trouble opening ffmpeg stream in browser

r.stiltskin · 02-22-2016, 01:52 PM

I'm trying to stream a live webcam feed from my raspberry pi using ffserver and ffmpeg and a usb webcam (Logitech C615). I know the webcam, the driver, the network connection, etc, are good as I can stream with motion running on the Pi and view the stream in Firefox or Chromium just by going to 192.168.1.115:8081 in the browser.

I know ffserver is working (configured to port 8080) and ffmpeg also works: if I start it with

Code:

ffmpeg -r 15 -s 640x360 -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 output.mkv

I can view the resulting output.mkv file in vlc media player and it looks fine.

But when I start ffmpeg this way:

Code:

ffmpeg -r 15 -s 640x360 -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 http://localhost:8080/webcam.ffm

and then put the address in a browser on my desktop 192.168.1.115:8080/webcam.mjpeg the browser just spins "waiting for 192.168.1.115" until I kill ffmpeg on the Pi. Then the browser pops open a dialog offering to open or save the file webcam.mjpeg, but all it saves is an empty text file.

Some more details:

Code:

:~ $ cat /etc/ffserver.conf
HTTPPort 8080
HTTPBindAddress 0.0.0.0
MaxHTTPConnections 20
MaxClients 10
MaxBandwidth 5000
#NoDaemon

<Feed webcam.ffm>
      file /tmp/webcam.ffm
      FileMaxSize 200K
      ACL allow 127.0.0.1
      ACL allow localhost
      ACL allow 192.168.1.0 192.168.1.255
</Feed>

<Stream webcam.mjpeg>
	Feed webcam.ffm
	Format mjpeg
	VideoSize 640x360
	VideoFrameRate 15
	VideoBitRate 2000
	VideoQMin 1
	VideoQMax 10
</Stream>

running ffserver:

Code:

:~ $ ffserver -d -f /etc/ffserver.conf 
ffserver version N-78597-g9dd4dcd Copyright (c) 2000-2016 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 4.9.2 (Raspbian 4.9.2-10)
  configuration: --enable-libfreetype --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree --enable-libx264 --enable-libass --enable-libmp3lame --bindir=/usr/local/bin
  libavutil      55. 18.100 / 55. 18.100
  libavcodec     57. 24.103 / 57. 24.103
  libavformat    57. 25.101 / 57. 25.101
  libavdevice    57.  0.101 / 57.  0.101
  libavfilter     6. 34.100 /  6. 34.100
  libswscale      4.  0.100 /  4.  0.100
  libswresample   2.  0.101 /  2.  0.101
  libpostproc    54.  0.100 / 54.  0.100
/etc/ffserver.conf:26: Setting default value for video bit rate tolerance = 500000. Use NoDefaults to disable it.
/etc/ffserver.conf:26: Setting default value for video rate control equation = tex^qComp. Use NoDefaults to disable it.
/etc/ffserver.conf:26: Setting default value for video max rate = 31670144. Use NoDefaults to disable it.
/etc/ffserver.conf:26: Setting default value for video buffer size = 4000000. Use NoDefaults to disable it.
Mon Feb 22 14:38:42 2016 FFserver started.

running ffmpeg:

Code:

