Netflix - sound works but image is black

Asked by Marcos Pinto

I'm trying to use Netflix on a Shuttle XS35GT running the latest version of XBMCBuntu (based on Ubuntu 12.04, AFAIK). I've been able to install Pipelight and run the "bubbles" test app successfully. However, Netflix does seem to launch the plugin but I only get a black screen. Previously I had no sound either, but after I removed PulseAudio and fixed Alsa to send the sound output to the HDMI port I can hear the sound output. Could it be a driver issue? This distribution does use the proprietary nVidia drivers.

Before installing XBMCbuntu I had tried the latest Ubuntu and I could get the image working (but no sound, though I hadn't tried to fix it since I wanted to try the XBMC distro anyway), however I've used Firefox for the experiment. Could it be an issue with Chrome? The Netflix XBMC plugin requires Chrome, therefore I haven't tried Firefox yet. Below is the browser log:

[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[2241:2241:0112/153546:ERROR:browser_main_loop.cc(208)] GTK theme error: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
[9:9:0112/153547:ERROR:base_feature_provider.cc(122)] manifestTypes: Allowing web_page contexts requires supplying a value for matches.
[2241:2267:0112/153547:ERROR:base_feature_provider.cc(122)] manifestTypes: Allowing web_page contexts requires supplying a value for matches.
[14:14:0112/153553:ERROR:base_feature_provider.cc(122)] manifestTypes: Allowing web_page contexts requires supplying a value for matches.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] attached to process.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] checking environment variable PIPELIGHT_SILVERLIGHT5_1_CONFIG.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] searching for config file pipelight-silverlight5.1.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/home/htpc/.config/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/etc/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/usr/share/pipelight/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] sandbox not found / not installed!
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] GPU driver check - Your driver is supported, hardware acceleration enabled.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] using wine prefix directory /home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] checking plugin installation - this might take some time.
[install-dependency] wine-silverlight5.1-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[install-dependency] wine-mpg2splt-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[install-dependency] wine-wininet-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
wine: cannot find L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winemenubuilder.exe"
err:wineboot:ProcessRunKeys Error running cmd L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winemenubuilder.exe -a -r" (2)
[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] windowless mode is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] embedded mode is on.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] unity hacks is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] window class hook is on.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] render toplevelwindow is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function CreateWindowExA.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function CreateWindowExW.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function TrackPopupMenuEx.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function TrackPopupMenu.

fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW (0x2b1f87, 0x350118, {aa087e0e-0b35-4e28-8f3a-440c3f51eef1}, 1, 0x64f5c8, (null), (null), 0x350118): stub
[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] init successful!

fixme:advapi:UnregisterTraceGuids 0: stub
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] attached to process.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] checking environment variable PIPELIGHT_SILVERLIGHT5_1_CONFIG.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] searching for config file pipelight-silverlight5.1.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/home/htpc/.config/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/etc/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/usr/share/pipelight/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] sandbox not found / not installed!
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] GPU driver check - Your driver is supported, hardware acceleration enabled.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] using wine prefix directory /home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] checking plugin installation - this might take some time.
[install-dependency] wine-silverlight5.1-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[install-dependency] wine-mpg2splt-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[install-dependency] wine-wininet-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] windowless mode is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] embedded mode is on.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] unity hacks is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] window class hook is on.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] render toplevelwindow is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function CreateWindowExA.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function CreateWindowExW.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function TrackPopupMenuEx.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function TrackPopupMenu.

fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW (0x2b1f87, 0x350118, {aa087e0e-0b35-4e28-8f3a-440c3f51eef1}, 1, 0x64f5c8, (null), (null), 0x350118): stub
[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] init successful!

fixme:advapi:UnregisterTraceGuids 0: stub
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] attached to process.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] checking environment variable PIPELIGHT_SILVERLIGHT5_1_CONFIG.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] searching for config file pipelight-silverlight5.1.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/home/htpc/.config/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/etc/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:unknown] trying to load config file from '/usr/share/pipelight/pipelight-silverlight5.1'.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] sandbox not found / not installed!
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] GPU driver check - Your driver is supported, hardware acceleration enabled.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] using wine prefix directory /home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/.
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] checking plugin installation - this might take some time.
[install-dependency] wine-silverlight5.1-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[install-dependency] wine-mpg2splt-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[install-dependency] wine-wininet-installer is already installed in '/home/htpc/.wine-pipelight/'.
[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] windowless mode is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] embedded mode is on.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] unity hacks is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] window class hook is on.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] render toplevelwindow is off.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function CreateWindowExA.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function CreateWindowExW.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function TrackPopupMenuEx.

