MLB.TV in Linux

Takabru · 04-27-2009, 11:30 PM

How the heck to I add returns to the code box lol? So, it doesn't scroll forever in my runoff sentences.

daftcat · 04-28-2009, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takabru

How the heck to I add returns to the code box lol? So, it doesn't scroll forever in my runoff sentences.

Hehe! Maybe 'code' is not the right interface for entering answers.

Trust me. You don't want to use rtmpdump. I mean, it's okay for archive but it totally sucks for live video. It's great for audio both live and archived. You also can only get 800K max from rtmpdump. The quality bars map out to 164, 400, 600, 800 for non-nexdef. Anything higher than 800 requires nexdef.

In other news, I finally got a troublesome bit of code figured out for stream selection. Now I'm going out dancing and I'll finish up that piece of code when I get back.

mswift42 · 04-28-2009, 05:51 AM

Hey Dafcat, Since this morning, mlbviewer suddenly stopped working.

Here is the error message:

Code:

Traceback (most recent call last):
                                    File "mlbviewer.py", line 1127, 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 200, in mainloop
                               available = mysched.getListings(cfg['speed'],cfg['blackout'],cfg['audio_follow'])
                                  File "/home/martin/mlbviewer/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 645, in getListings
                                return self.getXmlListings(myspeed, blackout, audiofollow)
            File "/home/martin/mlbviewer/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 651, in getXmlListings
             listings = self.trimXmlList(blackout)T
                                                    File "/home/martin/mlbviewer/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 385, in trimXmlList
                                                  hrs, mins = time_string.split(':')
    ValueError: need more than 1 value to unpack
                                                martin@martin-laptop:~/mlbviewer$

Do you have any idea what's going on?

mswift42 · 04-28-2009, 05:57 AM

BTW, for all Ubuntu users, who want an easy way to install pyxml and suds:

Code:

sudo apt-get install python-setuptools

easy_install suds
easy_install pyxml

done.

Onip · 04-28-2009, 09:07 AM

Today by chanche I stumbled upon rtmpy, which seems an rtmp enabling extension to the twisted engine.

What may be interesting is
a) it's in python.
b) they have a client example in their sources.

For what I understood by some inaccurate reading twisted should be a network abstraction layer so you could uniform rtmp and swarmcast interaction and maybe simplify your work.
from the other side I don't know if this is worth the mess of learning a new middleware.

Just a hint for you developers out there.

Takabru · 04-28-2009, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mswift42

Hey Dafcat, Since this morning, mlbviewer suddenly stopped working.

Here is the error message:

Code:

Traceback (most recent call last):
                                    File "mlbviewer.py", line 1127, 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 200, in mainloop
                               available = mysched.getListings(cfg['speed'],cfg['blackout'],cfg['audio_follow'])
                                  File "/home/martin/mlbviewer/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 645, in getListings
                                return self.getXmlListings(myspeed, blackout, audiofollow)
            File "/home/martin/mlbviewer/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 651, in getXmlListings
             listings = self.trimXmlList(blackout)T
                                                    File "/home/martin/mlbviewer/MLBviewer/mlbtv.py", line 385, in trimXmlList
                                                  hrs, mins = time_string.split(':')
    ValueError: need more than 1 value to unpack
                                                martin@martin-laptop:~/mlbviewer$

Do you have any idea what's going on?

I get this from time to time now too. It started after the getting the update to mlbviewer. I just close the terminal and restart it and it seems to work again. I thought I was doing something wrong, maybe I wasnt now that someone else is experiencing it.

TheDevilWearsPravda · 04-28-2009, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

So we all know that Linux is lighter on the system requirements than Windows -- one of the most attractive qualities of Linux.

However, this year's mlb.tv offering seems to be much more resource intensive than last year, especially with the nexdef support.

So, I want to try to formulate system requirements suggestions.

