distro for network video transmission
Forum: Linux and Free Software
Topic: distro for network video transmission
started by: chickenman
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 02 2005,06:54
OK, i'm not sure that this strictly belongs here but I'm sure its close enough anyway.I am looking for a linux distro to use on a wireless network to broadcast video (tv for example, although others would be similar) from a capture card of some sort. By broadcast I mean through the network somehow, Theres probably some better word for it...
Anyhow, I am wondering what distro would best fit this requirement and if it would be possable really without majour loss of quality. DSL may do fine, but I would prefer something more sleek and headless so that it boots fast and no manual configuration is really needed on the server end each startup.
This is just an idea I had, so if its inplausable, stupid, has simple alternates or you feel the need for your 2c please explain in full. Anyhow I am intrested in your ideas, please be very descriptave.
Thanks, Oscar
Posted by AwPhuch on Nov. 02 2005,22:05
If someone could create a < VLC media player >.dsl or .uci then you can tell it what capture card to use, and what ip to stream out on< http://www.videolan.org/streaming/ >
So the hard part would be telling DSL what video capture card to use (and getting it working) and then getting the WIFI adapter detected and configured...then everything else is just configureing the VLC stuff...and kapow!
Hope that helps
Brian
AwPhuch
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 04 2005,04:15
wow, vlc seems like a pretty good solution to this. I allready have ways of configureing the wireless LAN, but my tv card (pixelview play tv pro) is not auto-configured by dsl as far as i can tell. It has a BT878 chipset (if my memory is accurate) so thats fairly common, i dont know what decoder it uses though so getting it going will probably be a bit tricky. I plan on using a P4 Celeron D 2.4Ghz that one of my friends gave me because he couldnt get DOOMII running on, so it should be fairly powerfull. Would it then be possable to encode the video to divx etc live, before streaming it?What do I need to compile VLC?, I can probably do it myself and save others the hassle, but I have no clue as to putting together a .dsl.
Anyway, thanks for your input -it seems like a vaild path to completing this project.
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 10 2005,04:26
Yes, VLC will do LIVE re-encoding and streaming out to a client. This is the main purpose of the VLC program. You still need a powerful CPU in order to do this, and realtime high definitition transcoding and streaming can only be done on the fastest processors. But a 2.4Gig CPU should be fine for standard definition TV broadcasts.I wouldn't bother compiling it from source. Just grab the latest version via apt-get or Synaptic
You may need to re-point your apt sources over to "unstable", "experimental" , or maybe even to a standalone repository that is dedicated to host the latest version of VLC
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 10 2005,09:14
heres a n00b question for you; how the hell do I use apt-get?I aplolgise now for making you all a little stupider, I have been looking around on the forums and google but I cant make it go. So far I've "enable apt"'d and i figure from here: < http://packages.debian.org/cgi-bin....ase=all > that I probably just need the "VLC" package to start with (indeed a probably stupid assumption -but I dont have any better ideas at the moment, so I'm running with it)
Anyway, I figure the command "sudo apt-get install vlc" is probably what I need, well anyway heres some console output:
| Quote |
dsl@box:~$ sudo apt-get install VLC Reading Package Lists... Done Building Dependency Tree... Done W: Couldn't stat source package list < http://ftp.us.debian.org > oldstable/main Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.us.debian.org_debian_dists_oldstable_main_binary-i386_Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) W: Couldn't stat source package list < http://ftp.us.debian.org > oldstable/non-free Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.us.debian.org_debian_dists_oldstable_non-free_binary-i386_Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) W: Couldn't stat source package list < http://ftp.us.debian.org > oldstable/contrib Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.us.debian.org_debian_dists_oldstable_contrib_binary-i386_Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems E: Couldn't find package VLC |
Dang my n00by-ness
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 10 2005,18:09
How about installing "vlc" (lowercase letters)I prefer to use Synaptic because you can easily browse the list of available packages. I know that you can also do this from the commandline, but in this case the GUI Synaptic makes it easier for me.
