Home / ubuntu / Questions / 11508
Accepted
nafis
Asked: 2010-11-06 02:32:03 +0800 CST

How do I play m3u8 files?

  • 772

I would really like to play m3u8 files (more specifically, http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/NTV-Public-IPS.m3u8) but when I try to run it on VLC player, it goes on to multiple .ts files with a very annoying gap between the stream.

Is there any way I can play this stream on ubuntu just as if I were playing it on an iphone (which is what the stream is for).

file-format vlc stream

8 Answers

  1. Best Answer
    • m3u8 files are m3u files encoded in utf8.
    • m3u files are a text based playlist format. You can open the file with any text editor and see the that it contains a list with files to be played.
    • if you open the file with vlc, it has to download every single video before playing it. Vlc does not seem to preload the files, this is why the gaps occur.
    • 13

  2. HLS-Player is the way that works for me!

    • 2

  3. Try using Banshee Media Player (please note I've not tested the stream in question). It has podcast support, and works with m3u's pretty well in my experience, so this should be no different.

    Rhythmbox might work just as well actually.

    • 1

  4. You can install these two plug-ins for firefox and see what happens:

    sudo apt-get install mozilla-plugin-vlc gecko-mediaplayer
    • 0

  5. .m3u8 is a apple's live streaming format (hence it plays fine on iPhone).

    There is finally an experimental VLC player out there with m3u8 support, try to build it and see if it works ;)

    • 0

  6. If you really want your video to play then change the extension .m3u8 to .mp4 and that's it. You find it's like other .mp4 files and you can enjoy the video.

    • 0

  7. I paste m3u8 file and playlist in "my folder".
    Open play list folder. Click any file.
    Check its properties by right clicking.
    Now copy the path of "play list folder location" and paste it in the m3u8 file. The M3u8 file can be open with a text editor

    • Original path f://xyz/abc_m3u8 contents/
    • New path c:\my folder\abc_m3u8 contents/

    Keep only the data of play list files. Remove all other lines from the m3u8 file. Now save file as ". m3u" It can run on any player.

    • 0

  8. Open your mousepad or text editor & copy this code 

    enter code here <EMBED SRC="http://liveips.nasa.gov.edgesuite.net/msfc/Wifi.m3u8" HEIGHT="500" WIDTH="800">

    save it as nasa.html

    Run it on firefox and you will be asked to

    • install the plugin
    • install run again

    and you've got your .m3u8 movie on your file

    maybe you need to install gnome mplayer to make it work

    it worked for me.

    • -2