After spending the last year game programming on the iPhone, I’ve finally returned to Android. My six prior tutorials were outdated (Android v1.0) so I took the time to update them to v1.5 (Cupcake). The most popular of those tutorials was the Streaming MediaPlayer tutorial so that’s the primary focus of this post.
At the time of initially writing the streaming tutorial, Android’s media streaming function didn’t work well so I wrote my own. As of v1.5 however, Android’s MediaPlayer streams very well. That said, it’s still useful to know how to retrieve a media file from a server and store it on the device. This would be useful to immediate replay of the file at a later date or for caching files for later playback ‘off the grid’.
Download the source files to get started immediately and then view the rest of the tutorial after the jump.
You may want to look at my old Android v1.0 streaming tutorial for additional details. I don’t want to rewrite that post completely so I’ll mostly focus here on the changes required for Android v1.5. That said, there is very little difference between my old tutorial and this new one.
The most important change is that MediaPlayer.setDataSource() now takes a FileDescriptor instead of a String path to the media File. It seems the reason to use FileDescriptors is for security/permission reasons. In either case though, passing a String path to our media File resulted in errors such as “PVMFErrNotSupported” and “Prepare failed.: status=0×1″. So until I learn otherwise, I recommend using FileDescriptor for the MediaPlayer.
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(mediaFile);
mPlayer.setDataSource(fis.getFD());
The only other change is I can no longer find any File move functionality it Android so I wrote my own. It does exactly what it says, it moves data in one File to a new File location. This is used while streaming the media file so we can double buffer it. The double buffering allows us to simulaneously download to one File while playing from another File. We sync the downloaded data between the Files as more data is downloaded:
public void moveFile(File oldLocation, File newLocation) throws IOException
Download the source files for all the tutorials. The streaming media tutorial available by clicking button #3. Don’t forget to look at my old Android v1.0 streaming tutorial for additional details.
I implemented your new revision and it works fine for the first file I play albeit with a stutter at data swaps. I can’t seem to get it to load any subsequent files though. I’ve gone so far as trying to load a new instance of it, but it merely crashes the program. Any ideas or hints you can give me?
Thanks
The tutorial app was only designed to load & play a single file. You would need to add MediaPlayer shutdown and cleanup at the end of the file playing for it to download and play another file (exercise for the reader).
With a restart though, I was able to load and reload files without problems. What error message are you getting?
I try to use this to play a shoutcast but there are always gaps between the files.
Any ideas how to improve this?
I tried different buffer sizes, but there is no solution.
I’m using the code from the 1.5 tutorial.
I’m getting the “PVMFErrNotSupported”-failure, too
Hi Tim,
The gap issue is already discussed by others on this post (see Tiger’s post) and the PVMFErrNotSupported is discussed in the tutorial itself.
Hello again,
I managed to solve the “PVMFErrNotSupported”-failure, somehow – but the gaps still exist and I have no idea about handling them. Tiger’s post didn’t help either.
The gaps were reduced (just a few msecs) by using two media-players like here: http://code.google.com/p/mynpr/source/browse/trunk/mynpr/src/com/webeclubbin/mynpr/StreamingMediaPlayer.java
Is using a local server the only method to kill the gaps?
Regards
Thanks for the rapid response!!
I’m not getting any errors… none that I can detect anyway. I tried reseting the mediaplayer before calling startstreaming(…) again, but that didn’t work either, it didn’t do anything. If I had an idea as to where it was locking up it would make it much easier to fix.
At this point with the new sdks, is this still a beneficial route to go for streaming? Doesn’t the standard mediaplayer buffer the data? The only real reason I’m going through all this is because I want the entire mp3 file loaded on to the device so if someone rewinds/fastforwards the file doesn’t reload from the server and I’m not sure if mediaplayer does this automatically.
I’m unsure how Android handles the buffering upon fast forward/rewind. My tutorial was written before Android’s streaming was working well. I’m fairly happy with the built-in streaming of v1.5 so I don’t use my own code anymore.
Anthony
I have modify code little bit so it can work on my HTC Tattoo (1.6). Then I tried it and it’s not working. when I press button play it start downloading file without playing anything.
I’m begginer in Android programming.
Help please … thanks.
What error messages do you see?
No errors … downloading mp3 file and that it’s …
I cant hear anything …
here is my code
http://www.mijailovici.com/download/android/new1.zip
thank you very much for your help.
I am trying to do some live video delivery to the android platform. I have done this for the iPhone and given Apple’s HTTP adaptive streaming, this is made very easy. But not so on Android. What path would you recommend?
I am writing along the lines of what you have done (thanks for the examples) but I don’t want to have glitches when switching between files. Would be made simpler if there was a way for Android to implement something like M3U8 or another video playlist playback mechanism.
Hi Din Din,
I didn’t include this in the tutorial as I wasn’t sure it would work at the time. However as the MediaPlayer is currently written, you don’t need to double buffer the streamed media as in the current tutorial. You can actually just write directly the file as it’s playing.
