Unable to download TV programmes: provided proxy not in UK

[hoosiersunited]

It appears I am having two separate issues - one with BBC content (See first attempt) and another with ITV content (second through fourth). Not sure if both are related to a proxy issue, which seems to be the cause of the ITV failures.

Not sure if this is localized to the proxy provided as I struggled to find a working alternative as well.

Thank you.

LOG
https://gist.github.com/anonymous/443194e72a97157d40a2

[dinkypumpkin]

For whatever reason, the current provided proxy address (212.82.126.32) appears not to be in the UK. Until Thomas sorts it out, or the provided proxy automatically updates to a UK address, you'll have to make your own proxy arrangements.

[CorrieFan]

Having the very same problem.

[BtbB]

Same problem. However, (using current proxy) radio works fine; television does not.

[larryy]

Radio does not require a UK IP address; television does.

[CorrieFan]

Missin' my BBC. Sob!

[BtbB]

larryy : Thanks for the clarification; honestly did not know that. :)

[mostlyotter]

The problem with BBC television seems to be unrelated to the currently provided GiA proxy.

Using a private UK proxy, I can download radio in the higher bitrate that does require a proxy, but not BBC television.

Attached is a log showing a successful download of Composer of the Week in 320k, but failed downloads of three children's television episodes:
https://gist.github.com/mostlyotter/f881dbe921c944ff2e1a

I haven't tested with a VPN.

Using GIA 1.3.7.1 with get_iplayer.pl updated manually to the develop version on 14 May.

[mostlyotter]

Download of one of the television episodes succeeded with a VPN.

https://gist.github.com/mostlyotter/fc87112af4f3c8619d86

[CorrieFan]

So, is Get iPlayer Automator officially dead as far as television goes?

[teleaddict]

Will Get iPlayer Automator ever work again? Just tried to run the Check for updates, which failed. So is a new version on its way.

[dinkypumpkin]

@CorrieFan, @teleaddict: Re-read this thread. There is nothing wrong with GiA the application, though the support services Thomas provides are broken (and currently non-existent - his server appears to be dead at the moment). If you can't wait for Thomas to fix his server, then find your own VPN and set proxy = None and disable quick caching in preferences . @mostlyotter already demonstrated that GiA works with a proper setup. If you're not in the UK, you can't complain if the BBC blocks you, and you can't rely on GiA to evade geo-blocking for you, even though it may have worked in the past.

[larryy]

I can confirm that GiA with a VPN service is working well. I gave up on the free UK proxies, because they were too unreliable. A free, trial subscription to a paid proxy seemed little better; I never found out what the paid service was like. A free, trial subscription to one VPN service also seemed unreliable due to the tunnel dropping, though it worked while the tunnel was up. A free, trial subscription to BolehVPN.net seemed to work very well, so I went with them and have been happy ever since. BolehVPN provides one service that, to my knowledge, no other VPN service provides, which is a local-proxy mode, that doesn't interfere with other internet services on your machine. They have the normal, all-traffic-goes-through-the-tunnel mode as well, but I wanted my normal browsing and my web server to be online normally, and not use the VPN tunnel. BolehVPN let me set things up so that GiA uses the tunnel, but nothing else does (unless I want it to), by providing a local proxy (10.x.x.x, I can't remember the number off hand) that I could point GiA at, and only traffic through that local proxy goes over the tunnel. Works like a charm.

I have nothing to do with BolehVPN, aside from being a very happy customer.

[pmhird]

I noticed the issue with the provided proxy since the weekend but is there something else causing a new problem today however? Mine was working fine with a manually entered proxy, and now it won't update the cache or download anything since about midnight UK time. Even if quick caching is de-selected I still can't do anything with it. I've tried about 20 proxies-they can't all be broken can they?

And just now the whole GIA has started to just spontaneously quit. I've restarted and the whole thing seems very unstable. I can get t to start downloads with some proxies but it soon fails, and its often adding incomplete downloads to itunes and calling them complete, when it only has 15 minutes of a 1-hour show...Is this all related to Tom's server?

[mostlyotter]

The GiA server is back and quick caching is working again.

The UK proxy provided by the server still needs to be replaced.

If you add a custom working proxy, GiA will download radio and HD television.

To download SD television, GiA will need a VPN.

[CorrieFan]

It ain't working if it ain't working––and it ain't working. Where would I find a "custom working proxy", for example? And if GiA needs a VPN to download SD television, where does that come from? I'm afraid I'm blinded by science here.

[teleaddict]

Hi, I've spent the best part of the week searching for a work round.
If you email me directly (subject line = GIP help) I'll tell what I
found that works.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

On 22/05/15 13:46, CorrieFan wrote:

It ain't working if it ain't working––and it ain't working. Where
would I find a "custom working proxy", for example? And if GiA needs a
VPN to download SD television, where does that come from? I'm afraid
I'm blinded by science here.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#482 (comment).

