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[Bug]: XMLTV guide and live playback select different programs when using Shuffle or Ordered Shuffle with a smart collection #1983

Description

@DavidD303

This issue respects the following points:

  • This is a bug, not a question or a configuration issue; Please visit our Discord first to troubleshoot with volunteers, before creating a report.
  • This issue is not already reported on GitHub (I've searched it).
  • I'm using an up to date version of Tunarr; We generally do not support previous older versions. If possible, please update to the latest version before opening an issue.

Description of the bug

Channels using a time-slot schedule backed by a Plex smart collection gradually—or immediately—show incorrect guide information.
The XMLTV guide reports one episode, but tuning the channel plays a different program. The clocks and program durations are valid; the guide and playback appear to calculate different positions or ordering within the same generated lineup.
Changing the smart-collection slot from shuffle to ordered_shuffle and regenerating XMLTV did not resolve the mismatch. Converting the channel to a Cyclic Shuffle/random-slot schedule did resolve it.

Reproduction steps

Connect Tunarr to Plex.
Create a smart collection containing episodes from multiple shows.
Create a channel using a daily time-slot schedule.
Add the smart collection as the channel’s only slot.
Set the slot order to shuffle.
Leave padding at zero.
Save the schedule and regenerate XMLTV.
Refresh the guide in Plex.
Tune the channel and compare the playing episode with the XMLTV guide.
Repeat after changing the slot to ordered_shuffle.

What is the current bug behavior?

The guide and playback selected different programs for the same timestamp.
One observed example:
Guide showed: The Fairly OddParents
Live playback selected: Hey Arnold!
After switching to ordered_shuffle and regenerating the guide, another controlled test showed:
Guide selected program ID: 7524db07...
Guide episode: Hey Arnold! – Rhonda Goes Broke
Playback selected program ID: ad5f2768...
Playback episode: Legends of the Hidden Temple – The Mummified Hand...
The mismatch was not a small seek or boundary difference. Playback selected an entirely different program from the shuffled collection.

What is the expected correct behavior?

The program selected for live playback should be the same program shown in Tunarr’s generated guide/XMLTV for the current timestamp.
The same precalculated lineup and ordering should be used by both guide generation and playback.

Tunarr version

Latest

FFMPEG encoder type

CUDA (Nvidia)

Specify full Edge version id

No response

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What browser did you experience the the problem on? Please provide if the issue is related to the Web UI and definitely not the server.

No response

Deployment Type

None

What operating system are you using?

No response

Full server logs

will attach log file

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