How to get NetFlix operational in Iron 54 on Puppy Linux..!

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Mike_Walsh
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 12:57 pm

How to get NetFlix operational in Iron 54 on Puppy Linux..!

Post by Mike_Walsh »

Afternoon, everybody.

Just wanted to pass on some information to any Puppy Linux users who don't frequent the Murga-Linux Puppy Forum.

We've recently started experimenting with Iron, since, with Google dropping support for 32-bit Chrome after version 48, we like to try out alternative Chromium-based browsers. Me being a NetFlix fan for the last year or so, it's one of my requirements by which I judge a browser's 'viability' for everyday use.

Personally, I'm a long-term Chrome user, since it was in 'beta' back in 2008. Don't like FireFox....sorry!

Pup is mainly targeted at elderly hardware, so is predominantly 32-bit. It has begun to gradually move over to 64-bit, and I re-package 64-bit Chrome into the SFS 'load-on-the-fly' format that Puppy uses, for the community.

An acquaintance on the Forum has recently started packaging the 32-bit version of Iron. He uses the .deb package, which he extracts, corrects the permissions for Puppy's unusual mode of operation (it runs as root all the time!), then re-builds & re-packs. He's been doing this for FlashPeak's Slimjet browser (which for some little while has been my personal 32-bit Chrome replacement).....but there's one BIG snag with Slimjet. FlashPeak don't code h.264 support in for 'copyright' reasons.....so no NetFlix. (Bad FlashPeak!!!)

Anyway, I d/l'ed and installed Iron 54.0.2850.0, which runs perfectly. With one exception; NetFlix wasn't working. It was erroring out with the 'M7121' code.....'no network connection'.

I had a brainwave.....which was supported by my acquaintance. Why not swap the libwidevinecdm.so module for one from somewhere else? Accordingly, I decided to try the version from the very last 32-bit version of Chrome itself; 48.0.2564.116 (which I also use.) Upon further investigation, too, there appears to be an enormous size difference between the supplied version, and the one from Chrome 48. That one is close to 7 MB in size; the version as supplied by SRWare is only 135k. That's one hell of a difference, no?

(And I'm dead curious as to what that difference is.....)

So, I swapped these over, and then it was 'crunch time'. Would it, or wouldn't it? I re-started Iron, went into my NetFlix a/c, and....

BINGO.

It works perfectly. On further investigation, this same module is available from the repo of AlienBob, who packages stuff for Slackware (which many Pups are based on. It also works fine for many of the 'buntu-based Pups, as well.) So, for anyone using Puppy who wants to get NetFlix running in the current Iron, here's how:-

1) Download the libwidevinecdm.so module from here:-

http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackbu ... /pkg/14.1/

You want the 3rd entry from the bottom. Extract this to a known location (I find it's easiest, when doing this kind of thing, to create a dedicated folder for the purpose.) Go into the extracted folder, go into /usr/lib/chromium.....and there's the libwidevinecdm.so module looking at you.

2) Go into /usr/lib/iron in your Pup, locate the existing libwidevinecdm.so module, and move this to somewhere you can find it.....just in case.

3) Copy the newly-extracted version over in its place.

4) Re-start Iron, go into your NetFlix a/c, and.....enjoy.

All things being equal, this will work. Hope that helps some of you!


Mike. :D
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