BBC plugin not working anymore

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

rancor — Sun, 18 May 2014 11:22:03 +0000

Remux FLV to mp4:

Avidemux (freeware, Windows, Mac, Linux) [avidemux.sourceforge.net]

1. Open file
2. Video Output: Copy
3. Audio Output: Copy
4. Output Format: MP4 Muxer (or MKV Muxer)
5. Safe: enter name of file [dot] mp4 (or mkv) name.mp4 or enter name.mkv

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

TVjunkie — Sun, 18 May 2014 00:52:39 +0000

mls wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > What type of conversion are the FRD-downloaded
> > video files undergo in Handbrake?
>
> I thought it better to include a screen shot of my Handbrake window.
> I have not modified any values, for fear of what might happen!

From your attachment I can tell
1. You have downloaded the 480p variant of the programme
Source: 832x468
2. Handbrake will yield an end file with the same dimensions, i.e. 468p
Output: 832x468
3. You are actually recoding, with h.264 video codec (VFR same as source, CRF=20).

RECODING is a total waste of energy and time in the case of iplayer video files,
since they are already encoded with h.264 video codec, it's just that because FRD
uses the rtmp plugin to download them, they are put inside the FLV container -
which your Apple TV can't handle...
What you need to do is simply change container ("remux", short for re-multiplex, is a more techie lingo for this)
from the FLV one to the MP4 one (with the Apple-developed file extension .m4v),
which is compatible with the majority of software and hardware players...
I do not own a Mac, but I have briefly installed the Windows version of Handbrake (sadly it also requires
.NET Framework 4.0 - not available by default in my Vista OS), and toyed a bit with its settings;
it appears that Handbrake lacks the support for lossless remux :S
But as mentioned in my previous post, FFmpeg does so brilliantly.
A 1hr long FLV file can be remuxed losslessly (= keeping original quality)
to an MP4 (.m4v) one in less than 1min!
You can find FFmpeg binaries for Mac OS X here
and a GUI here;
please perform online searches with the terms, e.g.

"Change FLV container to MP4 on a Mac"

(this should also come up...)

We are inside "Off Topic territory" here, so proceed with any additional queries in the proper AV/Mac forums

Regards

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

tong2shot — Sat, 17 May 2014 14:37:22 +0000

@mls: see here.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

mls — Sat, 17 May 2014 14:10:37 +0000

Does this deserve a separate (Mac) discussion:

After downloading and installing the FreeRapid-0.9u3.dmg file from the download sites, I get the following message when attempting to open the application:

"FreeRapid.app" is damaged and can't be opened.

Is there a way to verify the app?

Thanks.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

mls — Sat, 17 May 2014 08:50:28 +0000

> What type of conversion are the FRD-downloaded video files undergo in Handbrake?

I thought it better to include a screen shot of my Handbrake window. I have not modified any values, for fear of what might happen! [A little knowledge is dangerous! ;-) ]

Cheers.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

TVjunkie — Fri, 16 May 2014 00:10:09 +0000

mls wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> > I usually download the 480p quality variant,
>
> What other HD variants are available?

480p (actually it is 468p) is not considered HiDef
but rather StdDef (SD);
If the pixel-height >=720, then the video file is considered HD.

> when I view .m4v files on my Apple TV1 and TV2
> (converted by Handbrake from .flv to .m4v),
> they are shown as being HD.
> Do you know what level of HD they are?

What type of conversion are the FRD-downloaded video files
undergo in Handbrake?
FRD downloads the video files in their native format, in the way they
were prepared by the BBC iplayer encoder chain; it is the same format in
which they are being played back by the Adobe Flash plugin in your browser.
The video stream of the file is encoded with the h264 AVC codec, while the
audio stream with the AAC LC codec.
Both streams are muxed inside an FLV container.

The wise thing to do is to remux losslessly from the FLV to the MP4 container,
something that can be done in mere seconds with FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -i VideoFile.flv -c copy -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc VideoFile.m4v

Then your i-device should play the file in the same resolution the original flv possessed.
If, on the other hand, you are actually RECODING the files with Handbrake, then your
i-device will report the definition set inside Handbrake's settings prior to the conversion;
you can tell if you are recoding or not by the duration of the actual conversion process
(< 1min -> lossless remux, > ~10 mins -> recoding).

> What is the maximum HD quality that FRD can download
> (seeing as many Beeb programs are (I presume)
> broadcast in 1080p)?

