UbuStream v2.1 Beta finally available

[ralphy]

Well, the problem FirstTeamOps had was easy to reproduce: External player the first time in; Internal player thereafter. And I have fixed that bug. So this is something different. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how clicking Preview Play could invoke the external player at all. The log you sent me didn't appear to show this happening. Occasionally, when my code triggers a really ugly exception, the GB-PVR UI code seems to go completely to hell in a handbasket (brings up the station web viewer whatever button/key I press, for instance) so I'm wondering if it's something like that. If you can get a reproduceable case for a specific station and send me the log (and your UbuStream.xml file) I'll know more.

Quick further testing suggests that sometimes when selecting the station, 'external player' is first highlighted. When this happens, and then selecting preview seems to play the external WMP. On other stations, 'preview' is highlighted when selecting the station, and when selecting preview, the internal player starts.

I have no idea why 'external' is highlighted first.

Does this help?

[ubu]

Quick further testing suggests that sometimes when selecting the station, 'external player' is first highlighted. When this happens, and then selecting preview seems to play the external WMP. On other stations, 'preview' is highlighted when selecting the station, and when selecting preview, the internal player starts.

I have no idea why 'external' is highlighted first.

Does this help?

When you create a station in UbuStream config, you get to choose between Preview, Timeshift and External play modes as the "default" play mode for that station. This default play mode is the one that will be used when you press the Play button on the menu (or the Play button on your remote). When you open the pop-up dialog for that station, the play button that is highlighted is the default play mode you chose for the station (so just pressing Enter/OK will use that mode). You can also choose to use a different mode by selecting a different button.

So - it sounds like you're saying that your station is switching between highlighting External Play and Preview Play but without you changing the default mode in the config app? If so, let me have a copy of your UbuStream.xml file so I can try to reproduce the problem.

[ubu]

My questions had to do with the sizing, and command line tweaks. If I enter a size in both the height width boxes for both the time shifter and for the dynamic source, which gets used? I also noticed (I think) that the sizes arent applied until an autosync update is done. That wasn't clear right away, and I spent some time adjusting sizes and seeing no changes at all. You may want to explain that a bit.
Also, when/where are the sizes applied to the parm string?

All the values entered on the advanced station config panel apply to just that station alone. Checking one of the aspect ratio radio buttons will change the height and width fields to preset values (a "best guess") but, if you choose "Custom", you can also manually enter your own values in those fields (boxes). You will notice that every time the values in these fields is changed, the height/width values in VLC parameter string shown below also changes. You can use the Edit button to manually change the parm string so you can tweak it for any special needs for that station (but, if you change the height/width values in the parm string, the numeric fields on the panel will no longer work, since they will not be aware of the changed values). The canvas height/width values in the parm string are taken from the global "display" height/width fields which you can set in the Options->Timeshift panel.

All these settings apply only to Timeshift Play. For Preview Play, the F7 key (Sub/CC button) toggles through a fixed set of aspect ratio options. The Timeshift settings are especially useful for MVP users since the canvas settings allow them to force the outer edges of the video image to fit the TV they are using and the station height/width settings should allow them to force any video stream to display in the correct aspect ratio. (It might take several iterations of fiddling with the values to get some "problem" stations to look right though).

DynamicSources automatically create stations each time they are executed. So you can provide a "template" for these stations by using the DynamicSource config panel (and its associated advanced settings dialog). All the values you use there (including the media player, the default play mode and all the Timeshift settings) will be used for all the new stations created by UbuStream when it reads the PLX file created by the DynSource app. Therefore, any changes you make to the DynSource settings (including height/width) will not actually show up until the next time the DynSource download occurs (either via AutoSynch, executing the app from the config panel or by executing the new UbuDynSourceUpdate.exe app). If you have chosen the "Retain existing stations" options, the old stations will not reflect the new settings but must be changed manually.

[ubu]

I can see how this can be a problem, but for me, always running full screen on a TV, this was never a problem. With the hauppauge 45 key remote, hit the green button twice and I'm back to GB-PVR. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll use the internal players.

A lot of people don't feel comfortable editing their irremote.ini to configure the green button to do that. Also not everybody has an Hauppauge remote. Some people use WinLirc IR and also RF remotes. The internal players give me a lot more control over playback (OK, I haven't ironed out all the wrinkles yet, but....:p ) so I think it's a good direction to be taking. I use them a lot simply because of the ability to change the aspect ratio with my remote. All my TVs suffer from overscan and, since the aspect ratio toggle picks up my overscan adjustment settings from config.xml, I can usually get the video to look perfect on the TV. Your ABC news streams, for instance, look best when I choose 16:10 with overscan adjustment.

I haven't tried UbuRadio yet (BTW, GB-PVR NetRadio does handle non-shoutcast files too).

Yes, but what a hassle to set up. And it only works for WMP streams, not for RealAudio, QuickTime, OggVorbis, etc. (And a lot of people's favourite streams are RealAudio only - many of the BBC ones, for instance).

