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Thread: Creating m3u playlist (tutorial and dummies guide)

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    Creating m3u playlist (tutorial and dummies guide)

    I'm sure you already know it and its not worth to be stickied, but I hope there are some members who are new to IPTV and will find it of some help

    Creating *m3u playlist for SimpleTv player ( lists will also work in VLC)

    In your search for links to streams on the net you will (or already have) find loads of links that look like this:
    Code:
    http://123.123.123.12:8080 (its just an example)
    or rtmp://.......
    or mms://......
    or rtsp://......
    or same as above but with EXTINF:and the name of the stream followed by its address, IP address and port number, or a proper name like _http://www.sitename.....
    All tutorials people post on youtube seem to concentrate on how to open a single stream on various players, right clicking copying and pasting a single address to open it with a player (in other words just nick the link and paste it to their player asap). But we can create a playlist with multiple channels on it and open it all at once, and just change channels at the click of a mouse instead of the time consuming opening them one by one? And share the ready made playlist with others too (hopefully)?

    We need to begin with opening a new file in the notepad.

    First thing we need to do in that file is to put a header in the first line so the player recognises what it is:

    Code:
    #EXTM3U

    Next we would like our file to go to the correct group of channels in our player so in the same line as the header (after a space) we insert the intended destination ($ExtFilter=) where the list should be uploaded when we load it to the player. I will use SPORT as an example here. First line (header + destination) will look like this:
    Code:
    #EXTM3U $ExtFilter="SPORT"
    Doing the above will tell your player where to (which group) insert the playlist, if no such group exists it will create a new group called SPORT and insert your channels in there

    Next we can start inserting stream addresses to our file

    In the next line we need to tell the player that we are inserting the address now, so we write #EXTINF:
    Now, there are two types of #EXTINF: you will come across on the net , one is #EXTINF:0, and the other is #EXTINF:-1
    The numbering of the #EXTINF is explained in detail on wikipedia if you want to go into details
    But we are only concentrating on what difference it makes for our player.

    If we use #EXTINF:0, our playlist will be added to the bottom of our list of channels in the group we have named above and if we use the #EXTINF:-1, it will be added to the top(you will see the difference it makes when your list of channels start growing as you find new additions, the -1 also tells the player that there is no predefined lenght value as its an internet stream and not your local file, but as we are making a player specific file it doesn't bother us so don`t worry about it now.(You start worrying about what number to put after the EXTINF when you start creating extended *m3u playlists, but we are only making a simple list for our streams)
    So if we want to just add channels to list we use #EXTINF:0, but if we want them on top for any reason we use the other. Whichever you use you can always re-arrange the channel order when they are already on your player, so don`t worry too much, I am just trying to explain the difference


    Back to the file:
    In order for the player to correctly recognise the link, we need to insert our #EXTINF:0, and without any space after that, our stream name (you can have spaces in the name but immediately after the name we press ENTER and insert the address in the next line (so there are no spaces between the name and address). So the file we have created so far will look like this:

    Code:
    #EXTM3U $ExtFilter="SPORT"               
    #EXTINF:0,Your Channel Name
    http://123.123.123.12:8080
    #EXTINF:0,Your Channel Name 2
    http://www.sitename..........
    #EXTINF:0,Your Channel Name 3
    rtmp://.............
    and so on
    Insert all your links in the above manner, and when you have finished SAVE the file. (press File->Save as, then name your playlist
    example.m3u and for the file type change from Text Do***ents to All Files then press save

    Now you can open your Simple Tv player and load your playlist. Make sure that you un-tick the 'Delete curent data' in the load playlist screen so you load your new list and retain your current list too
    For future updates you can re-use that file, just replace the names and addresses and save under a different name

    VLC users can just double click the file or Media-->Open file, but they wont have all the bells and whistles that come with the SimpleTv player
    Last edited by Roadrunner; 18-01-2014 at 02:57 PM.

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    Verified Registered User archiesat's Avatar
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    thanks roadrunner been using simpletv player with your files and are working well.after reading this post i now made a file up from spiderbox ipt file to m3u and it works great.easy to follow guide and your time was most appreicated for the guide.


    cheers archie

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    I am glad you found the tut of some help
    Even if only one single member finds it useful its worth all the work.
    Now that you reverse engineered one ipt file, feel free to do the same to any file I am/will be posting in the other section
    But google for streams too, the spiderbox doesnt take every type of stream so in that section we are only posting links to channels that it does and you don`t want to be missing out on other really good stuff. To see the difference between the files just open in Notepad one of the lists that states
    For Simple Tv only and see the type of links I am talking about. Spiderbox wouldn`t accept those but the Simple Tv on your Pc will, so its worth googling for them. (usually they are better in quality as well as contents Good luck
    Last edited by Roadrunner; 19-01-2014 at 12:05 AM.

