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I'm trying to encode a h.264 960x540 @ 10 fps stream into rtsp. It constantly buffers on both the transmit end and the receive end. The stream usually only stays up for less than a minute on VLC Media Player on a PC. I set caching on the PC to 15000 mS, but it does not seem to help. Both transmitter and receiver are on the same wired LAN. I'm encoding on a RaspberryPi B+, which is about 95% idle.

Here's the command I'm using:
What should I be using ?

Note: My source is 10 fps. Do I need to account for it ?

On a related note, is there a way to make VLC Media Player automatically reconnect when the stream drops out ?

Thank you.

I found an answer for my own question, but I have a new question -- how do I use http tunneling for the stream to avoid the multiple ports problem of rtsp ?

First, to specify the input frame rate to stop, or at least greatly reduce, endless buffering on both ends of the connection, add this to the end of the command line above:
Without the < and >.

New and related question: How do I modify the command line in my original post to use http to carry the rtsp stream so I only need to open a single port on my router so users on the Internet can access the stream ?

Thank you.

I took another stab at it, but no luck. Taking into account all of the above, and a number of posts, I now have this command line:
As before, I can view the video when viewer and camera are on the same LAN, but I can't access it via the Internet. I mapped port 8554 (udp+tcp) and an assumed, port 80 for http access, through the router to the camera, but no luck.

When I watch the console log for CVLC in the camera, and a PC to open rtsp://<my Internet address>:8554/ in VLC Media Player > Open Network Stream, I see that CVLC opens a pair of ports, such as 59770 and 59771, or 50946 and 50947, or a different pair for each attempt, but I can't connect to the video. That makes sense because those ports are not accessible on the Internet. Nothing happens if I use http:// instead of rtsp:// in Open Network Stream.

How do I fix this ? What URL do I use in VLC Media Player > Open Network Stream to use http ? How do I change the http port used by CVLC ?

Thank you.

I've tried this command to get rtsp over an http tunnel, but no luck:
My source is 10 fps, so I match it with -h264-fps=<>

I'm not clear on what parameters go in the sout { } group.

I changed :<option> to --<option> but it did not make any difference.

Here's the console log, where there are errors, such as a socket error, and I'm concerned about sps and pps being 0:

