughts 53]

i did find a way.

remove source m3u \\ delete emby cache \\ del livetv in metadata \\ clear chrome cache \\ login with light settings selected \\ add source m3u back

if you do in that order. then you can toggle between dark and light theme. although they are backwards.. so i have to choose either dark theme or custom logos for now

so this is probably not a problem for those who just use the light theme settings....

but its still not moving the resized custom logo from cache to the meta folder. so to backup these settings you would have to backup your cache as well. which isn't reasonable. so keeping custom logos wont work for anyone past a backup/restore process. 

Edited January 20 by joekingcool
further testing

[mickle026 601]

2 hours ago, joekingcool said:

i did find a way.

remove source m3u \\ delete emby cache \\ del livetv in metadata \\ clear chrome cache \\ login with light settings selected \\ add source m3u back

if you do in that order. then you can toggle between dark and light theme. although they are backwards.. so i have to choose either dark theme or custom logos for now

so this is probably not a problem for those who just use the light theme settings....

but its still not moving the resized custom logo from cache to the meta folder. so to backup these settings you would have to backup your cache as well. which isn't reasonable. so keeping custom logos wont work for anyone past a backup/restore process. 

I have been looking at this because I have a plugin that can backup, restore or delete the channel icons, so for your case, I can click a button and back them all up when they are all good.  Then when something goes wrong, click a button and restore them from that backup.  At the moment my plugin does Primary(dark),  LogoLight & LogoLightColour.  It doesnt do the thumb, banner, disc and art.  I have actually just updated it today before reading this thread.
I can back them up to local, delete them from emby , refresh the guide so they download again, then click and restore from my backup, so that the ones I want are put back.

I thought it was all good....

However, i have noted an issue since looking deeper some (probably about 10% of them) are not backing up, and what is really weird is that if i view them in the image editor, but do nothing more, then click my backup plugin again, the ones that i viewed backup....so something is not refreshing or updating propely ... somewhere in the embysphere....

*Update, I found it, it is when the images are on embys own server, Ill fix that to back them up aswell , I am glad i looked into this.  Nothings wrong in embysphere its a remote file so it cannot be copied without dowloading it first  

20.Jan.2025  -  01.37.28 Cannot Find The source file!
 https://emby.tmsimg.com/assets/s17154_ll_h15_ab.png?w=360&h=270

It is interesting that in your case emby seems to be replacing some. 
So i might add in a function to my plugin to detect changes, thats an interesting thing...to do...later ....

Ill keep an eye on this thread

 

Edited January 20 by mickle026

[Ugnaughts 53]

16 minutes ago, mickle026 said:

I have been looking at this because I have a plugin that can backup, restore or delete the channel icons, so for your case, I can click a button and back them all up when they are all good.  Then when something goes wrong, click a button and restore them from that backup.

very nice going to check that out for sure and follow. its funny cause that's part of what im working on. although i have no experience in making plugins or any real coding languages. although i can make an exe from autohotkey do anything i can think of. maybe we can dm some and maybe share ideas and maybe help me create plugins. 

last night i tried ai that writes code for first time. TBH i was surprised. it was like have a pro tell you threw dm how to write it. and troubleshoot any errors. although its not perfect yet of course. i mostly copied and pasted and followed its directions. and had a tvmaze app that would update movies. but hit a quote for the free account. but its like 15 month for unlimited. the problem was with some dependency's. got most resolved though. 

also what locations of images are you backing up and restoring?

are you making updates to database as well? if so , how do you make those edits?

 

[mickle026 601]

6 minutes ago, joekingcool said:

also what locations of images are you backing up and restoring?

are you making updates to database as well? if so , how do you make those edits?

 

just backing all the logos up to a local folder (D;\LiveTVlogos) with the channel name and image type (logolight etc), then to restore scanning the channels and looking in that dir for that image, if its there restoring it and updating the library image so that it shows instantly.

This way you can edit the images or add to the images in the restore folder easily.

