Difference between revisions of "Netflix Streaming"

Revision as of 22:21, 18 February 2009

How to watch Netflix instant movies in Firefox in XP in Ubuntu

I recently installed Netflix and can now watch streaming movies in Ubuntu. This tells how I installed on my Ubuntu 8.04LTS Myth System. My hardware is an Asus M3A with an AMD 5400+ processor and a Nvidia based 6200 graphics card with SPDIF audio. For spdif sound install see [1]
This setup really taxes my hardware. TOP shows 106% cpu which is about 5x the load for Netflix streaming directly.
Allen Edwards (2/17/2009)

Install VirtualBox

I selected the not-free version not the open source one. It is advisable to download directly from VirtualBox.org as it is very well organized and more up to date than other sources. I would advise using the gui version of the install and not a command line or an get-apt version as the gui version guides you through the process and all the command line guides seem to be out of date.

From inside your Ubuntu system open a browser

Go to VirtualBox.org

Select Downloads

Select (at least as of this date) VirtualBox 2.1.4 for Linux hosts

Click on i386 on this line: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS ("Hardy Heron") i386 | AMD64
Note: if you should actually click on the AMD64, you will know it.

It will put an icon on your desktop. Click on it and install VirtualBox

Set up your virtual machine

Install a virtual machine
Just follow the on screen installation guide. It is as good as anything on the web that guides you through it and I am sure has the advantage of being up to date. I followed the default suggestions with the exception of setting the memory to 512MB.
I set up a Windows XP machine with CD-ROM and ALSA sound.

Install Windows XP

It takes forever but just do it like you would on any computer. Don't forget the updates and service packs.

Install Guest Edition Drivers

I did this to get the ability to go full screen and any screen resolution.
Select DEVICE at the top of the VirtualBox window toolbar
The "Install Guest Additions"

Install Firefox

Open IE, Download and install Firefox.

Install Silverlight and Netflix Streaming

Get the Netflix streaming plugin for firefox using Silverlight by going to:

http://Netflix.com/silverlightoptin

Integrate into Myth Menu System

Add button to Myth Menu System

Copy the myth menu you wish to overide to your .mythtv directory

 $ sudo cp /usr/share/mythtv/mainmenu.xml  /home/<your home directory>/.mythtv/mainmenu.xml

Edit your menu as desired putting this command in the menu

 <button>
    <type>VIDEO</type>
    <text>Netflix Streaming</text>
    <action>EXEC /usr/bin/VBoxSDL -fullscreen -vm   "VirtualDad"</action>
 </button>

"VirtualDad" is the name of my Windows XP VM

Set up Windows XP to autostart Firefox

To add Windows Task Manager (or any program) to your Startup folder (that will make it work each time you start the windows and you will see it in the system tray), please follow the below instructions:

1. Click Start>Programs, then right click on Startup folder and choose Open.

2. On the Startup window, go to File menu and choose New>Shortcut.

3. In the dialog box click the Browse button to specify the Task Manager program, it's by default at C:\windows\system32\taskmgr.exe (Where C is the partition that your windows XP is installed on).

4. After specifying the program path, click next and finish. Then you will see a new shortcut (computer icon) in the Startup folder.

5. Right click on that shortcut and choose Properties, select Minimized from the Run combo box, and click Ok, then close the Startup folder.

6. At the next time you start your computer the program will run automatically and you will see it in the system tray.

Setup Firefox start page to Netflix Watch now

Alternatively, you can edit the instructions in the start menu above. This exercise is left to the reader

Watch Instantly

To watch manually:

Start a movie