As already stated, FRD can download the quality variants available on the
iplayer/tv site; if you go

Options -> Preferences -> Plugins -> Settings -> bbc.co.uk -> Options -> Preferred quality level

you can explore the available quality variants for download. The default setting is: "Highest available".
In practice, this means that a specific TV programme on the iplayer site should, in theory at least, be available
in the (only) HD format (which is 720p) if it was broadcast on one of the HD TV channels, else it should always
be available in the highest SD format (i.e. 480p).
You cannot get 1080p HD files with FRD; if you want those, you should search in torrent sites - the files offered there
are 1080p transcodes of actual HD TV rips.

(since this is the FRD forum, you can find answers for more specific video format queries
on google or on one of the many specialized audio-video forums... ;-) )

Regards

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

tong2shot — Thu, 15 May 2014 22:22:03 +0000

I'm not too familiar with BBC, so correct me if I'm wrong. From what I tested, it seems that akamai CDN provides higher quality video (> 480p) than limelight CDN. For example using @rancor test link : [www.bbc.co.uk] , the highest quality from akamai is 720p, while from limelight the highest quality is 480p. But streams from akamai can only be downloaded by users in the UK (or using UK proxy). I can't find test link with 1080p, can anyone provide one/some, so we can test it?

Edit (1) : At this moment BBC plugin (v1.1.9) can only download streams from limelight, maybe in the next plugin release it can also download from akamai, by auto detecting user IP address. So that higher quality video (> 480p) can be downloaded by users in the UK.

Edit (2) : from @rancor test link I can download 720p from level3. I was wrong when I said : "BBC plugin (v1.1.9) can only download streams from limelight". The correct one is BBC plugin v1.1.9 prefers limelight and skips streams from akamai. So from this limited test, users from UK and non-UK can download 720p after all.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

mls — Thu, 15 May 2014 14:39:30 +0000

TVjunkie Wrote:
> Huge congrats tong2shot, the fixed plugin is yet another specimen of a sterling job of yours...

I second that. I don't know how tong2shot does it, but I'm glad he does. :-) This is all rocket science to me! :S

> I usually download the 480p quality variant,

What other HD variants are available? Up to, and including Version 1.1.7, when I view .m4v files on my Apple TV1 and TV2 (converted by Handbrake from .flv to .m4v), they are shown as being HD. Do you know what level of HD they are? What is the maximum HD quality that FRD can download (seeing as many Beeb programs are (I presume) broadcasted in 1080p)?

Many thanks.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

TVjunkie — Thu, 15 May 2014 01:02:31 +0000

tong2shot wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Okay please try plugin v1.1.9.
>
> Limelight sometimes produces strange behaviour
> with or without UK proxy, sometimes it gets stuck
> at "connect" command, but after waiting for awhile
> (5 minutes), restart the download process then the
> stream is downloaded successfully.

Hi again and apologies I couldn't get back to you sooner! 8-)
Updated manually to new version 1.1.9 of bbc.frp.
I did not set a UK proxy in the prefs, since tor.frp is working nicely
with bbc.frp for me...
I just tried again the same sample link, i.e.

The Sky At Night: How Gravity Shapes The Universe

now FRD reached "Downloading" status very quickly and began fetching the file on disk! >:D<
(see attached screengrab). I usually download the 480p quality variant,
313 MB downloaded fine in less than 5mins... (:D
I have not observed any "strange behaviour" with regards to the Limelight CDN,
it appears it is readily accessible from my physical location...

Huge congrats tong2shot, the fixed plugin is yet another specimen of a sterling job of yours...
and another triumph over the Beeb's recent malevolent changes...

All the best!

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

rancor — Wed, 14 May 2014 23:06:04 +0000

Working via elite proxy (83.170.89.7:8888) :-) Download one file:OK, second file with little problems, third file OK.

Thanks!

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

tong2shot — Wed, 14 May 2014 22:31:15 +0000

Okay please try plugin v1.1.9.

Limelight sometimes produces strange behaviour with or without UK proxy, sometimes it get stuck at "connect" command, but after waiting for awhile (5 minutes), restart the download process then the stream is downloaded successfully.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

TVjunkie — Wed, 14 May 2014 20:04:07 +0000

rancor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> @tong2shot link to site:
> [www.bbc.co.uk]
>
> First link from button Downloads - Yes, Continue
> downloading - Download in HD
> (bbc-ipd:download/p01wjnwh/b0414lt2/hd/standard/VG
> hlIEJpZyBBbGxvdG1lbnQgQ2hhbGxlbmdlIC0gRXBpc29kZSA1
> )
>
> Second link (mp4 file with DRM) from BBC iPlayer
> Downloads log

Hello rancor :-)

This file you are trying to download is not supported by FRD nor is it of any good to you.
First, in order to download it (via http protocol), you need to have a special BBC iPlayer
client program installed (called "BBC iPlayer Downloads"), which is only functional for UK IPs.
Even if you get that file on disk, it is unplayable because it is encrypted with Flash Access DRM.
"BBC iPlayer Downloads" downloads a special DRM licence which allows for the file to be played
back for the designated time window, usually a month, after which the licence expires and the DRMed
MP4 file is completely useless.
If you are aware of the above limitations but you want to use FRD as a download manager just to fetch that
DRMed file, then this is another matter.
There exists a method to reveal the direct URI to the file (for said programme this is:

HD DRMed MP4 file (warning: ~ 1.0GB ))

and you then have to download it with FRD by enabling direct downloads in the settings. But I fear this is not a feature that many would want or that should be implemented by the FRD devs...

