Dreambox (7000S Enigma 1) Radio on Eee PC over Internet

[td03-5]

(To Mods: Hope this is OK here but please move if not - thanks, John)

High All,

How to do this may be common knowledge but I've searched here and many other places and could not find a full answer. So in case it's of any use here is what I wanted and how I did it.

What I wanted to do was use my Eee PC (mini 7" Linux laptop) as a Satellite Radio Player, while I'm at work. After setting up port forwarding in my router, the problem I found is that my Dreambox 7000S (Enigma 1, Gemini 4.6 in US, sends its local LAN IP in the 'audio.pls' file that it sends and my DynDNS was required. I could get things working by editing the 'audio.pls' file to change the local IP to the DynDNS and then open it with VLC but this was slow and clumsy.

To automate this process I have written a short Shell Script. I call this script 'vlcplsed' and I have placed it in the /usr/bin folder on the Eee PC (No, I know it's not a binary but it seemed convenient to sit it beside VLC itself) and given it Execution permission (chmod 755 or similar). This script changes the Local IP in 'audio.pls' to my DynDNS and then calls VLC to open the file as normal.

The first time I clicked on an Audio PID after installing the file I clicked the Drop-down, selected Other, navigated to /usr/bin, selected vlcplsed and clicked OK. It now comes up as the default and I just click OK but I can still select VLC itself from the drop-down if required.

It works great! Almost no difference from opening Radio Stations on the LAN at home (there's always a bit of delay). Of course there are the Audio channels of all the TV stations to listen to as well. Not too useful on some stations but on music video channels it's fine!

At the risk of teaching Granny to suck eggs.....here is the full process of what is required to get this working:
1. Below this list is the contents of the Shell Script vlcplsed
2. Using copy and paste, load it into a text editor.
3. Edit the Local IP & DynDNS to suit your own requirements and save as: vlcplsed
4. Copy the file to folder /usr/bin
5. Change the file attributes (chmod) to 755 (use file manager or chmod via Console [probably needs : sudo]).
6. Start Firefox and log-in to my Dreambox.
7. Select any station & click the Audio PID.
8. When the 'Open With' box appears select Other from the drop-down.
9. Navigate to /usr/bin and select: vlcplsed
10. Check any 'Add This Action' box if available.
11. Click OK.
12. After a short delay VLC should open and after another short delay the audio should be heard.
13. You should now be able to close VLC (clear and close the downloads box).
14. Now select another station & click the Audio PID.
15. This time the 'Open With' box should default to: vlcplsed.
16. If this is so then just click OK.

Here is the Shell Script, it should also be OK in other flavours of Linux, copy everything from: #!/bin/bash all the way down to: exit 0

#!/bin/bash # Script file: vlcplsed - written by TD03-5 V1.0 04/02/2009 # Purpose: To change local IP to Internet DynDNS of Dreambox in sent audio.pls file # for remote audio streaming with Eee PC running Xandros Linux (may be OK for other Linux). # Usage: # Open this file with a text editor and:- # Change: 192.168.0.24 to your Dreambox local IP. # Change: dreamdns.homelinux.net to your Dreambox DynDNS or Static Internet IP. # After editing, copy the file to /usr/bin folder and change attributes (chmod) to 755 # Log-on to Dreambox remotely via internet, select a station and click the audio PID. # When 'Open With' appears select 'Other' & navigate to /usr/bin/vlcplsed and select it. # This script will run to change the playlist file and then call VLC to open the playlist. # Presto........remote audio streaming without editing the audio.pls file! sed '/192.168.0.24/s//dreamdns.homelinux.net/' $1 > /tmp/dnsdb.tmp rm $1 cp /tmp/dnsdb.tmp $1 exec /usr/bin/vlc $1 rm $1 rm /tmp/dnsdb.tmp exit o ##########################################
(BTW, This forum editor certainly makes a mess of the output from a Linux text editor! I've left the Shell Script the way it came out so just copy and try it. The rest I've reformatted to make it look acceptable.)

If there is an easier way then....sorry to have wasted your time (please tell me about it).....if not...then I hope this is of use to someone.

Best wishes, John.

