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I know that Netflix does not work with Linux because Moonlight (an open-source implementation of Silverlight) doesn't support encryption.

Have any workarounds or solutions been identified to bring Netflix to the Raspberry Pi for those of us that want to create media centers?

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  • 1
    Isn't this off topic (I mean, isn't this about linux in general)?
    – keyser
    Commented Jun 17, 2012 at 18:18
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    @Keyser: I think that it has been made relevant enough.
    – Jivings
    Commented Jun 17, 2012 at 18:22
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    @Jivings Well, I gotta admit that your answer did :)
    – keyser
    Commented Jun 17, 2012 at 18:23
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    Sort of a demonstration of what was discussed about Linux questions (Questions that initially appear to be linux-specific may have a useful answer relevant to the Raspberry Pi device itself)
    – ramblinjan
    Commented Jun 17, 2012 at 18:30
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    Netflix actually streams to different OSs, I doubt they all use Silverlight- eg. Wii, Roku, iPad all have Netflix apps and aren't Windows/.Net devices.
    – winwaed
    Commented Jun 17, 2012 at 19:32

5 Answers 5

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Nope, sorry.

There is currently no way to run Netflix in Linux without emulating a Windows environment, which is something the Raspberry Pi will not have the resources to attempt.

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    What about android? Wouldn't it run on the ARM chip and provide Netflix? Has anyone poked around with that?
    – wmarbut
    Commented Jun 18, 2012 at 0:24
  • @hidden_premise: raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/56/…
    – Jivings
    Commented Jun 18, 2012 at 0:25
  • How does the PS3 manage to run NetFlix?
    – image_doctor
    Commented Jul 2, 2012 at 13:54
  • @image_doctor I have no idea, I just do PC Linux.
    – Jivings
    Commented Jul 2, 2012 at 15:49
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    @image_doctor Netflix built an application for the PS3 using Sony's SDK that would allow them to have DRM type blocks on the videos that are being watched. This is part of why Netflix is not on Linux, as they have not found something that allows them DRM type blocks on Linux distros. That's my understanding of it anyways.
    – Nalum
    Commented Sep 17, 2012 at 10:30
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It is possible Netflix WILL run on the Raspberry Pi but it's based on current development of Android Pi. Currently Android compiles on the Pi but does not have video hardware acceleration. The developers are working on this now however with Broadcom. When finished the Android Netflix app should work just fine.

It's just waiting for finished driver development though.

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I've been looking into getting Netflix on the Pi as well.

If you have a PC that is fast enough you can run netflix there and stream the desktop through VLC mediaplayer to a HTTP stream and view that in Raspmc on the pi. I used the H.264 + MP3 (TS) codec and had to set the framerate and resolution too. In XBMC I opened a playlist file that pointed to the stream.
My results: I didn't get audio to work and my PC was too slow to get the framerate and resolution high enough, but the idea has potential.

Another option is to wait for a decent android or Chrome OS build, these should support a Netflix client.

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Try getting the Android Emulator included in the Android SDK to work. Netflix is available for Android, and Android is Linux.

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    that is a terrible idea. the Android Emulator is heavy, way too heavy for a raspberry pi.
    – Timothy Groote
    Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 16:13
  • @TimothyGroote True.
    – RobinJ
    Commented Nov 2, 2012 at 11:31
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How fast are solutions like VNC or Citrix? Could you run a VNC client on your RPi that connects to a VNC server running on a Windows box? Would this be fast enough for realtime video? And will VNC show Silverlight video or does that not work due to DRM type of stuff?

What about PlayOn which kind of re-encodes web based content like Netflix, Hulu, etc to stream to other devices? It only works with SD video, not HD, but is this a partial solution? It works with pretty much all DLNA compatible devices. And it seems to run on a bunch of media streamers, some of which have similar hardware to the RPi.

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    This seems to be asking more questions than it answers?
    – Jivings
    Commented Oct 22, 2012 at 21:31
  • VNC in general is not suitable for video, so you need very high bandwidth for this to work. Most likely the Raspberry Pi is underdimensioned for this.
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Commented Oct 22, 2012 at 23:01

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