If you are desperately waiting for a new update... Read this!

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

Here is the reply I’ve received from WD support.

_Thanks for writing to us about WD Live Streaming TV. It is one of my favorite devices up to date from WD! I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing troubles with your device. From the prerequisites, you’ve stated that you’ve performed a factory reset, so there are not much we can do at this point. From the serial number that you’ve provided, we are not able to request an exchange. We also do not have any plans for new firmware update for this device. _I advise you to look into the new WD TV we’ve announced recently as it will come with newer and faster firmware than your device. Thanks again for your cooperation. Let us know if you are interested in purchasing our new product, WD TV! 

2

LMAO!!  Instead of addressing your problem they try to sell you a new box?  Fecking poorest customer service I ever saw.  I won’t be buying from Western Digital - they don’t treat their customers very well.  WD must be pretty desparate for customers if they have their Support group doing sales.

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3

WOW! Just saw this post. This is really pushing me towards Roku or Andoid mini-PC… 

I did their survey and commented in there that I do realize technology is always changing/improving/etc… But the existing WD TV lives that I have could very easily be fixed with a proper firmware update. One that fixes the rather serious memory leak, particularly with Netflix. And I know it wouldn’t be that hard to get a proper programmer to resolve how slow the device is to refresh it’s library from an NAS. Just need someone to take the time.

Really hope WD is reading this, as they are going to end up putting a really bad name behind a device that has some amazing potential! It just needs to be finished, rather that left in this “beta” stage it’s in now.

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4

I called wd support to double check and they told me that they have never heard of the issues that I’ve described (youtube app crashing, constant freezing/restart). Which clearly tells that they are not reading the forums.

5

I wish they would use a unique name for each of the models.  I looked online at the “new” unit, and it reads so much like the SMP unit it was hard to tell them apart.  Both called a WD TV.  The only difinitive way to tell them apart is by the model #.  My SMP is a WDBHG70000NBK, and the “new” one is WDBYMN0000NBK.

But it would have been nice for some to just come out and say, “We’ve moved on, and have a new product.  There will be no more updates for this product.”  Say it.  Don’t make us hope and pray and call and get frustrated.

I get moving on to bigger and better.  Everything has a life cycle, and at some point the support for a given product should end.  Continually updating the firmare may not be feasable due to hardware restrictions.  Newer hardware means better (hopefully) speed, compatability, and a better experience.  But TELL US THAT!!! 

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6

The audacity here is that with nearly identical code bases they just can’t be bothered to backport the MP4 fix released for the current model (for a bug that should not have occured in the first place).

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7

Buy the “new” WD TV player? LOL

What is new in the “new” WD TV?

Oh, they also say it: “it will come with newer and faster firmware than your device” LMAO

What about the hardware in the new WD TV, is it different from WD TV live SMP?

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8

As far as I know, there really isn’t much difference between the so-called “new” WDTV vs the WDTV SMP we have. Only difference I can think of is that the “new” WDTV was released in 2013 compared to WDTV SMP, which was released 2011. That’s all I can think of. 

9

Smallnetbuilder WD TV review says that they have exactly the same hardware:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/other/multimedia-voip/multimedia-voip-reviews/32463-western-digital-wd-tv-reviewed

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10

If WD don’t correct the issues plaguing our devices, WD is going to lose a lot of customers (including me). I can’t believe they just rebranded the WD Live TV SMP as WD TV with identical hardware.

11

I believe it was more to do with a licensing thing so they took out Netflix.

We know the WD TV (2014) got a FW update 1.01.30 at about the same time that WD TV Live Streaming had it’s last release 2.02.32 - and it was mainly about introducing pretty much the same feature set to both (in BOLD and italics):

WD TV FW v1.01.30 Aug 2014:

Resolved Issues:

• Supports BBC iPlayer, BBC News and BBC Sport (UK only)

• Supports search feature at the Grid UI home screen from the WD IR remote

• Updated WD TV End-User License Agreement (EULA)

• Updated TMDB API image URL process

• Resolved reboot issue when manually getting content information

• Resolved issue with content playback stopping after long duration of play

• Resolved audio out of sync and intermittent video freezes with .mp4 formats with AAC audio

vs

WD TV FW v2.02.32 Aug 2014:

Resolved Issues:

• Supports Miracast. For list of compatible device, visit products.wd.com/miracast

• Supports BBC iPlayer, BBC News and BBC Sport (UK only)

• Supports GRID UI user interface theme

• Supports add shortcut to home page (Grid theme only)

• Supports auto play app

• Supports Downloads (HTTP, FTP, P2P, NZB)

• Supports apps on USB storage. To learn more, visit http://www.wdc.com/wdtvsdk/

• Supports search feature at the Grid UI home screen from the WD IR remote

• Supports Flixster & Rotten Tomato ratings in the video browser UI

• Supports new services: AnyClip, BBC iPlayer (updated), BBC News, BBC Sport, Bric-A-Bloc, Café Noir, Cartoon Keepsakes, Cultorama, Dorado Films, Film Movement, Horoscopes by Kelli Fox - Astrologer Daily, HOTLIST, Howdini, Kino Lorber, Metatube, English, Metatube Espanol, Midnight Pulp, Myx TV, NetFit Free, Olena TV, PRO Classic TV, Saddle Up!, Westerns, The Bold and The Beautiful, The Director’s Chair, The Man Channel, The New Content (TNC), Threshold +, uInterview, Viaway