 

 

[Luke 39843]

One thing we could do is add our own tvg-xxx variations for the light logo and light color logo images. It would be proprietary but it would give you a way to specify that in your m3u.

[Ugnaughts 53]

@mickle026

what emby folder are you getting the images from ? programdata\metadata\livetv?

[Ugnaughts 53]

1 minute ago, Luke said:

One thing we could do is add our own tvg-xxx variations for the light logo and light color logo images. It would be proprietary but it would give you a way to specify that in your m3u.

that might work. although the issues with the "setting theme" is negatively effecting the logos as well. 

emby resizes the custom logo in the emby\cache, but its not putting in the metadata\livetv where the other logos are. its leaving the dark logo out of the metadata folder.

i will delete profile and see if that fixes the "settings theme" issue. also will spin up a basic server with one channel from scratch to see if its something in database messing things up. 

 

[mickle026 601]

6 minutes ago, joekingcool said:

@mickle026

what emby folder are you getting the images from ? programdata\metadata\livetv?

I am querying the internal db and asking it where they are, then getting them from there.

like this:

Quote

20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.31[Backup Logos] Found 432 Channels
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.31[Backup Logos] looking at Channel (1) channelindex []: BBC TWO
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.31[Backup Logos] Presentation UniqueKey (1): d416a5a9b0e44114f4b15d1f0c74232c
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.36[Backup Logos From] (1): BBC TWO / L:\metadata\livetv\d416a5a9b0e44114f4b15d1f0c74232c\metadata\logolight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.36[Backup Logos To] (1): BBC TWO / D:\LiveTVicons\BBC TWO-LogoLight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.41[Backup Logos] looking at Channel (2) channelindex []: ITV1
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.41[Backup Logos] Presentation UniqueKey (2): 09f19f554baebaa8de56072df5d3eafc
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.47[Backup Logos From] (2): ITV1 / L:\metadata\livetv\09f19f554baebaa8de56072df5d3eafc\metadata\logolight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.47[Backup Logos To] (2): ITV1 / D:\LiveTVicons\ITV1-LogoLight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.52[Backup Logos] looking at Channel (3) channelindex []: Channel 4
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.52[Backup Logos] Presentation UniqueKey (3): 8106f3337dfeac95e2aa66a7f33599f7
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.57[Backup Logos From] (3): Channel 4 / L:\metadata\livetv\8106f3337dfeac95e2aa66a7f33599f7\metadata\logolight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.34.57[Backup Logos To] (3): Channel 4 / D:\LiveTVicons\Channel 4-LogoLight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.02[Backup Logos] looking at Channel (4) channelindex []: Channel 5
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.02[Backup Logos] Presentation UniqueKey (4): 08b73b07087d54d57813be65e4c9ea1a
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.07[Backup Logos From] (4): Channel 5 / L:\metadata\livetv\08b73b07087d54d57813be65e4c9ea1a\metadata\logolight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.07[Backup Logos To] (4): Channel 5 / D:\LiveTVicons\Channel 5-LogoLight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.12[Backup Logos] looking at Channel (5) channelindex []: ITV2
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.12[Backup Logos] Presentation UniqueKey (5): 92cef1557fefdbb24ed0a8a358b784ef
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.17[Backup Logos From] (5): ITV2 / L:\metadata\livetv\92cef1557fefdbb24ed0a8a358b784ef\metadata\logolight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.17[Backup Logos To] (5): ITV2 / D:\LiveTVicons\ITV2-LogoLight.png
20.Jan.2025  -  02.35.22[Backup Logos] looking at Channel (6) channelindex []: BBC FOUR

Just note that if the file is remote hosted I am asking emby to make it local first then fetching it.  That slows it down a bit, but should only be for the first time its ran.
You will notice that I also log the database Presentation unique Key, because if theres a problem then that is the subfolders name that the image should be in.

