Configuring radio streams with minimwatch

[Santelises]

(16-08-2014 11:02)simoncn Wrote:  

(16-08-2014 09:51)jamief Wrote:  Simon / Joerg

Did you get anywhere with this? I have the same issue. Tried transcode to L16 and WAV, both show up in BubbleUPnP interface, but no sound through Oppo and same symptoms as Joerg's.

Thanks

Jamie

Yes, there has been some progress. You need to do the following:

1) Install the latest updates for MinimServer (update 35) and MinimStreamer (0.4.1) if you haven't already done this.

2) Make sure the radio stream is routed through MinimStreamer as described in this section.

3) Add stream audio information to the stream entry in the playlist. This is described in the last part of this section.

4) Restart MinimServer

With these changes, the transcoded L16 stream should play. If the stream format is MP3, the nontranscoded MinimStreamer stream (with [] in the playlist) should play as well. To test this, remove the stream.transcode option and restart MinimServer.

I also have a OPPO BDP105 and I can transcode some stations using *.L16. As an example BBC3 with the addition of the rate of 32000. However, it is not clear to me what specific information is the OPPO requiring, so I wanted to verify with you since I seem to be having inconsistent results. From the Minimstreamer use guide it says:


NEW] Some control points and renderers are unable to play streams unless additional stream audio information is provided in the playlist entry. If you need to provide this audio information for your control point or renderer, you can use one of the following formats for the stream name:
[id;type] name
[id;type,samplerate] name
[id;type,samplerate,channels]

Does the OPPO fall as a renderer in this category and if so what additional info (as an example type) should be coded?

[simoncn]

(19-09-2014 20:10)Santelises Wrote:  I also have a OPPO BDP105 and I can transcode some stations using *.L16. As an example BBC3 with the addition of the rate of 32000. However, it is not clear to me what specific information is the OPPO requiring, so I wanted to verify with you since I seem to be having inconsistent results. From the Minimstreamer use guide it says:

NEW] Some control points and renderers are unable to play streams unless additional stream audio information is provided in the playlist entry. If you need to provide this audio information for your control point or renderer, you can use one of the following formats for the stream name:
[id;type] name
[id;type,samplerate] name
[id;type,samplerate,channels]

Does the OPPO fall as a renderer in this category and if so what additional info (as an example type) should be coded?

Yes, the OPPO has a few problems with playing internet streams and it needs this additional information to make it possible to do this.

The type field is aac for the BBC streams and mp3 for most other internet radio streams. You can find a list of stream types on this site (see the key at the bottom of each page that has a list of streams).

If you can say which internet stream you are trying to play and what inconsistent results you are having, I will do my best to help you solve the problem. Please also post the transcoding settings (if any) that you are using.

[Santelises]

(19-09-2014 21:10)simoncn Wrote:  

(19-09-2014 20:10)Santelises Wrote:  I also have a OPPO BDP105 and I can transcode some stations using *.L16. As an example BBC3 with the addition of the rate of 32000. However, it is not clear to me what specific information is the OPPO requiring, so I wanted to verify with you since I seem to be having inconsistent results. From the Minimstreamer use guide it says:

NEW] Some control points and renderers are unable to play streams unless additional stream audio information is provided in the playlist entry. If you need to provide this audio information for your control point or renderer, you can use one of the following formats for the stream name:
[id;type] name
[id;type,samplerate] name
[id;type,samplerate,channels]

Does the OPPO fall as a renderer in this category and if so what additional info (as an example type) should be coded?

Yes, the OPPO has a few problems with playing internet streams and it needs this additional information to make it possible to do this.

The type field is aac for the BBC streams and mp3 for most other internet radio streams. You can find a list of stream types on this site (see the key at the bottom of each page that has a list of streams).

If you can say which internet stream you are trying to play and what inconsistent results you are having, I will do my best to help you solve the problem. Please also post the transcoding settings (if any) that you are using.

Simon,
I was transcoding MP3 to Wav24 with my settings. It seems like if you do the OPPO will not play the mp3 stations. For a test I also attempted to transcode aac to wav24 and sure enough my BBC3 station stopped working. Once I removed transcoding for mp3 and aac many stations are now working. It seems like if the radio station url points to an m3u file will not play, but maybe that is because I am not currently specifying type. I am able to get around that by finding the actual url for streaming the station. I am not sure if this is the expected behavior, but for my situation I am willing to give up transcoding to get them to work. I also see errors in the log, as an example (MinimServer: incorrect format for container ID '0$playlists$*p5/[AVRO] AVRO Baroque Around the Clock' I get this for all of my stations, however, they seem to work anyway. Here is my entry for the above station:
#EXTINF:-1,[*AVRO] AVRO Baroque Around the Clock
http://icecast.omroep.nl/radio4-baroque-bb-mp3

I am running on a Synology 710 NAS. Let me know if I can provide additional information. Thanks

[simoncn]

(20-09-2014 13:45)Santelises Wrote:  Simon,
I was transcoding MP3 to Wav24 with my settings. It seems like if you do the OPPO will not play the mp3 stations. For a test I also attempted to transcode aac to wav24 and sure enough my BBC3 station stopped working. Once I removed transcoding for mp3 and aac many stations are now working.

The OPPO is unable to play radio streams with WAV (or wav24) transcoding. This is because it attempts to seek within the WAV stream, which isn't possible with live radio.

