An easy way for Channels DVR to watch YouTube Live vids

I made an easy way for Channels DVR to watch Youtube Live videos.

Settings -> Basic Setup -> Add Source -> Custom Channels
 Nickname: Youtube Live
 Stream Format: HLS
 Source: URL
 URL: https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=*vid_id*
 Options -> Refresh URL daily

the vid_id is just the video ID that youtube shows you afer the v= in their URL. Like from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KGXSjtS5pk

would be https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=8KGXSjtS5pk

it can support many v=vid_id by combining them with an &
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=8KGXSjtS5pk&v=KR8l9t8YpqQ&v=86YLFOog4GM

you can also specify a start_chan=X. it defaults to 0.1000 like this:
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?start_chan=0.2000&v=8KGXSjtS5pk&v=KR8l9t8YpqQ&v=86YLFOog4GM
Then under the Custom Channels -> Options select Prefer channel-number from M3U

it assumes start_chan will always be a 4-scale decimal. so it will understand 0.1500, 0.0001, 0.9990. and it will always add 0.0001 to the channel number.

you can also specify a custom channel number per video stream with ,c=N after a v=, like for channel 15:
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=8KGXSjtS5pk,c=15
or for two streams, channels 15 and 16:
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=8KGXSjtS5pk,c=15&v=F109TZt3nRc,c=16
or for four streams, channel 15, channel 16, 0.2000, and 0.2001
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?start_chan=0.2000&v=8KGXSjtS5pk,c=15&v=F109TZt3nRc,c=16&v=86YLFOog4GM&v=KR8l9t8YpqQ

It also supports tv guide placeholders, which are off by default. enable them per-channel by appending a ,ph=X parameter after a v=, like for 1 hour blocks:
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=8KGXSjtS5pk,ph=3600
or for 2 hour blocks and a custom channel number 0.2001:
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=8KGXSjtS5pk,ph=7200,c=0.2001

And it has a r= parameter to specify resolution like r=360p. see Post 34.

It now supports many m3u tags. See Post 85.

lmk if it's useful & enjoy

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That's cool that works. I've been using hlstube in a docker container then create a source that pulls in all the YT live feeds I want to see from a m3u. Here is one of the entry from that m3u file.

 #EXTINF:-1 channel-id="SpaceX" channel-number="105" tvc-guide-tags="Live" tvc-guide-placeholders="86400" tvg-logo="http://192.168.0.11/web_images/icon.png" tvg-name="SpaceX" tvc-guide-title="Starship & Super Heavy Development From SpaceX's Boca Chica Facility" tvc-guide-description="Starship & Super Heavy Development From SpaceX's Boca Chica Facility" tvc-guide-art="http://192.168.0.11/web_images/icon.png",SpaceX
 http://localhost:8080/_/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg

See here for more information on hlstube

2 Likes

Working great so far. Any way to change the channel number?

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Just an FYI - hlstube caches master playlists for 5 hrs, all the ones I've seen from it are only good for 6 hrs.

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you can specify the start_chan like i showed above,but that's really it.

otherwise create a separate source for each individual youtube live feed you want with it's own start_num specified.

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i updated the URL, added some error detection, and enfasterized it. original post edited.

1 Like

Feature implemented, I updated the original post.
you can append a ,c=N to any v=vid_id like for channel 15:
https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=8KGXSjtS5pk,c=15

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is this a limitation with here as well in that the url may stop working for half a day until it is refreshed ?

I'm not familiar with hlstube, but based on @chDVRuser neither one of them should stop working.

For as long as I've been using it, this one certainly doesn't.

Cool thanks.
Can you pls see if this one works for you. it gives me an error LIVE: AO Practice and Behind the Scenes| Australian Open 2023 - YouTube

[TNR] Opened connection to M3U-YouTubeklister for ch0.1007 yt2m3u8-EGAajHRJvY4
2023/01/16 10:51:28.802813 [TNR] Error during live stream for ch0.1007 yt2m3u8-EGAajHRJvY4: hls: temporary failure while downloading: GET: https://rr3---sn-uxanug5-ntqee.googlevideo.com/videoplayback/id/EGAajHRJvY4.1/itag/96/source/yt_live_broadcast/expire/1673847763/ei/c4_EY83MJJnBhgbM0qSQDQ/ip/151.197.53.124/requiressl/yes/ratebypass/yes/live/1/sgoap/gir%3Dyes%3Bitag%3D140/sgovp/gir%3Dyes%3Bitag%3D137/hls_chunk_host/rr3---sn-uxanug5-ntqee.googlevideo.com/playlist_duration/30/manifest_duration/30/gcr/us/vprv/1/playlist_type/DVR/initcwndbps/1856250/mh/jk/mip/60.227.14.83/mm/44/mn/sn-uxanug5-ntqee/ms/lva/mv/m/mvi/3/pl/17/keepalive/yes/fexp/24007246/mt/1673826270/sparams/expire,ei,ip,id,itag,source,requiressl,ratebypass,live,sgoap,sgovp,playlist_duration,manifest_duration,gcr,vprv,playlist_type/sig/AOq0QJ8wRQIgZOsrXaXm3-uBf7at4X-3xUT-Gi8vFEmcOvWD1w2v9UYCIQD_IotYx2A-H-Q0yltz238jsh2Ltkyvvc-EE20jLjmpRw%3D%3D/lsparams/hls_chunk_host,initcwndbps,mh,mip,mm,mn,ms,mv,mvi,pl/lsig/AG3C_xAwRQIgWig4yjOMdmeuBZIHRegNI-RBlW-738_gTKU58Et8NbgCIQDx8eqvETkyOr8DQI1uqPmBEqES9Fc0xt8Ra31-fNgOQA%3D%3D/playlist/index.m3u8/sq/2046/goap/clen%3D42253%3Blmt%3D1673822594916695/govp/clen%3D921805%3Blmt%3D1673822594916703/dur/2.000/file/seg.ts: 403 Forbidden
2023/01/16 10:51:28.803086 [SNR] Buffer statistics for 10.0.1.130 (Mac Studio (8)) for ch0.1007 yt2m3u8-EGAajHRJvY4: buf=0% drop=0%
2023/01/16 10:51:28.805558 [TNR] Closed connection to M3U-YouTubeklister for ch0.1007 yt2m3u8-EGAajHRJvY4

It does work for me using https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?v=EGAajHRJvY4
also, VLC can play the link in your error message with File -> Open Network Stream.

Not sure why google is giving you the 403 error on it.
If you click that error link, does the browser download the data file or does that give you an error too? If browser works, try VLC.

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Thanks, it's working now. Didnt change anything :wink:

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Hey mate is there a way to make this work. The video url seems to change every day or so

Thanks
https://s62.ipcamlive.com/streams/3ewckqp3cdtrvbamo/stream.m3u8

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Thanks! Awesome. So far this is working great with TWiT Tech Network's Stream:

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The script is very youtube specific- since that site doesn't feed to youtube, it doesn't work with it. there are other live feeds of sydney on youtube like Sydney Live Camera and Sydney Harbor Bridge though.

If you know how to get that m3u8 url with wget/curl, I could probably whip something up. I gave it a few minutes but it's not clear to me how to get it.

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In the past I was surprised to learn that hlstube worked for streaming Twitch livestreams as well as YouTube ones. Is there any chance kister.net can handle the same?

Here's an example: Twitch

It's not similar enough to work easily.

Thanks for giving it a go mate. I'll put some time into it.

I think something bad happened

https://kister.net/mpl/yt2m3u8?w=kFQt7yVo1AM

1 Like

No, you're just doing it wrong. That's not a LIVE YouTube video.

1 Like