Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

chuckiv · 2016-09-25 11:31:36

Supposedly firefox 49 will allow us to watch netflix without silverlight or pipelight etc. But I can't get it to work and I don't see any documentation anywhere. It keeps asking me to install silverlight, and I don't see anything in the netflix playback options for html5 either. I have tried several user agents and no luck. Any ideas? TIA

Awebb · 2016-09-25 11:34:10

I googled: "firefox 49 netflix", the first two hits explained the why and the how (more on the how in the second link).

chuckiv · 2016-09-25 20:15:59

yea.. the problem is that it doesn't work lol! (netflix also does NOT address LINUX in that link) So, has anyone gotten it to work? Like I said I've tried the user agent spoof and html5 to my knowledge is working in firefox, but I do not see a setting in netflix's playback options like they claim. It just isn't there for me. Anyone else?

frank604 · 2016-09-25 21:06:37

I enabled 'Play DRM Content' in firefox's [Preferences]->[Content]
I used this user agent:

Linux / Chrome 53: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/535.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/53.0.2785.34 Safari/537.36

Still a no go. It looks more towards a UA issue from netflix and not a problem in the DRM playback.

cabellicar123 · 2016-09-25 23:46:01

Using that user agent for Netflix I get past the silverlight install page but then get Error Code: M7361-1253.

chuckiv · 2016-09-25 23:57:18

Yea I have tried every user agent listed here

http://techpatterns.com/downloads/firef … itcher.xml

Also, I saw a popup bar asking me to enable html5, which I clicked "enable," but Netflix continues to ask for silverlight installation.

What is also weird is that some people report seeing this option

http://imgur.com/gallery/XGu9G06

In Netflix, but when I go into my Netflix settings, it just isn't there, no matter what user agent I pick

I have literally spent over 6 hours trying them all.

Stumped.

chuckiv · 2016-09-26 00:09:56

https://imgur.com/a/ebL1B

screenshots for reference. I either get the please install silverlight, or the oops something went wrong. And I never get the html5 option in playback settings.

Trilby · 2016-09-26 00:20:51

It's not at all clear what steps you have already taken. Our own wiki page on firefox has step by step instructions for getting netflix to work. Have you bothered reading/following those steps? It doesn't sound like it.

chuckiv · 2016-09-26 04:00:22

Yes, I read the wiki and spent days googling and trying to get it working myself. I always do this before even thinking about posting here.

Steps I have taken:
1. Read entire firefox arch wiki and followed ALL of the steps.
2. Made sure required packages are installed like ffmpeg.
3. Checked DRM settings in firefox.
4. Checked DRM settings in Netflix (there are none for me).
5. Tried dozens of user agents including the one listed in the arch netflix wiki.

Like others have mentioned here, it just doesn't work. You get the "Oops, something went wrong, Error Code: M7361-1253."

Is it working for you without pipelight???

Because you would be the first person I've talked to that has it working. If so, what steps did YOU take?

Thank you

edit: here is a screenshot showing that I have the widevine plugin installed: http://imgur.com/a/C0brh

Also, all html5 tests pass here: http://www.quirksmode.org/html5/tests/video.html

Last edited by chuckiv (2016-09-26 04:15:36)

Gusar · 2016-09-26 04:18:25

Hacks with user-agent spoofing or similar are just that - hacks. They may or may not work, and even if they do work, they might stop working tomorrow or the day after that. There is only one real solution - wait for Netflix to update their service.

Just because Firefox added Widevine, doesn't mean websites will automatically work, each and every one of them will explicitly need to add support for it. Such is the nature of DRM, it's a world of paranoia. When Firefox introduced Primetime, it took Netflix months to add support for that. Things should in theory go faster this time, as Netflix already supports Widevine in Chrome/Chromium, but still, give it time.

chuckiv · 2016-09-26 04:32:20

Agreed. Mind if we pass the time tinkering anyways? I for one am not ready to give up just yet.

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/22836

Interesting that the error code suggests a connection problem.

