[corona]

Large parts of this addon are currently broken due to changes in the netflix website. Some people are able to use it, many aren't.
Very limited assistance is available if you're having problems, people are investigating possible solutions.

This is a continuation on from the original thread: 178693 (thread)
A number of users have started contributing to my fork of the plugin as AddonScriptorDE's original version broke due to site changes. This fork is installed from my repo rather than asde's one, please see the bottom of this post for links.

This is an add-on for browsing Netflix content via XBMC. Video playback is done via the new Netflix HTML5 User Interface.

NetfliXBMC works under Windows, OSX and Linux. IMPORTANT: Chrome 37+ is required for NetfliXBMC 1.3.0+! Under Win 8.1 it's also possible to use IExplorer.
Other browsers (currently) don't support HTML5 DRM. Linux users may also need to update libnss (not required for Ubuntu 14.04+).

This Will Not work on anything else. So no it wont work on android, apple tv, roku, amazon stick, raspberry pi. It will not work, and most likely will never work.
Basically if netflix can't be run in the standard chrome browser, then it can't work.

Chromebook is the only maybe on the list as netflix does work in chrome. However I don't know how to launch chrome from a different app with a specified url on chrome os, and don't have a chromebook to try.

This plugin does not need silverlight/pipelight to run, just the stable version of chrome.

Anything related to Chrome should be discussed in the Chrome Launcher thread!

Windows:
@esoteradactyl recommends using Launcher4Kodi to run Kodi on windows. http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=136798
To ensure the browser maintains focus when watching video: open the launcher gui, choose the external player tab and add the path to your browser of choice. Make sure "focus external player" is checked and you should be good to go. (http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2106824)

There is an unsupported Control Utility for better usability. It hides the mouse cursor and lets you control playback via keyboard/remote.
Default Netflix Player controls and useful commands like closing the browser can be mapped to any key (via addon settings).[/size]
The cursor can also be controlled via keyboard/remote. Default keys.

I recommend this configuration when using Windows with a MCE compatible remote:
- Browser: Chrome (IE is not supporting "Enter" / "OK" on MCEremote)
- Default keys: Seeking via left/right. Play/pause via OK.
- To stop playback, map it to the "Back" key with help of the Control Utility
Running fine for me...

OSX:
If you have cliclick installed, the mouse gets hidden automatically.
Close the browser via CMD+Q or map it to any remote key via an external tool.

Linux:
If you have xdotool installed, the mouse gets hidden automatically.
Close the browser via ALT+F4 or map it to any remote key via an external tool.

General Netflix playback controls:
Seek: Left/Right
Play/Pause: Space/Enter

Webremote (Yatse etc.):
The webremote stuff must be activated via the addon settings. Under linux, you need to have xdotool installed. Under OSX, you'll need cliclick.
Currently, the controls are not mappable. Here is a list of all current implemented controls...
For me, only some action IDs worked to close the browser. You can view all available actions IDs here. You can also try some other IDs yourself manually.

Add to library function:
You can add movies and tvshows (full shows & single seasons) to your library via context menu.
Add this source to your library: "Home folder"->userdata->addon_data->plugin.video.netflixbmc->library->Movies/TV

Profiles:
The addon supports Netflix profiles. If you only have one profile configured on netflix you should activate the appropriate setting.
Video listing and playback start is faster with Single-User accounts. Hint: Remove the automatically created KIDS profile if you don't need it...

Metadata/thumbs:
It's not possible to request new api keys at the moment, so the addon needs to use the Netflix website.
I added requesting extra information. Of course it's a bit slower, but it's cached. This is also needed for some features.
Covers & fanart images can (optional) be received from themoviedb. The images are loaded in the background.

Notes:
- If you start playback via the XBMC database, you may (sometimes) see a xbmc message on video playback, even though everything works fine.
- Having problems? Getting a script error: Upload your debug log. Any other problem: Give me as much info as possible: What exactly is not working? What have you tried so far? What OS?

FAQ:
- Your repo is empty. What to do?
- XBMCbuntu: Chrome does not start in fullscreen. What to do?
- Windows: Some mapped keys are not always working... Why?
- Does this addon work under RPi / OpenElec / iOS / Android? In short: No.

Context menu entries:
- Continue watching / Show seasons (TV-Shows)
- Play trailer
- Add to / Remove from my list
- Similar Movies / TV Shows
- Add to library
- Switch profile (Main-menu)

Settings (General):
- eMail
- Password
- Single-User account (faster)
- Show profile selection on each start
- Get covers & fanart images from themoviedb
- Update library after adding media
- Browse tv shows instead of autoplaying

Settings (Views):
- Force View
- ViewID (Videos)
- ViewID (Episodes)
- ViewID (Viewing Activity)

Settings (Advanced):
- Library path (source)
- Use Control Utility (Windows)
- Configure Control Utility
- Enable webremote control
- Chrome: Don't use kiosk mode
- Delete cache
- Delete cookies
- Reset NetfliXBMC!


