Utility: Web Radio and TV Encoder

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by RetroBox

Well.... I could not find the Wrapper.log file within sagetv/webfeedencoder/logs which leads me to believe that I somehow messed up the folder structures. I thought it best to perform a clean install before posting a response to your questions - I uninstalled the plugin in Sage and deleted all related folders.

I was unable to run the config file from within the plugin setup screen, but I could launch the file using the command line . I even was able to add a new channel and have it work in Sage!

I am really excited to get to play with this tool. Thank-you so much for all your help to get to this point. I hope that among all the investigating we find a reason why the config tool is getting blocked by Windows 7. Thanks again!

Great news.

I'm building up to a new release candidate for 0.9.7.

This will see the client plugin disappear all together.

The encoder will be started as a windows service.

That windows server now also contains a web service.

The web service will allow the config tool to be java web started which will also mean you can have icons on the desktop and run it from everywhere or access the config tool via a web page.

Hopefully this will solve some of the permissioning issues with later versions of windows.

Michael

[dortik]

I'm trying to configure it for linux, but when I'm trying to "test channel reception" in the log I see that it is trying to execute a command and fails, because linux does not have it.

WebFeedEncoder-1 Failed to process command Exec cmd /c start "VLC" "/usr/bin/vlc" "http://www.rtr-planeta.com/?d=10" --sout "#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=800,fps=30,scale=1,width=720,height=576,acodec=mpga,ab=128,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=ts,dst='/opt/sagetv/server/webfeedencoder/tmp/RTRPlaneta_test.mpg'}}" --sout-transcode-audio-sync -I rc --rc-host localhost:5003 --rc-fake-tty --extraintf=logger --logfile="/opt/sagetv/server/webfeedencoder/logs/RTRPlaneta_VLC.log" -vvv

java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "cmd": java.io.IOException: error=2, No such file or directory
	at java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start(ProcessBuilder.java:460)
	at java.lang.Runtime.exec(Runtime.java:593)
	at java.lang.Runtime.exec(Runtime.java:509)
	at uk.co.mdjcox.utils.OsUtils.spawnProcess(OsUtils.java:73)
	at uk.co.mdjcox.utils.OsUtils.spawnProcess(OsUtils.java:42)
	at uk.co.mdjcox.webfeedencoder.RecordingThread.spawn(RecordingThread.java:579)
	at uk.co.mdjcox.webfeedencoder.RecordingThread.processCommand(RecordingThread.java:562)
	at uk.co.mdjcox.webfeedencoder.RecordingThread.startRecording(RecordingThread.java:174)
	at uk.co.mdjcox.webfeedencoder.RecordingThread.run(RecordingThread.java:77)
Caused by: java.io.IOException: java.io.IOException: error=2, No such file or directory
	at java.lang.UNIXProcess.<init>(UNIXProcess.java:148)
	at java.lang.ProcessImpl.start(ProcessImpl.java:65)
	at java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start(ProcessBuilder.java:453)
	... 8 more

Does webfeedencoder support linux?

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by dortik

Does webfeedencoder support linux?

In principle it should.

Being java its platform independent but there are a few things to code around like spawing jobs on the operating system and specifying file paths.

I have always tried to ensure I do this - but in this case I appear to have slipped up and I'll fix this one.

In general though this really needs a champion from the linux user community to get it off the ground. I did a fair amount of work on this with BCjenkins a couple of years ago but it drifted away while I waited for an up to date VLC platform to be available on the linux platform I had.

I do not currently have a linux platform available to test on but I do have a spare box sitting idle now that would make a good linux box.

I would very much love to get this working on linux and if you are prepared to stick with it for a bit I will make sure I turn around linux fixes quickly.

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

A couple if things:

• Last known good VLC is 1.0.5. I recommend this one. The latest VLC 1.1.4 has no sound on playback on a PC and on extenders the video is too small and appears top-center rather than filling the whole screen.
• The BBC backstage EPG feed has been stopped by the BBC. They have alternatives which I now need to look at.

Michael

[dortik]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

In principle it should.

Being java its platform independent but there are a few things to code around like spawing jobs on the operating system and specifying file paths.

I have always tried to ensure I do this - but in this case I appear to have slipped up and I'll fix this one.

In general though this really needs a champion from the linux user community to get it off the ground. I did a fair amount of work on this with BCjenkins a couple of years ago but it drifted away while I waited for an up to date VLC platform to be available on the linux platform I had.

