Plugin: Web Radio and TV Encoder for SageTV V7

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by Brent94Z

Ever since I started using this I haven't seen an option where the Config Tool can "play" a channel. I can "test the reception" but all I ever get is a bunch of text. I do get a VLC window that pops up but there is only constant scrolling text with a lot of messages/info. One bit of info that repeats a lot is "buffer underflow". That doesn't sound good. LOL

So no VLC windows pops up with video?

In webfeedencoder/logs should be some files called NASATV_VLC.log etc. Could you post those pls.

BTW Its sounded like you were saying you installed VLC 1.1 again. VLC 1.1 doesn;t work. Only 1.0.5 works at the moment.

Michael

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

Hi,

Can you post the encoder.log please.

Also when you try and tune the channel open up windows task manager.

You should see a java.exe with encoder.jar in the command line

You should see a vlc.exe session quoting a vlc-conf file <callsign>.conf.

Does the vlc.exe session memory use grow - does it look like its busy.

If memory stays the same and it doesn't seem to use CPU then it has probably crashed. This usually turns out to be a windows permissioning problem.

Michael

Here's my encoder log.

"You should see a java.exe with encoder.jar in the command line

You should see a vlc.exe session quoting a vlc-conf file <callsign>.conf."

I don't see that kind of detail in my task manager. I just see what the image name running is - java * 32 or vlc.exe *32. Where in task manager do you see the rest??

I see VLC running, but it is not consuming CPU or memory.

[Brent94Z]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

So no VLC windows pops up with video?

In webfeedencoder/logs should be some files called NASATV_VLC.log etc. Could you post those pls.

BTW Its sounded like you were saying you installed VLC 1.1 again. VLC 1.1 doesn;t work. Only 1.0.5 works at the moment.

Michael

That's correct... I get no video. The only window that pops up has text which is rapidly scrolling.

I'm still on 1.0.5 but was going to re-install the newer version but now I won't

Will post some logs when I get back to the computer. Thanks!

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by SteveW

Here's my encoder log.

"You should see a java.exe with encoder.jar in the command line

You should see a vlc.exe session quoting a vlc-conf file <callsign>.conf."

I don't see that kind of detail in my task manager. I just see what the image name running is - java * 32 or vlc.exe *32. Where in task manager do you see the rest??

I see VLC running, but it is not consuming CPU or memory.

Seems very much like a windows permission problem. VLC unable to read conf file or unable to write to the recordings dir.

Very likely if you are on vista or windows 7.

Things to play around with:

1. Open up the recording dir so everyone can read/write it.
2. Make vlc.exe run by administrator

The other thing that sometimes happens is VLC pops up a dialog asking about some preferences.

Always worth running up VLC manually once after you install it.

Michael

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

Seems very much like a windows permission problem. VLC unable to read conf file or unable to write to the recordings dir.

Very likely if you are on vista or windows 7.

Things to play around with:

1. Open up the recording dir so everyone can read/write it.
2. Make vlc.exe run by administrator

The other thing that sometimes happens is VLC pops up a dialog asking about some preferences.

Always worth running up VLC manually once after you install it.

Michael

I had already tested VLC on it's own. I can run it up fine and play media in it. It's not asking me any questions. I'll play with your suggestions 1 & 2 and see if they get me anywhere.

[Brent94Z]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

In webfeedencoder/logs should be some files called NASATV_VLC.log etc. Could you post those pls.


Michael

Hey Michael! I have no logs in there like that for NASATV even though I've tried it several times. I just now tried it again and it does come up and play for a few seconds initially but then starts freezing (both video and audio) and is very pixelated.

I do have a log in there of just ONE of the feeds though and it is a radio station that I just added to try out but it is from when I first installed this (before I added the lines that you said to add) so don't want to post that and cause confusion.

I'm also still getting the java.exe "java.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." error when I click on the Config Tool launch button from within Sage. Not sure if that could have anything to do with the issues? This only happens the first time I click on it. When it closes on the error and then I click it again, I don't get the error and the config tool comes up and appears to work fine.

