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Downloading radio via PID seems slow

user-623

Yesterday was a sad day for all us time-shifted listeners to recent radio programs. Downloading via PIDs is a lot more awkward, but I am sure we will adapt; and NITRO may one day allow GET_IPLAYER to get back to its former glory.

Meanwhile, I am finding downloading radio by PID is very slow. It looks like the data is streamed at listening speed. TV does not have this problem (so far).

eg:
Code:
get_iplayer --pid b04lss87 --modes wma


Is a 30 minute programme, and took about that long to download. And, without a visible progress count, the task looks hung.

Questions:

1. Is there a magic way of getting the program to download rather than stream? (I have tried various mode settings with no good result).

2. Is there a way of getting the progress count to show?


Thanks!

user-2

Omit
Code:
--modes wma
. WMA mode is being killed soon, anyway.

user-30

Is there a particular reason that you are using
Code:
--modes wma
?

That command is asking for the WMA version which I believe does actually stream at listening speed (and is getting shut down soon too). You can just leave that command out and it should default to downloading the 'best' quality AAC stream.

If you want to transcode AAC to mp3 you can add the command
Code:
--aactomp3
and get_iplayer will spit out an mp3 file for you.

user-623

Thanks for the instant response!

I've been finding that, without --modes, the request just fails....

Code:
get_iplayer v2.87, Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Phil Lewis
  This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use --warranty.
  This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain
  conditions; use --conditions for details.

INFO: Episode-only pid detected
INFO: Trying pid: b04lss87 using type: tv
INFO: Trying to stream pid using type tv
INFO: pid not found in tv cache
Matches:

INFO: 1 Matching Programmes
INFO: Checking existence of default version
INFO: No specified modes (flashvhigh,flashhigh,flashstd,flashnormal,flashlow) available for this programme with version 'default' (try using --modes=flas
aclow,flashaacstd,rtspaaclow,rtspaacstd,wma)
ERROR: Failed to record 'John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme: Series 4 - Episode 2 (b04lss87)'

user-550

I certainly agree it was a sad day.

Since then I have been unable to find a way of accessing radio by PID that works. I invariably get :-
INFO: Trying pid: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rzw2y using type: radio
INFO Trying to stream pid using type radio
INFO: pid not found in radio cache
WARNING: No programmes are available for this pid with version(s): default

For example from the command :-
get_iplayer --type=radio --output "M:\iPlayer Recordings\radio" --pid "http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rzw2y"
or just with the PID rather than the full URL as
get_iplayer --type=radio --output "M:\iPlayer Recordings\radio" --pid b00rzw2y

it seems a shame that this is borked as I too use the time shifting of old episodes of radio in my car where the options of running in podcast or on-line are not practical.

Has anyone got an example command line for successfully downloading a radio PID now that the PVRs cannot work?

My thoughts on nitro make me think that they will always require an API key to be in place and that will make it unlikely that we will get this functionality back easily. They will be looking for ways to monetise it.

Neil

user-30

@Nigel - you didn't include the exact command you used in your latest attempt so I can't test it.

@wingtech - using the following command downloaded the show without issue:

Code:
get_iplayer --pid=b00rzw2y --type=radio

See how my command is different from yours? Be sure to go and view the radio download guide in the guides section above to ensure you are using the correct format for your commands.

user-623

@Square_penguin....

Sorry, I cut'n'pasted one line too few.

The request I used (and did not work) was:
Code:
get_iplayer --pid b04lss87 --force


I think your reply to wingtech has also solved my question. This works at download speed, and shows the download progress count:

Code:
get_iplayer --pid b04lss87 --type radio --force

Thanks!

I had read the guide, but (maybe it's just me) it was not obvious that adding --type=radio was now compulsory.....It was never so when we could use the five-digit numbers.

user-550

Funnily enough, as soon as I posted this the commands seemed to satrt working.
Now I have to get the file naming sorted and then...

user-550

And thanks, square penguin, on reading back, I see that my cut-and-paste seems to have converted all the double hyphens to singles. They were there in DOS, honest!!

Neil

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