 

[Llew]

Thanks John. I'll try this on my Aspire One (cut down Linux notebook) and see how it goes.

I've reformatted your script, is this correct?

#!/bin/bash
# Script file: vlcplsed - written by TD03-5 V1.0 04/02/2009
# Purpose: To change local IP to Internet DynDNS of Dreambox in sent audio.pls file
# for remote audio streaming with Eee PC running Xandros Linux (may be OK for other Linux).
# Usage:
# Open this file with a text editor and:-
# Change: 192.168.0.24 to your Dreambox local IP.
# Change: dreamdns.homelinux.net to your Dreambox DynDNS or Static Internet IP.
# After editing, copy the file to /usr/bin folder and change attributes (chmod) to 755
# Log-on to Dreambox remotely via internet, select a station and click the audio PID. # When 'Open With' appears select 'Other' & navigate to /usr/bin/vlcplsed and select it.
# This script will run to change the playlist file and then call VLC to open the playlist.
# Presto........remote audio streaming without editing the audio.pls file! see '/192.168.0.24/s//dreamdns.homelinux.net/'
$1 > /tmp/dnsdb.tmp rm
$1 cp /tmp/dnsdb.tmp
$1 exec /usr/bin/vlc
$1 rm
$1 rm /tmp/dnsdb.tmp exit o


Llew

 

[td03-5]

Hi Llew,

I was hoping that if I left it as it was then when copied back into a Linux text editor the original formatting would be restored!!
Oh! Foolish me! Of course it isn't!
You are almost there, it should look like this when loaded into the Linux text editor:-
#!/bin/bash
# Script file: vlcplsed - written by TD03-5 V1.0 04/02/2009
# Purpose: To change local IP to Internet DynDNS of Dreambox in sent audio.pls file
# for remote audio streaming with Eee PC running Xandros Linux (may be OK for other Linux).
# Usage:
# Open this file with a text editor and:-
# Change: 192.168.0.24 to your Dreambox local IP.
# Change: dreamdns.homelinux.net to your Dreambox DynDNS or Static Internet IP.
# After editing, copy the file to /usr/bin folder and change attributes (chmod) to 755
# Log-on to Dreambox remotely via internet, select a station and click the audio PID.
# When 'Open With' appears select 'Other' & navigate to /usr/bin/vlcplsed and select it.
# This script will run to change the playlist file and then call VLC to open the playlist.
# Presto........remote audio streaming without editing the audio.pls file!

sed '/192.168.0.24/s//dreamdns.homelinux.net/' $1 > /tmp/dnsdb.tmp

rm $1

cp /tmp/dnsdb.tmp $1

exec /usr/bin/vlc $1
rm $1
rm /tmp/dnsdb.tmp

exit o
_________________________________________________________________

The line that begins: sed '192.168.......etc is a long line and has wrapped in the forum view. The last part of this line is:
$1 > /tmp/dnsdb.tmp
I've also done the sensible thing this time and added it as an attached file so you can download it.

Good luck.

Best wishes, John.

 

[Llew]

Excellent. Thanks John. I'll try it out when I can tear myself away from my DM8000 (many man hours to go I suspect )

Regards, Llew

 

[td03-5]

Hi Llew,

A friend, who I contact by email, is also trying my script. He has Ubuntu Linux and has had trouble copying the 'vlcplsed' file to the /usr/bin folder. My Xandros Linux on the Eee PC has two File Managers, a standard one that is used for all normal user file manipulations and an Administrator level one that I used for installing & changing the permissions of the script file. It would seem that Ubuntu does not have an administrator level file manager. You may have the same problem, so here is how I suggested he should do it:

Pretend it's a Dreambox:
1. Start the Linux (Ubuntu) Console on your PC/Laptop.

2. Use the: cd command to navigate to the place where you saved: vlcplsed
2a. As this can be quite tricky (don't forget that Linux is case sensitive), I suggest using the file manager to locate the file first and then copy the full path of the folder that the file is located in and then past that into the console after typing: cd at the console prompt. After pasting it is only necessary to press Enter and you should now be in the required folder.
2b. Type: ls Enter and you will see the list of files in the folder, hopefully including: vlcplsed
(NB This command is LS but must be typed in lower case, like all Linux commands)

3. The next command needs to be executed at admin level so it needs a prefix of: sudo
(Dreambox does not need sudo as 'root' is admin)
3a. Type: sudo cp ./vlcplsed /usr/bin Enter
3b. So long as you just get the console prompt back on the next line and no error message, then all has gone OK.

