VLC 3.0.2

[Mike Walsh]

Hi Oscar

I'm still testing trying to find a clue as to why chromecast doesn't work in VLC 3.01. I found several threads by forum member ETP who created several puplets for chromemcast. Most require the "google cast" extension which is no longer available. Chromebook-pupv1 already had the google cast extension included, so I did a frugal install. This puppy did find the chromecast device & could cast from the browser.

This validated that my device is discoverable in puppy and chromecast can be done.

I've also tested peedbee's chromium 52 & 65, which include the casting feature, in stretch 7.5, slacko 6.3.0 & xenial 7.5 without success. I'm going to post in the chromium thread to see if anyone has casting working.

Gary

@ Gary:-

There's a very simple reason why the 'Google Cast' extension is no longer available. Because since around Chrome 52 or 53, 'cast' support is now baked right into the browser code. Therefore, the extension was considered no longer necessary.

I used to have the extension installed, on the off-chance that I was going to get around to buying a Chromecast at some point. One day, I was looking through my extensions list and noticed that the 'Google Cast' extension had disappeared. I have never been able to re-install it, since, according to the Google Product Groups forum, "With the cast function now built-in to the browser, the Cast extension was henceforth considered redundant. Therefore, it was removed from the Chrome Store."

I run a mixture of older & newer Chromes. The Cast function is built-in to the new versions.....but since the extension was removed (through my Google a/c cloud connectivity, I would imagine), it means it was also removed from the older browsers, too. The very ones that needed it!

(Google, of course, expect that you will always be running the very newest version of the browser. For Linux, since this now means 64-bit, it means installing a 64-bit OS, if you're not already running one. And if you're still running a 32-bit machine, oh dear; tough shit. Out you go and buy a new machine, mate. Google couldn't care less; not their problem.....it's yours.)

This means that you need to run a newer version of the browser, I would think. If you're not 64-bit (now required to run current Chrome), then try one of the Chromium 'clones' (like Iron). The Chromium Project is still manufacturing 32-bit versions; it's only Google that have 'put the boot in' and killed 32-bit versions of Chrome.

Oscar has a fairly recent 32-bit Iron package that should be able to help you with this. And, I agree about 'Chromepup', as I call it. I've run this for around 3 years now. ETP did include the 'Cast' extension, but you would have to run the browser as is (remain on Chrome 39 as installed), and never, ever 'sign-in' to a Google a/c. Because within 24 hours I can guarantee the extension would 'disappear' into thin air.

('Big' brother knows best..!)


Mike.

[Mike Walsh]

Since the Chromecast device is a piece of plug-in hardware I am wondering if it is actually recognised on the system.

It may be that you need to load a kernel module or something.

Does the device show up in Pup-SysInfo or HardInfo, for example?
Does it work with anything else in Puppy at all?
As a test, you might want to try SMplayer and see if Chromecast is recognised or if it works in that.
http://smokey01.com/OscarTalks

Oscar, I can't see that a kernel module would be needed. The hardware connection is at the other end of the stream; it's plugged into the 'target' device (e.g., your television), and receives the stream as broadcast from your router's wifi output transmitter.

The only Chromecast functionality at your computer's end (AFAIK) is the code as currently built-in to the browser (or the 'Google Cast' extension, but you would need to be disconnected from Google Sync - i.e., not 'signed-in' - in order to prevent Google from removing it through your account's cloud connection).

Just my tuppence-worth, FWIW. A thought; it's more likely that some configuration may need to be done in your router's firewall (or Pup's) in order to open the necessary ports for allowing the stream to get through..?


Mike.

[OscarTalks]

Hello Mike,

Thanks for the clarifications. I think you are right about the kernel module situation. This is one of the problems with trying to help out with things I have no personal experience of. For a while I was unsure if some hardware was actually plugged into the computer. Only on further reading did I realise that, as you say, it is only plugged in to the target device (TV or whatever).

Networking and/or firewall settings are indeed one possible cause of the lack of functionality. That thought had occurred to me as well.

With VLC 3.0.1 in Stretch Pup, I have a suspicion that some fundamental component is missing and it may well be that it is missing from the wider System rather than from the build of VLC itself. The Chromecast plugin is present. This depends on libprotobuf-lite which I have also included. Running ldd on the plugin checks out OK.

