Kodi/Filmon not working

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russell
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Kodi/Filmon not working

Post by russell »

Has anyone else noticed that the Filmon add-on for Kodi has stopped working? I have tried it both on an Android TV box and on my Laptop.

The Filmon Android app still works O.K.

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Post by jethro »

Same here, but the NotFilmon add-on works just fine and has no adverts cluttering things up. It's another piece of wizardry by Mikey1234.
an' the wun' cried Mary.
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Post by russell »

Thanks Jethro,

Several people have found that the FilmOn.TV add-on works if the default channel number is changed to 27 in Settings but it didn't work for me. There is another add-on for the Filmon streams called Filmon Simple which is working OK but only in low definition. It is in the tvaddons.ag repository.

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Post by montgolfiere »

have you tried changing the settings in the 'non working addon' to low definition?
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Post by russell »

montgolfiere wrote:have you tried changing the settings in the 'non working addon' to low definition?
Hi Dave,

Yes, there is a thread here on the problem: https://forums.tvaddons.ag/kinkins-repo ... ilmon.html
Some people have managed to fix it by changing to low definition and changing the default channel setting but it doesn't work for me here. I'll just have to stick with the Android Filmon app if I want HD and recording.

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Post by montgolfiere »

have you tried the notfilmon addon?
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Post by russell »

Yes, both the NotFilmon and the FilmonSimple add-ons work but of course no access to my recordings on Filmon and no choice of HD vs. SD.

An even more strange event occurred a few days ago. My wife was watching More4 using the Filmon Android App when it stopped working. A quick check showed that four or five other channels had stopped as well. Tried the various Kodi add-ons and no More4. Checked on an Android tablet and had the same result.

I then tried using Kodi on a Linux powered laptop and all the channels were present. So there is some difference between streaming on Android and Linux even though Android is based on Linux.

I have noticed before that the laptop is less susceptible to buffering problems so might try a Linux box on the TV.

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Post by Boomshanka »

Buffering problems are generally because of a low end box. These days Kodi needs at least 2gb ram to run smoothly and have 8gb of storage available as well. Go no lower than a Quad core on the CPU and on the individual GPU if you want decent 1080p and 4K streams.

Always clean the Cache, remove thumbnails and purge all the packages on start up every day, you can get an addon to do this automatically for you. You can always change the cache file size as well, just reconfigure the amount of bytes available within the system.

Why bother with Filmon when there is greater choice including better "Filmon" links out there?? But the reason your filmon stopped working is because Filmon have changed the server codec, you can now only run it in low def so change that in the setup profile. Also Android is a totally different setup to Linux, you will also have more available Ram and storage on your laptop. Use F4M to run the proxy server and you will get better quality streaming.

If you want to know the best live TV stream addons just ask there is a huge world of them all for free.

Just on a small side note as i know many people use IPTV either via Droid systems or MAG "OTT" systems in the PO Area

The Advocate General of the European Union has at last cleared up the Legal or Illegal IPTV issue in Europe.

His ruling was in a nutshell
Android/Kodi
1. Selling or owning Android Box - Legal
2. Using Kodi - Legal
3. Streaming premium content "Not Free to Air" - not strictly legal but no individual will ever be prosecuted.
4. Selling "Pre-Loaded" boxes with access to premium content - No Longer Legal - Test case completing in Holland soon
5. Individuals can add addons to their boxes without issue, the same as the streaming point above.

OTT "Over the top" services MAG Box & Subscription.

1. Owning/selling a MAG Box - Legal
2. Supplying or reselling OTT subscriptions - Illegal

These suppliers are a target as they make money from selling a monthly subscription, most of the money is laundered. UK test case has just concluded in two prosecusions for Supply of OTT stream service - 4 Years in prison and re selling OTT services 2 years in prison.

