Roku Developer Program

[renojim]

"joewalsh" wrote:
Bug Notice / Possible fix for IcesnakeFrostfyre

I was having a similar problem as IcesnakeFrostfyre, it turns out that my problem was because some of the mp3 files didn't have a title in the ID3 tags - this causes the app to error ("can't access the server", "can't find any playable files" (or something like this)).

I removed all of the titles without Title or Artist tags and now the app works great (even with 1000 songs in the same directory).

To el.wubo & all of the others who are helping on this project - THANK YOU. This is an incredible app.

It looks like the problem is with MP3s that have no ID3 tag. Having a tag without a title or artist doesn't seem to be a problem. I could have sworn I had MP3s with no tag, but I guess not since I was able to reproduce the problem by removing the tag. For now, the solution is to make sure your MP3s have an ID3 tag. I know it's easy to edit the tag info in Windows (right click on the file, choose "Properties", go to "Summary" and edit the info there) and hopefully it's as easy or easier on other OS's. It will be fixed in a future release.

joewalsh (saw you with Glenn Frey in DC many years ago, btw. Great show! ;)), thanks for reporting the bug.

-JT

[joewalsh]

renojim - thank you for your help and time. Oh, and thanks for coming to the show, things have been tough since I stopped talking to the rest of the Eagles - I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.

Thanks.

[hammerpocket]

"seracious" wrote:
Thanks RenoJim for the tips.

I'm still not having any luck. I'm using the older version (with Python 3.1.2) with /feed, but I'm still not getting any button after I Launch, nor can I access the ip from my machine or another on the same network.

There are a couple points worth raising though I'm not sure they matter. I'm still running on Mac OS Tiger (yeah, yeah, upgrading later this week). I'm unsure of the python_path, if that matters. Also, it should be the ip of my laptop as the server, not the network/router, right? Also, if I'm wireless on my laptop with a Linksys router, could that configuration cause trouble? I know so little about the workings of this that I'm not sure I'm using the right setup or providing enough info to help others troubleshoot for me.

Any further advice would be most welcome. I will try again with Snow Leopard later this week if that matters.
Thanks,
Mike

Mike, I hope you're still around. I'm one of the people using My Media on a Mac, although I haven't been keeping up with the thread or all of the releases.

I would echo renojim's concern about the version of Python you are using. My Media is written for 2.6, so a 3.x version could be problematic. Springboard.py should be able to figure out the python_path, but again the version could be a factor. I'm using a server over wifi with a linksys router, so that shouldn't be a problem. Tiger -- I really don't know; if you can try it with Snow Leopard I would definitely go that way. (I'm using an iMac G5 running Leopard.)

Hope this helps.

[Icesnake]

"renojim" wrote:
It looks like the problem is with MP3s that have no ID3 tag. Having a tag without a title or artist doesn't seem to be a problem. I could have sworn I had MP3s with no tag, but I guess not since I was able to reproduce the problem by removing the tag. For now, the solution is to make sure your MP3s have an ID3 tag. I know it's easy to edit the tag info in Windows (right click on the file, choose "Properties", go to "Summary" and edit the info there) and hopefully it's as easy or easier on other OS's. It will be fixed in a future release.

I'll take a poke at the uncategorized files tonight or tomorrow (depends on when I get my podcast segment done) and see if I have any in there with missing ID3 tags. It's not entirely unlikely; I've been creating MP3s so long I have forgotten what software I first used, but it ran under MS-DOS, which should give you a clue how long it has been.

[renojim]

It would be nice to know if that is indeed your problem. I was going to suggest copying your library to a new location a little bit at a time to see where it fails.

Let us know how it goes!
-JT

[canaws]

Here's my late feedback for the latest preview release.

Works awesomely! There's just a few minor things I noticed...

1. Jumpy menu: I had it before, it went away for a couple of release, and now it looks like it's back. Maybe I click too fast or something, but when I go back up to the letter-folder level sometimes it jumps back to 'play all' before returning to where I was or sometimes it will jump back to the folder that I came out after I push over to go to another folder.

2. I was getting the 'can't access the server' message for a while there this weekend, but I can't get it to repeat itself right now. So, I'm going to assume it was an issue with my computer.

3. I noticed that a wmv that I could play before won't play now. It starts but then freezes (distorted picture). It's an OLD video, so I was surprised it worked in the first place and I don't have any other wmv to test to see if it's an issue with all wm videos.

Questions:
1. When you say HTTP streaming do you mean of audio (mysteams) or video? How exactly would we test the very limited HTTP streaming support for video, if it exists?
2. I've always wanted to ask this. I've always had two instances of python running: one controls the 'stop server' box and the other controls the actual server/feed page. If I click 'stop server' it doesn't actually do anything except close the box. I still have to go to the task manager and kill the second instance of python. Is this normal?

[renojim]

"canaws" wrote:
Here's my late feedback for the latest preview release.

Works awesomely! There's just a few minor things I noticed...

Thanks for the feedback. Better late than never!

"canaws" wrote:
1. Jumpy menu: I had it before, it went away for a couple of release, and now it looks like it's back. Maybe I click too fast or something, but when I go back up to the letter-folder level sometimes it jumps back to 'play all' before returning to where I was or sometimes it will jump back to the folder that I came out after I push over to go to another folder.

