VLC on tvOS 15.5.1 able to play rtsp network streams?

[SiliconLunch]

Hi,

I have an rtsp network streaming URL that opens and streams correctly on VLC (3.0.17.3) on MacOS (10.15.7).
However, with the VLC version installed on my AppleTV on tvOS 15.5.1, the same URL fails to open.
After the cursor spins for a while, I am returned to the Network Stream page.

The URL is of the following form:

Code: Select all

rtsp://U:P@A.B.C.D:P/axis-media/media.amp

where:
U = Axis camera username
P = Axis camera password
A.B.C.D is ipaddr of Axis camera
P is the port of the Axis camera

The exact same URL opens fine on my laptop version of VLC from File > Open Network...
So all the Axis camera remote side (ipaddr / port / creds / firewall etc.) are tested and working.

Wondering if anyone has had any success with this type of network stream on VLC on tvOS?

Regards

[fkuehne]

This is surprising. A debug log would be interesting. To create it, enable the option in the VLC settings on Apple TV, play your stream and then open the remote playback website indicated in VLC in your web browser to download the log.

[SiliconLunch]

Thanks for taking a look.

I've linked 2 logfiles, corresponding to 2 test cases:

Case 1 URI: rtsp://192.168.253.102:1554/axis-media/media.amp
Case 2 URI: rtsp://USER:PSWD@192.168.253.102:1554/axis-media/media.amp

When I use the Case 1 URI on other devices, VLC pops up an auth window where I can enter USER & PSWD. With VLC on AppleTV, there was no popup or other method I could see how to enter the auth creds.

From reading the logs, in both cases it seems the error was a failure to authenticate. In Case 1, it seems obvious because the creds were not input anywhere. But in Case 2, the creds are in the URI, and it's confirmed by the warning "Password in a URI is DEPRECATED". Still, authentication failed in Case 2 as well.

Last thought: my actual PSWD contains several punctuation characters, such as *, % and $. I wonder whether they are not getting properly escaped when the authentication mechanism is performed?

Case 1 log:
https://pastebin.com/WJuaAESh

Case 2 log:
https://pastebin.com/rVfdbnG0