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Netflix display error with Safari 8/OSX 10.10 Yosemite

I am having an issue with playing Netflix content through Safari since upgrading to Yosemite. Specifically, Netflix will start to play the content and then display an error after a few seconds. The error reads "Whoops, something went wrong... display error. There appears to be a display problem. Please ensure your monitor is HDCP compliant and is not mirror using airplay."


My monitor is HDCP compliant (HP ZR30W) and it's the only monitor connected to my 2014 MacPro. I presume this is an issue with the latest version of Safari and all the next extensions Apple added to support Netflix streaming without the Silverlight plugin.


Anyone have a solution for this or seen the same problem? The new Safari is crazy-fast and I'd prefer to use it with Netflix. Hate bailing to Chrome.

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Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Oct 22, 2014 11:25 AM

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89 replies

Nov 6, 2017 4:49 AM in response to HunterPhotographic

Plus safari streams full-hd chrome for some reason only goes up to 720p.


What has changed all of a sudden that we get these HDCP errors. I was watching Starttrek discovery when suddenly after about 5/10 minutes of play it stopped and gave me this error. This must be a bug in Safari / OSX and or Netflix. I never had any problems before today using netflix on my mac.

Oct 24, 2014 3:09 PM in response to John H Trimble

Actually, I posted the same question a few days ago, this is how I fixed it: Enter Netflix and go to your account, then to your profile, then to Playback settings and there, uncheck the bottom option (prefer HTML5 instead of Silverlight), you should be able to play movies again... obviously, you have to have Silverlight in your computer.

The thing I don't like about this is that Apple says HTML5 is better in order to help save battery life... I will have to wait till Apple solves this issue so we can benefit of this.

Hope this helps.

Oct 24, 2014 10:22 PM in response to HunterPhotographic

I'm running into this same problem. I also recently installed Yosemite. For me though, it stopped working when I updated my Adobe Flash plugin today. Although, I'm not sure that should be related. Switching my netflix preference to Silverlight, as was suggested above, worked and now I can play netflix again. But This seems like it should be unnecessary.


As a side note, I also have the same issue when playing movies through VUDU player, which uses Adobe-Air I believe. Maybe it's an Adobe problem?


-Josh


Running OS X Yosemite on a Mac Mini (2012).

Oct 26, 2014 11:19 AM in response to jpbone

I just got it to work, and I think I may know why, just in case it helps anyone.


My setup:

Mac Mini (late 2012), with two monitors connected:

One dell HDMI monitor, hdcp compliant, plugged into the Mac Mini HDMI port.

One dell monitor plugged into thunderbolt via thunderbolt-VGA adaptor.


Unplugging the second monitor from the thunderbolt-VGA adaptor fixed the issue, and now Netflix plays with the HTML5 setting turned on! So it would appear that the second monitor was the problem. Which would track with what this page says:

Apple Mini DisplayPort adapters: Frequently asked questions (FAQ)


The page states that a Thunderbolt-DVI connector should work. Luckily this monitor has both, so the next thing I will try is to buy a Thunderbolt-DVI adaptor and retest with both monitors attached (I don't have one at the moment). If that works, I'll post the results, maybe next week.


This kind of stinks because I've always been two-monitor dude, I like having a movie playing on one monitor while I work on the other for example. For now, until I get the adaptor, I'll switch netflix back to using silverlight, which seems to still work with both monitors attached.

Oct 28, 2014 4:21 AM in response to carlos114

Carlos - that's certainly a workable solution and I am sure it would address the problem. Thanks. However, I am looking for something better.


This issue only occurs on my desktop MacPro. I also own a MacBook Pro. If I change the Netflix HTML5 settings, then my MacBook Pro will lose the benefit of HTML5 and longer battery life. Of course it doesn't matter too much for the desktop MacPro.

Oct 29, 2014 4:52 PM in response to jpbone

While this workaround may work, you should not be forced to use one sort of monitor or another with a computer that you own. If you google HDCP, you'll see that it's been broken since before it was actually released and therefore serves no purpose other than to annoy and antagonize legitimate users. It is totally unacceptable to me that Apple is doubling down on this technology with Yosemite/HTML5. I have an old projector that still works great with DVI but does not support HDCP. That means I can't watch iTunes videos, and now apparently can't watch HTML5 videos. I am certainly not about to replace working technology because of a software problem. What a waste.

Netflix display error with Safari 8/OSX 10.10 Yosemite

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