"Netflix in Windows Media Center" remote control problem

Question

Installation of the plug-in worked perfectly on my Dell XPS M1530 with Windows Vista Ultimate.  But I've run into an issue with some (important) buttons on the remote control not working during movie playback.  In fact, every button that should function does indeed work with these these notable exceptions:

• Play
• Pause

The strange thing is that even he fast forward/reverse buttons work.  However once Netflix goes into skip ahead/back mode, the only way to return to the movie is to press stop and Restart with the Select/OK button.  Well, other than walking across the room and using the mouse/keyboard on the laptop.

Anybody else notice this limitation?  Any known workarounds?

Oh, and just in case it comes up... I know the remote works.  I use the same remote with Windows Media Player, and the Play button does double duty:  it acts as a Play/Pause toggle.  That sort of makes me think there could be other IR codes for discrete Play & Pause, but so far I haven't stumbled upon any useful information in that regard.  I'm using a Harmony 880... so I have some flexibility if someone has some insight or can point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Well perhaps someone noticed this issue independent of this thread... I setup Windows 7 Home Premium on this laptop over the weekend, and for giggles I installed the current NetFlix plug-in.  To my delight, this issue has been addressed.

I know that there was a Vista Media Center (and maybe a Sliverlight) change pushed through Windows Update recently as well... but I didn't get around to trying it before I pulled the trigger on the upgrade.  So the issue might be fixed on Vista as well now.

Thanks Microsoft!!

Answer 2

I'm having the same problem.  I also know it's not my remote.  It works everywhere else but during playback of movies/shows in Netflix.

Answer 3

Thanks for the confirmation nxtiak -- I think everybody else that replied missed the point, the problem really has nothing to do with the remote control.

I haven't found any new information myself, I've pretty much given up for now.  The plugin requires an update to address this... now if we could get someone to notice/acknowledge this.

Answer 4

I too just noticed today that keyboard shortcuts do NOT work when a movie is playing inside the official Netflix in Media Center plugin.

Keyboard works just fine navigating netflix and selecting a movie, but once a movie plays, the only button that works is the backspace key.

Trying to do a control P to pause, does nothing, doing a control shift F to fast forward does nothing.

THese same keyboard shortcuts work just fine in the music and playing dvds inside media center.

So, I take it as Netflix plugin is broke and needs to be updated to fix keyboard shortcut commands.