[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] replaced API function TrackPopupMenu.

fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW (0x2b1f87, 0x350118, {aa087e0e-0b35-4e28-8f3a-440c3f51eef1}, 1, 0x64f5c8, (null), (null), 0x350118): stub
[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] init successful!

[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] using timer based event handling.
fixme:win:EnumDisplayDevicesW ((null),0,0x64f0f8,0x00000000), stub!
fixme:advapi:CreateProcessAsUserW 0x13c L"C:\\Program Files\\Silverlight\\5.1.20913.0\\agcp.exe" L"agcp.exe 37 308" (nil) (nil) 1 0x00004000 (nil) (null) 0x64f158 0x64f148 - semi- stub
fixme:heap:HeapSetInformation (nil) 1 (nil) 0
fixme:file:K32GetMappedFileNameW (0xffffffff, 0x4015f4, 0x50e1f4, 520): stub

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(exe:2396): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
fixme:d3d:resource_check_usage Unhandled usage flags 0x8.
fixme:urlmon:Uri_GetPropertyBSTR (0x1015908)->(6 0x64df54 4)
fixme:process:GetNumaHighestNodeNumber (0x64e9f0): stub
fixme:thread:SetThreadStackGuarantee (0x64e9e0): stub
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e600, (nil) 0x64e5f8
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e600, (nil) 0x64e5f8
fixme:ntdll:find_reg_tz_info Can't find matching timezone information in the registry for bias 180, std (d/m/y): 16/02/2014, dlt (d/m/y): 19/10/2014
fixme:process:FlushProcessWriteBuffers : stub
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e7d0, (nil) 0x64e7c8
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e7d0, (nil) 0x64e7c8
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e490, (nil) 0x64e488
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64d3d8, (nil) 0x64d3d0
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64d3d8, (nil) 0x64d3d0
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e3c0, (nil) 0x64e3b8
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e3c0, (nil) 0x64e3b8
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e950, (nil) 0x64e948
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e910, (nil) 0x64e908
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e7fc, (nil) 0x64e7f4
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e790, (nil) 0x64e788
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e768, (nil) 0x64e760
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64ec40, (nil) 0x64ec38
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64ec00, (nil) 0x64ebf8
0

fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e5ac, (nil) 0x64e5a4
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64e5ac, (nil) 0x64e5a4
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW (0x10015fbb, 0x1008c460, {00000000-7ac4-430a-94e4-b0dfd254650f}, 1, 0xb61e038, (null), (null), 0x1008c468): stub
fixme:ntdll:NtLockFile I/O completion on lock not implemented yet
fixme:advapi:RegisterTraceGuidsW (0xa9424e9, 0xab25dc0, {00000000-7ac4-430a-94e4-b0dfd254650f}, 1, 0xb61e348, (null), (null), 0xab25dc8): stub
fixme:mountmgr:harddisk_ioctl returning zero-filled buffer for IOCTL_VOLUME_GET_VOLUME_DISK_EXTENTS
fixme:advapi:GetCurrentHwProfileW (0xb61e410)
err:pulse:pulse_contextcallback Context failed: Connection refused
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64ebe0, (nil) 0x64ebd8
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64eb74, (nil) 0x64eb6c
fixme:thread:GetThreadPreferredUILanguages 48, 0x64eb4c, (nil) 0x64eb44
[PIPELIGHT:WIN:silverlight5.1] ../common/common.c:252:readCommands(): unable to receive data.

fixme:advapi:UnregisterTraceGuids 0: stub

I see plenty of "fixme" messages but they don't mean much to me, so before I have to dig out my ancient C++ books, I'd rather ask the pros about the issue :-)

Thanks a lot and regards,
Marcos

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Pipelight Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Sebastian Lackner
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Best Sebastian Lackner (slackner) said :
#1

Hi,

as you already suspected this could be related to a driver issue, as you have HW acceleration enabled:
[PIPELIGHT:LIN:silverlight5.1] GPU driver check - Your driver is supported, hardware acceleration enabled.