UbuRadio is intended for people who just want to play the streams with minimum configuration headaches. As a result, it's not very flexible but, hopefully, very easy to use. UbuStream, on the other hand, is meant to be more of a Swiss army knife for web streams, allowing a bunch of different options and configuration capabilities but, perhaps, it's less of a "no-brainer" to set up and use.

I've started a new thread for discussing design issues, so I'll post my comments on your other suggestions there.

[ubu]

I've just uploaded what I'm optimistically calling "Release candidate 1" to the wiki. Stuff I've added:

• New splash screen for the initial run of the config app.
  
• Changed the Play Group function to always build the playlist with the stations in the order they were added rather than sorted alphabetically (that used to make for some pretty strange playlists when it did that with DynSource news stories ).
  
• Added UbuDynSourceUpdate.exe, which is a new standalone app to run the AutoSynch process. When used with the Windows scheduler or added to your UpdateEPG.bat file, this will automatically keep your DynSource items up to date.
  
• Fixed a few more bugs.

Mainly, I've wrapped it all up in an installer program. If anybody has the time, I'd really appreciate if you would test it for me (especially if you're running XP64 - I don't have that installed so can't test if my XP64 install code is working). Probably good to take a copy of your gbpvr directory structure before you start, just in case, but I've tested it to the point that I'm pretty sure it won't do anything spectacularly disastrous. It will add an UbuStream folder to your start menu and has all the usual Setup bells and whistles, including an Uninstall program.

EDIT: The installer now installs the GbpvrUiElements and CommonGbpvrUtilities libraries but detects the date of the existing dlls and will not overwrite any newer versions. The same holds true for the UbuRecordingService components and the UbuNetStreamPlayer dll, which are also used by UbuRadio, thus enabling staggered releases of each plugin in the future without the risk of breaking the other plugin. At least that's the theory.

[ralphy]

When you create a station in UbuStream config, you get to choose between Preview, Timeshift and External play modes as the "default" play mode for that station. This default play mode is the one that will be used when you press the Play button on the menu (or the Play button on your remote). When you open the pop-up dialog for that station, the play button that is highlighted is the default play mode you chose for the station (so just pressing Enter/OK will use that mode). You can also choose to use a different mode by selecting a different button.

Since I am not creating a station but am using a dynamic source, I presume the 'playback type' in the advance options choses the default player. In my case, even if I select "preview" in the advanced config, the external button is displayed in the pop-up. I noted in the xml file that

Code:

<Use_Internal_Player>false</Use_Internal_Player>
<Use_Timeshift_Player>false</Use_Timeshift_Player>

was set for the 'offending' streams.

So - it sounds like you're saying that your station is switching between highlighting External Play and Preview Play but without you changing the default mode in the config app? If so, let me have a copy of your UbuStream.xml file so I can try to reproduce the problem.

I think so. BTW, I had a suspicion that sometimes changes made in config were not being saved back to the xml file, and sometimes in the past have done a 'save as' just to be sure. I haven't been able to tell if this is the problem here.

Yes, but what a hassle to set up. And it only works for WMP streams, not for RealAudio, QuickTime, OggVorbis, etc. (And a lot of people's favourite streams are RealAudio only - many of the BBC ones, for instance).

I must confess that once I found UbuStream, I disabled GBPVR net radio and switched to UbuStream.

[happyhammer]

I only use gbpvr with MVP's.

When i tried ubstream 2.0, i always got stuck with a buffering message.

I've tried deleting everything to do with UBstream ,as was in a previous thread and start a fresh install with 2.1 but still it won't let me install the ubustreamrecordingservice, get message "cannot open on computer"

the install log has these interesting bits:

An exception occurred during the Install phase.
System.ArgumentException: Source UbuRecordingService already exists on the local computer.

The Rollback phase completed successfully.
The transacted install has completed.
The installation failed, and the rollback has been performed.

So it seems there is some prior UbuRecordingService remnant hanging around, screwing me up?

[ubu]

I only use gbpvr with MVP's.

When i tried ubstream 2.0, i always got stuck with a buffering message.

Most likely either you weren't setting the wait times long enough or VLC was having difficulty transcoding the stream you were using. UbuStream 2.0 has pretty limited support for MVPs. You should find v2.1 a lot more MVP-friendly.

I've tried deleting everything to do with UBstream ,as was in a previous thread and start a fresh install with 2.1 but still it won't let me install the ubustreamrecordingservice, get message "cannot open on computer"

the install log has these interesting bits:

An exception occurred during the Install phase.
System.ArgumentException: Source UbuRecordingService already exists on the local computer.

The Rollback phase completed successfully.
The transacted install has completed.
The installation failed, and the rollback has been performed.

So it seems there is some prior UbuRecordingService remnant hanging around, screwing me up?

Does UbuRecordingService still show up on the Services window (Control Panel->Administrative Tools)? I take it you've tried using the Uninstall button on the UbuRecordingService Controller dialog? Probably the uninstall log might be more revealing than the install log (since your log tells us that Windows clearly thinks the service is still installed).

