Slim Device Picks working Again But...

[bpa]

I hope Squeezebox enhances their radio ability to search for more stations directly from the Squeezebox network or remote.

I'm not sure what you mean by "search" - with so many stations in existance, for Slimdevices to expend resources on tracking URLS would seem to be inappropriate. I think it is better that Slimdevices implement more formats and let others (e.g. http://www.mikesradioworld.com) build the databases/services tracking stations such

I realize we can find any URL that stream and add them but it would be nice to locate radio streams in the network that have been proven to work already, in other words a database of stations we can add to our own network.

One way to build such a database is to start it yourself and then it will do what you want. If your database is useful then others will contribute to it.

In the slimdevices context the wiki entry InternetRadioURLs (http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?InternetRadioURLs) is one attenpt but users have to cut & paste to use the URLs which makes it a bit awkward.

Wikiradio is another attempt which avoids the cut & pasting of URLs. It is hoped that the Wikiradio entries (or some other way of handling the OPML format files) will in the future be accessible from Squeezenetwork. Slimdevices use OPML for their Slim Picks and so encouraging users to add their favorite stations in OPML format means they can be readily reused (i.e. no re-typing and user maintained)

The hardest part is getting users to make their entries.

[NY2006]

"It's when you encounter a stream that you want to get into SlimServer/SqueezeNetwork."



"URL Snooper will try to dig into the URL to find the final destination that you can use in SlimServer."


I see I'm not sure if this program will help me...there are a few radio stations from Canada that stream with Windows Media Player (CFQR Montreal, RCI-English and CJCB Sydney, Nova Scotia,) that won't stream in the Squeezebox Network.
If you know how to convert these URL's that will stream with Squeezebox I would appreciate it very much.

[NY2006]

"In the slimdevices context the wiki entry InternetRadioURLs (http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?InternetRadioURLs) is one attenpt but users have to cut & paste to use the URLs which makes it a bit awkward."


I wish we could add radio stations by a simple user friendly program by means of just listing the name of the station, what media and the URL. I'm not sure what I need to do to add any URLs at "InternetRadioURLs."

[bpa]

You can use the MyPicks editor of the MyPicks plugin to add URLs all within slimserver or you can paste an URL into Radio Tune In and then add it to your favorites.

Regarding some stations not playing. Squeezenetwork relies on the SB3 to decode the stream but some WMA streams cannot be played by the SB3 because they are using "http streaming" or a "WMA voice" codec. "http streaming" is a config option set by the station and some stations will change the option if you send them an e-mail. I think some progress was made with the "WMA voice" codec but there are still a few station which don't work because I believe MS has not released the codec to 3rd parties.

When these stations are transcode to FLAC - the decoding is being done on the PC and on Windows PCs it uses MS libraries. On Linux Mplayer can provide the decoding.

[Mark Lanctot]

I see I'm not sure if this program will help me...there are a few radio stations from Canada that stream with Windows Media Player (CFQR Montreal, RCI-English and CJCB Sydney, Nova Scotia,) that won't stream in the Squeezebox Network.
If you know how to convert these URL's that will stream with Squeezebox I would appreciate it very much.

Unfortunately CFQR uses a Flash player, not Windows Media Player. URL Snooper doesn't find anything, although if the audio was hidden in a conventional stream URL Snooper would have seen it coming across my network card.

RCI-English uses a sneaky technique, it embeds the audio in a dummy video stream. The video is blank. The URL is http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/includes/rciEn.asx and if you play it you'll notice the title of the browser window will read "video/x-ms-asf Object" (at least it does in Firefox). So URL Snooper can't detect this either nor can SlimServer play it.

CJCB is much easier. I didn't even need URL Snooper to find the stream: http://english.aliant.net/asx/CJCB.asx It's what the "Listen Live!" link points to. URL Snooper picked it right up though. The stream works fine in Windows Media Player, but won't work in foobar. I believe it's trying to work in SlimServer, my Squeezebox tries long and hard but fails with a "can't connect to server for:" error. I think this is due to WMA handling as Andy mentioned earlier in this thread.

You see the extent some radio stations go to to disguise and bury their URL. Despite what's in this post, URL Snooper is very good - if it's a conventional streaming audio URL it will find it. It reads all traffic coming across your network card. As you can see in this post, it can't read Flash content or video, but neither can SlimServer.

[NY2006]

"Unfortunately CFQR uses a Flash player, not Windows Media Player. URL Snooper doesn't find anything, although if the audio was hidden in a conventional stream URL Snooper would have seen it coming across my network card."


I been told this too...


"RCI-English uses a sneaky technique, it embeds the audio in a dummy video stream. The video is blank. The URL is http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/includes/rciEn.asx and if you play it you'll notice the title of the browser window will read "video/x-ms-asf Object" (at least it does in Firefox). So URL Snooper can't detect this either nor can SlimServer play it."


