Icecast Streaming Media Server

[weirdorecords]

My icecast stream is down again. When I listen using someone else's computer, it buffers for a while, and then stops without ever playing sound. This forum's been really helpful to me in the past, so I hope I can get such useful help again.

Here's what I know:
1. I use Winamp, Edcast & Icecast2
2. Winamp's out_wave.dll seems fine. I can hear sounds
3. Edcast's peak meters are working
4. Edcast says it's sending about 128 kpbs
5. When I try to listen on someone else's computer, Icecast2 marks that there's 1 listener for a while, but then returns to 0 right as the buffering breaks down
6. Icecast 2 says it's reading (total bytes read) & sending (total bytes sent), and metadata titles are matching what I'm playing in Winamp
7. My ip address is the same when I use 'whats my ip' to check it (I've had a problem in the past where my ISP randomly changed my supposedly static IP to a new one)
8. My router's port forwarding is the same i.e. 8001 & the router is working as it should be
9. My router does not have a firewall turned on
10. I tried turning off all virus protection software to account for any firewalls, corrupted registry files, etc, that I wasn't aware of. So far, same result (not hearing my station) no matter what settings I toggled. Since anti-virus software is always updating itself, I tested this part twice and made sure to go as slowly as possible.
11. I hadn't changed any configuration settings on Icecast2, Edcast, or Winamp before this problem began

I'm fresh out of ideas! Any clues? Thanks for reading.
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[karlH]

start with the basics, see if you can get the web pages from the machine with the player, as that will prove if the routing side of the link is working. Check the stats in more detail for the stream, bytes read should be increasing in a consistent rate for the stream, eg 16kbytes/s for a 128k stream. Then check the error log for other errors like a timeout or falling too far behind

karl.

[weirdorecords]

Okay.

I tried using someone else's computer to browse to http://66.xx.xxx.xxx:8001, where my ip is in place of the xs, & couldn't get a page. That's what you meant, yes?

On the other hand, the total bytes read & total bytes sent are continuing to climb in Icecast2, yes.

So if I understand it right, that means I should go back to the router. I could try deleting whatever port forwarding is there, setting it back up again, and then checking with my ISP to confirm that there is in fact no firewall on my router.

That sound right?
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[karlH]

If you are connected internally then the send counts will increase, the read count will increase if the source keeps a connection. If a internal LAN connection works but an external LAN connect fails then the router is at fault.

karl.

[weirdorecords]

You're right. The read count is increasing, but the send count remains the same.

Called up my ISP again & checked on the router. They are very convinced that the firewall is down (and since I am able to begin connecting, but then can't get sound after buffering for a while, this makes some sense). I tried deleting and then restarting the port forwarding. I also tried some slightly different IP address numbers within the port forwarding (10.1.10.11 instead of 10.1.10.10). I haven't tried turning off the router & turning it back on again, but that's next.
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[weirdorecords]

Still trying to figure this one out. I've now tested the router by restarting it, pinging it, and all seems well. I also checked on my Edcast settings & toggled the bitrate, samplerate & mono/stereo to see if I could get anything to change. No luck. Next up, I'm going to go through my Icecast configuration file. I don't have any error logs at the moment, so my next step will be to re-set up Icecast 2 in order to generate those & then hopefully have some more specific information.
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[karlH]

general testing, using the web pages on icecast

request content from the same machine
request content from a different machine on the same LAN
request content from outside the LAN.

If only the latter fails then the port forwarding is broken, either it's not forwarding or it is forwarding to the wrong IP/port

If the latter 2 stages fail then it will be the firewall on the machine running icecast. None of these require a source running

Obviously if you have a shoutcast style source outside of the LAN then you will need to port forward 2 ports

karl.

[weirdorecords]

I'm still not quite sure what you mean by testing 'using the webpages'. I *think* this means using someone else's computer (outside the LAN) to browse to 66.xx.xxx.xxx:8001

If that's so, than I can get content from inside the LAN on my machine but not someone else's, and I cannot get content from outside the LAN.

I've talked to my ISP over & over again, so the port forwarding should certainly be working. As for forwarding to the wrong IP, it's currently set up for 10.1.10.11
If I change that port to 10.1.10.10 the connection gets worse: it's never made at all instead of buffering for a minute or two & then stopping.

So, it should be a firewall on the desktop that runs the icecast server? Okay. I tried turning off my Windows Firewall completely (even though I confirmed that Icecast is listed as a program that's allowed through). No change.

I also tried (again) turning off all virus software. No change.

