Server metadata ("duration") segmenting rtmp stream causing downloaded flv to skip

[specialguy29]

I'm a new rtmpdump user and this is my first post, so my apologies in advance if someone has already solved this issue.

rtmpdump-2.3-windows.zip 2010-Jun-30 23:28:50 885.5K
Windows7

I've devised a horrifically clumsy and exceedingly labored solution for downloading one of my favorite classical music radio shows with rtmpdump.

Using (AFAIK) fairly generic settings for rtmpdump (see URL below) this particular rtmp server periodically sends out metadata that looks like it might be chopping the stream up into tiny segments. (see pic below) I'm guessing this metadata helps with seeking within the file while streaming, but unfortunately this plays havoc when playing the downloaded flv/mp3 file in that it seems to lose its place around the boundary of each tiny segment. It skips forward or backward in its timeline, sometimes replaying a tiny bit of what was just played.

I forced rtmpdump to ignore the metadata and download the file as a live stream by adding -v switch. This seemed to work at first, but it quickly stopped at a given point just like it did in Replay Media Catcher. After a few more tries (there is no resuming live streams) it seemed that the stopping point remained consistent at around 10mb.

I guessed that the server might not be getting a ping or ping response so I started playing the stream in the webpage flashplayer while with downloading it in rtmpdump (see pic below). This way when the file reached the 10mb limit pausing both the flashplayer and rtmpdump, I could click around rapidly (seek) in the timeline of the player (usually took about 10x) until both would resume. I'm not certain why this works, but when I don't catch the 10mb limit and click on the flashplayer, rtmpdump quits with a message that reads: "

ERROR: RTMP_ReadPacket, failed to read RTMP packet body. len: 419 .....Download may be incomplete...(), try resuming"

I think that seeking in the flashplayer pings the rtmp server letting it know to keep streaming.

I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable than me might have a better solution that doesn't involve me having to babysit the webstream while I download it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to take this on. :-)

Here's the metadata from the server:



Here's a successfull download while playing/monitoring the file in the webpage flashplayer:



Here's the URL. To see the pausing at 10mb, copy/paste this URL in rtmpdump. To see the metadata/skipping version, delete the -v switch at the end before pasting.

rtmpdump -r "rtmp://archivemedia.publicradio.org/music" -a "music" -f "WIN 11,0,1,152" -W "http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/player.swf" -p "http://symphonycast.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=symphonycast/2011/07/25/symphonycast2_20110725_128" -y "mp3:ondemand/symphonycast/2011/07/25/symphonycast2_20110725_128" -o "fileout.flv" -v