When will WD fix the networking problem?

Community Archives WD TV Live Firmware
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I have gone through every possible iteration of firmware and fixes and the networking on the WDTV Live still does not work properly. Today only my system running XP is visible to my WDTV Live and both of my Windows 7 systems are not seen. Previously they worked fine. I can see each of the three systems from the other and the Windows 7 systems show the WDTV Live on the network but the WDTV Live WILL NOT see shares or media servers hosted on the Windows 7 systems anymore. Oh yeah…my TeraStation NAS appears and disappears. Right now WDTV Live does not see it.

When will someone write a  WDTV Live Samba implementation that WORKS?

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It works fine as long as your network works well. MS has the WORST implementation of network discovery imaginable. It all depends on the Master Browser. If that isn’t working EXACTLY RIGHT,your WDs will be crippled by it.

3

Funny that everything else on my network works:

Silicon Dust HDHomerun, Slingbox Pro, Brother all-in-one, TeraStation NAS,  Laptop, two Windows 7 systems, an XP system, router, Linksys Linstation NAS…

The one device that I have constant problems with is WDTV Live.

I don’t disagree with you regarding MS networking. It does indeed stink. And the Master Browser issue is something I have seen however if  other devices can work with MS networking why can’t the WDTV Live?

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ALL of those are running SAMBA?? Wow, I thought I had a bunch. Humor me and try this. Find your master browser, and shut it off. Wait until a NEW device is elected, then turn on the Live. Here’s how.

On one of your PCs, open up a “Command” window.

(In Win Vista and Win7, click the Orb, and in the search box, type CMD. An icon will appear above the box that says cmd.exe. Click it, and a Command window will open.)

(In WinXP, Click START, then RUN…, and in the box, type CMD. A Command Window will open.)

In the command window, enter the command “net view,” like this:
…
…
C:\Users\Tony>net view
Server Name Remark

\BIGNAS1 Big Freakin’ NAS Server 1
\MARS
\NEPTUNE
\WDTVLIVE WDTV LIVE
The command completed successfully.

In my example, there are four active devices that Windows has discovered.

Now, for EACH of those, issue the command “nbtstat -a (name)” for example:

C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a bignas1

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.157] Scope Id:

NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table

Name Type Status

BIGNAS1 <00> UNIQUE Registered
BIGNAS1 <03> UNIQUE Registered
BIGNAS1 <20> UNIQUE Registered
…__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <1D> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
…

So, we got lucky here, the FIRST system, BIGNAS1, indicates that it is the master browser, since it lists the name …__MSBROWSE__.

You need to find out WHICH system is your master browser. If none of these steps work as described, then the issue is likely on your PC itself, and that will require substantial additional troubleshooting.

5

Interesting…

My XP sustem was the master. I turned it off and still can only see shares on the XP system. No Win7 shares or media servers, no NAS.

BTW from the netview results the two Win7, the XP, the TeraStation and the WDTV Live are using Samba. The LinkStation is off at the moment.

I just rebooted WDTV Live and will give it a few minutes to connect.

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That, in and of itself, is unusual. In MSland, the more recent versions of windows win the election. The fact that XP was master when you have two Win7 boxes online is weird. In my network, here is the order : qNap NAS, Win7 box 1, Win 7 box 2, Vista box, Xp box. Remember, after you shut down the master, it can take a LONG time for a new one to get elected… A half hour isn’t impossible…

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(edit for spelling)

I have a new master…one of the Win7 systems.

WDTV Live has internet connectivity but sees only the TeraStation NAS and the XP system. Still no Win7 shares and no media servers on either Win7 system.

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NIETHER Network Shares NOR media servers a appearing? That’s a whole new ball game. Media Server discovery has NOTHING to do with samba in any way at all. So, if that’s the case,we need tonlook somewhere else completely.

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I have a media server on both Win7 systems.

Previously I could see shares on the systems, the Media players and has media sharing from WMP.

Now nothing.

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Tony,

Thank you for taking the time and helping out. I see that I have share issues possibly related to the computer browser.

This is not surprising given that state of MS networking.

It seems that I have some Windows 7 issues now also. I am unsure why all of the sudden the Win7 systems and media servers are invisible to WDTV Live but I CAN see the media server on my XP system after I just updated it and started it.

I cannot see the Playon srever on the one still running Win7 system even with the Win7 firewall turned off…:frowning:

I guess I need to poke around the net to see if anyone else has this problem. At this point I am more concerned with regaining access to my media servers that fixing the shares issue.

I appreciate all of your help.

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Found the problem but not the solution. Worked around it with a different connection.

I was set up using a wireless adapter and prior to today all was fine so I had no reason to suspect that the problem was related to wireless, especially since the network connection WAS there - Good signal strength, good network check - the Internet worked, XP worked…

Setup:
Netgear WNR3500
Rosewill RNX-N150UBE wireless USB adapter

Wireless was manually configured with a fixed IP.

Windows 7 systems and XP could see each other and all other local devices.

The WDTV Live showed up in the Win7 network pane but no connection could be made from Win7 to the device.

WDTV Live found shares and the media server when running on the XP system but never under any circumstances would it see either the shares or the media servers on Windows 7 32 bit or Windows 7 64 bit even with the firewalls disabled.

NAS shares came and went during the day.

Yesterday all was working fine.

Once I set up a WIRED connection all is again fine.

Went back to wireless with the same problems.

Back to WIRED and all shares and media servers are visible.

Something happened that screwed up the WIRELESS connection for WINDOWS 7 but NOT XP. Whatever it was (is) also messed with NAS shares.

This has me at a total loss but if someone has issues with shares or Windows 7 and is using wireless maybe my experience will help…

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I think Im having similar problem…

all was fine with win7 (wireless also), loaded latest firmware, now I can see share folders but no files…

i tried resetting wd and redoing net info…nada!

not very happy :frowning:

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Edited for content regarding the reply

The wireless issue is still a mystery to me. I could see no share and no media server. The shares use samba and as Tony brought up the Media servers use a different protocol - SSDP or simple service discovery protocol.

I do not  understand how the wireless adapter could connect to XP and have issues with Windows 7 shares and media servers however I can pin this directly on the .49 firmware as I was running the .43 software with no problems.

The added mystery is that after rolling back to the .43 and then to the .21 firmaware the issue persists.

I have done both soft and hard resets.

It SEEMS as though there are some “leftovers” after an update and a rollback…

Or there are some other MAJOR issues yet to be addressed.

Edit:

Regarding the issue of being able to see folders and not seeing the files I have seen this also but am not sure if it is related to the wireless issue because I have also seen this on a wired connection. It has taken a bit of time to see files in folders under certain circumstances such as when a device with a large capacity is connected to the usb port or is on the network but I have been able (with the wired connection) to find files in folders after waiting a while.

I am currently having some issues with the Playon server and the wired connection but the TVersity server seems to be always available and I am not quite sure  what to point at yet.

Misc:

The WDTV Live recognizes a 120 GB USB HDD and will cat the files but it takes a long time and slows device response.