 

 

[Ugnaughts 53]

@mickle026

 

Slick !

so your finding the actual file location for each logo. then backing those images to a local folder. then you can manually change that logo. restore logos where the database says its actual at... very nice although how do you convert the logo that your going to update. to the right size for emby?

what cmds to you use to edit the database? im using sqlight for now to look around the database and test out updates. but would like an exe with cmd line to send updates. i haven't edited database on any current database, just test ones. cause i dont want it to interfere with troubleshooting emby on here.  

[mickle026 601]

4 minutes ago, joekingcool said:

@mickle026

 

Slick !

so your finding the actual file location for each logo. then backing those images to a local folder. then you can manually change that logo. restore logos where the database says its actual at... very nice although how do you convert the logo that your going to update. to the right size for emby?

what cmds to you use to edit the database? im using sqlight for now to look around the database and test out updates. but would like an exe with cmd line to send updates. i haven't edited database on any current database, just test ones. cause i dont want it to interfere with troubleshooting emby on here.  

I am doing it from within emby as a plugin using internal emby code to query the db, without the need for sql.

Most of the stored images are already the correct size, if they come from embys own server they are resized w=360&h=270 when requested from it.

 

 

[Ugnaughts 53]

27 minutes ago, mickle026 said:

I am doing it from within emby as a plugin using internal emby code to query the db, without the need for sql.

that's interesting, im not comfortable with embys plugin language so i might use sqlite.exe to edit db. 

 

28 minutes ago, mickle026 said:

Most of the stored images are already the correct size, if they come from embys own server they are resized w=360&h=270 when requested from it.

this could be really helpful. im going to test it out when i get caught up. i usually download and edit logos from the web. for logos that dont show very well in the guide. ill change the size in ms paint and see if that  works. ive been looking over your plugins and you have done allot of good work!

 

[Ugnaughts 53]

@mickle026

i cant seem to find your logo backup plugin in the forums or your link to your site. have you released it yet?

usually i just backup E:\Emby-Server\programdata\metadata\livetv for the logos that it recognizes.to update a logo manually, i usually search folder for *.png \\ then find the logo i want to change \\ right click to open file location\\ replace logo with mine, with same name. 

im working on a app that \\ truly does a full backup of emby as a whole \\  have an option to change directory locations without having to readd-rescan \\ update database for emby current location to new location 

this way emby can be truly portable and if you move media to another place you wont have to rescan everything.  

Edited January 20 by joekingcool
update

[mickle026 601]

The plugin I mentioned is not released, its no where near finished because it does many many other things aswell, and I have not added all the functions I want to it yet. 

Its still very much an alpha release, the TV Icons backup has been modified since my original post to try and backup those that are on a http(s) server as well, at the moment the http ones only partially work, but the backup runs until its finished, it just logs the errors.

I will pm it to you, please dont post it in the forums.  It can update from within itself so you only ever need to install it once.

[Carlo 4550]

15 hours ago, Luke said:

One thing we could do is add our own tvg-xxx variations for the light logo and light color logo images. It would be proprietary but it would give you a way to specify that in your m3u.

I think it might be better to load the channel icon into all three variations.  This way it gets used no matter the theme. If the admin tests both light and dark themes they can manually edit a channel logo if needed for the dark or light them.

I think that would give the results people want when choosing to use the logos from the playlist.

[Ugnaughts 53]

1 hour ago, mickle026 said:

I will pm it to you, please dont post it in the forums.  It can update from within itself so you only ever need to install it once.

got it, ill copy my server and test it out, and occasionally check it to see how its going. and not post it yet until you give green light

[Ugnaughts 53]

1 hour ago, Carlo said:

16 hours ago, Luke said:

One thing we could do is add our own tvg-xxx variations for the light logo and light color logo images. It would be proprietary but it would give you a way to specify that in your m3u.

I think it might be better to load the channel icon into all three variations.  This way it gets used no matter the theme. If the admin tests both light and dark themes they can manually edit a channel logo if needed for the dark or light them.

I think that would give the results people want when choosing to use the logos from the playlist.

i see what you guys are saying. yeah that should work. that's the main reason i think i started using custom logos anyways. 

cause some channels i couldn't identify in the guide. or some groups like hbo one channel would be different than the rest of hbo.

so i would find transparent logos on web. then edit colors of image so that it would work on light or dark. so yes i could use my logos on either theme. 

