Play octoshape stream on windows with VLC player

  1. Install windows octoshape plugin at http://www.octoshape.com/files/octosetup.exe
  2. Install VLC player at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html. Use the installer so later octoshape can pick it as the preferred player. (Updated 12/26/2010: A dirty way to make sure windows associate all media files to vlc player is to explicitly set in vlc's Tool -> Preferences -> Interface -> Set up associations, select all file types. Then in Octoshape Settings (right click on the Octoshape system tray icon and select Settings), select use "System player")
  3. Create a bat file named stream.bat.
  4. In Windows XP, type in the bat file. "C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:[octostream]
  5. In Windows Vista/7 "C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:[octostream]
  6. Replace [user] with your current user name, [octostream] with the name of the octoshape stream.
  7. Double click on stream.bat. The VLC player should be started. Press the play button to play.

Comments

  1. Hi
    really nice
    thanks
    can u please tell me how to embedded on to website, or ply on vlc direct without making this file, I have many channels I put on my website for my family to watch without opening file just clicking link & watching it
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have a look at http://wiki.videolan.org/HowTo_Integrate_VLC_plugin_in_your_webpage

    Just make sure when you install vlc on your machine, install the plugin for the corresponding web browser.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Eddie,
    Its a kind of strange coincidence that a foreigner (me) living in Hong Kong stumbles upon the blog of a HongKonger living in a foreign country (you).

    I came to your blog while looking for information to configure Octoshape to play TV streams via VLC. Your solution is really helpful. But I am not sure if I can use this method to view password-protected TV channels?

    I have subscribed to a service that lets me watch live TV channels on the laptop (thats how I ended up installing Octoshape). But, to watch these channels,I have to log-in to their website and then select the channel I want to view. Then it starts streaming thro a player embedded in the browser. I am not sure which media player are they launching on my laptop to stream inside the browser window. So the issue is, I cannot view channels on VLC or otehr media players directly.

    Do you know if there is any way to overcome this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated. And I promise to take you for a yumcha when you are in HK next time.

    ~Bob

    ReplyDelete
  4. You need to figure out the name of the octoshape stream first. Check the source code of the web page in which the media is played (with Internet Explorer, check the "developer tools" item). You may be able to locate the name somewhere in the site. (I'm not optimistic though since you mention the site is password protected.)

    Here is an example: http://programme.rthk.hk/channel/radio/player_popup.php?rid=173&player=hq&type=live
    Look for keywords like "octoshape"
    The respective stream name is "rthk.ch2".

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Eddie I am trying to record the following channel. Do you thing that it would be possible for me to use your method?

    Thanks
    Emil

    ReplyDelete
  6. here is the channel
    http://www.medeniyyettv.az/tvcanli.htm

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your are right the liuk has changed
    http://www.medeniyyettv.az/canli/medeniyyet-canli.htm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes you can. Please replace [octostream] above with the actual octostream link you find from the source code of the web page. It is the string following "player_stream" in your case.

      Delete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Eddie
      what about this channel
      http://www.aztv.az/canli/radio-canli.htm
      When I am trying to use the method that you have suggested I am getting this error
      No suitable decoder module:
      VLC does not support the audio or video format "undf". Unfortunately there is no way for you to fix this.

      The bat file is like this
      "C:\Documents and Settings\aee\Application Data\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:"octoshape://streams.octoshape.net/aztv/live/radio/republica/250k";

      Delete
    2. That error message is due to the absence of video, which is normal for a radio stream. Don't worry in this case. Just ignore the error message.

      Delete
  9. I was able to play and record the program.
    Now I am trying to record an internet radio however I am getting the foolowing error:
    No suitable decoder module:
    "VLC does not support the audio or video format "undf". Unfortunately there is no way for you to fix this."

    The address for the site is
    http://www.aztv.az/canli/radio-canli.htm
    and the batfile that I have created to play the audio in VLC contains the following command:
    "C:\Documents and Settings\aee\Application Data\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:"octoshape://streams.octoshape.net/aztv/live/radio/republica/250k";


    Do you know ahat the problem code be?

