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EnTerr's avatar
EnTerr
Roku Guru
9 years ago

Respectfully, WTH are the "Developer Tools"? [solved]

So i know there are a few "developer tools" web pages by RokuCo, which is a somewhat grandiose naming for what amounts to 3 web pages. Like say "Roku Remote Tool" - of whose existence i only know because i participated earlier in beta testing that (while musing why did the Co feel compelled to re-invent the circa 2010 wheel http://remoku.tv/ by gonzotek ).

So i remember there was some "stream tester" tool that i want to use tonight to check this question. Hmm, so where do i find that - i wonder. And i start searching. Supposedly they are not in beta anymore but are Shirley well-hidden from human eye!

  • Perhaps they are accessible from the http://developer.roku.com portal? ... Nope. (For the newbies - good luck even finding where the portal entrance is on that page!)

  • Maybe mentioned in the SDK docs? ... Not really.

  • I start cringing but persevere - how about the dev.blog? Not the right place but still... no, can't find it there.

  • Oh i know - maybe the tools were hosted by RokuDev on GitHub? Très chic, you know - like 2048. Hmm. The github.com/rokudev list is a jumble and ... no cigar.


Oh <censor> it, i am going rogue! I go to the dev.beta centercode, and find a bug that mentions the URL to said web "Roku Remote". It is http://devtools.web.roku.com/RokuRemote . I punch "site:devtools.web.roku.com" in Google and aha! - one of the 3 results - there it is, the best-kept Roku secret "Stream/RAF Tester Tool"!

But wait - there is more!
Our suffering is not over. I put the IP, the URL, the format press "Go" and... nothing!
And then i remember... there was some private channel that had to be installed for this to work? Well, where is it - why are you not installing it (there is an ECP command for that) or telling me what to do, you tool of a tool??

This is preposterous!
I knew of this tool existence and it took me long time and all my smarts to even find it. I have vague memories of trying it before and yet can't make it work now. Now riddle me this: if i (who am experienced with Roku shenanigans) fail epically to make this work, how is Regular Joe Developer supposed to discover and use these "Tools"?

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