CONSTANT error now: (#12) {live_video_id}/likes is deprecated

#1

Everything has been working great, and now every time we stream to Facebook Live, there is this error message in red flashed at the bottom of the screen EVERY 2 SECONDS:

(#12) {live_video_id}/likes is deprecated

…which keeps the device from going into full screen mode. Deprecated? Depreciated? Don’t know, don’t care. We tried multiple times to unpair, restart, pair again but nothing works.

On a separate note, our small church purchased this $300 Webcaster X2 from Epiphan because of how wildly popular it is with small churches and YouTubers. And why not? The device is super reliable, well designed, and it’s geared to small customers like us. But for Epiphan to take our money and then suddenly turn its back on customers by ending support? That is just wrong.

We all don’t CARE about new features. What we NEED are firmware updates for when Facebook makes changes to their live streaming protocols. Epiphan needs to find an alternative for loyal customers who allocated a considerable amount of money from donations to purchase a Webcaster X2. We just need an update to correct this error, even if it’s done by someone working independently.

Best Regards,
Chris

#2

I would have to agree with you Chris. We are a small church too, with a limited budget and the entire worship and A/V team are volunteers. We don’t have access to the building except on Sunday mornings because we rent the space from a school. There is no way we can get in earlier to test the hardware. We do not have the resources to find another system that works well. The Webcaster X2 was an awesome solution and we still rely on it to reach more than half of our congregation

#3

I agree as well, we are a small church and have run into this same problem. You need to continue support. This device has worked well up to this point.

Thanks

#4

Epiphan Support, we are in the same situation. A small church which recently purchased the Epiphan Webcaster X2 because it was the only affordable option (~$300). The next product offered by Epiphan I could find was the Pearl 2 which was over $2500. The Pearl was also discontinued. I have also spoken to another church which uses the Epiphan Webcaster X2 and they have having this same issue (Error #12). Please prioritize a firmware update for this bug. I does appear the bug is widespread to several Webcaster users. Thanks

#5

I have the same problem just started. Is Epiphan going to do anything about it.One other question is, are they going to ever have another low budget encoder. The Pearl Mini is just to expensive for our church. I know there is a market for one

#6

Another small church here. The Webcaster X2 has been a great tool for us to reach our congregation. We really can’t afford $1500 or more for another device. Like others have said, we really don’t need any new features, but we would really appreciate an update to fix this constant flickering error message.

Thank you, Epiphan dev team, for your consideration.

God Bless,
Media Team at First Baptist Church, Linesville PA

#7

We are investigating the issue. At this time the error is not preventing any streaming from occurring with the device, however we do understand the inconvenience of the listed error code in the user interface. We thank you for your continued patience on the matter

#8

@Mrenaud, We are all aware that the error is not preventing any streaming from occurring on the device. But the issue isn’t merely a matter of “inconvenience”.

The error prevents the device from going into full screen mode. Not only is this distracting but also degrades performance.

In fact… on the Webcaster X2 user interface, if one clicks Preferences, there is an option to hide the User Interface, along with a note that says doing so “Improves performance”. The error we are all experiencing is forcing the device to always display the UI.

As previously stated, all of us small congregations who purchased the Epiphan Webcaster X2 at $300/ea don’t want new features. We only need Epiphan to promptly update the firmware when Facebook, YouTube, etc. make changes to their API.

Regards,
Chris
Shoresh David Messianic Synagogue
Tampa, FL

#9

@Mrenaud, it’s been 2 months already. How long are you all going to take investigating this issue??

Rather than replace the “likes” function or element, why not just remove it from the firmware and release an interim update? We literally could care less about “likes”.

After paying Epiphan $$$$ for new Webcaster X2 devices, it’s reasonable for customers to expect that they be able to live stream WITHOUT a constant error message flashing on the screen, for over 6 months, about a function that nobody cares about!

Best Regards,
Chris

#10

We appreciate the ongoing patience. Our development team is still investigating the issue as it appears Facebook is still making other API changes outside of our control and they are still determining what this may mean for Webcaster X2’s function. We unfortunately have limited information from Facebook at this time.

