[rfu-automation] Marathon update

[Andrew Ó Baoill]

Yes.

Some of the reasons for other errors:
- Podcast files. The location of some podcast streams *changed* after  
we added them to Zara. For instance, Media Matters and The Weekly Spin  
are downloaded to different directories than was previously the case -  
the reason for this is that when the preferences for a feed are  
changed at the producer's end, it can change the default directory to  
which iTunes tries to download the podcast files [the directory is  
chosen based on one or other of the parts of the podcast file  
information.] So, as I understand it, iTunes sometimes can't download  
files, because the target directory doesn't exist. When we try to fix  
this by deleting and resubscribing to the podcast, the old target  
directory is deleted (no longer subscribed to the feed) and the new  
target directory, which is where files are now sent, no longer matches  
what Zara looks for.

Thus, Zara logs an error that the directory isn't there. I fixed this  
with Media Matters and The Weekly Spin over the weekend, by pointing  
Zara to the correct (new) directories. There may be others that still  
need this.

May I suggest that regular checking of the Zara log - perhaps going  
back a week or two - be part of the task list for the production  
group, perhaps as part of regular maintenance at the monthly meeting,  
or for someone to take responsibility for between meetings? No need to  
check every day, but a check every couple of weeks will make sure  
we're still downloading podcasts, and that we catch any previously- 
introduced errors. Zara is low-maintenance, but not no-maintenance, as  
we've been learning.

Andrew

On Feb 24, 2009, at 3:12 PM, Stephen Fonzo wrote:

> Andrew,
>
> Thanks for explaining this.  I've observed the Zara logs to have  
> many such "unrecognized file format" errors, even with songs, and  
> did not know what it really meant.
>
> So, the general conclusion is that file and URL locations generally  
> work, at least more stably than .m3u and .ram streams.
>
> -Stephen
>
> On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 3:06 PM, Andrew Ó Baoill  
> <andrew at funferal.org> wrote:
> I checked in on the station around 1am, just as Extensions was due  
> to finish. I heard the ID at the top of the hour, but then instead  
> of the Homelessness Marathon, it went to music. I logged into Zara  
> remotely, and found that the log showed errors at the top of each  
> hour, as the .m3u file I was pointing at was an 'unrecognized file  
> format'. I tried the .ram link on audioport, but that also failed as  
> unrecognized. Then I tried the feed that didn't include a file-type,  
> just a location, and that worked fine. My method was to edit the  
> existing event, changing the start time to just after the time on  
> the automation computer, and listen on air while watching Zara.
>
> So, we started playing the marathon about 1:12am. Think it should  
> have continued OK through the night.
>
> Lessons:
> .m3u and .ram streams will not be recognized by Zara
> Check in on Zara early on in these events to make sure they're  
> running properly. Remote access is our friend here.
>
> Andrew
>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> Stephen Fonzo
> Media Training Advisor
> AmeriCorps CTC VISTA
> Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center

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