BETA: Custom Channels via M3U Playlists

Playground Custom Channels
#476

You'll have to check with Aman or Chris. I know that you can use a local M3U playlist, but I'm not sure if local XMLTV files are supported at present. (Perhaps it will come soon? I'd suggest trying a file:// protocol URL for an absolute path on your server, but a previous comment from Aman makes me think that won't work.)

At present, I think your only option is to use a minimal web server to serve the file. I'm sure there are such things for Windows.

Edit: As indicated below, all that is required is the path to the local XMLTV file, no web services required.

#477

Thanks for the info. I'll try it then look into setting up a web server.

#478

You can just put the path to the xml file in the box

2 Likes
#479

Just use
drive:\dir\filename.filetype....

i.e. C:\Guides\epg.xml

(I'd stay away from any spaces in the dir or name)

#480

Thanks thats the first thing I tried was the full path to the file. It must be the guide file itself is not matching up with the m3u data. Now that i know the full path should work I'll do more work to match up the m3u file and guide file. Thanks for the help.

#481

Thanks, I'll check into it.

Chief

#482

Check the log in the DVR....it will tell you if it's having trouble opening the file.c

1 Like
#483

Thanks again it was my bad. I thought it would auto match to the channel id. I just had to click the edit icon and assign each channel. I'm just playing around creating dummy guide info for a camera feed to see if it will record.

#484

Some small updates have been made to pluto-for-channels.

  • Fixed dates for movies
  • Some fixes for titles for movies
  • Removed the Privacy Policy channel

You can always see the latest releases of it here: https://github.com/maddox/pluto-for-channels/releases

1 Like
#485

After playing with it today it dose work. I Created a dummy guide file from xteve using the 60min option. This creates 1hr shows with the channel name + day and time block ie "Cam1 Wed 10:00-11:00". Then record like normal from guide or drop down quick guide. Now that I known it works. I'm looking for a better way to create the dummy guide information. The problem with this one is it uses day of week not the full date and you wouldn't be able to record the same time block on 2 different Wednesdays because the dvr would see that show as already recorded.

#486

Thanks, I'm looking at xteve now. The issue you stated above about it using day of week and not date would be a issue, especially given the fact that you can pretty much set your watch by the morning and evening movements of the wildlife around here. I've never used xTeve before, so I'm play a bit of catch up on learning the setup of it. Looks promising if we can get a date instead of the day of week into the data.

Chief

#487

Will the docker update automatically? or do I need to do it?
Thanks!

#488

I'll let you know if I find anything more promising. If this works out I may just set an additional rp4 server just for my cameras. My current camera DVR system only records 4 of my cameras. I added 3 more cameras since that and never added another recorder.

1 Like
#489

BTW thanks you gave me the idea.

1 Like
#490

No, you'll need to pull the LATEST to update it manually.

But I just snuck in some helpful stuff. It now shows the version that's running, and does an update check to let you know if there's a newer version.

You can view this on the status page at the root of the URL. I bet some of you didn't even know this page existed!

Here's what it looks like now.

image
image1156×330 103 KB

4 Likes
Pluto TV and Stirr
#491

I've got xTeve up and running, recording works great. I'll keep at it to see if I can get a date stamp instead of just the day. Given the lack of settings for that in the interface, we may have to look under the hood to make that change. I'll shoot a note out to the developer if I don't figure anything out soon. Thanks for putting me on this, as it solves the immediate problem, now we just need to tweak it and make it better :slight_smile:

Chief

#492

Heh, I'm a little disappointed in myself, normally I would of explored and found that page already :wink:
Thanks for the hint :wink:

Chief

#493

Any chance this update helps with the freezing that's happening during the new TPIR channel when it goes to commercial?

#494

"TPIR" meaning "The Price is Right: Bob Barker Era" channel that Pluto.tv just launched this week.

My video stream stops when it goes to commercial and then resumes when the commercial break ends. It does look and feel like a "freeze" but if I do nothing, it eventually resumes on its own. It's kind of weird.

I am also unable to record episodes beyond the first one I recorded. Since all of Pluto's airings on this channel share the same metadata ("episode 1") Channels DVR thinks they are all identical and therefore won't allow me to "duplicate" recordings. The client UI shows the record button on other episodes, but it doesn't actually work. I was hoping Channels would allow some sort of manual / forced record so we could record a few episodes anyway even if their metadata wasn't accurate but that doesn't appear to be the case. This new channel addition is fun, but just isn't fully compatible with Channels DVR at this time.

1 Like
#495

Right... this is the same problem I detailed above as well. It's almost as though it's switching to a different video feed for the commercials...however, in the actual Pluto app, the transition is seamless. This also affects recordings (since you can record at least one episode at a time). Upon playback, the Channels app freezes. Hopefully they can find a solution! I think it's quickly providing to be one of Pluto's most popular channels.