 

[Carlo 4550]

Might be a bit more work but can be done a bit at a time which will slowly improve your LiveTV experience with each channel matched to Emby's built in guide data.
This will get you the best meta-data for including descriptions, cast, graphics & Logos.  Every Movie, Show, Sporting event, or broadcast will have a graphic/poster looking at any "program" view such as On Now, New Shows, etc which is rare with typical IPTV guide data. This would get you the light and dark theme station logos as well. You could then change any logos you want.

For IPTV, here's the general method I suggest:
What I do for IPTV is add the M3U tuner, then the XML EPG set in the config to only be used for the IPTV tuner just set up.
I do his even if I have 1 tuner and 1 EPG source. This way if I add another tuner source the EPG source just added above will not try and auto-match to the new tuner.
Next, I will add the DirecTV sat guide for my zipcode but will not have a tuner assigned to it. This will keep it from trying to auto match the channels already loaded, which normally causes issues, sooner or later.

Next, I'd edit the channels starting with my local stations, network & sports I use most, etc.  I basically go most important to least important, maybe doing any channels that didn't match the XML source EPG next going down the line.  I'd typically do some channels each day vs one sitting.  You can use the filter to view auto matched channels (XML EPG), manually (I've manually matched) and channels without an EPG source. That makes it easy to know which channels I haven't manually matched yet.  For each channel I process with the DirecTV Emby Source I'll do a quick search (CTRL-F) of the DirecTV PDF. for the channel number.  Now I edit the channel, change the Guide to the DirecTV click the Guide Channel Number,  type the number which is normally faster than scrolling the list. SAVE the changes. Repeat until you're finished with the DirecTV guide.
https://www.directv.com/dtvassets/pdfs/channel_lineups/DIRECTV_ChannelPackageLineUp_AllPackages.pdf
https://www.directmagazine.com/UserFiles/Issue_PDF/DIRECTChanels.pdf

Next, I'll add a new guide for Dish Satellite and repeat the process we did earlier for Dish.
https://my.dish.com/cms-files/channelcards/2024/0108/Channel_Lineup.pdf

You might need to repeat this process for other guides depending on the channels you have. 

[Ugnaughts 53]

On 1/21/2025 at 7:47 PM, Carlo said:

You might need to repeat this process for other guides depending on the channels you have. 

so after you go thru this process. say i start over and delete library.db (which is overkill) and want to add my live tv back. would i have to go threw a long process again?

[Ugnaughts 53]

On 1/19/2025 at 9:49 PM, Luke said:

One thing we could do is add our own tvg-xxx variations for the light logo and light color logo images. It would be proprietary but it would give you a way to specify that in your m3u.

i stand corrected this wouldn't work. if you download your images to the metadata\livetv folder as those 3 different image names. it will not be our custom logos. and if we have to manually edit each channel image all over again then thats a bit too much. 

if you keep the same database library.db and not setting up new again. you just need to backup metadata\livetv folder. but thats already in my backup anyways. 

i did find a quick way to make it use the logos path which is in m3u. its a little programming but should have done soon. so all you have to do is add m3u and click a button to update db. and and the only time it will revert to guide images or emby cached logos is if you add/remove m3u or go into the m3u settings in emby and click save. becuase that is telling emby treat this like a new m3u. 

so all it will be doing is going to filter mediaitems table // type = 28. goto images column and remove the http links and '|' symbol and save for all in that filter. 

edit:

also if i change a part after the path from primary to logolightcolor. then the settings will survive going into m3u setting and clicking save. 

so if you have your m3u already setup correct. then a minute later all your custom logos will work and continue working unless you start emby from scratch. then it will take you a 1 minutes to get it back the way you had it. now i just need to program it, lol

you would think i could get a good job in IT or programming but no experience other than call center crap. so i stay unemployed doing stuff like this lol 

Edited January 27 by joekingcool
update