Plugin: PlayOn in Online Services (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon VOD, etc.)

[evilpenguin]

I'm having Andy lock down this thread in favor of the v7 version. Please don't repost old issues in new thread, i'm aware of them and i'll get to them when I have the time.


Description

This plug-in takes the videos that PlayOn makes available over UPnP (Hulu, Netflix, etc.) and lets you view them from within Sage's Online Services on a PC or Extender.

Known Issues:

• @SageTV - TV shows aren't working via Netflix.. Handling this will require the ability to specify dynamic sub folders from within the podcast feed. Feature request has already been submitted and Sage sees the benefit, but its not trivial to implements so it'll prolly be a while for this one.
• @SageTV - Sometimes .flv's in %TEMP% aren't getting deleted. This occurs when you power down your extender while watching any progressively downloading online services video. Bug has already been submitted to Sage and it'll probably be fixed in the next beta cycle. If you've got a small OS drive and this is a huge problem, see this post for a workaround.
• @SageTV - Special characters (',/&) sometimes aren't being displayed properly. While UPnP2Podcast is outputting UTF-8 properly, its getting lost when Sage writes the info file back to the tempFeed.xml. I'll ask Sage about this when they get a chance to look at the dynamic subcategories issue.
• @SageTV - Timebar doesn't advance when playing back the videos. Bug has been submitted to Sage and they say its an easy fix so we'll probably see it in the next beta cycle.

Requirements:

• Latest version of SageTV (6.6.2 or newer)
• Latest version of Default STV (2009120901 or newer)
• Latest version of PlayOn installed and the service started (Version 2.59.3664.62 or newer)
• Optional: Configure PlayOn to access your Netflix/Hulu/Amazon account to take advantage of their respective Queues.
• Optional: Netflix Account for Netflix "Watch It Now" (Silverlight playback must be enabled)
• Optional: Amazon VOD account (still in beta, kinda buggy but works)

Installation:

1. From detailed settings (Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Check for STV Update), update yourself to the lastest default STV (2009120901 or later). The updates don't all install at once so you may need to do this 5+ times.
2. Download the plug-in and unzip it into "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV"
3. DONE! Navigate to the Online Services menu and start enjoying your new content!

DOWNLOAD

Release History

• 9/27/09 - Initial Release
• 10/11/09 - v1.1
• 10/12/09 - v1.2
• 10/13/09 - v1.3
• 11/01/09 - v1.5
• 11/26/09 - v1.6
• 01/15/10 - v1.6a (Only updates default feeds)

Troubleshooting:

• Don't see any of the new menus (Hulu, Netflix, ABC, NBC, etc.) - Either your STV isn't fully updated or the feed files are in the wrong folder.
• When you select a show (ABC->Better Off Ted) it finds no episodes - The most likely cause of this is my tool being unable to communicate with PlayON. First, check to see if the PlayON Service is started, then try disabling firewalls to see if that helps. If neither of those work, please post UPnP2Podcast.log on this thread and I can take a look.
• When you select a video it goes to a blank screen - Try just pressing play, sometimes videos (especially hulu) just start paused.

Once you've double checked that you followed all of the install steps correctly, check out the 2nd post for debugging information.

64-Bit Windows Users:

First of all, why the hell are you using a 64-bit OS? Secondly, you'll run into some problems with Netflix by default. See this post for the fix.

Non-US Users:

Some services like Hulu and Netflix either don't work or have limited functionality from outside of the US. I have no expereince with this myself, but this post recommends a good , non-free, VPN service that can use to get around that.

WHS Users:

From PlayON FAQ:

PlayOn for Windows Home Server and Windows Server 2003
PlayOn generally works great on WHS and Windows Server 2003. You may, however, need to disable "Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration". See below for specific instructions.
Disabling "Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration"

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. After a few seconds a window will pop-up. Click the check mark next to Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (to make it unchecked). If you'd like to only disable it for Administrators or only for Users you can click Details and do so.
4. Press Next, let it finish, and it's complete. Verify that it's disabled by opening Internet Explorer. You should see a message: "Caution: Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration is not enabled".

