MLB.TV in Linux

rjwood · 03-30-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knappster

I just happened to see this webpage not long ago:

http://www.eds.org/~straycat/mlblinux.php

Thanks. I'm probably doing something incorrectly though because I type that into a teminal and I only get a list of help options:

Quote:

rob@rob-desktop:~$ mplayer -vo x11
MPlayer 1.0rc2-4.3.2 (C) 2000-2007 MPlayer Team
CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+ (Family: 15, Model: 67, Stepping: 3)
CPUflags: MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 1 3DNow2: 1 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
Compiled with runtime CPU detection.
Option msglevel: Unknown suboption 5
Warning unknown option msglevel at line 5
Usage: mplayer [options] [url|path/]filename

Basic options: (complete list in the man page)
-vo <drv> select video output driver ('-vo help' for a list)
-ao <drv> select audio output driver ('-ao help' for a list)
vcd://<trackno> play (S)VCD (Super Video CD) track (raw device, no mount)
dvd://<titleno> play DVD title from device instead of plain file
-alang/-slang select DVD audio/subtitle language (by 2-char country code)
-ss <position> seek to given (seconds or hh:mm:ss) position
-nosound do not play sound
-fs fullscreen playback (or -vm, -zoom, details in the man page)
-x <x> -y <y> set display resolution (for use with -vm or -zoom)
-sub <file> specify subtitle file to use (also see -subfps, -subdelay)
-playlist <file> specify playlist file
-vid x -aid y select video (x) and audio (y) stream to play
-fps x -srate y change video (x fps) and audio (y Hz) rate
-pp <quality> enable postprocessing filter (details in the man page)
-framedrop enable frame dropping (for slow machines)

Basic keys: (complete list in the man page, also check input.conf)
<- or -> seek backward/forward 10 seconds
down or up seek backward/forward 1 minute
pgdown or pgup seek backward/forward 10 minutes
< or > step backward/forward in playlist
p or SPACE pause movie (press any key to continue)
q or ESC stop playing and quit program
+ or - adjust audio delay by +/- 0.1 second
o cycle OSD mode: none / seekbar / seekbar + timer
* or / increase or decrease PCM volume
x or z adjust subtitle delay by +/- 0.1 second
r or t adjust subtitle position up/down, also see -vf expand

* * * SEE THE MAN PAGE FOR DETAILS, FURTHER (ADVANCED) OPTIONS AND KEYS * * *

So I tried mplayer -vo and got this:

Quote:

rob@rob-desktop:~$ mplayer -vo
MPlayer 1.0rc2-4.3.2 (C) 2000-2007 MPlayer Team
CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+ (Family: 15, Model: 67, Stepping: 3)
CPUflags: MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 1 3DNow2: 1 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
Compiled with runtime CPU detection.
Option msglevel: Unknown suboption 5
Warning unknown option msglevel at line 5
Error parsing option on the command line: -vo

Which is not quite as lengthy as the first, so I assume I'm getting closer to correctness.

knappster · 03-30-2009, 12:26 PM

If you're running it from the command line, then you might have to specify a video file. The format that it is displayed in is probably how it is supposed to be entered into the configuration file.

I can't actually verify this because I am on a windows machine right now, but I think that is why you're seeing what you're seeing.

rjwood · 03-30-2009, 01:55 PM

I went into preferences via the gui and changed the setting to x11, but it didn't make any difference. I checked my laptop and found the setting is 'xv'. The feed plays fine on that machine. I checked the repositories on both machines and everything is identical. I believe this green bar only appeared after installing my new geforce 9500 gt card and switched to HDMI, however, even after restarting into rbg, its still there.

Theophile · 03-30-2009, 04:30 PM

I'm thinking driver problem. Look how it even discolors the window decoration. Are you using the binary ATI driver (fglrx) or the open one (radeon)?

rjwood · 03-30-2009, 04:52 PM

nvidia accelerated graphics driver 180. video from everywhere else is working great. Its only mlbviewer and the player from the mlb.tv site.

daftcat · 03-30-2009, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjwood

nvidia accelerated graphics driver 180. video from everywhere else is working great. Its only mlbviewer and the player from the mlb.tv site.