You would need to add logic to pause playback if the playback exceeds the amount of downloaded file though.
Anthony
I discovered this today. The only catch (in my case anyway) is that you have to allocate space for the entire file first.
Hi Hapoo,
You can always allocate a given amount of file space and stream to it until it’s full. At that point, allocate a new File for streaming then create a new MediaPlayer to point to the new File.
Could anybody please explain how to pre-allocate the memory in SDCard so that no other application can access this space. If we are maintaining a queue for downloading, how to pre-allocate(or lock) a partcular amount memory space in external storage, so that whatever in queue can be downloaded safely. Is there any other work arround than filling the space with dummy data?
. Could anybody please explain how to pre-allocate the memory in SDCard so that no other application can access this space. If we are maintaining a queue for downloading, how to pre-allocate(or lock) a partcular amount memory space in external storage, so that whatever in queue can be downloaded safely. Is there any other work arround than filling the space with dummy data??
Hi Nenad,
It would be easiest if you could quickly tell me how you altered the code to work on your Tattoo. Also explain why you had to alter it to work on your Tattoo.
Thanks,
Anthony
It’s working
I was thinking that I need to change version to 1.6.
Thanks.
Is it posible to stop mp immediately when I press back button?
Now it’s playing whole (downloaded part) of mp3 file.
Your Tutorials are fantastic!
Thank you very much for helping us to learn programming in Android!
You can setup the MediaPlayer to stop and restart. Just listen to the buttons, test for the MedaPlayers current state (playing, paused), and take the appropriate action.
Just out of curiousity, will this work on a real stream ? Not by streaming a (size definite) MP3 file from a server… And if so what kind of modifications does the code need ?
First that would depend on the format of the stream and whether Android’s MediaPlayer supports that media format. Android’s media support is fairly minimal.
If it was a supported stream though, I would recommend simply using Android’s MediaPlayer as there would seem to be little reason to download and cache the stream yourself.
However if the stream was supported, then I don’t know why this approach would not work.
well basically because in your code I see that you are supplying a size to the startStreaming() method of the StreamingMediaPlayer class
public void startStreaming(final String mediaUrl, long mediaLengthInKb, long mediaLengthInSeconds)
so what should be supplied for a real stream ?
Also the formats would be (ideally) AAC(+)/MP3/AMR-WB throught rtsp or http…
My tests confirm a working MP3 through rtsp with the inbuilt mediaplayer but for example I am not able to play a .3gp rtsp stream using AAC+…
Any idea’s or experiences on how to get that to work ?
Hi Tiger,
I just looked at the supported media types for Android:
http://developer.android.com/intl/zh-CN/guide/appendix/media-formats.html
That list doesn’t say anything about support for streaming formats. File-based media typically have a header with information about the file. Streams provide that information in other ways. That would seem to preclude saving the stream to a file for replay as a file-based format.
In short unless Android supports streamed audio, I doubt this tutorial would be much help.
hhmmm ok, sounds plausible
Not very happy to hear that even with a new and modern platform we still aren’t able to actually stream AAC(+) content… Seems like they looked a lot at J2ME and decided that a 6 year old platform still is a good way to go
I did try your project, and it works, but I did notice that on my device (Android dev Phone 2, which is a HTC Magic running 1.6) the “holes” inbetween the played pieces have a tendency to grow through time… So if the first couple of switches between chunks souns decent after 6-7 switches it will start to have holes of several seconds… Is this normal ?
There shouldn’t be any gaps in the downloaded audio files. Are you saying that once you’ve downloaded the audio files, the final file residing on the device has gaps in the audio?
What audio file are you streaming? Could you confirm this by streaming this file:
http://www.pocketjourney.com/downloads/pj/video/famous.3gp
Hi,
first of all sorry for the old reply but here it is :
[quote]Are you saying that once you’ve downloaded the audio files, the final file residing on the device has gaps in the audio? [/quote]
Nope the files themselves were ok, but there is a gap which keeps getting bigger inbetween the stopping of a file and the starting up of the next one… So inbetween “chunks” (files in this case)…
I heard though that ogg would be faster thus completely removing those gaps, only my source is mp3 so is there some way, to your knwoledge, to encode mp3 to ogg in Android itself ?
Hey.. thanks for the excellent tutorials and the time you have put in to help everyone developing android apps.
I am working on something which is close to the streaming media player but a little different. I want to be listening on a port on my phone for some raw audio data, that will be sent from a location on my network using netcat. I pretty much want to perform a netcat listen function on my android and pipe out the data to the audio hardware. You must have worked or heard about the AudioRecord and AudioTrack classes which give access to raw media.
I was wondering if you could refine the following algorithm for me and point me to the implementation, as I know a bit of java but not too confident with using Sockets, Pipes and Android stuff.
The procedure i am planning to use is:
1) Use a new ServerSocket(port) to listen on particular port.
2) The other side connects to this port using netcat :
3) Make a new Pipe which takes the outputstream from the socket, and feeds it into the input of the audio hardware.