:~ $ ffmpeg -r 15 -s 640x360 -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 http://localhost:8080/webcam.ffm
ffmpeg version N-78597-g9dd4dcd Copyright (c) 2000-2016 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 4.9.2 (Raspbian 4.9.2-10)
  configuration: --enable-libfreetype --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree --enable-libx264 --enable-libass --enable-libmp3lame --bindir=/usr/local/bin
  libavutil      55. 18.100 / 55. 18.100
  libavcodec     57. 24.103 / 57. 24.103
  libavformat    57. 25.101 / 57. 25.101
  libavdevice    57.  0.101 / 57.  0.101
  libavfilter     6. 34.100 /  6. 34.100
  libswscale      4.  0.100 /  4.  0.100
  libswresample   2.  0.101 /  2.  0.101
  libpostproc    54.  0.100 / 54.  0.100
Input #0, video4linux2,v4l2, from '/dev/video0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 249.166926, bitrate: 55296 kb/s
    Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo (YUY2 / 0x32595559), yuyv422, 640x360, 55296 kb/s, 15 fps, 15 tbr, 1000k tbn, 1000k tbc
[tcp @ 0x20cef60] Connection to tcp://localhost:8080 failed (Connection refused), trying next address
Mon Feb 22 14:46:31 2016 127.0.0.1 - - New connection: GET /webcam.ffm
Mon Feb 22 14:46:31 2016 127.0.0.1 - - [GET] "/webcam.ffm HTTP/1.1" 200 4175
[tcp @ 0x20d1380] Connection to tcp://localhost:8080 failed (Connection refused), trying next address
Mon Feb 22 14:46:31 2016 127.0.0.1 - - New connection: POST /webcam.ffm
[swscaler @ 0x20de0b0] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
Output #0, ffm, to 'http://localhost:8080/webcam.ffm':
  Metadata:
    creation_time   : 2016-02-22 14:46:31
    encoder         : Lavf57.25.101
    Stream #0:0: Video: mjpeg, yuvj422p(pc), 640x360, q=1-10, 2000 kb/s, 15 fps, 1000k tbn, 15 tbc
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc57.24.103 mjpeg
    Side data:
      cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 4000000/0/2000000 buffer size: 4000000 vbv_delay: -1
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> mjpeg (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
frame=    8 fps=0.0 q=18.5 size=     364kB time=00:00:00.53 bitrate=5591.0kbits/frame=   16 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=     660kB time=00:00:01.06 bitrate=5068.8kbits/frame=   24 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=     952kB time=00:00:01.60 bitrate=4874.2kbits/frame=   32 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    1244kB time=00:00:02.13 bitrate=4777.0kbits/frame=   40 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    1540kB time=00:00:02.66 bitrate=4730.9kbits/frame=   48 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    1832kB time=00:00:03.20 bitrate=4689.9kbits/frame=   54 fps= 15 q=24.8 Lsize=    2056kB time=00:00:03.60 bitrate=4678.5kbits/s speed=0.996x    
video:2044kB audio:0kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.611696%
Mon Feb 22 14:46:35 2016 127.0.0.1 - - [POST] "/webcam.ffm HTTP/1.1" 200 2105344
Exiting normally, received signal 2.

(The last 4 lines are after I hit Ctl-C.)

Any ideas - what can be causing the "connection refused" error?

r.stiltskin · 02-22-2016, 03:07 PM

I modified the command to start ffmpeg (changing localhost to 127.0.0.1):

Code:

ffmpeg -r 15 -s 640x360 -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 http://127.0.0.1:8080/webcam.ffm

Now the "connection refused" errors are gone but browsers are still acting the same way -- unable to show the stream and wanting to download an empty file after ffmpeg is killed.

Here's what the output from ffmpeg looks like when it starts up now:

Code:

~ $ ffmpeg -r 15 -s 640x360 -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 http://127.0.0.1:8080/webcam.ffm
ffmpeg version N-78597-g9dd4dcd Copyright (c) 2000-2016 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 4.9.2 (Raspbian 4.9.2-10)
  configuration: --enable-libfreetype --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree --enable-libx264 --enable-libass --enable-libmp3lame --bindir=/usr/local/bin
  libavutil      55. 18.100 / 55. 18.100
  libavcodec     57. 24.103 / 57. 24.103
  libavformat    57. 25.101 / 57. 25.101
  libavdevice    57.  0.101 / 57.  0.101
  libavfilter     6. 34.100 /  6. 34.100
  libswscale      4.  0.100 /  4.  0.100
  libswresample   2.  0.101 /  2.  0.101
  libpostproc    54.  0.100 / 54.  0.100
Input #0, video4linux2,v4l2, from '/dev/video0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 4501.838518, bitrate: 55296 kb/s
    Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo (YUY2 / 0x32595559), yuyv422, 640x360, 55296 kb/s, 15 fps, 15 tbr, 1000k tbn, 1000k tbc
Mon Feb 22 15:57:24 2016 127.0.0.1 - - New connection: GET /webcam.ffm
Mon Feb 22 15:57:24 2016 127.0.0.1 - - [GET] "/webcam.ffm HTTP/1.1" 200 36943
Mon Feb 22 15:57:24 2016 127.0.0.1 - - New connection: POST /webcam.ffm
[swscaler @ 0x1c0fa40] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
Output #0, ffm, to 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/webcam.ffm':
  Metadata:
    creation_time   : 2016-02-22 15:57:24
    encoder         : Lavf57.25.101
    Stream #0:0: Video: mjpeg, yuvj422p(pc), 640x360, q=1-10, 2000 kb/s, 15 fps, 1000k tbn, 15 tbc
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc57.24.103 mjpeg
    Side data:
      cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 4000000/0/2000000 buffer size: 4000000 vbv_delay: -1
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> mjpeg (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
frame=    9 fps=0.0 q=21.1 size=     380kB time=00:00:00.60 bitrate=5188.3kbits/s speed=1.07x frame=   17 fps= 16 q=24.8 size=     644kB time=00:00:01.13 bitrate=4655.0kbits/s speed=1.05x frame=   25 fps= 16 q=24.8 size=     912kB time=00:00:01.66 bitrate=4482.7kbits/s speed=1.04x frame=   33 fps= 16 q=24.8 size=    1180kB time=00:00:02.20 bitrate=4393.9kbits/s speed=1.04x frame=   41 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    1448kB time=00:00:02.73 bitrate=4339.8kbits/s speed=1.03x frame=   48 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    1680kB time=00:00:03.20 bitrate=4300.8kbits/s speed=   1x frame=   57 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    1980kB time=00:00:03.80 bitrate=4268.5kbits/s speed=1.02x frame=   65 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    2248kB time=00:00:04.33 bitrate=4249.8kbits/s speed=1.02x frame=   73 fps= 15 q=24.8 size=    2516kB time=00:00:04.86 bitrate=4235.2kbits/s speed=1.02x ...

