New Release - WD TV Live Firmware Version 1.06.43 (1/17/13)

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live & Live Plus
281

This firmware update has been a disappointment for me. I now have several annoying faults that have developed:

When I enter the WD TV folder path I can no longer navigate through the Network Shares, but have to go through a whole new path to Media Servers. The method I have used for a year or so no longer works at all.

When I finally get through to the location (server) I want, the ‘thinking spinner’ just hangs for ages. I have since discovered that I can push the left or right arrow on my remote which stops the spinner and just forces it to enter the first folder location. What was it ‘waiting’ for?

each time I watch a movie or TV show now I can be assured that it will lose connection to the server at least once and be forced to go back and select media-server, folder, folder etc once again.

I am running this totally stock by the way - no mods at all. Just plugged into my network cable and TV.

I don’t understand why there are so many errors with each new firmware release on these things. It would be nice to just turn it on, get dropped into a predetermined default folder and just watch a movie when I want to instead of all these convoluted paths to get to a single folder on my server and these annoying errors. It is - to me at least - a really unprofessional approach by WD to mess with basic functionality like this with firmware updates that make changes to basic paths etc.

People buy these boxes to help them to watch movies and TV show, but how on earth could someone with no tech skills get around these faults if they are so complicated to fix. Even the ‘fix’ of rolling back is met with the stupid situation where the box still tries to force you to update the firmware again. To stop it, you must disable internet access to the update server or put up with a pointless reminder every time you turn on the unit.

This is supposed to be a plug and play media solution for retail users, but it has been a disappointment in my house (and many others after reading these forums).

I think it is time for WD to spend their technical bucks to just roll the functions back to a decent standard, stop the forced updates and give consumers something that works and do some decent BETA testing prior to releasing the firmware to make sue there are not these errors - or at least warn people on the packaging that ‘firmware updates WILL mess with your head sometime soon’.

I will be trying out the direct network connection to my Sony TV sometime soon and hopefully discover that I can disconnect the WD TV for good and just watch movies direct to the TV.

Sorry that my first post is a rant, but I feel really disappointed in this product and I have spent hours reading through your informative posts but have not really come out the other side with a decent solution.

Rec0n

282

There are no forced updates.

283

Techflaws wrote:

There are no forced updates.

When the media player displays a persistent notice that there is a new firware version available and there is no switch to turn off the notification, I call that a forced update.

No consumer level person would put up with that warning more than once - especially the first time they see it.

* by consumer level person, I mean Joe Average off the street with minimal tech skills and a simple expectation that the thing should work as advertised.

With the new Australian Consumer Law in place now too, WD had better be careful with these things. The buyer is entitled to a full refund if the product stops performing as advertised for any reason. This would be a classic example imho.

284

Rec0n wrote:> …when there is no switch to turn off the notification, I call that a forced update.

No one else does… If anything, you could call it a “forced notification,” but nothing is forcing you to update.

285

Rec0n, I agree with you. The updates are forced. They are not formalyl forced, but of course they are forced. Everybody knows that. Except Tonyph12345 and Techflaws. Certainly they work for WD…

I

286

valente274 wrote:

Certainly they work for WD…

Sorry, I forgot that you don’t understand English.

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valente274 wrote:

Rec0n, I agree with you. The updates are forced. They are not formalyl forced, but of course they are forced. Everybody knows that. Except Tonyph12345 and Techflaws. Certainly they work for WD…

 

I

As the user has to actually agree to update how can it be forced. The notification is annoying but no update is forced. And no I don’t work for WD, not that it would make any difference to the answer if I did. 

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valente274 wrote:

Certainly they work for WD…

Or we simply have a different opinion from you. Probably because we looked up the word “forced”.

289

OK, perhaps if you re-read my post, then you will note that I am saying that there is a persistent reminder that there is new firmware to download that does not go away until you actually do the update. Nothing more.

OK, so I have to agree to the firmware update in the end, but seriously guys, semantics aside, there is every reason for the average Joe to press the update buttons. I am saying that if there was a ‘Do not advise me of firmware updates’ selection in the menu, then this forum would be a lot quieter than what it is.

I can see you guys are massive contributors and that probably makes you high end users and tweakers and that is awesome, but what of the simple folk who simply want to watch a movie without some constant reminder of an update that will probably cause us headaches (from experiences of the last two updates). For most users I would imagine that simply being able to navigate to and watch a show is ALL they want. The power users may want more, but I don’t.

If you are going to argue the meaning of words, then maybe I am in the wrong forum, but this is a public forum where everybody’s opinions are encouraged and valid. Certain statements may be wrong, and words ill chosen, but my opinion remains my own, as does yours.

Techflaws wrote:

There are no forced updates.

Seriously Techflaws - that is all you can offer my entire first post?

And tonyph12345 - not sure if you are entitled to speak for other’s like that mate. You are correct about the forced notification, it is just your delivery that lets your comment down.

