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Podcasts having problems in MBC


porkbone
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porkbone

Hello, all

 

The server and Podcast plugin updated the other day and since then I have been having trouble playing podcasts in MBC. They play fine in the dashboard, but in MBC there is usually a long delay then comes back with Windows Media Center can not play this file. I'll hit stop, then refresh, then quickplay and sometimes they start. I'm using wmp as the primary player with wmc - fyi

 

Thanks for your valuable time!

 

MBC: 3.0.214.0

 

MBS: 3.0.5387.37160

 

Podcast Plugin: 1.0.5386.22625

 

MBC Log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tx9u8qa73g20whf/MBClassic-4102014b66feb3c5a044a4f8802ce417b4cc6ec.log?dl=0

 

MBS Log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ddxw4x5krqz7ddn/server-63547988406.txt?dl=0

 

Edit: also the video quality seems to have dropped as well. Lots of pixeling and some stuttering - video not as crisp as before the update.

Edited by porkbone
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Nothing has changed on the MBC end here.  It is forcing a static stream for all podcasts just like it has been doing.

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porkbone

ebr, I just went back into the dashboard to make sure that podcasts can play. I started one ok and stopped it then tried a different podcast - it would not play. Now I can't get any podcasts to play in the dashboard. did a restart of the server and the same result.

 

MBS log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7k6z9iyjcsvyrrm/server-63548010480.txt?dl=0

 

Transcode log #1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/aazr48eg4d4p0h4/transcode-151e0e54-c641-4195-badb-41e4a23ba7c9.txt?dl=0

 

Transcode log #2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gdf2p0kungns97g/transcode-f08b5ac6-19d9-49e6-802a-6b3c64f8882b.txt?dl=0

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the one that won't play is coming up 404. so your podcast feed has a dead link in it. that's out of our control.

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porkbone

OK. Bad example...  I removed the dead podcast (we used to be notified of this - no longer) and everything seems to be working in the dashboard again...? But the original post still stands. I'm still having a problem with podcasts in MBC. When I select play there is usually a little pause - a few seconds to a few minutes then it might play or it comes back with the Cannot Play Video message.

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Okay, well, like I said before, nothing in MBC has changed here.  I'm asking for a static stream from the server and this was working before.  Has something with the static streaming changed on the server end?

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no. unfortunately his first log has 24 stream attempts so i don't even know where to begin.

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Okay, so porkbone - have you tested across different podcasts or is it a specific one that is having trouble?  Do any work?  Anything you can identify about the ones that do/don't work...?

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porkbone

I was testing with different video podcasts from either Rev3, Twit, Democracy Now & GeekBeat tv. When I get time later tonight, I'll stick to one that I know works in the Dashboard and has problems in MBC. I'll post some cleaner logs...

 

Hey @@Luke - is it possible to get notifications again for bad podcasts?

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he put it back but in this case it won't help this situation. the notification catches failures downloading the rss feed of the podcast. what happened here is different. rss feed is ok, but the video url within the feed is dead.

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porkbone

Thanks @@snazy2000 !

 

Well, I tried to nail down one specific podcast to show the problem. The same podcast would sometimes work and sometimes not. I eventually found a workaround that works 100% of the time. When I select a video podcast, before I select play, I first select Refresh then Play and the video starts right away with no delay. I'm using the Xenon theme currently, but I also tried to repeat it with Chocolate and Subdude themes. Chocolate did not have a refresh option, so all the video podcasts would either delay or not play like before. Subdude did have the refresh option and it worked every time with no delay.

 I'm hoping this will give a better idea of what is happening and maybe a fix. :)

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What happens the next time you play that podcast - without refreshing again?

 

Also, refresh is available in all themes via the hot keys of either the record button on your remote or ctl-r.

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porkbone

Thanks, ebr - I should have mentioned that once refreshed, I can exit out of that selection, re-select it and hit play and it plays right away. If I exit out of MBC, then restart it and try to play the same podcast, it needs to be refreshed first.

 

Thanks for the refresh info! Good to know

 

edit: ebr, I just tried both the ctl-r and the remote button on my remote - neither worked, but selecting refresh did

Edited by porkbone
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Those hot keys probably only work from some sort of list - not the final details page.

 

You say you have to refresh after re-starting MBC?  That really doesn't make much sense since the refresh actually occurs on the server and anything that happens during it should be persistent.

 

Sounds like maybe a correlation rather than cause.

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Overseer

I was having the same issue yesterday with Trailers (for upcoming movies). I have upcoming movie trailers setup to download to my server (I don't stream trailers, bandwidth sucks for that) and they would play fine in the dashboard on my PC or on my WinRT tablet using the MB app, but they wouldn't play within MBC. Only after clicking the refresh button (using Square theme) for the trailer within MBC would the trailer then play in MBC.

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porkbone

I just restarted my server then opened MBC and tried to play a video podcast. The screen goes black like it's about to start playing, but nothing happens, so I hit stop. I then select Refresh then Play and it played immediately. Hopefully these logs are a little cleaner.

 

MBS: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2k2lkumn31pfd4a/server-63548176478.txt?dl=0

 

MBC: https://www.dropbox.com/s/geewp8zs3h4vvdf/MBClassic-6102014785cf66ff91c4323be2bf3fe2d124673.log?dl=0

 

Transcoding: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hl8vixaqbzdc02r/transcode-8ff8813d-0745-42e9-83ce-45b791ca9e10.txt?dl=0

 

I should also mention we have 3 MBC setups in the house and all 3 have the same issue.

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Thanks Porkbone that helped a lot.

 

The problem is with static streaming from the server.  Something has changed that makes that not work anymore.  I'm going to try removing that hack and see if it works then. 

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porkbone

That did the trick!  Every podcast now starts right away. I'm guessing the hack you removed was the one you put in there a while back to let us skip forward through podcasts or something like that. I'll miss that ability, but I prefer stability over a light convenience, so thanks, ebr for taking care of that. Besides, my mute button works quite well! :D

Edited by porkbone
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boston_BEN

I also had this issue.  I updated to MBC 217 and now podcasts play as soon as I hit play, but I do miss the static stream.  The static stream played more smoothly and I could ff/rew.  But, like porkbone, I'd rather the podcasts play without refreshing than anything else, esp. since I use chocolate theme.  Thanks ebr!!

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boston_BEN

Spoke too soon, I guess. I'm having audio issues now with the podcasts plugin.  I'm getting some clipping once the podcast is about 60 seconds in or so.

 

Ebr, will you have time to work on getting static streams running again?  Or will MBC users be transcoding for the foreseeable future?  I'd just like to know so I can decide how much time/effort to put into resolving these audio issues.  I never had any problems with static streams, so if those will be back again soon, I'll just deal with the clipping till then.

 

Thanks!

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I don't know that there is anything I can do on my side.  Something about how they are fed at the server end must have changed.

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