(Includes several edits to correct formatting errors)
I’m writing this post to try to help people through the majority of issues I’ve found when people are having trouble getting servers to work with their WDTVs.
First off, this is written for the WINDOWS user. I might write a thread for *nix later, but I have less experience with that, so it may not happen.
Also, note that this is for the TYPICAL user. If you’re doing something like using WINDOWS 2008 SERVER as a DOMAIN CONTROLLER, well, then you are, by definition, a server administrator, and you’d better know how to address those issues yourself, or you have no business being a SysAdmin. ;)
The most common complaints are:
- My server(s) doesn’t appear in the list for NETWORK SHARES on the WDTV Live / Live+ / Live Hub
- The Server Appears, but the SHARES do not appear.
Item 1
The VAST majority of people with this issue have either NO MASTER BROWSER, or a MALFUNCTIONING master browser. Let’s dig into this one first.
Here’s my troubleshooting steps:
The Master Browser function affects when and what servers appear on your WDTV Network Shares.
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
\\KIDS-VM-PC Virtual Win7 32-bit VM in VirtualBox
\\MYBOOKLIVE My Book Live Network Storage
\\NEPTUNE Win7 64-bit System
\\SATURN Windows XP System
\\WDTVLIVEHUB WDTV LIVE HUB
The command completed successfully.
In my example, there are six active devices that Windows has discovered.
There’s a couple of things that MIGHT happen here; like a “System Error 53” or any other. If THAT happens, you can stop. You’ve found part of the problem, and it’s on the PC you’ve just tried. You’ll have to troubleshoot that and remedy that error first.
So, assuming you got this far, we can move on:
For EACH of those names listed in the previous command, issue the command “nbtstat -a (name)” for example:
C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a kids-vm-pc
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.8] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
KIDS-VM-PC <00> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
KIDS-VM-PC <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered
MAC Address = 08-00-20-00-00-10
C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a mybooklive
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.8] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
MYBOOKLIVE <00> UNIQUE Registered
MYBOOKLIVE <03> UNIQUE Registered
MYBOOKLIVE <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00
C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a neptune
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.8] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
NEPTUNE <00> UNIQUE Registered
NEPTUNE <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered
MAC Address = 90-FB-A6-2D-8A-68
C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a saturn
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.8] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
SATURN <00> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
SATURN <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered
MAC Address = 00-07-E9-87-59-3B
C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a wdtvlivehub
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.8] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
WDTVLIVEHUB <00> UNIQUE Registered
WDTVLIVEHUB <03> UNIQUE Registered
WDTVLIVEHUB <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00
C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a bignas1
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.8] 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
MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00
I saved the best for last. Note that the FIRST system, BIGNAS1, indicates that it is the master browser, since it lists the name …__MSBROWSE__. I saved it for the end of the list because I KNEW it was the master, because I configured it that way.
Also note that the WORKGROUP name is IDENTICAL across all systems.
Does your server still NOT appear in any of those lists? Okay, try this:
C:\Users\Tony>net view /domain
Domain
-----------------------------------------------
ROUTERS
WORKGROUP
Note that there are TWO DOMAINs listed. The term “DOMAIN” is actually the same as WORKGROUP name in this case. If you, too, have two DOMAINs listed, then you need to see if your system is in the wrong workgroup. In my case, I have my Linksys E3000s set to their own workgroup, called “ROUTERS,” to PREVENT them from being the master browser of the WORKGROUP workgroup.
If that STILL doesn’t explain why your server isn’t listed, then hit it with this specific command:
C:\Users\Tony>nbtstat -a 10.0.0.2 (SUBSTITUTE THE IP ADDRESS OF YOUR SERVER)
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [10.0.0.8] Scope Id: []
NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
LS-FRONT <00> UNIQUE Registered
LS-FRONT <03> UNIQUE Registered
LS-FRONT <20> UNIQUE Registered
ROUTERS <1E> GROUP Registered
ROUTERS <00> GROUP Registered
MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00
So the server is named LS-FRONT, and it’s in the wrong workgroup, so it wasn’t showing in the above list. Again, that is intentional in my case,
If ANY of these commands give a “System Error 53,” then that in and of itself can explain the problem: The server wasn’t able to resolve the NAME of the system. You need to make sure you have “NetBIOS over TCP/IP” enabled on your system. Or, if you’re using DNS to resolve “Windows” names, your local DNS (usually your ROUTER) will need to be able to resolve these names.
On to Item 2: Your server appears but the SHARES do NOT.
First things first, try to see what your server THINKS its sharing, by doing this command. I’ll use my NAS server as an example.
C:\Users\Tony>net view \\bignas1
Shared resources at \\bignas1
Big Freakin' NAS Server 1
Share name Type Used as Comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISOs Disk ISO Repository
Kids Movies Disk V:
Movies 1 Disk Y: Kid Safe Movies
Movies 2 Disk X:
Network Recycle Bin 1 Disk [RAID5 Disk Volume: Drive 1 2 3 4]
Public Disk System default share
Qdownload Disk System default share
Qmultimedia Disk System default share
Qrecordings Disk System default share
Qusb Disk System default share
Qweb Disk System default share
TV Shows Disk W:
The command completed successfully.
That is the ENTIRE LIST of shares that the server is advertising; whether or not I have access to them! Pay no attention to the “Used As” column; it’s irrelevant here.
If your SHARE does not appear in THAT list, then you need to be looking inside the server to find out why. That command will work even on the same box itself. In other words, I’m executing that command FROM NEPTUNE, and I can issue the command TO NEPTUNE:
C:\Users\Tony>net view \\neptune
Shared resources at \\neptune
Share name Type Used as Comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPSON WorkForce 1100 Series Print EPSON WorkForce 1100 Series
iP4600 Print Canon Inkjet iP4600 series
iTunes Disk
Movies 1 Disk
My Photos Disk
Users Disk
The command completed successfully.
Note that even printers are listed.
So, if your share IS LISTED in that list, but your WDTV does not list it or cannot connect to it, then you most likely have a PERMISSIONS issue, and you’ll need to dig into that separately. (Note, though, that the WDTV Live HUB still has the incompatibility with Windows 7 systems that are running “Windows Live Essentials 2011” as of the time of this writing, but the Live and Live+ have that fixed in firmware 1.4.10.)
So, this covers the majority of the problems. If you’re STILL not able to make it work, then the issue is somewhere else. That requires SUBSTANTIAL additional work, usually by means of capturing network traffic to and from your WDTV, the Master Browser, and the server. And that’s out of scope for now.