Plugin: Export VODS from .m3u - split m3u livetv, tvshows, movies (Going BETA!!)

[sundevil67 28]

solved

Edited October 6, 2025 by sundevil67
solved

[Stefan765 0]

Hello, I have a problem where my m3u (which changes constantly) always throws up error message 884. Is there already a solution, or is one planned? Best regards 

[mickle026 650]

This error code means that an intermediary server received an invalid response from an upstream server while processing the request. 

It has nothing to do with the plugins actual request but your providers server to server response to the server you are requesting from.

The plugin should be getting a no response stream but obviously it isn't.

I plan on rewriting this plugin eventually, I have the core processing done, but not wired to the gui, it's not in the pipeline yet as I am busy with other projects but I will circle back to it eventually.  So not yet.....

[Stefan765 0]

Does anyone have an alternative for me where I can enter the server address, user, and password separately? 

[sundevil67 28]

Hey All, 

Sorry for all of the whining.. I'm so close to being able to just set this up & never touching it again..or at least I thought I was.

I have 2 URLs specified for the M3us -  the first ends in /1/ (my M3U content for TV shows is split across 28 or so files, so the plugin used to download the files incrementally - and I'd see in the logs, 100% download /1/, then /2/, etc.) That doesn't appear to be working anymore, but I can't figure out for sure if it's related to something I did, or if a newer version changed that.... I was away from all of this for a long while, so I'm a little but discombobulated...

Now I can't seem to get it back to the baseline where I could run it once & at least generate everything up to now. Instead of just adding new episodes to the current season, it is creating new directories labeled with the IMDB ID instead of the show name, with a single STRM file (also named with the ID), usually for the pilot. It's doing something very similar to movies.

I've been trying to find a solution for this for years now... I can't give up now! I saw those other plugins mentioned, but I don't want to try anything else at this point unless there is really no other choice.

Thank you in advance for anyone still reading my complaints! I don't think the logs are helpful here, but if anyone can see an obvious reason for this - surely it's something dumb I didn't see ... 

[mickle026 650]

Hi,

That is one of the settings to enable that.

I cannot remember what order now.  I had to leave this plugin, as it was an offshoot to something else and it was taking too much of my  time.. I have very little spare as it is.

Having said that I have not forgotten it, I have rewritten the m3u parser and the classification engine, what took hours before I can now do in under 10 seconds!  Yes a few hundred thousand items in 10 seconds, you read that correctly.

Yes I have learned so many ways to improve.

At the moment I have not wired up a full web interface for it and probably won't have this ready quickly but it's not abandoned.

There will eventually be a new release.

 

    7 2025-10-30 06:16:33.234 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] Processing: E:\test.m3u
    8 2025-10-30 06:16:33.235 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Reading local file: E:\test.m3u
    9 2025-10-30 06:16:34.141 Warn M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Skipping malformed URL line: s:2://*********///*********///*********//*********//*********///*********///*********/.mp4
   10 2025-10-30 06:16:34.156 Warn M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Skipping malformed URL line: s:2://*********///*********///*********///*********///*********///*********///*********/.mp4
   11 2025-10-30 06:16:35.213 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Parsed 234156 entries.
   12 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel]  Parsed 234156 entries from E:\test.m3u
   13 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController:    Parse:     1642 ms
   14 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController:    Normalize: 199 ms
   15 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController:    Total:     2177 ms
   16 2025-10-30 06:16:35.536 Info M3uApiController: [M3uPreFilter] Entries kept: 234156, dropped: 0
   17 2025-10-30 06:17:31.306 Info M3uApiController: [StrmWriter] Wrote 234156 STRM files → E:\Strms
   18 2025-10-30 06:17:31.306 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] STRM generation complete.

1 minute including ssd file writes (no much text manipulation, but is already lightning fast)
234,000 in just under 1 minute.

  52 2025-10-30 06:27:13.275 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] Processing: E:\tv_channels_1e2c0f5699_plus(3).m3u
   53 2025-10-30 06:27:13.275 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Reading local file: E:\tv_channels_************_plus(3).m3u
   54 2025-10-30 06:27:20.234 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Parsed 590608 entries.
   55 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel]  Parsed 590608 entries from E:\tv_channels_************_plus(3).m3u
   56 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController:    Parse:     3205 ms
   57 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController:    Normalize: 401 ms
   58 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController:    Total:     7361 ms
   59 2025-10-30 06:27:20.849 Info M3uApiController: [M3uPreFilter] Entries kept: 590608, dropped: 0
   60 2025-10-30 06:29:58.334 Info M3uApiController: [StrmWriter] Wrote 590608 STRM files → E:\Strms
   61 2025-10-30 06:29:58.334 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] STRM generation complete.

Here's one parsing and writing 590,608 files - under 3 mins (no text manipulations)

This can handle also multiple downloads, and already has support for your server.  Everything will add to these times, but hopefully not by too much.
 

Edited October 30, 2025 by mickle026

[sundevil67 28]

21 hours ago, mickle026 said:

Hi,

That is one of the settings to enable that.

