If only some channels show "No information" while others have a full guide, your guide file is loading correctly. The gaps are almost always an ID mismatch between the playlist and the guide, or channels that are simply not in the guide source. Finding which one it is takes a short comparison.
Quick answer: Take the
tvg-idof a blank channel from your playlist and search for it in the XMLTV guide file. If it isn't there, either the ID differs slightly or the guide doesn't cover that channel.
Why does it happen for some channels only?
Players match a channel to the guide using the ID. The playlist carries tvg-id="ExampleNewsHD.uk", and the XMLTV file has <channel id="ExampleNewsHD.uk">. The two have to be identical, including capital letters, dots and suffixes. When they differ, that channel stays blank while the matching ones work. Our EPG and XMLTV guide explains the format.
How do you compare the two?
- Pick one blank channel and note its name.
- Find its
tvg-id. Open the playlist in a text editor on a computer and search for the channel name. The ID sits in the#EXTINFline. Our M3U playlists explained guide shows what each part is. Do not post your playlist address or the file publicly. - Search the guide for that ID. Open the XMLTV file in a text editor (unzip a
.xml.gzfirst if your editor can't read it) and search for the same text. - Check the result:
- Found and identical: the problem is on the player side. Refresh the guide or clear its cache.
- Found with a small difference (case, a suffix like
.ukorHD): this is a mismatch. - Not found: search for the channel's display name instead. If it's there under a different ID, you have a mismatch. If it's nowhere, the source doesn't cover that channel.
How do you fix a mismatch?
Choose the easiest route your player offers:
- Manual mapping. Many players let you pick a guide entry for a channel by hand. This suits a handful of channels.
- Edit the playlist. Change the
tvg-idin your copy to match the guide, keeping the spelling exact. Only do this to a file you own and host yourself. - Use a different guide source whose IDs match your playlist.
When the channel just isn't in the guide
Some channels have no listings in a given source: regional variants, timeshifted copies, radio, or very small channels. No setting fixes that. The options are a different guide source or mapping the channel to the guide entry of its main version.
If that didn't work
Check these before asking for help:
- Whether the guide updated recently (a stale file can miss new days).
- Whether times are right on the channels that do work, since wrong times look like "No information" in the current slot. See EPG showing the wrong time.
- Your player and version.
Tell us which player you're using and whether the fault was a spelling difference or a missing channel.