Quote:It seems like if the radio station url points to an m3u file will not play, but maybe that is because I am not currently specifying type. I am able to get around that by finding the actual url for streaming the station. I am not sure if this is the expected behavior, but for my situation I am willing to give up transcoding to get them to work.

This should be OK if you specify the correct stream type as follows:

#EXTINF:-1,[*AVRO;mp3] AVRO Baroque Around the Clock
http://icecast.omroep.nl/radio4-baroque-bb-mp3

With this setting, the stream should play with no transcoding, L16 transcoding or L24 transcoding.

Quote:I also see errors in the log, as an example (MinimServer: incorrect format for container ID '0$playlists$*p5/[AVRO] AVRO Baroque Around the Clock' I get this for all of my stations, however, they seem to work anyway.

I am not seeing this problem. It might be caused by your control point. Which control point are you using?

[Santelises]

(20-09-2014 14:27)simoncn Wrote:  

(20-09-2014 13:45)Santelises Wrote:  Simon,
I was transcoding MP3 to Wav24 with my settings. It seems like if you do the OPPO will not play the mp3 stations. For a test I also attempted to transcode aac to wav24 and sure enough my BBC3 station stopped working. Once I removed transcoding for mp3 and aac many stations are now working.

The OPPO is unable to play radio streams with WAV (or wav24) transcoding. This is because it attempts to seek within the WAV stream, which isn't possible with live radio.

Quote:It seems like if the radio station url points to an m3u file will not play, but maybe that is because I am not currently specifying type. I am able to get around that by finding the actual url for streaming the station. I am not sure if this is the expected behavior, but for my situation I am willing to give up transcoding to get them to work.

This should be OK if you specify the correct stream type as follows:

#EXTINF:-1,[*AVRO;mp3] AVRO Baroque Around the Clock
http://icecast.omroep.nl/radio4-baroque-bb-mp3

With this setting, the stream should play with no transcoding, L16 transcoding or L24 transcoding.

Quote:I also see errors in the log, as an example (MinimServer: incorrect format for container ID '0$playlists$*p5/[AVRO] AVRO Baroque Around the Clock' I get this for all of my stations, however, they seem to work anyway.

I am not seeing this problem. It might be caused by your control point. Which control point are you using?

Simon,
I am using the Oppo interface to browse files on my Synology NAS. Minimserver is installed on a Synology 710+, controlled via minimwatch on a Windows 7 PC.

[simoncn]

(20-09-2014 17:28)Santelises Wrote:  Simon,
I am using the Oppo interface to browse files on my Synology NAS. Minimserver is installed on a Synology 710+, controlled via minimwatch on a Windows 7 PC.

Thanks for the quick response. It sounds like the OPPO control interface is sending an incorrect request to MinimServer. If the stream is playing OK, it should be safe to ignore this message.

[NeilT]

I'm trying to get the radio streaming going, but all I get is a one second burst from some of the stations, and an error message "Invalid Args (Code: 402)" from the ones that won't play at all.

I have the latest MinimServer (0.8.3 with updates 50 and 57), and MininStreamer (0.5.1). This runs on a Raspberry Pi, with ffmpeg installed and specified as the stream converter on the properties page.

I use BubbleUPnP as a control point. I have used the corrected list of strems from earlier in this thread and they display correctly in BubbleUPnP.

When I play a stream that gives the one second burst I get activity in the log as attached. The ones that give the error message cause no activity in the log!

Oops, almost forgot, the renderer is a QED Uplay Streamer

[simoncn]

(26-01-2015 18:26)NeilT Wrote:  I'm trying to get the radio streaming going, but all I get is a one second burst from some of the stations, and an error message "Invalid Args (Code: 402)" from the ones that won't play at all.

I have the latest MinimServer (0.8.3 with updates 50 and 57), and MininStreamer (0.5.1). This runs on a Raspberry Pi, with ffmpeg installed and specified as the stream converter on the properties page.

I use BubbleUPnP as a control point. I have used the corrected list of strems from earlier in this thread and they display correctly in BubbleUPnP.

When I play a stream that gives the one second burst I get activity in the log as attached. The ones that give the error message cause no activity in the log!

Oops, almost forgot, the renderer is a QED Uplay Streamer

The log shows that MinimStreamer is working correctly and the renderer has closed the connection after streaming music for about 1.5 seconds (see the log entries from 17:18:15.021 to 17:18:16.474). To find out why the renderer has closed the connection, you could contact the renderer manufacturer.

[NeilT]

(26-01-2015 22:15)simoncn Wrote:  The log shows that MinimStreamer is working correctly and the renderer has closed the connection after streaming music for about 1.5 seconds (see the log entries from 17:18:15.021 to 17:18:16.474). To find out why the renderer has closed the connection, you could contact the renderer manufacturer.

Thanks Simon. I didn't know what to look for in the log. I'll try QED and see what they say.

[simoncn]

(26-01-2015 23:18)NeilT Wrote:  Thanks Simon. I didn't know what to look for in the log. I'll try QED and see what they say.

Can you post a similar log for the case where you get an "Invalid Args (Code: 402)" error message? This might provide some useful clues.

You can also try making a couple of experimental changes to see whether they help:

1) Add a stream type. For the NAIM stream, you would do this by changing NAIM to NAIM;mp3 in the playlist entry

2) Transcode the stream to WAV or L16. You would do this by setting the stream.transcode property to

mp3:wav, *:wav

or

mp3:L16, *:L16

After changing the transcoding settings, restart MinimServer to make sure they are active.