Another set of 2.02.32 issues

I have resolved these issues by rolling back 2.01.86; I am reporting them here in case others have the same issue and wonder why.

I have three WD TV Live boxes, reading video files from a central file repository shared using both NFS and AFP  (Linux and Mac, as the WD TV Live box calls them).  My usual setup is to use NFS, because that is what I got working first however many years ago.

  • video playback would stop with the spinning circle graphic, as if they were buffering. This happened with all video formats, sizes, qualities, and wrappers.  Sometimes the spinning circle never went away.  Videos were also slow to begin playing.  I don’t know if it was network performance that was impacted, or video decoding performance, or something else - but they worked fine for years before 2.02.32, and worked fine after rolling back to 2.01.86.

  • Linux NFS shares were no longer detected in 2.02.32.  Existing shares set up for access worked, but once it randomly lost that connection, they could not be re-added.  The same central file server shares the same folders using both AFP and NFS; the former worked, the latter did not.  (Video playback had problems with both AFP and NFS).

  • Services would force the entire box to reboot; the YouTube service is what we use most often, and it got to a point where we could no longer launch the app without it rebooting the WD box.

I see many others on here reporting bugs with 2.02.32; I imagine for some use cases it works fine, and it has some features I really liked, but playing videos is the whole reason I own three of these, so it will be a long time before I upgrade this firmware!

I’ve been having a lot of issues with this firmware release as well. For the most part it actually improves upon the random mid-movie MKV crashing I was having in the previous 2.0 release, but the resources run low often and it crashes or prompts to reboot the device. This is when the device is not used for anything other than streaming MKVs from a WD NAS. I don’t use it for anything else, so we are definitely dealing with some sort of memory leak. I leave the unit completely off until I go to use it, but of course then it takes 3 minutes to boot up which is okay, but definitely not working as intended.

Just chiming in that I also went back to 2.01.86 but my decision was based on the remote control shortcut keys causing problems in the 2.02.32 release (i.e. when trying to skip to a particular time in a video, using an assigned shortcut key would catapult me out of my movie and into a completely different menu item).

I have also suspected memory leak problems for some time. Even on the 2.01.86, if I use Netflix for a while I will eventually have to restart the WD TV Live because it becomes so slow that it is unusable. At times I have even had to unplug it to get it to restart.

I have also suspected problems in error handling, because sometimes these slowdowns seem to occur following network interference.

My typical use is about 5% Youtube, 25% Netflix and 70% playing videos (various formats) served by a NAS (SMB or NFS shares, usually SMB) over a wifi connection. Or, maybe 1% DLNA because sometimes I play with Serviio.

kmedeiros wrote:

I leave the unit completely off until I go to use it, but of course then it takes 3 minutes to boot up which is okay, but definitely not working as intended.

3 mins? I’ve time mine and without attached network it needs ~90 seconds.

+1 on a suspected memory leak.

I upgraded one of three boxes I had to  2.02.32 a several weeks ago. This one gets used about once every week or two and has been the same as the other two in terms of playback and really no issues streaming Netflix or content from a D-Link NAS prior to the “upgrading” to 1.02.32. Since upgrading this box it basically locks-up after being idle for several days. Symtoms include: very slow response to remote, long time to display file directory contents, movies with no picture. I can clear this by cycling the power.

A few times I’ve had “out of memory” or “out of resources” type error messages. A few times where the playback of an MKV file froze and box stopped responding to the remote (of it it did it was 20-30 seconds to respond to a keypress).

I’ve ruled-out network (switched from wireless to wired) and UI (switched from new Grid to Old version).

Plan A: Rollback to previous version.

Plan B: Wait for upgrade to firmware.

Anyone know when WD will be releasing a new version? 

Area51Resident wrote:

+1 on a suspected memory leak.

 

I upgraded one of three boxes I had to  2.02.32 a several weeks ago.

