Fix media stop, upload cleanup and review findings

- Stop is a no-op when the collected player unit is already gone
  (raw systemctl stop exits 5 on the Frame; verified 2026-09-29).
- Surface systemd-run stderr when the player can't start.
- Keep the copy error if the cleanup ssh also fails; reject upload
  names that the play path can never accept.
- Allow 60 s for play (ffprobe 30 s + systemd-run 15 s remote).
- Docs: four-hour cap is unconditional; no delete action yet; fix a
  garbled timing sentence.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/vr-video.md

@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@ All test media were generated by us. No paid content or DRM was involved.
   test in 0.128 s (decode only); converting all frames to RGBA took 0.242 s.
 - Our ffmpeg → Python → OpenVR path submitted all 150 frames and exited 0.
   The 1280×720 prototype took 4.775 s; the full 1920×1080 player took
-  4.618 s. These are wall times, not in-headset frame-rate measurements;
+  4.618 s. These are wall times, not in-headset frame-rate measurements.
-  These initial probes exposed an early finish. The final player explicitly
+  Finishing a 5 s clip early showed those probes weren't paced, so the final
-  paces 30 fps output: all 150 frames then completed in **5.025 s**.
+  player paces output at 30 fps: all 150 frames then completed in **5.025 s**.
 - The H.265 hardware decoder also completed the generated 1080p clip
   (60 frames, exit 0); this is a short compatibility check, not a 4K/8K benchmark.
 - Our actual player, launched through Frame Control's media API, displayed
@@ -101,8 +101,9 @@ The ffmpeg path above completed instead.
   version rejects files above 20,000 records. It is a stereo preview, not
   an immersive walk-through.
 - A single player can run at a time. It stops at EOF, on **Stop**, or after
-  four hours if the computer disconnects. Still images remain until Stop
+  four hours in any case, so longer movies are cut off. Still images remain
-  or that timeout. The log is
+  until Stop or that timeout. There is no delete action yet: remove old
+  uploads from `~/Videos/FrameControl/` over SSH. The log is
   `~/.local/share/frame-control/media/player.log` on the Frame.
 - **Panel/stream theatre remains outside this media slice:** SteamVR's
   `vrcmd --dock-overlay` accepts `theater`, but docking an existing panel

tests/test_media.py

@@ -83,9 +83,26 @@ class Media(unittest.TestCase):
             ssh.assert_not_called()
 
     def test_fake_frame_stop_only_owns_our_unit(self):
-        with patch.object(remote.subprocess, 'run') as run, patch.object(remote, 'status', return_value={}):
+        with patch.object(remote.subprocess, 'run') as run, patch.object(remote, 'status', return_value={}), \
+                patch.object(remote, 'active', return_value=True):
             remote.run({'action': 'stop'})
             self.assertEqual(run.call_args.args[0], ['systemctl', '--user', 'stop', 'frame-control-media.service'])
+        # A finished player is already collected; Stop is then a no-op, not an error.
+        with patch.object(remote.subprocess, 'run') as run, patch.object(remote, 'status', return_value={}), \
+                patch.object(remote, 'active', return_value=False):
+            remote.run({'action': 'stop'})
+            run.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_upload_rejects_unplayable_names_and_keeps_copy_error(self):
+        with patch.object(server, 'ssh') as ssh, patch.object(server, 'push_file') as push:
+            for name in ('.hidden.mp4', 'a\\b_SBS.mp4'):
+                with self.assertRaises(server.Failure):
+                    server.push_media(Path('/tmp')/name)
+            ssh.assert_not_called()
+            push.side_effect = server.Failure('copy failed')
+            ssh.side_effect = [None, server.Failure('link down')]
+            with self.assertRaisesRegex(server.Failure, 'copy failed'):
+                server.push_media(Path('/tmp/film_SBS.mp4'))
 
     def test_splat_invalid_records_and_stereo_parallax(self):
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as d:

ui/frame_media_remote.py

@@ -63,7 +63,9 @@ def run(body):
     if action == 'status':
         return status()
     if action == 'stop':
-        subprocess.run(['systemctl', '--user', 'stop', UNIT], check=True, timeout=15)
+        # --collect unloads the unit after it exits; stopping it then is a no-op, not an error.
+        if active():
+            subprocess.run(['systemctl', '--user', 'stop', UNIT], check=True, timeout=15)
         return {'message': 'Media player stopped', **status()}
     if action != 'play':
         raise ValueError('Media action must be list, status, play or stop')
@@ -87,7 +89,9 @@ def run(body):
                '--layout', plan['layout'], '--status', str(STATUS)]
     if body.get('theatre'):
         command.append('--theatre')
-    subprocess.run(command, check=True, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=15)
+    started = subprocess.run(command, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=15)
+    if started.returncode:
+        raise RuntimeError('Could not start the media player: ' + (started.stderr.strip() or 'systemd-run exited %s' % started.returncode))
     return {'message': 'Starting Frame Control media', 'plan': plan}
 
 

ui/server.py

@@ -1262,7 +1262,7 @@ for name, source in json.load(sys.stdin).items():
         ssh("python3 -c " + shlex.quote(installer), stdin=json.dumps(sources))
         try:
             out = ssh("python3 ~/.local/share/frame-control/media/frame_media_remote.py",
-                      stdin=json.dumps(body), timeout=45)
+                      stdin=json.dumps(body), timeout=60)
         except Failure as e:
             for line in reversed(getattr(e, "stdout", "").splitlines()):
                 try:
@@ -1278,17 +1278,23 @@ for name, source in json.load(sys.stdin).items():
 def push_media(path):
     # Validate the format, but leave layout selection until playback (ffprobe
     # can then read metadata on the Frame, where it is installed).
-    frame_media.plan(Path(path).name, "mono")
+    name = Path(path).name
+    frame_media.plan(name, "mono")
+    if name.startswith(".") or "\\" in name:
+        raise Failure("Rename the file: media names can't start with a dot or contain a backslash", 400)
     token = secrets.token_hex(16)
     dest = "Videos/FrameControl/" + token + "/"
     ssh("mkdir -p ~/" + dest)
     try:
         push_file(path, dest)
     except Exception:
-        ssh("rm -rf ~/" + dest)
+        try:
+            ssh("rm -rf ~/" + dest)
+        except Failure:
+            pass  # keep the copy error; an empty folder isn't listed as media
         raise
     return {"message": "Media sent. Choose its layout and press Play.",
-            "id": token + "/" + Path(path).name}
+            "id": token + "/" + name}
 
 
 POST = {"/api/media": media, "/api/android/display": android_display, "/api/android": android, "/api/titles": titles, "/api/launch": launch, "/api/steam": steam, "/api/volume": set_volume, "/api/clipboard": clipboard,