[Updated 14 Jul!] MPExtended Service 0.5.4 (13 Viewers)

[JaMa]

Now I can provide more details: My configuration is on a network with public IPs. The server is on a subnet and when the client is on the same subnet direct streaming to VLC is posible. However, when the client is on a different subnet, direct streaming does not work BUT if I use the WebMediaPortal FlashPlayer encoding IT WORKS even on different subnets. Sadly, this solution is not adequate for me because the server will be over loaded with several simultaneous transcoding tasks...
I think that Oxan is on track: It seems that direct streaming is not posible out of a local network without a proxy. If I select Proxied nothing works but it is due to that I have not installed any proxy (I do not know how to do it)
I use this kind of command with VLC: http://admin:admin@XXX.XXX.XXX.30:8080/Stream/TV?item=19&transcoder=Direct
I propose three possilbe ways to address this problem:
1) By using a different command to ask the streaming without using the WebMediaPortal ie. the IISExpress server. Simply by using the MPService (I do not know if this is posible)
2) By installing other web server or configuring the IISExpress to allow direct streaming through diferent subnets. (I do not know change the configuration of the IISexpress...)
3) By installing a proxy to stream video without transcoding through subnets (I do not know how to do it...)

Please, let me know which is the best way or other way that you think adequate. I will try to implement it and I will communicate the results.

Today I forgot to save the log of the VLC when it fails and when it works. If you think it is important I will include them.

Thank you very much for your support.

 

[Oxan]

Now I can provide more details: My configuration is on a network with public IPs. The server is on a subnet and when the client is on the same subnet direct streaming to VLC is posible. However, when the client is on a different subnet, direct streaming does not work BUT if I use the WebMediaPortal FlashPlayer encoding IT WORKS even on different subnets. Sadly, this solution is not adequate for me because the server will be over loaded with several simultaneous transcoding tasks...

That is very interesting. There shouldn't be any difference between the direct and transcoded streams regarding this. It might be useful if you could download the playlist file, open it with a text editor and check if the linked IP in there is correct. Posting your logs of a non-working direct stream could be useful too.

I think that Oxan is on track: It seems that direct streaming is not posible out of a local network without a proxy. If I select Proxied nothing works but it is due to that I have not installed any proxy (I do not know how to do it)

You don't need to install a proxy for the Proxied streaming mode, it simply means that WebMP proxies the stream from the service, instead of redirecting the user to the service (which might not be available in a different subnet). You don't need any additional software for it. It'd be very useful if you could post your full logs of a failed stream on the Proxied mode, as that one should always work.

I use this kind of command with VLC: http://admin:admin@XXX.XXX.XXX.30:8080/Stream/TV?item=19&transcoder=Direct

Can you (from a different subnet) download the playlist file for a stream that works (i.e. a transcoded) stream and check whether it uses the same IP address and port as you manually use?

I propose three possilbe ways to address this problem:
1) By using a different command to ask the streaming without using the WebMediaPortal ie. the IISExpress server. Simply by using the MPService (I do not know if this is posible)

That's possible, with an url like http://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:4322/MPExten...nel>&profileName=Direct&clientDescription=VLC. You should disable authentication when you try this though, it'll require that you do authentication with another call first otherwise (if it works, I'll explain that to you).

2) By installing other web server or configuring the IISExpress to allow direct streaming through diferent subnets. (I do not know change the configuration of the IISexpress...)
3) By installing a proxy to stream video without transcoding through subnets (I do not know how to do it...)

There is no setting in IIS Express that has anything to do with subnets, nor does installing a proxy help.

Today I forgot to save the log of the VLC when it fails and when it works. If you think it is important I will include them.

Doesn't matter much.

 

[JaMa]

Finally, after several tests and confusing with firewalls I found that in my case (direct streaming to VLC through different subnets) the best configuration for Stream type is "direct best performance, works only on local network". Curiously this is the best option for external networks. Now I successfully stream live channels through different subnets. The other options had chaotic behavior. With this option the system WORKS !!!

Also I checked this command: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:4322/MPExten...nel>&profileName=Direct&clientDescription=VLC and it works very well. However when the VLS stops the streaming the server does not kill the stream. It is necessary to abort the streaming manually or withby using other command.

 

[Pog]

Hi Oxan thanks to you and the rest of the gang for the fantastic work you've done on this.

Report on my experience of using this for streaming to IOS devices (iPhone 3Gs and 4Gs). I can only use proxied http live streaming via local network, that's fine though I nearly gave up before finding that proxied is the only way this will work.

Next for mp4/h264 tv streaming I had to add fps=25 to the streaming profile and for media streaming I had to add fps=23.976, without the fps setting the output would run really fast and just stop after the first segment.

I'm including my logs using the debug 5.3 version as there are various errors showing up.

Also having a weird issue: In the evening after 6pm (7pm bst) the video is silky smooth but during the daytime the video is not quite as smooth like the timecodes are off a bit. Happens with live tv and movies. Strange, messed with a lot of settings and took a while to notice the time of day affect.

