MLB.TV in Linux

daftcat · 04-25-2010, 12:07 PM

I've branched the code for nexdef support as well as some code cleanup.

So far, the only NexDef I can get working is live games. Jump to innings, stream selection, and archived games are not working yet. In fact, I haven't seen any of these features work with the official client and nexdef yet. It's possible they are still working on these. After all, Big Papi isn't hitting .200 yet.

Bug fixes will still go into the "trunk" whereas tweaking, hacking, and cleanup will be done on the nexdef2010 "branch". Please keep these directories separate on your own machine. In fact, to prevent confusion, I've removed the setup.py script on the nexdef2010 branch to discourage installing this globally.

To download the nexdef2010 branch:

Code:

$ svn co https://mlbviewer.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/mlbviewer/branches/nexdef2010 nexdef2010

Performing "svn up" in this directory pulls updates from this branch ("nexdef2010"). To get trunk ("mlbviewer") fixes, you'll need to run "svn up" from your mlbviewer directory.

If you find this confusing, stick with what you have and ignore this. I'll eventually merge the nexdef2010 code into the trunk when I'm satisfied with the testing.

poorboywilly · 04-25-2010, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

So far, the only NexDef I can get working is live games. Jump to innings, stream selection, and archived games are not working yet. In fact, I haven't seen any of these features work with the official client and nexdef yet. It's possible they are still working on these. After all, Big Papi isn't hitting .200 yet.

I've got it downloaded. Nexdef seems terribly slow right now, it was taking about two minutes to "fetch stream URL" before it started trying to play the video, and once it started the video it was just the 400x224 stream of 400 or 500 kbps.

However, this was better than what I've been able to get prior to this. With the official flash player on Linux and windows XP I haven't even been able to get a stream started yet.

I'll try it again later to see if there is any faster response. Is there anything specific you want me to be trying/observing?

Theophile · 04-25-2010, 05:18 PM

On the Nexdef branch, I'm getting this for all games:

Code:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./mlbviewer.py", line 1522, in <module>
    curses.wrapper(mainloop, mycfg.data)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/curses/wrapper.py", line 44, in wrapper
    return func(stdscr, *args, **kwds)
  File "./mlbviewer.py", line 1214, in mainloop
    u = g.soapurl()
  File "/home/theophile/Desktop/Downloads/nexdef2010/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 1279, in soapurl
    return self.nexdef_url(game_url)
  File "/home/theophile/Desktop/Downloads/nexdef2010/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 1301, in nexdef_url
    raise Exception,self.error_str
Exception: Nexdef reports that requested stream is not available.

I made no changes to anything other than to grab the branch, chmod the exe, and run it.

poorboywilly · 04-25-2010, 06:27 PM

Hey, I was able to get the Phillies/Diamondbacks game in its full 1280x720 glory. It still took quite a while to get the stream going, it sat for a bit while fetching the URL and then sat for a bit after it switched to the player command screen, but once it got going it was pretty sweet.

edouble312 · 04-25-2010, 10:05 PM

can anyone confirm that their condensed games are working tonight?

I'm trying to watch a few, and on both machines I'm testing the feed will freeze up after a minute or so...

I've tried with the nexdef2010 build and the normal non-nexdef build.

I don't get any error message, mplayer just freezes and must be force-quit.

Wolfvorkian · 04-25-2010, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edouble312

can anyone confirm that their condensed games are working tonight?

I'm trying to watch a few, and on both machines I'm testing the feed will freeze up after a minute or so...

I've tried with the nexdef2010 build and the normal non-nexdef build.

I don't get any error message, mplayer just freezes and must be force-quit.

I've tried a couple and they seem to work okay edouble. No freezing up or anything.

edouble312 · 04-25-2010, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfvorkian

I've tried a couple and they seem to work okay edouble. No freezing up or anything.

i also noticed they play fine on the website...

i don't usually watch these that often but I thought it was weird that it would freeze my player.

also, when I try ffplay like suggested in the last page, I get a 'file not found' error...

I haven't tested on a linux box yet (been using my macbook and windows laptop) so maybe it's my mplayer.

Wolfvorkian · 04-26-2010, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edouble312

i also noticed they play fine on the website...

i don't usually watch these that often but I thought it was weird that it would freeze my player.

also, when I try ffplay like suggested in the last page, I get a 'file not found' error...

I haven't tested on a linux box yet (been using my macbook and windows laptop) so maybe it's my mplayer.

Maybe this means something to you, it doesn't to me but if I put

Code:

top_plays_player=ffplay %s

in my config file, then condensed games play and don't seem to be using mplayer.

poorboywilly · 04-26-2010, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfvorkian

Maybe this means something to you, it doesn't to me but if I put

Code:

top_plays_player=ffplay %s

in my config file, then condensed games play and don't seem to be using mplayer.

