Dazed and Confused

Hi Everyone.  At this point (days of reading about themes and movie sheets) I don’t feel like a Newbie, I feel like I’m the person that needs “Movie Sheets and Themes for Dummies”.  I’m seriously so lost and confused and it gets worse with each post that I read.  So, I’m just hoping that someone can help!!

Here is what I have to start with.

2   WD TV Live Media Players (one upstairs, one down)  Model Number: WDBHG70000NBK-HESN

2   WD My Book 4 TB                                                        Model Number: WDBFJK0040HBK

I had a problem several months ago with the Media Player not reading the format I was putting my movies in.  After trial and error, I went with MKV and haven’t had a problem since.  I will tell you that some movies are in a StopLoss MKV format to have chapters and subtitles while others are just in the regular MKV format.  At this point, all I have are movies on my hard drives.

I think that is all the information I can provide you with.  If you need more, just let me know.

I am looking to use a movie sheet or theme so that I can see the cover of the movie and for it also to give details about the movie.

I’m sure over the last several years, you’ve had tons of people like me ask for help.  I promise that for days I have been reading the posts, but with thirty messages on each page and 28 pages to go through, it feels like looking for a needle in a haystack.  I’ve even tried the search and still am lost.  I would appreciate any help.

Thanks.

Kim

I would recommend these themes for someone who is new to themes

(they don’t use Thumbgen, you just upload them to your WDTV and let the WDTV grab the movie info for you automatically)

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Themes/Alaska-Resurface-WDTV-LIVE-HUB-amp-SMP/td-p/327445

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Themes/TITAN-LIVE-1-5-XX-Now-Available-for-2-01-86/td-p/587803

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Themes/Simple-A-new-theme-for-the-WDTV-Streaming-Work-in-Progress/td-p/493774

Moviesheet / Linksheet themes are for intermediate to Advanced users.

(Linksheets are for Advanced Users, as Custom Firmware is required to make them viable on the SMP/Media Player)

Chose one you wish to use, follow the author’s provided instructions (almost all authors provide a guide / tutorial)

If you get stuck, thoroughly read through the thread to see if someone has the same problem, if not, then post a question in the theme authors thread … click the “Reply” button  (don’t create a new topic / message)

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Joey,

Thank you so much for your response.  You’ve really, really helped.  I’ve been reading all the pages that are on your Alaska Resurface.  I want to make sure I don’t miss anything.

I do have a question that I didn’t see (so far) on the page.  Is your theme able to do television shows or television movies?

Thanks again.

Joey,

As I was doing more research, I came across AEonish Hub, a moviesheet theme by you.  I really like the look of it and wonder what you thought about a novice trying to use it.  Is it way too complicated for me to reasearch and learn and I should just stick with your Alaska Resurface, or do you think a dodo could do it if they put the work in?

Thanks again.

kimday12 wrote:

Joey,

 

As I was doing more research, I came across AEonish Hub, a moviesheet theme by you.  I really like the look of it and wonder what you thought about a novice trying to use it.  Is it way too complicated for me to reasearch and learn and I should just stick with your Alaska Resurface, or do you think a dodo could do it if they put the work in?

 

Thanks again.

It’s entirely up to you whether you want to put the effort in to learn.  The Aeonish thread contains 96 Pages of Info, so if you have a problem i could almost guarantee 100% you’ll find the answers there.

Now something i should mention (and something im pleasently suprised about)

Aeonish Hub Theme was written using old Live Firmware which supported tranparent PNG’s (used in the reflection on the thumbnails) … WD removed this after firmware 2.07.17 :cry:

Now, the WDTV Live Streaming (which you have) has never supported transparent PNG’s (and the background image trick stopped working)

NOW … Guess What !  I tried Aeonish Hub Theme on my 2014 WDTV Media Player (to take screencaps, of it not displaying properly) … BUT IT WORKS !!!  :dizzy_face:

Now, i think it “may” work on the WDTV Live Streaming with the latest firmware 2.02.32  ???

