Plugin: Mobile Web Interface Version 2

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Jason

All you have to do is reselect the link at that point...

As for the link you posted, TheWalkingDead-TS19-9459062-0 is the actual file name without the extension?

[redondo_se]

Originally Posted by jreichen

It doesn't seem to like the HTTPLS coming from the mobile web interface. I disabled security as a test and that fixed one problem but it still wouldn't play the video. There isn't anything in the sage logs so I'd have a hard time tracking down the problem if the video player doesn't log anything besides a message on the screen saying something like "Can't play file." That's always helpful.

My TODO list for Sage development is growing faster than I can keep up with so I'm afraid I won't have time to do a lot of work on this. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see it work because I have an Android phone as well as an iPhone.

Bummer, but I understand. It's a relatively new protocol. Just as a another data point, the Nasa HLS streams also play on Vplayer, but not as smooth as the apple link I posted earlier.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

As for the link you posted, TheWalkingDead-TS19-9459062-0 is the actual file name without the extension?

Yes...

The link that I posted was for a search query within ORB that would then pop up a secondary page with the actual link.

Using the actual ORB API (and a little memory...), you can use this link to actually stream it via an .asx file...

http://mycast.orb.com/orb/data/stream.asx?q=path.filename="TheWalkingDead-TS19-9459062-0"

I posted this exact question to the ORB forums some time a go...

http://forums.orb.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5919

The problem comes in not for the stream, but in getting the browser to actually act on the link as opposed to saving it... This is why the flash video format works within the Android system and the .asx format simply does not get passed to, say, vPlayer.

Here is the main developer page for all the ORB API information:

https://developer.orb.com/wiki/Main_Page

Just as an FYI: Here is an actual streamer that uses the ORB API's for an android phone

http://christian-albert-mueller.com/...1-androrb-03a/

WOW... traction!

-Jason

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jreichen

I was going to look into the code for nielm's web server again and see what it does. I did that awhile ago and seem to remember the browser needing a logged in session with Orb before the links would work.

As far as needing a session id (logging in...) before you can stream, here is the ORB authentication method:

https://developer.orb.com/wiki/How_t...authentication

-Jason

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jreichen

I'd like to see it work because I have an Android phone as well as an iPhone.

Just to 'push' you along...

If you could add/code the following, all flash enabled browsers could achieve streaming via Orb:

1. Obtain an Orb API Key via https://mycast.orb.com/orb/html/createAPIKey.html

This will allow you (via their terms...) to inquire/post requests to the Orb software.

2. For non-iOS devices, query the Orb server for a 'session ID' via https://api.orb.com/orb/xml/session....n&password=foo

The *APIKEY* would be the key that you received in step 1. This will validate all the future sessions so that the credentials will not have to be passed with each request.

3. Parse the Orb SessionId and the SageTV recording title (without the extension...) into the following URL(s):

https://mycast.orb.com/orb/data/stre...playPosition=0

That's it...

I say 'That's it...' but I am also not doing the coding...

You can add even more options (.asx/.pls etc...) as well. Heck if you were feeling truly industrious, you could embed the player via http://mediaelementjs.com/ or http://videojs.com/ for a truly cross platform solution in a one page solution.

-Jason

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jreichen

It doesn't seem to like the HTTPLS coming from the mobile web interface.

I may be barking up the wrong tree here, but are the correct mime types associations being sent in the HTTPLiveStreamingPlaylistServlet? Just quickly glancing, it appears that while the application/vnd.apple.mpegurl is specified for the MIME-type association, the application/x-mpegURL association is not. This may be why the iOS devices are working and the Android vPlayer is not able to do so.

According to this link, the application/x-mpegURL is specified as an 'or', but with only the application/vnd.apple.mpegurl specified it would only work on Apple/iOS devices?

-Jason

EDIT: I think this may be EXACTLY the reason... Looking through the decompiled jad, here is the line:


resp.setContentType("application/vnd.apple.mpegurl");

[jreichen]

Good idea. The content type might be (part of) the issue. Strangely enough, the link to Apple's m3u8 on the previous page returns a content type of audio/x-mpegurl and the NASA m3u8 returns a content type of text/plain.

Newer drafts of the IETF spec request that application/vnd.apple.mpegurl be registered with IANA, so I'm not sure which direction Apple is headed.

I'll try it out and see what happens. The other issues will be if VPlayer can be launched from a web page and whether it works with HTTP basic authentication.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jreichen

Good idea. The content type might be (part of) the issue. Strangely enough, the link to Apple's m3u8 on the previous page returns a content type of audio/x-mpegurl and the NASA m3u8 returns a content type of text/plain.

Newer drafts of the IETF spec request that application/vnd.apple.mpegurl be registered with IANA, so I'm not sure which direction Apple is headed.