4) Use methods from AudioTrack to play the raw audio in real time
Any help in this area would be very much appreciated, as I have been struggling to find anything in this area.
Cheers..
Tanmay
Hi Tanmay,
That’s quite the challenge you’ve set for yourself. Seems like mostly a networking challenge at this point to get the audio onto the phone. (1) should be easy as I’m sure there’s documentation on the web about it.
For (2), I don’t know anything about netcat. Why are you using it? I assume there’s a reason you’re connecting from the server to the phone rather than vice versa? I would guess you want to push the data to the phone but don’t want the phone wasting battery power by constantly polling the server for data.
How is your server going to discover the IP address of your phone though? My worry is that the IP address changes as the phone roams.
(3) should be documented on the web. For (4), look here:
http://hashspeaks.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/audiorecord-part-4/
Hey, Thanks for the prompt reply.
Yup, its a challenging one, but quite fun to do ! I will probably elaborate on my project a bit more to give u a slight picture of what we I am doing.
My first step, which is complete now, was to look at MightyOhms Wifi Radio Project and transform it into a full duplex audio comms system between two routers (with USB sound cards) by installing OpenWRT on it. Its just a linux flavour to unleash your router. I set up one of the routers as an Access point and the other as a client, and by using netcat as I said above and a recorder/player program on the routers I was able to achieve this setup.
So all that is good. Now, I was looking at replacing the client side router, with another wifi client..ie. the Android phone.
The comms has to be real time, thats why I am not going for polling. IP address on roaming is not an issue, as being my own lan, I can use static IP addressing.
So yeah, this will help me establish a 2 way audio path.
For step (4), i already looked at the code from http://hashspeaks.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/audiorecord-part-4/ and made it into an android project, however, when I heard what I recorded, It seemed like something is overdriving the microphone. And I seem to be having no control on that via the API. Whatever I record closet to the phone turns into clipped garbage, but sounds from far away are clear.
It would be a huge help if you could test that code on hashirs blog on an android G1 phone running 1.6(which I tested it on) , so that I can confirm its not something I am doing wrong or something to do with my phone.
Many thanks
Tanmay
Hi Tanmay,
I’m using Hashir’s code to record from both a G1 & HTC Ion’s microphone. The only problem I’ve found is that 8 bit audio has a problem. If I use 16 bit, everything works fine.
Hey .. Just found the solution to my problem !
It was just endianness ! I shud hv been careful while playing the file on an intel PC, and specify Big endian format for audio. My problem was that it was recording correctly, but listening in the wrong format introduces noise in the recording (but still records ..which is why i never thought it cud be the parameters) ! I heard the right one in audacity, as it let me choose between endianness.
All sorted now, thank you for the help.
Now onto the networking stuff !
Cheers.
Tanmay
Hi Biosopher,
Thanks for the excellent tutorial.
I currently record sound from the mic and save it to a 3gp file on the sdcard.
What I want to do is be able to record straight from the mic and play what I’m recording back out with only a 1 second delay.
Is this possible do you know? Would the code from your StreamingMediaPlayer be usable with changes to do this and a good place to start?
Hi Draffodx,
You can follow Hashir’s blog post to record audio:
http://hashspeaks.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/audiorecord-part-4/
Then follow this blog post to play it:
http://www.supergnes.com/blog/?p=70
Hi, I tried to run your streaming program but I got these errors in logCat :
01-21 20:41:23.995: ERROR/Player(1839): 122880
01-21 20:41:23.995: ERROR/Player(1839): /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia1.dat
01-21 20:41:24.165: ERROR/PlayerDriver(51): Command PLAYER_SET_DATA_SOURCE completed with an error or info PVMFErrNotSupported
01-21 20:41:24.175: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (1, -4)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): Error initializing the MediaPlaer.
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): java.io.IOException: Prepare failed.: status=0×1
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at android.media.MediaPlayer.prepare(Native Method)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.startMediaPlayer(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:185)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.access$2(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:173)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer$2.run(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:153)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4203)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:791)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:549)
01-21 20:41:24.185: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1839): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
01-21 20:41:24.185: WARN/PlayerDriver(51): PVMFInfoErrorHandlingComplete
01-21 20:41:24.195: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.195: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.195: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.205: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.205: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.205: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.215: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.215: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.215: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.215: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.215: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.215: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.225: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.225: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.225: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
01-21 20:41:24.225: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): error (-38, 0)
01-21 20:41:24.235: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Error (-38,0)
01-21 20:41:24.235: ERROR/MediaPlayer(1839): Error (-38,0)
and continuing….
So what is it causing for I can’t understand. I’m trying to run it on real device and my SDK is 1.6
I’m waiting for the reply.
thanks,
mitu
Hi mitu,
Seems like you’re using a file format that isn’t supported by Android. Only these formats are supported:
http://developer.android.com/intl/zh-CN/guide/appendix/media-formats.html
You can try using this file for testing as .3gp is supported by Android: http://www.pocketjourney.com/downloads/pj/video/famous.3gp
hi Biosopher, I tried it with mp3 format and I found it is supported media format. In fact I tried to run it with your codebase url without changing it and got previuos errors that I posted to you. Now I tried with wma format uploading to my own site and got the following error in logCat:
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): Error updating to newly loaded content.
