[Maemo 4] Podcasting: gPodder for Maemo 4 (N800, N810)
 

Hello!

I'm the upstream author of gPodder for the Desktop (gpodder.org). Mika Leppinen did a great job in early 2007 with porting the then-recent 0.8 release of gPodder to Maemo.

Since then, many improvements have been made in the original (upstream) gPodder. I've now tried to re-port the original upstream version of gPodder to the Maemo platform. It is just a quick hack, but it basically works and even the tray icon feature works :)

Please give some feedback and tell me if this is of any use to somebody and if you would like to see this port be moved forward or if you would not use it for whatever reason. The UI surely has to be modified a bit more (and stripped-down probably), but with the package below you get the idea how it would look and act like.

You can enter a new RSS URL in the top left field in the "podcasts" tab" and click on the "+" button to add it to your list.

The repository and single-click install file have their own URL now. You can go to http://maemo.gpodder.org/ to download the latest gPodder version (you might have to remove a manually-installed gPodder first). After you installed gPodder from this repository, you can update it via the application manager.

http://gpodder.org/images/gpodder-maemo.png

Feedback _very_ welcome!

Some screenshots (well, photos..) follow:

List of episodes currently downloading:
http://khan.thpinfo.com/~thp/images/...ownloading.png

The application's main menu:
http://khan.thpinfo.com/~thp/images/...-main-menu.png

A normal main screen situation (podcasts on the left, episodes on the right):
http://khan.thpinfo.com/~thp/images/...maemo-main.png

Download progress is shown in the tray icon, if the tray icon is enabled in the preferences:
http://khan.thpinfo.com/~thp/images/...d-progress.png

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I'm really excited about the return of gpodder! Sadly the app won't launch for me :(

Trying to launch by commandline results in the following:

~ $ gpodder
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/gpodder", line 155, in <module>
sys.exit( main())
File "/usr/bin/gpodder", line 113, in main
from gpodder import console
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/console.py", line 20, in <module>
from gpodder import util
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/util.py", line 61, in <module>
import xml.dom.minidom
ImportError: No module named dom.minidom

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Oh, seems like I've forgot to list a dependency.. Please install the package "python2.5-xml" manually and try again.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Will the tray icon also take care of downloading new episodes ?

What I am looking for is for an option like a generic "automatic podcast update" option coupled with a per podcast "automatically download new episodes" option.

That would make gPodder a must have for me.

:)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

The tray icon is able to carry out the "update feeds", "download all new episodes" actions. You can configure gPodder to update the feeds every X minutes and also additionally configure it to download new episodes after an automatic update (when minimized).

The "minimized" status detection and the hiding from the task list doesn't work at the moment (so "hide to systray" doesn't work the way it does on the Desktop version), but once this is fixed, I think this is possible :) What I would also like to do is replace the pynotify notifications (from the Desktop version) with the corresponding upper-right-corner Maemo/Hildon notifications, so the user knows when new episodes are available, etc..

The "automatic podcast update" is already available in the "extras" tab of the preferences dialog, you just have to enable and configure them.

The "automatically download new episodes" option is currently global, but could be made per-podcast, if need be.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

That did the trick, got it installed and working. And it's looking great! I'll be testing it more tomorrow, but in answer to one of your questions, I can't imagine not using this app frequently... perhaps only second to browser. I really hope it continues to move forwarrd, and stays with us in the next OS upgrade. Thanks! :)

ps, to others, you also need to have python2.5-feedparser which you may already have if you've got canola I think.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Great to know all of this!
I'll go ahead and install it.
The "per podcast" option would be very welcome on the tablet due to its memory (flash) limits and, usually, because of internet consumption as well (mobile internet, on-the-go WiFi connection and so on...).

With a per podcast option I can fine tune my automatic download tasks.

Also, will it queue the episodes to download or will it try to download a bunch of them in parallel ?

I could see an option where I could tell it to download (general option) 1 episode at a time (embedded devices) up to all of them available at the same time (desktop version).

What do you think?

PS: Installing it right now...

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Cool the download queue is there...I'll check it out more before asking other stupid questons :P

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Posting issues I found:

gPodder takes a lot of CPU when downloading...
Also a "OMAP McSPI/0" process is taking up CPU when gPodder is running...