Could it be that the missing component is the browser? Perhaps this needs to be installed even if it is not running?

I find it interesting that with SMplayer they have included an additional executable named simple_web_server which has to run for Chromecast to work. Also the browser is still needed I believe. Is it possible that the VLC devs have eliminated the need for the server daemon (?) and the browser as well?

As far as I know, all the Stretch Pups are 32bit. I have not come across anyone trying to produce a 64bit one. So then I have to ask if the Chromecast code is ONLY in Google's Chrome or is it in the Chromium source? It may be that the other Chromium derivative browsers don't have it.

[Mike Walsh]

Hi, Oscar.

No, the other 'clones' have it, alright; I've just checked in Iron 58, here in ETP's Chromebookpup (v1); it's there in the right-click context menu, large as life.

Don't forget, Chrome's based on Chromium.....although I'll grant you, Google do add a certain amount of their own specific stuff when they build Chrome.

I replaced the Chrome 39 that came with this a long time ago; 'updated' to the last 32-bit Chrome (48.0.2564.116). I can, however, get Chrome 39 with the cast extension back again simply by running the LiveCD.....although to keep the extension, I would have to isolate 39, and make sure I didn't sign-in with it.

That's assuming, of course, that it still functions with the browser..!

As you postulate, I suspect the browser needs to be installed. AFAIK, it's the only direct source of the ChromeCast code.


Mike.

[WiZard]

@mike
@oscar

Mike thanks for jumping in to help.

Oscar, tested the 4/16 VLC with no success. Have not tried updating d-bus but will if you still think it might work.

Here is what we know (running on my system)

win7>vlc 3.01=works
win7>chrome64 w/cast=works
dpup stretch 7.5>vlc 3.01=no device
dpup stretch 7.5>chromium52 w/cast=no device
dpup stretch 7.5>chromium65 w/cast=no device
dpup stretch 7.5>iron63 w/cast=no device
Chromebook-pupv1=works (mike's right, you can't sign into google)

The puppy chromium/iron test were also done in slacko 6.3.0 & xenial 7.5

@mike
did I understand correctly that you got Iron 58 to install in Chromebookpup (v1), if so do you have a link to the one you used?

Thanks
Gary

[WiZard]

Found a web page suggesting if the chromecast device is not found in VLC gui that you should try casting from the terminal. When I tried it threw up some errors. Below is the output from the terminal, first line is the command string.


# vlc --sout="#chromecast{ip=192.168.1.101}" /mnt/home/movies/Kisses.mp4
VLC media player 3.0.1 Vetinari (revision 3.0.1-0-gec0f700fcc)
[06658438] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[0698b098] main tls client error: TLS client plugin not available
[069817c0] stream_out_chromecast stream out error: cannot load the Chromecast controller (Failed to create TLS client)
[069815b0] main stream output error: stream chain failed for `chromecast{ip=192.168.1.101}'
[a9704a60] main input error: cannot start stream output instance, aborting
#

[Mike Walsh]

Hi, Gary.

Mm. Well, let me try to explain.

For quite some time now, I've run a bevy of browsers (Chrome, Chromium, SlimJet and Iron) in all my Pups. I run these from a remote data partition, sym-linked into every Pup at the points where Pup expects to find all the relevant files.

For a long while, I've updated these browsers (glibc & other requirements notwithstanding; not all browsers will run in all Pups as time passes) by the simple expedient of downloading the necessary tarballs, extracting the bits I need (usually the browser directory itself) and replacing those relevant files.

Because of this, I can't give you an exact link to the specific setup I have, simply because it doesn't exist! However, Oscar has a build of Iron 58 which should work fine in 'Chromepup'. You can find it here:-

https://yadi.sk/d/_S5b4g7tpcyZn?force_show=1

Don't bother with Iron 63; it won't run in Chromepup, because it not only requires GTK3 and newer NSS libraries, it also requires a newer glibc (at least 2.17). Chromepup, as is the case with Precise 571, from which it's derived, employs 2.15. Ergo sum. (And I think I'm right in saying that the 'Precise' repos have finally been archived by Canonical, which unfortunately means they're no longer accessible.)

