Problems with dowloading BBC iplayer beginning 6 Jan 2011

[Sool]

Like others, I have discovered this forum whilst trying to figure out what the BBC have been up to. Historically, I have used another Applian product, Jaksta to grab BBC radio shows.

Early on 06 January I simultaneously downloaded a handful of shows, one of which turned out to be incomplete. Later that morning I re-attempted the incomplete download, only to be hit with a message regarding secure streams. I was then only able to record the programme, and it was necessary to leave the iPlayer window open for this to occur. The change occurred somewhere around 9.30 AM GMT and it has remained in place ever since.

I have also stumbled across brief interludes when it suddenly becomes possible to download programmes once again, but these have been brief and erratic.

I suspect that those who report seeing incomplete downloads since the change, have done so because they closed the iPlayer window.

[riv-dogg]

I do hope the Applian people will try and find a fix for this - In the UK the ability to download BBC Radio from the listen again site is a huge attraction. For people like me who are nearly always working when radio shows air the ability to catch up during the daily commute is incredibly useful. I'm not sure what the BBC are up to here - are they really trying to stop us 'podcasting' their content or is this just a byproduct of some other change? - Please investigate for us and see if we can get the service back.

In the meanwhile http://www.iplayerconverter.co.uk/ has links to a lot of listen again content as wma files. These download just fine in Replay AV.( I think there is a 'how to' on youtube somewhere).

[Cheryl Wester]

In order to record this you need to let it play. They have changed the way it streams. It will work but it will only download while the link is actively playing in real time.

[riv-dogg]

The problem here is that RMC4 is no longer a workable tool for us BBC fans. We have gone from being able to download and convert a whole weeks listening in half and hour to the job taking up a whole day- which ain't going to happen. The question is are the BBC really trying to stop us doing this, or have they just made a change for other reasons which you could fix. I understand the whole issue over secure streams, but as a long time customer I really would like you to go the extra mile and find out if the BBC are deliberately doing this to prevent downloading. Meanwhile there are a couple of things that might help

1) Are there generic URLs that would allow us to use RMC4 to record BBC channels on a scheduled basis - this is much more practical than recording links in real-time - if you could find out what these are and make them available to us this would be a great help.

2) http://www.iplayerconverter.co.uk/ has links to a lot of listen again content as wma files. These download just fine in Replay AV.( I think there is a 'how to' on youtube somewhere). Slower than RMC, but better than nothing.

[juanlfm]

I was a user of WM14 then changed to RMC so it is really dissappointing. What is hard to understand is why the BBC have decided to change the way they deliver their programs. Is it worth contacting them I wonder. They may not be aware that something they might have done has such an impact.

[Shellie Heggenberger]

Hi,
I have been testing BBC iPlayer and Replay Media Catcher can capture from it. Some web sites change the URL of each media file every time it is played (we have no control over this) in which case Replay Media Catcher uses the record method to capture a file. This method is slower, and captures the file as it is played. You will need to keep the player window open while your audio or video plays from start to finish. In Replay Media Catcher settings, under RTMP download tweaks, you can select: Always record RTMP streams (instead of downloading): Select this option if you discover that many of your favorite sites can't be recorded. If this is in effect, you'll need to play the entire file to capture it.

[myersph]

Sometime ago I bookmarked this site but I don't understand it enough to say whether it helps the issue or not? Perhaps someone could advise.

http://beebhack.wikia.com/wiki/IPlayer_TV

[SteveCop]

Despite Shellie's post, it is not possible to download from BBC7 as the secure stream message comes up every time. Always record RMTP streams does not overcome this problem. The option to record whilst listening is of little practical use unless you can afford to spend 6 or more hours in front of your computer whilst the weeks choice downloads. Why would anyone want to do this, even if they had the time? They might as well listen live!!! The whole point of using Applian software is to overcome this so that you can quickly capture programs without wasting too much time and then listen to them whilst you are away from an internet connection, travelling maybe. I did try recording whilst two programs I really wanted played but RMC4 was not able to capture them properly as my broadband connection is not fast and occasionally drops out. As soon as that happened RMC4 terminated the recording so I captured a few minutes only. The recording did not résumé when the stream started playing again. Eventually I had to go back to recording the audio stream through my computer though clearly this is far from ideal.

This really is a big issue. Without this functionaility there is little point to me in having RMC (= no further upgrade purchases or recommendations). I cannot see why the BBC have suddenly made this change without saying anything about it. Interestingly I also had the secure stream message come up whilst I tried to capture a little YouTube clip a couple of days ago. The next day I was able to capture it without any problem. Are we absolutely certain the BBC is the cause of this or might there be something connected with a recent Adobe or even Applian update?

[riv-dogg]

I agree with Stevecop - we need Applian to investigate what is going on here - It may well be that the BBC have made a change for reasons other than preventing us from downloading. After all they make all the links to .wma media available to the <http://www.iplayerconverter.co.uk/ site>. Actually I have found that you can paste the URLs that link directly to .wma media into RMC4 and they will download - albeit far more slowly than flash media. It just doesn't seem logical to me that they are deliberately preventing the download of iplayer radio shows when they are helpfully providing links to other sites.

Applian seem to have the attitude that as soon as the 'secure stream' message crops up that they wash their hands of the matter. Let's be clear about this - the software we have purchased is now useless until this problem is fixed. The worst that can happen if they open a dialogue with the BBC is to be told they can't tweak the code to download instead of record; which is precisely where we are now.

I've got another problem at the moment where Trend Micro virus protection is preventing ReplayAV from running. Support don't seem to be very motivated to help with this. Can I just make the point that the value in software products really lies in the quality of support. In the world of streaming media things are going to change all the time and the products have to evolve to cope with this.

[myersph]

My trick is to untick the box saying “automatically record when secure RMTP stream is detected”. I have tried some of the above mentioned problem areas and download worked 100%.