Wdtv slingplayer problems

I went and bought the wdtv live (3rd gen) yesterday for slingplayer and netflix etc having read announcements that slingplayer had just been added to this device.

Everything was straightforward to get logged in to slingplayer BUT i’ve experienced many bad issues with this app as have other people, plus thing i was expecting from the app compared to the pc/laptop version. 

  • On basic quality there’s been an awful noise
  • Sometimes, regardless of the quality setting there can be no audio at all
  • The response time for button presses is very very slow (10+secs) compared to other apps and the actual slingplayer software for pc/laptop
  • Where’s the widescreen? Everything is set up for it, other apps show in widescreen, slingplayer (pc/laptop) has different viewing options with a much better choice of quality resolution, this app has something greyed out for this by the looks of it (aspect)
  • Limited choice of quality settings, on the pc version there’s a choice of video quality which is better, even on vga the quality is good and with the setting of 1024 kbps ish or less (changeable) it’s easy to keep data usage down to 350mb ish hr, 0.5gb for 1270x720 etc (i’m on unlimited FUP, people use 100’sgb but maxing the connection might not be tolerated)
  • Sometimes won’t connect, just timesout (just on this app), stays on streaming with black screen
  • No Zap2it tvguide but might be of use as it works faster than going through the usual guide

After hours of slingplayer not working today, it’s finally working again without sound until i changed from best to better, the response time of button presses was 3secs but has gone back to very slow again.  I’ve read on some forums that people think this app should have been BETA tested more and there are issues that need fixing, hopefully this is a work in progress and future updates will have fixes soon.

Just noticed widescreen is on hd content but that was never a problem on pc/laptop version with SD and regardless, the aspect option is still greyed out.

What kind of noise?  Audible noise, or visible noise?

I’ve experienced lack of audio once or twice.  Usually exiting the app and restarting fixes it.

The response time is due to the amount of buffering the Slingplayer app does.  I agree that it’s excesive, especially when you’re using a local device.   It becomes more important when you’re slinging across the internet, though.

Widescreen works fine for me…  Are you sure your souce device is set up correctly?   I’m using a TiVo hooked up via Component cables to a Slingbox Solo.

My SB Solo gives me three quality choices.  With the Slingbox Pro, you should have four.  Are you not seeing that?

I’ve not seen any timeouts yet…

The noise is only on the wdtv app on basic, its kind of like a pulsing da da da da da fast distorted sound mixed with the normal audio.  Never experience anything like that on the pc version.

I’m connecting to a slingbox pro hd, i get widescreen on the HD channels it’s just the SD channels that i’ve noticed doesn’t appear wide, iv’e noticed this kind of thing before on my satellite box at home that it doesn’t matter if the box and tv is set for 16:9 a tv show not originally in HD will be scaled down to 14:3 with black either side.  I think it’s more a case of the broadcast as the HD channels are perfect! The aspect in the app doesn’t seem active yet.

I’ve never experienced timeouts with the pc version or online site, doing a speedtest on the wdtv app i pull in over 3000kbps.

There’s always a delay to be expected, on the pc version it’s like a sec if that, on wdtv it can be 10-15secs, however at times in can just be a couple of secs.  Many have said that it’s a work in progress, i’m hoping it will be as good as the pc version or near to it.

Apps like netflix however work perfectly.

If you press the blue button on your player remote do you get a aspect button at the bottom of the screen?

I do get the aspect ratio button but it’s greyed out (not pressable) so im watching the HD channels where possible because they’re showing in widescreen.

I’ve noticed the sound issue on the basic setting can change as in the different bad noises it makes, reconnecting again can brng it to a more normal sound but it’s a case of reconnecting repeatably until it’s ok, never a problem on the pc version, dunno if anyone else experiences this on the basic setting, i guess most go for the highest quality.

Key press response times seem to be more often than not 3secs mississippily :laughing: which isn’t too bad compared to what i was experiencing with it.  A constant stream has never been a problem on my laptop but on occasion there is sometimes a lil freeze on the wdtv and if that happens the key press responses tend to be slow until reconnecting.

Just found in the stb video settings that sd video has options to stretch sd content, 480 or off, stretch is much better on sd than 14:3 but can have black bars at the top and bottom.

I have really enjoyed the fact the WDTV has Sling player now installed fantastic, all in one box and wonderfull, had to upgrade my Sling box Pro to the Sling box HD to work but no problem done. Please Please though release a version where I dont have to wait 10 + seconds for a command to be transmitted, surely this has nothing to do with the Buffering why would a Stop on the recorder need buffering, sure the video may take a couple of seconds but the segmented command in the top corner waiting to be coloured Blue shouldnt take that long.

