Custom radio stations stop playing

[Hydra]

My own added radio stations stop automatically after playing for a while , why ?

For example,

Superstereo stations , jb radio

[Tim Curtis]

Prolly some sort of network or broadcaster issue.

Post one of the station URL's that's exhibiting the issue so others can try a repro.

[Hydra]

Prolly some sort of network or broadcaster issue.

Post one of the station URL's that's exhibiting the issue so others can try a repro.

I also have wiim mini streamer but these stations work without any problem, it works fine also on pc . But stops on moodeaudio.

I have attached the json file, in it superstereo stations, dance wave and dance retro stations stop after a while after playing, in fact I would appreciate if you could check all the stations in the json file, maybe you can integrate them directly into moodeaudio in future updates ...

[TheOldPresbyope]

@Hydra 

I'll give them a listen this afternoon.

So I have some idea what to expect,

• how long is "after a while"? Minutes? Hours?
  
•  does the time it takes to stop playing seem to be about the same each time you start a station or does it vary?
  
• does this time seem the same or different for the different stations?
  

Regards,
Kent

[Tim Curtis]

Prolly some sort of network or broadcaster issue.

Post one of the station URL's that's exhibiting the issue so others can try a repro.

I also have wiim mini streamer but these stations work without any problem, it works fine also on pc . But stops on moodeaudio.

I have attached the json file, in it superstereo stations, dance wave and dance retro stations stop after a while after playing, in fact I would appreciate if you could check all the stations in the json file, maybe you can integrate them directly into moodeaudio in future updates ...

Sure, I'll have a look at the stations but to add any of them each station needs a high quality cover image and all the metadata (except for Home page which is optional). Also the station URL has to be the playable URL and not a URL to a playlist (pls, m3u, etc) file.

[Tim Curtis]

I can repro and it's caused by the broadcaster using the strange Ogg Chaining method to inject metadata. It's described in detail by user @jprjr in this Git issue https://github.com/MusicPlayerDaemon/MPD...1667896724

It seems like an issue the broadcaster should address but maybe they are not aware of it?

Code:

Aug 27 08:07 : client: [10] process command "play 82"
Aug 27 08:07 : playlist: play 82:"http://198.204.228.202:8030/flac7"
Aug 27 08:07 : client: [10] command returned 0
Aug 27 08:07 : playlist: queue song 83:"https://maggie.torontocast.com:8076/flac"
Aug 27 08:07 : client: [10] process command "close"
Aug 27 08:07 : client: [10] command returned 4
Aug 27 08:07 : client: [10] closed
Aug 27 08:07 : decoder_thread: probing plugin vorbis
Aug 27 08:07 : decoder_thread: probing plugin oggflac
Aug 27 08:07 : decoder: audio_format=96000:24:2, seekable=false
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: opened _audioout type=COPY
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: buffer: size=4..65536 time=41..682667
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: period: size=2..32768 time=20..341334
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: default period_time = buffer_time/4 = 500000/4 = 125000
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: format=S24_LE (Signed 24 bit Little Endian)
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: buffer_size=48000 period_size=12000
Aug 27 08:07 : output: opened "ALSA Default" (alsa) audio_format=96000:24:2
.
.  Broadcaster updates metadata and starts next track
.
Aug 27 08:07 : client: [14] closed
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: Decoder is too slow; playing silence to avoid xrun
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: Decoder is too slow; playing silence to avoid xrun
Aug 27 08:07 : alsa_output: Decoder is too slow; playing silence to avoid xrun

ETA: I should add that when citing success cases for example you mentioned that your PC and WiiM players don't exhibit the issue with these stations just be aware that if the player software sources are proprietary and not publicly available to be examined to see how the issue has been avoided then it's of no help whatsoever.

[Hydra]

@Hydra 

I'll give them a listen this afternoon.

So I have some idea what to expect,

• how long is "after a while"? Minutes? Hours?
  
•  does the time it takes to stop playing seem to be about the same each time you start a station or does it vary?
  
• does this time seem the same or different for the different stations?
  

Regards,
Kent

When it comes to the end of the track that is playing, it does not switch to the next track and stops, it does not happen on every station, but when I add the same urls to foobar in windows or add them to wiim mini streamer, it plays for hours without stopping, I think this seems to be a problem with moodeaudio, not the broadcaster , I don't know ...

[TheOldPresbyope]

In one-syllable words: we can not fix this.


To repeat what Tim said, this stoppage occurs because the streaming stations in question are using an odd Ogg chaining method to send successive FLAC-encoded tracks along with external track metadata.

Like a number of open-source player projects, moOde depends on the open-source project mpd which in turn depends on another open-source project libflac when the source material is FLAC-encoded. It's in this component that the stoppage occurs.

Surprise, the behavior you describe is experienced in these other open-source players (e.g., Volumio) and has been discussed in their issues log too. It's also been discussed in the libflac project.

I agree with Tim that the best approach is for the stations to stop using this Ogg-chaining method to stream FLAC-encoded tracks with external track metadata. An acceptable though distasteful approach is for the libflac developers to create a work-around. For me, an unacceptable approach is for moOde devs to try to reverse-engineer someone else's code to see how they worked around the issue.

Regards.
Kent

[Hydra]

I understand, but if this stoppage is caused by the complex ogg chain you describe, why doesn't it happen with other players (like foobar, another streamer device...) is it because moode and volumio are Mpd based?

I was using picoreplayer before and it was playing these stations without any problem ...

[Tim Curtis]

I understand, but if this stoppage is caused by the complex ogg chain you describe, why doesn't it happen with other players (like foobar, another streamer device...) is it because moode and volumio are Mpd based?

I was using picoreplayer before and it was playing these stations without any problem ...

PiCorePlayer is not MPD based (it uses LMS/Squeezelite) and as far as the other players you mentioned I have no idea what they are based on since their their source code is Closed Source and thus not publicly available to be examined. When you use Closed Source software you have no way of knowing what that software is actually doing, but you can always try asking the vendors on their support Forum to make their sources publicly available.

The Git issue link I posted earlier explains that the official FLAC library, which is what MPD uses, does not support the  format these few radio broadcasters are using for their streams. You can follow the issue here: https://github.com/xiph/flac/issues/254