live PBS livestream

[nmyshkin]

Up until sometime last week the sub-channel of WPT ("The Wisconsin Channel") was using a simple rtmp stream to supply a continuous feed of PBS programming in their website. This was a godsend to us because we live in a no-ota-PBS area and gave up our cable last year. I was able to write a custom favorite shortcut for Kodi (aka XBMC) and watch the stream full screen. Very occasional buffering, but a good display--and available. I could also use Replay Media Catcher to record programs that were on late at night or to time-shift (it's already 2 hours shifted!).

Well, suddenly it's Livestream and I can't seem to figure it out. Can't find an rtmp stream URL (maybe there is none?). Can't write a custom shortcut for Kodi. Replay Media Catcher records a 2GB chunk when the stream (http?) is detected and then stops. That's about 10 seconds...

About all I can do is watch through the browser on the website and even full-screen there is a huge black mask around the 16:9 programming. Then there is the poor Flash video rendering to take into account.

Here is a direct link to the Flash player:

http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&aut...rue&mute=false

And here is the sort of address RPMC comes up with for a 2 GB chunk:

http://livestream-f.akamaihd.net/13897710_4153577_0c394284_1_2320@329465?v=3.6.0&fp=WI...g=RKVKBXLLVNST

I've tried a lot of different sniffers, snoopers, etc., but either I haven't found the right one yet, or am not familiar enough with them, or it's just not possible to do what I used to do because of the seeming "packet" method of sending out the stream data.

Can anyone help?

[nmyshkin]

Correction/addition (sorry, no way to edit?)

I thought that RPMC recording on-the-fly by stream detection would only get a 2 GB chunk and then stop. I find today that is not true! The URL I gave above as an example is behind a slowly accumulating Flash file. Still have not completed a test to see if it goes beyond the boundaries of a single program.

Re-use of the URL in a scheduled recording with RPMC results in the 2 GB chunk (but at least it's a current chunk, and not a repeat of the stream segment when the URL was collected).

[biezom]

hi

720p
play with vlc (by default)

livestreamer "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best

download

livestreamer "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best -o winscosin.ts

[jimdagys]

I am using vlc 1.0.5 (2010 version) and cannot get the above to play. Can you tell me exactly what to put into vlc to be able to watch the live stream? I can do the download in command line no problem, but I want to be able to just watch the live pbs stream, ie like watching the TV.

[nmyshkin]

hi

720p
play with vlc (by default)

livestreamer "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best

download

livestreamer "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best -o winscosin.ts

Wow! That is amazing--and quick! Superb video quality compared to the Flash player. So now I need to learn a lot more about Livestreamer so I can perhaps write batch files to automate this process (like for the operas that start at 11 pm local time....) and I'd really like to port the stream somehow to Kodi.

Thanks for getting me started

[nmyshkin]

Problem #1 (recording to time-shift) is solved! For the possible benefit of anyone with a similar issue who stumbles across this post AND is running Windows, this is what I did:

1. Wrote a simple batch file to record the Wisconsin Channel livestream:

@echo off
livestreamer "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best -o PBSLive.ts

Saved in text format as "whatever.bat"

2. Used Windows Task Scheduler to run the batch file starting on a certain date, at a certain time (run with highest privelages).

3. Used Windows Task Scheduler to kill livestreamer at a certain time (end of program). Syntax for taskkill looks like this:

taskkill /f /im "livestreamer.exe"

Easy! (now that I figured it out...)

Problem 2 remains unsolved: how to port stream to Kodi/XBMC. I've found a reddit posting regarding this very thing but the example lacks detail and I cant seem to get a streaming server going that Kodi can find. Much mystery about this, but not many breadcrumbs to follow

[aazerty]

Hi jimdagys ,

From :

http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false

I got :

http://livestream-f.akamaihd.net/13897710_4153577_0c394284_1_678@329465?v=3.6.0&fp=WIN%2018,0,0,194&r=RFFYO&g=IHKGEYTVQWXP

It is this link to be used under VLC

Media => Open a network stream => "The link above" => Read

Cheers .

[nmyshkin]

Progress on Problem #2!

This batch file starts a stream server (Windows) and gives a couple of URLs for it:

@echo off
livestreamer --player-external-http "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best

On my machine the first URL is something like 127.0.0.1:580821
I didn't use that one. The second URL begins like 192.168.etc with the same port number.

Opening Kodi I went to the Cliq! addon which has a place for you to test URLs for streams. I typed in the http://192.168.etc along with the port number and Voila!

Right-clicking on the "Click this URL" allows it to be added to the favorites bar where it can be renamed and an icon assigned to it. So....as long as the server is kept running, that URL remains valid and the stream can be watched via Kodi as if it were any other channel (BBC, CNN, etc.).

Of course, this does not solve the problem. I'm not going to have a stream server running 24/7 and if you restart the batch file you get a different port number. There seems to be a way to assign a fixed port with livestreamer but that also seems to invoke the VLC player....

And, to be most convenient there should be a way to start the whole ball rolling from within Kodi.

More work to do...

[aazerty]

Hi nmyshkin ,

I don't use KODI . If you speak italian go at the thread "Kodi - Canali Livestreams"

http://streameo.altervista.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1589#p15570

Maybe this will be usefull .