Warnings, Known Issues, Misc.:

• A few people have found that they are missing a few .dll files required for PlayOn. If nothing is working for you check this post.
• Amazon VOD requires that you first play a video through IE on the PlayON server.
• Simonen found a nice UPnP server file browser you can use to explore whats available in PlayOn.

Bug List:

• @SageTV - Sometimes .flv's in %TEMP% aren't getting deleted. This occurs when you power down your extender while watching any progressively downloading online services video. Bug has already been submitted to Sage and it'll probably be fixed in the next beta cycle. If you've got a small OS drive and this is a huge problem, see this post for a workaround.
• @SageTV - TV shows aren't working via Netflix.. Handling this will require the ability to specify dynamic sub folders from within the podcast feed. Feature request has already been submitted and Sage sees the benefit, but its not trivial to implements so it'll prolly be a while for this one.
• @SageTV - Special characters (',/&) sometimes aren't being displayed properly. While UPnP2Podcast is outputting UTF-8 properly, its getting lost when Sage writes the info file back to the tempFeed.xml. I'll ask Sage about this when they get a chance to look at the dynamic subcategories issue.
• @SageTV - Timebar doesn't advance when playing back the videos. Bug has been submitted to Sage and they say its an easy fix so we'll probably see it in the next beta cycle.

Compiling Perl Scripts: (Devs only)

All my code comes pre-compiled and ready to rock, but if you feel the urge to tinker with it yourself, compiling perl scripts into standalone executables is easily accomplished using PAR::Packer.

LINUX: (Tested using Ubuntu 9.10 in VMware Player)
From a fresh install of Ubuntu 9.10 open a terminal and run these commands...

>sudo apt-get libperl-dev
>sudo apt-get subversion
>sudo CPAN PAR:Packer
>sudo CPAN MD5
>sudo CPAN SKONNO/Net-UPnP-1.4.2.tar.gz
>svn checkout http://upnp2podcast.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ upnp2podcast-read-only
>sudo cp -r ./upnp2podcast/upnp2podcast/UPNP.pm/* /usr/local/share/perl/5.10.0/Net/.
>./upnp2podcast/upnp2podcast/build_OUTs.pl ./upnp2podcast/upnp2podcast/UPnP2Podcast.pl

Windows:

1. Download and install ActivePerl 5.10.
2. Open Perl Package Manager
3. Add Bribes repository
4. Find PAR-Packer and install
5. Open a Command Prompt and run this command...
   

   pp -c -M PerlIO.pm -o ./script.exe ./script.pl

Screenshots:

[evilpenguin]

Debugging Issues:

Symptom #1: No videos are appearing when you select a menu item.

1. Try navigating to ABC->Lost, let it try and generate the video list.
2. Look in ...\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3\OnlineVideos\ and see if there is a file named tempFeed.xml
3. Open up tempFeed.xml and check to see if there are any <item></item> tags that contain long URL's to .mpg files.
   

