Getting "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" Message

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pobrejuanito Author

Level 1

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Getting "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" Message

Greetings,

I have a script that generates podcasts depending on the language chosen.

I've submitted English and German and iTunes accepted it without any problem:

This feed is live on iTunes

https://www.audioverse.org/english/sermons/podcasts/latest

This one I submitted for approval without any problem

https://www.audioverse.org/deutsch/sermons/podcasts/latest

I am trying to submit the rest of the languages but I am surprised I get the message "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" for the following feeds:

https://www.audioverse.org/espanol/sermones/podcasts/ultima

https://www.audioverse.org/zhongwen/sermons/podcasts/latest

https://www.audioverse.org/francais/predications/podcasts/plusrecent

I am generating these podcast from the same script, and all my media regardless of language are served through Amazon CloudFront. The media links aren't broken either. Any help in troubleshooting is appreciated.

Thank you.

Posted on Mar 31, 2015 8:59 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 31, 2015 10:20 AM in response to pobrejuanito

Your media files are forcing a download. If you enter the URL in a browser it should play within the browser, but the top episode in two of the feeds you complain about - and, puzzlingly the feed you say is OK - download when you do this.

This is because the server is set fo force a download, which means that the iTunes Store cannot play the files, though the feeds will work OK when subscribed to in iTunes.

The odd thing is that the feed you say is OK has the same problem. This suggests that you've done something to change your server from not downloading to downloading since that feed was accepted. In any event you need to make sure that the server is correctly set.

Check the setting by copying the URL of one of your files and pasting it into the address bar in Safari or your usual browser. It should play there, not download.

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Answer 2

pobrejuanito Author

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Apr 1, 2015 7:58 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hi Roger,

Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and changed my script so that it forces to play rather than download. I verified on Safari and it plays on the browser. I tried again to submit it on iTunes store, but I am getting the same message.

https://www.audioverse.org/espanol/sermones/podcasts/ultima

https://www.audioverse.org/zhongwen/sermons/podcasts/latest

https://www.audioverse.org/francais/predications/podcasts/plusrecent

What do you think is happening?

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Answer 3

Apr 1, 2015 8:09 AM in response to pobrejuanito

It's all a bit odd. Entering the top media file URL from the first feed in a browser plays with video. Entering the second plays as audio - all correct.

However when subscribing manually in iTunes, the top episode firstly announced that it required authentication( this was when trying to download), and then produced an error that it required QuickTime, which was not supported by this version of iTunes (which is the latest). I don't know what that's about - probably because it couldn't access the file.

The second episode, which is MP3, played - but with video! That doesn't make sense. The video version of the previous episode started to download OK; so it looks as if there is a specific problem with the top episode video file - this is the one iTunes will check.

Incidentally it's not really a good idea to have both audio and video versions in the same feed - subscribers will either find themselves downloading both, or if they want the audio version will find themselves downloading the video version. It's better to have separate feeds for audio and video.

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Answer 4

pobrejuanito Author

Level 1

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Apr 1, 2015 9:20 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hi Roger,

I went ahead and removed the videos from the feed. I tried to submit the urls again but i am getting the same message. It is strange that on My Podcasts some mp3's play but some don't. The URL that don't play plays on safari.

For example: this feed URL https://www.audioverse.org/deutsch/sermons/podcasts/latest the third one doesn't play in my podcasts but plays on safari.

https://www.audioverse.org/deutsch/download/rss/24846/2015/02/7345/20130329-0915 -DanielPel-8.DasEvangeliumimRömerbrief-Teil2-48k.mp3

Any insights on this?

THanks

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Answer 5

pobrejuanito Author

Level 1

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Apr 1, 2015 9:33 AM in response to pobrejuanito

Perhaps it's due to character encoding that breaks iTunes?

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Answer 6

pobrejuanito Author

Level 1

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Apr 1, 2015 9:51 AM in response to pobrejuanito

I have a suspicion due to special characters in the url, iTunes complains it can't download the feed?

Do you think so?

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Answer 7

Apr 1, 2015 2:09 PM in response to pobrejuanito

The media file you complain of is at

https://www.audioverse.org/deutsch/download/rss/24846/2015/02/7345/24846.mp3

Attempting to play this in Safari produces an 'Access denied' error. You may see it as working because you are already signed in to whatever is causing this. The top episode's media file seems to be OK. You need to look at the permissions or whether you've set a login to be required for the one in question.

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