Showmax no longer working on Linux

R

Rain King

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Hello Internet,

I'm hoping some other fellow Linux users or clever clogs might be able to help me out.

After years with no issues, as of today, Showmax no longer plays videos on my browser, producing the following error message:
"Sorry, your system configuration is not compatible with Showmax. Please check the supported devices in our Help Center (6007)."

This is in Firefox 122.0 on a laptop running Linux Mint 21.3, and the problem repeats in the same browser on my desktop running Fedora 39. I have tried using Chrome as an alternative browser to no avail. Given that Showmax work's fine on my roommate's desktop running Windows 10 and Chrome, I suspected that it may be an issue with Linux. So, I also tried the User-Agent Switcher and Manager extension, setting my user agent to Chrome 118.0 on Windows 10 (among others) with no luck.

I am now officially stumped. Are there others that have encountered this same problem on Linux devices? If so, have you discovered a user-end solution, or is there a solution planned from Showmax's side?

Any useful information would be greatly appreciated. :)
 
Showmax has a massive revamp and I’m guessing they simply dropped support.
 
Rain King said:
Hello Internet,

I'm hoping some other fellow Linux users or clever clogs might be able to help me out.

After years with no issues, as of today, Showmax no longer plays videos on my browser, producing the following error message:
"Sorry, your system configuration is not compatible with Showmax. Please check the supported devices in our Help Center (6007)."

This is in Firefox 122.0 on a laptop running Linux Mint 21.3, and the problem repeats in the same browser on my desktop running Fedora 39. I have tried using Chrome as an alternative browser to no avail. Given that Showmax work's fine on my roommate's desktop running Windows 10 and Chrome, I suspected that it may be an issue with Linux. So, I also tried the User-Agent Switcher and Manager extension, setting my user agent to Chrome 118.0 on Windows 10 (among others) with no luck.

I am now officially stumped. Are there others that have encountered this same problem on Linux devices? If so, have you discovered a user-end solution, or is there a solution planned from Showmax's side?

Any useful information would be greatly appreciated. :)
Click to expand...
Yep getting it too on fedora with firefox. Even tried Edge that now works on linux. I have to be honest here. After getting hold of a windows machine and logging in it looks like Showmax just got reskinned. Series and movie wise, same old boknaai. There are much better streaming services out there. I'll give it a few days to see if linux support gets reintroduced but its really not worth the effort to setup another device just to have a streaming service where I'll spend an hour flipping through titles I don't want to watch.
 
experiencing the same error on ubuntu... slightly off topic, i haven't been able to stream dstv.now on a (manjaro & ubuntu) machine for the last 2 months when this used to be available, tried reaching out to support the agents state they have escalated and you never here anything back :) telkom esque
 
By the looks of it Showmax no longer support Linux, I tried their support e-mail and got the following response:
Thank you for contacting the Showmax Support Team.

Please note that with the new Showmax, you are unable to use Linux as your operating system. Please note that we only support the following browsers:
1- Chrome
2- Microsoft Edge
3- Safari
4- Firefox

Please note that since you are unable to watch on your chrome, please try the following:
-please sign out of Showmax app/website
- Restart your device
- Restart your internet connection
- Clear cache or history (on cell phone or PC/laptop )
- Sign back in and try again
-Please make sure the Proxy or VPN is disabled (On Mobile and vice and laptop or PC )
Please note that for Showmax, we recommend a minimum internet speed of 2Mbps and a minimum of 4Mbps if you use uncapped. You can test your download speed at: https://www.speedtest.net/

What a lot of nonsense, they claim that they support or try and support as many systems as possible but unfortunately it's not true.
I could happily stream until Wednesday 24 January 2024 with no problems, next day nothing. I hope someone can help here, I can get absolutely no answers from Showmax themselves, except the crap they replied with
 
Well, that seems to confirm my suspicions. I am by no means a tech-savvy person, but what the hell? Was it really that much of a burden to carry on supporting Linux?
lukasdevilliers said:
By the looks of it Showmax no longer support Linux, I tried their support e-mail and got the following response:
Thank you for contacting the Showmax Support Team.

Please note that with the new Showmax, you are unable to use Linux as your operating system. Please note that we only support the following browsers:
1- Chrome
2- Microsoft Edge
3- Safari
4- Firefox

Please note that since you are unable to watch on your chrome, please try the following:
-please sign out of Showmax app/website
- Restart your device
- Restart your internet connection
- Clear cache or history (on cell phone or PC/laptop )
- Sign back in and try again
-Please make sure the Proxy or VPN is disabled (On Mobile and vice and laptop or PC )
Please note that for Showmax, we recommend a minimum internet speed of 2Mbps and a minimum of 4Mbps if you use uncapped. You can test your download speed at: https://www.speedtest.net/

What a lot of nonsense, they claim that they support or try and support as many systems as possible but unfortunately it's not true.
I could happily stream until Wednesday 24 January 2024 with no problems, next day nothing. I hope someone can help here, I can get absolutely no answers from Showmax themselves, except the crap they replied with
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your experience, and braving the customer service rabbit hole. What a pity, though. I'll really miss having access to local productions, which are exactly what I think need to be supported through subscriptions. Admittedly, I am not sure how this sort of thing works, but was it really such a drain on resources or technical capacity to continue supporting Linux? It seems very arbitrary to me.
 
DapperDanMan said:
Only the competition (and Jack Sparrow) can help you now ..
dkayza said:
experiencing the same error on ubuntu... slightly off topic, i haven't been able to stream dstv.now on a (manjaro & ubuntu) machine for the last 2 months when this used to be available, tried reaching out to support the agents state they have escalated and you never here anything back :) telkom esque
Click to expand...
To save you some time. This issue wont be resolved. Solution is to go to another streaming platform that supports linux. Please see attached support conversation.
Click to expand...
 

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agentrfr said:
Or Firefox with a user agent switcher?

You use Linux, it's supposed to be the first thing you try hehe
Click to expand...
I've got a user agent switcher with my Firefox, and Opera and Chromium - none of that helps here. Does with simpler things though.
 
Brian_G said:
I've got a user agent switcher with my Firefox, and Opera and Chromium - none of that helps here. Does with simpler things though.
Click to expand...
My 2c. It's most likely got to do with DRM support. Firefox has a DRM content selection that may not be enabled by default.
 
quovadis said:
My 2c. It's most likely got to do with DRM support. Firefox has a DRM content selection that may not be enabled by default.
Click to expand...
Definitely is DRM related. But it seems to be Multichoice themselves trying to stop this usage and on Linux in general - happened before with DStv and they fixed that but not for many months this time.
Some online suggestions swear that Chromium will work with certain setup criteria - doesn't.

I've got it working fine with Kodi.
 
Sorry, guys. Looks like we're out of luck.

[ubuntu] streaming peacock service

I'm using ubuntu 23.10. I have Aplletv working. I signed up for Peacock stream for black Friday deal thinking it would work. When I discovered only Windows and Mac are supported systems. That is a shame. is there any work around?.
ubuntuforums.org

Rain King said:
Well, that seems to confirm my suspicions. I am by no means a tech-savvy person, but what the hell? Was it really that much of a burden to carry on supporting Linux?
Click to expand...
They switched platforms - now using the same platform as Peacock (NBCUniversal), which might explain why they suddenly dropped support when switching from the original Showmax to Showmax 2.0.
 
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