4. Admin is needed again to change the file permissions so:
4a. Type: sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/vlcplsed Enter
4b. Once again we hope to see just the console prompt back on the next line and no error message.

Hope this may be of use to you or others.

Best wishes, john.

 

[Llew]

I'll try it out on my PC first (OpenSuse).

Cheers,
Llew

 

[td03-5]

Hi Llew (& anyone else following this thread),

Not sure if it's just a quirk of my DM7000S or something common to all 7000 or even all Dreamboxes but not all stations will stream audio on port 31343!!
This is the port that the Dreambox sends in the 'audio.pls' file.
By trial and error I have found that port 31338 seems to work OK for the stations that give silence on port 31343 and it also works OK on the stations that work on 31343!
I have modified the Shell Script 'vlcplsed' to Version 1.1.
This changes the Local IP to the Dreambox DNS (as before) and also changes the port from 31343 to 31338.

I have Zipped & attached the new Script as 'vlcplsed11'

Hope this helps if anyone else has this problem.

Best wishes, John.

 

[Llew]

Thanks John, sorry to say I haven't got round to trying it yet, but will have a play with it in due course and report back.

Llew

 

[Llew]

Hi John

Well I've tried to stream a some audio using the file from my DB8000, with no success yet. The problem seems to be the webif that comes with the image I'm using in Enigma 2 (Nabilosat BH07).

As far as I can see, it hasn't got the facility to click on an audio pid as you have in yours. Clicking on a radio channel in the interface and selecting vlcplsed11 brings up VLC, and I get the error message

vlc is unable to open the MRL -

http://192.168.1.1:8001/1:0:2:1A6E:7DD:2:11A0000:0:0:0

Maybe a different image would have a better webif, but I'm reluctant to change the one I have as I have everything working fine with it at present.

If I get round to changing images at any time in the future, I'll have another bash with it.

In the meantime, if anyone has any success using BH07, please post your results.

Llew

 

[td03-5]

Hi Llew,

Thanks for trying but I didn't think the Enigma 2 images would need my script!
I posted it here in the 7000 section because I thought it was either a general Enigma 1 or DM7000 specific problem.

The first thing anyone who wants to stream should do, is try streaming in the normal way for their box. In the case of Enigma 1 for Audio only streaming, the way is to click the APID in the webif.
This method works fine for me when I log-on to the webif from my LAN.

The problem only occurs when I log-on to the webif remotely via the internet. As I stated in my first post, the pls (playlist) file that is sent contains the local LAN IP of my DM7000. Obviously this is of no use when I have logged-on via the internet (Local IPs that begin 192.168..... or 10.0.... etc are of no use to devices connected via the internet, they only have meaning to devices directly connected to the same LAN).
So that is where my script comes in. It edits the pls file and changes the local LAN IP to the DynDNS which I have setup for accessing my Dreambox via the internet. It then calls VLC to open (play) the edited pls file.

If anyone finds they have the same problem (local LAN IP in pls file sent to remote internet location) then please let me know?
If you have a cure, please tell me?
If you do not have a cure and would like a cure, then please try my script.
If you have a DM7000S or any Enigma 1 box and can stream Audio over the Internet without having edited the pls file nor made any changes to the Dreambox, then please let me know this also?

Would everyone also please be aware:
My script is useless to them until they have edited it to contain the LAN IP of their own Dreambox and the DynDNS address of their own Dreambox.

NB. If you don't have a DynDNS or static ISP IP or you don't know what these are, then you don't need my script!

The file as downloaded and without editing will most probably, at best, do nothing (different LAN IP from that in the script) or if their LAN IP matches the one in the script then the pls file will be edited to contain the 'random' DynDNS that is the default in the script.

Please edit the script before use as per the instructions in my posts above or the notes in the script itself.