I suggested that as an option. 'ffplay' is a simple media player command that is included in the 'ffmpeg' package. Some people may have only the individual libraries (libavcodec, libavformat, etc.) as dependencies.

edouble--you said you are on a macbook and windows laptop. I assume the file not found is because you don't have the full ffmpeg on these platforms and thus the ffplay command is not found. I imagine you can find or build ffmpeg and ffplay for mac, but I don't use mac, so you are on your own there.

daftcat · 04-26-2010, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poorboywilly

It doesn't appear so, it appears the vlc RTMP access is mucked up. I imagine you have the ffmpeg package installed? If so, put

Code:

top_plays_player=ffplay %s

in your config and see if that works for the condensed games. It handles the RTMP url okay and works for me. You can hit 'f' to toggle fullscreen in that player and 'q' will exit. Note that you need the focus on the player window, not the console you launched it from for these keys to work.

Since I'm abandoning compatibility for previous seasons, I'm looking into treating condensed games the same as audio and regular game video using rtmpdump. Stay tuned. I might have something checked into the nexdef branch tonight or tomorrow.

daftcat · 04-26-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poorboywilly

Hey, I was able to get the Phillies/Diamondbacks game in its full 1280x720 glory. It still took quite a while to get the stream going, it sat for a bit while fetching the URL and then sat for a bit after it switched to the player command screen, but once it got going it was pretty sweet.

I don't know what autobahn.jar was like last year, but I know this year, it's an Apple Live Streaming client with a web proxy. Basically, it fetches playlists of timestamp files (small sequenced chunks of the stream), and reconstructs those chunks into an actual stream which is accessed through the embedded jetty web server. I assume the delay is the time it takes to download enough of these chunks to get a decent stream started. You'll also notice that for a 3M stream, nexdef might consume 6M or more. I think it basically just downloads as fast as your network connection will allow.

Anyway, that's great that you were able to get 720p. Hopefully more people will also have success. I was able to get it on my work laptop (brought it home for testing because it's the only machine I have that can do 720p without re-scaling) but sadly, some hardware chunk (CPU/GPU?) couldn't keep up. It was like watching the game in Slow Mo.

daftcat · 04-26-2010, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poorboywilly

I've got it downloaded. Nexdef seems terribly slow right now, it was taking about two minutes to "fetch stream URL" before it started trying to play the video, and once it started the video it was just the 400x224 stream of 400 or 500 kbps.

However, this was better than what I've been able to get prior to this. With the official flash player on Linux and windows XP I haven't even been able to get a stream started yet.

I'll try it again later to see if there is any faster response. Is there anything specific you want me to be trying/observing?

It often starts out at a lower res just to give the player something to chew on while it gets the higher res stream ready. When you get the 500K, just give it a moment. It should automatically switch up to the higher stream.

daftcat · 04-26-2010, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theophile

On the Nexdef branch, I'm getting this for all games:

Code:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./mlbviewer.py", line 1522, in <module>
    curses.wrapper(mainloop, mycfg.data)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/curses/wrapper.py", line 44, in wrapper
    return func(stdscr, *args, **kwds)
  File "./mlbviewer.py", line 1214, in mainloop
    u = g.soapurl()
  File "/home/theophile/Desktop/Downloads/nexdef2010/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 1279, in soapurl
    return self.nexdef_url(game_url)
  File "/home/theophile/Desktop/Downloads/nexdef2010/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 1301, in nexdef_url
    raise Exception,self.error_str
Exception: Nexdef reports that requested stream is not available.

I made no changes to anything other than to grab the branch, chmod the exe, and run it.

Are you using the latest autobahn.jar from April 8? You might also have to restart it as it still seems a bit buggy.

Also, only live games really work at the moment. There must be some way to tell it the start time to support archived games or innings but it's not the way it was last year.

edouble312 · 04-26-2010, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poorboywilly

I suggested that as an option. 'ffplay' is a simple media player command that is included in the 'ffmpeg' package. Some people may have only the individual libraries (libavcodec, libavformat, etc.) as dependencies.

edouble--you said you are on a macbook and windows laptop. I assume the file not found is because you don't have the full ffmpeg on these platforms and thus the ffplay command is not found. I imagine you can find or build ffmpeg and ffplay for mac, but I don't use mac, so you are on your own there.

hey thanks for bearing with me...

I do have ffplay... when I save the condensed game with rtmpdump to a flv file, I can type:

ffplay game.flv

and it plays in ffplay.

It's confusing me, but as daftcat said there will be an version that uses rtmpdump so it doesnt really matter.

edouble312 · 04-26-2010, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

I don't know what autobahn.jar was like last year, but I know this year, it's an Apple Live Streaming client with a web proxy. Basically, it fetches playlists of timestamp files (small sequenced chunks of the stream), and reconstructs those chunks into an actual stream which is accessed through the embedded jetty web server. I assume the delay is the time it takes to download enough of these chunks to get a decent stream started. You'll also notice that for a 3M stream, nexdef might consume 6M or more. I think it basically just downloads as fast as your network connection will allow.

Anyway, that's great that you were able to get 720p. Hopefully more people will also have success. I was able to get it on my work laptop (brought it home for testing because it's the only machine I have that can do 720p without re-scaling) but sadly, some hardware chunk (CPU/GPU?) couldn't keep up. It was like watching the game in Slow Mo.

that's what it did on my netbook, the slo-mo cause I didnt have enough graphics power.

my macbook worked for a few games with 720p than for some reason would only give me the smaller non-hd nexdef streams later in the day... I'll keep testing it though, might have been my wireless being weird.