I did also try to play a video (Test Channel Reception) again from the Config Tool and still just getting text. A few times it shot out a bunch of text for a few seconds then indicating "nothing to play" but I did get a screen shot of NASATV as it was buffering and such. Not sure if this helps but I attached the screen shot.

Thanks!

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by SteveW

I had already tested VLC on it's own. I can run it up fine and play media in it. It's not asking me any questions. I'll play with your suggestions 1 & 2 and see if they get me anywhere.

- Set VLC to run as admin
- Moved recordings directory to off of root of C: versus default, and added read/write for all users

Still no go. Even turned off UAC, still same thing. When I test the channel, a VLC text window pops up with some info, but it never gets further than that. I've included logs again in case you can see anything new that might point me to what's going on...

Tnx

-S

[michaeldjcox]

Hi,

Did you have this stuff working with 0.9.6 version before and its just with 0.9.7 on Sage V7 it isn't working?

I'm interested in seeing the content of the file:

C:\PROGRA~2\SageTV V7\SageTV\webfeedencoder\tmp\FrontYard.conf

For Jabronis ip cams I remoted in to his box and took a look - I think it was using teamviewer. It may be quicker to do this if you trust me

Michael

[SteveW]

I should have said a bit more about how I got here.

My main server is still using Sage 6, XPSP3, VLC 1.0.5 and working fine with the WFE.

I'm testing Sage 7 on a box running Win 7 64 Pro to get some facetime with Sage 7 before I consider putting it into production on my normal server.

So in fact, on the test server, I happen to have VLC 1.0.3 (just noticed they are different - thought they were the same). After not having any luck with the built in samples with WFE on Sage 7, I decided to copy my working channel file from Sage 6 over to 7 since I know it works.

And yes, you are free to connect if you wish. The web cam is just part of my Davis Vantage Pro2 Weatherstation I have set up here at home. I'll send you the details shortly.

Tnx.

-S

Edit: Upgraded to VLC 1.0.5 on my test server with Sage 7. No change in results....

[Brent94Z]

Hey Michael!

I have added a podcast using the Config Tool. I can get this to play and work fine within the Config Tool but the podcast is not showing up in the Online Services area of Sage. I've tried restarting Sage but that didn't work. Any ideas on what might be going wrong? Thanks!

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by Brent94Z

Hey Michael!

I have added a podcast using the Config Tool. I can get this to play and work fine within the Config Tool but the podcast is not showing up in the Online Services area of Sage. I've tried restarting Sage but that didn't work. Any ideas on what might be going wrong? Thanks!

What should happen is that a couple of files are generated in STVs/SageTV3/OnlineVideos and STVs/SageTV7/OnlineVideos which end in _wfe.

In the config tool you can select the services tab and choose menu actions Remove and Resend to try and repopulate.

In sagetv coming out of online services and going back in is usually enough to pick up changes.

If you still see nothing send me encoder logs. A look in the sagetv logs might yield something useful too.

Michael

[Brent94Z]

Hey Michael!

I *think* my podcast may have been there all along. DOH! Last night I thought I'd see what a podcast looked like so figured I'd look at the one that was in there so went to Podcast Directory > Society and Culture > Blogs and all-be-darned... my podcase was in THERE!

So, I think it was working all along... I did originally click on Society and Culture but backed out as soon as I saw "Blogs" because, in my head, what I added was a podcast.

I just misunderstood the layout and default groupings but everything appears to be working fine. Thanks and sorry for misunderstanding how this worked

Question... would it be possible (actually, everything is probably possible so I guess I should ask would it be difficult LOL) to have podcasts show up in the guide as a "channel" and then I could set this as a "Favorite" so when a new podcast shows up it "records" it and then shows up in my "Recordings" area of Sage? That sounds like it might be a pain but who knows so thought I'd at least ask Thanks!

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by Brent94Z

So, I think it was working all along... I did originally click on Society and Culture but backed out as soon as I saw "Blogs" because, in my head, what I added was a podcast.

Good.

Originally Posted by Brent94Z

Question... would it be possible (actually, everything is probably possible so I guess I should ask would it be difficult LOL) to have podcasts show up in the guide as a "channel" and then I could set this as a "Favorite" so when a new podcast shows up it "records" it and then shows up in my "Recordings" area of Sage? That sounds like it might be a pain but who knows so thought I'd at least ask Thanks!