• Updated WD TV End-User License Agreement (EULA)

• Resolved resume point for movies after power cycling WD TV

• Resolved no sound for DVD ISO files when DVD Menu is set to off

• Resolved SOMA.FM stations not playing in Tunein app service

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12

delaveganz wrote:

We know the WD TV (2014) got a FW update 1.01.30

 

i guess you missed the December 2014 update ?  :wink:

http://support.wdc.com/download/notes/WDTV_Firmware_Release_Notes_1_02_17.pdf

Version 1.02.17 :   
Resolved Issues:
General information
Subscribers of CinemaNow will no longer be supported on the WD TV Media Player.   

• Supports AOL.On
• Resolved .MP4 videos not playing on a WD TV from Olympus Stylus Tough-3000.
• Resolved issue to play any media after using BBC iPlayer.
• Resolved issue with ABC iView not streaming content via WD TV.
• Resolved issue with nZBGet for WDTV Players running out of space for 2GB+ videos.
• Resolved issue with some of the services missing from the HOTKEY service list.
• Resolved launch issue with BBC iPlayer via hotkey that launched the old version of BBC iPlayer.
• Resolved no sound playing while using YouTube Leanback with certain USB 3.0 HDD’s.
• Resolved SiriusXM rebooting WD TV after credentials entered and logging in to service.
• Resolved some .MP4 videos not playing.
• Resolved system lock up when in idle mode on DVD menu overnight.
• Resolved system locking up during media compile with USB HDD and Network Share.
• Resolved user forum post about user’s generated 3rd  party app rebooting WD TV.
• Resolved YouTube Leanback causing WD TV to reboot.

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13

So we know that WDTV (2014) has virtually identical hardware to the WDTV Live Streaming but missing Netflix. 

The WD TV (2014) Media Player got an update in Dec 2014 - 4 months after 1.01.30 for WD TV (2014) and 2.02.32 for WD TV Live SMP Aug updates.

 1. Would any of the fixes there have also addressed the issues on 2.02.32 ? 

 2. Are any owners of updated WD TV (2014) Media Players still experiencing serous stability issues we are plagued with on WD TV Live SMP ?

WD TV FW v1.02.17 Dec 2014:

Resolved Issues:

General information

Subscribers of CinemaNow will no longer be supported on the WD TV Media Player.

• Supports AOL.On

• Resolved .MP4 videos not playing on a WD TV from Olympus Stylus Tough-3000.

• Resolved issue to play any media after using BBC iPlayer.

• Resolved issue with ABC iView not streaming content via WD TV.

• Resolved issue with nZBGet for WDTV Players running out of space for 2GB+ videos.

• Resolved issue with some of the services missing from the HOTKEY service list.

• Resolved launch issue with BBC iPlayer via hotkey that launched the old version of BBC iPlayer.

• Resolved no sound playing while using YouTube Leanback with certain USB 3.0 HDD’s.

• Resolved SiriusXM rebooting WD TV after credentials entered and logging in to service.

• Resolved some .MP4 videos not playing.

• Resolved system lock up when in idle mode on DVD menu overnight.

• Resolved system locking up during media compile with USB HDD and Network Share.

• Resolved user forum post about user’s generated 3rd party app rebooting WD TV.

• Resolved YouTube Leanback causing WD TV to reboot.

I think majority in this forum are in agreement that we DO NOT expect WD to add more features to the WD TV Live SMP to make it at par with the WD TV (2014) media player - but to please put effort to just fix the stability issues on 2.02.32  :-)  which is currently a dog  :-(

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14

Ok, if they are indeed the SAME HARDWARE, is there any reason you couldn’t load the ‘new’ firmware on the ‘old’ hardware and get the new features without having to upgrade the hardware?

15

I also would like to crossflash WDTV FW in my live SMP, but I think it verifies it’s the wrong model and the FW isn’t detected to update.

If anyone has any info about this please advise.

16

Wow.  WD now banned for me (except for hard drives, of course).  lol

17

EDIT: This is in response to MrWolfs post.

I doubt there is an technical reason, but I would guess WD will somehow prevent this from being done. They want you to buy their new box…

Unless some bright spark can ‘hack’ the firmware to allow the old box to accept it!

18

Yes you are right.

I only wanted the memory leak and the .mp4 not playing fixed (they introduced these in last FW).

I use the last FW because when I slideshow family photos, the browser list now remembers the last photo i’ve seen.

19

why not flash the new device firmware on the old smp

well for starters, you’ll loose netflix as well as some other services

20

I’ve been using WD media devices for years, and recommended them to many family and friends.

But not any more. I love  their hardware, but the support of their products is a joke. They should

be embarassed to call themselves a technology company. I stop by every once in a while to see

if their attitude has changed, and until it does I’ll never spend another penny on their products.