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Author Topic: Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?  (Read 19139 times)

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« on: November 07, 2005, 01:20:03 PM »
Has anyone else experienced this?   This just started happening over the last three weeks.

While listening live to a feed using MS's Windows Media Player (v9.x), the feed will play for roughly 30 minutes, then stop playing of its own accord.   When I click the play button of Media Player to restart the feed, Windows MP plays the feed from some cache or buffer rather than streaming it live, as the feed is definitely restarting at the point where I first started listening to it 30 minutes prior.

This is as if I had downloaded a 30 minute archive and listened to it, then restarted it, but I assure you that is not what is happening here.  :)

Exiting and relaunching the media player, or listening to a feed using the "behind the corporate firewall" URL corrects the problem.



Offline dave

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #1 on: November 07, 2005, 02:22:05 PM »
I have heard the same sentiments from so many other people recently.

Just say no to WMP.  I just don't understand why people persist in using this absolutely buggy piece of software.  

For whatever reason, it doesn't handle streaming MP3 well, or consistently well.  It varies by WMP version and release.  

Microsoft is much more interested in promoting its own streaming format, so why would we expect their streaming MP3 support to be good?

There are so many other options out there.  Just use one of the many other fine audio programs that support streaming audio.  Winamp happens to be my favorite.

-dave

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #2 on: November 07, 2005, 02:38:48 PM »
Quote from: dave
Just say no to WMP.  I just don't understand why people persist in using this absolutely buggy piece of software.


Because WinAmp is playing my music selection.  :)

Seriously, I have SQRSoft's Cross Fader plug-in installed into WinAmp and it itself causes problems with streaming media.  However, it does a bang-up job of crossfading my music playlists so I am loathe to get rid of it or disable it evertime I want to listen to a feed.

If, however, Media Player is really as poor as you say, perhaps I can locate another good media streaming product for the ATC streams.

As a side note, I have already made the jump to Firefox and Thunderbird, if that counts for anything.  :)

Offline dave

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2005, 02:44:06 PM »
You can run multiple instances of Winamp.  :-)

One of our feeders has written a client which will go out for beta at some point...it is his creation, and I will likely offer it for download for him.  He is still working out a couple of kinks.  The client is very basic but connects to LiveATC and figures out what streams are available, etc.

Dave

Offline Jason

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2005, 02:56:24 PM »
Quote from: dave
You can run multiple instances of Winamp.  :-)

One of our feeders has written a client which will go out for beta at some point...it is his creation, and I will likely offer it for download for him.  He is still working out a couple of kinks.  The client is very basic but connects to LiveATC and figures out what streams are available, etc.

Dave


Sounds neat!  I've been using Itunes and it does a decent job connecting with the feeds.  The really nice characteristic about it is that on the bottom of iTunes it lists the feeds in alphabetical order that I've listened to and when I listened to them (date) last (as well as how many times) which is kind of a neat statistical piece.

When I use WMP on my second computer 30 minutes away it has always worked fine, but that's just one instance.  Looking at the poll of 'Which Media Player Do You Use to Listen to LiveATC.Net?' it shows WMP as being up at the top (40%).

For the past few months I've been dreaming up a client that would show which feeds are up/down and is in the shape of a BC780XLT with the backlight turned on.  It'd be a neat thing to have, but have no experience with programming so I'll stay quiet  :oops:  The client you mentioned sounds like a great idea and would love to beta-test as needed.

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2005, 03:11:59 PM »
Quote from: dave
You can run multiple instances of Winamp.  :-)


I was actually kidding about playing music while listening to the feeds.   Again, the problem with WinAmp seems to be the crossfeed plug-in I have installed.

Quote from: dave
One of our feeders has written a client which will go out for beta at some point...it is his creation, and I will likely offer it for download for him.  He is still working out a couple of kinks.  The client is very basic but connects to LiveATC and figures out what streams are available, etc.