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): java.lang.NullPointerException
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.transferBufferToMediaPlayer(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:205)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.access$3(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:201)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer$5.run(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:265)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4203)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:791)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:549)
01-22 14:10:15.965: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
So please show me the way what I should do or if anything I’m doing wrong.
Thanks,
mitu
Sorry to mention that My device is T-Mobile running Android 1.6
thanks,
mitu
Hi Mitu,
I just download the tutorial and installed it onto my HTC Ion running Android v1.6. It played two different .mp3 without a problem.
ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(628): java.lang.NullPointerException
Judging from this part of your error message though, you’re getting a NullPointerException for some reason. Run debug and let me know what’s causing it.
Hello Biosopher, It’s been a long time I didn’t get here. I was busy with my other works and missed to come here. Still no hope but persist these error logs:
02-09 18:19:49.754: ERROR/Player(3639): 121544
02-09 18:19:49.754: ERROR/Player(3639): /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia1.dat
02-09 18:19:49.944: ERROR/PlayerDriver(51): Command PLAYER_SET_DATA_SOURCE completed with an error or info PVMFErrNotSupported
02-09 18:19:49.944: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (1, -4)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): Error initializing the MediaPlaer.
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): java.io.IOException: Prepare failed.: status=0×1
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at android.media.MediaPlayer.prepare(Native Method)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.startMediaPlayer(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:170)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.access$2(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:159)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer$2.run(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:143)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4203)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:791)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:549)
02-09 18:19:49.954: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(3639): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
02-09 18:19:49.964: WARN/PlayerDriver(51): PVMFInfoErrorHandlingComplete
02-09 18:19:49.974: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:49.974: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:49.974: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:49.974: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:49.974: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:49.974: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:49.984: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:49.984: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:49.984: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:49.984: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:49.994: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:49.994: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:49.994: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:49.994: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:50.004: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Attempt to call getDuration without a valid mediaplayer
02-09 18:19:50.004: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): error (-38, 0)
02-09 18:19:50.014: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Error (-38,0)
02-09 18:19:50.014: ERROR/MediaPlayer(3639): Error (-38,0)
I tried it with your Tutorials.apk which is provided with your source code. But the same error showing after a 20-30 KB buffering. May be when it is trying to start the media player to play the file.
Thanks,
mitu
hello Biosopher,
is there any need of changing in your code for proper media file or need to change the url of media file? here I found that you are changing the extension as *.dat for the media file if I’m correct abt it.
Please help me from getting out of it.
Thanks,
mitu
Hi Mitu,
Check out roughly the 5th paragraph in this tutorial. It talks about the “PVMFErrNotSupported” error you’re getting.
As for the .dat extension, it doesn’t matter what you use.
Anthony
Hi Biosopher,
you were right. This “PVMFErrNotSupported” error is due to FileDescriptor Class. I used file descriptor instead of absolute file path for media player setDataSource() method and it plays for a couple of seconds and then shows these errors: Here it says it doesn’t get the desired file.
02-10 14:43:14.636: ERROR/Player(848): 122880
02-10 14:43:14.636: ERROR/Player(848): /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia1.dat
02-10 14:43:14.816: DEBUG/WifiService(79): ACTION_BATTERY_CHANGED pluggedType: 2
02-10 14:43:15.847: WARN/AudioFlinger(50): write blocked for 96 msecs
02-10 14:43:20.046: DEBUG/dalvikvm(501): GC freed 512 objects / 25088 bytes in 201ms
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): Error updating to newly loaded content.
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): java.io.FileNotFoundException: /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia2.dat
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at org.apache.harmony.luni.platform.OSFileSystem.open(OSFileSystem.java:231)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at java.io.FileInputStream.(FileInputStream.java:80)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.transferBufferToMediaPlayer(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:213)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.access$3(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:202)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer$2.run(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:166)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4203)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:791)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:549)
02-10 14:43:31.266: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
02-10 14:43:31.286: ERROR/MediaPlayer(848): pause called in state 128
02-10 14:43:31.296: ERROR/MediaPlayer(848): error (-38, 0)
02-10 14:43:31.306: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): Error updating to newly loaded content.
