Support · verified on 2026-09-25
The programme guide (EPG) does not sync in Megacubo
The EPG is not an application feature: it is a file that has to match your playlist, channel by channel. When it fails, the symptom almost always tells you the cause — empty on every channel, shifted in time, or only on some. Below, each case with its fix.
What is usually happening
- No channel shows a schedule — no guide is associated with the playlist, or the guide address does not respond
- Some channels show it, others do not — the channel's identifier in the guide differs from the one used in the playlist
- The times appear shifted — the guide is from another time zone or another regional version of the channel
- It worked for a few days and stopped — many public guides cover only a few days and need updating
The likely causes
- No guide associated — the guide is associated with a playlist, not with the application: without that step there is no schedule
- A different identifier between guide and playlist — the most frequent case when the playlist provider and the guide provider are different companies
- A guide from another country or time zone — the schedule exists, but points to another place's local time
- An out-of-date guide — the file is still valid, but no longer covers the days you are looking at
- Device memory — with many guides loaded, the schedule is slow to appear or never finishes
How to fix it
- Confirm that a guide is associated — in My Lists, go into the playlist's edit screen and check whether a guide is attached to it.
- Use the guide from the same provider as the playlist — that avoids the identifier and the time zone problem in one go. If your provider delivers both, use both.
- Enter the EPG address in the options — when the provider publishes the schedule at a URL that updates itself, this path removes the need to update the file by hand.
- Reload the playlist — press and hold the playlist in My Lists and choose reload, so the application fetches playlist and guide again.
- Reduce how many guides are loaded — low-end device mode, in the performance options, loads fewer playlists and guides at once, in exchange for fewer channels available at the same time.
- Clear the cache and restart the application — in the advanced options. Worth doing when the schedule had appeared and stopped appearing with no other change.
Causes and steps checked on 2026-09-25 in the project's documentation (Using IPTV Lists), and aligned with the guide how to configure the EPG.
How to know it worked
The test is per channel: open a channel from that playlist and use the Program Guide option. The schedule is working when it shows the programme that is on now and what comes next. If that happens on almost every channel and fails on two or three, you fixed the general problem — what is left is the identifier, and only a guide that knows those channels will change it.
If not even the first channel shows a schedule, go back to step 1: in many cases the guide was simply never associated. The full path is in configuring the programme guide.
Frequently asked questions
The EPG is empty on every channel. What should I do?
Start by confirming that a guide is associated with that playlist: with no guide associated, no channel shows a schedule, and everything else works normally. If the guide is associated and still empty, the path is to use the guide that comes with your playlist, or to enter the EPG address in the application's options.
The schedule appears, but with the wrong times. Why?
XMLTV carries the time in the guide's own time zone reference. When the guide is from another country, or from a version of the channel for another time zone, the programmes come out shifted relative to what is being broadcast. The fix is to use the guide from the same provider as the playlist.
Why does the schedule appear only on some channels?
Because the guide identifies each channel by an identifier, and it has to be the same one the playlist uses. Channels that exist in the guide but under another identifier end up without a schedule, even with the guide working for the rest of the playlist — it is the most common case and the most annoying one to diagnose.