So is my WD LMP bricked after attempting firmware downgrade?

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
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As the subject line says,  I wonder whether my media player (third gen) got bricked after I tried to downgrade the firmware. I didn’t use this media player often, but nevertheless recently let it uprade to the latest firmware when I saw it was a new one. After I did this, the media player started freezing while playing media files and then typically also informed that it didn’t support the codec for the file that had just worked moments before.

I only used the media player for media through USB. Not streaming, yet I experienced the same bug as many other people have described. Possibly because there are several machines and smart phones on the network of this house.

So after reading that lots of other people had the same problem, I decided downgrading the firmware. From the current version 2.01.86 (or rather it was version 2.02.xx that was the last, according to my media players info and also what I read on the forum)…back to 1.16.13. I transported the three files over to a memory stick (kept it at NTFS) and insterted it to the player and started it. And unlike the instructions I find on WD, it wasn’t all like that. Instead I could see the firmwared by clicking the notification button on the upper right.

So I did. I was asked whether I wanted to upgrade to “3.16.13”. I clicked ok to that, and after a short while the media seemed to restart itself while the light on the memory stick kept blinking for quite a while. I say “restart itself” since the light indicator on the WD media player turned itself on.

But the screen never came on again. I expected the media player to turn itself on after some more while, since I didn’t see any more activity on the memory stick. But after waiting for half an hour I decided to try to turn the media player off and on again. The light indicator goes on, but it never starts up.

It seems bricked. I wonder what happened, as I have done lots of firmware upgrades (also downgrades) with different products before, and it has always worked before.

If I try to insert the memory stick again with the firmware and turn on the media player, the memory stick blinks for perhaps a minute, and then nothing.

So when it fails like it just did, there is no way to fix the media player?

(I am more than a little surprised that an attempt downgrade the firmeware might have bricked my media player. )

I would appreciate your input.

Thank you.

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try a different USB stick   (Format it FAT32 … leave it empty, except for the Firmware files)

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I took my WD media player to another floor of the house, to test it on another TV. My hopes was that because of the upgrading (downgrading) process that the unit (TV) didn’t recognise the HDMI signal after the downgrade.

Which happened to be correct. It started up normally on the other TV. And now the media player shows the lower firmware that I chose.

I know from past experience that the TV I had the media player on  has problems detecting HDMI signals.

Now I will take the media player down to the other TV again. : )

I am glad the media player isn’t dead. Especially as I bought it more than two years ago (meaning no guarantee left) and since I have used it very little. So that it is still practically new. I actually removed the plastic on the top and the front a few days ago. (I intend to use it a lot more from now on.)

Thank you for your input .

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i’m glad it’s “working” for you now … have you tried different HDMI cables and inputs on the TV ?

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Yes, I have invested in a bunch of HDMI cables for different TVs. Some cables expensive. And it doesn’t matter which hdmi cables I use for that particular TV. The TV is a Scandinavian brand name (Anderson), a cheap brand, but I am sure that it must be identical to some other TVs known by different brand name other places in Europe. The day I bought the TV, it stopped working after the first auto firmware upgrade. So I received a new TV. But I managed to find out that also the first TV had the same problems with HDMI signals.

Anyway, when the TV first manages to detect the HDMI signal for a connected device (I must unplug and plug the cable until it is detected - it doesn’t work to just press hard on the plugs as it is not a loose connection that is the issue, and there are six hdmi connections, and they all have the same problem), then the signal isn’t lost for months even after I shut down the power of the TV completely. (I left the TV unused for a year, and when I started up a device connected to the TV after all that time, it was detected.)

So when I downgraded the firmware for the WD media player, it also apparently resetted the hdmi connection. It is strange that it didn’t do it on the upgrade though.