• Registered: 2010-03-20
  • Posts: 34

Topic: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

Shoutcast has been cutting out a LOT lately, it's driving me absolutely bonkers, I don't know what to do about it, and I BEG for assistance before I get so upset that I take a hammer to this thing, especially since this is the thing I use my Chumby the MOST for, especially for old time radio streams!

Generally, it'll cut out, but, if you go back in to look at it, it'll still show as "playing," so I have to stop it and then start it playing again, and sometimes it takes a couple tries to get it started up again.  Occasionally, it'll start playing again on its own after a bit, but I usually have to go in and intervene.  Sometimes I have to restart the Chumby to get it to play again.  I'm not sure just how long ago this started, but it seems to have gotten worse lately, often cutting out after only a few minutes.  It did this several times this morning, just  as I was waking up to a stream, and it's not a good way to start the day all upset and frustrated like that, yet again. 

It does this on pretty much any stream I try.  I even tried a wifi range extender to see if that was the problem, but that hasn't helped.  it's showing a very strong network connection.

Please, please, PLEASE help me before I go out of my mind with frustration and rage!  I'm at my wits end here!  PLEASE tell me what I can do about this!  Thank you.

  • Registered: 2012-02-07
  • Posts: 535

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

Do you have a laptop you can try streaming on?  Can you confirm that the radio streams play fine on the laptop?  I'm not accusing your connection of being the problem, in fact I vaguely recall an issue like this happening to someone before, but until someone else can suggest something more helpful, I figure we can at least troubleshoot and eliminate other possible issues smile

  • Registered: 2010-03-20
  • Posts: 34

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

I don't seem to have such trouble streaming on other devices over the same wifi network.

  • Registered: 2010-03-20
  • Posts: 34

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

Oh, I should also add that more than one Chumby has done this.  Both are the classic "beanbag" model with the metal knob for hanging charms.  One was only a couple feet from the wifi router.

  • bobsz
  • Blue Buddy
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  • From: Long Beach NY
  • Registered: 2011-01-01
  • Posts: 546

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

I get some odd streaming problems on my Chumbys once in a while, but they usually resolve themselves in time. Until you can figure out a technical fix, why not just put your favorite stations right into MyStreams, at least temporarily. If you cut out the "middleman" of Shoutcast maybe that can help you figure out the problem. You know a lot of these streams go out in various formats, mp3 vs AAC, etc, and Shoutcast just shows you one choice. Maybe your Chumby's having trouble with one particular format, and you could try an alternate stream. At least you'd have your stations back. I also listen to a lot of OTR stations, and there's a lot more variety than Shoutcast offers, anyway. Good luck.

  • Duane
  • Duane
  • Blue Octy
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  • From: San Diego, CA
  • Registered: 2006-08-24
  • Posts: 8,200

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

SHOUTcast is simply an aggregator of links to streams.  They're essentially a "phone book".  The streams themselves are operated by each source that streams - that means that the quality of any given stream is dependent upon the provider.

I have another post somewhere that discusses SHOUTcast streams and how music streams differ from broadcast radio - for instance, each stream may have a different policy with regards to listeners - most have a limit on the number of simultaneous listeners, and handle turnover differently.  Some simply cut each listeners after a fixed time, some cut off listeners when the count reaches a threshold, etc.

The connection to any given streams does not happen through us, nor indeed through SHOUTcast - if you're having an issue, then it's either something related to network connectivity between the device and the source of the stream, some listener policy by the source, or simply a bug in the chumby device itself.

However, if other streams or music sources work reliably, then it's unlikely to be a bug in the device.

Duane's Website

  • Registered: 2010-03-20
  • Posts: 34

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

Well, it's been happening on MANY streams, so I doubt that it's the individual streams.

  • Registered: 2010-03-20
  • Posts: 34

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

As far as I can tell, it's specific to Shoutcast.  Listening to other sources does not seem to result in the same problem.  However, I'm not aware of any other source on the Chumby that has old time radio streams, and I've never been able to get the "My Streams" thing to work.

However, on Shoutcast, it seems to be not a matter of if, but WHEN it will cut out.  A few minutes?   half hour?  An hour?  It rarely seems to go longer than an hour without cutting out anymore.  I must emphasize that this is a fairly recent problem, although I can't really pinpoint just how recent, especially since it seems to have gotten progressively worse, although that could just be my imagination due to frustration as the problem continued to persist, all my efforts failed, and I had no idea what in the world to try next.

Please, please PLEASE help!  This is driving me insane!  Why is this happening?  Is there anything I can do about it?  I don't know how much longer I can stand this without losing self control and smashing my Chumby to pieces against the wall!

  • Registered: 2010-03-20
  • Posts: 34

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

Oh, and I very much doubt that these old time radio streams are constantly hitting their maximum numbers of listeners...

  • Duane
  • Duane
  • Blue Octy
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  • From: San Diego, CA
  • Registered: 2006-08-24
  • Posts: 8,200

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

The SHOUTcast player on the Chumby uses *exactly* the same player (btplay) for every other music source on the device, including Pandora, Blue Octy Radio, iHeartRadio, My Streams, etc.  If SHOUTcast is failing, they *all* should be failing, if this problem is on the device itself.

