'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xef in position 86: ordinal not in range(128)

[fromMars]

I use built-in streaming protocols directly to fetch videos, here is my command:

C:\Users\MB>livestreamer hds://http://resource.ws.kukuplay.com/players/2014/07/0
4/60129/fengyun.swf?cid=gtv best
[cli][info] Found matching plugin stream for URL hds://http://resource.ws.kukupl
ay.com/players/2014/07/04/60129/fengyun.swf?cid=gtv
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Python27\Scripts\livestreamer-script.py", line 9, in <module>
    load_entry_point('livestreamer==1.8.2', 'console_scripts', 'livestreamer')()

  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\livestreamer-1.8.2-py2.7.egg\livestreamer_
cli\main.py", line 823, in main
    handle_url()
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\livestreamer-1.8.2-py2.7.egg\livestreamer_
cli\main.py", line 469, in handle_url
    console.exit(u"{0}", err)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\livestreamer-1.8.2-py2.7.egg\livestreamer_
cli\console.py", line 73, in exit
    formatted = msg.format(*args, **kwargs)
UnicodeDecodeError: 'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xef in position 86: ordinal
 not in range(128)

If I copy "http://resource.ws.kukuplay.com/players/2014/07/04/60129/fengyun.swf?cid=gtv" and paste it into web browser, the browser can play video successfully.
I use python2.7.7 32bit on 64bit windows8.1, please help.

[vadmium]

I suspect the HDS URL that you are passing might not be right; it looks like a SWF file. Normally a HDS URL should point to a “manifest.f4m” file I think. On top of that, it looks like Livestreamer is having trouble reporting a sensible error.

[fromMars]

Thanks for your quick reply!
I also tried "httpstream://" protocol like this:

livestreamer httpstream://http://resource.ws.kukuplay.com/players/2014/07/04/60129/fengyun.swf?cid=gtv best

and this time no error occurred, but the stream ended in no time(I tried it on Ubuntu12.04LTS this time, it works just like on Windows):

zmb@polo-ubt:~$ livestreamer httpstream://http://resource.ws.kukuplay.com/players/2014/07/04/60129/fengyun.swf?cid=gtv best
[cli][info] Found matching plugin stream for URL httpstream://http://resource.ws.kukuplay.com/players/2014/07/04/60129/fengyun.swf?cid=gtv
[cli][info] Available streams: live (worst, best)
[cli][info] Opening stream: live (http)
[cli][info] Starting player: /usr/bin/vlc
[cli][info] Stream ended

SO, how can I handle a stream from a SWF file, or maybe I need to create a plugin for my own? I have tried to understand the plugin syntax, but failed with my little mind.

[chrippa]

You won't be able to play the SWF in livestreamer. You can usually use wireshark to sniff your network traffic to figure out the actual stream used and if it's supported by livestreamer, play it.

In this case though, it looks like this player is using it's own streaming protocol which we do not support. So you would have to analyze the traffic to figure out how it works exactly and then write an implementation in a plugin.