[HOWTO] Streaming in Linux

[[BOT]Naib]

So you want to stream like the pro's do BUT you are a linux what todo?

Well windows users can do: LibrtiORDeth guide but the thing is this requires

#1 Flash Media Encoder RUNNING
#2 VH Screen Capture driver INSTALLED
#3 HoN (or some other app you plan to stream from your desktop)
(or via Xplit)

Problem with this is FME and the capture driver are windows-ONLY and there is no interest to provide such applications for linux.

So how to stream in linux. The requirements are actually quite simple
#1 Some means to capture the desktop
#2 Some means to capture sound (if interested)
#3 Some means to export via RTMP



VideoLAN (VLC) can capture the desktop and export via RTMP. It can also work in junction with JustinTV's commandline application.
Problem is so far no way to capture sound for linux (the option exists for windows)



WebcamStudio is a JAVA application that has a virtual webcam driver (will capture the desktop), it can then be used via streaming sites that connect to a webcam (JTV,Ustream) or can do FME broadcasting (as accepted by: Bambuser, Justin.tv, Feedocast)

There are however a few problems
#1 JAVA-based, can be quite CPU intensive and laggy
#2 the kernel module that is required for vloopback is ONLY for kernel-2.6.28, some hacking has managed to allow this to run on newer kernels but not the latest
#3 no sound

So how todo it?


FFFMPEG is a very powerful tool which follows the traditional *NIX philosophy of do one thing and do it well. FFMPEG job is to re-encode media and it does it very well

It can take different formats in and output in different formats.

So how todo it?

streaming() {
INRES="1920x1080" # input resolution
OUTRES="640x360"
FPS="15" # target FPS
QUAL="fast"  # one of the many FFMPEG preset
STREAM_KEY="$1"
URL="rtmp://live.justin.tv/app/$STREAM_KEY" #flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0)"  

#ffmpeg -f x11grab -s "$INRES" -r "$FPS" -i :0.0 -ab 22050\
# -f alsa -ac 2 -i pulse -vcodec libx264 -s "$OUTRES" -level 30 -f mpegts \
# -acodec libmp3lame -ac 1  \
# -f flv "$URL"




ffmpeg -f x11grab -s "$INRES" -r "$FPS" -i :0.0  -ab 96k \
    -f alsa -ac 2 -i pulse -vcodec libx264 -crf 30 -preset "$QUAL" -s "1280x720" \
    -acodec libmp3lame -ar 44100 -threads 0 \
    -f flv "$URL"
}

With this placed into your ~/.bashrc (or saved as a script file) a convenient console command streaming will be available and can be launched:

$ streaming live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



There are a few variables that the user can set
INRES set to the desktop resolution
OUTRES sets the target resolution
FPS sets the desired FPS
QUAL sets FFMPEG preset configs for the x264 video encoder, including:


baseline
ipod320
ipod640
fast
max
medium
slow
slower
ultrafast


This option will determine the quality of the stream,how much bandwidth is needed (higher quality == more bandwidth), how much processing power is needed



Once set the bash function can be launched:

$ stream live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
where live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is the justin.tv live stream key (renews every day) obtainable from your login page.




Once you are up and streaming the sound associated with your stream will more than likely be just your mic. This is where PulseAudio comes in.
For all its problems (and it had alot when it 1st came out) it is very good these days. It will combine the Audio-IN and Audio-OUT feeds together

You will need to launch: pavucontrol




One word of warning when it comes to streaming.
WHATEVER you see on your monitor is what is broadcasted into the ether for anyone watching to see.
If you have anywhere on the screen, be it from your Justin.TV page, the commandline, EVEN the executing script the JTV key live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is visible people can,do,will and have use it to hijack your stream, stream pr0n or anything else and get your JTV account locked

[theShrimp]

Wow, was just roaming around the HoN forums and found this. That's what I searched for long time ago.

I've installed FFmpeg and created my JTV account. Edited my .bashrc and rebooted my comp.