It could be the codec or rather, the version of the codec libraries you are using.

Since you'll almost definitely need to recompile your ffmpeg, x264, and probably faad for the new version of mlbviewer (e.g. for playing the flash streams), it wouldn't be a bad idea to also grab the latest mplayer from svn and rebuild that too.

This applies to everyone who wants to test the new mlbviewer (which I'll be releasing tonight or tomorrow night.) Actually, I'll move the new requirements to the next post.

daftcat · 03-30-2009, 11:58 PM

ADDITIONAL PYTHON:

You will need additional python libraries because the 2009 season is shifting away from jsp and json to xml and SOAP.

python-xml

Debian package name: python-xml
Ubuntu: ?? You tell me
Redhat/Fedora/any other binary distros: ?? You tell me

Verify:

Code:

matthew@tango:~$ python
Python 2.4.4 (#2, Apr  5 2007, 20:11:18)
[GCC 4.1.2 20061115 (prerelease) (Debian 4.1.1-21)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import xml
>>> from xml.dom.minidom import parse

suds

Binary packages: probably only fedora
Download from: https://fedorahosted.org/suds/

Verify:

Code:

matthew@tango:~$ python
Python 2.4.4 (#2, Apr  5 2007, 20:11:18)
[GCC 4.1.2 20061115 (prerelease) (Debian 4.1.1-21)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from suds.client import Client

RTMPDUMP

As far as I know, the only flash client worth a lick on Linux besides the Adobe Flash plugin is rtmpdump. Actually, rtmpdump is worth only a third of a lick because it can only download 1/3 of the file before crapping out. Luckily it supports resume. Maybe on a live stream when it isn't downloading balls-to-the-wall, it might perform better.

Download from: http://sourceforge.net/projects/rtmpdump/

PLEASE make the following modification to the rtmpdump source before compiling it. Trust me, you'll thank me.

Comment out:

Code:

#define DEBUG

in log.h

Or add NODEBUG to your compile flags in your Makefile. I forgot how to do this, so someone tell me for the official HOWTO. By the way, all of you who volunteered to test are also volunteering to contribute to the HOWTO by posting any hacks or missing information here that got you going.

CODECS (ffmpeg, x264, faad, possibly mplayer)

At a minimum, most of you will have to recompile your ffmpeg, x264, and possibly faad and mplayer. There has been much development (and new codec support) in recent versions of ffmpeg but many distributions include older ffmpeg under the guise of "stability."

Here's a howto for rebuilding your ffmpeg and x264:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=786095

I found that I also needed to recompile my mplayer and while I was at it, I recompiled faad too. Mplayer I pulled from the latest svn while faad I went with the source tarball (2-2.7).

For mplayer, I included the following flags for compilation:

Code:

sh configure --prefix=/usr --enable-dynamic-plugins

I've read that some folks were able to get flash video recognized by recompiling their ffmpeg and x264 alone. I'll get a sample flash file online for you guys to test with.

Well, that should keep a few of you busy for awhile. Again, please share your experiences on this forum so we can produce a comprehensive HOWTO.

Please be patient with the new code. With all the backend and media changes, you can expect that much of the old features of mlbviewer will be broken. When I release the new code, you'll basically get a small selection of WBC games to choose from and only the video. Audio and live games won't be supported until MLB.com supports them with the new player and new backend. Likewise for top plays and condensed games.

Thanks for helping out.

daftcat · 03-31-2009, 12:14 AM

Download this 12M clip to test whether you will need to upgrade ffmpeg and x264. If it complains of Unsupported video codec(7) or Unsupported audio codec (I forget what the number was), you will need to upgrade your ffmpeg and x264 at a minimum, and likely faad as well. If rebuilding the latest ffmpeg and x264 still doesn't fix it, then rebuild mplayer (or vlc) too.

Sample Flash Video

rjwood · 03-31-2009, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

Download this 12M clip to test whether you will need to upgrade ffmpeg and x264. If it complains of Unsupported video codec(7) or Unsupported audio codec (I forget what the number was), you will need to upgrade your ffmpeg and x264 at a minimum, and likely faad as well. If rebuilding the latest ffmpeg and x264 still doesn't fix it, then rebuild mplayer (or vlc) too.