FRD supports the DRM-free flash version of the programme (the one you can watch in the browser), which is an FLV file downloaded via the
rtmp protocol. Unfortunately, since you seem to be in Poland, this only works for now for people in the UK or by using a UK VPN (with default rtmp port 1935 open - most of the VPNs now have this closed and only 443, 80 open...) - see my previous posts in this thread.

Hope I've made things somewhat clearer... ;-)

Regards.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

TVjunkie — Wed, 14 May 2014 19:19:20 +0000

tong2shot wrote:

> Your feeling is right :-) The new plugin is
> downloading from akamai, because at this moment
> streams from limelight are not downloadable. I
> tried several times with limelight, even tried
> rtmp-dump, but no luck, maybe I missed some
> parameters, or applied wrong parameters. We'll try
> to investigate this issue.
>
> If get_iplayer is working with UK proxy applied,
> FRD should also working with UK proxy applied. I
> used UK proxy to test the plugin.

Thanks for your quick response! ;-)
I have no problem downloading from the Limelight CDN;
Attachement "Get_iPlayer_info.txt" contains the get_iplayer command used and
the command prompt window output
from downloading successfully the program (quality 480p) linked to in my previous post;
notice that:
flashvhigh1 mode = Akamai CDN -> FAILURE, while
flashvhigh2 mode = Limelight CDN -> SUCCESS.

I also have no problem downloading from Limelight CDN via rtmpdump either;
By setting a UK proxy server in Mozilla Firefox 28.0 and then using rtmpdumphelper,
I got a working rtmpdump command (remember, this is working from my Greek IP!).
Attachement "LimelightCDN_rtmpdump_info" contains the correct rtmpdump command
(found by rtmpsrv) to download from the ll CDN, also included is the command prompt
window output by rtmpdump!
You can get renewed auth tokens (which usually are good to go for more than an hour)
by going to

mediaselector v5

from a UK IP.

So it seems to me that

>streams from limelight are not downloadable

has to do with something gone awry on your end...:S

Hope I have helped enough towards a quick resolution of the current "UK-only" status of the bbc plugin...
Feel free to ask for more details, if needed ;-)

Cheers!

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

rancor — Wed, 14 May 2014 18:58:02 +0000

Sorry for the poor translation from Polish (google translate)

@tong2shot link to site: [www.bbc.co.uk]

First link from button Downloads - Yes, Continue downloading - Download in HD (bbc-ipd:download/p01wjnwh/b0414lt2/hd/standard/VGhlIEJpZyBBbGxvdG1lbnQgQ2hhbGxlbmdlIC0gRXBpc29kZSA1)

Second link (mp4 file with DRM) from BBC iPlayer Downloads log

Download via UK proxy (transparent, anonymouse, elite) - results: 0 bytes dowloadning.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

tong2shot — Wed, 14 May 2014 17:51:03 +0000

rancor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Plugin for BBC not working.
>
> Example link from BBC iplayer site (HD file):
> bbc-ipd:download/p01wjnwh/b0414lt2/hd/standard/VGh
> lIEJpZyBBbGxvdG1lbnQgQ2hhbGxlbmdlIC0gRXBpc29kZSA1
>
> Direct link from BBC Iplayer Downloads:
> electradl.iplayer.bbc.co.uk/electra/cps/flv_avc1_h
> d_flashaccess/modav/bUnknown-4aa95324-643e-4c60-82
> 60-ce117e3ab841_b0414lt2_1399799893613.mp4 File
> is encrypted (DRM)

Can you describe the title of the video that you're trying to download? I have no idea how to convert link from BBC iplayer to browser.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

tong2shot — Wed, 14 May 2014 17:43:49 +0000

TVjunkie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My feeling is the plugin is trying to download
> from the CDN (Akamai) which is geo-blocked at
> rtmp-server level, hence the line:
>
> , : Access denied!]]]]
>
> in the log. It should in turn try to download from
> the other CDN (Limelight), that is not geo-blocked
> at rtmp-server level and used to work fine with
> previous version (1.1.7) of bbc.frp (and is
> actually still working in get_iplayer (with UK proxy applied), where I
> had to resort to until FRD is fixed!).
>
> Many thanks in advance for the eventual fix (tu)

Your feeling is right :-) The new plugin is downloading from akamai, because at this moment streams from limelight are not downloadable. I tried several times with limelight, even tried rtmp-dump, but no luck, maybe I missed some parameters, or applied wrong parameters. We'll try to investigate this issue.