Why is that ?

Moreover when I enable the tray icon I get a second battery icon!
And that icon does not react to taps.

update: I think it was the speed of downloading.. it was downloading at 560Kb/s.
The next episode is going at 27Kb/sec and the tablet is much more responsive now...

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I don't know what that "OMAP McSPI/0" is, but a quick google search revealed this post. And this irc log suggests it's something related to the WiFi connection. I guess you could try enabling the download throttling (also in the preferences) if you want to have a responsive gPodder, although then of course you can't download with the maximum speed that the device and network connection could achieve.

The tray icon works for me, don't know what could be wrong here. The code currently uses the gtk.StatusIcon object to show the icon, maybe on Hildon/Maemo there is some different "correct" approach to show a status icon? (like with gtk.MessageBox and hildon.Note)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Updated the package with the following changes (list may be incomplete):

gpodder (0.11.1+svn-maemo4) chinook; urgency=low
.
* Support for hardware keys
* Show/hide channel navigator and size/released columns
* Add support for hildon banners (drop-in replacement for pynotify)
* Make the quit dialog work and hildonize it
* change some dialogs to better fit the screen
* set "podcasts" tab title to the currently selected podcast
* Hide channel navigator column header
* Hide advanced properties in the episode info dialog

I've updated the link in the original post to point to the new package :) Have a look!

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Unfortunately, I've been having problems. Gpodder seems to crash after loading. 1st time I launch gpodder it opens and I added podcasts; things worked. The next time I opened the app, it crashed after quickly showing 'loading podcasts' dialog. It does this every time now. If try from term, I see this:

~ $ gpodder
/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/SimpleGlad eApp.py:337: GtkWarning: Mixing deprecated and non- deprecated GtkToolbar API is not allowed
return gtk.glade.XML(self.glade_path, root, domai n)
Segmentation fault
~ $

This is second install (and latest version) ... I had uninstalled gpodder and those 2 depends yesterday .... 1st install had broke in same way. Worked only first launch/time.

Also, gpodder stops respondiing each time I add neww feed, but as long as I don't acknowledge popup message prompting me to close, it will 'respond' on it's own after bout 30 seconds or so.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Wanted to add that I just removed the gpodder dir from memcard (settings/podcasts) and gpodder then opened. I successfully added 1 podcaast, then closed the app and triedd too reopen; gpodder will not reopen.

Also, cannot change downlooad location via settings dialog.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I've now merged the Maemo changes upstream. We should now be able to provide you with Maemo packages for the most recent gPodder version, because it's maintained upstream, so all changes to the Desktop version will be available in the Maemo version, too.

You can grab the code from SVN from this page and get the packaging files needed to generate a .deb file from here: gpodder-maemo-debian-packaging.tar.gz

I've updated the link to the new package, please try it out and tell me if it works for you :) gpodder_0.11.1+svn-maemo6_all.deb

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Which OS version and which python-gtk2 package version are you using? Please also try to upgrade to the latest package (maemo6) and possibly try to run gPodder with no other applications open and see if this helps.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I installed your new version but with same results; program will only
launch the 1st time (and works great). I've got OS2008, 2nd to latest release. Not sure about python version question. But it's ok.... I seem to be the only one having problems, and don't want to take up your time. I've uninstalled for now but I'll try again in future. It's looking *really* nice though, incl. most recent visual enhancements in .6! :)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Please post the output of "dpkg -l | grep python2.5-gtk2". I get the following:

ii python2.5-gtk2 2.12.1-1osso2 Python bindings for the GTK+ widget set

The important part here is "2.12.1-1osso2". Maybe you are using an old pygtk2 package?

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I seem to have the same version:

Nokia-N800-50-2:~# dpkg -l | grep python2.5-gtk2
ii python2.5-gtk2 2.12.1-1 osso2 Python bindings for the GTK+ widget set

........

Ok, I think I found the problem: the following podcast, while it works fine when first entered, seems to be responsible for crashing gpodder on launch.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AmateurTravelerPodcast

(edited for conciseness, if that's a word)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Ok, I've tried to load the feed URL in scratchbox and it seems to produce some error, indeed, although in my case, it was locale-related. Please try with the updated "7" version that I'm now linking in the original post.

