Video streaming with vlc

General system Gaming, sound and video
1

I’m a customer of Deutsche Telekom and I have ordered the entertainment package of T.K.
With all Linux distros which I tried I can view live streams of all german TV stations.
From my Fritzbox I can download a file of type m3u which I can load into the playlist of vlc.
This m3u file looks like below:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:0,(12) 3sat HD
rtp://87.141.215.251@232.0.20.2:10000

#EXTINF:0,(80) ARD-alpha HD
rtp://87.141.215.251@232.0.20.9:10000

#EXTINF:0,(55) ARTE HD
rtp://87.141.215.251@232.0.20.10:10000
… and many more stations

with Arch based Manjaro I only had to add the package arrib24
(pacman -S aribb24)
after that streaming with vlc worked.
But this is not sufficient for EOS
Does someone have an idea what the problem is
and waht I should install additional?

regards Hans

2

Can you run vlc from a terminal and see if there are any errors in the terminal when you try to open the stream?

3

Alternatively, you could try using smplayer for TK playback. It usually runs smoother under most LX distros than VLC, provided you have the necessary codecs installed on your system.

4

no error message,
nothing helpful.

5

smplayer did not work; I assume it can’t cope with rtp streaming protocol.
I did this: on a LinuxMint Box I streamed a TV Live show and at the same time I recorded this stream
(the result was a vlc.xxxxx.ts file) wihich I could replay on my EOS Box without any problem.
For me this means: this is not a missing codec etc.
So i assume the problem is with the rtp streaming protocol.

6

Did you try looking at the optional dependencies for vlc and seeing if there is anything that looks relevant that you are missing with pacman -Qi vlc?

7

below is the pacman -Qi vlc answer. I couldn’t find something of relevance:

Name            : vlc
Version         : 3.0.17.4-7
Description     : Multi-platform MPEG, VCD/DVD, and DivX player
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Licenses        : LGPL2.1  GPL2
Groups          : None
Provides        : None
Depends On      : a52dec  libdvbpsi  libxpm  libdca  libproxy  lua52  libidn  libmatroska  taglib  libmpcdec  ffmpeg4.4  faad2  libmad  libmpeg2  xcb-util-keysyms  libtar  libxinerama  libsecret  libupnp  libixml.so=11-64  libupnp.so=17-64  libarchive  qt5-base  qt5-x11extras  qt5-svg  freetype2  fribidi  harfbuzz  fontconfig  libxml2  gnutls  libplacebo  wayland-protocols
Optional Deps   : avahi: service discovery using bonjour protocol [installed]
                  aom: AOM AV1 codec [installed]
                  gst-plugins-base-libs: for libgst plugins [installed]
                  dav1d: dav1d AV1 decoder [installed]
                  libdvdcss: decoding encrypted DVDs [installed]
                  libavc1394: devices using the 1394ta AV/C [installed]
                  libdc1394: IEEE 1394 access plugin [installed]
                  kwallet: kwallet keystore
                  libva-vdpau-driver: vdpau backend nvidia
                  libva-intel-driver: video backend intel
                  libbluray: Blu-Ray video input [installed]
                  flac: Free Lossless Audio Codec plugin [installed]
                  twolame: TwoLAME mpeg2 encoder plugin
                  libgme: Game Music Emu plugin [installed]
                  vcdimager: navigate VCD with libvcdinfo
                  libmtp: MTP devices discovery [installed]
                  systemd-libs: udev services discovery [installed]
                  smbclient: SMB access plugin [installed]
                  libcdio: audio CD playback [installed]
                  gnu-free-fonts: subtitle font
                  ttf-dejavu: subtitle font [installed]
                  libssh2: sftp access [installed]
                  libnfs: NFS access [installed]
                  mpg123: mpg123 codec [installed]
                  protobuf: chromecast streaming [installed]
                  libmicrodns: mDNS services discovery (chromecast etc) [installed]
                  lua52-socket: http interface
                  libdvdread: DVD input module [installed]
                  libdvdnav: DVD with navigation input module [installed]
                  libogg: Ogg and OggSpots codec [installed]
                  libshout: shoutcast/icecast output plugin
                  libmodplug: MOD output plugin [installed]
                  libvpx: VP8 and VP9 codec [installed]
                  libvorbis: Vorbis decoder/encoder [installed]
                  speex: Speex codec [installed]
                  opus: opus codec [installed]
                  libtheora: theora codec [installed]
                  libpng: PNG support [installed]
                  libjpeg-turbo: JPEG support [installed]
                  librsvg: SVG plugin [installed]
                  x264: H264 encoding [installed]
                  x265: HEVC/H.265 encoder [installed]
                  zvbi: VBI/Teletext/webcam/v4l2 capture/decoding [installed]
                  libass: Subtitle support [installed]
                  libkate: Kate codec [installed]
                  libtiger: Tiger rendering for Kate streams
                  sdl_image: SDL image support
                  srt: SRT input/output plugin [installed]
                  aalib: ASCII art video output
                  libcaca: colored ASCII art video output
                  libpulse: PulseAudio audio output [installed]
                  alsa-lib: ALSA audio output [installed]
                  jack: jack audio server [installed]
                  libsamplerate: audio Resampler [installed]
                  libsoxr: SoX audio Resampler [installed]
                  lirc: lirc control
                  libgoom2: Goom visualization
                  projectm: ProjectM visualisation
                  ncurses: ncurses interface [installed]
                  libnotify: notification plugin [installed]
                  gtk3: notification plugin [installed]
                  aribb24: aribsub support [installed]
                  aribb25: aribcam support [installed]
                  pcsclite: aribcam support [installed]
Required By     : None
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : vlc-plugin
Replaces        : vlc-plugin
Installed Size  : 58.71 MiB
Packager        : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : Tue Jul 26 23:08:49 2022
Install Date    : Sun Aug 28 17:44:54 2022
Install Reason  : Explicitly installed
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature
8

From the VideoLan Wiki (VLC):

VLC has built-in support for RTP as a server (streaming output). As a client, VLC uses the LiveMedia library.

9

I installed this library but had no success.

10

Did you try loading a streamlink over rtsp:// instead of rtp:// from your playlist?

If it doesn’t stream after installing the live555 package, as you said, the TK is probably encoding their streams in a proprietary way?

Else, https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Streaming_HowTo/Receive_and_Save_a_Stream/#Receive_a_RTP_stream_available_through_RTSP

And http://www.live555.com/

Personal Addendum:
I keep using this in order to stream any ÖR-TV in Germany from my webbrowser:
https://mediathekviewweb.de/

As installable client:
https://mediathekview.de/

Also available on Arch:
https://www.archlinux.de/packages/community/x86_64/mediathekview

And on GitHub:

With that, you could create your own playlist, evading the TK bundle:

11

simple solution: I’ll change to Manjaro Linux where this problem does not exist.
I know the app Mediathekview but there are too many limitations (only stations under pub. law, not all these stations are available., etc)