Unable to download a pid

[Budge]

On 02/12/2015 04:12 AM, Vangelis forthnet wrote:
> 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.
Hi Vangelis,
Many thanks for taking the time to set out the above.  I shall continue
to read up on this as I have never bothered about versions before,
having no special needs in that respect.  Meanwhile I see you refer to
GiP v2.92-dev....  Should I be trying this now or is it still a work in
progress?
Budge.