WD TV Live Firmware Pre-release Update

PixelPower wrote:

 

If you hate the Live’s YouTube support, you won’t want a PopBox or any Popcorn Hour unit.  Syabas won’t pay the licensing fees and they have been blocked from YouTube altogether.  But you get free advertising in your library, that makes up for it, right?  ;) 

I don’t have any advertsing on my Pop corn and it is very well known it doesn’t have the networkign problems WD has.

Tha advertsing on the Pop box won;t  bother anyone we are all used to it on TVs browsers befrore oeping to full screen, cabe box guides etc. they all have advertising.

If you look at the GUI for Popbox it is clearly much more suer friendly and contains more information even considering the small adversing box.

It is funny how when the many advantages of popbox come up all tis detractors can discuss is the small advertsing window.

When it comes to YouTube, if you know what you are doing it is actually easier to get Youtube HD on the Syabas popcorn than it is on the WD devices :slight_smile:

Can anyone confirm what “Windows 7 support” means?

Could we lucky enough that it supports WTV files without converting to DVR-MS? That is my only wish. :slight_smile:

I did what was recommended and limited the master browser to only the PC that contains my shares and so far, the WDTV Live has connected everytime when connecting by network shares. I also reverted back to the latest stable firmware. The pre-release was horrible and rendered my device unusable. 

Its been a week since doing the aforementioned and its been working fine **holds breath**…  still patiently waiting the Popbox !!!

PixelPower wrote:

 

I had that issue for a while.  Turns out it was my network at fault, not the WD TV Live.  You might need to restrict Local Master Browser to the computer with the shares.  I had issues where a laptop would steal LMB and then when it got turned off the WD TV couldn’t find the shares for a while until another LMB was established.

 

 > Been trying to find out how to restrict the LMB to the main computer but I found nothing… Can someone help? Operating System is Windows 7

dzogas wrote:> Been trying to find out how to restrict the LMB to the main computer but I found nothing… Can someone help? Operating System is Windows 7 

Check out the following post, it tells you which registry keys to add / edit.

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Networking/Can-t-access-network-share-feature-consistently/m-p/13429#M1027

I actually think that WD is doing a good job. Its silly to assume that what would make perfect sense and straight forward to us (END USERS) would also apply to a company that I am sure has to adhere to both politics and technical guidelines.

There has been numerous negative comments about the beta release and its surprising to see how many people nagged about it even though its already tagged as BETA.

Also from what I followed, resetting your box to factory defaults seemed to resolve the bulk of the issues so maybe give this a try? or at least mention that you have already tried this before blindly posting something as technically useless as " it doesn’t work". Mind you that setting a device to factory defaults is not THAT much out of the norm, I have to do this to various other devices, cable/dsl routers are famous for wanting to do this. Resetting the box to defaults ensure that the device is setup as it was intended to be used and tested before you start to make changes to it.

Thanks everyone!

Being a programmer I agree.

The reason for the beta release is to see how it is working and to resolve any bugs found by the users before the final release.  Bugs are expected to be found in beta releases and it helps a great deal to report any bugs you find so that they can be fixed.  Be as detailed as you can with your set up and how you came across the bug.  This will help the techs narrow it down faster.

 And yes, you should do a reset of your box so that the new firmware can have a fresh start.  Not all things are going to be the same with the firmware changes so you need to setup your box again as well.

being a programmer aswell, I disagree.

Software is expected to have bugs, but no company whose product people paid for, uses them as beta testers.

Example:

you would expect google chrome to launch betas and frequent updates, but if MS released a beta of IE, no one would use it, because It’s not free (remember, you paid for windows.) and I shouldn’t beta test something I’ve paid for.

when we had a big bug (like the mp4 sync issue), we would stay late and correct it, or, completely remove the feature until it’s fixed. 2+2=4. you either get 100% or 0% because half working shoudn’t exist.

but firmwares are a bit different, I agree.

Hmm. I beta tested IE7,8 Vista and Windwos 7. I dont know bubble you are on but I can I be in it too!!? Wow wouldnt it be great to pay for software, have it be bug-free and … AND if there is a bug to have a fix in minutes… ah… life would be good!

Seriouly though, since you are a programmer, what suggestion would you have given WD with regards to fixing known bugs? to retract/remove code? how? As end users we have control on what code we use on the units not sure how WD could roll back any changes. Also as with this beta release, if you got it its because you volunteered for it. Its not like WD is making you test their stuff before they release the final code.

Its yours,  if you want to help test… thats the tone I interpreted from the initial post. I could be wrong though.

williamdelgado, very good post! I agree!

No one is forced or encouraged to install the BETA (Test) version… but WD has given the option to help them out for free if you wish.

The case would be different if a company would share the beta version via their device menus… that could be a disaster to their business! But at the current state these beta issues are nothing serious.

PEOPLE:

If you don’t like a probably unstable firmware then why did you upgrade to the beta in the first place? :dizzy_face:

As far as I am concerned by helping them out I am also helping myself. 

Wow. did you pay for windows 7 beta? or for the final?

Remember bios is a firmware, cd roms have firmware, dvd players have firmware. do they offer dvd playback but with audio syncs on all files?

It’s easier to fix bugs that are easy to replroduce. The hard thing to do is to fix bugs that happen to 10% of the users.

