Frequently asked questions
Minicaster is designed to be as simple and reliable as possible, but the initial setup and compatibility can
cause some problems - please read this FAQ carefully before begging us for help.
Common questions
- How does it work?
- All that's explained on this page.
- Do I need to run my own server or change the configuration?
- Minicaster connects to a streaming CPW server running Icecast or Shoutcast, but for the current free player you
don't need to alter anything on the server, so you don't need to be the operator. Of course if you want to choose
the music then you'll need to run your own server (or at least run a mount point on a shared server), but there's no
need for Minicaster or your website to be on the same physical machine.
- Do you support AAC+ audio?
- No. Flash Player 9 can cope with AAC data but only when it's packaged inside an MP4 stream, and this isn't how
Icecast/Shoutcast deliver their feeds. It would also force us to use Actionscript 3, which at this time we do not wish
to force on our customers, the vast majority of which are still using Flash 8 as their editing software.
- Does it work on Shoutcast?
- There is important info on this page. Shoutcast
cannot deliver the correct Flash security files and so the 'now playing' data for PRO-ICE must be bounced through a proxy
webserver, plus there is a limit on the mount point names acceptable to a Flash client. Minicaster does connect to
Shoutcast but we see it as a secondary platform, given the reluctance of Nullsoft to make it compatible with Flash.
Icecast, on the other hand, is extremely easy to configure for Minicaster providing your stream has MP3 audio.
- How does Minicaster show up on the listener's log?
- Minicaster acts like a standard listener and will be identified with the listener's browser ID.
- Can I buy the source code?
- Minicaster PRO-ICE includes full source code. The free version does not. As the free version uses the same core
classes as PRO-ICE we have decided not to sell the free version as a standalone product - instructions are provided
with the PRO-ICE package on how to configure it so it operates identically to the free version, should you wish to
turn off the extra features.
- What version of Flash or Flash Player do I need?
- The software is supplied with a precompiled SWF in Flash Player 8 format. Our current range
of playheads are designed to compile for Player 8 targets, and will continue to be written with this level
of compatibility for the medium term. This ensures that the widest possible userbase can benefit from the playhead
on a web page, and that users wishing to embed the playhead into a larger Flash document are not forced to use AS3 for
their entire project.
- Does Minicaster work on cellphones, cars, e-refrigerators?
- It will run on anything that has Flash 8 player and the ability to output sound in MP3 format. Speakers help.
- I have a question/problem/complaint about the Icecast / Shoutcast server...
- We don't supply any support for the server itself, or the music you play on your radio station. Contact the
support service for your server software. Note that while Icecast is open-source and many people supply patches and
alternate versions, Shoutcast is a commercial package and cannot be modified or patched by users.
- Why can't you read the ID3 data?
- There isn't any. Icecast and Shoutcast use the ICY2 protocol to send metadata, and it's not ID3 or anything
like it. In Flash 8 it's impossible to get access to the binary data of a sound file, so although we can ask for
the ICY2 data to be sent, Flash can't read it. This situation will change in the near future.
- I set up the playhead and the config file but I can't hear anything!
- Almost every time the playhead delivers silence it's because the stream isn't in a supported format. Icecast and
Shoutcast can send music in many formats (MP3, OGG, AAC, etc.) and Minicaster can only play MP3. It's nothing we can fix, as
the audio decoder built into Flash Player does not support client-side codecs. So even if your computer can play OGG
files, Flash can't use that software to play them - it's locked into a little security sandbox and can't borrow
drivers and interfaces from the operating system.
Apart from 'bad audio', the other common reason for silence is that the server is at capacity and won't accept a new listener.
This happens quite a lot with popular stations, and isn't a Minicaster problem - it's up to the operators of the radio station
to increase the capacity. Minicaster can't tell the difference between a server being at capacity or a server being offline, so
the error message is always "server not found".
The first thing to do when troubleshooting your playback is to run a test with extendedReporting enabled and read the
information that Minicaster sends you. It will usually show why the audio isn't playing.
- Why is there a blip in sound every few minutes?
- Minicaster works by periodically resetting the download, and because the stream data is by definition 'live', it cannot be
buffered without creating an ever-spiralling delay. Where the browser permits it, Minicaster overlaps the two streams to
remove any obvious sound artefact, but on some browsers this is not possible and a very short interruption is heard, typically
less than half a second. The website running Minicaster can set this refresh interval to be relatively large, such as 10 minutes,
and users are in the most part tolerant of minor audio dropouts from other causes, such as network congestion.
- Do you make other designs?
- Yes, the DNeX Group produces playheads for our clients in hundreds of different designs, but the
only ones we're selling to the general public are the ones you can see on the site. If you're in the
market for a custom style, or a player for video, HTTP-PD or FCS, click the Contact tab below to ask us for
details and quotations - but be warned that we work for record labels, movie studios and the broadcast
media. We're not about to sell you a unique design with dancing girls for 20 bucks, so expect our
quotations to have more than a few zeros.