Boy, they nailed that one. I had in fact used the Migration Assistant to setup my new MacBook Air by importing an account from my MacBook Pro. The error message then suggested that I contact their technical support team. Me? Wait on the phone? I think not. I'll figure this one out myself. Click below to read how to fix this error without calling the Netflix Technical support team. Not that they are bad people mind you.
Are you a Windows user having the same issue? Check out Mike Thomson's post instead.
This is a three step process. The first step is to install the latest version of the Mac Silverlight plugin. The second is to delete the Silverlight DRM file. The third and final step is to reinstall a new DRM file. Let's get started.
Quick caveat. These steps may not be necessary, but why take the chance. You should be running the latest version anyway for both performance and security reasons.
- Open a browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc)
- Pound www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight in the address bar and hit the return key - the Silverlight download page will appear
- Select the Mac download link as highlighted in the image below
 |
| Click images for larger versions. |
- After the download is complete, double-click the Silverlight.dmg file to open the disk image - a window with the Silverlight.pkg file should appear as shown in the image below
- Double-click the Silverlight.pkg and follow the normal file install procedures
- Eject the Silverlight disk image
- Trash the Silverlight disk image
Remove the Silverlight DRM File:
This is probably the step they really don't want published.
- Open a Finder window (double-click on the Macintosh HD icon on the desktop)
- Navigate to /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady
- Locate the mspr.hds file as shown in the image below
- Drag the mspr.hds file to the trash
To all the people saying you have no PlayReady folder-- I don't see one either. It's just invisible. Go to it from Terminal.
user@zed:~ $ cd /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/PlayReady/
user@zed:/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady $ ls
mspr.hds
user@zed:/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady $ rm mspr.hds
This step is easy and is probably pretty self-evident, but I'll include just to round out the instructions.
- Open a browser (this time it must be a Netflix supported browser)
- Visit the Netflix web site (www.netflix.com)
- Log into your account
- Visit your instant queue and load a title - it should take a bit longer than normal to begin the stream since this step revalidates your computer and creates a new DRM file on your Mac
- Begin watching your favorite 80s films!
Thanks for posting this. Just ran into the issue today and your instructions worked great!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteWhat timing then! Curious, did you find this article via a Google Search, or are you a regular reader?
Doc
Your posting worked perfect and I found it with a google search. I think people who cannot find the playready folder are looking in the wrong library folder. They need to look in the library folder on their HD (harddrive) not their user account.
DeleteThx again.
Tried it. Still doesn't work for me.
ReplyDeleteeveryone says to delete the playready folder, but there is no playready folder on my new mac, nor on my old one! i seem to be the only one who is experiencing this phenomenon!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a PlayReady folder, and I even tried getting to it from Teminal, which didn't work. Then I decided to just test Netflix after reinstalling Silverlight, and it worked. So other users perhaps will have success as well simply by reinstalling Silverlight.
DeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteWhich browser are you using to access to Netflix?
Doc
@John - same thing. I'll actually call them tomorrow :(
ReplyDelete@Rtarara. Please come back and let us know what they did to help you.
ReplyDeleteI do not have a playready folder either, please help!!
ReplyDeleteI have a mac and am using safari but do not have a playready folder either
ReplyDeleteI am also on a new mac. I am using firefox and I have no application support folder.
ReplyDeleteThis helped!
ReplyDeletehttps://discussions.apple.com/thread/2464855?threadID=2464855&tstart=195
I ran into this problem today and found your site.
ReplyDeleteSimply removing mspr.hds from /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady without any re-installs worked.
I didn't even have to go into Netflix again - I just refreshed the browser page with the error message on it.
Thanks,
doug
Doug,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update and for verify the theory!
Doc
To all the people saying you have no PlayReady folder-- I don't see one either. It's just invisible. Go to it from Terminal.
ReplyDeleteuser@zed:~ $ cd /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/PlayReady/
user@zed:/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady $ ls
mspr.hds
user@zed:/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady $ rm mspr.hds
Just did the Lion upgrade and I can't find a PlayReady folder:
ReplyDeletemini:Application Support erin$ cd /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/PlayReady/
-bash: cd: /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady/: No such file or directory
@Anonymous, Did you see Vic's comment above and now included in my post regarding a hidden folder?