You need to pass "--maemo" to enable the Hildon UI changes (the codebase is now the same as Desktop gPodder, so both are included in the source). If you pass an additional "--verbose" to the command line in your xterm, you get debug messages on the xterm console, which might help you track down the problem further.

Please try the new package version and see if this makes the Travelling feed work :)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Thanks! New changes in .7 seemed to fix :) I'll try more after work. I really like the popup menu controls when you tap episode. And the import/export. Hope many others give this a try :)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

That's an understatement :) I think it's working great! And its the neat little things, like the popup controls mentioned earlier, and being able to (esc key) hide the podcast list to view episodes/descrips fullscreen, and still scroll thru podcasts with the +/- keys. Still not able to change the DL location, but this new version seems to have cleared up the other problems.

Thank you so much for your time bringing gpodder back to n8xx :)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

OK, I'm stumped. Got this downloaded and installed. When I type in a URL and click 'add' or hit enter, nothing happens. Am I missing something?

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Please start gPodder in your xterm (or via ssh) and paste the output of the console (after trying to add a new podcast) here. The command you have to type:

gpodder --maemo --verbose

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Anybody want to compare how they like gPodder compared to Canola's podcast function and why?

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I'm about to try out gPodder myself (been using Canola's podcast function). Let's see..differences of the top of my head.

Well Canola has canola-tuning so you can get podcasts without having to manually enter the url or copy and pasting urls. Just click the feed button and click canola (podcast for podcasts). Not sure if that's the case for gPodder.

However Canola cannot do video podcasts yet. Well technically it can do video podcasts, there just isn't any support if you have problems since your not suppose to use the audio podcasting area for videos (video podcasting is coming).

I'm going try out gPodder since I want something that will hopefully work better with video podcasts. If so I'll just use gPodder for video podcasts.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

So, I've put in some more work in the gPodder Maemo Port. I've created a repository and added a .install file, so you can install it from your tablet with one click and have application manager update goodness as new versions of gPodder become available.

You might have to remove any manually-installed gPodder packages first (look into the application manager, remove "gpodder" and then click on the "install" link):

http://maemo.gpodder.org/

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I am still unable to change download location, it defaults to the internal card (trying to change to external) ... anyone else with this problem?

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I can't get it to not automatically check for new episodes on startup. Also, it would be cool if there was a way to only check for updates on one show as a menu selection. Sometimes i'm in a hurry to leave for work, and there is only one show that i know is updated and i want to download. Thanks for a great port!

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Changing the download location is not really possible at the moment, unfortunately. I'll add support for selecting between internal and external cards soon. In the meantime, you can change the download directory manually:

1.) Make sure gPodder is not running
2.) Edit /media/mmc2/gpodder/gpodder.conf and change "download_dir" to /media/mmc1/gpodder/ (or any folder you like)
3.) Move all folders (ONLY folders, not files) from /media/mmc2/gpodder/ to the new download location, so gPodder can find previously-downloaded files
4.) Start gPodder

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I've made lots of changes to the UI to make it more finger-friendly (including bigger buttons, tabs and even the episode pop-up menu! :). I have also made sure we can squeeze as much podcast/episodes in the main screen as possible and added a maemo-specific preferences dialog and "add podcast" dialog.

Screenshots are here: http://maemo.gpodder.org/screenshots.html

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

First, I want to tell that I'm really excited about gpodder. To be able to have podcasts update automatically over wlan to my n810 is something I've wanted from day one.

To make sure you keep up the good work, I made you a donation. Thanks.

BUT: I'm somewhat confused about this new version. I uninstalled the earlier gpodder I had and installed the new one from maemo.gpodder.org. Application manager says it's 0.11.1+svn-maemo15.

But it doesn't look like the screenshots at all. Preferences screen still looks like corrupt, there's no Add podcast window but a textfield instead (and it doesn't add anything).

There's no /media/mmc2/gpodder directory and the startup icon in the menu doesn't work.

Is there something wrong with the install link or did I make a mistake in the installation?

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Hello, samikki and thanks for the donation!