02-10 14:43:31.306: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): java.io.FileNotFoundException: /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia3.dat
02-10 14:43:31.306: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at org.apache.harmony.luni.platform.OSFileSystem.open(OSFileSystem.java:231)
02-10 14:43:31.306: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(848): at java.io.FileInputStream.(FileInputStream.java:80)
But if I don’t use file descriptor for setDataSource() method which is inside the transferBufferToMediaPlayer() method then I get these errors:
02-10 14:57:55.826: ERROR/Player(1003): 122880
02-10 14:57:55.826: ERROR/Player(1003): /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia1.dat
02-10 14:57:56.456: WARN/AudioFlinger(50): write blocked for 99 msecs
02-10 14:58:00.036: WARN/AudioTrack(50): obtainBuffer timed out (is the CPU pegged?) 0x22b78 user=00015ae8, server=00015341
02-10 14:58:00.036: WARN/AudioTrack(50): *** SERIOUS WARNING *** obtainBuffer() timed out but didn’t need to be locked. We recovered, but this shouldn’t happen (user=00015ae8, server=00015341)
02-10 14:58:03.766: WARN/AudioTrack(50): obtainBuffer timed out (is the CPU pegged?) 0x22b78 user=0002bd77, server=0002b5d0
02-10 14:58:03.766: WARN/AudioTrack(50): *** SERIOUS WARNING *** obtainBuffer() timed out but didn’t need to be locked. We recovered, but this shouldn’t happen (user=0002bd77, server=0002b5d0)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): Error updating to newly loaded content.
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): java.io.FileNotFoundException: /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia2.dat
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at org.apache.harmony.luni.platform.OSFileSystem.open(OSFileSystem.java:231)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at java.io.FileInputStream.(FileInputStream.java:80)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.transferBufferToMediaPlayer(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:213)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer.access$3(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:202)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer$2.run(StreamingMediaPlayer.java:166)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4203)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:791)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:549)
02-10 14:58:10.906: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
02-10 14:58:10.956: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): Error updating to newly loaded content.
02-10 14:58:10.956: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): java.io.FileNotFoundException: /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia3.dat
02-10 14:58:10.956: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer(1003): at org.apache.harmony.luni.platform.OSFileSystem.open(OSFileSystem.java:231)
Here I can see that there is a buffer problem. So what should I do for solve this prob. What do I need to change in codebase.
Thanks,
mitu
For some reason you’re getting this error:
FileNotFoundException: /data/data/com.pocketjourney.tutorials/cache/playingMedia2.dat
That means the newly downloaded content isn’t being written to the new file. Run the app is debug mode with breakpoints during the file writing process to see what’s happening.
As for not using FileDescriptor during setDataSource(), I can’t tell you what to do. I wasn’t able to get any other option to work properly except FileDescriptor.
Hello Biosopher,
Thank you for helping me. It’s now working.
Thanks once again
Regards,
mitu
Hi Mitu,
Can you please let me know what did you do in order to remove that error ? I am having the same problem.
Thanks,
Chinmay
Hi Tiger,
This tutorial only supports single files downloads so you must have updated it to support multiple files. Look at how you’re handling the handoff between files. Seems like you are still writing to a file even though no data is being recieved.
You should only be writing to file what you read from the stream.
int numread = stream.read(buf);
…
out.write(buf, 0, numread);
Cheers,
Anthony
Nice stuff, is it possible to stream live media via real time streaming protocol (rtsp) on android?
There appears to be lots of discussion on the web about using RTSP on Android. You could possibly use what’s written here to roll your own rtsp client.
Thank you so much man, this works like a charm! I’ve been trying to get streaming working for weeks!
Hi Biosopher,
We tried playing another audio file as well as a video file with the code you have provided.. It played for 5 sec and then stops playing, but continues to buffer and download the complete file. We guess the problem would be with the number of bytes you assign for two buffers –
1) the buffer into which the data is copied from the URL. – it is 16384
2) the buffer used to move the file – it is 8192
Does these numbers have any significance with the file size or the data rate at which the file is downloaded?
Do u have an idea if Android emulator 1.5/2.0 supports real-time video streaming?
Hi Simran,
This code was initialy written for Android pre-v1.0. As of Cupcake (v1.5), Android’s MediaPlayer supports streaming video/audio very well.
Thanks for the reply.
We are doing a project where we need to develop the RTP/RTSP stack on Android for real time streaming.
We are basically receiving the rtp packets for audio/video files over the socket. But we are not able to play them back real-time.
You mentioned Android’s MediaPlayer supports streaming of video/audio, does this mean real-time support?
We are referring to the code you have provided for (Cupcake(v1.5)).
For understanding of the code we tried playing other audio files changing the parameters 16384 and 8192 according to the file size. We couldn’t play the entire file.
So it would be great if you could just explain the significance of those byte array lengths.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Simran,
Android’s MediaPlayer supports very few media types. My code was tested only for .3gp which is a file-based non-real-time audio format.
My guess is you’re using a file format that isn’t supported by Android. Only these formats are supported:
http://developer.android.com/intl/zh-CN/guide/appendix/media-formats.html
hello Biosopher
I m aslo using the same code for 2.1 or later but I m required to play MP4 instead only mp3…so I have created surface view and set the display holder for it … also I have to stream the content from SD card rather than any streaming server….
Hi Vipin,
I haven’t had the best of luck displaying mp4 files on Android. 3GP files tend to work best. If you’re playing off the SDCard, then you’re not streaming the video. You’re simply reading a video file off the SDCard. In that case, I recommend 3GP.