The streaming command seems to work fine but I have a lil problem.

dominik@Dome-desktop:~$ streaming live_xxx
FFmpeg version 0.6-4:0.6-2ubuntu6, Copyright (c) 2000-2010 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Oct  5 2010 22:36:53 with gcc 4.4.5
  configuration: --extra-version=4:0.6-2ubuntu6 --prefix=/usr --enable-avfilter --enable-avfilter-lavf --enable-vdpau --enable-bzlib --enable-libgsm --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-vaapi --enable-pthreads --enable-zlib --enable-libvpx --disable-stripping --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libdc1394 --enable-shared --disable-static
  WARNING: library configuration mismatch
  libavutil   configuration: --extra-version=4:0.6-2ubuntu3 --prefix=/usr --enable-avfilter --enable-avfilter-lavf --enable-vdpau --enable-bzlib --enable-libdirac --enable-libgsm --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-vaapi --enable-pthreads --enable-zlib --enable-libvpx --disable-stripping --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-libmp3lame --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libfaad --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-librtmp --enable-libdc1394 --enable-shared --disable-static
  libavcodec  configuration: --extra-version=4:0.6-2ubuntu3 --prefix=/usr --enable-avfilter --enable-avfilter-lavf --enable-vdpau --enable-bzlib --enable-libdirac --enable-libgsm --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-vaapi --enable-pthreads --enable-zlib --enable-libvpx --disable-stripping --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-libmp3lame --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libfaad --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-librtmp --enable-libdc1394 --enable-shared --disable-static
  libavutil     50.15. 1 / 50.15. 1
  libavcodec    52.72. 2 / 52.72. 2
  libavformat   52.64. 2 / 52.64. 2
  libavdevice   52. 2. 0 / 52. 2. 0
  libavfilter    1.19. 0 /  1.19. 0
  libswscale     0.11. 0 /  0.11. 0
  libpostproc   51. 2. 0 / 51. 2. 0
[x11grab @ 0x140e640]device: :0.0 -> display: :0.0 x: 0 y: 0 width: 1680 height: 1050
[x11grab @ 0x140e640]shared memory extension  found
[x11grab @ 0x140e640]Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #0, x11grab, from ':0.0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1299410741.644296, bitrate: 1128960 kb/s
    Stream #0.0: Video: rawvideo, bgra, 1680x1050, 1128960 kb/s, 20 tbr, 1000k tbn, 20 tbc
[alsa @ 0x141c750]capture with some ALSA plugins, especially dsnoop, may hang.
[alsa @ 0x141c750]Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #1, alsa, from 'pulse':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1299410741.714225, bitrate: N/A
    Stream #1.0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 1411 kb/s
Server error: Authentication Failed.
rtmp://live.justin.tv/app/ flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0): Input/output error

What's the problem? Where to enter my login information? I used the correct live_xxx key from my account. (that's at least what I think)
I downloaded that file: http://www.justin.tv/broadcast/fmle3_config (was logged in with my account information) and searched for the key. Got my key from that file.

Thank you Naib, for the great work; you put all informations together

[theShrimp]

Bump any1.

[[BOT]Naib]

This looks like either network (ei the rtmp port blocked) or the wrong key.

I get my key from:
http://www.justin.tv/broadcast/adv_other

and clicking on the Stream Key: Show link & highlight, middleclick

[theShrimp]

This looks like either network (ei the rtmp port blocked) or the wrong key.

I get my key from:
http://www.justin.tv/broadcast/adv_other

and clicking on the Stream Key: Show link & highlight, middleclick

Same key.
Well I'll check my router settings etc. Ty

But I don't think sth. is wrong.

[[BOT]Naib]

Spotted the issue.
When I had that bash function on my HDD I had used different variables, when I went to paste here I decided to change the variables problem was I didn't change all occurances


re-read 1st post and re-copy the function

[theShrimp]

Hm, don't know whats wrong. The key is correct and I also forwarded the default RTMP port 1935 to my local address. (isn't needed but anyways)

I don't use a firewall or sth. similar. For example incoming SSH connections also work. But this is a outgoing connection. Shouldn't get any problems here...