If you are paying for a OTT service it may dissapear with your money very soon.
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Post by martyn94 »

We must be living in a golden age of TV if it's worth getting your head round all this. I found it demanding enough just switching it on.
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Post by russell »

martyn94 wrote:We must be living in a golden age of TV if it's worth getting your head round all this.
I agree that most TV isn't worth watching. However as a retired Chartered Engineer and Hon. Fellow of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers I find it helps to keep my brain active to keep up with recent technical developments.

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Post by russell »

Thanks for your reply Boobshanka.
Boomshanka wrote:Buffering problems are generally because of a low end box. These days Kodi needs at least 2gb ram to run smoothly and have 8gb of storage available as well. Go no lower than a Quad core on the CPU and on the individual GPU if you want decent 1080p and 4K streams.
Yes, I agree something like that is needed particularly for 4k streams. Something much lower spec. should be adequate for the "SD" streams that Filmon supply. Incidentally I am using a Matricom G-Box Q2 which easily meets your suggested spec.
Always clean the Cache, remove thumbnails and purge all the packages on start up every day
That is what I always do with the first sign of problems, followed by a power off reboot.
Why bother with Filmon when there is greater choice including better "Filmon" links out there??
Inertia I guess. I have been a Filmon subscriber for a couple of years now and my wife finds it convenient for recording programs in the (unlikely?) event of there being good programs on two or more channels at the same time.
But the reason your filmon stopped working is because Filmon have changed the server codec, you can now only run it in low def so change that in the setup profile.
That might explain why the HD streams have vanished from the Filmon.TV Kodi add-on but, as I said above, it doesn't work for me in Low Def. either.
Also Android is a totally different setup to Linux, you will also have more available Ram and storage on your laptop.
I was being a little inexact there. Strictly "Linux" only refers to the Linux kernel not the GUI etc. Android uses the Linux kernel but the rest of the system is Google proprietary not open source. My laptop is running a slightly more recent kernel than my G-Box but that is unlikely to account for the difference. I agree that the increased RAM might.
Use F4M to run the proxy server and you will get better quality streaming.
I'm not running a proxy server and don't see the need. What am I missing?
If you want to know the best live TV stream addons just ask there is a huge world of them all for free.
What addon do you suggest for UK Live TV?
Just on a small side note as i know many people use IPTV either via Droid systems or MAG "OTT" systems in the PO Area
I'd not come across the MAG box before but I note that it only has 512 MB of RAM. I have ordered a Raspberry Pi3 and will try Kodi on that. It should also have the advantage of being able to install a VPN without having to set a lockscreen.
The Advocate General of the European Union has at last cleared up the Legal or Illegal IPTV issue in Europe.
Interesting do you have a link to some official document?
If you are paying for a OTT service it may dissapear with your money very soon.
Filmon owner, billionaire Alki David, has been fighting in the courts for years and is still going.

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Post by martyn94 »

russell wrote:
martyn94 wrote:We must be living in a golden age of TV if it's worth getting your head round all this.
I agree that most TV isn't worth watching. However as a retired Chartered Engineer and Hon. Fellow of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers I find it helps to keep my brain active to keep up with recent technical developments.

Russell.
I used to approach it in that spirit, though with nothing approaching your expertise. Nowadays I just keep up with the tax-avoidance litigation. How sad is that?
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Post by Boomshanka »

Just a few answers Russel

I'm not running a proxy server and don't see the need. What am I missing?
A huge amount of live streming content in very good definition. We get 720p HD running without any buffering at just 4Mb/s

What addon do you suggest for UK Live TV?
Sorry that is only information we give to our customers, i do have to make a living and its the support that makes us different to the online "Fully Loaded Cheap Cheap sellers" but i can tell you we do have a minimum of 12 different free sources of Live TV running on the box at any one time. That does not included Filmon Type addons.

For the legal documents from the Advocate General have a look on Terrent Freak as they are linked from there. This is because of a big case involving a large company and BREIN in Holland.

Filmon owner, billionaire Alki David, has been fighting in the courts for years and is still going.

There is a difference between the two.
Filmon captures the "FREE TO AIR" services and rebroadcasts them on the internet. Thi is also a USA court issue. His argument is that they are free to air so rebroadcast is OK.

