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README update for v1.73.5

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@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ developed at the GitHub site <a href="https://github.com/FDH2/UxPlay"
class="uri">https://github.com/FDH2/UxPlay</a> (where ALL user issues
should be posted, and latest versions can be found).</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>NEW in v1.73</strong> (January 2026):</p></li>
<li><p><strong>NEW in v1.73, up to v1.73.5</strong> (March
2026):</p></li>
<li><p>Some YouTube app HLS videos now offer alternative language tracks
(generated by AI dubbing). Language choices will be made in order of
preferences set with option -lang (or by environment variable $LANGUAGE,
@@ -20,18 +21,18 @@ suppresses playing of dubbed audio if $LANGUAGE is set.</p></li>
and Video to mp4 file (new option -mp4 [fn]).</p></li>
<li><p>Support for <strong>service discovery using a Bluetooth LE
“beacon”</strong> for both Linux/*BSD and Windows (as an alternative to
Bonjour/Rendezvous DNS-SD service discovery). <strong>This can be used
on networks that do not allow the user to run a DNS_SD service.</strong>
The user must run a Bluetooth LE “beacon”, (a USB 4.0 or later “dongle”
can be used). The beacon is managed by a Python3 script
<code>uxplay-beacon.py</code>: four implementations of Bleutooth LE
advertising are available as loadable modules: BlueZ for Linux only,
winrt for Windows only, BleuIO for the BlueIO usb-serial dongle (which
has its own BlueTooth-LE stack, independent of that of the host system)
that runs on all systems including macOS and *BSD), and a low-level HCI
module (Linux and BSD only) that access the Host Contoller Interface
(but users need enhanced privileges to use this). The beacon runs
independently of UxPlay: while UxPlay is running, it regularly
Bonjour/Rendezvous DNS-SD service discovery) was introduced in v1.73 and
improved in 1.73.5. This can be used on networks that do not allow the
user to run a DNS_SD service.** The user must run a Bluetooth LE
“beacon”, (Bluetooth 4.0 or later is needed, a cheap USD “dongle” will
do.). The beacon is managed by a Python &gt;= 3.6 script
<code>uxplay-beacon.py</code>. Loadable Python modules provide
appropriate Bluetooth LE support for Linux, Windows, and FreeBSD;
<em>macOS is only supported by the BleuIO USB dongle which uniquely has
its own Bluetooth LE stack based on a Renesas SoC, and is seen by the
host as a serial modem (this can be used on all the operating systems
supported by Uxplay, including other BSD variants).</em> The beacon runs
independently of UxPlay. While UxPlay is running, the beacon regularly
broadcasts a Bluetooth LE (“Low Energy”) 46 byte legacy-type
advertisement informing nearby iOS/macOS devices of the local IPv4
network address of the UxPlay server, and which TCP port to contact
@@ -1548,33 +1549,58 @@ this to see even more of the GStreamer inner workings.</p>
<h1 id="bluetooth-le-beacon-setup">Bluetooth LE beacon setup</h1>
<p>The python&gt;=3.6 script for running a Bluetooth LE Service
Discovery beacon is uxplay-beacon.py. It provides four possible
Bluetooth LE implementations (loaded as modules): one for Linux systems
with D-Bus, one for Windows, and one for the <a
Bluetooth LE implementations (loaded as modules):</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>BlueZ</strong> for Linux systems with D-Bus;</p></li>
<li><p><strong>winrt</strong> for Windows;</p></li>
<li><p><strong>BleuIO</strong> for the <a
href="https://www.bleuio.com">BleuIO (or BleuIO Pro) USB dongle</a> with
its own on-board Bluetooth-LE Stack that does not use the host operating
system Bluetooth (the Host sees the device as a USB serial modem). This
is needed for macOS where the operating system does not allow users to
send Bluetooth-LE advertisements of the type we require. If a BleuIO
dongle is available, the bleuio version of the python script can be used
on many operating systems including macOS, Windows and Linux, and
perhaps *BSD (not tested): it requires python library
<code>python3-pyserial</code> to be installed.</p>
<p>A fourth implementation (module HCI) for Linux or FreeBSD (maybe
other BSD’s too?) requires elevated permissions to access the Host
Controller Interface. These are granted by adding users to a new group
“hciusers” that are give permission to call
“<code>sudo -n hcitool/hciconfig/hccontrol</code>” without entering a
password: this can be configured by the system admistrator using visudo,
but has security implications.</p>
<p>On Linux, Bluetooth support (using the offical Linux Bluetooth stack
BlueZ) must be installed (on Debian-based systems:
system Bluetooth (the host sees the device as a USB serial modem). This
is needed for macOS where the native operating system Bluetooth stack
does not allow users to send Bluetooth-LE advertising data of the
“manufacturer-specific” type <code>AdvData=0xFF</code>. If a BleuIO
dongle (currently costs about USD25) is available, the BleuIO version of
the python script can be used on many operating systems including macOS,
Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and probably other BSD variants (not tested):
it requires python library <code>python3-pyserial</code> to be
installed. On Linux, users must be members of group <code>dialout</code>
or sometimes <code>uucp</code> (<code>dialer</code> on
FreeBSD).</p></li>
<li><p><strong>HCI</strong> for Linux without D-Bus (uses utiities
<code>hcitool</code> and <code>hciconfig</code>) or FreeBSD (uses
<code>hccontrol</code>) and requires elevated privileges to access the
Host Controller Interface. These privileges can be granted by adding
users to a new group “hciusers” that are given permission to call
“<code>sudo -n hci*</code>” (<code>hci*</code> = hcitool, hciconfig or
hccontrol) without entering a password: this can be configured by the
system administrator using <code>visudo</code> (<em>security
implications should be considered</em>). Use visudo to create a file
<code>hciusers</code> in <code>/etc/sudoers.d/</code> (Linux) or
<code>/usr/local/etc/sudoers.d</code> (FreeBSD), containing the line
“<code>%hciusers ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: &lt;hcitools&gt;</code>” (where
<code>&lt;hcitools&gt;</code> is replaced by
“<code>/usr/bin/hcitool, /usr/bin/hciconfig</code>” (Linux) or
“<code>/usr/sbin/hccontrol</code>” (FreeBSD). In addition, FreeBSD’s
<code>hccontrol</code> needs a patch to allow generic LE Advertising
Data to be input. We have submitted it to FreeBSD as a Pull Request, and
you can find it on the [UxPlay Wiki]
(https://github.com/FDH2/UxPlay/wiki/hccontrol-patch-for-FreeBSD-15.0)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>On Linux, Bluetooth support (using the official Linux Bluetooth stack
BlueZ, and D-Bus) must be installed (on Debian-based systems:
<code>sudo apt install bluez bluez-tools</code>; recent Ubuntu releases
provide bluez as a snap package). In addition to standard Python3
libraries, you may need to install the gi, dbus, and psutil Python
libraries used by uxplay-beacon.py. On Debian-based systems:</p>
provide bluez as a snap package). BlueZ tools ‘hcitool’ and ‘hciconfig’
(needed if you use the HCI module on Linux) are declared “deprecated” by
the BlueZ developers: some Linux distributions have removed them from
the default BleuZ packages, into “extra” packages with names like
“bluez-deprecated”.</p>
<p>In addition to standard Python3 libraries, you may need to install
the gi, dbus, and psutil Python libraries used by uxplay-beacon.py. On
Debian-based systems:</p>
<pre><code>sudo apt install python3-gi python3-dbus python3-psutil</code></pre>
<p>If a python3-gi package is not found, install the python3-gobject
package which provides it.</p>
<p>If a python3-gi package is available in your Linux distribution,
install the python3-gobject package which provides it.</p>
<p>For Windows support in the MSYS2 UCRT64 environment, use pacman -S to
install <code>mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-python</code>,
<code>*-python-gobject</code>, <code>*-python-psutil</code>, and
@@ -1587,11 +1613,11 @@ pip install winrt-Windows.Storage.Streams</code></pre>