       <item> 
         <title>Apollo, Apollo</title> 
         <description>Season 3 Episode 16 - With Jack's 50th birthday looming, he questions his happiness. Liz's ex-boyfriend Dennis "The Beeper King" decides to come clean to Liz about an addiction, stirring up drama between Liz and Jenna.</description> 
         <pubDate>2009-03-26</pubDate> 
         <itunes:subtitle>Season 3 Episode 16 - With Jack's 50th birthday looming, he questions his happiness. Liz's ex-boyfriend Dennis "The Beeper King" decides to come clean to Liz about an addiction, stirring up drama between Liz and Jenna.</itunes:subtitle>
         <itunes:duration>0:21:32</itunes:duration>
         <enclosure url="http://10.0.1.2:63478/hulu-43cc0389-bb62-4fd2-afc4-c2345f1141b7/1-hulu-43cc0389-bb62-4fd2-afc4-c2345f1141b7.mpg" length="991408000" type="video/mpeg2" /> 
         <media:content duration="1292" medium="video" fileSize="991408000" url="http://10.0.1.2:63478/hulu-43cc0389-bb62-4fd2-afc4-c2345f1141b7/1-hulu-43cc0389-bb62-4fd2-afc4-c2345f1141b7.mpg" type="video/mpeg2"> 
          <media:title>Apollo, Apollo</media:title> 
           <media:description>Season 3 Episode 16 - With Jack's 50th birthday looming, he questions his happiness. Liz's ex-boyfriend Dennis "The Beeper King" decides to come clean to Liz about an addiction, stirring up drama between Liz and Jenna.</media:description> 
           <media:thumbnail url="http://10.0.1.2:63478/hulu-43cc0389-bb62-4fd2-afc4-c2345f1141b7/1-hulu-43cc0389-bb62-4fd2-afc4-c2345f1141b7.mpg?albumArt=true"/> 
         </media:content> 
       </item>

• If no tempFeed.xml file exists then it probably means the import wasn't successful. First of all, make sure you extracted the installer zip to the correct folder (Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\). Then revert back to a clean SageTV3.xml and apply all of the available STV updates and then try importing again. Once you've done that redo this test.
• If tempFeed.xml exists but is an empty file or contains no <item></item> tags please move onto Symptom #2.

Symptom #2: tempFeed.xml is an empty file or contains no items.

1. Open up a command prompt
2. Navigate to "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV"
3. Run this exact command...
   

   UPnP2Podcast.exe "PlayOn:Hulu:+2" debug

• If the output looks like this then you're able to connect/navigate the PlayON server from that machine. Therefore your tempFeed.xml should be getting made correctly. Please verify that you're using the most recent version of PlayOn.
• If it hangs or fails to find the "UPnP Device" move onto Symptom #3.

Symptom #3: UPnP2Podcast fails to connect to the PlayOn server

1. Open Up you're playOn Settings and verify that the server is currently running.
2. Open up the windows firewall settings and completely disable it.
3. Shut down any anti-virus software you may have.
4. Re-run the test from Symptom #2.

• If it succeeds this time then the problem is either with your Firewall or Anti-Virus. Check the PlayOn forums for information about how to set those up properly for PlayON.
• If it still doesn't work... well, i'm not sure yet

Symptom #4: Can see the videos but they fail when you try to play them back

1. Try navigating to ABC->Lost, let it generate the video list.
2. Look in ...\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3\OnlineVideos\ and and open tempFeed.xml.
3. Copy one of the long .mpg links and attempt to open it in a web browser.

Same PC as the PlayON Server

• If it still doesn't work please verify that you have the latest version of PlayOn installed and also try installing Windows Media Player 11.

Extender or Different PC than PlayOn server

• Verify that you have the latest version of PlayOn installed and also try installing Windows Media Player 11 on the PlayOn server machine.
• Turn off the Firewall on both the PlayOn server and, if applicable, the client PC.
• Try playing back the video again.

[LehighBri]

Amazing amazing job. And I love how you pre-populated the custom properties files with most of the useful content that could be played via PlayOn. People are going to love this plugin... especially since all of this content is playable on extenders!

[Slipshod]

Have you seen this chicken? He rocks.

[matt91]

thanks for the work EP. How come this won't work in SageMC? I thought it just reverted to the stock STV for the online services?

Matt

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by matt91

thanks for the work EP. How come this won't work in SageMC? I thought it just reverted to the stock STV for the online services?

Matt

It does, but it reverts directly to SageTV3.xml which doesn't have any imports applied to it.

SageMC Users:

1. Follow the instructions and get the plug-in working in the default STV
2. Figure out what the name of the modified default STV you're using is (check the SageTV Settings->Advanced).
3. On the server, copy the modified STV file, and overwrite SageTV3.xml with it.
4. Load up SageMC again, and everything should work.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by Slipshod

Have you seen this chicken? He rocks.

