[Original Thread] "My NetFlix" Plugin with Watch Now Support (1 Viewer)

[jlr2000]

I'm going to try this myself tonight....dumb question, do I need to install/Setup the Netflix streaming first before doing the install for the plugin, or is the plugin "all inclusive"?

Thanks!

No question is a dumb questions here jlr2000...

It would be best to set up streaming first in your browser. Install the silverlight player, etc, then install the plugin and do the configuration. Please dont forget to go to the MediaPortal Configuration and enable the plugin...

Wile E.

I will try this tonite....

 

[brainbone]

I did try the newer version, but the 'full screen click' seemed to work better than the stretch. The only issue we have outstanding is dual monitors. The stretch may work better on dual monitors since the script doesnt run on the secondary display. I will have to play around with that more when I get time.

Yes, the newer version does work with multiple monitors, if you can overcome any incompatibilities that stretching/masking is giving you. I'll do my best to help with any issues you have transitioning to the newer version.

I've hit some brick walls trying to get VMC hosted player working outside of VMC. Had some luck using the mason firefox add-on (greasemonkey starts its scripts too late in the process) to inject the necessary changes, but it seems that I may need to do the same in IE -- and I can't find a comparable extension for IE.

I'm leaning towards just accessing the DRMed stream directly and using the PlayReady PC Runtime to display it, cutting Silverlight out of the picture altogether, but I'm a little concerned about the amount of time I would need to invest, only to be stung by the Netflix legal department (The content would still be DRMed, so I don't think I would be violating the DMCA, just the Netflix EULA). (This document details much of the Netflix Watch Now communication)

 

[WileECoyote]

Yes, the newer version does work with multiple monitors, if you can overcome any incompatibilities that stretching/masking is giving you. I'll do my best to help with any issues you have transitioning to the newer version.

I've hit some brick walls trying to get VMC hosted player working outside of VMC. Had some luck using the mason firefox add-on (greasemonkey starts its scripts too late in the process) to inject the necessary changes, but it seems that I may need to do the same in IE -- and I can't find a comparable extension for IE.

I'm leaning towards just accessing the DRMed stream directly and using the PlayReady PC Runtime to display it, cutting Silverlight out of the picture altogether, but I'm a little concerned about the amount of time I would need to invest, only to be stung by the Netflix legal department (The content would still be DRMed, so I don't think I would be violating the DMCA, just the Netflix EULA). (This document details much of the Netflix Watch Now communication)

Thanks for the offer Brainbone, I may take you up on it... Also thanks for the links, I will read up on that later on tonight.

I know Netflix has said they will possibly work on a application interface for third party applications, so my hope is they will somehow let us authenticate and then grab the stream directly. That way the application could be 'built-in' so to speak and be native to the third party app... I have spent countless hours working on scripts, custom browsers, etc... trying to get this plugin to be semi-seamless to MP. I would gladly throw it all away for the ability to grab the stream directly...

 

[brainbone]

I know Netflix has said they will possibly work on a application interface for third party applications, so my hope is they will somehow let us authenticate and then grab the stream directly.

The thing is, they already do have the API, it's what the Roku box, Xbox360, and others use -- and they all essentially use the same API that the silverlight player does. Netflix just hasn't felt the need to document and release the API to the average developer. But I think the document linked above gives the meat of it already (just not in a neat and tidy API reference format), although I admittedly haven't tried every stage of the communication at a deep enough level to know if some key piece of information is missing.

We may also find that higher definition versions of a given stream may be available via the API, just not in Silverlight.

Edit:
Here's another doc showing the data from a Watch Now Session.

 

[WileECoyote]

Update....

I have updated the first post with the latest version RC3b.

RC3 was a flop. I was able to identify issues some folks were having with the DVD queue not showing users. After I added the ability to manage multiple queues in RC3, one thing I FORGOT to do was go back and update all the skins! Since I mainly used StreamedMP that skin would have worked fine with RC3, but others would have issues.

Anyway, this version has updated skins, as well as a few fixes including the latest request to return you to the same place in the queue when you go 'back' from looking at a series. (Thnx Mamba!)

This version will be the last release (unless a major bug is found.) I will package this release and submit it to MP to be included in the plug-in's section. After it is submitted we can start working on a new enhancement list for future releases.

Thanks again to all for your patience and testing!
Wile E.

 

[bjohnson]

I fixed it. There was an issue with the default browser which is was firefox. I notice that Outlook emails was also having a problem opening a browser when I clicked on a link. I found a web site that said to go into "Start/ Set Program Access and Defaults" and select microsoft Windows. This set my default browser to IE6 and now it and outlook is working. Thank you for your info.

 

[WileECoyote]

I fixed it. There was an issue with the default browser which is was firefox. I notice that Outlook emails was also having a problem opening a browser when I clicked on a link. I found a web site that said to go into "Start/ Set Program Access and Defaults" and select microsoft Windows. This set my default browser to IE6 and now it and outlook is working. Thank you for your info.

That is great, Im glad you figured it out...

Also, I am not sure how well IE6 integrates with Silverlight, but if you have issues you might consider upgrading to IE7 or IE8.

 

[tlewers]

Were can I get the netflixmain.xml file from?

 

[WileECoyote]

Were can I get the netflixmain.xml file from?

Which skin are you using?

 

[tlewers]

Streamed MP