PBS Feeds

[Waffles]

@babsonnexus I guess I'll just add to this...hopefully you see something...
So I have the latest VLC Bridge container...
Also latest SLM v2026.03.29.1338
I'm not using any VPN/Tailscale
I'm based in HI, so have a US IP address, but since I'm not in continental US, is this a problem?
Even the HI PBS stations don't work for me using SLM, but if I load the m3u from the VLC Bridge container, they do work... but with that I only get 3 channels...

Based on the screenshot below, I have access to 587 channels showing for the PBS stations, and as you can see, it's set to MPEG-TS.

If I try and play the m3u URL (http://10.0.0.10:5002/playlists/uploads/internal/plmint_pbs_mpeg_ts_m3u_01.m3u) in VLC, I do see all the channels listed, but none of them will play, each one errors out with:
access error: HTTP 500 error
http error: error: HTTP/1.0 500 Internal Server Error
I have VLC set up so if a channel doesn't play, it pops up the error and move to the next channel...
The only thing I see in the SLM logs is:

[info | 2026-04-04 06:21:55,588] - 10.89.3.11 - - [04/Apr/2026 06:21:55] "GET /playlists/uploads/internal/plmint_pbs_mpeg_ts_m3u_01.m3u HTTP/1.1" 200 -
[info | 2026-04-04 06:22:17,600] - 10.89.3.11 - - [04/Apr/2026 06:22:17] "GET /playlists/plm_manage HTTP/1.1" 200 -

Am I doing something wrong, or just don't have access to play the channels?

[babsonnexus]

Open m3u for the PLM Internal Playlist in a text editor, should look something like this:

Note the highlighted part. This is equal to what you put here:

Did you use https instead of http? Did you put more than this? Does SLM have access to the location where the VLC Bridge PBS is set up?

[Waffles]

THANK YOU....
So I'm looking at part of the line:
http://10.0.0.10:8178//pbs/watch/838f7279-cacf-4561-bd33-ac9a4b1429e8/ga-main

notice the // after the port?
So I went back to your second screenshot and I noticed that I did indeed have the trailing / and so I removed it and saved...
It's working now...
Thank you again.

[Tolli]

Thanks for chiming in, Waffles. I checked all mentioned above (correct file format, VLC bridge and SLM urls match). The internal playlist url matches what's being generated in the text editor. I deleted and added a handful of times, streams and epgs populate, but will not play on VLC or in Channels DVR.

I am not using VPN/tailscale.

CDVR logs says:

the one thing I'm not sure how to check: "does SLM have access to the location where VLC Bridge PBS is set up?" I assume my SLM has access because everything is on the same machine (SLM, VLC bridge, and CDVR are on the same intel macbook pro)

I am not well versed on any of this and I'm at the mercy of my ability to follow directions. This issue has me stumped and it's a bit frustrating. I watch a lot of PBS and look forward to adding sub channels to my lineup. thanks for the help

[Waffles]

@Tolli I'm sure @babsonnexus may have additional things for you to try since he's the dev on this.. but in the meantime...
I'm not sure how you have your container set up, Windows or Linux... but the following is on Linux, using Podman, the Redhat version of Docker...
EDIT: I just re-read your post and see you are running a MAC... not sure how, so you have to figure out how to get to the container's shell..

1. Shell into the streamlink container...
   If you have Dockge, Dockhand, Portainer, this is the easiest but if you don't then do this...

$ podman exec -it streamlink /bin/bash
root@037f8e74f8e6:/app/data#

NOTE: adjust the command if you're using docker instead of podman...
Once in the shell...type:
Wait a minute, have to redo this...
Sorry, had the wrong container...

once you're in the SLM container...type:
curl <pbs_container_m3ufile>
So in my case, I type and the response:

root@fa0cbdf2aa45:/app# curl http://10.0.0.10:8178/pbs/playlist.m3u
#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="KHETDT" tvg-logo="https://image.pbs.org/stations/khet-color-single-brand-logo-TPvEfAd.png",KHET HDTV
http://10.0.0.10:8178/pbs/watch/9d8087c6-c29a-4a47-86ee-0db85c3fb2dc/ga-main

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="NHKWRLD" tvg-logo="https://image.pbs.org/contentchannels/NHK_color_logo.png",NHK World TV
http://10.0.0.10:8178/pbs/watch/9d8087c6-c29a-4a47-86ee-0db85c3fb2dc/ga-nhk

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="PBSKSTR" tvg-logo="https://image.pbs.org/contentchannels/KIDS_white_logo.png",PBS KIDS
http://10.0.0.10:8178/pbs/watch/9d8087c6-c29a-4a47-86ee-0db85c3fb2dc/kids-main

root@fa0cbdf2aa45:/app#

[Tolli]

@Waffles @babsonnexus . ugh. I hesitated to post my issues here because I was fairly sure I missed something simple. Thanks to your suggestions Waffles, I looked more closely at the Docker container. I thought re-running the VLC-bridge script would update it to the latest. When I looked at the image for the container, I noticed an update of 8 months ago. Deleted the container and image, reran the script, now I'm on the latest release and everything works. thank you!

[Waffles]

Been there, done it numerous times... sometimes you look at something for an hour and not see an issue but have the problem... it takes a fresh set of eyes to either see something or to suggest something... It was the same in my case... couldn't get it to work until babsonnexus posted the tip and screenshot for me to doublecheck my work...

[jsfullam]

Well, it finally happened. I haven't gotten around to sharing until today. But, a few days ago, on April 5th, PBS VLC Bridge crashed as it used to, when it was scheduled to record a single channel. However, it hasn't happened again since then.

Maybe it's just me... so, I'm wondering, has anyone else had a PBS crash around the same time?

[chDVRuser]

Yeah, the new version crashes the container just like the old one did.
Don't record a lot from PBS, so not a big deal for me.

[jsfullam]

Lately I have been recording Nova, American Masters, and working on completing our collection of several of the Huell Howser program series. PBS has some great programming! I'll say that VLC Bridge for PBS has been more stable than it was in the past.

[chDVRuser]

@jsfullam

I'll say that VLC Bridge for PBS has been more stable than it was in the past.

True.
I use my HDHR Prime with Xfinity Basic Cable to record my locals, including PBS.

I'm trying to wean myself off the Cable since the Broadcast TV Fee is $39.35/month in my area. Plus $30.50/month for limited basic. So $69.85/month before other fees and taxes for limited basic. I do get a discount for another 4 years which gives me time to explore alternatives, but it's hard to beat the reliability of cable (until my HDHR Prime or cablecard no longer works). YTTV, TVE and PrismCast are helping.

[jsfullam]

Those fees! Good grief! Fortunately, our live TV needs are minimal, so I'm able to keep streaming costs down. You are right, there are so many amazing companion projects for Channels DVR, like this VLC PBS bridge, Roku Bridge, ADBTuner, PrismCast, FastChannels, Frndly and other containers, etc...
It sure keeps me busy trying to keep up with the evolution of all of these ways to get a vast array of media into the CDVR system.