If get_iplayer is working with UK proxy applied, FRD should also working with UK proxy applied. I used UK proxy to test the plugin.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

TVjunkie — Wed, 14 May 2014 17:20:52 +0000

tong2shot wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fixed in plugin v1.1.8.
>
> The new plugin might introduce regressions, so let
> us know if you found any.

Hello tong2shot :-) from Greece B) !

While I must thank you for your constant efforts,
it appears they are not bearing any fruits for my non-UK IP :?

Sample link tried was:

The Sky At Night: How Gravity Shapes The Universe

Due to my non-UK IP, bbc plugin (updated to latest version 1.1.8) makes use of the tor plugin; the subs do download fine,
but I always end up with a 0 byte file for the video download :X ...

I have run FRD with the -d switch and attached debug log; everything you need to know is there ;-) ;
this is on a Windows Vista SP2 x86 laptop (with latest Java 7u55).
My feeling is the plugin is trying to download from the CDN (Akamai) which is geo-blocked at rtmp-server level, hence the line:

[STRING(0x02) code: NetConnection.Connect.Rejected], [STRING(0x02) description: [ AccessManager.Reject ] : Access denied!]]]]

in the log. It should in turn try to download from the other CDN (Limelight), that is not geo-blocked at rtmp-server level and used to work fine with previous version (1.1.7) of bbc.frp (and is actually still working in get_iplayer [with UK proxy applied], where I had to resort to until FRD is fixed!).

Many thanks in advance for the eventual fix (tu)

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

p.vanderwal — Wed, 14 May 2014 13:51:49 +0000

Downloading right now, seems to work flawless! Thanks for the quick fix, very impressive! :)-D(tu)

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

mls — Wed, 14 May 2014 12:57:17 +0000

It now appears to be working fine.
Many thanks for a speedy fix. (tu)

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

rancor — Wed, 14 May 2014 12:11:08 +0000

Plugin for BBC not working.

Example link from BBC iplayer site (HD file): bbc-ipd:download/p01wjnwh/b0414lt2/hd/standard/VGhlIEJpZyBBbGxvdG1lbnQgQ2hhbGxlbmdlIC0gRXBpc29kZSA1

Direct link from BBC Iplayer Downloads: electradl.iplayer.bbc.co.uk/electra/cps/flv_avc1_hd_flashaccess/modav/bUnknown-4aa95324-643e-4c60-8260-ce117e3ab841_b0414lt2_1399799893613.mp4 File is encrypted (DRM)

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

tong2shot — Wed, 14 May 2014 11:14:14 +0000

Thanks for the reports.

Fixed in plugin v1.1.8.

The new plugin might introduce regressions, so let us know if you found any.

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

distantime — Tue, 13 May 2014 19:58:26 +0000

here is my error log

Tue May 13 20:54:48 BST 2014 SEVERE:
cz.vity.freerapid.plugins.exceptions.PluginImplementationException: File name not found
at cz.vity.freerapid.plugins.services.bbc.BbcFileRunner.checkNameAndSize(Unknown Source)
at cz.vity.freerapid.plugins.services.bbc.BbcFileRunner.runCheck(Unknown Source)
at cz.vity.freerapid.plugins.webclient.AbstractFileShareService.runCheck(AbstractFileShareService.java:113)
at cz.vity.freerapid.core.tasks.RunCheckTask.doInBackground(RunCheckTask.java:25)
at cz.vity.freerapid.core.tasks.RunCheckTask.doInBackground(RunCheckTask.java:15)
at javax.swing.SwingWorker$1.call(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
at javax.swing.SwingWorker.run(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

mls — Tue, 13 May 2014 14:23:31 +0000

No, you are not the only person. I noticed the issue this morning. :-(

Re: BBC plugin not working anymore

p.vanderwal — Tue, 13 May 2014 13:46:45 +0000

Am I the only one with this problem?

BBC plugin not working anymore

p.vanderwal — Tue, 13 May 2014 04:49:56 +0000

Today 13-05-2014 the BBC plugin is not working anymore. It says: Error.
I am using plugin version 1.1.7. in FRD 09u3.
Could you please look into this?
ps: BBC did change the page layout of the tv guide ....