Stream Title Updates in Relay servers

[LT3M-Solei]

Hi there!

I help run a net radio station called LT3M- we’ve been up for about a year.

We seem to have this problem with our stream titles, however- when “DJ Failover” (a playlist streamed locally) switches over to a broadcasted DJ stream, our relay servers won’t change the stream title. The currently playing song changes, but the stream title does not- while the main server switches over without incident.

Is this an issue with our configuration, or a glitch in the program?

[networknova]

hmm... havent tried out the relay function yet but i would start by checking error logs and server configurations.
Then again it may just be a bug

[LT3M-Solei]

Well, we've tried most everything in the configuration file, but nothing seems to fix the issue. I guess I'm just looking to see if there's anyone else out here that has the same problem, and what (if anything) they did to fix it.

[djSpinnerCee]

If the DJ is streaming using soundcard mode, there wil be no track title info, moreover, the relay DNAS gets whatever its source DNAS has for the title.

You're not being really clear about how the currently playing song is changing -- specifically where you are seeing this.

To debug this, post links to the source DNAS and the relay DNAS, or check them yourself -- the stream title and track title must be consistent across both -- if not, there may be other problems with the stream -- what's really important is to not base any of your conclusions on track info that comes from any other source like the SHOUTcast directory, or a listener's player.

The way the relays are connected to their source DNAS may be an issue -- are they all connected to the same DNAS, or are they chained to each other like a string? Do they create a cluster?

[LT3M-Solei]

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
If the DJ is streaming using soundcard mode, there wil be no track title info, moreover, the relay DNAS gets whatever its source DNAS has for the title.

The issue is not in the song title updates- it's the "stream title" that is not updating.

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
You're not being really clear about how the currently playing song is changing -- specifically where you are seeing this.

I see this in the DNAS webserver page: http://lt3m.com:8000 (main server) and http://tixen.lt3m.com:8000 (my mirror). The song titles will continue to update as a DJ connects, but the Stream Title will not.

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
To debug this, post links to the source DNAS and the relay DNAS, or check them yourself -- the stream title and track title must be consistent across both -- if not, there may be other problems with the stream -- what's really important is to not base any of your conclusions on track info that comes from any other source like the SHOUTcast directory, or a listener's player.

Here are the links to the source DNAS, and the two relays.
http://www.lt3m.com:8000 (Source- Debian Linux)
http://husky.lt3m.com:8000 (Relay #1- Debian Linux)
http://tixen.lt3m.com:8000 (relay #2- Windows 2003)

If a DJ is active, you'll notice that the "Stream Title" will change from "LT3M with DJ Failover" accordingly for whoever is taking over the stream- but it will only change on the source server. The two relays will not pick up that change, but will continue to change the "current song" as normal.

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
The way the relays are connected to their source DNAS may be an issue -- are they all connected to the same DNAS, or are they chained to each other like a string? Do they create a cluster?

The two relays are connected directly to the source. In shoutcast's directory, the two linux systems are listed as a cluster, but the windows machine is not for some reason.

I hope this helps you get a better grasp of the situation.

[djSpinnerCee]

Ok -- wow, I misread that one --

What you may have to do is kick each relay so they can re-connect to get the curent stream title from the source -- this is because the stram title was never intended to be used as a show title [DJ name] -- so it is only read by the relay ONCE when it first connects to its host DNAS, it is not updated like the track title [see: MetaInterval=].

This is also important with respect to how the source DNAS and relays report to the YP -- when the main DNAS gets a new source, it will re-report the new station name to the YP -- however, since the relays still have their same source (they are not kicked upon source disconect[?]), they will contiunue to report and display the old station name but updated titles.

The cluster layout is important because -- in your case, the main DNAS should be only for the relays, not listeners, and should be configured to kick all listeners when the source drops. Then support all listeners on the relays, configured to not kick listeners upon source disconnect.

These two DNAS config items are what you should be looking at:

; AutoDumpUsers controls whether listeners are disconnected if the source
; stream disconnects. The default is 0.
AutoDumpUsers=???

Should be =1 on the main DNAS and =0 on the relays.

; AutoDumpSourceTime specifies how long, in seconds, the source stream is
; allowed to be idle before the server disconnects it. 0 will let the source
; stream idle indefinately before disconnecting. The default is 30.
AutoDumpSourceTime=???

Should be low (<5) on both the main DNAS and the relays. This will allow the main DNAS to send the full buffer to the relays before they automatically disconnect.

The effect is : old DJ disconnects or gets kicked from the main DNAS ... if another source is not connected in 5 sec, the relays will get kicked, and keep trying to connect until a new source is connected to the main -- once the new source is connected [the main DNAS will now accept listeners], the relays will be able to connect and get the new stream title and re-report the new stream title to the YP. All of your DNAS servers in the cluster must successfully perform the [yp-add] event.

The station name/stream title is what identifies a station as "unique" [I use that word very loosely] to the YP, changing it for different shows will cause the YP to think each show is a different station -- if the changes are frequent enough it could de-stabilize your clustering which does not expect the stream title to ever change [same goes for the TTSL stats]. While it works, it is not the intended use of the stream title, so strange things can happen.

[LT3M-Solei]

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
Ok -- wow, I misread that one --

Hee! It's okay.

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
What you may have to do is kick each relay so they can re-connect to get the curent stream title from the source -- this is because the stram title was never intended to be used as a show title [DJ name] -- so it is only read by the relay ONCE when it first connects to its host DNAS, it is not updated like the track title [see: MetaInterval=].

That would make a lot of sense, actually.

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
This is also important with respect to how the source DNAS and relays report to the YP -- when the main DNAS gets a new source, it will re-report the new station name to the YP -- however, since the relays still have their same source (they are not kicked upon source disconect[?]), they will contiunue to report and display the old station name but updated titles.

I imagine having the relays drop the source every now and then would also help prevent server-side buffering errors like the ones we seem to get every once and a while. Fantastic!

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
The cluster layout is important because -- in your case, the main DNAS should be only for the relays, not listeners, and should be configured to kick all listeners when the source drops. Then support all listeners on the relays, configured to not kick listeners upon source disconnect.

Brilliant! Why hadn't we thought of this before?

Originally posted by djSpinnerCee
The station name/stream title is what identifies a station as "unique" [I use that word very loosely] to the YP, changing it for different shows will cause the YP to think each show is a different station(snip)

After considering this and discussing things with our other Admins (we hadn't payed any attention to the shoutcast site before this, to be honest- our listener base comes from elsewhere), we've decided to force the Stream title to read LT3M, which makes more sense in the long run.


DjSpinnerCee, you have been endlessly helpful, and I can't thank you enough! ...next on the list is finding a better way of configuring a failover stream... SC_trans is nice and all, but it's not smooth enough when automated for my tastes.

Thanks again for all of your help!