Please try out the following ideas:

1.) When running the plugin right click on it and unselect "Embed into browser". Do you then see something in the external window?

2.) I would suggest you to try it out with disabled HW acceleration. You can do this either by running your browser with:

PIPELIGHT_GPUACCELERATION=0 chromium-browser

Or alternatively with:
/usr/share/pipelight/configure-silverlight
Then type "disable" and "abort".

Does one of these two methods help to solve the problem?

Sebastian

Revision history for this message
billyscanlon (wjs-scanlon) said :
#2

I was having this same issue.

/usr/share/pipelight/configure-silverlight
Then type "disable" and "abort".

The above seems to have fixed the issue. I am now getting video and audio in chrome with user agent set to Windows/Firefox.

Revision history for this message
Marcos Pinto (marcosp2019) said :
#3

Thanks Sebastian Lackner, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Marcos Pinto (marcosp2019) said :
#4

I still have two doubts, though:

- both disabling the "embed into browser" option and turning off h/w acceleration worked. However the first option is preferable since my HTPC doesn't have enough CPU power to handle Netflix video on its own. Is there a way to turn off the embedding for good?
- even with h/w acceleration on, video and audio quality are not as good as when the machine ran Windows - I don't get the option for 5.1 audio tracks anymore, and HD video stutters. Could it be that the nVidia driver for Linux is not as good as the Windows one? I'm afraid I'll have to get back to Windows then...

Thanks a lot and regards,
Marcos

Revision history for this message
Sebastian Lackner (slackner) said :
#5

Hi,

if you want to use the non-embedded version as default you can use the following method: Just execute these commands

cp /usr/share/pipelight/pipelight-silverlight5.1 ~/.config/
gedit ~/.config/pipelight-silverlight5.1

in the opened text editor search for a line with "embed = true" - just change this attribute to "false" and it will show up as a separate window from the beginning. You have to repeat these steps for each user account which will be used in combination with Pipelight.

Please note that when you have Silverlight enabled in your regular browser and also visit other Silverlight pages/games, they will also show up as a separate window, its not possible to define this on a per-page basis.

Concerning the performance: I think the graphic drivers should be approximately equally good as on Windows (when its a relatively new Nvidia driver). There are a few other ways to improve the performance (see for example here: https://answers.launchpad.net/pipelight/+question/241739 ), but the most significant effect is our next update of wine-compholio and pipelight which is planned for this weekend. We tweaked some timers and other code to make it use the CPU and GPU more efficiently. The exact release date is not known yet since launchpad has currently (again) some server issues, but as soon as they are resolved the new versions will be available.

Sebastian

Revision history for this message
Marcos Pinto (marcosp2019) said :
#6

Thanks a lot for your answer ! Looking forward to the new version ... keep up the good work !

Revision history for this message
mehtuus (mehtuus) said :
#7

I could hear the sound, but there was no video (just a black screen). This was the same issue I had in the Netflix-desktop too.

I went to this directory:
/usr/share/pipelight/scripts

Then I ran this command:
./configure-silverlight

Then type "disable" and then "abort".

The above seems to have fixed the issue. I am now getting video and audio in chrome with user agent set to Windows/Firefox. However, the video is slow and skips frequently (especially during quick transitions, like a fight scene) and the audio is about half a second behind the video. This makes the enjoyment quality very low...

Revision history for this message
mehtuus (mehtuus) said :
#8

In addition to my above comment, though this may be due to having two screens, when I go to full-screen the video display is off-centered and half off the screen so that I cannot see part of it.

Revision history for this message
Michael Müller (mqchael) said :
#9

Hi,

did you try to follow the instructions in the first block of https://answers.launchpad.net/pipelight/+faq/2485 to make sure that your 32 bit drivers are installed correctly?

Michael

Revision history for this message
mehtuus (mehtuus) said :
#10

I ran the browser (in this case Chromium) from the terminal to check the output (located here: http://sharetext.org/mqKK ), but the only error type listed was the two lines below:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wine: cannot find L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winemenubuilder.exe"
err:wineboot:ProcessRunKeys Error running cmd L"C:\\windows\\system32\\winemenubuilder.exe -a -r" (2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am using proprietary drivers for my NVIDIA card. According to the information page you link to, the 32-bit drivers should be installed already. However, I am running a 64-bit system, is there an additional step I need to take to make 32-bit drivers available to pipelight?