I'll try it out and see what happens. The other issues will be if VPlayer can be launched from a web page and whether it works with HTTP basic authentication.

The apple link does spawn vPlayer... Now the authentication may be another story...

-Jason

[jreichen]

I tried both audio/x-mpegurl and application/x-mpegURL with the mobile web interface's URL. Neither one works. VPlayer pops up a window that says "Can't open this file"

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jreichen

I tried both audio/x-mpegurl and application/x-mpegURL with the mobile web interface's URL. Neither one works. VPlayer pops up a window that says "Can't open this file"

Hmmm... OK then...

I double checked both the Apple link and the NASA link that were posted previously. The Apple link works flawlessly, while the NASA link actually lists the .m3u8 as a text file.

Digging through the mime types on my Epic (as listed from the Astro File Manager...) there was no .m3u8 listed... There is a .m3u listed as an audio/x-mpegurl. I had previously added .m3u8 as the same as .m3u... When you click the Apple link from your Android, does it play the bipbop video?

I ask in that maybe (???) if you cannot open the Apple dev link, and I can, then it may be a missing mime-type on your actual phone. I do not think that I have the content type from the NASA stream linked to an audio or video intent, which is why it lists simply as a text file...

Does all that make any sort of sense?

-Jason

[jreichen]

Originally Posted by jreichen

...and the NASA m3u8 returns a content type of text/plain.

I'm guessing the reason it lists the content of the file on your phone is because the mime type is text/plain.

Originally Posted by Jason

When you click the Apple link from your Android, does it play the bipbop video?

Yes, I get prompted to open it in either VPlayer or Web Browser. I chose VPlayer and it played the video.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jreichen

I'm guessing the reason it lists the content of the file on your phone is because the mime type is text/plain.

Yes, I get prompted to open it in either VPlayer or Web Browser. I chose VPlayer and it played the video.

Well then its down to either the encoding or the wrapper (m3u8). This sounds stupid but are you actually outputting an m3u8 file? Stream.m3u8?

Jason

[redondo_se]

Originally Posted by Jason

Well then its down to either the encoding or the wrapper (m3u8). This sounds stupid but are you actually outputting an m3u8 file? Stream.m3u8?

Jason

If you look at the content of the Nasa link I posted earlier, it doesn't look like the content of the apple link. I don't think it's just a mime type issue. I really don't know much about HLS yet, but I don't think that Nasa link is actually a HLS m3u8 file. It may be a valid playlist file, but it just contains links to the real HLS m3u8 files.

Look at these snippets from each of the files:

Apple "bip/bop" sample:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:10
#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:0
#EXTINF:10, no desc
fileSequence0.ts
#EXTINF:10, no desc
fileSequence1.ts
#EXTINF:10, no desc
fileSequence2.ts
...

Nasa "master" playlist file:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=298577
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Edge.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=298577
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/ksc/Edge.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=532383
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/3G.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=532383
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/ksc/3G.m3u8

Contents of the first Nasa "msfc/Edge.m3u8" file:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:10
#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:28312
#EXTINF:10,
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Edge/Edge_012711_135707_28312.ts
#EXTINF:10,
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Edge/Edge_012711_135707_28313.ts
#EXTINF:10,
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Edge/Edge_012711_135707_28314.ts

I think if the Media Streaming Services plugin was generating an m3u8 like either the bip/bop sample of the Nasa m3u8, then Vplayer would have a chance of playing it.

Try playing one of the m3u8 files from Nasa in Vplayer, it works:

http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Edge.m3u8
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/ksc/Edge.m3u8

[redondo_se]

Ah, ok, so that first nasa link is the "index" file with the different bitrate streams, and the contents of the "index" file gives the links to the actual streams. So Vplayer doesn't seem to know what to do with the "index" files, but it can play the individual streams.

[jreichen]

Originally Posted by Jason

Well then its down to either the encoding or the wrapper (m3u8). This sounds stupid but are you actually outputting an m3u8 file? Stream.m3u8?

Jason

No, I'm generating the playlist on the fly from a servlet. I also tried changing the URL to http://<server>:<port>/HTTPLiveStreamingPlaylist/test.m3u8?MediaFileId=12345678 to see if the file extension works. That still goes through the servlet (HTTPLiveStreamingPlaylist) but it looks like a file with an m3u8 extension to the client.

Originally Posted by redondo_se

Ah, ok, so that first nasa link is the "index" file with the different bitrate streams, and the contents of the "index" file gives the links to the actual streams. So Vplayer doesn't seem to know what to do with the "index" files, but it can play the individual streams.

Yes, the first one is what Apple calls a "Variant Playlist". It describes all the available bitrates for the stream. I thought maybe VPlayer didn't like that so I tried the other playlist but that didn't work either.

