Saving a stream to local file - GUI works - CLI fails

[Genji]

I am using Version 1.0.1 on Mac OSX 10.5 Intel
Using the VLC GUI, I setup a stream to be saved to file. The wizard produces the final summary that looks like this:



This works as desired, saving the .ts file to disk... which can be viewed with VLC later.
(this is a stream of Japanese baseball... )

I'd like to be able to start this saving the stream via command line, so I can setup a scheduled capture via cron.

When running VLC via the command line using the above parms, I get:

THE COMMAND:

# VLC http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx :sout=#standard{mux=ts,dst=/Users/genji/Documents/vlc.ts,access=file}:sout-transcode-soverlay=0

SCREEN OUTPUT:
[0x2753c8] main interface error: no interface module matched "globalhotkeys,none"
[0x2753c8] main interface error: no suitable interface module
[0x201b88] main libvlc error: interface "globalhotkeys,none" initialization failed
[0x201b88] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[0x14528a28] access_http access error: cannot connect to navi64.smartstream.ne.jp:80
[0x14528a28] access_mms access error: cannot connect to navi64.smartstream.ne.jp:80
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 4.1.3
libdvdread: Using libdvdcss version 1.2.10 for DVD access
libdvdread: Could not open :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 with libdvdcss.
libdvdread: Can't open :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 for reading
libdvdnav: vm: failed to open/read the DVD
[0x2aa088] access_file access error: cannot open file :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 (No such file or directory)
[0x145294b8] main input error: open of `:sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0' failed: no suitable access module


LOGFILE:
main debug: adding item `http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx' ( http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx )
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
main debug: rebuild done - 2 items, index -1
main debug: processing request item http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx node Playlist skip 0
main debug: resyncing on http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx
main debug: http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx is at 1
main debug: starting new item
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx'
main debug: thread (input) created at priority 22 (../../src/input/input.c:230)
main debug: thread started
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MBytes
main debug: using timeshift path '/tmp'
main debug: `http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx' gives access `http' demux `' path `navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx'
main debug: creating demux: access='http' demux='' path='navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 0 candidates
main debug: no access_demux module matched "http"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.073 ms - Total 0.073 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.073 ms)
main debug: creating access 'http' path='navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx'
main debug: looking for access module: 2 candidates
main debug: adding item `' ( :sout=#standardmux=ts:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 )
main debug: adding item `vlc.ts:sout-transcode-soverlay=0' ( :sout=#standarddst=/Users/genji/Documents/vlc.ts:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 )
access_http debug: http: server='navi64.smartstream.ne.jp' port=80 file='/koshien91/live-play.asx
main debug: adding item `' ( :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 )
main debug: net: connecting to navi64.smartstream.ne.jp port 80
main debug: incoming request - stopping current input
main debug: waitpipe: object killed
main debug: dying input
main debug: connection: Operation now in progress
access_http error: cannot connect to navi64.smartstream.ne.jp:80
main debug: net: connecting to navi64.smartstream.ne.jp port 80
main debug: connection: Operation now in progress
access_mms error: cannot connect to navi64.smartstream.ne.jp:80
main warning: no access module matching "http" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 3.882 ms - Total 3.882 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 3.882 ms)
main debug: thread ended
main debug: dead input
main debug: TIMER input launching for 'http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx' : 6.864 ms - Total 6.864 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 6.864 ms)
main debug: processing request item node Playlist skip 0
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
main debug: rebuild done - 5 items, index 4
main debug: starting new item
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for ''
main debug: thread (input) created at priority 22 (../../src/input/input.c:230)
main debug: thread started
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MBytes
main debug: using timeshift path '/tmp'
main debug: `:sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0' gives access `' demux `' path `:sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0'
main debug: creating demux: access='' demux='' path=':sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 4 candidates
dvdnav warning: cannot open dvdnav
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 2.111 ms - Total 2.111 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 2.111 ms)
main debug: creating access '' path=':sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0'
main debug: looking for access module: 8 candidates
vcdx warning: Can't get file status for :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0:
No such file or directory
vcdx warning: could not retrieve file info for `:sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0': No such file or directory
vcdx warning: can't open nrg image file :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 for reading
access_file debug: opening file `:sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0'
access_file error: cannot open file :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0 (No such file or directory)
cdda warning: could not open :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0
cddax warning: could not open :sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 22.320 ms - Total 22.320 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 22.320 ms)
main error: open of `:sout=#standardaccess=file:sout-transcode-soverlay=0' failed: no suitable access module
main debug: thread ended
main debug: dead input
main debug: TIMER input launching for '' : 29.460 ms - Total 29.460 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 29.460 ms)
main debug: changing item without a request (current 4/5)
main debug: nothing to play
macosx debug: notification received in VLC with name VLCOSXGUIInit and object VLCEyeTVSupport

I have tried many,many permutations of the command line parms. A search of the forum and google produced some old examples,
but it appears that VLC's CLI syntax has changed some from older versions.
What do I need to change to get this to work via the command line?

