mash (Pete's notes)

Web to Open Mash home page. Get the
cd /usr/src
gunzip mash-bin-5.2-linux-gnu.tar.gz
tar xf mash-bin-5.2-linux-gnu.tar
rm mash-bin-5.2-linux-gnu.tar
cd mash-5.2
./setup
This says it'll install binaries, including vic, vat and nsdr, in /usr/local/bin and libraries, examples and init files in /usr/local/lib. It actually installs vic, vat and nsdr in /usr/local/bin, and armost nothing in /usr/local/lib. Thu installer also displays 
The Mash distribution comes with a plug-in for Netscape and
Internet Explorer.  The plug-in has been tested under
FreeBSD, Linux, and Windows NT.  It has been tested only
with Netscape Communicator 4.0 and Microsoft Internet
Explorer 4.0.

WARNING:  The plug-in has not been tested recently.  Use
with extreme caution.

To test the plug-in once it has been installed, restart
your browser and point it at
<file://<your-mash-directory>/lib/mash-test.html>.
This'll offer to edit your shell startup scripts. Decline, and then add this to ~/.bashrc:
export MASH_HOME=/usr/local
To use it, start nsdr. It'll give you a list of multicast sessions that you can join. Click on one to view it. Click on "Run" vic to get video, "Run" vat to get audio.

Subject: some stupid newbie questions
From: Pete Siemsen
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 17:40:27 -0700
To: openmash-users@openmash.org

I just loaded mash 5.2 onto a Red Hat 7.2 Intel platform with XFree86 4.1. I can run nsdr and see lots of sessions. I can click an a session and see thumbnails of various things. My feed speeds vary from 5kb/sec to over 2Mb/sec. Stupid newbie questions:

  1. By accident, I discvered that left-clicking on a thumbnail opens a larger window. Is there a user manual for idiots that covers this kind of basic useability?

  2. Many feeds don't show anything. Like, I get 30 f/s at ~770 kb/s from "NASA TV", but the thumbnail is solid grey. Also, left-clicking on the thumbnail brings up a window containing only "Sizes", "Modes" and "Dismiss" buttons, but no large grey image.

  3. Every source of vat produces a window that says "vat: sorry, cannot decode this type of audio"

Any help appreciated.

-- Pete

Subject: Re: some stupid newbie questions
From: Lloyd Lim
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 16:56:54 -0800 (17:56 MST)
To: Open Mash Users

On Wednesday 20 March 2002 04:40 pm, Pete Siemsen wrote:

>I just loaded mash 5.2 onto a Red Hat 7.2 Intel platform with XFree86 >4.1. I can run nsdr and see lots of sessions. I can click an a >session and see thumbnails of various things. My feed speeds vary >from 5kb/sec to over 2Mb/sec. Stupid newbie questions: > >1. >By accident, I discvered that left-clicking on a thumbnail opens a >larger window. Is there a user manual for idiots that covers this >kind of basic useability?

There might be somewhere on the net. Our documentation is lacking because we don't have the people/time to write it yet.

>2. >Many feeds don't show anything. Like, I get 30 f/s at ~770 kb/s from >"NASA TV", but the thumbnail is solid grey. Also, left-clicking on >the thumbnail brings up a window containing only "Sizes", "Modes" and >"Dismiss" buttons, but no large grey image.

That's an MPEG-1 stream. vic does not support any MPEG streams.

NASA TV used to broadcast in a format that vic could handle. I don't know why they switched. NASA TV isn't that reliable anyway. Lots of times their session isn't running.

>3. >Every source of vat produces a window that says "vat: sorry, cannot >decode this type of audio"

You're probably trying to listen to the many MP3 streams. vat currently cannot handle those streams, although we have an undergrad that is working on adding that capability.

For sound that you can hear, try UO Presents KWAX Classical Radio.

Unfortunately, many sessions in nsdr are either inactive or broadcast in formats that aren't very compatible. It's pretty much trial and error to find the few sessions that you can watch and/or listen.

Lloyd

Pete Siemse
Last modified: Wed Jul 16 17:15:01 MDT 2003