You need to select "YouTube Live" from the Source dropdown first before clicking Test. If you just paste the link and click Test, you are using the "Custom" option, which is a direct link.
OK, that makes sense. But when I try it that way, and I click Test, it downloads an .m3u8 file to my Downloads folder. When I open that file, I see this:
Then when I copy-paste that long URL from there, into my browser, it streams.
Same behavior with Safari and Chrome.
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This is all correct behavior; you'd need a program like VLC to run the m3u8 in to verify outside of Channels (that's what's shown in the screenshot above and in the repo). PLM is just setting everything up correctly for downstream consumption; it does not have an internal player (yet) to do anything. If the link were bad, you wouldn't get the m3u8, but would instead get this:
This is now an integrated part of PLM in the latest release. Check it out:
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Great! Very well done! 
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In the latest version of PLM, you now have an optional setting to automatically add a "URL tag" to the m3u files that use EPG XML. You can read about it here:
This is probably fairly irrelevant to Channels users, so I wouldn't recommend turning it on. Truthfully, I haven't actually tested what it would do in Channels. The original request was for this was for a non-Channels usage, so that's what I consider it to be. Streaming Library Manager is always Channels-focused first, so I would never put a requirement in place that would jeopardize that.
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Question for you regarding PLM...
Let's say I have a m3u playlist, named A, then I added 3 new m3u playlists, named B, C, and D).
I've made list A the parent and added the appropriate channels from BCD to point to A as the parent.
I update my m3u/xml and I've got my consolidated playlist to play in VLC.
Now, let's say list A is now gone... it may come back, and so I disable it in the Playlist Manager tab.
From what I see, after updating the m3u/xml, I no longer have access to the channels in B, C and D.
When I open the updated m3u in VLC, all the channels that were parents in A and all associated other playlists were missing.
Is this correct, or did I do something wrong?
I found that if I go into Parent and delete a couple of the channels and then add them back as parent using playlist B, then the channels return.
Unfortunately, there's quite a few dozens that I would have to do this way, and so, before I go down this road, I need to see if I'm doing something wrong.
Thanks.
Question on getting the process for adding YouTube Live Streaming Stations.
I have the Streaming Stations activated and I'm on the Streaming Stations tab.
I added the following live channel to the top line:
I then selected YouTube Live (HLS) and then I clicked TEST.
The window flashes a quick millisecond but then nothing happens.
I don't get a pop up asking what to do.
Where did I go wrong? Or is that particular live channel not capable of being set up in SLM?
I also tried with the kitten academy but again, I couldn't get it to pop up the window.
Works fine for me:
You probably have a popup blocker of some kind stopping you. Make sure you allow the URL for Streaming Library Manager to allow popups.
This description does not name any sense to me. Playlists are not Parents, Stations are Parents. Playlists have "priorities". You don't point to Playlist A as a parent. You set from Playlists A, B, C, and D to a common Parent station. For instance, here's various child stations from many playlists set to the same parent station:
If my priorities go like this...
... Court TV will come from the "HDHR (OTA)" playlist. If I disable "HDHR (OTA)", then it will come from "Plex (Gracenote)". If I then disable that, too, it will come from "Tubi (Gracenote)".
Overall, your description sounds like you've done something else, which would be wrong or at least unintended usage. It's very difficult to say with high level hypotheticals instead of real details.
- The youtube issue is fixed, thanks to your tip to look at pop-ups being blocked.
- OK, let me see if I can clarify. Please note, I'm not talking down to you here, I'm just putting my exact steps to make sure you see what I'm doing.
I have 4 playlists. I go to the Main tab, expand Unassigned Stations.
I see 5 Court TV and I make the first one the parent.
I save the listings.
Now I find the other 4 Court TVs (from B, C, and D) and set them to have the first Court TV (from A) as the parent.
Again, I save.
I create my m3u/xml and when I play the m3u in VLC, I see one Court TV, as expected.
Now, the problem is I lost playlist A, and so I disabled it in the Manage Playlists.
However, when I generate a new m3u/xml and play that new list in VLC, I no longer have Court TV.
Maybe I screwed up somewhere as I even changed the Prioritized order, putting B and C above A, and then as far as even deleting Playlist A...
I should point out that all the Parents from BCD kept on working... so it must be something I did when I tried to correct for losing playlist A.
So now I'm just at the point were I'm going to start over.
BTW, thanks for all the work on this program.
Just to be clear, this is irrelevant; it doesn't matter where a Parent comes from. All the "Make Parent" function does is create a new Parent ID and copy the child Station Name to the parent Station Name. The only relationship is that it also assigns the child to that new parent. Otherwise, one has nothing to do with the other.
I have a sneaking suspicion that you might have multiple parents with similar or the same name and that some of the child assignments may be incorrect.
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@babsonnexus
Very possible I may have misconfigured some things...
I've blown away the container and setting up from scratch and the process is a whole lot better for me now, since I've learned some things since I first set it up.
Again, thanks.
Is there a way to make an exception to the "Prioritize Playlist" order, aside from setting the preferred playlist?
I'm not sure if I'm undertaking things correctly, but in the "Manage Playlists" tab, I have my sources prioritized as follows:
- HD Homerun
- TV Everywhere
- ADB Tuner
- Chrome Capture
I'd like to make one exception to this. FOX in my area only broadcasts over TV Everywhere during primetime. Is there a way to drop TV Everywhere to the bottom, but just for FOX? I have set ADB Tuner as the preferred playlist for FOX, so I assume that will set ADB Tuner first, but it will still try TV Everywhere before Chrome Capture, if I understand it right, which I don't want. Am I understanding this correctly?
You are understanding correctly. However, "try" seems a bit off with me. All PLM knows is if a station exists, not if it is working. If you have the station set up in ADB Tuner, then FOX will always get the ADB Tuner one based upon those settings, whether or not your ADB Tuner connection is working or not. There is no "fallback".
My recommendation is to just make the TV Everywhere FOX 'Ignore' or its own parent, then the primary parent station can never get that assignment.
Maybe we can change that. 
I'll PM you at some point. No ETA. 
Thanks for the explanation. Will it fallback,if all the ADB Tuner sources are in use?
At this time, PLM cannot limit the number of streams based on the source.
Thanks for the reply. I’m using the playlist functionality solely to get custom channel logos, so what I’ve done to mostly work around (I think?) the inability to limit the number of streams is put PLM as my first source and limit it to two streams, so Channels itself will fallback to the next sources after that. All my stations in PLM are on at least one other source, with the exception of my local CBS affiliate. So that’s the only one where I’d have a problem if I needed more than two streams.
(Hopefully I’m understanding all this correctly)
EDIT: And actually, as I think about it, even that CBS affiliate wouldn’t be a problem, as its “regular” source, TVE, is one of the sources below PLM, so Channels should fall over to that, if I correctly understand how Channels works.
Big mostly PLM focused update with too much to list!