Darwin Streaming Server / RTSP / Mobile Streaming Project

We provide video syndication services and are moving into mobile. We need help to fully deploy Darwin Streaming Server within our content management, security and statistics infrastructure. We have DSS running and we can make it work with a simple configuration, but not our more complex one and for that we request help.

Here are some details about our environment:

• We use PHP/MySQL/Apache/Perl on FreeBSD.
• Our content management system allows us to entitle a specific client to access video content and authenticate a set of specific websites they own on which to display that content.
• We use PHP sessions to track usage (for billing) through Apache logs
• We use PHP sessions to create quickly expiring symbolic links between the WebPages that display the content choices and the actual video files stored on our file system.
• For the web, we stream flash.
• For mobile, we use a php program to detect the type of device visiting the webpage and to determine if they need a) http progressive download (e.g. for iPhone and Pre) or b) rtsp streams (e.g. for blackberry and droid) or c) if they are a non-mobile browser.
• We have a web based simulator for rtsp to use a PC to test the RTSP links.
• Our mobile applications - including symlinks - work for http (e.g. iPhone/Pre) but don’t work for rtsp (blackberry, droid).

Here is our problem:

• We are not expert in Darwin / RTSP but we suspect that it is misconfigured somehow.
• The RTSP links work and generate streams when we make an explicit direct path to the content, but fail when we use symlinks. We need this to work.