Unable to download a pid

[Vangelis forthnet]

On Tue Feb 10 23:17:02 GMT 2015, alastair wrote:

> Would it be acceptable to include
> --playlist-metadata switch in prefs
> so that the pvr download will proceed
> or would this frustrate the downloads
> which otherwise would work?

Hi...
 You can read some more info about that
particular switch at:
https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer/wiki/release291#1-metadata-changes

 What it does is override the new
metadata extraction technique
implemented by commit git-2be84bd
of  Tue, 25 Nov 2014 18:58:19Z:
http://git.infradead.org/get_iplayer.git/commit/2be84bdbdb6a2d643bfdddbe91bb58e01a642530

Since then, it has emerged by numerous posts
both here and in the forum that some programmes
(both TV & Radio) fail to download, as the new technique
picks up multiple vPIDs, of which only one is (of course)
correct - using the switch is mandatory then for a
successful download.
 IF A SHOW DOWNLOADS FINE WITHOUT
THE SWITCH, THEN IT SHOULD ALSO DOWNLOAD
USING THE SWITCH - I can't be absolute since
using XML/JSON playlists and/or page scraping
for metadata could hit other unforeseen obstacles, too!
 It has already been reported
http://lists.infradead.org/pipermail/get_iplayer/2015-February/007112.html
that using the switch with tag 2.91
could result in a less detailed auto-filename and possibly
poorer data within the MP4/MP3 tag.
The metadata extraction method that the switch employs
was designed for the old BBC Feeds killed in late Oct 2014;
while GiP now uses substitute ones, they are less "rich"
(chime in if wrong...).

> now I am using tag version 2.91.
> Is there a patched version available which
> obviates the need for the playlist-metadata switch?

This is issue #115 of the GitHub tracker closed by
commit develop-git-0f4188d:
https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer/commit/0f4188d878a313f5b9c3f29f1e2117c0402a84ee

You can try the most recent commit
from the "develop" branch:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer/d4cc5bca00c90223da5379948218da881edb023b/get_iplayer

Taking as an example the flashhd mode of pid=b04xw2x8
referenced in this thread, I can verify that

perl get_iplayer-291.pl --pid=b04xw2x8 --modes=flashhd --force --raw

doesn't work, while

perl 
get_iplayer-291.pl --pid=b04xw2x8 --playlist-metadata --versions=editorial --modes=flashhd 
 --force --raw
perl 
get_iplayer-v2.92-dev-gd4cc5bc.pl --pid=b04xw2x8 --modes=flashhd --force --raw

BOTH DO!

But this is only one isolated pid I've checked...

> what is a "verpid" please?

PID is a UNIQUE alphanumeric 8 character string
attributed to every BBC radio or TV programme.
 You can find info for this programme by loading
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/[pid]
even after it has expired from iPlayer.
The pid is - as I'm sure you know - included in the
iPlayer URL for that show...
When a pid is available on iPlayer to watch/listen to,
it may be available in various "versions", i.e.
default, signed, audiodescribed (and recently some
other variants like original, editorial e.a.).
Every such version (which has a different iPlayer
stream) is attributed a different "PID", referred to
as "version PID", "vPID", "vpid", "verpid" etc.
GiP MUST find this vPID string, because it grants
access to the available streams for that version.
vPID is different to its corresponding PID only
in the last two characters, although the algorithm
that generates it is unclear. vPID is unique, vanishes
from the net when the pid expires from iPlayer.

Keep well,
Vangelis.