VLC PHATBEAT Pirate Radio

README.md

Starting from Jessie or Jessie Lite

curl get.pimoroni.com/phatbeat | bash

Then install VLC:

sudo apt-get install vlc-nox

Create a new dir vlc in /home/pi and copy all of the below files into it.

Then run crontab -e and add:

@reboot /home/pi/vlc/start.sh

playlist.m3u

http://relay4.slayradio.org:8200/
http://allstream.rainwave.cc:8000/all.mp3
http://tx.sharp-stream.com/icecast.php?i=planetrock.mp3
http://s1.viastreaming.net:8000

start.sh

#!/bin/bash

cd /home/pi/vlc
python vlc.py

vlc.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

import atexit
import re
import socket
import subprocess
import time
import signal
from sys import exit, version_info

import phatbeat

class VLC():

    def __init__(self, host="127.0.0.1", port=9294):
        self.host = host
        self.port = port
        self.pid = None
        self.current_stream = None
        self.current_state = None
        self.running = False

    def kill(self):
        if self.pid is not None and self.running:
            subprocess.call(['/bin/kill','-9', str(self.pid)])
            print('Killing VLC process with PID: ' + str(self.pid))

    def send(self, command):
        print("Sending command: " + command)
        command += "\n"

        if version_info[0] >= 3:
            command = command.encode("utf-8")

        try:
            self.socket.send(command)

        except socket.error:
            print("Failed to send command to VLC")

    def recv(self, length):
        value = self.socket.recv(8192)

        if version_info[0] >= 3:
            value = value.decode("utf-8")

        return value

    def communicate(self, command, response_length=8192):
        self.send(command)
        return self.recv(response_length)

    def get_current_stream(self):
        self.send("status")
        status = self.recv(8192)

        result = re.search("input:\ (.*)\ ", status)
        state = re.search("state\ (.*)\ ", status)

        if state is not None:
            self.current_state = state.group(1)

        if result is not None:
            self.current_stream = result.group(1)
        else:
            self.current_stream = None

        return self.current_stream

    def connect(self):
        self.socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)

        for attempt in range(10):
            try:
                print("Attempting to connect to VLC")
                self.socket.connect((self.host, self.port))
                print("Connection successful!")
                return True

            except socket.error:
                time.sleep(1)

    def start(self):
        if self.pid is None:
            try:
                return_value = subprocess.check_output(['pidof', 'vlc'])

                if version_info[0] >= 3:
                    self.pid = int(return_value.decode('utf-8').split(' ')[0])
                else:
                    self.pid = int(return_value.decode('utf-8').split(' ')[0])

                print('Found VLC with PID: ' + str(self.pid))

                if self.connect():
                    return True

            except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
                pass

            try:
                return_value = subprocess.check_output(['./vlc.sh'])
                pids = return_value.decode('utf-8').split('\n')[0]
                self.pid = int(pids.split(' ')[0])
                self.started_vlc_instance = True
                print('VLC started with PID: ' + str(self.pid))

            except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
                print('You must have VLC installed to use Dot3k Radio')
                print('Try: sudo apt-get install vlc')
                return False

        if not self.connect():
            print("Unable to connect to VLC")
            return False

        return True

if __name__ == "__main__":
    vlc = VLC()

    if vlc.start():
        @phatbeat.on(phatbeat.BTN_VOLDN)
        def pb_volume_down(pin):
            print(vlc.communicate("voldown"))

        @phatbeat.on(phatbeat.BTN_VOLUP)
        def pb_volume_up(pin):
            print(vlc.communicate("volup"))

        @phatbeat.on(phatbeat.BTN_PLAYPAUSE)
        def pb_play_pause(pin):
            print(vlc.communicate("pause"))

        @phatbeat.on(phatbeat.BTN_FASTFWD)
        def pb_fast_forward(pin):
            print(vlc.communicate("next"))

        @phatbeat.on(phatbeat.BTN_REWIND)
        def pb_rewind(pin):
            print(vlc.communicate("prev"))
        
        signal.pause()
    else:
        exit()

vlc.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
killall vlc > /dev/null 2>&1
/usr/bin/cvlc --quiet --intf rc --rc-fake-tty --rc-host 0.0.0.0:9294 --extraintf http --http-password vlcremote playlist.m3u > /dev/null & 2>&1
sleep 0.5
/bin/pidof vlc

Hi Philip,
Thank you for the great instructions on own to setup the software part for the Pirate Radio Kit.
I've forked your GIST in order to add the TURN OFF feature for the phatbeat.
Feel free to merge ;)
Best Regards,
Pierre-yves

Thanks...

one of the missing pieces since vlc-nox seems to be retired!