The new gPodder (any version that was published) should always create the /media/mmc2/gpodder folder. If there is no /media/mmc2/gpodder folder after you have started gPodder, you probably have the wrong version installed (maybe the 0.8-based, old version?).

If you are trying to start gPodder from the command line, you have to use the "--maemo" switch to enable the Internet Tablet-specific changes (this is because we keep in sync with upstream, so bug fixes in upstream are automatically available in the maemo port and vice versa).

Your best bet is probably to try starting gPodder from the command line (osso-xterm) like this: "gpodder --maemo". If it doesn't work out, you have a wrong version installed (you might try to find out with "gpodder --version"). In that case, please remove all gPodder packages that you have on your tablet and re-install by clicking on the green "install" button on http://maemo.gpodder.org/

Just ask again if you can't get it working (and post the output from the above commands, if any), we'll fix that :)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I wanted to mention that a locally saved opml file (aka podcast/subscription backup) can be imported by going thru the import from web steps, then after you're presented with a list of suggested podcasts from gpodder site, change the http address to point to your local file eg: /home/user/Mydocs/.documents/podcasts.opml and then click download.

Going back to OS2007, gpodder has frequently popped up warnings that it wasn't responding while adding feeds. For new users, should this happen to you, my experience has been that gpodder has almost always corrrected itself and ''responded' if left alone.

However, while just now experimenting with importing local file, I think I fiinallyy managed to frak it up.... I had to restart and after doing so saw that it got my first 5 subs and aavailable eps. Perhaps would have completed if left longer, but it reeally did seem to have died.

Anyway, iss it posssible to have it onnly add/subscriibe, but not update when importing and adding, + have an option to select a single podcast to update?

Good example why this would be helpful are the npr and cnn hourly podcast updates.

Thanks! :)

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Looks like I was mistaken on the updating on startup, it was just loading the already downloaded episodes. Everything is working just fine now.
Now if I could find a way to update the episodes faster. It feels like it takes FOREVER to update the feed to Buzz Out Loud along with a few other shows.
http://www.cnet.com/i/pod/cnet_buzz.xml

I wish there was a way to have it only check the last 10 episodes of a feed instead of the whole archive within some of these feeds.


Thanks for the excellent work on the new version of Gpodder!

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I'm not sure what's changed yet, but there's a new update available.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Hi again! That's a good advice - I didn't know about the --maemo switch, so it explains the erratic behaviour I got.

However, I still didn't manage to get software working. When trying gpodder with the right switch, I get this:

~ $ gpodder --version
gpodder 0.11.2
~ $ gpodder --maemo
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/gpodder", line 166, in <module>
sys.exit( main())
File "/usr/bin/gpodder", line 125, in main
from gpodder import console
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/console.py", line 21, in <module>
from gpodder import download
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/download.py", line 29, in <module>
from gpodder.libgpodder import gl
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/libgpodder.py", line 50, in <module>
import osso
ImportError: No module named osso
~ $

Help?

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

samikki: Please install the "python2.5-osso" package. Either through the application manager or via "apt-get install python2.5-osso".

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

The new version hasn't changed much, it's just the "official" 0.11.2 release, so bumped the version number.

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

Hi again and thanks!

I installed python2.5-osso (had to learn about Red Pill mode for that but managed to make it) and after having more errors I also installed python2.5-hildon.

After that I managed to get gpodder running and it seems to work quite well!

However, I still get some errors when starting up:

~ $ gpodder --maemo
/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/SimpleGladeApp.py:337: GtkWarning: Mixing deprecated and non-deprecated GtkToolbar API is not allowed
return gtk.glade.XML(self.glade_path, root, domain)
/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/gui.py:281: GtkWarning: gtk_accel_group_find: assertion `GTK_IS_ACCEL_GROUP (accel_group)' failed
self.itemQuit.reparent(menu)
27.2222222222
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gpodder/gui.py", line 486, in on_tree_channels_resize
self.cell_channel_icon.set_property('visible', bool(percentage > 24.))
AttributeError: gPodder instance has no attribute 'cell_channel_icon'
29.7222222222

Maybe I still need to install something - but I can't tell what based on these errors...

Re: Podcasting: New gPodder version
 

I've fixed that in the latest release (which also adds some menu changes and other niceties ;). The other warnings can be safely ignored.