That sounds like a great idea. Bit further than I can go at the moment. I'm still struggling with some "just get it working" types issues with SageTV7 and want to put some time into getting tuning working faster. I'll put that one in the melting pot though - I have been interested in being able to swap things from channels to online services and back again as there some channels that might be nicer accessed from online services.

Michael

[Brent94Z]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

That sounds like a great idea. Bit further than I can go at the moment. I'm still struggling with some "just get it working" types issues with SageTV7 and want to put some time into getting tuning working faster. I'll put that one in the melting pot though - I have been interested in being able to swap things from channels to online services and back again as there some channels that might be nicer accessed from online services.

Michael

Good deal! Thanks much again for your work on this!

[michaeldjcox]

Hi,

I have discovered that my buttons to launch the config tool from the SageTV GUI do not always work.

It probably works for a remote SageTV client - I don't have the setup to confirm that.

If definitely works from the SageTV GUI if the server is not being used.

However it does not work if the SageTV client is on the same box as the server.

I think this is because it ends up being launched from the server, runs as SYSTEM rather than the user, and is not allowed to raise a GUI to the users screen - but does run in the background.

I have tried using "runas" to fix this - but it doesn't work.

So I'm going to have to rethink this one.

My options are:

1. the server and client plugin installs create some user shortcuts - should be straighforward.
2. run the config tool from a browser as an applet - will probably get in to difficulties with permissioning. But I can then dispense with the remote config tool plugin.
3. run the tool from the browser as a web start app - quite a lot of work to set this one up. But I can then dispense with the remote config tool plugin.
4. create a servlet based solution - but this needs a big rework of config tool dialogs to formulate them as web pages.

So I'm going to try the first one and will post here when done

In the meantime the config tool can still be run manually:

java -jar webfeedencoder/libs/configtool.jar

Michael

[scanner95]

Hello Michael,

The latest Beta bring the following in:

7. Added experimental property "fast_network_encoder_switch" which is capture-device specific. This will enable using seamless file transitions with network encoders. This is NOT officially supported and is intended mainly for 3rd party network encoders that wish to support this capability. It should however work with regular SageTV network encoders, however this has not been tested and is not supported.

Is it by chance what will increase the tuning speed in WFE?

Thanks,

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by scanner95

Is it by chance what will increase the tuning speed in WFE?
,

Sounds like its more about changing channels than tuning in - but I'll give it a go.

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

Have just submitted a plugin update.

User guide for installation instructions here:

If you've already installed using plugin manager then upgrade using the manager.

If you are upgrading from a pre-SageTV plugin manager installation please following the instructions in the user guide.

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

NOTE: The seperate "remote config" web feed encoder SageTV V7 plugin is now obsolete and can be removed.

Michael

[Brent94Z]

Thanks for your work on this, Michael! Very nice!

I did update last night from the comfort of my TV chair and remote and didn't see this so will read through and see what I need to do to that might be different.

I do always read the release notes before doing an update. Just a suggestion that if the update (via the update plugin menu) isn't the way the update should be done then sticking a little note about this in the release notes will prevent most of us from updating incorrectly. Thanks!!!

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by Brent94Z

I do always read the release notes before doing an update. Just a suggestion that if the update (via the update plugin menu) isn't the way the update should be done then sticking a little note about this in the release notes will prevent most of us from updating incorrectly. Thanks!!!

I should clarify.

If you don't yet have SageTV V7 then install and upgrade using the provided installer.

If you have have Sage TV V7 and intially installed WFE on SageTV using the plugin manager then do use the plugin manager to upgrade. Three cheers for the plugin manager!

If however you already installed WebFeedEncoder using the provided installer (i.e. because you had Sage V6 then) but you now have SageTV V7 there are special instructions for the one time hop into the SageTV 7 management of the plugin.

The general jist is backup the old installation, uninstall it (but using the 0.9.7 installer), install new version via the plugin manager, choose the config option to import settings.

Michael