Global IP TV News Panel for WoofCE Pups:-New version 2nd Nov 2024

[ETP]

Global IP TV News Panel for recent WoofCE Pups :

The latest revised pet issued on 2nd Nov 2024 is attached: (Global_IP_TV_Panel_Any_Pup_using_mpv-2024MK9)
The pet remains suitable for recent WoofCE pups such as Fossapup64 9.5 , FP9.6-CE & Bookworm Pup64 10.0.3 to 10.0.8

EasyOS tends to include earlier versions in the WoofQ build. To update EasyOS simply install this latest Pet which will
overwrite the original files. If you have already installed an earlier version of the pet uninstall that before installing
the latest MK9 version.
BarryK has resolved the issues that impacted on the Scarthgap series with the release of 6.0.4 on 7th July.

Change In This Version:

1. Fox News Live 24/7 replaces CNN International which has moved to a paid for subscription model.

N.B.
With effect from 24th Feb 2023 due to coding changes made by YouTube, in order to receive the YT channels a
revised youtube-dl python script needs to be installed in addition to the panel pet. This does NOT apply to EasyOS as an
update has already been included.
That pet can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xL8Tu7 ... share_link

youtube_dl_2023_02_23-114514.pet |Unofficial nightly build. It may be updated once installed by
issuing the following command in a terminal:

Code: Select all

youtube-dl -U

To just check the version issue the command:

Code: Select all

youtube-dl --version

Previous Relevant Changes:

1. All streams are now initially launched in a 1280x720 window even when the native resolution of the channel is less than 720p
   or more than 720p

2. If a dedicated graphics card is present GPU hardware decoding will now if possible be used.

3. Channels are now a mixture of .m3u8 and YouTube streams.

4. mpv options now included in channel launcher scripts as opposed to mpv.conf files.

5. A new dedicated screenshot directory common to both WoofCE & WoofQ [ /files/media/images/TV_panel_screenshots ]

6. The jwm TV Panel menu item has been moved from the Desktop section to the Multimedia section.

7. Bloomberg TV has moved to a subscription model and has therefore been replaced by DW TV. (1080p @60 FPS)

General Notes & Installation:

Some of the streams can take several seconds to launch depending on the relative locations
of the server and the user. Here in the UK for example, the ABC AU channel may take up to 7 seconds to launch.

If you have one of the previous pets installed please use PPM to uninstall it before you install this new version.

MPV Specific Notes: ( These are reproduced below. )

# --no-border is used within launch scripts. eg /usr/bin/mpv --no-border [url or path to file/script]

To quit the TV stream press keyboard letter q

To resume later at the same position when viewing a locally held film or video, use instead keyboard letter Q (Upper case)

To toggle between windowed & full-screen mode press keyboard letter f (Or a fast double left click of the rodent)

Use numbers 0 (up) and 9 (down) across the top of the keyboard to adjust volume. (Or normal volume control)

To take a screenshot press keyboard letter s

Toggle visibility of subtitles (when available) with keyboard letter v (Not used with IPTV streams)

To pause or resume play use keyboard letter p or the space bar.

Press Shift plus I to toggle on-screen display of stats.

[mikewalsh]

@ETP :-

Bloody brilliant, mate. Works a treat..! The picture definition with some of these is jaw-dropping.....better than our big TV in the sitting room!

One small "issue", though. Why does the iPlayer button give me CBSN? It's showing the same as the dedicated CBSN button, yet comparing the individual files in the /root/noob directory, the URLs/MRLs (Media Resource Locator, at a guess......or Mobile Resource Locator?) are nothing like each other.

(Before you ask, yes; we DO have a license, and I've had an a/c with 'Auntie' for nearly 4 years.....so it's not that. A thought; would using Iron as default browser, rather than Chrome itself, make any difference.....hmm? The 'code-base' is largely the same, so.....I dunno. Iron's been my 'go-to' default browser for a few years, despite being a Chrome man since day 1.)

Every other button is working fine. Oh; one other thing (if ya don't mind?) How d'you figure out the exact URL/MRL to use? I'd love to use this trick to stream NetFlix direct via MPV..!

