Ripping MMS Streams

by EvilBrak  (evilbrak@yahoo.com)

Microsoft has been very anal when it comes to streaming media and has released little information on their streaming protocol, Microsoft Media Server (MMS).

Ripping streams is straightforward but time consuming.

All you need is Windows Media Player (called WMP from now on), a program called SDP Downloader (available from the Streaming Download Project: sdp.ppona.com), and the location of the stream you want to download.

First, what you need to do is get the URL of the stream's ASX file.

Getting access to the URL differs depending on which site the stream is on.  Most sites embed the video into the web page itself.

Look for a "Launch External Player" button somewhere on the page; usually this will open a new browser window with the URL of the ASX file or it'll open up WMP (the URL of the file can be found in the playlist).

If there is no "Launch External Player" button, then view the source of the page and look for the URL to the ASX file.  Once you have the URL, copy and paste it into SDP.

If you like you can save the ASX file to your computer.  This is helpful since you have a direct link to the stream and you won't have to navigate through the website to get to it.

Next, open up SDP and click on "Open".

In the box that pops up, paste the URL of the ASX file.  If you saved the ASX file, then either paste the path or browse to it.

Click on O.K. and the playlist will open up in the URL's combobox.  Select the file you wish to download, then click on "Go".

Choose where you want the file to be saved.  SDP saves audio in ASF format and video in WMV format.  If you wish to convert to a different format (e.g., MP3 and MPEG) then Google around for converters.  There are plenty to choose from.

SDP will download the stream as it plays and therefore a pre-recorded ten minute video will take roughly ten minutes to download, depending on server load.

Live streams download at the same rate as prerecorded streams but will continue downloading until you click on "Abort".  You can listen to or watch the stream while you download by clicking on "Preview".

Another feature of SDP is the VCR.  You can set start and stop times to record your live stream.

For example, my local radio station has its own stream and if I like I can set (SDP to start recording at 5 am and finish at 10 am so I can listen to the morning show when I want.  I can leave my computer unattended and SDP will record with no user interaction.  Pretty cool, huh?

There are many different ways to download streaming content and this is the way I use.

I thought I'd share this method with you all since I have met many people who do not know how to download streams.

I encourage you to play around with both WMP and SDP.  You might find a more efficient way of downloading streams.

Enjoy!