Help pages for unicast streaming

Report problems and comments here.

FAQ

1. Which player should I use?

2. I have already installed the VLC player, however a green picture puzzle appears in the page.

3. When I follow the link with the symbol “m3u”, () other program than the VLC player is launched.

4. I do not receive video and sound. What should I do?

5. I receive problematic sound and/or video. What should I do?

6. Can I use the Windows Media Player in order to play the unicast mpeg-4 streams?

7. After following the link “multicast check”, no window appears.

8. I can not connect with Shibboleth. What should I do?

9. What is Shibboleth?

Answers

Answer 1:

In order to play the MPEG-4 streams use one of the following players:

VLC,   Quick Time Player, Real Player for MS-Windows and MacOS systems
VLC for linux systems

Visit the “How to” page the “Installation instructions” for MS-Windows in the section “Video Players”.

Answer 2:

You are using the Firefox browser and the mozilla vlc plugin is missing. Reinstall the VLC player.   Visit the “Installation instructions for the Firefox VLC Player plugin “ in “How-to” link. Alternatively, follow the link over the m3u symbol to use the VLC player in stand alone mode.

Answer 3:

A. Save the file with the m3u extension locally on your hard disk. Open it with (Open with) the VLC player.
B. Associate the file type m3u with the VLC player. Follow the instructions at the “How-to” page, Video player, Step 2. In case you have a problem associating the file type, visit the pages:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307859
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257592

Answer 4:

Probably it is a firewall problem. Change your firewall’s settings to allow requests to connect to the video player you use. Follow the instructions at the “How-to” page, “Firewall settings”.

Answer 5:

The MPEG-4 streams are transmitted at different rates. Probably your connection speed is inadequate, thus receiving only a part of the stream. Check your network connection with GRnet here.

Answer 6:

You may download the free player provided by VBrick from here http://vbrick.com/products/software/.  The VBrick player works with Windows Media Player. Next, associate the m3u file type with Windows Media Player.

Answer 7:

Enable your browser to use Java and JavaScript.

Answer 8:

Contact the network administrators of your institute.

Answer 9:

Shibboleth is a technology that enables for authentication and authorization. In order to watch the channels over a network that does not support multicast, e.g., from home, your identity as academic or research institute user has to be certified. The certification mechanism exploits the GRNET Federation Authentication & Authorization Infrastructure (AAI) based on Shibboleth, provided that your institute is participating in the federation. The password checking is realized by your institute, which inform the service if you are permitted to use it.