Problems playing HLS streams from ARD Radio Germany

[Musikman]

Hello dear forum Members,

I've been a Minimserver user for years and would like to post here for the first time with a problem. Unfortunately, I don't speak English. Google Translate is my best friend.

So far, I've always managed to solve problems with the helpful tips in the forum.

This time, I've spent many hours trying to figure out a problem with playing HLS streams from the German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

The URLs are from the ARD Audiothek. However, only the stations from SWR, SR, and Deutschlandfunk play. The other stations aren't selected, even though the URLs, except for Bayerischer Rundfunk, have the same format.


Here are some examples:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1,[BY1] Bayern 1
https://mcdn.hf.br.de/br/hf/b1obb/master-192000.m3u8 - not playing

#EXTINF:-1,[hr1] hr1
https://hlshr1.akamaized.net/hls/live/20...aster.m3u8 - not playing

#EXTINF:-1,[SWR1BW] SWR1 BW
https://swr1hlsaudio.akamaized.net/hls/l...aster.m3u8 - playing without problems

#EXTINF:-1,[DLF] Deutschlandfunk
https://dlfhls.akamaized.net/hls/live/20...aster.m3u8 - playing without problems Problems

Other playlists from UK broadcasters (BBC, Roya, etc.) or ORF play without any problems.

Can anyone help me with this problem? Thank you very much.

[simoncn]

Welcome to the MinimServer forum! I have found Google Translate works very well in these situtations.

The URL for Bayern 1 is not responding to requests. Are you sure this URL is correct?

The URL for hr1 is responding but is sending an unexpected version number in the response. I will investigate further and post back here.

[Musikman]

Thanks, Simon, for the quick reply.

I copied the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation's URLs directly from their audio library, without success, and the ones taken from the Bayern 1 homepage were also unsuccessful.

The addresses for NDR, MDR, RBB, and NDR also don't respond to the dial-up.

Thanks for looking into it.

[Musikman]

I don't know if this will help, but I have a copy of today's debug log and the corresponding m3u file for your information.

Sorry if this isn't the correct procedure for the forum. I have absolutely no experience with this :-)

[Musikman]

Sorry, the log file was not attached.

[simoncn]

With a small change to MinimStreamer, I have the hr1 stream playing now. I am still investigating the issue with the Bayern 1 stream. I will keep you informed.

[simoncn]

I have found the reason why the Bayern 1 stream is not playing. The HLS media playlist is sent using HTTP chunked encoding. MinimStreamer supports chunked encoding for audio data but doesn't support chunked encoding for the playlist. I will work on adding this support.

[Musikman]

Hi Simon,

that would be great if this could be changed.

This should also apply to the other stations that aren't working either. I'd be happy if I could listen to the stations via Minimserver.

[simoncn]

I have made some changes to support chunked encoding and I have the Bayern 1 stream playing now. Please post URLs for the other stations that aren't working so that I can try these as well.

[Musikman]

(13-01-2026 23:13)simoncn Wrote:  I have made some changes to support chunked encoding and I have the Bayern 1 stream playing now. Please post URLs for the other stations that aren't working so that I can try these as well.

Hi Simon,

Thanks for resolving the issue with my URLs.

I'm attaching my m3u URL list.
Note: The stations BR Puls and BR24live have been switched off since yesterday (broadcasting reform in Germany).

Regards, Ernst