TiVo NetFlix RSS Reader - User Guide          

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     Setting Your NetFlix Profile ID(s)

Overview

If you are a NetFlix user, you probably have wanted to be able to take a look at your NetFlix account directly from your TV.  This application allows you to do just that.  NetFlix provides a lot of your account information in "RSS" format, which can easily be translated into screen you can view from your TiVo.

     Screenshots

Requirements

NetFlix RSS Reader for TiVo is a Java application that runs on your PC.  To use it, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must have a home network:
  • with at least one TiVo and one PC on it.
  • broadband access or other always-on internet connection.
• Your TiVo must:
  • be running software version 7.1 or newer with support for HME applications.  (You can tell if you do if you have a menu item called 'Music, Photos, and More' at the main TiVo menu.)
• Your PC must:
  • Have the Java JRE 1.4.2_07 or newer installed.  (The download page will help you with this.)

If you meet all these requirements, you may download and install the application.

Installation

See the download page for complete details on installing and running the application.

Set Your NetFlix Profile ID(s)

Update as of v1.40: this should now be a lot easier, since the installer will now help you through most of this.  However, read this section if you have several NetFlix IDs, or you need to otherwise manually edit the profile-ids.xml file.

There are 3 screens that provide "personalized" information that you will not be able to view unless you provide a big ol' long number that Netflix gives you.  Here's how to find it, and what to do with it.  (Don't worry, this is not your NetFlix primary login ID/e-mail address or password or anything like that.)

• First, go to http://www.netflix.com and log in.
• Once you're logged in, go to http://www.netflix.com/RSSFeeds
• Scroll down to the 'Personalized Feeds' section.  You see several URLs listed there; each should have a URL that looks something like this.  I have highlighted an example of the text you're interested in in red below:
  
• Copy the part after id= (don't include the id= part) (and not from this window, for god's sake, the Netflix window!)
• Find the file profile-ids.xml (it should be in the same directory where you installed this application) and paste it in there between the <id> and </id> tags, replacing the "undefined" that's currently there.
• Optionally, edit the description as well.  (The description is only useful when there is more than one profile defined in the file.)
• Delete any extra <profile> ... </profile> sections not needed.  (If the ID is "undefined", they'll be ignored anyway, but it doesn't hurt to delete them if they're not being used.)

When you're done, profile-ids.xml should look something like this:

Multiple Profiles or Accounts

If you have more than one profile or more than one NetFlix account, simply copy the <profile> section and edit appropriately.  Here's an example of a valid file with two profiles:

More Service Info

If you have installed the application as a service, there are a few things you can do to it:

• Start - Run - services.msc - <enter>
• Look for "TiVo: NetFlix RSS Reader" in the list:
  
  

• Right-click on it, then choose Properties.  You'll see a dialog that looks like this:

• You may start or stop the service from here using the Start and Stop buttons.  You may also change the Startup type from 'Automatic' to 'Manual' if you would prefer not to have the service start up automatically when Windows is restarted.
• To get rid of the service, use the nf_svc_uninstall batch file, described above.

Software Firewalls

The service install and uninstall scripts automatically add and remove an exception to Windows Firewall for the application.  Without this exception, TiVo will not be able to see the application.  If you use a different software firewall, you must create the exception in your firewall software manually.  The default path to the executable is c:\tivo\netflixrss\Netflix_RSS_Svc.exe .

By default, the Windows Firewall exception is added as 'My Network (subnet) only':

This is the recommended setting for most installs.  You can change this setting by doing Start - Control Panel - Windows Firewall.  Click the 'Exceptions' tab, then find 'TiVo: NetFlix RSS Reader Service' in the list.  Click 'Edit...', then 'Change Scope...'  You should see the dialog box above.

When run manually (using the nf_run_manually.bat file), the process runs as "javaw.exe".  So, Windows Firewall (or other software firewalls) will need to have the full path to javaw.exe listed as an exception.  However, when running manually, most firewall packages (Windows Firewall included) will prompt you to add it the first time it's run.  This is not the case for the Windows service, which is why manually adding the service is necessary, but manually adding javaw.exe is usually not.

Uninstall

• Double-click Uninstall.exe in the installation directory.  There's also a menu item in Start - Programs - NetFlix RSS Reader.

Use

In the TiVo menu; you should see 'Music, Photos, & More' in the list.  Select it, and you should see 'NetFlix RSS Reader' in the list.  Selecting it will run the application.

Credits

This application uses mjxml.jar from MyJavaTools for the RSS processing and JAXB from Sun for XML unmarshalling.

License

This application is provided via Common Public License - v 1.0.

This application is provided as-is, with no warranty expressed or implied.  Use this application at your own risk.  The author assumes no liability for any loss associated with the use of this application.  If you do not agree with the terms of this license, do not install this application.

Changes

1.60 (11/4/06)

• Converted to JAXB 2.0
• Now requires JRE 1.5
• New automated ant build and deploy

1.50 (3/30/06)

• Added 'Movies at Home' screen
• Added missing public feeds (Faith & Spirituality)
• Fixed installer bug with add/remove Windows Firewall exception

1.40

• Converted to HME 1.4 and Bananas 1.3
• Added Windows installer

1.3

• Changed default line termination for UNIX shell script
• Fixed backgrounds disappearing with TiVo software v7.2

1.21

• Added Windows Firewall exception during service install.
• Improved shell script for UNIX users.

1.20

• Added ability to run as a Windows service.

1.10

• Added support for multiple profiles and accounts
• Added page hints to screens with scrolling lists
• Cleaned up special characters in movie descriptions

1.01

• Fixed incompatibility with 1_4_2.08

1.0

• Initial version

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