OTT is different. A server company scrapes the channels from many sources and places them on to a single server, these come from many countries, then they sell links to that server via resellers and resellers sell on for about a 50% markup. Normally these range from 6 - 45 Euro per month. The code/weblink is entered via the MAG box portal and then the user has TV but only from one single source. Once the source is closed down then that is it, No money and no TV. Unlike Android type systems you cannot serach for new services, you have to have a portal address to make it work.
Several have been shutdown already and resellers are starting to hide the reselling behind "Website Hosting" services to avoid detection.

That is the difference between Filmon and OTT "Over The Top" services.
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Post by Allan »

Boomshanka wrote:
OTT is different. A server company scrapes the channels from many sources and places them on to a single server, these come from many countries, then they sell links to that server via resellers and resellers sell on for about a 50% markup. Normally these range from 6 - 45 Euro per month. The code/weblink is entered via the MAG box portal and then the user has TV but only from one single source. Once the source is closed down then that is it, No money and no TV. Unlike Android type systems you cannot serach for new services, you have to have a portal address to make it work.
Several have been shutdown already and resellers are starting to hide the reselling behind "Website Hosting" services to avoid detection.

That is the difference between Filmon and OTT "Over The Top" services.
Not for the first time you seem to have invented a new definition, unfortunately it is wrong.

An OTT service is simply one that is delivered over the internet without the involvement of the internet service provider.

So TV from Orange, SFR or Free is not OTT as the service provider multicasts and prioritises the network traffic. Filmon is most definitely an OTT service as they have no control over the internet between you and them.

BBC iPlayer and similar services are also OTT as I suspect are ALL the services that you provide access to.

I don't disagree that some paid for services may well disappear with people's money though it does rankle that you mention this having charged me 89€ for an unlimited 4G service that disappeared after 4 weeks.
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Post by Boomshanka »

Sorry Allan just quoting the words of the Advocate General of the European Union. I am sure you can pass this vital information over to him.

As for the internet service, i was a representative of travel WiFi in Paris. www.travel-wifi.com
Your service was supplied by them and all cutomer relations and service issues are with them as is the contract. You knew this as you have been in contact with M. Benoit Marie the MD of the company. I simply introduced you to the service for which they where supposed to pay me a small commision. Any service issues should therefore and as you have already done, be taken up with them directly, you know this as they have notified me you have had many conversations directly with the team.
So why bring it up? or just trying to score a cheap hit on me personally.

There are others in the PO who have this contract with them and are receiving a great service.

The services that scrape Sky channels and Movies from the internet then resell are the "OTT Over the top" services in question. That is what is being discussed above. If the definitions are wrong take it up with the man from the EU that quotes it.
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Post by martyn94 »

Boomshanka wrote:Sorry Allan just quoting the words of the Advocate General of the European Union. I am sure you can pass this vital information over to him.

As for the internet service, i was a representative of travel WiFi in Paris. www.travel-wifi.com
Your service was supplied by them and all cutomer relations and service issues are with them as is the contract. You knew this as you have been in contact with M. Benoit Marie the MD of the company. I simply introduced you to the service for which they where supposed to pay me a small commision. Any service issues should therefore and as you have already done, be taken up with them directly, you know this as they have notified me you have had many conversations directly with the team.
So why bring it up? or just trying to score a cheap hit on me personally.

There are others in the PO who have this contract with them and are receiving a great service.

The services that scrape Sky channels and Movies from the internet then resell are the "OTT Over the top" services in question. That is what is being discussed above. If the definitions are wrong take it up with the man from the EU that quotes it.
If you have an opinion of the Advocate General to point to, you can perfectly easily do it: they are on line. They are usually followed by the Court, but not always.

For myself, I find that "it might not be legal, but you probably won't get nicked" is less than satisfying, but I'm probably over-scrupulous.
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Post by russell »

First, there is no point in arguing over the definition of "OTT". There is no official definition. The term was first coined by the big American cable TV companies (MSOs) to describe services they could provide which were not delivered by the conventional means over their cables. It included, but not exclusively, internet delivery. At that time cable TV companies didn't (were not allowed to) deliver internet.