I've been using the "window-as-a-desktop-app" trick in Chrome for Netflix for ages - so NetFlix can play, by itself, starting from its own dedicated MenuEntry, but, well.....there's always a new challenge, ain't there..?

Mike.

[bigpup]

To help us all.

It is a commonly expected, that the pet posted in the first post, is the newest version.
This topic could get into many pages of posts, and the one, with the latest pet version, may not be the last post, on the last page.
Makes it easy for all, to just look at the first post, for the pet package, and expect it to be the latest version.

ETP,
You have control of editing the first post anytime you want to.
Just delete the older pet version and attach the newest pet version.

You can still have a post, telling people, about the changes and new features.
However, those posts, seem to get lost, when the topic has, many pages of posts.

Please consider and do this

Nice work and very useful!
Thanks

[ETP]

@mikewalsh,

Hi Mike, glad you liked the picture quality.
The iPlayer icon script is the only one to use a browser and is set to
use whatever is set as the defaultbrowser. (Line 4) Should line 4 fail for
any reason line 6 is set as a fallback in that it positions the mouse over
the CBSN icon which is then launched by the left click issued in line 8.
I figured that was preferable to an indefinite wait for nothing to happen.
In the event that line 4 succeeds lines 8, 10 & 12 are instrumental in moving
to full screen. (Line 8 therefore has a dual function)

There are a number of possibilities for access failing if outside the UK which for the
sake of brevity I will skip until an issue arises.
Within the UK before clicking on the panel icon, use your default browser to
access the iPlayer site,login and then access the live news button. Confirm you
have a valid license when asked which should set a cookie valid for 12 months
but only on that browser within the particular pup you are using. If you change
browser or pup you will have to repeat this.

In summary the launch fails when pop-ups requesting more info or confirmation
of valid license details block access to the last part of the mrl i.e. /live/bbcnews.

You asked where I get the mrls from. The answer is anywhere I can at the time
I need a fresh one. GitHub and various IP TV sites typically. Years ago for BBC stuff
I did have a single source in the form of the iPlayer addon for Kodi. I then used the
"play using" script to play them with VLC, paused that and then extracted the URL.

With regard to Netflix with mpv I will send you a pm as I have never held a Netflix
account. I will need more info to assess that possibility.

[ETP]

New release Today:
Please see original post in this thread for details & pet.

[BarryK]

@ETP ,
Thanks for the EasyOS-specific version, announced on my blog:

https://bkhome.org/news/202203/global-i ... et-tv.html

[peebee]

New release Today:
Please see original post in this thread for details & pet.

Hi @ETP Thanks for this useful app which I've only just "discovered"........

There seems to be an additional dependency for some channels (e.g. Bloomberg) in youtube-dl - where is the recommended download location for this?

Is Python-3 a dependency of youtube-dl?

Thanks
peebee

[ETP]

Hi @peebee,

[Python3:any] is a dependency of youtube-dl. The main python 3 script [youtube-dl] should be in /usr/bin.

The move from .m3u8 to youtube streams for Bloomberg, France24 & Sky News UK, has introduced extra deps and
those channels are also fussier about the demuxer versions in ffmpeg. Older pups such as Bionic will struggle even if ffmpeg is updated.

In general more recent pups such as Fossapup64 9.5 should be OK and have youtube-dl in their repositories and have python3 installed.
If a very old version of youtube-dl is installed (Say prior to 2021-06-06) it might update with the commands below. Later versions do not
use the -U update switch.

Code: Select all

youtube-dl --version
youtube-dl -U
youtube-dl --version

In my own copy of Fossapup64 9.5 youtube-dl was present and working but I opted to install the most recent version 2021.12.17
That can be downloaded from here and there is also a complete listing of the contents of the deb.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

If none of the above helps please let me know which pup and version you are testing with and I will install it and try to resolve the issue.

[ETP]

New release Today:
Please see original post in this thread for details & pet.

[ETP]

New release Today:
Please see original post in this thread for details & pet.

Latest MK4 Panel

MK4_Panel.png (131.6 KiB) Viewed 10752 times

[bugnaw333]

Picture definition is great on my old Fujitsu Laptop using EasyOS!
Thanks @ETP

[ETP]

New release Today:
Please see original post in this thread for details & latest MK5 pet.