The reason I thought RCI would be possible is because there was origally RCI English stations listed at Slim Device Picks now there 2 RCI stations there but both in French. I belive they are you RCI's new Premiere stations which might explain why those stations work and others don't. I hope Andy can get RCI English back again soon.

"CJCB is much easier. I didn't even need URL Snooper to find the stream: http://english.aliant.net/asx/CJCB.asx It's what the "Listen Live!" link points to. URL Snooper picked it right up though. The stream works fine in Windows Media Player, but won't work in foobar. I believe it's trying to work in SlimServer, my Squeezebox tries long and hard but fails with a "can't connect to server for:" error. I think this is due to WMA handling as Andy mentioned earlier in this thread."


I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing these problems as I thought it might of been my area connections.
One other mention when I start Squeezebox it says
Squeezebox2 V3...I pruchased Squeezebox 3 do I have 3 being that it does say version 3 ?
I just thought it should day Squeezebox 3 Version 3

[NY2006]

"You can use the MyPicks editor of the MyPicks plugin to add URLs all within slimserver or you can paste an URL into Radio Tune In and then add it to your favorite"

i tried this once before..I'll try again...I installed version 6.31 My Picks Plugin and put it in Slimserver plugin folder, is this correct ? i'm not exactly sure the use purpose of MyPicks...does it create different Favorites that I can access from Squeezebox network ?

[Mark Lanctot]

The reason I thought RCI would be possible is because there was origally RCI English stations listed at Slim Device Picks now there 2 RCI stations there but both in French. I belive they are you RCI's new Premiere stations which might explain why those stations work and others don't. I hope Andy can get RCI English back again soon.

Where are you seeing these? I see the RCI English link in By Genre - News & Talk but it doesn't work most likely due to WMA handling. I don't see any RCI French links anywhere.

I do see in By Genre - Public Radio Canada - CBC Radio 1 Montreal (works fine), Radio Canada Premiere Chaine (doesn't work), Radio Canada Espace Musique (doesn't work).

BTW this is a moving target. There are just so many URLs to manage and they change them so quickly that as soon as Andy fixes one another will break due to some dumbass thing the radio station does with the stream. It's up to Andy, but the more time he spends chasing down URLs, the less he has to devote to developing SqueezeNetwork features and troubleshooting (which he seems to be very good at!) The community here has more than enough resources and brainpower to locate URLs with projects like bpa mentions.

One other mention when I start Squeezebox it says
Squeezebox2 V3...I pruchased Squeezebox 3 do I have 3 being that it does say version 3 ?
I just thought it should day Squeezebox 3 Version 3

The firmware for the Squeezebox2 and the Squeezebox 3 is identical and they are just about hardware-identical too, so the firmware can't tell the difference between them. This is normal.

[NY2006]

"Where are you seeing these? I see the RCI English link in By Genre - News & Talk but it doesn't work most likely due to WMA handling. I don't see any RCI French links anywhere.

I do see in By Genre - Public Radio Canada - CBC Radio 1 Montreal (works fine), Radio Canada Premiere Chaine (doesn't work), Radio Canada Espace Musique (doesn't work).?

Go into Internet Radio then-Slim Devices Picks-By Genre-Public Radio Canada..this is why the 2 French stations of RCI and CBC 1 Montreal is listed. RCI English had been there before. BTW, one of the RCI French stations doesn't work. I believe Andy is aware of this.




"BTW this is a moving target. There are just so many URLs to manage and they change them so quickly that as soon as Andy fixes one another will break due to some dumbass thing the radio station does with the stream. It's up to Andy, but the more time he spends chasing down URLs, the less he has to devote to developing SqueezeNetwork features and troubleshooting (which he seems to be very good at!) The community here has more than enough resources and brainpower to locate URLs with projects like bpa mentions."


Thanks for pointing this out...I'll try to avoid asking Andy for URL streams...

Quote:
One other mention when I start Squeezebox it says
Squeezebox2 V3...I pruchased Squeezebox 3 do I have 3 being that it does say version 3 ?
I just thought it should day Squeezebox 3 Version 3


"The firmware for the Squeezebox2 and the Squeezebox 3 is identical and they are just about hardware-identical too, so the firmware can't tell the difference between them. This is normal."

Thanks for the info.

[Mark Lanctot]

Thanks for pointing this out...I'll try to avoid asking Andy for URL streams...

It's up to him whether he wants to keep doing this or not. He's very good at deciphering URLs - I believe he has access to some tools which are not available publicly. So far, he answers every "can't play this URL" question on the forum. I've noticed there's been a huge increase in these posts lately, and it must surely be sapping his time.

I'm not 100% sure what his job function is at Slim Devices but he seems to be in charge of SqueezeNetwork. He also does some bug squishing on Bugzilla and I believe I've seen him in on 6.5 development, even firmware. All these activities are put aside to some extent when he's asked to chase down URLs.

I'm talking about him like he isn't here. :-)

It would probably be best to post a "can't play this URL" in the forum and see what happens. If Andy comes in to help, great. If not, I'm sure one of the forum regulars will take a crack at it.