    Thanks in advance
    Emil

    ReplyDelete
  10. It only plays 1 min and 24 seconds then stops.
    the same also happens when I record however during the recording I don't get the error message that I described above.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can play it continuously for more than 3 minutes. Could you please try again?

      Delete
  11. I tried it again and it stops after 1 minute . Could it be because of my router. What version of VLC are you using?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use the latest version of vlc.
      Do you encounter the same problem when playing other streams with the same method, or playing the stream on the webpage?

      Delete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At which step did you get stuck?

      Delete
    2. Got 'stuck' at locating the file/url from the 'source code' to stick into the stream.bat

      Also couldn't locate Octoshape 'Preferences'

      Delete
    3. Look for something like octoshape:// in the web page source code. In your case, the URL is "octoshape://streams.octoshape.net/maharishi.ch3.flv.auto".

      For octoshape perference, look for the octoshape icon in the system tray, usually at the bottom right of your computer screen.

      Delete
    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    5. Right. No that kind of stuff.

      Delete
    6. Eddie, maybe there is some misunderstanding; I have no success so far.
      The octoshape program being used seems like a Flash add-in.
      And so, no Preference can be found so far.

      By the way, would you see if you could play that stream in Vlc; so that I can know that it is possible to have success if I keep searching for an answer?

      Delete
    7. I can play that stream on my Win 7 machine.

      First make sure you have octoshape installed: http://www.octoshape.com/files/octosetup.exe

      Then prepare you .bat file. It should be like the following:
      "C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:[octostream]

      Double click on the .bat file. See what player the system used to open the stream. Uninstall the player if it is not vlc. (I had Realplayer opened before. So I uninstalled it.). Then follow the updated step 2 to make vlc the default player. Reboot the machine and see you can make it.

      Good luck!

      Delete
    8. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    9. Thanx, Lau.
      You have given me renewed hope to keep pressing on, after so many months. lol

      I even have a Win 7 machine also.
      And I use the Firefox browser.
      What browser are you using?

      Now, I do, I do, I do have octoshape installed.
      It is the only way that the stream will play, via octoshape.

      However, the stream plays as a Flash add-in.
      And that seems to be the challenge; because I cannot locate an octoshape 'Preference' anywhere.

      Prior to the use of Flash add-in, Windows Media was the player of choice for those streams.
      And the Octoshape icon could be found on the taskbar, but no more.

      Are you implying that even with the Flash add-in, Windows Media Player might still being used to play the stream?

      I don't have Real Player installed.
      And I would be more than happy to get rid of Windows Media Player if I have it. lol
      I use only Vlc.

      Lau, I was writing you all of the above; and in the process I was looking to get rid of Windows Media.
      I had created the .bat file a long time ago; and every time I clicked on it, it would appear that a dos screen was trying to come up, but it didn't.

      So I was trying again, in order to try and determine the player that was being used.
      And surprise surprise, the .bat file that had not worked before began to play the stream in vlc.

      Thanx again for renewing my faith to not give up.
      After many many months of trying, success!
      Thanx again!

      Delete
  13. Hi, Eddie. i tried it successfully but warning message show: "You don't have the permission to view this stream".

    i have got this stream membership and how could i do watching this stream?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The authentication may have to be done through the web page. In that case, you may not be able to view the stream with vlc directly. Sorry.

      Delete
  14. Can you help me? I want to listen and watch (it has video) this channel: octoshape://streams.octoshape.net/sion/live/channel1-hdm/global/autohd
    When I run my stream.bat file I get the next message: "You have no media player supporting the protocol of this stream"
    I have VLC installed and as default. It's the only media player installed in my PC. I have Windows 7.

    Regards, Federico.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1) Have you installed octoshape on your computer?
      2) Which media player is opened in your case?

      Delete
  15. do you know, does octoshapeclient.exe have other parameters except "-url" do i use my ticket to watch aunthenticated streams via vlc.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Today, I cannot get an octoshape connection using the proposed approach. It plays a few seconds and then hang. Even putting directly the octoshape stream url directly in the VLC player does not work anymore. It always worked before. Is this only on my computer or a change in the stream that I use? Anyone else has the same issue?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just to add that the same problem occurs with smplayer. It worked before both with VLC and smplayer, but now it fails with both in a very similar way.