It’s definately works on the 2014 WDTV Media Player  Firmware 1.02.17 … here’s some actual

screencaps

Note: there are a couple of little things that need tweaking for the 2014 WDTV

Note 2: Please realise the “backdrops” are not High Resolution (they are part of the thumbnail upscaled to fill the screen … look below these pictures so see if they acceptable to you.  (Firefox browser > right-click > view image > click to enlarge)

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kimday12 wrote:

Joey,

 

Thank you so much for your response.  You’ve really, really helped.  I’ve been reading all the pages that are on your Alaska Resurface.  I want to make sure I don’t miss anything.

 

I do have a question that I didn’t see (so far) on the page.  Is your theme able to do television shows or television movies?

 

Thanks again.

1 Like

Joey,

I apologize for the back and forth that I seem to do between the two.  After careful consideration, I think it might be best for us to just use the Alaska Resurfaced as it seems to be the easiest to use and less likely that I do something wrong.  I have been looking on the Alaska Resurface page and reading and still cannot find some type of guide or video to show me step by step how.  I’m so sorry, but could you please point me in the right direction?  (I promise I am reading as the first page is screen shots not mockups and you were waiting for the newest firmware and such.)  Again, thank you for your time and consideration.  You have been very kind and patient answering all my questions and helping me.

I’ve updated Page(1) with theme install instructions :http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Themes/Alaska-Resurface-WDTV-LIVE-HUB-amp-SMP/m-p/327445#M5550

How to install a Theme {Guide}

To install the theme, download the zip file to your PC, open your web browser (I don’t recommend using IE8 or IE9, there have been issues), then type your WDTV’s IP address to open the Web UI. 

(Find your WDTV’s IP from Setup > About)

 Type in your password (the default is “admin”), click on the box next to “I accept” and then click on LOGIN, then click on “Appearance”, then click on “Browse” and navigate to where you saved the “AlaskaDARK_V1.2.zip” file, then click on “Open”.

Click on “Submit”, then once the Web UI finishes uploading the theme (which will take approx 30 secs), on you WDTV press “Setup” on your remote, select “Appearance”, then select “User Interface Themes”, select “AlaskaDARK_V1.2” then when prompted select “Apply theme”.

Instructions for operating your WDTV and all it’s features:

User Manual: http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/UM/ENG/4779-705062.pdf

Lastly, be aware there are bugs in WDTV Firmware (all versions AFAIK) for TV Shows

(This is not the Themes fault, it’s a Firmware Fault)

Using “Get Content Info” Manual or Automatic leads to bad sorting

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Ideas/Add-leading-0-to-season-number-and-episode-number/idi-p/324741

Using “Get Content Info” Manual or Automatic leads to navigation slowdown due to thumbnails not being scaled down (thumbnails are full resolution) Note: this does not affect Movies.

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Ideas/Please-Fix-TV-Shows-Thumbnail-Resolution/idi-p/835051

Hi all. Complete newbie here. Like the OP, I’m also dazed and confused.  I have the WD TV Live Hub (1 TB) player.

My question is, can I install the Alaska Resurface theme without having my WD TV Live Hub connected to the internet? Can I download and extract the files on a USB stick and insert USB into my player for it to install?

Apologies if this question has already been answered.

Phil_Volp wrote: Can I download and extract the files on a USB stick and insert USB into my player for it to install?

No

Phil_Volp wrote:can I install the Alaska Resurface theme without having my WD TV Live Hub connected to the internet?

Themes are uploaded via a “Network Connection”  eg. plug an ethernet cable into the Live Hub and then plug the other end into your modem/router or lan connection on your PC

Here’s Tinwarble’s Theme install guide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmUWFYnSYF0

other search results

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Themes/Complete-Noob-Question/td-p/141088

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Themes/HOW-TO-Load-Select-Custom-Theme/td-p/122550

Sorry to Hijack,

But while Joey is viewing here got a question about themes…

Running the Simple Theme, that you have helped me modify to do sheets etc. etc., When in Media Lib to view Info I hit OPTIONS then Get Info. On Network Shares the Get Info is not there until (sometimes) the movie or tv show is playing. If I run Mochi the Metadata is there and shown. Any guesses?

i have no idea … i can’t even remember the “Simple” theme, and Moviesheets and Get Info are not related (also …  intermittent problems are difficult to fault find) unsure about Network Shares, as i don’t use them (or the wdtv much lately)