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

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by jpaddock3000

There is a new show called White Collar on USA which is on the Hulu site, but I wasn't able to find it under Hulu USA in Sage. If I access the PlayOn service from my Wii, I'm able to see White Collar. Any ideas?

This plug-in just creates the illusion of UPnP support by hard-coding a lot of known UPnP content. The upside of this is that it makes navigating fast and it works in Sage, but the downside is that I have to constantly update the feeds to keep it current.

So basically, to answer your question, to make those TV series show up in your feed, I need to manually add them to my feed files and them distribute them to everyone. I know its not ideal, but its the only way to get PlayOn to work for now.

[jmcomp124]

First, a thank you for folks like goodpenguin who take so much effort to be helpful. I got netflix to work on the server and the HD200, however I have a minor issue. The bug list in the first post alludes towards this but I am not sure if it is talking about the exact same issue I am facing with forwarding shows.

Bug List:
@SageTV - Timebar doesn't advance when playing back the videos. This will take a SageTV update to fix.

The exact symptom is I am not able to forward either with the remote in the HD theater or the SageTV UI in the server. The timebar progresses but then the movie doesn't. Then the time bar reverts to where the movie currently is. So anytime I want to watch a movie part-way and then start there at a later point, I have to essentially wait until the movie gets to the point because it starts from the beginning every time. With IE and Silverlight it works just fine.
Is this the same issue as the timebar not advancing?
If not, has anyone encountered this and know how to fix it?
Sorry if this has been already addressed elsewhere.
Thanks,
-Jai

[Pelicanjoe]

Hi, I searched through the post and may have missed it. This patch works great (Thanks E.P), the only problem I seem to have is that on Netflix, my instant Queue only shows 4 shows versus the 237 I actually have in my instant queue. Was there a fix I need to do, or should I just be grateful that I can access Netflix at all?

Thanks!

[VikingCrown]

Originally Posted by jmcomp124

The timebar progresses but then the movie doesn't. Then the time bar reverts to where the movie currently is. So anytime I want to watch a movie part-way and then start there at a later point, I have to essentially wait until the movie gets to the point because it starts from the beginning every time.

Jai,

I'm sure someone will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong. but i believe this has to do with the buffering of the movie. if you attempt to fast forward but the movie hasn't buffered much past where you are watching the timebar will move forward and then go right back to where you are currently. I see this using Hulu sometimes.

~ Brian

[jmcomp124]

Originally Posted by VikingCrown

Jai,

I'm sure someone will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong. but i believe this has to do with the buffering of the movie. if you attempt to fast forward but the movie hasn't buffered much past where you are watching the timebar will move forward and then go right back to where you are currently. I see this using Hulu sometimes.

~ Brian

I suspected the same thing, however if it is buffering then it must be the software. My broadband speeds are 20download and 5 upload with fios. I also believe that they don't do any throttling based on some recent tests I did. I believe the movie downloads in a few minutes and it is evident from netflix silverlight that the issue is not with download speeds causing buffering issues.
The time bar also shows green for the time ahead which I guess indicates the movie has already been buffered.

Please let me know what I should try next.
Thanks,
-Jai

[robogeek]

Originally Posted by jmcomp124

I suspected the same thing, however if it is buffering then it must be the software. My broadband speeds are 20download and 5 upload with fios. I also believe that they don't do any throttling based on some recent tests I did. I believe the movie downloads in a few minutes and it is evident from netflix silverlight that the issue is not with download speeds causing buffering issues.
The time bar also shows green for the time ahead which I guess indicates the movie has already been buffered.