It's actually a penguin, evil one, but yes, he DOES rock!

I haven't actually tried this plugin yet, but can't wait. Buying PlayOn now and will test it tonight.

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

It's actually a penguin, evil one, but yes, he DOES rock!

You need to watch "The Wrong Trousers"... Hysterical, especially the "Have you seen this chicken" part.

[jperquin]

When you are off-site (ie. not connected to the same network as the SageTV server), is it correct to assume that Placeshifter will not be able to play Playon content?

JP

[evilpenguin]

It actually should still work, the content will be downloaded to your Server and then it'll be transcoded on the fly and placeshifted just like any other video. But , honestly, what's the point? If you're on a PC, why not just go to Hulu

[simonen]

Nope, it works fine. I am using it right now to do just that.

[jperquin]

It appears that shows with an ampersand in the title are not populating correctly. Example "Brothers & Sisters" on Hulu's CBS feed.

JP

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by Zippster

Not sure when it started to do this, but wasnt there originally.

Do you have an example we can check?

[Zippster]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Do you have an example we can check?

Playon/Hulu/Channels/Action and Adventure/TV Episodes, everything listed under there for example I have double, one folder has a subfolder that says "error finding videos" and the other duplicate folder has the videos in it as it should.
Just upgraded my playon again recently and not sure if thats when it started. 2.59.3577 is the version I currently have.

[samgreco]

First, this is awesome. Top of the list for me.

But, I am a bit confused about Playon Plugins. If I add them into PlayOn, what do I need to do on the Sage side to get them to work?

[Zippster]

Originally Posted by Zippster

Playon/Hulu/Channels/Action and Adventure/TV Episodes, everything listed under there for example I have double, one folder has a subfolder that says "error finding videos" and the other duplicate folder has the videos in it as it should.
Just upgraded my playon again recently and not sure if thats when it started. 2.59.3577 is the version I currently have.

Not sure if no reply means nobody else was seeing this issue or not but turned out to be in the HULU / CHANNELS directory, each subfolder ( show )of each channel in that directory was duplicated, Playon replied to my ticket and I figured I would keep the community posted.

Dear PlayOn Customer,

Thank you for your reply.

We have identified this issue as a bug and have brought it to the attention of our developers; we expect that it will be resolved in the next release.

Our apologies for any inconvenience in the interim.

Regards,

MediaMall Support

[TZen]

Please forgive a newbie, but I'm getting stuck in the installation process, with the troubleshooting issue: "Symptom #1: No videos are appearing when you select a menu item." I've installed up to version STV 2009112501. I'm using the extender HD100 (although it's not working on the PC, either. I just don't know how to "revert back to a clean SageTV3.xml." I've searched the forums and read the first 18 pages of posts on this topic, but I'm still not sure what it means. Do I simply directly go into C:Program files/sagetv/sagetv and delete something? I tried going through Setup/detailed setup/advanced/load new sage application package/clicked yes, again extracted v1.6. Still nothing. I'm sorry for what may seem like a ridiculous question, but I really want for it to work. Can anyone help?

[Greg]

Is there a PlayOn plugin for TNT and Food Network?

Thanks,
Greg

[Media Quest]

1st, many thanks to EP for his work.

I am having a problem where Hulu feeds freeze. I am on the latest version of Playon, the default STV, Sage HD200 beta firmware, and of course, the Playon Plugin.

When the freeze comes, I can go backwards, but it always freezes when it catches up to the same place. No amount of pausing, waiting, or fast forwarding will get me beyond that point. Even restarting will freeze once it gets to the exact same point. Often, I will just pull up Hulu on my laptop to finish the episode. Monk on the USA network is the most recent example.

Has anyone seen this?

Any ideas on how to fix it?

BTW, is there some kind of fast forwarding going to be incorporated sometime in the future?

Thanks

[lotusvball]

I have had this happen a few times now. I did get it to work once, but I think I had to soft power down my HD100 and go back it to get it to work.