cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

BBCi Player help

thegroove
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎05-02-2008

BBCi Player help

Hi all, I've seen on here a few people have actually got the BBC iplayer to work....that surprises me  Grin
I have tried to get this thing working but to no avail...have looked into this on the BBC site and cannot find any help there.
I can download and instal the software no problem but get any downloads...not even 100% sure how to download stuff. If I click on a link in the webpage, for instance I want to download Horizon...I click on it and nothing happens, doesn't start a download or a stream or anything, the picture that was there disappears and that's it....
I class myself as a bit of a techy so I cant see why I cant get it working...any help would be appreciated.
14 REPLIES 14
Peter_Vaughan
Grafter
Posts: 14,469
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

What account are you on?
It uses P2P, do you have this disabled on your PN account ( Surf opton under connection settings?)
Do you have the PN broadband firewall enabled. If so, try disabling it.
Also check your own software firewall. Try with it disabled to see if that is causing your download problems.
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

The BBC don't allow downloads unless you've got enough DRM to sink a battleship.
I suspect that they also insist that you have software that reports on software and data on your machine to Microsoft - is that paranoid? I managed - with some difficulty - to get it working on Linux (flash player) only.
Just for a laugh, I did a video capture whilst streaming iPlayer in full screen. I got a huge .avi file - which was really quite good quality, everything considered. Had a problem syncing in the audio - so I left it.
Definitely a possibility though on a high-spec PC with a good broadband connection.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

dgdclynx
Grafter
Posts: 187
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

If you dont suppress pop-ups you get the 'grey screen' and it dont work.
dgdclynx
Grafter
Posts: 187
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

Quote from: dgdclynx
If you dont suppress pop-ups you get the 'grey screen' and it dont work.

Silly me. Just back from the pub. You must allow pop-ups.
thegroove
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎05-02-2008

Re: BBCi Player help

OK thanks for your posts...
I didn't know PN had a firewall...I have all other firwalls turned off except Norton Internet security which I have allowed access for BBC iplayer.
Not sure what DRM stands for.
I'm on option 3 with PN and do do P2P at times with no problems.
I have gone through all the set up options of the player and nothing works...I shall try again tonight and make sure pop-ups are enabled.
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

I dont know what form of operating system you have, but DRM is digital right management, BBC iPlayer, unless it has changed recently wont work with Macs or Linux, the dont have the right sort of DRM. That is rather stange since the BBC are heavy users of Apple Mac.  Huh
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

Quote from: pierre_pierre
...That is rather stange since the BBC are heavy users of Apple Mac.  Huh

It means that the BBC can't use iPlayer (unless they have the permission of M$).  Grin Grin

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

vof
Grafter
Posts: 45
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎04-08-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

Having been bombarded by BBC adverts for the past 6 weeks, I decided late Monday night to install the newly released Firefox non-streaming version of iPlayer which after a struggle I achieved. (It requires various other updates before it will install...)
Then since it was after midnight and into the free period, I downloaded a 60min programme which my wife had missed seeing when transmitted (The Choir).
Fast forward to tonight when an email from PN arrives saying I've burst through my monthly data allowance. I think: !!??!! - I had told the download manager not to upload and had been careful to quit/remove it from the system tray after use. Nevertheless, the dreadful peer-to-peer software the BBC use - Kontiki I think it is called - continues to merrily upload data in the background whenever the PC is connected to the Net. As a result, I seem to have uploaded over 2GB of data in the past two days - not bad for a single programme that was under 500MB of download!
Needless to say, my iPlayer trial is over and the software has been banished. Beware of the effect this software has on your data usage!
vof
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

How to stop IPlayer using up your allowance:
In the IPlayer library select Preferences from the top. Go to the Advanced tab.
Untick Run BBC IPlayer on Windows start up
Untick Allow programmes to be shared when you exit iPlayer
It will start sharing when open the library, but it will stop when you exit IPlayer.
Q: Has anyone figured out how to check if you have the latest version of the IPlayer software?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

I've discovered I didn't have the current version and the options dialog has moved - you now access it via settings - the two options I said to uncheck are still there.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

Quote from: jelv
How to stop IPlayer using up your allowance:
Untick Allow programmes to be shared when you exit iPlayer
It will start sharing when open the library, but it will stop when you exit IPlayer.

What's this sharing thing all about?
Surely if the BBC can provide streaming capabilities they can provide download capabilities (which are much less resource sensitive)?
BTW "The Kon-Tiki Museum contains the renowned balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, on which Thor Heyerdahl made his famous journey across the Pacific in 1947 to prove the theory that the first Polynesian settlers could have sailed the 4,300 miles (6,923km) between Peru and Polynesia." (Attached)  Grin

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

vof
Grafter
Posts: 45
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎04-08-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

@jelv: I had deliberately unticked those two settings when initially configuring it thinking that would stop it misbehaving - it doesn't. It has been reported elsewhere (lots of places) that the kservice.exe service which seems to run all the time whatever your settings is what is doing the damage. The reports elsewhere suggest killing the task in TM but I'd had more than enough by then and was not prepared to give it house room any longer...
vof
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

Hmm...
On the version I was running that was definitely working for me - I've since picked up the latest version and have seen this problem (rather than kill the process using task manager I go in to sevices and stop the Kservice).
I wonder if so many people were using that setting that they've decided to ignore it?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: BBCi Player help

What is the point of the BBC using a P2P model if there is no encouragement - in fact a positive discouragement to upload except when you are forced to?
Unless the BBC allow you to set a cap or speed limit on uploads then few people will give it house room.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."