There is a separate error code for using an unsupported OS or browser and I'm not getting that error. So the user agent spoof is working.

Netflix "thinks" for a long time when I try to play something, and then error M7361-1253 comes up.

I don't know what else to try at the moment, but I will think on it.

***update, so I found out why the html5 option isn't in Netflix playback settings
Chrome supports HTML5 with Netflix. In fact, it only plays HTML5 now, the option to switch between HTML5 and Silverlight is gone. http://s15.postimg.org/hbcfmgukr/options.png

I'm guessing this applies to firefox as well. If you have html5 enabled, which I do, then Netflix automatically uses it instead of prompting you to install silverlight. At least this part is working for me XD

Last edited by chuckiv (2016-09-26 04:42:49)

chuckiv · 2016-09-26 05:16:42

Alright so I installed yaourt just to install google-chrome. And it plays Netflix right away. No configuration or user agent spoofing required. So easy.

I really wish this was the case with Firefox. Firefox 49 was SUPPOSED to be that way.

Not sure if it is an issue with Firefox 49 for linux or an issue with Netflix. Netflix says they fully support Firefox so it's weird that it works in Chrome but not Firefox. And Netflix is perfectly fine with the user agent showing as Chrome on Linux. So Firefox on Linux should be fine too. Netflix doesn't seem to be blocking Linux users as long as you have a html5 enabled browser, which both Chrome and Firefox are now.

Last edited by chuckiv (2016-09-26 05:19:14)

cyrus · 2016-09-26 06:40:41

As Trilby said, following the Wiki steps works for me.

Somehow I wasn't asked to let Firefox install DRM. I forged a Chrome user agent using the plugin User Agent Switcher. Then set the environment variable

MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX=1 firefox

in /etc/environment

Worked for me after a reboot.

Gusar · 2016-09-26 15:07:01

chuckiv wrote:

Firefox 49 was SUPPOSED to be that way.

Err, no. That was exactly the point of my post, to correct such false expectations. To quote myself: "Just because Firefox added Widevine, doesn't mean websites will automatically work, each and every one of them will explicitly need to add support for it."

chuckiv wrote:

Not sure if it is an issue with Firefox 49 for linux or an issue with Netflix.

There is no issue. Websites simply aren't ready yet.

chuckiv wrote:

Netflix says they fully support Firefox

They do. But with Adobe Primetime, which is only available on Windows.

Like I said, DRM is a world of paranoia. Every part of the chain needs to play along or you don't get access to the content. It's not only on Firefox to get things running, websites need to add their part too. They will, but Widevine in Firefox is still new. So, to quote myself again: "give it time".

Trilby · 2016-09-26 17:01:01

Gusar, while I completely agree with all your broader points, Netflix currently does work in Firefox in linux.

chuckiv · 2016-09-27 19:49:04

As Trilby said, following the Wiki steps works for me.
Somehow I wasn't asked to let Firefox install DRM. I forged a Chrome user agent using the plugin User Agent Switcher. Then set the environment variable
MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX=1 firefox
in /etc/environment
Worked for me after a reboot.

This did NOT work for me. I forgot to mention that I also tried the MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX=1 firefox
in /etc/environment

Would you mind sharing the user agent string that you used?

thanks so much

cyrus · 2016-09-28 04:19:25

I copied and pasted the user agent info from the wiki to the Firefox extension where you can change the user agent. Do a search for it. I'm on my phone now and can't tell you what it's called.

wsha · 2016-10-01 14:29:49

chuckiv, did you try starting Firefox with "MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX=1 firefox" from the command line? Editing /etc/environment will only have an effect after reboot. Did you try rebooting? Also, it should just be "MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX=1" in /etc/environemnt, not "MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX=1 firefox". I saw the same error you gave until I set the sandboxing variable. Then NetFlix worked (though I have to pause and unpause videos for them to play; Amazon works without issue).