Secondly, There is no such person as the Advocate General in the EU. There are eleven of them and they can all have different opinions. More recently than the one Boomshanka refers to Advocate General Campos Sanchez_Bordona issued advice that not only selling devices set up to watch pirated media is illegal but using them is also illegal. We have to wait for the EU court's ruling which is expected early this year.

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Post by Allan »

I agree Russell, there is no point in arguing over definitions and you are right, there is no official definition for OTT services, but then again there is probably no 'official' definition of an aeroplane but we all know what one is.

If you google 'define OTT service' you will find umpteen definitions all saying pretty well the same thing. I just get irritated by boomshanka's preponderance to reinvent definitions as well as history.

The whole debate on these services seems bizarre to me. Why would anybody think that reselling someone else's copyright service without paying them, or watching without paying them, or selling the means for someone else to watch without paying can be right in any sense, legally or morally.
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Post by martyn94 »

Allan wrote:I agree Russell, there is no point in arguing over definitions and you are right, there is no official definition for OTT services, but then again there is probably no 'official' definition of an aeroplane but we all know what one is.

If you google 'define OTT service' you will find umpteen definitions all saying pretty well the same thing. I just get irritated by boomshanka's preponderance to reinvent definitions as well as history.

The whole debate on these services seems bizarre to me. Why would anybody think that reselling someone else's copyright service without paying them, or watching without paying them, or selling the means for someone else to watch without paying can be right in any sense, legally or morally.
Well, yes. But I guess it's easy to persuade yourself that it's a victimless crime to tap a stream, or even a civil right. After all, I did pay my licence fee, a few years ago.
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Post by montgolfiere »

just a question....is is more or less 'legal' to watch filmon or another free uk tv streaming service, iplayer etc. or watch via the Satellite? (i am not talking about pay for rebroadcast services)
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Post by martyn94 »

montgolfiere wrote:just a question....is is more or less 'legal' to watch filmon or another free uk tv streaming service, iplayer etc. or watch via the Satellite? (i am not talking about pay for rebroadcast services)
I don't understand more or less legal. It is or it isn't, though it may, of course, involve criminal or civil liability or both. And a greater or less chance of getting nicked.

The BBC terms and conditions are here

http://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/terms/terms-of-use/

I've never seen anything in plainer English, though I imagine it has still been lawyered to death.
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Post by montgolfiere »

looks ok here as it suggests we just need a local licence If you’re outside these areas you need to check if your country has its own TV licensing scheme. and there doesn't seem to be much mention of Satellite.
Last edited by montgolfiere on Tue 31 Jan 2017 16:19, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Allan »

martyn94 wrote:
montgolfiere wrote:just a question....is is more or less 'legal' to watch filmon or another free uk tv streaming service, iplayer etc. or watch via the Satellite? (i am not talking about pay for rebroadcast services)
I don't understand more or less legal. It is or it isn't, though it may, of course, involve criminal or civil liability or both. And a greater or less chance of getting nicked.

The BBC terms and conditions are here

http://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/terms/terms-of-use/

I've never seen anything in plainer English, though I imagine it has still been lawyered to death.
As I read it, these terms apply to BBC's digital services, I.e iPlayer, website etc, not their broadcast services received by satellite
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Post by russell »

Allan wrote: As I read it, these terms apply to BBC's digital services, I.e iPlayer, website etc, not their broadcast services received by satellite
. . . nor, I guess, to signals received by a terrestrial antenna. So, is it legitimate for those residents of the low countries and northern France who can receive signals across the Channel to watch BBC programs?

How about receiving in the UK and using Slingbox to relay it over here?

Then how about Freeview and TVPlayer who put UK free to air programs on the internet legitimately. They can be received over here with the use of a VPN.