Thanks,
Genji

[jamart3d]

i get these working,
both are meant to run in a shell script, (no returns in the string)
but, I did not try to give a path.. both just write to current dir.

/bin/vlc -I dummy --quiet --one-instance -v http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx :sout="#transcode{vcodec=DIV3,vb=800,fps=25,scale=1,acodec=mp3,ab=56,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=asf,dst=foo.asf}}"

or in a shell script that has first arg input , second arg output

/bin/vlc -I dummy --quiet --one-instance -v $1 :sout="#transcode{vcodec=DIV3,vb=512,fps=25,scale=1,acodec=mpa,ab=56,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=asf,dst=$2}}"

[Genji]

jamart3d,
That's a great improvement! Thank you!

I can get it to capture to file now.
The only issues I've noticed is that the '--one-instance' was not recognized by VLC
(are we using the same version? 1.0.1) I removed it and it still worked.
Also, while the stream is being recorded, VLC will spit out a lot of 'vbv buffer overflow' errors. Of course, I could
redirect stdout to /dev/null to get rid of them... but was wondering if there's a buffer setting that could be added.

Example output:
Genji.home /Users/genji/Documents# VLC -I dummy --quiet -vvv http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx :sout="#transcode{vcodec=DIV3,vb=800,fps=25,scale=1,acodec=mp3,ab=56,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=asf,dst=baseball.asf}}"

[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: VLC media player - version 1.0.1 Goldeneye - (c) 1996-2009 the VideoLAN team
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: libvlc was configured with ../configure '--enable-release' '--enable-mozilla' '--with-mozilla-sdk-path=../extras/contrib/gecko-sdk' 'CC=/Developer/usr/bin/llvm-gcc-4.2' 'CXX=/Developer/usr/bin/llvm-g++-4.2' 'OBJC=/Developer/usr/bin/llvm-gcc-4.2'
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: translation test: code is "C"
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: opening config file (/Users/genji/Library/Preferences/VLC/vlcrc)
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: loading config for module "main"
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: checking plugin modules
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: loading plugins cache file /Users/genji/Library/Preferences/VLC/plugins-04041e.dat
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: recursively browsing `/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/modules'
[0x201ba8] main libvlc warning: cannot create image from `/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/modules/libi420_yuy2_altivec_plugin.dylib'
[0x201ba8] main libvlc warning: cannot create image from `/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/modules/libmemcpyaltivec_plugin.dylib'
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: recursively browsing `/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/plugins'
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: recursively browsing `/Users/fpk/Desktop/videolan/1.0-bugfix/release/vlc_install_dir/lib/vlc'
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: module bank initialized (359 modules)
[0x201ba8] main libvlc debug: opening config file (/Users/genji/Library/Preferences/VLC/vlcrc)
warning: first frame is no keyframe
vbv buffer overflow
vbv buffer overflow
vbv buffer overflow
vbv buffer overflow
.
.
.

[jamart3d]

cool,

i dunno why '--one-instance' wouldn't work for you..
i get vbv buffer overflow with v1.0.1 too, but as long as you don't get too many I think it's ok.

you might be able to lower the vb rate to 512, and if the audio is already mono, maybe lower ab rate too, (32), and set channels to 1
Oh and I see a typo in one of my strings above, it should be "mpga" not "mpa"

things you probably already know.
only use -v not -vvv to make it a lot quieter
and yes your could append "> /dev/null 2>&1" to the string

[Genji]

Here's the script I ended up using that worked pretty well.
This is on Mac OSX 10.5.8 running VLC 1.0.1 Goldeneye (Intel)
The output ends up in baseball.asf and can be played back via VLC.

-------------------------------------------
!/bin/sh
cd /Users/genji/Documents
/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -I dummy --quiet -v http://navi64.smartstream.ne.jp/koshien91/live-play.asx :sout="#transcode{vcodec=mp4v,vb=512,fps=25,scale=1,acodec=mpga,ab=56,channels=1,samplerate=44100}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=asf,dst=baseball.asf}}" > /dev/null 2>&1
--------------------------------------------

I changed 'DIV3' to 'mp4v' and the overflow errors stopped. I can set this up in a crontab to run at a specified time, and then
run this script to kill it at a specified time:

---------------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
PID=$(ps -ef | grep [V]LC | awk '{ print $2 }')
echo $PID
kill $PID
---------------------------------------