I am not sure what AWebb is talking about with the Google search. None of the hits that come up for me mention MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX which is key. I had to search here explicitly. I thought the issue would probably be discussed on the bbs before making it to the wiki though it appears not. Perhaps Ubuntu sets MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX because most solutions that come up are aimed at Ubuntu. (EDIT: it seems like the sandboxing problem is due to a seccomp change to the Linux kernel. The kernel version of the currently recommended version of Ubuntu (16.04) is probably older than this change).

Last edited by wsha (2016-10-01 16:55:23)

Trilby · 2016-10-01 18:52:58

wsha wrote:

I am not sure what AWebb is talking about with the Google search. None of the hits that come up for me mention MOZ_DISABLE_GMP_SANDBOX

Really?!

We encourage archers to search the web for help, but if one will not even read the page on our own wiki on this very topic - which has suggested at least once previously in this thread - then there is nothing more than can be done.

Awebb · 2016-10-01 21:48:21

I'll give wsha some leeway, the links I initially found are not among the results of the initial query anymore. I actually get a different result when I do the search now. However "netflix firefox 49 arch linux" results in:

1. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pipelight with an explicit mention to Firefox 49 and this link: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fi … azon_Video
4. and 5. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/commen … h=9c5164ac

Those two were in my initial search. I suspect some sort of personalized search result. I didn't check this thread anymore after that. I don't want to start a crusade here or rustle any jimmies, but I guess I should finally write that "how to use a search engine" guide. I'm also willing to host search engine classes on IRC, if anyone is interested (not even asking for tree fiddy here).

HiImTye · 2016-10-03 21:22:48

normally if you add "Arch" to your search term, your answer is within a few links

chuckiv · 2016-11-12 02:03:31

Never was able to get it to work. Just been using Chrome.

I followed the wiki before even posting here. Just because it works for some doesn't mean it works for everyone.

There must be some other issue not mentioned in the wiki, obviously.

Not sure why that's so hard for some of you to understand, but I'm hopeful for firefox 50 which should be coming out real soon.

WorMzy · 2016-11-12 02:30:44

chuckiv wrote:

Not sure why that's so hard for some of you to understand

I'm not sure what you were trying to achieve with that comment, but please avoid such comments in the future. Also, don't bump.

lonaowna · 2016-11-16 11:56:15

I've updated the instructions for Firefox 50. Works great here: Firefox/Tweaks#Widevine and Netflix/Amazon Video. (Note that you now need to use a Firefox on Windows user agent; the Chrome one doesn't seem to work any longer)

Last edited by lonaowna (2016-11-16 11:56:25)

darose · 2016-11-23 21:19:14

Could you please post the full user-agent settings you were using that worked? I tried it with the following, but no success:

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; rv:50.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/50.0
App Code Name: Mozilla
App Name: Firefox
App Version: 5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; rv:50.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/50.0
Platform: Win32

Arch Linux

#1 2016-09-25 11:31:36

Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#2 2016-09-25 11:34:10

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#3 2016-09-25 20:15:59

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#4 2016-09-25 21:06:37

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#5 2016-09-25 23:46:01

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#6 2016-09-25 23:57:18

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#7 2016-09-26 00:09:56

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#8 2016-09-26 00:20:51

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#9 2016-09-26 04:00:22

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#10 2016-09-26 04:18:25

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#11 2016-09-26 04:32:20

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#12 2016-09-26 05:16:42

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#13 2016-09-26 06:40:41

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#14 2016-09-26 15:07:01

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#15 2016-09-26 17:01:01

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#16 2016-09-27 19:49:04

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#17 2016-09-28 04:19:25

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#18 2016-10-01 14:29:49

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#19 2016-10-01 18:52:58

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#20 2016-10-01 21:48:21

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#21 2016-10-03 21:22:48

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#22 2016-11-12 02:03:31

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#23 2016-11-12 02:30:44

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#24 2016-11-16 11:56:15

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

#25 2016-11-23 21:19:14

Re: Anyone get Firefox 49 to play netflix natively?

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