M3U8 hangs after a few seconds

Question

I have a small experimental clip below :

http://d3fnzeq4kk32oq.cloudfront.net/802/test_1.m3u8

The problem I am facing is that after a few seconds, the video hangs.

I would appreciate if someone is able to help me

1. Identify the issue
2. Any fix
3. Any tool for detecting or fixing it

Solution 1

The .m3u8 file is not a video clip; it is a manifest-type file that is used in HTTP video streaming. It specifies the URL of MPEG2-TS encoded video segments that are usually about 10 minutes in length.

1. The server sends this .m3u8 file to the client
2. Then the client extracts the URL to the .ts video segment and then displays the video segment.

Under normal live streaming conditions, a new .m3u8 file is sent from the server to the client every 10-minutes so it will know the URL of the next 10-minute video segment. When there are no more segments, or the live streaming event has terminated, the server sends a .m3u8 file with the #EXT-X-ENDLIST directive, which tells the client that there will be no further segments, as szatmary explained above.

Thus, your video "hangs" as you described as there are no more segments available.

To Fix:

There is no fix needed, because the server has not provided any more segments.

Resources:

The best tool for detecting this is an editor like vi (vim) which will let you see the directives in the .m3u8 file so you can check for the #EXT-X-ENDLIST directive. Or just use cat or tail to show the contents of the .m3u8 file.

The link to the IETF draft on HTTP Live Streaming that szatmary gave is very informative and explains all of the directives that are used in the .m3u8 file.

Since Apple developed and defined this protocol, this is the best source for info: https://developer.apple.com/streaming/

Additional resources can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Live_Streaming

Solution 2

I so no issues. This m3u8 is pointing to the last couple seconds of what was a live broadcast.

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-VERSION:3
#EXT-X-ALLOW-CACHE:NO
#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:10
#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:54675
#EXTINF:10.0,
http://d3fnzeq4kk32oq.cloudfront.net/802/chunk-20131128_0122_54675.ts
#EXTINF:2.188,
http://d3fnzeq4kk32oq.cloudfront.net/802/chunk-20131128_0123_54676.ts
#EXTINF:10.0,
http://d3fnzeq4kk32oq.cloudfront.net/802/chunk-20131128_0123_54677.ts
#EXT-X-ENDLIST

HLS splits the video into segmeents. This playlist starts on segment number 54675 and ends on 54677. #EXT-X-ENDLIST tells the player to stop playing, as we are out of segments.

While this stream was live the m3u8 would have been updating.

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-12

Comments

[Rajib]

Your link points to a 368 byte file, and it does not play in VLC.

[Divya Bhargov]

How to figure out if the m3u9 was pointing to a live broadcast like you have mentioned ?

[Robert Perry]

"are usually about 10 minutes in length" .. I think you meant seconds? #EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:10 - refers to a 10 second clip length