I do not currently have a linux platform available to test on but I do have a spare box sitting idle now that would make a good linux box.

I would very much love to get this working on linux and if you are prepared to stick with it for a bit I will make sure I turn around linux fixes quickly.

Michael

I would be glad to test it on linux.

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by dortik

I would be glad to test it on linux.

Found the issue.

I will be releasing version 0.9.7 RC1 in the next few days.

It will contain the fix.

I have also found some portable linux versions to try.

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

Heres the latest version:

Web Feed Encoder v0.9.7 (build 325) RC1

User guide for installation instructions here:

Latest fixes:

• Install web feed encoder as a service.
• Use web start to launch config tool.
• Allow local podcasting of a web based media file.
• Turn off unicode debug logs.
• Allow video view of test channel in remote mode.
• Fix bug on linux where VLC launch was windows style.
• Take backups of Sage.properties before and after install and uninstall

Similar looking post but relevant to SageTV V7 is here.

Michael

[dortik]

I have the following issues on my linux box:

1. I hit Test Reception and it does not report any error in the window with log but it does not create "mpg" file.
2. Then I hit Stop but it does not stop it, so I have to kill it.
3. Then run a command used by encoder and it creates "mpg" file.

/usr/bin/vlc-wrapper "VLC" "http://212.118.62.154:8090/test.flv" --sout "#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=800,fps=30,scale=1,width=720,height=576,acodec=mpga,ab=128,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=ts,dst='/opt/sagetv/server/webfeedencoder/tmp/TVARMRU_test.mpg'}}" --sout-transcode-audio-sync -I rc --rc-host localhost:5003 --rc-fake-tty --extraintf=logger --logfile="/opt/sagetv/server/webfeedencoder/logs/TVARMRU_VLC.log" -vvv

I've attached my log files.

Please let me know what I can do with it?

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by dortik

Please let me know what I can do with it?

Hi,

Thankyou for being a pioneer - I do appreciate it.

I was installing ubuntu via co-linux yesterday - usual linux story of the instructions only working 80% or me only typing them in 80% correct. So working out why it cannot apt-get anything. But hopefully I'll soon be where you are.

Found some things to fix:

java.io.FileNotFoundException: /opt/sagetv/server/STVs/C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\SageTV7\SageTV7.xml/OnlineVideos/CustomOnlineVideoLinks_wfe.properties (No such file or directory)
	at java.io.FileOutputStream.open(Native Method)
	at java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.java:179)
	at java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.j

(clearly got a bogus windows path there)

/usr/bin/vlc-wrapper "VLC" "http://212.118.62.154:8090/test.flv" --sout ...etc

is vlc-wrapper really the executable?

Plus the "VLC" looks wrong.

main stream output debug: using sout chain=`standard{mux="",access=""#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=800,fps=30,scale
main stream output debug: stream=`standard'
main stream out debug: looking for sout stream module: 1 candidate
main stream out warning: missing value for option mux
main stream out warning: missing value for option access
main stream out warning: option transcode is unknown

Syntax looks wrong.

Will fix these. Preparing a RC2 to be deployed tommorrow or Friday.

Also, in the "commands" directory are scripts for tuning and detuning various types of channel.

The scripts contain the word Vlc which I translate to some unix commands.

It is possible using the "Exec" command to just run VLC manually and put in various tokens for things like the recording file.

I haven't got time to fully explain - but page 96 of the user manual "Defining new tuning commands" goes into detail.

This would be a way to replace my rubbish hardcoding vlc command line with one that works - if you have time to tinker.

In the meantime I will try to fix up and get my linux installation off the ground.

Thanks again,

Michael

[dortik]

is vlc-wrapper really the executable?

Yes, vlc-wrapper is something to run vlc under root.

I'm still playing with vlc command which will actually work for me, for now I was able only to record audio stream without video.

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by dortik

Yes, vlc-wrapper is something to run vlc under root.

I'm still playing with vlc command which will actually work for me, for now I was able only to record audio stream without video.

OK

I'm still trying to get linux going

Dealing with installing VLC now - so got a bit further

Then sageTV.

The WebFeedEncoder

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

OK

I'm still trying to get linux going

Dealing with installing VLC now - so got a bit further

Still struggling on the linux install.

