To be honest, I started writing this article with a different headline and different content. It was going to be titled something like "How to watch Amazon Prime in HD under Linux" or how I managed to do it... but I didn't get it. I started writing it because I found various documentation about it, but nothing has worked for me and my frustration with Prime Video in Linux it is still present.
The problem: Linux users are a minority that they don't want to take care of, and in this y this other link Disney proves it. But let's explain it a little better: the culprit is DRM, that technology that, in short, is used to prevent us from pirating streaming content. To be able to play Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and other similar services from the browser – and some other software – it is necessary to use Widevine, from Google, but this has different levels of security. On Linux, by choice more than anything else, only Widevine L3 is supported, but the most popular platforms are using Widevine L1.
Widevine L1: the culprit of Prime Video and HD problems
My story that I label "odyssey" began a couple of weeks ago. Prime Video has switched to showing advertising and I tried different options out of curiosity. One of them was what I had been using for a long time: Kodi. Although I have read in different media that it allows you to choose the quality, it is only possible with audio, leaving the video in SD resolution. My next step was to search for tricks to get to see content in HD under Linux.
As I had explained, this article was going to be about how I got it, and I even started it because I had found several paths:
Install the Windows version of Chrome
The first thing I found was something like esto, and I saw it in at least three sources: on YouTube, on Reddit and in forums like Manjaro's. The theory goes that you can install WINE, wine-staging, and winetricks to install the Chrome EXE, create a special .desktop, trick it into thinking you're on Windows, and everything will work fine. Because in Windows it does work.
The problem is that, although you can find that same information in publications from a few months ago, it has stopped working. At least the latest versions of DRM also analyze some of the hardware, and can even keep you in SD quality if the hardware - like the HDMI cable – it's not how they like it. I tried with WINE, distrobox and Bottles, but nothing worked for me.
Netflix extension 1080p
Hay an extension what do they say, allows you to play Netflix at 1080p on Linux, but it is something that I have not been able to test because I am not subscribed to this platform. I did install the extension, I went to one of those pages that tell you if you meet the DRM requirements and the result was no. There is no extension for Prime Video, so that's it.
GitHub option already removed
There was an option published on GitHub which I also tried, but right now I don't remember what it proposed. I tried to review their content for this article, but they have removed the repository.
What I didn't try: Download Widevine L1 and… tinker too much
There was something I didn't try, and right now I can't find that information in my history. But something interesting was explained, and that was that there was no reason why Linux couldn't play Prime Video in HD. The problem is rather a lack of care or desire, and if they have to bother us Linux users... total, we are 4%.
This information had to be retouched too much, downloading Widevine L1 from another system, include it in Linux and apply a patch. I decided not to do it on equipment that I don't want to ruin.
Windows to the rescue to watch Prime Video in HD
In the end what I did to get to watch Prime Video in HD on the same device I watch everything else on was use Mini11 on a USB. It is a Windows 11 ISO modified so that it can run on low-resource computers. I created a "Windows to Go", I put it on that laptop, I added the drivers so I could output video through the HDMI port... and I finally saw "HD 1080" in a Prime Video movie.
The above sounds simple, but I started with the creation of the USB when the Jerez Grand Prix was in progress - before 14pm -, I watched an entire movie on Prime Video, I had to create Windows To Go at least one more time... In the end I had what I was looking for around 20pm, approximately. 6 hours after starting.
The good thing about that USB is that, in addition to Prime Video, I can use other things that don't work so well on Linux. You know, sometimes I miss Windows.
Prime Video, Netflix and others: take care of us a little more, we are not dangerous hackers
From here, although I doubt that any of these companies will read me, sending them this request: take care of us, we exist and it wouldn't cost you too much. chromeOS is Linux and can play content in HD, and that developer I mention here showed that it was not a software problem, but rather a policy problem. Don't be stubborn we don't love them to steal. I think that, as I have read in my research, if someone considers stealing it is actually to see the content at higher quality. I leave it there.