Topic: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

Hi!

The music streaming feature in new control is great!

However, I would like to know how it works.

Does it use FLASH to play music or us BTPLAY.

The reason why I am asking is because FLASH player has limit on the sample rate and bit rate of the streamed audio.

For example, I was trying to stream KQED to chumby from my slimserver software on a Windows XP PC.

The result is the following:
1. When use control panel : NEVER gave me any sound;
2. When use btplay --output=alsa:plug:dmixer http://xxx:9000 : NO SOUND either
3. When use btplay --output=alsa:plug:dmixer http://205.234.249.144:8000 (direct streaming) :WORKS!

Re: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

It's using btplay, not Flash.

for the IP aa.bb.cc.dd you enter, it generates the URL:

http://aa.bb.cc.dd:9000/stream.mp3

Without the "stream.mp3", you'll be getting a web page of the SlimServer.

You'll need to make sure that your PC's port 9000 open if you're running a firewall - you can also check by trying to access the SlimServer from another computer.

Re: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

Duane wrote:

It's using btplay, not Flash.

for the IP aa.bb.cc.dd you enter, it generates the URL:

http://aa.bb.cc.dd:9000/stream.mp3

Without the "stream.mp3", you'll be getting a web page of the SlimServer.

You'll need to make sure that your PC's port 9000 open if you're running a firewall - you can also check by trying to access the SlimServer from another computer.

Sorry forthe type, I did have /stream.mp3 by the end of the URL.

Re: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

I have a similar issue. I setup my SLimserver client at port 9000.It is accessible through other computers in the network, also wireless. It will not start the stream from the Chumby. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Alex

Re: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

Was wondering if I could get a little more info on how the control panel uses btplay to stream from .pls urls. When I try btplay with a url for an .mp3 stream everything works fine, but btplay gives an error when I try a url such as http://www.somafm.com/groovesalad.pls.

urls like these work fine with "my streams" in the control panel, so how is the control panel handling these kinds of requests? I'm hoping to make a simple web page that would be served from the chumby and used to remotely play and stop streams from a list. Thanks!

Re: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

btplay itself doesn't understand PLS files (which are just INF-style text files containing the links to the actual streams).  In My Streams, the Control Panel fetches the PLS file, extracts the links, then calls btplay with the actual stream URL.

Download the PLS file from that link and see what's in it.

Re: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

OK, makes sense. This .pls file has 9 URLs pointing to different servers. Must be the way they load balance. Does the control panel just play the first URL or will it go thru the list until it finds an open server?

Re: Please explain how Music streaming in Beta Control panel works

In the My Streams section it can't tell the difference between a list of load balanced servers, or a playlist of files it is expected to play in order (PLS files are used for both), so it implements the latter.  It will play the first one in the file - if that fails or the stream ends, it will move on to the second, and so on.  If it gets to the end of the list, it will start over from the top.