That last line is actually a series of lines scrolling down the terminal page, like

Code:

frame=    9 fps=0.0 q=21.1 size=     380kB time=00:00:00.60 bitrate=5188.3kbits/s speed=1.07x
frame=   17 fps= 16 q=24.8 size=     644kB time=00:00:01.13 bitrate=4655.0kbits/s speed=1.05x
frame=   25 fps= 16 q=24.8 size=     912kB time=00:00:01.66 bitrate=4482.7kbits/s speed=1.04x 
...

When the browser (on another machine) attempts to open the stream, ffmpeg (on the Pi) displays a line like this:

Code:

Mon Feb 22 15:58:09 2016 192.168.1.105 - - [GET] "/webcam.mjpeg HTTP/1.1" 200 66

One more observation. I ran netcat in another ssh terminal on the Pi and saw this:

Code:

nc: connect to localhost port 8080 (tcp) failed: Connection refused
Connection to localhost 8080 port [tcp/http-alt] succeeded!

I don't know what the first line means. How can port 8080 be open and closed at the same time?

r.stiltskin · 02-24-2016, 05:58 PM

Getting back to this ...
Trying to simplify things to isolate the problem, I compiled ffmpeg on my Xubuntu box & installed it locally (in my home dir, not /usr, to avoid conflicts with libav) & I'm trying to get everything working on it, then I can move it over to the Pi.

I modified ffserver.conf to this (the significant change was to the HTTP bind address on line 2):

Code:

HTTPPort 8080
HTTPBindAddress 127.0.0.1
MaxHTTPConnections 20
MaxClients 10
MaxBandwidth 5000
#NoDaemon

<Feed webcam.ffm>
      file /tmp/webcam.ffm
      FileMaxSize 200K
      ACL allow 127.0.0.1
</Feed>

<Stream webcam.mjpeg>
	Feed webcam.ffm
	Format mjpeg
	VideoSize 640x360
	VideoFrameRate 15
	VideoBitRate 2000
	VideoQMin 1
	VideoQMax 10
</Stream>

So I connect the webcam to this computer, run ffserver, pointing it to ffserver.conf:

Code:

ffserver -d -f ~/ffmpeg_build/share/doc/ffserver.conf

check the output & it's running OK, no errors; put it in the background & run ffmpeg, sending the feed to 127.0.0.1:

Code:

ffmpeg -r 15 -s 640x360 -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 http://127.0.0.1:8080/webcam.ffm

It also runs with no errors.
And now I run ffplay

Code:

ffplay http://127.0.0.1:8080/webcam.mjpeg

and voila! it opens a window and displays the live camera feed. There's a slight delay but quality is good and keeps up with movement. Great! I close that and try to do the same thing in Firefox, but it doesn't open the video, it wants to open the file (webcam.mjpeg) with ... I should select application to open it ... or save it. I try Chrome but it doesn't display the stream either, it just starts saving webcam.mjpeg to my downloads folder.

So what's going on? I keep finding tutorials that say Firefox and Chrome can display mjpeg streams directly just by browsing to the source, but they all seem to be a few years old. Have the browsers been changed to make them unable to do this anymore?