Filmon is a difficult one. There have been times, such as during the Olympics, when certain channels were removed at the request of the copyright holders. That implies that they do have a legitimate arrangement with them.

Clearly using something like Icefilms to stream or download pirate copies of films is in breach of copyright if not of criminal law but with all these free to air services available it is very difficult to know what is allowed. I don't envy the EU Court Judges their task!

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Post by montgolfiere »

bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted rather springs to mind.....
Maybe they should just set up a system that if you pay £100 a year you can watch what you like and disrtibute the money to the content rights holders.on some sort of %%% basis... I'd be happy to pay.... as i would the UK TV licence if they restored the FTA Satellite signal to 80cm dish levels
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Post by Webdoc »

I think just because one specific mechanism to watch the BBC hasn't precisely been stated as illegal doesn't mean that it's therefore legal. BBC content is paid for by the licence fee, as are the servers that distribute the programmes via iplayer. The BBC clearly doesn't want it's resources spent entertaining non-licence-payers and in some cases only has the rights to broadcast bought-in content to the UK.

The reason that the new Astra satellites have a smaller broadcast footprint (and are therefore almost impossible to receive in the PO) is not because Sky was just being awkward; it was demanded by the content-owners.

So such debates about legal/illegal are just subjective. I guess we all act illegally sometimes - from pinching a stamp from work, leaving 10 minutes early, or knowingly doing 125km/hr on the motorway. One just has to work out at what level one is comfortable with. And one's position on this spectrum may be strongly influenced if one is trying to make a living selling TV kit to ex-pats in France.
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Post by russell »

Webdoc wrote: So such debates about legal/illegal are just subjective. I guess we all act illegally sometimes - from pinching a stamp from work, leaving 10 minutes early, or knowingly doing 125km/hr on the motorway.
Please note that the 130 km/h limit on the motorway is the maximum not the minimum so 125 is quite legal :)

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Post by Kate »

Speaking from a non techno point of view, ie as someone who really doesn't understand or care why and how the telly gets to me as long as it does get to me, ex pats have been watching telly 'illegally' for years, by whatever means the latest new kid in town has offered. Various people get to make money out of it, some lots, but if they're providing a service we want, and are prepared to take responsibility for the legality or non legality of it, then personally, I don't have a problem with it! :lol:
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Post by Allan »

Kate wrote:Speaking from a non techno point of view, ie as someone who really doesn't understand or care why and how the telly gets to me as long as it does get to me, ex pats have been watching telly 'illegally' for years, by whatever means the latest new kid in town has offered. Various people get to make money out of it, some lots, but if they're providing a service we want, and are prepared to take responsibility for the legality or non legality of it, then personally, I don't have a problem with it! :lol:
Kate

Ex Pats have not been watching illegally for years. Free to air television is just that, it is free to anyone with the means to receive it.

A television licence in the UK is required to watch broadcasts IN THE UK, but we are in France and France has its own TV licence laws.

The problem started when the satellite footprint changed and the Free to Air broadcasts became harder to receive.

People that are receiving Filmon are breaking no laws and those watching iPlayer ITV player are not doing so illegally, they are simply breaking the terms and conditions of the broadcaster. The Terms and conditions that Martyn posted from the BBC state clearly that if you are in breach of them then their remedy is to suspend your account with them. There is no criminal aspect to it.

What is criminal is the pirating of paid for content, such as Sky's premium channels. This is a criminal act on the part of the company offering the service and the person receiving it. If you pay money for something stolen that is criminally and morally wrong.

If someone offered you 50€ notes at 30€ each then I don't think a defence of ' he said he would take responsibility for their legality or non-legality' would hold water - what's different?.

Most of the companies offering these systems are buying them ultimately from a few sources, mostly in Eastern Europe and operated by criminals.
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Post by Webdoc »

Five arrests in 'fully loaded' Kodi streaming box raids:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38906561
Fact said it had co-ordinated its "day of action" on behalf of the Premier League and subscription television providers BT, Sky and Virgin Media.
So the Content Owners are flexing their muscles.
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