I've noticed the jump back to 'play all', but it's strange how it only seems to happen sometimes. I think I know what the problem is there. The "fast click" issue is a little bit tougher. I guess I never tried to go up a level and immediately move over to another folder, but I definitely see it now. That behavior is a result of the new "autorefresh" that happens as you move back up the hierarchy. I'm not sure much can be done about it without getting rid of the "autorefresh" because of the way the "built-in" part of the Roku UI and the event system works. Basically, the built-in UI makes some things happen on the screen quickly and automatically and then sends events to the channel app to inform it that something happened (i.e., after the fact). I'll look into it, but for now, don't be so quick! 😄

"canaws" wrote:
2. I was getting the 'can't access the server' message for a while there this weekend, but I can't get it to repeat itself right now. So, I'm going to assume it was an issue with my computer.

I haven't seen that, so I'm going to assume it was an issue with your computer, too! 😉

"canaws" wrote:
3. I noticed that a wmv that I could play before won't play now. It starts but then freezes (distorted picture). It's an OLD video, so I was surprised it worked in the first place and I don't have any other wmv to test to see if it's an issue with all wm videos.

I only have one wmv that I used a long time ago for testing, but it also has problems now. I think I'll try to get an answer from Roku to see if anything changed wrt wmv files.

"canaws" wrote:
Questions:
1. When you say HTTP streaming do you mean of audio (mysteams) or video? How exactly would we test the very limited HTTP streaming support for video, if it exists?

The support is for video. It turns out the support is a little better than I initially intended. I put in special handling for a file named 'mystream.m3u8', but it wasn't necessary. It's still there, but it turns out any .m3u8 file will be handled correctly. Here's an example you can try; just put it somewhere in your 'myVideos' folder (or subfolder):

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=298577
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Edge.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=532383
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/3G.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=1132383
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Wifi.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=32000
http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Edgeaudio.m3u8

Copy this to a text file named "nasatv.m3u8" and you should be able to try out HTTP Live Streaming. If you find any similar HLS m3u8 files on the internet, you can give them a try.

"canaws" wrote:
2. I've always wanted to ask this. I've always had two instances of python running: one controls the 'stop server' box and the other controls the actual server/feed page. If I click 'stop server' it doesn't actually do anything except close the box. I still have to go to the task manager and kill the second instance of python. Is this normal?

Python is not my area of expertise, but I'm very slowly starting to learn my way around. I assume since you mention 'task manager' you're running under Windows. I don't know if it's strictly a Windows issue, but I figured out a fix that works (I don't have anyway to make sure it works on any other OS).
Edit 'springboard.py' (in the 'server' directory) with notepad or any other text editor and change this:

  def spawn_server(self):
    import subprocess
    cmd = "%s rss_server.py" % config.get("config", "python_path")
    return subprocess.Popen([cmd], shell=True)

to this:

  def spawn_server(self):
    import subprocess
    p = "%s" % config.get("config", "python_path")
    cmd = [p,"rss_server.py"]
    return subprocess.Popen(cmd)

Indentation is very important in Python, so make sure the indentation of the new code matches the old code (you should be able to do a simple copy and paste).
For what it's worth, I never thought it was necessary to use the springboard screen to start the server (although it's really nice for loading the client). You have a couple of options for starting the server:
1. Assuming .py files are associated with Python (which I think it takes care of when you install it), you can just double-click 'rss_server.py'.
2. With the same assumption, you can start it from the command line by typing "start rss_server.py" from within the 'server' directory.
3. Again from the command line and assuming Python is installed in C:\Python26, type "C:\Python26\python rss_server.py".

I usually go with #2, but I understand how some people want to start the server automatically when the server boots.

I hope I've answered everything.
-JT

[canaws]

canaws wrote:
1. When you say HTTP streaming do you mean of audio (mysteams) or video? How exactly would we test the very limited HTTP streaming support for video, if it exists?

renojim wrote:
The support is for video. It turns out the support is a little better than I initially intended. I put in special handling for a file named 'mystream.m3u8', but it wasn't necessary. It's still there, but it turns out any .m3u8 file will be handled correctly.

The oilspill stream works great. I've also figured out how to get some ustream.tv livestreams to work. It's hit/miss at this point, but I am watching the Disneyland World of Color premiere (watershow at Disneyland) stream right now.

[canaws wrote:
2. I've always wanted to ask this. I've always had two instances of python running: one controls the 'stop server' box and the other controls the actual server/feed page. If I click 'stop server' it doesn't actually do anything except close the box. I still have to go to the task manager and kill the second instance of python. Is this normal?

renojim wrote:
Python is not my area of expertise, but I'm very slowly starting to learn my way around. I assume since you mention 'task manager' you're running under Windows. I don't know if it's strictly a Windows issue, but I figured out a fix that works (I don't have anyway to make sure it works on any other OS).

The fix worked perfectly!

[renojim]

What streams are you using for the oil spill cam and Disneyworld? It would be nice if we could somehow keep a list of working streams. Maybe just links to where the m3u8 file can be downloaded?

I'm glad the fix worked!

-JT

[dellsweig]

"renojim" wrote:
What streams are you using for the oil spill cam and Disneyworld? It would be nice if we could somehow keep a list of working streams. Maybe just links to where the m3u8 file can be downloaded?

I'm glad the fix worked!

-JT

streams from all the BP cameras

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?cat ... Id=7062605