Please let me know what I should try next.
Thanks,
-Jai

Playing NetFlix movies through PlayOn isn't the same as playing them with SilverLight. Since NetFlix content is protected, PlayOn is converting it to an unprotected MPEG2 file on-the-fly. It can't download the NetFlix stream and do a quick conversion...due to the NetFlix DRM protection, PlayOn can only process the stream at playback speed. If I understand the PlayOn software correctly, a 2 hour NetFlix movie will take 2 hours to generate a full file for SageTV, so it won't matter if you have 20Meg downstream or 2Meg downstream. Don't pay much attention to the green bar on the OSD. Just because the green bar is full, doesn't mean the video is fully downloaded or has that much buffered. The green bar should be calculated based on the filesize and time. Since PlayOn can't give SageTV a target size on the finished file, SageTV can't accurately fill the green bar like a progress bar. Bottom line is, this PlayOn stuff is more or less a hack job to get PlayOn UPnP data converted to Podcast feeds that SageTV can understand, and there really isn't anything more to try on your end. We will probably have to wait for the SageTV developers or one of the plugin writers to create a real UPnP client interface for SageTV instead of relying on the existing Podcast interface to correct these minor annoyances.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by robogeek

Don't pay much attention to the green bar on the OSD. Just because the green bar is full, doesn't mean the video is fully downloaded or has that much buffered. The green bar should be calculated based on the filesize and time. Since PlayOn can't give SageTV a target size on the finished file, SageTV can't accurately fill the green bar like a progress bar.

Actually, the time bar is something Sage can fix on their end. PlayOn does makes file size estimations for all its videos which I then pass onto Sage via the podcast feed. But the problem is that Sage isn't written to handle mpeg2 progressive playback so we're lucky it works as well as it does. I already sent in a bug report and this is what they said...

For the green progress bar we analyze the media content as its being
downloaded....but the problem you're running into is that we only analyze
MP4, MP3 and FLV content....we don't currently analyze MPEG2 content during
progressive download. (although such a thing is not hard to do for the next
version....and don't ask me about when that'll be ready )

So it sounds like all we have to do is wait patiently and it'll just magically get fixed

[robogeek]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

So it sounds like all we have to do is wait patiently and it'll just magically get fixed

That's great. I hope the next round of SageTV beta releases are just around the corner

[HuMan321]

Originally Posted by robogeek

I got a couple more PlayOn Script Plugin script additions. If you don't have the Script Plugin, grab it from the playonplugins.com message board here. Be sure to have the 0.5.0.0 version of the Script Plugin installed. Once the Script Plugin is installed, grab and install the Justin.TV and KidsWB/DC Beyond scripts from the playonplugins.com message board:

Justin.TV script - http://www.playonplugins.com/index.php?topic=1957.0
KidsWB/DC Beyond script - http://www.playonplugins.com/index.php?topic=2003.0

No modifications to the scripts are necessary. Just install the scripts to the MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts directory as normal. The Justin.TV script consists of three files. All three files go into the Plugins\Scripts directory. Once all files are installed, restart the MediaMall Server service. Then download the attached zip file and copy the .properties files to the SageTV\STVs\SageTV3\OnlineVideos directory. Copy the Justin.tv.Bookmarks.txt file to the MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts directory replacing the existing file.

That's all for basic installation. It will create a KidsWB and Justin.TV categories in the Online Services menu. If have a Cartoons category, the KidsWB/DC Beyond cartoons will be added to that category as well. If you don't have a Cartoons category, it will also be created and contain the KidsWB and DC Beyond cartoons.

You can add your own Justin.TV channels by editing the Justin.tv.Bookmarks.txt file in the MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts directory. And you can edit the file without having to restart the MediaMall Server service. If you are using UPnPInspector, just right click the Justin.TV folder and refresh the container to see the newly added content. No need to modify the .properties file either...just leave the Online Services menu and then go back in. I believe SageTV caches the video list for a short period, so you may have to wait a while for newly added bookmarks to show up in the list. To add bookmarks, go to the Justin.TV web site and find a channel you want to add. The Justin.TV web page that displays the video for your channel is the URL you want to add to the bookmarks file. The format is:

URL Title

For example, the Cartoon Palace channel:
http://en.justin.tv/cartoonpalace_1 Random Toons

The URL is http://en.justin.tv/cartoonpalace_1 and the Title is Random Toons. You can set the title to anything you want. Whatever you use as the title is what will show up in the Justin.TV category in the Online Services menu. One last note...the Justin.TV channels should show up dynamically in SageTV. The channels that are off the air, have stopped broadcasting, or have been removed from Justin.TV shouldn't show up in the video list in SageTV.