[BarryK]

@ETP
EasyOS has a problem with that path /files/media/images

Those folders have owner:group = root:filesgrp, whereas you have them as root:root
That isn't the only problem -- at startup /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}files is bind-mounted onto /files, so your folder 'TV_panel_screenshots' will disappear.

So, I will modify the MK5 PET, remove those folders, and instead create when run the app:

Code: Select all

mkdir -p /files/media/images/TV_panel_screenshots

[ETP]

Hi Barry,

Sorry about that, I had failed to spot the different ownership on those folders.
Obviously a custom pet will be required for EasyOS rather than one common to WoofCE & WoofQ.
Thanks for offering to modify the MK5 pet.
In the event of further changes to the channels I will send you the revised content of any launcher script(s)
I will also amend the original post in this thread to reflect the current intended position.
.

[BarryK]

ETP,
I have modified the PET and right now building EasyOS version 4.4, and hope it will pass final tests and can release it.

I don't think that you need two PETs if that is the only difference. I just put this at the beginning of the script, and that will work for EasyOS and the pups:

Code: Select all

mkdir -p /files/media/images/TV_panel_screenshots

The "-p" means create if doesn't exist. In EasyOS, /files/media/images will already exist when run the script, so won't get changed. Only TV_panel_screenshots will get created if it doesn't exist.

[ETP]

Hi Barry,

Thanks for including the MK5 IP TV Panel in EasyOS 4.4 and your modification to make it suitable for EasyOS.

I will adopt your fix in the next version of the Panel when a change of stream is called for. Your solution is a
more certain fix should mpv versions change in the future. I have just installed 4.4 to a 16GB SanDisk Ultra USB3 stick
using balena Etcher and 4.4 is looking good. The OS reports the read speed as 46.

[keniv]

@ETP
I'm currently using the MK4 version of your pet in fossapup64. I've found that SKY NEWS UK and FRANCE 24 don't seem to work for me. I've looked at the urls for these in /noob/files/sky_newsuk and /noob/files/france24_news. Both are links to youtube. If I copy these links to Freetube they both work. If I drag and drop them on MPV they don't work. I'm not using a vpn. I'd be interested to know if this is an issue for anybody else and if there is a way that I can fix this.

Regards,

Ken.

[ETP]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your report. I first noticed problems yesterday with sudden erratic behaviour across all channels in a random manner.

Symptoms include:

1. Complete failure to launch e,g. SKY NEWS UK but sometimes up after 2/3 seconds

2. Protracted launch times for other channels ranging between 30 to 60 seconds

This is the first time I have seen such behaviour. Launching the scripts from a terminal did in some cases indicate
timeouts which suggests server problems or some change to YouTube's code.

Our usual Google data centre in the UK is located in Dublin & the latency is the normal 28ms.
With the exception of ALJAZEERA the MK5 launcher scripts are the same as in the MK4 version.
I saw the same problems in Manjaro, Cinnamon Ubuntu, EasyOS 4.4 and FossaPup64 9.5.
TTS speech messages were also being delayed yesterday but are back to normal today.
At this stage I don't know whether this is a Global problem or is just restricted to the U.K.

So far, I have had no reports from outside the UK and propose to give it another 48hrs in the hope that
normality will be restored.

[keniv]

@ETP
Thanks for the information/explanation. I glad it's not just me and someone else is seeing problems. I'm happy to wait and see if the problem sorts itself out. I'll keep trying to use it and if it does begin to work I'll report back. One thing I did notice via processes in pwidgets is that sometimes mpv starts but appears to run only for a short time or does not seem to start at all. With the ones which work mpv starts and seems to run for a bit after which the display appears. Not sure if this means anything but I thought it worth a mention.

Regards,

Ken.

[bugnaw333]

Picture definition is great on my old Fujitsu Laptop using EasyOS!
Thanks @ETP

ETP,
Could you make the default display size smaller enough to fit all the 10 channels playing at same time?

Thanks and best regards.

[ETP]

@keniv

I have been monitoring the 10 IPTV channels today and have seen a definite improvement over the day.
As of this evening SKY & Bloomberg are back on but ALJAZEERA seems only to launch 50% of the time.
The other channels can be slower to launch than is usual. It is a matter of issuing only one left mouse click then waiting.
I am convinced that this is a server problem perhaps with a reduced number in operation for some reason.
Fingers crossed it will be better tomorrow.