 

A few times I’ve had “out of memory” or “out of resources” type error messages. A few times where the playback of an MKV file froze and box stopped responding to the remote (of it it did it was 20-30 seconds to respond to a keypress).

 

Anyone know when WD will be releasing a new version? 

 

Interestingly enough, I’ve been experiencing the same “memory leak” even after rolling back to firmware 2.01.86 which is considered by most to be a better choice. A device reset is always necessary especially if you have used Youtube / Netflix for a significant amount of time (something like 25-40 minutes).

We are still waiting for a new firmware release to address these issues.

prankstare wrote:
Interestingly enough, I’ve been experiencing the same “memory leak” even after rolling back to firmware 2.01.86 which is considered by most to be a better choice. A device reset is always necessary especially if you have used Youtube / Netflix for a significant amount of time (something like 25-40 minutes).

Mmh, I’ve been playing Orange is the new black episodes from Netflix (1 hour) without any memory leaks on 2.02.32 and could start playback of files from USB afterwards without any issues.

Area51Resident wrote:

A few times I’ve had “out of memory” or “out of resources” type error messages. A few times where the playback of an MKV file froze and box stopped responding to the remote (of it it did it was 20-30 seconds to respond to a keypress).

Was it local playback on the frozen MKV and did it happen whenever of only when you’Ve seen and out of memory message?

Noone knows when WD will release the next firmware.

Whenever I watch something on Netflix for more than 30 minutes, the system gets even laggier almost completely non-responsive until it either asks for a device reset or just freezes completely while on the dashboard. Same with Youtube.

I’ve been watching Netflix recently in 3 - 4 hour sessions with no problem (using 2.01.86). If there is going to be a problem it is usually on the way out (exiting Netflix or Youtube back to main menu).

I have never had the box ask me for a restart and I have never seen an error message. All I ever get is a lockup while still in the app or on a blank screen in between the app I’m exiting and the main menu. …I have had it lock up while looking at a directory listing from a network share, list of movies for example (I think problems have always been after Netflix).

A couple years ago I used to get lockups during MKV playback but that has been a while. I think at the time, I blamed that on SMB issues between WD and my NAS and started using NFS instead.

I *seem* to have better results if I turn off the WD boxes when not watching them rather than just leave them in whatever menu or app they’d been, but still not perfect. Last night before I decided to try 2.02.32 again on one of my boxes, I had just done a Restart and the box froze again before I could do whatever it was I was trying to do. That was when I decided maybe a Full Reset + FW Upgrade would help, i.e. get on the latest code and start with all good configuration data.

I haven’t spent a lot of time on 2.02.32 yet but I’m hopeful. I recently added a HD Home Run tuner to my network so I’ve been watching a lot of that over DLNA, to test it out.

@techflaws

I just double checked the details on the frozen playback.

It was a MP4 file, but it wasn’t a WD box issue this time…

My D-Link NAS box lost a disk and was not responding.

Sigh,

Thanks for the update,  apparently this also happens with local playback so it’s not a network issue.

I’m sad to say I have also ‘downgraded’ to the previous firmware…after struggling with memory issues , box resetting itself , takine AGES to boot up etc etc etc…

Since doing so I’ve had ZERO issues with any playback , memory issues etc…

I really was hoping to see an acknowledgement and an update to the firmware by now to fix the myriad of issues everyone is having with this.

Just to close the loop on this…

I rolled back to the preveious version (2.01.86) and all issues I had with 2.02.32 are gone. A few hours on Netflix yesterday and another 2+ hours viewing .MP$4iles today and no playback or slow response issues.

Thanks to all who helped on this.

I wonder why WD is not working on this. The latest firmware is **bleep** and new users will update to it without knowing its issues. This is going on for months.

The newest firmware is complete garbage and they know it. I wonder if it was rushed to market for some reason?

Techflaws Okay, more like 2 minutes to boot and have my NAS files available from a full shutdown :slight_smile: