For system requirements and installation instructions, see INSTALL file.
MLBVIEWER - Making MLB.TV better for Linux since 2008
mlbviewer is a python-based program with a curses interface for connecting users with the media subscriptions they paid for.
Most features require an MLB.TV account.
DISCLAIMER:
mlbviewer is intended to be feature compatible with the official MLB.TV
offering. It is also developed with the MLB.TV Terms Of Service in mind.
Feature requests that violate the Terms Of Service (proxy support for
circumventing blackouts) will be ignored. Recording of game streams is a
grey area of the Terms Of Service. There are ways to use mlbviewer to
record streams but these will not be documented.
The number of features and settings has grown so large that documentation has been moved to the Sourceforge wiki at:
http://sourceforge.net/p/mlbviewer/wiki/Home/
There are much more advanced settings and usage documented on the Wiki than can be listed in a simple README file anymore. This README should be enough to get started but the Wiki will have many more settings and advanced usage documentation.
The default configuration file is rather basic. It is enough to get started with. However, there are many more options supported than what is listed in the default configuration file. Refer to the wiki to see a complete list and explanation of the options.
user= : MLB.TV or MLB.com username
pass= : MLB.TV or MLB.com password
Most of the media related features are for MLB.TV subscribers only. However, MLB.TV has one free game of the day. This only requires an MLB.com username and password.
video_player= : Video player command (mplayer2 or mpv recommended)
audio_player= : Gameday Audio player command (mplayer2 or mpv recommended)
use_nexdef= : Historically, MLB.TV was offered in two video options:
Standard Definition (use_nexdef=0) and High Definition
(use_nexdef=1) which required the NexDef plugin if using
the web browser interface. SD speeds are 300 to 2500 kbps.
HD speeds extend to 4500 kbps. SD mode requires rtmpdump
to retrieve the media and stream it to video_player=. HD
mode (or NexDef mode) does not require the NexDef plugin but
it does require mlbhls for retrieving the media and streaming
to video_player=. Many users prefer SD mode because rtmpdump
starts a stream faster than mlbhls. However, SD mode is no
longer officially supported by MLB.TV and may go away at
some future date.
speed= : Speed setting is for SD mode and valid speeds are: 300, 500, 1200, 1800, 2500
min_bps= : Minimum speed setting for HD mode max_bps= : Maximum speed setting for HD mode Valid speeds for HD mode are: 128, 500, 800, 1200, 1800, 2400, 3000, 4500
adaptive_stream= can be set to true (adapative_stream=1) to enable adaptive bitrate streaming for HD mode. If adaptive_stream=1, the stream will start at the min_bps= setting and increase to max_bps= setting if network conditions support that bitrate. If network conditions worsen, mlbhls will adapt the bitrate to a value between min_bps and max_bps until conditions improve. If adaptive_stream=0 (false), the stream will be fixed to the max_bps= rate.
favorite= : Team code for favorite team.
Specifying a favorite team unlocks a number of useful features such as:
Team codes for favorite=
'ana', 'ari', 'atl', 'bal', 'bos', 'chc', 'cin', 'cle', 'col',
'cws', 'det', 'mia', 'hou', 'kc', 'la', 'mil', 'min', 'nym',
'nyy', 'oak', 'phi', 'pit', 'sd', 'sea', 'sf', 'stl', 'tb',
'tex', 'tor', 'was'These team codes are also used for calendar and RSS screens as well as the mlbplay.py script.
Two flags are necessary for international users to watch live postseason games:
international= : True/False, prune out US national listings and display international stream listing instead
postseason= : True/False, ignore US blackout statuses to watch international streams
For more configuration file options, refer to the wiki.
mlbviewer is a terminal based application with many screens activated by hotkeys. Some screens contain spoilers such as scores or game results. Some screens however are designed not to have spoilers.
| Hotkey | Screen |
|---|---|
| l, r | Default listings view (no spoilers) |
| e | Media detail view (no spoilers) |
| m | Master Scoreboard view (contains spoilers) |
| b | Line score for highlighted game (contains spoilers) |
| x | Box score for highlighted game (contains spoilers) |
| C | Calendar view for favorite team or "C" again to select another team |
(contains spoilers)t | Top Plays for highlighted game (contains spoilers) g | Standings view w | RSS view M | MiLB.tv mode i | Jump to inning view (no spoilers)
Action hotkeys
Enter | Play video for highlighted game or top play a | Play Gameday audio for highlighted game A | Play alternate audio for highlighted game (use media detail screen to see availability of alternate audio) c | Play condensed game for highlighted game s | Toggle HOME or AWAY coverage p | In SD mode, toggle the speed setting. In HD (NexDef) mode, toggle adaptive streaming.
Navigation hotkeys
Up | Move cursor up Down | Move cursor down Left | Navigate one day back Right | Navigate one day forward j | Jump to a specific date
TIP: For extra innings games in line score view, the extra frames can be revealed with the Left and Right navigation actions.
TIP: Highlight a player name in Box Score view and press Enter to see career stats for that player. Highlight a team header like "Kansas City Batting" and press Enter to see team batting statistics.
mlbviewer tarballs on SourceForge are updated only a few times a season and are considered stable releases.
Development on mlbviewer is ongoing all season long. To get current features and fixes between Sourceforge releases, it is necessary to checkout an SVN release. To use SVN, the subversion package is required.
To checkout an initial copy from SVN:
svn checkout https://svn.code.sf.net/p/mlbviewer/code/trunk mlbviewer-svn
To update an SVN copy to the latest revision:
cd mlbviewer-svn svn up
Discussion about mlbviewer features and bugs is ongoing on a LinuxQuestions.org forum thread. Don't worry about the 300+ pages of discussion. Just post to the thread and someone will respond within a day or two.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/fedora-35/mlb.tv-in-linux-432479/
Please read the Sourceforge Wiki pages before posting to the forum to spare the forum readers from having to answer the same questions over and over again.
http://sourceforge.net/p/mlbviewer/wiki/Home/
This project is a labor of love but it still requires an initial investment of about 100 hours in Spring Training and many more over the course of the season. Any contribution of any size is greatly appreciated. You can make a donation by sending a Paypal payment to:
straycat000(at)yahoo(dot)com
THANKS AND....
PLAY BALL!
The mlbviewer Development Team