[pmhird]

Try:

http://www.freeproxylists.com/uk.html

On 23 May 2015, at 00:02, teleaddict wrote:

Hi, I've spent the best part of the week searching for a work round.
If you email me directly (subject line = GIP help) I'll tell what I
found that works.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

On 22/05/15 13:46, CorrieFan wrote:

It ain't working if it ain't working––and it ain't working. Where
would I find a "custom working proxy", for example? And if GiA needs a
VPN to download SD television, where does that come from? I'm afraid
I'm blinded by science here.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#482 (comment).

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[CorrieFan]

Wonderful news, teleaddict, thanks, but I can't seem to find your direct email on here.

[BayArea]

Hi Teleaddict, I would also like to know the work around but alas can't find your email address either. Also, thanks pmhird for your contribution, I am having some success with the list you provided. Although, I think that is more good fortune that really knowing what I am doing! Thanks all the same :)

[teleaddict]

It seems there is no way to privately email you, but pmhird has given
the basic solution, then its trial and error to find one that works,
that needs to go in the Custom Proxy box in Preferences.

On 22/05/15 18:20, CorrieFan wrote:

Wonderful news, teleaddict, thanks, but I can't seem to find your
direct email on here.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#482 (comment).

[teleaddict]

It seems there is no way to privatly email you, but pmhird has given the
basic solution, then its trial and error to find one that works, that
needs to go in the Custom Proxy box in Preferences.

On 22/05/15 18:40, BayArea wrote:

Hi Teleaddict, I would also like to know the work around but alas
can't find your email address either. Also, thanks pmhird for your
contribution, I am having some success with the list you provided.
Although, I think that is more good fortune that really knowing what I
am doing! Thanks all the same :)

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#482 (comment).

[BayArea]

Thank you teleaddict and again thanks to pmhird :) I hope the tech genius behind iplayerautomator has the time, inclination and generosity to fix the geo-block thing.

[Vangelis66]

BayArea wrote:

I hope the tech genius behind iplayerautomator has the time,
inclination and generosity to fix the geo-block thing.

That tech genius is dinkypumpkin - also the maintainer of
the main get-iplayer script; but this is his stance on the matter:

dinkypumpkin wrote:

If you're not in the UK, you can't complain if the BBC blocks you,
and you can't rely on GiA to evade geo-blocking for you,
even though it may have worked in the past.

So, I can't tell whether he's got the time (who does actually nowadays?)
and he surely is a generous person maintaining all this code for a wider
community, but I'd say he's not inclined to "fix the geo-block thing".
Over at the GiP support forum (https://squarepenguin.co.uk/all-forums/)
threads that mention the recent SD TV issue are being hastily closed,
one even deleted altogether!
I can see where he's coming from; he simply wants to protect the GiP
project from the ever lurking BBC legal team, if/when they decide to take
action against it...
If anyone's still wondering, this issue is the result of a deliberate change
on the BBC's side, that took effect on Mon May 18th 2015 (they changed
the Limelight CDN's hostname to a UK-only one: from "bbcmedia.fcod.llnwd.net"
to "bbcfmt.fcod.llnwd.net").
At the time of posting, there's a workaround that would re-enable SD TV
download via a simple HTTP UK proxy (not a UK VPN); it requires patching
up the main get_iplayer Perl script. I'm sure dinkypumpkin knows about this
workaround, I figured it out myself but, alas, have no perl coding skills - plus
I'm not willing to discuss it publicly here in case the beeb kills that, too!
In any case, my TV downloads are very few and far between...
The moral of the story: mere British expats and other BBC enthusiasts lose,
with the prospect of some off-shore VPN operators gaining some new clients...

@dinkypumpkin :
You've probably figured out who I am and you know how to
contact me directly, if need be...

[CorrieFan]

Well, I guess that in reality it's RIP GiA. Most sad, but it's been a wonderful ride. Many thanks to its creator and maintainer of this site for his diligence and generosity.

[pmhird]

Yes many thanks but its not over-mines now working fine with HD TV from abroad coming down just fine. Its just the provided proxy that's not working and I seem to be up and running again with a custom proxy entered.
Lets see how it goes....

On 24 May 2015, at 19:25, CorrieFan wrote:

Well, I guess that in reality it's RIP GiA. Most sad, but it's been a wonderful ride. Many thanks to its creator and maintainer of this site for his diligence and generosity.

—
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[BayArea]

Hi pmhird, what proxy are you using?

[dinkypumpkin]

The provided proxy value has now cycled to a UK-based server, so I'm closing and locking this thread. The new provided proxy doesn't appear to work, but that's a separate matter. If someone wants to create a new issue to track the non-working provided proxy, feel free do so. However, you will likely be wasting your time. There is nothing GiA can do if provided proxy is no good except send you a new value. Only one person (Thomas) can do that, and there is no guarantee his system will be able to find a working proxy even if he does try to change it. The provided proxy feature in GiA has always been fragile, so don't rely on it, ever. It looks like the BBC is upping their game, so make your own arrangements.