But I think I have fixes for all the issues - just cannot test them

I will roll them out today anyway as there are not too many linux users and its already broken for linux

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by dortik

I have the following issues on my linux box:

1. I hit Test Reception and it does not report any error in the window with log but it does not create "mpg" file.
2. Then I hit Stop but it does not stop it, so I have to kill it.
3. Then run a command used by encoder and it creates "mpg" file.

/usr/bin/vlc-wrapper "VLC" "http://212.118.62.154:8090/test.flv" --sout "#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=800,fps=30,scale=1,width=720,height=576,acodec=mpga,ab=128,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=ts,dst='/opt/sagetv/server/webfeedencoder/tmp/TVARMRU_test.mpg'}}" --sout-transcode-audio-sync -I rc --rc-host localhost:5003 --rc-fake-tty --extraintf=logger --logfile="/opt/sagetv/server/webfeedencoder/logs/TVARMRU_VLC.log" -vvv

I've attached my log files.

Please let me know what I can do with it?

OK got a linux environment with Sage TV now.

Linux is sweeeeet!

Found quite a few bugs during the install process - a miracle you got where you did.

But I am there now seeing everything that you are seeing above.

None of the fixes I was going to deploy Friday solved these issues.

Its a permissioning problem related to the VLC processes being launched from the webfeedencoder which I was running as root.

So basically if root runs the command - even as wrapper it does nothing but if an ordinary user runs the command it can run.

I need to do some research on this one see how to spawn VLC from a daemon.

Michael

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

This looks like a great plugin.

I am trying to get it to work with Windows 7 64 bit and SageTV 7.21 but I have not had any luck getting it to work.

It looks like others have also had problems with Windows 7 64 bit however I can not manage to get the config screen to work, I am not sure where the problem lies.

Is there anything I should try or logs I can post in order to try and fix the problem.

Thanks,

David

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

Hi,

This looks like a great plugin.

I am trying to get it to work with Windows 7 64 bit and SageTV 7.21 but I have not had any luck getting it to work.

It looks like others have also had problems with Windows 7 64 bit however I can not manage to get the config screen to work, I am not sure where the problem lies.

Is there anything I should try or logs I can post in order to try and fix the problem.

Thanks,

David

Hi David,

My main environment is windows 7 64bit - though I am only on 7.0.19 at the moment.

Most problems I have had in the past have been to do with directory permissioning and UAC.

By config screen do you mean the Sage plugin manager config screen or the webfeedencoder configuration tool?

How are you running up the config tool?

What do you see happen when you try?

Michael

[Bacon2002]

Michael,

I am fairly sure UAC is switched off, do you know how I can check?

The plugin installs fine using the SageTV plugin manager, when I try to access the webfeedencoder configuration tool via the web address I receive a " Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage " message which makes me think the plugin is not running.

I have also tried the cmd line:-

java -jar webfeedencoder/libs/configtool.jar

from the SageTV directory however I receive an error stating that java is not a know command or something similar, I therefore updated the environmental variable PATH and CLASSPATH to show the java installation path but I still get this error message even after a reboot.

Any idea what else I can try?

Thanks,

David

[RockyThe Hound]

Michael, thanks for the great plugin. When I try to add a channel using RadioTime "Find" button, the tree no longer expands and nothing happens when I try to search. I tried a "repair" from the 096 install.jar but it did not help. Can you give me some direction to get this feature working again?

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

Just thought I would let you know I did manage to get the plugin to work, must have been a problem at my end but after I ran the file from the JAR folder and subsequently changes the webconfig port to 8880 it appears to be working.

I do have a couple of other problems but I think I will have a play around before bothering you with them.

Thanks,


David

[RockyThe Hound]

Originally Posted by RockyThe Hound

Michael, thanks for the great plugin. When I try to add a channel using RadioTime "Find" button, the tree no longer expands and nothing happens when I try to search. I tried a "repair" from the 096 install.jar but it did not help. Can you give me some direction to get this feature working again?

I don't know how or why but it is working again. All is good now. Thanks

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

I have been playing around with this plugin, no success getting it to work yet or even getting any channels into SageTV but I have somehow managed to mess up the SageTV line up.

Two things have happened:-

1) two of the channels are now showing incorrect channel information repeating the same program over and over

2) none of the line ups are available when when selecting a video source

I have check the xml file that the importer send to SageTV and that is fine but the line ups are no longer available in SageTV?

I am assuming it was the plugin that caused this although it could just be coincidence, has this happened before and if so is there a fix?

Worst case I will remove everything and start again.

Thanks,

David