How to fix the Netflix DRM Error N8151 in Google Chrome for Mac

Quick Summary:

* Try watching after each step. You may not need to go all the way through the process to fix the problem.

1. Delete the PlayReady folder (This step fixed my problem)
2. Uninstall & Reinstall Silverlight
3. Create a new user
4. Contact Apple
5. Check Browser’s Rosetta settings
6. Check for corrupt fonts

The Troubleshooting Process

This process was recommended by Microsoft Technical Support.

1. Delete PlayReady folder

   1. Quit all browsers
   2. Browse to Mac HDLibraryApplication SupportMicrosoftPlayReady and delete the PlayReady folder
   3. Restart browser (Safari or Firefox)
   4. Test Netflix again

2. Uninstall Silverlight

   1. Open you Mac HD
   2. Go to Library
   3. Go to Internet Plug-ins
   4. Drag Silverlight.plugin to the Trash
   5. Go you to you Home Folder
   6. Open the Library folder
   7. Open the Preferences folder
   8. Look for the com.microsoft.silverlight.plist file and move it to the trash
   9. Look for the com.microsoft.SilverlightPlugin.loader.plist file and move it to the trash
   10. Check your Trash to make sure there is nothing you want to keep then empty your Trash
   11. Restart your Mac

3. Install Silverlight

   To manually install Silverlight please follow the steps outlined below:

   (Note: when completing these steps make sure you have quit our of all running Applications and that they have not just been minimized to the Dock)

   1. Launch your web browser (FireFox/Safari) and visit Silverlight.net/GetStarted
   2. On the lower right side of the screen you will see Install Silverlight, Choose Silverlight Mac Runtime and allow this to download to your desktop. If the installation automatically launches quit out of it and complete the following steps.
   3. Mount the Silverlight image that is on your desktop
   4. Ctrl+Click Silverlight.pkg
   5. Choose “Show Package Contents”
   6. Open Contents
   7. Copy Archive.pax.gz to Desktop
   8. Ctrl+Click the Archive.pax.gz file that appears on the Desktop
   9. Choose “Open With”, BOMArchiveHelper.app or “Archive Utility”.
   10. This should extract a folder to the desktop called Library
   11. Open this folder
   12. Open the Internet Plug-ins folder
   13. Copy Silverlight.plugin to Hard Drive: Library: Internet Plug-ins.
   14. Restart your Mac
   15. Visit Silverlight.net and go to Showcase, if you can view this page without being prompted to install Silverlight then it has installed successfully.

4. Create a new user

   If this is unsuccessful there might an issue with your user account preventing Silverlight from working correctly. What we would like to do is test a new Mac user. To create a new Mac user:

   1. Go to System Preferences
   2. Go to Account
   3. Choose the Plus sing in the lower left corner to open the new account window, enter Test for the user name, leave the password blank
   4. Put check mark in Allow User to Administer this computer
   5. Choose Create Account
   6. Now logout out of your original account and login to the Test account
   7. Once in the Test Account visit Silverlight.net and go to Showcase, if you can view this page without being prompted to install Silverlight then it has installed successful
   8. Visit NetFlix to make sure that you are able to access their content.

5. Contact Apple

   If Silverlight works with the new Mac user you will need to contact Apple and have them decide why the original user will no longer allow Silverlight to work.

6. Check Browser’s Rosetta settings

   If this fails another suggestion we can make it to check to see if the browser is running with Rosetta enabled. To verify this please follow the following steps. (NOTE: you must quit the browser to follow these steps)

   1. Open your Mac HD
   2. Go to Applications
   3. Locate browser
   4. Ctrl+Click on the Icon and choose Get Info
   5. Under General Make sure the box that says Run using Rosetta is not checked
   6. Launch browser and attempt to launch content on NetFlix

7. Check for corrupt fonts

   If this fails then there might an issue with corrupt fonts within your
   operating system that is not allowing Silverlight to load when attempting to access NetFlix content because NetFlix uses DRM formatted content and corrupt fonts can prevent this type of content from loading.

   The next step will be to manually install the Arial and Verdana fonts to do so please complete the following:

   1. Go to the Hard Drive
   2. Then Applications
   3. Then Font Book
   4. Choose the Verdana font, and go to File, and Export Fonts. Name the folder Verdana.
   5. Then choose the Arial font, and go to File, and Export Fonts, and name the folder Ariel.
   6. Go to the desktop, and look for these two folders.
   7. Go inside each of these folder, then another folder with the name of the font. You will see multiple folders in here. You will need to go inside each of these folders, and copy all fonts located here to HD>Library>Fonts
   8. Restart the computer.
   9. Attempt to view Netflix content.

How I discovered the Netflix DRM Error N8151

My wife and I decided to sign up for Netflix again. We cancelled several months ago, but after buying a few kids movies on iTunes, we started to miss having access to loads of toddler-taming flicks for the price of one movie purchased from Apple.

Netflix had all of our account info on file. After three clicks I was back. My Instant Queue was stocked with everything I added before canceling. I was ready to sit back and watch a show.

I heard that the recent launch of their new interface design was a debatable attempt to make the site more user-friendly. Either way, I was excited to try it for myself.

I clicked my selection and waited for it to load. Instead of opening credits, I saw this:

Bummer. Anticlimax. I had seen this error before. During my previous Netflix subscription I had to burn a long evening on the phone with support to fix the problem. The problem was frustrating but fixable, so I wasn’t too worried.

Digital Rights, Smigital Rights

After a little googling I found the help I needed.

The error has something to do with Silverlight, a Microsoft technology Netflix uses for their video player. The details of why, how and what circumstances triggered this error do not interest me. I just want the thing to work.

Within a few minutes I found step-by-step instructions from Microsoft Silverlight Technical Support on how to address each possibility.

In my case everything was fixed after trying the first step. The movie cloud was back!

I could simply post a link to the forum where I found all the answers, but then I would have to find that forum if I ever ran into this problem again. So, I’m posting the process here to help myself and maybe others who have a similar problem.

I hope this helps others fix this problem quickly so they can get back to watching their favorite show.