You guys have over 20,000 posts between you and no one made an attempt to answer or discuss my ACTUAL points.

I use forums to try to get to the bottom of things like this and to learn more so I can make some informed choices. I am not a troll who is here to attack other’s posts, nor an I here to listen to people who sidestep the main issue and focus on petty side issues.

Does anyone else have the issues I mentioned in my post above, or know of a cure (other than rolling back to the earlier FW version and putting up with those update notifications).

Thanks in advance for some useful responses.

290

Rec0n:  Yeah, but the logic becomes circular, as implementing the feature would require an update.  ;)

There’s plenty of how-to’s on this forum to tell you how to disable the notification by blocking it in your router.

Your question #1 is a valid issue, and it’s discussed numerous times (as well as steps to prevent it, namely using a static IP instead of DHCP) in the posts above.

I don’t know if #2 & 3 are related to #1.

291

TonyPh12345 wrote:

Rec0n:  Yeah, but the logic becomes circular, as implementing the feature would require an update.  ;)

It’s probably an update I would embrace… :slight_smile:

TonyPh12345 wrote:

There’s plenty of how-to’s on this forum to tell you how to disable the notification by blocking it in your router.

 

Your question #1 is a valid issue, and it’s discussed numerous times (as well as steps to prevent it, namely using a static IP instead of DHCP) in the posts above.

 

I don’t know if #2 & 3 are related to #1.

 

Cheers - I still think it is a pain that we have to go and change everything else AROUND the WDTV in order to reclaim or achieve some basic functions, but I will hit the search function later and see how I go.

Thanks

1 Like
292

Rec0n wrote:> Cheers - I still think it is a pain that we have to go and change everything else AROUND the WDTV in order to reclaim or achieve some basic functions, but I will hit the search function later and see how I go.

Thanks

I have had WD chasing me on the phone to try to help me sort out my issues…pretty impressed with that tbh, even though I have missed their calls, they are nothing if not persistant in trying to assist. Thanks WD - I’m sure we will connect soon!

293

OK, a very helpful tech from level 2 tech support at WD just finished with me on the phone where we rolled back to the previous FW. I will now donwload the new .43 version again but from the site this time and not over the net and try it out.

The tech was sure it would be better this time.

I can’t give enough praise for WD’s product support at this point. A great L2 guy, persistance and all for an older model unit.

At best they have secured my trust in their suppor and the brand.

Thank you.

294

Is anyone using this firmware release successfully?  This last post leads me to believe WD has fixed it.  Is it fixed?

295

chuckd3 wrote:

Is anyone using this firmware release successfully?  This last post leads me to believe WD has fixed it.  Is it fixed?

Actually I have not re-updated to the newset firmware as yet, but the tech did say that they have had more success than failures with the FW and that dimply downloading the files from the site might be enough to avoid any slight file corruption that might cause any issues people are having.

The big question is “has anyone rolled back and re-updated to .43 and found that it DOES work perfectly?” 

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Rec0n wrote:
the tech did say that they have had more success than failures with the FW and that simply downloading the files from the site might be enough to avoid any slight file corruption that might cause any issues people are having.

So, people having their files randomly turned into 0 byte folders that may or may not be recoverable by $$$-software is considered a slight file corruption? That explains a lot.

297

He meant that ‘slight file corruption’ of the firmware file itself could cause some of these and other random issues - some of which could, I guess, be the corruption of YOUR media files. He didn’t minimalise the effect, just gave me advice to download the file from their site and drop it onto a USB stick instead of doing a live update over the wire as a means of minimising the chance of corrupting the FW itself.

You don’t need to attack every comment like that either - I get that you are upset about some outcome or another, but making negaitve comments about everyone else’s posts is hardly the way to try to get things fixed. Have YOU tried multiple reversions and re-updates of the FW at all? Maybe it will help you and others?

I will report back with the outcome of my trial of a local reinstall of the FW in the hope that it will help others to oversome their issues.

By the way, I use EASEUS file recovery software all the time for recovery jobs and have had remarkable success with it. Money well spent imho.

I recovered a 1Tb HDD that became RAW formatted and got all 500+ GB of my photos back without damage. It might help you if you still have issues?

Rec0n

298

Hello friends, 

anyone knows, if wd will release any more firmware versions for this product?

Best regards to all.

299

Hello. I recently updated the firmware on my WD TV Live (I haven’t used it since last summer or so), and now I cannot watch any videos in mkv, or otherwise.

The error states, “Unable to play the selected file. Please see the User Manual for a list of supported file formats”

I am running through TVersity. I did recently purchase a new computer, but I set up everything exactly the way it was before. The only thing that changed was the firmware. Can anyone point a finger in the right direction??? Thanks.

300

You might want to see if TVersity needs updating.

I remember a *long* time ago (more than a year) that TVersity made a change that made it not work with the WDTVs, and either WD or TVersity published a fix later.