<p>For python &gt;= 3.11, the pip commands on “externally-managed”
python installations (such as the one provided in MSYS2) should be</p>
<pre><code>pip install .... --break-system-packages</code></pre>
<p>The option <code>--break-system-packages</code> was required to make
users hesitate before adding packages not provided by the “external
management”: <em>this is unnecessarily scary, as in the case of the
winrt packages, no breakage will occur</em>.</p>
<p>If uxplay will be run with option “<code>uxplay -ble</code>” (so it
<p>The option <code>--break-system-packages</code> was added as a
requirement to make users hesitate before adding packages not provided
by the “external management”: <em>this is unnecessarily scary, as in the
case of the winrt packages, no breakage can occur</em>.</p>
<p>UxPlay must be run with option “<code>uxplay -ble</code>” (so it
writes data for the Bluetooth beacon in the default BLE data file
<code>~/.uxplay.ble</code>), just run <code>uxplay-beacon.py</code> in a
separate terminal. The python script will start Bluetooth LE
@@ -1610,6 +1636,11 @@ configuration file options. Get help with <code>man uxplay-beacon</code>
or <code>uxplay-beacon.py --help</code>.</p>
<p>Options are</p>
<ul>
<li><p><code>&lt;module&gt;</code> where “module” is BleuIO or HCI (no
intital <code>--</code>) . Without this option, the default module used
will be <strong>BlueZ</strong> (Linux), <strong>winrt</strong>
(Windows), <strong>BleuIO</strong> (all other operating
systems).</p></li>
<li><p><code>--file &lt;config file&gt;</code> read beacon options from
<code>&lt;config file&gt;</code> instead of
<code>~/.uxplay.beacon</code>.</p></li>
@@ -1623,33 +1654,48 @@ default choice of BLE data file (<code>~/.uxplay.ble</code>) that is
monitored by the beacon script. This also requires that uxplay is run
with option “<code>uxplay -ble &lt;BLE data file&gt;</code>”.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The BlueZ/Dbus version has three more options not offered by the
Windows version (the Windows operating system chooses their values):</p>
<p>These are the only options accepted by the <strong>winrt</strong>
module on Windows. The other modules accept</p>
<ul>
<li><p><code>--advmin x</code>, <code>--advmax y</code>. These controls
the interval between BLE advertisement broadcasts. This interval is in
the range [x, y], given in units of msecs. Allowed ranges are 100 &lt;=
x &lt;= y &lt;= 10240. If advmin=advmax, the interval is fixed: if
advmin &lt; advmax it is chosen flexibly in this range to avoid
interfering with other tasks the Bluetooth device is carrying out. The
default values are advmin = advmax = 100. The advertisement is broadcast
on all three Bluetooth LE advertising channels: 37,38,39.</p></li>
<li><p><code>--index x</code> (default x = 0, x &gt;= 0). This can be
used by the DBus to distinguish between multiple simultaneous instances
of uxplay-beacon.py that are running to support multiple instances of
<li><code>--advmin x</code>, <code>--advmax y</code>. These controls the
interval between BLE advertisement broadcasts. This interval is in the
range [x, y], given in units of msecs. Allowed ranges are 100 &lt;= x
&lt;= y &lt;= 10240. If advmin=advmax, the interval is fixed: if advmin
&lt; advmax it is chosen flexibly in this range to avoid interfering
with other tasks the Bluetooth device is carrying out. The default
values are advmin = advmax = 100. The advertisement is broadcast on all
three Bluetooth LE advertising channels: 37,38,39.</li>
</ul>
<p>On a Windows system, the values of these paramaters are set by the
operating system, and cannot be set by users.</p>
<p>The <strong>BlueZ</strong> module (Linux) also accepts</p>
<ul>
<li><code>--index x</code> (default x = 0, x &gt;= 0). This can be used
by the DBus to distinguish between multiple simultaneous instances of
uxplay-beacon.py that are running to support multiple instances of
UxPlay. Each instance must have its own BLE Data file (just as each
instance of UxPlay must also have its own MAC address and ports).