@bugnaw333

Pretty much anything is possible in Linux given enough time and code but I can foresee a raft of problems, both video & audio,
that would have to be solved. You would for example, have to cater for all possible screen resolutions which would dictate how
many channels could be displayed and in what sized windows together with their screen locations with their aspect
ratios being preserved. I doubt also that you would want mixed audio from 10 commentators! As the channels have different
launch times they would probably have to be launched sequentially with audio initially muted.

It is very much a separate project, If anyone sees merit in your suggestion and wants to take it on I would be willing to assist.

[bugnaw333]

ETP,

Maybe for the meantime, you can reduce the default size (picture I posted on page 2) to a quarter so that I could open another channel and position manually on my desktop and I will mute the system`s sound.

Thanks and best regards.

[keniv]

@ETP,
Have just tried these again today. I first opened TV Panel and selected one of the 10 channels. After each attempt I closed TV Panel then re-opened it. I then clicked once on the channel and waited for it to open. The ones that worked opened fairly quickly. For the ones that did not work I waited 60 seconds before closing TV Panel. With the ones that did not work I could see that with some the processes mpv and noob128_front_end started to run then gradually fell away. I then tried with SKY NEWS and FRANCE 24 for 120 seconds but again they did not open. Initially the following did not run, CNN, SKY NEWS, ALJAZEERA, FRANCE 24 and Bloomberg. I then tried again with CNN and it did run. I then tried to run the others that had not worked. None of these worked but I did not see mpv or noob128_front_end running either. I then tried CNN again and it didn't run. I then paused writing this post and tried CNN again and it appeared almost instantaneously. The results, at least for me, are very inconsistent. Hope this is of some help.

Regards,

Ken.

[ETP]

caglobal_news.txt

Please remove false .txt

(655 Bytes) Downloaded 58 times

ETP,

Maybe for the meantime, you can reduce the default size (picture I posted on page 2) to a quarter so that I could open another channel and position manually on my desktop and I will mute the system`s sound.

Thanks and best regards.

You seem keen to try this so I will give you a start. Looking at your shot on page 2 you are unlikely to get more than 4 channels of a
reasonable size on screen. Each panel would have to be 640x360 pixels. Anything smaller eg 320x180 would make the text too small to read.

Attached is a modified version of the caglobal_news script.

1. Navigate to the original script in /root/noob/files and preserve it by renaming it to original_caglobal_news

2. Download the attached script to that folder, remove the false .txt on the end and then make it executable (right click/Properties/tick 3 Exec boxes)

3. To execute the modified script left click it or use the tv panel.

4. Drag the window to the right hand side of your screen & then mute the audio.

5. Left click the script again to launch a second copy of CA Global News to check the fit.

6. In the modified script line 12 specifies the size of the window. 640x360. The +7+80 specifies the location on the screen
of the top left hand corner of the window (the x y coordinates). In this case 7 pixels from the left hand edge and 80 pixels down
from the top of the screen. To place another panel to the right at a minimum change +7+80 to 654+80

7. Modify the scripts of any other channels you want to fit on screen following these notes to see whether you like the results.
I would suggest trying with CNN, CGTN & Euro as they seem to be the least problematic at present. Send me a PM to let
let me know how you get on. (Don't forget the fast double left click to toggle a window between 360p and full screen)

[bugnaw333]

ETP,
You`re right. I could only get 4 channels to have the best resolution on my laptop.
Maybe I will buy a bigger monitor to fit the 10 channels...

my next question is: How do I record a channel?

Thanks and best regards.

[ETP]

@ETP,
Have just tried these again today. I first opened TV Panel and selected one of the 10 channels. After each attempt I closed TV Panel then re-opened it. I then clicked once on the channel and waited for it to open. The ones that worked opened fairly quickly. For the ones that did not work I waited 60 seconds before closing TV Panel. With the ones that did not work I could see that with some the processes mpv and noob128_front_end started to run then gradually fell away. I then tried with SKY NEWS and FRANCE 24 for 120 seconds but again they did not open. Initially the following did not run, CNN, SKY NEWS, ALJAZEERA, FRANCE 24 and Bloomberg. I then tried again with CNN and it did run. I then tried to run the others that had not worked. None of these worked but I did not see mpv or noob128_front_end running either. I then tried CNN again and it didn't run. I then paused writing this post and tried CNN again and it appeared almost instantaneously. The results, at least for me, are very inconsistent. Hope this is of some help.