• [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: searching plug-in modules
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: loading plugins cache file /usr/lib/vlc/plugins/plugins.dat
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: recursively browsing `/usr/lib/vlc/plugins'
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: saving plugins cache /usr/lib/vlc/plugins/plugins.dat
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: plug-ins loaded: 410 modules
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: opening config file (/home/pi/.config/vlc/vlcrc)
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: translation test: code is "en_GB"
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: CPU has capabilities FPU
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: looking for memcpy module: 1 candidate
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc debug: using memcpy module "memcpy"
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: Creating an input for 'Media Library'
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: Input is a meta file: disabling unneeded options
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path '/tmp'
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: `file/xspf-open:///home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf' gives access `file' demux `xspf-open' path `/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf'
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='xspf-open' location='/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf' file='/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf'
  [0x172b550] main demux debug: looking for access_demux module: 3 candidates
  [0x172b550] main demux debug: no access_demux module matching "file" could be loaded
  [0x172b550] main demux debug: TIMER module_need() : 4.048 ms - Total 4.048 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 4.048 ms)
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: creating access 'file' location='/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf', path='/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf'
  [0x172d4c0] main access debug: looking for access module: 2 candidates
  [0x172d4c0] filesystem access debug: opening file `/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf'
  [0x172d4c0] main access debug: using access module "filesystem"
  [0x172d4c0] main access debug: TIMER module_need() : 2.059 ms - Total 2.059 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 2.059 ms)
  [0x172e358] main stream debug: Using stream method for AStream*
  [0x172e358] main stream debug: starting pre-buffering
  [0x172e358] main stream debug: received first data after 0 ms
  [0x172e358] main stream debug: pre-buffering done 296 bytes in 0s - 1806 KiB/s
  [0x172dbd8] main stream debug: looking for stream_filter module: 7 candidates
  [0x172dbd8] main stream debug: no stream_filter module matching "any" could be loaded
  [0x172dbd8] main stream debug: TIMER module_need() : 4.584 ms - Total 4.584 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 4.584 ms)
  [0x172dbd8] main stream debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate
  [0x172dbd8] main stream debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record"
  [0x172dbd8] main stream debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.170 ms - Total 1.170 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.170 ms)
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='xspf-open' location='/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf' file='/home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf'
  [0x172e0e8] main demux debug: looking for demux module: 1 candidate
  [0x172e0e8] playlist demux debug: using XSPF playlist reader
  [0x172e0e8] main demux debug: using demux module "playlist"
  [0x172e0e8] main demux debug: TIMER module_need() : 3.593 ms - Total 3.593 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 3.593 ms)
  [0x172e9c8] main demux meta debug: looking for meta reader module: 2 candidates
  [0x172e9c8] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/pi/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/reader
  [0x172e9c8] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib/vlc/lua/meta/reader
  [0x172e9c8] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/vlc/lua/meta/reader/filename.luac
  [0x172e9c8] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/share/vlc/lua/meta/reader
  [0x172e9c8] main demux meta debug: no meta reader module matching "any" could be loaded
  [0x172e9c8] main demux meta debug: TIMER module_need() : 15.005 ms - Total 15.005 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 15.005 ms)
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: `file/xspf-open:///home/pi/.local/share/vlc/ml.xspf' successfully opened
  [0x17b4868] main xml reader debug: looking for xml reader module: 1 candidate
  [0x17b4868] main xml reader debug: using xml reader module "xml"
  [0x17b4868] main xml reader debug: TIMER module_need() : 3.470 ms - Total 3.470 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 3.470 ms)
  [0x172e0e8] playlist demux debug: parsed 0 tracks successfully
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: EOF reached
  [0x172e0e8] main demux debug: removing module "playlist"
  [0x172dbd8] main stream debug: removing module "stream_filter_record"
  [0x172d4c0] main access debug: removing module "filesystem"
  [0x172ab48] main input debug: TIMER input launching for 'Media Library' : 36.544 ms - Total 36.544 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 36.544 ms)
  [0x172e358] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate
  [0x172e358] main interface debug: using interface module "hotkeys"
  [0x172e358] main interface debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.032 ms - Total 1.032 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.032 ms)
  [0x172ab48] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate
  [0x172ab48] inhibit interface error: Failed to connect to the D-Bus session daemon: Unable to autolaunch a dbus-daemon without a $DISPLAY for X11
  [0x172ab48] main interface debug: no interface module matching "inhibit,none" could be loaded
  [0x172ab48] main interface debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.926 ms - Total 0.926 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.926 ms)
  [0x172ab48] main interface error: no suitable interface module
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: playlist threads correctly activated
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: rebuild done - 0 items, index -1
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: adding item `stdin' ( stream:///dev/stdin )
  [0x1891280] main input debug: Creating an input for 'stdin'
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: no fetch required for (null) (art currently (null))
  [0x74f00590] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate
  [0x74f00590] main interface debug: no interface module matching "globalhotkeys,none" could be loaded
  [0x74f00590] main interface debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.428 ms - Total 1.428 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.428 ms)
  [0x74f00590] main interface error: no suitable interface module
  [0x171b8f0] main libvlc error: interface "globalhotkeys,none" initialization failed
  [0x172d4c0] main interface debug: looking for interface module: 1 candidate
  [0x172d4c0] dummy interface: using the dummy interface module...
  [0x172d4c0] main interface debug: using interface module "dummy"