 

[Lightning303]

Hey me again .

As i think it is just a bug, you didnt think of it, or it is already fixed for next version im not going to start a new thread again ;p.
I have been using GetTVEpisodesBasicFromTVShow in MAS and i noticed that episodes that dont have their own file are being ignored.
For example, i have a file called SeriesName.S01E01E02... 2 Episodes in one file. In this case, the second one is not in the array i got from my json request.
Im guessing you use a join in your sql request to combine online_episodes and local_episodes and forgot to check for CompositeID2.

Thanks .

 

[Oxan]

However when the VLS stops the streaming the server does not kill the stream.

It might take a minute before it kills the stream, but it should eventually happen.

Hey me again .

As i think it is just a bug, you didnt think of it, or it is already fixed for next version im not going to start a new thread again ;p.
I have been using GetTVEpisodesBasicFromTVShow in MAS and i noticed that episodes that dont have their own file are being ignored.
For example, i have a file called SeriesName.S01E01E02... 2 Episodes in one file. In this case, the second one is not in the array i got from my json request.
Im guessing you use a join in your sql request to combine online_episodes and local_episodes and forgot to check for CompositeID2.

Thanks .

Yeah, you're right. Ugly design. Fixed for 0.5.4. (FYI it's fine to just open a generic thread for all your problems, I tend to watch such threads more often then this generic thread, especially if they're opened by developers).

 

[Oxan]

Report on my experience of using this for streaming to IOS devices (iPhone 3Gs and 4Gs). I can only use proxied http live streaming via local network, that's fine though I nearly gave up before finding that proxied is the only way this will work.

That's interesting, the non-proxied mode should work as well on the local network. If you've some time, I'd be interested in logs for a failure with the direct mode (from the debug build).

Next for mp4/h264 tv streaming I had to add fps=25 to the streaming profile and for media streaming I had to add fps=23.976, without the fps setting the output would run really fast and just stop after the first segment.

Yeah, I've had anothe report of that too, but VLC should be able to detect this automatically. It's something I'll look into, but don't expect results any time soon.

I'm including my logs using the debug 5.3 version as there are various errors showing up.

Your service logs are, aside from a scary-labeled error that's actually harmless (just failed to do some cleanup), error free. Your WebMediaPortal logs contain just various versions of of client disconnects and the results of poor handling of in a part of WebMP. I've fixed that for 0.5.4, so your logs will probably be a bit cleaner then. It shouldn't cause any problems, though.

Also having a weird issue: In the evening after 6pm (7pm bst) the video is silky smooth but during the daytime the video is not quite as smooth like the timecodes are off a bit. Happens with live tv and movies. Strange, messed with a lot of settings and took a while to notice the time of day affect.

That's weird. I can't imagine that time of the day would have any effect on the performance... No chance that the TV is being used by children during the day, or something like that?

 

[Pog]

Report on my experience of using this for streaming to IOS devices (iPhone 3Gs and 4Gs). I can only use proxied http live streaming via local network, that's fine though I nearly gave up before finding that proxied is the only way this will work.

That's interesting, the non-proxied mode should work as well on the local network. If you've some time, I'd be interested in logs for a failure with the direct mode (from the debug build).

Just checked it again and it does work in direct mode. Very sorry for a bad report there, not sure what happened I can only guess while trying to get things working I toggled proxied mode and rebooted my pc and made a wrong assumption.

Also having a weird issue: In the evening after 6pm (7pm bst) the video is silky smooth but during the daytime the video is not quite as smooth like the timecodes are off a bit. Happens with live tv and movies. Strange, messed with a lot of settings and took a while to notice the time of day affect.

That's weird. I can't imagine that time of the day would have any effect on the performance... No chance that the TV is being used by children during the day, or something like that?

I have tried streaming making sure nothing else was running and even with streaming to 2 iPhones and multiple tvs but smoothness it can be inconsistant. BTW very fast Core i7 pc for transcoding. Also I don't think the time of day affect really exists, just something that seemed to happen more at those times. Maybe in the next version you could add an option to output VLC logs.

Cheers.

 

[Oxan]

I have tried streaming making sure nothing else was running and even with streaming to 2 iPhones and multiple tvs but smoothness it can be inconsistant. BTW very fast Core i7 pc for transcoding. Also I don't think the time of day affect really exists, just something that seemed to happen more at those times. Maybe in the next version you could add an option to output VLC logs.

Interesting. Maybe EPG grabbing or something happens at that time? Latency (i.e. if another process uses 100% CPU for a few hundred milliseconds) tends to effect transcoding pretty severly too. Outputting VLC logs is a bit tricky as our custom VLC wrapper doesn't support them, but I'll look into it (the wrapper will be rewritten for 0.6 anyway).

 

[kiwijunglist]

Hi just installing MPExtended for first time in a while and have some questions (I am documenting installation).

1. Does MPextended automatically create an exception for windows firewall.

2. Does MPextended.msi install a shortcut for the configuration utlity? (It crashed just after installation, and I had to manually use file browser to find the .exe to restart the configuration)?