Overall love the fact Slingbox player is on the WDTV thanks. Please optimise the controls that it becomes useable, waiting 10 seconds for a pause to be transmitted while the video continues to play is a little excessive and certainly would make me miss a call if I was to wait for the playback to pause.

WDTV streaming no problems.

PS had the same problem with basic settings restarted the the slingbox player got rid of the audio problem and started to stream the audio correctly.

I think that it’s great that the slingplayer app has been added to devices like the wdtv but i still think there’s alot of issues they need to fix with it.

For hours i can be on the basic setting without the noise, sometimes there is the horrible noise, sometimes there is no audio at all.  It can be a bit hit and miss with the audio problems.  There can sometimes be the problem of no audio or video being received on a quality setting.  On occassion it says streaming then times out, i know its not the upload from the slingbox as i get well over 3000kbps if i want, i know it’s not my connection either, works great on the website and the pc app but seems more unstable on the wdtv app.

If you get connected and streaming perfectly button presses is usually 3secs, if the connection with the wdtv app gets glitchy and freezes then the response time is unbelievably long.  I think this is to do with the buffer that is set on the app, if your streaming and hit red it will show connection stats, at the top it shows it has a setting of 3secs and under that is 0 UNLESS there is a freeze in which case there is a buffered amount and the response time **bleep**.  The buffer does mean you continue watching from the moment it freezes but its more trouble than its worth!!  It shouldn’t be freezing up like that anyway!! never does on my laptop.

Btw when you do get a connection and it hasn’t froze yet and you need to do alot of button presses like down down ok, just press them and it will take those commands, better than waiting for each response.  It’s a pitty theres no option to customise the buttons for this app aswell as some buttons don’t seem to have a function anyway within the app, i’ve read that some people have programmed a universal remote to work with the wdtv but i’ve never used one.

I too have the aspect option greyed out, which is what brought me to this topic thread, but it causes me the opposite problem as that of the OP. I’ve hooked up the WD TV to an old TV in my basement that’s still an old SD CRT. The Slingbox Pro-HD is hooked up to an HD source (DirecTV HD PVR) and is therefore streaming widecreen.  With the aspect option greyed out I can’t windowbox it on this old TV.

There is probably a setting on the directv box where you can change the video output type, usually 14:3 or 16:9, dunno if that would work for you but being as i’ve had hdtv and other widescreens for a while so i’m not sure, i would think hd widescreen content might have the black bar at the top and bottom, i guess it would depend on whether it is a hd or sd channel you’re watching too.

Anyone experiencing the timed out issue or being unable to connect to their slingbox?

Slingplayer on the site always connects, the pc app connects but on this wdtv app it’s hit and miss, however if i’ve tried to connect on wdtv and it stays on streaming then timed out, then if i go on the pc version it says that wdtv is already connected to it even tho i didn’t get an actual stream.  I’ve tried login to the site and logout, likewise with the pc version so nothing is logged in, wdtv still is hit and miss whether it connecfs, i’ve tried a reset, system restart, unplugging the power, just dunno what the problem is.

I am not having the noise issues but video freezing.  Just bought a new WDTV Live+ and a used slingbox solo, only wanting it for this use.  SLingplayer works fine for a few sedonds to maybe a minute, then video freezes while audio continues.  All other WDTV controls dodn;t work.  Only way ut is to access slingbox from another device and kick the WDTV off.  This only works for a while, but if left alone the whole system hangs and can only be reset by unplugging it.  Has anyone else had and/or solved this?  BTW Slingbox iss connected via ethernet, port forwarding enabled properly (I think) and WDTV is voer wifi (other services all working great via wifi, so good connection).

I also get the noise on the Basic setting as well.    I have slingplayer on the hub as well as the google tv  on Sony blu-ray and a pc.  The pc is by far the best experience.   Another thing that happens on the wd is that occassionally the screen goes dark with no sound, particularly when making changes.   I gets lots of disconnects both with google tv and wd slingplayer.  I do not get this with the pc version except rarely.     My devices are on a DSL connection which usually has close to the 3/1 MBS while my Slingbox HD is FIOS.

I am very interested if WD is still working on the program or if this performance is what we can expect from now on.

I’m finding the app connects 99% of the time but it’s still very glitchy in maintaining a perfect stream, pressing the red button shows the connection in the '000’s kbps then can drop bellow then up then 100 odd kbps, the stream then freezes and any key presses are painfully slow, i think the 3 sec buffer is no help and causes the 3 sec key press to become about 20 secs.  This app just seems to struggle a smooth and relatively consistant speed, ofcourse there will be little fluctuations but not to this exstent.  Speedtests through the app used to be 10/11mb and at a maximum of 4mb upload from the slingbox, strangely my connection on the speedtests sometimes shows 100kbps +/- for both which is not what it should be.