I used to stream via xFire under winOS. Nothing I should compare with I know. But I have no clue why it's not working.

[theShrimp]

Spotted the issue.
When I had that bash function on my HDD I had used different variables, when I went to paste here I decided to change the variables problem was I didn't change all occurances


re-read 1st post and re-copy the function

Oh, sounds great. Giving it a shot. brb

(ignore the post above)

Didn't read the code aaaaaahahah. That's something I should have found out with my one year C++ knowledge. :P

[[BOT]Naib]

Hm, don't know whats wrong. The key is correct and I also forwarded the default RTMP port 1935 to my local address. (isn't needed but anyways)

I don't use a firewall or sth. similar. For example incoming SSH connections also work. But this is a outgoing connection. Shouldn't get any problems here...

I used to stream via xFire under winOS. Nothing I should compare with I know. But I have no clue why it's not working.

Its not your end, it was a bug in my shell function.
Copy the updated one from the OP

[theShrimp]

I have to admit it's maybe my problem.

Change the code to:

streaming() {
INRES="1680x1050" # input resolution
OUTRES="1024x576"
FPS="20" # target FPS
QUAL="fast"  # one of the many FFMPEG preset
STREAM_KEY="$1"

ffmpeg -f x11grab -s "$INRES" -r "$FPS" -i :0.0 \
 -f alsa -ac 2 -i pulse -vcodec libx264 -vpre "$QUAL" -s "$OUTRES" \
 -acodec libmp3lame -ab 128k -threads 0  \
 -f flv "rtmp://live.justin.tv/app/$STREAM_KEY flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0)"  
}

Same error:

dominik@Dome-desktop:~$ streaming live_xxx
FFmpeg version 0.6-4:0.6-2ubuntu6, Copyright (c) 2000-2010 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Oct  5 2010 22:36:53 with gcc 4.4.5
  configuration: --extra-version=4:0.6-2ubuntu6 --prefix=/usr --enable-avfilter --enable-avfilter-lavf --enable-vdpau --enable-bzlib --enable-libgsm --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-vaapi --enable-pthreads --enable-zlib --enable-libvpx --disable-stripping --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libdc1394 --enable-shared --disable-static
  WARNING: library configuration mismatch
  libavutil   configuration: --extra-version=4:0.6-2ubuntu3 --prefix=/usr --enable-avfilter --enable-avfilter-lavf --enable-vdpau --enable-bzlib --enable-libdirac --enable-libgsm --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-vaapi --enable-pthreads --enable-zlib --enable-libvpx --disable-stripping --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-libmp3lame --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libfaad --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-librtmp --enable-libdc1394 --enable-shared --disable-static
  libavcodec  configuration: --extra-version=4:0.6-2ubuntu3 --prefix=/usr --enable-avfilter --enable-avfilter-lavf --enable-vdpau --enable-bzlib --enable-libdirac --enable-libgsm --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-vaapi --enable-pthreads --enable-zlib --enable-libvpx --disable-stripping --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-libmp3lame --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libfaad --enable-libxvid --enable-libx264 --enable-librtmp --enable-libdc1394 --enable-shared --disable-static
  libavutil     50.15. 1 / 50.15. 1
  libavcodec    52.72. 2 / 52.72. 2
  libavformat   52.64. 2 / 52.64. 2
  libavdevice   52. 2. 0 / 52. 2. 0
  libavfilter    1.19. 0 /  1.19. 0
  libswscale     0.11. 0 /  0.11. 0
  libpostproc   51. 2. 0 / 51. 2. 0
[x11grab @ 0x1f3e640]device: :0.0 -> display: :0.0 x: 0 y: 0 width: 1680 height: 1050
[x11grab @ 0x1f3e640]shared memory extension  found
[x11grab @ 0x1f3e640]Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #0, x11grab, from ':0.0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1299495763.390100, bitrate: 1128960 kb/s
    Stream #0.0: Video: rawvideo, bgra, 1680x1050, 1128960 kb/s, 20 tbr, 1000k tbn, 20 tbc
[alsa @ 0x1f4c750]capture with some ALSA plugins, especially dsnoop, may hang.
[alsa @ 0x1f4c750]Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #1, alsa, from 'pulse':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1299495763.461662, bitrate: N/A
    Stream #1.0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 1411 kb/s
Server error: Authentication Failed.
rtmp://live.justin.tv/app/live_xxx flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0): Input/output error