<em>Note: running multiple beacons simultaneously on the same host has
not been tested, and this option might not be useful or
needed.</em></p></li>
needed.</em></li>
</ul>
<p>While the native macOS and *BSD Bluetooth stacks do not allow
unpriviledged users to send “manufacturer-specific” advertisements like
the uxplay service discovery announcement, this can be achieved using
the BleuIO USB device: the BleuIO module for uxplay-beacon.py is
installed with UxPlay in all operating systems, including macos and
*BSD, while the BlueZ and winrt modules are only installed on Linux and
Windows, respectively.</p>
<p>The <strong>BleuIO</strong> and <strong>HCI</strong> modules
accept</p>
<ul>
<li><code>--device x</code> which allows overiding automatically-made
choices of serial ports (<strong>BleuIO</strong>) or hci device nodes
(<strong>HCI</strong>). This is probably only useful if the host system
has multiple devices that could be used.</li>
</ul>
<p>The native macOS Bluetooth stack has no documented way for users to
send “manufacturer-specific” Bluetooth LE advertisements (such that sent
for AirPlay Service Discovery), and the only support of uxplay-beacon.py
on macOS uses a BleuIO USB serial device. However macOS provides a
low-level utility BlueTool (found at <code>/usr/sbin/bluetool</code>)
that can send HCI commands, so possibly could be used to adapt the
python3 <strong>HCI</strong> module to support macOS as well
(<em>working implementations welcome!</em>). <strong>The recommended and
working method on macOS is to use a BleuIO dongle.</strong></p>
<p>If you wish to test Bluetooth LE Service Discovery on Linux/*BSD, you
can disable DNS_SD Service discovery by the avahi-daemon with</p>
<pre><code>$ sudo systemctl mask avahi-daemon.socket
@@ -1661,16 +1707,10 @@ Management</strong>: press “Windows + R” to open the Run dialog, run
<code>services.msc</code>, and click on <strong>Bonjour Service</strong>
in the alphabetic list. This will show links for it to be stopped and
restarted.</p>
<p>For more information, see the <a
<p>For more information on Bluetooth LE support, including HCI commands,
see the <a
href="https://github.com/FDH2/UxPlay/wiki/Bluetooth_LE_beacon">wiki
page</a>. This page also explains how to setup a BLE beacon for UxPlay
on Linux by direct accesss to the Bluetooth stack using
<code>hcitool</code> to send low-level HCI commands, with root
privileges. This can also be done on FreeBSD using
<code>hccontrol</code>, and on macOS using <code>bluetool</code>.
<strong>The recommended way to set up Bluetooth LE Service Discovery on
macOS or *BSD is to acquire a BleuIO USB device, which is supported by
uxplay-beacon.py without root privileges</strong>.</p>
page</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Note that Bluetooth LE AirPlay Service Discovery only
supports broadcast of IPv4 addresses</strong>.</li>
@@ -1709,7 +1749,11 @@ You might need to edit the avahi-daemon.conf file (it is typically in
systems may instead use the mdnsd daemon as an alternative to provide
DNS-SD service. (FreeBSD offers both alternatives, but only Avahi was
tested; see <a
href="https://gist.github.com/reidransom/6033227">here</a>.)</p>
href="https://gist.github.com/reidransom/6033227">here</a>, or <a
href="https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/network-servers/#_configuring_and_starting_avahi">section
32.8.1 of the FreeBSD Handbook</a>) Note that avahi service is not
needed if you instead use a Bluetooth LE beacon (see <a
href="#bluetooth-le-beacon-setup">above</a>) for Service-Discovery.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>uxplay starts, but either stalls or stops after “Initialized
server socket(s)” appears (<em>without the server name showing on the