Give Oscar's 58 a try. It should work without any problems, because like Google, who re-compile the Chromium code-base against an older glibc to give a Chrome with maximum compatibility for the greatest number of people, SRWare do exactly the same with Iron. Let us know how you get on with it. Any problems, we'll see if we can 'iron' them out!


Mike.

[WiZard]

@mike
I loaded Oscar's iron 58 in chromebookpupv1, but it does not show cast in the menu, strange.

Gary

[OscarTalks]

I have re-uploaded a new build of VLC 3.0.1 compiled in Dpup Stretch.
https://yadi.sk/d/nxx9TP2i3HcXB5?force_show=1

I have now added:-

libmicrodns (local network name look-ups)
libmtp (media transfer protocol)
libnfs
libsmbclient (samba)
libvncclient (vnc)

These extra functions might be useful even if they don't get Chromecast working.

@ Gary
Thanks for the earlier reports.
Regarding D-Bus, this probably needs to be looked at in the Stretch development thread so I will probably post there. If you want to upgrade in your system it might be a good idea and shouldn't hurt, but take usual precautions. I think that from PPM you just need dbus, dbus-x11 and libdbus-1-3 as packages. The dbus package drags in libapparmor as a dependency but this is fine. I think you can remove the old file /etc/init.d/messagebus because this is replaced by /etc/init.d/dbus as a daemon starter script.

In my Stretch test-bed remaster I have compiled latest D-Bus from source with systemd disabled and that seems fine so far in my tests.

The terminal output you posted looks interesting. Obviously it suggests that something connected with TLS is missing. The newly created samba (which you mentioned in the other thread) and vnc plugins do link to libgnutls which is a TLS library so the new build is worth a quick try. Otherwise at least it gives a good clue of the direction in which I need to look.

[WiZard]

@oscar
The 4/18 version recognizes the chromcast device, hooray, but it doesn't stream yet. The VLC cast procedure is: start video>click playback>renderer>choose chromecast device.
At that point the video should stream to the tv, instead the video stops on the computer (normal), but does not appear on the tv.

Tried it in terminal again, messages are the same.

Good work Oscar, we're making progress.

Gary

[OscarTalks]

OK, so we have device discovery working but the primary immediate obstacle remains a TLS issue.

Looking into the configure script output I noticed (and hopefully fixed) a problem with gnutls. This is not obvious because there is no "WARNING" but just a simple "NO". Anyway, I have installed the dev files which were missing and re-compiled.

We do now have a main GNU TLS plugin which is built and included.
I wonder if this will make any difference?

I have also enabled:-
gstreamer (is this involved?)
libdsm (small library connected to samba I think)
libsecret

Packages re-uploaded for TESTING
https://yadi.sk/d/nxx9TP2i3HcXB5?force_show=1

[WiZard]

@oscar
BINGO! the 4/19 version works. My movie is being sourced from a samba file server on another network, VLC is transcoding it on the fly into a chromecast compatible format and streaming it to the TV. CPU is running at 5-8% on old intel 1.2ghz dual core.

I started vlc from terminal and then used the gui to load & cast. Below is the output from the terminal, it complains about the cert, but then accepts a self-signed one. I'll do some extended testing tonight & let you know the result.

Gary


# vlc
VLC media player 3.0.1 Vetinari (revision 3.0.1-0-gec0f700fcc)
[03bba438] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[03c19940] main playlist: playlist is empty
[9fa49418] gnutls tls client error: Certificate verification failure: The certificate is NOT trusted. The certificate issuer is unknown. The name in the certificate does not match the expected.
[9fa49418] gnutls tls client: Accepting self-signed/untrusted CA certificate.

[Mike Walsh]

@ WiZard:-

Nice to hear you've got it working, Gary. Just out of curiosity, which Chromium-based browser did you eventually end up using for this?

@ Oscar:-

Does this have to be done with VLC.....or are there other media/players which would serve the same purpose? (Like SMPlayer, for instance. I kinda went 'off' VLC a while back, and prefer SMPlayer for most things now).

However, if I have to, I suppose I could be 'persuaded' to go back to VLC..!!


