Netflix "Adjusting for better playback..."

[n4mwd]

I have used Netflix for a long time and its always been flakey on WMC. Today, I go to watch a movie and it first gives a script error and then says "Adjusting for better playback for slower connections" and never plays the movie. I did allow some windows updates, could that have broken it or is Netflix just playing games again?

Any suggestions?

[rytomi]

So starting today I can't seem to play Netflix from Windows Media Center. I receive a message about a script error, asking to continue running scripts. Whether I press yes or no, I get a message "Adjusting for better playback for slower connections..." and the content never plays.

Other info:

• Computer is running Windows 7
  Netflix still plays fine in a browser
  I don't have a slow connection, my internet is 50 Mbps
  I have a laptop with Windows Vista Media Center - I don't get script error but still get the adjusting playback message and never plays

Anyone else experiencing this, or know of an alternate Netflix plug in?
Is this just the beginning of the absolute end to WMC thanks to Microsoft?

[Moderator note: topic merged; please search before posting]

[AtomicCEO]

I'm having this issue too.

I tried playing in IE, and got a Silverlight error (outdated, needed to be update), so I did that and now I can play in IE, but I still get the same message in WMC.

I tried running all Windows Updates, rebooted a few times, deleted all IE cache and cookies... but I can't make it work. My kids are very disappointed.

[gbwelly]

Same problem, also disappointed family.

[Crash2009]

Has anyone tried to Restore to a day prior to the update?

[3rob3]

This is precisely why I don't use Windows Updates on my HTPC. That being said, I will have to check tonight to confirm mine is still working.

[AtomicCEO]

This is precisely why I don't use Windows Updates on my HTPC. That being said, I will have to check tonight to confirm mine is still working.

To clarify, this does not appear to have been caused by a Windows update. I had auto updates disabled, and didn't do any manually, and it started happening to me. I hadn't loaded anything new. Between when I left for work and when I came home, the problem started happening.

I only loaded Windows updates to try to correct the error. It didn't work for me.

I'm trying a system restore to a point before it stopped working anyway, to see what happens. It looks like Chrome updated itself, but I can't think of why that would affect Netflix in Media Center.

[AtomicCEO]

Ok, so after a system restore, I tried again and got a similar, but slightly more informative message.

popup with the Script error
URL http://cdn3.nflxext.com/wiplayer-#################

And in the playback window I see: Silverlight Installation Problem Error Code 2105, we could not load the movie player

[ttl35esq]

I had the same issue this morning. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling silverlight but that didn't work. But before I uninstalled silverlight, I see that there was a silverlight update applied on May 13. Is there a way to go back to a prior version of silverlight?

[3rob3]

To clarify, this does not appear to have been caused by a Windows update.

Oh, ok. Strange then and probably Silverlight related. Do you guys run the Netflix search fix posted here on the forums?

[Crash2009]

I had auto updates disabled, and didn't do any manually, and it started happening to me.

Even though you have auto update disabled, in some cases, Critical Updates can still get through.

What are you using for antivirus?

[mdavej]

I had auto updates disabled, and didn't do any manually, and it started happening to me.

Even though you have auto update disabled, in some cases, Critical Updates can still get through.

What are you using for antivirus?

Doesn't matter. It's broken for everybody, probably from Netflix's end. Is it still working for you?

And, yes, most of us are probably running the search proxy. Otherwise searches wouldn't work at all.

[AtomicCEO]

To clarify, this does not appear to have been caused by a Windows update.

Oh, ok. Strange then and probably Silverlight related. Do you guys run the Netflix search fix posted here on the forums?

Yes, I did a while back.

I had auto updates disabled, and didn't do any manually, and it started happening to me.

Even though you have auto update disabled, in some cases, Critical Updates can still get through.

What are you using for antivirus?

I don't think I allow any updates, not even important ones. I am not using anti-virus.


I do suspect that it's due to Silverlight. Like I said, after I experienced the issue, trying to run Netflix in IE warned me that my Silverlight version was blocked due to security concerns and forced me to update. I think that probably the Netflix WMC app (which as we know doesn't really get updates) is just not able to use the new Silverlight version properly, maybe because of additional security requirements built into it.

I was going to try reverting to a slightly older Silverlight when I got home.

The only other thing I could think of was that my Chrome version had just updated, and I know the latest Chrome doesn't support plugins like Silverlight. I don't know why anything Chrome would affect anything on the Media Center, but maybe I'll try to implement that hack to allow Silverlight on Chrome 42 and see if it does anything.

If anyone is familiar with opening a ticket at Microsoft support, I bet they could fix this... if they wanted to.


Is anyone posting in this thread *not* seeing the issue?

[AtomicCEO]

FYI: Discussion on Reddit as well
http://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/35y4l4/

[cyrano]

Having the same problem on both of my computers running WMC. Tried all the tricks everyone else has with no results. Also, am convinced it's not due to a windows update. I'm posting here so if anyone comes up with a solution I'll be notified. Thanks in advance...

[tcaradonna]

Just wanted to chime in and say I am experiencing the same problem. Noticed it at the same time as everyone else. I started checking my settings and noticed my Symantec EP 11 had end of life on 1/5/20125. So I upgraded to 12. I installed all the windows 7 security patches, but nothing changed the WMC netflix app. Same problem.

Here is the URL of the script error:
http://cdn3.nflxext.com/FilePackageGett ... 2000000000
Not sure what it means...

Is it working for anyone?

[jlunman]

Not working for me either. But here's some more information. The script error is happening on the following statement:

e.OnFBConnectRequested=b(this.fbConnectPressed,this);

Trying to assign to the "OnFBConnectRequested" property is throwing an "Object does not support this property or method" error. Using a script debugger, I can skip past that statement, then the video plays fine. So it's not completely broken, just that one line of code.

I have no solution to offer at this time, but perhaps this information can be useful to the developers at Netflix. If they simply wrapped that line in a try...catch block, we'd be back up and running.

[cyrano]

jlunman: Thanks for finding the problem! Any way you might call Netflix and have them move you up the food chain to talk to one of their programmers? Since their streaming works just fine on browsers, they made it clear to me earlier today they're not interested in understanding or resolving WMC issues. 1-800-587-7067

[Ed]

e.OnFBConnectRequested=b(this.fbConnectPressed,this);

Something to do with the Facebook connect/share with friends feature on Netflix?

[mdavej]

Great info. I shared it with Microsoft and Netflix. Microsoft hasn't responded. But Netflix basically said they don't support the WMC app, so take it up with Microsoft. Although the solution is simple, I don't see it ever getting solved by MS or Netflix. I'm afraid this is the end.