The "brute force and ignorance" approach would be to uninstall it manually by using this command from a DOS window:

Code:

[I]C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.5727\InstallUtil.exe  /u <your gbpvr[/I][SIZE=2][I] directory>\Plugins\[I]UbuStream\[/I][I]UbuRecord[/I]ingService\UbuRecordingService.exe[/I][/SIZE]

Make sure you modify the path to the Framework directory to wherever you have .Net 2.0 installed on your system. (If you have more than one directory under Framework, use the one with the highest release number for v2.)

BTW - you can use the same command, but without the /u parm, to install the service. The Controller dialog's Install/Uninstall buttons simply run these commands on your behalf.

Just had a thought, I believe that one thing that can screw up uninstalling a service is if the web service event log is full. Extremely unlikely, but you might want to try opening the Event Viewer, highlight Application and then select Action->Clear all Events from the menu.

[ubu]

Since I am not creating a station but am using a dynamic source, I presume the 'playback type' in the advance options choses the default player. In my case, even if I select "preview" in the advanced config, the external button is displayed in the pop-up. I noted in the xml file that

Code:

<Use_Internal_Player>false</Use_Internal_Player>
<Use_Timeshift_Player>false</Use_Timeshift_Player>

was set for the 'offending' streams.

I think I've found the problem. Several things were conspiring to cause this. Anyway, this is how it's supposed to work (and, hopefully, actually does now):

When a new station (or a new DynSource) is created, it takes its default values from the settings in the Options panels. So the playback type is based on whether you have the "Default new stations to...." checkboxes selected. For a new install, I was setting both of these to false but there was a bug in the DynSource advanced settings panel that forced it to select Preview. So the first time you executed a DynSource it would create its stations with External play set. But once you opened (and saved) the advanced settings panel it would switch it to Preview play. So the next time you ran the DynSource update, the stations would be created with Preview play set.

I've changed the initial install to set Preview play to true and I've fixed the bug in the advanced settings panel. So now, the DynSource will be created with Preview play set and will create stations accordingly unless you explicitly change the DynSource to External or Timeshift. The downside to my fix is that now all three play mode radio buttons are enabled, whatever the specified player. So I'm assuming that people will have the sense not to choose Timeshift play if their DynSource is downloading RealPlayer video streams.

I have also added the Next/Prev Group feature back in to the plugin UI. I ended up putting back the menu buttons (as well as supporting the remote buttons) because it was quicker and easier to do it that way. So now the menu scrolls again but, by enlarging the button list a bit, only the Delete button is hidden when the menu is first displayed.

I've updated the Setup app in the wiki zip to include these changes.

[happyhammer]

>>Does UbuRecordingService still show up on the Services window (Control Panel->Administrative Tools)?

NO

>>I take it you've tried using the Uninstall button on the UbuRecordingService Controller dialog?

As it is now, the recording service is not installed, so that button is not active, in fact i cant install it


>>Just had a thought, I believe that one thing that can screw up uninstalling a service is if the web service event log is full. Extremely unlikely, but you might want to try opening the Event Viewer, highlight Application and then select Action->Clear all Events from the menu.[/QUOTE]

you might be onto something there, they were at the max 512K, but i have "overwite events when needed" selected. in any case i have cleared them and tried again with the same problem.


I tried to manually uninstall/install but no joy.

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Plugins\UbuStream\UbuRecordingService>C:\WINDOWS\Mi
crosoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\InstallUtil /u UbuRecordingService.exe
Microsoft ® .NET Framework Installation utility Version 2.0.50727.42
Copyright © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.



The uninstall is beginning.
See the contents of the log file for the C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Plugins\Ub
uStream\UbuRecordingService\UbuRecordingService.exe assembly's progress.
The file is located at C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Plugins\UbuStream\UbuRecordi
ngService\UbuRecordingService.InstallLog.
Uninstalling assembly 'C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Plugins\UbuStream\UbuRecordi
ngService\UbuRecordingService.exe'.
Affected parameters are:
logtoconsole =
assemblypath = C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Plugins\UbuStream\UbuRecordingSer
vice\UbuRecordingService.exe
logfile = C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Plugins\UbuStream\UbuRecordingService\
UbuRecordingService.InstallLog
Removing EventLog source UbuRecordingService.
An exception occurred during the uninstallation of the System.Diagnostics.EventL
ogInstaller installer.
System.InvalidOperationException: The event log source 'UbuRecordingService' can
not be deleted, because it's equal to the log name.
An exception occurred while uninstalling. This exception will be ignored and the
uninstall will continue. However, the application might not be fully uninstalle
d after the uninstall is complete.

The uninstall has completed.
An exception occurred while uninstalling. This exception will be ignored and the
uninstall will continue. However, the application might not be fully uninstalle
d after the uninstall is complete.


and when i try to install it i get this important extracted info:

Installing service UbuRecordingService...
Service UbuRecordingService has been successfully installed.
Creating EventLog source UbuRecordingService in log Application...

An exception occurred during the Install phase.
System.ArgumentException: Source UbuRecordingService already exists on the local
computer.

The Rollback phase of the installation is beginning.