      Delete
    2. Also, I can get the stream on my browser (Chrome) with no problem. The problem occurs only with the players VLC and smplayer and perhaps others.

      Delete
    3. OK, now it is not stable on Chrome as well. I suspect it is a change in the stream I use. If it was with the octoshape protocol, I would have heard of it.

      Delete
    4. If the stream stops on the official web page as well, it is likely that the stream itself has some issues. If the stream doesn't play well only with means other than from the official web page, the stream provider may have put up some policies that allow playing the stream to be played through the official web page only.

      Delete
  17. When i click on stream.bat. file, Octoshape warn me for "Could not find channel [octostream]" and VLC doesn't start. Is there any solution?

    ReplyDelete
  18. What octostream do you use? Also make sure that there is no spacing between url: and the octostream name.
    For example, if [octostream] is rthk.ch1, you should have url:rthh.ch1

    ReplyDelete
  19. Does it work? When I click on stream.bat file, Vlc doesn't start.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make sure you use the method I mentioned above to set vlc to be your default media player.

      Delete
  20. I made a bat file like this
    "C:\Users\[siliconvalleycase@gmail.com]\AppData\Roaming\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:"octoshape://streams.octoshape.net/simraco/live/tv3";
    could you please just let me know why I caanot play the octo file in vlc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try this first.
      "C:\Users\[siliconvalleycase@gmail.com]\AppData\Roaming\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:rthk.ch3
      Are you able to play it?
      In which webpage do you find that octoshape stream?

      Delete
  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I used "Grab Any Media" chrome extension to extract the rtmp stream url of http://mytv.tvb.com/live/hdj#page-1 . However I am unable to determine which part of the URL should be of good use, could you assist me on this? Thank you

    rtmp link :-
    ==========
    rtmp://stream.tvb.com/tvblive&octoLink=octoshape://octolive.tvb.com/tvb/hk/hdj/abr&octoTime=12315&playlist=[[]]&product=mytv&localTest=1&vid_file=hdj_3&isMetro=false

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The parameter=value pairs appear to be separated by &.
      e.g. From the above, you can see
      isMetro=false
      vid_file=hdj_3
      etc

      Delete
    2. Hi Eddie,

      Yeah I do noticed the & delimited values, are we suppose to rebuild them into another form of rtmp? It would be great if we could study this together through email. :) Do let me know if you're alright with that. Thanks !

      Delete
    3. My thought is that the webpage will extract the &-delimited parameter-value pairs, and rebuild some input string that is good to its web media player.

      Delete
    4. As discussed above, you just need the octolink's value for the thing discussed in this article to work. As long as the octoshape stream is not protected by additional authentication method, you should be able to play it directly via VLC.

      Delete
  23. If I launch the .bat, nothing happens. (Windows 8.1)

    "C:\Users\Yepes\AppData\Roaming\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:octoshape://streams.octoshape.net/ebu/live/esc2015/onlocation/abr

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Create another .bat file with the following content:
      "C:\Users\Yepes\AppData\Roaming\Octoshape\Octoshape Streaming Services\OctoshapeClient.exe" -url:rthk.ch3

      Do you see vlc coming up and hear the audio?

      Delete
  24. doesn't work for me
    nothing happens when I run octoshapeclient.exe -url:[the url]

    also, wondering why need to make file associations to vlc?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Would you please try the sample stream that I provided in my last reply? Also, make sure all the steps have been followed (e.g. the file association). Otherwise octoshape will try to use some other media player to start the stream, which we don't want.

      Delete
    2. Yes, rthk.ch3 works, but I'm trying to figure out how to play TVB

      Delete
    3. Some streams may require additional checks before they can be played. The one that you mentioned may be one of them.

      Delete
  25. Hi, is this method still working now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suppose so. The rthk.ch3 octoshape stream mentioned in my previous reply has been terminated. Therefore, in order to check, please try some other stream.

      Delete
  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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