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Participating Frequently
January 27, 2007
Question

New user and new install... getting Failed to load FLV: rtmp://[URL]

  • January 27, 2007
  • 12 replies
  • 1055 views
Ok, I'm stumped. I have been fighting with this thing for days on end and working into the night... but I cannot get Flash Media Server to work.

I would love to call tech support, but they won't help because I don't own the software... but the guys who pay the bills around here won't let me buy the software until I demo this thing for them.

Here is what is happening:

I have installed FMS on a Windows Server 2003 box and used all of the default settings.

I created a "sample" folder under the applications folder. I also added a _defInst_ folder:
C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash Media Server 2\applications\sample\_defInst_

I then went to Flash 8 and created a test Flash Document and attempted to import the flv video file... however I get the following error:
================================================
Failed to load FLV: rtmp://[IPAddress]/sample/sample.flv
================================================

I can watch the "sample" application in the Admin Console and observe that the "sample" appliction is in fact being connected to, but no thing happens beyond that and then I get the error.


What am I missing?
Is there some sort of client authentication I need to do?
Do I need to setup a user account on the server?

I'm not trying to do anything fancy... I just want a video to play from the server. Nothing else.

I'm extremely disappointed that Adobe did not provide a sample with the FMS install.

Please Help!
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    12 replies

    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    I'll certainly read that and put some code in place.
    January 29, 2007
    Glad to hear you have it sorted.

    I agree... FMS seems sort of hairy until you get familar with it, especially if client side Flash isn't part of your existing daily programming diet.

    Something else that really should be mentioned, you might want to spend some time reading up on FMS security before you deploy your streaming application. FMS has no built-in security to speak of (you need to code your own security measures), and it's very easy to leech connections and bandwidth from an unprotected application. I tend to bring this up a lot, as it's not spelled out directly in the docs nor is it described in any of the sample apps.
    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    $#!+... $@!& &*$# !!!!!!

    Dude, that was it! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

    Almost a week of beating my head against the wall and working late... and that was the problem.

    Why the hell can't Adobe put a few simple samples in the applications folder? That would have saved me MANY headaches. Adobe doesn't seem to understand that new guys like me who have never touched Flash have NO clue what is going on. They just install their server and toss you to the dogs.

    Jay, next time you're in Dallas, let me know and I'll buy you a beer!
    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    Another thing I'm wondering about...

    I am developing on a WinXP box with Flash 8 and the FMS is on another Dev server. Will that cause this problem?
    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    I have these two files:

    C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash Media Server 2\applications\sample\main.asc

    C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash Media Server 2\applications\sample\_definst_\sample.flv

    January 29, 2007
    quote:

    Originally posted by: DavidGGGG

    C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash Media Server 2\applications\sample\_definst_\sample.flv




    this is where you're going wrong. It should be:

    C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash Media Server 2\applications\sample \streams\_definst_\sample.flv

    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    I have started playing around with the main.asc file and discovered something that might be a clue...

    The following line always returns a value of 0 (zero):
    return Stream.length(p_streamName);

    (I also used Trace to confirm that the p_streamName value is "sample".)

    Keep in mind that this main.asc is the sample file that came with Flash 8. Am I supposed to create a new main.asc with special values explicitly for for my "sample" application?
    January 29, 2007
    quote:

    Originally posted by: DavidGGGG
    I have started playing around with the main.asc file and discovered something that might be a clue...

    The following line always returns a value of 0 (zero):
    return Stream.length(p_streamName);

    (I also used Trace to confirm that the p_streamName value is "sample".)



    Okay. That tells me that the file isn't being found. The Stream.length() method returns 0 if the file isn't where it should be.

    In your case, the file should be here:

    [FMS Install Dir]\applications\sample\streams\_definst_\sample.flv

    Is that where it is?


    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    I can see activity in the Console.

    In the past I was getting this:
    Protocol: rtmp
    Bytes In: 6146
    Bytes Out: 6350
    Messages In: 0
    Messages Out: 1
    Drops: 0

    Now that I added the main.asc I am getting this:
    Protocol: rtmp
    Bytes In: 6274
    Bytes Out: 6880
    Messages In: 3
    Messages Out: 6
    Drops: 0
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    hi,

    maybe you can use :

    "rtmp://[IP Address]/sample/sample"

    no extension
    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 27, 2007
    I did a port scan on the server to confirm that port 1935 is open and not being blocked.

    Maybe I'm creating the Flash 8 video viewer incorrectly.

    1. Open Flash 8 and create a new Flash Document.
    2. Click: File / Import / Import Video
    3. In the Select Video screen, select "Already deployed to a web server, Flash Video Streaming Service or Flash Communication Server:
    4. Enter URL: rtmp://[IP Address]/sample/sample.flv
    5. Select a Skin on the Skinning screen.
    6. Finish.

    Flash 8 shows message: "Loading FLV dimensions"

    Flash 8 then shows error: Failed to load FLV: rtmp://[IP Address]/sample/sample.flv

    At the same time I observe a client connection and activity in the Media Server Console for the "sample" app.

    I always get the following in the Client Connections tab:
    Protocol: rtmp
    Bytes In: 6146
    Bytes Out: 6350
    Messages In: 0
    Messages Out: 1
    Drops: 0

    The next thing I will try is encoding the video differently... I'll start with encoding it for a lower bandwidth. I'm currently using the default Medium 400 kbps.


    Thanks for your help so far!
    Participant
    January 29, 2007
    Hi, I was having exactly the same problems until about 20 minutes ago. I'd followed everything in this thread (and others)faithfully. I'd not seen much about the fact that the main.asc file must be in the "..server\applications\appName" folder. The combination of adding the main.asc file AND restarting the FMS service cured it. Good luck!
    DavidGGGGAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 29, 2007
    AndiG,
    I think you're onto something.

    I looked at the Help and it said I could find a sample main.asc in:
    Flash 8/Samples and Tutorials/Samples/Components/FLVPlayback/main.asc.

    I made a copy of that file and placed it in my "sample" folder (not the _definst_ folder) and restarted FMS.

    I'm still not able to get the stream, but the behavior has changed. Instead of pausing about 10 seconds before giving me the error, I now get the error immediately when I try to import the video into my Flash Document.

    Is there anything I need to change in the main.asc file?
    January 27, 2007
    The only conflict FMS would have with IIS is using port 80 for client connections. The default port for FMS is 1935, so unless there is a firewall getting in the way, there should be no problem. (You did open 1935 on the server firewall... right?)

    If firewalls (on the client side) blocking port 1935 might be an issue for you, you want to give FMS its own IP address so it can bind to port 80. See the docs for configuring the server, and see this article for preventing IIS from binding to the IP you want to use for FMS (IIS binds to all IPs by default)

    http://flashcomguru.com/tutorials/fcs_iis.cfm

    The directory for your flv files will not be created by the server unless you record a live stream. In your case, you need to create the directory manually. Your flv should be here:

    C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash Media Server 2\applications\sample\streams\_definst_\sample.flv

    If the directory doesn't exist, create it, and put your file there.