Pc app is always consistant and fast considdering (fraction of a sec delay in key press comands), no freezing like wdtv app or slow key press response times.  Hopefully they’re working on this app still!

For a few hours the other night it was working perfectly in terms of it maintaining the connection above 1000kbps meaning all key presses were at the 3 sec wait (wondering if the delay is linked to 3sec buffer setting) and speedtests were as they should be, even basic setting was working without a bad noise, unfortunately this didn’t last as it’s returned to glitchy as **bleep**.

Not the wdtv app but dunno if anyone has the android app as this too has become worse where you get a circular buffer for each command, before this was almost as fast as the pc version of the sling app.

Be carefull, don’t expect the Slingplayer for WD Live TV works like Slingplayer for PC.

I just bought WD Live TV which is very good for Youtube and Movies, but very poor with Slingbox player, it misses buffering and continuosly restart the video unless you have a very good internet connection. If you want to do a test before you spend your money, go under Facebook and start the Slingbox player there. What you see there is what you will see  under WD Live TV.

Amelia

Hi guys!

I posted this somewhere else before finding your thread.

Just thought one of you might have a clue…

WD TV Live - SlingPlayer – Can’t Display List of Recorded Programs and Start Playback of Recorded Programs

Problem: We recorded programs on a DVR hooked up to our SlingBox, but can’t display a list of recorded programs via the SlingPlayer app on WD TV Live.

Hardware:

SlingBox: PRO HD

DVR: BUFFALO 地デジチューナー内蔵 コンパクトHDDレコーダー DVR-1C/500G

Additional Info:

Our DVR is supported by the SlingPlayer software. We can record & playback from it using SlingPlayer on other devices, including PC & iPad, where we can display the actual remote control.

However, with SlingPlayer on the WD TV Live, there are no (working) options to allow us to see the list of recorded programs. We can see a “DVR” icon at the bottom left of one of the screens, but it is always grayed out.

Any ideas???

Unfortunately, even with the latest firmware, 1.11.14, it is still flaky and unusable. Before, it just used to disconnect almost immediately and now, it connects but after the first command, on the second one, it just crashes and the power has to be unplugged to restart it.

A great shame as I would have bought another one for my daughter to use the other side of the world. Other functions work without problems except for the very occasional crash.

Regards

1 Like

I’ve been experiencing a new problem for about a week which is that the slingplayer auto logs in but then instantly asks for the slingbox password, this until now has never come up on this app.  Entering the slingbox password was saying incorrect password even though it was correct.  While this has stopped me from being able to use the app my laptop and s3 have been working fine.

A reset of the slingbox (pro hd) at first apeared to have fixed the issue BUT the next time i used the app i was asked for the slingbox password again and it was accepted and started optimising and streaming, next attempt auto connected, next attempt asked for the password again and said was incorrect another time it accepted the password streamed then i got a code:3 saying something along the lines of invalid id session.

This app has got oh sooo many problems and it’s been long overdue for a fix to address the problems everyone is experiencing.  I like others bought a wdtv player for this app and it’s beyond useless in it’s current state, glitchy and unstable now another problem added to the list. 

Hello, 1st post here since this is my 1st WD device :wink:

Bought the live yesterday only for Slingplayer use, BUT

i´m deeply impressed by the functionality of this device. I had a terrible time with an Xtreamer Sidewinder 2 …

The Slingplayer works fantastic - shows a much much better quality then my PC . It streamed for hours with approx 3000kbs, sound was clear without noises.

The only annoying thing is the delay for remote commands.

Hope it stays this way and remote functionality improves

I’ve had the slingplayer work for hrs before but it’s not always consistant, if the picture freezes for even just a moment you will experience longer waits on any commands from the usual few secs to like 20secs, i think this is due to the 3sec buffer that has been put on there which needs to go!!.  The horrible noise sometimes experienced on the basic quality has dissapeared.  

I don’t know if the app works better if you’re using it on the same network as the slingbox, i’m connecting to a pro hd thats not on the same network, using the latest firmware on everything , using wifi but have tried wired and my dl is around 11.5 meg.

If there’s a series of commands needed and you know what u need to be pressing you can press the buttons and it will go through them when it does the lil timer thing.

I have experienced similar problems with freezing and disconnects / reconnects on the WDTV using the Slingplayer app… anyone found a solution or can suggest anything?

I have approx. 4.1 Mbps download.

Any help appreciated!

Slingplayer also hangs up and disconnects for me (code 27). I have 10 mbs down and 10 up. Seems to be an issue since firmware 3.08.14 update. Also only bought WDTV live for slingplayer use. Disappointed so far.