Cannot escape the error: "cannot pre fill the buffer"

[kedar]

Howdy!

A n00b here. So, apologies in advance. I think I have taken enough care that this post does not turn out to be noise.

Trying to make sure that streaming from my iSight camera works. Environment is straightforward (actually, trying to play with video monitoring my baby sleeping upstairs):
- Server: VLC on MacBook Pro. Installed the nightly for 1.0.0. This is the only way in which I can get it to work. Used HTTP, port 1234 for streaming (Capture Device: iSight) and then "display it locally". So, the local display shows up nicely. It shows the capture from the MBP-built-in iSight correctly.
- Client: Downloaded same nightly version (also tried with 0.9.9, released version) on Windows Vista. The client starts up properly. Then Media -> Open Network Stream ... -> Protocol HTTP > address: 192.168.0.100:1234. Press on play button. It waits for a while and then says that "cannont pre fill the buffer" in messages window. This keeps on happening.

I think I am close. What am I missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Kedar Mhaswade

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

It just means it did not receive any data. Either your URL is wrong or your network is broken.

[kedar]

Remi,

Thanks for your reply. Actually, I think I have solved the problem myself . Somehow, I don't think there was a problem with URL/network.

It seems that VLC is sensitive to the Encapsulation Method used. So, here is the recipe on the server that made it work:
1- Open Capture Device (Cmd+G)
2- Select Capture Tab.
3- MRL: qtcapture://local (anything is fine here).
4- Click the Streaming/Saving check-box.
5- Click on Settings button.
6- Click the check-box for "Display the stream locally".
7- Choose the "Stream" radio-button.
8- Type: HTTP, Address: (say) 192.168.0.100 and port (1234) [ANYTHING is FINE here, usually].
9- This is the most important step. Choose ASF from the Encapsulation Method drop-down. No other Encapsulation Method works for me.

The step-9 above might imply that it is so only because my client is on Windows. I don't know that. All I can say is I couldn't believe my eyes when it worked with ASF. I tried with MPEG-TS, MPEG-PS and RAW and with everything else remaining the same, it works only with ASF.

Maybe I should contribute a Wiki topic on this? Please advise.

Regards,
Kedar