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 11 2005,03:34
I did try it with lowercase, I just accedently copied the uppercase one I did when I was experimenting, sorry. How do I use synaptic then?, It produces an error when I select it from the menu also. Am I missing something? -this is a HDD install by the way.
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 11 2005,23:37
If you are already connected up to the Internet, Synaptic should be automatically installed without errors when you choose it from the menu.Other than that, I don't known what the problem is.
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 20 2005,15:10
OK, i cant get synaptic going. It will download, but it said i needed an apt-update -then when I did it totally killed my install, X wont run!What did I miss? -is there a certain way i need to go about updating?
Any ideas?
BTW; reply took so long as i was finishing off my exams -done!
Cheers.
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 21 2005,06:46
Hmm...Last time I used Synaptic I just:
1) Connected to the Internet
2) Chose the Synaptic menu option in DSL.
3) Pressed the "Update" button (NOT "Upgrade")
and it worked fine.
For example, try to install XGalaga from the Synaptic program.
However, depending on your chosen program to be installed, Synaptic/Apt-get will determine that dependencies are needed to properly install the program.
If it decides to install any XWindows type packages in order to do this, it will break your DSL XWindows server.
There are ways around this. You can install the XFree86.dsl extension, for example.
Or you can manually download the *.deb program from the Debian website and then force an installation from the command line using
sudo su
dpkg -i filename.deb
I think there is a "force" flag that can be added. You will need to read the dpkg man page or maybe type dpkg --help for more information.
Good Luck.
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 21 2005,13:59
OK -i tried synaptic on another install and it went. I installed VLC (and it worked).But VLC refuses to play anything, or I have no idea how its supposed to work. The windows version seems to be completly diffrent it quite strange.
But i found i could stream files TO the system using Xine through a http setup -but xine wont decode any of the video i try to send, only audio.
I figure this is due to lack of codecs, how can i resolve any of these problems?, i have messed about quite a bit so i would be grateful if someone could explain just how i should approach this.
Cheers
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 21 2005,18:46
You need to chose your default video and audio codecs so that they will be compatible with xine or mplayer or even VLC as the receiving client.As for playing in VLC, there is a setting in there for the type of display output. You will probably need to change that setting. Try all of the choices from the dropdown menu until you find one that works with the DSL X-Server.
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 22 2005,05:01
In VLC's "Preferences" menu, under Video the default output is set as X11, but the dropdown listbox dosent give any other options. Under the Interface tab the default interface is set to gtk, it also dosent give me any other options.Would either of thoes values need changing?
Also, how do i get/change codecs for xine? And how do i get my Pixelview Play TV pro going?, i only need it for composite input -it runs a bt878a chipset i think.
thanks for you help.
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 23 2005,02:53
I am thinking of the Advanced Video Output Preferences, if I remember correctly.There should be more than just "X11" for choices.
I am not sure if Xine can load foriegn codecs. You will need to visit the Xine project for more information on the subject.
Many bt chipset capture cards are supported by "Video for Linux" or "v4l".
I don't own one, so I cannot offer any experience on the subject.
Good Luck.
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 26 2005,12:01
Well i found that to stream video i need vls (server) insted of vnc (client), and the only way i can get it seems to be compiling as synaptic dosent have it. But I cant compile it, i have tried and failed. Its very annoying as it requires multiple dependencies for my uses and i dont have a clue where the whole process has gone wrong.Am I a complete retard?, or are there parts missing? (no offence to any retards that feel me likening myself to them is insluting)
btw; I cant be assed with spelling anymore -but when could I really?
Posted by AwPhuch on Nov. 26 2005,18:06
http://www.videolan.org/streaming/download-vls-sources.htmlI believe they have a source.dsl you can download and try to install that way
Otherwise you might start asking the DSL developers for assistance...it should work ok I think
Latest required libraries
libdvbpsi3-0.1.4.tar.gz
libdvdcss-1.2.8.tar.gz
libdvdread-0.9.4.tar.gz
libdvb-0.2.2.tar.gz
< http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/VideoLAN-HOWTO.html#AEN347 >
That will also help you figure out how to compile it man!
