Transcoding on the Xpeed LX3

[bobonthejob]

Hi all, As the title suggests.

Has anyone been able to configure Transcoding? I am trying to use Blackbox app on my iPhone.

I have the latest Vix image running at the moment.

The Blackbox app itself only has "VU", "ET10000" and "VLC" as configurations... Obviously not using "VLC"... have tried both the others and no luck.

Just comes up with an error to check configuration or the transcoder may not be available.

Thanks all.

Amit.

[Sicilian]

Just use the webinterface on iphone, no need for any app.

[bobonthejob]

Thanks Sic...Tried that. Didnt fire up...Default port was forwarded to the IP of my LX3.

BTW - I am trying to access over the internet....

[bobonthejob]

No one else trying to transcode on the lx3?

Have tried to use web interface on local network using default ports and also externally but have not managed to get it working.

Anyone had any success with it? Please.

[gvsb]

it used to work really well with blackbox,i think something got broken the last few days after the latest drivers, kernel etc. I think we just have to wait for an update of openvix or an update of the blackbox app. In any case, you need to select vu+ transcoding from the blackbox menu.

i think something got changed or messed up with the streaming port on enigma 2. It used to be port 8001 for normal stream and 8002 for the transcoded stream. now on the PC with vlc it looks like the transcoded streaming is using port 8001 aswell.

what you could do in the meantime is use the webif, it works really well in local LAN and the internet if you have forwarded the webif port and the streaming ports. Just make sure you choose "Show Full OpenWebif" at the bottom of the open webif mobile

[bobonthejob]

Thanks mate.

I have forwarded different external ports for 8001 and 8002 on my router to the LX3.

So you say you had transcoding on Blackbox? Excellent...so it has worked? Is that over the internet too? - This was one of the reasons for getting the box too.

I have selected VU+ profile from the transcoding options in blackbox and set the external port which i have defined for 8001 in the here...The stream seems to play now...but obviously no way of telling whether it is pulling a Standard or taranscoded stream.....since if what you say is correct and both streams are running from 8001.

Let me know how you get on....


@Sicilian - Can you follow up with the manufacturer on this aspect? Has something changed in the drivers. Thanks.


it used to work really well with blackbox,i think something got broken the last few days after the latest drivers, kernel etc. I think we just have to wait for an update of openvix or an update of the blackbox app. In any case, you need to select vu+ transcoding from the blackbox menu.

i think something got changed or messed up with the streaming port on enigma 2. It used to be port 8001 for normal stream and 8002 for the transcoded stream. now on the PC with vlc it looks like the transcoded streaming is using port 8001 aswell.

what you could do in the meantime is use the webif, it works really well in local LAN and the internet if you have forwarded the webif port and the streaming ports. Just make sure you choose "Show Full OpenWebif" at the bottom of the open webif mobile

[Sicilian]

@Sicilian - Can you follow up with the manufacturer on this aspect? Has something changed in the drivers. Thanks.

Try Egami image please and let me know results.


http://image.egami-image.com/index.php?open=xpeedlx3

[bobonthejob]

K dude. Will let you know how I get on with egami.

Just FYI. When you open a transcode stream from openwebif and then look at the properties it is clear that port 8001 is the use rather that 8002. Don't know if that has always been the case since I have never had it working.

[bobonthejob]

Ok here is the update.

@gvsb - I can confirm that i have managed to get it to work using Blackbox. (You must have seen it work on the earlier build of VIX - Not working on the latest VIX Build - Notes below)

@Sicilian - I tried Egami and on the latest build with the latest updates applied, the issue is still there.

I then tested with VIX again....

I flashed the first build for the LX3 - Build "25" - I am able to Stream normally and via a Transcoded stream. I am able to connect via the "Blackbox" app on my Apple devices too using the transcoded and standard streams.

I have tested both locally on my LAN and Remotely over the Internet and it works a treat.

I am not sure which build it is that it gets broken on...I can only assume that there is a issue with the drivers? Maybe something in the image itself? I think driver because Egami on the latest build had the same issue.

Something that you pick up with the Manufacturer? or the Developers?

Thanks all...

[Sicilian]

Just looked through recent commits, looks like this one may have broken it, I'll let the dev's know.


