SHOUTcast Transcoder 2 Beta (Build 40) 12/14/2010

[DrO]

Presenting the latest BETA drop of the SHOUTcast Transcoder for broadcasters, developers and testers. This build is our latest GM release candidate and introduces new features as listed in the “Changes” section below, as well as addresses bugs reported in the previous BETA builds.

This BETA release is now available for the following platforms:

• Windows (32-bit and 64-bit (*) versions) (Windows 2000 not currently supported - this may be permanent)
• Linux
• Mac OS X (Intel)
• BSD 8.x (*)

* These are newly supported versions of the transcoder as of this release.


Downloads

A brand new version of the SHOUTcast Transcoder is almost here! We are crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s to bring you the best SHOUTcast broadcaster tools. Please check back on Friday July 8 2011 for the latest SHOUTcast Transcoder or check out the new DSP below. We thank you for your patience.


Changes

• Now ships in BSD 8.x and Windows 64-bit
• Fixed locale issues preventing sc_trans from loading without changing the machine's locale (non-Windows issue)
• Added support for 'include' when processing the configuration files (equivalent of the version in sc_serv)
• Massive documentation update with full configurations details, example configurations and getting started guide
• Playlist no longer requires a new line at the end of it for single entry playlists
• Changed config handling to close sc_trans if not set / missing / invalid
• Changed the <soon> metadata field to return the next item in the playlist instead of the last lookup entry as seems to be the case - should now report the correct song
• On Windows 'Ctrl + Break' is now handled as a valid quit command instead of just having the running instance close immediately
• Added description for the Windows service so it's clearer the service is ours
• Changed VUimage defaults to be PNG instead of JPG (official distribution now ships with size optimised PNG versions of the images)
• Minor log message changes to sort of standardise the message style
• Upgraded libraries to use expat-2.0.1, libogg-1.2.1, libvorbis-1.3.2, vorbis_tools-1.4.0

Getting Started

If you already have a running instance of the transcoder then there should not be any issues with replacing your current version with this new version.

If this is a new install then make sure to read through the information in the 'docs' folder along with the example configuration files provided in this new version which should make it easier to get started.


Reporting Issues

If you do come across an issue with the transcoder, then please do post in this thread with as much information as possible about what you're doing at the time, the system you are using and anything else which will make it easier to understand what is or isn't going on with your install.


Additional Information

Windows versions of the transcoder are built with a dependency against the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package. If sc_trans is unable to start due to a dependency issue then you will need to install the correct version of the package so it can run which depends on the version of sc_trans you are attempting to run:

32-bit - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/e...d-3802b2af5fc2
64-bit - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/e...4-157cfdffee4e


This new version has been tested on a number of current Linux versions (Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS) so should hopefully run on other versions as well and without any dependency or locale related issues (as affected prior versions).


Discussion about the previous version of the transcoder can be found here -> SHOUTcast Transcoder 2 (Build 39)

-daz

[jaromanda]

Does mode=mix for op=capture (2.24 in the sc_trans_ajax_api.txt documentation) actually work yet?

[DrO]

those options are listed but are not implemented (appears to be placeholders for a planned action which has not been implemented) so will change the documentation for the next release or see if it is something which can be easily implemented (am assuming it's meant to act in a similar manner to the fading options with the Source DSP plug-in based on the names).

the response back is meant to return the following (if all of the params from mode onwards are passed):

<warning>mode parameter not supported</warning>
<warning>duration parameter not yet supported</warning>
<warning>volume parameter not yet supported</warning>
<warning>undervolume parameter not yet supported</warning>

is there anything else which needs to be checked out corrected that you know off / have seen with the older version(s) which are still wrong with this new release?

-daz

[jaromanda]

Originally Posted by DrO

is there anything else which needs to be checked out corrected that you know off / have seen with the older version(s) which are still wrong with this new release?

that's the only thing in the documentation I know of

by the way, as far as the documentation goes, even though it's a text "only" document (not a negative in my opinion, but others may like glitzy doco with screen caps etc) it's easy to follow ... English speakers have no excuse to ask "how do I install sc_serv/sc_trans/sc_dsp" - it's all in the "fine" documentation - well done

[DrO]

Originally Posted by jaromanda

that's the only thing in the documentation I know of

rightio, will do something either way with it, even if it is just removing it for the time being.

