Frndly TV for Channels

slugs are back for faster playback :slight_smile:

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Hi guys....I've read all the latest on Frndly TV issues, but being fairly new at this, I'm not sure how to go about fixing not getting the channels. I had the error matthewfranzel brought up and now, since yesterday, I can't get any channels. I have the latest docker. Tried Absenm's post on docker host and I get nothing. I logged into Frndly TV and no issue with my password, but I reset it to the same password anyway. Went into terminal and ran Matt's commands, just in case for the passwords, nothing. Got frustrated, deleted frndly tv in channels, even deleted and reinstalled Docker Desktop, followed Matt's instructions, now when I try to add Frndly TV in Channels, I get a 404 error. I went in docker and looked at sources and I get docker list 2 sources even though I don't have frndly on channels. Please help a lost relative newbee...also, I pulled up docker and it showed me 2 sources:

Channels Source 1

Stream Format: HLS
Refresh: Daily
Source URL: http://localhost:8183/playlist.m3u8?gracenote=include
XMLTV Data URL: (Leave Blank)

Channels Source 2

Stream Format: HLS
Refresh: Daily
Source URL: http://localhost:8183/playlist.m3u8?gracenote=exclude
XMLTV Data URL: http://localhost:8183/epg.xml?gracenote=exclude

Shouldn't it only be one source? or is this normal for what Frndly TV image has in Docker?
Thanks

Not going to believe this....I did NOTHING and suddenly Frndly is back? Go figure....On the plus side, I don't need a haircut as I pulled most of mine out this morning with this!!! hahahaha

Glad it is working.

And yes it should show 2 sources. That is how it is supposed to be setup in Channels in order to get EPG for all the channels. The double source method I mention in post #546 goes over how to properly get this setup in Channels using Custom Channels.

Seems as though that service has more issues than the others, so, easily believed.

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A post was split to a new topic: Level News subscription streaming TV service

Well - so much for setup being simple. Installed Docker, ran the command:

docker run -d --restart
unless-stopped --env "USERNAME=MY_EMAIL" --env "PASSWORD=MY_PASSWORD"
--name frndlytv-for-channels -p 8183:80
matthuisman/frndlytv-for-channels

Everything seemed to work okay at this point, so I went and checked the Channels configuration from http://127.0.0.1:8183, and it returned:

Channels Source 1

Stream Format: HLS
Refresh: Daily
Source URL: http://127.0.0.1:8183/playlist.m3u8?gracenote=include
XMLTV Data URL: (Leave Blank)

## Channels Source 2

Stream Format: HLS
Refresh: Daily
Source URL: http://127.0.0.1:8183/playlist.m3u8?gracenote=exclude
XMLTV Data URL: http://127.0.0.1:8183/epg.xml?gracenote=exclude

I didn't see instructions for adding this to Channels, but I guessed that I was supposed to add it as a Custom Channel. When I entered the URL for Source 1, I got the error,

invalid source url: failed to retrieve m3u: 500
Internal Service Error

Adding the URL and XMLTV info for Source 2 resulted in the same error.

What am I missing?

Well, first: Did you change the MY_EMAIL and MY_PASSWORD in the docker run command to reflect your actual Frndly email username and Frndly password? That has tripped up some other people.

Second, make sure you do not have any extra spaces in at the beginning or end of the URL you paste in to the custom channels setup. The issue of extra spaces was corrected several months ago in ChannelsDVR, but it won't hurt to make sure the URL doesn't have extra spaces.

Third, you may be best off not using the loop_back 127.0.0.1. Instead just use the actual IP address of the docker server.

Forth, make sure you do not have any firewall issues concerning port 8183.

The ChannelsDVR custom channels setup instructions are covered way back in this thread around post #388, but here is a recap from post #535.

I hope that at some point @matthuisman will add those instructions with the screen caps to the OP so it is clearer right from the start.

Yes, I replaced "MY_EMAIL" and "MY_PASSWORD" with the email and password I'm registered at Frndly with.

I will try the actual IP address instead of 127.0.0.1.

But here's something concerning. When I click on the URL links shown on the http://127.0.0.1:8183 Channels configuration page, it goes to a page that says:

Error: USERNAME and PASSWORD are required

If they're not already there when the M3U list is created, I don't know how to add them.

Here's another question: Was I supposed to keep the quotes around "MY_EMAIL" and "MY_PASSWORD"? when I replace them with my email and password credentials on FrndlyTV?

try removing the quotes in the docker run command. I think I read something earlier in this thread about the quotes maybe being an issue.

You also may be running in to an issue we discovered last month. You may need to reset your Frndly password on Frndly. You do not need to change it to something different, but go through the password change/reset process.

How long have you had a Frndly account?

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As expected it was user error. I neglected to leave the "USERNAME=..." and "PASSWORD=..." in the docker command! Now it's working great.

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I just signed up for the free trial an hour or so before my post.

BTW - I'm noticing that many of the Frndly channel logos are ghost-like (in the webUI not my android devices) - making them essentially impossible to read on a white background. Is that typical?

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Yes, and not just frndlyTV channel logos.
They're all visible for me when using Dark Reader https://darkreader.org/

A post was split to a new topic: Need help using Docker with Custom Channels

I just wanted to relay my experience with the Frndly TV for Channels Docker. I was using a Raspberry Pi 4 running 32 bit Raspberry Pi OS ver 10 (Buster), Linux distribution of Channels and both the Pluto and STIRR Dockers all running successfully. Using this configuration I was not able to get the Frndly Docker to run. I tired everything I could think of but I am no expert.

I finally decided to upgrade to Raspberry Pi OS ver 11 (Bullseye) to be on the current libraries. This was successful! Now it is currently successfully running the Linux distribution of Channels and the Pluto, STIRR, and Frndly Dockers. Everything works good.

One more thing to note that surprised me: I did not end up using the quotes for the USERNAME or PASSWORD. The command I excited was:

docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --env USERNAME=xxxxxxxx@ddddd --env PASSWORD=ppppppppp --name frndlytv-for-channels -p 8183:80 matthuisman/frndlytv-for-channels

One more thing is my password had only letters and numbers. Not sure if that matters.

Has anyone had any success getting this to run in Python3 on macOS? I’d like to avoid having to run Docker if possible.

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Do you need more directions than what is listed here?
Start under No Docker Section Header

So I am using an nvidia shield. I guess I am out of luck on this?

Not at all. Just installer docker on another machine on your network.

That would work even if it isn’t the DVR location? How would the DVR find it?