Hulu sudden protected content problem

[efflandt]

I have been using Firefox with flash for years with Hulu without any issues. And since installing 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04 last January I have been using Google Chrome for Netflix without any issues. Although, since Firefox temporarily blocked flash due to security issues, I was also using Chrome for Hulu.

I was going to check out a series on Hulu Plus from Fox called Empire, but Chrome came up with an error "There was a problem playing this protected content. (Error Code: 3336)". It also said that my browser did not support protected content and suggested using Mozilla Firefox. But Firefox 40.0 would not play it either, it would play the Fox intro, a commercial, then just a black screen (no error message) and the play button became grayed out. I could see tiny thumbnails of various scenes if I put the cursor on the progress bar at the bottom, but none of the videos for that show would play, not even the short clips. Hulu Help had nothing specific about error code 3336, and none of the suggestions about protected content or black screen helped.

It is not an issue of not being allowed to view that content. From Hulu app on my Android phone (Linux based) I can directly stream Empire episodes to a Chromecast device (also Linux based) and play it on my HDTV. It is just that I would rather use my 2.1 speaker system with subwoofer than the TV speakers.

Would anyone know what method is used for "protected content" of just that one show on Hulu (Empire from Fox) and if there is a way to view that in Linux without using wine? The only thing I ever used wine for was the version that came with Netflix Desktop back in 12.04, which would throw some errors about not finding a suitable gecko browser, but would usually still work. There used to be a Hulu Desktop for Linux (which did not use wine), but that was just an experiment by some of their techs that I think was discontinued over a year ago.

PS: Changed subject because it affects more than just one show.

[mT5uaEobL3g4]

The problem is that Hulu has changed the way that they deliver video content in the last 24 or so hours. I made no changes to my HTPC set-up, Chrome was not logging into my Google user account on that machine, and I got the error on all my Linux machines. The suggestion for using Firefox worked for me (very poorly, I might add). However, my HTPC is set up to use the PPA for HAL (which apparently Amazon Prime requires for playback). That may be why Firefox did not work, at all, for you.

I raised Holy H3LL with Hulu support over the issue, and got a stock response back (flush Flash cache, power cycle your modem, etc. etc. ... pedestrian garbage for Windows users). Their support is not very helpful. I would recommend threatening to leave their service for Netflix over the issue and drumming up some support in various Linux forums... Maybe the negative publicity will get the attention of their lack-luster web developers...

[George_Montgomery]

Same issue for over a week with all content on Hulu. There was a twitter post by Hulu support that said their techs were looking into the issue. Everything else works great, iPad app, Chromebook...just not Linux.

[mT5uaEobL3g4]

Android works too... One thing to note is that I use the version of Chrome from Google, not from the repositories... It shouldn't matter though. A latest version shouldn't throw the error... Very irritating...

edit:
Oh,... BTW,... Chromebook is Linux... I think they base their code on Gentoo, if I'm not mistaken...

[efflandt]

I was thinking that it was just that one show, but I tried another show that is on public ABC television and it does not play either (Error Code: 3336 in Google Chrome and black screen with grayed out play button in Firefox). So maybe whatever Hulu changed disrupted all videos for Linux web browsers.

PS: Netflix still works fine with Google Chrome using HTML5 (I do not have wine or MS Silverlight installed).

[JaseP]

It's not the show... It's Chrome within Linux (maybe just K/X/Ubuntu?!?!)... My problems are under Kubuntu & Xubuntu 12.04,... I haven't tried my Kubuntu 14.04 machine, yet, to verify it...

Edit/Post-Script:
Logged on to my Kubuntu 14.04 machine,... The 3336 error is still present. So, this isn't some isolated Hulu/Ubuntu 12.04 incompatibility,... This is across the board... I'd be interested in seeing if Windows/Mac users are effected...

[JaseP]

Please note: The user, mT5uaEobL3g4, above,... was me... Had a slight Ubuntu One issue going on, that one of the Moderators fixed...

[kansasnoob]

Same issue:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2290589

I'm wondering about trying the Windows version of Firefox in Wine ............. but I've never done that.

Or maybe the hal hack like is used for Amazon Prime?

I'm going to try and talk to them tomorrow but I'm nearly deaf so their call-back system for support is not_so_good_for_me. At least I can let them know there are many of us effected!

[kansasnoob]

More people effected:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Hulu/commen...om_commercial/

That started 6 days ago and the latest comment is from 1 day ago. This started for me the morning of the 13th, although I probably hadn't tried Hulu since mid-morning on the 12th and it was still working fine then.

[JaseP]

Same issue:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2290589

I'm wondering about trying the Windows version of Firefox in Wine ............. but I've never done that.

Or maybe the hal hack like is used for Amazon Prime?

I'm going to try and talk to them tomorrow but I'm nearly deaf so their call-back system for support is not_so_good_for_me. At least I can let them know there are many of us effected!

I had the Hal hack set up for Amazon Prime, and Hulu works, passably, in Firefox. Playback is lousy though (more stutters, limited rewind capability, unwarranted restarts needed to play back content). Chrome is a bust,... across the board, on all my machines. The Hal hack is as simple as adding a PPA to your repositories... Wine would be more of a problem (for you to set up).

The bottom line is that Hulu did something in the last few days to alter the playback. My household had watched something last night, on Hulu, without issue, on Chrome. Tonight,... error 3336. This is likely a DRM thing. Some over-zealous web developer probably added JavaScript code to Hulu existing code base to check for some additional thing that only exists in Firefox (or Windows Internet Explorer),...

I wouldn't be beyond believing that content providers wanted to punish Google, and so insisted that Hulu use the same code that Amazon Prime was using. It's always "follow the money" with them...