Branch: refs/heads/2.3
Home: https://github.com/oe-alliance/oe-alliance-core
Commit: 30b1d31c2c1c95ea3eab842909a66803a2543f6d
https://github.com/oe-alliance/oe-alliance-core/commit/30b1d31c2c1c95ea3eab842909a66803a2543f6d
Author: a4tech <darezik@gmail.com>
Date: 2014-08-31 (Sun, 31 Aug 2014)

Changed paths:
M meta-brands/meta-ini/conf/machine/include/ini-oem.inc
M meta-brands/meta-ini/conf/machine/inihdp.conf
M meta-brands/meta-ini/recipes-drivers/ini-dvb-modules-inihdp.bb
R meta-brands/meta-ini/recipes-transcode/ini-transtreamproxy.bb
M meta-oe/recipes-oe-alliance/enigma2-plugins/enigma2-oe-alliance-plugins.bb

Log Message:
-----------
[HDp] - transcoding w/o transtreamproxy.

- transcoding aspect ratio use 4:3, 16:9, Auto

- HDMI-IN recrod & transcode
: There is still audio mute problem

- vtuner stability

[gvsb]

A few days/weeks ago when it was working fine the plugin was called transcoding. When it got changed to Multi-Transcoding is where the problems started. It has to be because both streams now use port 8001.

Blackbox for iOS is an excellent, powerful and refined app. The best I have seen by far, ever, in any platform for watching/controlling enigma2 boxes. Transcoding used to work really well on it in LAN and WAN. The only slight problem I have with it is sometimes it is not releasing the tuner properly. As a result after a lot of watching and a lot of channels changes I might be watching something on B tuner and A tuner is lit and occupied even though it should be free. Is there a way to free up a (falsely) occupied tuner through the interface or telnet? The only way I have found so far is to restart enigma2 ('killall enigma2' command).
Same thing (falsely occupied tuner) is sometimes happening with webif as well so it is probably not a blackbox issue but a receiver or enigma2 issue. Can anybody else please report any experiences on this matter?

[bobonthejob]

@sicilian - Did you have any luck with the Dev's? Looks like a build 30 went out....but nothing to resolve this issue.Thanks.

[Sicilian]

Spoken to the Dev's and tested myself. Transcoding is working, but you must use 8001, ignore the the 8002 port tip when in your web browser. Forward port 8001. Soon it will be possible to change ports.

[Sicilian]

Just tested with Blackbox Pro on iphone, using 8001 as streaming port, transcoding fine. LX3 users port 8001 for transcoding.

[bobonthejob]

Thanks Sicilian for following up on this.

I have too tested and can confirm that it works albeit a little glitchy.

For others to note...

I am using "Blackbox Pro" for Apple devices and have managed to transcode on LAN and WAN.

You need to select the ET10K profile in Blackbox since this configuration uses the 8001 port. You can now modify the transcoded stream attribute via the blackbox app to reduce/better the quality.

Hope that helps.

[supathug]

Hi Guys,

I've tried to test transcoding with the VU Plus app on android and its not working for me. All it says is that it does not does not recognise the receiver type. I'm using 8001 as the transcoding port and have also tried with blackbox on my iPad. When transcoding is ticked, I just get a black screen. As soon as I unticked transcoding, streaming started to work. I'll try flashing from scratch rather than from upgrade and see if its any better. Has anyone managed to get transcoding working via this box with an android device?

[Sicilian]

Hi Guys,

I've tried to test transcoding with the VU Plus app on android and its not working for me. All it says is that it does not does not recognise the receiver type. I'm using 8001 as the transcoding port and have also tried with blackbox on my iPad. When transcoding is ticked, I just get a black screen. As soon as I unticked transcoding, streaming started to work. I'll try flashing from scratch rather than from upgrade and see if its any better. Has anyone managed to get transcoding working via this box with an android device?

Android you will need to use Dreamdroid and VLC.

[gvsb]

Hello

I had nothing but problems with transcoding since Apollo 24 (roughly) when it changed from Transcoding to Multi-Transcoding and from vu+ type of transcoding to X-Trend type. I have been waiting patiently for improvements but we are now in Apollo 37 and the problems are still there.

The problems are:
Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not work (combination of usage from PC and IOS with webif or apps). When it does work the quality is very bad compared to what it used to be.

For example on my iPhone 5 the picture was nearly perfect with a bitrate of 1000-1200. Now it needs 2000-2500 and still it is not as good as it used to be.

Also it has serious issues coping with motion, I am watching a lot of transcoded football and the experience is a bad one. Picture is nowhere near as sharp as it used to be, it breaks a lot and gets heavily pixelated with motion. Having in mind that a few weeks ago it was working so much better in every level it seems that we had a major major step backwards on a feature that was the main reason I have bought this particular receiver for.

