Creating a M3U playlist of Acestream links from scratch

Advantage of having a M3U Playlist:

• You do not need to install Acestream player, which is a snap, and use it to play the Acestream Content IDs. All you need to do is just to install the Acestream Engine which is not a snap.

• You can use video players like VLC, Smplayer or Celluloid to play the M3U Playlist.

• A M3U playlist allows you to switch playing from one channel to another channel quickly and easily.

Structure of a M3U Playlist:

• It consists of a file header denoted by: #EXTM3U

• After the header will be the list channels

Each channel consists of two parts:

A lable: #EXTINF:<duration in seconds>,<Channel Name>

URL of the Stream (channel), typically with this format:

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/manifest.m3u8?content_id=xxxx

For example, Sky Sports Football [UK] with Content ID=8dbe2d515e9131fa311353537736f8c94be9b26d, is denoted as follows:

#EXTINF:3.81933,Sky Sports Football [UK]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/manifest.m3u8?content_id=8dbe2d515e9131fa311353537736f8c94be9b26d

Explanation:

• #EXTINF is an extended info tag in M3U format.

• 3.81933 represents the duration of the stream segment in seconds.

• Sky Sports Football [UK] is the display name or title of the stream.

• 127.0.0.1 is the local loopback address (your own machine).

• 6878 is the Port typically used by Ace Stream, a peer-to-peer streaming application.

• manifest.m3u8 indicates the stream is delivered in HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) format.

• content_id=... is the unique identifier for the stream content.

Media players parse the M3U file, display the channel name, and connect to the AceStream Engine to fetch video segments from peers. That is why you have to launch the Acestream Engine first before you can watch the channel!

An Example of a M3U Playlist File with Acestream links:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:-1,Sky Sports Football [UK]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/manifest.m3u8?content_id=8dbe2d515e9131fa311353537736f8c94be9b26d

#EXTINF:-1,BBC News

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/manifest.m3u8?content_id=abcdef1234567890

#EXTINF:52.66667,NBA TV [US]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/getstream?id=e72d03fb9694164317260f684470be9ab781ed95&pid=44679

#EXTINF:50.4747,Super Tennis HD

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/getstream?id=b58dbf92765976b308695f62dea94b00b40730ee&pid=47906

#EXTINF:51.79233,Tennis Channel HD [UK]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/getstream?id=039fae21c9e7e5214d3d898cba80863e37e623ac&pid=2575
.....................
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steps to Create a Custom M3U File

• Open a plain text editor like Notpad, Kate

I use Kate foe linux

• In the text editor Add the header

#EXTM3U

• Insert channel info one by one

Each channel entry has two parts:

Metadata line:

#EXTINF:-1,Channel Name you prefer

-1 means indefinite duration (live stream).

Stream URLof the channel:

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/manifest.m3u8?content_id=xxxx

Replace xxxx with your Ace Stream content ID

• Repeat the above step for other channels

Add as many entries as you like, one after another.

• Save the file

Save with .m3u or .m3u8 extension.

Example: myplaylist.m3u.

How to play the list

• Launch the Acestream Engine
• Open the file in VLC, Smplayer, Celluloid, or another IPTV player.
• Click on the channel you want to watch
• Wait for a few seconds for the Engine to connect to the peers that provide the required stream.

My favorite Playlist

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:-1,Sky Sports Football [UK]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/manifest.m3u8?content_id=8dbe2d515e9131fa311353537736f8c94be9b26d

#EXTINF:-1.973,Sky Sports Main Event [UK]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/manifest.m3u8?content_id=eab7aeef0218ce8b0752e596e4792b69eda4df5e

#EXTINF:4.08,Eurosport 1 [DE]

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=467a9ad90a4fcdcee8e072075d3a2c4748b55792

#EXTINF:2.709,Eurosport 2 [DE]

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=9510f65da1d8a4a2b7c972fdc2f1b19e2d468f2f

#EXTINF:-1.06667,BBC

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=050702a6580361bbf040fbb42f8004ab4f1b9211

#EXTINF:1.74707,CNN

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=04f3e6773c11ab733be1be222e62953fb31ecb5f

#EXTINF:0.76667,Fox Sports 1

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=df23d9ca9275b354e23156d59b8bc1122441fa47

#EXTINF:1,Fox Sports 2

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=e765303108614af0f9a42da7b45a147195982796

#EXTINF:0.34133,BeIN Sports 3HD

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=7fee896143ae89590d97793a0be7ad8ec6fa4552

#EXTINF:7.7093,BeIN Sports 4HD

http://localhost:6878/ace/getstream?infohash=26c1fe91207fb2a1cfa6271970081d4c2009b6fa

#EXTINF:2.66667,NBA TV [US]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/getstream?id=e72d03fb9694164317260f684470be9ab781ed95&pid=44679

#EXTINF:-1.4747,Super Tennis HD

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/getstream?id=b58dbf92765976b308695f62dea94b00b40730ee&pid=47906

#EXTINF:5.79233,Tennis Channel HD [UK]

http://127.0.0.1:6878/ace/getstream?id=039fae21c9e7e5214d3d898cba80863e37e623ac&pid=2575

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you like, you can copy my playlist and then paste it to a text editor like Notepad or Kate. Afer that, save the file as a M3U file, then you can play with it.