We have not made any recent changes to the software on the device, and there have been no recent server changes (which would not matter anyway since we do not stream the music ourselves anyway).

I don't have an explanation.

Duane's Website

11 Reply by bobsz (edited by bobsz 2012-06-04 20:41:23)

  • bobsz
  • Blue Buddy
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  • From: Long Beach NY
  • Registered: 2011-01-01
  • Posts: 546

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

@revfelixblackcat - I hope you don't give up on your radio stations. Let's face it, if Duane can't help with your Shoutcast problem on Chumby, nobody can. Might be time for my Plan B. (Besides, Shoutcast is AOL, so who knows what they'll do in the future.)

IMHO, I think you should give MyStreams another shot. I'm sure you can get it to work. The only real problem I ever had was typing on the little Chumby keyboard. Sometimes I use a stylus from my old PDA, and found that helps accuracy.  But it's certainly no worse than some cell phones, it just takes a little time. After all, it's the same keyboard you type your search for Shoutcast.

To add a station, first go to MyStreams and press "New."

You only have to type in 2 things, the station name and the URL of the stream. Of course, you can abbreviate the station name. You just have to type slow and careful, because typos take a while to fix. (You have to backspace to the error.) Even if it takes you 5 tries (maybe 5 minutes) to get the typing right, then it's there "forever."

I don't know what stations you listen to. Sometimes the AudioNoir Mystery OTR comes up in Shoutcast. To listen to that stream, you'd type in:

http://lf.org/milosz/web/noir/listen.pls

... and then punch the button to say it's a pls stream. My favorite is Antioch OTR. That stream's a little harder because of the punctuation marks:

http://lin2.ash.fast-serv.com:9022/listen.pls

Try it. If you're stuck on any step, let me know and I'll try to walk you through it. Please don't smash your Chumby. If you're really mad, throw it my way! Anyway, internet radios are still absurdly expensive, and some don't let you select "niche" stations like these.

  • Registered: 2012-02-07
  • Posts: 535

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

bobsz wrote:

The only real problem I ever had was typing on the little Chumby keyboard. Sometimes I use a stylus from my old PDA, and found that helps accuracy.  But it's certainly no worse than some cell phones, it just takes a little time. After all, it's the same keyboard you type your search for Shoutcast.

In a pinch, the eraser on a pencil will do (unless it's one of those cheap-arsed pencils with the plastic-like faux eraser that just smears the writing instead of erasing -- that might smudge the screen!)

  • Registered: 2012-01-01
  • Posts: 2

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

Shoutcast have never worked for me. It cuts out just you explained and I also don't have any issues with computer or non-Chumby devices using Shoutcast. I started using blue octy radio instead. Then they removed Proton-radio from there. Now I have to use MyStreams. But the good thing is that MyStreams have only cut out once in a half year or so.

It will take little more time to configure MyStreams but that way you could avoid problems in Shoutcast.

  • Duane
  • Duane
  • Blue Octy
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  • From: San Diego, CA
  • Registered: 2006-08-24
  • Posts: 8,200

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

For playback, My Streams and Blue Octy Radio use exactly the same audio player as SHOUTcast - in fact, some of the Blue Octy streams are actually SHOUTcast streams.

Duane's Website

  • bobsz
  • Blue Buddy
  • Offline
  • From: Long Beach NY
  • Registered: 2011-01-01
  • Posts: 546

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

I was just browsing the Dash Forum, and it seems like their streaming problems are worse than us. There's a thread called "SHOUTCAST is dead."  Once again, it looks like the providers messing with their content so it's hard to get if you don't have to look at their ads on your computer or tablet.

A post from a moderator there:
---------------------------------------------
Re: SHOUTCAST Radio is dead

Postby Sonymod_K52S » Thu Sep 27, 2012 2:32 pm
Hello,
We sincerely apologize for the frustration and inconvenience the server migration may have caused you.

As for Shoutcast and Blu Octy Radio , Our engineering team is aware the apps ares not functioning as intended, and are working hard on resolving this issue.Please note, We do not have an ETA for resolution.

Here is the list of apps currently being investigated.
CNBC
Facebook
Earthcam
Advanced Alarms
Pandora
Slacker
Blu Octy Radio
Internet Radio Streamer
and Shoutcast

We certainly appreciate your patience. Your business is especially important to us. Thank you very much for your continued loyalty to dash™ and Sony.

  • Duane
  • Duane
  • Blue Octy
  • Offline
  • From: San Diego, CA
  • Registered: 2006-08-24
  • Posts: 8,200

Re: Shoutcast cutting out a LOT lately.

The Sony dash uses a completely different audio player than the Chumby.

From that list, it looks like their equivalent of our "content.chumby.com" server, which interfaces to most of these external services, is not working properly.  Slacker is an interesting exception - that's a BIVL audio source, not something inherited from Chumby.  Also, the "Internet Radio Streamer" is the equivalent of Chumby's "My Streams", so should not be dependent upon anything other than the audio player.

Duane's Website