Install my repo zip to get going from here: http://www.alelec.net/kodi/repository.alelec.zip
All development is happening out of my github: https://github.com/andrewleech/plugin.video.netflixbmc

[John814s]

Works great, and thank you for your fix on the widevinCDM problem.

I have a question on the remote control aspect of this - I enabled in the settings and it seems to work (haven't tested it much yet), but it's extremely laggy. I'd say a good 3 - 4 seconds before input (pause) on my phone until the action on the computer. Is this something that's a problem with my network, or are you having this issue as well?

Also no volume control. Is there a fix for that?

Just in case: Windows 8.1, latest Chrome version, latest Kodi version (14, helix I think, new to Kodi )

[corona]

Works great, and thank you for your fix on the widevinCDM problem.

I have a question on the remote control aspect of this - I enabled in the settings and it seems to work (haven't tested it much yet), but it's extremely laggy. I'd say a good 3 - 4 seconds before input (pause) on my phone until the action on the computer. Is this something that's a problem with my network, or are you having this issue as well?

Also no volume control. Is there a fix for that?

Just in case: Windows 8.1, latest Chrome version, latest Kodi version (14, helix I think, new to Kodi )

You must be referring to webremote? I haven't tried that at all, I use standalone remotes (cheap mce ripoffs from ebay).

[John814s]

Ah yes sorry. I'm talking about the webremote. It seems to get a little better (although still laggy) after I let a video play for a while, so I'm assuming it's just a connection issue?

[horstepipe]

Hey
not sure if that bug is already known, but adding a series to database which in one of its episode's Name contains a Ä,Ö or Ü it leads into a script error.

[JasonPell]

I tried your latest chrome launcher addon and got this exception in kodi even though the browser did load.

ERROR: EXCEPTION Thrown (PythonToCppException) : -->Python callback/script returned the following error<--
- NOTE: IGNORING THIS CAN LEAD TO MEMORY LEAKS!
Error Type: <type 'exceptions.IndexError'>
Error Contents: list index out of range
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/jason/.kodi/addons/plugin.program.chrome.launcher/default.py", line 289, in <module>
showSite(url, stopPlayback, kiosk, userAgent)
File "/home/jason/.kodi/addons/plugin.program.chrome.launcher/default.py", line 181, in showSite
while time.time() < timeout and "chrome" not in currentActiveWindow().lower():
File "/home/jason/.kodi/addons/plugin.program.chrome.launcher/default.py", line 177, in currentActiveWindow
current_window_name = current_window_name.strip().split(" = ")[1].strip('"')
IndexError: list index out of range
-->End of Python script error report<--

---

Ok so I added some debug logging and

12:10:41 T:139688878786304 NOTICE: Current Window ID: 0x3800002
12:10:41 T:139688878786304 NOTICE: Current Window Name: _NET_WM_NAME: not found.

So not sure whether its a timing issue or not?


I also ran into problems because wmctrl was not installed. Should probably do a check for this program before running the currentActiveWindow def

[JasonPell]

I am pushing a MR for the chrome launcher which fixes the current window name issue that I encountered, at least as far as I understand the reasoning behind the code. I also included a sample browser.sh script which initialises lirc and then calls the browser. It works around the fact LIRC is still on in xbmc by refusing to open two chrome windows, this seems to work pretty well.

[jbourke]

I am at a loss how to get this plugin to work. I have tried it on 2 different platforms (W8.1 and W7) and both browsers. I always get the same error ("you're not logged in") but I know my credentials are correct. This is the relevant part of the log file but apart from a certificate warning there's not much to go on (for me anyway :-) ):

15:33:32 T:160 NOTICE: -->Python Interpreter Initialized<--
15:33:33 T:160 NOTICE: URL: https://www.netflix.com/login
15:33:35 T:160 ERROR: C:\Users\XBMC\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\addons\script.module.requests\lib\requests\packages\urllib3\connectionpool.py:730: InsecureRequestWarning: Unverified HTTPS request is being made. Adding certificate verification is strongly advised. See: https://urllib3.readthedocs.org/en/latest/security.html (This warning will only appear once by default.)
InsecureRequestWarning)
15:33:37 T:160 NOTICE: URL: https://signup.netflix.com/login
15:33:40 T:160 NOTICE: URL: https://www.netflix.com/ProfilesGate?nex...%2FDefault
15:33:41 T:2376 ERROR: Control 3 in window 12000 has been asked to focus, but it can't
15:33:45 T:3368 NOTICE: Thread BackgroundLoader start, auto delete: false
15:33:53 T:2980 NOTICE: Previous line repeats 1 times.
15:33:53 T:2980 NOTICE: Thread JobWorker start, auto delete: true
15:33:55 T:3820 NOTICE: Thread LanguageInvoker start, auto delete: false
15:33:5

Much appreciated!

