Pipelight Plugin on Kubuntu 14.04

[Simon]

Eh... When I did this on my machine (12.04 LTS) it went smooth as silk. Now I am trying to impress my girl and so far I am in the dog house.

Here are the steps I am following:

1. Install the Pipelight Plugin

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pipelight/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --install-recommends pipelight-multi
sudo pipelight-plugin --update

2. Install "User-Agent Switcher for Chrome" Extension

Tried all the FF variations here. They do the job of fooling Netflix by hiding Linux.

3.Download and install the Silverlight plugin for Windows.

I have both the 32 and 64 bit versions. WINE won't install the 64 bit version.
4. Activate the plugin.

sudo pipelight-plugin --enable silverlight

5. When I surf Netflix in the browser it just keeps telling me to install the Silverlight player.


This is the differences between the machines besides the obvious 32 and 64 bit OS;

I have the hidden directory: ~/.wine-pipelight
Hers does not.
In my browser under chrome://plugins/ I have Silverlight Plug-In 5.1.30214.0 listed.
Hers does not.

Mine works like a champ and well she is still waiting.

[MoonRise]

Someone else here had issues with that. I think it was video driver related. It worked on mine here no problem.



EDIT: Here it is: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post355014

[Silent Observer]

Someone else here had issues with that. I think it was video driver related.

Yes and no. Pipelight's information warns that 32-bit plugins on a 64-bit system may not display correctly because the 64-bit video driver doesn't correctly respond to the 32-bit Windows programs (and I think I'm having similar issues with a 32-bit Windows game under Wine, unconnected with Pipelight), but whether it's video or not, I didn't find any way to tweak video drivers and make it work, short of activating the 64-bit plugin. I haven't tried Silverlight, I was using Flash and trying to use Unity3D (which wouldn't activate correctly, even though it appeared to download and install).

I think it's safe to say that Pipelight is still a bit experimental; there are probably minor differences between the two systems that keep one from working the same as the other.

[Simon]

Ok Thanks Guys, I will bug the people at Pipelight and see if there is an answer yet on their end. Before this I was running Netflix mainly through my PS3. It is nice to have the option PC or PS3. I can't help but feel that the developers at Netflix have something against us Linux users. But it might also turn out to be a wine version issue as well. The Silverlight 64 bit refused to install in the wine stating the system is 32 bit. I even tried WINEARCH=win32, I will work on this more when I have time on the weekend.

@MoonRise: The other thread seems to state there was a major driver issue, I am unaware anything other than the standard VGA drivers have been installed. I mean we are talking about a girl who doesn't play any high end video games. The good news is she is happy with her Facebook and Farmville 2 working. I will look up her info and post it this weekend as well.

[Simon]

Here is an update on what I discovered. Pipelight is installed proper but cannot interact or allowed to interact with Chromium. Google updated version 35 and wiped out all the NPAPI thus making the browser crippled on Linux. I am fortunate to still be running version 32. Starting tomorrow I plan to try again with FireFox and/or downgrading her Chromium to version 34 or 33.

Enjoy the internet while you can, who knows how long it will last with Google at the controls.

Last minute thoughts... anyone think or know if Tor Browser would be a better option?

[Silent Observer]

Starting tomorrow I plan to try again with FireFox and/or downgrading her Chromium to version 34 or 33.

Can't say for certain on Chromium, but Google goes out of their way to prevent old versions of Chrome from being available -- kind of like Skype "retiring" old versions, even though they work on old machines that can't run the newest version. You're better off with Firefox, which can also use Java; get the Pipelight running and you can have Flash 13 and a fully functional browser which Chrome, having repudiated NPAPI and thus Java as we know it, can't be.

[claydoh]

pipelight seems to work fine on firefox, I use it for one of my jobs, they use silverlight for training and video things. You can find Chrome 34 out there, its is not hard to find, but FF was just easier, except that I have to use Chrome for the actual job, but I don't mind having two or 4 browsers installed lol!

[life0riley]

...

