CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpvideobuffergoogle-cast
arik
arik

Reputation: 29240

Chromecast PHP Buffer MP4

I have a Chromecast and a URL of an mp4 file online. I also have a 2Mbps download connection, which is pathetic and renders direct buffering to the Chromecast too slow. That's what I tried so far:

Through the developer console, I simply set location.href to the online URL of the mp4. The Chromecast would buffer for 20 seconds, play 10 seconds' worth of video, and then buffer again. So, through the console, I paused the video and let it buffer for 5 minutes. When I let it play again, it played for about 15 seconds, and then lost all progress and had to be returned to the home screen.

As I don't want to wait for the whole download of the mp4 to complete, I am currently attempting this: I buffer the mp4 to a local file which is in my htdocs directory, and I then direct the Chromecast to that file's location. However, when opening the mp4 file thorugh Chrome (the browser), instead of playing, it shows a download prompt, and the Chromecast returns to the home screen.

I have implemented the buffering in PHP, and it looks as thus:

$bufferSource = 'http://example.com/path/to/file.mp4';

$bufferedReader = fopen($bufferSource, 'r');

while(!($finished = feof($bufferedReader))){

    if($finished !== false){ break; }

    //get onle line
    $buffer = fgets($bufferedReader);


    file_put_contents('buffer.mp4', $buffer, FILE_APPEND);

}

fclose($bufferedReader);

I know that PHP does its work, as I can watch the file size grow on my computer, and I can open the file with VLC. Is there maybe another PHP script I could make to access the locally buffered mp4 file which simulates 'bufferability', so Chrome does not show the download dialog but buffers the file, as should do the Chromecast?

EDIT: One more thing. I am not directing the Chromecast to the PHP script. I am actually directing it directly to the buffer.mp4 file.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1612

Answers (2)

Brad
Brad

Reputation: 163272

You're missing a Content-Type header in your PHP script.

Figure out what the original content type header is from your server (probably video/mp4) and send it with your proxying script like this:

header('Content-Type: video/mp4');

This will allow the browser to detect the content type and play it directly (if supported), without downloading.

Also, I would consider using a real proxy server, such as Nginx, rather than reinventing the wheel. This will be much easier and more reliable.

Upvotes: 1

Ali Naddaf
Ali Naddaf

Reputation: 19034

You can use a receiver with a Media Element tag and then point its source to your mp4 file on your server. If you don't want to write your own receiver, you can use either the default or Styled Media Receiver . You would need a very simple sender to send the url, check out the github repo for examples

Upvotes: 0

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