Topic: Getting Darwin Server up and running... [SOLVED]

[tomwerner]

Hi,

I have just spent half a day trying to get Darwin Streaming Software to work on my SME 6.5 server, I tried downloading the binary however it depends on a few lib files that are not the same version as the ones that come with SME. I haven't tried to compile from source because I had a feeling that SME doesn't come with compilers, am I right?

Anyway, has anyone out there had any luck got this up and running? I am considering taking a look at SME 7 in the next few days, but I doubt that would fix the problem as it still won't have the compilers?

Cheers,

Tom

[tomwerner]

Sort of solved the problem, I managed to find a link to some binaries for DSS 4 (which is compatiable with Redhat 7) that someone was hosting after trawling through the apple mailing lists. The server now works a treat. If anyone needs it drop me a bell..

[arne]

Sounds rather interesting. Plase leve some more info  (How to ..)

Arne.

[tomwerner]

My first contrib ever has just been submitted about getting DSS up and running. I have beeen using SME for years, good to finally put somthing back in!

[arne]

Thanks a lot. I have just read it trough. I'm at vacation abroad just now, but I will check it out when I'm home again
Arne

[Franco]

Great Tom,
I thank you for your contrib and I'm sure I'll be using it.

Cheers

[arne]

Ok, back from vacation and has started to look into the Darvin media server (but not installed it yet.)

One thing I have been wondering about: .. What can it really be used for ?

For a while ago I carried out a few experiments on "streaming media". My conclusion at that time were that the easy way to do that were to just use the default functions of the Apache web server and the Windows XP client. MP3 files for sound and .wmf files are actually streaming by default when placed in a web directory and clicking on each item. The MP3 sound files can be made with good quality using the free Audiacity sound recording/editing software, and the .wmf movie files can be made using the Windows XP Movie maker program. (Included in Win XP).

One thing I was missing were the oportunity of broadcasting live one electronic signal into the soundcard, from a microphone or a mixer or what ever.

One of my first thougts about using the Darvin streaming media server on the SME server, were: "but does it really support a sound card, and how can this be used for any practical purposes ??

After looking into the documentation of the Darwin streaming media server, I understand that it can be used not only at one single PC allone, but it can also be used as a retransmitting server, where the "orginal datastream" that is "served" or "retransmitted" can be created on some other PC. (A windows PC ??)

I fond some info and documentation on the Darwin streaming server here:
http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/streaming/

Any ideas about how the setup (and use of programs) can be made on one or more PC's creating a live broadcast of an electronic input signal ??

One other problem: I can see that the broadcast can be done in two different ways, technically. A. Multiple clients can share the same datastream, so more liteners will not increase trafic. B. Each client will need to set up each own datastream, so 10 listeners will require 10 times as much datatraffic as 1. I guess the last one is the only one that will work from a server and out to the internet ?

(Also I will be guessing that files streaming from a Apache server will use the tcp protoccol while the darwin media server has it's own protocoll, that might be more effective for the purpose.

(I will try to try out out the things myself, but just try to collect some info first to know what to go for. I think streaming media is a huge area with a lot of posibilities when you know little about it.)

Best reg Arne.

[arne]

After looking a little bit into it, I understand that you will need another program to set up "the orginal datastream" from the electronic signal.

I can se that tere is a special Apple program for this "Quick Time Broadcaster":

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/broadcaster/

It looks like this program runs only on the Mac platform.

I wonder if there is a windows/linux equivalent to such a program ?

(I guess it is not possible to set up the Darvin streaming media server to make a live broadcast without the broadcaster program (or am I wrong about that ??))

Best reg Arne.

[arne]

I think this is allmost the same question as I am looking into now, but without a good answer for a "amateur home server". (When you are without the Mac machine .. )

http://lists.apple.com/archives/Streaming-server-users/2005/Jun/msg00209.html

[gregswallow]

I can se that tere is a special Apple program for this "Quick Time Broadcaster"

That would really be using this to its full potential.  Looking at the specs you need a G5 Mac for that setup to work.  I think more people will use it not for live broadcasting, but for playing pre-recorded videos.  For a video on a website it's nice to have the it start playing instantly rather than download say 10MB and then have it start playing.

[arne]

For some time ago (a year or two ?) I was looking into the problem of streaming media.

My conclusion at that time were that Linux/Apache web server + a Windows XP client by default have streaming capability for sound on MP3 format, and movies on some native microsoft format (.wmf ??)

These movie files could be edited/created using Windows XP Movie maker.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/default.mspx

You do not have to wait for the files to be downloaded neither for the mp3 sound files or the movie files. Both are streaming by default from the Apache server, using Win XP as client.

You do not need any "streaming media server" at all to obtain that.

My experience is that the Audacity free sound program produced exelent streaming mp3 sound files and that the Microsoft Movie maker made also very good streaming movies with no other server capabilities than the Apache web server (Just fill up the sound or movie files in a web folder, click on it, and it will stream, no waitong for the file to download.)

Link to audacity sound program:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

I also tried out a Microsoft program called Windows media encoder.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx

I think it could make live broadcast like a web radio, but my impression at that time I was testing it was that this was really a program with poor performance. I think it used something like 60 % og the processor capacity for doing allmost nothing, so you could not have it running on a background process. (Don't know if this could have changed to the bether.)

Don't know either if there might exist a program like the Windows media encoder that could be used together with the Darvin steraming server. (Or could they be compatible .. ??)

My idea is basically to set up a webradio station, and then to have a audio signal on electronic format into the sound card and transmitted to the web from there.

I think that the Windows Media encoder can do that, but but with rediculus poor performance.

With a little bit of luck, it should be possible to find some Windows program that can do the "pick up the electronic signal and convert it to a digital stream job" and then to send the web radio stream to the SME/Darwin server for retransmition to a number of listeners.

[arne]

Think it might be rather "off topic" for the Darwin server but still "write down" this link:
http://lineman.net/article166.html

[gregswallow]

Don't know either if there might exist a program like the Windows media encoder that could be used together with the Darvin steraming server. (Or could they be compatible .. ??)

My idea is basically to set up a webradio station, and then to have a audio signal on electronic format into the sound card and transmitted to the web from there.

This might do what you want:
http://darkice.sourceforge.net/
(runs on linux)

[arne]

Thanks a lot

Arne.

[psykoben]

MP4Live do this (and more) for linux

http://mpeg4ip.sourceforge.net/documentation/index.php?readme=mp4live

You can have a full audio/video production and streaming       client system (including MP4Live) using the free  Dyne:bolic livecd from dyne.org (it also support clustering)  

http://www.dynebolic.org/

  a la votre