Netflix error code n8156-6013

"You know, I've never gotten Netflix to work" is not what you want to hear from your wife when she's trying to get a movie to play on your HTPC.  Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF) is all-important when it comes to integration of new technology into the home and having something "never work" makes for very low WAF.  It turns out there is a pretty common DRM issue that happens with the Netflix plugin for Windows 7 Media Center on Windows 7 x64.  There's a bug in Microsoft Silverlight 4 where it cannot write to a file which triggers a DRM error and makes it so no movie will play through the plugin.  What do you see instead of Dora or the latest Chick-Flick?  "Netflix error code n8156-6013".

Luckily, the fix is pretty simple though it's possible following this procedure could render other DRM protected media unplayable so YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).  Close W7MC and any other media players.  Find the file 'mspr.hds' and rename it to 'mspr.hds.old'.  In Windows 7 x64 I found this file under C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\PlayReady.

Now restart W7MC and try the Netflix plugin.  You should be able to play movies again and bring your home WAF back in line to where is should be: still highly suspicious if this is all necessary but happy to be able to listen to the latest Colbie Caillat album at the press of a button.

Mount a picoPSU jack in an ATX PSU opening: mounting plate prototype

These are pictures of my first prototype for a power supply mounting plate that will adapt the panel-mount jack of a DC power supply (such as a picoPSU) to the ATX power supply opening in a computer case.  This one is made of ABS plastic and has a 80mm fan, hole for the power jack and 4 threaded 6-32 screw holes for mounting the plate in a standard ATX power supply opening of a computer case.

This one was mounted in a Lian-Li PC-Q07 mini-ITX tower case.  It works with the picoPSU 120 and acts as a mount for the picoPSU's power jack (where the AC adapter plugs into the DC PSU). Since the PC-Q07 has no fans, the plate also has a mount for an 80mm fan making this the one and only case fan for the PC.  It also performs the job of plugging up the ATX opening where a full-sized PSU would normally be mounted making the PC look better too.

This is the front view.

This is the back view

And this is what it looks like mounted in the case.

In the next few days I'll be creating a jig so I can fabricate these quickly.  I need to add a mount to it for mini-fit JR style jacks now that I have the specs for that.  I plan to offer them with and without the fan and maybe also in clear or different color acrylic with an LED fan.  I am in the process of setting up a webstore for these and I am still working on a name for them and for my webstore's domain.