USTV support

[buntay20]

I have been testing V5 for a bit now and absolutely love it. when paired with roku it defiantly fits the bill to a T.
There is defiantly a donation coming after I have a chance to put some real hours on my setup.

With that being said, there is something that would make the donation quite a bit larger and that would be support to import specific channels from
ustvgo.tv, ustv247.tv and live94today.com.......or any one of these. right now Im using a raspberry pi to accomplish this but it would be amazing to have an all in one application....... I/many  wouldn't even mind if it was not viewable outside the local network.

Am I just missing a way to do this in V5?????

Sub, this is a masterpiece and so glad I found it and look forward to seeing this grow, THANK YOU!!!!

[mvallevand]

NextPVR already supports Extras which can in theory provide access to any non-DRM'd source. What is needed is motivated users who can take advantage of this great ability via API and scraping and it really isn't sub's role to do that. Based on your comment he deserves the bigger donation just for the work he has done on Extras (behind scenes there has been a lot).

As an example here is my personal use Extra which I absolutely will NOT distribute that I think demonstrates the capability https://imgur.com/a/ssKRMjz (unmute for sound) you are looking for. Many people want more than 360p though.

Note I did this in a UI client because that is how it would work on the Roku.

Martin

[buntay20]

So it can be done, thats awsome!!!

I have read a lot about "extras" but I cant find anything in the web app pointing to it. I assume it is a coding thing.
would you be kind enough as to point to some references so I can better understand what they are all about and how to use them?? Also, would you be able to discuss how you did this. If you dont want to put it on the forum a PM would work just as well. I would appreciate any help you would give in helping me understand "extras" and how to be able to incorporate the for mentioned websites.

F.

[sub]

Extras are basically plugins that provide extra recording sources to NextPVR. For example - a user might create an extra for their security camera, and it could then be used just like any other tv channel etc. (an extra is responsible for any authentication etc, and returning a transport stream, or url to NextPVR, which it then processes like any other channel)

I don't personally know anything ustvgo.tv or ustv247.tv. Martin might be able to tell you more.

[buntay20]

do I need to download anything??.......write an xml file?? 
can you point me to a post or posts or where to find documentation that can help me understand how to incorporate them??

I have just ordered a new Hauppauge 1609 quad tuner card and computer tower so I am really looking forward to setting it up as my new TV server (currently using a tablo)

F

[sub]

I don't really have any documentation for you, but here is an example:

Code:

<extras>

  <channel name="Aljazeera">
    <command>ffmpeg.exe</command>
    <args>-i http://aljazeera-eng-hd-live.hls.adaptive.level3.net/aljazeera/english2/index.m3u8 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -f mpegts - </args>
  </channel>

</extras>

This is an extra that defines a single channel called "Aljazeera". The extra will run ffmpeg.exe, passing in the specified arguments, and will return a transport stream to NextPVR. ie, this is pretty simple from NextPVR's perspective, and the complications are really in whatever you decide you want to run from your extra.

You put it in C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data, with a name extras-test.xml and it'll show up on the Settings->Devices screen.

[buntay20]

So I have played a bit and I now understand how to ad a channel and now more questions...lol

are you able to designate a channel #??

in this line:
<args>-i http://aljazeera-eng-hd-live.hls.adaptiv...index.m3u8 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -f mpegts - </args>

am i correct in thinking that you are passing the stream through ffmpg.exe using  "-vcodec copy -acodec copy -f mpegts" as to how ffmpg is supposed to handle the stream? It looks like all it is doing is taking the stream and converting it to something NPVR likes?

Am I going to have to dig into FFMPG documentation to lean what all the arguments are and what they do or can you break it down a bit as to basically what NPVR needs to make things happen.

on the website side im guessing the info on the stream  I need is buried within the actual HTML code of the site channel ??

Thanks for all your help

[mvallevand]

I am not going to help with ustvgo or but the python source to my Pluto, and the old Locast addon is available and this might give you some clues. I am also not going to help with web site scraping but can help you with creating an Extra if you figure out how to get a URL. The source for the RPi process you are using can probably give you a clue, I don't know anything about any other processes that do this.

What Tablo device do you have. I recently wrote an Extra that adds the Tablo Dual lite as a tuner for NextPVR. The Tablo devices are better for cheap Roku devices that don't have AC3 built in.

Martin

[sub]

So I have played a bit and I now understand how to ad a channel and now more questions...lol

are you able to designate a channel #??

If you've got a specific number you want to use, it can specify a number attribute on the <channel> node:

<channel name="Aljazeera" number="12">

in this line:
<args>-i http://aljazeera-eng-hd-live.hls.adaptiv...index.m3u8 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -f mpegts - </args>

am i correct in thinking that you are passing the stream through ffmpg.exe using  "-vcodec copy -acodec copy -f mpegts" as to how ffmpg is supposed to handle the stream? It looks like all it is doing is taking the stream and converting it to something NPVR likes?

This was just an example. Your extra may not be using ffmpeg. You could be using any executable that does whatever you need.

In this specific case, ffmpeg was taking an HLS stream (.m3u8), and converting it to a transport stream (mpegts) for passing to NextPVR.

Realistically, you wouldn't need an extra as simple as this example, because you'd be able to use the m3u8 url directly in NextPVR. It's highly likely that any custom extra would need to have been doing something more specific, like logging into some website, finding some stream, and converting it to transport stream for passing to NextPVR.

[buntay20]

What Tablo device do you have. I recently wrote an Extra that adds the Tablo Dual lite as a tuner for NextPVR. The Tablo devices are better for cheap Roku devices that don't have AC3 built in.

I am using an older quad tuner model SPVR4-01-NA and it works great, what turned me on to NPVR was the prospect of potentially having an all in one software that played nice with Roku and getting even one of these sites incorporated seals the deal.
That being said, I understand the unwillingness to help and bear no ill will, its all good and I enjoy the challenge. but understanding what and how to pass the url (when I figure it out) through NPVR that would make it work makes a lot less coffee and sleepless nights......LOL
but I understand that that is probably the key so I will dig in and learn what I learn 

F