Regards,

Ken.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your report. My results are also totally inconsistent. Running the launcher scripts from the terminal I see different error messages and timeouts. Sometimes a connection can be made initially only for it to be dropped after a minute or two.
It is totally unpredictable even on the same channel. I have seen error messages from ffmpeg, youtube-dl and ftp.
Any problem with a Youtube located channel can also stuff a subsequent launch of an m3u8 channel to non-google servers.

My current thinking is that this is not a problem with Google's servers but is the result of the adoption of a new policy to
queue or assign a low priority to requests for streams from anything other than requests coming from browsers. An old workaround
of faking the http header to make Youtube believe that the request was from a browser no longer works. They are trying to maximise
their revenue from the advertising on Youtube.

What is certain is that my pet has been rendered unfit for purpose. Before withdrawing it I will need to look at the possibility of just
using the default browser for the Youtube hosted channels whilst retaining other channels.

[ETP]

ETP,
You`re right. I could only get 4 channels to have the best resolution on my laptop.
Maybe I will buy a bigger monitor to fit the 10 channels...

my next question is: How do I record a channel?

Thanks and best regards.

@bugnaw333
You have done very well with that 4 panel arrangement.
Most Pups have some sort of screen recorder either included in the Pup or available in their repositories.
They allow you to record the whole screen, a selected area or an individual window. My favourite is Simple Screen Recorder. (SSR)
when it is available. Never have been able to get my paws on a working appimage of that.
You appear to be using EasyOS which has a custom recorder built in which I have not used. Barry also has I think, got OBS available
as an sfs. That was actually built into older versions of Easy OS and worked ok. For the last recording I made in EasyOS I used
obs-studio-plus-25.0.8-x86_64.Appimage.

Please see the previous recent posts in this thread. Have you experienced any problems?

[keniv]

@ETP

What is certain is that my pet has been rendered unfit for purpose. Before withdrawing it I will need to look at the possibility of just
using the default browser for the Youtube hosted channels whilst retaining other channels.

I don't think that your pet has been rendered unfit for purpose. Of the ten channels five work fairly constantly for me and with a little persistence CNN can also be got to work. Can I ask that if your idea to get the youtube hosted channels to work is unsuccessful would it be possible to replace these channels with others which are not hosted by youtube and are known to work? If this would involve you in a great deal of extra work please don't even consider trying it. It's only a thought but I have no idea what it would take to implement.

Regards,

Ken.

[ETP]

@ETP

What is certain is that my pet has been rendered unfit for purpose. Before withdrawing it I will need to look at the possibility of just
using the default browser for the Youtube hosted channels whilst retaining other channels.

I don't think that your pet has been rendered unfit for purpose. Of the ten channels five work fairly constantly for me and with a little persistence CNN can also be got to work. Can I ask that if your idea to get the youtube hosted channels to work is unsuccessful would it be possible to replace these channels with others which are not hosted by youtube and are known to work? If this would involve you in a great deal of extra work please don't even consider trying it. It's only a thought but I have no idea what it would take to implement.

Regards,

Ken.

Good Morning Ken,

You probably have gathered that I am very miffed by what Google have done but have calmed down a bit now and
started work on a MK6 version with the goal of a release towards the end of next week.
There is no option but to launch the youtube hosted channels via the default browser. The rest, some of which also need
changing, will continue to use mpv.
Do you wish to test a pre-release version of the MK6 prior to the actual release?

[BarryK]

Barry also has I think, got OBS available
as an sfs. That was actually built into older versions of Easy OS and worked ok. For the last recording I made in EasyOS I used
obs-studio-plus-25.0.8-x86_64.Appimage.

I'm glad that you mentioned that. OBS is a package, available via the PKGget package manager, not an SFS.
However, I just now ran the PPM (PKGget) and OBS was not listed in the "Multimedia" category.
Had to do a search to find it. It is version 26.1.2.

Will fix that.