Can somebody tell me when are these issues estimated to be alleviated?
Can somebody tell me why it was decided to follow this different route (Multi-Transcoding, x-trend type, port 8001) when the results are clearly so much worse than they used to be?

Thank you in advance for your answers and apologies if I sound ungrateful or pushy, this whole thing has greatly deteriorated my experience and usage of the LX3.

[Larry-G]

The transcoding plugin is closed source and heavily licensed towards specific manufacturers, so for example we can not legally include the Vu+ transcoding plugin in the image for any receiver but Vu+ branded receivers and the same is true for all other manufacturers. For a receiver to have transcoding support it has to come from the manufacturer, it is not something we can do without them.

[gvsb]

Thanks for the quick reply, it explains a lot.

Is there a estimation on when it is expected for the GI developers to come up with a better solution on this particular matter?

[Larry-G]

Thanks for the quick reply, it explains a lot.

Is there a estimation on when it is expected for the GI developers to come up with a better solution on this particular matter?

No idea to be honest, I dont have a Xpeed receiver my self so don't tend to keep as updated on their development as I would with say a Vu+ or a Technomate.

[gvsb]

Hello

There have been now several image updates (i'm on Apollo 40) and there has been no improvements on the Multi-Transcoding plugin.

My main issues are as follows:

1. It does not work from a browser on a PC using webif. (normal streaming does work)
2. it does work (sometimes) from a browser on IOS using webif but it normally needs a few tries to maybe start working. Aslo normal streaming does not work at all.
3. It can not transcode recordings.
3. when i change bitrate form webif the next time i go back to has reverted back to 10000Kbits (the lowest) setting.
4. quality of the transcoded stream has gone down a lot.

In general the multi-transcoding plugin is flaky, unreliable and drives me bonkers.

Is there a way i can revert back to the old transcoding plugin until the multi-transcoding plugin (hopefully) gets sorted out?

Somebody said i could install Apollo 24 copy the transcoding folder from "root\usr\lib\enigma2\python\Plugins\SystemPlugins" then install Apollo 40, uninstall the muti-transcoding plugin and copy the old transcoding folder to the same location. Will that work? if not can somebody send me the .ipk file for the old transcoding plugin?

Finally will the old transcoding plugin work on Apollo 32 and later?

Thanks

Now relax, calm down and breath...

[gvsb]

3. when i change bitrate form webif the next time i go back to has reverted back to 10000Kbits (the lowest) setting.

small correction on my previous post, 100.000 bits the lowest setting

[gvsb]

On Apollo 41 now, all the issues are still there

[bobonthejob]

I know the team was working on possibly introducing the possibility to change the trancoding port. Hopefully something will be developed soon.

But i can say that i am finding the current setup a bit hit and miss...Having said that it did transcode well whilst i was out in Tunisia. A few glitches but worked well when it was working.

[csm7djs]

Just curious to know if this ever got sorted on any of the new builds.

I was going to try it myself this weekend

[stevie65]

I am still having problems with this. Works kind of ok over Lan, but as soon as I try whilst out and about over 3G, 4G or wifi, it just stutters. Get same result using webif or blackbox (ios) or android apps. Have tried different settings but always the same stutter.
It used to work fine before the multitranscoding plugin :-(

Steve.

[bobonthejob]

I have managed to get it working ok over 4G using blackbox. Infact it was transcoding pretty well.

Granted it can still be hit and miss sometimes...but i find if you toggle 'Transcode' off and then back on....it starts streaming.

[gvsb]

What I find is that it takes a few tries to getting going sometimes, when it gets going is okish.
So on a browser I have to click on the little transcoding icon next to the channel name on the web interface several times.

On Blackbox for iOS I have to press on the little refresh icon every few seconds to get it to start working.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/23/c7b525afe050d0ec64f9f0d98b05e929.jpg

Also I find that with Blackbox in order to work without breaking over 3G and 4G it's better to put 7000 or 10,000 milliseconds worth of cache in the settings so it buffers the stream.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/23/91d60a94008b9ba9c3cd36a78c91caef.jpg

Any news on the development of the plugin??????
It seems abandoned and left on semi functional state, huge disappointment for us that purchased this receiver considering this as a killer feature.

[aido]

Did this ever get resolved or is it still an issue on the LX3 please?

[kaneguru]

A few days/weeks ago when it was working fine the plugin was called transcoding. When it got changed to Multi-Transcoding is where the problems started. It has to be because both streams now use port 8001.



Hi.
Same probs by me. With an newer image this older plugin is not available, but with old openAtv 4.2 it works well.
no change to update to newer images if you want transcoding.