Cheers .

[nmyshkin]

@aazerty: Grazie! I don't speak Italian but Google does

The post was with regard to the addon LiveStream which is a constant source of confusion for those trying to grapple with Livestream. The former simply lets one construct xml files for known stream URLs to use with Kodi. But Livestream URLs are another beast entirely.

But!! I have a "solution" at last--or at least one that works for me. It's a matter of getting the syntax correct in the livestreamer command line. The documentation is so spartan that to an amateur like me it takes a while to sort it all out.

To port a Livestream of The Wisconsin Channel to Kodi, this batch file should be run before starting up Kodi:

@echo off
livestreamer --player-external-http --player-external-http-port 58352 "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best

I selected the port number from a URL livestreamer gave when I let it select the port. This way the port is always the same. Two URLs are given, as described in a previous post above. I use the URL of the form http://192.168.x.x:58352 (fill in your own x values).

There is a plugin for Kodi called Cliq!. This is a valuable addon because it allows you to try out custom URLs AND to add successful ones to the favorites list (where some people like to make a channel list). Better yet, the favorites actually work, unlike some from other addons.

So in the Test URL section you enter the URL supplied by livestreamer and then try it out. That takes you to a Click to Try spot and that's what you do. Voila! Assuming the stream server has been started by the batch file shown above, Kodi will find the stream and begin playing it. Returning to the Click to Try screen, a right-click on those words will allow you to add this URL to the favorites list where it can be renamed, an icon added, etc. And the job is done.

The batch file can be started manually before starting Kodi or Task Manager can be used to start it as soon as an internet connection is negotiated (i.e., shortly after boot-up). I checked resource and network use and it was surprisingly low. It seems like the stream server idles when there is no player requesting a stream to play, so it probably can be left on and that makes the rest simple. Once you figure it out.

Thanks to every poster who offered hints. I can't believe I figured it out!

[aazerty]

Hi nmyshkin ,

Thanks for your reply . Interesting indeed .

Have a nice day .

Cheers .

[jagabo]

3. Used Windows Task Scheduler to kill livestreamer at a certain time (end of program). Syntax for taskkill looks like this:

taskkill /f /im "livestreamer.exe"

Windows Task Scheduler lets you specify how long a task is allowed to run. There's no need to run a second task to kill it.

<edit>
I haven't used Task Scheduler in quite a while. It looks like the granularity of the run length is now limited to hours. It used to have 1 minute granularity.

[nmyshkin]

@aazerty: Grazie! I don't speak Italian but Google does

The post was with regard to the addon LiveStream which is a constant source of confusion for those trying to grapple with Livestream. The former simply lets one construct xml files for known stream URLs to use with Kodi. But Livestream URLs are another beast entirely.

But!! I have a "solution" at last--or at least one that works for me. It's a matter of getting the syntax correct in the livestreamer command line. The documentation is so spartan that to an amateur like me it takes a while to sort it all out.

To port a Livestream of The Wisconsin Channel to Kodi, this batch file should be run before starting up Kodi:

@echo off
livestreamer --player-external-http --player-external-http-port 58352 "http://livestream.com/accounts/13897710/events/4153577/player?width=560&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false" best

I selected the port number from a URL livestreamer gave when I let it select the port. This way the port is always the same. Two URLs are given, as described in a previous post above. I use the URL of the form http://192.168.x.x:58352 (fill in your own x values).

There is a plugin for Kodi called Cliq!. This is a valuable addon because it allows you to try out custom URLs AND to add successful ones to the favorites list (where some people like to make a channel list). Better yet, the favorites actually work, unlike some from other addons.

So in the Test URL section you enter the URL supplied by livestreamer and then try it out. That takes you to a Click to Try spot and that's what you do. Voila! Assuming the stream server has been started by the batch file shown above, Kodi will find the stream and begin playing it. Returning to the Click to Try screen, a right-click on those words will allow you to add this URL to the favorites list where it can be renamed, an icon added, etc. And the job is done.

The batch file can be started manually before starting Kodi or Task Manager can be used to start it as soon as an internet connection is negotiated (i.e., shortly after boot-up). I checked resource and network use and it was surprisingly low. It seems like the stream server idles when there is no player requesting a stream to play, so it probably can be left on and that makes the rest simple. Once you figure it out.

Thanks to every poster who offered hints. I can't believe I figured it out!

Just a quick update. After much on/and/off, the Wisconsin Channel stream seems to be back and the method I outlined works pretty well, although I don't record streams that way any longer because I had too many aborts in the middle of the night. It is easier, in any case, to start the stream server and then use something like Replay Media Catcher on the stream URL. This works great and allows for timed recordings.

As for Kodi, there is an even easier way to generate a "channel" for the Favourites list by using a *.strm file. The structure for such a file would look like this:

#EXTINF:-1,The Wisconsin Channel
http://192.168.x.x:58352

where you will in your own "x" values. Save as a plain text file with the extension "strm". Kodi can open such a file if you put it where it can see it and you can add it to your Favourites list. This will only work, of course, if you've started the stream server already using the newer streamlink.