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    V.I.P seagate1's Avatar
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    @roadrunner thanks for this bit of info , i like it so i hope it stays. i use it a lot mainly through v l c player as i dont get on with simpletv. going back to v l c can i make a folder in there to store the links then just go to them pick a link and away we go. plus what about v l c on solo2 bh 2.0.8. can i do the same or dose v l c on solo2 not work the same way thanks

    solo2
    windows 8.1
    windows 7
    mx2 box.

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    Hi , the closest I could get to a sort of a full playlist of all the links from all the files, was when I moved all the m3u files to one folder on my desktop, and then opened the folder with VLC(Media-->Open folder) Then I had all the links from all the files in one location. But I didn`t like it much and lost any further interest in VLC. Probably it is possible to create a good looking playlists for VLC but I don`t know how.. I`d rather carry on using SimpleTv, it opens more, can have multiple playlists nicely organised by country , or movies by genre. Now that I imported picons and set EPG , all is left to do is to replace the dead links with new when I find them, and I`ve decided that this is what I wanted so I stopped there and started maintaining what I ve got .
    For your Solo, I don`t have it and I don`t know what it does or doesn`t do.. I am just guessing that with all the plugins at your disposal you wouldn`t need to worry about crude ways of watching IPTV like this???? But I don`t know atm, when I finally come to the stage when I need more, I will buy a VU and start playing with it.
    Regards,
    Roadrunner
    Last edited by Roadrunner; 20-01-2014 at 12:12 AM.

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    thanks roadrunner do you have a simple guide how to set up simpletv ive had a go with it, but could not find a guide any help please.great work thanks.

    solo2
    windows 8.1
    windows 7
    mx2 box.

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    Hi, its really easy. Just load the player and begin with removing all the groups with russian language icons on them , unless you want to keep them (right click on any button you want to remove and select
    Remove the Extfilter and all channels) Only leave the ALL group. Now that you have an empty playlist you can start installing your own channels. the playlists I have explained in the tut. The $ExtFilter I have explained in the tut also. This is what helps you to organise your channels ie when you create a list you give the filter a name, and that is what creates the new group called that name on the playlist If you need to upload to that particular group in the future you use the same filter name and the new channels will be uploaded to the same group. The lists are uploaded by pressing the folder icon (top left of the playlist screen) You will just have to remember to un-tick the Delete current data as explained in the tut) Do the same for all groups, say you have created a group called sport and uploaded your channels to it and now you want to create another group called say: English, so in the m3u file you call the filter "English" and put your english channels in there and load it to the player. Now you will have another group of channels on your playlist called English, from now on all m3u files with the filter set to English will be uploaded to that group.. And so on and on
    If any channel link expires you can just right click on that channel name in the playlist and select `channel settings` and replace it with your new link ( so you dont have to create a whole new list with this channels new addy in it but do it one by one if you want to preserve other settings you might have created for that channel like picons) on the same settings screen you can also set picons for every channel. Download the picons to your desktop and in the logo setting for that channel find the picon you need and save. Do the same with all channels that you want to have a picon on. (Some say you can dump the new picons to the folder within the plasyer itself so they appear automatically but I couldn`t do it here, it wouldn`t take it so I had to do them manually)
    There are several guides on the youtube for other functions of the player also.
    Hope its enough to get you started, Try and play with it , I understand that it can be confusing at first (and it was for me too) but then the penny drops and its really simple to use.
    Regards
    Last edited by Roadrunner; 20-01-2014 at 11:07 PM.

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    iptv channels

    Hi,
    Can you explain from where i can get channels url like http://.....
    I have a iptv box 250 channels working but I dnt know how to get these channels url or link
    Please help to extract the links of channels

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    will this work on my duo2

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    Will this work on a zgemma if am running the ipab

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    I meant ip address.

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    Hi..Its very easy to find free IPTV channels all over the web. its then a question of finding out what format your box uses.
    From my experience there is this two types of files that i am aware of...there maybe others.

    For Spiderbox 6000HD format is as follows:
    #EXTM3U
    Channel name,ip address.....ts
    Channel name,ip address.....m3u8

    For TM5402 and Medialink etc format is as follows:

    #EXTM3U
    #EXTINF:-1,Channel Name
    http....ip address.......ts or m3u8
    #EXTINF:-1,Channel Name
    http....ip address......ts or m3u8


    The #EXTM3U is mandatory and must be the first line for both type of boxes. The .ts or .m3u8 extension will be indicated in the file or sometimes may not be required.
    The file names can be as follows:
    For Spiderbox - Spid3112.ipt
    For TM etc Good3112.ipt

    3112 is the creation date and can vary from file to file. Files must have the .ipt extension otherwise may not be picked by the box. Hope this helps people to create their own lists.

    Regards.

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    is it possible to do this with a paid iptv that i use on a kodi addon? Would I need to sniff URL's and include useragent, username and password?

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