Originally Posted by jaromanda

by the way, as far as the documentation goes, even though it's a text "only" document (not a negative in my opinion, but others may like glitzy doco with screen caps etc) it's easy to follow ... English speakers have no excuse to ask "how do I install sc_serv/sc_trans/sc_dsp" - it's all in the "fine" documentation - well done

well there may be a bit more 'glitz' with the online version that will be going up though i don't think there's too much which can be done with a text console based system (though point noted ).

-daz

[Elus1ve]

Question:

Whats the way to serve multiple streams for listeners of the same stream? ie 128kbps, 192kbps
Ccombination i use atm is soutcast dnas 1.98+ transcast (some old beta build). Is this supported by the new versions? Do i need to run multiple instances or how do i accomplish it?
thx in advance

[DrO]

sc_trans can provide mutliple sources and sc_serv can accept multiple sources and server up different streams from it (using the yp2 features along with the support for different stream ids in a single instance) so i would have thought that is the way to do it.

-daz

[oLRi]

Originally Posted by DrO

If you already have a running instance of the transcoder then there should not be any issues with replacing your current version with this new version.

Had Version 39 running on my system. I replaced the bin with the new one. Now all i get is:

"Segmentation fault"

The Stream runns for 2-3 seconds.

[DrO]

famous last words i guess. will look into it over the next few days and will send you a test version as applicable (alas i changed from compiling sc_trans on ubuntu to centos a few days before release so not sure if that might be part of the issue).

btw, i've changed the log from a [code] block to a text file attachment just to make it easier to keep reading through the thread.

-daz

[oLRi]

Thank you for your help

My Test-System was:
Debian Lenny x64 (with ia32-libs installed)

[DrO]

rightio, that might be something related as i've not had a chance to test things out on an 64-bit linux system (though i do intend to get 64-bit linux compiles done at some point seeing as there's a native Windows 64-bit version so only seems fair).

-daz

[mixfeever]

Hello,

I've an error with metadata. A DJ was connecting and metadata was OK, but after sometimes, no metadata ...

Example : OK
see initial_response.txt

Example after : HS
see error_response.txt

I had to restart sc_trans to have metadata

What's happend ?

[DrO]

at a guess it is most likely related to the 'msg:[titleupdate] DJ password has bad format' part which then leads to the title update failing to work. might want to check whatever is being used to connect to your sc_trans instance and make sure it's using a current version or see if there's been any newer versions which fix something like what is being seen.

have to say i've never seen this happen or aware of it happening elsewhere otherwise i'd have expected to see it appear beforehand (unless i've missed any prior posts about it, etc).

-daz

[mixfeever]

Hello,

Sorry, i didn't have the latest version. I don't have the problem any more. But I've an other problem (With the latest version lol).

I'm connecting on sc_trans (as a DJ) and when i've a connection problem (with my provider), sc_trans say :

2010-12-19 11:20:34 E msg:[DJPROTOCOLSHOUTCAST] Data arriving too fast. Some has been lost
2010-12-19 11:20:34 E msg:[DJPROTOCOLSHOUTCAST] Data arriving too fast. Some has been lost
2010-12-19 11:20:34 E msg:[DJPROTOCOLSHOUTCAST] Data arriving too fast. Some has been lost
2010-12-19 11:20:34 E msg:[DJPROTOCOLSHOUTCAST] Data arriving too fast. Some has been lost

And i have to reboot sc_trans if i want to broadcast.

Thanks in advance for your help

[DrO]

normally i've only seen that happen when there is a mis-match in the format sc_trans is expecting and what is being provided via the DJ i.e. feeding in mp3 but the endpoint being setup as aacp. it's something that i've got logged to look into further but that's the only way i've been able to reliably cause that message to appear (which was in combination with sc_trans and dsp_sc).

-daz

[mixfeever]

Originally Posted by DrO

normally i've only seen that happen when there is a mis-match in the format sc_trans is expecting and what is being provided via the DJ i.e. feeding in mp3 but the endpoint being setup as aacp. it's something that i've got logged to look into further but that's the only way i've been able to reliably cause that message to appear (which was in combination with sc_trans and dsp_sc).