[theShrimp]

Is it OK for you if I send you my streaming key (no worry, it's an unknown chan :P) and you try it. Just to cancel out one more problem.

[[BOT]Naib]

I can try later sure (like in 8h) work atm so I can't try it here

[theShrimp]

I don't think the problem is the login/key cause when I change the key I get the exact same error. And I know it's correct.

I think more about "Input/output error" in the last line now.

I also recompiled "ffmpeg" and "x264" new and reinstalled them. Didn't change anything.

When I change the input res to for example 1680x1051 the script doesn't work completely, I get a different error message.
I also tried some different output res.

Is that normal btw?:

PING live.justin.tv (199.9.249.11) 56(84) bytes of data.
From washington-city-paper.demarc.cogentco.com (38.104.56.22) icmp_seq=3 Packet filtered
From washington-city-paper.demarc.cogentco.com (38.104.56.22) icmp_seq=4 Packet filtered
.
.
.

Server blocking me?

dominik@Dome-desktop:~/Desktop$ ping google.de
PING google.de (74.125.230.84) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 74.125.230.84: icmp_req=1 ttl=54 time=23.6 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.230.84: icmp_req=2 ttl=54 time=22.6 ms

Just listing some things I've tried.

Crosslink: Created a thread in the JTV forums: http://community.justin.tv/forums/sh...ad.php?p=30713

[[BOT]Naib]

ok I tried the key you sent in the PM

[alsa @ 0x64eec0] capture with some ALSA plugins, especially dsnoop, may hang.
[alsa @ 0x64eec0] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #1, alsa, from 'pulse':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1299526006.804731, bitrate: N/A
    Stream #1.0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 1411 kb/s
[buffer @ 0x697ac0] w:1280 h:1024 pixfmt:bgra
[scale @ 0x6b5530] w:1280 h:1024 fmt:bgra -> w:640 h:512 fmt:yuv420p flags:0xa0000004
[libx264 @ 0x6757b0] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 FastShuffle SSE4.2
[libx264 @ 0x6757b0] profile High, level 2.2
[libx264 @ 0x6757b0] 264 - core 114 - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2011 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=1 ref=2 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x3:0x113 me=hex subme=6 psy=1 psy_rd=1.00:0.00 mixed_ref=1 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=1 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=1 chroma_qp_offset=-2 threads=12 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=2 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 weightb=1 open_gop=0 weightp=2 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 intra_refresh=0 rc_lookahead=30 rc=abr mbtree=1 bitrate=200 ratetol=1.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=10 qpmax=51 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.41 aq=1:1.00
Output #0, flv, to 'rtmp://live.justin.tv/app/live_xxxxxxxxxxxxx flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0)':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf52.84.0
    Stream #0.0: Video: libx264, yuv420p, 640x512, q=10-51, 200 kb/s, 1k tbn, 15 tbc
    Stream #0.1: Audio: libmp3lame, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 128 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
  Stream #1.0 -> #0.1
Press [q] to stop encoding
frame=   78 fps= 13 q=-1.0 Lsize=     170kB time=3.74 bitrate= 373.1kbits/s dup=0 drop=14    op=10    
video:108kB audio:58kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 2.487676%
frame I:1     Avg QP:28.18  size: 32406
CTRL-c

So the key and script seems valid. What isn't then is you contacting jtv.