Not sure what you mean by 'a shoutcast source outside of the LAN'. To test whether I can hear the radio outside the LAN, I either call up a buddy & have them use Winamp, or use a mobile phone with wifi turned off and the Icecast player app.

Again, thanks for all your help & patience!
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[karlH]

web pages as in http://ip:8001/status.xsl

if the ip used internally is 10.1.10.11 and that works in your browser, then that is the IP to be forwarded to, which is just matter of checking forwarding. The exact settings varies on the router used but if you are certain that the forwarding is set correctly and on port 8001 then an external user will be able to use
http://real.ip:8001/status.xsl to get a web page.

the shoutcast port issue is just for source clients outside of the LAN connecting to your server. it plays no part in web pages.

karl.

[weirdorecords]

Thanks for the extra explaining- I wasn't sure about the url for the page outside the LAN. I can browse to that address with an external computer, and when I do I see the Icecast2 status page. But if I click on the m3u link & open the file with a player (I've tried a few different players just in case), I just get 30 seconds of buffering & then the connection is lost.

That makes me think that I'm looking for a timeout error. I actually completely uninstalled & reinstalled Icecast2 & rewrote my configuration file, and the logging variable is set at 4/debug. However, I still can't find the actual error log. There are no files in my log folder. I'll see if I can't work on that problem for a while.
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[karlH]

if you can see the web page from an external computer then the routing is fine. If the issue if with the m3u then find out what is in the m3u eg

curl -s http://......:8001/stream.m3u

note that re-installing the package very rarely fixes any issues but is commonly done from windows people.

karl.

[weirdorecords]

Sorry to report I'm not running Linux, and yes, a reinstallation on Windows is definitely common. It's certainly solved many issues for me over the years. Right now I'm rewriting my configuration file. Got the access & error logs to show up, but don't have any source stats yet. Still working...
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[DJ-Zath]

hi there, I kinda "parused through" the thread, maybe I can help

what Karl is saying to do is you'll need to foreward 2 ports in your router

the main port AND the next port up (called portbase and portbase +1)

for example, if you were using 8000 (default) you'll also need to add 8001 forewarded to the same internal subnet IP (10.10.x.x or 192.168.x.x)

also..

when setting up a shoutcast (ICY) stream, you'll need to set up a shoutcast mount from in Icecast itself

this is usually achieved with:

<listen-socket>
<port>8000</port>
<bind-address>192.168.1.5</bind-address>
<shoutcast-mount>/input</shoutcast-mount>
</listen-socket>

note: the port and ip given in above is an EXAMPLE, you'll need to change these to the port used and LOCAL IP used (NOT internet-assigned or public IP.. thats what the ROUTER's job is for), and portbase+1 is ASSUMED for shoutcast mounts and don't need to be added internally to Icecast

and...

<mount>
<mount-name>/input</mount-name>
<password>ChAnGeMe</password>
<genre>Mixed Techno Rock Comedy</genre>
<no-yp>0</no-yp>
<public>1</public>
<hidden>0</hidden>
</mount>

that should help..

-DjZ-
_________________
-DjZ-

[weirdorecords]

Okay. Thanks for the input. I should perhaps say, I don't have any need to set up a shoutcast stream, unless it's suddenly something I need in order to make Icecast work.

I tried out what you suggested & set up another round of port forwarding. My original one was 8000-8001, so I set up another from 8002-8003 (it wouldn't allow 8001-8002). No change in being able to hear the radio from a computer external to the LAN.
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records

[weirdorecords]

Perhaps it's time to post my config file. I've been working on trying to get error & admin logs to appear in their folders on the desktop computer that's running the server software, but haven't had luck there:

<limits>
<sources>2</sources>
</limits>
<authentication>
<source-password>mypassword</source-password>
<relay-password>hackme</relay-password>
<admin-user>admin</admin-user>
<admin-password>hackme</admin-password>
</authentication>

<hostname>localhost</hostname>
<listen-socket>
<port>8001</port>
</listen-socket>
<fileserve>1</fileserve>
<paths>
<logdir>./logs</logdir>
<webroot>./web</webroot>
<adminroot>./admin</adminroot>
<alias source="/" dest="/status.xsl"/>
</paths>
<logging>
<accesslog>access.log</accesslog>
<errorlog>error.log</errorlog>
<loglevel>3</loglevel> <!-- 4 Debug, 3 Info, 2 Warn, 1 Error -->
</logging>


In the interest of being thorough about DJ-Zath's ideas on port forwarding, I also tried changing my port to 8000 instead of 8001 (on both edcast & icecast of course) & then browsing to that port outside the LAN. No change, still no sound.
_________________
thanks much!

Angela
Weirdo Records