Hi Biosopher,
A related ‘live’ streaming question:
In my setup I have a live stream source connected which an Axis
encoder (250S) receives and encodes to MPEG2 which I then receive into
VLC (re-encodes as h264 – mpeg4) and re-stream out as an RTSP stream, using a .sdp definition.
I’m attempting to display this LIVE video source using the Media Video
demo that comes with the Android SDK, i’ve also attempted to use a
http link in the Android emulator browser.
But to no avail, I don’t ever see a video playing.
Can anyone confirm if the android emulator is able to play this type
of video source and if the
real android device say an HTC Hero could play this using RTSP.
OR
Is there some fundamential thing i’m missing here ?
Hi Jeremy,
My guess is you’re using a file format that isn’t supported by Android. Only these formats are supported:
http://developer.android.com/intl/zh-CN/guide/appendix/media-formats.html
Anthony
Mmm… i’m definitely converting this in VLC to h.264 and also tried h.263 format and re-streaming out to android. A second VLC confirms that the live stream plays.
Only question is can Android really handle a live stream i.e. there is NO file with this except the streaming description file (.sdp)
The VLC sout configuration for restreaming out to android is:
:sout=#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=124,fps=10,scale=1,width=480,height=320,acodec=none}:rtp{dst=10.19.99.129,port=5004,mux=ts,sdp=rtsp://10.19.99.129:8080/stream.sdp}
????????
Hi Jeremy,
Unfortunately I’m not experienced enough with live streaming to conclude yea/nay on whether Android can stream live. Given the numerous questions on this tutorial though, it seems Android doesn’t readily support live streaming out of the box.
Anthony
Hi Biosopher
i am using absolute path to play a file which resides in sd card
mp.reset();
mp.setDataSource(“/sdcard/playsong.wma”);
mp.prepare();
mp.start();
the following errors are coming up.
i think its throwing error at mp.prepare();
could pls help me out??????
05-13 17:11:15.911: WARN/MediaPlayer(5567): info/warning (1, 26)
05-13 17:11:15.911: INFO/MediaPlayer(5567): Info (1,26)
05-13 17:11:15.920: ERROR/PlayerDriver(31): Command PLAYER_SET_DATA_SOURCE completed with an error or info PVMFErrNotSupported
05-13 17:11:15.930: ERROR/MediaPlayer(5567): error (1, -4)
05-13 17:11:15.930: WARN/System.err(5567): java.io.IOException: Prepare failed.: status=0×1
05-13 17:11:15.959: WARN/PlayerDriver(31): PVMFInfoErrorHandlingComplete
05-13 17:11:15.969: WARN/System.err(5567): at android.media.MediaPlayer.prepare(Native Method)
05-13 17:11:15.969: WARN/System.err(5567): at com.androplayer1.PlayerService.Playsong(PlayerService.java:92)
05-13 17:11:15.980: WARN/System.err(5567): at com.androplayer1.PlayerService$1.playFile(PlayerService.java:53)
05-13 17:11:15.990: WARN/System.err(5567): at com.androplayer1.InterFac$Stub.onTransact(InterFac.java:57)
05-13 17:11:15.990: WARN/System.err(5567): at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:287)
05-13 17:11:16.000: WARN/System.err(5567): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.run(Native Method)
I’m not Biosopher, but I can see the following in your errors :
05-13 17:11:15.920: ERROR/PlayerDriver(31): Command PLAYER_SET_DATA_SOURCE completed with an error or info PVMFErrNotSupported
And I have a very very advanced feature on my mouse : a scrollwheel it’s called.. with that I actually (yes yes) can scroll up and down in a page, that in combination with another very special feature I have (called eyes) I can see this :
http://blog.pocketjourney.com/2009/12/27/android-streaming-mediaplayer-tutorial-updated-to-v1-5-cupcake/#comment-608
also you actually might want to read the tutorial itself, and you will notice something about your
mp.setDataSource(“/sdcard/playsong.wma”);
code…
Thanks Tiger,
I get rather tired of answering questions for people that are simply too lazy to even read the tutorial.
Cheers,
Anthony
can anyone send me code for playing a list of audio mp3 files dat are present in sdcard ………
and also android code to display pdf files pdf files on the emulator……..
Hi, Thank you for the source code it was gr8
I have a question,
How can I stream a radio station via android insted of streaming mp3 files .
something like this one :
http://mfile.akamai.com/2110/live/reflector:20637.asx?bkup=21011
.asx file types.
Hi Arlen,
CatDaaaady posted this comment on another one of my postings. It’s useful to you and everyone else:
“With the android app I have been running, MyNPR, I used Biosopher’s code to get me going playing a live stream of local npr stations.
My code is here (http://code.google.com/p/mynpr/source/browse/#svn/trunk/mynpr/src/com/webeclubbin/mynpr)
Yesterday, NPR released the code for the official NPR app for Android.
Why is this so great? Because they have real live streaming for stations. No saving files locally and playing them in a queue!
But there is a catch… it is currently not working in the app. BUT looking at their code we can see the direction they are going.
