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Topic: m3u8 extension (Read 3572 times) previous topic - next topic
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m3u8 extension

Hello,
I'm trying to listen to a radio; the extension of the flow is m3u8.
Foobar indicates that the file type is not supported.
Any solution?
Thanks a bunch.
Jean-Jacques

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #1 –
Sounds like the streams are in HLS format which foobar2000 doesn't support natively. You can make it work with foo_input_ffmpeg. It has a built-in profile for HLS that you just need to enable.
 

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #2 –
Thanks a bunch.
I won't be at home before the 20th of this month, but I will try then.

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #3 –
Trying to open m3u8 links as in here

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/127134-high-quality-320kbps-streams-for-all-bbc-radio-stations/

with no lack.

Drag-n-drop them in foobar playlist, which seems populated fine, but no play. There is always a popup
Unable to open item for playback (Unsupported format or corrupted file):
"http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_6music.m3u8"

foo_input_ffmpeg is installed and configured.
Any ideas on this?

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #4 –
Can you play the stream(s) with some other player? The forum thread you linked mentioned VLC, but your link didn't work with VLC here even when I used a VPN connection to UK.

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #5 –
Same here also.
No VLC (VPN or not). But I have no idea about VLC (just tested it).

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #6 –
Quote from: abax2000 on
Trying to open m3u8 links as in here

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/127134-high-quality-320kbps-streams-for-all-bbc-radio-stations/

with no lack.

Drag-n-drop them in foobar playlist, which seems populated fine, but no play. There is always a popup
Unable to open item for playback (Unsupported format or corrupted file):
"http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_6music.m3u8"

foo_input_ffmpeg is installed and configured.
Any ideas on this?



I know this is a necrothread, but it may still be useful for people Googling the problem.

BBC publishes its streaming URLs at "https://bbc.co.uk/radio/imda/imda_transports.xml". Some streams are geofenced to the UK, you can tell by the "relevance" variable for each stream entry in the XML.

Recently some of the URLs changed (different CDNs), in particular the unicast stream URLs changed recently as they migrated to a new platform for 'legacy' unicast streams.

An upshot of this is that the codec quality is better, and the sample rate is now 48 kHz which matches their playout systems so there's no additional sample rate conversion. The BBC almost entirely uses 48 kHz for its radio networks, for various reasons beyond the scope of this reply.

Back to HLS streams -- for example, as of May 2021, BBC 6 Music's 'entry' HLS URL is "http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-syndication-high/proto/http/transferformat/hls/vpid/bbc_6music". Mediaselector in turn 307 redirects to the actual URL, "http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/cf/bbc_6music.m3u8" (in my case). This plays fine with foo_input_ffmpeg.

You can obtain this 'true' link by using Chrome, opening a new tab & hitting F12, request the 'entry' URL from imda_transports and watch the Network tab as you request the URL. Make sure the "Preserve Log" option is checked, look for the 307 response m3u8 URL.

Some stations' HLS streams are only available in the UK due to geofencing, but give the new 128 kbps MP3 streams a try. For example, 6 Music's MP3 unicast stream is at "http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/5/select/mediaset/http-icy-mp3-a/format/pls/proto/http/vpid/bbc_6music.pls".
Don't forget International Talk Like A Pirate Day! September the 19th!

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #7 –
I think this thread is suitable for a similar and quite simple question

m3u8 files play well in foobar mostly by "Adding Location", playing the file there are options like saving the playlist, converting to other formats etc. but how does one just SAVE THE FILE which is played in its original format ?

"Copy" under "File Operations" just copies the m3u8 but not the file (often aac format) a 60 minutes broadcast for example, I think that will be possible in Foobar but I can see no "Save" for this so..     

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #8 –
No answer so far so where are the experts here...

I think if Foobar can CONVERT the file being played mostly called seglist or so nearly on the fly to mp3 tor example (60 minutes in about 2 minutes) it should be able to SAVE the file, too or not    

Re: m3u8 extension

Reply #9 –
No, I can't get this to work at all....