I cannot remember what order now.  I had to leave this plugin, as it was an offshoot to something else and it was taking too much of my  time.. I have very little spare as it is.

Having said that I have not forgotten it, I have rewritten the m3u parser and the classification engine, what took hours before I can now do in under 10 seconds!  Yes a few hundred thousand items in 10 seconds, you read that correctly.

Yes I have learned so many ways to improve.

At the moment I have not wired up a full web interface for it and probably won't have this ready quickly but it's not abandoned.

There will eventually be a new release.

 

    7 2025-10-30 06:16:33.234 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] Processing: E:\test.m3u
    8 2025-10-30 06:16:33.235 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Reading local file: E:\test.m3u
    9 2025-10-30 06:16:34.141 Warn M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Skipping malformed URL line: s:2://*********///*********///*********//*********//*********///*********///*********/.mp4
   10 2025-10-30 06:16:34.156 Warn M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Skipping malformed URL line: s:2://*********///*********///*********///*********///*********///*********///*********/.mp4
   11 2025-10-30 06:16:35.213 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Parsed 234156 entries.
   12 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel]  Parsed 234156 entries from E:\test.m3u
   13 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController:    Parse:     1642 ms
   14 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController:    Normalize: 199 ms
   15 2025-10-30 06:16:35.412 Info M3uApiController:    Total:     2177 ms
   16 2025-10-30 06:16:35.536 Info M3uApiController: [M3uPreFilter] Entries kept: 234156, dropped: 0
   17 2025-10-30 06:17:31.306 Info M3uApiController: [StrmWriter] Wrote 234156 STRM files → E:\Strms
   18 2025-10-30 06:17:31.306 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] STRM generation complete.

1 minute including ssd file writes (no much text manipulation, but is already lightning fast)
234,000 in just under 1 minute.

  52 2025-10-30 06:27:13.275 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] Processing: E:\tv_channels_1e2c0f5699_plus(3).m3u
   53 2025-10-30 06:27:13.275 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Reading local file: E:\tv_channels_************_plus(3).m3u
   54 2025-10-30 06:27:20.234 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel] Parsed 590608 entries.
   55 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController: [M3uParserParallel]  Parsed 590608 entries from E:\tv_channels_************_plus(3).m3u
   56 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController:    Parse:     3205 ms
   57 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController:    Normalize: 401 ms
   58 2025-10-30 06:27:20.636 Info M3uApiController:    Total:     7361 ms
   59 2025-10-30 06:27:20.849 Info M3uApiController: [M3uPreFilter] Entries kept: 590608, dropped: 0
   60 2025-10-30 06:29:58.334 Info M3uApiController: [StrmWriter] Wrote 590608 STRM files → E:\Strms
   61 2025-10-30 06:29:58.334 Info M3uApiController: [M3uAPI] STRM generation complete.

Here's one parsing and writing 590,608 files - under 3 mins (no text manipulations)

This can handle also multiple downloads, and already has support for your server.  Everything will add to these times, but hopefully not by too much.
 

Thank you. Your hard work on this is very much appreciated. I am reluctant to try one of the other plugins at this point... I can't figure out what stopped the incremental download capability, but that may be less important since the only TV show folder that really matters at this point is the first & maybe 2nd one with 2025 shows. I will just keep trying different settings & hopefully it will start naming files & folders correctly again. I can't imagine what could have changed though...so not real optimistic. 

[sundevil67 28]

Forgive me if this was answered somewhere - I wasn't able to find that webstream plugin anywhere.

I'd really appreciate any recommendations for an alternative - preferably a plugin... anything that can run on Emby Server for MacOS, & doesn't require Python or any complicated hoops to jump through .. I just need to pull one M3U URL every other week to add a handful of new episodes to a few shows. I don't need movies going back a hundred years, I have every old movie or TV show I will ever need in my library. It is such a bummer that I got so close to solving something I've wanted to get set up for years... but just fell short. Any suggestions appreciated.

[mickle026 650]

Did you try this one?

This just loads an m3u to a channel, not the tv tuner, it has a scheduled task to refresh

Edited November 24, 2025 by mickle026

[sundevil67 28]

On 11/23/2025 at 7:08 PM, mickle026 said:

Did you try this one?

This just loads an m3u to a channel, not the tv tuner, it has a scheduled task to refresh

I'd sure give it a shot... but I can't seem to find it - that original thread has a link, but the attachment isn't available. Do you have another URL handy by any chance? Sure appreciate all of your help..

[sundevil67 28]

I am wondering if there is an archive somewhere of old versions of the plugin? This remains my best shot at accomplishing a regular STRM conversion, as it is the only solution that has ever worked and doesn't require any command-line fiddling or Python scripting. What I am trying to figure out (with a lot of help from ChatGPT), is which update broke it so I can isolate the changes to the DLL file. Right now I have each show directory being generated correctly, but they contain only a single STRM file, and the episode seems to be chosen at random. Then sometimes there is one show that has 244 episodes in a single season. The fact that I had it working with one of the versions ... well, I can't believe I'm still trying but it has become a mission now....