Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:00 pm
Newbie tries his best, largely fails
Hello - total newbie here, who's done the obligatory few days of bemused research before finally posting on the forum. My post here outlines my current setup; my successes / failures to date; and then asks what steps I should take next.
Btw at this stage I'm not using logs / ffmpeg. I first want to be sure that my overall setup is ok, and then I'll drill down into more specific problem-solving. Also btw I'm only interested in live streams & feeds (especially news channels)...
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Setup: Panasonic Viera TX-L37E5B TV, and Acer Aspire 8930 laptop with Windows Vista. The two are linked via Cat 2 cable, and all the TV's web-enabled smart features (YouTube, iPlayer etc) work fine. I am located in the UK.
Wins: I can successfully add *some* RSS live feeds (eg CNN), live streams (eg Bloomberg) and web resources (eg iLive news channels). So in other words the connection seems fine, and I've understood the basics re inputting online content / using *.groovy etc.
Fails: many & burdensome...
LIVESTREAM LIBRARY
- Very limited success rate. For example, all the HD folders are empty; in US News only Bloomberg & the three CSPANs load; almost nothing is listed in TV Channels & TV Networks (only Pentagon & PBS); in Sport only NBA, NFL, Redbull; in International News only Sky, France24 & Russia Today. Curiously, almost everything loads in Music (except MTV & VH1).
- Temperamental loading. Even when things do appear listed, the TV often says it cannot read the file. This applies to Pentagon, PBS, most of the iLive News feeds etc. I have noticed, however, that once a stream *has* loaded, it rarely gets disconnected. Some streams will eventually load if I keep trying, others have never successfully loaded.
- Slow loading. It takes a good half an hour for things to be listed, one-by-one, on my TV once it's been switched on. Perhaps this is normal, or is it a symptom of a bad connection?
INDIVIDUAL STREAMS
- I don't understand how to individually add RTMP streams, so it's hard for me to test individual channels. When adding an MMSH link such as Bloomberg I get the green tick & it duly works, but I've only ever seen the red cross when attempting to add RTMP. Do I put the entire string in the Source URL field, with all the parameters separated by spaces?
WEB RESOURCES
- SkySportsPlus folder appears on my TV, but it is empty.
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So as you can see, not so much success overall. My goal is to have a reliable way of watching US / international news channels (especially CNN & Fox News). If I can also get stuff like Comedy Central then that'd be a big bonus, but it's news I really want.
I've got as far as I can by researching the wiki & forum (both of which are very helpful btw) - so it's now time to ask for help. What should my next moves be? Do I need a profile tweak for my TV? Does it sound like a connection problem with my PC (it is fairly old)? Should I test some individual streams, and if so can someone provide me with serviiolinks (as mentioned, I don't really understand how to input RTMP)? Are most of the channels in the Livestream Library / SkySportsPlus dead anyway, and if so how do I go about finding reliable streams?
It feels like I'm tantalisingly close to getting this working... Any help would be much appreciated!
All best,
M
Btw at this stage I'm not using logs / ffmpeg. I first want to be sure that my overall setup is ok, and then I'll drill down into more specific problem-solving. Also btw I'm only interested in live streams & feeds (especially news channels)...
=====
Setup: Panasonic Viera TX-L37E5B TV, and Acer Aspire 8930 laptop with Windows Vista. The two are linked via Cat 2 cable, and all the TV's web-enabled smart features (YouTube, iPlayer etc) work fine. I am located in the UK.
Wins: I can successfully add *some* RSS live feeds (eg CNN), live streams (eg Bloomberg) and web resources (eg iLive news channels). So in other words the connection seems fine, and I've understood the basics re inputting online content / using *.groovy etc.
Fails: many & burdensome...
LIVESTREAM LIBRARY
- Very limited success rate. For example, all the HD folders are empty; in US News only Bloomberg & the three CSPANs load; almost nothing is listed in TV Channels & TV Networks (only Pentagon & PBS); in Sport only NBA, NFL, Redbull; in International News only Sky, France24 & Russia Today. Curiously, almost everything loads in Music (except MTV & VH1).
- Temperamental loading. Even when things do appear listed, the TV often says it cannot read the file. This applies to Pentagon, PBS, most of the iLive News feeds etc. I have noticed, however, that once a stream *has* loaded, it rarely gets disconnected. Some streams will eventually load if I keep trying, others have never successfully loaded.
- Slow loading. It takes a good half an hour for things to be listed, one-by-one, on my TV once it's been switched on. Perhaps this is normal, or is it a symptom of a bad connection?
INDIVIDUAL STREAMS
- I don't understand how to individually add RTMP streams, so it's hard for me to test individual channels. When adding an MMSH link such as Bloomberg I get the green tick & it duly works, but I've only ever seen the red cross when attempting to add RTMP. Do I put the entire string in the Source URL field, with all the parameters separated by spaces?
WEB RESOURCES
- SkySportsPlus folder appears on my TV, but it is empty.
=====
So as you can see, not so much success overall. My goal is to have a reliable way of watching US / international news channels (especially CNN & Fox News). If I can also get stuff like Comedy Central then that'd be a big bonus, but it's news I really want.
I've got as far as I can by researching the wiki & forum (both of which are very helpful btw) - so it's now time to ask for help. What should my next moves be? Do I need a profile tweak for my TV? Does it sound like a connection problem with my PC (it is fairly old)? Should I test some individual streams, and if so can someone provide me with serviiolinks (as mentioned, I don't really understand how to input RTMP)? Are most of the channels in the Livestream Library / SkySportsPlus dead anyway, and if so how do I go about finding reliable streams?
It feels like I'm tantalisingly close to getting this working... Any help would be much appreciated!
All best,
M