Hi Jason,

I just wanted to say thanks for providing these for us. I cannot quite get the hang of it so it has been really helpful.

[Vettenstein]

Originally Posted by robogeek

I got a couple more PlayOn Script Plugin script additions. If you don't have the Script Plugin, grab it from the playonplugins.com message board here. Be sure to have the 0.5.0.0 version of the Script Plugin installed. Once the Script Plugin is installed, grab and install the Justin.TV and KidsWB/DC Beyond scripts from the playonplugins.com message board:

Justin.TV script - http://www.playonplugins.com/index.php?topic=1957.0
KidsWB/DC Beyond script - http://www.playonplugins.com/index.php?topic=2003.0

No modifications to the scripts are necessary. Just install the scripts to the MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts directory as normal. The Justin.TV script consists of three files. All three files go into the Plugins\Scripts directory. Once all files are installed, restart the MediaMall Server service. Then download the attached zip file and copy the .properties files to the SageTV\STVs\SageTV3\OnlineVideos directory. Copy the Justin.tv.Bookmarks.txt file to the MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts directory replacing the existing file.

That's all for basic installation. It will create a KidsWB and Justin.TV categories in the Online Services menu. If have a Cartoons category, the KidsWB/DC Beyond cartoons will be added to that category as well. If you don't have a Cartoons category, it will also be created and contain the KidsWB and DC Beyond cartoons.

You can add your own Justin.TV channels by editing the Justin.tv.Bookmarks.txt file in the MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts directory. And you can edit the file without having to restart the MediaMall Server service. If you are using UPnPInspector, just right click the Justin.TV folder and refresh the container to see the newly added content. No need to modify the .properties file either...just leave the Online Services menu and then go back in. I believe SageTV caches the video list for a short period, so you may have to wait a while for newly added bookmarks to show up in the list. To add bookmarks, go to the Justin.TV web site and find a channel you want to add. The Justin.TV web page that displays the video for your channel is the URL you want to add to the bookmarks file. The format is:

URL Title

For example, the Cartoon Palace channel:
http://en.justin.tv/cartoonpalace_1 Random Toons

The URL is http://en.justin.tv/cartoonpalace_1 and the Title is Random Toons. You can set the title to anything you want. Whatever you use as the title is what will show up in the Justin.TV category in the Online Services menu. One last note...the Justin.TV channels should show up dynamically in SageTV. The channels that are off the air, have stopped broadcasting, or have been removed from Justin.TV shouldn't show up in the video list in SageTV.

Thanks for your .PROPERTIES files. They've been working great, but (there's always a 'but' right) I'm getting 'no videos found' with the KidsWB/DC Beyond. I do have the needed scripts installed and can see the content with UPnP Inspector. Is this one working for anyone? Thanks.

[Vettenstein]

I threw this together for the HGTV plugin, using EP's Food Network files as a template.

[robogeek]

Originally Posted by Vettenstein

Thanks for your .PROPERTIES files. They've been working great, but (there's always a 'but' right) I'm getting 'no videos found' with the KidsWB/DC Beyond. I do have the needed scripts installed and can see the content with UPnP Inspector. Is this one working for anyone? Thanks.

Sorry, that's my bad. I thought I used the original LUA script from the playonplugins.com forum, but it did require a small modification to work. Grab the attached script and copy it over the one in MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts. Restart the MediaMallServer service and that should fix it.

[Vettenstein]

Originally Posted by robogeek

Sorry, that's my bad. I thought I used the original LUA script from the playonplugins.com forum, but it did require a small modification to work. Grab the attached script and copy it over the one in MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts. Restart the MediaMallServer service and that should fix it.

That did it. Thanks again.

