New Netflix Plugin (2 Viewers)

[Johnathan Barker]

I'll be trying it when it's available for MP 1.3.

Should have a alpha release out later tonight or tomorrow.. Just adding the finishing touches..

 

[Johnathan Barker]

Ok rushed to try to get it out tonight so here it is. please remember this is an alpha release.

Current known bugs/not implemented features
Have to click in video window to pause/close the window (escape key closes and returns to Media Portal)
Any movie added to personal queues are not yet added to the instant queue
TV shows are not completely implemented as of yet (hopefully tomorrow)
Does not require a password to switch personal queues yet
does not filter by parental restrictions yet
Currently requires default install location (will be fixed in next release)
Need to fulfill Netflix's branding requirements

To view instant queue press the context menu key (F9 by default ) from anywhere in the plugin and select Instant Queue from the list


Thats all that I can think of atm so enjoy and let me know if you guys find other bugs.

 

[erichzann]

Hi,

Thanks for this plugin.

Just tested this. It looks like the install paths for the skin and the plugin are wrong at the moment. The skin xml is sent to one folder above the plugins folder and the dll is sent to one folder above the skin folder.

By moving them I can get the plugin to run, but when I try and authorize I get an error message. I will upload a screenshot later.

 

[SimondusMaximus]

Hi Johnathan,

Thanks for developing and sharing the plugin. Same issue as erichzann above. Attached is the error.

This is on MP 1.2.3, Win 7 x32. I'm in the UK.

Cheers
Si

 

[Johnathan Barker]

Hi,

Thanks for this plugin.

Just tested this. It looks like the install paths for the skin and the plugin are wrong at the moment. The skin xml is sent to one folder above the plugins folder and the dll is sent to one folder above the skin folder.

By moving them I can get the plugin to run, but when I try and authorize I get an error message. I will upload a screenshot later.

Yea I just did a little bit of tweaking in the code and noticed when I updated the Plugin name that the config window was still writing to the old file name and the plugin is trying to load the new file name. So what ever gets saved in the configuration window will not get loaded.

That should not have affected the authorization system though so I look forward to seeing that screen shot.[DOUBLEPOST=1349606627][/DOUBLEPOST]What step of the authorization process where you guys at when you get that error? Basicly a 2 step process so are you getting that error when you click authorize or Retrieve Authorization?

A quick google search of that error message shows that its basicly a missing dll. I am working on an updated installer that includes that dll as well fixes the config paths

 

[Johnathan Barker]

Ok Added the missing dll hopefully its the last of those
Also fixed the settings issue so settings will be saved and loaded correctly and fixed a minor glich where you couldnt go to the next page button.

Also corrected most of the path issues still have to manually move the skin file for some reason the install creator doesn't give me the option to install in the default skin directory

 

[icam2]

Hi there many thanks for this plugin i've just had a go with it on mp 1.2.3 and all works great. 2 quick points from my setup is

1. i Watch MP on my secondary monitor and the plugin always seams to popup the netflix player on the primary monitor is there anyway of selecting the monitor it appears on?

2, The plugin seams to use the US api so for users elsewhere (UK in my case) alot of the returned search results cant be played (i tested it using a US proxy and it works fine)

These are not requests they are just info for you

Many thanks

 

[Johnathan Barker]

Hi there many thanks for this plugin i've just had a go with it on mp 1.2.3 and all works great. 2 quick points from my setup is

1. i Watch MP on my secondary monitor and the plugin always seams to popup the netflix player on the primary monitor is there anyway of selecting the monitor it appears on?

2, The plugin seams to use the US api so for users elsewhere (UK in my case) alot of the returned search results cant be played (i tested it using a US proxy and it works fine)

These are not requests they are just info for you

Many thanks

Consider the ability to select which monitor added for the next release

I wasn't aware Netflix had different location api's so I will look into that..- A quick google shows that netflix does indeed have a separate uk version but as of the latest response I could find they have not completed the uk catalog yet. It apears that once it is completed It will use the same api calls and sites as the us version and there servers filter it out by country. So this apears to be an issue on there side.

Unfortuantly I did find this post in the api forums and it does not look good.

"I would also love for the API to support UK data.
As a netflix affiliate I was told by Netflix Publisher Services
"we'll have more information on the launch of the Netflix UK affiliate program through Google Affiliate Network soon (likely, mid-February).
Regarding the API for UK, to the best of my knowledge they will not be rolling out this option for Netflix UK, but we can let you know if anything changes."
Which doesn't sound good for the short term at least. But with the amount of money Netflix is spending on advertising here in the UK I would have thought the affiliate programs and API would have been in place by now!"
I will continue to look into this though. Any way you could share how you used the us proxy for other UK users in the meantime? .

Other then that thanks for the great review and glad you like it.

 

[spacemanc]

I wasn't aware Netflix had different location api's so I will look into that..- A quick google shows that netflix does indeed have a separate uk version but as of the latest response I could find they have not completed the uk catalog yet. It apears that once it is completed It will use the same api calls and sites as the us version and there servers filter it out by country. So this apears to be an issue on there side.

I don't know much about the technical side, but I recently bought a Sony TV where the Smart TV doesn't support netflix, but in the US version of the TV it does. According to the Sony forums, this is due to the European version of Netflix being very different and apparently it will stay that way. The point I'm making is that it does look like they will be running two systems indefinitely.

Also you mention that they have not completed the UK catalogue yet. The US and UK catalogues will never be the same because of rights issues. In fact I'm sure that the vast majority of mediaportal users, watching netflix outside of the US, will be using UnblockUS or another proxy server to allow them access to the full US catalogue.

Good luck completing this - loads of people are crying out for a good Netflix plugin for mediaportal.

 

[Johnathan Barker]

Thank you for casting some light on that. Honestly until about an hour and a half ago it didn't even dawn on me that there would be an issue between uk and us versions. That also helps that post on the netflix forum make more sense. Specifically: "Regarding the API for UK, to the best of my knowledge they will not be rolling out this option for Netflix UK, but we can let you know if anything changes."

If I understand that correctly it means that Netflix won't even be rolling out an api for the uk catalog and only make it available through there website or something similar. Im not sure why they would have made this decision unless it has something to do with DRM or similar because it really would not be that hard make a uk version of the api (mostly just place an exact copy of the us api on a seperate domain and have it access the uk catalog instead of the us catalog... I will continue to monitor this though and hopefully Netflix will change there minds.