Is there a good way to download wm9 streams, especially from the command line? I'd like to run an automatic ripping and labelling system from the local public radio, but there's no way to automate it.

mplayer can do this with the -dumpstream and -dumpfile options.

Supposedly mplayer can do this, but I've never gotten it to work.

EDIT: Nice timing.

Is there a way to make it stop after a certain length of time? It's a continuous stream, so I don't think it'll ever quit and write the headers. It's not writing them right now.

Net Transport has a scheduling facility. You can tell it when to start and when to stop. It supports mms and rtsp protocols. It is freeware. I have recomended this many times. No one has ever come back to complain. Program is available here: http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/

I agree, it works pretty well. There are just 2 things that bother me:

1.) I was recording a radio stream and it stopped after 2 hours even though it still had 2 more hours to go. I'll try this another time and see if it happens again.

2.) It is not possible to listen to the stream while downloading. This could turn into trouble if you don't have the bandwidth to start a second stream or if the provider only allows one connection per client.

this can stop when you want
http://sdp.ppona.com/
also has a preview.
seems to have some batch capability, but i never tried that.

edit/
this forum has plenty of data on recording streming content
http://p082.ezboard.com/bstreemeboxvcr