This sounds excellent.  I'd be happy to participate in the beta-test of this if and when he needs any help.

Offline Hopkins

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Re: WMP
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2005, 11:05:01 PM »
I think it's time that people put away their tin foil hats.  As much as you might like to believe conspiracy theories, there is no evidence to support your claim that "Microsoft is much more interested in promoting its own streaming format."

If you can give me an example of why you believe that WMP is an "absolutely buggy piece of software", I'd be happy to look into it.

And, for the record, I have the same problem with all the players I've tried to listen to LiveATC.net feeds with.  They all intermittently disconnect, leading one to believe that it is server/network problems, as opposed to client problems.  This is merely anecdotal evidence, but that seems to be good enough for some people.

Offline dave

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2005, 06:30:24 AM »
The evidence is that WMP has trouble connecting to just about every streaming MP3 server I have ever tried.  If every other piece of software I've tried (at least 10 players) can connect, would it not make sense that the client software might be the culprit?  Or at least there's a very high likelihood that it's the client software?

By the way, this isn't an issue with disconnects.  Those are network issues.  This WMP issue is an issue of WMP never connecting in the first place.

Didn't mean to strike a nerve.  :-)

Offline Jonathan_tcu

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2005, 06:34:02 AM »
I've been experiencing intermitten problems with Real Audio player, where the link is active for say a half hour and then drops.  Then it asks me to reconnect.  Sometimes during the evenings and weekends, the feeds drop every few minutes, probably due to many listeners.  My iTunes is running again, but sometimes I can't get a link active on there.  I'm not complaining, just remaining patient.

Offline dave

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2005, 06:50:40 AM »
And, in all fairness, I have no troubles when I test with Media Player version 10.  So if you have Media Player version 9 perhaps you want to upgrade to version 10.  

Dave

Offline Tom56

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2005, 08:58:30 AM »
I find they all disconnect at some point. What I would like to see is a player that auto reconnects! Now that would be the ultimate improvement on a player.  :)

Offline Jason

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2005, 09:07:31 AM »
Quote from: BuZZ56
I find they all disconnect at some point. What I would like to see is a player that auto reconnects! Now that would be the ultimate improvement on a player.  :)


iTunes 99% of the time does.  A box pops up that says "reconnecting to URL" and it reconnects to the feed for me  :lol:

Talk about me being a lazy LiveATC.net listener  8)

Offline Hopkins

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Re: WMP problems
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2005, 10:31:22 AM »
I've actually never tried with WMP9, so that version may indeed have problems.  That said, if something doesn't workin WMP9 and it does work in WMP10, that would indicate that they improved the streaming support.  That seems to contradict the idea that "Microsoft is much more interested in promoting its own streaming format."

I'll see if I can find out some info about the problem originally described (replaying a cache/buffer of the stream after disconnect).

Also, in my copius free time, I'll see if I can write a plugin for WMP that does automatic reconnect.  I'm not sure if the extensibility model allows for such a plugin, but that's not going to stop me from trying.   :lol:

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Re: WMP problems
« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2005, 10:37:22 AM »
Quote from: Hopkins
I'll see if I can find out some info about the problem originally described (replaying a cache/buffer of the stream after disconnect).


Thank you for taking the time to try to figure this out.  :)  Streaming media is not my for-tay.

Quote from: Hopkins
Also, in my copius free time, I'll see if I can write a plugin for WMP that does automatic reconnect.  I'm not sure if the extensibility model allows for such a plugin, but that's not going to stop me from trying.   :lol:


After experiencing this problem and reading of others who also lose connectivity often (which cannot be blamed on LiveATC; such is the Internet), I spent about a half hour searching the WinAMP plug-in library for a plug-in that reconnects dropped streams.  If it is there, it is buried very well.  

If you are able to turn out sich a plug for Windows Media Player, I suspect it will be very well received.

