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https://github.com/dohliam/stream2chromecast

Chromecast media streamer for Linux (fork of the no-longer maintained stream2chromecast by @Pat-Carter)
https://github.com/dohliam/stream2chromecast

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Chromecast media streamer for Linux (fork of the no-longer maintained stream2chromecast by @Pat-Carter)

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README 

          
Stream2Chromecast

=================



A Chromecast media streamer for Linux.



Stream2Chromecast casts audio and video files to a Chromecast device from Linux.



It can also transcode any unsupported files in real time and play them on the Chromecast.



It is written in Python 2.7 and uses either ffmpeg or avconv for transcoding.



Installation

------------

To play media file types that are unsupported by Chromecast, either ffmpeg or avconv need to be installed to do the transcoding.



On Ubuntu, either install ffmpeg:-



    sudo apt-get install ffmpeg



...or avconv:-



    sudo apt-get install libav-tools

   

   

On some older Ubuntu versions (e.g. 14.04), a third party PPA is required to install ffmpeg:-



    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mc3man/trusty-media

    sudo apt-get update

    # sudo apt-get dist-upgrade # optional

    apt-get install ffmpeg

   



Functionality

-------------

To stream supported media files to a Chromecast.



        stream2chromecast.py my_media.mp4



To transcode and stream unsupported media files to a Chromecast.

    (This requires either ffmpeg or avconv to be installed. See Installation.)



        stream2chromecast.py -transcode my_mpeg_file.mpg



To play a supported file from a URL.

    This plays the file directly from the remote address, so the file must be streamable and cannot be transcoded. This option will only play downloadable files, it will not stream internet radio stations. In situations where this option does not work, the transcode option will accept URLs as well as local file paths and will often cope better.



        stream2chromecast.py -playurl http://www.example.com/my_media.mp4



### Control playback



 - pause playback (currently only works when not transcoding)

   

        stream2chromecast.py -pause

       

 - continue (unpause) playback (currently only works when not transcoding)

   

        stream2chromecast.py -continue

       

 - stop playback

   

        stream2chromecast.py -stop  



### Volume control



 - set volume (takes a value between 0.0 and 1.0)



        stream2chromecast.py -setvol 



 - increase or decrease volume by 0.1

 

        stream2chromecast.py -volup

        stream2chromecast.py -voldown

        

 - mute volume



        stream2chromecast.py -mute

        

        

          

### Status



 - get Chromecast status



        stream2chromecast.py -status

        

        

### Specifying a device when there are multiple Chromecasts on the network

To specify a device by name or IP address, use the -devicename parameter.

e.g.



 - To play a file on a device named "my_chromecast"

 

        stream2chromecast.py -devicename my_chromecast my_media.mp4



 - To play a file on a device at IP address 192.168.1.10

 

        stream2chromecast.py -devicename 192.168.1.10 my_media.mp4



 - To search the network and list the available devices

        

        stream2chromecast.py -devicelist



### Specify which transcoder to use

If both ffmpeg and avconv are installed, ffmpeg will be used by default. 



 - To specify avconv to be used and transcode a playback, use the -transcoder option



        stream2chromecast.py -transcoder avconv -transcode 

        



### Supply custom transcoder parameters

It is possible to pass in specific parameters to ffmpeg or avconv using the -transcodeopts parameter with the options surrounded by quotes.

These options are applied to the transcoder output.



 - To specify an output video bitrate of 1000k and an audio bitrate of 128k



        stream2chromecast.py -transcodeopts '-b:v 1000k -b:a 128k' -transcode 

        

It is also possible to pass in parameters to the transcoder to be applied to the transcoder input using the -transcodeinputopts parameter, again with the options surrounded by quotes. This can be useful for specifying a "seek" position.



 - To specify a seek position of 15 minutes from the start of the media file

 

        stream2chromecast.py -transcodeinputopts '-ss 00:15:00' -transcode 

        

            

### Specify a port to use for streaming media.

By default, a random unused port will be selected to serve the media from. In a firewalled environment, it can be useful to be able to specify the port to open



 - To specify port 8765 to serve media from

 

        stream2chromecast.py -port 8765 



### Subtitles

Only the WebVTT format is currently supported and not when transcoding.



 - to cast the subtitles on /path/to/subtitles.vtt



        stream2chromecast.py -subtitles /path/to/subtitles.vtt 



To specify the port from which the subtitles file is streamed. In a firewalled environment, it can be useful to be able to specify the port to open



 - to serve the subtitles on port 8765



        stream2chromecast.py -subtitles /path/to/subtitles.vtt -subtitles_port 8765 



To specify the subtitles language. The language format is defined by RFC 5646. (in most cases, this option should not be needed)



 - to serve the subtitles french subtitles

 

        stream2chromecast.py -subtitles /path/to/subtitles.vtt -subtitles_language fr 

    

    

    

### Specify a buffer-size for the transcoder process

By default, the transcoder process returns its data to be sent to the device without buffering. Buffering the data can help in situations where the network connection is slow.



 - To specify a buffer size of 5 megabytes



        stream2chromecast.py -transcodebufsize 5242880 -transcode 



 



Notes

-----

avconv is a fork of ffmpeg. For a time, (when this script was first written) it was included in the Ubuntu repositories rather than ffmpeg. There was a PPA repository available which contained the latest builds of ffmpeg (see the installation notes). For those who are using the 14.04 release, this might still be a good option.



To Do

-----

    Automatic identification of media types that need transcoding.

    Python 3 compatibility...?

    curses interface.

    



License

-------

stream2chromecast.py is GPLv3 licensed.



Thanks

------

The excellent PyChromecast library by Paulus Schoutsen has been a great help for information on building the interface.



https://github.com/balloob/pychromecast



Thanks to TheCrazyT for this gist:-



https://gist.github.com/TheCrazyT/11263599



Thanks to [dohliam](https://github.com/dohliam) for bug fixes and additional functionality.



Thanks to [interlocuteur](https://github.com/interlocuteur) for bug fixes, error reports & advice.



Thanks to [jsalatiel](https://github.com/jsalatiel) for suggestions & advice.



Thanks to [palaviv](https://github.com/palaviv) for the subtitles functionality.