-daz

So, i will try to explain what's happend, sorry for my english

- I've start sc_trans, after i connected as DJ on sc_trans. No problem.
- Due to my internet connection, i've been disconnect from sc_trans (Normal), but here ... sc_trans don't play anything (No playlist, it is disconnected from the sc_serv).
- When I try to connect as DJ on sc_trans, i've this error

2010-12-19 11:20:34 E msg:[DJPROTOCOLSHOUTCAST] Data arriving too fast. Some has been lost

When i restart sc_trans, it streaming on the sc_serv, and i can connect again as DJ.

Thanks for your help

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

I started to cross sc as is done in such events and I want to know what the difference is a little perplexed why it appears two configurations

I have this one in sc_trans_basic.conf
playlistfile =. / playlists / main.lst

2 in that we sc_trans_playlist.conf


playlistfilename_0 = jingles
playlistfilepath_0 =. / playlists / jingles.lst

playlistfilename_1 = main
playlistfilepath_1 =. / playlists / playlist.lst

why not both appear in one list?

and another question I want to make dynamic playlists Every day another one contains curly example can someone show me?

[oLRi]

I think its not possible, but maybe as a feature in future releases:

I have created "events" (Playing news). This event is triggered every hour.

With a higher priority as the other playlists it works perfect.

But if i have a stream-relay insted of a playlist in this hour, my news won't be played (i've made sure that the priority of the news-playlist is higher than the stream-relay one).

Is there a solution to force sc_trans to play this playlist?

If not: This maybe something for the future which would be very nice. Also a calendarxml-option for forcing a playlist to becone imediatly active would also be nice, because of this situation:

You have a Playlist with one item: A Mix-Session of, lets say, 90 minutes. You start this Playlist at 8 o'clock, but you want a prerecorded radioshow to be started at 9 o'clock. But the playlist with the radioshow won't becone active as long as the 90 min-mp3 isn't finished, so your radioshow would start at 9.30 ...

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

but how to set the list give me to example

[DrO]

I_E_P_U_R_A_S: from what you pasted from the example configuration files, there are two types of playlists. the main one and then scheduled ones which the example attempts to show how you can set one playlist and then have different ones used at different times (in combination with the scheduling options with calendar.xml).

and another question I want to make dynamic playlists Every day another one contains curly example can someone show me?

you can create a script or reference a tool which is referenced in the playlist though i don't have any examples of one which actually works (something for a future version of the documentation) which would allow for dynamically changing playlists (unless there are some with the older release threads of sc_trans).

oLRi: you're looking at a feature request to have the playlist play at the time wanted instead of it being scheduled to run after the currently playing item finishes as i've seen this come up a few times during looking into existing issues / complaints with sc_trans - has also caught me out a few times so seems like a valid thing to log down for trying to implement when time allows it.

-daz

[oLRi]

There is another question:
Is there a way of reloading the calendar.xml events without restarting sc_trans?

I've seen in the demogui that you can send events via api directly to sc_trans, but what if you change the calendar.xml?

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

to understand if this part of sc_trans_basic.conf out, run a playlist on the calendar


I have it in sc_trans_basic.conf
playlistfile =. / Playlists / main.lst


sorry to doble post

[DrO]

oLRi: alas there isn't a way to do that. events can be added on the fly and then saved if the 'calendarrewrite' is set, but it'll only ever load from the file when sc_trans starts.

I_E_P_U_R_A_S: 'playlistfile' is separate from the the playlists used as part of the calendar system and is what is used if there are no active events i.e. 'playlistfile' is used in all cases unless an event happens which will override it.

the reason the example has it along with the playlistfilename_x and playlistfilepath_x entries is to show how you can have a base playlist used in all cases and then use the event system to enable specific playlists at certain times during the day. or am i completely missing what you are asking or is the wording in the example just too confusing? (all of the documentation does assume a reasonable level of english so there is a limit on what can be changed).

-daz

[Smiley31]

Hi Daz

First of all, thank you very much for this release!

Can I ask is there any plans for the stream title (from a connecting dj) to be forwarded to sv_serv. I ask this as we have scripts on our website which use the xml stats to display what stream is up.