Sample Flash Video

Well I got my problem fixed although I can't say specifically what it was. I installed the 32bit version of ubuntu on a partition and all is fine. So. I guess it had something to do with the 64bit architecture.

Anyway, the link you provided works great on both my laptop and now my desktop.

Wolfvorkian · 03-31-2009, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

Download this 12M clip to test whether you will need to upgrade ffmpeg and x264. If it complains of Unsupported video codec(7) or Unsupported audio codec (I forget what the number was), you will need to upgrade your ffmpeg and x264 at a minimum, and likely faad as well. If rebuilding the latest ffmpeg and x264 still doesn't fix it, then rebuild mplayer (or vlc) too.

Sample Flash Video

I tried the clip and it played perfectly with mplayer, both audio and video. I did get some new & unusual error messages in the terminal claiming "my system was too slow" and on and on but apparently they were lies.

Now what does this mean? Does it mean that once you get some other changes made that I'm home free concerning using MlbViewer? Incidentally, I recompiled nothing ....stock Arch downloads.

However on reflection, I don't really have a totally 'stock' setup. VLC was crashing so I did something I swore I'd never do again and that was download the VLC that was still in "testing". It still crashed but I still have the newer faad & X264 components that came with the VLC download after dumping it and reverting back to the one not in testing.

rjwood · 03-31-2009, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theophile

I'm thinking driver problem. Look how it even discolors the window decoration. Are you using the binary ATI driver (fglrx) or the open one (radeon)?

You were correct. Its the nvidia driver. I installed the accelerated driver 180 and 'walla', green bar, uninstall driver and bar disappears. I'm not a gamer anyway, and I think thats what that driver is for. Am I right about that?

knappster · 03-31-2009, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjwood

You were correct. Its the nvidia driver. I installed the accelerated driver 180 and 'walla', green bar, uninstall driver and bar disappears. I'm not a gamer anyway, and I think thats what that driver is for. Am I right about that?

I would say yes, it is mainly for gaming. Basically it is used for 3D graphics acceleration. Another alternative might be to try a different version of the nvidia driver. But I am pretty sure the only time I have utilized the nvidia proprietary driver is for gaming. Otherwise using the open source nv driver shouldn't have any ill affects for you.

thegryghost · 03-31-2009, 01:11 PM

If you have a newer nvidia card, most 8 and 9 series, the newer nvidia drivers (180.37+) offer VDPAU, which is nvidia's accelerated playback for H264, VC1/WMV3, and MPEG-1/2.

Since the sample stream is encoded with H264, you can play the MLB clips with little CPU (< 2% on my system).

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjwood

You were correct. Its the nvidia driver. I installed the accelerated driver 180 and 'walla', green bar, uninstall driver and bar disappears. I'm not a gamer anyway, and I think thats what that driver is for. Am I right about that?

rjwood · 03-31-2009, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegryghost

If you have a newer nvidia card, most 8 and 9 series, the newer nvidia drivers (180.37+) offer VDPAU, which is nvidia's accelerated playback for H264, VC1/WMV3, and MPEG-1/2.

Since the sample stream is encoded with H264, you can play the MLB clips with little CPU (< 2% on my system).

This is driver 180.11 from the ubuntu repositories. I'm wondering if installing nvidia-glx and nvidia-180-kernel-source would help? Otherwise I guess I could get the 180.37 driver from nvidia. Haven't done that in a while. Thanks!

thegryghost · 03-31-2009, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjwood

This is driver 180.11 from the ubuntu repositories. I'm wondering if installing nvidia-glx and nvidia-180-kernel-source would help? Otherwise I guess I could get the 180.37 driver from nvidia. Haven't done that in a while. Thanks!

The latest is 180.44, just released yesterday (I think?). You'll also need a version of mplayer that supports VDPAU. Support is in the latest SVN of mplayer and I think someone made packages for Ubuntu.. right now, only mplayer, xine, and myth have support for VDPAU.