John

[corona]

Hey
not sure if that bug is already known, but adding a series to database which in one of its episode's Name contains a Ä,Ö or Ü it leads into a script error.

I have not tried adding to database at all, clearly some kind of utf-8 / unicode issue. I'd suggest adding it to the issue tracker on github :-) https://github.com/andrewleech/plugin.vi...bmc/issues

[corona]

I am pushing a MR for the chrome launcher which fixes the current window name issue that I encountered, at least as far as I understand the reasoning behind the code. I also included a sample browser.sh script which initialises lirc and then calls the browser. It works around the fact LIRC is still on in xbmc by refusing to open two chrome windows, this seems to work pretty well.

Yeah it never even crossed my mind that wmctrl and associated utilities/functionality might not be available. I think I'll get a chance to review this / fix this tonight.

The background if it is I've got two linux mint system, one running cinnamon wm, the other on mate. On one of them (I think cinnamon), chrome usually loads in the background and is invisible.
Typically xbmc wont even let you alt-tab so chrome really gets stuck there, not only can't you watch it but you can't even close it. wmctrl is a utility that lets you bring programs to the front programatically and I already use it in a different script/service as an application switcher that xbmc can't block.

[JasonPell]

I am pushing a MR for the chrome launcher which fixes the current window name issue that I encountered, at least as far as I understand the reasoning behind the code. I also included a sample browser.sh script which initialises lirc and then calls the browser. It works around the fact LIRC is still on in xbmc by refusing to open two chrome windows, this seems to work pretty well.

Yeah it never even crossed my mind that wmctrl and associated utilities/functionality might not be available. I think I'll get a chance to review this / fix this tonight.

The background if it is I've got two linux mint system, one running cinnamon wm, the other on mate. On one of them (I think cinnamon), chrome usually loads in the background and is invisible.
Typically xbmc wont even let you alt-tab so chrome really gets stuck there, not only can't you watch it but you can't even close it. wmctrl is a utility that lets you bring programs to the front programatically and I already use it in a different script/service as an application switcher that xbmc can't block.

My PR for lirc has a fix for the current window def stuff too.

[corona]

I am at a loss how to get this plugin to work. I have tried it on 2 different platforms (W8.1 and W7) and both browsers. I always get the same error ("you're not logged in") but I know my credentials are correct. This is the relevant part of the log file but apart from a certificate warning there's not much to go on (for me anyway :-) ):

15:33:32 T:160 NOTICE: -->Python Interpreter Initialized<--
15:33:33 T:160 NOTICE: URL: https://www.netflix.com/login
15:33:35 T:160 ERROR: C:\Users\XBMC\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\addons\script.module.requests\lib\requests\packages\urllib3\connectionpool.py:730: InsecureRequestWarning: Unverified HTTPS request is being made. Adding certificate verification is strongly advised. See: https://urllib3.readthedocs.org/en/latest/security.html (This warning will only appear once by default.)
InsecureRequestWarning)
15:33:37 T:160 NOTICE: URL: https://signup.netflix.com/login
15:33:40 T:160 NOTICE: URL: https://www.netflix.com/ProfilesGate?nex...%2FDefault
15:33:41 T:2376 ERROR: Control 3 in window 12000 has been asked to focus, but it can't
15:33:45 T:3368 NOTICE: Thread BackgroundLoader start, auto delete: false
15:33:53 T:2980 NOTICE: Previous line repeats 1 times.
15:33:53 T:2980 NOTICE: Thread JobWorker start, auto delete: true
15:33:55 T:3820 NOTICE: Thread LanguageInvoker start, auto delete: false
15:33:5

Much appreciated!

John

If you go to https://signup.netflix.com/login directly in chrome on the same machine, does it give you a login screen? Does it stay on that url or does it redirect you somewhere else? Can you login there?

[jbourke]

It does give me a login screen but the url changes: https://www.netflix.com/login?locale=en-GB. If I supply my credentials I can use Netflix.

[Stopitleo]

I am just asking again incase my question in the last thread got buried. Are the metadata/thumbs only scraped n low resolution? It is fine if yes but if high res are available I want to figure out what I am doing wrong. Thanks for any replies.

[corona]

It does give me a login screen but the url changes: https://www.netflix.com/login?locale=en-GB. If I supply my credentials I can use Netflix.

Can you check the version of the plugin you're running? Is it the latest from my repo?
If so I'm not too sure what's going on. I would probably have to put some more code in to get clearer debugging information out, and can't really give a good timeframe of when that would happen sorry.

---

I am just asking again incase my question in the last thread got buried. Are the metadata/thumbs only scraped n low resolution? It is fine if yes but if high res are available I want to figure out what I am doing wrong. Thanks for any replies.

I've got a feeling it just grabs the thumbs from the images shown on the netflix website, so they're not very large. I haven't looked at the code for that myself, but the images do look quick low res when it's displayed coverflow style on confluance.
I usually use the plugin in list form which always shows the thumbs at a smaller size where it's not noticeable.