Basically they are doing what I thought I would have to do to make it all work with out saving files. Take the live stream , repackage the packets into something the mediaplayer can use, then send it to the mediaplayer. I was thinking of converting the live stream to some sort of rtps stream. But NPR is doing something different. I am not sure what though. Check the links below for the code.
Funny side note: I swear some of their code is “very” close to Biosopher’s code . Even down to the variable names.
Playback service (where I see some similar code, check lines 328-337)
http://www.google.com/codesearch/p?hl=en#iRbh2QlHRWY/trunk/Npr/src/org/npr/android/news/PlaybackService.java&q=mediaplayer%20package:http://npr-android-app%5C.googlecode%5C.com&sa=N&cd=1&ct=rc
Code that translates the live stream:
http://www.google.com/codesearch/p?hl=en#iRbh2QlHRWY/trunk/Npr/src/org/npr/android/news/StreamProxy.java&q=mediaplayer%20package:http://npr-android-app%5C.googlecode%5C.com&d=7
Announcement:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/inside/2010/06/02/127366098/npr-android-and-you
http://code.google.com/p/npr-android-app/source/browse/#svn/trunk/Npr/src/org/npr/android
Some answer to asx file types?
You know the solution?
hi ,
Is there any direct link that I can download all the MyNPR or npr files like a zip file ?
Hi Nissar,
To pre-allocate the memory, create a File on the SD Card and write your desired number of bytes to it. You can set the saved bytes to whatever value you want.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hi Biosopher,
Thank you for your quick reply.
But, What you told is to fill the space with dummy bits(as i mentioned in the question). Is there any other way for this.
Because I’m maintaining a download queue. So the number of files downloading can be more than one(it can’t be pre-calculated). If I create a file with dummy bits filled, after dowloading the files in queue to a single file, I have to partition it(it can be done). What I need is just lock the SDCard blocks(say i’m reserving 100MB for downloading). I hope you understood what I meant.
Thank you very much.
No other way that I know of.
http://blog.pocketjourney.com/2009/12/27/android-streaming-mediaplayer-tutorial-updated-to-v1-5-cupcake/
Hi! I can’t download the source file from your link http://www.pocketjourney.com/downloads/pj/tutorials/tutorials_1.5.zip
Could you be so kind as to send me the file, please!
The site is back up! Sorry for the delay…
Hi,
Just one question. Why you can’t just use an AsyncTask together with MediaPlayer instead of managing all threads and updates manually?
Thank you.
I totally agree, Andrey. This code was originally written in Android 1.4 and wasn’t updated to AsyncTasks which first became available in 1.5.
If you port the code to AsyncTask, let me know and I’ll link to it.
i need to know the total duration of song so that i can set the Progress Bar accordingly. As soon my Media Player starts playing the song. I call
mediaPlayer.getDuration() for getting the file duration .. But it is not giving me the right data untill the whole song get downloaded….
This is bad . as it seems getDuration() Method of MediaPlayer is showing the duration on the basis of downloaded content instead of checking the header of Mp3 file…..
Any Help would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi Javanator,
I don’t recall if the durection is available from the .mp3 header. I think it has to do with the file size and bit rate. Don’t have the code in front of me at the moment. In either case, you can see where the duration is being calculated by looking through the code.
Biosopher
durection=duration…
I recall that the duration is actually calculated from the file size provided during download initiation.
Impliment for RPT protocol? http://blog.vn-dev.net.
I’m trying to stream a raw AAC stream from a site. I used the buffering technique provided in the tutorial, which works great in all of my emulators, however it’s not working on a single real device. It just hangs forever.
I haven’t checked any logcats yet, but does anyone have an idea what could be going wrong here?
Thanks.
Hi All,
I downloded the code and installed the apk file in my phone. It starts reading (Streaming), but once it completes reading it does not play the file.
Please Help me with this issue.
Anyone find a solution to the gap problem yet? I’ve tried the StreamingMediaPlayer and the myNPR versions, but both still have gaps. The reason I need this working is because I need to access a stream that requires authentication and I have not been able to find a way to do this with the MediaPlayer.
It’s unclear to me why anyone would be having issues with gaps. As the tutorial code is written, it’s simply incrementally downloading a file from the server. I.e., the code is written to read a single ‘finite’ audio file from the server NOT to download some type of continuous stream of audio. The only data written to the hard disk should be data sent by the server which should only be the contents of the audio file as present on the server’s disk…thus no gaps.
Have you altered the code in some way or are you downloading an actual audio stream?
Yes, I am trying to download an actual audio stream. And yes, I know that your code was designed originally for single, finite audio files, but I have not found any other way of playing an audio stream that requires authentication. I merely used this code as a starting point to see if I could tweak it to work with audio streams instead of files.
At this point I am able to authenticate with the server and get the audio stream to play in the MediaPlayer, but I have not been able to remove the skips that occur when sending the buffered audio stream to the MediaPlayer. That is, the code currently stores a few seconds of the stream in the cache and then sends that to the MediaPlayer and then repeats this process.