If you turn on Sage's and Jetty's debug logging you can see the playlists that are generated. (It only prints the first and last entries in the segment playlist to avoid flooding the log file with needless repetition.)

[freewheeling]

I still can't figure out what one does to actually use this. There's lots of discussion about people trying it out successfully, but what do you *do*?? Type an address into Safari? What address? I can't find any straightforward instructions on how to use/implement this and it's driving me nuts. Do you guys read each others minds?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by freewheeling

I still can't figure out what one does to actually use this. There's lots of discussion about people trying it out successfully, but what do you *do*?? Type an address into Safari? What address? I can't find any straightforward instructions on how to use/implement this and it's driving me nuts. Do you guys read each others minds?

Assuming you have everything 'setup' correctly, yes, you would type the address into Safari (or any other Web Browser...).

The address 'could' be, depending on your setup, and at it's most basic:

http://localhost:8080/sagem/m/menu.jsp

where localhost would be YOUR pc.

This is basically a mobilized version of the original web server made by nielm in 2009. I would suggest reading up just a bit on it, as it may give you a better understanding on how/what/why/etc things do what they do...

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...6&page=1&pp=20

-Jason

[Jason]

Originally Posted by jreichen

No, I'm generating the playlist on the fly from a servlet. I also tried changing the URL to http://<server>:<port>/HTTPLiveStreamingPlaylist/test.m3u8?MediaFileId=12345678 to see if the file extension works.

So the current implementation does not have the .m3u8 extension? When you tested the .m3u8 'version' did your client have the .m3u8 mime type set? You can add/change the mime types in Android via the Astro File Manager (More>Preferences>Edit File Extensions).

As an aside, what, specifically, is the difference between the playlist that you generate and the 'Apple' version?

As a further aside (OK... way off course...) in place of the thumbnail up top, have you considered embedding the video.js player (http://videojs.com/#getting-started)? It could/should (depending on IF it recognizes your source stream...) alleviate a ton of the cross browser issues.

-Jason

[freewheeling]

Originally Posted by Jason

Assuming you have everything 'setup' correctly, yes, you would type the address into Safari (or any other Web Browser...).

The address 'could' be, depending on your setup, and at it's most basic:

http://localhost:8080/sagem/m/menu.jsp

where localhost would be YOUR pc.

This is basically a mobilized version of the original web server made by nielm in 2009. I would suggest reading up just a bit on it, as it may give you a better understanding on how/what/why/etc things do what they do...

[url]http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=8426&page=1&pp=20[/url

Jason:

Thanks. I tried using the address: http://localhost:8080/streaming and I just got a message that there was nothing there. I'm using the latest version of Safari on a MacBook under Snow Leopard to test it.

Does the web server by Nielm play videos? I thought it was just a way to manage the extender or server from a website, with no playback capabilities.

Update: Don't know why it didn't occur to me that the nielm web server could play videos. Now I wonder if there's a way of modifying one of these to play on the Roku. The Safari implementation worked, although it only played intermittently for the HD PVR files. I think I can save them in mpg instead of ts, so will try that.

[jreichen]

I have some updates on using VPlayer on Android to play HTTP Live Streaming and wanted to let everyone know what's going on.

I did get VPlayer (0.7.7b7) to play a video. However, based on what I found in my testing, there are several things that I would want resolved before integrating it into the Mobile Web Interface.

• The playlist must have the full URL in it for each segment, which as far as I can tell does not follow the standard. This wouldn't be a blocker, I could create full URLs with a little refactoring of my code.
• It does not support Variant Playlists, which are the higher level playlists redondo_se discussed earlier. Or at least it doesn't support them very well. It kept going in circles trying to decide which bitrate to play and never did begin playback. Without these it will not do variable bitrate streaming.
• VPlayer's timeline displays a constant negative time value and does not allow seeking within the video.
• I still need to verify this, but I doubt it integrates with the browser's JavaScript engine. I could probably get it working without this, but it would be more limited than the media player experience on iOS.
• I have not tested this with security enabled. Until I launch it from the web page I won't know for sure if it's supported.

Note that the other things we tried in previous posts are not necessary. This includes associating a mime type with a file extension in the Astro File Manager or putting a fake filename with a .m3u8 extension in the URL.

I didn't go back and try the application/vnd.apple.mpegurl again. Right now I'm running with application/x-mpegURL.

It was also brought to my attention that Android 3.0 will come with a media player that supports HTTP Live Streaming. Obviously I'd rather support something that ships with the OS, but we'll have to see. I'm still waiting for Samsung to deliver 2.2 for my Captivate. Not that it's a big deal that it shuts off by itself at random times or anything.