Best wishes, John.

 

[td03-5]

Hi Llew (and/or All, and/or None, whatever the case may be!!),

I've now got a windows version of my audio.pls auto editor for Dreambox remote Audio streaming (with VLC) working. It's in the attached Zip folder which contains three files. All three need to be copied to the Windows\system32 folder but vlcplsed.bat must be edited first to suit your situation. Full instructions are in the vlcplsed.bat which I will post below:-

@echo off 
cmdow @ /HID  

::Batch File: vlcplsed.bat 
::Version: 1.1 
::Written by: TD03-5 
:: Date: 22/02/2009 
:: Dependencies: gsar.exe (General Search And Replace utility [freeware]). 
::            : cmdow.exe (Window control utility [freeware]). 
::            : vlc.exe (VLC media player from the VideoLAN project [free/open source]).  

::Purpose: To change Dreambox local LAN IP 
::to Dreambox Internet DNS (or Static Internet IP) in sent audio.pls file
::for remote (over the Internet) audio streaming. 
::Originally written as a Linux Shell Script, this is the Windows Batch File version. 
::NB: You MUST have VLC Media Player instaled on your computer to use this batch file. 
::Also you MUST set up Port Forwarding before you can 
::stream or control your Dreambox over the internet. 
::Firefox Web Browser is highly recommended for this project.
::There may be problems using Internet Explorer.
::To install:-
::This file comes in a Zip archive (vlcplsed_win.zip) with two other support programs. 
:: Download/Save the Zip file to a folder of your choice and extract all three files. 
::Open file vlcplsed.bat (this file) with a text editor and:- 
::Change 192.168.0.24 to your Dreambox local LAN IP. 
::Change dreamdns.homelinux.net to your Dreambox Internet DNS or Static Internet IP. 
::After editing save the file, then copy this file (vlcplsed.bat) plus file gsar.exe 
::and file cmdow.exe to c:\windows\system32 on your PC or Laptop. 
::Next open Windows Explorer (the file manager not Internet Explorer the Web Browser). 
::Click Tools, Folder Options, File Types and scroll to PLS 
::If PLS exists then Delete it, if it does not exist then that is what we want! 
::Log-on to Dreambox remotely via internet (Using Firefox), select a station and click the audio PID. 
::When "Open With" appears ensure "Browse" is shown and click OK. 
::Change the selection at the bottom of the screen from Program Files to All Files. 
::Navigate to c:\windows\system32\vlcplsed.bat and select it. 
::Ensure "set as default" is checked and click OK, click OK again to launch it. 
::This batch file will run to change the playlist file  
::and then call VLC to open the playlist and play the audio stream. 
::Presto........remote audio streaming without (manually) editing the "audio.pls" file! 
::In future,after clicking the Audio PID in the ENigma Webif 
::the "Open With" box should show "pls_auto_file(default)", if so Click OK. 
::As before, this batch file will run to auto edit the .pls file 
::and then call VLC to start the audio stream.   

::I have found that some stations will not stream on port 31343  
::This is the port that is sent by the Dreambox in the audio.pls file 
::I have modified this script to do a second edit and change the port from 31343 to 31338 
::I have found port 31338 seems to work OK on all stations, by trial and error! 
::If this port change is not required or causes problems 
::then please add REM or 
:: to the begining of the Second gsar line.   

:start  

::The "audio.pls" file is Read Only, so make it Read/Write 
attrib -r "%1"  

::Run "gsar" to change Dreambox Local LAN IP to Dreambox DNS or static Internet (ISP) IP. 
gsar -s"192.168.0.24" -r"dreamdns.homelinux.net" -o "%1"  

::Run "gsar" again to change port 31343 to 31338 
::If this port change is not requied then please add REM or :: to begining of line below. 
gsar -s"31343" -r"31338" -o "%1"  

::Run VLC to open the edited "audio.pls" and play the audio stream.
::NB: The EXACT path to vlc.exe on your system must be used here.
"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" "%1"  

:: Delete audio.pls 
del "%1"  

:end 
exit

If someone could try it and let me know how they get on, please.

Best wishes, John.