You could try ustream they accept streaming via rtmp in a very similar way and the modifications requirerd would be minimal

[theShrimp]

Ty very much. Will try to fix the prob myself now.

Thank you

[theShrimp]

I think I'm to stupid to convert the script using ustream.

Anyone has an idea what to do? It's really bothering me.

[[BOT]Naib]

Login to ustream
Click your name at the top (to enter your account settings)
Click on "Manage Your Show" (spanner icon)
Click on "Settings" (in the expanded menu)
Advanced settings (at the bottom)
There should be an option to download the xml for FME
Edit this file and there should be two parts, a URL and a key

            <url>rtmp://1.7356661.fme.ustream.tv/ustreamVideo/######</url>
            <backup_url></backup_url>
            <stream>Axxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</stream>

Then you need a slightly modified script:

streaming() {
INRES="1280x1024" # input resolution
OUTRES="640x512"
FPS="15" # target FPS
QUAL="fast"  # one of the many FFMPEG preset


URL="rtmp://1.7356661.fme.ustream.tv/ustreamVideo/#######/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0)"


ffmpeg -f x11grab -s "$INRES" -r "$FPS" -i :0.0 \
 -f alsa -ac 2 -i pulse -vcodec libx264 -vpre "$QUAL" -s "$OUTRES" \
 -acodec libmp3lame -ab 128k -threads 0  \
 -f flv "$URL"
 }

Ill tidy this up so it is a bit easier to work with w.r.t. jtv and ustream later, prob working from the fme file directly

[theShrimp]

Great! You are one of the best moderators I've seen so far.
Good and fast answers.

But switching to ustream did not work out.

dominik@Dome-desktop:~$ streaming
FFmpeg version git-f4f4e12, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Mar  7 2011 13:13:40 with gcc 4.4.5
  configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-nonfree --enable-postproc --enable-libfaac --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-libxvid --enable-x11grab
  libavutil    50. 39. 0 / 50. 39. 0
  libavcodec   52.113. 2 / 52.113. 2
  libavformat  52.102. 0 / 52.102. 0
  libavdevice  52.  2. 3 / 52.  2. 3
  libavfilter   1. 76. 0 /  1. 76. 0
  libswscale    0. 12. 0 /  0. 12. 0
  libpostproc  51.  2. 0 / 51.  2. 0
[x11grab @ 0x2b235f0] device: :0.0 -> display: :0.0 x: 0 y: 0 width: 1680 height: 1050
[x11grab @ 0x2b235f0] shared memory extension  found
[x11grab @ 0x2b235f0] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #0, x11grab, from ':0.0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1299536681.591751, bitrate: 1128960 kb/s
    Stream #0.0: Video: rawvideo, bgra, 1680x1050, 1128960 kb/s, 20 tbr, 1000k tbn, 20 tbc
[alsa @ 0x2b30fa0] capture with some ALSA plugins, especially dsnoop, may hang.
[alsa @ 0x2b30fa0] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #1, alsa, from 'pulse':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1299536681.701295, bitrate: N/A
    Stream #1.0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 1411 kb/s
rtmp://1.6216020.fme.ustream.tv/ustreamVideo/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxx flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0): Input/output error

streaming() {
INRES="1680x1050" # input resolution
OUTRES="1280x800"
FPS="20" # target FPS
QUAL="fast"  # one of the many FFMPEG preset


URL="rtmp://1.6216020.fme.ustream.tv/ustreamVideo/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxx flashver=FMLE/3.0\20(compatible;\20FMSc/1.0)"


ffmpeg -f x11grab -s "$INRES" -r "$FPS" -i :0.0 \
 -f alsa -ac 2 -i pulse -vcodec libx264 -vpre "$QUAL" -s "$OUTRES" \
 -acodec libmp3lame -ab 128k -threads 0  \
 -f flv "$URL"
 }

I'll just give it up...
Can't figure out whats failing.

Ty anyways!

[[BOT]Naib]

What distro? is it a source-based distro?

[theShrimp]

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverik Meercat
So no.