IPTV recordings fail with iptv: m3u contents parsing failed

Joseph Black

I am trying to record an iptv stream from Pluto TV channels.
When I simply "watch" the channel live, during what I assume is the commercial period, the video stream just plays a Pluto TV graphic, and the stream stutters at times, but keeps playing.

When I try and record the channel, the recording stops when it gets to that stuttering during the commercial period.

The only info I can see is a log entry in the system log that says:

iptv: m3u contents parsing failed

The recording "process" keeps running, but the video stream (according to the status page) is zero bytes being transferred, so the file never grows.

Eventually, when the end-time of the recording happens, it erases any little bit that it did record, and moves the recording to the "removed recordings" tab with the status of "file missing".

So I don't care about stutters, I just want it to keep recording and not stop (just as if I'm watching it live).

I'm using the passthru stream profile to record, and I notice there is a checkbox called "restart on error" with the tooltip that says it is useful to make recordings not stop on errors.

However that had no effect.

FWIW, here is the info on the channel:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="SmithsonianChannelSelects.us" tvg-logo="https://images.pluto.tv/channels/5f21ea08007a49000762d349/featuredImage.jpg" group-title="Science",Pluto TV Smithsonian Channel Selects (720p)
https://service-stitcher.clusters.pluto.tv/v1/stitch/embed/hls/channel/5f21ea08007a49000762d349/master.m3u8?advertisingId=channel&appName=rokuchannel&appVersion=1.0&bmodel=bm1&channel_id=channel&content=channel&content_rating=ROKU_ADS_CONTENT_RATING&content_type=livefeed&coppa=false&deviceDNT=1&deviceId=channel&deviceMake=rokuChannel&deviceModel=web&deviceType=rokuChannel&deviceVersion=1.0&embedPartner=rokuChannel&genre=ROKU_ADS_CONTENT_GENRE&is_lat=1&platform=web&rdid=channel&studio_id=viacom&tags=ROKU_CONTENT_TAGS

It does this with all Pluto TV channels.

Any ideas on how to prevent the recording from stopping, or troubleshoot further?

Update:

I did some experimenting, and on the TV I can see that the commercial portion of the stream is 720, however the programme's video is a different resolution. Is there any way tvheadend record can deal with this (similar to how the TV just keeps playing)?

Update 2:
I've found that I am having this problem with every iptv source. Every source (that I'm using) has a blip or stutter now and then. So every recording ends up halting whenever there is a blip. I'm not sure how people are getting any iptv channels to work for recording.

Lisa White

I have an m3u setup using the ffmpeg piping method. This worked for me. Use notepad++ editor and add the pipes to each stream. There are features in this program that allows you to copy a pipe command to all of the streams at once. Make sure all spaces within the lines are spaced correctly or it will not work. Erase or keep the old m3u and create a new network using the piped m3u. Set max timeouts to 10 and service provider to 1. Open live log and scan the newly created piped m3u. You should see all the new streams being scanned. If not, then your original m3u was not edited correctly. Map the new streams and test. Take note to the log while stream is starting. You should see ffmpeg starting and working.

Hopefully this will work for you because it worked for me.

Good luck!!
~Lisa

Joseph Black

Lisa White wrote:
> I have an m3u setup using the ffmpeg piping method. This worked for me. Use notepad++ editor and add the pipes to each stream. There are features in this program that allows you to copy a pipe command to all of the streams at once. Make sure all spaces within the lines are spaced correctly or it will not work. Erase or keep the old m3u and create a new network using the piped m3u. Set max timeouts to 10 and service provider to 1. Open live log and scan the newly created piped m3u. You should see all the new streams being scanned. If not, then your original m3u was not edited correctly. Map the new streams and test. Take note to the log while stream is starting. You should see ffmpeg starting and working.
>
> Hopefully this will work for you because it worked for me.
>
> Good luck!!

> ~Lisa

Thanks. Yeah I tried to add a single troublesome channel as a pipe, as per this page. However it made no difference:

https://tvheadend.org/projects/tvheadend/wiki/Custom_MPEG-TS_Input

I also tried a bunch of config changes from this page:

https://tvheadend.org/d/5282-iptv-buffering-stalls-general-drop-outs-settings-that-resolved-things-for-me?page=2

None made any difference. Sigh, players such as VLC, Hypnotix, etc will stutter but keep playing the live stream. I would'a though a recorder would just blindly copy the stream to the disk, and a player could later play with it successfully (as it does with the live stream). However, instead the recorder just stops.