Please tell me

1. What specs do you have: CPU / RAM

Code:

1.7 Ghz , 512 Mb RAM

2. Nexdef or rtmpdump?

Code:

rtmpdump... I live in my team's blackout region, so archives only for me

3. Peak hours experience (7:00 - 11:00 ET?) e.g. when the majority of live games are in progress

Code:

Only watch off peak, no experience.

4. Off-peak hours experience (when the majority of the games are completed/Archived):

Code:

Never have a stream drop. Occasional audio/video sync issues, autosync usually clears those p.

5. Overall better experience than Windows plus Flash player (if you dual boot)?

Code:

NA

6. Preferred stream (or max_bps setting since you probably don't know yet which stream you're actually getting)

Code:

800K... best I can get. At least MLB has been letting me chose home or away streams... No Hawk

TheDevilWearsPravda · 04-28-2009, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takabru

I get this from time to time now too. It started after the getting the update to mlbviewer. I just close the terminal and restart it and it seems to work again. I thought I was doing something wrong, maybe I wasnt now that someone else is experiencing it.

I'm getting the same exact error. If I use mlblistings.py, I can see yesterday's listings and tomorrow's, so it's something to do with today's listings. Maybe the doubleheader with a game listed as TBD?

daftcat · 04-28-2009, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onip

Today by chanche I stumbled upon rtmpy, which seems an rtmp enabling extension to the twisted engine.

What may be interesting is
a) it's in python.
b) they have a client example in their sources.

For what I understood by some inaccurate reading twisted should be a network abstraction layer so you could uniform rtmp and swarmcast interaction and maybe simplify your work.
from the other side I don't know if this is worth the mess of learning a new middleware.

Just a hint for you developers out there.

Their documentation is lacking big time and they have a sample media player which is not quite the same as a sample client. SimpleMediaPlayer is more like Flow Player for embedding RTMP in a web page (replacing Flash plugin), rather than delivering a stream either to disk or to mplayer.

It seemed like more effort than it was worth to try and reinvent rtmpdump from poorly documented RTMPy.

Thanks anyway, though.

daftcat · 04-28-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDevilWearsPravda

I'm getting the same exact error. If I use mlblistings.py, I can see yesterday's listings and tomorrow's, so it's something to do with today's listings. Maybe the doubleheader with a game listed as TBD?

That's exactly what it is.

Unfortunately, I do a lot of manipulation on the time so when the time is listed as "Gm2" instead of a real time, it's going to fail in multiple places.

Fortunately, I've been working on new code to use a different xml to get the listings. At least in this xml they fudged the time as 3:33 AM. Which is weird because you'll get Game 2 appearing before Game 1 in the listings. But at least it will be there. This code is almost ready.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you want to watch yesterday's games, start mlbviewer with a startdate of yesterday:

Code:

$ mlbviewer startdate=04/27/09

mswift42 · 04-28-2009, 11:00 AM

Thank you very much !!!

1. What specs do you have: CPU / RAM

Code:

Dual Core 1.7 Ghz, 3 GB Ram

2. Nexdef or rtmpdump?

Code:

awesome next-def all the way

3. Peak hours experience (7:00 - 11:00 ET?) e.g. when the majority of live games are in progress

Code:

with mplayer really good. Flash player barely usable.

4. Off-peak hours experience (when the majority of the games are completed/Archived):

Code:

nearly perfect with mplayer, except for occasional audio off-sync.

5. Overall better experience than Windows plus Flash player (if you dual boot)?

Code:

Way better.

6. Preferred stream (or max_bps setting since you probably don't know yet which stream you're actually getting)

Code:

max_bps = 300000

poorboywilly · 04-28-2009, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

So we all know that Linux is lighter on the system requirements than Windows -- one of the most attractive qualities of Linux.

However, this year's mlb.tv offering seems to be much more resource intensive than last year, especially with the nexdef support.

So, I want to try to formulate system requirements suggestions.

