Difference between revisions of "Internet Radio"

Revision as of 21:53, 18 October 2010

Currently there is no direct support for the Internet Radio station list in LinuxMCE. However, you can create the scenario shortcut to quick-start your favorite station.

Here is a link to a page with a few stations that you can choose from, I tried a couple and they all seemed to work with this wiki. http://slhungary.hu/print.php?plugin:content.40

• Go to LinuxMCE Admin Website --> Advanced --> Configuration --> Scenarios --> Media Scenarios" and press "Add My Scenario" button.

• Under "Add My Scenario" type a description, like "DI - Lounge". Check in which room you want this scenario to appear. Press "Save".

• Click on the description of the scenario that you've just added.

• In "Scenario commands" select "Media Plug-in" from the "Device:" drop-down and "MH Play Media" from the "Command:" drop-down. Press the "Add" button.

1. In the "#13 Filename (string)" field type the URL of your online radio station ( e.g.: http://scfire-chi0l-1.stream.aol.com/stream/1009 ).
2. In the "#29 PK_MediaType (int)" type 4.
3. In the "#45 PK_EntertainArea (string)" put the number of the Entertaining Area (it usually starts from 1, see the note below). Press the "Save" button and the "Test Command" to see if it works.

• Do a Quick Reload & Regen and you'll be able to see you radio on the media menu of your Orbiter. Click on the button and it should start playing.

Where to Find Compatible Internet Radio Stations

If you're in the U.S. like me, you'll probably have a hard time finding "direct URLs" that you can create scenarios with that are compatible with LMCE. Like many of you, I wanted to use ShoutCast stations, however, ShoutCast has changed their webpage in such a way that it will open up it's own propreitary plug-in that doesn't provide you with the actual station's direct URL. Useless, if you want to create a new station scenario in LMCE.

I recommend doing the following:

1. Download WinAmp onto a Windows Box

2. Open up WinAmp and browse to your favorite Station (I use shoutcast stations)

3. Right click on the Winamp window where it lists what you're currently listening to

4. Click "View File Info"

5. This will provide the direct URL link you'll need to include in the steps below when you're creating your stations.

• I hope this helps... I had a hard time finding useful information on where to go to actually get "legitimate" direct URLs for Internet Radio Stations.

Notes and troubleshooting

• The media type "4" corresponds to a workaround, MEDIATYPE_pluto_StoredAudio_CONST. When all stuff eventually works, it will be changed to the "6" (MEDIATYPE_pluto_LiveRadio_CONST)

• If radio station playback doesn't start - try playing it a couple times more. There is an issue in xine-lib which sometimes causes it to fail the first time.

• Be sure not to put the URL of the playlist in "#13 Filename" parameter - it should be the URL of the station itself. Playlist URLs usually end with ".m3u" and ".pls". Download the playlist and get the URL of station from it (there can be many entries, each representing a mirror).

• If you have issues identifying your Entertainment Area ID, you can query the DB directly:

• At the terminal, start the mysql commandline:

mysql -u root -p pluto_main <enter>

then issue the following query

mysql> SELECT PK_EntertainArea, Description FROM EntertainArea;

• Select the ID of the desired area from the list:

+------------------+------------------+
| PK_EntertainArea | Description      |
+------------------+------------------+
|                1 | Bedroom (Master) |
+------------------+------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

type 'quit' to exit:

mysql> quit <enter>