You can do this using .MCL files. I personally use the Web Media Plugin as it works on extenders.
From memory I think with the .MCL file method the media stream is actually played by WMP11 but launched via media center. You might be able to change this?
I did mess about with MCL files and was able to get Internet radio stations appearing in media center under Music - Radio menu.
Go to this path C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Media Center Programs
Create a folder called Radio
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Media Center Programs\Radio
In here create your .MCL files and dump your jpgs for the Radio station logos.
Sample MCL File: This links to a Thai Radio Station.
<application url="mms://203.121.145.89/listen_hitz_32"name="95.5 Virgin Hitz"description="Thai Internet Radio"bgcolor="RGB(1,33,186)"startimage=".\virgin-hitz.gif"thumbnailImage=".\virgin-hitz.gif"sharedviewport="false"></application>
Note: You can use the URL Snooper 2 program to find out the real streaming media URL's of Radio stations you are interested in.
Stuart
Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP
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Phaze1 Digital
delvxe:Wow. Thank you. Really, wow. I don't think I have ever had such a helpful, technical response. I expected more of a "MS won't let you do thins and you should use this or that plugin" kind of answer.A couple of follow up questions....To create the mcl file, do you just create a txt document with the contents as you have described them and rename .mcl? So the "Radio" folder would hold several mcl files (one for each radio station) and several jpg or gif files? Thanks again
Yes to both questions. Simply rename your txt file in notepad with the code to.mcl.
And in that \Radio folder store your multiple .mcl files and jpgs for the radio station logos.
The only limitation with this is it seems to want to play the media stream in WMP11 so it doesn't work on extenders. Perhaps someone with more knowledge than me can say how to make the streams play in the default media player within media center? I'd sure like to know!
i dont claim to have more knowledge about these things but i do have the answer to your wish about streaming radio via mce and not through wmp11. this has been taken from a posting some time ago regards doing the same in mce 2005, and i just tested it and it still works in vmc, so here goes:-
the trick is to create a mcl file which then links through to a htm file, this then can control the playback of streaming radio through the vmc interface as opposed to wmp. ok so first thing to do is to create the htm file:-
create your htm file with the same name as the radio station, for example "virgin.htm" and open it with notepad and copy and paste the code below:-
<html>
<head><title>name of the radio station</title>
<script language="JScript" id="clientEventHandlersJS">
function playMedia() { /* this function plays the media file and puts the focus on the custom viewport */ // Play the media file window.external.MediaCenter.PlayMedia(1,"your streaming media link") window.external.MediaCenter.SharedViewPort.Visible = false; }</script></head>
<frameset framespacing="0" border="0" frameborder="0" rows="*" onload="playMedia()"> <frame name="Website" src="the url of the radio stations website" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" noresize> <noframes> <body>
<p>Op deze pagina worden frames gebruikt, maar uw browser ondersteunt geen frames.</p>
</body> </noframes></frameset>
</html>
make sure to change the sections in red to the correct values then save the file.
now create your mcl file with the same name as the radio station, for example "virgin.mcl" and open it with notepad and copy and paste the code below:-
<application name="radio station name" url="./name of the htm file you created earlier" startimage=".\name of your radio station.gif" thumbnailimage=".\name of your radio station.gif" description="name of your radio station" category="1" companyname="name of your radio station"> <capabilitiesrequired directx="false" audio="true" video="false" intensiverendering="false" console="false" cdburning="false" /></application>
now open up vmc, goto the radio section click on the newly created radio station link and enjoy streaming radio through the vmc interface :-), i hope this helps!!.
KEXP rules!
Yeah, the method below sounds good, but I'm not sure how to get the URL of all the streams I need to do this.
SerialKilla: KEXP rules! Yeah, the method below sounds good, but I'm not sure how to get the URL of all the streams I need to do this. Yeah I second that motion about KEXP, It's the way radio SHOULD sound!!! As for getting your URL's: the simplest way I've found is to launch the stream in Winamp, save the stream as a fave, go to "edit faves" then copy/paste it where you want it to go. Personally, I like both the RadioTime & WebMedia plug-ins, but you guys are certainly free to call up your streams any other way that you choose!
sjulty: SerialKilla: KEXP rules! Yeah, the method below sounds good, but I'm not sure how to get the URL of all the streams I need to do this. Yeah I second that motion about KEXP, It's the way radio SHOULD sound!!! As for getting your URL's: the simplest way I've found is to launch the stream in Winamp, save the stream as a fave, go to "edit faves" then copy/paste it where you want it to go. Personally, I like both the RadioTime & WebMedia plug-ins, but you guys are certainly free to call up your streams any other way that you choose! if you guys want to playback a stream that is in winamp format then you can simply install the openplsinwmp app, this will automatically translate the stream into the correct format for wmp without having to right click the stream etc :-) http://tools.veloc-it.com/tabid/58/grm2id/7/Default.aspx
cw-kid: You can do this using .MCL files. I personally use the Web Media Plugin as it works on extenders. From memory I think with the .MCL file method the media stream is actually played by WMP11 but launched via media center. You might be able to change this? I did mess about with MCL files and was able to get Internet radio stations appearing in media center under Music - Radio menu. Go to this path C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Media Center Programs Create a folder called Radio C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Media Center Programs\Radio In here create your .MCL files and dump your jpgs for the Radio station logos. Sample MCL File: This links to a Thai Radio Station. <application url="mms://203.121.145.89/listen_hitz_32"name="95.5 Virgin Hitz"description="Thai Internet Radio"bgcolor="RGB(1,33,186)"startimage=".\virgin-hitz.gif"thumbnailImage=".\virgin-hitz.gif"sharedviewport="false"></application> Note: You can use the URL Snooper 2 program to find out the real streaming media URL's of Radio stations you are interested in.
i tried your mcl file idea, but something really weird happened. i tried to get housefm.net to stream to media center. first, i used the link mms://72.9.159.129:8106/ but media center could not play it. then i used http://72.9.159.129:8106/ and it seemed like it was gonna work, but when i selected it, i opened a website within media center. i can listen to it in media player, but cant get the mcl file to link to the stream...
any ideas??
paulaeccleston method seems to work but I get a audio error and will not play my stream. it is in asx format.