High Sierra 10.13.5 video playback issues

**HDCP Errors iTunes\Safari fix**

Symptoms:

*You had to reset the PRAM on your Mac for whatever reason

*iTunes movies won't play. You either get a black playback window or an error related to HDCP.

*Hulu and Netflix movies won't play within the Safari browser.

*YouTube is unaffected by this.

*Hulu and Netflix still play within Chrome web browser.

*Windows 10 (VM nor Bootcamp) are unaffected by this bug

Fix (workaround):

*Boot into Recovery Mode on your Mac (command+R)

*Open terminal and type in the command EXACTLY as written:

nvram 8be4df61-93ca-11d2-aa0d-00e098032b8c:epid_provisioned=%01%00%00%00

and then press RETURN

It will go back to the prompt. Type reboot and RETURN.

Use this information at your own risk. If this sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, perhaps you should contact Apple support directly and have them walk you through this.

If you have to reset your PRAM again for any reason, this will have to be done again in order to restore functionality. Apple is aware of this and will likely provide some sort of update to perminantly fix this.

This is truly a workaround, not a fix. But it should provide you a fully functional Mac in the mean time

If this does not work for you. Please try this again and triple check what you have typed. This command is case sensitive and it will NOT throw up an error or success message to let you know the result.

Good luck and good day.

I have exactly the same problem with Safari 11.1.1 on High Sierra 10.13.5. Youtube is working just fine. I can't check on Netflix because I'm not a subscriber. But all the other live stream sites. Especially local TV websites here in Germany.

And I just found out that if Javascript is running on the website which playing or streaming thing, it starts like ****. For example, on google.com website, I translated a word, and hit pronounce. It happens. Today I visited reddit.com, it started again. I think because of auto-playing gifs, video or whatever connected with Javascript, . Because when I disable Javascript on developer menu, everything is smooth. But we know that we can't live without Javascript on the web.

I'm so looking forward having a newer version of Graphic firmware stated above. MacBook Pro Touch Bar 2016, High Sierra is just fresh installed because of this madness.

Chrome is just the alternative now.

10.13.6?

Try this commands in the Terminal

It seems that the trick only works for Mojave, but these commands was worked for me when I was in 10.13.5

nvram -xp

nvram -c

nvram -xp

sudo shutdown -r now

The last command will be restart your Mac, after that try to play movies. This could work because the reset of Nvram with the Keys in the Start of the Mac is different to the reset in Terminal.

Okay, just updated to 10.13.6. Voilà. Everything is fixed for my case. I did combo update.

Thank you a lot!!! I was think that my MacBook was the only affected after an nvram reset.

But now I will share the method to patch it temporaly. Just sleep the Mac for 30 Seconds or more. You can do this closing the Screen or in the Menu Bar. All will work perfectly until you reset or shut down your Mac.

Matt's trick didn't help me. But this helped me (10.13.6.):

I unplugged the charger of my MBP (2017) and let the battery go down so far it switches off (battery is empty, 0 %) and then plug the charge cable again. And it will do the trick. I've done this now twice in couple of weeks. The first time it happened by accident couple weeks ago. It was first the time I thought Apple solved the issue. But they did not, it was me. 😀

Please run Etrecheck and post its report here.

It is possible there is an issue with a Safari extension or some other software installed. Do you have any antivirus installed?

Problem finally solved in the latest public beta( currently 14.1 PB2)

It seems that the issue is Hardware related, please reset nvram How to reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If the issue is gone after the reset, the issue is gone forever. Please try. I have the same issue, and after the reset of the Nvram the issue was returned. I'm now talking with Apple about a full replacement for my MacBook Pro

Are you in High Sierra or Mojave? If yes, try closing the MacBook screen to sleep the Mac for 1 Minute, next Log Out and Log In your Mac User. Now you should be capable to play any kind of media even Netflix or Streaming service in Safari 😉

Reply this if this worked for you

I have done an internet recovery. This type of recovery should according to Apple download and install the original version that came with the computer. In my case it was 10.13.3. However it installed 10.13.5 instead. The problem remained. I updated to 10.13.6 and to Mojave public beta. The problem was still there. I recovered my data trough migration assistant. Despite some errors warnings my account was recovered and the problem magically disappeared. I have no clue what was changed. The root cause seems to me has to do with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) that encrypts and decrypts HD content between every component.

Hi, I just started having the same issue and getting the same error message on Netflix. I am on a 2016 iMac running 11.1.1 on Safari. Like you, I followed all the trouble shooting steps recommended by Netflix to no avail. Then I called Netflix and talked with tech support: I was told that they are aware of this issue and that they are currently working on a fix. Don't have an estimate of how long that will take. The problem is only confined to mac systems and not ipads/TVs.

I read a while ago that the problem can't be solved at operating system level because it resides in the EFI files. The Genius guys or phone support can't do it either. On an updated computer you can run Chrome or Firefox and it works well. I noted a slightly better quality on Firefox. I am waiting to find out if Apple has resolved the issue before updating as I was lucky enough to get the MacBook Pro replaced and did the updates up tp 10.13.4. Works perfectly. Apple has no feedback from the consumer issues because their service does not communicate with the engineering so it might take a while until resolved. Please not the issue in my case includes choppy video on many sites, amazon prime and Netflix.

Ran into this yesterday after doing a PRAM reset for another, turns out erroneous issue. Letting the system sleep, via lid closure for a while, the logout/login "fixed" it for now.

Thanks to MrRojano97 for the tip.

Shame on Apple. Do yo know that Firefox browser will work well? Is a great bowser and provides same definition as Safari. Chrome works as well but definition will be lower. This will allow to see protected content (Amazon Prime, Netflix). iTunes HD films won't play. This issue started in June, if still no corrected it might never be.