I’ve attempted the multiple-MediaPlayer-type solution in the myNRL code, but that still causes skips.
I’ve also tried http://username:password@url and http://url?username&password as well, but they are not working with MediaPlayer. I’m assuming the MediaPlayer is not parsing these correctly.
And I’ve tried creating an “Authenticator” as well, which did not work either.
So do you have any ideas on how one could play a stream that requires authentication?
its works fine….but the progress bar ends bfor the song ends
There may be two progress bars. One for the audio download progress and the other for the file playback progress. Are you seeing both or just one?
Hi Ken,
Great to hear people are finding new uses for this code. I hadn’t intended it for playing streaming audio but seems many many people are having the same problme.
What audio stream format are you receiving? According to Android’s website, support is available for:
http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html
•RTSP (RTP, SDP)
•HTTP progressive streaming
•HTTP live streaming draft protocol (Android 3.0 and above)
A quick search says some HTTP streaming servers set the content type is a way that confuses Android. Do you know which content type is showing in your stream’s header?
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1965784/streaming-audio-from-a-url-in-android-using-mediaplayer
There are two streams that I wish to play. Both are setup at the server the exact same way (shoutcast/ICY/MP3/http). However, one requires a username/password and the other does not.
The stream that does not require a username/password streams just fine using MediaPlayer.
The stream that does require a username/password will not work with MediaPlayer. I’ve tried using an Authenticator and also putting the username/password into the URL (see previous post).
I am not convinced that the problem is how the streams are configured. I am able to play the stream that requires a username/password in my iPhone version of the app. But what happens on the iPhone is: 1) attempt to connect to URL 2) receive request to authenticate 3) send credentials 4) receive stream.
There doesn’t appear to be a way using MediaPlayer to authenticate.
I am able to authenticate using a URLConnection with an Authenticator (I added the Authenticator to your code to accomplish this). So obviously it is possible on the Android to authenticate. However the MediaPlayer just does not use the Authenticator.
Does this make sense?
Ahhh…thanks for the explanation. I know there’s an issue filed for this, but nothing’s been done about it apparently:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=10866
Perhaps the best solution is to send authenticate before and then pass off to a pre-authenticated URL? If that makes sense or is even possible in your scenario?
hi
I used the code. Its working fine for only songs with bitrate 128kbps. It only plays little part of song for higher bitrates. And only when song is fully streamed then it starts playing full song.
Please help
http://www.pocketjourney.com/downloads/pj/video/famous.3gp
i have tried to play video and audio both but it starts playing and after 2 or 3 seconds it stuck and stops playing while progress shows streaming complete but the video won’t play after 2 or 3 seconds
error log
08-07 11:27:40.661: ERROR/com.pocketjourney.media.StreamingMediaPlayer$3(6583): Error in MediaPlayer: (1) with extra (-1004)
hi Biosopher,
First of all, thank you so much for this tutorial, it helps me a lot!!!!
I’m new in developing Android applications and I’ve got a little problem :
My first activity is a listview of 8 radio stations from a website.
My second activity is your tutoriel , the streaming works for each radio stations.
My problem is that I want to stop automatically the previous radio station when I load another radio.
I’ve got 2 activities and my class StreamingMediaPlayer. I work on Eclipse 1.4.
Anyone have an idea?
Thanks very much
hi all,
First of all I’m not a programmer but I have mobile sites made for me; I have this question about sound files. I like to post 5 sound files of about 1min each on a mobile website. Viewers of my site should be able to listen to these sound files, also with ‘older’ smart phones (ie. eg. Android 1).
My programmers in India told me that this is only possible with Flash, however I always learned that Flash is a no-brainer for mobile.
Are there any solutions for this?
Thanks.
Carel
If you’re streaming from a mobile website, then Flash is probably a better option. This blog post is about streaming audio to an Android application installed off the Android Market.
@Biosopher — thanks for your swift reply; I thought that one should not use Flash based elements (ie. music/video); Apple/Iphone is not even supporting Flash isn’t?
Thanks for your swift reply Biosopher; I thought though that Flash was not a good thing to use (Apple/Iphone is not supporting this do they?), so is there an alternative?
Hi Carel,
You’re right. Flash doesn’t work on the iphone and runs slow on Android. For the iPhone, simply add a link to the .mp3 file on your webpage. When the user clicks the .mp3 files, the iPhone will launch the phone’s media player.
I believe for Android, the user must press and hold the link until a menu pops up and select “Save Link”. This should then download the .mp3 file for you and you will be able to play it.
Hi,
This tutorial is very good and useful I can’t wait for studying it.
Unfortunately I can’t download the archive file in order to have sources.
Can you make it available ?
Thank you in advance ! And also for this tutorial
Hi Antoine. Sorry, the server was down for a few hours. It’s back up now so try to download again.
I am loving all the tutorial files, they are really helping my learning curve.
Is there any way that the tutorials could be split into their individual tutorials rather than joined?
This looks really nice, i’d also like to download the source code but the server seems to be down?
Sorry…server’s back up.