NSV Streaming

[Unobtanium]

I can't seem to get NSVs to stream from the sample page, although they download just fine. Is there something up with the server? Or might i have an option or two wrong? MSIE6 goes for the file info, then just sits there, waiting...

[Sawg]

Works fine. Make sure you have Winamp3 installad and associated with .pls playlists.

{No, wait, used to work :D]

[Unobtanium]

Originally posted by Sawg
Works fine. Make sure you have Winamp3 installad and associated with .pls playlists.

Example link literal:
stream.php?fn=Analogue - Fuck You (Live Metro Chicago 2002-07-05).nsv

It doesn't stream. Not here. But I can dl it.

Yes, of course WA3 is installed (latest IB), associated with .pls.
I wouldn't msg here if it wasn't.

This was discussed briefly in the Official Universal Winamp3 Bitch Thread and Zoot was having a similar problem, using the same IB.

[Nunzio390]

I have the exact same problem, but I discovered what is wrong and how to manage it on my end.

OK... anytime I attempt a stream from the Nullsoft Video Sample Files (http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/) page, all it ever does is buffer very quickly and just scroll through the Playlist Editor (when I add one or several songs).

I discovered the reason for this. Any and all filenames that contain a SPACE is causing this. This is because the spaces are NOT being replaced when parsed by the browser with the %20 extended character.

To test this, I created 2 playlist files (with extension .pls). I only created the files with the first 6 sample songs offered at the server. The FIRST playlist file, which represents the names of the files at the Nullsoft server WITH spaces, looks like this...[playlist]
numberofentries=6
File1=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Adara Sings In Tahiti.nsv
File2=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue - Alone and In A Lifetime (Live).nsv
File3=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue - Black Ink (Live).nsv
File4=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue - Fuck You (Live Metro Chicago 2002-07-05).nsv
File5=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue - Rotten (Live Metro Chicago 2002-07-05).nsv
File6=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue - Set The Ray To Jerry (Live Metro Chicago 2002-07-05).nsvAfter loading that playlist I created, it just buffered very quickly and scrolled right through the list, the SAME way it did when attempting a stream at the Nullsoft server.

The second playlist was created with NO spaces, but instead with the %20 extended character. This is that playlist...[playlist]
numberofentries=6
File1=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Adara%20Sings%20In%20Tahiti.nsv
File2=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue%20-%20Alone%20and%20In%20A%20Lifetime%20(Live).nsv
File3=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue%20-%20Black%20Ink%20(Live).nsv
File4=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue%20-%20Fuck%20You%20(Live%20Metro%20Chicago%202002-07-05).nsv
File5=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue%20-%20Rotten%20(Live%20Metro%20Chicago%202002-07-05).nsv
File6=http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/Analogue%20-%20Set%20The%20Ray%20To%20Jerry%20(Live%20Metro%20Chicago%202002-07-05).nsvThe above playlist works and streams the files beautifully with NO problems at all.

You try it... all of you that have this problem. Highlight-n-copy the playlist directly above. Save it in a text editor (eg: Windows Notepad). Call it whatever you like, as long as it has a .pls file extension. It works and I feel that this is THE problem at the Nullsoft server. Because they elected to create/name the NSV files containing SPACES, the browser does NOT substitute the spaces with the %20 extended character, as it should. So, what is HAPPENING is that it attempts to buffer files that are not recognized, or NON-EXISTENT at the server.

Now SOME of you may not have a problem with this, but I and many others do.

The solution on Nullsoft's end? RENAME all the files so that they do NOT contain any spaces at ALL.

Example: Rename "Adara Sings In Tahiti.nsv" to "AdaraSingsInTahiti.nsv"

If the above is done at the server then EVERYBODY and not just SOME people will be able to stream NSV files with no problems whatsoever.

[Nunzio390]

The NSV files at Nullsoft that do not stream for many of us because of the spaces in the filenames are actually set up for streaming using M3U playlist files. The PHP script used there is "stream.php" but does not reference the M3U file directly as indicated here...

stream.php?fn=Analogue - Alone and In A Lifetime (Live).nsv

The M3U playlist file appears to be generated from within the PHP script used above from what I've been able to determine.

The NSV files at Winamp that DO work at all times are actually set up as streaming files using the PLS playlist format. The script used there is "streampls.pls" and appears to reference a PLS playlist file directly...

streampls.pls?fn=Momentum-330.nsv&tmp=temp.pls

Note that there are NO SPACES present in the files referenced on the Winamp page for streaming NSV files (http://www.winamp.com/videos/) (Nullsoft Home Videos section). It also appears that the script used creates a "temporary" PLS file. But that's not needed for streaming and the above will still work this way...

streampls.pls?fn=Momentum-330.nsv

Now, I will include direct links to both the "Alone and In A Lifetime (Live)" NSV file at the Nullsoft Video Sample Files (http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/) page and to "Momentum-330" at the Winamp page for streaming NSV files (http://www.winamp.com/videos/).

*NOTE: Those of you who do NOT have the browser SPACE parsing issue will be able to stream BOTH files. Those of you that do have that problem (including myself) will only be able to stream the "Momentum-330" NSV file at Winamp.com...

stream.php?fn=Analogue - Alone and In A Lifetime (Live).nsv (http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/samples/stream.php?fn=Analogue - Alone and In A Lifetime (Live).nsv)

streampls.pls?fn=Momentum-330.nsv (http://www.nullsoft.com/nsv/scripts/streampls.pls?fn=Momentum-330.nsv)

[Nunzio390]

Addendum:

The NSV files referenced at both Winamp.com and Nullsoft.com are in reality all at Nullsoft.com

The difference being that the working files located at the Winamp page are located within the "nullsoft.com/nsv/scripts" directory, and the troublesome files at the Nullsoft page are located within the "nullsoft.com/nsv/samples" directory.

[Unobtanium]

Nice work, thanks. But some questions remain:

- What separates those with parsing problems from those who don't?

- Like other streaming formats, shouldn't this be a transparent to the user, a non-issue?

[Nunzio390]

I'm not certain of the answer to your first question. If I knew the answer to that, I would no longer have the problem because I would have corrected it on my end. As far as your second question is concerned... yes. It should work flawlessly at the server and be totally transparent to the end-user.

I did some more investigating into this and now I feel that the space issue (although part of it) is not the root of the problem. I'm convinced that the main fault lies within the PHP script they are using at the Nullsoft server (stream.php).

I can probably solve the problem very easily myself if I had access to that script, but of course I have no access to it at all.

I wish there was a way I could get my hands on that script. :hang:

[Unobtanium]

Maybe in one the dev forums. PC Mag(Feb 4) just gave WA3 3/5 in a Media Player 'round-up'. The review mentioned the lack of NSV links, so one would assume Nullsoft is working on it.

And yes, the Editor's Choice was RealOne Player 2.0. Big suprise...