  [0x172d4c0] main interface debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.873 ms - Total 0.873 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.873 ms)
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: processing request item: null, node: Playlist, skip: 0
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: rebuild done - 1 items, index -1
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: starting playback of the new playlist item
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: resyncing on stdin
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: stdin is at 0
  [0x188d5a0] main playlist debug: creating new input thread
  [0x1891120] main input debug: Creating an input for 'stdin'
  [0x17b3fd0] main stream output debug: using sout chain=`rtp{sdp=rtsp://:8554/}'
  [0x17b3fd0] main stream output debug: stream=`rtp'
  [0x17b41a0] main stream out debug: looking for sout stream module: 1 candidate
  [0x17b41a0] main stream out debug: set config option: sout-rtp-sdp to rtsp://:8554/
  [0x17b41a0] stream_out_rtp stream out debug: RTSP stream at /
  [0x17b41a0] main stream out debug: net: listening to * port 8554
  [0x17b41a0] main stream out debug: socket error: Address family not supported by protocol
  [0x17b41a0] main stream out debug: using sout stream module "stream_out_rtp"
  [0x17b41a0] main stream out debug: TIMER module_need() : 11.866 ms - Total 11.866 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 11.866 ms)
  [0x1891120] main input debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path '/tmp'
  [0x1891120] main input debug: `stream:///dev/stdin' gives access `stream' demux `' path `/dev/stdin'
  [0x1891120] main input debug: enforced demux ` h264'
  [0x1891120] main input debug: creating demux: access='stream' demux='h264' location='/dev/stdin' file='/dev/stdin'
  [0x17b6ad0] main demux debug: looking for access_demux module: 0 candidates
  [0x17b6ad0] main demux debug: no access_demux module matched "stream"
  [0x17b6ad0] main demux debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.410 ms - Total 0.410 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.410 ms)
  [0x1891120] main input debug: creating access 'stream' location='/dev/stdin', path='/dev/stdin'
  [0x17b6ad0] main access debug: looking for access module: 1 candidate
  [0x17b6ad0] filesystem access debug: opening file `/dev/stdin'
  [0x17b6ad0] main access debug: using access module "filesystem"
  [0x17b6ad0] main access debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.438 ms - Total 0.438 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.438 ms)
  [0x17b6bb8] main stream debug: Using stream method for AStream*
  [0x17b6bb8] main stream debug: starting pre-buffering
  [0x17b6bb8] main stream debug: received first data after 0 ms
  [0x17b6bb8] main stream debug: pre-buffering done 702 bytes in 0s - 7371 KiB/s
  [0x17b6d98] main stream debug: looking for stream_filter module: 7 candidates
  [0x17b6d98] main stream debug: no stream_filter module matching "any" could be loaded
  [0x17b6d98] main stream debug: TIMER module_need() : 1213.700 ms - Total 1213.700 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1213.700 ms)
  [0x17b6d98] main stream debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate
  [0x17b6d98] main stream debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record"
  [0x17b6d98] main stream debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.422 ms - Total 0.422 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.422 ms)
  [0x1891120] main input debug: creating demux: access='stream' demux='h264' location='/dev/stdin' file='/dev/stdin'
  [0x17b6ed0] main demux debug: looking for demux module: 1 candidate
  [0x17b6ed0] h264 demux debug: using 5.00 fps
  [0x17b4eb8] main demux packetizer debug: looking for packetizer module: 21 candidates
  [0x17b4eb8] main demux packetizer debug: using packetizer module "packetizer_h264"
  [0x17b4eb8] main demux packetizer debug: TIMER module_need() : 5.888 ms - Total 5.888 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 5.888 ms)
  [0x17b6ed0] main demux debug: using demux module "h264"
  [0x17b6ed0] main demux debug: TIMER module_need() : 6.913 ms - Total 6.913 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 6.913 ms)
  [0x1891120] main input debug: starting in async mode
  [0x17a5f80] main demux meta debug: looking for meta reader module: 2 candidates
  [0x17a5f80] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/pi/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/reader
  [0x17a5f80] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib/vlc/lua/meta/reader
  [0x17a5f80] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/vlc/lua/meta/reader/filename.luac
  [0x17a5f80] lua demux meta debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/share/vlc/lua/meta/reader
  [0x17a5f80] main demux meta debug: no meta reader module matching "any" could be loaded
  [0x17a5f80] main demux meta debug: TIMER module_need() : 2.051 ms - Total 2.051 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 2.051 ms)
  [0x1891120] main input debug: `stream:///dev/stdin' successfully opened
  [0x17b4eb8] packetizer_h264 demux packetizer debug: found NAL_SPS (sps_id=0)
  [0x17b4eb8] packetizer_h264 demux packetizer debug: found NAL_PPS (pps_id=0 sps_id=0)
  [0x1891120] main input debug: selecting program id=0
  [0x17a6e98] main decoder debug: looking for packetizer module: 21 candidates
  [0x17a6e98] main decoder debug: using packetizer module "packetizer_h264"
  [0x17a6e98] main decoder debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.462 ms - Total 0.462 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.462 ms)
  [0x1891120] main input error: Invalid PCR value in ES_OUT_SET_(GROUP_)PCR !
  [0x1891120] main input debug: switching to sync mode
  [0x17a6e98] packetizer_h264 decoder debug: found NAL_SPS (sps_id=0)
  [0x17a6e98] packetizer_h264 decoder debug: found NAL_PPS (pps_id=0 sps_id=0)
  [0x1891120] main input debug: Buffering 0%
  [0x1891120] main input debug: Buffering 66%
  [0x1891120] main input debug: Stream buffering done (400 ms in 0 ms)
  [0x17b3fd0] main stream output debug: adding a new sout input (sout_input:0x17ae6a0)
  [0x17b41a0] stream_out_rtp stream out debug: maximum RTP packet size: 1400 bytes
  [0x17b41a0] stream_out_rtp stream out debug: RTSP: adding /trackID=0
  [0x17b41a0] stream_out_rtp stream out debug: sdp=

I am not sure the RTSP/HTTP is implemented in VLC server side. Which is why you have issues.

Thank you for your reply.

Since VLC Media Player is widely admired as the Swiss Army Knife of video software, is there any chance RTSP/HTTP on the CVLC server side could be implemented soon ?

Soon, I doubt. But doable, yes.

Thank you for your reply.

I understand from your Documentation:Streaming HowTo/Command Line Examples that there is livehttp capability. Does it do Apple HLS -- HTTP Live Streaming ??? If so, I would be tickled pink (happy) !

Is this the correct usage, where the video source (/home/vout1) and the apache server are on the same machine:
What do seglen, delsegs, numsegs, index and index-url do ? What do the # characters do ? Are the #'s typed exactly as shown or do they represent variables ? What are the ts files ? Do I need them ? How do I make them ? Other than web pages that point to the stream, are there any files that I must create manually and place in my apache server ? How does one access this stream in VLC media player ?

Thank you.

Yes, it is HLS, but it is not really tested....