Brian
AwPhuch
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 26 2005,19:05
You do not need vls in order to do streaming.VLS and VLC both can be "servers" and send streams out via HTTP or other protocols.
I believe that there is a separate repository (not "testing" or "stable", but a 3rd party site) that contains a lot of the VLC and mplayer stuff. I'll see if I can find it.
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 26 2005,19:07
Here:< http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-debian.html >
Add those to your sources.list and then do an apt-get update or a Synaptic Update to refresh the available packages.
Posted by AwPhuch on Nov. 26 2005,23:51
Thats what I thought when I posted it up!| Quote |
| VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network. |
< http://www.videolan.org/doc/streaming-howto/en/streaming-howto-en.html >
Brian
AwPhuch
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 27 2005,09:51
The version of VLC i have on windows does stream - however the linux version off synaptic dosent seem to (0.2.92-8)If i do a synaptic update wont it kill my xserver etc? (previously discussed, however i think i have xfree86 installed now...)
If i do compile it will it be any diffrent? - ok, just answerd that myself, i have 0.5.6 version sources (synaptic got me 0.2.92-8)
OK, i am gonna give it another shot anyway - hope i have some luck this time.
thanks to everyone who's participated, your input is appreciated indeed!
Posted by chickenman on Nov. 30 2005,03:35
It didnt really work - i added the lines but synaptic just had the same version to offer me, its pretty annoying. Are their any similar programs/systems ot there?
Posted by AwPhuch on Nov. 30 2005,17:46
mplayer possibly??| Quote |
| MPlayer Features MPlayer is a movie player which runs on many systems (see the documentation). It plays most MPEG/VOB, AVI, Ogg/OGM, VIVO, ASF/WMA/WMV, QT/MOV/MP4, RealMedia, Matroska, NUT, NuppelVideo, FLI, YUV4MPEG, FILM, RoQ, PVA files, supported by many native, XAnim, and Win32 DLL codecs. You can watch VideoCD, SVCD, DVD, 3ivx, DivX 3/4/5 and even WMV movies.. Another great feature of MPlayer is the wide range of supported output drivers. It works with X11, Xv, DGA, OpenGL, SVGAlib, fbdev, AAlib, DirectFB, but you can use GGI, SDL (and this way all their drivers), VESA (on every VESA compatible card, even without X11!) and some low level card-specific drivers (for Matrox, 3Dfx and ATI), too! Most of them support software or hardware scaling, so you can enjoy movies in fullscreen. MPlayer supports displaying through some hardware MPEG decoder boards, such as the Siemens DVB, DXR2 and DXR3/Hollywood+. MPlayer has an onscreen display (OSD) for status information, nice big antialiased shaded subtitles and visual feedback for keyboard controls. European/ISO 8859-1,2 (Hungarian, English, Czech, etc), Cyrillic and Korean fonts are supported along with 12 subtitle formats (MicroDVD, SubRip, OGM, SubViewer, Sami, VPlayer, RT, SSA, AQTitle, JACOsub, PJS and our own: MPsub). DVD subtitles (SPU streams, VOBsub and Closed Captions) are supported as well. |
and
< FFmpeg >
| Quote |
| FFmpeg is a complete solution to record, convert and stream audio and video. It includes libavcodec, the leading audio/video codec library. FFmpeg is developed under Linux, but it can compiled under most operating systems, including Windows. |
Other than that???
Brian
AwPhuch
Posted by paquito on Jan. 11 2006,12:07
Your VLC version is too old 
I have tried to compile it in DSL 2.0 without graphic stuff (only as console app) and there is a dependency inside the vlc source code (control.c) that it gives me several errors. I have asked help in VIDEOLAN forum.
Regards