[jmcomp124]

Originally Posted by robogeek

Playing NetFlix movies through PlayOn isn't the same as playing them with SilverLight. Since NetFlix content is protected, PlayOn is converting it to an unprotected MPEG2 file on-the-fly. It can't download the NetFlix stream and do a quick conversion...due to the NetFlix DRM protection, PlayOn can only process the stream at playback speed. If I understand the PlayOn software correctly, a 2 hour NetFlix movie will take 2 hours to generate a full file for SageTV, so it won't matter if you have 20Meg downstream or 2Meg downstream. Don't pay much attention to the green bar on the OSD. Just because the green bar is full, doesn't mean the video is fully downloaded or has that much buffered. The green bar should be calculated based on the filesize and time. Since PlayOn can't give SageTV a target size on the finished file, SageTV can't accurately fill the green bar like a progress bar. Bottom line is, this PlayOn stuff is more or less a hack job to get PlayOn UPnP data converted to Podcast feeds that SageTV can understand, and there really isn't anything more to try on your end. We will probably have to wait for the SageTV developers or one of the plugin writers to create a real UPnP client interface for SageTV instead of relying on the existing Podcast interface to correct these minor annoyances.

Thanks for the clear explanation. I am glad this at least works the way it does. It would be nice to have a save point while switching sources (say from movie to live tv) and back to the movie. Since playon is the bottleneck, buffer the movie in the background while watching Live TV and switch back, some workaround like that.

[OneThomas]

Hey Folks... So no one else is getting a "Video Download failed - video not found on the server" error from trying to play vidoes off Hulu? Things were working great - but I haven't been able to play a single thing from Hulu since late last week. Although all the other non-Hulu feeds added by the plugin are working perfectly... I'm so diappointed - this was FANTASTIC! Not sure why it has died... Nothing has changed, that I remember..

Note - the same vidoes play fine directly off Hulu's Web Page...

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by OneThomas

Note - the same vidoes play fine directly off Hulu's Web Page...

A few possibilities,

a) check your C: to make sure you have free space
b) Update PlayON

[jsonnabend]

Ok, one last try (these all-in-one threads are tough, eh?). Does anyone have green bars showing top and bottom for playback of Netflix and Hulu streams?

- Jeff

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by jsonnabend

Ok, one last try (these all-in-one threads are tough, eh?). Does anyone have green bars showing top and bottom for playback of Netflix and Hulu streams?

- Jeff

No. Picture perfect play for both Netflix and Hulu. Is this on a hd200? Have you tried changing to source or fill?

Gerry

[dfizer68]

Originally Posted by robogeek

Sorry, that's my bad. I thought I used the original LUA script from the playonplugins.com forum, but it did require a small modification to work. Grab the attached script and copy it over the one in MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts. Restart the MediaMallServer service and that should fix it.

You people are great who have done all this work!
I love what these scripts are but I can't get them to actually work, Nick, kidswb, justintv...etc they show up in sagetv but when you try to load a video list they say "no videos found" Am I doing something wrong or are these just real unstable at this time. I see videos in the upnp inspector but can't get them to show up on sage. Hoping to get some help on this

[robogeek]

Originally Posted by dfizer68

You people are great who have done all this work!
I love what these scripts are but I can't get them to actually work, Nick, kidswb, justintv...etc they show up in sagetv but when you try to load a video list they say "no videos found" Am I doing something wrong or are these just real unstable at this time. I see videos in the upnp inspector but can't get them to show up on sage. Hoping to get some help on this

I just checked and they seem to be working for me. Double check that you have everything installed properly. Assuming you have your STV updated and have evilpenguins UPnP2Podcast and properties files installed and working, the only additional item you need for the scripts is the Script Plugin for PlayOn. Make sure you have the most recent version of the Script Plugin (v0.0.5.0) from the playonplugins.com message board installed, and it probably wouldn't hurt to check to be sure you have the latest version of PlayOn (v2.59.3597.56) as well. Be sure to use the LUA scripts I modified and included with the attachements to the postings and not the original scripts from playonplugins.com (unless otherwise noted). Make sure the LUA scripts are in the C:\Program Files\MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts directory and not in the SageTV OnlineServices directory. And finally, be sure to restart the MediaMallServer service after installing new scripts. I believe you can do this now from within the PlayOn Settings button in the SageTV Online Services menu...Online Services->PlayON Settings->Restart PlayOn Server button. If you still can't get videos, try installing UPnPInspector and browse the PlayOn structure to see if they show up there. If you don't have UPnPInspector, I believe evilpenguin has a link to it included in the first message post of this thread.