ReplyDeleteI have a PlayReady folder, but it appears to be empty - can't locate the mspr.hds file in any of the subfolders under /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/
ReplyDeleteAny other suggestions?
The fix worked. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI just reinstalled silverlight and that fixed it for me
ReplyDeleteThis no longer works. They got rid of the play ready file with the new update. Still trying to figure this out without calling. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI Just deleted my mspr.hds file. Worked like a charm!
ReplyDeleteThanks
Not quite the right solution for me. But this fixed it:
ReplyDelete1) launch terminal
2) sudo rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/PlayReady
That should do it.
same here. i just reinstalled silverlight ..
ReplyDeletei entered the code into terminal and nothing happened. i still cant find the playready folder
ReplyDeleteThis does not work in Lion with Silverlight 4. As @Anonymous July 22 8:15 showed, this folder no longer exists (even in terminal you cannot navigate to it, as he/she showed terminal says the file/folder do not exist)
ReplyDeleteWhen I copy and paste Vic's string in Terminal then hit return (which is, i assume what i'm supposed to do? I've never used Terminal in my life) i get the message that there is no such file or directory. Any other advice?
ReplyDeleteI have Lion and was already updated to Silverlight 4 (per the Netflix tech's suggestion) and like others couldn't find the Play ready folder. I tried this (posted from another anonymous above) and it worked like a charm
ReplyDelete1) launch terminal
2) sudo rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/PlayReady
Thanks for the instructions. Worked like a charm for me today.
ReplyDelete-SMM
Oh THANK YOU!! I didn't mind calling netflix but when I found out I had to do tech support through e-mail with microsoft it wasn't happening.. I have a mac (and just did a system migration which apparently caused this issue) and deleted the PlayReady folder as you said, and un-installed silverlight. When you go in to check make sure everything is deleted, you may see other microsoft.silverlight or playready files and folders. I left those alone and ONLY deleted the PlayReady folder and the silverlight.plugin as instructed above. I restarted my browser and then went to the silverlight website for the re-installation. www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx. Finally able to watch movies again.. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Worked great for me!
ReplyDeleteThis worked for me! Thanks! - Lion
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Not quite the right solution for me. But this fixed it:
1) launch terminal
2) sudo rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/PlayReady
That should do it.
Thursday, September 22, 2011 9:08:00 PM EDT
This worked for me! Thanks! - Lion
ReplyDeleteI recently bought a new macbook pro and had all of my files and information transferred to the new computer.
ReplyDeleteI also had problems with not being able to find the PlayReady folder. I followed the instructions:
Navigate to /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady
To get to the library, I opened finder, clicked on my name (on the left, with the house symbol), and opened library from there. Application Support, Microsoft...NO PLAYREADY FOLDER!
After reading the other website (listed below) I found another way to open library.
hardisk/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Playready/mspr.hds be trashed.
With this, I opened finder, I clicked "Macintosh HD" and opened library from there. Following the rest of the instructions the same way, I found the PlayReady folder and deleted mspr.hds
Maybe change the instruction from "Navigate to" to "hardisk"
Hope this helps for others who can't find the PlayReady Folder!
If you are having the problem of having an EMPTY "PlayReady" folder, here is what worked for me:
ReplyDeleteGo to Library/Internet Plug-Ins and trash the "DRM Plugin" only.
DO NOT throw away the Silverlight plug in, or you will have to reinstall.
Make sure to empty the trash, refresh or restart your browser (I refreshed!), and you are good to go!
This worked for me on a Mac Mini 2011 running Lion 10.7.2 with Google Chrome 15.0.874.121 and Microsoft Silverlight 4 (4.0.60831.0)
I actually stumbled upon this method by way of Silverlight's uninstall video, happened to see a DRM plug in. I am now enjoying netflix.
How do I find the DRM via terminal?
ReplyDelete