• The forum software that supports hummy.tv has been upgraded to XenForo 2.3!

    Please bear with us as we continue to tweak things, and feel free to post any questions, issues or suggestions in the upgrade thread.

Saving Youtube content

af123

af123

Administrator
Staff member
Just realised that if I watch a Youtube clip via the Humax portal, then the video file is stored on the hard disk as /mnt/hd3/Streamer_down_file. So, if you want to add something from Youtube into your library, just watch it and do:

Code: 
humax# cp /mnt/hd3/Streamer_down_file /media/My\ Video/theclip.mp4
 
Hey This would make a very desirable addition to the Web-If, P.S. any chance of having a look at the '?'s in the features list of the Wiki? So I can edit the table.
 
I noticed this file (and was able to play it on a PC) when I was mucking about getting iplayer (as opposed to youtube) to work on the HD running the HDR elf. It only worked if I mounted hd1, 2, 3 and 4 to media/drive1 so it obviously relies on one of those drives (hd3 by the sound of it) being mounted. On the HD in "normal" mode the file doesn't appear so it must cache it in memory (makes sense as it has to work without a drive plugged in). For iplayer files you have to watch the programme pretty much to the end before the file is complete - I guess this is the same as youtube, but not such an issue as the clips are generally shorter. What are hd1/3/4 mapped to on the HDR? Partition(s) of the internal drive?

Steve
 
Yes, partitions on the internal disk.

Code: 
humax# df -h
Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/root                15.6M     15.6M         0 100% /
tmpfs                    61.0M     28.0K     61.0M   0% /tmp
tmpfs                    61.0M         0     61.0M   0% /media
/dev/mtdblock1            2.0M    516.0K      1.5M  25% /var/lib/humaxtv
/dev/mtdblock2            2.0M      1.2M    812.0K  60% /var/lib/humaxtv_backup
/dev/sda1              1011.4M     36.5M    923.5M   4% /mnt/hd1
/dev/sda2               906.1G    390.1G    469.9G  45% /mnt/hd2
/dev/sda3                 9.8G    172.0M      9.2G   2% /mnt/hd3

humax# ls -l /mnt/
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            3 Aug 18 16:56 av -> hd2
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            3 Aug 18 16:56 hd -> hd1
drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root         4096 Aug 18 22:15 hd1
drwxr-xr-x   10 root     root         4096 Aug 22 12:19 hd2
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root         4096 Feb  4  2011 hd3
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            3 Jun 10 15:54 hd4
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            3 Aug 18 16:56 meta -> hd1
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            3 Jun 10 15:54 nfs
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            3 Aug 18 16:56 user -> hd3
 
af123 said:
Just realised that if I watch a Youtube clip via the Humax portal, then the video file is stored on the hard disk as /mnt/hd3/Streamer_down_file. So, if you want to add something from Youtube into your library, just watch it and do:

Code: 
humax# cp /mnt/hd3/Streamer_down_file /media/My\ Video/theclip.mp4
Click to expand...
Questions:
  1. Does the file persist once the stream has been played or is it garbage-collected? I imagine it will stay put until the next stream.
  2. Can I get at it using the jail-broken FTP (mongoose is it?)?
 
It seems to persist. You can get at it via FTP, yes, navigate to /mnt/hd3 and it should be there.
I'll add a button to the GUI, something like Save last streamed content or something, but any ideas where it would best fit?
 
Brilliant! I iPlayered "Chicken Run", FTPed in and renamed the Streamer_down_file to "ChickenRun.mp4", moved it to my FILMS directory in Media (OK, so with FTP that took a download and an upload), and now it shows up on the Media button and plays complete with trick-play. Lovely.
 
The file is 837MB, 1h18m. That's about 1.5Mb/s, so it's not far short of StDef quality (which I think is about 2.5Mb/s).
 
Does it only download as you watch it or does it buffer? I wonder if with a fast connection you could just fire up the program, wait a few mins and then the program will be all there. The navigation on Iplayer is horrendous so would be nicer using it this way.
 
I don't know, you can try an experiment: watch the Streamer_down_file and see when it reaches its final size. My broadband is only about 2.5Mbps anyway.

Update: I've just done the experiment, initially it looked like the data was being downloaded at about my broadband speed and I estimated Chicken Run would take 48 minutes. I got busy with something else and came back after 49 minutes - and it was done. Conclusion: we can rip iPlayer this way (no DRM!) at full network speed.

However, I don't see where it gets you from the slow-UI point of view, because you have to go through the same procedure whether you watch the download live or wait for it to have downloaded (you can't grab it until it has completely downloaded either). Unless you actually aim to save it (beyond the iPlayer window, or for repeated showings/archive), you might as well watch it at the time.
 
Black Hole said:
I don't know, you can try an experiment: watch the Streamer_down_file and see when it reaches its final size. My broadband is only about 2.5Mbps anyway.

Update: I've just done the experiment, initially it looked like the data was being downloaded at about my broadband speed and I estimated Chicken Run would take 48 minutes. I got busy with something else and came back after 49 minutes - and it was done. Conclusion: we can rip iPlayer this way (no DRM!) at full network speed.

However, I don't see where it gets you from the slow-UI point of view, because you have to go through the same procedure whether you watch the download live or wait for it to have downloaded (you can't grab it until it has completely downloaded either). Unless you actually aim to save it (beyond the iPlayer window, or for repeated showings/archive), you might as well watch it at the time.
Click to expand...

Good for me with FTTC, should download mega-fast! In terms of the UI, I meant more in the control of the stream, ff and rw are hopeless. With an MP4 file it should be a lot better. With a fast connection you could have it down in a couple of minutes and then save it. Also we quite often don't watch the program at the time and if it expires after 7 days I prefer to download it from other sources so I can watch it when convenient.
 
Drutt said:
I noticed this file (and was able to play it on a PC) when I was mucking about getting iplayer (as opposed to youtube) to work on the HD running the HDR elf. It only worked if I mounted hd1, 2, 3 and 4 to media/drive1 so it obviously relies on one of those drives (hd3 by the sound of it) being mounted. On the HD in "normal" mode the file doesn't appear so it must cache it in memory (makes sense as it has to work without a drive plugged in). For iplayer files you have to watch the programme pretty much to the end before the file is complete - I guess this is the same as youtube, but not such an issue as the clips are generally shorter. What are hd1/3/4 mapped to on the HDR? Partition(s) of the internal drive?

Steve
Click to expand...

Were you able to create the file with the HD in normal mode , or only when in HDR mode?
What were the mount commands you used , as I get a block device error when trying to mount /mnt/hd3 on /media/drive1?
 
I don't think we've found a buffer file on the HD-FOX, so you would have to use HDR mode.

I agree about transport control, but I find if I need it on a BBC programme (no adverts) it's because I dozed off - at which point I can save the buffer and play that as the second showing.
 
Yes it was in HDR mode, as Black Hole points out, the HD doesn't seem to store a buffer file. Presumably as it has to be able to work without a harddrive attached.
 
Would it be possible to monitor the size of the /mnt/hd3/Streamer_down_file in order to have an indication in the Web-If that the current download is finished?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top