Offline Biff

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Re: WMP problems
« Reply #14 on: November 08, 2005, 01:31:23 PM »
Quote from: KSYR-pjr
I spent about a half hour searching the WinAMP plug-in library for a plug-in that reconnects dropped streams.  If it is there, it is buried very well.


Try checking the 'repeat' button on winamp.  As long as you don't have a playlist loaded, it'll reconnect to the stream if it drops.

Offline Tom56

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2005, 09:44:46 PM »
Well what do ya know, it's working like a charm! Thanks very much for that very important tip.  :)

Offline Biff

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #16 on: November 09, 2005, 08:52:58 AM »
You're welcome.

Perhaps Dave can add that to the FAQ?

Offline Jonathan_tcu

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #17 on: November 09, 2005, 10:35:23 AM »
I am pleased to mention that my new iTunes 6.1 is allowing me to monitor ATC without any interruptions.  In fact, since I have Real Audio and iTunes, I can pull up 2 feeds at once.  

By the way, it's nice that I can listen to what I think is the Peterborough (East  sector freq) online, hear her hand off to Simco 127.0 sector and actually hear the Simco controller 10 seconds later.  Now I know the voice between the two sectors  :D

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Re: WMP problems
« Reply #18 on: November 09, 2005, 04:51:42 PM »
Quote from: Hopkins
I'll see if I can find out some info about the problem originally described (replaying a cache/buffer of the stream after disconnect)


After listening all day to a feed using Windows Media Player version 10 with the REPEAT option enabled, I can tell you that the bug of the disconnect, followed by an immediate replay of the cache/buffer *still* exists and is very effin' annoying.

For some reason, the latest version of WinAmp doesn't fare much better, as it keeps rebuffering the entire feed and disconnecting often.

As much as I didn't want to load yet another media player, I am going to look at iTunes.    :(

Offline Tom56

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #19 on: November 09, 2005, 06:53:57 PM »
Make sure you have the playlist closed or it won't work. Oh and turn shuffle off too.

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #20 on: November 09, 2005, 07:31:59 PM »
Quote from: BuZZ56
Make sure you have the playlist closed or it won't work. Oh and turn shuffle off too.


I assume you are referring to iTunes?  If so, I have the feed working through iTunes, but it also does periodically disconnect and require a manual restart of the feed.  Restarting the feed does not result in the program pulling from the buffer, as WMP did.  

My experience of the disconnect when using iTunes conflicts with another user's report in this thread.

Offline Tom56

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #21 on: November 09, 2005, 08:22:20 PM »
Ahhh No, Winamp, hehe sorry bout that.
I tested it and it's been on all day without a problem. :)

Offline Biff

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #22 on: November 09, 2005, 10:25:19 PM »
Winamp works great for me with the repeat option enabled.  I've tested it by yanking the network cable out of the back of my machine, then replugging it.  Winamp reconnects automatically and doesn't repeat anything already played or buffered.

I listen while at work, where I'm behind a proxy and a couple firewalls, and a small pipe.  I get disconnects all the time.  Never had a problem with Winamp reconnecting properly.

Offline KSYR-pjr

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #23 on: November 09, 2005, 10:31:40 PM »
Quote from: Biff
Winamp works great for me with the repeat option enabled.  I've tested it by yanking the network cable out of the back of my machine, then replugging it.  Winamp reconnects automatically and doesn't repeat anything already played or buffered.

I listen while at work, where I'm behind a proxy and a couple firewalls, and a small pipe.  I get disconnects all the time.  Never had a problem with Winamp reconnecting properly.


Do you have SQRSoft's Advanced Crossfade plug-in installed in your version of WinAmp?

I am beginning to suspect that this plug-in, which I have installed, causes problems for streaming audio such as our ATC feeds.

Offline Biff

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Bizarre live feed listening or media player bug?
« Reply #24 on: November 10, 2005, 09:15:14 AM »
I just installed that, I'll let you know how it goes.  It passed the 'yoink the cable' test.