Last minute thoughts... anyone think or know if Tor Browser would be a better option?

I'm not sure I would want to use Tor on a regular basis.
Visit the Wrong Website, and the FBI Could End Up in Your Computer

[vinnywright]

you dont like the netflix-desktop way?

http://www.compholio.com/netflix-desktop/

VINNY

[Silent Observer]

you dont like the netflix-desktop way?

http://www.compholio.com/netflix-desktop/

VINNY

The page you linked starts off by explaining that installing the Netflix Desktop will uninstall any other system-wide Wine you might have installed. I presume that won't hurt PlayOnLinux, which can keep multiple different versions installed in assorted virtual drives (at the cost of each "bottle" taking up a good chunk of storage space), but if you're running a systemic install of Wine for anything the least bit important, I'd be very strongly inclined to try Pipelight (which keeps its wine-compholio separated from the system's Wine) before Netflix Desktop.

[arochester]

"TRUELY NATIVE NETFLIX VIEWING IS NOW AVAILABLE"
https://plus.google.com/u/0/10491270...bmo63xVa?hl=en

[Silent Observer]

"TRUELY NATIVE NETFLIX VIEWING IS NOW AVAILABLE"
https://plus.google.com/u/0/10491270...bmo63xVa?hl=en

When it works, which isn't all the time, and when you install a beta version of Chrome (presumably, it'll be in the stable version when it's debugged). At present, it doesn't seem any easier to use than installing Pipelight and a user agent switcher for Firefox/SeaMonkey. Of course, if I had Netflix service...

[Simon]

No dice, this is what I tried;

I did manage to downgrade to 34 but that had no positive effect at all. So I installed and upgraded to 37 added the HTML5 for You Tube as well. I had her get into the NetFlix account settings and checked the HTML5 player over the Silverlight.


Netflix Error Code: M7063-1913
OS: Kubuntu 14.04
Browser: chromium 37.0.2062.58
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/37.0.2049.0 Safari/537.36

HTML5 for Youtube and Flash is working.
I have tried to alter the version number in the User Agent string to match but that has no positive effect. From the link posted, it would seem there are several people with the exact same issue. With the exact same error code. It would be nice if the folks at NetFlix would give us something other than a vague number.

[Simon]

Just an update on her situation, it is still not working. She is now working with the group trying to get the HTML5 Chromium 37 working.

you dont like the netflix-desktop way?

http://www.compholio.com/netflix-desktop/

VINNY

Hey there Vinny, sorry I missed that comment. But yeah I tried that, but no luck there either. Not to mention they make that sound like just one app. That one installs silverlight, wine, and a Firefox for Windows version.

Last I heard, she got a whole new error message after installing a bunch of new libraries. Personally I thought the best way to go (since mine is working) was the pipelight. But I think her machine has issues with the wine install of silverlight. I guess we will have to find something else to do together at her apartment instead of watching NetFlix.

[perspectoff]

Netflix: Google Chrome vs. Compholio

I have both the Compholio (modified-Wine with Silverlight) version of Netflix player (now rebundled in the Pipelight package) and the dev Google Chrome (v.38) / HTML5 version of Netflix player runnning side by side on my systems (both Precise and Trusty) using the instructions at (K)Ubuntuguide: http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Netflix

IMO the Compholio version (which uses a slightly older, and faster, version of Firefox as the browser) runs faster and gives better performance than the Google Chrome-based method, but YMMV (your mileage may vary). Pipelight is not needed for the Google Chrome-browser version (and has no effect on it).

The point (that someone made above) that installing the Compholio/Pipelight version will take over Wine on your system is a good one. I don't use Wine for anything else, so it doesn't matter for me, but for someone who wants to preserve an unmodified "stock" Wine environment, the Google Chrome-based player is worth it (for Netflix).

For general usage, I stick with Firefox anyway, which for me runs faster, is easier to configure, and has more security options than Google Chrome. However, having to run it within the Wine environment is disadvantageous for routine use, so either way I maintain a dedicated Netflix platform as well as a generic FF browser.