PS: I didn’t install this firmware. Some people are happy to be test subjects.

I am also a programmer… woow… we could even help WD!?

WD, will you consider to go into open source?

We could all help things to go faster, and better.

We all present our ideas and solutions (programmers), and you accept it or not, make final build, and publish.

Just an thought…

About BETA releases:

They can publish it, or not.

You can choose to install it, or not.

There is ALWAYS  A CHOICE !!!

VMware wrote:

 

PS: I didn’t install this firmware. Some people are happy to be test subjects.

So why are you posting in a thread that specifies it’s purely for feedback on the prerelease by users who’ve installed it?

I actually agree with your sentiments regarding commercial products that ship with blatantly unfinished firmware but I’m more than a little annoyed by the sheer number of posts in this thread that do not provide feedback on the firmware.

Some of us are still using it and trying to report back bugs we find, yet the thread is full of other people (running different firmware) griping about tangentially related issues.  Take it to the General board.

VMware wrote:

 

Remember bios is a firmware, cd roms have firmware, dvd players have firmware. do they offer dvd playback but with audio syncs on all files?

 

Yeah and they offer free updated features all the time.  Right?  You should be thankful that WD does update their firmware to add new features and fix existing bugs unlike many that would rather have you purchase a new device from them to get a new feature or bug fix. And, if it takes Beta testing to get there that’s all the better.  Several minds working the problem are better then one.  And as richUK  has mentioned, helping them benefits us.

richUK I am in line with you.

I for one, dont mind beta testing. I mean,  how cool is it to be able to play with updates and technology before anyone else does!? not only this, but by the time the production ready solution is released… you are a pro! :wink:

I do not mind testing since it DOES help me get the best out of my product in the long run.

Not sure if these have been implemented in the firmware, so a plug for ideas kudos follows!

Fix YouTube pause video bug

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/Fix-YouTube-pause-video-bug/idi-p/9741

Access to YouTuve Channels/Subscriptions

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/Access-to-YouTube-Channels-Subscriptions/idi-p/222

And one just posted:

Fix file transfer number bug

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/Fix-file-transfer-number-bug/idi-p/14445

Thanks

Download limit was reached by the time I got to this thread, so no testing for me this time.

I couldn’t Download the from the WDC website as the DL limit was reached but i found a Mirror on a fan site of the WD ftp/webstore and got this firmware, I only disclose this info to say that there is a remote chance my copy is different from yours. However all the leg work i did to verify its Authenticity would likely prove otherwise.

Benefits / Improvements:

-Folder covers all displayed correctly.

-The addition of preview Mode instead of icons may prove a solution to the network share issue showing the cover and the jpg

New bugs / Undesirable Behavior:

-After install of the firmware several reboots were required along with a restore to the factory settings to make the access to content possible

-No video of any kind worked until restore of factory settings.

-None of the Previews Showed up for video (likely a result of access violations to said media).

-Playback of any MKV file rendered all playback of video unstable.

-Password verification forced for unprotected files(wasn’t needed to login using 1.01.24).

-Took several minutes for any video to begin playing(caching? spooling?)

Suggestions:

-Allow the use of a USB devices memory to act as the cache for covers and listings to increase access time and playback smoothness.

-allow the use of headers in file names to determine use, IE: CART_batman.jpg to tell the firmware that it is Cover Art and not to show the jpg in the directory, allowing the obvious need to have pictures music and video files all show up on a network share. Or alternatively use the Header in the folder name to specify whether content will be listed in a share; IE MOV_SD files will show up under Video>Network Share>PC name but PIC_family or SND_Music would not.

And of course have Header not shown; IE MOV_SD files would show as SD files.

  • Allow skinning, not that the interface isn’t nice but who doesn’t like customization.

-add Support for Streaming video other than YouTube, like security footage of your house from and IP address or hulu.

-Parental Controls would be great: could also use Folder headers or an interface button to add files to the restriced list.

I love the WD TV Live, although it has a lot of rough edges i think you got a really great product.

I have problems with caching. I am using WDTV Live with my Win7 desktop. I can see photos and listen to music (sharing via samba) but I am not able to play any video (sharing via samba). I have to copy them on a 2,5" hdd and play it from USB ports. When I try to stream via smb, everything hangs. I can wait 5/10/20/30 mins without seeing anything.

I have to say my configuraziont is:

WDTV → Linksys router in client/bridge mode → WIFI to Linksys main router → WiFi to my PC.

I can use this setup for my xbox media player, for my ps3 streaming, but not for WDTV streaming. I think it hangs while caching.

If you’re talking about MKV files, the network share play delay is a known issue.  Also, if you try to play an MKV and cancel, subsequent files of other types will have a loading delay too.

NEW NETWORK SHARE BUG?

When accessing network shares, assuming there is more than one PC / location listed, I’m finding that clicking on the desired location (e.g. ShareA) will result in an error message (“No Media etc”).  After OK-ing the message, the UI then shows the other share (e.g. ShareB) as being selected.  

In my case, ShareB has no suitable media, so it seems that despite selecting ShareA, the WD is in fact trying to access ShareB first.

Selecting ShareA once more gains access to the correct share.

This happens pretty much every time I turn on the WD and navigate to my main shares folder.