#11

@Mrenaud, everyone knows that Facebook makes changes to its API all the time, so that’s certainly not a good excuse. After dealing with this irritating error message for 6 long months, it’s fairly obvious that no one on Epiphan’s dev team is really actively investigating anything for the Webcaster X2 community.

Please tell them that CUSTOMERS are begging them to JUST remove the likes function and release an interim update so this error stops flashing on the screen and we can all move forward. Then the dev team can “wait for Facebook to stop making UI changes” until the cows come home.

Again, this deprecated “likes” function in the firmware ISN’T just an irritation… it’s also preventing the UI from ever going full screen, which in turn also consumes system resources. Remove the “likes” function and we’re all good.

Thank you.

Best Regards,
Chris

#12

holy shit dude chill out. I’ve been an X2 user since Feb 2019. The product was discontinued in 2020 and the problem appeared months AFTER the product was discontinued. if they havent flat-out said they arent fixing it then SOMEONE is looking at it. it just means the whole company isnt looking at it. They dont even have to address the problem!!!
Thats like me buying a new house and then 2 years later a new model/version of my house is designed I cant demand them to update my house. the product isnt fundamentally broken since i can still stream to FB. sure, the error is annoying and it was money i spent but they owe us nothing. Im happy they’re even responding - most companies dont give a f"/% about customers enough to respond

#13

I have edited your comment to remove contact details for privacy reasons.

We certainly understand @Shoresh_David concerns and frustrations and all other Webcaster users experiencing this issue. It is not being ignored but it can take time to investigate depending on resources available.

We thank you all for your continued patience and again, apologize for the inconvenience

#14

@jp_streams, this issue has been a priority for many Webcaster X2 users since last summer. As Epiphan customers who purchased a product, it’s reasonable to expect the company to at least edit a few lines of code to remove a deprecated function, so that we again have a product that works as designed. But posting a comment for the sole purpose of publicly cursing and shaming me or anyone here isn’t appreciated by anyone and doesn’t help the matter in question.

@Mrenaud, thank you. We will continue to wait for news that this issue has finally been resolved.

Best Regards,
Chris

#15

says the guy publicly shaming epiphan/ @mrenaud for doing their job on a discontinued product?

updates and lines of code arent simple copy+paste though… you gotta think of lines of code like Jenga. removing 1 block could be fine and not cause any issues or it could cause a big mess that needs to be rebuilt cant really roll the dice on just removing code and expecting everything to work ok. i dunno about you, but I would rather they carefully remove the right block rather than bricking my webcaster completely

@Mrenaud any rough ETA on possible fix?

#16

The difference, @jp_streams , is that I was communicating with a COMPANY (not you). “Discontinued” or not, thousands of people paid $300 for a product and suddenly found themselves with an unsupported lemon. Getting the company to make things right is not unreasonable. But if that burns your eyes then all you had to do was unsubscribe.

@Mrenaud , sorry about this. Every forum unfortunately has to have at least one troll trying to flex. Please suggest to the dev team that if they no longer wish to support this disco’d product then to at least consider releasing the f/w source on github. As a coder contractor I have quite a few friends who may be willing to start an open source project so we can properly fix the issues.

The forum is yours jake. I have too much client work to be dealing with griefers. But please do get in your last word so you can embarrass yourself further.

#17

If everyone could calm down for a moment.
David, we understand the frustration of the error, and we are looking into it, unfortunately it is not as simple as just a couple lines of code when dealing with an API that is not ours, this is a Facebook API not an Epiphan API, and making changes could have a bigger impact beyond the error message. Also, outside of Facebook there are changes that Google made with the Youtube API, if we are taking dev time from other projects to reopen work on Webcaster X2, it has to look at everything in order for the time to be well spent.
But that also mean once any code work is done, a full QA effort is also required.
This times time to complete.
We thank you for your patience and we hope to have something soon that will help address this and other issues.

#18

It has now been 5 months since the last update. Can we expect a fix or has this been considered no longer needed since it is considered obsolete?