FAQ

Q: What does self-host need from editor.dontv.shop?

Your install checks your M3UTool key once a day, downloads its updates from M3UTool, takes your account name and email from there, and sends Discord alerts through M3UTool. Everything else runs on your machine. If editor.dontv.shop cannot be reached, self-host keeps working for 7 days after the last good check. More in How self-host works.

Q: What happens when my M3UTool plan ends?

Self-host keeps working until 7 days have passed since the last accepted check. The same happens when you change to a plan under €40 a year. Then the editor shows Activate this install until your plan is paid again. Your customers keep watching the whole time. Once you have paid, the editor unlocks within the hour, or at once when you paste your M3UTool key into that screen and click Activate license.

Q: I forgot the editor password. How do I reset it?

There is no editor password on self-host, so there is nothing to reset. You sign in with a link from the M3UTool program: click the M3UTool icon, or run dontv open or dontv link. When the sign-in page asks for a password, the link was used or had run out. Ask for a new one. More in First sign-in.

Q: Do changes on editor.dontv.shop show up in self-host?

No. The two do not sync. Copy my account copies the playlists you pick. After that, Copy new playlists lets you pick playlists that are not on self-host yet, but it does not bring over changes to playlists you already copied. To get a fresh copy of one, delete it in self-host and copy it again.

Q: Does the video of my customers pass through my machine?

No. When a customer presses play, M3UTool sends the player straight to the stream source. Your machine answers the logins, channel lists and TV guide, so a small computer can serve many viewers.

Q: Why do channel checks fail on self-host when the channels work?

The checker asks your provider directly, over the internet line of the machine that runs M3UTool. Some providers refuse certain connections, often shared ones such as Starlink, and then every check fails. To find out, turn on a VPN on that machine and check one group again. If the channels come online, it is your connection: keep the VPN on while M3UTool runs, or ask your provider to allow your address. Your customers are not affected, because their players connect from their own lines.

Q: My provider refuses the playlist download on self-host. What can I do?

The editor names the refusal, for example with a provider code such as 884. When you first add a playlist, M3UTool fetches it once through editor.dontv.shop, so the import can still work. This happens at most three times a day. Refreshes after that have to come from your own machine: use a VPN on the machine that runs M3UTool, or ask your provider to allow your address. More in Import troubleshooting.

Q: Why does my self-host have no TV guide?

Self-host downloads the country guides itself, for the countries you use. The first download starts within a few minutes and can take a while for many countries. Check that your countries are picked, as described in Guide countries and sources. Some guides that M3UTool builds on its own servers are only on editor.dontv.shop.

Q: Can I run self-host on a Mac?

No. Self-host installs on Windows 10 or 11 and on 64-bit Linux. See Requirements.

Q: How do I remove self-host?

1. Stop M3UTool: On Windows, right-click the M3UTool icon, untick Start with Windows, then click Stop M3UTool and close. On Linux, run dontv stop.
2. Delete its data: Open a terminal in the install folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\DonTV on Windows, ~/.local/share/dontv on Linux) and run docker compose down -v.
3. Delete the files: Delete the install folder. On Windows, also delete the M3UTool shortcuts on your desktop and in the Start menu. On Linux, also delete ~/.local/bin/dontv.
4. Free the disk space: Delete the M3UTool editor image (its name starts with dontv/panel) in Docker, for example under Images in Docker Desktop.