Thanks
Smiley31 (:

[DrO]

not that i know off but then i'm not too sure what metadata information from a DJ source is even being used / noted by sc_trans as it should be passing on any metadata being received to sc_serv. what setup of tools do you have from DJ to server (just so it is easier to ensure when i can get around to looking into it to ensure i'm working with a similar setup).

guess i've got some more things to look into

-daz

[Smiley31]

I have tried Sam broadcaster and Virtual DJ (version 5 and 7), all with the same result.

When I check the interface on port 8000, it just displays the stream title configured in sc_trans, not the stream title from the DJ. The same applies to the website and genre. It does however send the current track to sc_serv so that is displayed correctly.

Like I said, I would find this really usefull for our website to get the xml stats and recognise what DJ is online (which we currently do with the stream title). However, since they are now using the new username and password to connect to sc_trans, if sc_trans could return what username had logged in, that could be an alternative.

Thanks
Smiley31 (:

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

msg:[CALENDARMGR] Could not load calendar file (calendar.xml) could not open file.
2010-12-23 00:18:36 I msg:[VUPUSH] 101 VU images loaded

i have this configuration

in sc_trans_playlist.conf

playlistfilename_0=jingles
playlistfilepath_0=./playlists/jingles.lst

playlistfilename_1=1
playlistfilepath_1=./playlists/1.lst


in calendar this

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<eventlist>

<event type="playlist">
<playlist loopatend="1" shuffle="0" priority="1" >1</playlist>
<calendar starttime="00:00:00" duration="12:00:00" repeat="62" />
</event>

<event type="playlist">
<playlist loopatend="1" shuffle="0" priority="1" >1</playlist>
<calendar starttime="06:00:00" duration="48:00:00" repeat="65" />
</event>

<event type="playlist">
<playlist loopatend="0" shuffle="0" priority="2" >jingles</playlist>
<calendar starttime="00:00:00" timeoffset="00:20:00" repeat="128" />
</event>

<event type="playlist">
<playlist loopatend="0" shuffle="0" priority="2" >jingles</playlist>
<calendar starttime="00:00:00" timeoffset="00:40:00" repeat="128" />
</event>

</eventlist>

what is wrong?

[DrO]

I_E_P_U_R_A_S: i'll look into it in the morning (getting close to midnight now here) though can you post bug reports for the correct tool into the correct thread please (have moved your post from the DNAS thread into the sc_trans thread).

-daz

[DrO]

I_E_P_U_R_A_S: the xml file looks fine, have you made sure that the correct file is being referenced by 'calendarfile' in you sc_trans configuration file as that's the only thing i can see which would cause you to get such an error message.

-daz

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

in sc_trans_playlist.conf in have this configuration

; NOTE: for any relative paths specified are relative to
; sc_trans and not to where the conf file is being stored


; we use the sc_trans_basic.conf configuration file as the
; base configuration to work from for enabling DJ support
include=./sc_trans_basic.conf


; this is needed otherwise sc_trans will not allow DJ joins
; to be allowed to connect to the sc_trans instance.
calendarfile=./calendar/pl_calendar.xml


; here we setup sc_trans to know about the playlists we are
; going to be using as declared in the pl_calendar.xml file
; with two example playlists loaded to show different parts
;
; note: remember that the calendar file will use what has
; been set with the 'playlistfilename' entries - see
; sc_trans.txt - section 3.0.12 for more information
playlistfilename_0=jingles
playlistfilepath_0=./playlists/jingles.lst

playlistfilename_1=1
playlistfilepath_1=./playlists/1.lst

[DrO]

and you are definitely passing sc_trans_playlist.conf as the configuration file to sc_trans?

i have to ask as the log you posted before looks like that is not what is being done as the default handling is to look for a 'calendar.xml' in the current directory and the msg:[CALENDARMGR] Could not load calendar file (calendar.xml) could not open file. message will always show the filename of the file it tried to use which isn't pl_calendar.xml as per the example configuration you just referenced.