Mike.

[OscarTalks]

@ Gary
Excellent news that it appears to be working.
When searching the web for clues the other day I did come across a "How To" which mentioned something about having to accept the cert.
Awaiting any further reports

@ Mike
My understanding now is that it does in fact work without the need for any Chromium browser

By the way, I tested my Iron 58 in Stretch today and it does not have the "Cast" menu item for some unknown reason, BUT my Iron 63 runs in Stretch out of the box and that does have "Cast" (if anyone wants to use the browser method). I am not sure if SRWare have produced a 32bit Iron 65, there is talk of them not having done so because of "a bug".

I believe SMplayer does require the browser so this makes the option of using VLC look a bit more attractive

[Mike Walsh]

@ Oscar:-

By the way, I tested my Iron 58 in Stretch today and it does not have the "Cast" menu item for some unknown reason, BUT my Iron 63 runs in Stretch out of the box and that does have "Cast" (if anyone wants to use the browser method).

Odd. The Iron 58 I have running in 'Chromepup' definitely has the 'Cast' option in the context menu. You do the same as me, I think? D/l the Iron tarballs.....not the .deb packages?

BTW; a question, if I may. Let me get this straight. I take it the 'Cast' option in the browser is for 'casting' streaming content you have running in the browser, yes? Whereas VLC could be used for 'casting' a 'local' video file?

Just want to test my understanding, y'know?


Mike.

[hamoudoudou]

SFS loaded on the fly Pupjibaro Stretch . Two tries are succesfull.
MPV is installed on this Pupjibaro as default Mediaplayer. VLC loaded for feedback purpose only. Not tested deeper. Josejp2424 informed via Nilson Morales As soon as they post something in My facebook

[OscarTalks]

Hi Mike,

I may need to re-visit my Iron 58 package situation as it is still quite useful for "middle aged" Puppies. I can't remember now if it was made from the tarball or the .deb

I am unsure of the practicalities of casting from a browser. I will leave it to someone who has the Chromecast device to give details. One thought that did cross my mind is that someone may wish to test SMplayer 18.3.0 in combination with Iron 63 as I have packages of those two programs which will run in Stretch Pup.

[WiZard]

@oscar
streamed a full movie last night and tested the controls, all working. Also created an .mp3 audio playlist and cast them, no issues.

In the Win VLC version, when you play a .mp3, VLC will pull the album cover art from the internet and display it while the song plays. The linux version does not do this. I checked VLC version 2.10 & 2.15 and they do not display the art either. This is a minor thing and in no way affects casting, just thought I would note it.

I tested your Iron 63 and it had the same problem as VLC , no device is found.

@mike
As oscar noted VLC does not depend on the Chrome/Chromium browser for casting and I don't have one loaded on my test install.

I tested SMplayer and thought the casting was a little convoluted since you start the casting and it has to open Chrome/Chromium browser to actually cast. This also requires that Chrome/Chromium browser is your default browser.

Using a browser with casting built in lets you cast your desktop or internet content. There are also extensions that let you cast local content. Only problem there is the extension may not be able to transcode if necessary so the files won't play.

IMO the advantage of using VLC for casting is it ability to play almost any file format located anywhere. Video, audio, 3GP, ASF, AVI, DVR-MS, FLV, Matroska (MKV), MIDI, QuickTime File Format, MP4, Ogg, OGM, WAV, MPEG-2 (ES, PS, TS, PVA, MP3), AIFF, Raw audio, Raw DV, MXF, VOB, RM, DVD-Video, VCD, SVCD, CD Audio, DVB. If it can play then it can cast since VLC will transcode on the fly if necessary. In addition I think it has better play controls that most of the alternatives.

Gary

[OscarTalks]

My first test build of VLC 3.0.2 is now uploaded if anyone wants to give it a try.
Take precautions as always.
Compiled in Radky's Dpup Stretch in the same build environment as the previous version. Probably not suitable for other Puppies. I will leave the 3.0.1 package up for a while.
See first post.

[WiZard]

HI Oscar
Did a quick test with dpup stretch 7.5 and .sfs version. Chromecast working fine with .mp4 video and .mp3 audio files.

Thanks
Gary