HOW-TO setup streaming internet video/audio

after some help from the guys in #xbmc (efnet) i got video streaming working and thought it would be nice to post a little how to and start putting together a list of good tv streams.

just a general note first, streaming video must be accessed through my music at the moment, i don't know why, dont ask me

1) check you have the .strm file format included in your xboxmediacenter.xml file:

check the <musicextensions> tag (yes music) for .strm and if it doesn't exist, add |.strm to the end of the list in the same way as the others that are there already.

2) put together a strm file:
stream files end in .strm but are just text files. in notepad enter the following and save it as researchchannel.strm or something similar:

mms://media-wm.cac.washington.edu/researchtv live

3) copy that file to somewhere that is accessable in my music and open it:
this might be a samba share or the xbox hard disk, where every your music is. then go to my music and navigate to your newly created file and select it. streaming might take a while to start and is unstable for some streams so you'll just have to play around.

(edited it so it reflects how the situation is now)

very good,
just a correction here.

putting the url only in the file is enough.
so in your example putting :
mms://media-wm.cac.washington.edu/researchtv live (lan)

in the .strm file is enough.
so just 1 line with the url.

here is a source where you can find video streams you can watch:
video > http://www.mediachannel.com/
video + radio > http://www.lyngsat.com (look to the right for the live streams)

have fun! and post your streams here!!!

xbmc is the coolest thing i know today.

here are some posting guidelines, to add your list of streams (followup comments), i hope we can agree on, and confirm somewhat too.

these guidelines, i just throw up, can be changed, if you can point at a good reason for changing:

first rule: make seperate sections for radio and tv, please.

second rule: please specify in this order:
- channel name
- stream type
- url
- bandwidth use of stream (minimum/preferred)
- bandwidth you have on your connection
- quality (lag, no lag, no connection, n/a if you didn't test yet)
- location of you the client (country)
- summary of stream (so people don't watch what they don't like, this should be at least a 1-liner description)
- language of stream (not nationality, but language spoken)

note: this thread is only for listing stations, and not for comming with suggestions to changed guidelines.

third rule: please write your reason for changing guidelines here:
- on irc
- personal message through forum (i'm reasonable)
- or in the thread here:
http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin....t=1738;

(example)

stream name: research channel
stream type: windows media / mms
url: mms://media-wm.cac.washington.edu/researchtv live (lan)
stream bandwidth: 242,0 kbps
my bandwidth: >2mbit
status: no lag
my location: i'm in denmark
current programming is: a talkshow with a usc media/television professor as guest, about the effect of music shows, i think.
language: english, american

stream name: nasa channel
stream type: windows media / mms
url: http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/video/nasatv/nasatv.nsc
stream bandwidth: 141,0 kbps
my bandwidth: 1024kbit
status: untested
my location: i'm in the netherlands
current programming is: docu on nasa equipment

this is great. i wonder why no one has mentioned this before.

it was mentioned in the release notes....

(mrmario64 @ feb. 14 2004,22:34 Wrote:stream name: nasa channel
stream type: windows media / mms
url: http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/video/nasatv/nasatv.nsc
stream bandwidth: 141,0 kbps
my bandwidth: 1024kbit
status: untested
my location: i'm in the netherlands
current programming is: docu on nasa equipment

causes mplayer general exception, i'm told. i can't get it to work either. here's the mplayer-cygwin stdout i get:

playing http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/video/nasatv/nasatv.nsc.
resolving science.ksc.nasa.gov for af_inet...
connecting to server science.ksc.nasa.gov[163.205.195.4]:80 ...
cache size set to 320 kbytes
connected to server: science.ksc.nasa.gov
cache fill: 10.58% (34665 bytes) lmlm4 stream format not found

so i've tried a few that don't work, like:

- orf ö1 (austrian radio channel 1)
- all asx, asf, those starting with mms

but:
- it's amazing that the research channel works.
- and supposedly some quicktime trailers run.

now i'm going to look again and for those ogg vorbis streams.

ok i think this is the coolest feature yet!
but i'm having a problem understanding exactly what streams i can use.
the research channel works great and is a good demonstration of the technology but is a totally lame stream.

so heres what ive been trying to do but its not working.

pick a stream from netbroadcaster.com.

when the video window pops up...drag and drop the internet explorer icon from the window to my desktop.

right click on the icon. go to properties and copy the url.

put the url in my address bar and put the "view-source" command before the http in the url.

hit enter and i get notepad with a bunch of html.  i wade through that to find the stream url and get.....
mms://windowsmedia1.netbroadcaster.com/&clip=clp/15/w00201001d.wmv&ads=1:0

then i set up my little .strm file with note pad..

[playlist]
numberofentries=1
file1=mms://windowsmedia1.netbroadcaster.com/&clip=clp/15/w00201001d.wmv&ads=1:0
title1=test
length1=-1

upload to my xbox

select the stream in xbmc....and nothing happens.

what kind of streams can i use other then this type?