-daz

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

Originally Posted by DrO

and you are definitely passing sc_trans_playlist.conf as the configuration file to sc_trans?

i have to ask as the log you posted before looks like that is not what is being done as the default handling is to look for a 'calendar.xml' in the current directory and the msg:[CALENDARMGR] Could not load calendar file (calendar.xml) could not open file. message will always show the filename of the file it tried to use which isn't pl_calendar.xml as per the example configuration you just referenced.

-daz

I changed location, but nothing


calendarfile=./calendar/calendar.xml



2010-12-23 20:18:04 I msg:[TRANSCast] DNAS/posix(linux) v 0.2.0.0 b 0.0.40.0 (Dec 12 2010) starting up...
2010-12-23 20:18:04 I msg:[MAIN] PID: 20429
2010-12-23 20:18:04 I msg:TimeMultiplier = 1 TimeShift = 0
2010-12-23 20:18:04 E msg:[CALENDARMGR] Could not load calendar file (calendar.xml) could not open file.
2010-12-23 20:18:04 I msg:[VUPUSH] 101 VU images loaded
2010-12-23 20:18:04 I msg:[VUPUSH] 101 VU images loaded

[DrO]

what is the command-line you're entering to run sc_trans please.

-daz

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

I found what was wrong, should be placed in the same folder sc_trans, not in calendar folder path so it must be so and go

calendarfile=./calendar.xml

[DrO]

it should be running straight from the folder and doesn't have to be in the same folder (as that's just using the default searching now).

i guess i'll have to double-check things (though was working fine when i setup the example on my linux vm) but i'm now on holiday so won't be responding or doing any more checking of things for the next few days.

-daz

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

thanks, now I walk the testing schedule and enjoyable vacation until things come back I have to study alone

[I_E_P_U_R_A_S]

is very difficult I found a new problem in no way understand what is wrong


2010-12-23 21:56:01 E msg:[PLAYLISTMGR] Could not activate playlist `1' because not registered (make sure to use the symbolic name for the playlist (playlistfilename_XX for the playlist)
2010-12-23 21:56:01 I msg:[CALENDARMGR] Removing event m_playlist=1 m_loopAtEnd=1 m_priority=1 m_shuffle=0 m_id=1 m_startDate=year:0,mon:0,mday:0,hour:21,min:40,sec:0,isdst:0,wd

i have this path

playlistfilename_0=jingles
playlistfilepath_0=./playlists/jingles.lst

playlistfilename_1=1
playlistfilepath_1=./playlists/1.lst

[Rothgar]

Hey DrO, nice work on the new release, glad to see theres a bit of activity again.

I had a feature request I am hoping you might be able to look at, I assume it should be fairly easy:

Can you guys look at making the Stream Title etc (Multi) so you can specify 1 per encode.

This would allow in our instance specifying the bitrate in the title as well like My Radio (32Bit) My Radio (64Bit) etc.

Also I recommended maybe changing the IRC protocol to use the new irc:// standards?

Would be great if those could be implemented.

I'll check out the new version see if it fixes my main problem, I had reports that it was causing glitches for some mobile device players.

I had one of our listeners report issues with listening to the AAC stream from his Android device. He said it made a "glitch" sound.

I removed the transcoder from the equation and streamed AAC directly and he said it fixed the issue.

Any idea, is there a slight issue with the way the transcoder streams AAC that makes it not play nice with some devices?

[DrO]

I_E_P_U_R_A_S: the problem i think is due to the example paths in the configuration examples being the windows versions instead of the linux versions. i need to double check it though i'm not fully back yet so cannot get to my linux VM's for the moment.

Rothgar: i'll make a note though the main work is directed at the server and dsp plug-in at the moment so i'm not going to make any promises on getting around to looking into the requests.

as for the android issue, i'm really not too sure though anything is possible with it maybe due to having a different output rate of the stream between the direct and sc_trans method. though with so many variations in what different android devices support anything is possible. alas i don't have access to an android device so i'm somewhat clueless on such things (ironically i prefer a phone which just does what it needs, heh).

-daz

[Prox]

Hello friend good day.

I communicate with you to find out if you have a solution to my problem.

I raise my situation:

I have two radios installed in Linux server (a 16kbps 48kbps another).
I need a Linux encoder that sends the audio of the first and second, to take high-quality audio and low quality in my page.

this encoder works for me me solve my problem?

Thanks.