Please tell me (my answers inline):

1. What specs do you have: CPU / RAM

Core 2 Quad 2.4g, 2.0gb RAM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

2. Nexdef or rtmpdump?

Nexdef

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

3. Peak hours experience (7:00 - 11:00 ET?) e.g. when the majority of live games are in progress

Some choppy streams, streams occasionally dropped. All-in-all better than flash player live.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

4. Off-peak hours experience (when the majority of the games are completed/Archived):

Pretty much perfect. Don't watch a whole lot of archives right now though. Probably will in the summer when I'm working during peak hours.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

5. Overall better experience than Windows plus Flash player (if you dual boot)?

That would be YES.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

6. Preferred stream (or max_bps setting since you probably don't know yet which stream you're actually getting)

3M. I've noticed I don't get it all the time, but I have been looking at the VLC statistics, and probably 1/2 to 2/3 of the time I get the 3M (if it is available); and it is as good as watching it on an HD TV in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daftcat

7. Do you feel like your system is sufficient for mlbviewer plus nexdef (or rtmpdump)?

Yes--CPU time is at about 5-7% when watching the full 3M stream. I also have a laptop that is much less powerful, but it only runs windows at this time. I got last years mlbviewer working on it (with Cygwin), maybe when the dust settles this year I will try that this year.

mjbcoug · 04-28-2009, 11:48 AM

I stumbled upon mlbviewer almost by accident. I can't heap enough praise on you guy~!! This is AWESOME!

1. What specs do you have: CPU / RAM

Code:

2.10 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM (6 mo. old HP laptop)

2. Nexdef or rtmpdump?

Code:

Nexdef

3. Peak hours experience (7:00 - 11:00 ET?) e.g. when the majority of live games are in progress

Code:

Excellent. Very occasional hiccups in stream.

4. Off-peak hours experience (when the majority of the games are completed/Archived):

Code:

Amazing.

5. Overall better experience than Windows plus Flash player (if you dual boot)?

Code:

Overall better with mlbviewer.
My desktop is Windows and work is Windows. Both run nicely but through the browser 
the streams often get pixellation and artifacts typically along the bottom of the picture.

6. Preferred stream (or max_bps setting since you probably don't know yet which stream you're actually getting)

Code:

Premium subscriber so whatever is highest.  Looks simply amazing. 
Had a buddy check it out the other day and he almost wet himself with excitement.

daftcat · 04-28-2009, 12:03 PM

The doubleheader today has forced my hand to check in a lot of unfinished code.

I had started to work on parsing the media listings from grid.xml instead of epg.xml. Fortunately, this paid off because epg.xml has the start time= element of the second game of the doubleheader as "Gm2" which is failing the time parsing code. While grid.xml just made up a time for the game 2 (3:33 AM.) So at least that gets through all the time parsing code. Also, I parse these games in listing order rather than time order so Game 2 does appear after Game 1 in the listings unlike my earlier post stated.

The majority of the unfinished code isn't used so I'm not going to bother explaining it just yet.

One thing you will notice in this new code is that I poll nexdef with control messages about every ten seconds and update the screen with the currently selected stream. This way you guys can know what stream you are actually using* and when the stream up or down shifts on you. It's still the same max_bps code meaning all you are doing is specifying what you can handle. It's still up to nexdef to decide what it's going to give you. The stream adjustment code will be in a future revision. Because of the poll code, it may take up to 10 seconds to return to the listings after the player quits and it may take longer if mplayer decides to take its time exiting after a "read failed" error. This is part of the unfinished bit of the code.

*I suspect many of you think you are getting the 3000K stream but are actually getting the 2200K stream (still a damn fine stream, by the way.) There's really nothing I can do right now to fix this just yet but at least now you'll know for sure.

Gameday audio and non-nexdef users, you can update to this revision to get the doubleheader fix ("Need more than one value to unpack") but please continue to use mlbdvr. Your integration code isn't ready yet.

jeremybub · 04-28-2009, 12:27 PM

As a non-nexdef user, do live games work? (with rtmpdump I assume) and if they do, are there any problems with them. You seemed to say that they were not working well, but that would imply that they are at least working. If they are working, how do you get them up, just the normal way with mlbviewer.py?