Re: applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

TVjunkie — Sun, 10 Apr 2016 01:58:04 +0000

Hi chancemini :-)

I am, too, unfamiliar with the Canadian software
Psiphon3, and after reading their Privacy Policy,
[s3.amazonaws.com]
I am still reluctant in installing & testing it...

However, I have spent time reading their
online documentation:

 Psiphon is a circumvention tool from Psiphon Inc. that 
utilizes VPN, SSH and HTTP Proxy technology to provide you 
with uncensored access to Internet content.
 Your Psiphon client will automatically learn about new 
access points to maximize your chances of bypassing censorship.

UserGuide
FAQ

On Windows, it would use either Secure Shell (SSH/SSH+) or VPN.
To access BBC iPlayer, your SSH/VPN should provide you
with a non-blacklisted UK IP address, to begin with...

Over the last year or so, the BBC have rigorously enhanced
their geo-blocking schemes, changing CDN server hostnames
to geo-blocked ones (case of Limelight CDN) and abolishing
those CDNs that can't be made to geo-block (case of Level3 CDN).

New types of streams were issued (the "Video Factory" ones,
prepared by their partners Unified Streaming Platform)
which are delivered via AdobeHDS (desktop browsers),
MPEG-DASH (HTML5 capable browsers) and AppleHLS (SmartTVs,
tablets, mobile apps), all 3 through HTTP. All those streams are UK-only,
via a very strict geo-filtering scheme.
In a second phase, they began blacklisting all major
UK VPN/HTTP proxy providers, to thwart illegal
overseas access...

In FRD's case, the bbc.co.uk plugin 1.3.1 uses the older RTMP
streams, which are still provided by the BBC as a fallback infrastructure,
but in the long run they've announced they'll be removed
(don't get alarmed already, I can see them staying around
for at least a couple of years more...).
For Video-On-Demand, all the currently working
RTMP CDNs (Akamai/Limelight) are geo-blocked at server level,
so use of Tor plugin or HTTP proxy is inadequate
for TV files: it may grant you access to playlists
(stream locations), but you'll get 0 byte .flv files,
because your overseas client (FRD in this case)
will be rejected by the RTMP server.

In the case of Tor/HTTP proxy, the connection
between the rtmpdump code and the RTMP server is
always DIRECT, unless a SOCKS4 proxy is used.
During a Secure Shell session, a local SOCKS4/5
proxy can be enabled (SOCKS/HTTP Proxy Forwarding);
is this enabled by default when Psiphon3 is
connected in SSH mode? And do you have access
to the particulars of that proxy?
If affirmative to both, then you should configure FRD
to use that SOCKS proxy - the "system" proxy
set up by Psiphon3 is, in most likelihood, a HTTP
proxy, which can enable you to watch iPlayer in
a browser - because those streams (HDS) use HTTP,
but as explained won't work with FRD.

When you said:

> applying psiphon 3 to FRD

what did you actually do?

Now, your best bet in making that Psiphon3
app work with FRD in fetching BBC TV is:

1. Try to connect via its VPN mode -
choose the UK node (if available).
Verify UK IP address by visiting
[www.whatismyip.com]
Also verify that IP is whitelisted by
actually watching something on iplayer itself.

2. Do not mess with FRD's connection settings,
i.e. do not use proxy of any type.

3. In the bbc plugin settings, choose
Akamai CDN if you want 720p (not available
for all TV) and Limelight if you want < 720p;
Akamai can also be used, but it's slower.
Better pick 80/443 as RTMP port.

4. Your download should start - it may have
a small (download) speed, but, if all worked,
you won't get the 0 byte .flv file...
In VPN mode, even the RTMP traffic is
redirected to the UK VPN server, so
the RTMP CDN server won't block
if VPN server's IP is in whitelist...

You mentioned in this thread that

> when apply psiphon 3 to get-iplayer, it works

I am a very experienced GiP user, how
did you apply Psiphon3 to it, and what
tvmode did you fetch?
FWIW, GiP can only accept HTTP proxy
via the -p switch (and --partial-proxy switch,
when CDN does not geo-block), what did you
use yourself?
Case A: You connected via SSH mode in Psiphon3
and downloaded a hls tvmode; this should probably
work, as hlsmodes use HTTP; "hlsmodes" are not
supported by FRD's bbc plugin.
Have you tried to fetch a flashmode in SSH
connection mode?
Case B: You connected via VPN mode in Psiphon3;
both flash/hls tvmodes should work.

Hope I have helped towards a solution
to your problem - sorry for the long post,
it was the best I could do without actually
installing Psiphon3 ;-)

Best regards.

Re: applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

chancemimi — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 06:13:25 +0000

Would you please spare some of your specious time having a look at the case?
psiphon 3 downloading link:
[s3.amazonaws.com]

Re: applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

chancemimi — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 06:09:21 +0000

Yes , I have disabled tor .
And I have also tried different ports ,quality levels,and cdns, with the same results.
It's wired that the download does start for less than a second, and immediately ends. the task downloaded is no more than 0kb.And the finished file does exist in the folder , unfortunately , its size is 0 .

Re: applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

tong2shot — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 22:32:40 +0000

Have you tried to disable TOR in the BBC plugin settings?

Re: applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

chancemimi — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 11:27:31 +0000

when apply psiphon 3 to get-iplayer, it works , but it is not the case while used with FRD

Re: applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

chancemimi — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 02:12:07 +0000

it offers a uk node.

Re: applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

tong2shot — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 22:58:13 +0000

I'm not familiar with psiphon 3, does it provide UK node? If it does, BBC plugin should work.

BBC uses geolocation protection for the final download link, while ITV doesn't.

applying psiphon 3 to RRD, all bbc iplayer programme end up with zero bit

chancemimi — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 02:13:37 +0000

After connection established, and download starting, the task finishes in a second , stating :accomplished, at zero bit.
but ITV programmes come in smoothly.

Please help me .
thanks a million.